Smoky Mountains Sunrise

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Republican and Conservative Network to Educate Public on Nikki Haley


A network of Republicans and conservative independents has announced a press conference to be held in Columbia on Thursday, September 30, at 4 pm, to launch an educational campaign about Nikki Haley and her campaign for Governor of South Carolina.

The Press Conference will be held on the first floor of the statehouse in Columbia.

Cyndi Mosteller, former First Vice Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party and Chairwoman of the Charleston County Republican Party, and Dr. Dave Woodard, Clemson professor of political science and long time Republican activist, will present at the press conference.


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

South Carolinian Wins Free Missions Trip Around the World


Erica Kaufman of Charleston, S.C. is going on the World Race, an 11 month missions trip to 11 countries, this October -- for free.

The World Race is a ministry of Adventures in Missions (AIM), a Georgia-based interdenominational organization. According to Seth Barnes, executive director of AIM, the program is an "initiation process" that takes participants on an "epic pilgrimage."

Barnes writes, "they minister to the poorest of the poor, befriending those who have no friends and in the midst of the sorrow and pain, experiencing God in a new way without the trappings of success."

AIM offered the free trip this spring. To enter the giveaway, applicants submitted their story in 2 minutes of video or 500 words. Among ten finalists, Kaufman was the winner.

"I spent the summer with 100 students from my college ministry and I was in my hotel room with two of my roommates when I got the call," Kaufman recalls. "I fell to my knees and my roommates started jumping up and down screaming ... I think I cried."

Kaufman, who graduated from the College of Charleston in May, entered a video. In it, she says why she's going: "To grow in my walk with Christ, and to be pushed in ways I couldn't be pushed anywhere else, and to share the gospel with people who have never heard before."

Her route, subject to change, will span Central America, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa and South Asia.

Winning a free World Race has given Kaufman peace and confirmation. She admits that had she not won, she'd be "much more nervous if this was God’s will... " Of the many options available, she continues, "I wouldn't have been sure if this was the one He called me to."

"My family members aren't Christians and as I am the first person in my family to ever win anything it gave them a chance to get excited," albeit partially, Kaufman says. Winning "helped soften their hearts ... Also, because I grew up Jewish ... support-raising would have been very difficult."

But Kaufman won't have to raise many funds for the trip; she's also received some free gear. "God has made it pretty clear that He wants me to go on this trip, and that He will provide everything I need -- I just need to trust Him," says Kaufman.

" ... God has just spoken to me over and over again ... that He loves me, that I am doing His will, and that He is going to be with me every second of the [R]ace."

For more information on the World Race visit www.theworldrace.org.


Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel

From America Needs Fatima

T
his is the true story of a Marine wounded in Korea in 1950.
Writing to his mother, he told her of a fascinating encounter he experienced in the war. Father Walter Muldy, a navy chaplain who spoke to the young Marine and his mother as well as to the outfit commander, always affirmed the veracity of this narrative. We heard it from someone who read the original letter and retell the story here in all its details and in the first person to better convey some of the impact it must have had when first told by the son to his mother.

Dear Mom,

I am writing to you from a hospital bed. Don’t worry, Mom, I am okay. I was wounded, but the doctor says that I will be up in no time.

But that’s not what I have to tell you, Mom. Something happened to me that I don’t dare tell anyone else for fear of their disbelief. But I have to tell you, the one person I can confide in, though even you may find it hard to believe.

You remember the prayer to Saint Michael that you taught me to pray when I was little: “Michael, Michael of the morning,…” Before I left home for Korea, you urged me to remember this prayer before any confrontation with the enemy. But you really didn’t have to remind me, Mom. I have always prayed it, and when I got to Korea, I sometimes said it a couple of times a day while marching or resting.

Well, one day, we were told to move forward to scout for Commies. It was a really cold day. As I was walking along, I perceived another fellow walking beside me, and I looked to see who it was.

He was a big fellow, a Marine about 6’4” and built proportionally. Funny, but I didn’t know him, and I thought I knew everyone in my unit. I was glad to have the company and broke the silence between us:

“Chilly today, isn’t it?” Then I chuckled because suddenly it seemed absurd to talk about the weather when we were advancing to meet the enemy.
He chuckled too, softly.

“I thought I knew everyone in my outfit,” I continued, “ but I have never seen you before.”

“No,” he agreed, “I have just joined. The name is Michael.”

“Really?! That’s mine, too.”

“I know,” the Marine said, “Michael, Michael of the morning….”

Mom, I was really surprised that he knew about my prayer, but I had taught it to many of the other guys, so I supposed that the newcomer must have picked it up from someone else. As a matter of fact, it had gotten around to the extent that some of the fellows were calling me “Saint Michael.”

Then, out of the blue, Michael said, “There’s going to be trouble ahead.”

I wondered how he could know that. I was breathing hard from the march, and my breath hit the cold air like dense clouds of fog. Michael seemed to be in top shape because I couldn’t see his breath at all. Just then, it started to snow heavily, and soon it was so dense I could no longer hear or see the rest of my outfit. I got a little scared and yelled, “Michael!” Then I felt his strong hand on my shoulder and heard his voice in my ear, “It’s going to clear up soon.”

It did clear up, suddenly. And then, just a short distance ahead of us, like so many dreadful realities, were seven Commies, looking rather comical in their funny hats. But there was nothing funny about them now; their guns were steady and pointed straight in our direction.

