Regular readers of this blog will know I'm not a big fan of Rick Warren. I know he is very popular but I think he is much better at marketing then being a pastor.
When was the last time you saw blue sheep? Very recently if you were hanging out at Madonna's (The singer not the Blessed Mother) house. Her English estate was complete with colored sheep.The Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday that it has canceled its upcoming debate in Los Angeles, after the top Democratic presidential candidates said they would not cross a picket line to attend the CBS event if news writers decide to strike. Well maybe we should just postpone the election untill the union tantrum is over?
Democratic candidates quickly voiced their intentions for the debate the day before Thanksgiving, after Hillary Clinton released a statement saying she hopes both sides will reach an agreement at CBS, but that she would "honor the picket line if the workers at CBS News decide to strike."
John Edwards said he too would not cross the picket line in the event of a strike.
Barack Obama's campaign quickly followed suit, as did the campaigns of Bill Richardson, Joe
Biden and Chris Dodd, saying they would not attend the debate if there were a strike.
If you watched the debate last night you probably saw a man who asked about gays in the military. Today we are learning who this person was. Story notes “The broadcast, however, failed to mention that Kerr, who served as a brigadier general in the reserves, is a member of a gay and lesbian steering committee for Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.” (FOX News) You can see the Video. (Townhall)
The brother of Terri Schiavo, Robert Schindler Jr., met with Massachusetts' Governor Mitt Romney just prior to the Republican Presidential Debate to be held tonight.Given that the Presidential candidates are repeatedly asked to comment on the circumstances and outcome of Terri Schiavo's case, Mr. Schindler sent a letter to every candidate requesting a meeting to discuss the implications of Terri's case on the right to life of people living with disabilities. Presently, Governor Romney is the only candidate to accept the invitation for a meeting. ( Read letter here)
The meeting had a two-fold purpose:
First, to discuss the media's distortions of Terri's actual medical condition and the dangers that this misinformation poses to our country today.
Secondly, to specifically address the plight of people with disabilities who are gravely concerned about being denied basic medical care, particularly after Terri's court-ordered death by dehydration and starvation.
Mr. Schindler asked Governor Romney to commit to standing behind the tens of thousands of people with disabilities in America who fear that they may be among those denied food and water against their will simply because someone may deem their life "unworthy of living."
They both do it although Democrats squeeze their dead better than Republicans. Story notes “The Democratic committee received the most campaign money from deceased donors, nearly $225,000.” But earlier in the story, they note “Federal rules allow such donations as long as contributions don't exceed legal limits and the intentions of the deceased were known, said Federal Election Commission spokesman Bob Biersack.”
I can understand this. You see for me to make a donation to the Democrats they would have to pry the money from my cold dead hands. Or get elected and raise taxes.......
USA Today
From the stunning story: “…parents would be prohibited from forcefully laying a hand on any child under age 18 unless it was to wrest them from danger, lest they be charged with abuse or neglect.” Democrat Jay Kaufman submitted the petition.ORU is in the news and not for good reasons. I used to live in the shadow of ORU. They had a bronze statue of praying hands that looked more like a bankers hands as one applies for a loan. You can imagine how popular a Catholic was in those parts. Not to mention a Yankee Catholic!
Back in 1963, when Oral Roberts built this false doctrine training camp on Tulsa's outskirts and put his name on it, he believed he was taking orders from God.
At the center of campus he built a 200-foot steel and glass prayer tower that looks like a spaceship and is topped with a flickering gas flame representing the Holy Spirit. (I think they have something similar in Vegas)
Roberts' vision was to brainwash the mind, body and spirit with mandatory chapel attendance, body-fat measurements and citations for public displays of affection. Times have changed. The prayer tower is showing rust and so is the lie that was passed off as God's idea. Roberts has a history of claiming God is behind his own desires. Back in1987 Oral Roberts said that God would "call me home" if he didn't raise $8 million in three months (he raised more than $9 million).
