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A Potomac, Md., Islamic center maintains links to Iran despite its claims that it is independent of a foundation that is being sued by the U.S. government on charges of funneling money to the Islamic republic. Ali Mohammadi, the current manager of the Islamic Education Center (IEC) of Maryland, told The Washington Times that the center's only relationship to the Alavi Foundation is that of tenant to landlord. He quoted a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office as saying that forfeiture proceedings initiated earlier this month against the foundation - which also owns property in New York and other states...

As disgusting and disgraceful as Father Jenkins and the board of Notre Dame have been over the whole Obama commencement speech fiasco, it now seems clear that this invitation is part of a larger trend among dissidents within Catholic academia in America. Fordham University, a Jesuit institution in New York is hosting pro-abortion mayor Michael Bloomberg. St. Joseph's University, another Jesuit university in Philadelphia, is hosting pro-abortion media talking-head Chris Matthews. Yet another Jesuit institution, Georgetown Law School, is honoring pro-abortion vice-president Joe Biden. What does all this mean? According to the NCR article linked above, it means that certain...

Compared with previous generations, the youngest of today's adult Catholics are less likely to have celebrated the sacraments that provide the foundation of the faith. A growing minority of self-identified Catholic adults haven't made their first reconciliation, received their First Communion or been confirmed, according to research from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. The sacraments are at the heart of what it means to be Catholic, said Mark Gray, a CARA researcher. If fewer parents are anchoring their children in Catholicism through the sacraments, the result could be a smaller church. "To the...

I made an error last night, and asked the moderator to delete that error. I thank the moderator, but I must ask the moderator and the Religion Forum freepers for a little more patience, because my conscience requires that I do more than remove the falsity; I must correct it. I was scandalized over the past few days to hear local news reports that Joseph Biden was receiving an honorary degree at Georgetown. These reports were false. I'm not 100% positive they explicitly stated Biden would receive a degree; they might have said something more like, "While the controversy still...

Presidential aide Dick Darman once said that to understand Ronald Reagan you had to realize he was neither a Republican nor a conservative. He was, Darman said, a populist. Consider some of the 40th president's better-known aphorisms: "Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." "Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." In an era of Cold War and Great...

What's fueling the continuing controversy over President Obama's planned trip to Notre Dame? This piece, from the Washington Independent, offers some answers: After eight years of only occasional disagreements with a Republican president, conservative Catholic activists have moved into the trenches to oppose Obama. They cite his repeal of the Mexico City rule, or “global gag rule,� his stem cell compromise, and his cabinet nominees like Kathleen Sebelius, the pro-choice governor of Kansas, to argue that he is the most pro-abortion rights politician ever to ascend to the job. They are bolstered by new media outlets and organizations that did...

The Franking Privilege by: Bethany Stotts, April 23, 2009 Frankly scandalized: that’s how some American University seniors felt when they learned that their 2009 commencement speaker would be none other than Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). Congressman Frank is scheduled to speak to the graduating class of AU’s School of Public Service. “Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., has a record as a key player in our current economic crisis, which is almost as offensive as his endless refusal to accept responsibility for it--hardly the marks of a public servant,” wrote four AU students in an April 16 op-ed to the AU Eagle....

Georgetown is honoring Vice President Biden tomorrow. Biden is a Catholic that supports abortion rights. Washington DC - April 21, 2009 - Georgetown is honoring Vice President Joe Biden tomorrow at a Symposium Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Biden will receive the Legal Momentum Hero Award. Geoergetown’s decision to honor Biden, on the heels its acquiescence to the White House’s request to cover the IHS symbol at Gaston Hall last week when President Obama spoke, combined with the current imbroligio over President Obama’s scheduled commencement speech and honorary degree at Notre Dame, is...

