Fr. Newman’s parishioners came to Mass in large numbers this weekend and applauded so long when he began his homily that they only quieted down when he turned and knelt to the Blessed Sacrament.
30.11.08
In the Name of Knowledge and Wisdom...
... Why Atheists, Sceptics, Agnostics, and Intellectuals Deny Christianity.
I began to study the history of other atheist writers and existentialist philosophers ... all the way up to our modern atheists. All of them did not reject and attack Christianity because the evidence was lacking; many of them rejected it because, as Aldous Huxley and Shelley and Russell put it and as many others would agree, Christianity interferes with their sexual mores.
Ateus: In Obama we trust
Wall Street Journal
"Nonbelievers Think the Time Is Right to Better Organize Their Nonreligion and Swell the Membership...
During the past three years, membership has grown in local and national associations of nonbelievers. [Secularist groups say their membership began to surge in 2005, when Congress sought to prevent Terri Schiavo's husband from removing her feeding tube].
Books attacking faith as a delusion shot up best-seller lists. For the first time, the faithless even raised enough funds to hire a congressional lobbyist.
... nonbelievers have begun a very public campaign to win broad acceptance. On billboards and bus ads, radio commercials and the Internet, atheists are coming forward to declare, quite simply: We're here. And we're just like you.´...
The new ad campaigns and other public-relations efforts are designed to raise comfort levels about atheism by making the point that nonbelievers are "just as ethical and moral as anyone else," said Lori Lipman Brown, who lobbies Congress on behalf of the Secular Coalition for America.
... "Step one is for people to know we're not crazy, we're just regular people [who have] perfectly satisfactory lives without believing in God."
[Secularists also are encouraged by Mr. Obama ...]
They note that in a big speech on faith last summer, Mr. Obama called for "Christian and Jew, Hindu and Muslim, believer and nonbeliever alike" to work together. It isn't often that politicians specifically mention nonbelievers, they say..."
OBAMA: He is Not Black
Washington Post:
He is also half white.O detentor do título de first black president continua a ser este.
... our president-elect is not black.
That was my reaction when I read these words on the front page of this newspaper the day after the election: "Obama Makes History: U.S. Decisively Elects First Black President."
The phrase was repeated in much the same form by one media organization after another. It's as if we have one foot in the future and another still mired in the Old South. ...
To me, as to increasing numbers of mixed-race people, Barack Obama is not our first black president. He is our first biracial, bicultural president."
29.11.08
Why Kmiec will not become the new Vatican Ambassador
"An official from the Vatican's Secretary of State department has reacted to the recent suggestion that Pepperdine professor Douglas Kmiec should become the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican by saying, "it will never happen."
On November 23, America Magazine published a blog entry from Michael Sean Winters describing Professor Douglas Kmiec, the former Republican pro-lifer who became Obama’s top Catholic apologist during the presidential campaign, as "the perfect candidate" to become U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See."
Abortion Now Number One Cause of Death in Spain
"Under Spain's practically nonexistent restrictions, abortions have more than doubled since the mid 1990s, climbing from 51,006 in 1996 to over 120,000 in 2007. The abortion rate is now approaching one in five pregnancies (18.3%), according to the report."
GRAMSCI: Founder of Italian Communism died a good Catholic, Vatican prelate says
"Archbishop Luigi de Magistris, [former] Major Penitentiary of the Vatican, asserted this week during an interview on Vatican Radio that Gramsci returned to the Catholic church on his deathbed, receiving the sacraments and even kissing a small image of the child Jesus.
... Gramsci’s major contribution to Communist thought in the 20th century was his theory of “cultural hegemony.” He held that it wasn’t enough to dismantle Capitalist economic and political structures, but one also had to attack the cultural system of meaning upon which “bourgeois values” were based.
For Gramsci, that meant above all replacing Christianity with a Marxist-inspired form of spirituality – combining, in his view, the enlightened critique of religion found in Renaissance humanism with some of the specifically anti-Catholic thought of the Protestant Reformation.
De Magistris insisted that as death neared, Gramsci abandoned these intellectual theories in order to return to the church’s embrace.
“He had an image of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus in his room,” de Magistris said. “During his final illness, the sisters of the clinic where he stayed brought him an image of the Child Jesus, and Gramsci kissed it,” he said.
“Gramsci died with the sacraments. He returned to the faith of his infancy,” de Magistris said. "Some in the Communist world prefer not to talk about it, but it's true."
27.11.08
Anti-Life Appointments in the Obama Administration (so far)
Mais recente:
Domestic Policy Council Director: Melody Barnes - The former board member at both EMILY's List and Planned Parenthood [a multinacional que mais abortos pratica em todo o mundo] has earned a reputation as an "unabashed" liberal after dedicating much of her career to advancing unfettered embryonic stem-cell research and abortion
Os sanguinários peregrinos
Um grupo de peregrinos voltou de Fátima pegou nas metralhadoras e decidiu ir à Índia matar umas dúzias de ingleses e americanos.
Esta interpretação é perfeitamente compatível com as notícias sobre o massacre de difundidas hoje de manhã por algumas rádios.
Esta interpretação é perfeitamente compatível com as notícias sobre o massacre de difundidas hoje de manhã por algumas rádios.
23.11.08
SOLENIDADE DE NOSSOS SENHOR JESUS CRISTO, REI DO UNIVERSO
Pio XI, Quas Primas, 11/12/1925:This kingdom is spiritual and is concerned with spiritual things...
... all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ ...
... If princes and magistrates duly elected are filled with the persuasion that they rule, not by their own right, but by the mandate and in the place of the Divine King, they will exercise their authority piously and wisely, and they will make laws and administer them, having in view the common good and also the human dignity of their subjects. The result will be a stable peace and tranquillity, for there will be no longer any cause of discontent...
... The rebellion of individuals and states against the authority of Christ has produced deplorable consequences. ... those bitter enmities ... between nations ...; a blind and immoderate selfishness, making men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage, and measure everything by these; no peace in the home, because men have forgotten or neglect their duty; the unity and stability of the family undermined; society in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the way to ruin. ...
When we pay honor to the princely dignity of Christ, men will doubtless be reminded that the Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state; and that in fulfilling the task committed to her by God of teaching, ruling, and guiding to eternal bliss those who belong to the kingdom of Christ, she cannot be subject to any external power...
Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ. It will call to their minds the thought of the last judgment, wherein Christ... will most severely avenge these insults; for his kingly dignity demands that the State should take account of the commandments of God and of Christian principles, both in making laws and in administering justice, and also in providing for the young a sound moral education.
The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. ... it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.
'extreme pro-Obama' press bias
"Media bias was more intense in the 2008 election than in any other national campaign in recent history, Time magazine's Mark Halperin said Friday at the Politico/USC conference on the 2008 election.
... "It was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage."
Halperin, who maintains Time's political site "The Page," cited two New York Times articles as examples of the divergent coverage of the two candidates.
... "The daily output was the most disparate of any campaign I've ever covered, by far."
Por detrás do panem et circenses mediático
Estão a ir-nos ao pão e ao chouriço:
"No país se entretém com os folhetins do BPN e da avaliação dos professores, os presidentes da administração do BCP e da Caixa Geral de Depósitos revelam... que vão pedir garantias do Estado para contrair empréstimos, respectivamente, de cinco mil milhões de euros e dois mil milhões de euros. ... isto corresponde, para ajudar só dois bancos portugueses, a um valor ... idêntico ao Plano Paulson para salvar o conjunto do sistema financeiro americano..."... e há quem queira atirar-nos às feras, no circo...:
"Ao passar pela Praça de Espanha, avistei um cartaz que ostentava "O Governo protege os banqueiros. E quem protege as pessoas?".
Uma frase muito elucidativa e que traz, juntamente com a desumanização dos banqueiros (o que se diria de uma frase semelhante que substituisse os "banqueiros" por "judeus", "imigrantes" ou "homossexuais"), o velho discurso do ódio genocida que é timbre da extrema-esquerda à campanha política portuguesa..."
22.11.08
Martyr news network
AMÉRICA LATINA: Chavez supporters vandalize churches ahead of crucial Venezuela elections
ÍNDIA: A nun in India alleges she was gang-raped by 40 men in an attack motivated by religion, and has accused the police of doing nothing; Hindu Groups in India Offering Rewards to Kill Christians
GOA: Goa: Acquittal in case involving 2006 stabbing of priest: "The South Goa Sessions Court on Monday acquitted two men accused of smothering, strangling, and stabbing Father Eusebio Ferrao to death in 2006. Father Ferrao’s successor as parish priest said, ‘Justice is not done, because everybody knows the duo had committed the crime.’"
MÉDIO ORIENTE: Christians are being persecuted not only in Iraq, but in most Arab countries
EUA: Planned Parenthood lashes out at Boston's Cardinal O'Malley.
GAYSISTÃO: Gay mob assaults peaceful Christians
ÍNDIA: A nun in India alleges she was gang-raped by 40 men in an attack motivated by religion, and has accused the police of doing nothing; Hindu Groups in India Offering Rewards to Kill Christians
GOA: Goa: Acquittal in case involving 2006 stabbing of priest: "The South Goa Sessions Court on Monday acquitted two men accused of smothering, strangling, and stabbing Father Eusebio Ferrao to death in 2006. Father Ferrao’s successor as parish priest said, ‘Justice is not done, because everybody knows the duo had committed the crime.’"
MÉDIO ORIENTE: Christians are being persecuted not only in Iraq, but in most Arab countries
EUA: Planned Parenthood lashes out at Boston's Cardinal O'Malley.
GAYSISTÃO: Gay mob assaults peaceful Christians
NOVA ENCÍCLICA: CARITAS IN VERITATE
Apesar de a nova encíclica do Papa não ter ainda sido publicada, começam a surgir algumas informações concretas sobre o seu conteúdo:
- "Pope Benedict’s third encyclical, Love in Truth (Caritas in Veritate), applies the themes of his first two encyclicals —love and hope (God Is Love, Saved in Hope) — to the world’s major social issues. Drawing on moral truths open, in principle, to everyone (the natural law) as well as on the teachings of the gospel (revelation), Pope Benedict addresses Catholics and non-Catholics alike, challenging us all to recognize and then to confront the social evils of our day.
