A 26-year-old mother was killed when gunmen opened fire in a small northern New Jersey town as she was walking with her husband and her 3-year-old son late Tuesday night, authorities said.

Bullets also wounded her husband, but the child remained safe.

Nazish Noorani and her husband Kashif Parvaiz, also 26, were on their way to a relative’s house with one of their children around 11 p.m. when gunmen opened fire. The couple had recently moved from Brooklyn to Boston so that Parvaiz could attend graduate school at Harvard University. Their other child, 5, was with a relative when the shooting occurred, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Investigators are now... http://www.theblaze.com/stories/target-specific-pakistani-mother-gunned-...

OUR MISSIONARY CO– OP SPEAKER THIS YEAR IS SISTER FELICIA AGIBI Sister will be speaking at all of the Masses this weekend witnessing her love for the missions in Africa. A second collection will be taken after communion to help the work of missions. Thank You.

Attention Seniors: A class just for seniors 60+ called “Seniorcize” starts on Friday, September 9th at Saint Francis of Assisi in Rooms 5 & 6 at 10:30 am. It is being offered at half price ($22. for 22 sessions) as a community service of the not-for-profit SCAN Health Plan. The sponsors are; Fillmore Senior Center, Catholic Charities and SCAN Senior Resource Center. The Teacher is Jaci Gutierrez who helped started the well known Bone Builders program for seniors in Oxnard. According to Jaci, "this class will be a fun way for seniors to help control stress, diabetes, weight and strengthen their bones." Call the Fillmore Senior Center at 524-4533 to register. They are hosting this class on Mondays also at 10:30 am.

Youth Confirmation and Junior High Registration

Registrations for Confirmation 1 and 2 , Jr. high Ministry and 7th & 8th Grade First Communions will be on August 16, 17, 18, and August 23, 24, 25th . Registrations will be from 3:00pm to 6:00pm. Please bring a copy of your child’s BAPTISM Certificate. Registration Fee is 80.00 dollars per child. For more information contact, Vidal Morales at 524-4408..

BAKE SALE—TODAY SUNDAY AUG. 21ST AFTER THE MORNING MASSES

Attention all 2011 Confirmed High School Students—Let’s meet and eat every last Saturday of the month 12:00-2:00pm in rooms 5 and 6 . Toni Galvez will be available for guidance and follow up. Not mandatory, it is voluntary. Do you want to continue to grow in your faith? Come join us!

SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI “WOMEN’S WEEKEND RETREAT”

Have you made a retreat in a while? Refresh your soul. You are invited to participate in a Women’s Silent retreat on September 23-25 at the Sacred Heart Retreat House in Alhambra. Transportation is available. Please contact Martha at 524-9337 for more information and reservations.

Written by Tiffany Gabbay

To celebrate the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, Palestinian TV has launched a new program called “The Best Mothers.“ But who constitutes the ”best mothers” according to Palestinians? Apparently ones whose children were suicide bombers who killed innocent Israelis and themselves, and hence, became “martyrs.”

The 10-minute segment, that reportedly airs every day, features a different Palestinian mother in her home, talking about the children of whom she is most proud.

Palestinian Media Watch reported that... http://www.theblaze.com/stories/palestinian-tv-show-celebrates-ramadan-w...

Islamist organizations are hard at work creating Muslim enclaves in the West, including right here in the United States. These efforts are designed to create Islamic autonomous areas, often with the expressed desire of incrementally bringing the host country completely under Sharia-based governance. This campaign has not stopped or even slowed down since FrontPage Magazine and the Middle East Forum shined the light on it one year ago.

One group leading... http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/12/sharia-enclaves-in-the-west/?utm_sour...

As with the situation in Egypt, this is not at all the first time we have seen such behavior in Pakistan. Two such prominent cases in Pakistan have been those of Saba (or Sarah) and Anila Masih, and Farah Hatim.

The news organization Fides has reported that "at least 700 Christian girls are kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam every year." Hindu girls are targeted as well, and many cases go unreported, or are brushed aside by authorities.

Here is yet another... http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/08/pakistan-bishop-of-islamabad-warns-for...

