A crowd estimated in the hundreds of thousands gathered in Rome’s San Giovanni Square on June 20 to engage in a Family Day protest against a bill backed by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi that would create civil unions for same-sex couples. The square, adjacent to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, can hold an estimated 300,000 people, but the crowd of protesters overflowed beyond its boundaries, an AFP photographer said.
The bill that Renzi has attempted to push though Parliament would, in addition to establishing civil unions for homosexuals, provide for the teaching of “gender theories” in Italian schools. It passed the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of Parliament) on June 10 and must now be approved by the Senate. Renzi seeks a Senate vote on the legislation during the next few weeks, with the aim of it being enacted before the end of July. The prime minister is a member of Italy’s Democratic Party, which is often described as being “center-left,” but has inherited a legacy of socialism from its predecessors.
Italian Democrats were energized in their push for civil unions after voters in Ireland — which like Italy, has a large majority of Catholics — approved a referendum on May 23 legalizing same-sex “marriage by a 62.1-percent affirmative vote. Following that vote, Renzi said: “Civil unions [in Italy] cannot be delayed any longer.”
And Italy’s Democratic Party leader Roberto Speranza called the Irish vote a “joy,” adding that “now it is Italy’s turn.” Another party leader, Laura Boldrini, the president the Chamber of Deputies, tweeted an approving message on the day of the Irish referendum that translates as: “being European means recognizing rights.”
While the Democrats may be the strongest political party in Italy, with a large plurality in both houses of parliament, they still face formidable opposition to passage of their civil unions bill — particularly from the Catholic Church, which seems to have a stronger influence on Italian society that it does in Ireland, where most Catholic voters ignored a statement published by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference in opposition to its passage. (Read more from “Rome: Hundreds of Thousands Protest Against Same-Sex Unions” HERE)
The Islamic State group is training its next generation of fighters by locking them in a steel cage and forcing them to fight each other, a chilling new propaganda video has revealed.
The Daily Mail first reported that a seven minute-long video [at the bottom of this article] released by ISIS-linked social media accounts shows young boys, known as “cubs of the caliphate”, wrestling inside a giant ring encircled by black ISIS flags while an armed armed commander yells encouragement.
A later scene in the video, which is believed to have been filmed at an ISIS base in Iraq, shows the same commander beating the children with a stick as they move through an assault course, and then walking across their stomachs as they lay on the floor.
Other disturbing scenes in the propaganda video show the masked boys breaking tiles with their heads, practicing fighting moves and crawling through metal tubes as ISIS fighters fire rounds over their heads . . .
ISIS, which seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate throughout the Middle East, is notorious for using children to further their aims. In March, the militants released a disturbing video in which several of its fighters were shown cutting off the heads of eight men who were led to their execution by teenage boys. (Read more from “ISIS Releases Shocking Video of Young Boys Fighting in Locked Steel Cage” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-23 03:58:022016-04-11 10:59:45ISIS Releases Shocking Video of Young Boys Fighting in Locked Steel Cage [+videos]
American evangelical theologian and preacher Russell Moore contended that the “religious right” will eventually win the heated culture war issue of same-sex marriage. Regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court rules, he plans to stand by the definition of traditional marriage between a man and a woman.
In a phone interview conducted by Lila Shapiro of the Huffington Post, Moore elaborated on why he hasn’t thrown in the towel on standing up against same-sex marriage. He is currently president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
“I’ve been predicting for years that the court is hell-bent on imposing same-sex marriage on all 50 states, so that’s what I’m expecting the court to do,” Moore said. . .I didn’t want evangelicals caught flat-footed the way that evangelicals were by Roe v. Wade, not anticipating that any such thing could happen”. . .
“If the court rules as I anticipate, evangelicals will still stand where we’ve always stood on marriage — as a union of one man and one woman,” Moore said. “We have no option to capitulate on that, because marriage in a Christian vision of reality isn’t just a social contract. Marriage points to something beyond the natural order — the union of Christ and his church.”
Moore highlighted that Christians previously had to define traditional marriages throughout history. “That’s not a new situation for Christians — that’s what’s happening in the context of the New Testament, defining Christian marriage over and against a Greco-Roman sexual culture,” Moore said. “But it’s a new situation for American evangelicals.” (Read more from “Evangelical Theologian Russell Moore: Religious Right Has ‘No Option to Capitulate on’ Traditional Marriage” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00kathleenhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngkathleen2015-06-23 03:57:562016-04-11 10:59:45Evangelical Theologian Russell Moore: Religious Right Cannot Capitulate on Traditional Marriage, Will Eventually Win
A prison worker accused of helping two convicted killers break out of a maximum-security New York jail earlier this month smuggled them vital tools that were concealed inside frozen chunks of hamburger meat, according to a report published late Monday.
