"When Swing Was King" Could Use a Little Help

Hey Nebraskans! Vital Signs Ministries and our exciting new outreach to the Heartland's senior citizens could sure use your help...and in one of several ways.

1) We have created letters to promote "When Swing Was King" to area retirement centers and nursing homes where we haven't yet appeared. The program is a terrific one that has won rave reviews everywhere we've gone. Plus we offer it completely free to the facility. We have room in our schedule for just a few more and so we'd like your help to identify potential sites. Do you have a loved one in a facility where you'd like "When Swing Was King" to visit? How about one in your neighborhood? Let us know.

2) Are you a part of a church or civic group that could invite us to present a mini-version of "When Swing Was King" to help make people aware and perhaps get them involved? Please let us know.

3) Do you know of a business owner or officer to whom we could send a letter describing "When Swing Was King" -- a letter that describes the program, includes testimonials from residents and staff, and asks for a little help to keep the program going in as many places as possible? Please let us know.

With your help, we can serve more seniors in our area with "When Swing Was King," an absolutely delightful combination of original big band music, photos from the era, sprightly commentary and personal conversations. And the effort could also help the overall financial health of Vital Signs Ministries too. (And we need a little help!)

Please give us a hand. Contact us through the Vital Signs Ministries web site right here.

Should Your Dollars Go to World Vision? A Follow Up.

Is World Vision worthy of your charitable giving? That was the question I posed in a blog post of March 16th, "Japan Relief Dollars: Should They Go to World Vision?" I mentioned in that post that I had sent a note to World Vision and would pass along their response. Printed below are full copies of that correspondence, the latest note from World Vision coming to me just yesterday.

Let me say at the outset that I am pleased that World Vision responded conscientiously to my request. I am grateful and I have told them so. They are a big outfit and could have ignored my note altogether or sent back some kind of form letter. I truly appreciate their direct response. I must admit, however, that even after our correspondence, I remain concerned about World Vision's work. I express those opinions at the conclusion of this post.

Here's how things have developed. First, I received word of caution from a friend about a positive statement I had made about World Vision on my Facebook page. Second, I did a little bit of reading on the web. Those sources are mentioned (and linked) in the blog post I then wrote. Third, there has been the correspondence which I print below.

To World Vision from Denny Hartford, Director of Vital Signs Ministries:

Could you give me plain answers to the following questions. Thank you. 1) Discover the Networks lists World Vision under "Religious Left" organizations. Is that accurate? 2) That same website claims that World Vision "is decidedly supportive of the Palestinian cause and condemnatory of Israel." Furthermore, the article characterizes the general outlook as leftist. "Viewing capitalism as an instrument of societal injustice, greed, and exploitation, WVI favors an economic model based on socialism and the redistribution of wealth." Are these accurate statements? 3) Does World Vision encourage the use of contraceptives? Does it go so far as to encourage "birth control" drugs and devices that work post-conception? And 4) Does World Vision partner in any way with Planned Parenthood or the United Nations Population Fund? Again, thank you for answering these queries.

Just a day or two later, I received this response from World Vision:

Dear Mr. Hartford,

Thank you for contacting World Vision for clarification on the information you recently came across. It is a blessing to be able to serve you!

To ensure that we respond with the best possible information, we are further researching this issue and will contact you within 7 to 10 business days. We appreciate your patience!

If we may be of further assistance, please reply with history to this e-mail or call a Donor Service Representative toll free at 1.888.511.6432. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pacific Time. We will be glad to help you.

Thank you for your interest in building a better world for children!

Blessings, 
[I omit the individual's name.]
Donor Contact Services
World Vision U.S.

And then, true to their word, I received the following letter from World Vision yesterday:

Dear Mr. Hartford,

Thank you again for contacting us regarding the statements about World Vision on Discover the Networks' website. We are thankful for the opportunity to respond to your inquiry.

The owner of this website has the freedom to characterize World Vision without discretion or consultation and we do not agree with the opinions provided. If you would like to learn more about World Vision and read our Statement of Faith, please visit our website using the following link: http://www.worldvision.org/christian-commitment .

Regarding our work in Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza, World Vision always serves the most needy children in the communities where we work. We never choose to establish our Area Development Programs (ADPs) on the basis of race or religion, but rather on poverty indices alone. The worst poverty is in Palestinian areas. In this region, those areas are found in Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza and are mostly occupied by Palestinian families. World Vision United States funds these sponsorship programs, as well as sponsorship programs in nearly sixty countries that include children from different religious backgrounds, including Jewish children. However, we do not have a process or system in place to track them based on race, religion, or political background.

You may rest assured that as a child-focused relief, development, and advocacy organization, World Vision's focus is on children. Our concern is that the occupation of Palestinian territories has robbed two generations of both Palestinian and Israeli children of peace, security, economic, and educational opportunities and, most of all, hope.

World Vision's ministry is to relieve human suffering around the world in the name of Jesus Christ. However, many of the countries in which we work experience war, civil unrest, and other violence. The fact that we are helping those in need has been perceived by some as siding with one political faction or another. That is not our intention. World Vision has long advocated for a just peace in the Middle East that recognizes the mutual right of Israelis and Palestinians to live in dignity, equality, and security. We do not condone violence on either side.

