"An abortion requires an operation.  It kills the life of a baby after it has begun.  It is dangerous to your life and health.  It may make you sterile so that when you want a child you cannot have it."

A quote from SPUC?  Perhaps Youth Defence or the Pro-Life Campaign?

Think again - the year is 1952 and Planned Parenthood, which would go on to become America's greatest mass murderer in history, had not yet made the scientific breakthrough that a child stops being a child when you want to kill ...
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Some sneaky rascal has gone and gotten the domain name www.catholic.ie.  To get a domain name you have to prove you are entitled to use it.  In this case, if you follow the link, you will find yourself brought to www.countmeout.ie, the website for those wishing to defect from the Catholic Church.  I hardly think this classifies as legitimate use.

However, if one wishes to complain there is a procedure, but, it will cost you €1,500 to €4,000 to complain!  Anyone with deep pockets willing to...
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You may recall a previous post about a 66 yearl old Protestant Church elder convicted of molesting a child who escaped sentencing to prison because he was so fat.

Well the Attorney General (not yet John Larkin but some time soon, "any time" in fact) is seeking to have the sentence increased.  You can read the story here on the BBC.

What's interesting is how the BBC has dropped all reference to him being a Church elder.  The original story is headlined "Sex abuse church elder McConaghy 'too fat ...
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Further news from Canada reveals that there is a more human angle to this scandal of the Ambassador's residence. 

It seems that during the work, when the walls were stripped, the water and hydro (electricity to you and me) disconnected, the windows missing, somebody thought it would be a good idea to make the housekeeper continue living there "for security reasons".  "She's from the Philippines so they're used to those sort of condidtions" said nobody in particular.

A complaint from a concerned...

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Long time readers will know that I am a regular reader of the Ottawa Citizen.  They have an interesting story on the Irish Ambassador's residence in Rockcliffe Park.  Apparently it's now the biggest house in Rockcliffe Park (though I think the enormous French ambassador's residence (enormous residence, not Ambassador, who must now all by tiny so as to reflect well on the President).

Canadians are funny people - on the one hand reserved, on the other you can always find a worker willing to talk...
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I've had difficulites uploading over the last week so apologies for avid readers.

I see that news is emerging that the sub-planet Pluto is becoming redder:

"A new examination of photographs of Pluto from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the dwarf planet changing colors and at one point getting redder in what may indicate distinct changes of seasons, National Geographic News says.

The photographs, taken from 2002 to 2003, were compiled in a four-year project that involved 20 computers running s...

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There was drama in Fleet Street today when the sub-editor responsible for creating headlines had to be treated for mental exhaustion.

It appears he was overcome by the range of possibilities for the the Iris Robinson story.

Apparently poor Peter thought she had developed a deeper interest in the Presbyterian Church as she kept disappearing for Kirk Sessions.

I have been peppered with texts from "friends" since it was revealed the toy-boy was called "Mc Cambley" - thankfully spelt with a B.

Could ...
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Funny how people see things differently.  I watched a few minutes of the Late Late Show on Friday.  Tubridy was interviewing three guys - I thought they were seminarians.  Turns out they were recently ordained Redemptorist priests.  Dressed in mufti of course.  According to the Deputy Editor of the Irish Catholic in the Irish Daily Mail today, RTE was flooded with complaints about the way they were treated, ambushing style of questioning, lack of respect etc.

Well, personally, I thought Tubrid...
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TV3 has a decent panal discussion programme called Midday - a rip off of Loose Women, except the Irish version is more serious and restrained.  Tuesday had a discussion on the abortion case being brought before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg by three women - for some reason granted anonimity - who were clearly set up by the promoting body, the Irish Family Planning Association.  The discussion was quite good - watch it here.  If the correct show doesn't appear it should be o...
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It's not often we get good news stories from our courts but yesterday the Supreme Court ruled in favour of a sperm donor (otherwise known as "The Father") having access to his son who was being raised by a lesbian couple.  They had agreed in advance he could have access and be a "favourite uncle".  However once the child was born they decided to move to Australia, turning reality on its head.  The High Court had ruled in their favour on the basis that they were a de facto family and he the me...
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I have been pondering the Murphy Report.  Among the problems I have is that I find it hard to yield an inch to the enemies of the Church.  When the rather unpleasant son of the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin starts attacking the Papal Nuncio you know, you just know, that there's more to it than concern for children.  He may start out with that thought.  He may still have it when he calls for the expulsion of the Papal Nuncio but when he says:

