For our homo(phone)-phobic column for the day: Democrats wanna still repeal law before don't ask don't tell nonsense?

Note by Marc Aupiais

We at SACNS are deeply homo(phone)-phobic- we hate media that sounds the same.

According to France 24 the Demon-crates - mean deomocrats are still trying to repeal "don't ask don't tell" (actually don't ask don't tell just removed questions of sexuality from the military- repealing it would introduce an outright ban on all homosexuals de facto as it exists de jure).

They called it what it is- lame duck- if they try.

Why would this be a bad choice? 1 in five men who have sex with men have HIV/AIDS 44 of one hundred don't know. Besides- women before gays- women aren't allowed to fight for their country? Well then repeal that first!

And what do we base this on- why the position of the US bishop for soldiers of course. We're a bit homophonic ourselves.

Would the world end if homosexuals were allowed? No- but I wouldn't want to be sexually harassed by another man! Which technically makes me "homopho(ne-pho)bic"- the fear of homosexual acts.

Besides- I'm sure Al Qaeda will enjoy a boost in Africa and the rest of the world- where we want your sexual activities kept mum- is all we want- if you want to be bad- tell your spouse- but stop overloading us with unwanted sexual imagery.

Of course there are those who just fear gay men with firearms- but anyone in America can have guns anyway. Terribly sad.

So join us in saying- we want girls with guns- girls before gays!

And for that matter- leave the poor arabs alone. Bad America- where's my stick?

Really the only real reason why banning gays in the military- is that the move firstly sends a message that sex in the public realm is acceptable, and secondly pushes gender theory- and of course affects military effectiveness.

The South African military which accepts all orientation may have an unofficial policy of itself. "Don't ask- please don't ask... I don't want to be beat up!" Which is another reason America should not revoke at least the don't ask part of "Don't ask don't tell!"

That's our homo(phone)-phobic thought of the day!

The Anglican Church is Fun!

The Anglican Church is Fun!

Hilarious ... still smiling.


South African Catholic News Service: Twitter|Facebook|Facebook Discuss|CAF|YouTube|UStream News|UStream Editorial | Email



As an internationally collaborative: initiative to provide a more transparent, accurate view of the world: This service is brought to you by the Scripturelink Search Engine (quotations, or confers in this service/initiative, are provided to give perspective independently, or reference some external sources: and do not imply collaboration, or any kind of affiliation, or co-operation with other services, or initiatives, which are quoted or noted in articles)


Check the accuracy, and perspectives of our contents via the above listed search engine: against other "Catholic" services

No need for killing fetuses at all- with new Stem cell treatment

Note by Marc Aupiais

In the past it has been claimed there is a need to harvest stem cells from abortions to compare with adult stem cells moved back. Embryonic stem cells often cause cancer, adult stem cells (not from aborted human beings) were seen as the safest. If it is confirmed, a new method which involves straight transfer from stem cells to needed cells may do away with that so-called not really need altogether:

"Canadian scientists have turned human skin cells directly into blood cells, the first time one kind of mature human cell has been converted into another, according to a study published last week in the journal Nature.

The transformation was completed without first rewinding the skin cells into the flexible pluripotent stem cells that have most frequently been used to grow tissues. By skipping the pluripotent step, the researchers believe they have skirted the risk that the replacement cells might form dangerous tumours.

The team created blood progenitor cells - mother cells that multiply to produce other blood cells - as well as mature blood cells, according to the report. Both types of cells could be useful in medical treatments, said study leader Mick Bhatia, a stem cell scientist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario."

in reference to: IOL Technology - A world first for stem cell research (view on Google Sidewiki)

Unprecedented

"Unprecedented
November 16, 2010 -
With an election without precedent Timothy Dolan has become the new president of the Bishops' Conference of the United States.

For the first time was not elected vice president, in this case Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson in Arizona, but his main "opponent", Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York."

(automatic translation from Italian.

in reference to:

"Unprecedented November 16, 2010 - With an election without precedent Timothy Dolan has become the new president of the Bishops' Conference of the United States. For the first time was not elected vice president, in this case Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson in Arizona, but his main "opponent", Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York."
- Palazzo Apostolico - Diario Vaticano Paul Rodari »Blog Archive» Unprecedented (view on Google Sidewiki)

Dolan, Kurtz elected

Note by Marc Aupiais

Dolan is new USCCB US Bishops' president- Archbishop Kurtz is vice president. In the first vote Kicanas (alleged Paedo-friend-bishop) has 104 votes. Dolan 84 Chupat 20. Fortunately something turned it around and Dolan won the third vote. The Bishops were using electronic voting which is new. Dolan is loved by media and the church alike. He was the perfect choice to head the United States' bishops.

From an initial google search Kurtz also seems a good choice.

As much as moves by Cardinal Ratzinger at the beginning of this century to stop sex abuse circles in the Catholic church (despite still encountering opposition from John Paul II), this vote- while so close- sends the message that the inexcusable and utterly depraved abuse of the weak is worthy of hell- not the protection of the church.

SNAP who were protesting the expected vote for alleged paedophile friend bishop will certainly be pleased- hopefully they and their friends at the New York Times will decide to actually note a victory over the foundations of evil!

Dolan or Kicanas

If Kicanas wins- church will send message allowing paedophilia is acceptable!

Pray alleged Paedo-Bishop doesn't head the US bishops- he's likely to

Note by Marc Aupiais

If tradition is followed the current vice president of the USCCB will be the next president of the US bishops. We must all pray that THAT MAN does not get in.

If secular and Catholic news are anything to go by- while Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) is the best ally of the weak and abused minors- the vice president (second in charge) of the USCCB is his alter ego.

Of all the bishops outside of jail who might have been guilty of complicity in sex abuse it is this man. SNAP and many other organisations have slammed the man- hinting at the publicity nightmare to come. The man is endorsed by the Rainbow Sash movement, and most of the worst heterodox Catholic movements.

If children are to be safe in church, men like him should be defrocked- not voted in charge of one of the most influential bishops' conferences in the world.

When Notre Dame arrested dozens of pro-life protesters for just being on campus to protest its support of radically pro-abortionist Barack Obama- this is one bishop who increased his support of the Notre Dame "Catholic" tertiary education system via feeder schools.

The bishops are voting RIGHT NOW!

Save Asia Bibi

From AsiaNews:

"15/11/2010
PAKISTAN
Your signature to save Asia Bibi and Pakistan
by Bernardo Cervellera
An online petition (to be sent to AsiaNews, or directly to the President of Pakistan) for the revocation of the death sentence for a Christian woman sentenced to hang for blasphemy. But we are also asking for the cancellation or overhaul of the blasphemy law, which is destroying harmony and development in Pakistan.Rome (AsiaNews) – At our reader's request,
AsiaNews has decided to launch an international petition to be sent to President Asif Zardari to save the life of Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to hanging for blasphemy.
AsiaNews is also asking President Zardari to cancel or change the unjust blasphemy law, which kills many innocent victims and destroys coexistence in the country. We are asking you o support this initiative by sending a message to the following email:
 
saveasiabibi@asianews.itOr you can send a message directly to the Pakistani President:

publicmail@president.gov.pkOur campaign is one of many being launched in Italy (with Tv2000), Pakistan, India and the United States.

