I am appalled that President Obama is getting away with this. I pray every single day that he is not the President come November 2012. I also pray that Mitt Romney is doing well, that he becomes our next President so he can help clean up the Government and make this Country the way it SHOULD be: Ran by the PEOPLE, FOR the PEOPLE. This Country was founded on the Constitution of the United States of America. We are a REPUBLIC. Democracy is NOWHERE in the Constitution. I challenge anyone to try to find it there. Please enjoy this post from the President of Catholic Vote and check out their website too!
President Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services announced this week that despite the protests of millions of Americans (including tens of thousands of CV members), birth control must be covered for FREE by nearly every health insurance plan in America.
That’s right. The Obama administration now considers the birth of a child “preventative care” – akin to care to avoid illnesses. In fact, Sec. Sebelius defended the new mandates saying: “Not doing it would be like not covering flu shots. This means that starting January 1, 2013, nearly every health insurance plan will be forced to cover birth control, sterilizations, and Ella and Plan B (both of which kill a child before he or she can implant in their mothers womb). All of this will be subsidized by you or anyone who has health insurance. And all of this will be available free, without even a co-pay. This decision by the Obama administration is nothing but a federally-mandated handout to the monstrous abortion industry. In fact, NARAL called this “the biggest victory for women’s health in a generation.” But it gets worse. In an effort to keep us quiet, Sebelius and HHS allowed for a so-called “religious exemption” — that honestly is an insult.
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo explained:
“Under the new rule our institutions would be free to act in accord with Catholic teaching on life and procreation only if they were to stop hiring and serving non-Catholics. (emphasis added) “Could the federal government possibly intend to pressure Catholic institutions to cease providing health care, education and charitable services to the general public?” Catholic organizations that serve the sick and the poor have always opened their doors to persons of all faith or no faith. But under this new rule, if a Catholic institution employs, or cares for a non-Catholic, they will not qualify for the exemption. In essence, the Obama administration is saying: “Catholics must subsidize birth control, abortions and sterilizations or stop practicing their faith.” This is outrageous.
Full Court Press
You and I petitioned the Obama administration to stop this mandate and they ignored us, plain and simple. So what now? CV Civic Action is organized to mobilize Catholic voters across the country to petition Congress and the White House. Our aim is to organize Catholics in such a way where our voice will be more powerful when acting together than acting alone.
But we don’t stop there.
When laws or regulations such as this new mandate are forced upon us, we have more options. The CV Legal Fund is set up to fund expert attorneys to challenge unjust and unconstitutional mandates such as this. We are already exploring the legal options available to fight this new mandate in court. Finally, we live in a republic. And this remains the most important option available to us — the ballot box. If you don’t like the persons passing laws or (in this case) mandating new regulations, then you elect new people to Congress or you elect a new President. That’s why we established the CatholicVote SuperPAC. We can’t reveal everything we are working on right now, but I want you to know that we are laying the groundwork for an explosive campaign effort in 2012.
You can help us prepare for 2012 right now by telling your friends about our mission to educate and mobilize the Catholic vote. Visit http://catholicvote.org/index.php?/invite_others and connect your friends to the CatholicVote movement.
The Obama administration may have ignored us again. But very soon they will learn that ignoring the Catholic vote has consequences.
President Obama….with all due respect, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE????? If you have forgotten, we ARE a Republic, ruled by Capitalism and a perfectly-tuned Government when ran correctly. Last time I checked, you are dealing with a form of Government that can reject your PATHETIC excuse for healthcare! I PRAY this gets turned down and thrown in the garbage, that’s exactly where this healthcare bill dubbed, “Obamacare” goes: Straight down the toilet. You can’t act the way you do, whining, kicking and screaming, wanting a bill to be passed just because YOU feel it should be passed. ALSO, the last time I checked, YOU work for US and this Government is FOR the people and BY the people. WE elected you, and WE THE PEOPLE will NOT vote for you! SANTORUM SANTORUM SANTORUM FOR PRESIDENT!! Bring this Country back to what it should be, a Country ran by the people, for the people and by the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES!!!!!! I hope to GOD this bill gets thrown down.
Do you know what this would mean for this beautiful Country? Anyone ever read about Joseph Stain and Hitler? Do those names and experiences of those people from those leaders sound anything like what could happen to this Country if we keep taking away…NO, I should say, GIVE AWAY our freedom to this man?? Nation, this is what we are doing when we LET and ALLOW bills like this to potentially pass. We allow the Government of this WONDERFUL Country to create Socialism for this is exactly what we are allowing. I mean, if you were going over to someone’s house and you KNEW they had a highly contagious and deadly disease that is transferrable by breathing on you, which means you would 100% contract this and die, would you go over there and allow yourself to die? This is exactly what we are doing by allowing this President and Government to have more power than they have. I am not crazy, and I do not wish any craziness in the United States, but what I am saying is DO NOT vote for this man! If you know what is good for this Country, do NOT vote for him! Mark my words, if he is re-elected, we will be a Socialistic, and BANKRUPT Country (kind of like we are now in that respect) and he may never stop being President! If he can change these laws, add on laws that are absolute CRAZINESS, then what? Then could he change his own term allowance as President? Could he make a law that because we are overweight, we must eat more vegetables? Will he make us by law, buy a hybrid car and outlaw other cars because it is healthier for our Country’s air quality, etc?
I stand as a 100% Country-loving Conservative who loves Jesus and wants the true leadership of Rick Santorum. If he is elected, our Country might be able to be fixed.
Remember Nation, WE vote for the President. We have the power to UN-elect President Obama!
www.thedojoe.com and @teamdojoe on twitter
Obama issues stern language on Supreme Court health care decision
President Obama on Monday issued stern language to the Supreme Court of the United States regarding his health care law, expressing confidence “Obamacare” will not be overturned by the nation’s highest court.
“I’m confident this will be upheld because it should be upheld,” the president said Monday afternoon at a White House press conference that included Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who are attending the North American Leaders’ Summit. The president said overturning the law would be “an unprecedented and extraordinary step” and compared the court’s rejection of the law to “judicial activism.”
“For years what we’ve heard is the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism,” the president said, baiting conservatives who have long complained about justices’ political agendas. The president stressed that the judges are “unelected” and noted that the law was passed by a democratically elected Congress.
Monday’s comments were the first public warning the president has issued since the justices heard oral arguments last week on the constitutionality of the law, which includes an individual health care mandate.
It remains to be seen how the justices will rule on the matter. On Friday, the court began deliberations, which could last through June. The ruling could significantly impact the president’s re-election strategy.
Mitt Romney At It Again: Trying to Distort and Twist to Hide His Own Record
Verona, PA – Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum made the following comment in reaction to the claim he would vote for President Obama.