Joyce Mitchell, 51, has been charged with felony promoting prison contraband and misdemeanor criminal facilitation in connection with the escape of Richard Matt and David Sweat from Clinton County Correctional Facility on the night of June 5-6. Court documents allege that Mitchell provided the men with hacksaw blades, chisels, a punch and a screwdriver bit in the weeks prior to the escape.
Law enforcement sources told the New York Post that Mitchell came up with the idea to sneak the tools into the jail masked by the frozen food.
Meanwhile, authorities said they had recovered items from a remote cabin in northern New York state, near the Canadian border, that may be linked to Sweat and Matt.
State Police Maj. Charles Guess said at a news conference that authorities had “specific items” from the Adirondack cabin some 20 miles west of the prison and sent them to labs for DNA and other testing. He would not elaborate on the items but characterized the latest search effort — one of many over the past 17 days — as a confirmed lead. (Read more from “Hamburger Helper: Jail Worker Smuggled Tools to Killers in Meat” HERE)
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has “very advanced” and “very aggressive” cancer of the lymph nodes, but he said Monday he will continue to work as the state’s chief elected official.
Hogan said the cancer is B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He says it may be Stage 4, or at least a very advanced Stage 3.
He spoke at a hastily organized news conference in Annapolis, surrounded by members of his family and cabinet . . .
At the news conference with his wife, daughters, sons-in-law and granddaughter, Hogan said that he had noticed a painless lump along his jaw earlier this month. He also felt some back pain, which, he said, was caused by a tumor pressing on his spinal column.
While vowing to continue to work, Hogan allowed that he will miss days of work while undergoing intensive chemotherapy. He said he will lose his hair — “I won’t have these beautiful gray locks” — and maybe lose some weight. (Read more from “Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Says He Has Cancer of Lymph Nodes” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-23 03:57:342016-04-11 10:59:45Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Says He Has “Very Aggressive” Cancer of Lymph Nodes
Unmanned aerial vehicles are an integral part of the battlefield and now Microsoft is planning to enlist drone aircraft in the war on disease.
It has launched Project Premonition, a program designed to detect infectious disease in developing countries, reports Business Standard.
Drones would snatch up mosquitoes and scientists would examine them for signs that potentially harmful viruses are spreading.
The drones would be equipped with a new type of mosquito trap that uses less energy and is lighter weight.
A new bait system is designed to lure the flying insects into the trap. A sensor would automatically sort the mosquitoes from other bugs. Chemicals in the trap preserve the mosquitoes until they can be analyzed in a lab. (Read more from “Drones to Catch Mosquitoes in Effort to Combat Diseases” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-23 03:57:192016-04-11 10:59:45Drones to Catch Mosquitoes in Effort to Combat Diseases
Moosie is finally among his fellow moose in Alaska after spending two months traveling in a mattress.
In April, the 2-year-old tabby’s owners, Kymberly and Jesse Chelf, were packing up to move from El Paso, Texas, to Jesse’s new army assignment in Fairbanks, Alaska, when Moosie disappeared, reports the Associated Press.
“We just assumed he had run away, which was very unlike Moosie,” Kymberly Chelf said. “He’s just a very loyal, loving cat.”
The feline was still MIA when the movers arrived to begin the long 3,700-mile journey to the last frontier, so the Chelfs stayed behind three extra days searching for their beloved pet. Alas, their search turned up nothing . . .
It took 64 days for all of the belongings, cat-carrying futon included, to arrive in Fairbanks. As soon as the mattress was unwrapped and taken into the house, Moosie made his presence known, letting out his mightiest meow. (Read more from “Cat Survives 2-Month Move to Alaska Inside Mattress” HERE)
After [Chris] Wallace brought up the Charleston tragedy, he asked, “How do we stop the violence?
Rove replied: . . .
We saw an act of evil. Racist, bigoted evil, and to me the amazing thing is that it was met with grief and love. Think about how far we’ve come since 1963. The whole weight of the government throughout the South was to impede finding and holding and bringing to justice the men who perpetrated the [Birmingham] bombing.
And here, we saw an entire state, an entire community, an entire nation come together, grieving as one and united in the belief that this was an evil act, so we’ve come a long way.
Now maybe there’s some magic law that will keep us from having more of these. I mean basically the only way to guarantee that we will dramatically reduce acts of violence involving guns is to basically remove guns from society, and until somebody gets enough “oomph” to repeal the Second Amendment, that’s not going to happen.
(Read more from “Karl Rove Suggests Repeal of the Second Amendment?” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-22 03:58:562016-04-11 10:59:46Karl Rove Backing Repeal of the Second Amendment?
