Imagine.... Marine Dad Banned

I was negligent on my blogging. I fully intended to blog about this.

I read this story on Catholic Exchange the first time, and intended to write my thoughts, but didn't. Eventually, I closed the window it was in, and forgot about it. Today, I then got an email about this situation, and wish that I had drawn attention to it sooner.

Imagine having served this country for 25 yrs as a Marine.

Imagine that part of that service was two tours in Vietnam.

Imagine (should not be hard) that part of the reason for your sevice was your devotion to the country you serve, and its guaranteed rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Among those rights are freedom of speech/expression.

Imagine that you fought for everyone's right, including those who protested the War that you fought TWO times in your career--including the rights of a future Presidential candidate, Senator Kerry, who denigrated your service over there...including those who protest today... including those who hate our country for whatever reason.

Jesse Nieto, US Marine (ret) Vietnam Vet,
Gold Star Father

Imagine having a son enter the military service.

Imagine getting word one day about that son, and 16 of his shipmates, all killed in a terrorist attack against the very ship that they served on.

It's name... the USS COLE.

The date...Oct 12, 2000.

Imagine attending your own son's funeral at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA, and remember that this is a Federal cemetery.

Imagine that after retiring from your own military service, you've worked as civilian employee at the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina since 1994.
Imagine that you have had various signs on your car commemorating your son, his ship, etc since the action that took his life.
Imagine that some of those signs are meant to remind us all of WHO killed your son and his 16 shipmates (one from WISCONSIN, just a short time before he was coming home to his family!)

And now, imagine being ordered to remove them from your vehicle, and later, after refusing to do so, being forbidden to drive that vehicle on ANY Federal Installations (including where your son is buried).....

Don't think it can happen here? Well, it has.

OH...and before I forget...the reason that I feel especially sad that I did not blog about this sooner... the one from Wisconsin??

Marc Ian Nieto, SON of this Marine who is first ordered to remove the 'offensive material' from his vehicle, and now.... ordered not to drive it onto any Federal installation...including to where his son, who died in the service of his country at the hands of Islamic Terrorists... is buried.

Marc Ian Nieto, 24

May he rest in peace, and may his Dad--and ANY American--continue to have the rights to express themselves (peacefully) that Marc (and SO MANY OTHERS) while in service to his country, died to protect.
Read about him, and his shipmates here.

The attack on the USS Cole was, IMHO, an act of War. There IS an enemy out there, who has been attacking us for many years.

No one has earned a right to have those decals on his vehicle WHEREVER he takes that vehicle more than Jesse Nieto, Nam Vet, US Marine (ret), and Gold Star Father and others in his shoes.

Shame on those who want to take away his right to do so!

God bless!

"Go Right Ahead and Arrest Me" says Bishop Loverde

Bishop Paul Loverde, Diocese of Arlington, Virginia

“I would say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to close the hospital, you’re going to arrest me, go right ahead," Bishop Loverde told a group of mostly young adults at a diocesan event, according to a CNS report. "You’ll have to drag me out, go right ahead. I’m not closing this hospital, we will not perform abortions, and you can go take a flying leap.’”

“It’s quite a title, let me tell you,” Bishop Loverde said of the Freedom of Choice Act. “It’s a misnomer, it’s neither free nor choice, so I don’t know where they got the name of the act, because it’s just crazy, because it has no freedom, and it has no choice.”

Read the rest of the story here.

There are no Catholic hospitals that he oversees, but there is definitely a lot of Catholic healthcare workers, and a Clinic that is opening a new Pharmacy out there... if FOCA passes, I hope MANY will stand with Dr. John Bruchalski, the team of six physicians and one nurse practitioner to protect their right to practice in line with their conscience (and the conscience of their many patients!)

Speaking of the Tepeyac Family Center, Bob Laird, Executive Director of Divine Mercy Care and Practice Administrator of Tepeyac Family Center wrote an excellent letter that was published in the Diocesan paper, the Arlington Catholic Herald on Sept 3, 2008. It is worth reading.

If you do not have Adobe, you can also read it on the Arlington Catholic Herald website.

God bless!

Hebrew Catholic Honors Rabbi Holtzburg, Killed in Mumbai

Reprinted in full with permission of my friend, Athol Bloomer.

May they rest in peace, and all others killed in Mumbai, and may the Lord look after the children, families and friends left behind by this horror.

God bless!