The first part of the encyclical examines the dynamic teaching of Benedict’s predecessors, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. Both men contributed greatly to the body of doctrine known as “Catholic social teaching”. Both men challenged the simplistic division of political perspectives into “conservative” and “liberal”, and “right” and “left”. Both men were convinced that the natural moral law and the teaching of the Gospel were indispensable for a world in desperate search of hope and meaning.
In the second part Benedict surveys the social issues that confront the human race today—assaults on the dignity of the human person such as the attack on human life, poverty, issues of war and peace, terrorism, globalization, and environmental concerns. Benedict provides sound moral principles to address these social and economic problems, and to promote a culture of life and genuine peace." - CNS: 'Love in Truth' - the indispensable connection between the Gospel and social justice:
"To three very different audiences in November -- diplomats, health care specialists and the Catholic faithful -- the pope emphasized the indispensable connection between the Gospel and social justice...
"What he asks is only this: Did you visit me when I was sick? When I was in prison? Did you feed me when I was hungry, and did you clothe me when I was naked? And so, justice is decided by charity," he said...
... Speaking to the new Lithuanian ambassador to the Vatican in early November, the pope eloquently summarized his essential message in a few quick strokes, and in the process critiqued the consumer society.
"Since love of God leads to participation in the justice and generosity of God toward others, the practice of Christianity leads naturally to solidarity with one's fellow citizens and indeed with the whole of the human family," he said.
"It leads to a determination to serve the common good and to take responsibility for the weaker members of society, and it curbs the desire to amass wealth for oneself alone. Our society needs to rise above the allure of material goods and to focus instead upon values that truly promote the good of the human person," he said.
A few days later, the pope addressed a Vatican health care conference on the treatment of sick children. He noted that each year 4 million children die in the first 26 days of life, many of them as a result of poverty, drought and hunger.
... By providing medical and spiritual care to the neediest children, Catholic health care facilities and associations are following the example of Jesus, the good Samaritan, he said.
... On the broader economic front, the pope forcefully has encouraged countries to implement the aid quotas of the Millennium Development Goals, a plan that aims to cut global poverty in half by 2015. He has repeatedly warned that market forces motivated solely by profit-seeking can never lead to justice.
The pope's interest in economic mechanisms is not new. In an article presented in a symposium in 1985, he criticized the idea that market laws alone represent the best guarantee of progress and justice.
Ethics, sustained by strong religious convictions, must be brought to bear on the market system, he said, and "the decline of such discipline can actually cause the laws of the market to collapse."
Those words have a prophetic ring today. Certainly the current global financial crisis could merit its own chapter in the upcoming encyclical, and some believe that's one reason it remains a work in progress.
Obama supporters lowering expectations
"No more talk of him being The One (Oprah), or a Jedi Knight (George Lucas), or a “Lightworker” (the San Francisco Chronicle), or a “quantum leap in American consciousness” (Deepak Chopra). Instead we have more humble and circumspect conversation about the man. Now he’s merely Abraham Lincoln and FDR and Martin Luther King, combined.
It’s a step down from divine redeemer, but you have to start somewhere."
Pope pondering change to Mass liturgy
"Cardinal Francis Arinze, who heads the Vatican office for sacraments, says the pope may move the placement of the sign of peace, where congregation members shake hands or hug. ...Na EXORTAÇÃO APOSTÓLICA PÓS-SINODAL SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS, Bento XVI tinha já advertido que:
Under the change, the sign of peace, which now takes place moments before the reception of communion, would come earlier. Arinze said the change might help create a more solemn atmosphere as the faithful are preparing to receive communion."
"durante o Sínodo dos Bispos foi sublinhada a conveniência de moderar este gesto, que pode assumir expressões excessivas, suscitando um pouco de confusão na assembleia precisamente antes da comunhão. É bom lembrar que nada tira ao alto valor do gesto a sobriedade necessária para se manter um clima apropriado à celebração, limitando, por exemplo, a saudação da paz a quem está mais próximo".Em 2004, na Instrução Redemptionis Sacramentum, sobre a correcção dos abusos litúrgicos, referia a Congregação ara o Culto Divino que:
"Convém «que cada um dê a paz, sobriamente, só aos mais próximos a si. O sacerdote pode dar a paz aos ministros, permanecendo sempre dentro do presbitério, para que não altere a celebração. Faça-se do mesmo modo se, por uma causa razoável, deseja dar a paz a alguns fiéis». «No que se refere ao significado (sinal) para se desejar a paz, estabeleça, a Conferência de Bispos, qual é a forma mais apropriada», com o reconhecimento da Sé apostólica, «de acordo com a idiossincrasia (características próprias) e os costumes dos povos»."Nesta, como noutras áreas, parece, por vezes, existir um certo receio em exercer a autoridade legítima que, mais que direito, é dever.
21.11.08
TIME INC. 'contractual promise' with Angelina Jolie for 'positive coverage'...
"When Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt negotiated with People and other celebrity magazines this summer for photos of their newborn twins and an interview, the stars were seeking more than the estimated $14 million they received from the deal. They also wanted a hefty slice of journalistic input — a promise that the winning magazine's coverage would be positive, not merely in that instance but into the future.
Putin Instructs Media Not to Use the Word "Crisis"
Esta foi, até agora, a mais eficaz medida tomada por um governo contra "a crise".
(É possível que tenha existido um intercâmbio de best practices entre o governo russo e o governo de uma pequeno país que resiste ainda e sempre à "recessão técnica").
(É possível que tenha existido um intercâmbio de best practices entre o governo russo e o governo de uma pequeno país que resiste ainda e sempre à "recessão técnica").
Este post ...
... do JSarto é um interessante complemento ao anterior post do Corcunda, já aqui mencionado.
Going rate to kill pastor: $250 - Rewards offered for murdering Christians, destroying homes, churches
Quem são os mandantes destes crimes ?
Serão os gays da califórnia ? Terroristas islâmicos ? O governo chinês ? O Richard Dawkins ? O CAA ?
Não. Nenhum destes amantes da tolerância, da paz e da liberdade estão envolvidos:
Serão os gays da califórnia ? Terroristas islâmicos ? O governo chinês ? O Richard Dawkins ? O CAA ?
Não. Nenhum destes amantes da tolerância, da paz e da liberdade estão envolvidos:
"Hindu extremist groups are offering money, food and alcohol to anyone who murders Christians and destroys their homes.
The violence is nothing new in Orissa, India, where India's Communist Party estimates that more than 500 Christians have been killed by Hindu mobs in Orissa since late August, 12 times more than official government claims of only 40 homicides."
20.11.08
RUSH: Why Doesn't Liberalism Have to Change When Democrats Lose?
" when we wiped the floor with the libs, I do not remember the libs rejecting their theories and their ideas and their policies. I didn't see 'em reevaluate who they are. I didn't see them say the era of FDR is over. I didn't hear them say or do, "We've gotta change who we are. We gotta go out and try to attract those southern conservatives. We have to go out and try to attract those pro-lifers." They don't do that. The left never waters themselves down. They don't water down liberalism. They don't say the era of FDR is over. All of a sudden when we lose we're supposed to do that, we're supposed to throw away everything we believe in, we're supposed to toss aside every conservative principle we believe in, because the Republicans lost? Conservatism did not lose, except when it wasn't on the ballot. When conservatism, traditional American values and institutions were on the ballot, Prop 8 -- can you believe, in California, the whole concept of marriage being something other than between a man and a woman was defeated? How can that be? "
Supreme Court to review Barack's citizenship; Case challenging his name on ballot set for 'conference'
"A case that challenges President-elect Barack Obama's name on the 2008 election ballot citing questions over his citizenship has been scheduled for a "conference" at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Conferences are private meetings of the justices at which they review cases and decide which ones to accept for formal review. This case is set for a conference Dec. 5, just 10 days before the Electoral College is scheduled to meet to make formal the election of Obama as the nation's next president."
ANN COULTER: GENIUS, THY NAME IS OBAMA
"With Time magazine comparing Obama to Jesus, I guess we should be relieved that, this week, liberals are only comparing him to Abraham Lincoln...
The one thing every liberal on TV seems to know about Lincoln is that he put rivals in his cabinet... And hasn't Obama talked to former rival Hillary about becoming his secretary of state? Hasn't he had a sit-down with Sen. John McCain?
Indeed, historians have just named Obama the best president-elect ever.
I don't recall the media swooning when President George W. Bush reached out to rivals, ... Sen. Teddy Kennedy, who was asked to co-write Bush's education bill. In his first few weeks in office, Bush met with more than 150 members of Congress, half of them Democrats ... Bush's very first social event at the White House was movie night with the Kennedy family ... Naturally, Bush also had primary rival John McCain and his wife, Cindy, over to dinner at the White House.
Bush was the first president in memory to attend the congressional retreats of the opposing party... Bush even made a special point to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus upon taking office, which -- given their feelings toward Bush -- would be the equivalent of Obama holding a special meet-and-greet session with the upper management of the Ku Klux Klan.
Bush invited the Democratic black mayor of the District of Columbia to the White House, attended a majority black District church service and appointed the first black secretary of state.
And that was all before Feb. 1, 2001. (By the end of his presidency, he would have appointed the first two black secretaries of state.) ...
O meu pai foi um dador de sémen, anónimo
"... Katrina sente-se revoltada com o facto de que as leis sobre fecundação artificial tenham sido feitas pensando, apenas, nos desejos dos adultos sem ter em consideração os direitos das pessoas concebidas desse modo.
... Simpatiza-se com a mãe por querer ter um filho. Ao doador é garantido o anonimato, bem como isenção de qualquer responsabilidade sobre o filho nascido da sua doação..."
Preços agrícolas: ao rubro na Primavera, e em baixa no Outono
"Na passada Primavera, os preços agrícolas subiram em flecha, houve protestos contra a escassez de produtos nos países pobres, e deu-se conta da necessidade urgente de aumentar as ajudas alimentares a esses países com necessidades. A FAO (Organização das Nações Unidos para a Agricultura e Alimentação) vaticinou, então, que os preços dos alimentos iriam manter-se altos durante a próxima década devido à maior procura e ao progresso dos biocombustíveis.
