HRVATSKI SPORTSKI KLUB
 

October 26, 2004

Open Letter to the Croatian Community:

The Croatian Sports Club and I want to offer our heart felt thanks to the entire community for it’s support in last Sundays Thompson concert. The music was great and everyone had a fantastic time. We would like to offer a special thanks to;

o The Croatian National Association, the Udruga, for sanctioning our event.
o Msgr. Diomartich, for holding Mass before the event.
o Fr. Mate and Fr. Ivica, for allowing us to have our event in the hall.
o The Croatian Radio Program, for advertising and support.
o Pero and Anna Matijasevic and Zora Cadovac, for preparing the lunch and dinner.
o Adriatic Travel, Nancy Brkic, Meri Andabaka and Kristina Vukojevic, for selling concert. tickets.
o Vjera Rudela, Anna Biscan, Sharon Artukovich and Tanja Vukojevic, for selling drink and concert tickets.
o Jeff Bacic, for initiating the concert.
o And all the Klub members that helped organize the event.

See you at the Zagreb Society’s “Martinjska Vecer” dinner and dance on Saturday, November 13, 2004 at St. Anthony’s Parish Hall. Holy Mass at 6:00 PM. Cocktails at 6:30. Dinner at 7:30. Adult tickets $40. Children tickets $15. Musical entertainment by “Zrinski.”

This wonderful event is a celebration of the “tasting of the wine.” All wine makers bring your 2004 wine for the contest. Rumor has it that your chances of winning are better if you and your wine pray together at Holy Mass before the contest.

Please RSVP for Martinjska Vecer prior to November 7 by calling either of the following:
(818) 883-3405 or (310) 837-3660 or (626) 287-3261

Thanks again to all of you!

Vido Artukovic
Secretary

Artukovicv@aol.com 

Soprano star John Ventimiglia, a Croatian immigrant living in New York

The following review concerns the play Ponies playing in New York comes from The New York Times. One of the lead character in the play, played by Soprano star John Ventimiglia, is a Croatian immigrant living in New York


October 26, 2004
THEATER REVIEW | 'PONIES'

Wiseguys, Huh? Well, Try to Get the Horse Right Here
By JASON ZINOMAN

he Broadway revival of " 'Night, Mother," now in previews and starring Edie Falco, of "The Sopranos," isn't the only mobbed-up show in town. The Soprano family has its fingerprints all over Mike Batistick's punchy New York story, "Ponies." Michael Imperioli, who plays Tony Soprano's brutal right-hand man, Christopher Moltisanti (and steps in for Otto Sanchez in "Ponies" beginning tomorrow), produced the play with his wife, Victoria, and it includes enough "Sopranos" actors to satisfy fans suffering through withdrawal while the series is on hiatus.

Set inside a bleak OTB outlet (is there any other kind?) on the Lower East Side, the drama at Studio Dante is about the precariousness of immigrant life in New York after 9/11.

Keep an eye on John Ventimiglia, better known to "Sopranos" fans as Artie Bucco. As a Croatian put-down artist named Drazen, Mr. Ventimiglia, delivers a hammy, charismatic performance of Pacinoesque proportions. While his crass character may seem dim - he chooses horses based on their names and loses with Date More Minors - he is the kind of shameless liar who knows that playing dirty can be just as effective as working hard.

Drazen brings his nervous Nigerian friend, Ken (Babs Olusanmokun), to the OTB to take his mind off losing his livery cab. The threat of deportment looms over the lives of these jittery characters, and their nervous energy sets an uneasy comic mood, in sharp contrast to the deadpan calm of the cashier (Tonye Patano, yet another "Sopranos" veteran).

Mr. Batistick has a good ear for dialogue, and his foulmouthed, cruel banter has the ring of truth. The same cannot always be said of his plot, which at times is guilty of telegraphing its twists.

But the polished production makes up for the script's flaws. Victoria Imperioli, who designed the sets and costumes, captures the look of an OTB with impressive naturalistic detail, and Nick Sandow's staging maintains the excitement of an episode of "The Sopranos" - without anyone getting whacked.


"Ponies" runs through Nov. 20 at Studio Dante, 257 West 29th Street.

