Archive | April 14, 2012

EWTN.com – Over 40 Cuban Dissidents Arrested In New Wave Of Repression

Apr14

EWTN.com – Over 40 Cuban Dissidents Arrested In New Wave Of Repression.

Direct Quotation from a Catholic News Agency (CNA) article, quoted by EWTN News.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, CUBA, April 9 (CNA) .- The Cuban Commission on Human Rights reported that 43 dissidents have been detained by the Communist government in a new wave of repression launched on April 2 in the city of Santiago.

Former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer and his wife, Belkis Cantillo, a member of the Women in White, were among those arrested.

‘We have been able to confirm that 43 dissidents have been detained ‘ 10 women and 33 men ‘ during the wave of repression on Monday in Santiago de Cuba, and all remain under arrest,’ Elizardo Sanchez of the Cuban Commission on Human Right said on April 4.

He said that most of them belong to the Patriotic Union of Cuba, a dissident movement that supports a peaceful transition to democracy.

In a statement sent to CNA on April 4, the Patriotic Union of Cuba said the repression began on Monday morning, when ten activists in the town of El Caney ‘gathered at the home of coordinator Guillermo Cobas to peacefully protest’ the incarceration of Andres Carrion Alvares, Rogelio Tabio Lopez and Bismark Mustelier Galan.

Alvares shouted ‘down with Communism’ before Pope Benedict XVI’s Mass in Santiago during the pontiff’s March 25-28 visit to the country, Lopez was detained last month in Guantanamo, and Galan was arrested in Palma Soriano.

The Union said similar protests held in other parts of the province of Santiago were also squashed by state police, who ransacked the home of Jose Daniel Ferrer and arrested him, his wife and five other dissidents.

Twenty-six other dissidents were arrested at the home of Raumel Vinajera, the coordinator for the Patriotic Union in Palma Soriano. Ten more were detained in the town of Vista Hermosa.

Jose Daniel Ferrer was one of the 75 dissidents arrested during what’s known as the Black Spring of 2003. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison but was released in 2011 thanks to the intervention of the Church in Cuba.

I Offered it up…

Apr14

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Last night, and until mid-afternoon I was very sick. And, I’m very worn out, still.

I thought of “offering it up” as a switch-places kind of prayer, to God, for anyone in prison for being as a political or religious prisoner.

I traded my inability to rest while sick, so that those prisoners facing death in the morning could experience great peace, so that they could pray until morning. I prayed that, when they had to face their execution, that they would be at Peace with God and their enemies.

I will not know, to whom my illness helped, until I get to heaven. I only ask that they pray for me and my loved ones too.

At Fatima; the Angel taught the 3 kids, to pray this prayer, when they offered up a penance…

“Oh my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

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Obama tries to woo Latin America, agents embarrass U.S. (Reuters) Obama listens to Legal Drug Rhetoric

Apr14

Obama tries to woo Latin America, agents embarrass U.S.

“”I don’t mind a debate around issues like decriminalization. I personally don’t agree that’s a solution to the problem,” Obama said. “But I think that given the pressures that a lot of governments are under here, under-resourced, overwhelmed by violence, it’s completely understandable that they would look for new approaches, and we want to cooperate with them.”

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My Two Cents Worth

Obama is part of the problem. He bailed out money-laundering Banks, in 2009. And, in the 1990′s took and bought illegal drugs.

He is open to “new approaches?” Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Stupid!

You don’t play “blind, dumb or stupid” to Drug Cartel Countries like Columbia!

It’s like The Kettle calling the Pot, Black. (And, no. I am not making a racial slur. It refers to hypocrisy, in Politics!)

Legalizing Drugs is a STUPID IDEA!

Prostitution, Porn and Drugs go along with these VICES!

I cannot believe North American, Caribbean and South American Countries can be so STUPID and BLIND!

Oh yeah, I want to follow those Guys posing as Big Shot Leaders? ….NOT!

As a Catholic I am going to Follow Jesus … Not these Yahoo’s!