Todavia, com a queda das bolsas, também os preços das matérias-primas agrícolas entraram em descida acelerada, contra todas as expectativas.
Em Setembro os preços internacionais do trigo caíram 7% relativamente ao nível de há um ano. O preço do milho também mantém a tendência para a baixa, embora, apesar de tudo, esteja 44% mais alto do que no ano passado. A soja também está em queda. O que se passa? Por um lado a colheita de 2008/2009 vai bater recordes. De acordo com a FAO, a produção mundial de cereais aumentará 2,8%, sobretudo porque se expandiu cultivo de trigo. Estas perspectivas vão provocar uma baixa de preços, depois da forte subida da passada Primavera."
19.11.08
ZOGBY: most Obama voters remembered negative McCain/Palin coverage but struggled to correctly answer questions about Obama
"Just 2% of voters who supported Barack Obama on Election Day obtained perfect or near-perfect scores on a post election test which gauged their knowledge of statements and scandals associated with the presidential tickets during the campaign, a new Zogby telephone poll shows."Falta acrescentar que todas alegações feitas contra Palin eram falsas, embora os media se tivessem 'esquecido' de noticiar esse facto.
Last-minute Bush abortion ruling causes furor
"A last-minute Bush administration plan to grant sweeping new protections to health care providers who oppose abortion and other procedures on religious or moral grounds has provoked a torrent of objections, including a strenuous protest from the government agency that enforces job-discrimination laws.Como dizem alguns, "o aborto é uma questão de consciência". Logo, fará todo o sentido garantir o direito à objecção de consciência e evitar a discriminação daqueles que o invocam.
The proposed rule would prohibit recipients of federal money from discriminating against doctors, nurses and other health care workers who refuse to perform or to assist in the performance of abortions or sterilization procedures because of their "religious beliefs or moral convictions."
It would also prevent hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices and drugstores from requiring employees with religious or moral objections to "assist in the performance of any part of a health service program or research activity" financed by the Department of Health and Human Services."
P.S. Será que os direitos à objecção de consciência e à não discriminação são invocáveis apenas quando a causa é esquerdista e politicamente correcta?
El presidente uruguayo veta la liberalización del aborto
"Partiendo de la premisa indiscutida de que “el aborto es un mal social que debe evitarse”, el presidente cuestiona la eficacia de la despenalización y se remite a ejemplos en lo que, por el contrario, se ha revelado contraproducente: “En los Estados Unidos –dice– en los primeros diez años se triplicó, y la cifra se mantiene. La costumbre se instaló. Lo mismo sucedió en España”.É a vantagem de ter um PR médico. O nosso é Economista...
El alegato presidencial se basa también en la evidencia que arrojan las más modernas observaciones científicas de que “desde el momento de la concepción hay allí una vida humana nueva, un nuevo ser”.
Vázquez, médico especializado en oncología y radioterapia, recuerda también que el proyecto de ley reconoce el aborto como acto médico, algo que además de contradecir declaraciones internacionales atenta “contra el sentido común”, pues la deontología de esta profesión impone, antes bien, “actuar a favor de la vida y de la integridad física”".
La OMS y la estimación de mujeres muertas en abortos peligrosos
"... las dificultades manifestadas por la propia organización para garantizar la fiabilidad de sus números no le ha impedido recomendar el acceso al “aborto seguro” como remedio a las muertes de mujeres por causas relacionadas con el embarazo".O papel das falsificações estatísticas como argumento pró-aborto tinha já sido mencionado aqui. Como se poderá ler nesse post, em Portugal, em 2004 - ano a que se refere o documento da OMS -, "não houve nenhuma morte registada" por aborto clandestino [N.B. as únicas mortes registadas foram as dos 1426filhos abortados]
18.11.08
TIME: Will the Pope and Obama Clash Over Abortion?
Time Magazine, Nov. 18, 2008:
"... a campaign promise Obama made on July 17, 2007, to Planned Parenthood, stat[etes] that his first act as President would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would undo legislation that put restrictions on access to abortions. ... such a decree... could force doctors in Catholic hospitals to perform abortions against their conscience. "There's more fear here than wrath," a senior Vatican official told TIME ... However, if Obama signs the Freedom of Choice Act in his first months in office "it would be the equivalent of a war," says the same official. "It would be like saying: 'We've heard the Catholic Church and we have no interest in their concerns." U.S. Catholic bishops meeting last week in Baltimore vowed to take on Obama for his support of abortion rights; they are also skeptical about his assurances to try to reduce the number of abortions while supporting the right to choose.
Even before the election, the Democrats were warned not to risk becoming the "party of death," according to former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke. ... The archbishop has ...been promoted to Rome as the head of the Holy See's equivalent of a Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, in response to a question last week on Obama's pledge to reverse Washington's policy on stem cell research, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, who heads the Vatican office for health, made it clear the Church will not shy away from the debate. "What builds up man is good, what destroys him is bad," he told reporters, arguing that one human being should never become a material resource for the betterment of another".
HUCKABEE: Do the Right Thing - Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America
Do the Right Thing, 6.º livro de Mike Huckabee, foi hoje lançado nos EUA.Como primeiro promotor do blog "Portugal 4 Mike Huckabee" e principal (e único) apoiante de Huck em Portugal não podia deixar de fazer referência a esta iniciativa editorial.
A Revista TIME e o site POLITICO publicaram as primeiras recensões do novo livro de Huck.
No seu novo livro, Huck recorda vários episódios das primárias republicanas e descreve a sua visão para o partido. Aproveita também para lavar alguma roupa suja criticando Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson e o "libertarianism mascarado de conservadorismo". Estas críticas mereceram dos leitores do Townhall.com violentas (e pouco fundamentadas) críticas.
Huck considera que o texto da TIME é mais equilibrado. No entanto, mostra-se desiludido pelo facto de os media estarem a dar mais destaque às suas críticas aos seus adversários nas primárias republicanas, escamoteando as suas propostas políticas concretas.
Local priests support S.C. pastor in trouble over misreported communion ban
...when the Associated Press picked up the story from The Greenville News, it twisted the facts in its headline, which reads, “S.C. Priest: No Communion for Obama supporters.”
... the South Carolina pastor stated that, “From that document and the teaching of the Church's Magisterium, no one could conclude that a vote for Senator Obama is in itself or by itself a mortal sin. But from that same teaching, though, we must conclude that a vote for a pro-abortion candidate can be a mortal sin if the intent is to support abortion, that abortion is not merely one issue among other important issues, and that no Catholic should endorse a pro-abortion politician if a plausible pro-life alternative is available.”
Misunderestimation (aka journalism)
New York Times, November 15 2008:
"associates to [Obama and Clinton] cautioned that ... no job was offered."The Guardian, November 17 2008:
"Hillary Clinton to accept Obama's offer of secretary of state job".
Kay Hymowitz: Love in the Time of Darwinism
City Journal, Autumn 2008:
"A report from the chaotic postfeminist dating scene, where only the strong survive".Um relato divertido (!) que confirma as negras previsões do Papa Paulo VI e da Humanae Vitae...
17.11.08
Bazooka: How To Build Your Own (Paperback)
"If you get a bang out of the flash and thud of an explosion and are intrigued by soft munitions, propellants and weapons, why not build your own bazooka? Anthony Lewis takes you through the process, from constructing the cartridge, barrel, grip and sights to mixing the propellant and igniter to assembling, loading and test-firing. For information purposes only."Christmas Wish-list... Caro Pai Natal ...
Parece que está prestes a tornar-se desporto Olímpico ...
An existential threat to the radical liberal consensus
Christian Order, November 2008:
"a real and present danger to this wicked culture, Palin evoked explosive, irrational liberal fury. ...
Thoroughly rattled by her fearless affront to their politically correct hegemony, the fascist Left resorted, per usual, to character assassination.
... Whereas John McCain only endangers a Democrat electoral victory, Palin poses an existential threat to the radical feminist core of the liberal consensus. As a friend observed:
... Mrs Todd Palin is significant in the culture wars because she is living proof that the hegemonic cultural view in the American media is wrong. ... there are pretty, conservative women who sleep with their husbands and don't regard abortion as thenatural option. ... That's not the way Hollywood presents the world. Hillary seems like an object lesson in how not to be a woman; and Sarah Palin seems like the better model."
Cardeal Stafford: Obama “aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic“, campaigned on an "extremist anti-life platform", new Gethsemane
Cardeal James Stafford, Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary, November 14, 2008:
"His Eminence James Francis Cardinal Stafford criticized President-elect Barack Obama as “aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic,“ and said he campaigned on an “extremist anti-life platform,” Thursday night in Keane Auditorium during his lecture “Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II: Being True in Body and Soul.“[Fonte]
“Because man is a sacred element of secular life,” Stafford remarked, “man should not be held to a supreme power of state, and a person’s life cannot ultimately be controlled by government.”
“For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal. We will know that garden,” Stafford said, comparing America’s future with Obama as president to Jesus’ agony in the garden. “On November 4, 2008, America suffered a cultural earthquake.”
Cardinal Stafford said Catholics must deal with the “hot, angry tears of betrayal” by beginning a new sentiment where one is “with Jesus, sick because of love.”
Washpost: "5 Myths About an Election of Mythic Proportions"
Washington Post (!), November 15, 2008:
4. "McCain made a huge mistake in picking Sarah Palin."
"[O]f the 60 percent of voters who told exit pollsters that McCain's choice of Palin was a "factor" in their final decision, the Arizona senator won 56 percent to 43 percent. For skittish conservatives looking for more evidence that McCain understood their needs and concerns, Palin did the trick. It's hard to imagine conservatives rallying to McCain -- even to the relatively limited extent that they did -- without Palin on the ticket. And without the base, McCain's loss could have been far worse."
TIME: What Happens If You're on the Gay "Enemies List"
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which opponents say donated more than $20 million to the Yes on 8 campaign, has already become a focus of protests, with demonstrators gathered around Mormon temples not only in California but across the country...
... African-Americans, 70% of whom voted yes on Proposition 8, according to a CNN exit poll, have become a target. According to eyewitness reports published on the Internet, racial epithets have been used against African-Americans at protests in California, directed even at blacks who are fighting to repeal Proposition 8...
