SUNLIT UPLANDS

Major General James Livingston Endorses Bill Connor

2010-02-08T14:55:00.007-05:00

Medal of Honor recipient from Mt. Pleasant supporting veteran Lt. Gov. candidate

In another sign of building momentum, the Bill Connor campaign today announced that Marine Major General and Medal of Honor recipient James Livingston has endorsed the campaign.

“As a Marine who led men into battle in Vietnam, I understand the challenge of combat leadership,” said General Livingston. “Combat leadership is forged in the toughest crucible known to man. As an Infantry Lt. Colonel, Bill was the senior US advisor to Afghan forces in Helmand fighting the Taliban insurgency. Now, Bill is the first post-9/11 combat veteran to announce for statewide office. I am so proud to endorse Bill’s candidacy for Lieutenant Governor.”

“I am proud to have the support of a Medal of Honor recipient like Jim Livingston,” Bill Connor said. “It means so much to our campaign to have leading veteran voices like General Livingston supporting us. General Livingston has been a great voice for the economic benefits of attracting retirees to our state. He points out that the average retiree household moving to South Carolina with pension and retirement income brings an average of three to four jobs. I look forward to working with General Livingston as head of the Office on Aging to make our state a retiree haven, allowing South Carolina businesses to create new jobs.”

Bill Connor is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserves who received the Bronze Star for his service in combat as the senior American advisor in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. In addition to his Reserve duties, Bill serves as the Chairman of the Board of Orangeburg Christian Academy. Bill is a graduate of the Citadel and USC Law School. Bill lives in Orangeburg with Susan, his wife of 18 years, and their three children Peyton, Brenna, and Will. They attend Christ Church of the Carolinas in Columbia.

The Continuing Scandal at the USCCB

2010-02-08T13:30:00.003-05:00

Bishop William Murphy Dodges The Issue

From New York Catholics

In this latest installment on the scandal unfolding at the USCCB in Bishop Murphy's Committee on Justice Peace and Human Development, Michael Voris succinctly explains how Bishop Murphy is trying to sidestep the real issues at hand by painting this controversy as an attempt to attack John Carr.

As Michael says, John Carr, the Executive Director of Bishop Murphy's Committee which has been reported as funding numerous pro-abortion and pro-homosexual Saul Alinsky-style community organizing groups to the tune of millions of dollars, is not the issue here.

The issue is two-fold:

1) Did Bishop Murphy's Committee in fact give millions of dollars to community action groups that are sympathetic to Marxism, abortion and sodomy?

2) If Bishop Murphy's Committee is responsible for doing the above, what did Bishop Murphy know and when did he know it?

Bishop Murphy is accusing the Catholic organizations who are reporting the USSCB scandal, of calumniating John Carr, instead of addressing the allegations of mis-allocation of funds to the enemies of the Faith.

Here is Bishop Murphy's statement in a CNS interview:

"I'm concerned about these attacks on John Carr and I know they are false and I think they are even calumnious. I am taking this to be a very sad, sad commentary on the honesty of some people in these pressure groups."

As you can see, Bishop Murphy is trying to turn the substantive question of whether his Committee has given millions of dollars to groups which support the Culture of Death into an attack on his subordinate, John Carr.

Then, the Bishop launches into his own adhominem attack on the leaders of these Catholic organizations, Reform CCHD Now, Human Life International, American Life League, and Bellarmine Veritas Ministry, by suggesting that they are dishonest, vilifying calumniators.

Bishop Murphy, being a member of the episcopacy doesn't give you the right to try and destroy the reputations of these good Catholic people who are trying to get to the truth of what has been going on in your Committee.

There is only one relevant question here, which I'll repeat again: "Bishop Murphy, what did you know and when did you know it?"

Argentina Seizes the Central Bank

2010-02-08T11:45:00.001-05:00

President Cristina Kirchner wants to pay foreign creditors but doesn't want to use treasury revenues.

From The Wall Street Journal
By Mary Anastasia O'Grady

After a month of wrangling, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner succeeded in sacking central bank President Martin Redrado last week. In his place she named Mercedes Marcó del Pont, a Yale-trained economist who has expressed the view that central bank autonomy ought to be limited.

The opposition howled at the news. Felipe Sola, former governor of Provincia de Buenos Aires, warned that the new bank president "is going to do what the executive decides and they are going to modify the bank charter to justify her doing what the executive tells her."