Jadranka Kosor

Croatia's Ruling Party Nominates Candidate for President
 

18/10/2004

ZAGREB, Croatia -- The Croatian Democratic Union on Sunday (17 October) nominated Deputy Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, 51, as its candidate for president. The far-right Croatian Bloc announced Saturday that it has chosen Ivic Pasalic, a close associate of the late Franjo Tudjman. Miroslav "Ciro" Blazevic, who led Croatia's soccer team to third place in the 1998 World Cup, will run as an independent. Incumbent Stipe Mesic has not yet announced his intentions, but observers believe he will seek one more term. The election is scheduled for 21 December. (Vecernji List - 18/10/04; AFP, HINA, HRT - 17/10/04)

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2004/10/18/nb-04

KOSOR, JADRANKA
Rodena je 1.7.1953. u Pakracu. Hrvatica. Završila Pravni fakultet u Zagrebu; dipl.iur. Potpredsjednica je Odbora za pravosude i clanica Odbora za zakonodavstvo, Odbora za informiranje, informatizaciju i medije te Odbora za ravnopravnost spolova.
Telefon: 01/4569-429; Telefax: 01/4569-321.
 

Nader ex-running mate endorses Kerry
 

- WASHINGTON (AFP) via News.Designerz.com Sunday October 17, 2004

AFP/FileRalph Nader's running mate in two past presidential elections said she plans to cast her ballot in November for Democrat John Kerry.

"I'm voting my conscience on November 2 -- I'm voting for John Kerry," Native American activist Winona LaDuke wrote in comments published this past week in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

"John Kerry provides promise for Native America and for America," said LaDuke, who lives on White Earth Reservation in the northern prairie state of Minnesota.

"His policy proposals involve vision -- like alternative energy, more accessible health care, and finding all those children who have been left behind by the (George W.) Bush administration."

She said the Massachusetts senator's support of Native American communities demonstrates shows that "we are on his radar."

LaDuke was most recently Nader's running mate during the controversial 2000 presidential election that saw Bush squeak out a razor-thin victory over Democratic candidate Al Gore -- with Nader's votes providing what many irate Democrats felt was the margin of victory for Bush.

Nader, America's most famous consumer activist, is again running for president in 2004, but this time his running mate Peter Camejo, a California-based environmental activist.

http://breaking-news.news.designerz.com/nader-ex-running-mate-endorses-kerry.html
 

Essentially, the wars are waged so that rich people can profit from them

I hope Bunnatine brings Rummy, Cheney and their criminal conspirators
down. Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, chief contracting officer for the Army
Corps of Engineers, has called for an investigation of procurement
practices. Mainly in awarding billions of dollars to Haliburton in no-
bid contract.

It is also important to note that Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg
Brown & Root got an extra 11 monthswithout bidding to provide
logistical services in the Balkans (mainly supplying the largest US
military base in Europe: Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo). In this case, Ms.
Greenhouse asserted, where operations have continued for four years,
claims of an emergency or that Kellogg Brown & Root was the only
feasible provider were not tenable. The company is expected to draw
$165 million from the extension.

Essentially, the wars are waged so that rich people can profit from
them. People like Cheney.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/25/politics/25halliburton.html?th------
---------------------------------------------------
Ivo Skoric
19 Baxter Street
Rutland VT 05701
802.775.7257
ivo@balkansnet.org
balkansnet.org

Frank Enea

www.frankenea.com
 

"With eyes on the world" is how the New York Times, in a July 2003 feature article, described Frank Enea's music and vision of his future. Another quote bandied about was “The Return of Rock!” Music presses, also in 2003, tried to elevate garage-rock bands to headliner status by proclaiming that they were going to save the rock genre. They all came . . . and they all went. The problem? Songs. Or more specifically: the art of songwriting. Here is where Frank Enea’s Makeshift Days comes in. From the opening acoustic intro of “Falling Out Of Bed” to the final track “Holding Back” (featured on the NBC hit show, “Ed”), the listener is reminded of artists like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Tom Waits and Radiohead. One thing these masters all have in common is their devotion and artistry to songwriting. While they have all varied musical styles they all have the drive and focus for each and every individual song they write, craft and record. Oh, and one more thing they all have in common: the live performances. The one constant of enduring rock acts are the albums they produce AND their live shows which add a new layer of energy to the songs. Frank Enea (vocals and guitar) and Palace Laundry (Alex Morell on bass and Paul Enea on drums) have recorded an album of 12 songs of soulful and melody driven rock. Hear them, experience them. “The Return of Songwriting” is here. Again.