Neeha and her family lived in Islamabad, Pakistan just a few years ago. When Neeha’s father, a Christian, refused to convert to Islam his 2 year old daughter was kidnapped and mercilessly raped in a field, leaving her body horribly disfigured.

The Ventura County chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is holding its 2011 Victory Drive and Banquet on Saturday, Sept. 10, at Padre Serra Parish – Serra Center in Camarillo, 5205 Upland Road.

Former pro football players Chris Thomas and Bob Gagliano will be the guest speakers for the banquet, which also will feature worship music and dinner. Area sports coaches and athletes involved in Ventura County FCA will highlight for the guests their activities at local schools. A VIP reception begins at 5:45 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6:45.

FCA is the largest Christian sports organization in America and has presented Christianity to hundreds of thousands of young athletes and coaches on high school and college campuses since 1954. The FCA, which is interdenominational, holds “huddles” at public and private schools for interested athletes and also ministers to athletes and coaches. FCA Ventura County currently sponsors huddles at several schools and hopes to expand countywide. This marks the first year the FCA is hosting this event in Ventura County.

Tickets to attend the dinner and program are $50 per person. Event sponsors also are being sought at levels of $250, $500, $1,000 or $2,500. For tickets or sponsorship information, please contact FCA Ventura County Area Director Ed Lyon at 746-4725 or lyon@fca.org, or banquet coordinator John E. Tarkany at 760-8674 or jtarkany@vcoe.org. In addition, checks can be mailed to Ed Lyon at P.O. Box 6033, Ventura, CA, 93006.

“YOUTH NEWS“
Registrations for Confirmation 1 and 2 , Jr. high Ministry and 7th & 8th Grade First Communions will be on August 16, 17, 18, and August 23, 24, 25th . Registrations will be from 3:00pm to 6:00pm. Please bring a copy of your child’s Birth Certificate. Registration Fee is 80.00 dollars per child. For more information contact, Vidal Morales at 524-4408..
SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI OUR LADY’S ROSARY MAKERS STARTING IN SEPTEMBER
Tuesday at 10:15AM and 5:45PM. Spreading the Gospel-One Rosary at a time. Need more Information, Call: Jackie Kammerer at 524-2001 or the Pastoral Center—524-1306
SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI SMALL CHURCH COMMUNITY
Are you interested in getting together each Thursday evening with a small group of parishioners to go over scripture? If so, please contact Paul and Carmen Tholl at 524-7016
WOMEN’S WEEKEND RETREAT
Have you made a retreat in a while? Refresh your soul. You are invited to participate in a Women’s Silent retreat on September 23-25 at the Sacred Heart Retreat House in Alhambra. Transportation is available. Please contact Martha at 524-9337 for more information and reservations.
WE ARE FORMING A SPANISH YOUTH GROUP
Are you a youth ages 16—21 ? Are you interested in becoming a youth leader? Register for leadership classes that begin Tuesday, August 2 from 7:30 to 9:00 PM. Spanish Youth Group begins September 24th. Please keep our young leaders in prayer. To register, please contact Luz at 625-2828. God Bless you all.

It is difficult to imagine defending pedophilia at all, let alone issuing a religious decree officially condoning it through the act of marriage. Yet that is what one Saudi cleric has reportedly done by issuing a fatwa defending Muslim “child marriage” or, pedophilia.

Dr. Salih bin Fawzan, a cleric in Saudi Arabia’s highest religious council, has reportedly issued a fatwa asserting that there is no minimum age for marriage and that girls can be married “even if they are in the cradle.”

According to FrontPage:

Appearing in Saudi papers on July 13, the fatwa... http://www.theblaze.com/stories/saudi-cleric-issues-fatwa-defending-pedo...

Kids from age 6-up are welcome to attend the 7th annual "Fools for Christ" arts camp on August 1, 2,3, and 4 at St. Francis Assisi Church.

This delightful and active week of theater games and sacred art ends in a performance on the evening of Thurs. Aug. 4 . Kids will learn physical comedy, clowning, songs and make elegant icons to take home. This year's theme is "Daniel: The Boy Who was Loyal to God." Leslie Carson, long-time theater arts teacher at Saugus HIgh School directs the fun and Michael Lara, Religious Education Director at St. Francis provides music. "Fools for Christ" meets from 5:00-8:15, Monday through Thursday evening.

