Thursday, June 30, 2011

Affirmative Orthodoxy - Whatever!

Catholic News Roundup 06-30


Live Action Strikes Again

This time Indiana Planned Parenthood is caught repeatedly admitting all across the state that any of the so-called healthcare services the abortion provider offers can be found at the hospital down the street.

LifeSiteNews.com


Poland Defends Life

After months of protecting the initiative from outside scrutiny Polish Government has announced after an immense grassroots campaign there will be a vote on banning abortion from the country completely.

LifeSiteNews.com


New Jersey is Next

So soon after the same-sex marriage law has passed in New York seven lesbian and gay couples are suing for MORE rights in New Jersey.

TheBlaze.com


Chinese Ordination Defies Vatican

The Catholic Patriotic Association of China has defied Rome by ordaining a bishop without mandate from Pope Benedict.

CatholicCulture.org


Clinton Sends Gaga to EuroPride

Hillary Clinton boasted proudly at an LGBT pride month celebration recently that the U.S. Embassy in Rome played a key role in securing Lady Gaga for the homosexual Pride performance earlier this month.

MoonBattery.com

Awesome New Scoreboard!!!


The pro-life organization the Susan B. Anthony List has launched a most clever idea – a ‘defund Planned parenthood scoreboard,’ that shows just how much funding Planned Parenthood has lost across the country ... so far.


More News! 06-30

USDA Gay-Friendly Program May Go Government-Wide

If homosexual activists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have their way, a radical “gay sensitivity” training program developed by the department could soon be coming to every federal agency, the Washington Times reported Sunday.

LifeSiteNews.com


United Way in Wisconsin Refers Raped Teens to Planned Parenthood

The United Way in Wisconsin is coming under fire from pro-life advocates for launching a new campaign to raise awareness about statutory rape that refers teens and young women to the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

LifeNews.com


Should Abortion be Illegal Once a Heartbeat is Detectable

In a landmark move, the Ohio House of Representatives voted 54 to 43 to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat becomes detectable to doctors.

TheBlaze.com


"An FDA Panel is Deciding Life or death for My Wife"

Terry Kalley, found of Freedom of Access to Medicines, is fighting for the life of his wife.

FoxNews.com

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Irish Stew

Controversy Surrounding Funeral Arrangements for Owner of a Gay Bar

The owner of a gay bar in San Diego has died, and everyone is chiming in on what to do about his funeral. Should he be given a Catholic Mass and funeral? Or should he not? The parish priest originally said no, but the diocesan Chancery Office is "over-ruling" the decision. For more, check out California Catholic Daily here.

Catholic News Roundup 06-29

AMA Endorses Homosexuality

The American Medical Association is now endorsing same-sex marriage in its new policy and calls the exclusion of homosexuals from marriage unhealthy in the same breath.

MSNBC.msn.com

DallasVoice.com


Costa Rica Feeling Pro-Death Pressure

The only country left in the Western Hemisphere free of life-destroying In Vitro Fertilization or IVF is being pressured to lift its ban on genetic engineering.

Zenit.org


The Defunding Fight

Planned Parenthood’s litigation teams are marshaling their forces after success in blocking Indiana’s effort to defund them.

HuffingtonPost.com

AP


No Toleration for Churches in Egypt

The very idea of building or renovating churches in Egypt has sparked riots and destruction despite statements of toleration from the government.

CatholicTide.com

CCFC.ie

ADNKronos.com


Papal Tweet

His Holiness has announced via Twitter the creation of a cutting edge Vatican News portal that will be available later on today the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.

NBCWashington.com

Irish 'Catholics'

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-28


American Church Reorganized

The Vatican is preparing a document which could possibly shake the Catholic Church in America to its foundations.

CatholicCulture.org


Kansas Abortion Mill Bites the Dust

Thanks to new legislation One of the three remaining abortion mills in Kansas may close and it doesn’t look good for the other two.

LifeSiteNews.com


Abortion Trumps States Rights

A Federal Judge in Indiana has issued an injunction blocking a new state law that defunded Planned Parenthood.

TheBlaze.com


True Marriage Persecuted

After the approval of same-sex marriage in New York Empire State bishops are saying they expect lawmakers to target those who honor True Marriage.

