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Here is audio of MSNBC's Ed Schultz on radio saying that the West Wing of the White House has been turned into a "shrine" to President Obama. The audio has been accompanied by some creative slides put together by YouTube user RobtKraft.

Agreed, this doesn't come as much of a shock. What's surprising is that Schultz said "almost". Here's Schultz on his radio show Friday talking about meeting with Obama advisor David Axelrod at the White House the day before, along with fellow liberal radio host Bill Press and several other left-wing media types Schultz did not identify

The Kenyan Government plans to build a Sh112 million cultural centre in honour of US President Barack Obama at his ancestral home in Kogelo. The Sunday Nation has learnt that the proposal to construct the Obama Cultural and Leadership Centre, will be part of discussions by permanent secretaries during a meeting at Nairobi's Harambee House on Monday. The project is meant to attract a large number of tourists from across the world, who may be interested in visiting the ancestral home of the man who surmounted racial barriers, to become the president of the world’s most powerful nation. Ironically, the...

A Shrine To A Squirrel: Town's 'Diana Style' Show of Grief For Dead Albino Rodent By DANIEL BATES 09th November 2009 Well-loved: Albi the albino squirrel pictured in the churchyard where he lived [Pic in URL] Beside the grave lie gifts, flowers and heartfelt messages, some in verse. A tribute page on the social networking site Facebook has attracted more than 250 members. And the cause of this remarkable outpouring of grief? Albi the albino squirrel is no more. Albi, also known as Snowy or Percy, fell foul of a hit-and-run driver outside the churchyard where he used to live...

The Iraqi government has launched a project to renovate the interior of the prophet Ezekiel's shrine in the small town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, and the country's Ministry for Tourism and Antiquities says it hopes to eventually repair and renovate other Jewish sites across the country. "The ministry is concerned with all Iraqi heritage, whether it is Christian or Jewish or from any other religion," ministry spokesman Abdelzahra al-Talaqani told AFP. "The present plans do not include the synagogues in Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Fallujah and other places because of lack of funding, but I think they will be included...

Some news on the home-front, but significant for the Church in America. See the dome which is empty? The picture doesn't show it well - but it's by far the largest in the church. It is the last and final internal beautification project of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. Local blogger William Newton interviews one of the CUA students competing to design it: Ryan and his colleague, John-Paul Mikolajczyk, gained national attention for the liturgical furniture they designed, which was used by Pope Benedict XVI for the Papal Mass here in...

Darwinism as Religion in a Holy War Feb 19, 2009 — It might be expected that media attention on Darwin would be exceptionally high this month because of his bicentennial, but some of it seems downright religious. The adulation he has been receiving is almost embarrassing sometimes. It is only exceeded by the righteous indignation frequently expressed against intelligent design. In any other context, the fighting words of the Darwinians would be described as hate speech. Here are some recent examples: 1. Shrine to Darwin:...

A ring of scaffolding around charred bricks is all that now stands in place of the golden dome that adorned one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrines. Militants bombed the al-Askari mosque in the Iraqi city of Samarra in February 2006, destroying the dome and setting off a wave of sectarian bloodshed that killed tens of thousands of people and nearly tipped the country into all-out civil war. Now, with violence sharply down and Iraq's coffers swollen with oil revenues, officials hope the mosque can be restored to its former majestic glory in a few years. That could help heal bitter...

Mexican police, troops, thugs seek protection from violence The police officer knelt reverently in the flowered shrine to Holy Death,his right hand blessing himself, lips moving with silent pleas. "She has taken me and protected me," Marco Antonio Olvera, 28, said of the guardian spirit, whose tiny skeletal likeness hangs from his neck as an amulet, along with a .38-caliber bullet he offers in homage. "Many policemen depend upon her." Dating to the native religions before the Spanish Conquest, the cult venerating death has made a strong comeback in a Mexico awash with drug-related violence. Mexicans from all walks of...

Bells clanged, children played and police kept watch as pilgrims clutching rosary beads flocked to one of China's most revered Catholic shrines on Saturday, the day Pope Benedict XVI designated World Day of Prayer for China."There are fewer people than last year," said a 30-year-old seminary student surnamed Wu as he welcomed worshippers into the 150-year-old Sheshan Cathedral, which sits atop a scenic hill about a 45 minute drive from downtown Shanghai."The government made sure to keep order this year," Wu added.May is the month Chinese Catholics celebrate the Virgin Mary, and it is the peak season for the country's...

SAN LUIS, Colo. - Members of the parish of the Sangre de Christo Roman Catholic Church planned to vote Sunday on whether to ask authorities to file charges against Mormon missionaries who allegedly damaged a shrine in 2006. The Pueblo Chieftain reported that church members saw photos on the Web showing the Mormons in the shrine. The Chieftan reported that Sangre de Cristo Catholic Church members discovered a Web photo Thursday that showed an LDS missionary holding the severed head of a statue at the shrine. Residents since found the head had been replaced, the Chieftan said. Other photos, also...