Oral Roberts, now 89, recently returned from semi retirement to try to quell a scandal that has shaken the flagship training camp for charismatics, but on Friday the scandal caused the downfall of his heir.
Roberts' son, Richard Roberts, resigned Friday as president of the school, facing accusations that he misspent school funds to support a lavish lifestyle and ordered an accountant to help hide improper and illegal financial wrongdoing.
To ORU's students, the events of recent weeks have brought an unexpected test, one that caused them to choose between questioning or defending the administration, worry about tainted diplomas and search for spiritual answers.
One student said, "To see something like this, it feels empty, like an elaborate masquerade party." Well that's because it is. Before Richard Roberts stepped down, tenured faculty gave him a no-confidence vote and his hand-picked provost said he would resign if Roberts were reinstated.
"There was a time when the wagons would circle and we'd protect our own," said the Rev. Carlton Pearson, a former member of the ORU board of regents who is now a United Church of Christ minister. "But we don't know what our own is anymore. People are asking questions and questioning answers, and we're not used to it."
By the looks of it, it may be time to get used to it. Oral Roberts' teachings is responsible for a whole new generation of "prosperity gospel" false preachers, six of whom are the target of a financial inquiry led by the ranking Republican on the Senate finance committee. Three of those under scrutiny - Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar - sit on the ORU board of regents.
Oral Roberts felt God used him as instrument to heal, and claimed Jesus had commissioned him to find a cure for cancer. If only that were true. Roberts also "felt" called to build the City of Faith, an enormous hospital complex that was to combine prayer and medicine. Despite this supoosed "call",the project collapsed in the late 1980's. The lasting legacy is ORU's $52.5 million in debt.
Requests for interviews were denied by an ORU spokesman.
The union that represents some 500 news writers -- most of which work for CBS News radio and TV -- voted last week to authorize a strike, joining their entertainment counterparts. The news writers with the Writers Guild of America East have been working without a contract since April, 2005. Neither party has been at the negotiating table since January.
Philadelphia Radio Legend, Pioneer Hy Lit Dead at 73
Hy Lit with the 4 Tops
Rock radio pioneer and legendary Philadelphia air personality Hy Lit (aka Hyman Litsky) has died following complications of a knee injury earlier this month. He was 73. Lit had also suffered from Parkinson's disease. During his 50-plus years on the Philly airwaves, Lit worked for over ten radio outlets, before launching the Oldies format on WCAU-AM in 1990. Hy Lit Lives on. Tune In To Hear Him
Catholic Radio Coming?
Members of Knights of Columbus Lodge 1400 in Bellevue have applied for a license in Evans City, Butler County, under the corporate name "Fourteen Hundred Inc." The proposed station would broadcast on 89.7 mHz with 3.7 kW of power. The filing is among 132 new non-commercial FM applications in Pennsylvania received by the FCC during a recent "filing window." A majority of the applications are from religious groups.
How is the AP handling it? From the story: AP chief executive officer and president Tom Curley said the agency has "grave concerns" that Hussein's rights are being "ignored and even abused" and called on the United States to release the photographer. (CNN)
Remember, it was the Associate Press who edited Dungy’s Christian comment earlier this year. After the Super Bowl victory, the Colts coach said “We took the hit early with Devin Hester. But we talked about it. We said there was going to be a storm. We said the Lord doesn't always bring you directly through. Sometimes you've got to work for it.” (South Bend Tribune)
Here’s how the Associated Press reported the talk: “We took the hit early with Devin Hester. We talked about it; it's going to be a storm. Sometimes you have to work for it.” (AP)
It was also the Associated Press that claimed, with ironic inaccuracy, ““The nation's top climate scientists are giving "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's documentary on global warming, five stars for accuracy.” (ABC News)
The 80-year-old leader of a suburban Atlanta megachurch is at the center of a sex scandal of biblical dimensions: He slept with his brother's wife and fathered a child by her.Yesterday on This Week, George Stephanopoulos, in an interview with Senator Fred Thompson, commented that Terri Schiavo's autopsy proved she was "brain dead." The New York Times also reported on this interview, repeating that the autopsy proved Terri was "brain dead."
