The Top 5 (April 5)

1) “Europe’s Latest Attacks On Free Speech And Free Elections Prove Vance’s Munich Warning Right” (Elle Purnell, Federalist)

From the article -- Vance called out the U.K., Germany, Sweden, and the European Union for censoring and criminalizing the free expression of their citizens, citing police raids against Germans for comments posted online and the prosecution of a British man who dared to pray in silence outside of an abortion facility. ‘Across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat,” he said. 

That may have been an understatement.

2) “It was the woke elites who ‘purged’ America’s museums, not Donald Trump” (Brendan O'Neill, spiked!)

From the article -- What’s the real ‘purge’ here? The Trump administration expressing disapproval of such hyper-racial propaganda in a federal-funded museum? Or the museum’s own erasure of the late 20th-century belief that we should treat people as individuals rather than as members of a racial bloc with their own distinctive ‘traits’? It’s the latter, isn’t it? They purged the spirit of MLK, not least by suggesting black people don’t do ‘objective, rational linear thinking’, and Trump’s just asking them to stop.

The order tells us that the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Museum is planning to celebrate the ‘exploits of male athletes’ who play in ‘women’s sports’. It’s true. The museum believes there is no ‘monolithic experience of womanhood’ and it plans to ‘include transgender women’ – ie, fellas – in its documenting of ‘women’s history’. If it’s a ‘purge’ to say men should be excluded from the category of womanhood, I guess I support purges now. What next: accusing London’s Science Museum of a ‘purge’ because it has no exhibitions on the magical healing of witch doctors?

On this topic, see also: “Restoring Sanity to American History” (Anne Love, Washington Stand)

3) “UK Police Arrest Parents, Jail Them For Criticizing School Policies” (David Strom, Hot Air)

From the article -- When Maxie Allen complained to his daughter’s primary school about the recruitment process for a new head teacher, he hoped it would result in more openness and transparency.

Instead six uniformed officers from Hertfordshire police were sent to arrest Allen and his partner after the school objected to them sending numerous emails and to their criticisms including “disparaging” comments on a parents’ WhatsApp group.

Allen and Rosalind Levine were detained in front of their young daughter before being fingerprinted, searched and left in a police cell for eight hours. They were questioned on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications and causing a nuisance on school property. After a five-week investigation, police concluded there should be no further action.

The couple had previously been banned from entering Cowley Hill Primary School, in Borehamwood, after questioning the appointment process for a head and “casting aspersions” on the chair of governors on WhatsApp.

They say they were blocked from attending the parents’ evening for their daughter Sascha, nine, and were not allowed to be in the audience for her Christmas performance. Crucially, even though Sascha suffers from epilepsy and is neurodivergent and registered disabled, the couple were unable to meet teachers to inform them how to administer medication and ask questions about her learning progress.

4) “Don't You Know This City Belongs to Muslims?’: The Persecution of Christians” (Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute)

From the article -- Pakistan: A Muslim man twice abducted a married Christian mother of three, raped her, fraudulently converted her to Islam, and fabricated an Islamic marriage, said her Christian husband, Asif Masih (woman's named withheld as a rape victim). The kidnapper, Muhammad, worked as a security guard where the 37-year-old mother worked as a cleaner. One day he told her of an opportunity to apply for financial aid, and she went with him to fill out what he said were governmental forms for economically challenged applicants; she also gave her thumbprint as part of the application. In fact, and unbeknownst to her, the documents she signed were marriage and conversion to Islam certificates:

“I had no clue about his real intentions and trusted his offer for assistance... I’m not literate, so I had no idea that he had obtained my thumbprints to prepare false religious conversion and marriage certificates. He then forcibly took me to his house, where his wife and two children were also present. He locked me in a room where I was kept hostage for eight days."

Muhammad also called the woman's husband, Asif, who is suffering from cancer, saying that she had willingly married him and converted to Islam: “[But when Muhammad] claimed that she had changed her faith and married him, I immediately knew that it was a lie because she was a devout Christian and could not renounce Christ even if her life was at stake. She was clearly deceived by Sadiq, who used the false conversion certificate and marriage to deter efforts to recover her.”

After a council of elders pressured Muhammad to release the woman, on condition that the matter would be dropped without recourse to legal action, the kidnapper agreed -- until Feb. 14, when he and two accomplices again abducted her: “[Muhammad] held me hostage in a relative’s house and repeatedly tortured and raped me on gunpoint for three days.”