In addition to protests, gay activists have begun publishing lists online exposing individuals and organizations who have donated money in support of Proposition 8. On AntiGayBlacklist.com, individuals who gave money toward Proposition 8 are publicized, with readers urged not to patronize their businesses or services. ... Dentists, accountants, veterinarians and the like who gave a few thousand dollars to the cause are listed alongside major donors like the Container Supply Co., Inc. of Garden Grove, Calif., which gave $250,000."
Palin's political potential
Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe, November 16, 2008:
In a media marathon last week, the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee sat down for interviews with CNN's Larry King and Wolf Blitzer; had Matt Lauer of the "Today" show up to Wasilla for a family dinner; and told Fox News's Greta Van Susteren about getting the call from John McCain ...
All that was a prelude to her star turn at the Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami, where she met reporters at a press conference, drew standing ovations from several hundred GOP donors, and humorously updated her fellow governors on what she'd been doing since last year's meeting....
... there can't be much doubt that Palin has become the brightest star in the GOP firmament. A whopping 91 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of her, according to a recent Rasmussen poll, and she is the runaway favorite when they are asked to rank possible contenders for the party's 2012 presidential nominee.
Elsewhere, however, the savaging of Palin continues. In The New York Times, Maureen Dowd devotes yet another column to bashing Alaska's governor ("a shopaholic whack-job diva"). The popular Washington blog Wonkette, characteristically crude, pronounces her "human garbage." At TheAtlantic.com, an obsessed Andrew Sullivan calls her "deluded and delusional . . . clinically unhinged" and describes her as a nitwit with "the educational level of a high school dropout" who "regards ignorance as some kind of achievement."
Not everyone on the left is in a gibbering rage over Palin. The feminist social critic Camille Paglia, a pro-choice Democrat, is appalled by the Democrats' anti-Palin debauch, especially their attacks on her intelligence. "As a career classroom teacher, I can see how smart she is," Paglia writes, "and, quite frankly, I think the people who don't see it are the stupid ones, wrapped in the fuzzy mummy-gauze of their own worn-out partisan dogma."
... the last Republican to inspire such ardor and admiration among the party faithful - Ronald Reagan - was also derided as a dim bulb. ... That "bumpkin" became one of the greatest presidents of the 20th century.
I suspect that the loathing of Palin by so much of the opinion elite is driven not by contempt for her brainpower but by fear of her political potential. She is cheerful and charismatic, an unabashed and likable conservative who generates extraordinary grassroots enthusiasm.
16.11.08
A fénix conservadora
- John O'Sullivan: A future for U.S. conservatives, There's a great deal of stuffing left in the Reagan coalition:
"American conservatives should be thoroughly depressed... So why are the 700 conservatives here on the National Review Post-Election Cruise enjoying themselves so much? Why do Governor Mitt Romney and Senator Fred Thompson exude such a relaxed confidence? Why is the mere mention of Sarah Palin — whom the media have pronounced definitively over — greeted by a prolonged burst of enthusiastic applause? ...
A sense of relief is part of the explanation. Neither the Bush presidency nor the McCain candidacy was a pleasant experience for conservatives. George W. Bush was a liberal big spender in domestic policy and John McCain's "maverick" image was code for insulting conservatives in order to charm the travelling press. ...
A clear but modest defeat for the Grand Old Party came after a series of political failures, in the middle of a financial crisis...
... What the GOP suffered in the election was a modest across-the-board fall in support from all groups, rather than the defection of particular minorities. Thirty-one per cent of Hispanics, for instance, voted Republican — which is exactly the figure you would expect in an election that the GOP lost. The exceptions were black Americans who delivered Soviet-size percentages for Mr. Obama, understandably enough, and "the rich" (i.e., those earning above $200,000 a year), who swung sharply into Mr. Obama's column. ..." - Karl Rove: A Way out of the Wilderness:
"Yes, we lost the election. But in a year when all currents were running against Republicans and our campaign was lackluster and erratic, Barack Obama received only 3.1 points more than Al Gore in 2000 and only 4.6 points more than John Kerry in 2004. The Democratic victory becomes durable only if Republicans make it so with the wrong moves.
Losing the election has led to a debate about whether the GOP should return to its Reaganite tradition or embark on a new reform course. This pundit-driven shoutfest presents a sterile, unnecessary choice. The party should embrace both tradition and reform; grass-roots Republicans want to apply timeless conservative principles to the new circumstances facing America.
... a consensus about who shouuld be or next standard bearer should develop organically, not be forced by public intellectuals intent on smashing a candidacy this instant, as some are with Palin. We need more people, not fewer, to take the stage for tryouts. Rather than declaring a prospective candidate unacceptable, what about bolstering people who would be attractive?
... Suggestions that we abandon social conservatism, including our pro-life agenda, should be ignored. These values are often more popular than the GOP itself. The age of sonograms has made younger voters a more pro-life generation. And California and Florida approved marriage amendments while McCain lost both states. ... More than 4 million Americans who go to church more than once a week and voted in 2004 stayed home in 2008. They represented half the margin between Obama and McCain.
Obama cede a lobbies e a interesses privados
New York Times, November 14, 2008:
"President-elect Barack Obama has imposed stricter conflict-of-interest restrictions on his White House transition team than any president before him. But a list of transition team members that his office made public on Friday includes a complicated tangle of ties to private influence-seekers.
Among the full roster of about 150 staff members being assigned to government agencies between now and Inauguration Day are dozens of former lobbyists and some who were registered as recently as this year. Many more are executives and partners at firms that pay lobbyists, and former government officials who work as consultants or advisers to those seeking influence.
... Several of the officials have ties to Fannie Mae, the government-backed mortgage firm whose implosion this fall contributed to the financial meltdown.
New York Times ridiculariza OBAMA !!!
New York Times (!), November 15, 2008:
"... everyone wants to claim Mr. Obama these days. African-Americans, obviously, but also Hispanic-Americans, Jewish-Americans, Muslim-Americans and even white Americans purging feelings of racial guilt. The youth, the netroots, the bipartisan consensus builders, the East Coast elites, the Hollywood crowd. Liberals, centrists and even some conservatives who see Reaganesque qualities [?]. The British, the Germans and other foreigners disaffected with Bush’s America.Uma vez atingido o objectivo de expulsar os conservadores e os "cristianistas" do poder, a luta continua ...
“I am like a Rorschach test,” Mr. Obama noted at one point during the campaign. “Even if people find me disappointing ultimately, they might gain something.”
... so many of Mr. Obama’s supporters invested so much passion in him that the potential for let-down seems considerable.
... it was Mr. Obama who set the expectations so high among so many different constituency groups. His advertising during the primaries urged Democrats to vote for him because he would do nothing less than “save the planet,” which as campaign promises go certainly beats a chicken in every pot.
... “It would be a big mistake not to act on this important priority.”
Or all of the other important priorities that the president-elect’s believers assume he will tackle. After all, he’s got a planet to save.
New York Times (!): Rahm Emanuel, Clinton era officials appointments 'betrayal', 'in contrast' with campaign plegdes
New York Times (!), November 15, 2008:
"His first appointment... was to make his friend Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois his White House chief of staff.
Some critics saw that as a betrayal of Mr. Obama’s campaign pledge to foster a “new politics” reaching across the aisle in Washington since Mr. Emanuel is such a skilled specialist in the razor-edged old politics of slicing up the opposition...
The selection of Mr. Emanuel and other veterans of President Bill Clinton’s administration to run the transition stood in contrast to Mr. Obama’s message about finally moving beyond the Clinton era. All the more striking was his decision last week to sound out Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton herself as a possible secretary of state. The Clinton faction is pleased, but those who saw Mr. Obama as a clean break may wonder what it means."
15.11.08
A MENTIRA GLOBAL: "em vez de “um só rebanho e um só Pastor”, temos uma só manada de burros e um só condutor".
Olavo de Carvalho, Diário do Comércio, 13 de novembro de 2008:
"... a quase totalidade das pessoas não tem como informar-se de fonte direta. ... [encontrando-se sujeita ao] recorte mínimo e enviesado do noticiário.
O resultado é que opiniões e preconceitos da classe jornalística – reforçados pelos de seus irmãos siameses, o show business e a rede de educação pública – aparecem aos olhos da multidão ... como a imagem direta e veraz do mundo real, ... O que quer que esteja fora dos jornais e dos canais de TV está fora do universo ...
... De uns vinte anos para cá, três fatores – (1) a rápida concentração da propriedade dos meios de comunicação, (2) a uniformização ideológica dos estudantes de jornalismo, artes e letras por meio da doutrinação maciça nas universidades e (3) a influência crescente exercida sobre as redações pela rede multibilionária de ONGs militantes ... – produziram um fenômeno ...: a padronização mundial da opinião pública por meio da influência convergente da mídia, do show business e do sistema educacional.
... O caráter diabolicamente paródico da situação é patente: em vez de “um só rebanho e um só Pastor”, temos uma só manada de burros e um só condutor."
"... a quase totalidade das pessoas não tem como informar-se de fonte direta. ... [encontrando-se sujeita ao] recorte mínimo e enviesado do noticiário.
O resultado é que opiniões e preconceitos da classe jornalística – reforçados pelos de seus irmãos siameses, o show business e a rede de educação pública – aparecem aos olhos da multidão ... como a imagem direta e veraz do mundo real, ... O que quer que esteja fora dos jornais e dos canais de TV está fora do universo ...
... De uns vinte anos para cá, três fatores – (1) a rápida concentração da propriedade dos meios de comunicação, (2) a uniformização ideológica dos estudantes de jornalismo, artes e letras por meio da doutrinação maciça nas universidades e (3) a influência crescente exercida sobre as redações pela rede multibilionária de ONGs militantes ... – produziram um fenômeno ...: a padronização mundial da opinião pública por meio da influência convergente da mídia, do show business e do sistema educacional.
... O caráter diabolicamente paródico da situação é patente: em vez de “um só rebanho e um só Pastor”, temos uma só manada de burros e um só condutor."
