News Updates, 6/4

Ninth Circuit Decision Supporting Board’s Resolution Against Catholics Promotes Policy of Gleichschaltung
ANN ARBOR, MI – A San Francisco City Board’s resolution virulently condemning the Catholic Church because of its moral teachings on homosexuality does not violate the Constitution’s prohibition of government hostility toward religion, so says a panel on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals...Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center remarked, “It is not a stretch to compare the San Francisco Board’s actions to that of the Nazi Germany policy of Gleichschaltung: vilifying Jews as an auxiliary too and laying the groundwork for more repressive policies, including the final solution of extermination. The policy of San Francisco is one of totalitarian intolerance of Christians of all denominations who oppose homosexual conduct. My concern is that if this ruling is allowed to stand, it will further embolden anti-Christian attacks.”...

New York Assemblywoman Margaret Markey Threatens Bishop DiMarzio
Catholic League president Bill Donohue addresses remarks made yesterday by New York Assemblywoman Margaret Markey.Catholics in New York State are very concerned about a bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey [and opposed by Bishop DiMarzio and others] that would discriminate against the Catholic Church by opening the door to endless claims of sexual abuse while at the same time giving the public schools a pass...Markey has accused Bishop DiMarzio of being “on the borderline of jeopardizing his not-for-profit status.” She also went so far as to warn him: “If I were the bishop, I would walk very cautiously.”...

Nancy Pelosi Misleads on Embryonic Stem Cell Research at Reagan Statue Event
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, gave a speech at the unveiling of a statue of President Ronald Reagan today on Capital Hill. However, she couldn't resist injecting divisive politics into her speech about a president regarded as strongly pro-life...

Marquette prof blames pro-lifers for Tiller death
Even if assassin has no connection to pro-life groups
[This, of course, comes from the ex-Jesuit priest and current heretic, Daniel Maguire. I surprised he's still alive. Another of the lost souls for whom we must pray yet ignore.]

Omaha diocese settles discrimination lawsuit
Parish employee fired for out-of-wedlock pregnancy

Obama 'comfortable' with anti-Catholic adviser
Harry Knox criticized by House Minority Leader, others

Lexington sex offenders move after threats
Catholic charity is closing a central Kentucky home

Obama: U.S. 'one of largest Muslim countries'
White House stresses President's Islamic roots
[What does one expect from a clueless community organizer?]

Catholic charities breaking law on gay adoption
UK tribunal cries discrimination against homosexual couples
[It's time to stand up for the truth - even if it means persecution by Satan's allies]

Cardinal Stafford retires as Penitentiary Major
Replaced by Archbishop Fortunato Baldelli

Church tense as federal forces to leave Orissa
Christians in Indian state have been besieged by Hindus

Judie Brown: Culture of Death has no winners
Tiller murder as 'senseless act of violence'

=========
Other Issues
=========

Chavez to seize chemical projects
Venezuela is preparing to nationalise petrochemical projects as part of President Hugo Chavez's campaign to limit the private sector. The national assembly is reading a law that would force the country's chemical companies to become minority partners in joint ventures with the state...
[Who is emulating who here? Is Obama following Chavez or is Chavez taking lessons from Obama?]

U.S. Mortgage Rates Jump to Highest Since December

Ballmer Says Tax Would Move Microsoft Jobs Offshore
Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steven Ballmer said the world’s largest software company would move some employees offshore if Congress enacts Obama’s plans to impose higher taxes on U.S. companies’ foreign profits.

Plan to Help Banks Clear Their Books Is Halted
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation indefinitely postponed a central element of the Obama administration’s bank rescue plan on Wednesday, acknowledging that it could not persuade enough banks to sell off their bad assets...

The Most Dangerous Man in the World: Barack Hussein Obama
Congratulations to [King] Obama! Osama bin Laden is no longer the most dangerous man in the world, having been effectively neutered by former President Bush’s war on terror. Obama has deftly picked up the mantle and has become America’s number one enemy...Just a few short months into his presidency, it is manifest that no drama Obama is instead, the architect of chaos and destruction. Everything Obama touches plummets into disorder...

Obama’s Real Genuflection to the Saudis
Obama is, indeed, really bowing to the Saudis as he visits the Middle East this week. First, he is bypassing Israel. Visiting the Middle East and not going to Israel would be like touring North America and omitting a stop in the United States. It only makes sense if you interpret it as a deliberate slap in the face of Jerusalem and a statement to the Arab world that America's pro-Israeli policy is changing...

Sweden ready to take over banks
Swedish banks fear mounting loan losses as the economy in the Baltic States, where Swedish banks are the largest lenders, are heading for breakdown. This puts the Swedish economy at considerable risk, Sweden's Finance Minister Anders Borg said to Swedish state television, SVT.

How the White House Hopes to Control Health Care Costs
Senate sources confirm that [Cairman MaObama] argued in favor of a genuinely major Medicare reform -- a reform that could make Medicare the nation's most important laboratory for health care reforms...

N. Korean naval boat intrudes into S. Korean side of western sea border

Muslim Brotherhood Members to Attend Obama's Cairo Speech
Obama Renews Openness About His Muslim Roots Ahead of Egypt Speech
Egyptian lawmakers from the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood are expected to attend President Obama's highly anticipated speech to the Muslim world Thursday in Cairo...

I, Barack Obama
Pres__ent [ID missing] Obama used the first-person singular pronoun "I" 34 times when he announced he was nationalizing General Motors. He used "Congress" once and "law" not at all. As Obama described it, the government takeover of General Motors was Obama's decision made for Obama's reasons...

Arizona sheriff under civil rights investigation requests probe of investigators
A lawyer for an Arizona sheriff who has aggressively cracked down on illegal immigration has asked for a probe of federal officials who are investigating the sheriff's office for alleged discrimination and unconstitutional searches...

Jobless rates in U.S. cities zoom higher in April
The weak labor market is hurting U.S. cities -- centers of many industries and large housing markets -- with 93 metropolitan areas registering an unemployment rate of at least 10 percent in April, according to Labor Department data released on Wednesday.

Latvian debt crisis shakes Eastern Europe
Latvia has become the first EU country to face a sovereign debt crisis after failing to sell a single bill at a $100m (£61m) treasury auction, prompting fears of a fresh storm in Eastern Europe as capital flight tests currency pegs.

Barack Hussein Obama should stop apologising for America
It is time for Obama to recognise that his strategy is weakening his country and making the United States more vulnerable to attack, says Nile Gardiner. No leader in American history has gone to greater lengths than Barack Obama to make amends for his own country.