This is patently false and Terri's family is requesting that the media immediately stop using this offensive and inaccurate expression to describe her condition.
Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, says, "Brain death is an authentic diagnosis, not some catch phrase that should be loosely used based upon a 'summary of widespread response' or opinions that have been written about my sister. We are requesting that the media take a few minutes to research the facts regarding Terri's case and, more importantly, her condition. In doing so they would learn that not one doctor ever diagnosed Terri as being 'brain-dead.' This includes those who wrote her autopsy report. All of this information is easily available and accessible."
Rarely, if ever, mentioned in media reports are the more than 40 doctors' affidavits submitted to the court that either contradicted that Terri was in a so-called PVS or stated that she could have been helped with proper rehabilitation.
The media also fails to report the medical records confirming that Terri at one time was beginning to speak, or the videos of Terri interacting with her family and her surroundings, all of which prove that she was very much alive, and very much responsive.
Schindler added, "This has been a major problem with the mainstream media - not just that they are writing that Terri was brain dead, but how they continue to inaccurately and irresponsibly report blatant falsehoods regarding my sister's condition."
Schiavo's autopsy itself proved that, prior to her death, she was never dying, was physically healthy and would have lived a long life had she not been dehydrated over a period of two weeks. Furthermore, the autopsy was unable to determine whether or not Terri was actually in a persistent vegetative state, as her estranged husband, Michael Schiavo, and his attorney claimed in their quest to have her killed.
Suzanne Vitadamo, Terri's sister, adds, "If the media took the time to research Terri's case, perhaps they would understand that she was simply a woman living with a disability, just like the 50 million persons living with a disability in our country today, and was in need of only love and compassion. The media's continuing quest to somehow justify her death is offensive to her memory and even more offensive to the tens of thousands of people who live with cognitive disabilities similar to Terri's."
"Terri was a daughter, a sister and a friend who was loved by many who feel the pain of her loss every single day. She was guilty only of having a brain injury and being dependent on others for her care. Sadly, in today's culture, this was not enough to save her from being killed," said Vitadamo. "My sister fell victim to an ever-growing and dangerous 'quality of life' standard used to decide whether one should live or die."
For a case with such enormous implications, Tuesday's ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court has received relatively little media attention. The Rocky Mountain region is poised to take an enormous step in the movement to defend and define the personhood of the unborn.
By a unanimous 7-0 decision, the high court gave its approval to language for a ballot initiative that pro-lifers hope to put before voters in November 2008. If successful, the campaign would make Colorado the first state to vote on the question of when life begins. Even more importantly, it would give voters the opportunity to establish a human life in the womb as a "person" under state law. As such, even the smallest unborn child would receive the constitutional protections of "inalienable rights, justice, and due process."
A victory would strike at the very heart of Roe v. Wade and have far-reaching significance in addressing the legality of abortion. While social conservatives have a momentous task before them--collecting 76,047 signatures in the next six months to secure the amendment's place on next year's ballot--they believe the momentum is building in their favor.
We will be watching this debate unfold from afar yet similar proposals in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Montana, Mississippi, and Oregon are already underway. Regardless of where you live, your family can enter the battle in the most crucial way of all--by committing to pray that the voters of Colorado spark all Americans to revisit the dignity of life at every stage.
The Pittsburgh Creche will be dedicated at noon on Light Up Night, Friday, November 16. For more information, pictures, and a schedule of performances, visit the official website.
Troubled by the incident, she said “I don't know whether Hillary knew what my question was going to be, but it seemed like she knew to call on me because there were so many people, and ... I was the only college student in that area.” Then she dropped this bomb: “I heard another man ... talking about the question he asked, and he said that the campaign had asked him to ask that question.” (CNN)