Of course that would seem to be the point. Mr. Redrado was fired because he refused to turn over $6.6 billion in bank reserves to Mrs. Kirchner, who wants to pay foreign creditors but doesn't want to use treasury revenues. Ms. Marcó del Pont, if she wants to keep her job, will follow the orders of the president.

Read the rest of this entry >>

CBS Sunday Morning Profiles Chartwell Booksellers and Churchill

2010-02-08T10:44:00.004-05:00

CBS Sunday Morning did a wonderful story about one of our favorite bookshops that specializes in our favorite statesman, Sir Winston Churchill. Following is Charles Osgood's look at Chartwell Booksellers and the great man himself.

Focus on the Family's Masterstroke

2010-02-08T09:13:00.006-05:00

Focus on the Family showed themselves to be brilliant at public relations, and the weeks of furor over their simple pro-life message demonstrated for all the world that the militant abortionists aren't about choice at all. They don't even believe in free speech. Blood-covered and conscience-hardened, they are about protecting the only kind of obscene profits the Obama administration supports.

Here is the full Tebow story told by Tim Tebow's parents.

Dem Lieutenant Governor Candidate Exits Illinois Race

2010-02-08T08:37:00.002-05:00

The Democratic nominee for Illinois' lieutenant governor dropped out of the race Sunday night, less than a week after winning the nomination, amid a political uproar about his past.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Raising the Bar for Nullification

2010-02-07T12:44:00.006-05:00

From the Tenth Amendment Center
By Michael Boldin

Around the country, twenty two states are currently considering a bill known as the “Firearms Freedom Act.” This bill declares that guns, accessories, and ammunition made within a state, sold within that state and kept in that state are not subject to federal laws or regulations under the “Interstate Commerce Clause” of the Constitution.

Montana and Tennessee passed a Firearms Freedom Act into law in 2009, and a number of states are moving that direction in the 2010 legislative session. In South Carolina, where a Firearms Freedom Act was also introduced in 2009, some representatives have taken things a step further.

NULLIFYING GUN REGISTRATIONS

Introduced in the South Carolina General Assembly this week is House Bill 4509 (H4509), which if passed, would make law that “no public official of any jurisdiction may require registration of purchasers of firearms or ammunition within the boundaries of this State.”

No caveat for regulations under the commerce clause. No caveat for types of firearms either. This bill says NO to all gun registrations – period.

The principle behind such legislation is nullification, which has a long history in the American tradition.

In the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, Thomas Jefferson wrote in response to the hated Alien and Sedition Acts:

“The several states composing the United States of America are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government”

and

“where powers are assumed [by the federal government] which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy: that every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact, to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits: that without this right, they would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them”

In short, nullification means this: The state is taking a position that a particular federal law is unconstitutional, and thus, the law in question is void and inoperative, or ‘non-effective,’ within the boundaries of that state; or, in other words, not a law as far as that state is concerned.

But nullification is much more than just mere rhetoric. To nullify a federal law in practice requires active resistance to it by the people and the state government.

INTERPOSITION

In the Virginia Resolution of 1798, James Madison wrote of the principle of interposition:

That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the federal government, as resulting from the compact, to which the states are parties; as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting the compact; as no further valid that they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact; and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits, the authorities, rights and liberties appertaining to them.

Here Madison asserts what is implied in nullification laws – that state governments not only have the right to resist unconstitutional federal acts, but that, in order to protect liberty, they are “duty bound to interpose” or stand between the federal government and the people of the state.

H4509 includes strong language to assert this principle:

Federal agents have flouted the United States Constitution and foresworn their oath to support this Constitution by requiring registration of the purchasers of firearms and ammunition, and these requirements violate the limits of authority placed upon the federal agents by the United States Constitution and are dangerous to the liberties of the people

(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no public official of any jurisdiction may require registration of purchasers of firearms or ammunition within the boundaries of this State.

(C) Any person violating the provisions of this subsection (B) is guilty of a felony and upon conviction must be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both.

A GROWING MOVEMENT

Supporters of such legislation point to laws passed by other states that have effectively nullified federal laws around the country. Fourteen states have now defied federal laws on marijuana. And, two dozen states have refused to comply with the Bush-era Real ID Act, rendering that 2005 law virtually null and void today.Guns, national ID cards, and weed might be just the early stages of a quickly growing movement to nullify other federal laws seen as outside the scope of their constitutionally-delegated powers. In states around the country this year, bills have been proposed to defy or nullify federal laws on health care, use of national guard troops overseas, legal tender laws, cap and trade, and even the process of collecting federal income taxes.