Call Michael at 524-1306 to register or show up at 4:30 on Aug. 1. Cost is $25 per family but fee can be waived. Six-year olds need to be accompanied by an older sibling or adult. To register, pick up a registration form in the vestibule of the churh or please contact Michael Lara at the Pastoral Center 805-524-1306.

(The church is also looking for teen counselors who enjoy fooling around with kids!)

This Saturday, July 23rd, the 3rd Annual Church Choir Festival will be held at San Salvador Mission in Piru, Ca from 2:00pm to 10:00pm. The event has grown rapidly from 3 years ago. This year we are going to have 10 different choir groups, including a choir from Monterrey, Mexico that is coming specifically for this event. Along with these wonderful groups there will be recording star, Yesenia Flores. She was a commercial recording artist that has committed her life to Christ and now performs in only church related events. This definitely will be a treat for our local church community. Along with the various choirs will be Bishop Thomas Curry, who will be celebrating an outside mass at San Salvador Mission because the Church can no longer hold the large number of expected parishioners. There will be various church groups selling different types of food for those who have an appetite for good food and uplifting music.

The choir festival came about from the need of bringing a spiritual up lifting to the Fillmore /Piru community with the approval of Father Barney Gatlin. Juan Arredondo, was the leading drive behind this event. Since Juan sang in the church choir and worked as a professional sound engineer, he had a desire to unite the local church choirs and have them perform for the local parishioners in praise of God. Juan contacted his dear friend, Fernando Mejia, a seminarian from Fillmore who was attending the seminary in Monterrey, Mexico. Fernando thought it was a wonderful idea and knew of a group of university students that had a choir who would be interested in participating. The first year 35 people from Monterrey, Mexico along with six seminarians participated in the first ever choir festival as well as other groups from our local churches.

Each year the event grows bigger and bigger to the point of where we are today. The day after the event, there is a gathering of the choirs and their families at the Galvez home, where the participants and their families come together and relax as they swim, play games and have fellowship. We hope this event continues to grow and the communities of Fillmore and Piru will continue to embrace this wonderful festival.

Children from 4 to 5th grade will not want to miss “PandaMania, Where God is Wild about You!” This Vacation Bible School theme will explore Psalm 139 with exciting Bible-learning experiences, team-building games, related crafts projects, and cool songs that reinforce Biblical concepts.

Join us at the Church of Christ at 219 Mountain View and Highway 126, July 25-29, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Parents and children are invited to participate in the final evening’s program on Friday at 6:30 p.m. followed by a barbeque. All events are free. For more information call 524-2851 or 524-3641.

Bardsdale United Methodist Church's Vacation Bible School, Shake It Up Cafe, opens for business Monday, July 18 through Friday, July 22. Hours are 9 AM until noon.

Fun and learning activities using crafts, science, drama, Bible verses, and mission stories will help them learn about God's recipe for their lives. A healthy mid-morning snack will be served.

There's still room in the kitchen for more young chefs. Call Sharon Hurd, 524-0587, for an application, information and availability of scholarships. A tasty time will be had by all.

In a stunning revelation reported in The Telegraph Monday, parents in India are allegedly paying £2,000 (around $3200) to have their young daughters undergo gender reassignment surgery in order to turn them into sons — all in the hopes of dodging the added expense of raising a girl. Indian culture favors males for their income earning potential and due to the fact that unlike females, they won’t cost their families unnecessary educational expenses and wedding dowries.

Currently, there are 7 million more boys than girls under age six in India and there’s clearly a reason for that. In a country where female foeticide (gender-based abortions) are commonplace, this new twist has many fearing children aren’t safe even after they are born. Madhya Pradesh state government is already investigating 300 cases in which girls have reportedly undergone genitoplasty. The Telegraph goes on to explain:

The surgery... http://www.theblaze.com/stories/sex-change-operations-turn-little-girls-...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-06-23-us-jews-delta-airlines-...

SACRAMENTO, CA - An organization representing 21 denominations with 1.5 million members within the mainline and progressive Protestant communities of faith is the latest major organization to support the injection of transparency into the election campaign process. The group, California Church IMPACT, joins the California Clean Money Campaign, California Common Cause, and the California Nurses Association in endorsing AB 1148, the California DISCLOSE Act.