Campus Peep Show by: Malcolm A. Kline, April 21, 2009 We don’t set out to cover the salacious but we’re on the education beat so what they do governs what we get to write about. Moreover, the prurient trend spills out into the popular culture. Hoyas Gone WildApparently, Georgetown University finds its Catholic in Name Only designation too restrictive. Even before the Jesuits that run it accommodated a visiting head of state by covering up a picture of Christ, the university observed Lent in a manner scarcely reminiscent of the original observance. Perhaps the denizens of Georgetown need to...

" All the Church’s activities stem from her awareness that she is the bearer of a message which has its origin in God himself: in his goodness and wisdom, God chose to reveal himself and to make known the hidden purpose of his will. God’s desire to make himself known, and the innate desire of all human beings to know the truth, provide the context for human inquiry into the meaning of life. This unique encounter is sustained within our Christian community: the one who seeks the truth becomes the one who lives by faith. "...A university or school’s Catholic...

At the request of the White House, Georgetown University covered up all the symbols in Gaston Hall, before the Great Man spoke, including IHS, the millennia-old monogram for the name of Jesus Christ. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, had adopted the monogram in his seal and it became an emblem of the Jesuit order. When it comes to rendering unto Caesar, Georgetown is not going to be outshone by Notre Dame, which stole a march by offering the nation's avatar of abortion a doctorate of laws degree, honoris causa. Actually, it is regrettable the IHS in...

Surprising word today that President Barack Obama's White House asked Georgetown University to cover all religious symbols at the scene of the president's economic speech at the Roman Catholic institution Wednesday. And the prestigious Jesuit university agreed. The decision, unnoticed at the time, seems likely to add further fuel to the ongoing controversy over Obama's upcoming graduation speech at the University of Notre Dame, where the Jesuit Indiana campus is plastered with numerous religious symbols. This includes a mosaic of Jesus Christ covering the entire 14-story southern wall of the Hesburgh Library next door to the speech site in the...

This news about President Obama's speech at Georgetown, reported by Catholic News Service, is causing a bit of a stir:Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram “IHS”--symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university on Tuesday and the White House had asked Georgetown to cover up all signs and symbols there. As of Wednesday afternoon, the “IHS” monogram that had previously adorned the stage at Georgetown’s Gaston Hall was still covered up--when the pediment where it had appeared was photographed by CNSNews.com. “In coordinating the logistical...

Before Obama's Tuesday address at Georgetown, a Catholic University, the White House put in a request to cover all of the University's signage and symbols behind the stage in Gaston Hall. Georgetown covered up the IHS monogram, spelling out Jesus’ name, with of all things, a piece of plywood...

Mrs. Bush speaking in Gaston Hall at Georgetown University on Dec. 4, 2006, with "IHS" on pediment behind her. (White House photo) (CNSNews.com) – As First Lady, Laura Bush spoke at Georgetown University in front of the same "IHS"--a symbol for the name of Jesus--that the Jesuit school covered over when President Barack Obama spoke there on Tuesday.   On Dec. 4, 2006, Mrs. Bush spoke on the same Gaston Hall stage that President Obama used for his speech on Tuesday. Mrs. Bush was speaking to announce a partnership between the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council and Georgetown University.  The event was captured by a White House photograph that shows the IHS on...

Is this the new politics Barack Obama promised to bring to Washington? His hand-picked DNC Chairman just went on national TV and claimed the Obama administration never requested Georgetown to cover up the IHS monogram representing the name of Christ. Confronted with a CNSNews.com article flatly reporting that such a request had indeed been made, Tim Kaine resorted to the hoary dodge of claiming he hadn't seen the story. Adding insult to injury, Kaine even claimed to be ignorant of CNSNews.com itself, NewsBusters' sister organization. Kaine made his credulity-busting claims during a Morning Joe appearance today. View video.

What occurred at Georgetown University is one of those symbolic moments in history which speaks beyond any single incident. The administration literally covered over the Cross of Christ and the “I.H.S.”, both of which were engraved on the backdrop against which the President spoke on the Gaston Hall stage. The reaction to this censorship of Christian signs at a Catholic University was immediate. The associate Vice President of Communications of Georgetown gave her spin: "In coordinating the logistical arrangements for yesterday's event, Georgetown honored the White House staff's request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind...

