Another 72 day Conversion of America novena will begin on January 25th, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, and end on April 6th (Monday of Holy Week) Please help spread the word! If you come late, simply start at a later date and end later also. People may also become "American Sentinels" by pledging to pray the rosary every day over the next four years! ***
Conversion of America Novena - Day 15: Sorrowful Mysteries Rosaries Pledged: 44810
Dear Spirit and Life readers,
One of my most memorable experiences in Marine Corps boot camp was the lesson of integrity. Certain infractions of the strict code of discipline were considered “integrity violations” such as lying or undermining the chain of command, etc. We all implicitly understood that term to mean the breaking of rules of conduct or ethics that bind men together for the common mission. We did our best to avoid committing any violations of integrity, not merely to avoid penalties, but more so because we sought to form ourselves as honorable, trustworthy men deserving of our uniforms.
Ironically, the country our honorable Marines serve is currently being led by a President who has begun his term of office with an extensive list of “integrity violations,” setting new lows for integrity in American history, and on the way to shredding the last bits of moral fiber left in our nation. But this is what we get when we elect a confirmed champion of the culture of death to the highest office of our land.
Count with me a couple of these violations that occurred in the President’s first two weeks in office:
* Mr. Obama is the first and only President-elect ever to be investigated by the FBI (regarding the Blagojevich scandal); and hasn’t his normally-boisterous Chief of Staff been rather quiet lately?
* Three of his nominees for high office were caught cheating on their taxes, including—astoundingly—the now-confirmed Secretary of the Treasury who has oversight of the IRS!
* Candidate Obama’s fervent promises to shun lobbyists from any influence in this administration didn’t stop him from picking at least twelve lobbyists for top jobs, including the #2 man at the Defense Department. One blog noted that Obama has hired a lobbyist a day in less than two weeks in office!
* The #1 man at the Obama Justice Department helped President Clinton pardon a billionaire financier on the run from tax evasion charges; the #2 man at the Obama Justice Department is an extreme pornography and abortion rights advocate; the #3 man at the Obama Justice Department helped to kill Terri Schiavo. This is Mr. Obama’s version of justice?
* Our new Secretary of State, even aside from her husband’s foreign fundraising conflicts of interest, will put the whole US foreign policy apparatus behind the promotion of abortion around the world. Come to think of it, this is not an integrity violation at all; it is an essential part of the moral code of Obama, Hillary and company. The President’s erasure of the Mexico City Policy will fund the international killers to the teeth for a new reign of terror on the unborn worldwide.
I could go on but I won’t. One just wonders what the word “shame” means any more.
The icing on the integrity cake, however, is Mr. Obama’s recent call to limit the compensation of the CEOs of corporations that receive government bailout monies. There are two good reasons (among many) why this move is disingenuous in the extreme: first is that it actually applies to no one at the moment because all those who have already received government bailouts are exempt. Second, keeping corporate executive salaries down will stimulate nothing except the rapaciousness of the vultures in Congress who want more sectors of American society under their control.
I can think of a number of people whose salaries should really be capped, however, but it would take integrity to call these filthy rich celebrities and sports stars to account for their obscene income in the same period of time in which more than one million Americans lost their jobs:
* J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter author)—$300,000,000
* Oprah—$275,000,000
* Beyoncé and her rapper husband Jay-Z—$162,000,000
* Jerry Bruckheimer—$145,000,000
* Tiger Woods—$115,000,000
* Simon Cowell (American Idol)—$72,000,000
* Howard Stern—$70,000,000
* David Letterman—$45,000,000
* Michael Jordan—$45,000,000
* Madonna—$40,000,000
* Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie—$34,000,000
Integrity is clearly not Mr. Obama’s strong suit. His lack of experience, superficial judgment, and penchant for empty rhetoric is now on display for all the world to see, and it is embarrassing. The point of the matter, however, is not that America can’t survive such a poor performance. Remember that we did survive eight years of the Clinton regime. It’s that this man is a product of the culture of death and will entirely radicalize our nation’s institutions with other immoral and extreme people who share his views. The blood of fifty million aborted babies has clouded our national judgment, and we have chosen to rule over us not just one man, but thousands of his appointees who will likely drive us into oblivion before we wake up and insist on integrity once again.