“Down, Michael!!” I yelled as I dove for cover. Even as I was hitting the ground, I looked up and saw Michael still standing, as if paralyzed by fear, or so I thought at the time. Bullets were spurting all over the place, and Mom, there was no way those Commies could have missed at that short distance. I jumped up to pull him down, and then I was hit. The pain was like a hot fire in my chest, and as I fell, my head swooned and I remember thinking, “I must be dying…” Someone was laying me down, strong arms were holding me and laying me gently on the snow. Through the daze, I opened my eyes, and the sun seemed to blaze in my eyes. Michael was standing still, and there was a terrible splendor in his face. Suddenly, he seemed to grow, like the sun, the splendor increasing intensely around him like the wings of an angel. As I slipped into unconsciousness, I saw that Michael held a sword in his hand, and it flashed like a million lights.

Later on, when I woke up, the rest of the guys came to see me with the sergeant.

“How did you do it, son?” he asked me.

“Where’s Michael?” I asked in reply.

“Michael who?” The sergeant seemed puzzled.

“Michael, the big Marine walking with me, right up to the last moment. I saw him there as I fell.”

“Son,” the sergeant said gravely, “you’re the only Michael in my unit. I hand-picked all you fellows, and there’s only one Michael. You. And son, you weren’t walking with anyone. I was watching you because you were too far off from us, and I was worried.

Now tell me, son,” he repeated, “how did you do it?”

It was the second time he had asked me that, and I found it irritating.

“How did I do what?”

“How did you kill those seven Commies? There wasn’t a single bullet fired from your rifle.”

“What?”

“Come on, son. They were strewn all around you, each one killed by a swordstroke.”

And that, Mom, is the end of my story. It may have been the pain, or the blazing sun, or the chilling cold. I don’t know, Mom, but there is one thing I am sure about. It happened.

Love your son,

Michael



Tuesday, September 28, 2010

U.S. Economy "Close to a Destructive Tipping Point," Glenn Hubbard Says




From Yahoo Finance
By Aaron Task

"America is very close to a destructive tipping point," co-authors Glenn Hubbard and Peter Navarro warn in their new book Seeds of Destruction. "We must change how we conduct our politics and economics...or we will inevitably go the way of all once-great nations and suffer an irreversible decline."

Hubbard, dean of Columbia Business School, joined Dan Gross and I to discuss the "major structural imbalances" facing America, chief among them being the government's profligate spending.

Read the rest of this entry >>


Sunlit Uplands Included on List of "100 Excellent Conservative Blogs You Should Be Reading"

Sunlit Uplands is honored and humbled to be included among such major blogs as Town Hall, Drudge, Michelle Malkin, Red State, and Newsmax in a new list of the 100 best conservative blogs.

The
"100 Excellent Conservative Blogs You Should Be Reading" list was compiled by Masters in Education.


Survey Documents American Ignorance of Religious Knowledge


When we're shocked and perplexed at how someone like Obama could become President, how Americans could even consider a mosque at Ground Zero, or how this nation could owe more money than all the money that exists in the world, we come upon statistics like these; the fruit of America's government schools.

A survey of 3,412 Americans conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has documented the extent of religious ignorance.

While 44% of Americans speak frequently with friends and family about religion,

  • only 71% could name the place of Jesus’ birth
  • 67% inaccurately believe that public school teachers are forbidden to “read from the Bible as an example of literature”
  • only 63% could name the first book of the Bible
  • only 54% could name the Muslim holy book
  • 52% of Americans think that Catholics believe that “the bread and wine are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ,” while 45% think that Catholics believe that “the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ”
  • only 46% could name Martin Luther as “the person whose writings and actions inspired the Protestant Reformation”
  • only 45% could name the four Gospels
  • more Americans (28%) believe that Billy Graham participated in the First Great Awakening than that Jonathan Edwards did (11%)
  • more Americans (36%) believe that Brown v. Board of Education case-- which ended segregation in public schools-- focused on evolution than believes that the Scopes trial (which actually focused on evolution) did (31%)
  • The survey also found that

  • 69% are “absolutely certain” that God or a universal spirit exists, while 17% are “fairly certain” and 6% are atheists
  • 48% read Scripture at least monthly
  • only 59% of Americans know that the vice president of the United States is Joe Biden
  • Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.


    Monday, September 27, 2010

    Surprise! 1/3 of Blacks Back Tea-Party Movement

    'The wheels on the race-card bus are beginning to fall off'

    From WorldNetDaily
    By Drew Zahn

    A new poll released this week soundly contradicts critics' claims that the tea-party movement is "fringe," "white" and "racist."

    PJTV's Tea Party Tracking Poll has monitored nationwide sentiments toward the tea party on a weekly basis since Aug. 2. The poll's most recent reports reveal the following results:

    • The number of people who identify as "members" of the tea party has more than tripled over the last month alone, up to 21 percent of likely voters;

    • Fifty-five percent of those surveyed said they support the tea parties based on the movement's positions on the issues;

    • Among the likely voters who are black, 32 percent said they would vote for a candidate backed by the tea parties.

    Read the rest of this entry >>

    Soros Revealed as Funder of Liberal Jewish-American Lobby


    The Jewish-American advocacy group J Street, which bills itself as the dovish alternative to the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby, has secretly received funding from billionaire George Soros despite previous denials that it accepted funds from the Hungarian-born financier and liberal political activist.

