Consolation

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Affliges

****It is fitting for my wonderful gift of an antique holy card from France, from one of my dear blogger friends, to be the newest thing to grace my desk. It is ensconced in its new frame placed right next to my monitor as a constant reminder that those who grieve will be consoled by Our Holy Mother.

****Am I grieving the election of Barack Obama? No, not at all. What I am grieving for is the souls of Catholics who have strayed so far from the flock that the intentional murder of children, and the encouragement of old or sick people to kill themselves, seems not to have made a ripple in their lives.

****I am thankful for the 114 or so bishops who have bravely done their duty, but I grieve for the bishops who have led their flocks so far afield that the souls of these people are in danger of spending eternity in hell.

****We need to pray those bishops will continue to support the teachings of the church in a vocal and public manner. They can start by excommunicating the politicians who have unashamedly supported this "culture of death", thereby sending a strong message to the laity that this will not stand. They can get back to their jobs of teaching and leading the people in the pews who have not heard much truth in the past 40 years. And most of all, they can start to follow the examples and teachings of our Holy Father.

****Those of us in the laity who care enough to read the documents coming from Rome, know the Canadian and American bishops have overwhelmingly thumbed their collective noses at the Holy See since the early days of "wink, wink, nudge" when a woman parishioner asked about contraception. They covered up for their own who commited vile crimes against young people and they have subverted our liturgy into something that is unrecognizable as being Catholic. The laity have seen the disobedience of the bishops, and in turn disobey with no thought to their eternal life.

****I am proud of my generation, those over the age of 62, who overwhelmingly voted for McCain; not because McCain was the perfect pro-life candidate but because we remember a different world.

****We remember a world of personal responsibility where immigrant Italians, such as my grandfather and grandmother, could come to this country without expecting a handout. These people worked hard and started their own businesses , raised large Catholic families, supported and even built the beautiful Churches that we have often destroyed in the name of modernization.

****We remember a world where we supported our troops and our President. We now have a President, George W. Bush, who embodies grace under pressure, and has upheld the sanctity of life and we, meaning the public media that speaks for us, have ridiculed him, insulted him, and hurled unimaginable invectives at this man who has kept us safe. Our world has become boorish and crude.

****My world and the people in it was not perfect. That is an impossibility due to our humanness. But I have watched with horror as events in this world have spiraled so far out of control that there is nothing that could surprise me anymore.

****The time for sitting back and waiting for "the other guy to take care of this" is over. We are entering a period where the world and the Church will be sorely tested. Our first line of defense is always prayer; for ourselves, our leaders, and most of all for our episcopal leaders. If your bishop was one that forcefully spoke out, thank him with a letter or an email and ask him how you can help.

****Stop supporting those that wish your soul harm. Don't go to their movies, watch their TV shows, eat in their restaurants, buy their products, and most importantly, don't vote for them; and tell them why! Start changing your own life to reflect authentic Catholic teaching. Pray the rosary with your family, take your children to Adoration, start receiving communion on the tongue, and promote good sacred music at your parish. Read and study about your Catholic faith so that you can evangelize.

****And after you have started making those changes, know that God is in charge. Real hope is in our Lord and Savior - not in some politician who promises you a free ride.

****As for me, I will continue to become even more involved in the political process - something I have not done in the past. It is our right and duty to bring Catholic teaching and culture into public life.

May God bless all my readers and our newly elected leaders.

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One More Day...

****We have one day left of political ads. For that we need to thank God on bended knee.

****What has made me saddest this election season is to see a “Catholics for Obama” sign or sticker. There is no way for that to not be an oxymoron. The bishops, 114 of them at last count, have said in no uncertain terms that a vote for Obama is a vote for abortion, one of the five non-negotiables.**

****"Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it -- whether they're famous or not -- fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith." +Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. Archbishop of Denver

****It is our duty as Catholics to inform our mind of what the Church teaches, and to conform our lives to these truths. It is not permissible to think that Obama’s stance on “social issues” outweighs the fundamental right to life. Without life, we have no need for social justice.

****"To suggest -- as some Catholics do -- that Senator Obama is this year’s “real” pro-life candidate requires a peculiar kind of self-hypnosis, or moral confusion, or worse. To portray the 2008 Democratic Party presidential ticket as the preferred “pro-life” option is to subvert what the word “pro-life” means.

****""Abortion is a foundational issue; it is not an issue like housing policy or the price of foreign oil. It always involves the intentional killing of an innocent life, and it is always, grievously wrong." +Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. Archbishop of Denver

****A vote for Obama, therefore, is a vote for abortion. Our duty as Catholics is to provide moral witness to the Truth. When we publicly support an evil, we also cause scandal, thereby leading or influencing others to sin. God will judge us harshly for what we do, either for or to, the weakest or most vulnerable; that includes leading the young and less informed to believe something which is a grave sin is permissible.