The final goal? It’s a long way off – a federal government that follows the strict limits of the constitution, whether it wants to or not.

CLICK HERE to view the Tenth Amendment Center’s Legislative Tracking Page for Current Nullification Efforts

Michael Boldin [send him email] is the founder of the Tenth Amendment Center

RFK, Jr. 15 Months Ago: Global Warming Means No Snow or Cold in DC

2010-02-07T12:01:00.002-05:00

We think one of the many comments to the following story sum up Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his trading on a discredited and rejected myth that reached its apogee a half century ago:

"Isn't there a date rape, or vehicular homicide while drunk that this Kennedy should be participating in? Dude, face it. Scott Brown's election has rendered your family's opinions irrelevant except to a few whacked-out Left Wing loons. Get lost, loser."
Zed - Feb 7, 2010

From The Examiner
By David Feddoso

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who flies around on private planes so as to tell larger numbers of people how they must live their lives in order to save the planet, wrote a column last year on the lack of winter weather in Washington, D.C.

In Virginia, the weather also has changed dramatically. Recently arrived residents in the northern suburbs, accustomed to today's anemic winters, might find it astonishing to learn that there were once ski runs on Ballantrae Hill in McLean, with a rope tow and local ski club. Snow is so scarce today that most Virginia children probably don't own a sled. But neighbors came to our home at Hickory Hill nearly every winter weekend to ride saucers and Flexible Flyers.

In those days, I recall my uncle, President Kennedy, standing erect as he rode a toboggan in his top coat, never faltering until he slid into the boxwood at the bottom of the hill. Once, my father, Atty. Gen. Robert Kennedy, brought a delegation of visiting Eskimos home from the Justice Department for lunch at our house. They spent the afternoon building a great igloo in the deep snow in our backyard. My brothers and sisters played in the structure for several weeks before it began to melt. On weekend afternoons, we commonly joined hundreds of Georgetown residents for ice skating on Washington's C&O Canal, which these days rarely freezes enough to safely skate.

Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil and its carbon cronies continue to pour money into think tanks whose purpose is to deceive the American public into believing that global warming is a fantasy.

Having shoveled my walk five times in the midst of this past weekend's extreme cold and blizzard, I think perhaps RFK, Jr. should leave weather analysis to the meteorologists instead of trying to attribute every global phenomenon to anthropogenic climate change.

A Homily by Father Franklyn M. McAfee - "God is Most Present When You Think He is Not"

2010-02-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Homily of Reverend Franklyn M. McAfee, D.D.

Pastor Emeritus

St. John the Beloved Catholic Church

McLean, Virginia

February 8, 2009

Andrea Bocelli & The Mormon Tabernacle Choir - "The Lord's Prayer"

2010-02-07T06:55:00.002-05:00

Dr. Larry Arnn: "The Educator as Statesman"

2010-02-06T07:00:00.003-05:00

By Michael R. Cook
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Anyone concerned about the generally deplorable state of American higher education will be heartened by the remarks, contained in the video below, of Dr. Larry P. Arnn.

Larry Arnn became the twelfth president of Hillsdale College in 2000. Many of us are familiar with Hillsdale as the little school in Michigan that refuses all government funding – as well as the onerous regulations that invariably accompany taxpayer subsidies.

Less well-known, perhaps, is the fact that Hillsdale distinguishes itself, today, as one of the very few places where young Americans can obtain an authentic education in the liberal arts – the kind of education, as Jefferson believed, that is essential to self-government in a free republic.

In fact, Hillsdale is doing today exactly what it has done from the time of its founding in 1844. It teaches the “permanent things.”

And why should we find this heartening? After all, Hillsdale is but one small outpost in a landscape containing thousands of colleges and universities whose faculties have, almost uniformly, abandoned the classical liberal arts curriculum – along with any serious reflection on America’s founding principles.

But at Hillsdale, we do find ample cause for encouragement. Under Dr. Arnn’s inspirational leadership, the college is flourishing. Each year it attracts more and better-qualified applicants for admission. And each year the reach of the school’s influence expands. For example, its monthly speech digest, Imprimis, is now received in 1.8 million homes and offices.

Today, Hillsdale College is anything but obscure. Indeed, some believe that Hillsdale has taken its place as the finest liberal arts college in the land. I include myself among that number.

Listen to Dr. Arnn’s remarks delivered recently before an audience in Naples, Florida, and I think you’ll have good reason to agree with me.