    Read the rest of this entry >>


    Sunday, September 26, 2010

    Obama Stimulus Made Economic Crisis Worse, `Black Swan' Author Taleb Says

    From Bloomberg
    By Frederic Tomesco

    U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration weakened the country’s economy by seeking to foster growth instead of paying down the federal debt, said Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of “The Black Swan.”

    “Obama did exactly the opposite of what should have been done,” Taleb said yesterday in Montreal in a speech as part of Canada’s Salon Speakers series. “He surrounded himself with people who exacerbated the problem. You have a person who has cancer and instead of removing the cancer, you give him tranquilizers. When you give tranquilizers to a cancer patient, they feel better but the cancer gets worse.”

    Today, Taleb said, “total debt is higher than it was in 2008 and unemployment is worse.”

    Obama this month proposed a package of $180 billion in business tax breaks and infrastructure outlays to boost spending and job growth. That would come on top of the $814 billion stimulus measure enacted last year. The U.S. government’s total outstanding debt is about $13.5 trillion, according to U.S. Treasury Department figures.

    Obama, 49, inherited what the National Bureau of Economic Research said this week was the deepest U.S. recession since the Great Depression. Even after the stimulus measure and other government actions, the U.S. unemployment rate is 9.6 percent.

    Governments globally need to cut debt and avoid bailing out struggling companies because that’s the only way they can shield their economies from the negative consequences of erroneous budget forecasts, Taleb said.

    Errant Forecasts

    “Today there is a dependency on people who have never been able to forecast anything,” Taleb said. “What kind of system is insulated from forecasting errors? A system where debts are low and companies are allowed to die young when they are fragile. Companies always end up dying one day anyway.”

    Taleb, a native of Lebanon who gave his speech in French to an audience of Quebec business people, said Canada’s fiscal situation makes the country a safer investment than its southern neighbor.

    Canada has the lowest ratio of net debt to gross domestic product among the Group of Seven industrialized countries and will keep that distinction until at least 2014, the country’s finance department said in March. Canada’s ratio, 24 percent in 2007, will rise to about 30 percent by 2014. The U.S. ratio, now above 40 percent, will top 80 percent in four years, the department said, citing IMF data.

    “I am bullish on Canada,” he told the audience. “I prefer Canada to the U.S. or even Europe.”

    Mortgage Interest

    Canada’s economy also benefits from the fact that homeowners, unlike their U.S. neighbors, can’t take mortgage interest as a tax deduction, Taleb said. That removes the incentive to take on too much debt, he said.

    “The first thing to do if you want to solve the mortgage problem in the U.S. is to stop making these interest payments deductible,” he said. “Has someone dared to talk about this in Washington? No, because the U.S. homebuilders’ lobby is hyperactive and doesn’t want people to talk about this.”

    Taleb also criticized banks and securities firms, saying they don’t adequately warn clients of the risks they run when they invest their retirement savings in the stock market.

    ‘Have Fun’

    “People should use financial markets to have fun, but not as a depository of value,” Taleb said. “Investors have been deceived. People were told that markets go up regularly, but if you look at the last 10 years that’s not been the case. The risks are always greater than what people are told.”

    Asked by an audience member if returns such as those posted by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett -- who amassed the world’s third-biggest personal fortune through decades of stock picks and takeovers -- are the product of luck or talent, Taleb said both played a part.

    If given a choice between investing with Buffett and billionaire investor George Soros, Taleb also said he would probably pick the latter.

    “I am not saying Buffett isn’t as good as Soros,” he said. “I am saying that the probability Soros’s returns come from randomness is much smaller because he did almost everything: he bought currencies, he sold currencies, he did arbitrages. He made a lot more decisions. Buffett followed a strategy to buy companies that had a certain earnings profile, and it worked for him. There is a lot more luck involved in this strategy.”

    Soros gained fame in the 1990s when he reportedly made $1 billion correctly betting against the British pound.

    Taleb’s 2007 best-seller, “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable,” argues that history is littered with rare, high-impact events. The black-swan theory stems from the ancient misconception that all swans were white.

    A former trader, Taleb teaches risk engineering at New York University and advises Universa Investments LP, a Santa Monica, California-based fund that bets on extreme market moves.


    Westminster Cathedral Choir - "O Quam Suavis Est, Domine" and "Benedictus"





    A Homily by Father Jay Scott Newman on Blessed John Henry Newman



    Homily of Reverend Jay Scott Newman

    Pastor

    St.
    Mary's Catholic Church

    Greenville, South Carolina

    September 19, 2010

    Saturday, September 25, 2010

    Dead Voters Alive as Justice Department Sleeps



    From Scripps Howard News Service
    By Deroy Murdock

    What is the quietest spot in Washington, D.C.? The Rose Garden? The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier? Actually, it's the Justice Department's Voting Section.

    Justice's unit that allegedly fights disenfranchisement lately has been caught dozing while at least nine states too slowly deliver absentee ballots to overseas GIs. Too many military votes thus may go uncounted in November.

    In yet another outrage, the Voting Section is static while the rolls of at least 16 states evidently list ineligible voters, including non-residents, disqualified felons, and -- yes, dead people. Justice's response? "ZZZZZZzzzzzz......"

    Even worse, the Big Sleep at Justice seems totally deliberate.

    As former Voting Section prosecutor J. Christian Adams testified under oath July 6 before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, he attended a November 2009 meeting in which Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes discussed the federal law that requires that local officials purge illegitimate names from their voter rolls. Adams swore that Fernandes told Voting Section prosecutors: "We have no interest in enforcing this provision of the law. It has nothing to do with increasing turnout, and we are just not going to do it."