Rick Santorum said: “I would never vote for Barack Obama over any Republican and to suggest otherwise is preposterous. This is just another attempt by the Romney Campaign to distort and distract the media and voters from the unshakeable fact that many of Romney’s policies mirror Barack Obama’s. I was simply making the point that there is a huge enthusiasm gap around Mitt Romney and it’s easy to see why – Romney has sided with Obama on healthcare mandates, cap-and-trade, and the Wall Street bailouts. Voters have to be excited enough to actually go vote, and my campaign’s movement to restore freedom is exciting this nation. If this election is about Obama versus the Obama-Lite candidate, we have a tough time rallying this nation. It’s time for bold vision, bold reforms and bold contrasts. This election is about more than Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, or Rick Santorum - this campaign is about freedom and I will fight to restore your freedoms.”
Enlarge Photo‘Pink Slime’ Will Be a Choice for Schools (ABC News)
Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
ABC News has the learned that tomorrow the U.S. Department of Agriculture will announce that starting this fall, schools will be able to choose whether or not they buy hamburger that contains lean finely textured beef known as “ pink slime.”
The announcement comes one week after ABC News reported on the beef filler commonly known as “pink slime,” which is found in 70 percent of the ground beef sold at supermarkets.
“It kind of looks like play dough,” said Kit Foshee, who, until 2001, was a corporate quality assurance manager at Beef Products Inc., the company that makes “pink slime.” “It’s pink and frozen, it’s not what the typical person would consider meat.”
Foshee said that he was fired by BPI after complaining about the process used to make the filler, and the company’s claims about it. Since then, he has spoken out against the product.
J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute, defended the practice as a way to safely use what otherwise would be wasted.
“BLBT (Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings) is a sustainable product because it recovers lean meat that would otherwise be wasted,” he said in a statement.
However, the substance, critics said, is more like gelatin than meat, and before BPI found a way to use it by disinfecting the trimmings with ammonia, it was sold only to dog food or cooking oil suppliers.
But Boyle said, “The beef trimmings that are used to make BLBT are absolutely edible” and Janet Riley, senior vice president of public affairs for AMI, said there was no reason to label beef that contains “pink slime.”
“What are you asking me to put on the label, its beef, it’s on the label, it’s a beef product, it’s says beef so we are declaring … it’s beef,” she said.
The low-grade trimmings come from the parts of the cow most susceptible to contamination, often close to the hide, which is highly exposed to fecal matter. But because the treatment of the trimmings – simmering them in low heat, separating fat and tissue using a centrifuge and spraying them with ammonia gas to kill germs – the United States Department of Agriculture says it’s safe to eat.
ABC News traveled across the country to the meat section of grocery stores to see if it’s in the ground beef they sell. At most stores it was impossible to tell for sure whether the beef contained the filler. At one store there was no way to tell from the labels, and the butchers did not know the answer.
There is only one way to know for certain that “pink slime” is not in your beef: If your meat is stamped USDA Organic, it’s pure meat with no filler.
Otherwise, you can’t know from the packaging because “pink slime” does not have to appear on the label. And the USDA is giving no indication it will force meat packers to lift the veil of secrecy any time soon.
original URL:http://news.yahoo.com/pink-slime-choice-schools-230530972–abc-news.html
Buzz Feed has several of Obama’s 2008 campaign ads in which he railed against oil company profits, blamed John McCain and George W. Bush for high gas prices, and promised to bring down the price of gas by investing in alternative energy. So, how has it all worked out for us? As I write this a local reporter is on TV at a gas station where the price of a gallon is $3.99.
Here’s one of the ads, showing Obama in front of a gas pump. It’s a shame the media didn’t find it necessary to report his real intention which was raising the price of gas, which is exactly what’s happened.
We need to spread this around because it has only been a few years, 4 to be exact, since this video went out and people are quickly forgetting the lies this man has told. Do the smart, wise thing for this Country and vote Santorum and get Obama OUT of office! By Jay Goodman
original link: http://lonelyconservative.com/2012/02/hey-remember-when-obama-campaigned-on-gas-prices/
Introduction from Jay Goodman, owner of thedojoe.com, posted March 3rd, 2012 at about 3pm:
I have to say, This Christian MAN was detained and is being ordered executed by the EVIL Iranian Government, violating an international law. Iran is doing something ILLEGAL and if the U.N. were following their own rules, and the U.S. Government really cared about this guy, they would send in a small Navy Seal team, or a Delta Force team to rescue this man and his family. They could cut off the oil supply AND CLOSE the Strait of Hormuz to Iran and tell them we will open it when they release this family to be free. What is Iran thinking?? Seriously, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a crazy crazy man.
I understand there is such a thing as Diplomacy in handling something this sensitive, but seriously President Obama…get this guy and his family out of there! Save his life! Do more than what your verbally doing right now and actually DO something physical against this Present-Day Nazi Regime in Iran.
US House Approves Resolution Demanding Release of Nadarkhani
(Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani)
The U.S. House has approved a resolution condemning Iran and calling for the immediate release of Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani.
The resolution sends a powerful message that human rights and religious freedom transcend political and religious differences, according to the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ).
Friday marks the 872st day of Nadarkhani’s illegal detention. Authorities arrested him in his home city of Rasht in October 2009 on charges that he questioned obligatory religion classes in Iranian schools. After finding him guilty of apostasy, the court of appeals in Rasht in November 2010 issued a written confirmation of his charges and death sentence.
“The truly bi-partisan support in the House to stand up for Pastor Youcef and demand his release is extraordinary,” says Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the ACLJ. “Iran is violating international law with its detention and promised execution of Pastor Youcef.”
The resolution, H.Res. 556, was spearheaded by Representatives Joe Pitts (R-PA), an evangelical Christian conservative, and Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim in Congress. It generated tremendous support in the House. A similar resolution is now being introduced in U.S. Senate and the ACLJ will continue to work to urge members there to stand in support of Pastor Nadarkhani.
The ACLJ, which heard from more than 180,000 Americans urging House members to approve H.Res. 556, says it’s Tweet for Youcef campaign is now reaching nearly 1 million Twitter accounts worldwide calling for the release of Nadarkhani. More than 3,500 people have signed on to send one Tweet a day on behalf of Pastor Nadarkhani. The Tweet for Youcef campaign has attracted the attention of celebrities and media representatives worldwide.
International soccer icon Ricardo Kaka, the 17th most followed person on Twitter in the world with over 8.8 million followers, is promoting the Tweet for Youcef campaign. Also lending support to the Twitter campaign: Donald Trump, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, actresses Patricia Heaton and Julie Benz.
original link at: http://www.charismanews.com/us/32936-us-house-approves-resolution-demanding-release-of-nadarkhani
I am extremely saddened by the thought of what these kids must be going through. I have very few words as the husband of a woman who was living very near Columbine High School when that horrible incident happened. Please pray for these kids and the families of those that lost their loved ones.
“Die, All Of You” T.J. Lane, Alleged Gunmen In High School Shooting, Writes Chilling Letter (DETAILS)
Posted 6 hours 52 min ago by The Decider for Global Grind Staff
T.J. Lane is the alleged gunman who witnesses and students from Chardon High School say shot and killed one student and wounded four others.
T.J Lane has been identified as the alleged gunman of a new horrific school shooting. Students described Lane as a bullied outcast at his suburban Cleveland Chardon High School.
Lane is accused of opening fire in the cafeteria Monday morning; killing one student and wounding four others before being caught a short distance away by police.
