Click here to view this media Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said Thursday that Americans are alarmed that President Barack Obama may cut defense spending at a time when the Soviet Union is becoming a power in the world. “When you are traveling — I know you are in South Carolina now, you’re obviously in Iowa, you’re up in New Hampshire — are you hearing different things in these states?” Christian radio host Jay Sekulow asked the candidate. “I would say it’s a unified message,” Bachmann explained. “It really is about jobs and the economy. That doesn’t mean people haven’t [sic] forgotten about protecting life and marriage and the sanctity of the family. People are very concerned about that as well.” “But what people recognize is that there’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward. And especially with this very bad debt ceiling bill, what we have done is given a favor to President Obama and the first thing he’ll whack is five hundred billion out of the military defense at a time when we’re fighting three wars. People recognize that.” The Soviet Union collapsed and was formally dissolved on December 26, 1991 after Gorbachev resigned as President and the Supreme Soviet ended.
Continue reading …Click here to view this media Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said Thursday that Americans are alarmed that President Barack Obama may cut defense spending at a time when the Soviet Union is becoming a power in the world. “When you are traveling — I know you are in South Carolina now, you’re obviously in Iowa, you’re up in New Hampshire — are you hearing different things in these states?” Christian radio host Jay Sekulow asked the candidate. “I would say it’s a unified message,” Bachmann explained. “It really is about jobs and the economy. That doesn’t mean people haven’t [sic] forgotten about protecting life and marriage and the sanctity of the family. People are very concerned about that as well.” “But what people recognize is that there’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward. And especially with this very bad debt ceiling bill, what we have done is given a favor to President Obama and the first thing he’ll whack is five hundred billion out of the military defense at a time when we’re fighting three wars. People recognize that.” The Soviet Union collapsed and was formally dissolved on December 26, 1991 after Gorbachev resigned as President and the Supreme Soviet ended.
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Former leader and his wife charged with economic crimes, including theft, embezzlement of public funds and pillage Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo and his wife, Simone, have been formally charged with “economic crimes”, the first legal proceedings against the couple since they were ousted from power and put under house arrest in April . Legal experts in the west African state say they expect further charges related to alleged “blood crimes” and possible human rights abuses against the couple. As President Alassane Ouattara’s government closes the net around former regime members suspected of using violence to hold on to power and looting the public treasury, there is growing criticism of the new administration, which has been accused of carrying out extrajudicial executions and arrests. Gbagbo’s refusal to relinquish power after he was defeated in a general election in November 2010 by Ouattara sparked four months of conflict and two weeks of civil war that left an estimated 3,000 people dead. Since being ousted by Ouattara’s forces, helped by troops from France and the United Nations, Gbagbo, 66, and his wife, 62, have been under house arrest separately. At a press conference on Thursday, the Ivorian state prosecutor Simplice Kouadia Koffi said the couple were accused of “aggravated theft, attacks on the national economy, embezzlement of public funds and pillage”. They were taken into custody and transported to a prison at Odiénné, in the north of the country. Their arrest brings to 80 the number of supporters of the former regime detained since the end of the conflict, including Gbagbo’s French-born son, Michel, 41, a professor at Abidjan University. Ivorian authorities arrested 57 pro-Gbagbo soldiers and charged them with crimes including murder, kidnapping, attacking state security and buying illegal arms, in the past week. Ouattara’s government hopes that the international criminal court in The Hague will open an official inquiry into the unrest and try the former presidential couple for crimes against humanity. However, several international NGOs have accused the current government of enforcing the “justice of the victorious”. Last week the UN mission in the country claimed members of the ruling government’s security forces, the FRCI, had carried out “extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions”. Amnesty International has also accused government forces of carrying out reprisals against those seen as pro-Gbagbo. Laurent Gbagbo Ivory Coast Africa Kim Willsher guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Former leader and his wife charged with economic crimes, including theft, embezzlement of public funds and pillage Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo and his wife, Simone, have been formally charged with “economic crimes”, the first legal proceedings against the couple since they were ousted from power and put under house arrest in April . Legal experts in the west African state say they expect further charges related to alleged “blood crimes” and possible human rights abuses against the couple. As President Alassane Ouattara’s government closes the net around former regime members suspected of using violence to hold on to power and looting the public treasury, there is growing criticism of the new administration, which has been accused