CNSNews.com


Preschool Pushes Gender Neutrality

Being called a boy or a girl is no longer acceptable in preschool you must be called “friend” by the teacher in order to avoid what is being called gender stereotyping.

TheBlaze.com

Monday, June 27, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-27


Traditional Marriage Undermined in New York

The New York Senate has voted yes to same sex marriage despite voices of opposition from over fifty percent of the state’s population.



Islam's No-Fly Zone

Delta’s move to make a deal with Saudi Arabian Airlines has Jews around the world livid flatly calling it discrimination.

HuffingtonPost.com


Kansas Clinics Closing

Kansas is one of the four states that has defunded Planned Parenthood but has also passed legislation putting requirements on abortion clinics that many are hopeful will shut down the three remaining abortuaries in the state.

LifeSiteNews.com


Judge Orders Billboard Down

A New Mexico judge is forcing a father to take down a billboard after his girlfriend aborted their child.

AlamogordoNew.com


Corpus Cristi Returns in Russia

For the first time in almost a century the Mayor of St. Petersburg has allowed a procession on the feast of Corpus Christi.

CatholicCulture.org

New York vote on gay "marriage" is not just Catholic

An article from USA Today on why the vote on homosexual "marriage" in New York is not just a Catholic opinion.

More on the homosexual debate across the country

Adding to today's story on the vote in New York, here is an article on similar happenings in Massachusetts:

Catholic Wedding Bells

Friday, June 24, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-24


Canadian Sportscaster Fights Back!!!

The Human Rights Tribunal is hearing an unusual case after a television personality is fired for tweeting.

LifeSiteNews.com


Environmentalist Certification Required!!!

The Maryland State Board of Education has announced that “environmental literacy” will be a necessity in order to graduate.

TheBlaze.com


Public Accountability Applied to Abortion!!!

Thanks to Operation Rescue Utah regulators have promised to create a public database of licensed physicians operating in the state that have faced disciplinary action

LifeNews.com


Protests Rock Catholic Communities!!!

Violence has intensified for the second night in a row in Shortstrand, Ireland as Protestant youths riot through the Catholic community.

TheBlaze.com


New York Against Gay Marriage!!!

In a recent poll by the National Organization for Marriage fifty-seven percent of residents from the empire state answered YES when asked if marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

LifeSiteNews.com

Video Interview of Damien Goddard with Michael Coren

As reported in today's news, Damien Goddard explains his current situation in regard to his alleged human rights violations he suffered at the hands of Roger's Communications Inc.


MAKE NO MISTAKE! New Yorkers Favor Traditional Marriage

In a state where liberal ideas flourish, the voters of the Empire State loudly express their support for the traditions of true marriage.

Obama and the Sacred Heart

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-23


Suing Over Single Sex Dorms

A law professor known for suing everything that moves has turned his attention to Catholic University of America.

LifeSiteNews.com


Pastor's Orthodoxy Protested

During a visit from their bishop hundreds of parishioners protested outside a Catholic church in California this past Sunday because their pastor is too orthodox for their taste.

NCROnline.org

CalCatholic.com


Wisconsin Defunds Planned Parenthood

Wisconsin’s governor is expected to sign its budget next week making it one of a growing number of states cutting off funds to the baby killing giant defunding Planned Parenthood.



Assisted Suicide Compromising Catholic Education

Church Teaching is being betrayed by Catholic colleges when it comes to Church teaching on assisted suicide.



Irish Teachers Attack Religion

Teachers in Ireland have a problem with religious schools’ choosing who they hire, and which students they admit to schools.

CatholicCulture.org

Book Review in WSJ

(TL;DR click here to read the review : points to note, book discusses gender-selective abortion, author is anti-Christian, anti-West, inadvertently ends up exposing the error of the mantra of "choice")

The Wall Stree Journal (not my first choice of reading matter to come out of NYC, to be frank, although my first choice - the Murdoch paper - is a guilty pleasure) has a good review of a book called "Unnatural Selection". Read it here.

The review provides a large number of important points concerning the issue of "gendericide" (sex-selective abortion) which are made in the book, and so this article does (if nothing else) provide ammo for various debates you might be having. And all for free!