****I have the right and the duty to judge the actions of others. I do not have the right to condemn since that action is a product of the sinner. To condemn yourself by ignoring the teaching of the Church will be yours to answer for.
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** The five issues are abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning and homosexual “marriage” – all of which must be universally opposed by the Catholic voter.
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****In an interview with Kansas City’s Chris Stigall today, the bishop makes it clear that Catholics who vote for a radically pro-abortion candidate risk formal cooperation in an excommunicating act: H/T Hat Air




****"I would say, “Give consideration to your eternal salvation.” Because to vote for a person who has expressed a fanatical determination to not only support abortion as it exists now but to remove all limitations on it through the Freedom of Choice Act, and to extend it without any recourse, throwing out all of the efforts of citizens over the last 35 years to place reasonable limits on abortion, that voting for a person who has expressed his determination to do this to Planned Parenthood, to NARAL — that you make yourself a participant in the act of abortion. That’s gravely wrong, and you mustn’t do it because your eternal salvation is tied up in that important choice." Bishop Robert Finn

Obama Gets Testy With the Press

****During this campaign we have witnessed the most despicable assault on a candidates family by the press and the public in the history of this country. The names of Sarah Palin's children have become household words while the average person could not tell you the names of Barack Obama's children or their ages.

****Now we have Obama becoming testy with the press for taking pictures of him walking down the street with his oldest daughter dressed in her Halloween costume.

****"All right guys, that's enough," said Obama, wearing a casual outfit and sunglasses in the early evening.
****He and his daughter were walking right toward the media on a public street.
"You got a shot," he told the photographers. "Leave us alone. Come on, guys."

****On one or two occasions Obama has said that children of the candidates should be off limits. And yet he continued to allow the press to savage the Palin children when he, more than anyone, could have put a stop to it.

****Instead of throwing dissenting press off his campaign plane for the last few days of this campaign maybe he should have threatened to throw the "children-bashing" press off the plane months ago. Think that would have put an end to endless rumors, innuendos, and just plain ugliness thrown at the Palin kids? I do and I think others are thinking that too.

****And through it all Sarah Palin and her children have held their heads ups. Their faith in God, which has also been a held up to ridicule, is what is sustaining them now. May God bless those children.

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....Blessed are you, O Lord our God, for the triumph of Christ in the lives of your saints. Receive the prayers we offer this day and help us to run our course with faith, that we may swiftly come to your eternal kingdom. Glory to you forever and ever.
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* "Kerry Picket of Eyeblast gives us the 1-minute primer on Selflessness and Patriotism in the Age of Obama. This can best be defined by keeping one’s mouth shut as the government drops the barrier of “excessive income” progressively lower" Ed Morrissey, Hot Air





****"Because, remember: it’s selfish to think that you can distribute the wealth you earned more efficiently and intelligently than Obama and his small, elite group of policymakers. Why, look how well the government performed when it decided it knew better how to grant mortgages than the lenders themselves!" Ed Morrissey
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This is a BIG surprise

****We needed a "study" to tell us this?

Study: Media coverage has favored Obama campaign
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer

NEW YORK – John McCain supporters who believe they haven't gotten a fair shake from the media during the Republican's candidacy against Barack Obama have a new study to point to. Comments made by sources, voters, reporters and anchors that aired on ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts over the past two months reflected positively on Obama in 65 percent of cases, compared to 31 percent of cases with regards to McCain, according to the Center for Media and Public Affairs. read more
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Obama Infomercial

****I know most of you sensible folks did not watch that strange and very creepy infomercial complements of Obama and his millions. But I am blessed(?) with a "need to know". In this case the "need to know" related to my enemy.

****According to top producers of infomercials it was a disaster and the ratings were abysmal. Only a diehard non-thinking, "operating on feelings only" person could have reacted with anything except disgust.

Remember the tax cuts for folks under 250K?? Think again.






Historic Election?

Read what Carolina Cannonball over at The Crescat has to say.

Three Days of Fast and Prayer

Don't forget the three days of fast and prayer. Since I always want to make sure everything is done correctly, I emailed IR to clarify the days involved. I tend to worry about things no rational person would even give a nanoseconds thought about.

Here's what he said: "I'm asking people to fast and pray for three days--If they do so on Sat, Sun and Tuesday, or Sat, Sun and Monday, or in other patterns, I'm not too concerned. As long as we Fast and Pray! If you want to update this, perhaps you can mention the days you are choosing or suggesting."