Hebrew Catholic Honors Rabbi Holtzburg, Killed in Mumbai

By Athol Bloomer
11/30/2008

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

As a Catholic Jew I felt the pain that all Jews are feeling at this time. It may be strange but there is a sense in which Jews share in the joys and sufferings of all other Jews.

"I pray that their sacrifice will bring others to God and that from this tragedy will come good fruit. Let us pray for their souls and the souls of all the others lost in this terror onslaught and for their loved ones to be consoled. The Jewish custom is to say Psalms on behalf of the dead so maybe we could all say a Psalm for them too."

St. Louis, Mo. (Catholic Online) - As I write this here in the Hebrew Catholic Center in St Louis I am still in shock about the murder of the young Chabad Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzburg and his wife Rivka Holtzburg. In recent months I have been following the terrible persecution and killing of Christians in India by Hindu fundamentalists. The media hardly seems to mention what is happening. Now we see such violent Islamist terror attacks in Mumbai (or Bombay as most of us call it).

I learned on Saturday that one of the places attacked was the Nariman Chabad House in Mumbai. Then, we heard of the little two year old son of the Holtlzbergs being safe but that his trousers were soaked in blood. Then a Carmelite nun of Jewish ancestry sent me the news report of the death of the Rabbi and his wife. As a Catholic Jew I felt the pain that all Jews are feeling at this time. It may be strange but there is a sense in which Jews share in the joys and sufferings of all other Jews. As someone who has known many Chabad Jews and studied with Chabad Rabbis and been fed by them at Chabad Houses I felt it more keenly perhaps than some.

Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg were emissaries of the Lubavitch Chabad movement who gave up their homes and families in order to serve in far off India. They ran food programs, drug prevention programs, medical services, prison and hospital visitations and classes on Jewish learning among many other things. Now, this wonderful young couple, are dead and the world has lost two workers for the good and the light in a world growing darker.

While I didn't know them personally I know others like them.

When I lived in Thailand I would attend the Synagogue and the Chabad House in Bangkok and I saw the dedication and commitment of the Chabad Rabbis and their families. I attend the huge Passover Seders at which everyone was welcome. They helped all in need not just religious Jews – secular Jews and non-Jews with no discrimination. Many Jewish communities around the world would have no Rabbis at all if not for the Chabad Rabbis who will go anywhere in the world to serve God and the Rebbe. For example an orthodox Jewish family I stayed with each weekend in the 1980's assisted the Chabad in reviving the Jewish community in Tasmania that had almost died out.

They are known as the 'Black Army of the Rebbe' as they follow the teachings of the seven Rebbes of Lubavitch and especially those of their late Tzadik, Rebbe Menachem Schneersohn. A Rebbe or Tzadik is the spiritual leader of a Hasidic group who follows the way of love, joy, simplicity and mercy in worshipping God as taught by the founder of Hasidism - the Baal Shem Tov of the 17th century. The first Lubavitch Rebbe was Schneur Zalman of Liadi known as the Alter Rebbe and the author of the mystical book called "Tanya". He took the 'heart' teachings of Hasidism and introduced a more intellectual approach called Chabad.

Chabad stands for Chokmah(Wisdom), Binah (Understanding) and Daat (Knowledge) which represents the Divine Face of the Divine Man in Jewish mysticism. The seventh and last Rebbe of Chabad encouraged many young people to give their lives in the service of God and Judaism by becoming emissaries (apostles) to the Jews spread throughout the world. Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife were two such young people.

I remember sitting in the 1980's with Chabad Rabbi Finman in Melbourne Australia [who I was studying with] as he translated the Rebbe's inspiring teachings from Yiddish into English for the whole Yeshivah. I was inspired that day as Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka were inspired by the Rebbe to give their lives to God's service. The rebbe inspired in us a devotion to the Mashiach (Messiah). Now through the evil of others they have become Jewish martyrs and given their blood for God and the Jewish people.

I pray that their sacrifice will bring others to God and that from this tragedy will come good fruit. Let us pray for their souls and the souls of all the others lost in this terror onslaught and for their loved ones to be consoled. The Jewish custom is to say Psalms on behalf of the dead so maybe we could all say a Psalm for them too.

****
Athol is an Australian of Anglo-Jewish ancestry who became a Catholic at the age of 24 in 1987. He is involved in teaching the Jewish roots of the Catholic Faith and is a member of the Association of Hebrew Catholics

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Fwd: Ethical Stem Cell Discovery Propels Wisconsin Industry

The ONLY kind of stem cell research that has shown ANY promise (and is actually useful in aiding or even curing disease) IS adult or cord stem cells. Embryonic has done NOTHING, and IMHO, never will...other than to destroy life (embryos). I join in the KUDOS....