On Feb. 17, she managed to escape and return to her family: “I had no money with me and begged passersby to give me some so that I could board a bus to Pattoki. I was traumatized by the assaults, but the hope of seeing my husband and children again gave me the strength to reach my family.”

Police were again alerted, but were reluctant to act, until an attorney got involved. He helped to get the woman's statement recorded in court and facilitated a medical examination on March 4: “It is due to her support that the case has picked up pace, otherwise the police were not cooperating with us.”

And here’s one on a topic I had never heard about – 

5) “Top Ten Reasons To Run From The Enneagram” (Mark Baker, Hope for Life)

From the article -- For the past few years, the Enneagram has been steadily increasing in popularity, including within the Church. As with any new(er) teaching that is introduced, believers have a great responsibility to thoroughly examine and accurately vet it according to Scripture (Acts 17:11; Is 8:19-20; 1 Thess 5:21; 1 Jn 4:5-6). Of course, this is especially true if we are going to teach any particular idea to others.

By now, after several years of increasing popularity of the Enneagram, there are many people who have already done the heavy lifting when it comes to researching and distinguishing the problems in the Enneagram (see links below). For our purposes here, we will simply list the main problems and reasons why believers should stay far away from this decidedly unbiblical ideology, and, instead, should lovingly warn others (Jas 5:19-20).

An Open Letter to Senator Deb Fischer

Dear Senator Fischer,

Just a quick list of a few of the reasons I am writing you this morning...

* As you know, Senator, Planned Parenthood is NOT a charity nor is it an honest health care provider. It is, in fact, a mega-abortion profiteer which not only charges women for barbarically destroying their preborn children but which also sucks in an almost unbelievable flood of dollars from federal and state governments.

* Indeed, more than 1/3 of Planned Parenthood’s millions come from American taxpayers. And that amount is more than $2,000,000 a day!

* The scandal of Planned Parenthood’s lack of integrity and quality care is increasing as more women are maimed and even killed by shoddy and callous abortionists. My goodness, even the New York Times has begun to report on the botched abortions, the IUDs implanted in pregnant women, the delays in calling for emergency medical care when their patients are in life-threatening distress, and so on.

* And those vast amounts of money that Planned Parenthood draws isn’t going to help women. It is instead going to further the efforts of the Democrat party. Oh yes, except for the money needed for the exorbitant salaries of their leadership. Case in point? Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson’s yearly salary of $904,014.

Senator Fisher, as a dependable friend of the pro-life movement, you know this is the best chance the nation has had in many years to defund Planned Parenthood. So, let’s get this thing done, okay? Thank you.

Most sincerely,

Denny Hartford
Director, Vital Signs Ministries
Omaha, Nebraska

An Open Letter to Congressman Don Bacon

Dear Congressman Bacon,

I write this morning with a polite appeal for you to spend less time and effort on criticizing President Trump’s long overdue actions to save the Republic and instead pursue with greater dedication the conservative goals you have promised your constituency over the years. Yes, I know you might be enjoying these new opportunities to make a small splash with the liberal media by playing the contrarian to President Trump, but the tone and timing of your criticisms have been a very sad disappointment to those of us who have enthusiastically supported you in the past. 

We certainly wish you would concentrate less on being popular with the cool kids of the discredited “old guard” media and more on de-funding the mega-abortion profiteer Planned Parenthood, better protecting voter integrity and efficiency, and helping the President overcome the attacks of far-left judges in his attempt to make America more prosperous, more free, and more safe.

And, before I close this letter, may I quickly return to my request for greater involvement on your part on the pro-life issues that you have publicly pledged support for in the past. We would like to see inspiring, efficient leadership on this front. Why not take some of these new media opportunities to champion the cause of preborn boys and girls? Also, I note (again with disappointment) that you have declined to co-sponsor several very important pro-life measures in the current Congress. Among those have been H.R. 7 (No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025), H.R. 272 (Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act of 2025), H.R.589 (FACE Act Repeal Act of 2025), and H.R.682 (Heartbeat Protection Act of 2025). Let’s remedy that oversight this week, okay?

Most sincerely,

Denny Hartford
Director, Vital Signs Ministries
Omaha, Nebraska

The Top 5 (March 29)

1) “Former RFK running mate Nicole Shanahan: Celebrating abortions is ‘fundamentally anti-human’” (Kelli Keane, Live Action)

From the article -- “I was such a Planned Parenthood freedom of choice maximalist. Prior to joining politics, I couldn’t see anything negative to Planned Parenthood and what it represented,” Shanahan said. “Since I was a little girl, the women’s movement was always around abortion and the freedom to choose and bodily autonomy. Even months in, I couldn’t imagine ever being pro-life or understanding the pro-life perspective.”