Raised in the suburbs of New York, Frank found out early on what he wanted to do with his life, and that was to play music. At the age of five he got his first guitar, given to him by his uncle, and music lessons followed soon thereafter. During this period, his brother Paul was studying drums and would soon be a lifelong band mate. Frank’s love of British rock and American blues music would eventually perk his interest in classical music. Through out High School Frank studied classical guitar and the music of Bach. During this period he also played in bands and performed at local clubs. In the early 1990’s Frank would guest on many recordings by independent artists, teach guitar and, study music at Manhattanville College. In 1998, a new project emerged which would challenge Frank to a new role, and that was lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for his next and current band.

During the late 1990’s Frank introduced Satellite Sound recording studios in Mt. Kisco, NY. The studio serves as a place for Frank to write and record, as well as network, teach and produce other acts. The magic of receiving and transmitting music can be best achieved by being knowledgeable in the recording and technological aspect of music. His relentless performing eventually led to interest from major labels. But, in an effort to keep his music fresh and alive, he opted for an independent company to fund his latest CD entitled ‘Makeshift Days”, released in May of 2003. Upon its release, Makeshift Days received many accolades. NBC’s hit show “Ed” featured a song from the disc in an episode. Good press came from The New York Times, Stamford Advocate and other newspapers. College stations through out the U.S. have been promoting his CD as well as major stations such as WAXQ and WPLJ in New York, which have featured the single “Falling Out Of Bed”. Even internet radio station personality, RadioMike, has become a fan. Recently, WPLR in New Haven has been promoting and featuring Frank Enea on live broadcasts in 2004. In addition to promoting his latest project, Frank has composed music for Showtime Networks, NBC, Viacom and PBS. The Discovery Channel’s Monster Garage has featured Frank’s original music in five episodes so far. He is currently residing in Westchester, New York with his wife and child, and working on his next project ...n the world" is how the NY Times, in a July 2003 feature article, described Frank Enea's music and vision of his future. Another quote bandied about was “The Return of Rock!” M

Contact:FrankEnea@aol.com  

Here the music:http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2825690

Website:www.frankenea.com

Op-ed:

Frank Enea is one of the most talented musician that I've met in America and I met a lot of them. His sense for melody and chord progression is sweet and twisted with Rock and Roll. Plays guitar amazingly well and little that I know him he is one of the most generous and kind man I have ever met. He is always selflessly looking to help others without being conscious about it. Please support his music and get his album Makeshift Days directly from himFrankEnea@aol.com. You won't regret it. He deserves a spotlight as a real Rock and Roll star.

Nenad Bach

Super Audio Center Launch 24 Track DSD Recorder

Dawn Frank, DSD Engineer and Editor (Left) and Gus Skinas, Director (Right) from the Super Audio Center with the 24 Track Sonoma Workstation and 24 Channels of EMM Labs Meitner DSD Converters (Top Photo) and Close Up of the New 24 Track Sonoma DSD Workstation (Bottom Photo)

Photo by Nenad Bach

AES 117: Super Audio Center Launch and 24 Track Sonoma Debut at AES Conference
AES 117: This week's Audio Engineering Society Convention at San Francisco's Moscone Center will see the formal launch of the new Super Audio Center in Boulder, Colorado. The Super Audio Center or "SAC" for short will be helmed by long-time DSD and SACD expert Gus Skinas. Also debuting at this week's conference, which starts on Thursday, is the long-awaited 24 Track Sonoma DSD workstation.

Op-ed:

This is where I mastered new SACDs for Klapa Sinj and Klapa Lindjo two weeks ago. An amazing experience of competence and compassion from Gus and Dawn. In Boulder Colorado. Albums coming out soon.

Nenad

In addition to these developments, I've learned that the Super Audio Center will be managing, selling and renting the existing 8 Channel Sonoma DSD Workstations as well as selling the 4th Generation DSD Converters from Ed Meitner's EMM Labs in the U.S. and Europe. Here's the story on the new Super Audio Center firm, the new 24 Track Sonoma DSD Workstation and the balance of their announcements.

