"Well done, good and faithful servant" Congressman Henry Hyde, RIP

I have been in the pro-life movement since it's inception, and one name stood above all others, Henry Hyde.

He was our leader in the dark decades that followed Roe v Wade. Here's a tribute to him on Catholic Exchange. I hope his example may inspire other politicians to follow his good example. You have fought the good fight, and finished the race, Henry.

Thank you from the babies.

May the angels carry you to Paradise.

Why do teachers get away with child abuse?

Is the topic of an article in the National Catholic Register, which refers to the unpublicized Shakeshaft report on child predators in public schools.
A congressionally mandated study by Hofstra University had already found school-based sexual abuse to be a big problem.
“It was one of our priorities for the year,” said John Affleck, editor of the AP’s national reporting team.
The result was a three-part series, available to editors throughout the country beginning Oct. 20, that revealed widespread and routine sexual assault of public school students throughout the country.
The first story summarized: “Students in America’s schools are groped. They’re raped. They’re pursued, seduced and think they’re in love.”
The series told of an entrenched resistance to stopping abusers on the part of teachers, administrators and the National Education Association, a teacher’s union.
So why apparently have only a handful of newspapers nationwide run the series — in stark contrast to the avalanche of press received by the Catholic Church since 2002?
read the entire article at the
National Catholic Register
I posted on the Shakeshaft Report this summer.
The short answer is: the mainstream media is in cohoots with the liberal establishment, which includes the all powerful NEA and teacher's unions. They come first, before the welfare of our children, despite all their insistence to the contrary.
If your children are in public schools, be wary and look for signs of abuse, you may never know the truth otherwise. My 5 year old daughter Christina who has Down syndrome, goes for 3 hours of therapy in my local elementary school, and I watch her like a hawk. When she was three, one of her teachers in the special ed preschool disappeared suddenly after 20 years in that school, and the parents were never informed why he left. Thankfully a female teacher's aide changed Christina's diapers, but I took her out of school entirely for a year . It shattered my trust in public schools.

Scholastic Books interviews Philip Pullman

Scholastic Books, well known for the school book fairs it sponsors nationwide, is the co-sponsor of "The Golden Compass". Here is their interview with "His Dark Materials"trilogy, of which "The Golden Compass" is the first book, author Philip Pullman.
Email Scholastic and tell them that your children won't be purchasing their books unless they repudiate the anti-Catholic author, Pullman. My daughter has a book fair December 3rd with Scholastic, and that's exactly what their rep is going to hear from this mother.

The differing reactions to the new stem cell breakthrough

Pro-life Groups
Lawmakers
National Review Editors
Fr Thomas Berg, LC
Focus on the Family
Genethique (Fondation Lejeune in Paris)
My personal reaction is one of prayerful gratitude; I have always felt that if you pursue research keeping within the parameters outlined by Holy Mother Church, that is, a respect for the dignity of man, that God will reward your efforts with success. It happened to Louis Pasteur, Dr. Jerome Lejeune, and Madame Curie.
May Cathoilc scientists continue to lead the world into greater discoveries which enhance, not demean, human life.
Update, here's the opinion of the Ethics and Public Policy Center on the stem cell discovery.

A Long Island Catholic Summorum Pontificum Update

The Extraordinary Form is popping up all over one of the (formerly, I hope) most liberal dioceses in the nation,Rockville Centre, so there's hope for the rest of you!
My friend's son served today at that 8AM Low Mass today, at Our Lady of Lourdes, after which, Fr. Mason informed him and the other boy that they had, "made history".
Bravo, Fr. Mason, and young altar boys, we are so proud of what you are doing!

Pullman, author of "The Golden Compass" calls Donohue a "nitwit"

Philip Pullman is pulling out all the stops. He has called those of us who are on to him regarding his subterfuge with "The Golden Compass" and are boycotting his books, and the film, "nitwits". Bill Donohue must be SO hurt!

Pullman hit back with a furious counter-attack on his detractors, denying that his agenda was anything other than attracting readers and urging people to be allowed to make up their own mind.
"To regard it as this Donohue man has said - that I'm a militant
atheist, and my intention is to convert people - how the hell does he know
that?" he said, in an interview with Newsweek magazine.
"Why don't we trust
readers? Why don't we trust filmgoers? Oh, it causes me to shake my head with
sorrow that such nitwits could be loose in the world."