However, the wider review of the book (which I think I can recommend for people not wanting to dip into the latest Le Carre this Summer) provides some very important points which I feel are even more instructive.

The author of the book, Hvistendahl, is anti-Christian, anti-West, liberal etc. etc. She is a feminist in the bad sense of the word, and her main problem with the massive death of very small women is not the death of said very small women (or even, it appears, the ancilliary problems associated with gender imbalance) but rather the potential use of gender-selective abortion as a weapon against abortion rights.

Which is, I guess, par for the course. Move along, nothing to see here, right?

Perhaps not - because this review makes the following point; I reproduce it verbatim;

"Despite the author's intentions, "Unnatural Selection" might be one of the most consequential books ever written in the campaign against abortion. It is aimed, like a heat-seeking missile, against the entire intellectual framework of "choice." For if "choice" is the moral imperative guiding abortion, then there is no way to take a stand against "gendercide." Aborting a baby because she is a girl is no different from aborting a baby because she has Down syndrome or because the mother's "mental health" requires it. Choice is choice. One Indian abortionist tells Ms. Hvistendahl: "I have patients who come and say 'I want to abort because if this baby is born it will be a Gemini, but I want a Libra.' "

This is where choice leads. This is where choice has already led. Ms. Hvistendahl may wish the matter otherwise, but there are only two alternatives: Restrict abortion or accept the slaughter of millions of baby girls and the calamities that are likely to come with it."

And with that (the last lines of the review) I'll close. Oh, wait, no ... the author (Jonathan Last) is a writter at the Weekly Standard.

I fear your WSJ priviledges have been revoked, Johnny ....

Fr Corapi & the Blogs

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-22


Catholics Get Abortion Funding
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards is using her influence in the Ford
Foundation to attack Church Teaching.

Planned Parenthood Closing Shop
Six Planned Parenthood clinics in Minnesota have been forced to close their doors
after congress cut Title X funding from its budget.

Pro-Life Billboards Too Racist
Another billboard company has caved to pressure from abortion activists on
the west coast.

Judges Declare DOMA Invalid
10 federal judges have declared the defense of marriage act known as DOMA
unconstitutional.Their opinion stems from a bankruptcy filing by a homosexual couple in
California.

Panetta Appointed Secretary of Defense
Another pro-abortion Catholic has been promoted into power, now that Leon Pinetta
has been named the U.S. Secretary of Defense.


CIA is Back!

Pastor's Abduction Protested in Pakistan

Christians are demanding an investigation of their pastor's disappearance at a day of public prayer.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-21


Boston Backpedals on so-called Gay Mass

The Archdiocese has gone back on its ban of a mass to celebrate gay pride and the Boston Globe says church officials have set a date for next month.

CatholicCulture.org

BryanHehirExposed


Government Wide Sensitivity Training

The USDA is pushing government-wide homosexual training beginning with its own people.

CNSNews.com


Ducking Pro-Life Pledge

A pro-life group has asked Republican presidential hopefuls to sign a pro-life pledge but some are trying to wriggle out of fighting for life.

LifeSiteNews.com


Pro-Life Prosecuted

A pro-life leader is fighting charges after protecting an abortion clinic from what looked like a bomb package while attending peaceful prayer vigil in Wilmington Delaware.

LifeSiteNews.com


Muslims Slaying Christians

Muslims in a southern state of Sudan are attacking churches detaining Christians and killing them.

JihadWatch.org

IndCatholicNews.com

Monday, June 20, 2011

The Senator

Catholic News Roundup 06-20


Fr. Corapi Making Headlines

After being put on administrative leave, Fr. John Corapi says he is now going to form his own media domain to continue preaching the Gospel.

TheBlackSheepDog


Stolen Relic Recovered

What was thought to be a lost cause is not so lost … now that the police have safely returned a relic of St. Anthony of Padua stolen last week to the parish that owns it.

CatholicCulture.org


Christians Converge on Arab Festival

Protestors calling themselves Christians descended upon the International Arab festival in Dearborn, Michigan this weekend… after a crowd of angry Muslims blocked controversial pastor Terry Jones from speaking.