In a powerful open letter to conservative leaders, Mike Huckabee says the United States is moving inexorably toward the “criminalization of Christianity” due to the “false god of judicial supremacy.” He explains:
Under the U.S. Constitution, we have three, co-equal branches of government. The Supreme Court is not the Supreme Branch, and it is certainly not the Supreme Being. Throughout our nation’s history, the court has delivered backwards, broken rulings. These nine, unelected Supreme Court justices have rationalized the destruction of human life, defined African Americans as property and justified Japanese-American internment camps.
Along with many other pro-family activists, Gov. Huckabee is worried that the Supreme Court will redefine “the institution of marriage, which has existed for thousands and thousands of years, would overturn the will of American citizens in more than 30 states who have passed constitutional amendments defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”
The 2016 presidential candidate holds nothing back on the High Court, noting how it has rebelled against its Constitutional boundaries over the last fifty years:
The notion that the Supreme Court is an exclusive entity empowered to interpret the Constitution is a modern myth, which has flourished since the 1960s. I reject this idea as just another flawed, failed feature of big government, inconsistent with what our founders fought a revolution to establish.
Gov. Huckabee concludes by directly calling “on all GOP candidates to join me in this fight to defend the Constitution. If you lack the backbone to reject judicial tyranny and fight for religious liberty, you have no business serving our nation as President of the United States.”
Here is the full text of the letter along with the conservative leaders it was sent to:
Dear conservative leaders and pro-family activists,
I share your concerns regarding the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. As you mentioned, any decision that redefines the institution of marriage, which has existed for thousands and thousands of years, would overturn the will of American citizens in more than 30 states who have passed constitutional amendments defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Under the U.S. Constitution, we have three, co-equal branches of government. The Supreme Court is not the Supreme Branch, and it is certainly not the Supreme Being. Throughout our nation’s history, the court has delivered backwards, broken rulings. These nine, unelected Supreme Court justices have rationalized the destruction of human life, defined African Americans as property and justified Japanese-American internment camps.
The notion that the Supreme Court is an exclusive entity empowered to interpret the Constitution is a modern myth, which has flourished since the 1960s. I reject this idea as just another flawed, failed feature of big government, inconsistent with what our founders fought a revolution to establish.
As both an American and a candidate for president, I will never forget who I serve: my God, my country, and the U.S. Constitution.
I refuse to sit silently as politically driven interest groups threaten the foundation of religious liberty, criminalize Christianity, and demand that Americans abandon Biblical principles of natural marriage. I will fight to defend religious liberty at all costs.
I also refuse to surrender to the false god of judicial supremacy, which would allow black-robed and unelected judges the power to make law and enforce it, which upends the separation of powers so very central to our Constitution. Too much power concentrated in the courts is a threat to our Republic. I will fight judicial tyranny and return power to the people.
I call on all GOP candidates to join me in this fight to defend the Constitution. If you lack the backbone to reject judicial tyranny and fight for religious liberty, you have no business serving our nation as President of the United States.
Respectfully,
Governor Mike Huckabee
cc: Cathy Adams – President, Eagle Forum
Kerby Anderson – Host, Point of View radio talk show
Tad Armstrong – President, ELL Constitution Clubs
Ted Baehr – Publisher, www.movieguide.org
Brenda Baller
David Barton – President, WallBuilders
Gary Bauer – President, American Values
Jeffrey K. Beene – Colonel, USAF (retired)
Hon. J. Kenneth Blackwell – Visiting Professor, Liberty School of Law
Floyd Brown – President Western Center for Journalism
Brian Burch – President, CatholicVote.org Phil Burress – President, Citizens for Community Values Action
Joe R. Calvert – President, Rabon Calvert Interests, Inc.
Larry Cirignano – American Catholic Citizens
Clint Cline – President, Design4
Chaplain (COL) Ron Crews – Executive Director Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty
Hon. Ken Cuccinelli – President, Senate Conservatives Fund
Bill Dallas – CEO, United in Purpose
Steve Deace – USA Radio Network & Conservative Review
Tom DeLay – Former Congressman
Penna Dexter – Co-Host, Point of View Radio Show
James C. Dobson, Ph.D. – Founder and President, Family Talk
Tim Von Dohlen – President, St. John Paul II Life Center
Ken and Roberta Eldred – Living Stones Foundation
Bob Ellis – CEO, Dakota Voice LLC
Tricia Erickson – President, Angel Pictures & Publicity Publisher
William A. Estrada – Director of Federal Relations, Home School Legal Defense Association
Carol Everett – Chief Executive Officer, The Heidi Group
Kristin Fecteau – Co-Founder, Campaign to Free America
William J. Federer
Robert K. Fischer – Meeting Coordinator, Conservatives of Faith
Mark Fitzgibbons – President of Corporate Affairs, American Target Advertising, Inc.