But certain powerful experiences Shanahan had on the campaign trail opened her eyes to the truth...

2) “October 7th, Lord Roberts and the Most Important Report of the Year” (Eric Lipman, Times of Israel)

From the article -- And as readers make their way through the report, they will learn a lot that has not been widely publicized before; such as: Hamas’s planning for this attack was underway for seven years before October 7; and that the supply lines for the sophisticated weaponry used by Hamas during the attacks do not just run back to Teheran, but also to Moscow, and Beijing, and Pyongyang. The October 7 horror story has profound implications for the safety of the entire Western World.

In this respect, Lord Roberts’ shining a light into the darkest places on Earth recalls Eisenhower’s steely determination and foresightedness following the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps.

Be sure to not that the article includes a direct link to Lord Roberts' original report: "7 October Parliamentary Commission Report (Chaired by Lord Roberts of Belgravia)"

3) “How the New York Times Is Killing America” (John Kass)

From the article -- But in the 21st Century an amazing thing happened to the media. Even as they mouthed their cliches about “speaking truth to power,” America’s corporate media began to openly revel at their participation in the power structure alongside their classmates and elites in the increasingly dominant managerial class. They became the willful tip of the spear for Deep State censorship and misinformation operations against populist challenges.

The Chicago political world was all about accountability not to the people, but to their fellow warlords. But the New York Times was accountable to no one.

Because of its dominant position in corporate journalism, the New York Times has never been held accountable. It leverages corporate media but has never taken responsibility for misinformation and malfeasance. The newspaper’s lies have been rewarded with dominant market position and those Pulitzer Prizes based on lies were wrapped adulation based on fear.

Far from its carefully nurtured Hollywood image as the fearless speaker of “truth to power,” the old gray lady is the newspaper of the Deep State and the American Kemalists who control and feed the Deep State.

But now, following abuses of journalism that have finally reached critical mass in the public consciousness, the New York Times has yet again become the object of ridicule by recently publishing a pathetic defense of its COVID coverage, misleading readers even as it bleats “We Were Badly Misled.”

4) “Foundation Aims to ‘Decolonize’ Shakespeare in His Own Hometown” (Jarrett Stepman, Daily Signal)

From the article -- The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which manages William Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, has reportedly announced that it will “decolonize” future celebrations of the great playwright over concerns that his works could be used to promote “white supremacy.”

There have been enough stories like these over the years to know that this isn’t a Babylon Bee satirical report. It’s real...

Among the other things the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust finds problematic about Shakespeare—whom they don’t seem to particularly like—is that he’s been portrayed as a “universal” genius and that establishing his works as a foundation for high art reinforces “Anglo-cultural supremacy.”

According to a research project sponsored by the trust in 2022, celebrating Shakespeare has promoted the idea of British “superiority” and thereby “has caused harm.” The project reportedly urged the trust to stop calling Shakespeare the “greatest,” instead urging it to praise him as part of a community of “equal and different” writers.

Related: “Shakespeare’s ‘Decolonizers’ Are Making Much Ado About Nothing” (Auguste Meyrat, Federalist)

5) “How scientists misled the world about Covid’s origins: The suppression of the lab-leak theory is the mother of all Covid scandals.” (Matt Ridley, spiked!)

From the article -- It was the first of many dreadful mistakes made by the government during the Covid pandemic: shutting schools at the behest of unions, assuming the virus was not airborne, vaccinating children, overclaiming for vaccines and masks. The government thought it knew best and it let us down.

But all those errors pale beside the biggest one of the lot, and the one that has done most to undermine trust in scientists – that is, the initial insistence that the virus did not originate in a laboratory accident. We now know that it almost certainly did. The evidence is overwhelming, as I have rehearsed many times. And it now includes a huge stack of documents – inadvertently made public and spotted by two open-source investigators, ‘Billy Bostickson’ and Gilles Demaneuf – that shows just how systematically we were deceived about this mother of all scandals.

Attention Readers (and Talkers)

We have already alerted you about the next Vital Signs Book Brunch on April 12, 10 AM, at the Hartford home in northwest Omaha. The book under discussion will be the classic Lord Foulgrins’s Letters written by one of our favorite contemporary authors, Randy Alcorn from Eternal Perspective Ministries. (FYI -- The book can be obtained for less than $10 at the EPM site itself.) 