    So far, the Voting Section is living down to Fernandes' low expectations. If not willful disregard for federal statutes, only powerful sedatives could explain how federal prosecutors could rest comfortably through these simmering examples of voter-roll adulteration:

    -- The federal Election Assistance Commission reports that Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Tennessee expunged precisely zero dead voters from their rolls between 2006 and 2008. The same applies to numerous counties in Alabama, Rhode Island, and Virginia. Either these places are experiencing an explosion in immortality, or they are violating federal law.

    -- Several Iowa and North Carolina counties feature more registered voters than live, voting-age adults. This condition plagues at least a dozen counties each in Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Texas. Registered voters equal 104 percent of Baltimore County, Maryland's voting-adult population; and, according to documents that Adams filed, 113 percent in Lincoln County, West Virginia. Alaska's and Michigan's statewide figures are 102 percent.

    -- As Adams explains, July alone featured vote-fraud investigations, indictments, and convictions in: Atlantic City, New Jersey; Troy, New York; Canton, Mississippi; Brooks County, Georgia; Independence, Louisiana; Dillon County, South Carolina; Adair County, Oklahoma; Muncie, Indiana; and especially Minnesota, "where there have been dozens of felon voting indictments arising out of the closely contested 2008 elections."

    -- Duplicate registration plagues metropolitan areas that straddle state lines. In such spots, people may reside in one state and work or study in another. Greater St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis, and Cincinnati occupy this category, as do New York and Florida -- to which tax-burdened New Yorkers often escape.

    Such unacceptable electoral conditions could help candidates win, thanks to graveyard landslides. But even barring that, America should leave disheveled voter rolls to banana republics.

    While the Voting Section naps, J. Christian Adams barely has time to blink. He has warned 16 states of potential lawsuits because they are violating the National Voter Registration Act. Section 7 of this 1993 "Motor Voter" law expands suffrage by requiring states to enroll voters at motor-vehicle bureaus, welfare agencies, and other government offices. Simultaneously, Section 8 requires states to update their records so that only eligible voters -- not cadavers -- can cast ballots.

    Motor Voter allows enforcement via private lawsuits against non-compliant states and voter registrars. Adams is highly qualified for this duty, given his five years in the Voting Section. He resigned last May 14 to protest Justice's politicized mishandling of the New Black Panthers voter-intimidation case.

    Other private attorneys should join this cause. Americans for Restoration (americansforrestoration.com) welcomes the support of those who prefer to cast ballots without seeing ghosts.

    Come Election Night, if the votes of live citizens are not diluted by those of Deceased-Americans, it will be no thanks to Justice's Voting Section. They are enjoying an office-wide slumber party while America's voter rolls literally are haunted.


    Deroy Murdock is a columnist with Scripps Howard News Service and a media fellow with the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University. E-mail him at deroy.Murdock(at)gmail.com.


    Dinesh D'Souza to Unveil Revolutionary Book, 'The Roots of Obama's Rage'


    Dinesh D'Souza's new book, The Roots of Obama's Rage, is certain to cause even more uproar than his article, "How Obama Thinks," which was featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine this month. Mr. D'Souza, who has been called one of the nation's leading authorities on international issues, and one of America's most influential conservative thinkers, stated in an interview with Glenn Beck that his article was just "a little appetizer for the book." Mr. D'Souza's highly controversial book proposes the mindset behind President Obama's confusing and, at times, unnerving decisions for the United States.

    Mr. D'Souza brings out Mr. Obama's father's anti-colonialist ideals that accuse the rich countries of the West of invading, looting and stealing from poor countries of the world. In President Obama's autobiography, he defines himself, and his mission in life and as the President, by those anti-colonialist ideals of his father. The point that Mr. D'Souza wants to elucidate is that Obama is not just a conventional liberal. His drive, the "root of his rage," is in his own deep personal history, which is not commensurate with the Judeo-Christian roots of our country.

    Mr. D'Souza will be publicly addressing his book for the first time, discussing biblical worldview aspects of leadership, at this year's National Conference on Christian Apologetics. The upcoming conference hosted by the Southern Evangelical Seminary on October 15th-16th, in Charlotte, North Carolina, will hold panels of intellectual deliberation on apologetics issues that affect today's culture.


    The Way of Beauty: 'A Catholic World View' Hosted by David Clayton, Episode 3




    This third episode in a series broadcast by CatholicTV, (and posted here on Saturdays) examines Catholic traditions in art as an expression of a Catholic worldview. The series focuses on authentic Catholic artistic traditions (iconographic, gothic, baroque and sacred geometry). The Way of Beauty examines what constitutes a tradition, how it is taught and passed on so that it can respond to the times, while retaining its essential principles. The series shows how the style of these traditions can be related directly to the liturgy, theology and philosophy of the Church. The Way of Beauty is hosted by David Clayton, an iconographer and artist in residence at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, N.H.


    Friday, September 24, 2010

    Republicans Raise Money for Sodomite Agenda

    "While Karl Rove is not listed as a sponsor of the homosexual fundraiser, his criticism of Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell is seen by some conservatives as based largely on her strong stand in favor of pro-family policies and not any personal problems she may have had in her distant past. A staunch Catholic, O’Donnell accepts church teachings about sexuality and opposes gay rights."