A student who witnessed the attack close-up, said it appeared the gunman was targeting a group of students sitting at a cafeteria table and that the one who was killed was trying to duck under the table.
Panicked students screamed and ran through the halls after the gunfire broke out at the start of the school day at 1,100-student Chardon High, about 30 miles from Cleveland.
Lane was arrested near his car a half-mile away, the FBI said. He was not immediately charged.
FBI officials would not comment on a motive. But 15-year-old Chardon student Danny Komertz, who witnessed the shooting, said the gunman was known as an outcast who had apparently been bullied.
Komertz said:
“I looked up and this kid was pointing a gun about 10 feet away from me to a group of four kids sitting at a table.”
He said the gunman fired two shots quickly, and students scrambled for safety. One of them, “was kind of like hiding, trying to get underneath the table, trying to hide, protecting his face.”
On his Facebook page, Lane wrote a chilling letter on December 30, 2011, which ended with him writing, “Die, all of you.”
Here is the letter written by the alleged gunman T.J. Lane:
In a time long since, a time of repent, The Renaissance. In a quaint lonely town, sits a man with a frown. No job. No family. No crown. His luck had run out. Lost and alone.
The streets were his home. His thoughts would solely consist of “why do we exist?” His only company to confide in was the vermin in the street. He longed for only one thing, the world to bow at his feet.
They too should feel his secret fear. The dismal drear. His pain had made him sincere. He was better than the rest, all those ones he detests, within their castles, so vain. Selfish and conceited.
They couldn’t care less about the peasents they mistreated. They were in their own world, it was a joyous one too. That castle, she stood just to do all she could to keep the peasents at bay, not the enemy away.
They had no enemies in their filthy orgy. And in her, the castles every story, was just another chamber of Lucifer’s Laboratory. The world is a sandbox for all the wretched sinners.
They simply create what they want and make themselves the winners. But the true winner, he has nothing at all. Enduring the pain of waiting for that castle to fall. Through his good deeds, the rats and the fleas.
He will have for what he pleads, through the eradication of disease. So, to the castle he proceeds, like an ominous breeze through the trees. “Stay back!” The Guards screamed as they were thrown to their knees. “Oh God, have mercy, please!”
The castle, she gasped and then so imprisoned her breath, to the shallow confines of her fragile chest. I’m on the lamb but I ain’t no sheep. I am Death. And you have always been the sod. So repulsive and so odd.
You never even deserved the presence of God, and yet, I am here. Around your cradle I plod. Came on foot, without shod. How improper, how rude. However, they shall not mind the mud on my feet if there is blood on your sheet.
Now! Feel death, not just mocking you. Not just stalking you but inside of you. Wriggle and writhe. Feel smaller beneath my might. Seizure in the Pestilence that is my scythe. Die, all of you.
On January 20 at 4:59pm Lane wrote, “much obliged to all who “liked” this. Wrote it myself in class one day…”
Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
I recently got this forwarded to me from someone and I am appalled. Will you stand with me on this and not only download AND PRAY the free prayer attached, but will you sign the petition that is currently being put together? Click on the link below. A couple of things from reading this: Penny Nance says she thinks there are only a small group of people in this Country that would consider themselves “Prayer Warriors” or that even would like that role…I disagree. I think more people that ever are praying for our Country. I think more than ever there is a HUGE hope that someone (Rick Santorum) will be elected and as he is swearing in and taking the Oath of Office, looks back at Barrack Obama and waves at him, saying, “bye-bye!!!”. In my personal fantasy he turns after he is done to acknowledge the crowd present, and says that his first order of business is to abolish that one thing that is currently tearing our Country apart: PLANNED PARENTHOOD. Then he turns and says that every life must be shown that dignity that the person deserves, from natural birth to natural death. I hope Rick Santorum becomes President Rick Santorum. How amazing would that be???
Anyway, read this and please sign the petition and for God’s sakes, please pray for our Nation. This prayer is a start to something BIG that our Country, our beautiful United States of America NEEDS.
From the Desk of: Penny Young Nance, Chief Executive Officer and President of “Concerned Women for America”
To: The Believers in Christ that live in the United States of America
We are engaged in a spiritual battle for our nation, our freedom and our families. Only days ago the Obama administration spat in the face of believers across the land when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius finalized a regulation forcing people of faith to pay for and promote birth-control, sterilization and early-term “Morning After” abortions through ObamaCare.
So aside from this aggressive governmental intrusion into our lives, and undermining our religious liberty and freedom by forcing us to act against our faith, Obama’s mandate now classifies pregnancy as a disease! There should be no doubt that we are in the fight of our lives — a fight that goes far beyond flesh and blood. Sarah and Jason, this is a darkly spiritual battle of epic proportions that demands people of faith be on their knees — praying for the very soul of our nation!
That’s precisely why I’m writing to you today … I want to give you a free prayer guide featuring seven cornerstone prayer principles to guide you in your prayers for our nation. Simply click here now to receive your free If My People: 7 Principles for Prayer in 2012 prayer guide:
From earliest beginnings of our nation, prayer has played a vital role. A trip to the Rotunda of our Capitol confirms this. There one comes face-to-face with massive oil paintings depicting key events in our nation’s history. The very first in this series is called the “embarkation of the Pilgrims,” ant it feature a scene from the deck of the Speedwell as the pilgrims cried out to God at the start of their voyage. These aggressive government attacks on our religious freedom, should serve as a reminder to us that we need to be on our faces before the Lord — lifting up our leaders, our nation, and asking for His intervention.
Of course I know many people who feel uncomfortable in a “prayer warrior” role. I understand that a relatively small remnant of believers will stand in the gap for our nation during this time, and that’s okay. The Bible is filled with stories of regular people, and small groups doing amazing things with God’s anointing. The Old Testament story of Gideon immediately comes to mind. You may recall that God chose Gideon to lead the Israelites into battle. Gideon was terrified, but he made himself available to the greatness of God, and with an underwhelming army of just 300, Gideon defeated the formidable and frightening Midianites! Sarah and Jason, if you make yourself available to the Lord by praying for our nation I will rush you CWA’s If My People: 7 Principles for Prayer in 2012 resource to help guide you in your prayer efforts.
Just click here now to join with me and receive your free prayer guide:
Thank you in advance for answering my call. May God Bless America.
Penny Young Nance Chief Executive Officer and President Concerned Women for America
P.S. After requesting your free prayer guide, please forward this message to your friends inviting them to prayerfully stand in the gap for our nation in 2012 by clicking here:
Leprosy is an ongoing disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract. It is a numbness of the skin that eventually causes skin sensation to cease. Usually, around the world if someone has leprosy they are quarantined and segregated from the rest of that society in order to keep them from infecting those that do not have it. If someone has Leprosy and it is caught at the beginning, there are treatment options available, depending on where you live. If caught early, Leprosy is curable, however there are very expensive and time-consuming drugs that can make the person non-infectious. If left untreated, it can become full-blown and although it directly is not fatal, a secondary cause of death from leprosy is because the skin is eaten away so much that infections are caused and eventually the person dies from his/her organs becoming infected.