Asia Bibi, a Christian woman of 45, mother of five children, was sentenced to death for blasphemy on November 7 last. A Punjab court in ruled that the woman, a farm worker, offended the Prophet Mohammed. But in reality, Asia Bibi was first insulted as "impure" (because not-Islamic), then forced to defend her Christian faith in the face of pressure from other Muslim labourers. The husband of one of them, the local imam, decided to launch charges and denounce the woman, who was first beaten, then imprisoned and finally, after one year, sentenced to death.

Asia Bibi and her husband Ashiq Masih have decided to appeal to overturn the ruling. Meanwhile, the mother now faces months of imprisonment at the mercy of prison guards or some fanatic who could kill her under the misguided belief that he is giving glory to Allah.

Up until now, the blasphemy law had not led to an execution of any accused or convicted. But 33 people charged with blasphemy were killed in prison by guards, or in the vicinity of the court. The latest such case involved two Protestant Christians, Pastor Emmanuel and his brother Rashid Sajjad, shot at point blank range as they left the court in Faisalabad on 19 July. However we can group these deaths with those killed in the massacres of entire villages, in Gojra, Korian, Kasur, Sangla Hill, where hundreds of houses belonging to Christians were burned and where women and children were killed or burned alive, just because one member of the village had been accused of blasphemy.

It is now startlingly clear that this law has become a tool in the hands of fundamentalists that pit Muslims against Christians in order to measure the extent of their power over Pakistani society. It is also clear that almost all the accusations of blasphemy are born from envy, revenge, competition, and that the arrest of the accused is but the first step to allow the expropriation of land, looting and theft.

We desperately want to save Asia Bibi. But we can not content ourselves with this alone. We must strive so that this law, defined by the Pakistanis themselves as "obscene", is changed or better yet, revoked. It was desired by the dictator Zia ul-Haq in 86, in exchange for the Islamic community's support. But in doing so he laid the foundation for the destruction of Pakistan. This country, founded as a secular republic and neutral toward religion, has become an Islamic state that kills its own people, destroys its own social fabric and is of major concern to the international community.

The blasphemy law has become a sword of Damocles over every person's head and especially those belonging to minorities, who are paying dearly; Christians, Ahmadis, Hindus, Muslims but also Shiites and Sunnis.

By eliminating this law - or at least curbing it – new impetus will be given to interfaith coexistence in Pakistan, to democracy and development. This will also give greater breadth to security and the international community, which views the spread of Taliban rule in a country that has nuclear weapons with concern.

We believe that the only bulwark to the growth of fundamentalism is to ensure equal coexistence between Christians and Muslims. For this reason we ask for the life of Asia Bibi to be saved. And with this we ask, we hope that Pakistan may also be saved."

c.f.

Cover Your Face or Lose a Government Grant.


http://blogs.canoe.ca/corenscomment/consider-this/cover-your-face-or-lose-a-government-grant/?sms_ss=blogger&at_xt=4cdf3b8d44a61acf,0

Editor's note: "

Cover Your Face or Lose a Government Grant.

2010/11/14 06:20:17AM

Our Canadian correspondent links to an opinion piece by a controversial Canadian columnist, who suggests Canadian dress laws which allow the covering of the face, in any and all circumstances, leave women more open to kidnapping. Canada like South Africa is a multicultural society.

2010/11/14 06:20:17AM http://sacns.scripturelink.net/2010/11/cover-your-face-or-lose-government.html view rest"

South African Catholic News Service: Twitter|Facebook|Facebook Discuss|CAF|YouTube|UStream News|UStream Editorial | Email


As an internationally collaborative: initiative to provide a more transparent, accurate view of the world: This service is brought to you by the Scripturelink Search Engine (quotations, or confers in this service/initiative, are provided to give perspective independently, or reference some external sources: and do not imply collaboration, or any kind of affiliation, or co-operation with other services, or initiatives, which are quoted or noted in articles)


Check the accuracy, and perspectives of our contents via the above listed search engine: against other "Catholic" services

Obama is leaving the country

On the two hundred million a day stat- from Sheila of Inforumblog writing for Mercator

"
11:24:29 AM


November

04

Obama is leaving the country

by Sheila Liaugminas | 4 Nov 2010 | 

tags: Obama India trip

Presidents do have business overseas often enough, but the timing and details of this one are particularly intriguing. So why aren't media covering it yet?

Maybe they're still reeling from the elections and scrambling to keep up with those nail-biters that haven't come in yet and looking for ways to map out their reporting going forward under the new realities.

But speaking of maps….President Obama is going across the world and taking several thousand of his closest friends, staffers, and other associates with him. In spite of the need to do some business in India, it's just so unseemly to do it this way.

There's a groundswell of anger in the US over the high cost of Barack Obama's trip to India this weekend. The sentiment stems from reports that the president and his entourage of about 3,000 officials, business people and security personnel will spend an estimated $200 million a day when he visits India for four days, beginning Saturday.

That cost figure has been disputed, but frankly the picture of 3,000 people on dozens of planes descending on Mumbai and taking over whole hotels with the president is just jarring. Or, as veteran Democratic strategist Lanny Davis put it, meekly, when pressed for a response to this junket…"The optics of this are not good right now."

Maybe that's it. The inability to spin this extravaganza as even remotely reasonable in scope is keeping the press from touching it. Until they're forced to, from locations on the ground during that journey.

And speaking of on the ground……Indian officials are reportedly clearing the areas Obama will travel of coconuts.

He leaves the country tomorrow. The optics ought to be interesting… "
http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/8232/

US President leaving for India to sell weapons of war

Note by Marc Aupiais

To add to the story, not only has the Obama administration seemingly done away with efforts at enforceable de-nuclear-ization treaty efforts with Russia. He is in India, the sworn enemy of American ally Pakistan- to sell billions in conventional weaponry.

Among nations which use American military equipment are the likes of Egypt. Most top American military machines are far from restricted to their Nato alliance, including F16 fighter jets, and other weapons easily sold across the globe.

Obama arrives just after US elections where economic conservatives were handed victories over Obama's reckless spending and leftest healthcare legislation. He arrives with an unusually massive state sponsored party of 3 000 (Three Thousand) advisors and close friends, costing an estimated 2 00 000 000 (Two Hundred Million) US Dollars a day. The US Reserve, under the dusk but not lame duck majorities Obama still holds until next year, has launched another stimulus package of about 600 000 000 000 (Six hundred billion) US Dollars, despite little proof that the first two stimulus packages worked, and international observers claiming it the equivalent of a bankrupt man remorgaging their house a third time.

The greatest problem according to the US voters, is that Obama has massively indebted the country to lenders like China, without any visible improvement in the economy, while economies like Germany, which made a conservative response to the crises, are now coming out of them.

Obama is seen as a massive over-spender, and incompetent in finance and economics, with much of his team having quit or being made to leave just two years into his radical far left presidency.

