Odom & Gasol Lead Lakers to Victory

UPDATE 1: D-Fish and Pau

Derek Fisher came up big late in the game tonight, especially with a steal he got against J.J. Redick with 1:56 left in overtime.

He drove the lane with 5:27 left in regulation, split two defenders and made a layup to tie the game at 77. He had the assist on Pau Gasol's layup that tied the score at 88 with 33 seconds left and insured the Lakers would get to overtime. There was the Redick steal and the ensuing free throws. And then with 26 seconds left, Fisher caught the inbounds pass and brought the ball up the floor and got it to Lamar Odom, who was fouled and made two free throws in the bonus situation.

Read about the Pau Gasol factor last evening here.

NBA post game breakdown here.

Los Angeles Lakers take Game 2, winning 101-96 in overtime.


Photo courtesy of Daylife-AP.

See box score here.

Berlusconi Remains Resilient

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's "women" as per the UK Telegraph.

Well, notwithstanding the publications of saucy photos and an attempt by the Left to demonize his personal behavior, Berlusconi's party came up strong in the EU elections.

Via UK Telegraph:

A poll commissioned by La Repubblica newspaper gave the billionaire businessman's People of Freedom Party between 39 and 43 per cent of the vote and the left-wing opposition between 27 and 31 per cent of the vote. It showed that the anti-immigration, Right-wing Northern League, an ally of Mr Berlusconi's party, attracted between 6.5 and 10.5 per cent of the vote The results, collated by polling agency IPR marketing, were preliminary, appearing within minutes of voting coming to an end late on Sunday night.

They were based on a poll of 5,000 people carried out as Italians cast their votes.

In the past, however, exit polls and early projections have turned out to be highly unreliable in Italy, in part because some voters are reluctant to admit that they have voted for Right-wing parties.

But if proved to be accurate, the results appeared to chime with trends across Europe, in which centre-Right parties looked set for victories while centre-Left parties such as Britain's Labour were punished at the polls.

While Mr Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party appeared to have fared well, a vote of 39-43 per cent is far lower than the 70 per cent approval rating that he often claims for himself.

Nor could the projected vote be interpreted as a heavy defeat for the opposition - the Democratic Party was hoping to win at least 27 per cent of the vote, so anything over that would be seen as a bonus.

If confirmed, the government's share of the vote would be similar to the 37.4 per cent that Mr Berlusconi's party won in the lower house of parliament in last year's general election, which propelled him to a third stint as prime minister. His party had hoped to win at least 40 per cent of the European election vote, in the first test of its popularity since being elected to government last year.

Mr Berlusconi, 72, accused the opposition Democratic Party of collaborating with Italy's "Leftist" press to embarrass him by leaking details of his divorce and his friendship with Noemi Letizia, whose 18th birthday party he recently attended.

"The electoral results will represent a terrible defeat for this Left, which has substituted an electoral programme - which it doesn't have - for calumny," he said last week.

While pollsters predict a lurch to the right in many countries across European, Mr Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party, which recently merged with a party founded by the political heirs of Benito Mussolini, is already firmly in occupation of the centre-Right end of the political spectrum.

Since being elected for a third time as prime minister last year, he has announced a crackdown on law and order, putting armed troops on the streets, making illegal immigration a crime, ordering a census of the Roma gypsy population and pushing boat loads of immigrants back to Libya without letting them land on Italian soil.

Italy, with a population of 58 million, sends 72 MEPs to Brussels.

Detailed election results here.

UPDATE 1:

Ansa.It:

(ANSA) - Rome, June 8 - Center-right parties came out ahead in this weekend's European elections in Italy as in the most of the European Union in a vote marked by absenteeism and concern over the economic crisis.

Although voter turnout was a record low for Italy it was still one of the best in the EU with two out of three, 66.5%, Italians going to the polls, down 6.4% percentage points from 2004.

In the EU as a whole, just over 43% voted.

In Italy, Premier Silvio Berlusconi's conservative People of Freedom (PdL) failed to make the gains it sought and even lost ground compared to last spring's general elections.

With almost all votes counted, the PdL won 35.23% of the vote which was an improvement over the 32.4% won by its two main components - Forza Italia and the National Alliance - in the last European elections but below the 37.4% of the vote which brought it to power last year and much less than Berlusconi's optimistic prediction of 45%.

The PdL's main ally, the North League, was perhaps the big winner at the weekend breaking the 10% threshold to achieve its best result ever of some 10.21 %, compared to 5% five years ago and 8.3% in the 2008 general elections.