However, there's yet another title that's come along which a few of us are reading...also with a view to an informal discussion together. John Malek brought up his reading of John West's Stockholm Syndrome Christianity at one of our Thursday morning coffees a couple of weeks ago and recommended it. I quickly downloaded it onto our Kindle and both Claire and I are finding it a very provocative and worthwhile read. We haven't yet set a date or time for discussing West's book because...that's right...we're waiting on you to see if you're in!

Planned Parenthood Is Taking Billions of Your Tax Dollars

An excellent 1-minute clep to pass along to friends...and your Senators and Congresspersons.

The Top 5 (March 22)

1) "John Roberts’ Obsession With SCOTUS Legitimacy Has Severely Delegitimized It. -- Ending universal injunctions once and for all is the least the chief justice can do to defend not only the judiciary, but our country." (Benjamin Weingarten, Federalist))

From the article -- The chief irony of Chief Justice John Roberts’ tenure at the Supreme Court is that the man so doggedly devoted to defending the judiciary has done so much to undermine it. In so doing, he has threatened not only the court’s legitimacy but the republic itself.

His latest such act wasn’t an abomination of a ruling on the level of Obamacare, the census citizenship question, or DACA; a faulty probe into a devastating leak; or a defense of the indefensible censorship-industrial complex. It was a terse three-line statement that may prove the most consequential — and corrosive — move of them all...

Another excellent article related to the matter above is "This Mess Is of Your Own Making, Chief Justice Roberts. -- Nobody voted for judicial supremacy, and it certainly wasn’t the Founding Fathers’ intent." (Scott McKay, American Spectator)

2) "20 Facts That Will Make You Really Mad if You Stop and Think About Them for a While" (Michael Snyder, Uncanceled  News)

From the article -- Why is it that almost every statistic indicates that things have been getting worse in recent years?  Our society has been deteriorating physically, mentally, emotionally, financially and spiritually.  It is time to admit how far we have fallen.  If we continue to insist that we are doing the right things, we will continue to get the same results. And right now the results that we are getting are not good at all.  The following are 20 facts that will make you really mad if you stop and think about them for a while…

3) "'Broken Windows' and the Terrorism of Small Things. Vandalism and violence are not free speech or 'protests.'" (James H. McGee, American Spectator)

From the article -- Still, we would do well to withhold our laughter, because this kind of vandalism represents a threat to some fundamentally conservative values. It’s not just Teslas, but all manner of other targets, including those we conservatives would value. When the “Just Stop Oil” fanatics splash paint on great works of art, society bears the cost of restoration. When “Jane’s Revenge” spray paints threats on the walls of pregnancy help centers, it intimidates both those seeking help and those who provide it, and the cleanup diverts resources better spent on these women in their hour of need.

Worse yet, this kind of political vandalism nurtures progressively greater violence, moving the needle from graffiti and broken windows to destructive acts such as arson, and sooner or later, to lethal attacks. Years ago we learned to appreciate this dynamic in the context of ordinary, non-political criminality.

4) "6 key facts about the revealing New York Times exposé on Planned Parenthood’s 'crisis'" (Nancy Flanders, Live Action)

From the article -- The Times admits that after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, Planned Parenthood “enjoyed a fund-raising boom, with $498 million in donations that year” alone. Billionaire MacKenzie Scott (ex-wife of Jeff Bezos) gave the abortion corporation $275 million to use at the national office and 21 affiliates. And though, “[o]ver the last five years, the national office has distributed more than $899 million to affiliates to help them deliver care,” according to the Times, “none of it went directly to medical services.”

“Instead,” said the Times, “under the national bylaws, the majority of the money is spent on the legal and political fight to maintain abortion rights.”

The mission of Planned Parenthood Federation of America is not to provide quality health care but to “provide leadership, advocacy and education in the field of reproductive health care.” In other words, the central work of Planned Parenthood is to advocate for legalized abortion, be a leader in the pro-abortion movement, and educate (though with false information) on so-called “reproductive health care,” ie: abortion. 

5) "A few days in London: A snapshot of a society that's lost its way" (Melanie Phillips)

From the article -- I learn that a number of Labour MPs have become intensely concerned that the Starmer government is being sucked into a catastrophically anti-Israel stance because of the rising electoral force of Britain’s Muslims to whom the party is increasingly kow-towing. Around an estimated one hundred out of 403 Labour MPs support Israel, but most don’t dare speak up in its defence because their political careers would then be over.

I ask one Labour MP who does support Israel why so many of his colleagues parrot murderous lies about the Jewish state. He looks unhappy and lowers his voice. “It’s pressure from… the community,” he murmurs. Which community, I ask? Does he mean Britain’s Muslims? He nods, wordlessly. And his Labour colleagues believe absolutely everything the BBC tells them about Gaza, he says in despair; the BBC is the prime source of the lies and the hatred of Israel in Britain.