Catholic news services are complaining that Catholic colleges, and universities and hospitals risk closure under laws Barack Obama has pushed through which attempt destroy conscience protection for pro-life and pro-family individuals.

Obama's healthcare legislation opens the door for taxpayer funding for expensive contraceptive measure such as surgery, according to Fox News, which approved of the idea. It also directly mandates funding of abortion. The presidential order asking that this part of the legislation be ignored- according to Catholic legal experts, will not stand up in court.

Foreign Islamist militants attack Iraqi stock exchange, then Syrian Catholic Church in Iraq

Article by Marc Aupiais

(SACNS Asia and Middle East; SACNS Audio-Visual article; Social Justice South Africa)


français | English | Afrikaans | español

Download/Stream the audio of : Massive Casualties as Syrian Cathlic church attacked in Iraq
​​
​​
​​​​​​Massive casualties as Syrian Catholic church attacked by Islamic Special Interest ​​terror tactics utilising group|​
​​
​01 | November (11th Month) | 2010 AD​
​​
Article by Marc Aupiais
​​
​A Syrian Catholic church was held hostage in Iraq, resulting in dozens of deaths ​​and more injuries. It is uncertain if the majority of deaths occurred before or after ​​police stormed the church, having reportedly not attempted to negotiate with ​​hostage takers, reportedly belonging to an Islamic Special Interests group, which ​​some in the West link to Al Qaeda.​
​​
​47 people are dead, and dozens more that is: at least about 60 (mostly women) ​​injured, after militants, claimed as foreign by local Iraqi press, stormed the Iraqi ​​stock exchange, and after this, a Syrian Catholic church: Our Lady of Deliverance ​​parish. The militants, on taking the parish, killed the priest instantly, and took ​​about 100 people within the church hostage according to reports. When police ​​stormed the building without any reported negotiations, suicide bombers set off ​​their bombs and threw grenades at police according to reports. A local Iraqi ​​television station claims an attacker phoned them claiming to be part of the ​​Islamic State of Iraq, an Islamic special interests group, allegedly linked to Al ​​Qaeda, and allegedly capable of using terror tactics.​
​​
​Islamic State of Iraq, also is possibly the source of a text on an Islamic militant ​​website, claiming to be from the group and giving the alleged reasons for the ​​attack.​
​​
​The text referred to two women who allegedly converted from Coptic Christianity ​​to Islam, in order to divorce their husbands in Egypt, before disappearing. They ​​reportedly reappeared claiming no conversion, before allegedly being spirited ​​away to distant monasteries. People converting from Islam have previously ​​alleged being in danger of life and limb for the move. The Islamic special interests ​​group, has asked the Vatican to "release" the women, whom it says it considers ​​victims of Christian oppression, and to be Muslim. It claims the women are being ​​held by Christians.​
​​
​Whether the church was the intended target of the militants, or the stock ​​exchange, is uncertain. Attacks against Christians in Iraq have been ​​commonplace since an American invasion disposed of former President Saddam ​​Hussein, imposing a new regime upon Iraq with the help of a northern tribe of ​​former separatists. Iraq has asked foreign nations not to accept Christian ​​refugees due to a skills draining caused by what some players in the region ​​consider a genocide against minority Christians in the country.​
​​
​Before Republican US President George W. Bush invaded Iraq, the Vatican ​​warned of such a potential genocide, asking the president not to enter the ​​country. While sectarian violence has been reduced under years of occupation, ​​after an initial spike due to the ending of the Saddam Hussein regime, violence ​​against Christians has only increased. Critics of the current Democratic Party ​​Barack Obama US administration have claimed that early withdrawal of American ​​troops created a power vacuum, endangering westerners and minorities in the ​​majority Islamic and Arab nation.​
​​
​Police on the scene, the Iraqi government, and the US military all give different ​​statistics for casualties, arrests, and the number of militants. About 10 Iraqi police ​​died in storming the church.​
​​
​Attacks against churches, and kidnappings, and murders of Christians are ​​common in Iraq, with Christian groups reported as claiming that the US installed ​​and now elected Iraqi government does little or nothing to protect their basic ​​human interests.​​​​​​​​


​​​​​​Sources:​
​​
​American; Independent of ​​the state; Catholic special ​​interests Source:​
​​
​American Papist/ Catholic ​​Vote Action​
​​
​​​​​​​​​​​Terrorists storm Mass in ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Iraq: Murder priest, kill ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​dozens of hostages​
​​
Thomas Peters

01 / 11 | November / 2010
​​
​​
​​
​​​​​​​​​​​sources that are Secular ​​interests coverage.​
​​
​British based Sources:​
​​
​Daily Mail (Independent of ​​the state)​
​​
​​​​​​​​​​​Thirty nine killed in ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​hostage bloodbath as ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Iraqi security forces storm ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​militants in Baghdad ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​church​
​​
​​​​​​​​​​​01 / November | 11 / 2010​
​​
​​​​​​​​​KATHERINE FAULKNER​
​​
​​​​​​​​​​​http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-​​​​​​​​​​​​​​1325481/39-killed-Iraqi-security-forces-storm-​​​​​​​​​​​​​​militants-Baghdad-church.html?ito=feeds-​​​​​​​​​​​​​​newsxml​
​​
​​
​​
​​​​​​​​​​​American based, ​​Independent of the State, ​​Liberal; secular/general ​​interests source​
​​
​AP (ASSOCIATED ​​PRESS)​
​​
​​​​​​​​​​​Baghdad church seige ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ends with 47 dead​
​​
​​​​​​​​​​​01 / November | 11 / 2010​
​HAMID AHMED​
​​
​​​​​​​​​​​www.msnbc.msn.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​com/id/39935278/ns/world_news-​​​​​​​​​​​​​​mideastn_africa/​​​​​​​​​​

Lancet article considers alcohol more dangerous than drugs

(SACNS Europe; SACNS Audio-Visual; Social Justice South Africa)