of carrying out extrajudicial executions and arrests. Gbagbo’s refusal to relinquish power after he was defeated in a general election in November 2010 by Ouattara sparked four months of conflict and two weeks of civil war that left an estimated 3,000 people dead. Since being ousted by Ouattara’s forces, helped by troops from France and the United Nations, Gbagbo, 66, and his wife, 62, have been under house arrest separately. At a press conference on Thursday, the Ivorian state prosecutor Simplice Kouadia Koffi said the couple were accused of “aggravated theft, attacks on the national economy, embezzlement of public funds and pillage”. They were taken into custody and transported to a prison at Odiénné, in the north of the country. Their arrest brings to 80 the number of supporters of the former regime detained since the end of the conflict, including Gbagbo’s French-born son, Michel, 41, a professor at Abidjan University. Ivorian authorities arrested 57 pro-Gbagbo soldiers and charged them with crimes including murder, kidnapping, attacking state security and buying illegal arms, in the past week. Ouattara’s government hopes that the international criminal court in The Hague will open an official inquiry into the unrest and try the former presidential couple for crimes against humanity. However, several international NGOs have accused the current government of enforcing the “justice of the victorious”. Last week the UN mission in the country claimed members of the ruling government’s security forces, the FRCI, had carried out “extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions”. Amnesty International has also accused government forces of carrying out reprisals against those seen as pro-Gbagbo. Laurent Gbagbo Ivory Coast Africa Kim Willsher guardian.co.uk
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Growth in prison population following riots means parts of the system are becoming ‘human warehouses’, experts warn The prison population in England and Wales has hit a record high of 86,654 following the courts decision to remand hundreds charged with rioting and looting in custody. The Ministry of Justice said the prison population had risen by 723 over the past week. Officials are making contingency plans to accelerate the opening of new prison buildings and bring mothballed accommodation back into use. There are currently only 1,439 spare useable places left in the jail system, but prison chiefs say they remain confident they have enough to cope with those being imprisoned by the courts in relation to the recent riots. “We are developing contingencies to increase useable capacity should further pressure be placed on the prison estate,” a prison service spokesperson said. It is thought the plans include opening accommodation at the newIsis prison next to Belmarsh in east London earlier than expected, and bringing back into use a wing at Lewes prison, east Sussex, which had been closed for refurbishment, back into use. The prison service said that they currently have no plans to reverse the decision to close two prisons – Latchmere House in London, and Brockhill in Redditch – next month. “We are managing an unprecedented situation and all the staff involved should be commended for their dedication and hard work during this difficult time,” said a prison service spokesperson. “We currently have enough prison places for those being remanded and sentenced to custody as a result of public disorder.” The use of emergency police cells known as Operation Safeguard is the normal safety valve when the prison service is running out of space, but this is not currently a possibility as police forces need to keep holding capacity on standby to deal with further possible disturbances. The pressure is particulary acute in London, where current inmates are being moved out of the capital to other institutions in order to free up space. Geoff Dobson, the deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust, said the rapid increase in prison numbers meant that some parts of the system were “becoming human warehouses, doing little more than banging people up in overcrowded conditions, with regimes that are hard pressed to offer any employment or education. The likelihood is that for some first time offenders that will provide a fast-track to a criminal career”. His concerns were shared by Paul McDowell, the chief executive of Nacro, the crime reduction charity, and former governor of Brixton prison, who also warned that rehabilitation work to tackle reoffending would simply go by the board as jails try to cope with the rapid rise in prisoner numbers. Labour’s prison spokesperson, Helen Goodman, said she was becoming increasingly concerned about the level of remaining capacity. “The violence that was seen on the streets of Britain last week must be punished, but the Tory-led government also have a responsibility to ensure that the sentences handed down are being served safely,” she said. “Since May last year this Tory-led government has scrapped the prison building programme and closed four prisons, which has reduced prison capacity even further. “The prison population has reached a record high and prison and probation officers are being increasingly overstretched. It is vital for public safety and for security in our prisons and the youth secure estate that prison and probation staff get the resources and support they need,” she said. Prisons and probation Police UK riots Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Growth in prison population following riots means parts of the system are becoming ‘human warehouses’, experts warn The prison population in England and Wales has hit a record high of 86,654 following the courts decision to remand hundreds charged with rioting and looting in custody. The Ministry of Justice said the prison population had risen by 723 over the past