As if that wasn’t enough, the bad news is the United States of America has seemed to develop Leprosy and the mode of transportation has been a complacent and defeatist mindset, and President Obama has capitalized on this mindset and caused it to spread profusely.
The United States has developed a sort of spiritual Leprosy, and the only cure is to do some hard work to eradicate it. People for the most part in the U.S.A. have adopted a spoon-fed character, expecting President Obama to lift the spoon to their mouths, and he did, but he added poison (socialism) to it first. Our skin has become calloused and Leprous and he finally broke through a crack in the non-sensitive skin and is now a full-blown infection. He and all that he and his followers stand for are killing our nation. Through hard work, an undying loyalty to what this Nation was founded upon, and a desire to elect someone to be our President that actually cares about the Constitution of the United States and God and all those two things stands for, such as Rick Santorum, this Nation is headed for an end, sadly. If Obama is re-elected for another 4 years, that is certain death for us as a Country.
In today’s Gospel we see the healing of a leper (this means you and me). Leprosy in Scripture is more than just a physical illness, it is also a euphemism for sin. Leprosy itself is not sin, but it resembles sin and what sin does to us spiritually. For sin, like leprosy, disfigures us; it deteriorates us, it distances us (for Lepers had to live apart from the community), and it brings death if it is not checked. Yes, sin is a lot like leprosy.
Psalm 38 is a biblical example of how sin is compared to leprosy:
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thy indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me. My wounds grow foul and fester because of my foolishness, I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning… there is no soundness in my flesh…My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my kinsmen stand afar off.
Perhaps a brief description of physical leprosy might be in order, just so we can further appreciate both the physical illness and also, by analogy, how sin devastates us in stages. I have compiled this description from several sources; among them, William Barclay’s Commentary on Mark. I reading this, you will see how Psalm 38 above quite vividly compares sin to leprosy:
Leprosy begins with an unaccountable lethargy and pains in the joints. Then there appear on the body, especially on the back, symmetrical discolored patches with pink and brown nodules and the skin becomes thickened. Gradually the symptoms move to the face and the nodules gather especially in the folds of the cheek, the nose, the lips and the forehead. The whole appearance of the face is changed till a person loses his human appearance and looks more like a lion. The nodules grow larger and larger and they begin to ulcerate, and from them comes a foul discharge of puss. The eyebrows fall out and the eyes become staring. The voice becomes hoarse and the breath wheezes because of the ulceration of the vocal cords. Eventually the whole body becomes involved. Discolored patches and blisters appear everywhere. The muscles waste away, the tendons contract until the hands look more like claws. Next comes the progressive loss of fingers and toes until a whole hand or foot may drop off. It is a kind of a terrible and slow, progressive death of the body.
The disease may last from ten to thirty years and ends in mental decay, coma, then finally death.
Yet this was not all. The lepers had not only to bear the physical torment of the disease, they also had to bear the mental anguish and heartache of being completely banished from society and totally shunned. They were forced to live outside of town in leper areas. Everyone they knew and loved was lost to them and could only be seen from a distance.
In the middle ages when a person was diagnosed with leprosy, they were brought to the Church and the priest read the burial service over them for in effect they were already dead, though still alive.
This description of leprosy shows how the illness develops, disfigures deteriorates and distances the leper, and ultimately there is death. As we shall see, not every diagnosis of Leprosy was accurate, since many skin aliments, (such as psoriasis) can resemble the early stages of leprosy. Later, if the skin cleared up or remained stable, the supposed leper could be readmitted to the community.
But what of us, spiritual lepers? How are we to lose our leprosy and find healing? The Gospel suggests four steps to find healing from our spiritual leprosy of sin.
I. Step One – Admit the Reality - The text says simply, A leper came to Jesus, and kneeling down, begged him and said, “If you wish you can make me clean. But see, he knows he is a Leper, heknows he needs healing. He humbles himself, kneeling and pleads for cleansing.
And what of us? Do we know our sin? Do we know we need healing? Are we willing to ask? We live in times where sin is often made light of and confessional lines are short. Too easily, we excuse our faults by blaming others (It’s not my fault, my mother dropped me on my head when I was two). Or perhaps we point to some other sinner, apparently worse and think, “Well at least I’m not like him.”
But the fact is we are loaded with sin. Too easily we are thinned-skinned, egotistical, unforgiving, unloving, unkind, mean-spirited, selfish, greedy, lustful, jealous, envious, bitter, ungrateful, smug, superior, vengeful, angry, aggressive, unspiritual, unprayerful, stingy, and just plain mean. And if all the things on the list don’t apply to you, many do and, frankly the list is incomplete. We are sinners with a capital “S” and we need serious help.
Like the leper in the Gospel, step one is to admit the reality of our sin and humbly ask the Lord for help.
II. Step Two – Accept the Relationship – Notice two things. First the Leper calls on the Lord Jesus. In effect he seeks a relationship with Jesus, knowing that it can heal him.
Note secondly how the Lord responds. The text says Jesus is moved with pity and touches him.The Greek word translated here as pity is σπλαγχνισθεὶς (splagchnistheis) and is from from splanxna, meaning ‘the inward parts,’ especially the nobler organs – the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. These gradually came to denote the seat of the affections.
Hence the Lord is moved with a tender love for this man. The English word “pity,” though often considered a condescending word today, is rooted in the Latin pietas, referring to family love. So Jesus sees this man as a brother and reaches out to him. The touch of Jesus was an unthinkable action at that time. No one would touch a leper, or even come close to one. Lepers were required to live out of town in the nearby caves. But Jesus is God, and loves this man. And in his humanity, Christ sees this leper as a brother. Scripture says,
For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified have all one origin. That is why HE IS NOT ASHAMED TO CALL THEM BRETHREN, saying, “I will proclaim thy name to my brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee. (Heb 2:11)
As for us, it is in our saving relationship to the Lord, a relationship established by faith, that we are justified, transformed, healed and ultimately saved. If we would be free of the leprosy of our sin we must accept the saving relationship with Jesus and let him touch us.
III. Step Three – Apply the Remedy - Having healed him, note that Jesus instructs him to follow through in this manner: Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.
Among the ancient Jews it was the priests who were trained and empowered to recognize leprosy and its healing. For, as already stated, leprosy in its early stages can resemble other skin aliments. Perhaps it is leprosy, or perhaps it is just dermatitis, or psoriasis, or eczema. Priests were trained to make observations and either banish someone, or readmit them to the community. For sometimes, out of an abundance of caution, a person was dismissed on suspicion of leprosy, but the condition cleared up or remained stable. It was the priest who made the decisions for the community.
And, of course we have here a metaphor for sacramental confession. For what does the priest do in confession? He assesses a person’s spiritual condition, and having seen God’s healing mercy at work in a person’s repentance, reconciles, or, in the case of serious sinners, readmits them into the full communion of the Church. It is God who forgives, just like the leper in this story, but the Lord ministers through the priest.
And thus for us, spiritual lepers, the Lord gives the same instruction. “Go show yourself to the priest.” That is, “Go to confession!” And the Lord adds, “Offer for your cleansing what is prescribed.” That is, say, “Offer your penance.”