Senate Judiciary Committee Postpones Vote on Pro-Abortion Dawn Johnsen

2010-02-05T16:52:00.007-05:00

"The pro-abortion activist has come under fire for calling women 'fetal containers' and comparing pregnancy with slavery. She has also come under fire for labeling pregnant women 'losers in the contraceptive lottery' and comparing pro-lifers to the Klu Klux Klan."

From LifeNews.com
By Steven Ertelt

The Senate Judiciary Committee has again postponed a vote on pro-abortion Obama nominee Dawn Johnsen. The panel was slated to vote on her nomination today after considering two other nominees but it lost a quorum to do business just before her nomination was slated to be considered.

Johnson's nomination was already delayed one week but was held over until today.

The delay gave pro-life advocates more time to focus on opposing her nomination to the key Justice Department post.

“Nominating Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel is an insult to pro-life Americans," Congressman Steve King of Iowa said in a statement LifeNews.com received.

"Her personal pro-abortion agenda, previous disparaging comments about pro-life Americans and past criticism of Congress' ban on partial-birth abortion are evidence that she is not interested in finding common ground with those who oppose her narrow philosophy," he said.

King said he hoped Obama would withdraw Johnsen's nomination, which could die on the Senate floor if newly-minted Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts agrees to support a filibuster.

At the end of 2009, the Senate returned her nomination to the White House and President Obama promptly renominated her in January.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue also commented on Johnsen today in an email to LifeNews.com.

"Why is Dawn Johnsen's nomination to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel still being considered?" he asked. "She tried in the late 1980s to take away the tax exempt status of the Roman Catholic Church, all because she wanted to silence the Church's voice on abortion."

Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List also commented on Johnsen.

"In 1988, attorney Dawn Johnsen argued that the Catholic Bishops needed to choose between either having the Catholic Church stripped of its tax-exempt status as a religious organization or keeping their opposition to abortion to themselves. The Catholic Bishops defeated Dawn Johnsen in the Supreme Court Case United States Catholic Conference v. Abortion Rights Mobilization," she explained.

"After the case was concluded, Dawn Johnsen was rewarded for her legal work on the case by being granted the position of legal director of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), where she worked from 1988 – 1993," she continued. "Now, President Barack Obama has re-nominated her to head up the Office of Legal Counsel and is pushing for the Senate to ratify her nomination."

The election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts was thought to be the death knell for her nomination because it would again give opponents enough votes to uphold a filibuster against her -- but Obama re-nominated Johnsen anyway

Johnsen made it through the Senate panel on a party-line vote last March but Republican lawmakers had opposed Johnsen over her rabidly pro-abortion position and because of other political issues, such as terrorism.

Johnsen originally found herself the subject of a Republican filibuster supported by a couple of Democrats, but when pro-abortion Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter caved in to a Democratic primary opponent and flip-flopped to supporting her, the Obama administration signaled she would be re-nominated and would get enough votes to overcome the filibuster.

That's because Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar, who normally votes pro-life, says he will support the Johnsen nomination.

Lugar's press secretary Andy Fisher has confirmed that Lugar "still plans to vote for her."

But, the election of Brown made her confirmation a question and he could provide the 41st vote to support a filibuster because Sen. Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, opposes Johnsen's nomination.

In comments to Roll Call after Brown defeated pro-abortion activist Martha Coakley, Nelson said he didn't think Johnsen's nomination stood much of a chance now. He previously cited her pro-abortion record as a reason for opposing her.

Johnsen had been delayed by Republicans who oppose her because she is strongly pro-abortion -- going as far as saying pregnant women are subjected to a form of slavery -- and because of other political reasons.

If confirmed, Johnsen would be in charge of the office that formulates the attorney general's formal opinions and provides counsel on the thorniest legal questions.

In a brief filed when she was a lawyer with NARAL, Johnsen cited a footnote that said forcing women to bear children was "disturbingly suggestive of involuntary servitude, prohibited by the 13th Amendment, in that forced pregnancy requires a woman to provide continuous physical service to the fetus in order to further the state's asserted interest."

Johnsen told lawmakers at her hearing that she merely suggested an analogy in the footnote and "never believed the 13th Amendment had any role" in the abortion issue.

The pro-abortion activist has come under fire for calling women "fetal containers" and comparing pregnancy with slavery. She has also come under fire for labeling pregnant women "losers in the contraceptive lottery" and comparing pro-lifers to the Klu Klux Klan.

Johnsen was the Legal Director for NARAL from 1988-1993. After that, she served in the Clinton administration as the Acting Assistant Attorney General heading the Office of Legal Counsel from 1997-1998 and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General from 1993-1996. She also served on the Clinton transition team in 1992.

