News Updates, 7/7

Summary of the Encyclical "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth)
The Encyclical published today - which comprehends an introduction, six chapters and a conclusion - is dated 29 June 2009, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles. A summary of the Encyclical released by the Holy See Press Office explains that in his introduction the Pope recalls how "charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine". Yet, given the risk of its being "misinterpreted and detached from ethical living", he warns how "a Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance".
[The Encyclical may be read here]

Is aborted fetal DNA linked to autism? [PDF file]
Is there a link between aborted fetal DNA and the rise in autism and autism spectrum disorder? A new study is underway by Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute - the non-profit arm of AVM Biotechnology and strategic partner of Children of God for Life.
[HT to DM for the update!]

Vatican investigation of Legion begin July 15
Five bishops, including Chaput, charged with task

Google bans advertising for abortion businesses
in Brazil, France, Mexico, Poland, and Taiwan

Philippines probes foreign angle in church blast
Foreign Islamic militants may have had a link

Muslim group rejects accusation of bomb attack
Explosion outside Philippine cathedral killed eight

Honduran army shuts down Catholic radio station
Bishops' statement read out on national television

Vatican investigating conduct of U.S. nuns
Sisters fear Church is trying to restore old traditions

Cash-strapped Vatican Radio to carry ads
...for first time in station's nearly 80-year history

Bishop asks ousted Honduran president to give it up
"To the Organization of American States, please pay attention to everything illegal that was happening before the 28th of June," [Archbishop Oscar Andrés] Rodríguez said. "This is a community that will define our own destiny without any unilateral pressures. We renounce any blockades, which will only hurt the poor."

Australia denies pressuring Vatican over sainthood
Prime Minister to urge Pope to canonize first down under

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Other Issues
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Public Pensions Cook the Books
Some plans want to hide the truth from taxpayers.

Delinquencies on U.S. Home-Equity Loans Reach Record

U.S. House May Include Surtax on Wealthy in Health-Care Package
House Ways and Means Committee members are likely to propose a surtax on high-income Americans to help pay for an overhaul of the health-care system, according to people familiar with the plan.
[Taxing and spending Amerika into prosperity! Criminal clowns!]

Big Banks Don't Want California IOUs
A group of the biggest U.S. banks said they would stop accepting California's IOUs on Friday, adding pressure on the state to close its $26.3 billion annual budget gap.

U.S. Attorney: Stolen Goldman Sachs Program Can "Manipulate Markets"
At a court appearance July 4 in Manhattan, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Facciponti told a federal judge that Aleynikov’s alleged theft poses a risk to U.S. markets...
[Apparently, it's OK for GS and .gov entities to "manipulate markets"]

Fitch Downgrades State of California GOs to 'BBB'; Maintains Rating Watch Negative
Fitch Ratings has downgraded the state of California's (the state) long-term general obligation (GO) bond rating to 'BBB' from 'A-'. The bonds remain on Rating Watch Negative.

New York Stock Exchange: "We Screwed Up"
[Organized crime can be defined as a transnational grouping of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for the purpose of generating a monetary profit.] Source

A baking institution in the Bronx will soon shut its doors.
[Union workers' demands leave them out of work...maybe now they'll understand what worker greed does to small companies]

Where's the birth certificate? An interview with Joseph Farah
Last week, Mr. Farah was kind enough to take the time to answer my questions concerning the controversy over Mr. Obama’s qualifications to be President. My questions and his responses were as follows...
[Still waiting for that transparency...]

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The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the Intl Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government.
-"Quiet Coup" article.