DetNews.com


Abortion Complication Cover-ups

Abortion mills in Illinois are not reporting accurately on surgical complications according to an article in the Chicago Tribune.

LifeSiteNews.com

ChicagoTribune.com


Catholic Marriage Rate Dwindling

Since the U.S. Catholic population has grown over the last generation considerably fewer Catholics are getting married in the Church.

CatholicCulture.org

Friday, June 17, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-17

NCR Ordinariate Report

Two Anglican congregations in Maryland have announced their intention to join the Ordinariate once it is established, while it could immediately bring in as many as one hundred Anglican ministers and two thousand faithful.

NCROnline.org


USCCB on Assisted Suicide

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has released a document challenging the ongoing efforts to promote assisted suicide.

Bishop's Document

NCRegister.com


Rainbow Angers Gay Activists

A Catholic school board in Ontario, Canada has caved to heavy criticism after banning the use of rainbows on Campus as homosexual symbols.

LifeSiteNews.com

LifeSiteNews Op-Ed


Georgetown Takes Money from Islam

Georgetown University is being called to answer questions for accepting money from a group labeled by the FBI as a front for terrorism.

PajamasMedia.com


Indonesia Church Attacks

The Indonesian committee on religion and peace has recorded more than two hundred Muslim attacks on churches since 2006 while forty-six attacks took place last year alone.

CatholicCulture.org

The American Church

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-16


Pennsylvania Cracks Down on Abortuaries

Gosnell’s hideous atrocities against life in Philadelphia have led the state senate to begin tightening abortion policies in across Pennsylvania.

CatholicTide.com


North Carolina Poised to Defund Planned Parenthood

North Carolina is the third state to defund Planned Parenthood, which says the move will force it to shut down its efforts at targeting teens while also forcing many people to pay for abortions out of pocket.

LifeSiteNews.com


California Judge Rejects Bid to Strike Prop 8 Ban

According to the Chief District Judge of California a homosexual judge making laws in defense of same-sex marriage is no big deal.

Reuters.com


New York Within One Vote on Legalization of Gay Marriage

Very late Wednesday night the state assembly voted overwhelmingly to legalize homosexual marriage and sent the bill over to the Senate.

NYTimes.com


Schools Push Gender Identity Education

The teacher’s union in California is paying for children to be sexually indoctrinated.

OneNewsNow.com

Who Is To Blame?

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-15


Archdiocese Endorses Homosexual Prayer Service

The Boston chancery just recently cancelled a mass that it claims was not meant to celebrate gay pride, but now they are publicly endorsing a homosexual prayer service in its place.

Patheos.com


Hungary Fights for Pro Life Balance

The European Union is forcing itself on Hungary, demanding that a government run Pro-Life campaign be stopped.

TheBlaze.com


Arizona Fights Abortion

Arizona's Abortion Consent Act is up for another war since Planned Parenthood has filed a suit putting the law on hold.

LifeNews.com


Single Sex Dorms

The president of Catholic University is addressing the problems of drinking and hooking up on campuses by announcing the return of single sex dormitories.

Catholic.org


Florida Scandal Correction

Previously reported on Catholic News Roundup was a story about a priest from the Diocese of Tampa, Florida. We have received an email that the priest is from Poland, but is sponsored by Diocese of Venice, Florida.

RealCatholicTV.com

A Mother's Death

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-14


ACC Priest Defies Archbishop

After a letter issued was issued last week by the Archbishop of Detroit forbidding clerics to attend or even take part in a heretical conference and liturgy hosted by the American Catholic Council Father Bob Wurm, a retired Detroit priest, not only ATTENDED the conference … he LED the liturgy

DetNew.com


Women Ordained Priests

Four women have openly defied Church teaching and Tradition by trying to take Holy Orders.

NPR.org


Lawyers Fight to Reinstate Prop 8 After Judge is Admittedly Gay

Pro-marriage lawyers in California are demanding a reversal of the ruling that Proposition eight was unconstitutional because the judge who made the decision is a homosexual

TheBlaze.com


Suicide Scene Hits TV

According to reports from the UK the British Broadcasting Corporation is producing a documentary on assisted suicidal, and it shows the death of a man who decides to poison himself.