A Notice to Our Readers: A Post Not to be Missed

2010-02-05T11:52:00.012-05:00

Hillsdale College

We want to give you a heads up about an extraordinary talk recently delivered by Dr. Larry Arnn, President of Hillsdale College, that we will be posting tomorrow morning (Saturday).

It is one of the most powerful messages we have heard and is entitled "Education and Self-Government and Our Current Crisis." The video was called to our attention and will be introduced by Michael Cook, a friend and reader in Pennsylvania. We are posting it on Saturday to give our readers more time to listen to and reflect on Dr. Arnn's very important message.

We think you will agree, this is one not to be missed!

Arab Festival 2009: Sharia in the US

2010-02-05T10:39:00.006-05:00

From Acts 17 Apologetics

This is a video of Nabeel Qureshi and David Wood asking questions at Arabfest in Dearborn, Michigan. The date is June 21st, 2009. There was a booth at the festival which had a banner titled "Islam: Got Questions? Get Answers." From their table, we picked up a pamphlet claiming that Islam promotes peace. We noticed that it was full of poor logic and errors, so we decided to make a video refuting it. We went to the booth that gave us the pamphlet to give them the opportunity to defend their claims. Security, however, stepped in and forced us to turn off our camera.

We left the booth, received advice from police, and found out that the actions of the security guards were illegal. We went back to the booth to record a potential answer again. Realizing that the Muslims present had no answer, we left.

When we came outside, we were asked some questions by two young men, who had been sent by security to entrap us. While we responded to them, festival security started assaulting us, as you will see in this video. The conclusion of this video is a mob of festival security attacking our cameras, pushing us back, kicking our legs, and lying to the police.

We ask you, is it a coincidence that the city with the highest percentage of Muslims in the United States is the city where Christianity is not allowed to be represented (let alone preached) on a public sidewalk? Is it coincidence that in this city, people will say "No way!" when we say "This is the United States of America"?

Is this what will happen when Islam takes over the United States?

Lech Walesa's Warning to America

2010-02-05T08:26:00.002-05:00

The Totally Corrupt USCCB is Exposed

2010-02-04T15:22:00.003-05:00

We have been reluctant to post this story about corruption well-known to us for decades. We remember seeing a parking lot full of Clinton-Gore bumper stickers at the USCCB offices, months after the 1992 elections. And all of our dealings with that organization and one of their state affiliates have made clear that this network, hijacked by left-wing ideologues, is more concerned with money, power, and advancing a political agenda, than it is with the Permanent Things and the Kingdom of God.

The Church is an institution that is both human and divine. As with any human institution, the muck and mire of sin that afflicts us all is present, manifesting itself from time to time. But this is a particularly dark age for the Church because many of those charged with teaching, governing and sanctifying, the bishops, have been timid, reluctant, or have refused to carryout their responsibilities.

The actions and omissions of certain American bishops cry out to heaven for vengeance. What has been exposed this week is pure evil. It is Satan operating within the Church. And it is long past time for laymen to refuse to fund any project of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is time to employ the great Catholic principle of subsidiarity, and to provide charity at the local level, individually, or through small, parish and local networks. It is time we let pastors know that we will no longer support diocesan fund-raising until a full investigation of the USCCB corruption is undertaken, a house-cleaning is carried out, and those responsible have repented and been retired.

If the American bishops are incapable of "fraternal correction," and it appears that they are, Rome should intervene to remove the quislings on the staff of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and hold their employers accountable. We cannot wait for this scandal to resolve itself through time and attrition. The work of thousands of good and holy priests, nuns, religious brothers and sisters, and laymen is being undermined by a handful of corrupt and incompetent bishops and their agents.

Light vanquishes the darkness, and we believe that Christ is purifying His Church through the revelations and humiliations of recent years. We continue to believe that there are many holy shepherds in the Church, led by a great successor of Peter, who is healing ancient wounds and divisions and valiantly building up the Kingdom of God. We will pray for that renewal.

Taxpayers Fund Abortions but not School Vouchers

2010-02-04T12:26:00.005-05:00

From OneNewsNow
By Dr. Paul Kengor

In my last article, a somber remembrance of Roe v. Wade, I called attention to something that shocked readers: I noted that the Obama administration and Democratic Congress "rejected funding for school vouchers for poor children in Washington, DC, but supported funding for abortions for the mothers of those children."