On the opposition, the Democratic Party (PD) raked in about 26.14% of the vote, compared to 31.1% in 2004, when it was part of the Olive Tree alliance, and 33.2% last year.

The Italy of Values party of ex-Clean Hands prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro was another big winner and collected 8% of the vote compared to 2.1% in 2004 and 4.4% in 2008.

The Union of Center (UDC) party of former House speaker Pier Ferdinando Casini won 6.51% of the vote, an improvement over 5.9% in 2004 and 5.6% last year.

All other parties, including those on the far Left and Right, failed to break the 4% threshold on a national level.

Both the PdL and the PD blamed their lower-than-expected results on absenteeism.

Commentary:

MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, as I have noted before, the brouhaha over Berlusconi's private life is an orchestrated effort to bring about the downfall of a right wing, pro-Israeli, Euro sceptic government led by the most charismatic leader on the European continent...

The Right Course in EU Parliament

The right makes big gains in the EU parliamentary elections:

BRUSSELS – Conservatives scored victories in some of Europe's largest economies Sunday as voters punished left-leaning parties in European parliament elections in France, Germany and other nations.

Some right-leaning parties said the results vindicated their reluctance to spend more on company bailouts and fiscal stimulus to combat the global economic crisis.

The European Union said center-right parties were expected to take the most seats — 267 — in the 736-member parliament. Center-left parties were headed for 159 seats. The remainder were expected to go to smaller groupings.

Right-leaning governments were ahead of the opposition in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, while conservative opposition parties were leading in Britain and Spain.

Greece was a notable exception, where the governing conservatives were headed for defeat in the wake of corruption scandals and economic woes.

Germans handed a lackluster victory to Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and a historic defeat to their center-left rivals in the European Parliament vote months before a national election.

The Social Democrats got an unexpectedly dismal 20.8 percent — the party's worst showing since World War II in any nationwide election.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and a regional sister party won 37.8 percent, down from 44.5 percent five years ago. But the outcome was enough to boost Merkel's hopes of ending the tense left-right "grand coalition" that has led the European Union's most populous nation since 2005, and replacing it with a center-right government.

"We are the force that is acting level-headedly and correctly in this financial and economic crisis," said Volker Kauder, the leader of Merkel's party in the German parliament.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's governing conservatives trounced the Socialists, while an ecology-minded party vaulted to a surprisingly strong third place, according to official results.

The Socialists, who dominated the last vote in 2004, suffered a stinging defeat, barely clinging to the No. 2 spot.

"Tonight is a very difficult evening for Socialists in many nations in Europe," said Martin Schulz, the leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament. "(We will) continue to fight for social democracy in Europe."

Far-right groups and other fringe parties gained in record low turnout estimated at 43.5 percent of 375 million eligible, reflecting widespread disenchantment with the continentwide legislature.

Britain elected its first extreme-right politician to the European Parliament, with the British National Party winning a seat in northern England's Yorkshire and the Humber district.

The far-right party, which does not accept nonwhites as members, was expected to possibly win further seats as more results in Britain were announced.

Lawmakers with Britain's major political parties said the far right's advance was a reflection of anger over immigration issues and the recession that is causing unemployment to soar.

Near-final results showed Austria's main rightist party gaining strongly while the ruling Social Democrats lost substantial ground. But the big winner was the rightist Freedom Party, which more than doubled its strength over the 2004 elections to 13.1 percent of the vote. It campaigned on an anti-Islam platform.

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders' anti-Islamic party took 17 percent of the country's votes, taking four of 25 seats.

The Hungarian far-right Jobbik party won three of 22 seats, with the main center-right opposition party, Fidesz, capturing 14 seats and the governing Socialists only four.

Jobbik describes itself as Euro-skeptic and anti-immigration and wants police to crack down on petty crimes committed by Gypsies. Critics say the party is racist and anti-Semitic.

Fringe groups could use the EU parliament as a platform for their extreme views but were not expected to affect the assembly's increasingly influential lawmaking on issues ranging from climate change to cell-phone roaming charges.

The EU parliament has evolved over five decades from a consultative legislature to one with the power to vote on or amend two-thirds of all EU laws. Lawmakers get five-year terms and residents vote for lawmakers from their own countries.

The parliament can also amend the EU budget — euro120 billion ($170 billion) this year — and approves candidates for the European Commission, the EU administration and the board of the European Central Bank.

Many Socialists ran campaigns that slammed center-right leaders for failing to rein in financial markets and spend enough to stimulate faltering economies.