ThisIsSomerset.co.uk


12 Year Old Abortions in Ontario

While these clinics express pride for what they call their services, the Pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition Youth calls it a sex-abuser’s dream because they can impregnate as many young girls as they want… and then cover it up with free abortions.

LifeSiteNews.com

The End of America

Monday, June 13, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-13


Gay Rights Target Children in Ad

A new ad campaign called "It Gets Better" targets the children of conservative families saying it is ok to be gay. The premise is that children are being suppressed and are not allowed to express their true selves.

YouTube.com

LifeSiteNews.com


Gay Pride Mass in Boston Canceled

We reported last week on how a parish in the Archdiocese of Boston was planning to host a "Gay Pride Mass". The Mass has now been canceled, but "official" reports about what happened are a little sketchy.

Boston.com


Vatican Points Out Excommunication for Unsanctioned Ordinations

The Vatican is keeping up the pressure on the Catholic Church in China with the release of a new document from the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts reaffirming the canonical penally of excommunication for unauthorized episcopal ordinations.

UCANews.com


Man Punished for Forcing Abortion at Gunpoint

A man in Ohio forced his girlfriend into an abortion clinic, AT GUN POINT!

CatholicTide.com


Muslim Woman Sues Allentown Archdiocese

A Muslim woman has filed a religious-discrimination lawsuit against theta Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, claiming she was dismissed from her job at the diocese because of her faith.

CatholicCulture.org

Obamanomics

Friday, June 10, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-10

Christmas restricted in Canada

Catholic day-care centers in Canada are being allowed to celebrate Christmas, but they can't talk about Christ. Just one of the many restrictions being placed on Catholics, and all Christians in Canada.

NCRegister.com


Beantown gay pride Mass

A parish in Boston is having a Gay Pride Mass later this month. Let me repeat that… A Catholic parish is celebrating a GAY PRIDE MASS! And what is being done about this?!

BryanHehirExposed


UK Pro-Lifers take on new tactics

Pro-Lifers in England pray outside of an abortion mill saving lives while being verbally attacked by passers-by. WAY TO GO WARRIORS FOR LIFE IN ENGLAND!

Guardian.co.uk


High school student fights teacher on Resurrection

A high school school student from Ontario, Canada has made a video defending the Truth of the Resurrection after her teacher AT A CATHOLIC SCHOOL told her that Jesus never resurrected!

LifeSiteNews.com

YouTube

Build Up My Church

"And there shall be darkness and water over all the land ..."

Found by Chris d'A and sent to me; click here for the live version archived screencap, 2nd post down under the map.

A burst water main too? I mean, really?
Not only does DTE not have the power, but neither does the Detroit Water Department! Check out the second post down...
"Northbound at Jefferson Av burst pipe caution . UNDER COBO CENTER"


Original post found here: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/traffic/

God Has The Power, Not DTE

From the Detroit Free Press. For those of you with an aversion to clicking links, downtown Detroit (including the Cobo Center) has no power right now.

According to this article power is expected to be restored within 24 hours. Timestamp for that article is 2202hrs 6/9/11. Wayne State U has already cancelled classes for today (I guess they know how this is likely to go).

(For all our readers in Detroit who are affected by the power outage; i) how are you reading this? It might be a good idea to promote our mobile site to you and ii) we do hope and pray your power is restored swiftly, especially in the terrible heat we are having now.)

However .... what is happening in Cobo Center, starting at 6PM tonight? Why, it might be this thing I really shouldn't link to but I guess it's too late to matter any more.

As of now, there are 10 hours before the ACC begins in the powerless Cobo Center ....

Hey, ACC - you were right! God has changed! I guess fire and brimstone is gauche these days :)

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06-09


Abortion activist resigns from Notre Dame

Faithful Fighting Irish are proclaiming a great day for life… because Roxanne Martino has resigned from Notre Dame's Board of Trustees!!!

ChicagoTribune.com


Government comes out of the closet

The first "Federal LGBT Youth Summit" was held Monday. And who spoke? None other than a Catholic, Kathleen Sebelius.

