FIRST PLACE: INTERNATIONAL PICTURE OF THE YEAR! by Dondra Murphy

by Dondra Murphy

When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the  Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the  family gather on the tarmac.

During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport , Major Steve Beck described the scene as so powerful:

'See the people in the windows? They sat right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the  plane that brought him home,' he said 'They will remember being on  that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marine home.

And so should we all.....

Holiness in the USA. American saints, blesseds, venerables, servants of God & those whose causes have been introduced. (Scroll to the bottom for a surprise entry.)

List of American saints
St. Isaac Jogues (1930), missionaries to the Hurons.
St. René Goupil (1930), missionaries to the Hurons.
St. Jean de Lalande (1930), missionaries to the Hurons.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (1946), worked among immigrants in New York City.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1975), founder of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph.
St. John Neumann (1977), missionary and bishop of Philadelphia.
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne (1988), missionary to Native Americans.
St. Katharine Drexel (2000), benefactor and school builder.
St. Mother Théodore Guérin (2006), founder of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
St. Damien de Veuster of Molokai (2009), leper priest of Molokai.

List of American blesseds
Blessed Marianne Cope, worked among the lepers of Hawaii.
Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, lay minister in Puerto Rico.
Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, missionary preacher.
Blessed Junípero Serra, founder of the Spanish missions in California.
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks.

List of American venerables
Venerable Solanus Casey, Detroit mystic.
Venerable Cornelia Connelly, founder of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.
Venerable Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli, missionary to Iowa and Wisconsin.
Venerable Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus.
Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Catholic convert and benefactor in New York.
Venerable Félix Varela, activist for human rights in Cuba.

List of American Servants of God
Servant of God Mary Magdalen Bentivoglio
Servant of God Nelson Baker
Servant of God Frederic Baraga
Servant of God Simon Bruté
Servant of God Vincent Robert Capodanno
Servant of God Walter Ciszek
Servant of God Gwen Coniker
Servant of God Terence Cooke
Servant of God Dorothy Day
Servant of God Henriette DeLille, founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family.
Servant of God Theodore Foley
Servant of God Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin
Servant of God Isaac Hecker
Servant of God Emil Kapaun
Servant of God Mary Elizabeth Lange
Servant of God Rose Hawthorne Lathrop
Servant of God Francis J. Parater
Servant of God Patrick Peyton
Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen
Servant of God Felix Varela

Other Americans have been proposed for beatification, and may have active groups supporting their causes. These include:
John Hardon
Mychal F. Judge
Jacques Marquette
John F. Noll
Joseph T. O'Callahan
Bernard Quinn
Stanley Rother
Augustine Tolton
Rhoda Wise
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   Your name?  God's will won't put you where God's grace can't sustain you.   Decide now to be a saint.  That's the best way to live life.

Video: country bumpkin ad epitomizes political sentiment

This country bumpkin ad for a local office in Alabama, epitomizes the sweeping sentitment that will overhaul the American political landscape this year.  It's going viral because, it is suggestive of the preference to what is traditionally American - God and country, the flag, mom and apple pie.  Without mentioning  Eurotrash Socialism, Muslim Radicalism and pro-abortion legalism, it implies opposition to all that.  "We're better than that", he says.

At the risk of sounding simplistic and idealistic, I believe that this election will be a battle of integrity vs. corruption, self-sufficiency vs. dependence, faith vs. atheism, pro-life vs. abortion, marriage and family vs. "alternative life-styles" and self-determination vs. government control.  (And guns are good too.  It keeps the vermin away from the livestock and makes hunting deer easier.)  And this guy personifies all those good old-fashioned values shunned by the Democrats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU7fhIO7DG0&feature=player_embedded

Original Vision of America. It's not just the big bucks.

My favorite ballad.  It's not just the big bucks.  It's about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  America is a haven for political opponents of dictators;  they need not fear for their lives anymore.  One can enjoy the freedoms provided by the bill of rights - a prerogative only of the ruling class in other places.  Finally, one has the chance to work for their dreams.  In other places, diligence and talent is not enough.  I hope and pray that America continues to be this land of opportunity for always.

Source :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3S7mlRYL-8 or click here
Bill of Rights from Wiki.

• First Amendment – Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause; freedom of speech, of the press, Freedom of Religion, and of assembly; right to petition,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

• Second Amendment – Militia (United States), Sovereign state, Right to keep and bear arms.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. ^[5][6]

• Third Amendment – Protection from quartering of troops.

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

• Fourth Amendment – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

• Fifth Amendment – due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, eminent domain.

No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

• Sixth Amendment – Trial by jury and rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

• Seventh Amendment – Civil trial by jury.

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

• Eighth Amendment – Prohibition of excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

• Ninth Amendment – Protection of rights not specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

• Tenth Amendment – Powers of States and people.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.