week. Officials are making contingency plans to accelerate the opening of new prison buildings and bring mothballed accommodation back into use. There are currently only 1,439 spare useable places left in the jail system, but prison chiefs say they remain confident they have enough to cope with those being imprisoned by the courts in relation to the recent riots. “We are developing contingencies to increase useable capacity should further pressure be placed on the prison estate,” a prison service spokesperson said. It is thought the plans include opening accommodation at the newIsis prison next to Belmarsh in east London earlier than expected, and bringing back into use a wing at Lewes prison, east Sussex, which had been closed for refurbishment, back into use. The prison service said that they currently have no plans to reverse the decision to close two prisons – Latchmere House in London, and Brockhill in Redditch – next month. “We are managing an unprecedented situation and all the staff involved should be commended for their dedication and hard work during this difficult time,” said a prison service spokesperson. “We currently have enough prison places for those being remanded and sentenced to custody as a result of public disorder.” The use of emergency police cells known as Operation Safeguard is the normal safety valve when the prison service is running out of space, but this is not currently a possibility as police forces need to keep holding capacity on standby to deal with further possible disturbances. The pressure is particulary acute in London, where current inmates are being moved out of the capital to other institutions in order to free up space. Geoff Dobson, the deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust, said the rapid increase in prison numbers meant that some parts of the system were “becoming human warehouses, doing little more than banging people up in overcrowded conditions, with regimes that are hard pressed to offer any employment or education. The likelihood is that for some first time offenders that will provide a fast-track to a criminal career”. His concerns were shared by Paul McDowell, the chief executive of Nacro, the crime reduction charity, and former governor of Brixton prison, who also warned that rehabilitation work to tackle reoffending would simply go by the board as jails try to cope with the rapid rise in prisoner numbers. Labour’s prison spokesperson, Helen Goodman, said she was becoming increasingly concerned about the level of remaining capacity. “The violence that was seen on the streets of Britain last week must be punished, but the Tory-led government also have a responsibility to ensure that the sentences handed down are being served safely,” she said. “Since May last year this Tory-led government has scrapped the prison building programme and closed four prisons, which has reduced prison capacity even further. “The prison population has reached a record high and prison and probation officers are being increasingly overstretched. It is vital for public safety and for security in our prisons and the youth secure estate that prison and probation staff get the resources and support they need,” she said. Prisons and probation Police UK riots Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Goldman Sachs VP Changes His Name, Goes To Work For Issa Protecting…Goldman Sachs!
August 19, 2011 No Comment
Is there no end to the perfidy of Wall Street and their enablers? Even for Darrell Issa, who’s been known to boost a car or two, this is truly outrageous : enlarge Peter Haller Simonyi. Has Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) turned the House Oversight Committee into a bank lobbying firm with the power to subpoena and pressure government regulators? ThinkProgress has found that a Goldman Sachs vice president changed his name, then later went to work for Issa to coordinate his effort to thwart regulations that affect Goldman Sachs’ bottom line. In July, Issa sent a letter to top government regulators demanding that they back off and provide more justification for new margin requirements for financial firms dealing in derivatives. A standard practice on Capitol Hill is to end a letter to a government agency with contact information for the congressional staffer responsible for working on the issue for the committee. In most cases, the contact staffer is the one who actually writes such letters. With this in mind, it is important to note that the Issa letter ended with contact information for Peter Haller, a staffer hired this year to work for Issa on the Oversight Committee.Issa’s demand to regulators is exactly what banks have been wishing for. Indeed, Goldman Sachs has spent millions this year trying to slow down the implementation of the new rules. In the letter, Issa explicitly mentions that the new derivative regulations might hurt brokers “such as Goldman Sachs .”Haller, as he is now known, went by the name Peter Simonyi until three years ago. Simonyi adopted his mother’s maiden name Haller in 2008 shortly after leaving Goldman Sachs as a vice president of the bank’s commodity compliance group. In a few short years, Haller went from being in charge of dealing with regulators for Goldman Sachs to working for Congress in a position where he made official demands from regulators overseeing his old firm. It’s not the first time Haller has worked the revolving door to help out Goldman Sachs. According to a report by the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight, Haller — then known as Peter Simonyi — left the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2005 to work for Goldman Sachs, then quickly began lobbying his colleagues at the SEC on behalf of his new firm. At one point, Haller was requiring to issue a letter to the SEC stating that he did not violate ethics rules and the SEC agreed.