The contrast is breathtaking, but true. It's another jolt to traditionally minded voters — especially pro-life Democrats and independents — who voted for "change" on November 4, 2008, and are now absorbing the change they authorized. In this case, the change stands in stark contrast to previous administrations and Congresses that prohibited federal funds to finance abortions in the District of Columbia. It veers well beyond liberals' assurance that abortion merely be "safe, legal, and rare."

If you didn't hear about this until now, don't be surprised. Over 300,000 pro-lifers marched in Washington last month without notice by the mainstream media. So, I'd like to take a moment to explain what happened:

Last summer, in July 2009, the overwhelmingly Democratic House of Representatives narrowly passed (by a vote of 219-208) a bill permitting the DC government to use locally raised tax revenues to provide abortions, reversing a long-standing prohibition.

Almost all Republicans voted against the bill. They were joined by some (but not enough) Democrats. Unfortunately, because of how Americans voted on November 4, 2008, the extreme left has such a massive majority in Congress that legislators who think taxpayers shouldn't pay for abortions couldn't stop the measure from being passed. Worse, because Americans — who, in recent polls, describe themselves as more pro-life and more conservative than ever — voted for the most radical abortion-rights advocate in the history of the presidency, the bill had full backing from the White House.

And so, the change in favor of abortion funding came via a $768 million DC Financial Services Appropriations bill that — here's the kicker — also included termination of school vouchers for poor children in Washington, DC, forcing those children out of private schools and back into public schools they fled.

Most Americans didn't notice any of this, given that the mainstream media that serves as educator-in-chief didn't dare highlight the story. Two sources that did notice, however, are worth quoting:

One is Rep. Joe Pitts, the Pennsylvania congressman who is a stalwart champion for the unborn. Pitts told me: "It's shameful that Congress has decided to use taxpayer dollars to fund the destruction of life in our nation's capital but has denied funding for a successful scholarship program that allows poor children a chance at a decent education. The juxtaposition in policies could not be more disturbing."

More disturbed than Pitts was Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, who was fit to be tied: "Following the lead of President Barack Obama," said Donohue, "the House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow the District of Columbia to fund abortions. Also following Obama's wishes, the same bill affirmed the...congressional decision to end school vouchers there."

"Here's what it comes down to," summed up Donohue. Poor pregnant women living in Washington, DC, "will be told that if they decide to abort their baby, the government will pay for it. But if they persist in bringing their baby to term, the government will not help them to avoid the same lousy public schools that Barack and Michelle shunned for Sasha and Malia." Donohue denounced the action as "cruel."

No doubt, it's an outrage. Of course, it's also predictable. By and large, liberals oppose school vouchers but support legalized abortion. In that sense, this is nothing new.

What is new, however, is this sudden aggressive push by today's "progressives" for taxpayers to fund abortions. This is the culmination of a progressive death march begun a century ago by Planned Parenthood founder and racial eugenicist Margaret Sanger, who preached extraction of "human weeds" from the gene pool in order to advance "race improvement" (her words). Today's progressive heirs have taken Sanger's torch and lit up the barn.

And thus, we now have — in no less than the nation's capital — a poster-child for that grim progressive worldview. It's a child who doesn't get aid to go to a private school — even as his mother pays school taxes — but whose mother gets aid to abort the child's sibling.

We're not only losing our conscience as a nation; we're losing our mind.

I know the response I'll get from Democrats: furious emails, enraged at me. That's sad. I'm simply reporting what happened. I didn't vote for any of this. I plead with them: If you're angry, write to the people in your party who are responsible. Only you can stop this madness. Clean your own house.

McCain Feeling Primary Heat From His Right Flank

2010-02-04T11:40:00.008-05:00

Old sailors never die; they just lose primaries. Anchors aweigh and good riddance, There'll be no "moaning of the bar" when this old has been is set adrift.

From The Wall Street Journal

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republicans' standard-bearer in 2008, is facing a surprisingly strong primary challenge from the right, evidence that even party leaders aren't safe from the swell of conservative activism heading into the 2010 midterm elections.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Patients in 'Vegetative' State Can Think and Communicate

2010-02-04T09:11:00.013-05:00

Patients left in a “vegetative” state after suffering devastating brain damage are able to understand and communicate, groundbreaking research suggests.

From The Telegraph
By Richard Alleyne and Martin Beckford

'Vegetative state' brain scan images: the fMRI images which were used as part of the study by Dr. Adrian Owen.

Experts using brain scans have discovered for the first time that the victims, who show no outward signs of awareness, can not only comprehend what people are saying to them but also answer simple questions.