français | English | Afrikaans | español

​


Download/Stream Audio Article



​​​​​​Lancet Publishes contrary and controversial alcohol/drugs study|​
​​
​01 | November (11th Month) | 2010 AD​
​​
​Article by Marc Aupiais​
​​
​In a controversial article, the Lancet Medical journal has given a platform to David ​​Nutt, a controversial scientist who was fired from the British government for his ​​controversial view that dangerous drugs should be classified as less dangerous ​​than they are by the British government. He has suggested that horse riding is ​​more dangerous than ecstasy use, and was angered when the British government ​​refused to accept some of his more controversial views.​
​​
​The Lancet study considers Alcohol the most dangerous drug in use, 8 times ​​more dangerous than ecstasy. Over a dozen factors were taken into account ​​ranging from lost friendships to damage to the environment, with the acute ​​danger to drugs users themselves only one of many factors. A commentary also ​​appearing in the edition of Lancet noted that the study did not look at cross ​​usage of drugs, but said this was beyond its scope.​
​​
​Professor David Nutt was fired by then home secretary Alan Johnson for ​​demanding ministers listen to the controversial advice of his government Advisory ​​Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which had fronted his views on drugs in a ​​different format, according to the Daily Mail. Professor David Nutt told the BBC ​​that alcohol is a terrible societal ill in his perspective and that this is because it is ​​so available.​
​​
​The direct connection between drugs, violent crime, the Taliban, drug lords, and ​​organized crime has not seemed as important to the Lancet "experts" as Alcohol's ​​negative effects. It also does not seem to note that alcohol when taken in ​​moderate amounts is not extensively dangerous to health, and that there are ​​many forms of alcohol.​
​​
​The study was released just as California considers legalising Cannabis use by ​​the population in general. Cannabis is known to cause schizophrenia in those with ​​genetic predispositions.​
​​
​The study seems to have relied on value judgements in every case made by "the ​​experts". David Nutt, and another scientist who quit after the British parliament ​​had him fired, are two thirds of the authors of the study.​
​​
​CNN, and a BBC blog, appear to have portrayed the Lancet study very ​​favourably. A possible factor in Alcohol's high danger rating is the fact that ​​alcohol is legal and openly used and acceptable in society, while drugs are not. ​​The study is being used by drugs legalization special interests campaigners to ​​attempt to get narcotics legalized, despite the fact the study does nothing to ​​reduce the huge personal harm of using narcotics.​
​​
​While most adults consume alcohol, many with no negative effects, much fewer ​​people regularly take narcotics, giving heed to laws introduced due to high road ​​accidents, deaths, and other preventable societal ills.​​​​​​​​



Sources:

All sources are Secular.

British Sources:

Daily Mail (Independent of 
the state)
"Alcohol 'more dangerous 
than crack, heroin and 
Ecstasy'"01 / November | 11 / 2010
KATHERINE FAULKNER
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1325472/Alcohol-dangerous-crack-heroin.html#ixzz141ucDMiN
BBC World News (British 
Broadcasting 
Corporation) (Not 
Independent of the state)
"Alcohol 'more harmful than heroin' says Prof David Nutt"
01 / November | 11 / 2010
Staff report
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660210?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

American, Independent of 
the State, Liberal

CNN (Central News 
Network) 
Study: Alcohol 'most 
harmful drug,' followed by 
crack and heroin

01 / November | 11 / 2010
staff report
http://edition.cnn.
com/2010/HEALTH/11/01/alcohol.harm/

Introducing the New SACNS Audio-Visual Site

Article by Marc Aupiais


30 | October (10th Month) | 2010 AD

Article by Marc Aupiais

In the continued contest to create dynamic, applicable, useful content for our Catholic and other users, we at SACNS, have decided to create this, our first fully audio-visual site.

Including a section for our new articles, information about our service and many other interesting services.

The inclusion of audio, mean you our readers can visit our page and browse elsewhere while still absorbing and observing our articles.

We also plan to introduce full podcasts of our articles as we attempted unsuccessfully with our previous website to do.


Audio-Visual Article:

Introducing the New SACNS Audio-Visual Site

Audio Download

Download the audio of : Introducing the New SACNS Audio-Visual Site




South African Catholic News Service: Twitter|Facebook|Facebook Discuss|CAF|YouTube|UStream News|UStream Editorial | Email



As an internationally collaborative: initiative to provide a more transparent, accurate view of the world: This service is brought to you by the Scripturelink Search Engine (quotations, or confers in this service/initiative, are provided to give perspective independently, or reference some external sources: and do not imply collaboration, or any kind of affiliation, or co-operation with other services, or initiatives, which are quoted or noted in articles)



Check the accuracy, and perspectives of our contents via the above listed search engine: against other "Catholic" services

The anti-Christ to European anti-federalist movements, the foundational Lisbon treaty is set to be hammered into yet another form by the EU king makers France and Germany

Note by Marc Aupiais

French state global propaganda machine France 24 hosts an article by Reuters claiming that a French and German push to force other EU Eurozone nations to follow conservative economic policy after the PIGGS crises is set to push through the European parliament.

The Lisbon treaty, which creates a serious if not intrusive bond between the European nations party to the EU is very popular among ruling coalitions and parties across the EU, and very unpopular among the nations' citizens. The Catholic church opposed the original Lisbon treaty. The move to amend Lisbon, oft portrayed as a European constitution, has been seen by more liberal nations as an attempt to coerce conservative economic policies into existence across Europe.

The American Tea Party movement aims to promote similar economic policy in the federalist United States of America.
"Germany wants limited treaty alterations to ensure there is a permanent and legally sound crisis-resolution system in place for countries that use the euro. It has threatened to block the budget reforms if no deal is reached.

Many of the EU's 27 member states see the logic in Germany's proposal and could support it in principle, but need convincing that a change to the treaty is needed to set up the mechanism, and want any agreed amendments to be narrowly defined.

Any change to an EU treaty must be approved unanimously and ratified by all member states, either in a vote of parliament or via a referendum. The European Parliament should also agree.

In a sign that momentum towards treaty change was growing, countries such as Finland, Greece, Sweden and Britain, along with Poland, Slovakia and Ireland, signalled they would support limited amendments, although Warsaw linked its support to a deal on pension reforms.

"The euro area needs a credible permanent crisis mechanism to ensure the financial stability of the euro area as a whole," said Finnish Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi, whose country had said earlier this week it opposed such moves.

"If this new system requires treaty change, then treaty change should be done."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said treaty change could be discussed if it was needed to improve the EU's ability to respond to economic and financial crises.

France's European affairs minister, Pierre Lellouche, said in Berlin that countries were warming to the Franco-German position, which he called a gift to Europe.

Mandate for Council, Commission

EU sources said the leaders were expected to give a mandate to the Commission and to Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the EU Council which represents the member states' governments, to work out how the treaty could be amended.

"Van Rompuy will receive a mandate to talk to the 27 member states on the opportunity for a treaty reform. And the Commission will receive a mandate to explore the technical modalities of such a reform," a senior EU source said.

In an agreement struck in the northern French town of Deauville on Oct. 18, Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said they wanted concrete treaty change proposals on the table before an EU summit next March.

Germany wants to have the changes in force before the 2013 expiry of the EU's temporary mechanism for handling the euro zone debt crisis, a 440-billion-euro ($600-billion) IMF-backed fund called the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF).

The EFSF is taxpayer-funded and Germany fears it could violate a clause in the Lisbon treaty against bailouts. It has faced legal challenges in Germany's constitutional court.

Britain, which opposes any treaty amendments that could transfer more power to Brussels, has indicated it could back the proposal if it affects only the euro zone. Ireland said it hoped to avoid holding a referendum on treaty change."

http://mobile.france24.com//en/20101028-france-germany-changes-lisbon-treaty-eu-summit-tighten-budget-sanctions-sarkozy-merkel

South Africa stands up for children against EU, Canada at the UN- UN specialised coverage organisation reports

Note by Marc Aupiais


The Republic of South Africa- a leader globally in legislation involving children's rights, has along with the Holy See, and South Africa's pet, the African Union's block in the UN- condemned a "right" to explicit (pornographic according to South African definitions) sex education.


The EU, Canada, and other countries endorsed the document, despite its violation of the founding principles of the United Nations.