When President Barack Obama spoke at Georgetown University on April 14, the White House requested that all religious symbols and signage that might appear as a backdrop to where the president was to speak be covered up. Georgetown acceded to the request and made sure that the symbol “IHS,” a monogram of the name Jesus Christ, was not in sight. Catholic League president Bill Donohue spoke to this issue today: “The cowardice of Georgetown to stand fast on principle tells us more than we need to know about what is going on there, but the bigger story is the audacity...

CNSNews.com) - Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram “IHS”--symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university on Tuesday and the White House had asked Georgetown to cover up all signs and symbols there.

At Georgetown University today, while sitting in the press section at Gaston Hall awaiting the arrival of President Obama for a "major address" on economics, I overheard a reporter discussing the advance text of the speech. The reporter said that senior presidential adviser David Axelrod had compared Obama during his European trip to one planting seeds for a harvest. Along the same lines, he noted, in today's speech, Obama was set to use another Gospel analogy: that of the "house built upon a rock." And so it came to pass, beneath Gaston Hall's beautiful painting of Morality, Faith, and Patriotism,...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Amid a continuing firestorm of scandal caused by the University of Notre Dame's invitation of President Obama to speak and receive an honorary degree at graduation, Georgetown University will be hosting the President at 11:30 a.m. today for a speech on the economy, according to yesterday's White House press release.  The speech will take place in Gaston Hall, although only those with a ticket or RSVP may attend. Pro-life advocates decrying the President's virulently pro-abortion record are planning to gather at the entrance to Georgetown University at 37th and O Street to protest...

Last night, the Office or Mission and Ministry sent out a campus-wide email alerting the student body that an unknown suspect had vandalized the statue of Mary that stands on Copley Lawn by painting its face black. From the looks of the email, (”we do not know the motivation of the person or persons who painted the face, nor whether they are members of the University community or not”), nothing seems to be known about the perpetrator. According to the email, the incident happened “late last week” and the Department of Public Safety is investigating. The OMM also said they...

An article in Georgetown University's newspaper The Hoya welcomes the new director of its Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Questioning (LGBTQ) Resource Center and does some end zone celebration for our benefit. Georgetown, you may remember, is a university in the Jesuit Tradition.   You'll be edified by the following details:Jack Harrison (SFS '09), co-chair of GU Pride, also said he hopes to work closely with the new director in developing programming for the year. … Harrison said GU Pride is looking to launch efforts this year to make the campus more "trans-friendly" by working to provide bathrooms and better housing options for...

Taylor used to be a player in Williamson County, with it and Georgetown vying for funds and the attention of passers-through. But no more, and despite what many city officials will tell you, it will not be a player unless something is done to counteract the rapid growth of surrounding communities. What needs to be done is, Taylor needs to forget its past and embrace something residents see as so vile, that when I first arrived here I thought its mere mention was a dirty word. I am speaking of Rick Perry’s Trans-Texas Corridor. The Texas Department of Transportation (another...

Supreme Speaker by: Deborah Lambert, June 26, 2008 When Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was on the commencement speaker circuit this season, one of his most meaningful talks was the one he gave to the graduating class of 18 middle-school boys at Washington (DC) Jesuit Academy. Described by the Washington Times as a “tuition-free private boarding school for underprivileged but academically promising youths run by the Jesuits,” the school’s “small class sizes, 12-hour school days and 11-month school year” has worked miracles since its launch in 2002. “While 11 percent of entering students read at grade level, the school reports...

GEORGETOWN, Texas (AP/KXAN) -- A state lawmaker who helped pave the way for major toll road projects and stiffer drunken driving penalties now faces a DWI charge. Rep. Mike Krusee of Williamson County is the Republican chairman of the House Transportation Committee. He was charged with first-offense driving while intoxicated after a state trooper noticed his car moving erratically in northwest Austin Wednesday night. The license plate on the vehicle also had expired last December. Elected state officials all have personalized license plates. Therefore, the trooper would have known he was pulling over a state official before asking for identification....