"Our actions now will demonstrate whether this sta...
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So the European Union Council has a new President.  Already I have seen Herman Von Rumpuy referred to several times as a devout Catholic, with reference to his stated opposition to Turkish entry to the EU.

Perhaps we should remember his role in forcing abortion through in Belgium over the obections.
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Good news from Maine where the people have voted to confirm that marriage is only possible between a man and a woman.  This means that every time the people, as opposed to legislators or judges, have been asked to vote on the issue, including in California, they have voted in favour of traditional marriage.

Meanwhile in Strasbourg the judges at the European Court of Human Rights have been voting to ban crucifixes from Italian class-rooms.  The BBC here describe the plaintiff as "Italian" - she...
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Well we're into November 2009 and this is officially a European Commission Free Zone - I mean the world, not my blog.  The Commission term of office expired on 31st October and there being no procedure to extend its remit we have no Commission.  So no more Directives for the time being.

I presume this will be rigorously inforced by the Guardians of the Treaties.  Oh, shoot, that would be the Commission. 

I wonder what would happen if, say, some foreign country's despotic leader decided to exte...
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I was in Newry today visiting my dentist - that ghastly drill that vibrates and sounds like the Monaco Grand Prix in your head while making you shiver.  Anyway, afterwards went for a walk in the city (smirk), time-filling to allow the the numbness in my face to wear off so I could get something to eat.

I popped into the Combat Cancer shop (Newry main street is full of charity shops) and there I found a wonderful pencil case, promoting heterosexuality. 

I think everyone opposed to gay marriage ...
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Not one to blow my own trumpet when it comes to the widespread readership of my blog, and the influence that it can have, I might just mention that I received a very nice email from the Northern Ireland Minister for Culture and Sport, Nelson McCausland, in response to my expressing support for his religious freedom.

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Every so often you catch a smell or hear a phrase that takes you right back to childhood.  There's a certain smell of popcorn and coke that brings me straight to 1977 and Star Wars.

Today it was a name, Werner Heubeck, who has just died.  His wife died last month and I suspect he couldn't live without her.  Even as a child I wondered how a German ended up in Belfast running the buses.

Meanwhile Hilary Clinton is caught lying again, or "missspeaking" as she likes to term it.  She claims she stay...
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Nelson McCausland, Northern Ireland Minister for Culture, has stated that he won't attend Catholic services because of his religious beliefs.  For this he has been attacke by the small and the bad, inc the ever sensitive Sinn Féin.

I find myself completely supportive of Nelson's position. He has a religious view and he's entitled to it. It's not an intolerant view in that he, to the best of my knowledge, supports the religious freedom of Catholics to worship as they believe. To force him to p...

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Brian McFatty arriving for funeral

Yesterday Boyzone arrived in Majorca to take Stephen's body home, revealing matching tattoos in his memory. All four have an 'S' for Stephen and the numbers 76 09, the years of his birth and death.  A source said: 'The tattoos were done as a mark of respect for Stephen.'

A Majorcan police statement taken from Bulgarian Giorgio Dochev, 25, who was in their holiday apartment that evening, reveals that Gately had smoked a cannabis joint and that the trio had be...

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I have always had an interest in the Law and as friends will know, I have in the past exercised a judicial funtion.  So I often have a look at case law from other jurisdictions, particularly as the common law tradition allows judges in one jurisdiction to refer to judgments in other jurisdictions.  This case from Canada is rather interesting:

Osborne
(Osborne v. Canada (Treasury Board), [1991] 2 S.C.R. 69)

In this case, a group of federal public servants wanted to participate in various poli...