Personally, I think a few months in Marine Corps boot camp might serve President Obama very well.
Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International
With Valentines approaching, this gets to the heart of the matter.
I received this idea from the Seton Yahoogroup.
By +JMJ+
Get a red envelope. On the front, address it to:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
On the back of the envelope, write the following message.
This envelope represents one child who died in abortion.
It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world.
Responsibility begins with conception.
Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the president?
Another woman wrote, "Good idea but if you get the flimsy envelope then it will not work and it will jam the Post Office's Automated Machines." She suggested putting a blank white poster card or card stock in the envelope.
MY IDEAS -(Sorry for the confusion but these are Cindy S.' ideas)
If you don't have red envelopes, let your littlests [sic] color or paint white envelopes red so they can be involved. The potential of a child......
Another idea for inside the card is a white card stock note saying....
OPEN your heart to the lives of your unborn CITIZENS. Be a President to ALL Americans!
Put in a bunch of prayer cards while you're at it! :) PASS IT ON.
Civil Unions –Same Sex Marriage by Another Name
HB 444 HD1
The civil unions bill, HB 444 HD1, was heard in the House Judiciary committee on February 5, 2009. The hearing was overwhelmingly packed by supporters. One estimate is that it was 10-1 in favor. The final vote of the House Judiciary Committee were as follows: 12 Ayes: Representative(s) Karamatsu, Ito, Belatti, Cabanilla, Herkes, Luke, Morita, B. Oshiro, Souki, Tsuji, Marumoto, Thielen; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 4 Excused: Representative(s) Carroll, McKelvey, Mizuno, Wakai.
If passed, HB444 HD1, extends the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union. (Marriage by another name). One testifier openly admitted that this is a step to same-sex marriage. The bill will move to the full House for a vote. ACTION: Now is the time to contact your own representative and let them know that you do not support civil unions. As we reported in an earlier e-alert, the bill is highly anticipated to pass the House. Your calls and emails are very important.
Abstinence Education & Title V Funding
HB 329 HD1 / HB 330 HD1
These problematic bills are aimed directly at Catholic Charities “Try Wait” program. Both bills were heard in the House Health Committee on January 30, 2009.
HB 329 requires the State to reject all Title V federal funding for mandated abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. The final vote in the House Health Committee were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamane, Nishimoto, Bertram, Brower, Mizuno, Shimabukuro; Ayes with reservations: none; 1 Noes: Representative(s) Finnegan; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti, Carroll.
HB 330 requires any recipient of state funding specifically for sexuality health education programs to provide comprehensive medically accurate sexuality education. The final votes in committee were as follows: Ayes: Representative(s) Yamane, Nishimoto, Bertram, Brower, Mizuno, Shimabukuro; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Finnegan; 0 Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti, Carroll.
Both bills now move the House Education committee.
Emergency Contraceptives
HB 423 HD1
HB 423 requires hospitals to provide information about emergency contraception to women who are sexually assaulted and to provide emergency contraception when requested and provides for administrative penalties for noncompliance. The bill originally would have forced Hawaii Medical Centers (HMC) (located on property owned by St. Francis) to administer the morning after pill, which can act as an abortificiant. We are grateful to the House Health Committee who added language to grant HMC a religious exemption. We have to watch the bill closely because it now moves to the House Judiciary Committee and the language could be removed. We will keep you posted.
Physician-Assisted Suicide
There still have been no hearings on the proposals to legalize physician assisted suicide. It is coming, so PLEASE BE PREPARED on short notice to make calls and send in testimony. A public hearing could be scheduled at any time. We will keep you posted.
To see all bills being tracked by HFF/HCC, and to read our testimony, click here.
Source
Pietro Perugino (1446–1524) was the leading painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance.