Read the rest of this entry >>

White House Prepares for Possibility of 2 Supreme Court Vacancies

2010-02-04T08:57:00.005-05:00

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Associate justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are seen during a Supreme Court group photograph, Sept. 2009 in Washington. Court watchers believe either or both could decide to step aside and give President Obama his second and third chance to shape his legacy on the Supreme Court.

Lawyers for President Obama have been working behind the scenes to prepare for the possibility of one, and maybe two Supreme Court vacancies this spring.

Read the rest of this entry >>

President Reagan Celebrates His Birthday at a Press Briefing on February 4, 1983

2010-02-04T06:30:00.003-05:00

The questions and issues of that day sound so much like those of the present. Regrettably, today's leadership is so very different.

Source: British Government Backs Down on ‘Equality Bill’ Following Pope’s Comments

2010-02-03T23:06:00.003-05:00

From Catholic World News

A British government source has told the Daily Telegraph that following Pope Benedict’s recent comments to the bishops of England and Wales, the government will withdraw the controversial provisions of the “Equality Bill” that threaten to undermine religious freedom.

“We are clear that these parts of the Equality Bill should not go forward,” said the source. “The Pope's intervention has been noted.”

Pope Benedict had told the bishops on February 1:

Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. Yet as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed. I urge you as Pastors to ensure that the Church’s moral teaching be always presented in its entirety and convincingly defended. Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others – on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth. Continue to insist upon your right to participate in national debate through respectful dialogue with other elements in society. In doing so, you are not only maintaining long-standing British traditions of freedom of expression and honest exchange of opinion, but you are actually giving voice to the convictions of many people who lack the means to express them: when so many of the population claim to be Christian, how could anyone dispute the Gospel’s right to be heard?

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

Vulnerable Dems Seek Distance from Obama

2010-02-03T21:00:00.001-05:00

As Congress begins picking through President Obama's vast election year budget, many Democratic incumbents and candidates seem to be finding something they love — to campaign against.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Catholic Schools Week: New Models for Saving Needed Schools

2010-02-03T16:14:00.017-05:00

As we have noted before, we believe that Catholic schools play an extraordinary role in America's inner-cities and suburbs, where in many cases more than half of all students who enter public high schools fail to graduate, and very few of those who do manage to graduate can be considered well educated. Catholic schools are also irreplaceable in the formation of counter-cultural Catholics, and their closing and consolidation is a tragic loss to both the Church and the larger society they serve.

The column below, from today's Wall Street Journal, mentions a new model where "lay boards raise money, build facilities, and actually run the place," and bishops ensure that the school provides an "authentic Catholic education." We have much more confidence in Catholic laymen ensuring financially viable institutions, than we do in bishops ensuring "authentically Catholic" schools. Indeed, many Catholics have withdrawn their support and their children from Catholic schools because in too many cases the culture and curriculum has differed so little from that of public schools. We have seen in the past week that the American bishops have even failed to ensure the orthodoxy of their own staff at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Nevertheless, the saving of Catholic schools, a legacy of American saints, is a work that should engage every Catholic layman concerned not only about one's own children, but the future of the Church and the world in which we live.

Down but Not Out in Catholic Suburbia

Inner-city parochial schools are not the only ones struggling.

From The Wall Street Journal
By William McGurn

Tim Busch has an answer to the epidemic of closing Catholic schools. And it has nothing to do with vouchers.

It couldn't come at a more critical moment. Over the next few days, nearly 2.2 million students and their families will celebrate Catholic Schools Week. Though the Catholic school system remains America's largest alternative to public education, the number of both schools and students is roughly half what they were at their peak in the mid-1960s. According to the National Catholic Education Association, the trend continued last year, with 162 Catholic schools consolidating or closing against only 31 new openings.

Amid the gloom Mr. Busch offers a prescription for revival: End the financial dependence on parish or diocese. Build attractive facilities. And compete for students.

If that sounds like a business formula, it is. Mr. Busch is a good friend I came to know through Legatus, an association of Catholic CEOs. Spend any time around him, and you'll find he believes that America needs Catholic schools more than ever, and that they can compete with the best. To prove it, he's helped start up two privately run Catholic schools—St. Anne elementary school and JSerra high school, both in southern California.

Now, there are plenty of upscale Catholic schools with waiting lists—especially those run by religious orders. But here's a fact that gets little mention: a Catholic education is in danger of becoming a luxury for the middle class. It's hard to be optimistic about the future of Catholic schools in our inner cities if Catholics cannot make a go of these schools in the suburbs, where most Catholics live.