Read the UK Timesonline article here.
I've been called worse things by better people, Mr. Pullman. We're on to you, and you don't like it. Welcome to the democracy of the blogosphere.

"It's Perfectly Natural" is perfectly obscene!

Michael Hichborn of the American Life League has a video on the new sex manual which has ties to Planned Parenthood, entitled, "It's Perfectly Natural". Please be advised, that, although censored for content, the video is still rather explicit. It was rejected by a state prison because it met the criterion for pornography, yet, unless you and I raise a stink, it may be in the hands of your ten year old.

The Birth of Christ: Catholic Christmas Cantata

Another artistic venture by a Catholic is coming on the scenes. This time, it's a beautiful cantata written to honor the Christmas story based on the Gospel of St. Luke. Liam Neeson narrates scriptural passages. This is really a classy production and will be aired locally. Here are the New York City airtimes:
WLIW
Sat 12/1/2007
7:30 AM

WLIW
Sat 12/22/2007
12:00 AM

Here's a video clip.

Please promote this by tell friends and family. You can find when and where in the U.S. other PBS stations will be airing the concert at this link:

http://www.thebirthofchrist.com/tv_schedule.htm

Productions like this (and Bella and The Passion of the Christ) are genuine improvements in the entertainment industry. The people involved are taking risks and they need to hear that this type of entertainment is wanted. So don't forget to call your local station to thank them for showing something of such great quality. Be sure to let them know you appreciate them showing something that pays wonderful tribute to the birth of Our Lord.

You can also listen to Raymond Arroyo interviewing the composer, Andrew T. Miller, (originally aired 11/23/07) by checking the archives of The World Over at http://www.ewtn.com/.

Take Action: New Jersey Legislature Seeks to Redefine Marriage for the Nation

from Focus on the Family Citzen Link
by Devon Williams, associate editor
Two bills aim to legalize "same-sex marriage."
Last December, the New Jersey Legislature created civil unions that offer same-sex couples all the protections and benefits of marriage.

The Legislature is using its lame-duck session to introduce multiple bills that would grant civil unions full "marriage" status.

Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, said there's a strong push for lawmakers to take on this controversial issue before the 2008 session, because the newly elected Legislature may be more inclined to defend the institution.

"A number of those that were elected, including Declan O'Scanlon in the 12th District, are people that will vote to protect marriage," he said. "So, we need to do everything we can to make sure that it doesn't come up now and that there is not a vote."

Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, said it's vital that people get involved in this fight.

"There is a likelihood that the bill will pass, especially if there's no outcry from those people that do support marriage as being the union of one man and one woman only," he said. "As long as the voice of the people is heard by the legislators, I think that will help in hopefully stopping this legislation from moving forward."

Since New Jersey does not have any residency laws that would restrict the exportation of "same-sex marriage," the passage of any of the bills would have a devastating impact nationwide.

"Couples could come here from outside the state, get married, go back to their states and then challenge their state legislatures and their state laws on the same-sex marriage issue," Deo said. "Therefore people have the right to call in, whether they live in Oklahoma or Pennsylvania or any other state."

He's asking people across the nation to call New Jersey's lawmakers — especially those in leadership: Gov. Corzine, Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts and Senate President Richard Codey.

Brown said the situation is not hopeless.

"We're nowhere near the point of no return on this," he said, "but it's going to require people standing up and making their voices heard."

TAKE ACTION
Please e-mail three key New Jersey leaders and ask them to oppose "same-sex marriage" and to support an amendment to protect the definition of marriage.

Speaker of the Assembly Joseph Roberts is reachable through the CitizenLink Action Center.

Senate President Richard Codey is also reachable through the Action Center.

Gov. Jon Corzine can only be contacted electronically through a form on his Web site. The first page will ask you to select a topic from a list, but, as of this writing, the governor does not think marriage is important enough to place in that list. Our best advice is to choose one that seems to fit — or choose one at random.

Overheard in an abortion mill . . .

My husband is a process server and his work takes him everywhere.
Last week he had to serve a subpoena for medical records on a Planned Parenthood clinic.
He could not help but overhear a girl asking for "Plan B" contraception.
She could not provide identification to prove she was 19 years of age. Her friend asked, "I'm 19. Can I buy it for her?" "Sure!" was the answer from the clerk.
We are so cautious and vigilant in preventing underage minors from purchasing beer and cigarettes, and warn others against purchasing it for them. Our legislators need to be warned of what is taking place in these clinics!
HT Elizabeth
What do you think my Congressman, Tim Bishop would respond? I'm afraid the only way to get the lawmaker's attention is through the courts. Legal action, like that ongoing suit against Killer Tiller for underage and illegal abortions is the only way to bring these criminals to justice. The abortion industry has millions invested in the Democrat Party, and they have largely sold their soult to them, and are blind to such injustices.