"People don't want a return to socialism and that's why the majority here will be a center-right majority," said Graham Watson, leader of the EU's center-right Liberal Democrat grouping.

In Spain, the conservative Popular Party won two more seats than the ruling Socialists — 23 to 21 seats — with over 88 percent of the vote counted.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's Freedom People's Party held a two-digit lead over his main center-left rival in the most recent polling despite a deep recession and a scandal over allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with a young model. Italian results were being released Monday.

In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown was facing a showdown with rebel lawmakers on Monday after the party's expected dismal results in the European parliament and local elections were announced.

Brown has been struggling with the economic crisis and a scandal over lawmakers' expenses. The opposition Conservatives are expected to win the next national election, which must be called by June 2010.

According to a BBC projection, Labour was trailing the United Kingdom Independence Party in third place. It put the main opposition Conservative Party at 27 percent, UKIP at 17 and Labour at 16, followed by smaller parties. (Read entire story)

Click here for complete country by country coverage & breakdown of the elections.

Sarah Palin in Yankee Stadium

Sarah Palin @ Yankee Stadium!!! I get to conflate two subjects I blog about daily into one...WOW!

Former U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin signs a baseball for a fan before the New York Yankees faced the Tampa Bay Rays in a baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, Sunday, June 7, 2009. (Yahoo Sports-AP Photo)

Former U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, left, reacts as fans congregate around her before the New York Yankees faced the Tampa Bay Rays in their baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, Sunday, June 7, 2009. (Daylife-AP Photos)

Oh, yeah....the actual game:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Mariano Rivera bounced back from a poor outing against Tampa Bay, and the New York Yankees played small ball to rally for three runs in the eighth inning of a 4-3 victory over the Rays on Sunday.

Nick Swisher hit the 100th home run at the new Yankee Stadium, helping Joe Girardi earn his 200th win as a manager. Alfredo Aceves (4-1) pitched two scoreless innings in New York's 20th comeback victory this season.

Hideki Matsui beat out a potential double-play grounder to drive in the go-ahead run, then Rivera pitched a perfect ninth, getting pinch-hitter Evan Longoria to ground to second for the final out and his 13th save.

Girardi ordered Rivera to intentionally walk Longoria on Saturday in the Rays' four-run ninth inning of a 9-7 victory, and the star closer said afterward that he wanted to face the Tampa Bay slugger.

With one out in the eighth, Johnny Damon lined a single off Grant Balfour (2-1), and Mark Teixeira followed with a single to put runners on first and third. Alex Rodriguez walked to load the bases.

J.P. Howell relieved and walked Robinson Cano, making it 3-2. Jorge Posada then hit a bouncer to third that Willy Aybar, playing for an ailing Longoria, couldn't handle. Teixeira scored the tying run, Posada was given an RBI and Aybar was charged with an error.

Matsui chopped a grounder to second and beat the throw to first, preventing an inning-ending double play and giving New York a 4-3 lead.

Girardi is 200-183 in his third year as a major league manager. He was chosen NL Manager of the Year in 2006 with Florida (78-84) after being fired from the job. The Yankees went 89-73 last year and are 33-23 this season.

Swisher's 11th homer in the third made it 28 games in a row with a homer to open the ballpark, extending a record -- Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico opened with long balls in 22 straight.

B.J. Upton had an RBI double and Gabe Gross hit a two-run single in the sixth to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead. The Rays had been 3-0 in New York this season.

Matt Garza outpitched Joba Chamberlain in a matchup of hard-throwing youngsters that was over early. Garza was done after a tense fifth inning, his shortest outing in 12 starts this season, and Chamberlain left after the two-run sixth.

Garza consistently hit 96 mph with his fastball but only threw 56 of his 96 pitches for strikes. He gave up four hits and struck out three. The 25-year-old right-hander, however, walked the first two batters he faced in the fifth and was done after getting Teixeira to pop out with the bases loaded. He had not gone less than 5 2-3 innings this season.

Chamberlain was less fortunate when he issued his first walk -- to load the bases with two outs in the sixth. After giving the pass to Matt Joyce, Gross grounded a ball into center field to make it 3-1.

The walk came a batter after Melky Cabrera made a spectacular diving catch in left-center with two runners on base.

Notes: Alaska Gov. and former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin sat in the second row behind home plate.