Studies have shown abstinence education more effective, and found that people given contraceptive education are more likely to have sex at an inappropriate age, with people they don't love and less likely to use condoms- defeating the purpose of the education. A report by Lancet found that people buying sex are less likely to use condoms if given pamphlets on falsely named "safe sex". Sexualization at a young age is thought to encourage psychological disorders.


"Volume 13, Number 46


October 28, 2010


Countries Slam Attempts to Create New "Right" to Sexual Education at UN


By Samantha Singson


New York, October 28 (C-FAM) - Angry delegates took to the UN floor this week to denounce a report that promotes a new human right to explicit sexual education for young children.


The African and Caribbean blocs led the widespread hostility toward the report by registering their "strong rejection" and "strong disapproval."


The report claims a new human right to sexual education citing non-binding recommendations and other UN reports including the controversial UNESCO guidelines on sexual education and the Yogyakarta Principles. The report's author, Victor Muñoz, argues that States have an obligation to ensure this new right "from the early stages of life."


Bucking established procedure, Muñoz submitted his report to the UN without being present to defend his recommendations and analysis.


Muñoz pays lip service to the right of parents to choose their children's education, which is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but adds "this authority may never run counter to the rights of children and adolescents." According to Muñoz, comprehensive sexual education goes beyond simple biological or reproductive information.


Ignoring the ongoing heated debate at the UN over terms dealing with "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," Muñoz insists that sexual education include information on "sexual diversity." Muñoz blasts abstinence programs, which he argues normalizes stereotypes and promotes discriminatory images because they are based on "heteronormativity."


Muñoz added that denying the existence of lesbian, gay, transsexual, transgender and bisexual population exposes these groups to discrimination.


Though unable to address Muñoz directly, frustrated delegates representing Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Organization of Islamic Countries lined up to denounce the report. They criticized Muñoz's single-handed attempt to redefine the human rights system and introduce controversial topics such as sexual orientation, sexuality education and gender identity as universally accepted concepts.


Malawi, on behalf of the African bloc, said there was "no universal agreement on the notions of sexual education." Munoz's attempt to create a new right and reinterpret the existing understanding of human rights "flouted" the code of conduct, Malawi said.  The African group expressed alarm at what it called Muñoz's selective use of quotes from other UN documents, which do not constitute a "truthful reflection of objective facts."


The Caribbean bloc also registered its "strong disapproval of this attempt by Muñoz to create a new right within the universally established right to education, far exceeding his mandate."  The Caribbean countries charged Muñoz with "indulging his personal interests at the expense" of delegations and demanded a re-written report that followed the guidelines set by the UN.


While many others -- including Russia, South Africa, Morocco, the Arab Group, the Holy See and the United States -- also denounced the assertion of a new right to comprehensive sexual education, Switzerland, Norway, Canada, and Argentina were supportive. The European Union "fully and wholeheartedly" expressed its support for Muñoz and his report.


The General Assembly took no action on the report this week, but it is expected to consider it again in December."
http://www.c-fam.org/publications/pub_detail.asp?id=1726&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Concluding Observations Adopted by CRC » Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute

(SACNSQuotes Analysis)

Note by Marc Aupiais

UN meeting concludes that children should have the right to be aborted.

" Published: 10/20/10  11:14 AM  - By Seana Cranston, J.D.  Concluding Observations Adopted by CRC The concluding observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child at its 55th session, held in Geneva, have been released.  The countries included are Angola, Burundi, Guatemala, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Spain, Sri Lanka, and the Sudan. 

In its concluding observations, the CRC calls on Nicaragua to decriminalize abortion.  Montenegro is told that it should provide adolescents with appropriate "reproductive health services, including reproductive health education."  In addition, the CRC says that it "notes with concern the limited knowledge among adolescents about reproductive health," in Sri Lanka. "

http://www.c-fam.org/blog/blog_detail.asp?id=318&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Pope elects "conservatives" to elect papacy

Note by Marc Aupiais

Pope Benedict XVI has elected politically conservative, religiously orthodox archbishops to be cardinals on the whole. Including huge Democratic Party critic Burke- just before the US election. The BBC has noted that many Italians were elected, hinting at a return to the tradition of an Italian pope after Joseph Ratzinger was the second non-Italian elected Pope recently.

(BBC World News link. Pope Benedict picks new cardinals http://bbc.in/aZnpjq )

John Paul II was seen by Ratzinger allies as too liberal- believing the sex abuse scandal an anti-Catholic attack- he stifled efforts to fight it until 2001 when Ratzinger was put in charge of sex abuse.

The current pope appears to be attempting to place people in power across the board who are loyal to the church, not ideology.


To quote Vatican Information Service


the official media voice of the Vatican City State:

"Twenty of the new cardinals, being under the age of eighty, will be electors. Their names are: 
- Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. 
- His Beatitude Antonios Naguib, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, Egypt. 
- Archbishop Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum". 
- Archbishop Francesco Monterisi, archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls. 
- Archbishop Fortunato Baldelli, penitentiary major of the Apostolic Penitentiary. 
- Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. 
- Archbishop Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. 
- Archbishop Paolo Sardi, vice chamberlain of Holy Roman Church. 
- Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. 
- Archbishop Velasio De Paolis C.S., president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See. 
- Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture. 
- Archbishop Medardo Joseph Mazombwe, emeritus of Lusaka, Zambia. 
- Archbishop Raul Eduardo Vela Chiriboga, emeritus Quito, Ecuador. 
- Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. 
- Archbishop Paolo Romeo of Palermo, Italy. 
- Archbishop Donald William Wuerl of Washington, U.S.A. 
- Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis of Aparecida, Brazil. 
- Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz of Warsaw, Poland. 
- Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don of Colombo, Sri Lanka. 
- Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, Germany.  
Having pronounced the names of the new cardinal electors, the Pope then indicated that he had also decided to elevate to the dignity of cardinal "two prelates and two priests", all over the age of eighty and hence non-electors, for their "generosity and dedication in the service of the Church."
Their names are: 
- Archbishop Jose Manuel Estepa Llaurens, military ordinary emeritus of Spain.
- Bishop Elio Sgreccia, former president of the Pontifical Academy for Life. 
- Msgr. Walter Brandmuller, former president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences. 
- Msgr. Domenico Bartolucci, former director of the Pontifical Choir.AG/                                                                                                   VIS 20101020 (420)" (paragraphing possibly added)

Democratic Party Candidate tries to send pro-life group to jail in USA

Note by Marc Aupiais

A democrat who, like most of his party unmistakably voted for a financially unsound bill mandating citizens to buy morally questionable health insurance, which has caused and will continue to cause the closure of pro-life hospitals in the USA is attempting to silence pro-life feminist SBA campaigners through criminal charges. Judges in the USA are often activist and hardly up to the standard of their judicial system peers.

"As you may have heard, after he found out the SBA List intended to put up four billboards across his Congressional district, Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-OH) filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission alleging that we are falsely accusing him of voting for taxpayer funding of abortion as a result of his vote for the health care legislation.