    From Accuracy in Media
    By Cliff Kincaid


    The civil war in the Republican Party takes another turn on Wednesday night when Sarah Palin basher Nicolle Wallace lends her name to a fundraiser for a pro-homosexual group called American Foundation for Equal Rights. Wallace, an adviser to the 2008 McCain for President campaign, figures prominently in Sarah Palin’s book, Going Rogue, as someone determined to get her on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric so that she could be sandbagged by the left-wing anchorwoman.

    American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) supports the “right” of a homosexual judge in California to unilaterally overturn the state’s ban on homosexual marriage.

    Meanwhile, with Senator John McCain adamantly opposed, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled a vote Tuesday on legislation to repeal the 1993 law against open homosexuals serving in the military. Repeal has already passed the House.

    Palin, whose selection as the vice presidential nominee gave McCain some hope of winning the 2008 presidential election, has since been actively supporting conservatives for public office who believe in traditional values. She even campaigned for McCain in the Arizona Republican Senate primary.

    The emergence of former McCain aide Nicolle Wallace in the pro-gay movement has raised questions about whether Palin’s charges against her, made in her best-selling book, were true.

    Palin’s sabotage accusations, a subject of some controversy when her book came out, seem to find confirmation in the fact that Nicolle Wallace and her husband Mark are among the liberal Republicans listed as sponsors of a September 22 “cocktail reception” to raise money for the pro-gay organization.

    The Palin book had called the Katie Couric interview a trap and she blamed Wallace for the debacle and questioned Wallace’s Republican credentials. Wallace, who insisted that Palin’s charges against her were false, had been a CBS political analyst after serving in the Bush-Cheney White House as an associate of Karl Rove. She has recently been promoting a novel, Eighteen Acres, about a White House sex scandal.

    But the real-life scandal seems to be how many secret homosexuals and homosexual sympathizers have assumed positions of prominence in the Republican Party. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the heads of Republican congressional campaign committees, Senator John Cornyn and Rep. Pete Sessions, are scheduled to attend a national fundraising dinner of the homosexual Log Cabin Republicans on the same night, September 22.

    The Log Cabin group, which filed suit against the Pentagon’s homosexual exclusion policy and advocates its repeal, has issued a statement hailing the participation of Cornyn and Sessions in their event. They are also giving an award to Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

    Nicolle Wallace’s emergence on behalf of the gay rights cause is significant in view of her Republican credentials. Her bio says that, in addition to being a senior adviser to the McCain-Palin campaign from May to November 2008, “She served President George W. Bush as an assistant to the president and director of communications for the White House, as well as communications director for President Bush’s 2004 campaign.”

    The hosts of the gay rights fundraiser she supports include hedge fund managers and Republican financial contributors Paul Singer and Peter Thiel. A billionaire, Thiel is a homosexual activist who co-founded the PayPal company and has links to libertarian think tanks such as the Cato Institute.

    Thiel runs Clarium Capital Management, a $2 billion hedge fund, and Singer runs Elliott Management, a $17 billion hedge fund. Both are members of the powerful Managed Funds Association that also includes George Soros.

    Another host is former Republican chairman Kenneth B. Mehlman, the Bush campaign manager in 2004 who recently admitted being a secret homosexual during the time he worked for the party. Publicly, Mehlman had lied, insisting he wasn’t a homosexual.

    But the event is hardly a Republicans-only affair. Other sponsors include John Podesta, former Clinton chief of staff and president of the George Soros-funded Center for American Progress, and Democratic Party strategist Steve Elmendorf.

    The co-chairs of AFER are Podesta and Robert A. Levy, chairman of the Cato Institute.

    While Karl Rove is not listed as a sponsor of the homosexual fundraiser, his criticism of Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell is seen by some conservatives as based largely on her strong stand in favor of pro-family policies and not any personal problems she may have had in her distant past. A staunch Catholic, O’Donnell accepts church teachings about sexuality and opposes gay rights.

    Palin, who supported O’Donnell, reveals in her book that during the 2008 campaign she discussed homosexual issues with the McCain advisers and made it clear that she opposed gay marriage. After McCain went down to defeat, McCain senior campaign adviser Steve Schmidt gave a speech to the Log Cabin Republicans, a homosexual group, endorsing gay marriage. Schmidt was a close associate of Karl Rove and his name also appears on the list of AFER sponsors.

    In her book, Palin says that Wallace convinced her to do the interview with Couric by claiming that “Katie really needed a career boost” and that Palin could provide it by sitting down for an interview. “Katie really likes you,” Wallace told Palin. “She’s a working mom and admires you as a working mom. She has teenage daughters like you. She just relates to you.”

    Palin says she wanted to talk to The Wall Street Journal and Fox News. However, “from the beginning, Nicolle pushed for Katie Couric and the CBS Evening News.” For some reason, Palin went on to say, “Nicolle seemed compelled to get me on the Katie bandwagon.”

    Palin writes that Wallace had a “peculiar” attitude and “didn’t have much to say that was positive” about working for a Republican president.

    This could very well be explained by the fact that Wallace and other liberal Republicans were secretly opposed to the Bush campaign stance in favor of traditional marriage between a man and a woman. Bush’s re-election in 2004 has frequently been attributed to his stand in favor of marriage between a man and a woman and the fact that pro-traditional marriage amendments were on the ballots in 11 states and helped increase turnout for the Republican ticket.

    Earlier this year, however, Bush’s wife Laura said she now accepts gay marriage.

    Other sponsors of the gay rights fundraiser include Fox News contributor Margaret Hoover; Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney; and Benjamin Ginsberg, who served as national counsel to the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign.