Animal Rights by: Deborah Lambert, April 24, 2008 It used to be so easy owning a pet. You were the boss, Fido was the dog. Today, if you get home late from work, he might sue you. Thanks to a new legal specialty called Animal Protection Litigation, there is a rapidly growing niche for those concerned with the rights of animal companions. Some say it’s growing because animals are no longer just “property,” but have true legal standing as “partial beneficiaries of estates, subjects of lawsuits and victims of abuse,” according to the Raleigh News and Observer. Proponents of the...

The ICC at Georgetown Law by: Malcolm A. Kline, April 16, 2008 If you wonder where new bureaucracies come from, look at their nurseries—colleges and universities. That is where such notions not only are procreated but polished and promoted as well. Knowing that their birthplace is usually on a college campus also aids in understanding why they usually fall prey to the law of unintended consequences. Paper theories usually don’t work out even as well as equations worked out on the back of cocktail napkins. An example of the latter is the Reagan tax cuts that gave the United States...

Of Georgetown Law and Abu Ghraib by: Malcolm A. Kline, April 14, 2008 A gathering of academics and human rights activists at Georgetown Law last week delivered some predictable broadsides at the Bush regime but also some unexpected critiques of the Clinton Administration, from which nearly half of the panelists came. Of the seven Clinton alumni to hit the podium, more than half made the case for American relativism and brought up Abu Ghraib, frequently in the same sentence: • President Clinton’s chief of staff, John Podesta, now a visiting law professor at Georgetown, evoked the “image of Iraqi civilians...

Madeleine and her Exes by: Malcolm A. Kline, April 11, 2008 When big-name Democrats return to academia after leaving elective or appointive office, they may go through withdrawals. “I’m starting a group of former foreign ministers called ‘Madeleine and her exes,’” the first woman to serve as U. S. Secretary of State said last Tuesday. Currently, Madeleine K. Albright teaches at Georgetown. “This weekend my class is doing a simulation on Iran,” she said at the seminar co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress. “We were doing North Korea but I got tired of that.” Albright addressed a symposium on...

Affirmative Action for Foreign Policy by: Bethany Stotts, April 02, 2008 Foreign policy is overrun by a “religion avoidance disorder” so severe that foundations must offer grants in order to encourage international affairs departments to integrate faith issues into their curriculum, argues Thomas F. Farr. “I’ll tell you a dirty little secret: this is precisely why I am teaching at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. They received a grant from the Henry Luce foundation,” said the Georgetown University Professor. The Henry Luce Initiative on Religion and International Affairs has given grants to numerous universities, think tanks, and other organizations...

It looks like Georgetown is not on the Holy Father’s nice list.During a visit to Washington, D.C. next month, Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to deliver a speech at Catholic University about the state of Catholic higher education in the United States. According to the Washington Post, the pontiff is expected to use the event to lambaste the scores of Catholic colleges and universities that are not living up to church’s standards by failing to force their students to abide by Catholic teachings. The Church takes issue with the growing tendency of American Catholic schools to tolerate or even...

SH 130 Concession Company LLC finalized the legal details of a financial close with Texas DOT on a $1,360m toll concession to build SH130 segments 5&6 Thursday and Friday last week in bankers' offices in New York City - at Orrick, 666 Fifth Avenue. The actual money flows should occur on Thursday or Friday (Mar 13 or 14) this week, Jose Maria Lopez de Fuentes, president of Cintra North America, told us this morning. Hundreds of documents and over 20 lawyers were involved last week representing TxDOT, private equity people, banks, mostly European, the TIFIA loan group from FHWA, and...