Continue reading …Goldman Sachs VP Changes His Name, Goes To Work For Issa Protecting…Goldman Sachs!
August 19, 2011 No Comment
Is there no end to the perfidy of Wall Street and their enablers? Even for Darrell Issa, who’s been known to boost a car or two, this is truly outrageous : enlarge Peter Haller Simonyi. Has Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) turned the House Oversight Committee into a bank lobbying firm with the power to subpoena and pressure government regulators? ThinkProgress has found that a Goldman Sachs vice president changed his name, then later went to work for Issa to coordinate his effort to thwart regulations that affect Goldman Sachs’ bottom line. In July, Issa sent a letter to top government regulators demanding that they back off and provide more justification for new margin requirements for financial firms dealing in derivatives. A standard practice on Capitol Hill is to end a letter to a government agency with contact information for the congressional staffer responsible for working on the issue for the committee. In most cases, the contact staffer is the one who actually writes such letters. With this in mind, it is important to note that the Issa letter ended with contact information for Peter Haller, a staffer hired this year to work for Issa on the Oversight Committee.Issa’s demand to regulators is exactly what banks have been wishing for. Indeed, Goldman Sachs has spent millions this year trying to slow down the implementation of the new rules. In the letter, Issa explicitly mentions that the new derivative regulations might hurt brokers “such as Goldman Sachs .”Haller, as he is now known, went by the name Peter Simonyi until three years ago. Simonyi adopted his mother’s maiden name Haller in 2008 shortly after leaving Goldman Sachs as a vice president of the bank’s commodity compliance group. In a few short years, Haller went from being in charge of dealing with regulators for Goldman Sachs to working for Congress in a position where he made official demands from regulators overseeing his old firm. It’s not the first time Haller has worked the revolving door to help out Goldman Sachs. According to a report by the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight, Haller — then known as Peter Simonyi — left the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2005 to work for Goldman Sachs, then quickly began lobbying his colleagues at the SEC on behalf of his new firm. At one point, Haller was requiring to issue a letter to the SEC stating that he did not violate ethics rules and the SEC agreed.
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On Thursday's All Things Considered, NPR's Lauren Frayer emphasized the trend towards secularization in Spain during a report on Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the country for World Youth Day. Just as she did almost a week earlier, Frayer couldn't find any local supporters of the Pope, and completely misreported how the Catholic Church extended pastoral support to women who had abortions. Host Robert Spiegel noted in his introduction for the correspondent's report that ” Spain and its view of the Catholic Church have changed radically in recent decades .” Unlike her report on August 12 , Frayer did play two sound bites of Catholic youth who were happy to see the pontiff, but only from two Americans. But after playing her first clip, she highlighted how ” thousands of angry protesters forced their way through police barricades … shouting, 'out, out.' ” The NPR correspondent then played two sound bites from one of the demonstrators, a self-confessed atheist: FRAYER: .. .For 500 years, Spain spread Catholicism around the world. Now, it's embraced secularism in a single generation. ROCIO CANGAS: Basically, I don't believe in God. FRAYER: Rocio Cangas is one of those protesting the cost of the Pope's visit, and what she calls an outdated link between church and state. CANGAS: A lot of people have children now who are not brought up in the Catholic Church, and parents who don't believe in God- and basically, they bring up their children to be atheists, more than ever. She also emphasized how ” most of the papal audience is foreign ,” and reenforced the impression of rampant secularism in Spain by stating that ” Spain is one of the least religious places in Europe, in terms of seeing the Church as a guide for moral values .” This doesn't give a completely accurate impression of the Iberian country. About five months earlier, The Christian Post website reported that ” between 130,000 and 160,000 people demonstrated in central Madrid , Spain, on Saturday [March 26] against laws that make abortion easier .” Over a million, or about two percent of the entire population of Spain, participated in an earlier pro-life demonstration in October 2009. Later, Frayer gave a further indication of the secularization of the formerly Catholic country, just before giving her inaccurate reporting on the Church's outreach to post-abortive women: FRAYER: Spaniards have .. .seen abortion and gay marriage legalized, and crucifixes taken down from the walls of their schools. Church doctrine changes more slowly . In a rare move, the Vatican is offering to forgive women who've had abortions, if they confess at World Youth Day. They won't be excommunicated, as is normally the case. Kathryn Jean Lopez of the National Review devoted a Thursday column on the website of the National Catholic Register to correcting the mainstream media's complete misconstruing of the Church's action: …[ T ] his abortion-forgiveness issue is not a one-time only or particularly rare opportunity . As one U.S.