Super Audio Center Launch
In recent weeks, High Fidelity Review readers have probably noticed that some new Surround Sound SACD titles - including The Marvin Gaye Collection on Motown (Motown B0003502-36) - have carried the notation that they were authored and mastered at the Super Audio Center in Boulder, Colorado. It will be headed by industry veteran Gus Skinas who has been the Director of Field Operations for the Sony Super Audio CD Project in the U.S. and started the first SACD production office in Boulder, Colorado.

According to officials at the Super Audio Center (SAC), the new operation will "offer a comprehensive array of support services for SA-CD clientele, including recording and tape transfer, mixing, editing, mastering and authoring for SA-CD projects. The new Super Audio Center will be based in Boulder, Colorado and will work closely with field engineers in both Los Angeles and New York to support remote recording and mix sessions wherever they may occur."

SACD Format Gains Momentum
David Kawakami, Sony America's Project Director for Super Audio CD, offered his comments on the new Super Audio Center launch and the growth of the SACD format. Kawakami said that "As the Super Audio CD format continues to gather momentum, a number of new businesses have been spawned. Under Gus’s guidance, this new SA-CD facility will enable us to better address the needs of those artists, producers and music labels who want to issue their music on this exciting, high resolution multi-channel format."

Kawakami also noted that "SA-CD compatible products are currently being offered by more than 26 manufacturers, with nearly 120 different models available. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), more than 1.3 million SA-CD albums were shipped in the U.S. in 2003 alone, bringing the total installed base of SA-CD software to over 12 million discs life-to-date. There are now more than 2,500 SA-CD titles in release worldwide, with almost half of them available in multi-channel surround."

Super Audio Center Takes Over Sonoma Workstation Management & Picks Up Meitner DSD Converters
The Super Audio Center also announced that they will be taking over the management, support, rental and sales of the Sonoma DSD Workstations used in the production of Super Audio CD discs from the Sony Super Audio CD Project. The 8 Channel Sonoma DSD Workstation was the first workstation available to record and edit recording sessions in native Direct Stream Digital (DSD) mode. Skinas will be assisted in the management of the Sonoma Workstations by Dr. Andrew Demery who is also joining the Super Audio Center staff.

In addition to managing the Sonoma Workstations, the Super Audio Center will also begin selling the 4th Generation DSD Converters from Ed Meitner's EMM Labs in the U.S. and European markets. The Super Audio Center staff said that "Utilizing converters designed by Ed Meitner of EMM Labs, the Sonoma DSD Workstation is widely regarded as one of the most transparent recording systems marketed today. The new SAC organization will be chartered to not only lease Sonoma products, but distribute them as well, making it a critical factor to ensure SA-CD’s continued growth."

Tom Jung, the producer of a number of widely praised Stereo and Surround Sound audiophile SACD releases and owner of DMP Records said that "The Sonoma System, when optically interfaced with Ed Meitner’s DSD converters, is the most musically accurate recording and editing system available today at any price, period."

24 Track Sonoma Workstation Debuts at AES
In addition, SAC will be using this week's Audio Engineering Society Conference in San Francisco to formally debut the new 24 Track Sonoma DSD Workstation which will be known as Sonoma 24. The new 24 Track model which was engineered by SAC in cooperation with EMM Labs will allow recording engineers, producers and artists to record and edit 24 tracks of Direct Stream Digital (DSD) audio. The Sonoma will also be available in a 16 Track configuration known as Sonoma 16.

According to Super Audio Center's Gus Skinas "Many of our clients have expressed a need to record and edit more DSD channels in order to handle more complex pop music projects. The new Sonoma’s added capacity makes it possible for us to offer up to 24 channels of high quality DSD audio in a package that behaves much like a standard multi-track recorder but delivers powerful editing as well."

Rock musician and producer Michael Beinhorn added that "With DSD, we are much closer to achieving the true capability of digital recording. The Sonoma machines are, in my opinion, sonically unsurpassed and have become a staple for my mixdowns. I can only imagine how remarkable the new 24-track Sonoma is."

The Super Audio Center & the 24 Track Sonoma at AES
The Super Audio Center staff tells me that the new 24 Track Sonoma Workstation will be shown in two locations during the AES Conference this week at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. It will be in the Super Audio CD booth sponsored by Philips (booth #536) as well as in the ATC Loudspeaker Demonstrations (sound room #224). At the latter location, I understand that the 24 Track Sonoma Workstation will actually be used for some DSD master tape playbacks. So that will likely be a popular room at the show.