What’s the Plot?

Ronald Tobias (professor, writer and documentary filmmaker) once wrote a book describing how the story lines of all novels, plays and movies fall into one of twenty Master Plots. It’s an interesting idea, one that has taken root in many literature classes and book club discussions. Here is Tobias’ list.

1. Quest
2. Adventure
3. Pursuit
4. Rescue
5. Escape
6. Revenge
7. The Riddle
8. Rivalry
9. Underdog
10. Temptation
11. Metamorphosis
12. Transformation
13. Maturation
14. Love
15. Forbidden Love
16. Sacrifice
17. Discovery
18. Wretched Excess
19. Ascension
20. Descension

Like I said, it’s an interesting exercise. But the problem is that Tobias’ list ends up falling all over itself; that is, there’s just too much combination, interconnection, and blurring of themes. For instance, what would Tobias select as the Master Plot of Homer’s Iliad? For, you see, the Iliad fits every single storyline in the list. No kidding, every single one.

No, I’m afraid Tobias’ list is too much like the stuff of life itself. Complex, mixed, ironic, sometimes confused, even contrary. In my own biography (and, I’d guess, yours too), all twenty themes could be competing for the title of master plot.

So how does one best go about describing the plot of any novel or play or story? Well, I do give kudos to Professor Tobias for giving it a shot (and thereby helping thousands of high school lit students). But I think one of my own high school teachers may have had the best approach. He believed the plot of a story was simply the answer to the question, “And so then what happened?”

How Well Do You Know Your Tolkien?

The photograph at left is an unfamiliar look at a very familiar 20th Century author. It is J.R.R. Tolkien, taken when he was a second lieutenant in the 11th Lancashire Fusiliers. A rather dashing fellow, what?

Anyhow, from an old New York Times I came across, here’s a rather gentle trivia quiz to test your knowledge of that talented and perceptive Lord of the Rings author. 

The answers are printed after the quiz but, be fair now, no peeking!

1. What does the J stand for in J.R.R.?
A. Joseph
B. John
C. Jacob
D. Jerome

2. What is the correct pronunciation of Tolkien?
A. toll-KINE
B. TAHL-keen
C. TOLL-key-en
D. TOLL-KEEN

3. Of what ethnic origin is the name Tolkien?
A. Irish
B. French
C. German
D. Swedish

4. In what country was Tolkien born?
A. Scotland
B. South Africa
C. Australia
D. Wales

5. What was Tolkien’s first job after serving in World War I?
A. Lexicographer
B. Hospital orderly
C. Accounting clerk
D. Newspaper reporter

6. What was Tolkien’s “day job” for over 30 years?
A. Bus driver
B. Magazine editor
C. College professor
D. Philosopher

7. One of Tolkien’s first published works was a scholarly treatment of:
A. Finnish etymology
B. German fairy tales
C. American folklore
D. Arthurian legend

8. As a result of the widespread popularity of Lord of the Rings, Tolkien:
A. Became wealthy
B. Had to move
C. Had to have an unlisted telephone number
D. All of the above

Answers:
1. What does the J stand for in J.R.R.? The correct answer is B. -- John J.R.R. stands for John Ronald Reuel. Reuel was his father’s middle name.

2. What is the correct pronunciation of Tolkien? -- According to the Tolkien Society of England, there is equal stress on both syllables.

3. Of what ethnic origin is the name Tolkien? The correct answer is C. German -- Tolkien is derived from the German language, from a word meaning “foolishly brave.”

4. In what country was Tolkien born? The correct answer is B. South Africa. -- His father had moved to South Africa for better job opportunities. Tolkien returned to England when he was four years old.

5. What was Tolkien’s first job after serving in World War I? The correct answer is A. Lexicographer. -- He worked on the Oxford English Dictionary as an assistant lexicographer.

6. What was Tolkien's “day job” for over 30 years? -- Tolkien was a professor of Anglo-Saxon and English literature at Oxford from 1925 to 1959.

7. One of Tolkien’s first published works was a scholarly treatment of: The correct answer is D. Arthurian legend. -- His Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was published in 1925, 12 years before the publication of The Hobbit.

8. As a result of the widespread popularity of Lord of the Rings, Tolkien: The correct answer is D. All of the above. -- Tolkien and his wife could no longer bear the crowds gawking at his house and the middle-of-the-night phone calls.