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan - Pro-Taliban militants seized control of a shrine in northwestern Pakistan and renamed it after Islamabad's Red Mosque, while 10 people died in the latest violence near the Afghan border, officials said Monday. About 70 pro-Taliban militants occupied the shrine of renowned Pashtun freedom fighter Sahib Turangzai and its accompanying mosque in the town of Lakarai in Mohmand tribal region on Sunday, a spokesman for the militants and a local government official said. The militants declared their support for the radical leaders of the Red Mosque that was stormed by Pakistan's army this month after its clerics...

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) – Church officials have called for more clergy to work at France's Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, after a sharp rise in visitors wanting to make confessions. "Several priests have already asked to come, but we need more for the coming jubilee year," said Father Yvon Peschet, who is in charge of the shrine's Reconciliation Chapel. "It's especially with French-speaking clergy that we really need reinforcements now. But there's a shortage in the dioceses now, and it isn't easy for them to take time off for pastoral work down here." Father Peschet said July 12 that...

Several points of discussion this week. First, the Chinese government to destroy a shrine: Next July 16th pilgrims and faithful from Henan will not be allowed to go on pilgrimage to the sanctuary in Tianjiajing. The government from the province of Henan has in fact decreed that the historic sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel will be blown up with dynamite; a complete ban on Catholics organizing their annual pilgrimage; a complete ban on any religious gathering or function being celebrated in the area. A statue of the Virgin, over one hundred years old, is destined to be...

Islamic Shrek "shrine" [EuroNews, what Islamization has gotten over you?] Dear EuroNews, Hello! Regarding your report on 23 February 2007: http://euronews.net/create_html.php?page=detail_info&article=405686&lng=1 Police and Palestinians clash at Islamic shrine in Jerusalem What an outrageous approach & language? What on earth has anti-israel fascism & gross lies gotten in to you? Even if you would like to appear as a radical Arabist, at least don't change historic facts. At first I thought it was a satire, "Islamic shrine" is What? the Jewish temple? Even in usual anti-Israel standards, this is pretty pathetic. Really scary, in fact. So you want to buy Islamic-Jihad...

“Yes, I feel God is present there. Out of love for Jesus, Father built so much of the chapel from his bare hands that everywhere you turn in the chapel you feel Jesus’ presence. Every time I’ve visited the chapel I’ve been with other students, and when I look at their faces I can tell they feel different too.”   Miju Kim is a 27-year-old graduate student at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY where Father Richard Bretone serves as chaplain.  On Easter Sunday 2006 the South Korean converted to Catholicism from Buddhism under the guidance of Fr. Bretone.  Kim had been speaking...

At the close of Sunday night's liturgy, I was asked if this week's meeting would have a closing Mass. After replying that USCCB plenaries only have big Eucharists at their opening, I realized that, this year, it was an erroneous statement. Tomorrow afternoon, many of the bishops'll be boarding buses to the nation's capital for a Mass celebrating the dedication of the newly-completed "Redemption Dome" at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The 4pm liturgy will be celebrated by Archbishop Donald Wuerl with the chair of the National Shrine's iconography committee, Cardinal Justin Rigali, as...

IT is 4 o'clock in the afternoon, peak hour for mourners flocking to the nation's newest shrine, a palm tree oasis called Australia Zoo in the foothills of extinct volcanoes called the Glass House Mountains. The mourners come in their hundreds, then thousands to the spot in the Hinterland an hour's drive each way between Noosa or Brisbane. The two car parks are jammed with frantic attendants in khaki shirts and shorts trying to keep the traffic moving. Khaki shirts and shorts are the uniform here at the shrine to Steve Irwin. There is his image in a khaki shirt...

WASHINGTON - The new Redemption Dome mosaic in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington will be unveiled in September, just in time for pilgrim season. The ceiling dome, the first part of a three-part project, is gold with 12-foot figures and four scenes of redemption. If they look up as they walk into the shrine, the faithful can see the Crucifixion. Exiting, they will see the Resurrection. The images of the Crucifixion and Resurrection "symbolize dying and rising to new life," said Msgr. Walter R. Rossi, the shrine's rector. "The dome is located right...

David Groth Tyler Groth West Bend - Two cousins were charged with a felony crime each on Friday in the desecration of Holy Hill and, according to authorities, the older of the two admitted what he did but had no regrets.Tyler B. Groth, 21, of Neosho and David J. Groth, 17, of Hartford each face up to 3 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of criminal damage to religious property. Tyler Groth told investigators that he and his cousin used red spray paint in a spree of vandalism at Holy Hill on Tuesday, according to...