This an attack on our free speech, designed to drain us of time and resources in the final days of the elections, and while we await a full-blown hearing of the Ohio Election Commission (where they could fine us thousands of dollars and even send Marjorie to jail for up to six months), the SBA List has asked a federal judge to consider a temporary restraining order against the Ohio Elections Commission proceedings—he will rule today.

In the meantime, we have radio ads running in throughout the Cincinnati area hammering Rep. Driehaus"

- SBA List press release

South African water dangerous to drink

Note by Marc Aupiais

A reliable source sent me an article by I-net Bridge. Major retailers have reportedly claimed, along with an agriculture union that South African water supplies are dangerously contaminated, including with E.Coli.

Woolworths, according to a different source- last night's newspaper- has denied claims that it is refusing products for E. Coli, but in the I Net Bridge article has said that it is always glad of suppliers watching water quality. Suppliers have allegedly claimed that Woolworths is rejecting some products.

Spar and Pick 'n Pay are quoted as concerned about products.

South Africa is a major supplier of foodstuffs to Europe. It is feared local markets may be flooded with export goods if they now fail standards.

We cannot verify the claims, as the main Scripturelink News resource centre is experiencing serious technical difficulties.

Our source is generally reliable, and has been keeping us up to date on the situation for a long time now. This is the first time that evidence has seemingly definitely swung against government claims on water.

1st Aussie Saint

Note by Marc Aupiais

Born of Scottish Immigrants in the land of The Wizard of Oz, she saw through deception and politics, and objected to sexual abuse allegedly committed by one priest. She was excommunicated by a bishop who on his death bed revoked the harsh penalty.

Sr. Mary Of The Cross known to the temporary world as Saint Mary MacKillop of Australia, was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

Other saints canonized included a really short Quebec Canadian.

A friend and divorce

Note by Marc Aupiais

A friend speaks to me of a protestant tv channel. Show about divorce- husbands cheating etc. The show seems to suggest divorce is sometimes deserved- but like the death penalty it never ever is by either party- even if sometimes legally speaking it is unavoidable!

Divorce is never deserved by either party or by the children- all of whom marriage was made to protect.

It affects everyone for life like a life sentence. It is utterly personal and private. Divorcees including those who legally speaking marry again- never recover and have shorter lives from the stress.

The church does offer divorce counselling- and an annulment in the church can make a huge difference.

...

Note by Marc Aupiais


We have placed two successful twitter products of the SACNS on facebook, and need you to allow us to have shorter easy to remember names.

Please review and subscribe to:

South African Catholic News Service International
http://www.facebook.com/pages/South-African-Catholic-News-Service-International/166406386705170

CathSecNews: Catholic Secular News
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CathSecNews-Catholic-Secular-News/168684956478527

remember that facebook only allows so many things from one source in your news feed, so it shouldn't be a nuisance that so much information is covered. It should however help arm you with information about the church and how it is portrayed.

if you haven't, then subscribe to us and other news on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/sacatholicnews

and our editor Marc Aupiais

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marc-Aupiais/90710969887




South African Catholic News Service: Twitter|Facebook|Facebook Discuss|CAF|YouTube|UStream News|UStream Editorial | Email



As an internationally collaborative: initiative to provide a more transparent, accurate view of the world: This service is brought to you by the Scripturelink Search Engine (quotations, or confers in this service/initiative, are provided to give perspective independently, or reference some external sources: and do not imply collaboration, or any kind of affiliation, or co-operation with other services, or initiatives, which are quoted or noted in articles)



Check the accuracy, and perspectives of our contents via the above listed search engine: against other "Catholic" services

A story not making headlines

Note by Marc Aupiais

The first Gitmo detainee has started to be tried criminally today. RT (Russia Today) notes that media are nowhere to be seen.

Fact is the Chilean situation is hiding many things. An army could advance on a capital city and perform a coup- and because of the coverage in Chile- major media would never know.

Unnoticed further is that South Africa is on the Security Council again.

Our grand old nation is famous for politics that benefit the Great Nation South Africa and South Africans- but at the cost of human rights. A Great cost. Which makes the vote a sad moment.

Other African nations to have served: Uganda and Nigeria.

Not the end of sacns

God doesn't want sacns shut down. Opus Dei and the great Josemaria Escriva entered my soul- and while my prays say I must not join the group- their obedience to God has overcome my selfishness. I will continue SACNS between my law. Prayerfully I will pass this year. (Hint hint- pray for me- I do this as my penance to God- if I fail or do badly- I will devote more time to my degree).

End of sacns

Something happened which has made me reconsider my work online. I am thinking of closing sacns.

Catholic media and the ignorant stupid Vatican

Note by Marc Aupiais

Catholic media due to a recent meeting are lamenting the complete incompetence of the Vatican in media relations- citing the release of codification of women ordination excommunications and sex abuse norms being published together. Also lamenting the lifting of the Williamson excommunication.

The problem with their conclusions is that they are incorrect.

The comparing of women's ordination ceremonies and sex abuse was intentional- the codification in both cases were unnecessary. The Vatican clearly intended to show that the sex abuse was an internal matter of disobedience. Also comparing the two got the sex abuse media coup more coverage.

It is almost certain the Vatican did or should have known of Williamson's views on Jews. SSPX views on the Holocaust are well known, and talks have been going on for years. The Vatican may play dumb, but as a Vatican watcher I can assure you they are among the most sly foxy politicians on the planet.

Williamson was excommunicated for illegal ordination of bishops (ordination is a tricky issue ha?), a theological issue not related to his factual denial of the extent of the holocaust.

From Benedict XVI's history, even though it was not Benedict who lifted the excommunication- it is almost certain that he saw the temporary bad press as worth the risk from regaining the SSPX schismatics into the faith.

The Vatican isn't dumb- but clearly some major media need training in basic office politics.

Most US Catholic Marriages invalid?

Note by Marc Aupiais

Catholic Culture reports on a survey which if accurate would suggest that most Catholic marriages in the USA are or will be invalid.

It shows most Catholics supporting homosexual unions, higher than the general population.

Marriage is an exclusive covenant between a man and a woman open to possible naturally occurring childbirth.

Homosexual couples can never naturally have children. Support of homosexual unions- hint at a fundamental misunderstanding of marriage- and thus that such marriages are likely null and void.

4 out of 5 South Africans, according to the Johannesburg Star believe homosexual acts always immoral. Homosexual civil unions- which get the privileges from the state associated with marriage have long been legal in South Africa.

USA links women with homosexuals at the UN

(SACNS Americas News; Social Justice South Africa)

français | English | Afrikaans | español

SACNS background quotes:

Barack Obama's UN Ambassador lumps women with gays: endangering efforts to promote women's special interests! - SACNS Quotes Analysis - 27 (28th in RSA time) September 2010

Why America's lumping of gay and women's rights damages equality - Aupiais Site reviews - 27 (28th in RSA time) September 2010

Why promoting homosexuality costs lives? HIV AIDS for one! - SACNS Quotes Analysis- 27 September 2010

Homosexuals the typhoid Mary of HIV AIDS - Aupiais Site Reviews - 27 September 2010

Article by Marc Aupiais

Rosemary DiCarlo who is the United Nations Ambassador for host Nation the United States, has decided to risk women's rights, so often abused: for the sake of pursuing homosexual special interests.