My husband and I have chosen Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday so we will be doing extra prayers and fasting on election day. As IR said, chose any days you want - just DO IT!


The Announcement

I have officially lost my mind (it was only a suspicion before), and become a WriMo. Tomorrow is the first day of National Novel Writing Month.

What is NaNoWriMo?
(from their website 'cause I don't want to tax my brain more than necessary today)

****National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

****Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

****Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

****Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

****As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

****In 2007, we had over 100,000 participants. More than 15,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.




So where am I in this endeavor? Trying to finish No Plot, No Problem, by the founder of NoNoWriMo, Chris Baty. I had it rush shipped and received it just a few days ago.

First, like all good ADD adults with slight overtones of OCD, I had to complete my shopping, do a marathon cooking session, clean the house (hubby changed the sheets today - bless his little heart), read my blogs, pay the bills, and on and on.

Do I have a plot? Heck no! What fun would that be?

Now I shall go finish reading my book.

This is an OUTRAGE!!

Hang Sarah Palin and it's "in the spirit of Halloween and should be considered art." Hang Obama and you will investigated by the Secret Service, FBI, local police and campus police.

And you want this man to be President?

Wake up American and take a good hard look at your future!



Hanged Obama effigy found at Ky. school
Published: Oct. 29, 2008 at 4:01 PM

LEXINGTON, Ky., Oct. 29 (UPI) -- University of Kentucky officials said an effigy of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama was found hanging from a tree on campus Wednesday.

...Lee Todd, the university president, said it is not yet known whether a student was responsible for the effigy and the incident is being investigated by the University Police Department and the Lexington Police Department. He said the Secret Service has been notified.
"It's a very embarrassing situation that has happened on our campus, regardless of who did it," Todd said.
He described hanging the effigy as a "despicable act."
"We certainly believe in political expression, just not in this form," he said.

Latest radio reports have said this will be investigated as a "hate crime" and the FBI has also been called in.

Halloween Palin Prop Sparks Controversy In West Hollywood, Calif.

(AP) ― A Halloween decoration showing a mannequin dressed as vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin hanging by a noose from the roof of a West Hollywood home is drawing giggles from some passers-by and gasps of outrage from others. The mannequin is dressed in brunet wig, glasses and a red business suit. Another mannequin dressed as John McCain emerges from a flaming chimney. Chad Michael Morisette, who lives in the house, told CBS 2 News that drivers and bus passengers have been stopping to snap pictures of the macabre scene. Morisette says the effigy would be out of bounds at any other time of year, but it's within the spirit of Halloween. He says "it should be seen as art, and as within the month of October. It's Halloween, it's time to be scary it's time to be spooky."
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Scarborough Stumps Sachs on Obama Accomplishments
By Mark Finkelstein

(my comments in red)

***"Forget "what has he done for me lately?" **How about: "what has he ever done?" ** Columbia professor (that right there scares me) and Obama fan Jeffrey Sachs was effectively stumped when Joe Scarborough put that question to him on today's Morning Joe. **Sachs is author of Common Wealth, a title that should send shivers down the spine in these days of redistributionism in the air.**It was towards the end of Sachs's appearance during the 6 AM EDT hour that Joe hit him with the "extra credit" question." read transcript

View Video here. (You'll have to scroll down and hit Mark's link) We all deserve a good laugh today.

Oh yes -- Obama voted to kill babies. That's not funny!
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Redneck Woman

My Kind of Gal

I just love watching white folk trying to clap.........

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Karl Marx

Think this is a great idea? Consider who is going to decide...

• The government will decide how much money it thinks you should be able to keep
• The government will decide who will own a home or a car
• The government will decide what quality of health care you will receive and when
• The government will start indoctrinating your children when they are babies in state run schools
• The government will decide what you can hear on the radio, TV, or the internet
• The government will make anything contrary to what they espouse a hate crime
• Well heck, the government will decide whether you live or die

It's already happening (taxes, Medicare, "early learning" centers, abortion, euthanasia), and will escalate at a rate unknown to the lemmings in this country who vote for "change."

ABC and CBS Morning Shows Skip Obama 'Redistribution of Wealth' Tape
By Scott Whitlock

****ABC's "Good Morning America" and CBS's "Early Show" on Tuesday avoided any mention of the newly found 2001 audiotape in which then-state Senator Barack Obama lamented to a radio interviewer that "the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth." Only NBC's "Today" show played any of the tape. read more

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****Shouldn't this little girl be looking for shapes in clouds instead of extolling the virtues of "living green?"