CNSNews.com


Parishioners demand answers

Parishioners from St. Peter's Catholic parish in the Chicago suburb of Volo are demanding answers as to why a community of priests who have tended to their needs for four years are suddenly leaving.


Archbishop Vigneron warns against conference

Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit has condemned one conference taking place this weekend in his archdiocese while endorsing another. For those attending one of the conferences in Detroit, know that the archbishop has called the Call to Holiness conference "a powerful catalyst for growth in holiness" while forbidding his priests and the laity to attend the National Conference of the American Catholic Council.

CallToHoliness.com

LifeSiteNews.com


Mary kicks up attention via mural

A painting on a wall in Southern California is creating debate. The law says it is technically graffiti, but everyone loves the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Plans are in place to move the image without damaging it.

TheBlaze.com

Irish Destruction

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Pro-Abortion Advocate Resigns from Notre Dame

Following the stories we have reported recently...

The Sycamore Trust, the Notre Dame alumni watchdog for monitoring the university's activities, trying to keep everything truly Catholic, just released a news bulletin saying Roxanne Martino has resigned from Notre Dame's Board of Trustees!!!

This is a great day for Life!

Roxanna Martino has been donating to Emily's List since 1997. Emily's List's one role is to raise funds in order to elect Pro-Abortion Female politicians. Roxanne Martino has repeatedly denied knowing that her donations were being used to promote the deaths of millions of unborn children every year.

The Catholic Church holds an uncompromising position that any involvement with abortion directly opposes Church teaching.

Catholic News Roundup 06-08

Episcopal Church Returns to Catholicism

St. Luke's Episcopal parish in Bladensburg, Maryland is severing ties to its liberal bishop and joining the Archdiocese of Washington. The decision comes after Anglican bishop John Bryson Chane spoke in favor of same-sex marriage, among other issues. it would seem these Anglicans (soon-to-be Catholics) understand the Catholic Faith better than some Catholic politicians…

HuffingtonPost.com


Philippines Now Offered Money to Pass RH Bill

The Philippines is now being offered money from Western nations if the Reproductive health bill is passed.

LifeSiteNews.com


Jesuit Leadership Continues to Defend Pro-Abortion Organization

The Cardinal of Mexico City has denounced PRODH, a pro-abortion organization, but the Jesuit leadership is defending the center's director Fr. Arriaga.

LifeSiteNews.com


Man Places Billboard Criticizing Former Girlfriend's Abortion

A man in New Mexico, with the backing of state and local pro-life organizations is creating controversy, though it highlights the harm that abortion causes Fathers.

CatholicVote.org


ireland No Longer a "Bastian of Catholicism"

the archbishop of Dublin says he hopes the International Eucharistic Congress to be held next year in his city might encourage the Church ireland as it seeks renewal.

Zenit.org

Whitewash

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

UK tries to limit sexualisation of children

UK Prime Minister David Cameron gave his backing today to plans to shield British children from the spread of sexualised imagery in magazines, advertising and music videos. More on the story here!

Catholic News Roundup 06-07


Baby Factory Raided
A "factory" where teenage girls were forced to "make babies" for the proprietor has been raided, the girls rescued, and the owner arrested.

Kidnapped bishop returned safely
A bishop in the Central African Republic was kidnapped by rebel forces on June 2 and soon released.

NYC bars religious services from public schools
A panel of a federal appeals court has ruled that New York City may prevent religious organizations from holding worship services in public school buildings.

Nepal may ban conversion to other faiths
The parliament of Nepal, a Hindu monarchy until 2006, is considering a measure that would ban evangelization and conversion from one religion to another.

Every year 105,000 Christians are killed because of their faith
This is equivalent to a Christian being killed every five minutes for their faith.

Catholic Charities Forced to Shut Down Services around the County

With the legalization of same-sex "marriage" in states around the country (and maybe soon the entire country if Washington passes a bill currently on the floor) Catholic adoption agencies are having to shut down. For more on this story, please read this article from Catholic.org.

Belief in God

Monday, June 6, 2011

Catholic News Roundup 06 06


Pope says the traditional family in Europe is disintegrating

Pope Benedict warned on Sunday that the traditional family in Europe was "disintegrating" under the weight of secularization and called for laws to help couples cope with the costs of having and educating children.