14.11.08
Another 'champion of abortion' becomes defender of life: the story of Sotjan Adasevic
Madrid, Nov 12, 2008 / 09:21 pm (CNA).- The Spanish daily “La Razon” has published an article on the pro-life conversion of a former “champion of abortion.” Stojan Adasevic, who performed 48,000 abortions, sometimes up to 35 per day, is now the most important pro-life leader in Serbia, after 26 years as the most renowned abortion doctor in the country.
“The medical textbooks of the Communist regime said abortion was simply the removal of a blob of tissue,” the newspaper reported. “Ultrasounds allowing the fetus to be seen did not arrive until the 80s, but they did not change his opinion. Nevertheless, he began to have nightmares.”
In describing his conversion, Adasevic “dreamed about a beautiful field full of children and young people who were playing and laughing, from 4 to 24 years of age, but who ran away from him in fear. A man dressed in a black and white habit stared at him in silence. The dream was repeated each night and he would wake up in a cold sweat. One night he asked the man in black and white who he was. ‘My name is Thomas Aquinas,’ the man in his dream responded. Adasevic, educated in communist schools, had never heard of the Dominican genius saint. He didn’t recognize the name”
“Why don’t you ask me who these children are?” St. Thomas asked Adasevic in his dream.
“They are the ones you killed with your abortions,’ St. Thomas told him.
“Adasevic awoke in amazement and decided not to perform any more abortions,” the article stated.
“That same day a cousin came to the hospital with his four months-pregnant girlfriend, who wanted to get her ninth abortion—something quite frequent in the countries of the Soviet bloc. The doctor agreed. Instead of removing the fetus piece by piece, he decided to chop it up and remove it as a mass. However, the baby’s heart came out still beating. Adasevic realized then that he had killed a human being,”
After this experience, Adasevic “told the hospital he would no longer perform abortions. Never before had a doctor in Communist Yugoslavia refused to do so. They cut his salary in half, fired his daughter from her job, and did not allow his son to enter the university.”
After years of pressure and on the verge of giving up, he had another dream about St. Thomas.
“You are my good friend, keep going,’ the man in black and white told him. Adasevic became involved in the pro-life movement and was able to get Yugoslav television to air the film ‘The Silent Scream,’ by Doctor Bernard Nathanson, two times.”
Adasevic has told his story in magazines and newspapers throughout Eastern Europe. He has returned to the Orthodox faith of his childhood and has studied the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas.
“Influenced by Aristotle, Thomas wrote that human life begins forty days after fertilization,” Adasevic wrote in one article. La Razon commented that Adasevic “suggests that perhaps the saint wanted to make amends for that error.” Today the Serbian doctor continues to fight for the lives of the unborn.
“The medical textbooks of the Communist regime said abortion was simply the removal of a blob of tissue,” the newspaper reported. “Ultrasounds allowing the fetus to be seen did not arrive until the 80s, but they did not change his opinion. Nevertheless, he began to have nightmares.”
In describing his conversion, Adasevic “dreamed about a beautiful field full of children and young people who were playing and laughing, from 4 to 24 years of age, but who ran away from him in fear. A man dressed in a black and white habit stared at him in silence. The dream was repeated each night and he would wake up in a cold sweat. One night he asked the man in black and white who he was. ‘My name is Thomas Aquinas,’ the man in his dream responded. Adasevic, educated in communist schools, had never heard of the Dominican genius saint. He didn’t recognize the name”
“Why don’t you ask me who these children are?” St. Thomas asked Adasevic in his dream.
“They are the ones you killed with your abortions,’ St. Thomas told him.
“Adasevic awoke in amazement and decided not to perform any more abortions,” the article stated.
“That same day a cousin came to the hospital with his four months-pregnant girlfriend, who wanted to get her ninth abortion—something quite frequent in the countries of the Soviet bloc. The doctor agreed. Instead of removing the fetus piece by piece, he decided to chop it up and remove it as a mass. However, the baby’s heart came out still beating. Adasevic realized then that he had killed a human being,”
After this experience, Adasevic “told the hospital he would no longer perform abortions. Never before had a doctor in Communist Yugoslavia refused to do so. They cut his salary in half, fired his daughter from her job, and did not allow his son to enter the university.”
After years of pressure and on the verge of giving up, he had another dream about St. Thomas.
“You are my good friend, keep going,’ the man in black and white told him. Adasevic became involved in the pro-life movement and was able to get Yugoslav television to air the film ‘The Silent Scream,’ by Doctor Bernard Nathanson, two times.”
Adasevic has told his story in magazines and newspapers throughout Eastern Europe. He has returned to the Orthodox faith of his childhood and has studied the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas.
“Influenced by Aristotle, Thomas wrote that human life begins forty days after fertilization,” Adasevic wrote in one article. La Razon commented that Adasevic “suggests that perhaps the saint wanted to make amends for that error.” Today the Serbian doctor continues to fight for the lives of the unborn.
The Coming Kulturkampf: "The aggressor is the Obama administration".
Richard John Neuhaus, Friday, November 14, 2008:
"we are headed for the intensification of an American version of the Kulturkampf that Bismarck came to rue. The focus is on FOCA, the Freedom of Choice Act, that Obama says he wants to sign on his first day in office. This act would eliminate the very modest restraints and regulations established by states, provide government funding for abortions, and in its present form, require religiously sponsored hospitals and clinics to perpetrate abortions or go out of business.
The aggressor in the opening phases of this Kulturkampf is the Obama administration.
The initial response to the aggression was evident in the meeting of Catholic bishops this week in Baltimore. There were refreshingly bold statements by bishops, and by Francis Cardinal George, president of the conference, on the imperative to protect the integrity of the Church’s teaching and to employ every legitimate means to resist the further advance of what John Paul the Great taught us to understand as the culture of death. Some bishops even invoked the venerable tradition of martyrdom, sounding very much like the successors to the apostles that they are.
The Christ against culture model does not come naturally to Catholics. The Church is much more disposed toward conversion, providing moral guidance, and the transformation of culture. The Christ against culture model is never chosen, but sometimes there is no choice. Pushed to the wall by the Obama aggression, it seems evident that most of the Catholic bishops are, in the words of Paul to Timothy, prepared to “fight the good fight.”
Obama / crony capitalists plan to grant immortality to Detroit’s Big Three will create a stagnant corporate welfare state
David Brooks (!), New York Times (!), November 14, 2008:
O Fim está próximo.
"... The U.S. became famous for this pattern of [corporate] decay and new growth. Over time, American government built a bigger safety net so workers could survive the vicissitudes of this creative destruction ... But the government has generally not interfered in the dynamic process itself, which is the source of the country’s prosperity.Chegou o dia em que as páginas do New York Times se transformaram num óasis de sanidade económica. E ainda por cima pela pena de David Brooks que no final do seu texto ensaia até uma aproximação ao conceito de Servile State desenvolvido por Hilaire Belloc.
But this, apparently, is about to change. Democrats from Barack Obama to Nancy Pelosi want to grant immortality to General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. ...
This is a different sort of endeavor than the $750 billion bailout of Wall Street. That money was used to save the financial system itself. It was used to save the capital markets on which the process of creative destruction depends.
Granting immortality to Detroit’s Big Three does not enhance creative destruction. It retards it. It crosses a line, a bright line. It is not about saving a system; there will still be cars made and sold in America. It is about saving politically powerful corporations. A Detroit bailout would set a precedent for every single politically connected corporation in America. ...
It is all a reminder that the biggest threat to a healthy economy is not the socialists of campaign lore. It’s C.E.O.’s. It’s politically powerful crony capitalists who use their influence to create a stagnant corporate welfare state.
... A federal cash infusion will not infuse wisdom into management. It will not reduce labor costs. It will not attract talented new employees...
... In the meantime, capital that could have gone to successful companies and programs will be directed toward companies with a history of using it badly.
The second part of Obama’s plan is the creation of an auto czar with vague duties. ...
... but if Obama was such a fervent believer in the Chinese model of all-powerful technocrats, he should have mentioned it during the campaign. Are we really to believe there exists a czar omniscient, omnipotent and beneficent enough to know how to fix the Big Three? Who is this deity? Are we to believe that political influence will miraculously disappear, that the czar would have absolute power over unions, management, Congress and the White House? Please.
... Airline, steel and retail companies have gone through bankruptcy proceedings and adjusted. It would be a less politically tainted process. Government could use that $50 billion — and more — to help the workers who are going to be displaced no matter what.
But the larger principle is over the nature of America’s political system. Is this country going to slide into progressive corporatism, a merger of corporate and federal power that will inevitably stifle competition, empower corporate and federal bureaucrats and protect entrenched interests? Or is the U.S. going to stick with its historic model: Helping workers weather the storms of a dynamic economy, but preserving the dynamism that is the core of the country’s success."
O Fim está próximo.
13.11.08
The McCain aide who said Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent turns out to be a hoaxster ...
Teh New York Times, November 12, 2008:
"It was among the juicier post-election recriminations: Fox News Channel quoted an unnamed McCain campaign figure as saying that Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent.
Who would say such a thing? On Monday the answer popped up on a blog and popped out of the mouth of David Shuster, an MSNBC anchor. “Turns out it was Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, who has come forward today to identify himself as the source of the leaks,” Mr. Shuster said.
Trouble is, Martin Eisenstadt doesn’t exist. His blog does, but it’s a put-on. The think tank where he is a senior fellow — the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy — is just a Web site. The TV clips of him on YouTube are fakes.
And the claim of credit for the Africa anecdote is just the latest ruse by Eisenstadt, who turns out to be a very elaborate hoax that has been going on for months. MSNBC, which quickly corrected the mistake, has plenty of company in being taken in by an Eisenstadt hoax, including The New Republic and The Los Angeles Times."
Isto é muito interessante ...
... incluindo as partes que não percebi !
Aguardam-se desenvolvimentos.
Aguardam-se desenvolvimentos.
MORE GOOD NEWS FROM IRAQ, VIA REUTERS
Instapundit: "Funny, now that the election is over the good news just keeps coming!"
O Obama, pelos simples facto de ter sido eleito, conseguirá transformar "o novo Vietnam" numa estrondosa vitória americana. Obama o conquistador do Iraque !(E isto apesar de se ter oposto ao "surge" promvido pela Administração Bush).