    Speaking for conservatives, Rep. Mike Pence told the Values Voter Summit in Washington over the weekend that Republicans should continue to oppose the homosexual agenda.

    On the issue of a strong national defense, he said, “It means defending those who defend us from being used to advance a liberal domestic agenda. For our soldiers, their families, for readiness, recruitment and unit cohesion, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell must remain the policy of the United States Armed Forces.”

    He said, “Finally, a vision for a better America must recognize that our present crisis is not merely economic and political, but moral in nature…We will not restore this nation with public policy alone. It will require public virtue, and that emanates from the traditional institutions of our nation—life, family and religion.

    “Now I know some say that Republicans should stay away from such issues this year—that the American people are focused on jobs and spending and our movement would do well to stand aside, bank the win and return to fight after this fiscal and economic crisis has passed.

    “But we do not live in a world where an American leader can just focus on our financial ledger. A political party that would govern this great nation must be able to handle more than one issue at a time. We must focus on our fiscal crisis and support our troops. We must work to create jobs and protect innocent human life, defend traditional marriage and secure religious liberty.

    “To those who say that marriage is not relevant to our budget crisis, I say, ‘you would not be able to print enough money in a thousand years to pay for the government you would need if the traditional family continues to collapse.’”



    Thursday, September 23, 2010

    House Republicans Introduce 'Pledge to America' (Full Text)

    The Statue of Liberty by Edward Moran

    Later this morning, House Republicans will formally introduce a "Pledge to America," a 21-page legislative agenda that they promise to advance in the next Congress.

    Freedom demands action, and we could not agree more with this introductory statement:
    An unchecked executive, a compliant legislature, and an overreaching judiciary have combined to thwart the will of the people and overturn their votes and their values, striking down longstanding laws and institutions and scorning the deepest beliefs of the American people.

    An arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites makes decisions, issues mandates, and enacts laws without accepting or requesting the input of the many.
    There is, indeed, need for "urgent action" and for the sake of our Constitutional foundations and America's future, we all need to insist that this pledge to repeal Obamunism and restore Constitutional government be boldly implemented as soon as possible.

    The full text is here.


    Wednesday, September 22, 2010

    Mosteller: Haley Puts GOP Principles at Risk


    From The State
    By Cyndi C. Mosteller

    Vincent Sheheen’s opening words on his first TV ad, “South Carolina is at a crossroads,” are one intersection over from our state’s political realities. In the governor’s race, it is the state Republican Party that finds itself uncomfortably driven to the crossroads. With a 55 percent win in the last gubernatorial election and seven of eight constitutional offices, Republican, conservative and tea party voters together hold mathematical strength to elect our next governor. In a nation led by Barack Obama and a state led by Mark Sanford, this decision has never been more critical or more complicated.

    Since the June 2009 Sanford-Chapur expose, our state’s reputation has been tarnished by a leader compromised. A decade earlier, Congressman Mark Sanford stood for Bill Clinton’s resignation on the Lewinsky affair, declaring that “it would be much better for the country and for him personally” to resign. Unfortunately, a lack of shame is often the closest companion to lack of honor, and both leaders held tight their power of title, even after having lost the power of principle. With Nikki Haley, Republicans might be approaching that unfamiliar crossroads where victory of title and victory of principle are more perpendicular than parallel.

    As former vice chairman of the state Republican Party, my political hemoglobin runs iron-strong red. I’m down the line for Republicans Alan Wilson, Mick Zais and Tim Scott — not just for their stands, but for their character. In contrast, facts and allegations regarding Mrs. Haley raise valid questions in many a Republican conscience.

    Though running on a platform of transparency and accountability, Mrs. Haley has not paid her taxes by April 15 for the past five years, and has not even filed them by the end of her extension in three of those years — years she served in our General Assembly. And Mrs. Haley’s company, where she was the accountant, incurred three liens for withholding and income taxes not paid until 19 months past due. Yet Mrs. Haley continues to campaign on such statements as: “I know I’m the right person to go into this next position because I’m an accountant, who knows what it means to stretch a dollar.”

    And what of the sexual allegations? They are so removed from core Republican values that if it weren’t for Mark Sanford, we could never imagine them possibly being true — nor imagine that any candidate would consider himself or herself worthy of governing if they were. When former Sanford press secretary Will Folks asserted “an inappropriate physical relationship with Nikki,” released more than 60 damage-control texts made to Haley’s campaign and published a detailed log of late night-calls with Mrs. Haley, she called them “categorically and totally false” and insisted, “I have been 100 percent faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage.” That denial drew an unequivocal “that is not true” from Republican lobbyist Larry Marchant, who said he had sex with Mrs. Haley and “I know in my heart it happened, and she knows in her heart it happened.”

    But what do We the People know? We know:

    1. Someone here is lying big to 2.5 million registered voters of South Carolina.

    2. If, as founding father Gouverneur Morris wrote President-elect Washington, “the exercise of authority depends on personal character,” then the competency of a Haley governorship would be compromised should these allegations be true.

    3. If an informed electorate is essential to a democratic republic, then South Carolinians have every right to know if a candidate asking for their sacred vote is worthy of their sacred trust.

    As a Republican woman, I concur with the admonition from Clemson political scientist David Woodard, who told the July meeting of the Greenville Republican Women’s Club: “I think the most dangerous thing is that these accusations about her personal life need to be addressed in some way. …To get women into elected office in South Carolina, we cannot afford any shred of scandal in our first statewide elected female governor. … I think she has some problems of transparency.”