Reuters.com


Public Prayer un-Banned at Texas high school graduation

A federal appeals court has lifted the order banning public prayer at a Texas high school graduation Saturday.

FoxNews.com


Boston archdiocese weighs radical reorganization plan

The Archdiocese of Boston is weighing plans to ease “a spiral of financial distress” by group its 291 parishes into clusters, sharing priests and resources.

CatholicCulture.org


New Zealand courts rules unborn children have no right to life

Unborn children have no right to life, according to New Zealand Court of Appeal judges. The judges also ruled against findings by a High Court judge that questioned the lawfulness of many abortion procedures.

LifeSiteNews.com

Convincing the World

Friday, June 3, 2011

Liberal Catholic blah blah blah

More News on Mobile Support

Huzzah! Red letter day!

Is that a British reference which doesn't translate? I'm not sure if it is - but I am still traumatized about asking for a biscuit to dip in my tea in the Carolinas, so we'll leave it and move on.

Anyway, in the manner of the very best LOLcats; we can haz eyeFone support!!11one

(For those of you in a hurry, here is the link to the help file about the new site features. For those you who want a bit of entertainment & more information and think my blog post might provide it, read on.)

Yes, we now have support for a wide variety of Flash incapable devices, mobile devices, screen readers, people who just don't want to install Flash, and people with an unnatural attachment to Quicktime. That's a sizable coalition of people, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Until now, we have had to make vaguely comforting noises at these people but not really given them anything useful. And treating people like the average member of Congress treats his constituents has made us feel bad.

But no longer! Make the clicking onto this link and you shall be taken to a place of wonder! Well, actually, a help page. That might be more or less wonderful; YMMV.

The help page tells you everything you need to know, in pretty dry prose. It is fairly long and complex - I'm sorry about that, because I know people on the internet do not want to read (witness my initial link at the top of this article). BUT this is important and complex information, so this is the way it has to be. Grab a biscuit and a tea, and take a few minutes to read it.

But, to summarize; if you have an iThingie made by the inestimable but mercurial Steve Jobs and his fruit-based electronic empire which has a hatred for all things Flash in the manner of Ming the Merciless, you can now watch the site without problems! You can access a Quicktime-player based version of the regular site, and also a Quicktime version of the site which is smaller and simpler than usual for use on iPhones with their small screens.

For those of you with the Blackberry (a bit of humor from my home state, there), the mobile version should work well. Some of the new Blackberry devices have Flash capability, so you can use the regular site on them.

BUT for Flash-capable mobile devices which have small screens, we have a SimpleText version of the site - this will load faster, display better on a small screen, and generally be truly awesome.

I believe the Android / Droid 'phones are Flash-capable, but I haven't verified this. Still, this SimpleText version of the site would be ideal for them. While you are trying this out, learn the amazing factoid that the word "Droid" is copyright Lucasfilm (George Lucas of Star Wars fame) and that Motorola had to get permission to use it. Seriously; check the disclaimer at the end of the ads. Very small writing.

We also recommend this SimpleText, Flash-based version for those people using screen readers. A very nice lady contacted me (this is a tangential reminiscence, skip a bit if you find it dull) asking about the site. She is blind, and so we emailed back and forth a bit trying to determine what was best for her (this was also what happened with the "Tobit" skin for people who have visual impairments (for more information on the "Tobit" skin, click here).) And the end result was the SimpleText version of the site.

Tangent over. Come back now.

Actually, I feel the blog post itself may be drawing to a close; which is probably for the best. Anyway, we have a series of new options on the site. That is the takeaway here. We have support for iThingies, mobile devices, people using screen readers, and people who are completely adverse to graphics. I daresay I could make it render all the text in bright green SYSTEM font on a black background?

Oh, does anyone remember that? END OF LINE

(Linkage to help file)

Catholic News Roundup 06-03


Indiana Denied Defunding

Indiana has passed a law defunding Planned Parenthood, but Obama has said the state can't implement the new law because the money originates with Medicaid.