O Obama, pelos simples facto de ter sido eleito, conseguirá transformar "o novo Vietnam" numa estrondosa vitória americana. Obama o conquistador do Iraque !(E isto apesar de se ter oposto ao "surge" promvido pela Administração Bush).
KARL ROVE: History Favors Republicans in 2010
"First, the predicted huge turnout surge didn't happen...
Second, a substantial victory was won by modest improvement in the Democratic share of the vote. Barack Obama received 2.1 points more in the popular vote than President Bush received in 2004... Mr. Obama received ... about 7.1 million more than Mr. Kerry.
Four out of five of these additional votes came from minorities...
... Then there were those who didn't show up. There were 4.1 million fewer Republicans voting this year than in 2004. ... most simply stayed home. Ironically for a campaign that featured probably the last Vietnam veteran to run for president, 2.7 million fewer veterans voted. There were also 4.1 million fewer voters who attend religious services more than once a week. Americans aren't suddenly going to church less; something was missing from the campaign to draw out the more religiously observant.
In a sign Mr. Obama's victory may have been more personal than partisan or philosophical, Democrats picked up just 10 state senate seats (out of 1,971) and 94 state house seats (out of 5,411)...
... In the South, Mr. Obama had "reverse coattails." Republicans gained legislative seats across the region. In Tennessee both the house and senate now have GOP majorities for the first time since the Civil War.
... the 2010 Census could allocate as many as four additional congressional districts to Texas, two each to Arizona and Florida, and one district to each of a number of (mostly) red-leaning states, while subtracting seats from (mostly) blue-leaning states like Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania and, for the first time, California. Redistricting and reapportionment could help tilt the playing field back to the GOP in Congress and the race for the White House by moving seven House seats (and electoral votes) from mostly blue to mostly red states.
History will favor Republicans in 2010. Since World War II, the out-party has gained an average of 23 seats in the U.S. House and two in the U.S. Senate in a new president's first midterm election. Other than FDR and George W. Bush, no president has gained seats in his first midterm election in both chambers.
... That 2010 is likely to see Republicans begin rebounding just before redistricting is one silver lining in an otherwise dismal year for the GOP.
In politics, good years follow bad years. Republicans and Democrats have experienced both during the past 15 years. A GOP comeback, while certainly possible, won't be self-executing and automatic. It will require Republicans to be skillful at both defense (opposing Mr. Obama on some issues) and offense (creating a compelling agenda that resonates with voters). And it will require leaders to emerge who give the right public face to the GOP. None of this will be easy. All of this will be necessary."
ANN COULTER: GOP VOTE DECLINES LESS THAN NYT PROFIT
"In another sign of how popular liberalism is, liberals have to keep changing their name... Liberal Republicans used to be known as "moderates," then "mavericks" or "centrists." I guess now they're "reformists." Why, liberals are so popular they have to disguise themselves for fear of being mobbed by an adoring public!
I gather ... "reformist," ... means liberal only on the social issues like gay marriage and abortion because -- apart from abortion and gay marriage -- Rudy Giuliani was a right-wing lunatic. He engaged in aggressive policing, cut taxes and government bureaucracies, abolished New York's affirmative action office and was repeatedly denounced as a storm trooper by The New York Times.
The same thing goes for Romney, who also cut taxes and government regulations, but promised Massachusetts voters he would not tinker with their beloved abortion rights.
Ironically, McCain was a liberal on virtually every issue except abortion and gay marriage, but he bashed social conservatives to his friends in the press, so they excused his pro-life voting record as a cynical ploy to get votes in Arizona.
So "reformist" evidently means a Republican who is liberal on social issues. My term for that is "Joe Lieberman." Whatever the merit of being liberal on social issues, both Joe Lieberman and the Republican Party's history suggest that the winning formula is the exact opposite combination.
If liberals are going to use their first majority vote in a national election ... to lecture Republicans on how to win elections, I have a tip for them based on the exact same election: Constitutional amendments banning gay marriage passed in every state they were on the ballot -- Florida, Arizona, even in liberal California.
I'll accept the results of the presidential election, if you anti-Proposition 8 die-hards in California accept the results of that vote. Earth to protestors: Most Americans oppose gay marriage. On this, even blacks and Mormons are agreed! Why don't you people go find something useful to do?"
12.11.08
Obama likely to escape campaign audit
"The Federal Election Commission is unlikely to conduct a potentially embarrassing audit of how Barack Obama raised and spent his presidential campaign’s record-shattering windfall, despite allegations of questionable donations and accounting that had the McCain campaign crying foul."No caso de Obama, quaisquer apelos à transparência são, é claro, racistas.
Gay McCarthism
"The California Musical Theatre found itself caught in a dramatic conflict between free speech and civil rights, a situation that ultimately led to today's resignation of artistic director Scott Eckern.
Eckern quit this morning. He became the target of strong criticism after it was learned he donated $1,000 to the Proposition 8 campaign to ban gay marriage.
In an industry long considered gay-friendly and tied to causes such as AIDS research, Eckern's donation outraged theater workers across the country. "
Obama mantém torturas; políticas de Bush 'pragmáticas' 'centristas'
"President-elect Barack Obama is unlikely to radically overhaul controversial Bush administration intelligence policies, advisers say, an approach that is almost certain to create tension within the Democratic Party.
Civil-liberties groups were among those outraged that the White House sanctioned the use of harsh intelligence techniques -- which some consider torture -- by the Central Intelligence Agency, and expanded domestic spy powers. These groups are demanding quick action to reverse these policies.
Mr. Obama is being advised largely by a group of intelligence professionals, including some who have supported Republicans, and centrist former officials in the Clinton administration. They say he is likely to fill key intelligence posts with pragmatists.
"He's going to take a very centrist approach to these issues,"
11.11.08
Representante vaticano a Obama: destruir embriões é injustificável
CIDADE DO VATICANO, terça-feira, 11 de novembro de 2008 (ZENIT.org).- Frente aos projetos anunciados de Barack Obama de autorizar projetos de pesquisa com embriões humanos, o presidente do Pontifício Conselho para a Pastoral no Campo da Saúde, cardeal Javier Lozano Barragán, reiterou nesta terça-feira que se trata de uma prática que atenta contra a ética.
... Segundo informou nesse mesmo dia o chefe de transição do presidente eleito à Casa Branca, John Podesta, Obama autorizará vários projetos que o atual presidente George Bush deteve durante seu governo, entre eles a pesquisa com esse tipo de células.
Um princípio fundamental da bioética, recordou o cardeal aos jornalistas, assegura que «o que constrói ao homem é bom, o que o destrói é mau».
Recordando que a dignidade humana é um fim e não um meio que pode ser manipulado, afirmou que «nunca se pode usar uma pessoa como um meio para outra».
«Não é possível matar um ser humano para salvar outro», sublinhou.
Lozano Barragán se referiu também a outros métodos lícitos para extrair células-tronco, como as que se encontram no cordão umbilical, no fígado, no pâncreas ou na medula óssea.
«Quando se trata de transplantes que não põem em perigo o doador nem o receptor, tudo é bem-vindo, não há nenhuma questão contra», assegurou.
... Sobre o tema interveio também em coletiva de imprensa o professor Alberto Ugazio, coordenador do Departamento de Medicina Pediátrica do hospital Bambino Gesu, de Roma...
Quando utilizaram células-tronco embrionárias, «nem sequer um estudo deu um resultado positivo», mas muitas vidas foram salvas com células-tronco adultas, que se encontram em diversas partes do corpo, informou o doutor.
... Segundo informou nesse mesmo dia o chefe de transição do presidente eleito à Casa Branca, John Podesta, Obama autorizará vários projetos que o atual presidente George Bush deteve durante seu governo, entre eles a pesquisa com esse tipo de células.
Um princípio fundamental da bioética, recordou o cardeal aos jornalistas, assegura que «o que constrói ao homem é bom, o que o destrói é mau».
Recordando que a dignidade humana é um fim e não um meio que pode ser manipulado, afirmou que «nunca se pode usar uma pessoa como um meio para outra».
«Não é possível matar um ser humano para salvar outro», sublinhou.
Lozano Barragán se referiu também a outros métodos lícitos para extrair células-tronco, como as que se encontram no cordão umbilical, no fígado, no pâncreas ou na medula óssea.
«Quando se trata de transplantes que não põem em perigo o doador nem o receptor, tudo é bem-vindo, não há nenhuma questão contra», assegurou.
... Sobre o tema interveio também em coletiva de imprensa o professor Alberto Ugazio, coordenador do Departamento de Medicina Pediátrica do hospital Bambino Gesu, de Roma...
Quando utilizaram células-tronco embrionárias, «nem sequer um estudo deu um resultado positivo», mas muitas vidas foram salvas com células-tronco adultas, que se encontram em diversas partes do corpo, informou o doutor.
Hamas: "We met Obama advisers"; "Everybody is looking forward to Obama's change"
"... Ahmed Yousef, Hamas' chief political adviser in Gaza, told the leading Al-Hayat Arabic-language newspaper Hamas has maintained regular communication with Obama aides that even continued during the past week.
"We were in contact with a number of Obama's aides through the Internet, and later met with some of them in Gaza, but they advised us not to come out with any statements, as they may have a negative effect on his election campaign and be used by Republican candidate John McCain (to attack Obama)," Yousuf told Al-Hayat.
Yousuf said Hamas's contact with Obama's advisers was ongoing, adding that relations were maintained after Obama's electoral victory last Tuesday.
... Last week, he called Obama's win a "historic victory" for the world and told WND that Hamas was sending a letter of congratulation to the president-elect.
... Yousef told WND of Obama's win: "This is a historic day, a turning point. ... Everybody is looking forward to Obama's change, for a change in the U.S. policy, particularly in the Israeli-Palestinian equation, which is the mother of all conflicts."
Yousef said he believes an Obama administration will be more willing to engage in dialogue with Hamas."
Idiotas úteis de alma e coração com Obama
"What I don't understand at all is Kmiec's position, which seems to be that the contemporary Democratic Party, and particularly the candidacy of Barack Obama, offered nearly as much to pro-lifers as the Republican Party does. I am sure that Kmiec is weary of being called a fool by opponents of abortion for his tireless pro-Obama advocacy during this election cycle, but if so, then the thing for him to do is to cease acting like the sort of person for whom the term "useful idiot" was coined, rather than persisting in his folly.