"God is the Holy Spirit that Moves the Cosmos"

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he leads his Angelus prayer from the window of his private apartments at the Vatican June 7, 2009. (Daylife-Reuters)

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Trinity Sunday:

The fundamental dogma, on which everything in Christianity is based, is that of the Blessed Trinity in whose name all Christians are baptized. The feast of the Blessed Trinity needs to be understood and celebrated as a prolongation of the mysteries of Christ and as the solemn expression of our faith in this triune life of the Divine Persons, to which we have been given access by Baptism and by the Redemption won for us by Christ. Only in heaven shall we properly understand what it means, in union with Christ, to share as sons in the very life of God.

The feast of the Blessed Trinity was introduced in the ninth century and was only inserted in the general calendar of the Church in the fourteenth century by Pope John XXII. But the cultus of the Trinity is, of course, to be found throughout the liturgy. Constantly the Church causes us to praise and adore the thrice-holy God who has so shown His mercy towards us and has given us to share in His life.

The dogma of faith which forms the object of the feast is this: There is one God and in this one God there are three Divine Persons; the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three Gods, but one, eternal, incomprehensible God! The Father is not more God than the Son, neither is the Son more God than the Holy Spirit.

The Father is the first Divine Person; the Son is the second Divine Person, begotten from the nature of the Father from eternity; the Holy Spirit is the third Divine Person, proceeding from the Father and the Son. No mortal can fully fathom this sublime truth. But I submit humbly and say: Lord, I believe, help my weak faith.

Why is this feast celebrated at this particular time? It may be interpreted as a finale to all the preceding feasts. All three Persons contributed to and shared in the work of redemption. The Father sent His Son to earth, for "God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son." The Father called us to the faith. The Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, became man and died for us. He redeemed us and made us children of God. He ever remains the liturgist par excellence to whom we are united in all sacred functions. After Christ's ascension the Holy Spirit, however, became our Teacher, our Leader, our Guide, our Consoler. On solemn occasions a thanksgivingTe Deum rises spontaneously from Christian hearts.

The feast of the Most Holy Trinity may well be regarded as the Church'sTe Deum of gratitude over all the blessings of the Christmas and Easter seasons; for this mystery is a synthesis of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost.

This feast, which falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, should make us mindful that actually every Sunday is devoted to the honor of the Most Holy Trinity, that every Sunday is sanctified and consecrated to the triune God. Sunday after Sunday we should recall in a spirit of gratitude the gifts which the Blessed Trinity is bestowing upon us.

The Father created and predestined us; on the first day of the week He began the work of creation. The Son redeemed us; Sunday is the "Day of the Lord," the day of His resurrection. The Holy Spirit sanctified us, made us His temple; on Sunday the Holy Spirit descended upon the infant Church. Sunday, therefore, is the day of the Most Holy Trinity.

Reagan's 1984 Normandy Speech

Hat Tip: No Sheeples Here

Full Text of Speech:

We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here in Normandy the rescue began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.

We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but 40 years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, 225 Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs. Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers--the edge of the cliffs shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting, only 90 could still bear arms.

Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there.

These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.

Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your "lives fought for life . . . and left the vivid air signed with your honor.''

I think I know what you may be thinking right now -- thinking, "We were just part of a bigger effort; everyone was brave that day.'' Well, everyone was. Do you remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren't. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of the bullets into the ground around him.

Lord Lovat was with him -- Lord Lovat of Scotland, who calmly announced when he got to the bridge, "Sorry I'm a few minutes late,'' as if he'd been delayed by a traffic jam, when in truth he'd just come from the bloody fighting on Sword Beach, which he and his men had just taken.

There was the impossible valor of the Poles who threw themselves between the enemy and the rest of Europe as the invasion took hold, and the unsurpassed courage of the Canadians who had already seen the horrors of war on this coast. They knew what awaited them there, but they would not be deterred. And once they hit Juno Beach, they never looked back.

All of these men were part of a rollcall of honor with names that spoke of a pride as bright as the colors they bore: the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Poland's 24th Lancers, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, the Screaming Eagles, the Yeomen of England's armored divisions, the forces of Free France, the Coast Guard's "Matchbox Fleet'' and you, the American Rangers.

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge--and pray God we have not lost it--that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

The Americans who fought here that morning knew word of the invasion was spreading through the darkness back home. They thought--or felt in their hearts, though they couldn't know in fact, that in Georgia they were filling the churches at 4 a.m., in Kansas they were kneeling on their porches and praying, and in Philadelphia they were ringing the Liberty Bell.

Something else helped the men of D-Day: their rock-hard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause. And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer he told them: Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we're about to do. Also that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.''

These are the things that impelled them; these are the things that shaped the unity of the Allies.

When the war was over, there were lives to be rebuilt and governments to be returned to the people. There were nations to be reborn. Above all, there was a new peace to be assured. These were huge and daunting tasks. But the Allies summoned strength from the faith, belief, loyalty, and love of those who fell here. They rebuilt a new Europe together.

There was first a great reconciliation among those who had been enemies, all of whom had suffered so greatly. The United States did its part, creating the Marshall Plan to help rebuild our allies and our former enemies. The Marshall Plan led to the Atlantic alliance -- a great alliance that serves to this day as our shield for freedom, for prosperity, and for peace.

In spite of our great efforts and successes, not all that followed the end of the war was happy or planned. Some liberated countries were lost. The great sadness of this loss echoes down to our own time in the streets of Warsaw, Prague, and East Berlin. Soviet troops that came to the center of this continent did not leave when peace came. They're still there, uninvited, unwanted, unyielding, almost 40 years after the war. Because of this, Allied forces still stand on this continent. Today, as 40 years ago, our armies are here for only one purpose--to protect and defend democracy. The only territories we hold are memorials like this one and graveyards where our heroes rest.

We in America have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars: It is better to be here ready to protect the peace than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent.

But we try always to be prepared for peace; prepared to deter aggression; prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms; and, yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation. In truth, there is no reconciliation we would welcome more than a reconciliation with the Soviet Union, so, together, we can lessen the risks of war, now and forever.

It's fitting to remember here the great losses also suffered by the Russian people during World War II: 20 million perished, a terrible price that testifies to all the world the necessity of ending war. I tell you from my heart that we in the United States do not want war. We want to wipe from the face of the Earth the terrible weapons that man now has in his hands. And I tell you, we are ready to seize that beachhead. We look for some sign from the Soviet Union that they are willing to move forward, that they share our desire and love for peace, and that they will give up the ways of conquest. There must be a changing there that will allow us to turn our hope into action.

We will pray forever that some day that changing will come. But for now, particularly today, it is good and fitting to renew our commitment to each other, to our freedom, and to the alliance that protects it.

We are bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs. We're bound by reality. The strength of America's allies is vital to the United States, and the American security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe's democracies. We were with you then; we are with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny.

Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.''

Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their value [valor], and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.

Thank you very much, and God bless you all.

Reagan's Normandy Speech Pics

Hat Tip: Mike's America-Flopping Aces

Plus, Mata Harley @ Flopping Aces has some great photos of the landing.

Let's Never Forget D-Day

Hat Tip: Radarsite

Liberation of Rome-June 4, 1944

Hat Tip: Orbis Catholicvs

Leave Silvio Alone

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (R) and Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo present the new Piaggio Mp3 Hybrid scooter at Chigi palace in Rome May 28, 2009. (Daylife-Reuters)

Sky News cites the latest developments in the Berlusconi photo brouhaha:

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has shrugged off a series of photographs of naked women taken at his villa as "nothing scandalous".

The series of snaps was published on a Spanish website and pictured several bare bottom and naked women by a jacuzzi.

Other shots showed Mr Berlusconi walking in front of a woman along a path on the estate.

The Italian leader has applied to the Italian Privacy Commission to have the 700 photographs taken by snapper Antonello Zappadu seized.

He claims they were a ''breach of his privacy".

However, the pictures had already been sold to El Pais through an international agency.

News of the photos emerged while Mr Berlusconi took part in a radio phone-in.

He said: "I am not at all frightened. There is nothing scandalous in these pictures but this is a violation of my privacy and an scandalous aggression.

"The photographs show people having a jacuzzi by a private villa they were staying in while my guests."

Mr Berlusconi rejected any suggestion that the ongoing controversy could affect relations with the Catholic Church.

"If there is a government close to the Church then it is this one, in fact the Vatican has said that relations between this government and the Holy See are are the best ever," he said.

Among other photos posted on the El Pais website - and quickly seen on Italian sites - was a photo of a naked man believed to be a former Czech Prime Minister.

Mirek Topolanek had been staying at Mr Berlusconi's Villa Certosa estate near Oblige on the Italian island of Sardinia.

The perma-tanned media tycoon said: "I received a delegation from the Czech Republic and it is not possible that a person a kilometre away took photographs inside a house.

"Privacy must be respected at all times especially in the presence of illustrious guests."

When asked about the photographs of the naked women, Mr Berlusconi hit back and said: ''Do you take a shower fully clothed?

"They are having a jacuzzi in a private house and they are victims of a scandalous aggression.''

Previous guests at Mr Berlusconi's Villa Certosa have included 18-year-old Noemi Letizia, whose birthday party he attended two months ago.

The Italian leader reportedly gave her a £6,000 gold and diamond necklace.

has since emerged that Noemi was under age when she attended a New Year's Eve 2008 party at the villa and Mr Berlusconi has come under pressure to explain the relationship.

He has denied anything "spicy".

However, his wife Veronica Lario, 52, announced last month that she was divorcing him because she was ''fed up of him associating with minors,'' adding that he was ''not well.''

Mr Berlusconi is also facing a probe over a possible abuse of power, after it emerged that private guests were flown on official state planes to Sardinia for personal business.

He has dismissed any wrong doing saying ''all the rules were followed'' and despite the controversy he is confident of victory in the European elections.

To view the photos click here.

If you want to read accompanying stories from the El Pais "newspaper" you can do so here, here and here. (background stories are in Spanish)

Commentary:

A couple of points regarding this engendered "scandal".

First they tried this .

Now, there is a fallout & rift between Sky News, owned by Rupert Murdoch, and Berlusconi. Hence the salacious nature of their reporting.

As for the photos, specifically, which can viewed in the above link, they are frankly garden variety in nature.

One has a girl in a thong and the other topless, Heaven forbid, and the other has a man, not Belusconi, naked with his penis out but not engaging in sexual conduct.

Others, like Berlusconi, in the photos are dressed normally and there is no indication of anything untoward or amiss occurring.

For the record this is his private villa on the island of Sardinia and anyone who has a clue about European culture and society would know that this is very common, particularly in the countries with a Mediterranean coastline.

I have seen more skin and worse conduct on South Beach!!!

MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, this is an orchestrated effort to bring about the downfall of a right wing, pro-Israeli, Euro sceptic government led by the most charismatic leader on the European continent...

We Shall Fight...Never Surrender

H/T: Da Mihi Animas

Cue to 8:56...

Words to echo in our twilight struggle against Islamo-Fascism!

Kobe & LA Bashes Magic in Game 1

Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant (2nd R) goes up for a basket among Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard (R), Rashard Lewis (L) and Mickael Pietrus (2nd L) of France during the third quarter of Game 1 of their NBA Finals basketball game in Los Angeles June 4, 2009. (Daylife-Reuters)



Andrew Bynum surprised many last night:

Andrew Bynum, the one with the still-smarting knee and the curiously shaky game, played Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard to a relative draw, more than enough to allow the Lakers to win Game 1 of the NBA Finals with ease, 100-75.

Bynum was averaging only 6.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in the playoffs before Thursday, but he had nine points and nine rebounds despite fighting foul trouble throughout the game.

He was aggressive from the start, dunking off a feed from Pau Gasol, making a 12-footer and scoring a layup off a rebound in the first four minutes.

He was part of the reason Howard shot so poorly -- one for six.

"He had some times out there that I thought he played [Howard] really well," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "Offensively, he had some opportunities that he converted on, which we like."

Howard had 12 points and 15 rebounds, though he played almost 35 minutes to only 22 for Bynum, who picked up his fourth foul 9:38 into the third quarter.

A year ago, Bynum was watching from the sidelines. Now Orlando is going to have to keep an eye on him.

"This was big for me, even though I'm not playing my best basketball," he said. "Just to be a part of it is way different from last year, when I had crutches and was having surgery." (Read entire story)

Related Links:

Kobe drops 40 and wills his way in Game 1

Kobe's new nickname, "Grumpy"

Lakers' complete Gameday wrapup with videos

Official box score here

Game 2, Sunday, ABC-8pm EST

Month of the Sacred Heart

Pope takes Questions from Children

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he leaves St Peter's square after his weekly general audience on June 3, 2009 at The Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI the day before expressed his "spiritual closeness" to the 228 people on board an Air France plane that vanished over the Atlantic. (Daylife-Getty Photos)

Il Papa Buono

Birth: 1881 @ Sotto il Monte, Italy as Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli

Papal Ascension: 28 October 1958 as Pope John XIII

Death: 3 June 1963 @ Rome, Italy

Beatified: 3 September 2000 by Pope John Paul II @ Saint Peter's Square, Rome

Canonized: pending

American Catholic:

Although few people had as great an impact on the 20th century as Pope John XXIII, he avoided the limelight as much as possible. Indeed, one writer has noted that his “ordinariness” seems one of his most remarkable qualities.

The firstborn son of a farming family in Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo in northern Italy, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was always proud of his down-to-earth roots. In Bergamo’s diocesan seminary, he joined the Secular Franciscan Order.

After his ordination in 1904, Angelo returned to Rome for canon law studies. He soon worked as his bishop’s secretary, Church history teacher in the seminary and as publisher of the diocesan paper.

His service as a stretcher-bearer for the Italian army during World War I gave him a firsthand knowledge of war. In 1921 he was made national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith; he found time to teach patristics at a seminary in the Eternal City

In 1925 he became a papal diplomat, serving first in Bulgaria, then in Turkey and finally in France (1944-53). During World War II, he became well acquainted with Orthodox Church leaders and with the help of Germany’s ambassador to Turkey, Archbishop Roncalli helped save an estimated 24,000 Jewish people.

Named a cardinal and appointed patriarch of Venice in 1953, he was finally a residential bishop. A month short of entering his 78th year, he was elected pope, taking the name John, his father’s name and the two patrons of Rome’s cathedral, St. John Lateran. He took his work very seriously but not himself. His wit soon became proverbial and he began meeting with political and religious leaders from around the world. In 1962 he was deeply involved in efforts to resolve the Cuban missile crisis.

His most famous encyclicals were Mother and Teacher (1961) and Peace on Earth (1963). Pope John XXIII enlarged the membership in the College of Cardinals and made it more international.

At his address at the opening of the Second Vatican Council, he criticized the “prophets of doom” who “in these modern times see nothing but prevarication and ruin.” Pope John XXIII set a tone for the Council when he said, “The Church has always opposed... errors. Nowadays, however, the Spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity.”

On his deathbed he said: “It is not that the gospel has changed; it is that we have begun to understand it better. Those who have lived as long as I have…were enabled to compare different cultures and traditions, and know that the moment has come to discern the signs of the times, to seize the opportunity and to look far ahead.”

Pope John Paul II beatified him on September 3, 2000, and assigned as his feast day October 11, the day that Vatican II’s first session opened.

Comment:

Throughout his life, Angelo Roncalli cooperated with God’s grace, believing that the job at hand was worthy of his best efforts. His sense of God’s providence made him the ideal person to promote a new dialogue with Protestant and Orthodox Christians, as well as with Jews and Muslims. In the sometimes noisy crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica, many people become silent on seeing the simple tomb of Pope John XXIII, grateful for the gift of his life and holiness. After the beatification, his tomb was moved into the basilica itself.

Quote:

In 1903, young Angelo wrote in his spiritual journal: “From the saints I must take the substance, not the accidents of their virtues. I am not St. Aloysius, nor must I seek holiness in his particular way, but according to the requirements of my own nature, my own character and the different conditions of my life. I must not be the dry, bloodless reproduction of a model, however perfect. God desires us to follow the examples of the saints by absorbing the vital sap of their virtues and turning it into our own life-blood, adapting it to our own individual capacities and particular circumstances. If St. Aloysius had been as I am, he would have become holy in a different way” (Journal of a Soul).

See Pope John XXIII's official, Vatican site here.

Read about this Pope's unique numbering issue here.

View a homage site, with a plethora of links here.

Tina, Sheryl and Mick

Pastorius this one is for you:



MR, check out Keith's guitar on this one, written in Brazil just like "Sympathy for the Devil":

Baby Don't Hurt Me

Pope Meets Courageous Leader of Ukraine

Photos courtesy of Daylife-Reuters, AP and Getty Images

Sts. Marcellinus & Peter

Via American Catholic:

Marcellinus and Peter were prominent enough in the memory of Church to be included among the saints of the Roman Canon. Mention of their names is optional in our present Eucharistic Prayer I.

Marcellinus was a priest and Peter was an exorcist, that is, someone authorized by the Church to deal with cases of demonic possession. They were beheaded during the persecution of Diocletian. Pope Damasus wrote an epitaph apparently based on the report of their executioner, and Constantine erected a basilica over the crypt in which they were buried in Rome. Numerous legends sprang from an early account of their death.

Comment:

Why are these men included in our Eucharistic prayer, and given their own feast day, in spite of the fact that almost nothing is known about them? Probably because the Church respects its collective memory. They once sent an impulse of encouragement through the whole Church. They made the ultimate step of faith.

Quote:

"The Church has always believed that the apostles, and Christ's martyrs who had given the supreme witness of faith and charity by the shedding of their blood, are quite closely joined with us in Christ" (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 50).

Read more about these saints here.

Papal Summer Itinerary

Pope Benedict's upcoming travel schedule:

(CNA).- Pope Benedict's liturgical and travel schedule for the months of June through September was released by the Vatican on Monday. Highlights for the summer months include, the closing of the Year of St. Paul and a trip to the Czech Republic.

The full set of events is published below.

JUNE

Thursday 11: Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Mass at 7 p.m. in the basilica of St. John Lateran, followed by a procession to the basilica of St. Mary Major for Eucharistic blessing.

Friday 19: Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Vespers at 6 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica for the opening of the Year for Priests.

Sunday 21: Pastoral visit to San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.

Sunday 28: At 6 p.m. in the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, First Vespers for the closing of the Pauline Year.

Monday 29: Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles. Mass at 9:30 a.m. in the Vatican Basilica. Blessing and imposition of the pallium on new metropolitan archbishops.

AUGUST

Saturday 15: Solemnity of the Assumption. Mass at 8 a.m. in the parish church of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castelgandolfo.

SEPTEMBER

Sunday 6: Pastoral visit to Viterbo-Bagnoregio, Italy.

Saturday 26 - Monday 28: Apostolic trip to the Czech Republic.

Pope Celebrates Pentecost-Videos

St. Justin Martyr

Via Catholic Culture:

St. Justin, apologist and martyr, was one of the most important Christian writers of the second century. He himself tells how his study of all the schools of philosophy led him to Christianity, and how he dedicated his life to the defense of the Christian faith as "the one certain and profitable philosophy."

St. Justin is particularly celebrated for the two Apologies which he was courageous enough to address in succession to the persecuting emperors Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius. One of them contains a description of the rites of baptism and the ceremonies of Mass, thus constituting the most valuable evidence that we possess on the Roman liturgy of his day. He was beheaded in Rome in 165. Justin is also referred to as "the Philosopher."

Justin, the son of Priscus, was a Greek by race, and was born at Nablus in Palestine. He passed his youth in the study of letters. When he grew to manhood he was so taken with the love of philosophy and the desire of truth, that he became a student of philosphy and examined the teaching of all the philosophers. He found in them only deceitful wisdom and error. He received the light of heaven from a venerable old man, who was a stranger to him, and embraced the philosophy of the true Christian faith.

Henceforth he had the books of Holy Scripture in his hands by day and night, and his soul was filled with the divine fire enkindled by his meditations. Having thus acquired the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ, he devoted his learning to the composition of many books explaining and propagating the Christian faith.

Among the most famous of the works of Justin are his two Apologies or Defenses of the Christian faith. These he offered in the Senate to the Emperor Antoninus Pius and his sons, together with Marcus Antoninus Verus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, who were cruelly persecuting the followers of Christ. By these Apologies and his vigorous disputations in defense of the faith he obtained a public edict from the government to stay the slaughter of the Christians. But Justin himself did not escape. He had blamed the wicked life led by Crescens the Cynic, who caused him to be accused and arrested. He was brought before Rusticus, the Prefect of Rome, and questioned concerning the doctrine of the Christians.

Whereupon he made this good confession in the presence of many witnesses: "The right doctrine which we Christian men do keep with godliness is this: that we believe that there is one God, the maker and creator of all things, both those which are seen and those which bodily eyes do not see; and that we confess the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was of old foretold by the Prophets, and who is to come to judge all mankind."

In his first Apology Justin had given, in order to rebut the slanders of the heathen, an open account of the Christian assemblies and of the holy Mysteries there celebrated. The prefect asked him in what place he and Christ's other faithful servants in the city were accustomed to meet. But Justin, fearing to betray the holy mysteries and his brethren, mentioned only his own dwelling near the famous church in the house of Pudens, where he lived and taught his disciples.

The prefect then bade him choose whether he would sacrifice to the gods or suffer a cruel scourging. The unconquered champion of the faith answered that he had always desired to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ, from whom he hoped to receive a great reward in heaven. The prefect thereupon sentenced him to death, and thus this excellent philosopher, giving praise to God, suffered the pain of scourging, and then shed his blood for Christ, and was crowned with martyrdom. Some of the faithful stole away his body and buried it in a fitting place.

Patron: Apologists; lecturers; orators; philosophers; speakers.

Symbols: Ox; pen; sword; red-hot helmet.

Save the Jordan River

If you want to read more about Zalul's efforts click here.