A U.S. congressman is asking Georgetown University about its academic scrutiny of Saudi Arabia and its use of $20 million donated by a Saudi prince in 2005. U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) wrote to Georgetown President John DeGioia Thursday, saying he was concerned about how the money was being spent at the university's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Of particular concern, Wolf said, was the university's role in training current and prospective U.S. foreign service personnel. "The Saudi government continues to permit textbooks to contain inflammatory language about other religions," Wolf wrote. "Restrictions on civil society and political activists continue to...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Presidential politics might seem like an unusual topic for an associate professor of Jewish civilization at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service to tackle. But the Jesuit-run university's Jacques Berlinerblau sees his latest book, "Thumpin' It: The Use and Abuse of the Bible in Today's Presidential Politics," as a natural follow-up to his 2005 work, "The Secular Bible: Why Nonbelievers Must Take Religion Seriously." "Thumpin' It" was published by Westminster John Knox Press in January. The earlier book focused primarily on the Hebrew Bible and the way it is used in modern American society. A move from...

Still in Control Pervez Musharraf was calm, confident and—despite a flurry of rumors—not about to announce his resignation. Instead, the Pakistani president's "concession" to his troubled nation was an announcement that he would allow Britain's Scotland Yard to help local law enforcement agencies with their investigation into last week's assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Speaking in a nationally televised address two hours after Pakistan's election commission announced the postponement of the ballot to Feb. 18, six weeks later than had been scheduled, Musharraf was notably deferential in his remarks about Bhutto, often invoking her "martyrdom" and extolling...

The Georgetown Park Mall's Department of Motor Vehicles service center was closed Wednesday after FBI agents conducted a raid there. D.C. Police officers along with FBI and ICE agents arrested a female employee for selling driver's licenses. The DMV's own integrity officer said eight months ago, he was investigating for a law enforcement agency when he learned about the incident and alerted the authorities. The D.C. inspector general's office took over from there, alerting the FBI and other law enforcement authorities. Agents also arrested four addition suspects. All five suspects will appear in U.S. District Court Thursday. Three years ago,...

WASHINGTON, DC October 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The president of prestigious Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic university in the United States, has promised homosexual activists that the school will fully fund a center for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and “questioning” (LGBTQ) students by next fall. The pro-homosexual nature of the center is rejection of what is considered serious Catholic moral teaching.   President John DeGioia told media, “How do we respond to legitimate requests for a more supportive environment? We can continue to do this in a somewhat informal manner … or we can move forward in a more organized...

WASHINGTON -- Several stores in Georgetown boarded up their windows Friday in anticipation of possible vandalism by protesters in town for the World Bank and IMF meetings. A few dozen protesters gathered at Washington Circle, where they planned to begin a march through Georgetown to send a message to what they call "a seat of excessive wealth and privilege."...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorSeptember 28, 2007Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Georgetown University is coming under fire from a pro-life group that monitors activities at Catholic colleges and universities. The college Georgetown law school has adopted a policy that will provide funding to law students to intern with public interest organizations -- including ones that promote abortion.The Cardinal Newman Society says Georgetown adopted the policy to accommodate students who had previously been denied funding for abortion advocacy work with Planned Parenthood.According to The Hoya student newspaper, Joy Welan, the president of the Georgetown Law Center’s pro-abortion student group Law Students for Choice,...

SHOCKER: Catholic Georgetown U. Will Now Fund Law Students to Lobby for Abortion Oldest Catholic university in U.S. By John-Henry Westen WASHINGTON, DC, September 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A change of policy at Georgetown University Law Center will permit the university - which is the oldest Catholic university in the nation - to give grants to students who lobby for abortion for agencies such as Planned Parenthood.   The Hoya, the Georgetown University newspaper, reports on its front page today about the policy change. The policy change was announced September 7 by Law Center Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff in a letter...

AS the father of a terror victim, I can no longer be shocked by much. And as a New Jerseyan, I'm used to strange goings-on in my state's government. But I was shocked and surprised to I learn that John L. Esposito will be a featured speaker at next week's state Department of Homeland Security confernce on counterterrorism. Esposito teaches at Georgetown University in its His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. To get a sense of the center's purpose, recall that bin Talal is the Saudi prince who shortly after 9/11 blamed the attacks on...