... Suffice to say that what he calls "outright lies and falsehoods" about Obama's views were, in fact, more or less the truth: The Democratic nominee ran on a record that can only be described as "very, very pro-choice," and his stated positions on abortion would involve rolling back nearly all the modest—but also modestly effective—restrictions that pro-lifers have placed upon the practice and/or appointing judges who would do the same. There may have been reasons for anti-abortion Americans to vote for Barack Obama in spite of his position that abortion should be essentially unregulated and funded by taxpayer dollars. But Kmiec's suggestion that Obama took the Democrats in anything like a pro-life direction on the issue doesn't pass the laugh test."
Agenda disappears from Obama Web site
"President-elect Barack Obama over the weekend scrubbed his transition Web site, deleting most of what had been a massive agenda for his first term that appears on his campaign's site.Qualquer dia o Constâncio ainda vai ter de ir certificar o déficit americano para que o Obama tenha uma jusitificação para não cumprir as suas promessas eleitorais.
Gone from Change.gov are the promises on how an Obama administration would handle 25 agenda items — from Iraq and immigration to taxes and urban policy — which the campaign first laid out on the Web site www.BarackObama.com.
As The Washington Times first reported Monday morning, the official agenda on Change.gov has been boiled down to one vague paragraph..."
É que é muito difícil dar tudo a todos...
Georgia congressman warns of Obama dictatorship
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist or fascist dictatorship.Isto explicaria o júbilo com que a eleição de Obama foi recebida pela 'nossa' extrema-esquerda bloquista e pelo petro-comunista Chávez.
"It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he's the one who proposed this national security force," Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I'm just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may ... have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism."
Broun cited a July speech by Obama that has circulated on the Internet in which the then-Democratic presidential candidate called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military. "That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did," Broun said. "When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military..."
Por este andar, as eleições para o Congresso em 2010 vão trazer grandes novidades; será que vamos ter em 2010 uma repetição dos resultados das eleições de 1994?
10.11.08
O bloquismo neoliberal
Ensina António Barreto:
Por outro lado, enquanto o conteúdo objectivo e distintivo das propostas da 'esquerda' forem as 'causas fracturantes', é perfeitamente incompatível ser simultaneamente Católico e de 'esquerda'.
"... A crise económica e financeira deste ano trouxe nova alegria aos socialistas. Era a derrota do capitalismo, gemeram. Depois da do comunismo, a vitória parecia total. ... Mas a maioria já só pensa em salvar o capitalismo. ...Há algum tempo atrás fiz alguns comentários sobre esta síntese de 'capitalismo' e 'causas fracturantes' aqui.
... Do lado das esquerdas, é possível que haja algum sentido da oportunidade: sob a capa do salvamento do capitalismo, entra o Estado. Entra e fica! Mesmo para esses, a ideia de construir o socialismo é absolutamente utópica e risível...
... É a vitória do Estado, em qualquer caso. Não perceberam é que se trata da derrota final do socialismo. Já não é alternativo. Já não tem modelos a defender. Os socialistas interessam-se agora pela vida privada dos cidadãos, por causas culturais e pelos costumes. Casamento e divórcio, aborto e adopção, eutanásia e suicídio, homossexualidade e droga são as causas dos socialistas e de muitas esquerdas. A derrota dos socialistas é a que os transforma, não em coveiros, mas em curandeiros do capitalismo, em ajudantes dos que querem refundar o capitalismo, em decoradores que lhe querem dar um rosto humano. Uma espécie de serviço de assistência, de garagem ou de cuidados intensivos do capitalismo. Se existe uma derrota final, é bem esta."
Por outro lado, enquanto o conteúdo objectivo e distintivo das propostas da 'esquerda' forem as 'causas fracturantes', é perfeitamente incompatível ser simultaneamente Católico e de 'esquerda'.
Barack Hussein Reagan ?
"Barack Obama won the White House by campaigning against an unpopular incumbent in a time of economic anxiety ... He offered voters an upbeat message, praised the nation as a land of opportunity, promised tax cuts to just about everyone ...Obama Reagan ? Please !
Does this sound familiar? It should. Mr. Obama followed the approach that worked for Ronald Reagan. His victory confirmed that voters still embrace the guiding beliefs of the Reagan era.
... data from the Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking Poll showed that Mr. Obama took command of the race during the 10 days following the collapse of Lehman Brothers ... Before that event John McCain was leading nationally by three percentage points. Ten days later Mr. Obama was up by five and never relinquished his lead.
... Down the campaign homestretch, Mr. Obama ... stole the tax issue from the Republicans. Heading into the election, 31% of voters thought that a President Obama would cut their taxes. Only 11% expected a tax cut from a McCain administration.
... In terms of getting the economy going again, 58% said that more tax cuts would better stimulate the economy than new government spending.
A Rasmussen survey conducted Oct. 2 found that 59% agreed with the sentiment expressed by Reagan in his first inaugural address: "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." Just 28% disagreed with this sentiment. That survey also found that 44% of Obama voters agreed with Reagan's assessment (40% did not). And McCain voters overwhelmingly supported the Gipper.
The real challenge for the new president will be attempting to govern with a message that resonates with most voters but divides his own party...
Mr. Obama won the White House promising tax cuts, but he will be governing with a Democratic Congress bursting with desire for a more activist government...
O que todos estes números demonstram é que existe ainda uma maioria de eleitores que se encontram muito próximos do programa económico dos conservadores americanos. Se Obama satisfizer os desejos e os sonhos da esquerda radical terá maiores dificuldades em ser re-eleito. Se governar economicamente 'à direita', perderá o apoio da facção mais à esquerda do seu partido.
Uma coisa é certa, quer seja para manter os radicais satisfeitos, quer seja para manter os moderados distraídos, a aposta nas 'causas fracturantes' constituirá sempre um dos principais elementos do seu programa (um pouco à semelhança do que ocorre na 'europa' com a esquerda pós-pacto de estabilidade).
How to Survive Media Bias
"Avoid the in-the-tank liberal media, and speak directly to your constituents".Conselho também aplicável em Portugal.
Condoms Trump Abstinence in Obama Global AIDS Policy, Aide Says
Alguns católicos estiveram de 'Alma e coração' com Obama...
Biden booed at football Game...
The Giants and Eagles played in front of a special guest. Vice President-elect Joe Biden watched the game in a luxury suite with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. Biden was booed when he was showed on the video screen.Joe Biden é a gaffe ambulante que o Obama escolheu para Vice-Presidente: Curiosamente, as suas constantes gaffes (como aliás as do próprio Obama) não têm qualquer relevância jornalística, razão pela qual não são noticiadas pelos principais órgãos de 'comunicacão social'.
Gorbachev calls on Obama to carry out 'perestroika' in the U.S.
A perestroika de Gorbachev tinha como objectivo mudar alguma coisa para que a União Soviétiva ficasse na mesma.
Obteve excelentes resultados.
Obteve excelentes resultados.
9.11.08
Alguns católicos estiveram de 'Alma e coração' com Obama ...
John Podesta, Obama's transition chief, said Sunday:
P.S. É preciso ter cuidado com as companhias que permitimos às nossas Almas. Quanto ao coração ... na Cruz.
"President-elect Obama plans to use his executive powers to make an immediate impact when he takes office, perhaps reversing Bush administration policies on stem cell research and domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.É necessário referir que a posição de McCainem sobre a pesquisa em embriões é semelhante à de Obama. Já no caso do aborto não é assim.
... Presidents long have used executive orders to impose policy and set priorities. One of Bush's first acts was to reinstate full abortion restrictions on U.S. overseas aid. The restrictions were first ordered by President Reagan and the first President Bush followed suit. President Clinton lifted them soon after he occupied the Oval Office and it wouldn't be surprising if Obama did the same.
P.S. É preciso ter cuidado com as companhias que permitimos às nossas Almas. Quanto ao coração ... na Cruz.
9 Novembro de 1989 - fim do muro de Berlim
Foi só há 19 anos.
Poucos anos depois, Fidel Castro, no IV congresso do foro de S. Paulo, propos-se "reconquistar na América Latina o que foi perdido no Leste Europeu".
E aí estão Hugo Chávez e os seus regimes-satélite.
Entretanto, na América, a 'mundaça' está a caminho.
Poucos anos depois, Fidel Castro, no IV congresso do foro de S. Paulo, propos-se "reconquistar na América Latina o que foi perdido no Leste Europeu".
E aí estão Hugo Chávez e os seus regimes-satélite.
Entretanto, na América, a 'mundaça' está a caminho.
A 'europa' ainda vai ter saudades do Presidente Bush
"Barack Obama has made no commitment that a missile defense shield in eastern Europe will go ahead, an advisor to the president-elect said Saturday, in apparent contradiction of statements by Poland.
Earlier, a statement from Polish President Lech Kaczynski after the two men spoke by telephone said Obama had said he would go ahead with plans to build a missile defense shield in eastern Europe despite threats from Russia."
8.11.08
'Faggots' Vs 'Niggers': No more Mr. Nice GAY
A noite eleitoral americana da última terça-feira constituiu um momento de vitória para os opositores do "casamento gay". Os vários referendos estaduais sobre esta matéria resultaram numa derrota completa do lobby gay.
Na califórnia, estado onde se situa a capital mundial do gaysismo - S. Francisco (pobre Santo !) -, registaram-se mesmo manifestações e tumultos quando se conheceram os resultados finais.
De acordo com as sondagens, foi o voto dos negros que em muitos estados garantiu a derrota do lobby gay, facto que provocou reacções deste tipo:
Na califórnia, estado onde se situa a capital mundial do gaysismo - S. Francisco (pobre Santo !) -, registaram-se mesmo manifestações e tumultos quando se conheceram os resultados finais.
De acordo com as sondagens, foi o voto dos negros que em muitos estados garantiu a derrota do lobby gay, facto que provocou reacções deste tipo:
"YOU N*GGER, one man shouted at me. If your people want to call me a F*GGOT, I will call you a n*gger... A young WeHo clone said after last night the n*ggers better not come to West Hollywood if they knew what was BEST for them."São membros do Ku Klux Klan gay...