But someone might say, Why should he bother? The Lord has already healed him. To which we can only answer, “Just do what Jesus says: Show yourself to the Priest, offer your penance.” It is true, God can forgive directly, but it is clear enough from a passage like this, that confession is to be a part of the believer’s life, especially in the case of serious sin. To those who balk, the simple answer must be, “Just DO what Jesus says.”
So, having admitted the reality, accepting the relationship and applying the remedy, there remains a fourth step.
IV. Step Four – Announce the Result – When God heals you, you have to tell somebody. There’s just something about joy. It can’t hid. And people know when you’ve been changed.
That said, there are perplexities about this part of the Gospel. For, as the text says, Jesus “sternly warns him” NOT to tell a soul, other than the priest. The Greek text is even stronger, for it says Jesus warned him ἐμβριμησάμενος (embrimēsamenos); which means to snort with anger, to exert someone with the notion of coercion, springing out of displeasure, anger, indignation, or antagonism. It means to express indignant displeasure with some one; and to thus charge them sternly. So we see a very strong and negative command of Jesus. There is nothing ambiguous about the fact that he angrily warns this man to remain silent.
That this, and other places where the Lord issues similar commands, is puzzling, is an understatement. And yet, the reason is supplied; namely that Jesus did not want his mission turned into a circus act where people gathered to watch miracles and merely to see “signs and wonders.” Clearly this man’s inability to remain silent means that Jesus can no longer enter a place quietly, and that many sought him for secondary reasons.
That said, commands to remain silent cannot remain true for us who are under standing order # 1: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matt 28:19)
Hence it is clear we NEED to shout what the Lord has done for us and give him all the glory. And, honestly, when God acts in your life there is joy, and joy cannot be hid or suppressed. If our healing is real, we can’t stay silent. To quote Jesus at a later stage, and when the Temple leaders told him to silence his disciples, I tell you, if they keep quiet, the very rocks will cry out (Lk 19:40).
At the heart of evangelization is announcing what the Lord has done for us. An Old Gospel song says, “I thought I wasn’t gonna testify…but I couldn’t keep it to myself, what the Lord has done for me!“
Yes, tell somebody what the Lord has done. If the healing is real, you can’t keep silent.
Time To Admit It: The Church Has Always Been Right On Birth Control
Michael Brendan Dougherty and Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry|February 08, 2012
(Sergio Dionisio/Getty)
Painting the Catholic Church as “out of touch” is like shooting fish in a barrel, what with the funny hats and gilded churches. And nothing makes it easier than the Church’s stance against contraception.
Many people, (including our editor) are wondering why the Catholic Church doesn’t just ditch this requirement. They note that most Catholics ignore it, and that most everyone else finds it divisive, or “out-dated.” C’mon! It’s the 21st century, they say! Don’t they SEE that it’s STUPID, they scream.
Here’s the thing, though: the Catholic Church is the world’s biggest and oldest organization. It has buried all of the greatest empires known to man, from the Romans to the Soviets. It has establishments literally all over the world, touching every area of human endeavor. It’s given us some of the world’s greatest thinkers, from Saint Augustine on down to René Girard. When it does things, it usually has a good reason. Everyone has a right to disagree, but it’s not that they’re a bunch of crazy old white dudes who are stuck in the Middle Ages.
So, what’s going on?
The Church teaches that love, marriage, sex, and procreation are all things that belong together. That’s it. But it’s pretty important. And though the Church has been teaching this for 2,000 years, it’s probably never been as salient as today.
Today’s injunctions against birth control were re-affirmed in a 1968 document by Pope Paul VI called Humanae Vitae. He warned of four results if the widespread use of contraceptives was accepted:
General lowering of moral standards
A rise in infidelity, and illegitimacy
The reduction of women to objects used to satisfy men.
Government coercion in reproductive matters.
Does that sound familiar?
Because it sure sounds like what’s been happening for the past 40 years.
By making the birth of the child the physical choice of the mother, the sexual revolution has made marriage and child support a social choice of the father.
Instead of two parents being responsible for the children they conceive, an expectation that was held up by social norms and by the law, we now take it for granted that neither parent is necessarily responsible for their children. Men are now considered to be fulfilling their duties merely by paying court-ordered child-support. That’s a pretty dramatic lowering of standards for “fatherhood.”
People.com
Today’s moral lodestarHow else are we doing since this great sexual revolution? Kim Kardashian’s marriage lasted 72 days. Illegitimacy: way up. In 1960, 5.3% of all births in America were to unmarried women. By 2010, it was 40.8% [PDF]. In 1960 married families made up almost three-quarters of all households; but by the census of 2010 they accounted for just 48 percent of them. Cohabitation has increased tenfold since 1960.
Is this all due to the Pill? Of course not. But the idea that widely-available contraception hasn’t led to dramatic societal change, or that this change has been exclusively to the good, is a much sillier notion than anything the Catholic Church teaches.
So is the notion that it’s just OBVIOUSLY SILLY to get your moral cues from a venerable faith (as opposed to what? Britney Spears?).
But let’s turn to another aspect of this. The reason our editor thinks Catholics shouldn’t be fruitful and multiply doesn’t hold up, either. The world’s population, he writes, is on an “unsustainable” growth path.
The Population Bureau of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations sees(PDF, h/t Pax Dickinson) the rate of population growth slowing over the next decades and stabilizing around 9 billion in 2050…and holding there until 2300. (And note that the UN, which promotes birth control and abortions around the world, isn’t exactly in the be-fruitful-and-multiply camp.)
More broadly, the Malthusian view of population growth has been resilient despite having been proven wrong time and time again and causing lots of unnecessary human suffering. For example, China is headed for a demographic crunch and social dislocation due to its misguided one-child policy.
Human progress is people. Everything that makes life better, from democracy to the economy to the internet to penicillin was either discovered and built by people. More people means more progress. The inventor of the cure for cancer might be someone’s fourth child that they decided not to have.
So, just to sum up:
It’s a good idea for people to be fruitful and multiply; and
Regardless of how you feel about the Church’s stance on birth control, it’s proven pretty prophetic.
I was recently asked to answer this question on facebook…here is my response:
By Jay Goodman, Feb 7, 2012 6:10pm
It is simple: It violates the freedom of religion. Let me answer your question with question though: Do you think the Government should force a Jewish man to eat pork when living in the United States? Do you think the Government should force a concientious objector to pick up his weapon and fire, even if it is against …his beliefs? Should the Government not allow a Muslim woman to wear a burka?
If birth control is mandated to be covered in health insurance plans, and as an employer your TRULY Catholic and birth control is obviously against your religious beliefs (because if you are TRULY Catholic you will be against all forms of birth control and abortion. If your not, then you are not truly Catholic), why on EARTH would the Government try to force you to go against the Constitution of the United States???
This is not rocket science and the people out there who think it SHOULD be mandated are just plain IGNORANT. They have no clue the demise this nation has entered and the awful regime we have in the White House. This is as rediculous as saying a new-born baby is not really a baby. You would have to be plain ignorant to believe such a stupid thing. Why are they attacking the Catholic Church specifically? Why not start going after all people’s beliefs?? The next thing they are going to do is mandate that everyone in the U.S. makes the same amount of money cause it will “cure poverty”.