Two stories, sadly, taking place in my backyard. First, John Kerry has been invited to speak at the Catholic University of America: LifeSiteNews: Pro-Abortion John Kerry to Speak at Catholic University of America: Invitation violates principle unanimously agreed upon by US Bishops in 2004WASHINGTON, September 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholic University of America (CUA) has invited former presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry to speak on environmentalism and the Iraq war this semester, despite initial opposition by the office of University Center, Student Programs and Events (UCSPE). The Tower, the campus paper of Catholic University, said the UCSPE had initially...

One of the plagues of the Catholic Church in modern America is the barely-disguised faith abuse of many of our so-called Catholic universities. The actions of some of these universities are just intolerable from the viewpoint of authentic Catholicism, and they should be exposed and rebuked for the heresy, apostasy or the just plain pathetic Catholicism that they advocate. This week saw one of the most egregious slaps in the face to the Catholic Church that has been seen in a long time: an award for an abortion-advocating priest. The culprit? Georgetown - again.This fallen-away Catholic school in DC has...

In Young Rats, Researchers Find a Reaction to Spinal Cord Injury That Speeds Recovery Finding surprises researchers, who discovered that young rats mend more quickly because cells near the injury site respond differently than in adults Washington, DC -- Neuroscientists had long believed that the only way to repair a spinal cord injury was to grow new neural connections, but researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found that, especially in young rats, powerful cells near the injury site also work overtime to restrict nerve damage and restore movement and sensation.   The same process does not work as efficiently...

Georgetown U bought for $20 million Remember the prince who offered $10 million to Rudolph Giuliani after the 9/11 attacks, and Giuliani turned down the money after the prince suggested U.S. policies in the Middle East contributed to the September 11 attacks? The prince found someone for sale: Georgetown U. Via Phyllis Chesler, BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS: Georgetown gets $20 million from prince promoting Islam. Just months later, university ejects evangelical Christians from campus

The Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University has been renamed after Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal donated $20 million to its projects. And while that may be just the tail, the dog appears to be moving away from its historic Catholic and Jesuit teaching philosophy too. The Center's leaders say it now will be used to put on workshops regarding Islam, fostering exchanges with the Muslim world, addressing U.S. policy towards the Muslim world, working on the relationship of Islam and Arab culture, addressing Muslim citizenship and civil liberties, and developing exchange programs for students from the Muslim world.

Bit h/t to the Commenters at Just One Minute. We bloggers owe our best work to their diligence and tenacity. The following is a complilation of some what they found so far, of what just may be the key to getting to the bottom of a Democratic conspiracy in the Foley Setup. As I previously posted here, there apparently was a promise of a book deal to pages by a Robin Kasaros. Googling her name brought about useful information such as she hosted “House Parties” back in 2005. No, not where you sell Tupperware, but the kind that like to...

GEORGETOWN, Pa. - A procession of 34 buggies and carriages carried mourners to a hilltop cemetery Thursday as the Amish community buried the first of five girls killed by a gunman inside their tiny one-room schoolhouse. Two state troopers on horseback and a funeral director's black sedan with flashing yellow lights led the cortege, followed by a long horse-drawn buggy carrying the body of 7-year-old Naomi Rose Ebersol. The route wove past the home of Charles Carl Roberts IV, the 32-year-old milk truck driver who took the girls hostage Monday morning, tied them up and then shot them. One Amish...

Funny, isn't it, how certain experts and leaders of other religions are so eager to explain to Pope Benedict XVI how to really be a pope? A shining example is this piece in today's Baltimore Sun. [Quotes from:] (America magazine's Thomas Reese)...(St. John's U history professor Frank Coppa)...(CAIR's communications director, Ibrahim Hooper)(a Dr. Gillis, chairman of Georgetown "theology" department)(Rabbi Jack Bemporad, Center for Interreligious Understanding) To summarize so far: • Benedict doesn't realize he is pope...Whether this is due to excessive stupidity or humility is not clear. • Benedict doesn't have "street smarts." • He's not political enough, and is...