... Three older men accosted my friend and shouted, "Black people did this, I hope you people are happy!" A young lesbian couple with mohawks and Obama buttons joined the shouting and said there were "very disappointed with black people" and "how could we" after the Obama victory. This was stupid for them to single us out because we were carrying those blue NO ON PROP 8 signs! I pointed that out and the one of the older men said it didn't matter because "most black people hated gays" and he was "wrong" to think we had compassion. That was the most insulting thing I had ever heard. I guess he never thought we were gay.
... "I have received several phone calls from Blacks, both gay and straight, who were caught up in Westwood around the time of that march. From being called 'niggers' to being accosted in their cars and told that it was because of 'you people gays don’t have equal rights and you better watch your back,' these gays have lost their damn minds."
The verbal harassment follows a steady stream of racist comments left on this blog and many others across the gay virtual community. At least a dozen racist comments have been removed from this blog since Tuesday, such as, "Thank you Black people for denying gay people the same rights that you deserve and have", "Black people make me feel like a piece of shyt when it should have been a night of celebration for all," and the succinct, "F--K you niggers."
Mais enviesamentos jornalísticos ...
Chris Mathews, apresentador do programa Hardball do MSNBC:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Yeah, well, you know what? I want to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work, and I think that --
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Is that your job? You just talked about being a journalist!
MATTHEWS: Yeah, it is my job. My job is to help this country.
...
SCARBOROUGH: Your job is the make this presidency work?
MATTHEWS: To make this work successfully. This country needs a successful presidency.
A Provedora dos leitores do Washington Post reconhece enviesamento pro-Obama
Deborah Howell, Sunday, November 9, 2008:
The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts.
Confissões de um antigo Maçon (zenit.org)
MADRI, quinta-feira, 6 de novembro de 2008 (ZENIT.org).- Maurice Caillet, venerável de uma loja maçônica durante 15 anos, revela segredos da Maçonaria em um livro recém-publicado por «Libroslibres», com o título «Yo fui mazón» («Eu fui maçom»).[o resto da entrevista está escondida aqui por baixo porque é preciso ter cuidado com estes tipos !]
Rituais, normas de funcionamento interno, juramentos e a influência na política desta organização secreta saem agora à luz, em particular as implicações do juramento que obriga a defender outros «irmãos» maçons.
O volume revela também a decisiva influência da Maçonaria na elaboração e aprovação de leis, como a do aborto na França, da qual ele, como médico, participou ativamente.
Caillet, nascido em Bordeaux (França) em 1933, especializado em Ginecologia e Urologia, praticou abortos e esterilizações antes e depois de obterem de amparo legal em seu país. Membro do Partido Socialista Francês, chegou a cargos de relevância na área da saúde pública.
– Quando você entrou oficialmente na Maçonaria?
– Maurice Caillet: No início de 1970 me convocaram para uma possível iniciação. Eu ignorava praticamente tudo acerca do que me esperava. Tinha 36 anos, era um homem livre e nunca me havia afiliado a sindicato nem partido político algum. Assim, pois, uma tarde, em uma discreta rua da cidade de Rennes, chamei à porta do templo, cuja frente estava adornada por uma esfinge de asas e um triângulo que rodeava um olho. Fui recebido por um homem que me disse: «Senhor, solicitou ser admitido entre nós. Sua decisão é definitiva? Você está disposto a submeter-se às provas? Se a resposta for positiva, siga-me». Fiz um gesto de acordo com a cabeça. Colocou-me então uma venda preta sobre os olhos, segurou-me pelo braço e me fez percorrer uma série de passarelas. Comecei a sentir certa inquietude, mas antes de poder formulá-la, ouvi como se fechava a porta detrás de nós...
– Em seu livro «Yo fui mazón», você explica que a maçonaria foi determinante na introdução do aborto livre na França em 1974.
– Maurice Caillet: A eleição de Valéry Giscard d'Estaing como presidente da República francesa em 1974 levou Jacques Chirac a ser eleito primeiro-ministro, tendo este como conselheiro pessoal Jean-Pierre Prouteau, Grão-Mestre do Grande Oriente da França, principal ramo maçom francês, de tendência laicista. No Ministério de Saúde colocou Simone Veil, jurista, antiga deportada de Auschwitz, que tinha como conselheiro o Dr. Pierre Simon, Grão-Mestre da Grande Loja da França, com o qual eu mantinha correspondência. Os políticos estavam bem rodeados pelos que chamávamos de nossos «Irmãos Três Pontos», e o projeto de lei sobre o aborto se elaborou com rapidez. Adotada pelo Conselho de Ministros no mês de novembro, a lei Veil foi votada em dezembro. Os deputados e senadores maçons de direitas e esquerdas votaram como um só homem!
– Você comenta que entre os maçons há obrigatoriedade de ajudar-se entre si. Ainda é assim?
– Maurice Caillet: Os «favores» são comuns na França. Certas lojas procuram ser virtuosas, mas o segredo que reina nestes círculos favorece a corrupção. Na Fraternal dos Altos Funcionários, por exemplo, negociam certas promoções, e na Fraternal de Construções e Obras Públicas distribuem os contratos, com conseqüências financeiras consideráveis.
– Você se beneficiou destes favores?
– Maurice Caillet: Sim. O Tribunal de Apelação presidido por um «irmão» se pronunciou sobre meu divórcio ordenando custos compartilhados, ao invés de dirigir todos a mim, e reduziu a pensão alimentícia à ajuda que devia prestar a meus filhos. Algum tempo depois, após ter um conflito com meus três sócios da clínica, outro «irmão maçom», Jean, diretor da Caixa do Seguro Social, ao ficar sabendo deste conflito, me propôs assumir a direção do Centro de Exames de Saúde de Rennes.
– O abandono da maçonaria afetou sua carreira profissional?
– Maurice Caillet: Desde então não encontrei trabalho em nenhuma administração pública ou semi-pública, apesar de meu rico currículo.
– Em algum momento você recebeu ameaças de morte?
– Maurice Caillet: Após ser despedido de meu cargo na administração e começar a lutar contra esta decisão arbitrária, recebi a visita de um «irmão» da Grande Loja da França, catedrático e secretário regional da Força Operária, que me disse com a maior frieza que se eu recorresse à magistratura trabalhista eu «colocaria em perigo minha vida» e ele não poderia fazer nada para proteger-me. Nunca imaginei que poderia estar ameaçado de morte por conhecidos e honoráveis maçons de nossa cidade.
– Você era membro do Partido Socialista e conhecia muitos de seus «irmãos» que se dedicavam à política. Poderia me dizer quantos maçons houve no governo de Mitterrand?
– Maurice Caillet. Doze.
– E no atual, de Sarkozy?
– Maurice Caillet: Dois.
– Para um ignorante como eu, poderia dizer quais são os princípios da maçonaria?
– Maurice Caillet: A maçonaria, em todas as suas obediências, propõe uma filosofia humanista, preocupada antes de tudo pelo homem e consagrada à busca da verdade, ainda afirmando que esta é inacessível. Rejeita todo dogma e sustenta o relativismo, que coloca todas as religiões em um mesmo nível, enquanto desde 1723, nas Constituições de Anderson, ela erige a si mesma a um nível superior, como «centro de união». Daí se deduz um relativismo moral: nenhuma norma moral tem em si mesma uma origem divina e, em conseqüência, definitiva, intangível. Sua moral evolui em função do consenso das sociedades.
– E como Deus se encaixa na maçonaria?
– Maurice Caillet: Para um maçom, o próprio conceito de Deus é especial, e isso se menciona, como nas obediências chamadas espiritualistas. No melhor dos casos, é o Grande Arquiteto do Universo, um Deus abstrato, mas somente uma espécie de «Criador-mestre relojoeiro», como o chama o pastor Désaguliers, um dos fundadores da maçonaria especulativa. A este Grande Arquiteto se reza, se me permite a expressão, para que não intervenha nos assuntos dos homens, e nem sequer é citado nas Constituições de Anderson.
– E o conceito de salvação?
– Maurice Caillet: Como tal, não existe na maçonaria, salvo no plano terreno: é o elitismo das sucessivas iniciações, ainda que estas possam considerar-se pertencentes ao âmbito do animismo, segundo René Guenon, grande iniciado, e Mircea Eliade, grande especialista em religiões. É também a busca de um bem que não se especifica em nenhuma parte, já que a moral evolui na sinceridade, a qual, como todos sabemos, não é sinônimo de verdade.
– Qual é a relação da maçonaria com as religiões?
– Maurice Caillet: É muito ambígua. Em princípio, os maçons proclamam com firmeza uma tolerância especial para com todas as crenças e ideologias, com um gosto muito marcado pelo sincretismo, ou seja, uma coordenação pouco coerente das diferentes doutrinas espirituais: é a eterna gnose, subversão da fé verdadeira. Por outra parte, a vida das lojas, que foi minha durante 15 anos, revela uma animosidade particular contra a autoridade papal e contra os dogmas da Igreja Católica.
– Como começou seu descobrimento de Cristo?
– Maurice Caillet: Eu era racionalista, maçom e ateu. Tampouco estava batizado, mas minha mulher Claude estava doente e decidimos ir a Lourdes. Enquanto ela estava nas piscinas, o frio me obrigava a refugiar-me na Cripta, onde assisti, com interesse, à primeira missa de minha vida. Quando o padre, ao ler o Evangelho, disse: "Pedi e vos será dado: buscai e achareis; chamai e se vos abrirá", aconteceu um choque tremendo em mim porque esta frase eu ouvi no dia de minha iniciação no grau de Aprendiz e a costumava repetir quando, já Venerável, iniciava os profanos. No silêncio posterior – pois não havia homilia – ouvi claramente uma voz que me dizia: "Pedes a cura de Claude. Mas o que ofereces?". Instantaneamente, e seguro de ter sido interpelado pelo próprio Deus, só tinha a mim mesmo para oferecer. No final da missa, fui à sacristia e pedi imediatamente o batismo ao padre. Este, estupefato quando lhe confessei minha pertença maçônica e minhas práticas ocultistas, me disse que fosse ver o arcebispo de Rennes. Esse foi o início de meu itinerário espiritual.
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