Richard Ford – President, Heritage Alliance
Kevin Freeman
Dr. Jim Garlow – Pastor, Skyline Church
Gina Gleason – Executive Director, Faith and Public Policy
Thomas A. Glessner – President, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates
Kristan Hawkins – President, Students for Life of America
Kirk Hays
Donna Hearne – Constitutional Coalition
Dr. Carl Herbster – AdvanceUSA
Chuck Hurley, J.D. – Vice-president and Chief Counsel, The Family Leader
Harry R. Jackson Jr. – Hope Christian Church and The High Impact Leadership Coalition
Jerry A. Johnson, Ph.D. – President and CEO, National Religious Broadcasters
Finn Laursen – Executive Director, Christian Educators Association International
Dr. Richard Lee – There’s Hope America
Dr. Richard Land – Southern Evangelical Seminary
Tim LeFever – Chairman, Capitol Resource Institute
Loren Leman – Former Legislator and Lieutenant Governor, Alaska
Matt Mackowiak – Fight For Tomorrow
Joseph Mattera
Bradley Mattes – President, Life Issues Institute
Kevin McGary – Chairman and President, Frederick Douglass Foundation of Ca.
Joe Miller – President, Restoring Liberty
Tom Minnery – President & CEO, Citizenlink
Len Munsil, J.D. – President, Arizona Christian University
William J. Murray – Chairman, Religious Freedom Coalition
Penny Nance – President and CEO, Concerned Women for America
Rev. Dean Nelson – Chairman, Frederick Douglass Foundation
Troy Newman – President, Operation Rescue and ProLife Nation
C. Preston Noell, III – President, Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Paige Patterson, PhD – President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Bob Pearle – Birchman Baptist Church
Tony Perkins – President, Family Research Council President, Council for National Policy
Judson Phillips – Tea Party Nation
Everett Piper – President, Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bob Vander Plaats – President/CEO, The FAMiLY LEADER
Janet (Folger) Porter – Producer and Documentarian
Dr. Robert (Bob) Reccord – Former Executive Director, Council for National Policy
Elizabeth B. Rex, Ph.D., MBA – President, The Children First Foundation
Richard Rios – Christian Coalition, California Chairman
Rabbi Yaakov Rosenblatt – Congregation Ohr Ha Torah, Dallas, TX
Austin Ruse – President, Center for Family & Human Rights
Nancy Schulze – Founder, Republican Congressional Wives Speakers
Mat Staver – Founder and Chairman, Liberty Counsel
Steve Strang – CEO/Founder, Charisma Media
Frank & Sarah Teed – Arkansas Eye Surgery
Eric Teetsel – Executive Director, Manhattan Declaration
Mark Tooley – President, Institute on Religion and Democracy
Patrick A. Trueman – Attorney at Law, Washington, DC
Richard A Viguerie – Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com
Eric M. Wallace, PhD – President & Co-founder, Freedom’s Journal Institute
Jennifer L. Wallace – Co-founder, Freedom’s Journal Institute
C. Richard Wells – President, John Witherspoon College Rapid City, South Dakota
C. Frederick Wehba – Founder, Bentley Forbes
Dr. Donald E. Wildmon – Founder and Chairman Emeritus, American Family Association
Tim Wildmon – President, American Family Association
Walt Wilson – Founder & Chairman, Global Media Outreach
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-22 03:58:442016-04-11 10:59:46Gov. Mike Huckabee Calls on All GOP Candidates To “Reject Judicial Tyranny and Fight for Religious Liberty”
The manager of one of Britain’s biggest bond funds has urged investors to keep cash under the mattress.
Ian Spreadbury, who invests more than £4bn of investors’ money across a handful of bond funds for Fidelity, including the flagship Moneybuilder Income fund, is concerned that a “systemic event” could rock markets, possibly similar in magnitude to the financial crisis of 2008, which began in Britain with a run on Northern Rock . . .
The best strategy to deal with this, he said, was for investors to spread their money widely into different assets, including gold and silver, as well as cash in savings accounts. But he went further, suggesting it was wise to hold some “physical cash”, an unusual suggestion from a mainstream fund manager.
His concern is that global debt – particularly mortgage debt – has been pumped up to record levels, made possible by exceptionally low interest rates that could soon end, and he is unsure how well banks could cope with the shocks that may await.
He pointed out that a saver was covered only up to £85,000 per bank under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme – which is effectively unfunded – and that the Government has said it will not rescue banks in future, hence his suggestion that some money should be held in physical cash. (Read more from “‘It’s Time to Hold Physical Cash,’ Says Senior Fund Manager” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-22 03:58:282016-04-11 10:59:46‘It’s Time to Hold Physical Cash,’ Says Senior Fund Manager