A New Web Site & Easter Egg
As part of the formal launch of the new Super Audio Center, the firm has started a web site (see link below). The web site lists the services and equipment available through the Super Audio Center along with an email link to Super Audio Center chief Gus Skinas.

SACD offers an added bonus if you visit their new web site and click on the new Super Audio Center logo. It's an Easter Egg that features a link to a Stereo MP3 music clip by David Elias called "If I Had My Way". High Fidelity Review readers will recall that Skinas was involved in the recording and authoring of Elias' excellent direct to DSD, Surround Sound SACD entitled The Window (Sketti Sandwich SSP 3162) last year. If I Had My Way is one of the tracks that will appear on the next David Elias Surround Sound SACD which is due out later this year or in early 2005 and Skinas and Super Audio Center are working on this one as well.

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/news/news.asp?newsnumber=14627490

Jump into the 200 meter deep Mamet cave, Croatia

 Austrian extreme BASE jumper Felix Baumgartner jumps into the 200 meter deep Mamet cave in the Paklenica National Park in Croatia, October 17, 2004. The jump, lasting only 7.2 seconds, required precise timing to calculate the moment to open the parachute. Picture taken October 17, 2004.REUTERS/sportsandnews/Flo Hagena/Handout Reuters - Oct 19 3:59 AM
 

Balkan justice joust

The Washington Times
Commentary
October 24, 2004

By Jeffrey T. Kuhner

The Bush administration is now demanding that the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Carla Del Ponte, bring her prosecutions to an end.
Washington is insisting that war crimes cases relating to the Balkan wars of the 1990s be tried either in domestic courts or be given an amnesty. This shift not only marks a dramatic change in U.S. policy toward the ICTY, but more importantly, it is a fatal blow to the power and credibility of Mrs. Del PonteMrs. Del Ponte.
In a recent interview, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton told me Washington is deeply concerned that the ICTY, rather than fostering ethnic reconciliation, has emerged as a threat to regional stability. "There is a very real risk that the ICTY prosecutions will not resolve the situation in the Balkans," Mr. Bolton said, "but will create new animosities that lead to tensions in the future."
He emphasized the Bush administration is demanding war crimes cases at The Hague be sent back to national domestic courts. Mr. Bolton and other senior State Department officials are finally realizing what Mrs. Del Ponte and her fellow left-wing globalists have refused to acknowledge: The ICTY has degenerated into a politicized tribunal that has failed to live up to its original mandate.
The irony is that the Clinton administration was largely responsible for creating the ICTY. Washington, however, now realizes that it has unleashed a Frankenstein monster. Instead of being an impartial body that seeks to punish those who committed or ordered war crimes, the tribunal has become a vehicle by which Mrs. Del Ponte has sought to rewrite the history of the Balkan wars. She has abused her office by issuing deeply flawed and weak indictments. The most obvious example is the bogus indictment against fugitive Croatian Gen. Ante Gotovina, the commander of a 1995 military operation that effectively ended the Croatian-Serbian conflict.
As Mr. Bolton notes, the problem with the ICTY is that it has no democratic accountability. Hence, there are no checks or balances against the misuse of power. Therefore, the Bush administration has concluded the only solution is to kick war crimes cases back to national domestic courts.
"That is why our strategy with respect to the ICTY is to bring these prosecutions to an end and to return responsibility to Serbia, Croatia and to the other nations," Mr. Bolton said, "because, after all, many of the alleged crimes were carried out in their name and they need to confront that reality. They need to make the decisions whether to prosecute or not to prosecute Serbs or Croats respectively."
The senior Bush administration official emphasized that "responsibility" for trying alleged war crimes "should rest on the shoulders of the people who have to live with the decisions they make."
Ultimately, the United States rightly believes that the ICTY has become not only an undemocratic institution, but a direct threat to the development of democracy throughout the former Yugoslavia. Its greatest flaw is that, by virtue of being an international tribunal with little accountability, it is retarding the growth of independent judicial bodies and the rule of law within Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia. For viable democracies to take root in the stony soil of the Balkans, it is imperative to cultivate fully functioning legal institutions.
"One of the downsides of any distant court is that it takes away responsibility, and I don't think that is conducive to the political maturation of societies that we hope will become democratic and realize that they have to confront actions that their prior governments took," Mr. Bolton said. "So that is why our approach to the ICTY and with the Rwanda tribunal is to make and create institutions in the respective countries and to turn that authority back over to them."
The record is now clear: The ICTY has been a dismal failure. The trial of the former Serbian strongman, Slobodan Milosevic, continues to drag on with no end in sight. Notorious Bosnian Serb leaders Gen. Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic remain at large. The Gotovina indictment threatens to destabilize Croatia. Bosnian Muslims and Kosovo Albanians feel they will never receive justice. Serbs perceive the tribunal as being biased against them.
Mrs. Del Ponte has managed to accomplish what no other person has before: Temporarily unite the warring peoples of the former Yugoslavia in their opposition to her. She is the Lady Macbeth of the Balkans, an unscrupulous political climber with delusions of grandeur. And like Lady Macbeth, Mrs. Del Ponte's lust for power has led to her downfall.
Washington is right to yank her off the stage.