    Now what do We the People do? We respectfully and resolutely call for transparency. Mr. Folks, Mr. Marchant and Mrs. Haley should sign by sworn oath to the veracity of their respective public statements. Any additional mechanisms available to them for making the truth transparent should be employed without delay. And others who may have corroborating information one way or the other should have the courage to send it forward now.

    In response to a question on “marital fidelity while in political office” at the Palmetto Family Council forum, Mrs. Haley responded: “You are being held to a higher standard. … You’re a role model to everybody that follows you.” On the campaign trail, pro-life Democratic candidate Vincent Sheheen has repeatedly said “we need a governor we can trust.”

    With both statements, I couldn’t agree more.


    Ms. Mosteller is former first vice chairman of the S.C. Republican Party and former chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party. She is a Sanford appointee to the S.C. Commission on Higher Education and has appeared numerous times as a conservative guest on ABC’s Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. Reach her at cyndimosteller@bellsouth.net.



    Tuesday, September 21, 2010

    From Our Mail: Senate Protects Military With Vote to Block Gays-in-the-Military Law Repeal


    From: The Center for Military Readiness

    Re: Vote to Block Gays-in-the-Military Law Repeal


    In response to today’s vote to prevent hasty and premature legislative action on the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010, Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness, issued the following statement:

    “The vote today was a huge victory for the United States military. Forty-three senators, on a bi-partisan vote, stepped up to fulfill their constitutional responsibility to provide oversight in matters affecting the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

    She continued, “The military is a strong institution, but the fact that it is subject to civilian control makes it vulnerable to political pressures from civilian activist groups that do not understand the military’s unique culture and mission. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Barack Obama tried to use the defense bill to score political points with LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) activists and other groups they are counting on to get re-elected.

    “The annual Defense Authorization Act should be used to strengthen our armed forces, not to provide political payoffs to liberal constituency groups. We are grateful that 43 responsible senators rejected this self-serving attempt to force a pre-election vote on legislation that would have imposed an LGBT policy on our military, authorized abortions in military hospitals, and circumvented orderly systems for legal immigration.

    “Today’s vote protected the right of our military men and women to be heard in this debate—an opportunity they would have been denied otherwise. We hope that we will never again see such a blatant attempt to use the Defense Bill for political payoffs and misguided expediency. Our military is the finest in the world, and we intend to keep it that way.”


    Monday, September 20, 2010

    Obama Committed to Zakat




    In Cairo, President Obama promised to ensure that his fellow Muslims could fulfill "ZAKAT." What is "ZAKAT"? And what are the implications of this promise?


    Sunday, September 19, 2010

    Pope Benedict's Farewell Message to Great Britain




    FAREWELL CEREMONY

    ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

    International Airport of Birmingham

    Sunday, 19 September 2010

    Prime Minister,

    Thank you for your kind words of farewell on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government and the people of the United Kingdom. I am very grateful for all the hard work of preparation, on the part of both the present and the previous Government, the civil service, local authorities and police, and the many volunteers who patiently helped to prepare for the events of these four days. Thank you for the warmth of your welcome and for the hospitality that I have enjoyed.

    During my time with you, I have been able to meet representatives of the many communities, cultures, languages and religions that make up British society. The very diversity of modern Britain is a challenge to its Government and people, but it also represents a great opportunity to further intercultural and interreligious dialogue for the enrichment of the entire community.

    In these days, I was grateful for the opportunity to meet Her Majesty The Queen, as well as yourself and other political leaders, and to be able to discuss matters of common interest, both at home and abroad. I was particularly honoured to be invited to address both Houses of Parliament in the historic precincts of Westminster Hall.

    I sincerely hope that these occasions will contribute to confirming and strengthening the excellent relations between the Holy See and the United Kingdom, especially in cooperation for international development, in care for the natural environment, and in the building of a civil society with a renewed sense of shared values and common purpose.

    It was also my pleasure to visit His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of the Church of England, and later to pray with them and our fellow Christians in the evocative surroundings of Westminster Abbey, a place which speaks so eloquently of our shared traditions and culture. As Britain is home to so many religious traditions, I was grateful to have the opportunity to meet their representatives and to share some thoughts with them about the contribution that the religions can offer to the development of a healthy pluralistic society.

    Naturally, my visit was directed in a special way to the Catholics of the United Kingdom. I treasure the time spent with the bishops, clergy, religious and laity, and with teachers, pupils and older people. It was especially moving to celebrate with them, here in Birmingham, the beatification of a great son of England, Cardinal John Henry Newman. With his vast legacy of scholarly and spiritual writings, I am certain that he still has much to teach us about Christian living and witness amid the challenges of today’s world, challenges which he foresaw with such remarkable clarity.

    As I take my leave of you, let me assure you once again of my good wishes and prayers for the peace and prosperity of Great Britain.

    Thank you very much and God bless you all!

    Pope Benedict's Address to British Bishops


    MEETING WITH THE BISHOPS OF ENGLAND,
    SCOTLAND AND WALES

    ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

    Chapel of the Francis Martin House, Oscott College - Birmingham

    Sunday, 19 September 2010


    My dear Brother Bishops,

    This has been a day of great joy for the Catholic community in these islands. Blessed John Henry Newman, as we may now call him, has been raised to the altars as an example of heroic faithfulness to the Gospel and an intercessor for the Church in this land that he loved and served so well. Here in this very chapel in 1852, he gave voice to the new confidence and vitality of the Catholic community in England and Wales after the restoration of the hierarchy, and his words could be applied equally to Scotland a quarter of a century later. His beatification today is a reminder of the Holy Spirit’s continuing action in calling forth gifts of holiness from among the people of Great Britain, so that from east to west and from north to south, a perfect offering of praise and thanksgiving may be made to the glory of God’s name.