Do the math. In my area of New Jersey, for example, a Catholic high school whose tuition clocks in at $15,000 a year is deemed a bargain. For a family with three or four kids, the total tuition can top $3,000 a month. Young middle-class families struggling with a new mortgage and high property taxes can find themselves squeezed: not wealthy enough to pay, not poor enough for aid.

In Mr. Busch's case, he says he got the idea for starting up St. Anne after he and his wife went looking for a Catholic school for their first child—and were depressed by the dilapidated facilities they found at many schools. Ultimately he and his partners settled on a model where parents take responsibility for operating the school, with the diocese ensuring the teachings are authentically Catholic. It's a division of responsibility much in line with Vatican II, freeing up pastors to be pastors while tapping into the financial, legal, and business abilities of lay people.

In some ways, it's liberating for both. Schools replace lay boards that merely advised a pastor or bishop with lay boards that raise money, build facilities, and actually run the place. The appeal to a bishop is this: We'll help you provide an authentic Catholic education to more children—and it won't cost you a dime.

For those who complain that such schools serve only the rich, Mr. Busch says that financially stable schools have more wherewithal to offer those in need (even without endowments—the next step—St. Anne and JSerra have more than 10% of their students on financial assistance). He further points out that need is by no means limited to money. "Some children have wealth," he says. "But having wealth does not insulate you from problems like divorce, substance abuse, loneliness, a culture saturated in sex, and so on. These kids need the Catholic message as much as everyone."

Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., agrees. "Catholic education is such a value both for Catholics and for society that we want it to be accessible and affordable for all who see its intrinsic value . . . . We are fortunate that many lay people are committed to this cause—and are helping us 'think outside the box' so that Catholic schools will thrive in this new decade and beyond."

Mr. Busch's privately run Catholic schools, of course, are not the only new model showing promise. The 24 Jesuit-based Cristo Rey high schools across the country do a terrific job through an innovative work-study program. The bishop and his flock in Wichita, Kan., embraced a stewardship model that calls upon all parishioners to give 8% of their gross income, which allows the diocese to make all its Catholic schools tuition free. And Catholic universities such as Notre Dame and Boston College are reaching out to help run Catholic elementary and high schools.

"We can't wait for vouchers, and we can't look to the old model of relying on our pastors and bishops to come up with the money and answers," says Mr. Busch. "If we want Catholic schools for our children and our society, we have to adopt new models that let us compete."

New Radio Broadcast Delivers Christian Leadership Training to Persecuted North Korean Christians

2010-02-03T07:54:00.004-05:00

Two ministries have launched a radio broadcast to provide Biblically-based leadership training to North Korean Christians and others in the country experts call the "worst place in the world to be a Christian."

The 30-minute daily broadcast is a partnership between Dr. John C. Maxwell's EQUIP organization and The Voice of the Martyrs -- Korea (VOM-Korea). The broadcast consists of a version of EQUIP's leadership training material, called PREQUIP, modified to provide the basic concepts of leadership not learned under totalitarian regimes.

The broadcast is produced and engineered in VOM-Korea's facilities in Seoul, South Korea and airs in the overnight hours. According to VOM-Korea Vice President Choi Young Hun, this is "when the most North Koreans are able to safely listen to their illegal radios."

The Voice of the Martyrs and Open Doors organizations both rank North Korea as the worst persecutor of Christians in the world. According to VOM's Persecuted Church Global Report 2010, "Christians must practice their faith in deep secrecy and are in constant danger" of kidnap, arrest, imprisonment or execution.

According to Choi, "Being a Christian is considered a capital crime in North Korea and Hebrews 13:3 reminds us that every Christian shares the responsibility to encourage and train their fellow believers being persecuted in North Korea."

"That's why this partnership is important," says John D. Hull, president of EQUIP. "Our mission is to raise up Christian leaders in every country around the world and that must include North Korea. This partnership enables us to support our Christian brothers and sisters there."

This broadcast is an extension of a partnership that began by jointly developing the PREQUIP curriculum that is also taught in Underground University, a Seoul-based training program for North Korean exiles who are preparing to serve and grow the North Korean church in North Korea, China, South Korea and around the world (Underground University is a joint venture between The Voice of The Martyrs organizations in Korea, Canada, Australia and the United States).

EQUIP is a Georgia-based non-profit organization, founded by Dr. John C. Maxwell in 1996, specializing in the development of effective Christian leaders internationally.