LifeNews.com


Kmiec to Endorse Obama

Doug Kmiec, outgoing US Ambassador to Malta, is again supporting President Obama's re-election. Though Catholic, and calling himself pro-life, Kmiec's support of the current administration's stance on abortion goes against Catholic teaching.

CatholicNewsAgency.com


New Law on church and Mosque Construction

Originally construction of Christian churches was to be regulated differently than the construction of mosques; but a new bill is going through the Egyptian Parliament that treats both churches and mosques equally.

AsiaNews.it


More Casualties in Libya

NATO bombings are injuring civilians, and the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli is speaking out.

AsiaNews.it


Italy Releases Vatican Millions

An Italian court on Wednesday released 23 million euros (33 million dollars) it had seized from the Vatican bank last year amid an inquiry into allegations of money-laundering.

AFP

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Notre Dame Idiocy

Catholic News Roundup 06-02


FDA Demands Review of Birth Control

Bayer's YAZ line of contraceptives is under scrutiny for because it causes an increased risk of blood clots. Besides its immorality, this is just another reason to not use contraceptives.

CatholicCulture.org


Texas Court Denies Gender Bender

A judge in Texas says a man is a man, and a woman is a woman, despite any surgery the person may have undergone because gender is defined at birth. GOD BLESS TEXAS!

LifeSiteNews.com


National Catholic Adoption Efforts Threatened

We have recently reported on laws being passed in different states causing Catholic adoption and foster care organizations to close down. Now there is a bill being introduced in Washington that would oppose Catholic teaching and force Catholic agencies to shut their doors.

CatholicCulture.org


Americorps Busts Planned Parenthood Lobbyers

Americorps has kicked out two members for lobbying for Planned Parenthood!

LifeNews.com


One Hundred Thousand Fight for Life

Concerned Woman for America has sent over one hundred thousand petitions to the Senate requesting that a bill forbidding tax-funded abortions in every department of the federal government. Way to go CWA!

LifeNews.com

More News 06-02

Priest in China to be ordained against his will. and without Papal Approval

The government in China is ruling the national church, and seems to be trying as hard as can be to do everything contrary to true Catholic teaching.

UCANews.com


The Month of June

Traditionally the Month of June is dedicated to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. How interesting that Obama has decided to declare June as "lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month".

Fr. Z's Blog

DailyCaller.com

Mobile & SimpleText versions of the website available

We are pleased (yea, even unto smiling a bit) to offer mobile and SimpleText versions of the RealCatholicTV.com website.

What are these things, you ask?

Well, we describe them a bit here, but the details are fairly simple. The Mobile version of the site is designed to be used on Flash-incapable mobile devices (such as iPhones, iPads and iPongs) - it uses a different video format. It works very well on iThingies, and works to a certain degree on other mobile devices.

(The simple fact of the matter is this; there is no standardization for mobile video - except, you know, Flash which Steve Jobs of Apple dislikes. So ... I can't guarantee anything. Well, I could - but it would be a fib.)

The SimpleText version of the site is intended to be used on Flash-capable mobile devices (I think the Android is Flash-capable) and also by those persons using a screen reader (a piece of software which reads text out loud).

Both of these versions have very few graphics (none, really) and very simple, direct formatting which loads fast and displays well on small screens. So, if you are on a slow connection or a small screen mini-PC or something like that you might like to use the SimpleText version as well; I am sure many people will find many uses for these versions of the site.

So, how do you get them? Simple! Just log in as normal to the site and click the mobile or SimpleText icon in the top right of the screen - the mobile icon looks like a little 'phone and the SimpleText icon is the letters "ST". Once you have selected the version you display, that device should always log you into that version - until you tell it to go to another version.

It's all very simple. Obviously, this software is offered "as is" and we make no promises about it working on every device. In addition, we do not have mobile versions of all the videos - although we are dilligently working on getting that done.

AND! It wouldn't be fair for me to tell you about a mobile thing without reminding you to check your dataplan with your carrier; data rates for mobile 'phones can be VERY expensive!

Additional AND! Don't forget about the RSS feeds we offer, too; these can be very useful for keeping up to date with the News and Vortex - click here for them. I'm sure I mentioned this once or twice before ... ?