She has replaced violence against women: a very direct condemnation of practices so widespread, with sexual and gender-based violence in a speech given to the United Nations this past weekend.

A recent federal study in the United States of America, found that one in five so-called homosexuals and so-called bisexuals were infected with HIV, with forty-four out of one hundred of these infected unaware of their condition. That is twenty times the national average.

Discrimination against homosexuals is often linked to HIV aids, and to the high suicide rates in the given population and among children adopted by them.

Abortion, has a real economic cost and affects demand and supply ratios.

Editorially

Linking women with homosexuality, and separating sex and gender, are moves which are sure to create animosity in the United Nations. It is also sure to put women's rights back centuries.

Cardinal John Henry Newman Beatified

(SACNS Europe; Tridentine South And Southern Africa)

français | English | Afrikaans | español

Update by Marc Aupiais

Our Great and Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, the human power, divinely ordained beyond other human power, hath Beatified the Great Theologian John Henry Newman.

Rather than setting the Feast day of this great Blessed on the date of his death and thus his possible entry into heaven, the Great and Wise Holy Father, hath instead chosen the date at which this great man, this leader of the Oxford Movement within the Anglican Separation entered into the Holy Flock of Rome, in pursuit of his great Conscience. The Great Man Benedict XVI has also decided to put aside for this memorable occasion: (the second visit of a pontiff to Great Britain since it rejected the Holy Faith, and the First Papal State Visit since that sad day:) the rule he had made that the Holy Pontiff at Rome should only canonize and not merely beatify the great men and women who are to be upheld one day as the saints of heaven.

While some thousand men and women did protest at the date of this momentous honour given an Englishman: most within the Island's famous population had had no real view of the great occasion for Great Britain and the World. Some objected to taxpayer funding of this great event- made all the more expensive given the much more real threat against the pope by Great Britain.

The Daily Mail attacked those opposing the state visit, saying simply enough: where exactly were the protests, and great indignation, and arrest threats when South African President Jacob Zuma landed in great Britain?

This visit has been a catastrophe for Great Britain globally, which having invited a visit to Britain for the pope as Head of the Great Vatican State, then mocked his visit, in the Independent and The Guardian and other outlets. As Australian Broadcasting Corporation noted, Benedict XVI is the one who first requested powerfully in the Vatican that sex abuse cases be dealt with by the Vatican, and not complicit bishops, and that these cases be reported to authorities. It is also this pope who has decided to apologise to victims, and to appoint the exact traditionally inclined men into authority which should rid the Holy Body of this terrible blemish of sin!

An event more emotional and important to a nation than the Olympic games, while so far not a failure, has shown to Great Britain's Great Shame: that it is a country, where anything but righteousness is acceptable.

Fortunately Cardinal Kasper's comments and withdrawal, which Australian Broadcasting Corporation saw as a move by a political adversary of the pope, did not wreck the entire event. He called Great Britain a third world country, and a place of terrible secularism. Perhaps why it has taken the wait for Benedict XVI to have the Vatican put aside its view of Great Britain to honour a man notably British!

Archdiocesan News in Johannesburg Archdiocese will be late

Note by Marc Aupiais

Archdiocesan news will be published later than usual- for the next edition- no need to worry- it will be accessible in pews- according to an urgent release sent to us and a full mailing list!

Opus Dei, a sanctuary

(Tridentine South Africa)

Article by Marc Aupiais


I have always had the deepest of longings and desires: I have wanted to join Opus Dei for years, though God's answer to my prayers is no. As with the priestly life, God, it seems; has always said I am destined to marriage- to quite an important woman.

The force with which he replies, always suggests her importance to his plan. None the less, I admire Opus Dei, and listen to these stories with longing. The article in the Daily Mail concludes:

"‘I didn’t like the promiscuity I saw at university,’ she says. ‘I didn’t want that for me. I didn’t want that life. I rejected it as part of my lifestyle. I didn’t want to be part of it.’

I cannot get over the small matter of the cilice — surely it’s a seismic leap from eschewing promiscuity to self-harming in this way?

Sarah was 20 when she started wearing it. ‘The first time you do anything that’s not particularly pleasant, you don’t like it. But over time it’s just something that’s there. The result of doing it is that you should be a much nicer person afterwards.’

Eileen adds: ‘We live in such a materialistic, hedonistic society that people can’t understand you’d actually make yourself a little uncomfortable to help you be more mindful of God.
‘They’ll understand if you go jogging and pounding the streets — which I think is disgusting — just because you want to be thinner, but they won’t understand this.’

It’s a fair point. After all, which is more peculiar or ‘unnatural’: women who endure the agony of, say, Botox injections or leg-waxing, in order to be beautiful, and those Opus Dei devotees who strap on a cilice as a sign of spiritual devotion?

Still, I can’t help feeling that most women would consider it a strange God who requires them to do the washing up wearing a chain of barbed wire."

REBECCA HARDY writing for the Daily Mail (Based in the United Kingdom; Secular/General interests coverage; Independent of the state)

02 / 09 | September / 2010: "She's respectable and intelligent ... so why does Sarah attach a painful barbed chain to her leg for two hours a day?"; View other stories published on the same site by Rebecca Hardy

South African Catholic News Service: Twitter|Facebook|Facebook Discuss|CAF|YouTube|UStream News|UStream Editorial | Email



As an internationally collaborative: initiative to provide a more transparent, accurate view of the world: This service is brought to you by the Scripturelink Search Engine (quotations, or confers in this service/initiative, are provided to give perspective independently, or reference some external sources: and do not imply collaboration, or any kind of affiliation, or co-operation with other services, or initiatives, which are quoted or noted in articles)



Check the accuracy, and perspectives of our contents via the above listed search engine: against other "Catholic" services

Catholic Bishops oppose anti-journalists' interests law

(Southern African Catholic Dispatches)

Article by Marc Aupiais

Feel free to discuss this press release here:

http://wiki.portal.scripturelink.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=34

A press release our service verifies has passed our verification process as from the SACBC:

"Protection of Information Bill: Statement by Cardinal Napier

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has serious concerns about the wisdom and the constitutionality of the Protection of Information Bill currently before Parliament, as well as about the need for the establishment of a Media Appeals Tribunal.

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) shares the views of numerous civil society groups and reputable constitutional experts, that the Bill threatens some of our most fundamental rights:
a) The right to receive and impart information;
b) The right to a free press and media;
c) The right of access to information held by the state, and
d) The right to administrative justice.

Furthermore, we believe that the Bill violates the spirit of openness and accountability that is so necessary to underpin the Constitution’s provisions on good governance, essential for a healthy democracy.

Our concerns include:
i) that virtually any information is liable to be classified as secret by officials who are themselves not accountable to the public;
ii) that the definition of national interest and national security are so broad that they could be used to keep secret matters that ought by right to be accessible to the public;
iii) that there is practically no right of appeal, as any appeal would be processed by the very people who made the original ruling.