Pre-natal Screening

I doubt if my readers will be surprised by my opinions expressed here, but I am participating in a Genetics Politics discussion Wiki with doctoral students and other professionals at the University of Sheffield, UK. Here is my most recent contribution to the discussion. If you would like to contribute to this Wiki, please leave you email below, and the moderator will contact you.

Ostensibly, we have genetic screening to allow expectant mothers to know which potentially life-threatening diseases or genetic disorders their unborn child may have, in time to offer medical treatment. In reality, quite few of the disorders which can be detected by existent genetic testing can be cured. Therefore, genetic screening has devolved into a form of eugenics; cleansing the gene pool of undesirables, by pointing a medical finger of accusation at the unborn child who has either an incurable (Down syndrome) or chronic disease (cystic fibrosis) in time for the child to be killed. Thus, organizations like the March of Dimes, which were once dedicated to eradicating polio, now turn their considerable clout into perfecting 'search and destroy' methods of genetic screening. Thus they can claim to reduce birth defects by eliminating the defective. This is how the Nazis got into the killing business; they began with the disabled, convincing the families it was for the good of all that they be terminated.
As the mother of a child with Down syndrome who refused genetic screening, I have made a habit of questioning mothers of children with this disease whether they learned of their child's disability pre-natally. Many have, and have told me tales of judgemental doctors, nurses, technicians, and genetic counselors, who, once the diagnosis of Down syndrome is confirmed, attempt to bully the mother into abortion.
No one, in my experience, was ever offered a choice. It was assumed that they would 'terminate' their child, and, when they didn't sometimes, they were lectured (as I was after my daughter was born) scolded as a recalcitrant child, threatened, "this child will ruin your marriage", frightened, or otherwise treated disdainfully. One father, himself a doctor has coined a term, "genticide".
The "Pre-natally and Post-natally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act" can only improve the 90% abortion rate for children with detectable genetic disabilities. Once parents are offered up-to-date information about the positive as well as the negative aspects of their child's disease, as well as educational medical interventions to help them, they may feel less panicky at the prospect of raising their child. If they are offered an opportunity to meet with parents raising children with these disorders, they may see that life, indeed goes on, to a different tune, perhaps, but no less sweet.
If you are going to screen pre-natally, then be honest, and offer real choice to the parents. Let them also chose life, without fear of recrimination from the medical profession. My obstetrician, when he learned of Christina's Down syndrome, instantly reached for his pad, and asked for my phone number, so that if another patient was expecting a child with Down syndrome, she could talk with me. I had been offering this type of support for years to other medical professionals, without receiving a single call.
I am a mother with a teaching degree, not a nurse or a doctor, but I do know what raising a child with Down syndrome is like, at least up to age 5. That is why I began blogging last year, to finally have a voice. And we are joining voices, we parents of children with Down syndrome, telling the world, if you only knew what you would be losing by aborting that child with Down syndrome, you would never do it.
Sometimes pre-natal screening comes dangerously close to playing God.
And we lack the wisdom to do it.

Daily Donna-Marie: A Dose of Inspiration: Pope Benedict's new encyclical, "Saved by Hope" ready before Christmas#links#links#links

Daily Donna-Marie: A Dose of Inspiration: Pope Benedict's new encyclical, "Saved by Hope" ready before Christmas#links#links#links

Editorial Cartoon: "Abortion Macht Frei"

From the Author,
John Francis Borra:

To anyone familiar with the Third Reich, it's obvious what I've done here. This is a play on the iron gates surrounding Auschwitz concentration camp. The actual iron gates read Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Makes You Free). This was, of course, the big lie fed to inmates in order to keep them manageable as they were led from cattle cars to their deaths in the showers. Planned Parenthood's big lie to society is strikingly similar: Abortion Makes You Free. The parallel is dramatic and perfectly appropriate. As a matter of fact, it's not unlike any other cartoon I've done about the culture of death; the truth is so grotesque, so clear, so galling that little imagination- and no exaggeration at all- is required to spin good editorial material from it. In this case, even the security fence and smoke-belching crematorium are no exaggeration; George Tiller, for one, has these on his property. And, of course, the hands of all abortionists drip with blood- literally as well as figuratively.
HT Operation Rescue

Aren't you curious?