-based, Rome-trained priest on his way to Madrid pointed out, the position of those confessors is not all that rare, at least not for Americans. “Such faculties to remove the censure incurred by abortion (when someone has an abortion knowing it is a de facto…excommunicable offense) are normal in the U.S. Basically every bishop gives it to every priest who hears confessions because abortion is rather common, especially among women who have been away from the sacrament for awhile . Without it, if someone came to confess an abortion, a priest would need to ask permission anonymously of the diocese or the sacred penitentiary at the Vatican for the ability to remove the censure incurred so that he could absolve the sins. In ordinary parish work, it's not too much to ask someone to come back tomorrow. But that would be practically impossible at WYD for a particular penitent to find a particular confessor again. This is such a no-brainer from the sacramental point of view — and is ordinary for the course, at least in the U.S.” No less than the Pope in Rome, the now Blessed Pope John Paul II, wrote explicitly , in his 1995 encyclical on Evangelium Vitae: ” I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion . The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed…. But do not give in to discouragement, and do not lose hope. Try, rather, to understand what happened, and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the sacrament of reconciliation .” This is just the latest example of the sloppy, to say the least, reporting about Christianity, and specifically, Catholicism, by the liberal media. Near the end of her report, Frayer revisited her liberal talking point from her earlier report that ” tax breaks granted to World Youth Day's corporate sponsors, which mean that, ultimately, taxpayers foot at least part of the $70 million bill .” But she also finally acknowledged that ” Catholic organizers say it's not only goodwill they're spreading. It's also millions of dollars of tourist revenue .” Who would have thought, given the hundreds of thousands in attendance from around the world? The full transcript of Lauren Frayer's report from Thursday's All Things Considered: ROBERT SIEGEL: Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Madrid today. He's there to celebrate World Youth Day with Catholic pilgrims from around the world. But, as Lauren Frayer reports, Spain and its view of the Catholic Church have changed radically in recent decades. LAUREN FRAYER: Regal music is piped through the streets of Madrid as the Popemobile rolls by. The faithful fall to their knees. Up to a million Catholics are here, including Sara Vallarta from Laredo, Texas. SARA VALLARTA: It's been an awesome experience. It's incredible, you know, the amount of people that are here, coming all together with their faith. FRAYER: But just hours ago, thousands of angry protesters forced their way through police barricades on the same thoroughfare. (audio clip of protesting chanting) The number of protesters shouting, 'out, out,' is only a fraction of those here to see the Pope. But the presence of both groups gets to the heart of modern Spain. For 500 years, Spain spread Catholicism around the world. Now, it's embraced secularism in a single generation. ROCIO CANGAS: Basically, I don't believe in God. FRAYER: Rocio Cangas is one of those protesting the cost of the Pope's visit, and what she calls an outdated link between church and state. CANGAS: A lot of people have children now who are not brought up in the Catholic Church, and parents who don't believe in God- and basically, they bring up their children to be atheists, more than ever. FRAYER: Most of the papal audience is foreign. Madrid clears out in August, as locals head to the coast. I phoned Spanish sociologist Jose Ignacio Wert at the beach. (audio clip of Wert speaking in Spanish. 'The role of religion in Spanish life has reduced dramatically in the past 30 years,' he says. Now, Spain is one of the least religious places in Europe, in terms of seeing the Church as a guide for moral values. Wert says it's no coincidence this pope has visited Spain more than any other country. It's an attempt at 'reconquest,' he says, for Catholicism. World Youth Day was last held in Spain in 1989, at the height of liberal expression here- think Pedro Almodovar and punk rock. Chusa Gallego is a Madrid nurse who was here in 1989. She says that even then, there were no anti-pope protests. CHUSA GALLEGO: I remember that everybody agreed, and everybody was so, so happy because it was the Pope. But, come on, it's 20 years. FRAYER: Spaniards have since seen abortion and gay marriage legalized, and crucifixes taken down from the walls of their schools. Church doctrine changes more slowly. In a rare move, the Vatican is offering to forgive women who've had abortions, if they confess at World Youth Day. They won't be excommunicated, as is normally the case. But not many Spaniards are really worried about excommunication these days. Twenty-four-year-old Helena Fernandez says she's got more immediate concerns. HELENA FERNANDEZ: We don't have jobs. We are 5 million person [sic] that don't work. And you can make the university, but afterward, you don't have work. FRAYER: More than 100 priests from Madrid's poorest barrios posted a letter online, deploring tax breaks granted to World Youth Day's corporate sponsors, which mean that, ultimately, taxpayers foot at least part of the $70 million bill. Pilgrims get discount subway fares, but the price just went up 50 percent for regular folks. Brian Dugary is a 21-year-old Catholic from Philadelphia. BRIAN DUGARY: It should be a boost for the economy, and I don't see why anybody would protest it. FRAYER: Catholic organizers say it's not only goodwill they're spreading. It's also millions of dollars of tourist revenue. For NPR News, I'm Lauren Frayer in Madrid.