Secret Service dismissals “biggest scandal” for agency

Apr14

CBSNews.Com/FullStory…

[Whole article is a Direct Quotation]


“(CBS News) Ronald Kessler, best-selling author of “In the President’s Service” and a former reporter for The Washington Post, called the dismissal of 12 Secret Service members in Columbia prior to President Obama’s arrival there “the biggest scandal in Secret Service history.”

Secret Service confirms members’ removal

According to CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante, a source in the Secret Service told CBS News that one or more of the officers was involved with prostitutes and that there was a dispute over payment. One prostitute went to the police, who notified the State Department.

Two of the Secret Service personnel sent home were supervisors, Plante said; the rest were part of a detail assigned to logistics. None of those relieved of duty was a member of the president’s protective detail.

On “CBS This Morning: Saturday,” Kessler said the Secret Service has a culture of corner-cutting.

“They don’t have enough agents, they don’t even put people through metal detectors sometimes because there’s pressure to let everybody in,” Kessler said. “It’s like letting passengers in an airplane without putting them through metal detectors. They don’t keep up-to-date with the latest firearms. They don’t even do physical tests. So, it’s a culture that leads to this kind of problem.”

Kessler pointed to a couple crashing a White House state dinner without an invitation as an example of a potential security threat.

He said that Mark Sullivan, director of the Secret Service, should have been fired after the fiasco involving gate-crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi, but has continued in the same position because of President Barack Obama’s confidence in the agency.”

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My 2 Cents Worth

Obama does not seem to correct his own circle, when they “Act Out” in ways he has, in the past. Admirable? Hardly. This makes The USA look bad, Internationally. We loose credibility.

We cannot afford, that. From Democrats or Republicans. If there are no longer any Moral Parameters left, in the US Government, then why are we able to point out the Faults of Other Countries like: Cuba, Venezuela or Iran?

We knock out, the legs we stand on, with the lowered moral expectations of those in US Secret Service and US Civil Service. I feel sorry for these Secret Service Officer’s Wives and Children.

And, yes, they could have compromised President Obama’s safety or that of his wife and family, if they are traveling, with him.

From the Negotiating Stand Point, we have strained that, as I said before.

All I can do is report it and pray for all involved, and for the President and his family and the success of this Conference in Cartagena, Columbia.

Bl Peter Gonzales (St Elmo)

Apr14

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Patron Saint of Sailors, he lived from 1190-1246. His Feast Day is April 14. He lived in Spain.

Quotations from: Catholic.org

“Peter Gonzales, also known as St. Elmo or St. Telmo, was born to a Castilian family of nobility. He was educated by his uncle, the Bishop of Astorga, named canon of the local cathedral, famous for his penances and mortifications, joined the Dominican Order, preached and made chaplain of the court of King St. Ferdinand III. He converted and influenced the soldiers of his country, evangelized, and died on Easter Sunday. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741. Peter evangelized throughout his country and all along the coast. He had a special fondness for sailors. He used to visit them aboard their ships, preaching the Gospel and praying for their needs. His feast day is April 14th.”

The Protomartyrs of China

Apr14

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From: The Dominican Province of St Joseph Website

“The Protomartyr of China, St. Francis de Capillas (1607-1648, feast – Jan. 15) shed his blood in China, consecrating the ground and preparing it for the other 133 Chinese martyrs who would offer their lives for the spread of the Gospel within the following century.”

“The Dominican Martyrs of China died between 1648 and 1748. They bore heroic witness to the Truth of the Gospel. Through enduring the tortures and cruelties they suffered, they showed that there was something deeper and more important to seek than worldly comfort. During his stay in prison, St. Francis de Capillas wrote,”

“”I am here with other prisoners and we have developed a fellowship. They ask me about the Gospel of the Lord. I am not concerned about getting out of here because here I know I am doing the will of God. They do not let me stay up at night to pray, so I pray in bed before dawn. I live here in great joy without any worry, knowing that I am here because of Jesus Christ. The pearls I have found here these days are not always easy to find.”"

“When Saints Peter Sanz, Francis Serrano, John Alcober, Joachim Royo, and Francis Diaz were asked if they could feel the pain from their torture, St. Peter Sanz responded, “Indeed I do, but I think of my Savior’s sufferings.” The guards didn’t understand them because they continued to evangelize even amidst the grueling conditions of their imprisonment.”