Didn't you ever wonder about the man whose wife is blogging here every day?
Didn't you ever want to congratulate him for his patience in putting up with me?
Here's a chance to see the man behind the blogging wife.

My husband Francisco has his own post over at my other blog, Cause of Our Joy.

How to save babies with Down syndrome

There is an article about Nathan's Bill at the "National Catholic Register". I have written about it here. It ensures that women with an unfavorable prenatal diagnosis receive up-to- date information on the conditions with which their child is diagnosed, and referral to other parents who can help.
Most women I have spoken with say that, when they received the devastating news that their unborn baby had a disability, the information put into their hands was "how to abort". No other possibility was offered to them. That's how we have a 90% abortion rate for babies diagnosed with Down syndrome.
What a tragedy, to miss having more beautiful faces like Christina's in this world.
But there's a lot we can do to support this bill. Senator Brownback " gives the bill a “50-50” chance of passing, “particularly if we can get more families with disabilities, and particularly Down syndrome families, to stand up to the media and say, ‘We just want to live. That’s all we’re asking for.’”
HT National Catholic Register

"For the Beauty of the Earth"

Here's the traditional version of the hymn with vocals, and here is just the organ. Click on the link which says "listen" to hear the hymn.

Happy feast of St. Cecelia, patroness of music.

For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the earth,

for the beauty of the skies,

for the love which from our birth

over and around us lies,

Refrain:Christ our God, to thee we raise

this our sacrifice of praise.

For the beauty of each hourof the day and of the night,

hill and vale, and tree and flower,

sun and moon, and stars of light,

Refrain

For the joy of ear and eye,

for the heart and brain's delight,

for the mystic harmony

linking sense to sound and sight,

Refrain

For the joy of human love,

brother, sister, parent, child,

friends on earth, and friends above,

for all gentle thoughts and mild,

Refrain

For each perfect gift of thine

to our race so freely given,

graces human and divine,

flowers of earth and buds of heaven,

Refrain

For thy Bride that evermore

lifteth holy hands above,

offering up on every shore

this pure sacrifice of love,

Refrain

For the martyrs' crown of light,

for thy prophets' eagle eye,

for thy bold confessors' might,

for the lips of infancy,

Refrain

For thy virgins' robes of snow,

for thy maiden Mother mild,

for thyself, with hearts aglow,

Jesus,Victim undefiled,

Refrain

Scientific Breakthrough may eliminate need for killing embryos

I have been teaching all day, away from the internet, and this amazing development took my breath away when John Gibson announced it on his radio program tonight. He gave President Bush credit for steering money to Adult Stem Cell research, which ultimately led to this breakthrough. I give Pope John Paul II credit, as George Bush went to him for advice before his August 2001 decision not to allow federal funds for more embryo-destructive stem cell research. He wasn't completely in line with Catholic teaching in that he allowed existing stem cell lines to be funded, but he has taken a lot of heat for his stand against embryonic stem cell research, even from his own party, and deserves some credit. Here'a an article from the Family Research Council.

No Embryos, No Cloning, No Eggs--No Problem!
Two prominent embryonic stem cell scientists today published results showing that they can produce cells with the qualities of embryonic stem cells directly from human skin cells, without the need for creating or destroying embryos, without cloning, and without the need for eggs used in cloning. The groundbreaking news by Dr. James Thomson, first to grow human embryonic stem cells, and Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, Japan, was that they produced what are called "iPS" cells (induced Pluripotent Stem cells) using a simple recipe that involved adding four genetic factors to a human skin cell. When comparing these new cells with existing embryonic stem cells, Thomson noted that iPS cells "meet the defining criteria" for embryonic stem cells "with the significant exception that the iPS cells are not derived from embryos." Yamanaka and Thomson are to be congratulated for pushing forward the frontiers of science and demonstrating that good science can also satisfy ethical requirements. Coupled with the recent announcement by Dr. Ian Wilmut, cloner of Dolly the sheep, that he is shelving cloning as an unproductive technique in favor of this new ethical method, dubious experiments involving embryo cloning and embryo destruction are being rendered obsolete. Scientists can now work with "embryonic-like" stem cells without ethical concerns, while for patients the adult and cord blood stem cells continue to treat thousands of patients now. Congress should move swiftly to ban all human cloning by passing the Brownback-Weldon human cloning prohibition.

