Thoughts and opinions from a Priest in the PNCC
I think they got this one right (he says as he sips on his next 32oz mega-cup).
| You Are an Espresso |
 At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you’re not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high |
Edward Young at In principio erat Verbum brought this issue to my attention at well.
It appears that someone wants to erect a statute to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Rome (see my earlier post “Bring Back the Fez“).
Mr. Young walks you through the process of signing an on-line Spanish language petition against this atrocity – NO a la Estatua del Genocida “Ataturk” en Roma. (Help Stop Ataturk Statue in Rome) which is located at the International Armenian Network website.
Edward Young at In principio erat Verbum brought this story, originally published at WorldNet Daily, back in October 2005 to my attention:
16 Muslims Gang Rape a 12-year-old Christian Girl, and attempt to “persuade” her to convert to their evil cult of death!
When Tabasum regained consciousness she found herself in Bibis house, where three men reportedly including Babar Bibi, raped her.
Tabasum was reportedly told that by Perveen Bibi that she could be “saved” if she embraced Islam and married one of Perveens Muslim brothers.
According to APMA, “On refusing, Sara was beaten badly during captivity and shifted to another house … where five persons raped her. She was repeatedly asked by Perveen and other men to embrace Islam and recite (the) Islamic creed to save herself from the misery. Perveens husband Babar even told her that they (had) killed her brother Suleman, and her mother (had) also embraced Islam. (With that in mind), it would be better for her to become (a) Muslim now, otherwise she could be killed or made (a) ‘prostitute.”
Tabasum refused to renounce her faith and embrace Islam, APMA reported. She was subsequently taken to another house, where she was reportedly assaulted by seven people…
It appears that the attack was precipitated by the fact that Tabasum’s mother had complained because her neighbor, Babar Bibi and his wife, had been running a prostitution ring right next door.
From the mouths of babes – this girl refused to renounce Christ in the midst of the suffering imposed by these devotees of Muhammed. That we should all have such courage.
As you might have noticed, I’ve had a few posts on the situation in Belarus, the last outwardly communist and dictatorial state in Europe.
This month, on the 19th, there will be an ‘election’ in Belarus. The election will not be free and will not be fair. If there are protests following the elections I imagine that many of the protesters will be killed. You see, security forces in Belarus many not refuse any order, even if it is unlawful, at least according to a ‘law’ enacted by the current ‘president’ Alexander Lukashenko.
Here is a little bit of background.
From The Hill:
McCotter commits fashion crime in Speaker’s Lobby
It may not be the worst fashion faux pas in the world, but Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) broke the dress code last week by appearing in the Speaker’s Lobby and on the House floor in denim. McCotter is a repeat offender, according to a Capitol employee, as is Rep. Butch Otter (R-Idaho).
…
But McCotter spokesman Bob Jackson maintains that wearing jeans was appropriate considering what else the congressman was doing that day. Jackson explained that McCotter was taking part in a friendly protest called the —Blue Jean Revolution— at the Belarus Embassy near Dupont Circle in support of the pro-Democracy movement in Belarus.
—What happened was he was scheduled to appear at 11 a.m. and then was called for the vote, so he zipped straight over to the vote,— he said. —I know the fashion police probably frowned upon it, but the congressman was expressing support for freedom in Belarus.—
From the NY Times as reprinted by Data —“ The Independent Belarusian Web-site:
Bringing Down Europe’s Last Ex-Soviet Dictator
On March 19, Aleksandr Milinkevich will not be elected the next president of Belarus. He campaigns anyway, but with something else in mind. Through the winter he has traveled from city to city in clattering rented vans, meeting would-be voters in the bleak cold, gathering signatures and speaking about the social, economic and, above all, political neuroses that afflict this small nation at the eastern edge of a new Europe. “I am Aleksandr Milinkevich,” he recently assured a worker outside an auto-parts factory in Borisov, a gritty industrial city northeast of the capital, Minsk. The man seemed genuinely stunned to find this stranger greeting him.
Members of the opposition group Zubr distribute strips of blue jeans, their symbol of resistance.
“It is impossible to win at the elections, because there are no elections,” Milinkevich told me the first time I met him in a dim, three-room apartment in Minsk in October. “Nobody counts the votes.” It was my first realization that a presidential campaign in Belarus, a former republic of the Soviet Union, operates with a logic outside any traditional notion of democracy.
…
Lukashenko is prepared for unrest. Last year he eliminated a legal provision that allowed members of the police force and security services to disobey what they considered an unlawful order. A new law pushed through Parliament late last year makes organizing a public protest – or making statements that discredit the state – punishable by three to five years in prison. Lukashenko’s interior minister recently ordered new measures to increase security before the election. A European diplomat told me that if Milinkevich’s supporters gather in numbers in Minsk to protest an electoral result that is already a foregone conclusion, Lukashenko will not hesitate to disperse them forcefully. “There is no doubt Lukashenko will issue the order,” he said.
…
Zubr’s newest project is to organize protests on the 16th of each month. The date commemorates the night – Sept. 16, 1999 – that Viktor Gonchar, once a deputy prime minister and election commissioner who became a popular opposition leader poised to challenge Lukashenko, disappeared along with a businessman who financed the opposition. On that night the two men went to a banya, the public bathhouse that is a ritual part of Slavic life. They were evidently abducted and probably murdered. The idea is to remind Belarussians of the darker episodes in Lukashenko’s rule.
