Royal Scots Dragoon Guards - "Highland Cathedral"

Land of my fathers, we will always be

Faithful and loyal to our own country.

In times of danger we will set you free,

Lead you to glory and to victory.

Lonely the exile, o'er distant seas,

The home of their birth, gone from their eyes.

Bring back their souls o'er the ocean breeze

To the land where their fathers lie.

Reasserting Federalism in Defense of Liberty

Ken Cuccinelli was elected the Attorney General of Virginia in November 2009. From 2002-2009 he was a member of the Virginia State Senate. Prior to that he was a partner in the law firm of Cuccinelli and Day, where he specialized in business law. A graduate of the University of Virginia, he has an M.A. in international relations from George Mason University and a J.D. from the George Mason University School of Law and Economics.

The following is adapted from a speech delivered on April 1, 2011, in the “First Principles on First Fridays” lecture series sponsored by Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C.

SOME FAVORITE VIRGINIANS OF MINE who inspired and crafted our federal Constitution—Mason, Madison, Jefferson, and Henry—also drafted the Constitution of Virginia. And in the latter, they included a critical statement that said, “No free government, nor the blessings of liberty, can be preserved . . . but by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”

Our founders well understood that our liberty could not be preserved without frequently referring back to first principles. But while they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to defend those principles, we have often taken them for granted, as we have become complacent in thinking that government will take care of every problem.

Nebraska Bishop: Don’t Make ‘Prudence’ an Excuse to Avoid Preaching Boldly on Homosexuality

We have been debating whether we should post an article entitled "America's Worst Bishop."  We suspect our choice would surprise some readers.  As far as "America's Best Bishop," there is no debate; it has long been the Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, His Excellency Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz.  We thank God for his bold, clear, orthodox, and fully Catholic leadership.

From LifeSiteNews

By Patrick B. Craine

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz

Priests should not use concerns over “prudence” as an excuse to avoid speaking boldly on the immorality of homosexual acts, says Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska.

“Caution and prudence are important, but I don’t think they should be excuses for not properly speaking when speaking is necessary or extremely important pastorally,” the bishop told LifeSiteNews this week.

He said priests may be reluctant to address homosexuality because “there’s a lot of intimidation in various places,” but he stressed that the wide promotion of openness to homosexuality in our culture demands that they present the Catholic Church’s teachings clearly. “In a culture in which this kind of activity is broadcast all over, I think it’s important that the teaching of the Church be clear and precise,” he said.

Pakistan: Hundreds of Christian Girls Forced to Convert to Islam

From Catholic World News

Citing several examples, the Fides news agency reports that hundreds of Christian girls in Pakistan have been abducted, forced to convert to Islam, and raped or forced into marriages.

“The Christian girls are the weakest and most vulnerable, because their communities are poor, defenseless and marginalized, therefore easily exposed to harassment and threats,” said a nun who hides girls who have escaped their captors. Often they do not even have the courage to denounce the violence.”

“The trend is worrying,” she added. “There are hundreds of cases a year registered, and those that come to light are only a fraction.” 

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Christian girls, victims of forced conversions to Islam, rapes and forced marriages (Fides)

Pentagon to Senators: ‘All Your Constituencies Are Confronted by This Threat’ from Mexican Drug Cartels

A top Pentagon official told a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday that the tentacles of Mexico’s criminal organizations have reached well-beyond the southwest border into the interior of the U.S. homeland.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Woldwide Day of Prayer for Anglicans Entering Ordinariates

The Anglo-Catholic has called for a day of prayer today for Anglicans seeking to enter personal ordinariates around the world.  Their message follows:

Several days ago we posted a request for your prayers on Thursday, April 14th. The general intentions for this Day of Prayer are:

1. The Holy Father
2. Anglican Clergy and postulants, for encouragement and strengthening of their faith, particularly when faced with uncertainty about what their future roles in The Church may be.
3. The laity for their encouragement and increase of faith.

An Ordinariate has been erected for England and Wales; however, we are waiting (with varying degrees of patience) for the establishment of Ordinariates in the United States, Canada and Australia. Also, there are Anglicans in many parts of the world who desire this, but who have not yet had a formal notification from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that the process is beginning for them.

All this should be included in our prayers — and this really needs to be a world-wide effort. Send a notice to Sean Reed at 6@societyofstmichael.org, telling him during what hour you will be praying. And get the word out! Tweet this, or Facebook it. Send this link out to your email list. Do whatever you can to get as many people as possible praying about this on April 14th.

Lindsey Graham: The Little Metrosexual That Could

Words cannot convey the contempt we have for the senior Senator who refuses to represent South Carolina in the United States Senate; but the following piece comes closer than anything we have read.

From American Thinker

By Stuart Schwartz

The fussy, fastidious, and pampered senator from South Carolina just keeps chugging along supremely impressed with the face looking out from the mirror in his posh Senate office and his status as the Beltway insiders' favorite Republican.  "I'm [...] at the front of the line" for Barack Obama on Capitol Hill, he brags to the New York Times, which describes his "delight" in letting "people know" how important he is.  After all, he is Lindsey Graham and he is Washington, nestled among the Beltway's palace courtiers like a flea on a Carolina Dog.  And, in the battle raging for the future and soul of the nation, it is well to remember he is everything that is wrong with the Republican Party in Washington; indeed, he is everything that is wrong with both parties.

He is Lindsey Graham and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy is his role model.  Sure, he admired the Massachusetts liberal's "energy and passion" but it was his "practicality" that most impressed Graham.  Kennedy made sure that Graham got the cover he needed to vote his way while keeping the folks back home happy.  Say one thing in Washington and another for those not as smart and not as "important."  Sure, he is known as a "hypocrite" back home and behind in the polls.  And yes, they say he's in trouble in 2014 when next up for reelection, but -- well, they'll forget about it.  After all, they're in South Carolina and he's in Washington.  He's important, and they're not.  He learned that from Ted Kennedy, master; and now he is Lindsay Graham, grasshopper.