Bye bye, "Blowing in the Wind"

Did I ever tell you how to drive me absolutely over the edge? Sing "Blowing in the Wind" especially with Bob Dylan's nasal whine. It's not because I hate folk music. I love it, even the sixties stuff. I even attended a Peter, Paul and Mary concert.
But I can't extend this preference to "Blowing in the Wind" and I'll explain why it pushes my buttons.
I was born during Vatican II, into a gorgeous traditional church, dark and mysterious with inspiring images of St. Joseph teaching carpentry to the boy Jesus. My childhood memories of Mass are of stirring organ chords which shook the floor of the church and the scent of incense wafting through the air. I didn't see much other that the backs of the adults, and glimpses of that mural of St. Joseph, but I'll tell you that the unspoken message received by me as a preschooler was: you are on holy ground, the Lord Almighty is here, and you are looking into heaven. I loved it, and would often visit this beautiful church during the week with my mother to light a candle and visit Our Lord. We always brought our veils, or if, we forgot, a hanky would do, because no woman entered the church without a head covering.
This sense of other worldliness and mystery was promptly shattered, when at age 5, we moved to another parish, whose church was under construction and had Mass in a bland auditorium. A folk singer sang pop hits from the sixties, and Vietnam War protests took place during Mass. Our folk singers' favorite song was, you guessed it, "Blowing in the Wind".
I mourned the loss of the beauty of the Old Mass, the gorgeous music, and the sense of mystery it brought. I have been trying to replace it ever since. That's why I anxiously awaited Summorum Pontificum, and am involved in bringing back Gregorian Chant to the Traditional Latin Masses springing up on Long Island. I pray that we can get together some decent scholi (?) for the Holy Father's masses in New York.


Now, here's an encouraging article in the UK's Daily Telegraph to remind me that I have an important Ally in restoring ethereal music to the sacred liturgy.Damian Thompson, editor-in-chief of the Catholic Herald writes:
We are moving into an era of liturgical revolution. Benedict detests the feeble "folk Masses" that have remained the staple fare of Catholic worship long after they went out of musical fashion.
He wants the Church to rediscover the treasure of its heritage - and that includes Gregorian chant as well as the pre-1970 Latin Mass that can now be celebrated without the permission of bishops.

Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate: National Catholic Register Asks: "Will Brownbackers Back Huckabee?"

Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate: National Catholic Register Asks: "Will Brownbackers Back Huckabee?"

Scientist who cloned Dolly has change of heart

Over at Adult Stem Cell Awareness there is a discussion about geneticist Ian Wilmut, who cloned Dolly the sheep. No, he hasn't converted to Catholicism, as far as I know. He simply recognizes the fact that Adult Stem Cells are far more promising and worth the effort of scientists.

Family Research Council reports below:
Here Goes 'Mutton': Dolly Creator Rejects Cloning
This past weekend, the movement to ban cloning got some help from an unlikely source--the scientist most famous for attempting it.

Professor Ian Wilmut, the creator of Dolly the sheep, publicly announced his decision to abandon "therapeutic cloning" and turn his attention to pro-life alternatives such as those being perfected in Japan with adult stem cells. He believes the "socially acceptable" approach "represents the future for stem cell research," rather than the nuclear transfer method he and his team used 10 years ago in creating Dolly. Although Wilmut was given the go-ahead to pursue human cloning in 2005, the professor has since declined. His decision, on the heels of last week's news that scientists had successfully cloned primates, should put a serious damper on any enthusiasm for projects that require the creation and destruction of cloned embryos.
For all of the hype surrounding the monkey breakthrough, a couple of key details were lost on the media. For starters, the team leader of the Oregon primate program, Dr. Shoukhrat Mitalipov, admitted that the "efficiency is low" for the research and it is "not yet a cost effective medical option." Also, some reports estimated that it took over 15,000 monkey eggs to yield just two lines of embryonic stem cells, only one of which is normal. Meanwhile, as scientists waste precious time and resources on a procedure that the majority of the world considers morally unacceptable, pro-life alternatives are effectively treating everything from juvenile diabetes to spinal cord injuries--without the ethical headache. We can only hope that Wilmut's conversion will pull the wool from the eyes of the public, which should result in Congress turning away from spending more taxpayer money on embryonic stem cell research that is both unethical and ineffective.