    I thank Cardinal O’Brien and Archbishop Nichols for their words, and in so doing, I am reminded how recently I was able to welcome all of you to Rome for the Ad Limina visits of your respective Episcopal Conferences. We spoke then about some of the challenges you face as you lead your people in faith, particularly regarding the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel afresh in a highly secularized environment. In the course of my visit it has become clear to me how deep a thirst there is among the British people for the Good News of Jesus Christ. You have been chosen by God to offer them the living water of the Gospel, encouraging them to place their hopes, not in the vain enticements of this world, but in the firm assurances of the next. As you proclaim the coming of the Kingdom, with its promise of hope for the poor and the needy, the sick and the elderly, the unborn and the neglected, be sure to present in its fulness the life-giving message of the Gospel, including those elements which call into question the widespread assumptions of today’s culture. As you know, a Pontifical Council has recently been established for the New Evangelization of countries of long-standing Christian tradition, and I would encourage you to avail yourselves of its services in addressing the task before you. Moreover, many of the new ecclesial movements have a particular charism for evangelization, and I know that you will continue to explore appropriate and effective ways of involving them in the mission of the Church.

    Since your visit to Rome, political changes in the United Kingdom have focused attention on the consequences of the financial crisis, which has caused so much hardship to countless individuals and families. The spectre of unemployment is casting its shadow over many people’s lives, and the long-term cost of the ill-advised investment practices of recent times is becoming all too evident. In these circumstances, there will be additional calls on the characteristic generosity of British Catholics, and I know that you will take a lead in calling for solidarity with those in need. The prophetic voice of Christians has an important role in highlighting the needs of the poor and disadvantaged, who can so easily be overlooked in the allocation of limited resources. In their teaching document Choosing the Common Good, the Bishops of England and Wales underlined the importance of the practice of virtue in public life. Today’s circumstances provide a good opportunity to reinforce that message, and indeed to encourage people to aspire to higher moral values in every area of their lives, against a background of growing cynicism regarding even the possibility of virtuous living.

    Another matter which has received much attention in recent months, and which seriously undermines the moral credibility of Church leaders, is the shameful abuse of children and young people by priests and religious. I have spoken on many occasions of the deep wounds that such behaviour causes, in the victims first and foremost, but also in the relationships of trust that should exist between priests and people, between priests and their bishops, and between the Church authorities and the public. I know that you have taken serious steps to remedy this situation, to ensure that children are effectively protected from harm and to deal properly and transparently with allegations as they arise. You have publicly acknowledged your deep regret over what has happened, and the often inadequate ways it was addressed in the past. Your growing awareness of the extent of child abuse in society, its devastating effects, and the need to provide proper victim support should serve as an incentive to share the lessons you have learned with the wider community. Indeed, what better way could there be of making reparation for these sins than by reaching out, in a humble spirit of compassion, towards children who continue to suffer abuse elsewhere? Our duty of care towards the young demands nothing less.

    As we reflect on the human frailty that these tragic events so starkly reveal, we are reminded that, if we are to be effective Christian leaders, we must live lives of the utmost integrity, humility and holiness. As Blessed John Henry Newman once wrote, “O that God would grant the clergy to feel their weakness as sinful men, and the people to sympathize with them and love them and pray for their increase in all good gifts of grace” (Sermon, 22 March 1829). I pray that among the graces of this visit will be a renewed dedication on the part of Christian leaders to the prophetic vocation they have received, and a new appreciation on the part of the people for the great gift of the ordained ministry. Prayer for vocations will then arise spontaneously, and we may be confident that the Lord will respond by sending labourers to bring in the plentiful harvest that he has prepared throughout the United Kingdom (cf. Mt 9:37-38). In this regard, I am glad that I will shortly have the opportunity to meet the seminarians of England, Scotland and Wales, and to assure them of my prayers as they prepare to play their part in bringing in that harvest.

    Finally, I should like to speak to you about two specific matters that affect your episcopal ministry at this time. One is the imminent publication of the new translation of the Roman Missal. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the contribution you have made, with such painstaking care, to the collegial exercise of reviewing and approving the texts. This has provided an immense service to Catholics throughout the English-speaking world. I encourage you now to seize the opportunity that the new translation offers for in-depth catechesis on the Eucharist and renewed devotion in the manner of its celebration. “The more lively the eucharistic faith of the people of God, the deeper is its sharing in ecclesial life in steadfast commitment to the mission entrusted by Christ to his disciples” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 6). The other matter I touched upon in February with the Bishops of England and Wales, when I asked you to be generous in implementing the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. This should be seen as a prophetic gesture that can contribute positively to the developing relations between Anglicans and Catholics. It helps us to set our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the context of which the mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies serves as an enrichment to us all. Let us continue to pray and work unceasingly in order to hasten the joyful day when that goal can be accomplished.

    With these sentiments, I thank you warmly for your hospitality over the past four days. Commending all of you and the people you serve to the intercession of Saint Andrew, Saint David and Saint George, I am pleased to impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and to all the clergy, religious and lay faithful of England, Scotland and Wales.