Continue reading …On Thursday's All Things Considered, NPR's Lauren Frayer emphasized the trend towards secularization in Spain during a report on Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the country for World Youth Day. Just as she did almost a week earlier, Frayer couldn't find any local supporters of the Pope, and completely misreported how the Catholic Church extended pastoral support to women who had abortions. Host Robert Spiegel noted in his introduction for the correspondent's report that ” Spain and its view of the Catholic Church have changed radically in recent decades .” Unlike her report on August 12 , Frayer did play two sound bites of Catholic youth who were happy to see the pontiff, but only from two Americans. But after playing her first clip, she highlighted how ” thousands of angry protesters forced their way through police barricades … shouting, 'out, out.' ” The NPR correspondent then played two sound bites from one of the demonstrators, a self-confessed atheist: FRAYER: .. .For 500 years, Spain spread Catholicism around the world. Now, it's embraced secularism in a single generation. ROCIO CANGAS: Basically, I don't believe in God. FRAYER: Rocio Cangas is one of those protesting the cost of the Pope's visit, and what she calls an outdated link between church and state. CANGAS: A lot of people have children now who are not brought up in the Catholic Church, and parents who don't believe in God- and basically, they bring up their children to be atheists, more than ever. She also emphasized how ” most of the papal audience is foreign ,” and reenforced the impression of rampant secularism in Spain by stating that ” Spain is one of the least religious places in Europe, in terms of seeing the Church as a guide for moral values .” This doesn't give a completely accurate impression of the Iberian country. About five months earlier, The Christian Post website reported that ” between 130,000 and 160,000 people demonstrated in central Madrid , Spain, on Saturday [March 26] against laws that make abortion easier .” Over a million, or about two percent of the entire population of Spain, participated in an earlier pro-life demonstration in October 2009. Later, Frayer gave a further indication of the secularization of the formerly Catholic country, just before giving her inaccurate reporting on the Church's outreach to post-abortive women: FRAYER: Spaniards have .. .seen abortion and gay marriage legalized, and crucifixes taken down from the walls of their schools. Church doctrine changes more slowly . In a rare move, the Vatican is offering to forgive women who've had abortions, if they confess at World Youth Day. They won't be excommunicated, as is normally the case. Kathryn Jean Lopez of the National Review devoted a Thursday column on the website of the National Catholic Register to correcting the mainstream media's complete misconstruing of the Church's action: …[ T ] his abortion-forgiveness issue is not a one-time only or particularly rare opportunity . As one U.S.-based, Rome-trained priest on his way to Madrid pointed out, the position of those confessors is not all that rare, at least not for Americans. “Such faculties to remove the censure incurred by abortion (when someone has an abortion knowing it is a de facto…excommunicable offense) are normal in the U.S. Basically every bishop gives it to every priest who hears confessions because abortion is rather common, especially among women who have been away from the sacrament for awhile . Without it, if someone came to confess an abortion, a priest would need to ask permission anonymously of the diocese or the sacred penitentiary at the Vatican for the ability to remove the censure incurred so that he could absolve the sins. In ordinary parish work, it's not too much to ask someone to come back tomorrow. But that would be practically impossible at WYD for a particular penitent to find a particular confessor again. This is such a no-brainer from the sacramental point of view — and is ordinary for the course, at least in the U.S.” No less than the Pope in Rome, the now Blessed Pope John Paul II, wrote explicitly , in his 1995 encyclical on Evangelium Vitae: ” I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion . The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed…. But do not give in to discouragement, and do not lose hope. Try, rather, to understand what happened, and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the sacrament of