News Updates, 8/24

New nuns grateful to be in Elysburg [PA]
A rare look into the life of the new group of Discalced Carmelite nuns reveals a simple existence and an extreme devotion to prayer. The new set of nuns has moved from Nebraska to inhabit the Elysburg Monastery, which had been home to a revered group of Carmelite nuns who moved to Danville in January 2008...On Monday, after the Opening Solemn Mass and Blessing of the Monastery at 10 a.m., the nuns will return to solitude and will no longer be seen by members of the public...

Accept challenge of Jesus' hard teachings, Pope Benedict urges
Before Sunday’s Angelus prayer with pilgrims in the courtyard of Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about today’s Gospel, in which Jesus' teaching about his presence in the Eucharist is met with resistance from the Jews and his own disciples. Followers of Christ must respond to his challenging teachings with lifelong commitment instead of trying to adapt his teachings to the fashions of the times, the Pope said...

Kissling slams bishops on healthcare
Writing in Salon, Frances Kissling criticizes the United States bishops for “not working hard enough on behalf of the most important and desperately needed healthcare reform-- the public option … the bishops are squandering every ounce of moral capital they have, not on the public option, but on ensuring that in any reform bill not one penny of federal funds is used for abortion.” The rabidly pro-abortion Kissling, now a visiting scholar at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, is the former president of Catholics for a Free Choice [AKA Heretics for Infanticide]

Are We Living in the Last Days? (Carl Olson)
There has been a surge in interest in topics such as Bible prophecy and the Rapture in the last few years, largely due to the surprising success of the Left Behind series written by two devout Protestants...

Evangelical Lutherans abandon Bible teaching on homosexuality
Even though the Rev. Mark Chavez believes the leaders of his church made a decision in direct contradiction of the Bible by lifting a ban on sexually active, monogamous gays and lesbians as clergy, he said he's staying with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Succumbs to Heresy
What happened is that representatives of the ECLA succumbed to heresy. Oh, I can hear it now, “how dare he say such a thing?” Because… it is true, and there is nothing compassionate about failing to help fellow Christians to reject error. Christians abandoning the clear teaching of the Sacred Scriptures and the unbroken Christian Tradition is not a new phenomenon in the 2000 year history of the Christian Church. What is new is the massive support that such a sad turn of events receives from this kind of media report....
[They merely added yet another heresy to those which they already embrace. It's rather easy, after accepting one heresy, to continue to embrace even more for the intellect has been blinded and the soul darkened...]

Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese Comes to San Francisco
What Most Holy Redeemer Parish Has Come to Mean

US Jews protest Catholic document on salvation
Rabbis say relationship with Catholic leaders is at risk

Priest convicted of $1M theft dies in prison
Conn. cleric used church money for lavish lifestyle

Wis. bishops protest Catholic contraceptives demand
State mandate compels faithful to act against conscience

Spanish bishops: Don't kiss pilgrimage statue
Warning issued due to concern over swine flu contagion

Pope says hand 'a bit lazy' after plaster removed
Pin inserted in pontiff's wrist to keep bones in place

Man steals Virgin Mary painting to pay for abortion
Felon convicted of raping teen, first-degree sexual assault

Iraqi bishops express concern after blasts
'With these acts of violence, we are losing everything'

US bishops launch website on new Mass translation
'"In the years since Vatican II we have learned a lot'

Singapore PM warns religion threatens stability
'Most dangerous fault line is race and religion'

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Other Issues
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Latest Report to Obama (pdf)
on preps for swine flu, dated Aug 7th but released to the public today.
Scientists: swine flu may infect 30-50% of population. 30k-90k deaths, mostly young adults

Existing Home Sales Far Worse Than Advertised
The latest housing consensus as sung in three part harmony amongst the media and green shoots crowd. Their song goes something like this:
1) The worst of the housing trouble is now behind us;
2) Only recently, Housing was “Getting worse more slowly;”
3) That has transitioned to “Housing is getting better.”
I don’t believe it. IMO, all 3 are misleading or outright wrong. This post explains why...

Manufacturing Jobs Drop To Lowest Level Since 1941,
Below 9% of Workforce for the First Time.

Are you doing business with anti-gun companies?
Are gun owners unwittingly patronizing businesses that support infringements on their right to keep and bear arms?

Colonial Bank Failure Highlights the Problem
The bankruptcy of Colonial Bank (CNB) was the largest bank-bankruptcy in the U.S. since several large, U.S. financial institutions collapsed last year – with the most recent being Washington Mutual, last fall. However, there is one huge difference between the mega-bankruptcies of last year and the collapse of Colonial Bank a week ago...

Obama marks beginning of Muslim holy month
[Chairman] Obama is continuing his outreach [celebrating his Mohammedan roots?] to the Muslim world in a video message marking the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan...Obama says the rituals of Ramadan are a reminder of the principles Muslims and Christians have in common. He says those principles include advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
[EXCEPT the unborn, elderly, and sick (take a pain pill) - don't forget that this repugnant spawn of satan would not acknowledge the National Day of Prayer, yet he does this!]

Mercury Marine union in Wis. rejects concessions (8000 jobs lost) Mercury Marine moving to OK
FOND DU LAC, Wis. – Union workers at Mercury Marine put their jobs at risk Sunday when they rejected a package of wage and benefit concessions the boat engine maker said it needed or it would move their work to a nonunion plant in Oklahoma. Union leaders did not immediately release Sunday's tally but said the vote was "overwhelming" to reject what the company called its final offer.

Town Hall Meeting with U.S. Congressman Brian Baird

I, David William Hedrick, a member of the silent majority, decided that I was not going to be silent anymore. So, I let U.S. Congressman Brian Baird have it. I was one questioner out of 38, that was called at random from an audience that started at 3,000 earlier in the evening. Not expecting to be called on, I quickly scratched what I wanted to say on a borrowed piece of paper and with a pen that I borrowed from someone else in the audience minutes before I spoke. So much for the planned talking points of the right wing conspiracy.

White House Reveals Identity of Firm That Sent Unsolicited E-Mails on Health Reform
The White House hired a private communications company based in Minnesota to distribute mass e-mails, helping to shed light on how some recipients received e-mails in support of President Obama's health care plan without signing up for them, FOX News has learned...
[The "buck" gets passed in the Usurper's administration]