All the things Obama has been changing are most of the reasons why we came to this Country in the first place: to have a FREE Country, to have a DEMOCRACY and CAPITALISM.
There is hope though: Rick Santorum can change all of this. He is a good man and a HOLY Catholic and someone who upholds morals and the word of God. If he is elected our Country may return to the FREE Country it started out as, provided Obama does NOT sign the treaties he is about to possibly sign. It won’t be perfect and life will be hard, but we will TRULY BE FREE again. We are headed towards a Socialistic Society very quickly and if Obama is re-elected, you can bet Socialism will fully rear its UGLY head in his last term in office…unless he changes that too. In 4 more years we may be saying, “all Hail, King Obama!” or face death, and what does THAT remind you of?? They did not fare too well if you ask me.
The entitlement and spoon-fed Nation we have become sickens me. I am actually hearing at times that they welcome Socialism because it would be “cool” and finally those that make 40 billion dollars will have to give some of it to those less fortunate. Why? They worked hard for that money and you did not, so you don’t get their money. A good living comes by working hard, and I am the first to say I have GROWN in this area; I was horrible at working hard when I was little. If you work hard, you will receive your wages. It is called Capitalism and the former was Feudalism, of which we got away from and of which Obama is trying to bring back. He is not stupid. He knows EXACTLY what he is doing, and that is the scariest part. Why he has lasted this long as President BAFFLES me.
There is going to come a time when we as a Nation and as a Free Society will have to take that stand against what is wrong and when we are asked to do something (by order of the President) and it is against our religious beliefs, we are going to have to stand up and say NO and then take the certain punishment for saying such a thing. Our reward is not here on earth, if you are a friend of Christ, your (and my) reward is in heaven. Vengence is mine, says the Lord God of Hosts.
I can’t believe this happened. It is something that I cannot even fathom doing to my precious boys. Obviously this “man” felt caught and that he would be going to jail for the rest of his life, or worse yet (in his mind) being killed himself! Instead, this man felt the need to murder his beautiful little boys and then set fire to his house on himself and their bodies. What a bastard, to be blunt. What a loss to this world of quite possibly two great men that could have been raised quietly by their Grandparents! They might have been the ones to help our Country get out of debt! They might have been the ones to cure cancer finally! They might have been the ones to stop Abortion somehow or best yet, they might have been great Priests for God in the Holy Catholic Church! Whatever they may have been, they were stopped short by a madman and someone who killed their Mommy. I cannot write anymore, I must go wipe my eyes and kiss MY two Boys and my beautiful Wife and tell them I love them. Maybe my boys will pick up where they were stopped short?
Washington father attacked sons with hatchet before setting
blaze: Report
Published February 07, 2012
http://www.FoxNews.com
The monster who killed himself and his two young sons in a Washington house fire two years after his wife vanished reportedly attacked the boys with a hatchet before setting the blaze.
The sons of Josh Powell, who were just 7 and 5, suffered what police described as “chop wounds” to their heads and necks before the Graham, Wash., home went up in flames as a helpless social worker looked on Sunday. The cause of death for all three is believed to be smoke inhalation.
Sept. 23, 2011: Josh Powell is surrounded by reporters as he leaves a Pierce County courtroom in Tacoma, Wash.
The grisly new details emerged as investigators combed through the charred rubble of the home Monday and released new details about the horrifying climax to a long, bizarre saga.
“This was definitely a deliberate, planned-out event,” Pierce County Sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer said.
Investigators found two five-gallon gas cans in the rubble, supporting the theory that Powell, who had lost custody of the boys to his missing wife’s parents, had set an accelerated blaze after locking out the social worker who had brought young Charlie and Braden for a supervised visit.
Steve Richards, assistant chief of Graham Fire and Rescue, said responders arrived about three minutes after getting the call and found flames already through the roof.
“It was just devastation,” he said.
More details also emerged about Powell’s final preparations for his horrific murder-suicide. ABC News obtained what it says was a voicemail Powell left for his family members. In the recording played Tuesday on “Good Morning America,” Powell, who had been named a “person of interest” in his wife’s disappearance, says he’s calling to say goodbye, and that he’s sorry to everyone he’s hurt.
Jeffrey Bassett, who represented Powell in the custody case, said he received an ominous email from his client just minutes before the fire.
“I’m sorry, goodbye,” it read.
Authorities said Powell sent longer emails to some people, including his cousin and pastor, with instructions such as where to find his money and how to shut off his utilities. But none of the emails said anything about what happened to his wife.
The parents of Susan Powell, who went missing in December, 2009, from their Utah home, say the boys were playing happily Sunday and didn’t want to visit their father. Charlie and Braden shared a bedroom in the Cox’s Puyallup home since last fall, when they were removed from their father’s custody.
Charles and Judy Cox tell KIRO-TV that the grandmother talked them into a supervised child custody visit with their father. When the boys arrived at the Graham home where their father moved following the disappearance of his wife, their father barred the social worker from entering and then lit the house on fire.
The Washington Department of Social and Health Services said the social worker is “suffering from grave emotional trauma as a result of the horrific event.” Troyer said she did all she could do.
A candlelight vigil was held Sunday night for the boys outside the 7-year-old’s school in Puyallup. Chaplains have been counseling the Coxes.
Investigators in Washington are meeting with police from West Valley City, Utah, who have been looking for Susan Powell. The investigation will include a closer looks at Josh Powell’s last movements and messages.
Susan Powell, a 28-year-old mother of two, was reported missing Dec. 7, 2009, after she failed to show up for her stockbroker job in Utah.
Authorities in the couple’s hometown of West Valley City, about 10 miles outside Salt Lake City, quickly turned their attention to Josh Powell. He was a “person of interest” in the case, but had repeatedly denied any involvement in her disappearance.
“I would never even hurt her,” a tearful, red-eyed Josh Powell told CBS’ Early Show in August. “People who know me know that I could never hurt Susan.”
About a month later, police spent 12 days in the remote central Utah desert looking for clues, and Josh Powell and his father quickly disappeared from the limelight. The search area around Topaz Mountain, a popular spot for rock and gem hunters, was about 30 miles south of where Josh told police he went camping with his two children in the hours before his wife’s disappearance — his steadfast alibi.
On Sunday, the lawyer for Susan Powell’s parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, told the AP the children had started talking to their grandparents about things they remembered from the night their mother vanished.
Chuck Cox, who told KCPQ he believes Josh Powell killed his grandsons because authorities investigating Susan Powell’s disappearance were zeroing in on him, described a picture that Braden drew at preschool and a conversation he had with the boy.
“In the minivan there was Daddy, Charlie and Braden and then he said, ‘Mommy was in the trunk,’” Cox said. “Then he said they had stopped somewhere … ‘Mommy and Daddy got out, and Mommy didn’t come back.