Please join with me in prayer for those fighting for freedom.
Panie Jezu Chryste, który objawiłeś św. Helenie miejsce gdzie krzyż twój był ukryty, aby tym kosztownym skarbem ubogacić kościół święty, użycz nam za jej wstawieniem tej łaski, abyśmy znosząc tu na ziemi krzyże, zasłużyli sobie na więzną nadgrodę w niebie. Amen.
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), Chairman of the United States Helsinki Commission, announced that the Commission will hold a hearing to discuss the complete absence of political freedom in Belarus and the implications this has on its upcoming elections.
Freedom Denied:
Belarus on the Eve of the Elections
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
2:00-4:00 PM
Room 226, Dirksen Senate Office Building
Testifying before the Commission will be:
Representative of the U.S. Government
David J. Kramer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Witnesses from NGOs
Stephen B. Nix, Regional Program Director, Eurasia, International Republican Institute
Rodger Potocki, Senior Program Officer for East Central Europe, National Endowment for Democracy
Iryna Vidanava, Belarusian Activist, Editor-in-Chief, Students’ Thought
Celeste A. Wallander, Director of the Russia and Eurasian Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Presidential elections in Belarus are scheduled to be held March 19, against the backdrop of stepped up repression by the regime of Alexander Lukashenka – Europe’s last dictator. The Belarusian strongman’s power grab, begun a decade ago, has included liquidation of the democratically elected parliament, a string of fundamentally flawed elections and manipulation of the country’s constitution to maintain power. A climate of fear following the disappearance of leading opposition figures in 1999 and 2000 has continued with the harassment and arrests of opposition activists and the forced closure of independent newspapers. Rights violations in Belarus have intensified in the aftermath of the Orange Revolution in neighboring Ukraine, as the regime seeks to squelch dissent. The repressive environment has made it difficult for opposition candidates to engage in normal campaign activities. Meanwhile, administration of the elections at all levels remains firmly in the hands of Lukashenka loyalists.
The Commission hearing will examine developments in Belarus in the lead up to the elections, including the pre-election crackdown, efforts to foster democracy and civil society, the international community’s increased focus on the country as well as post-election policy options.
The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, is a U.S. Government agency that monitors progress in the implementation of the provisions of the 1975 Helsinki Accords. The Commission consists of nine members from the United States Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.
Wszechmogący Boże, któryś za stawieniem św. Albina leczył niemoce ludzkie, prosimy cię pokornie, abyś za jego przyczyną uzdrowił nasze boleści, a jeżeli wolą Twoją jest, abyśmy chorowali, użycz nam cierpliwości do znoszenia dolegliwości. Amen.
The Polish pop group —Ich Troje— will perform in Western New York on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 at 7 PM at the Maryvale High School Auditorium, 1050 Maryvale Drive in Cheektowaga, NY. The performance is part of a three month U.S and Canadian Tour.
—Ich Troje— was organized in 1996 by singer/songwriter Michal Wisniewski and composer Jacek Lagwa. The two have known each other since December of 1994. The pop group currently consists of the two original members as well as their newest member Anna Swiatczak.
Wisniewski, the charismatic red-haired singer, has been both a popular and controversial person in Polish show business for several years. The group’s name can be translated as “The Three of Them”.
The group’s music has been highly criticized, but nonetheless —Ich Troje— is one of the most popular Polish pop groups of their time. In the last two years —Ich Troje— has given over 300 concerts. In 2003 —Ich Troje— was chosen to represent Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest where they performed the song “Keine Grenzen” which means “No Borders”. They performed the song in three languages.
They are going to represent Poland once again at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Follow My Heart” (a collaboration with Real McCoy).
Their concerts are great shows and combine the power of pop music and dramatic theatre. Their lyrics revolve around love, betrayal, and break ups.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to experience the pop music played in Poland today. Tickets are $30 in advance or $35 at the door. Tickets can purchased at the European Deli, 1972 Clinton St., Buffalo, at the Famous Horseradish Stand inside the Broadway Market and at other Polish Stores and Travel Agencies in Western New York. For more information call Mira Szramel at 716-681-6739 or e-mail her here…
Patricia Wnek, a 13-year old violinist of Germantown, student of Rebecca Henry at the Peabody Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division in Baltimore, is the First Prize Winner of the 2006 Columbia Orchestra’s Young Artist Competition.
Patricia will appear as a soloist with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jason Love in a performance of the Violin Concerto No. 1 in G-Minor Op. 26 by Max Bruch on Saturday, March 4, 2006 at 7:30 P.M at Jim Rouse Theater in Columbia MD.
Patricia will also appear as a soloist with the Trinity Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Richard Fazio at the Historic Trinity Theater in Georgetown, Washington D.C. She will play —Spring— Concerto from the Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi on Sunday, March 26, 2006 at 3:00 P.M.
For more details, please visit Patricia’s website.
I previously highlighted Patricia’s talent in my work with Polonia Global Fund. As soon as I get an opportunity I will port all the noted “Persons of the Month” to this blog.
Św. Romanie pustelniku, wyproś nam u Boga tę łaskę, abyśmy hamowali porywczość i popędliwość naszą a ćwicząc się w cnocie łagodności, i dobroci względem bliźnich, zasłużyli sobie na uwzględnienie niedoskonałości naszych. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen