The Gulf Crisis - Maybe it's Time for Prayer? We are One Nation under God.

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For a country that claims to be "one nation, under God", we seem to have forgotten the God factor in just about everything we do. Way back 234 years ago when a ragtag group of colonists decided to take on the most powerful empire in the history of the world, the British empire, God and prayer were invoked first in
our expressions of hope and our reaffirmation of faith.

Now we seem to have forgotten the power of prayer. Back during the revolution our Founding Fathers did not hope for miracles, they relied on them to guide us through a war in which we had no business fighting, were it not for faith and hope.



But in these trying times we seem to have forgotten the power of prayer.

What could be more proper for a nation founded under God than to pray to the Holy Mother Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, and the patron saint of America, to help protect the environment and the people who might be affected by the Gulf oil crisis?



Even the Native Americans and Mexican Americans hold the Holy Mother sacred with the Indians honoring Mother Earth and the Mexicans Our Lady of Guadalupe. These variations of the Holy Mother are among the most revered of spiritual figures. Of course to the Christian she is honored above all others for giving birth to the Messiah.



Believers understand the power of the Holy Mother through Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima and other visitations and even thousands of non-believers at Fatima witnessed the dancing and falling sun that fateful morning of October 13, 1917.

Her prophecies foretold of the loss of nations, the tragic rise of Hitler and Nazism, the emergence and dangers of Communism, World War I, World War II, the destruction of cultures and the challenges to the church which have all unfolded over the past century.

Her pleas for people to have faith in God and Jesus and pray, especially the rosary, went largely ignored as an astonishing string of complex, powerful and destructive prophecies came true because we did not heed the call to prayer.

Mother Mary, or Mother Earth, cries for the human condition and the way humans treat Mother Earth as she has consistently asked us to take a few moments for prayer if we really have faith, and good things would come to us.



In the Americas, five centuries ago, cruel human sacrificing rituals were performed on a scale never approached, even remotely, by another peoples. Never before or after in human history a more open, long running, ritualized and institutionalized public showcase of the Culture of Death has been manifested.

No one will ever know how many were killed this way. Estimates start from 20,000 to 50,000 a year in several sources. Recently, Woodrow Borah, possibly the leading authority on the demography of Mexico at the time of the conquest, has revised the estimated number of persons sacrificed in central Mexico in the fifteenth century to 250,000 per year.

The climax of these ritual killings came in 1487 for the dedication of the new and richly decorated with serpents temple of Huitzilopochtli, in Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), when in a single ceremony that lasted four days and four nights, with the constant beating of giant drums made of snakeskin, the Aztec ruler and demon worshiper Tlacaellel presided over the sacrifice of more than 80,000 men.
Children were said to be frequent victims, in part because they were considered pure and unspoiled. The early Mexican historian Ixtlilxochitl estimated that one out of every five children in Mexico were sacrificed.

After her appearance at Guadalupe in 1531 in Mexico 6 million Mexicans converted to Christianity and the killings by the Aztecs in the form of thousands of human sacrifices in the pagan empires of Mexico ended, as well as the corrupted civilizations that spawned them.



In Russia, after she foretold of the rise of Communism, the Godless Soviet empire and their extermination of 60 million of their own people through state induced murder was also brought to an end though her warnings were largely ignored and the hardship and suffering continued long after it could have been stopped.

Her prophecies of the 19th century foretelling the rise of Germany engulfing Europe in flames under Hitler's Swastika came true just as she foretold that Portugal would be protected from harm during the Spanish Civil War and World War II and the rise of Nazism and Communism if they prayed the rosary. They did and the small nation of Portugal survived intact.



I think a prayer vigil to the Holy Mother Mary for the protection of the people, animals, birds, fishes and environment threatened by the Gulf oil crisis might just be heard in the heavens because she told us to pray, and how to pray, if we want to reach out to God and be heard.

Tell everyone you can to pray the rosary once a day for this worthy cause and see if it makes a difference. It will bring people together in a way politicians and bankers never could. Let the engineers and scientists do their work and pray they be guided by Mother Earth in healing the land.



We have all been given gifts beyond the imagination of most people of the world. Perhaps it is time we take stock of what we have and thank God for allowing us to share in his gifts and miracles, and to help us protect those gifts and miracles.

Food, shelter, clothing, education and medical care are available to us in ways no other people of the world will ever have these things. Yet we still want more. We have been given the miracle of life and then had all these wonderful things made available to us.



Add to that the freedoms unique to America, the one nation under God, and you start to realize just how fortunate we really are. Is it asking too much for a rosary a day to be said of thanks to God and the Holy Mother Mary for watching over us?



With the potential for a very serious Gulf catastrophe in the making it is even more reason to pray for the intervention of God to help save the people, the environment, the economy and the earth that could be damaged or destroyed by this crisis.

Maybe, just maybe, if we welcome God and the Holy Mother back into our hearts our prayers will be answered and some kind of miraculous work will bring the crisis to an end.



If you are not above praying for others here is a short explanation of how to say the rosary as the Holy Mother Mary has requested.

1. Make the Sign of the Cross and say the Apostles Creed.
2. Say the Our Father.
3. Say three Hail Marys.
4. Say the Glory be to the Father.
5. Say the Our Father.
6. Say ten Hail Marys.
7. Say the Glory be to the Father.
8. Repeat 5-7 four more times.

These are the prayers that make up the rosary in English, Spanish and French.

ENGLISH

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father almighty. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

SPANISH

Sign of the Cross

En el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo. Amen.

Apostles Creed

Creo en Dios, Padre todopoderoso, creador del Cielo y de la Tierra. Creo en Jesucristo su único Hijo, Nuestro Señor, que fue concebido por obra y gracia del Espíritu Santo; nació de Santa María Virgen; padeció bajo el poder de Poncio Pilato; fue crucificado, muerto y sepultado; descendió a los infiernos; al tercer día resucitó de entre los muertos; subió a los cielos y está a la diestra de Dios Padre; desde allí ha de venir a juzgar a los vivos y a los muertos. Creo en el Espíritu Santo, en la Santa Iglesia Católica, la comumión de los Santos en el perdon de los pecados la resurrección de los muertos y la vida eterna. Amen.

Our Father

Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo. Santificado sea tu nombre. Venga tu reino. Hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo. Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día. Perdona nuestras ofensas, como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden. No nos dejes caer en tentación y líbranos del mal. Amen.

Hail Mary

Dios te salve, María. Llena eres de gracia: El Señor es contigo. Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres. Y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre: Jesús. Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte. Amen.

Glory Be

Gloria al Padre, al Hijo y al Espíritu Santo. Como era en el principio, ahora y siempre, por los siglos de los siglos. Amen.

FRENCH

Sign of the Cross

Au nom du Père et du Fils et du Saint-Esprit. Amen.

Apostles Creed

Je crois en Dieu, le Père tout-puissant, créateur du ciel et de la terre. Et en Jésus Christ, son Fils unique, notre Seigneur qui a été conçu du Saint-Esprit, est né de la Vierge Marie, a souffert sous Ponce Pilate, a été crucifié, est mort et a été enseveli, est descendu aux enfers, le troisième jour est ressuscité des morts, est monté aux cieux, est assis à la droite de Dieu le Père tout-puissant d'où Il viendra juger les vivants et les morts. Je crois en l'Esprit-Saint, á la sainte Eglise catholique, à la communion des saints, à la rémission des péchés, à la résurrection de la chair, à la vie éternelle. Amen.

Our Father

Notre Père qui es aux cieux, que ton Nom soit sanctifié, que ton règne vienne, que ta volonté sit soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel. Donne-nous aujourd'hui notre pain quotidien. Pardonne-nous nos offenses comme nous pardonnons aussi à ceux qui nous ont offensés. Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation, mais délivre-nous du mal. Amen.

Hail Mary

Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâces, le Seigneur est avec vous; vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes, et Jésus le fruit de vos entrailles, est béni. Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu, priez pour nous pécheurs, maintenant, et à l'heure de notre mort. Amen.

Glory Be

Gloire au Pére, au Fils et au Saint-Esprit. Comme Il état au commencement, maintenant et toujours pour les siècles des siècles. Amen.

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The Oil Crisis in the Gulf - For Once Can't the White House Stop Acting Like the Junkyard Bully?

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Last night White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told the press that the White House would "keep the boot on BP's neck," in yet another shallow and disparaging remark to corporate America. He was echoing the earlier reference by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar when in two separate Sunday TV appearances he used the imagery of a Wild West bar fight to describe how the administration was dealing with the company.



"Our job is basically to keep the boot on the neck of British Petroleum," Salazar said, who often sports a Stetson and who four months ago stirred the ire of the oil business by saying unlike his predecessors in the George W. Bush administration, oil companies would no longer be treated like "kings of the world."



Of course this is the same Ken Salazar who, when he was a senator, had to apologize after calling Christian conservative leader James Dobson "the antichrist of the world." Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made clear yesterday that the step-on-the-neck image had the White House seal of approval.



The White House thugs keep trying to distance themselves from big business and Wall Street as they secretly continue shaking down the corporate PACs and executives for campaign contributions to try and save the Democrats who supported their legislative program, a program in sharp contrast to the will of the people of America.



The Chairman of BP previously stated the company was going to pay for the cost of the clean up. BP is also the only oil company on television promoting energy independence through a combination of alternative and conventional energy techniques, the only logical way for America to break our dependence on foreign oil.

So what is to be gained by the strident language and threats from the bully boys? No matter how tough the White House gang tries to be, they were the darling of Wall Street, pharmaceutical companies, big banks the housing and health companies and even Goldman Sachs. Calling corporate America on the carpet while stuffing their pockets with campaign contributions from them is demeaning.



If they were really sincere in beating up corporate America they would give back the hundreds of millions of corporate dollars they spent and the tens of millions they are raising this election cycle to keep the Democrats from becoming an endangered species in Congress. Fat chance the White House will give back to the fat cats the even fatter campaign bankrolls they collected from them.

Goldman was of course Obama's largest contributor. Obama was also the recipient of the most BP money getting three times as much as McKean. But then Obama was recipient of the most money from the most corporations of any Democrat in history so what do you expect?

So back off on the hypocritical criticism of corporate America White House people. Your campaign bank accounts were filled with money from those bad guys. We know how toothless your criticism of the big boys has been based on what you did to the crooks in housing, on Wall Street and in health care. Making idle threats while doing nothing behind the scenes is a bit ludicrous in this age of transparency.



Right now BP is trying to do the right thing. Stop slamming them for it. If they successfully cap the oil leaks it will be a historic technological event as never before have leaks 5,000 feet underwater that are covered with over 32,000 tons of debris been capped.

BP was pioneering deep water drilling and production four times deeper than ever done in history. If they can successfully stop the leak and isolate the cause of the engineering failure, most likely resulting from pressure 1000 times stronger than surface pressure, then they will make a giant leap forward in our desire for energy independence. Our energy freedom lies on the ocean bottom, not in alternative or conventional energy techniques.



You want to bully, go to New Jersey where they will put you in your place. Long ago Jersey people learned the difference between working up a steam and operating in a fog, where you seem to be lost. As our White House reps, you owe all Americans a little respect and common decency. Even big oil companies like BP can be doing good by pioneering deep water drilling and production.



We should use this critical time to encourage their engineering to resolve this potentially dangerous problem, to acknowledge their efforts to successfully drill at 35,000 feet which would move America a giant step forward technologically toward energy independence, and to thank them for taking responsibility for the accident.

Come to think of it, maybe the White House should try taking responsibility for something sometime. They can't go through all four years blaming everyone else for their trouble and making excuses for their mistakes. The people of America know we are all in this together. If we are going to overcome this potential disaster and save the coastal areas it will take the efforts of everyone, including BP, to get the job done right.

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