Introduction to article by Jay Goodman, Feb 6th, 2012 4:22pm
Recently I lost my Grandmother and Grandfather on my Mom’s side of the family and this sparked a new-found interest in studying my family tree. Consequently, after my Grandmother died, my Mom died, and THEN my Grandfather. My Mom died of 3 aneurysms that dropped her out of nowhere at work. She barely lasted through the night and the next morning she had 2 more that killed her. I really didn’t know her that well anymore as my parents divorced when I was 9 and we lived with my Dad for the better part of my adolescent life until I left home to go to college. As she lay there dying, (and we could tell) all she could move was her right arm, which she did use to try to leave the hospital. (my Mom was stubborn and I definitely got THAT part of her!) She would constantly have tears coming out of her closed eyes, she could not speak and just lay there squeezing our hands the entire night. My sister Amy and I just sat there all night, at times getting sleep and at times sitting with her until she crashed the next morning. We would sing songs to her that she sang to us when we were little and she would REALLY cry and squeeze our hands. I think that meant a lot to her in her last hours on the earth. Joan Marie Schwartzer died on December 1st, 2001 and I miss her every day. Thank GOD I happened to find her 2 weeks before she died and got to know her again. I remember walking into the restaurant she managed and when she saw me she came up to me and said hi. I began to explain to her that I missed her, I wanted her back in my life, and I really wanted to get to know her again. I don’t think you could find a place on my head and neck that she didn’t kiss as I stood there in front of her, about a foot taller than her. She even grabbed me and pulled my head down as she showered me with kisses.
My Grandmother died of lung cancer that switched to colon cancer, and then back to the lungs again as it killed her. She had 6 children, 3 boys, and 3 girls. As she lay there dying, her entire family was around her, talking with her and hugging and kissing. They have a very close, religious Catholic familiy that I am very greatful for. My Grandpa Frank would play songs on his guitar for her, as she lay there and as she said her final goodbyes, and you could tell she was going, my Grandpa Frank picked her up in his arms and held her and said, “good-bye my beautiful Katie” and she said, “good-bye my Frankie, I love her” and as he said ”I love you too” she went.
My Grandfather died of lung cancer not a year later. I managed to barely teach him how to use a desktop and he never got to see anything better than that. I still keep his emails dear to my heart and had some good talks with him before he died. I also managed to get my beautiful Wife and Son to meet him and told me things that day that I’ll never soon forget. Stuff about what is most important when it all comes down to it, you know…those sorts of things. My Son was very little and will not remember him, but I remember that day.
I say all these things to get to the next part: I got a facebook message today from my Cousin on my Grandma Katie’s side of the family that my Great-Aunt Bonnie is now in the hospital with Pancreatic Cancer. She said that it runs in the family and I should get a screening done as soon as possible. Wow? I don’t know what to say. I mean, I am afraid of dying like the next person, but it really began to “re-change” my life today as I have been at work thinking about that. Then I started thinking of maybe changing my diet a bit. I am in fairly good shape. I do 1-2 Triathlons a year and I run and have a few sessions a month of good weight-bearing workouts. I jump-rope, and do Crossfit Endurance. I could be in FAR better shape though. I am about 10 pounds over the weight I should be at and my bodyfat is not bad, but it is not good. So I started thinking, are there special diets or foods I should avoid or take that may raise or lower my chances of developing Pancreatic Cancer? I learned that diets high in sugar lead to almost a 68% higher chance of developing the nasty killer. I have a diet high in sugar! I seem to not be able to get away from it and it is very frustrating for me. I don’t eat really bad, but I could eat much better. Anyway, I found this interesting article and thought I would sent it your way and see what you think.
As I hit the “publish” button and send this off to the internet, my Mom’s favorite band, ABBA, just started playing in the background. I KNOW she is watching over me and praying for me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, ever second and I have felt it in a heavenly perfect way since her death. Almost immediately after she died, my life started changing and I believe it is in part because she could now pray constantly for me with no human woes holding her back. I am taken back to the Christmas card I found recently to me, from my Mom. I know it was from her because of two things: 1) It said, “Merry Christmas to my beloved Son” and 2) It was blank inside…because I found it under her bed when we were cleaning out her apartment. She was JUST about to send me that card, and then she died.
Pancreatic Cancer Prevention and Diet
Some dietary choices may help prevent pancreatic cancer.
Cancer of the pancreas is one of the more serious forms of cancer. It’s fairly rare — accounting for fewer than 3 percent of cancers in America in 2008 — but it’s the fourth most common cause of cancer death.
If you get pancreatic cancer, you have about a 25 percent chance of living for a year. That’s why it’s important to do what you can to prevent the disease. Changing your dietary habits might help. And while experts still don’t know a lot about what you should do for this type of cancer prevention, research has found some clues.
“Diet-wise, we’ve had a few studies here and there, but no real convincing evidence that any specific food can help to prevent pancreatic cancer, or any specific food may have some specific role in causation,” says Maureen Huhmann, DCN, RD, a clinical dietitian at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
If people have an interest in pancreatic cancer prevention — perhaps because they have a family member with the disease — she can offer some general advice. “What I do recommend is a diet that has some animal protein — focusing more on chicken and fish, lots of fruits and vegetables and whole grains, and eliminating a lot of the white pasta and white bread. And try to get in different colors of fruits and vegetables,” she says.
Pancreatic Cancer Prevention: Dietary Changes
Here’s a look at some recent research on food and pancreatic cancer causes, which may give you more ideas on how to change your diet for cancer prevention.
Sweet foods.High levels of blood glucose (blood sugar) and insulin may play a role in pancreatic cancer. Some research found that people with the highest levels of glucose and insulin while they’re fasting have about twice the risk of pancreatic cancer as those with the lowest levels.One study found a higher risk of the disease in women who drank a lot of sugary soft drinks. Another found a higher risk in people who consumed more sugar (added to foods), soft drinks, and other sweet foods. Soft drinks with sugar cause your blood sugar to quickly rise, and a high-sugar diet could raise your pancreatic cancer risk by helping damage cells in the pancreas, the study contends.
However, a more recent and larger study didn’t find this association, so the true effect of sugar and cancer risk still remains to be seen.
Obesity.Making sure you don’t eat too many calories may help in pancreatic cancer prevention. A 2008 study of more than 300,000 older people found that very obese people had a 45 percent higher risk of the disease than those with normal weight. For women, the bigger the waist measurement, the higher the risk.Being obese can lead to higher blood sugar and insulin, the study suggests. Eating a healthy diet means cutting back on cakes, cookies, full-fat ice cream, sweet tea, and regular sodas, according to the American Diabetes Association. So avoiding weight gain is a good reason in itself to trim unneeded sugar from your diet.
Meat. A large 2007 study found that eating more meat (particularly red meat) and meat cooked at high temperatures was linked to a 41 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer in men. Grilling, barbecuing, and broiling the meat appeared to raise this risk. Another recent study found that eating lots of processed meats, like lunch meats, sausage, ham, and bacon, increased the risk of pancreatic cancer by 68 percent.
Although researchers aren’t completely sure how to prevent pancreatic cancer, making some healthy changes in what, and how much, you eat may lower your risk of pancreatic cancer. These same changes might improve your overall health and help to keep your waistline slimmer, too.