Jeffrey T. Kuhner is editor of the Ripon Forum magazine and communications director at the Ripon Society, a Republican think tank.

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20041023-105636-4172r.htm 
 

Kerry the Candidate for Catholics Who Believe in the Constitution

By
Shawn M. O’Donnell and Drucilla Badurina

It seems clear to informed and discerning Roman Catholics that John Kerry‘s public positions prove that he should elected the next President of the United States. He should be the new leader of the United States, a secular nation that enshrines in its Constitution one of its founding principles, freedom of religion.

John Kerry is not running for president because he and some of his advisors and supporters think he was chosen by God to do so. Nor does Kerry want to govern a country where separation of church and state becomes hazy and religion is dictated by the state or the state is dictated by religion.

Kerry’s public policy positions and senatorial voting record are much more closely aligned with our church’s social and economic justice issues including health care, jobs and the environment. His belief in the importance of separation of church and state is not
merely lip service. As he has stated, “I fully intend to practice my religion separately from what I do with my public life and that’s the way it ought to be in America.”

It seems that ultraconservative Catholics and many on the Christian right are working to create a theocratic, oligarchic, plutocratic Christian government in the United States. They believe that this administration, with a president selected by God, leads a holy war against good and evil. Bush’s public statements and private ones made public buttress that belief. According to one well known theologian, this administration and many of its Christian right supporters project an “American messianic nationalism.”

Unfortunately, recent statements by a number of Catholic bishops appear to suggest that, their protestations to the contrary, they might look with favor on just such a theocratic government. They might as well be upfront and open about it and ask the United States Council of Catholic Bishops to lobby for a constitutional amendment to establish Roman Catholicism as the state religion!

The hypocrisy and secrecy of many of the U.S. Catholic Church’s hierarchy in the sexual abuse scandal and the “manipulation” of  the lay National Review Board investigating the scandal by some of the bishops have an eerie parallel to the hypocrisy and secrecy
of the Bush administration. Pay, pray, obey, shut up and just trust us seems to be the rallying cry for both.

History shows us the wisdom of the founding fathers in writing our Constitution. They knew from experience that separation of church and state was vitally important in this democratic republic and remains so to this day. Subsequent additional constitutional
amendments that were inclusive of the people endured while those exclusive of the people failed and disappeared. One critic of the Bush administration’s arrogant incompetence regarding its unprecedented, unilateral, pre-emptive war against and occupation of Iraq
observed that perhaps the Iraqis should borrow our Constitution because Bush’s administration isn’t using it or abiding by it.

John Kerry’s campaign has said that religion should not be an issue in U. S. politics. A Kerry spokesman made this statement: “The decisions he [Kerry] will make as president will be guided by his obligation to all the people of our country and to the Constitution of
the United States. Every American---whether they be Jewish, Catholic, Protestant or any other faith---must believe their president is representing them.”

In order to keep its tax-exempt status, the Catholic Church in the United States is prohibited from interposing or participating in political campaigns for or against any candidate.

Even without that barrier, it is inappropriate for bishops, priests or religious to publicly endorse either political party or candidate. However, if they truly believe in the Constitution and freedom of religion, they should personally and privately support John Kerry’s
candidacy.

Let us hope, for the good of this nation, the world and Catholics everywhere, the Democratic Party’s candidate, John Kerry, will be elected the 44th President of the United States.