God bless!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Wisconsin Right To Life
Date: Mon, Dec 1, 2008 at 11:09 AM

2007 Ethical Stem Cell Discovery Propels Wisconsin Industry

Monday, December 1, 2008

"Kudos to Cellular Dynamics International LLC (CDI) , a Madison-based technological firm, which recently raised $18 million to push towards its goal of becoming a world leader in ethical stem cell research using iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells," stated Barbara L. Lyons, Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life. 

Scientists at CDI believe that through the use of iPS cells, formed from human skin cells instead of from destroyed embryos, patient-specific stem cells can be stored which will revolutionize the way patients are treated in the future. The 2007 discovery of iPS cells by Professor James Thomson of Madison and University of Kyoto scientist Shinya Yamanaka has propelled this new avenue for use of stem cells which are:

• Abundant since they are formed from human skin cells.
• Easy to harvest.
• Practical because the cells will not be rejected by the patient since they carry that patient's DNA.
• Have no ethical problems since no human lives are lost in the process.

According to CDI Chairman and CEO, Bob Palay, the $18 million "will help CDI develop an infrastructure for industrializing production of human cell types for research and for creating a repository of stem cells...That bio-bank would be where people could store stem cells engineered from their DNA for use as part of personalized therapies or for testing reactions to drugs."

"This exciting news is a win/win for science and ethics. Kudos not only to the scientists who made this discovery and are bringing it to fruition, but to President Bush and to the right-to-life movement which has insisted for the past ten years that ethical science which does not rely on the destruction of human life can be embraced and promoted by all," commented Lyons. 
 
Wisconsin Right To Life
Susan Armacost
Legislative Director
Email: sarmacost@wrtl.org
Phone: 877-855-5007
Wisconsin Right To Life
Barbara L. Lyons
Executive Director
Email: admin@wrtl.org
Phone: 877-855-5007

Fwd: Message/Request from John Mallon

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Mallon
Date: Mon, Dec 1, 2008 at 10:33 AM

Dear Catholic Bloggers,

If you would be willing to post this message for me I would be much obliged.

Thanks,
John
==========

Message from John Mallon

John Mallon is trying to assemble an email list of Catholic Blogs in the English speaking world. He is currently working as Contributing Editor for Inside the Vatican magazine, doing media relations for Human Life International, and assisting at the Envoy Institute in a promotional capacity. He has two degrees in theology and frequently has items of interest to Catholic Bloggers worldwide. With 25 years of experience in the Catholic Press, he has found that major secular outlets are often closed to these messages. if you have or know of Blogs that would be interested in receiving press releases and other pertinent materials for your Blogs, he would very much appreciate getting a mailing list of these blogs for this purpose. This is not spam. Anyone not wishing to receive these materials will be removed from the list immediately upon request. Catholic Blogs are absolutely critical for spreading credible information on the Church. This mailing list could serve as a news agency supplying news and other information to Catholic Blogs.

It is absolutely maddening trying to harvest emails off of Blogs, where people won't post their emails. He is only interested in people who want to receive these messages, not bothering anyone.

Addresses may be sent to johnmallon@cox.net

For more on John Mallon please visit his website at: http://johnmallon.net

Please let me know if you can help.

Thanks & God bless you,

John Mallon
johnmallon@mac.com
http://johnmallon.net




--
"Divorce tears marriage apart. It desolates both husband and wife. It leaves the children not only in tears but also in misery. We do not deny that there can be serious disagreement between husband and wife, but divorce is not the solution. When husband and wife have a disagreement, they should reflect, pray, sit together and discuss. Accept fault where you are wrong, ask for pardon, or consult a priest or other spiritual adviser, but do not divorce."
~~Francis Cardinal Arinze

Fwd: Nikita Khrushchev in 1959

Yes, it is. Thanks, Meg!

God bless!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Meg
Date: Sun, Nov 30, 2008 at 11:56 AM

Here is some food for thought......       Nikita Khrushchev in 1959 "We cannot expect the Americans to jump from capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small doses of socialism until they suddenly awake to find they have Communism." - Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev, 1959

So young, so smart!

Ahh, even my granddaughter knows....
Two Become One...
(note her index finger on her right hand)
So smart.
Eleven months old...

God bless!