Authored by Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) and sponsored by the California Clean Money Campaign, AB 1148 will require millionaires, corporate CEO's and other Big Money contributors who buy political ads to reveal their true identities in those ads, rather than hiding behind innocuous sounding names like "Stop Hidden Taxes" or the "California Jobs Initiative". Under AB 1148, the largest funder of an ad would have to appear in the ad, identify themselves, and say that they "helped pay for this message and approve it".

"The overwhelming power of money to mislead voters is a profound moral issue," said the Reverend Dr. Rick Schlosser, Executive Director of California Church IMPACT. "Voters deserve real disclosure in political ads so they know which powerful special interests are trying to buy elections and can make more informed decisions on which messages to believe."

The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision unleashed unlimited, anonymous corporate and other spending on campaigns. In California, nearly $200 million was spent on November 2010 ballot measures alone, most by corporations hiding behind committees with misleading names. Studies have shown that anonymous spending groups are significantly more likely to fund negative advertisements.

"AB 1148 is a far-reaching effort to lift the veil on the hidden Big Money political campaign spenders in California," said Trent Lange, President of the California Clean Money Campaign, the sponsor of the California DISCLOSE Act. "It would stop special interests from being able to influence elections without voters knowing who's really behind the ads they're seeing."

AB 1148 applies to all ads supporting or opposing ballot measures or ads supporting or opposing candidates paid for by independent expenditures. California already has strong reporting requirements on candidates, so AB 1148 imposes no new reporting requirements on them, but requires candidates to "stand by their ad" like federal candidates have to. As an amendment to the Political Reform Act of 1974, AB 1148 can either be put into effect by a 2/3 vote of the legislature or by a majority vote placing a measure on the ballot for the voters to decide.

"The California DISCLOSE Act is a critical piece of legislation to fight unregulated corporate influence over California elections", said Jo Seidita, Chair of the California Clean Money Campaign. "Californians have a right to know who is financing the ads that they are constantly bombarded with during election season."

There is overwhelming support of legislation requiring greater disclosure in political ads, as indicated by the 89% of voters who favored legislation requiring ads to say which corporations paid for them, in a national poll done by Hart Research in June 2010.

#####

The California Clean Money Campaign is a non-partisan 501(c)3 organization dedicated to lessening the unfair influence of Big Money on election campaigns. For further information, visit www.CAclean.org.

MINOT FLOOD: Disastrous. Unstoppable. Historic. Unprecedented... http://www.minotdailynews.com/

Written By JONATHAN V. LAST

Mara Hvistendahl is worried about girls. Not in any political, moral or cultural sense but as an existential matter. She is right to be. In China, India and numerous other countries (both developing and developed), there are many more men than women, the result of systematic campaigns against baby girls. In "Unnatural Selection," Ms. Hvistendahl reports on this gender imbalance: what it is, how it came to be and what it means for the future.

In nature, 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. This ratio is biologically ironclad. Between 104 and 106 is the normal range, and that's as far as the natural window goes. Any other number is the result of unnatural events.

Yet today in India there are 112 boys born for every 100 girls. In China, the number is 121—though plenty of Chinese towns are over the 150 mark. China's and India's populations are mammoth enough that their outlying sex ratios have skewed the global average to a biologically impossible 107. But the imbalance is not only in Asia. Azerbaijan stands at 115, Georgia at 118 and Armenia at 120.

What is causing the skewed ratio: abortion. If the male number in... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230365740457636169116563136...

A girl of nine has told how she escaped Pakistani terrorists who tried to use her as a human bomb.

Sohana Jawed said she was kidnapped on her way to school in Peshawar, and forced to wear a remotely-controlled suicide jacket. But she escaped her captors as they prepared to send her towards a paramilitary checkpoint.

Sohana, wearing her a blue and white school uniform, recounted her ordeal during a news conference with police in Lower Dir district. Militants in Pakistan have often used young boys to carry out attacks, but the use of young girls is rare.

Sohana said she... http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/world-news/girl-nine-used-as-hum...