We certainly do not want government to take us back to the oppressive practices of yesteryear, against which our common struggle was launched.

We accept that some degree of restriction of information is both legitimate and necessary. However we have grave misgivings about the way it will be done, particularly since it risks fostering or even entrenching a culture of non-accountability and non-transparency among state officials at all levels.

We, therefore, strongly urge government to withdraw the Bill for complete redrafting to ensure that the openness and transparency required by the Constitution and demanded by a clear majority of informed civil society organization and legal experts are adequately built in.

Finally, it is in this context that the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference calls on government recognize that there is already an efficient Media Ombudsman in existence. There is merit in proposals to strengthen the Ombudsman’s role in enabling the media to regulate itself. We believe that the proposed measure will give this instrument sufficient muscle to satisfy complainants.

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier OFM
Archbishop of Durban
Spokesman for the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference"

Press release emailed out today by the SACNC (Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference)

31 / 08 | August / 2010 : received at 14:27 GMT+2: "Protection of Information Bill: Statement by Cardinal Napier"

South African Catholic News Service: Twitter|Facebook|Facebook Discuss|CAF|YouTube|UStream News|UStream Editorial | Email



As an internationally collaborative: initiative to provide a more transparent, accurate view of the world: This service is brought to you by the Scripturelink Search Engine (quotations, or confers in this service/initiative, are provided to give perspective independently, or reference some external sources: and do not imply collaboration, or any kind of affiliation, or co-operation with other services, or initiatives, which are quoted or noted in articles)



Check the accuracy, and perspectives of our contents via the above listed search engine: against other "Catholic" services

Climate change panel more feels than science- UN review suggests

(World Tainted Green)

Article by Marc Aupiais

For source quotes and analysis see

SACNS Quotes Analysis

Climate (gate) panel needs serious changes- review states the obvious:MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2010

Feel free to discuss this article at our environmental service's forum at our interactive service:

http://wiki.portal.scripturelink.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=2



The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which controversially shared the Nobel Prize, with former US Vice President Al Gore, has been slapped with an UN requested review. Al Gore whose climate change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" has since been found to hold faulty science, such as in the Hockey Stick Graph, has also recently come under heavy scrutiny, causing two major sources of press releases and information on Climate Change theories to have been called into question. An in-house United Nations (UN) review of practices of the IPCC, has called for clear procedures, shorter terms, a formal structure, more scientific methods, and other procedural and structural changes. It especially asked for strict procedures on conflicts of interest.

Scholarly concerns about vagueness of guidelines on source materials were also cited.

Investigations by the British press, have found that the IPCC:

• - has cited an unpublished study to claim that natural disasters were caused by alleged climate change, the study changed its finding before being published, under peer review.
• - cited an article on deforestation, to claim that climate change would affect forest growth, when the paper dealt clearly with direct deforestation and not the affect of climate on trees.
• - Quoted a press release by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), an environmental special interests promotion group, as a source.
• - Quoted a hiking magazine on glaciers.
• - Referenced a local Indian magazine, which quoted a scientist as saying that the glaciers of the Himalayas which support one billion people, would disappear by the year 2035:
• -- an incorrect statistic, but reportedly correctly attributed to the scientist,
• --however, the IPCC, attributed the article to American magazine New Scientist, instead of local Indian press.
• ---The given scientist seemingly has an interesting monetary relationship to the climate change enriched IPCC chair Rajendra Pachauri.
• - Admitted in response to them that the Himalayas glaciers will not disappear by 2035, according to scientists, the Himalayas ice won't even disappear by 2350.

While the University of East Anglia, at the centre of what media labelled Climate Gate for lack of imagination:

• - has admitted, in response to an Access to Information request that its temperature data, which through years of study is said to show an increase in global temperatures, does not exist: rather, the original data was tossed years ago when the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) moved building decades ago. The data from around the world, was homogenized: adapted due to how it was collected, in accordance with the bias of those homogenizing it.

• --Thus, the greatest body of proof of rising temperatures, correlating with carbon levels in ice caps, cannot be verified by independent review.
• - has come under fire, along with global scientists connected with the IPCC, for emails, which the Daily Mail alleges were likely hacked by Chinese government hackers, which reportedly show conspiracy to skew the peer review process, and prevent any scientific scepticism from being published.

One estimate has about 75% of scientific papers supporting the theory that climate change is majority caused by greenhouse gas emissions, while about 25% cite other possible alternative causes.

Some sceptics cite the theory of natural causes, relying on historic records, to claim that during the Middle ages, Europe was much hotter than today. Others link rises in temperature to the sun. When Galileo Galilei, first spotted "sun spots", this was followed by a period when there were none for years, and by a reduction in global temperature by about 2 percent, causing some to fear that astronomical or solar events may be partially responsible for claimed rises in temperatures. Other sceptics have pointed to a lack in rises in temperatures over recent years.

Sceptics, in comparison to deniers, are scientific in nature, these are mostly the sort who would prefer additional research be done both into the claims of a strong Greenhouse Effect, and into alternative theories, to strengthen or show false the currently weakened case that certain gases have a greenhouse effect on a planetary scale.


Another possible cause cited is urbanization, which upsets natural soil environments, which have different claimed effects on local temperatures, as well as the effect of concrete and steel and glass on temperatures. While the effects on carbon dioxide in the lab on a small scale are indisputable, it is still not confirmed what effect slight additions to the carbon dioxide on the global scale have.

It is this bundle of questions, which have caused politicians to shy away from any drastic action on climate change, accompanied with the secretiveness and political language of the climate change movement. The politicization of climate change, as a platform for the far left, including those supporting reductions in human population, and those advocating taxes on rich nations to support poorer nations, has also given those who choose not to act further ammunition.

Projects such as one by the European Union, seemingly to study global temperatures and ice bodies, and other more modern projects, may start to rebuild the case for anthropological climate change theory. However, the damage done by the IPCC, and by individuals such as Al Gore, is very serious. Links between the head of the IPCC, which really is an informal committee set up to aid climate treaties; and his massive consulting business ventures have also not helped. That Al Gore, whose Inconvenient Truth movie was widely publicized by enviromentalists, inconvenient: was his movie's incorrect portrayal of climate data, has also been substantially enriched by his views.

While climate change research has been pushed back to its infancy by revelations of lost data, and of politicization, if the new UN recommendations are implemented, and implicated scientists replaced, much can be done to encourage action on possible climate ramifications.

The UN review, which focussed on procedure not function, according to French Government service AFP, called the IPCC largely successful.







South African Catholic News Service: Twitter|Facebook|Facebook Discuss|CAF|YouTube|UStream News|UStream Editorial | Email



As an internationally collaborative: initiative to provide a more transparent, accurate view of the world: This service is brought to you by the Scripturelink Search Engine (quotations, or confers in this service/initiative, are provided to give perspective independently, or reference some external sources: and do not imply collaboration, or any kind of affiliation, or co-operation with other services, or initiatives, which are quoted or noted in articles)



Check the accuracy, and perspectives of our contents via the above listed search engine: against other "Catholic" services