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... all posts concerning the Lisbon Referendum have been removed.
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Sometimes other people write things I could never write myself.  The Heelers Diaries are always good for a laugh:

Congratulations to RTE's former Religious Affairs Correspondent Joe Little who this week has been appointed to the RTE Authority, the powerful and shadowy board of administrators who run the national channel. I note that Joe Little spent his youth around Dublin working for a group styling itself Socialist Worker. According to my sources, Joe Little's favourite psychotic killer duri...
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Patrick Madrid reports a new take on Tosca at the Met with simulated sex with a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In Europe bishops call this "free exercise under Article 13".
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You remember all the discussions when The Left Hand of Darkness - that's Obama for new readers - was elected as to which church he would attend, being such a good Christian.  We've books like The Faith of Barack Obama with that fake holy look he practises on the cover.

Well it turns out the church he's attended most in the past nine months is the Catholic Church - aside from Kennedy's funeral (RIP), Notre Dame and Georgetown he's been to a Sunday service once - a special outing for Easter.

God ...
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There was shock in media circles today when this week's edition of the Irish Catholic included an article by Michael Kelly with a direct quotation with attribution to the original author:  “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” (Maya Angelou).  Now there's an ironic quote.

The article was a moving piece on his visit to Auschwitz.

Particularly moving was this section on St Maximilian Kolbe:
 
During the Second World War (19...
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Here's a little experiment.  On a Monday night I try and prophesy what will appear in the Old Irish Farmer's Tosh on Wednesday.  If the prophecy comes true it probably means that Copy Kat Kelly has been reading and borrowed the ideas.  And if it doesn't appear then probably Tosher O'Sullivan has been reading and he couldn't bear that I might be right so he'll rush into work and remove the references.

So this week's prophecy - some piece of liberal crap about Archliberal Ted Kennedy. 

By the wa...
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Well I suppose, as one correspondent reminded me, it's good to know that The Irish Catholic is reading my blog.  I'd forgotten that I'd referred to the IC as containing "old tosh".  Obviously the editor likes to keep his bitter little memories.  At least when he reads my blog he might learn something about the Catholic faith - more than he ever learned with the Jesuits clearly.

But I better watch out that my posts don't end up in the paper, you know the way the deputy editor has a fondness for...
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Something unusual happened to me today.  This morning I submitted a letter for publication to The Irish Catholic.  I have previously had letters published there on a number of topics.  So this morning I emailed the following letter:

Since 2007 bishops, priests and lay people around the world have been resigning from Amnesty International in protest at its decision to begin supporting legal access to abortion as a human right. 

Renato Cardinal Martino, then President of the Pontifical Council...

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Somehow I missed this, frankly bizarre, story - that Ann Widdecombe is tipped to be the next Ambassador of Great Britain to the Holy See.

I don't really see it.  Do these jobs not normally go to career diplomats from the FCO?

On a connected note, I read one of Ann's novels during the holidays and found it rather good.  An Act of Treachery is about a young French woman who falls in love with an older married German officer in occupied France.  Must track down the follow up - an Act of Peace.

Spe...
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I don't know the background to this story and perhaps there are all sorts of political issues we're not aware of.  This guy, Martin O'Rourke, a barrister, applied to take silk.  He was rejected and then sued and took a judicial review and lost again. 

In his judgement the Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr said Mr O'Rourke had not filled in his application form correctly.

He said: "This was an application to become Queen's Counsel.

"Anyone aspiring to that rank must be capable of careful...

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A couple of interesting oppositional stories today.  The parents of the recently born sextuplets reveal they were urged to abort some of them - even though this would be illegal in northern Ireland.  "But we knew without discussion what we both wanted. These babies are a wonderful gift from God."

Meanwhile this couple who donated to the White Babies fund ended up with a distinctly black baby.  And they aren't happy - suing the Royal.  I liked this quote:  "They are Roman Catholics and Catherin...
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I think this is quite an important article. 

Dr Trayce Hansen, writes that "Research by social scientists, although not definitive, suggests that children reared by openly homosexual parents are far more likely to engage in homosexual behavior than children raised by others. Studies thus far find between 8% and 21% of homosexually parented children ultimately identify as non-heterosexual. For comparison purposes, approximately 2% of the general population are non-heterosexual."

And significa...

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You'll recall a litle posting I did the  other day on how the Left Hand of Darkness at Normandy thought he was there because the beach was being named after him.

Well it turns out that Gordon Brown had the same idea and referred to the "Obama Beach".  Gordon's really more of a Dunkirk kind of guy isn't he, than a D-Day leader.  Small boats and good cheer covering up catastrophic policy decisions.
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I wouldn't kill an abortionist myself, but I wouldn't want to impose my moral values on others. No one is for shooting abortionists. But how will criminalizing men making difficult, often tragic, decisions be an effective means of achieving the goal of reducing the shootings of abortionists?

Following the moral precepts of liberals, I believe the correct position is: If you don't believe in shooting abortionists, then don't shoot one.

H/T Ann Coulter
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“The European Union is an integral dimension of our national life and governance. The European Parliament is the voice of the citizens in its decision-making processes. It is the right and responsibility of every citizen to shape it.”

More sterling advice from the Forum for Europe?

Well no.  It seems in the midst of the chaos the episcopal conference is concerned that people aren't voting.  Bad enough that we voted against Lisbon but when it comes to the EP we often don't vote at all.  And ...
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Damien Thompson in the Telegraph has an interesting post today on the abuse scandals which he describes as as much Irish as Catholic.  Do read it.  I think a lot of what he has to say has validity. 

And it's important that we start really trying to analyse what happened in this country.  This will be difficult because most people don't want to know why it happened.
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I see from the news that the Left Hand of Darkness will be visiting a Nazi concentration camp.  Perhaps getting advice for International Planned Parenthood.  He will also visit Dresden.

This is typical of the Obamessiah.  The Second World War was undoubtedly a war in which there were good guys and bad guys.  And as usual the Americans were on the good side.  So of course the Left Hand will have to try and undermine this by pandering to the German notion that they too were victims in the War.  ...
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Someone left this comment on the blog:

"I am not really to sure you are or if you even know your self.  But I wonder are you living in the real world and I mean it from the point of view that in the biggest report to have hit the Irish Church you can only find space to try and defend a bishop It scares the hell out me that it was people like your self who in the past both in side the church and outside of the church inside and outside of other bodies buried their heads in the sand and claim no...
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Have a look at this headline.  Worser, and worser and worser.

And you know, he's right, the Left Hand of Darkness could easily be a modern liberal Catholic.  The story continues:

"More striking was how Obama, a non-Catholic, showed his ability to think and to talk like a Catholic. He empathically did this by vividly using in his address very particular experiences as grounds legitimating the validity of universal claims. During his speech, Obama exemplified the translation that necessarily occu...
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Seen and Unseen is a Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse discussion free zone.  We've had the aplogies, the discussion, the arguments over the required standards of proof.
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I try to keep an eye on American politics, partly because it's interesting and easy with only the two parties, partly cos I liked the West Wing.  For those who want some help to follow American political stories, here's an easy rule of thumb.  If the media carry a story which shows a politican in a bad light - if he's a Republican this will usually be in the headline, or the first sentence.  If it's democratic it will usually be in the last sentence or more often not at all.  You can get exam...
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In shocking news, the Irish Catholic tomorrow will reveal that, while pretending to be all even handed, it supported the Obama invitation to Notre Dame.  The editor quotes the Left Hand extensively without a word of opposition.  Each of the Obamanable statements on dialogue, openness, hope and even conscience is taken at face value.  O'Sullivan gushes:  "It is quite amazing to hear a politician speak in such Gospel language."

But hang on, wasn't George Bush a genuine believing Christian who wa...
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I always enjoy the fringe stories that you discover around the main news stories.  Obviously the resignation of Michael Martin as Speaker of the British House of Commons is a massive story.  Almost universally regarded as a dreadful Speaker, he is the first to be forced out of office since 1695.