reconciliation .” This is just the latest example of the sloppy, to say the least, reporting about Christianity, and specifically, Catholicism, by the liberal media. Near the end of her report, Frayer revisited her liberal talking point from her earlier report that ” tax breaks granted to World Youth Day's corporate sponsors, which mean that, ultimately, taxpayers foot at least part of the $70 million bill .” But she also finally acknowledged that ” Catholic organizers say it's not only goodwill they're spreading. It's also millions of dollars of tourist revenue .” Who would have thought, given the hundreds of thousands in attendance from around the world? The full transcript of Lauren Frayer's report from Thursday's All Things Considered: ROBERT SIEGEL: Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Madrid today. He's there to celebrate World Youth Day with Catholic pilgrims from around the world. But, as Lauren Frayer reports, Spain and its view of the Catholic Church have changed radically in recent decades. LAUREN FRAYER: Regal music is piped through the streets of Madrid as the Popemobile rolls by. The faithful fall to their knees. Up to a million Catholics are here, including Sara Vallarta from Laredo, Texas. SARA VALLARTA: It's been an awesome experience. It's incredible, you know, the amount of people that are here, coming all together with their faith. FRAYER: But just hours ago, thousands of angry protesters forced their way through police barricades on the same thoroughfare. (audio clip of protesting chanting) The number of protesters shouting, 'out, out,' is only a fraction of those here to see the Pope. But the presence of both groups gets to the heart of modern Spain. For 500 years, Spain spread Catholicism around the world. Now, it's embraced secularism in a single generation. ROCIO CANGAS: Basically, I don't believe in God. FRAYER: Rocio Cangas is one of those protesting the cost of the Pope's visit, and what she calls an outdated link between church and state. CANGAS: A lot of people have children now who are not brought up in the Catholic Church, and parents who don't believe in God- and basically, they bring up their children to be atheists, more than ever. FRAYER: Most of the papal audience is foreign. Madrid clears out in August, as locals head to the coast. I phoned Spanish sociologist Jose Ignacio Wert at the beach. (audio clip of Wert speaking in Spanish. 'The role of religion in Spanish life has reduced dramatically in the past 30 years,' he says. Now, Spain is one of the least religious places in Europe, in terms of seeing the Church as a guide for moral values. Wert says it's no coincidence this pope has visited Spain more than any other country. It's an attempt at 'reconquest,' he says, for Catholicism. World Youth Day was last held in Spain in 1989, at the height of liberal expression here- think Pedro Almodovar and punk rock. Chusa Gallego is a Madrid nurse who was here in 1989. She says that even then, there were no anti-pope protests. CHUSA GALLEGO: I remember that everybody agreed, and everybody was so, so happy because it was the Pope. But, come on, it's 20 years. FRAYER: Spaniards have since seen abortion and gay marriage legalized, and crucifixes taken down from the walls of their schools. Church doctrine changes more slowly. In a rare move, the Vatican is offering to forgive women who've had abortions, if they confess at World Youth Day. They won't be excommunicated, as is normally the case. But not many Spaniards are really worried about excommunication these days. Twenty-four-year-old Helena Fernandez says she's got more immediate concerns. HELENA FERNANDEZ: We don't have jobs. We are 5 million person [sic] that don't work. And you can make the university, but afterward, you don't have work. FRAYER: More than 100 priests from Madrid's poorest barrios posted a letter online, deploring tax breaks granted to World Youth Day's corporate sponsors, which mean that, ultimately, taxpayers foot at least part of the $70 million bill. Pilgrims get discount subway fares, but the price just went up 50 percent for regular folks. Brian Dugary is a 21-year-old Catholic from Philadelphia. BRIAN DUGARY: It should be a boost for the economy, and I don't see why anybody would protest it. FRAYER: Catholic organizers say it's not only goodwill they're spreading. It's also millions of dollars of tourist revenue. For NPR News, I'm Lauren Frayer in Madrid.
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