This article comes from the Flurry Smartphone Industry Pulse, August 2009.
The data in this report is computed from a sample size of over 2,00 live applications and over 200 million user sessions tracked each month across Apple (iPhone and iPod Touch), Google Android, Blackberry, JavaME platforms.
Understanding Mobile App Retention: They Use or You Lose
With more than 75,000 applications in the App Store, consumers have a vast choice of alternatives to the applications they have already downloaded. And while discovery of new applications is a challenge for consumers, retaining users can be equally difficult for developers. To shed light on the kinds of applications that tend to be used over a longer period of time, Flurry studied user retention across 19 categories over a 90-day period. We monitored if consumers returned to use a downloaded application within 30, 60 and 90-day periods, as well as how frequently consumers used applications over those time periods. Flurry measures user retention by the number of users who downloaded an application, at any time in the past, and used that app within the last seven days.
Reviewing the chart on the previous page, Quadrant I is comprised of the most frequently used apps over the longest period of time; categories like News and Reference (e.g., Dictionaries, Thesauruses, Recipes, etc.). Thinking about News apps, this makes sense given that news content is constantly being refreshed, providing consumers nearly infinite value over time. This logic continues to hold up when we consider that news apps get re-used more than once per day, at a rate of 11 times per week.
On the other end of the spectrum, in Quadrant III, we find the Entertainment category, which could better be described as a collection of “gimmick” apps (think Lighter, Fart, IQ Test and Ringtone apps). Once downloaded, these apps are typically used only a few times and then abandoned.
In Quadrant II, we find categories like Books and Games, among the two largest app categories in both the App Store and Android Market. These application categories are characterized, on average, by intense usage over a finite period of time. Because games and books offer content that typically is consumed only once, the user usually moves on after reading a book or finishing a game.
Finally, Quadrant IV contains Productivity (e.g., List, Drawing, Wi-Fi Finder apps), Navigation and Medical apps. These kinds of apps remain on a consumer’s handset for a long period of time, but get used only occasionally. Unlike “gimmick” apps, they are perceived as having sustainable value and therefore consistently revisited over time.
Mapping categories by usage frequency and retention also provides insights into pricing models. Quadrants I and IV (the right-hand side) are better suited, on average, to subscription (if supported by the respective app storefront) and advertising-supported models. The main reason is that these apps have perceived enduring value by consumers over a long period of time, and therefore more successfully retain their user bases. For ad-supported apps, this high repeat usage translates into more ad impressions served. Categories on the left-hand side, Quadrants II and III, are better suited for one-time download fees. Those apps may provide higher immediate satisfaction to users but their content, once consumed, rapidly loses their value.
For more data on retention by category, as well as frequency of use, we provide the chart below:
Susan G. Komen will forever be viewed by me as WEAK and SCARED of standing up for what is right and just and holy towards these unborn babies that are being killed literally every second in our Country! She at one point ended grants to Planned Parenthood and then she caved in, gave in, got scared and reversed the decision, losing all Credibility with MILLIONS of people! I am shocked and so upset at this having happened. Tweet this people! Tweet to Susan G. Komen and tell her to STOP Abortions!
Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced Friday it was reversing its decision to end grants to Planned Parenthood, after facing mounting pressure from pro-choice lawmakers and accusations that the breast cancer awareness organization had bowed to political influences.
“We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives,” the group said in a statement.
The statement from Komen founder Nancy Brinker and the Board of Directors defended the organization’s intentions. The group has claimed all along that its decision was not a political one and that it was merely setting responsible standards for grant money.
Apologizes for ‘recent decisions’ and promises to fund existing grants
“The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not,” the group said.
Komen announced that it would change that criteria. Originally, Planned Parenthood was disqualified because of criteria that barred funding to groups that are under investigation — Planned Parenthood is being probed by a Republican Florida congressman. Going forward, Komen will not count “political” investigations.
“Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair,” the group’s leadership said, adding that it would continue to fund Planned Parenthood grants and preserve the group’s eligibility for future grants.
The move is sure to draw heated complaints from anti-abortion groups, which applauded Komen for its original decision earlier this week.
Sandy Rios, vice president of Family-Pac Federal and a Fox News contributor, said the organization was clearly pressured by lawmakers.
“They are being pressured in every way. We are witnessing an absolute shakedown of an organization that simply wants to save the lives of women through cancer research,” she said.
But Planned Parenthood and its supporters declared victory Friday.
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, credited the “outpouring of support” over the past week.
“This compassionate outcry in support of those most in need rose above political, ideological, and cultural divides, and will surely be recognized as one of our nation’s better moments during a contentious political time,” she said. “We are enormously grateful that the Komen Foundation has clarified its grantmaking criteria, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Komen partners, leaders and volunteers.”
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi applauded the move. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called it a “huge win” for women. Murray was among 26 U.S. senators who had written Komen urging the group to reconsider its decision.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also got involved, announcing he would match up to $250,000 in donations to offset the expected funding cuts to Planned Parenthood.
TweetFrom Jay Goodman I am appalled that President Obama is getting away with this. I pray every single day that he is not the President come November 2012. I also pray that Mitt Romney is doing well, that he becomes our next President so he can help clean up the Government and make this Country […]
TweetPresident Obama….with all due respect, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE????? If you have forgotten, we ARE a Republic, ruled by Capitalism and a perfectly-tuned Government when ran correctly. Last time I checked, you are dealing with a form of Government that can reject your PATHETIC excuse for healthcare! I PRAY this gets turned down and […]
Tweet Mitt Romney At It Again: Trying to Distort and Twist to Hide His Own Record Verona, PA – Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum made the following comment in reaction to the claim he would vote for President Obama. Rick Santorum said: “I would never vote for Barack Obama over any Republican and to suggest otherwise is preposterous. This […]
Tweet ‘Pink Slime’ Will Be a Choice for School By Ben Forer– 3 hrs ago Enlarge Photo‘Pink Slime’ Will Be a Choice for Schools (ABC News) Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images ABC News has the learned that tomorrow the U.S. Department of Agriculture will announce that starting this fall, schools will be able to choose whether or not […]
TweetHey, Remember When Obama Campaigned on Gas Prices? February 24, 2012 By Lonely Conservative Buzz Feed has several of Obama’s 2008 campaign ads in which he railed against oil company profits, blamed John McCain and George W. Bush for high gas prices, and promised to bring down the price of gas by investing in alternative […]
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In today’s Gospel we see the healing of a leper (this means you and me). Leprosy in Scripture is more than just a physical illness, it is also a euphemism for sin. Leprosy itself is not sin, but it resembles sin and what sin does to us spiritually. For sin, like leprosy, disfigures us; it deteriorates us, it distances us (for Lepers had to live apart from the community), and it brings death if it is not checked. Yes, sin is a lot like leprosy.
I still keep his emails dear to my heart and had some good talks with him before he died. I also managed to get my beautiful Wife and Son to meet him and told me things that day that I’ll never soon forget. Stuff about what is most important when it all comes down to it, you know…those sorts of things. My Son was very little and will not remember him, but I remember that day.