Which brings us to the guy above - the last incumbent to be forced to go, Sir John Trevor, who took a bribe of a thousand guineas to aid the passage of a bill.  One or two interesting things about him....
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Good grief.   Things are actually worse than I thought.  You know I've had several posts recently in which I suggested the Left Hand of Darkness might well be the anti-Christ and then I posted that photo of him with right arm outstretched in a post reminiscent of Adolf Hitler.  Well it's worse - he was actually blessing the students.  He turns up at a "Catholic" university, defends abortion, attacks conscience and then tries to bless the students.  I think I'm going to be sick over the comput...
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“Let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion" said President Obama at Notre Dame.  Oh, well that's good, maybe this guy isn't so bad after all if he believes at least in respecting the consciences of pro-life health care workers.  What else does he say?

"and draft a sensible conscience clause" - but surely there is already the 2008 regulation which implements and enforces three federal laws protecting the conscience rights of health care providers, especially those at risk...
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Taking the salute from Obama Youth

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Obama silent on the rape and murder of two black children in Soweto.

Obama silent on the relegation of West Bromwich Albion.

Obama silent on the suspension of a teacher accused of abuse in Tallahassee public school.

Presumably we can conclude from this silence that Obama supports rape, murder, Liverpool FC and abuse in Tallahassee.  No, you say, that would be entirely illogical.

Try googling "Pope silent Obama invitation" and you will get some four thousand news articles, for example this one.  T...
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His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has been invited by the Margaret Sanger School of Eugenics in Boston to attend the commencement ceremony for abortion and sterilization technicians June 20 during which he will receive the David Steele award for commitment to reproductive services.  The Director of the School, Professor U von Asia, said that while they disagreed with some of the Holy Father's views on abortion, they fully supported his opposition to the Iraq war.  The event would provide an oppo...

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Folks - remember a few days ago when  I invited you to vote for me.  Well only three people have voted - so far - here's the link to vote in case you missed it.  Vote Here - and stay and read the blog - funny lady with lots of great photos.
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Topless photos leaked - see them here
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More bad news from America on the abortion front.  Seems that David Souter, one of the younger (69) justices on the Supreme Court, is resigning, giving the Left Hand of Darkness a chance to impose practically whoever he wants with an utterly compliant congress.

Souter was one of George Bush the First's mistakes, penning these words:

“Liberty finds no refuge in a jurisprudence of doubt. Yet, 19 years after our holding that the Constitution protects a woman’s right to terminate her pregnanc...

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Apparently the Children's Ombudsman is not at all happy with the HSE.  She had stopped her investigation into their part in the Cloyne abuse saga because they are refusing to cooperate.  Seems the only document they sent was a photocopy of an already publicly available document.  And then on foot of continuing request from the Ombudsman, they wanted to negotiate via senior counsel.  The Ombudsman decided not to waste public many and called a halt to her investigations while going public on th...

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Thought this was fascinating in a nerdy sort of way.  You know the way the border runs right through Pettigoe and Clones and I'm sure a few other places.   Well this is the border of Belgium and Netherlands and as you can see it's not exactly easy to manage.  Interesting.  Irish dioceses have some features like this, with bits of Ossory surrounded by Killaloe, chunks of Tuam in Clonfert, Achonry and Galway.  Cashel and Emly has a bit of Waterford and Lismore in it while Ardagh and Clonmacnois...
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There was shock and horror in the Netherlands yesterday during the Queen's Day celebrations. 

"Wij waren al status aan de kant van de weg, onze gezichten geschilderde sinaasappel, wanneer plotseling rond de hoek een open bus komt. Ik kon niet geloven wat ik, ons koningshuis op een bus zoals voetballers zag. Het was schokkend en appalling".

"We were all standing at the side of the road, our faces painted orange, when suddenly round the corner comes an open top bus.  I couldn't believe what I wa...
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If you follow the fawning liberal American press, or all the European press, you will see they are all aglow at the 56% approval rating given in polls for The Left Hand of Darkness (TLHOD) during his first one hundred days trying to destroy America, facilitate more abortions around the world, pander to the Iranians and Cubans - oh and drive the world into a ten year depression.