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****"It's obvious from the audio below that the "redistribution of wealth" answer given to Joe the plumber was not just a poorly chosen phrase. This interview from 2001 reveals that this is Obama's deeply-held philosophy." St. John's Valdosta

Listen here

*2001 Obama

Chicago Public Radio Interview

WBEZ.FM

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Cardinal Eagan Strikes Again

Creative Minority Report

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Single issue voter? The Crescat Speaks*

****"I am dumb founded how anyone can possibly reconcile within their conscience a comparison between losing your pension, a globally warm earth, or murdering an infant? There is absolutely no comparison." read it all

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Obama Interview From 1995

Will You Hear This on Mainstream Media?

****"I worked as a community organizer in Chicago, [and] was very active in low-income neighborhoods working on issues of crime and education and employment, and seeing that in some ways certain portions of the African-American community are doing as bad, if not worse, and recognizing that my fate remained tied up with their fates. That my individual salvation is not going to come about without a collective salvation for the country.

****"Unfortunately, I think that recognition requires that we make sacrifices, and this country has not always been willing to make the sacrifices necessary to bring about a new day and a new age." Barack Hussein Obama




Full transcript in pdf

Senator Obama's Four Tax Increases for People Earning Under $250k

By Ned Barnett

****"I confess. Senator Obama's two tax promises: to limit tax increases to only those making over $250,000 a year, and to not raise taxes on 95% of "working Americans," intrigued me. As a hard-working small business owner, over the past ten years I've earned from $50,000 to $100,000 per year. If Senator Obama is shooting straight with us, under his presidency I could look forward to paying no additional Federal taxes -- I might even get a break -- and as I struggle to support a family and pay for two boys in college, a reliable tax freeze is nearly as welcome as further tax cuts. read more

Call for a Rosary Novena
By Fr. John Corapi

****Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

****Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception. This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children.


****No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

****I strongly urge every one of you to make a Novena and pray the Rosary to Our Lady of Victory between October 27th and Election Day, November 4th. Pray that God’s will be done and the most innocent and utterly vulnerable of our brothers and sisters will be protected from this barbaric and grossly sinful blight on society that is abortion. No woman, and no man, has the right to choose to murder an innocent human being.

****May God grant us the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and counsel to form our conscience in accordance with authentic Catholic teaching, and then vote that well‐formed Catholic conscience.

Three Days of Fast and Prayer

***Many of us in the Catholic blogoshere are joining together to fast and pray for three days before the election. IR has all the details in these posts.

****I know some of my faithful readers are not Catholic but I also know you will join with us in prayer for an end to abortions and for God's will to be done in all things.

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Has America Lost Its Way?
Bishop Aquila on Returning to Nation's Foundations

****"Once we lose God in the pursuit of happiness, and once we lose the sense of the dignity of the human person and the God in whose image and likeness we are truly created, then we lose all sense of any moral compass or any moral standard. Without God, can there be any morality at all? Or is it set by the thinking of the day that can change from generation to generation, rooted in no truths that are valid for every person in every generation?" * *Bishop Aquila

FARGO, North Dakota, OCT. 24, 2008 Here is an excerpt of the homily given Sunday by Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo at the Cathedral of St. Mary

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H/T Our very own Ray from Minnesota at Stella Borealis

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H.R. 808
Department of Peace and Nonviolence
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Your World Under Obama
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****"People from all over California and the western States will convene at the oldest campus in California at Berkeley on August 1-3 to attend the 2008 California Department of Peace Conference. Conference segments and speakers will relate directly to the nationwide movement to pass House Resolution 808 (H.R. 808) now in Congress, to establish a cabinet level U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence (DOP)."

****And who was the keynote speaker to address this august assembly? None other than Oprah spawn and deep-thinker Marianne Williamson, New Ager par excellence. Ms. Williamson is a major pusher of the Course in Miracles, which according to the author Helen Schucman, was channeled to "correct the mistakes in the Bible."
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****By my quick count this bill forms 7 new offices and upwards of 14 new assistant secretaries. No where in the bill does it suggest that we defend unborn children against violence.
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****Proposed funding for a U.S. Department of Peace and Non-violence would initially come from a budget that is defined by the violence-prevention bill as, "at least 1 percent of the proposed federal discretionary budget, FY 2008 of which 53% is already allocated to the Department of Defense (budget)". Whether or not the chairman of the US Institute of Peace would be promoted to a cabinet level position, or whether an entirely new position would be created, is not addressed by this bill.
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This Says It All

New Video Release

H/T Catholic Dads