What you will hear almost no where, and certainly not in Europe, is that this makes him the second least popular pres...
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I see Arlen Specter has finally admitted what we all knew - he's joined the Democrats - he was always a self serving, pompous ass so now he's in the right party and Republicans will have someone they can vote for in the next election.

For the record, I detest any politician of any persuasion who switches parties without resigning and seeking re-election.  They can make a principled stand if they want but if they don't resign they betray their voters.  That's my view anyway.

Doubtless The Left H...
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Not much posting last days - run off my feet at the minute.  I'm trying to get organised for our BIG MASS OF CELEBRATION ON 16TH MAY AT THE POOR CLARE MONASTERY, CLIFTONVILLE ROAD, BELFAST AT 3.00PM.  Well I've made posters, written letters to local priests in Belfast asking them to publicise the Mass.  I've a few more still to do and I've to create a display, do the monthly newsletter, put together a Mass booklet including history of the Secular Order in Belfast.  Lot done, more to do.
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As each day passes it becomes harder and harder to to like President Obama - as he bows to the King of Saudi Arabia he releases critical intelligence information that betrays the CIA, before running off to them to tell them not to feel ashamed or embarrassed by what they have done.  If they're ashamed, I bet it's having him as their Commander in Chief.

"President Obama's decision to release these documents is one of the most dangerous and irresponsible acts ever by an American president during...
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"This is the BBC.  Today the Prime Minister played bowls at Chequers.  England scored 293 in the first innings at Lords.  Germany invaded Poland."

It's always interesting to flit around the BBC website.  Today we learn that Cardinal Brady is to have a first meeting with loyalists.  When I read that I thought, "is this really news?"  Have we not had so many X is meeting Y for the first time stories in Northern Ireland that they stop being news?  I suppose it still is news that a Cardinal is mee...
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You have now entered a budget-free zone, a refuge from discussions of fiscal policy, bank capitalisation and the ratio of distance from Newry to the price of vodka or the corner of Talbot Street and Marlborough Street where two fat ladies with plastic carrier bags will sell you cheap tobacco.  Granted the tabacco has a funny aroma cos they're not quite as fat as they look.

Except to comment on the outrageously blasphemous image on the front of the Irish Daily Star.  You can follow the link but...
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Okay so I think Obama is evil, left-handed, possibly the anti-Christ, determined to destroy America and the world and now foolishly talking nuclear disarmament.

But I did enjoy the story of the handshake with the policeman.  In case you missed it, when going in to 10 Downing Street he stopped to say hello to the policeman on duty and shook his hand.  The policeman held out his hand for Gordon Brown, expecting he would be forced to do likewise.  He didn't.

Of course the New York Times (AA  Gill)...
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You know there's a recession on when Dunnes have a massive display of Shredded Wheat at 2 euro a box at the front door.

And you know it's become a depression when you find ten boxes of Shredded Wheat in your utility room!
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Did you count the Virgin's hands in the icon?  Interesting I thought - the explanation is below:

The renowned writer and Church poet, Saint John Damascene, served at the court of the caliph in his youth and was the ruler of the city of Damascus. A native of Syria, he...
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I think I could become a fan of Jeffrey Donaldson.  Granted he looks like Daniel O'Donnell and a certain curate in Drogheda, but he is more pro-life than most of the Catholic politicians in Stormont and in the recent spat over changing the Act of Settlement, I find myself agreeing with him.  He said that a Catholic monarch would owe first allegiance to the Vatican.  Okay, his terminology is a bit off and that allows Alisdair McDonnell to use some political cover, but Jeffrey is correct that a...
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I was planning on doing a post when I got distracted by you tube - in particular this guy, Daniel Hannan, MEP - have a look - he's a great parliamentary performer, and his attack on Gordon Brown was particularly good.  There's also a good clip where he compares the President of the European Parliament to the speaker of the German parliament in 1933.
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