In response to your question regarding World Vision's position on family planning, we believe that life begins at conception and encourages family planning programs in areas where the programs are desired by individuals and acceptable to both the culture and government of the region. These programs provide information about healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies and encourage the use of all methods of family planning that are proven not to be abortive in nature. Generally, World Vision does not provide methods of family planning but rather supports the Ministry of Health programs within the countries we serve.

World Vision faces challenging issues of economics and culture in its sponsorship communities around the world. Our aim is to ensure the survival of each child through community development and health efforts.We believe family planning and child spacing are only part of our efforts to enable families to enjoy healthier lives.

Lastly, World Vision does not support or work directly with Planned Parenthood; however, in some cases, as part of a national network or consortium of agencies working with a nation's national or provincial health ministry, there may be a Planned Parenthood office as a member of the network or consortium. World Vision is not allowed to select or reject members of such a group; in most countries we are required to participate as a condition of working in the country. We are not aware of any such instances in the United States.

We trust this information is helpful. If we may be of further assistance, please reply with history to this e-mail or call a Donor Service Representative toll free at 1.888.511.6432. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pacific Time. We will be glad to help you.

Thank you for your interest in World Vision as we strive to build a better world for children.

May God bless you,
[I omit the individual's name.]
Donor Contact Services
World Vision U.S.

So, what concerns about World Vision still bother me? 1) There remains, of course, the testimony of those sources that elicited my blog post in the first place. For instance, the quotations taken from World Vision's own material about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict seem to stand -- quotations that Discover the Networks accurately describes as "decidedly supportive of the Palestinian cause and condemnatory of Israel." I had hoped World Vision would now denounce those political statements. They did not. Nor did the letter address the question about socialism and redistribution of wealth.

2) I appreciate very much that World Vision believes life begins at conception. To believe anything else is silly, of course; yet many try quite hard to ignore or distort this basic scientific fact. So I commend them. But, the key question remains. Why must World Vision be in the family planning business at all? I'm quite certain that most of the donors who are sponsoring children and relief efforts are completely unaware of World Vision's involvement in this very controversial area. And I'm pretty sure a large amount of those donors would be disturbed to learn that World Vision has adopted "family planning" as a key part of their mission -- especially when it requires them, as the letter above admits, to be involved in consortia that includes groups like Planned Parenthood.

Of course, you must draw your own conclusions from these letters. Perhaps you'll want to correspond with World Vision yourself. That would be great. As you now know, they will be conscientious and timely in their response.

But, as I said earlier, there remain some serious concerns about World Vision for Claire and me even after this polite and positive correspondence. For instance, we are still worried about the organization's political views regarding socialism and Israel. We do not want our relief contributions going to an organization that has embraced the myths of population control and is aggressive in promoting "family planning." And we are not comfortable with giving money to an organization that works (however unavoidably) with Planned Parenthood, Marie Stopes, and the United Nations Population Fund.

The Liberating Power of Truth

The injustice and cruelty of the Soviet Union’s vast organization of labor camps in the 1930’s and 1940’s are now well known. But that knowledge didn’t have to surface. Indeed, without the grace of God acting through such heroic individuals as Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the truth might well have remained buried by Communist cover-ups. Solzhenitsyn was the foremost voice raised against the grand Soviet machine. Through rare courage and sacrificial efforts, he managed to alert the whole world to what was really happening to countless numbers of innocent human beings.

Solzhenitsyn’s most famous (though not often read) book is the riveting 3-volume, Gulag Archipelago. In that incredible work, the former slave camp worker documents the massive catalog of outrageous lies, violence, and criminal corruption perpetrated by Soviet Communism. In the Gulag (and even in his fiction), Solzhenitsyn serves as an historian. It is enough, he insists, to simply record what happened, to give the truth an open hearing. Truth has amazing power. Solzhenitsyn hoped that when people learned the real story of Soviet tyranny, they would resolve to never again allow the devil an open door to such blasphemy and brutality. It is in this sense that Alexander Solzhenitsyn is hailed as a prophet – not as a fortune teller, but as a “forth teller.” He bravely held up the banner of truth and simply by performing that service, he helped change the world.

In Solzhenitsyn’s play The Love-Girl and the Innocent, set in a 1945 forced labor camp in Siberia, one of the persecuted men lists just a few of the monstrous crimes performed by Soviet thugs that he has witnessed. The prisoner is beside himself with fury, feeling utterly helpless to do anything about this all-enveloping injustice. But in response, Pavel Gai, an imprisoned ex-soldier who has experienced more than his own share of horrors, answers him with chilling authority. “What can we do? Remember – that’s all.”

Alexander Solzhenitsyn did, in fact, remember. In fact, it was his constant plea to God for help in remembering specific events, people and situations so that he could record the true history of the Soviet Union. Solzhenitsyn desired more than anything else to be a faithful historian in order to effectively honor the victims but, more importantly, so that the preserved truth could set the future free. Ronald Reagan was one of those inspired by those revelations and Reagan acted on the knowledge that Solzhenitsyn had preserved. The Wall fell. The camps are now empty. Truth...just a simple presentation of the truth...can indeed destroy the darkness.

Take a Minute: "Defund Planned Parenthood"

Political Priority? Break the Democrat Stranglehold.

The first political campaign that ever excited me enough to get involved was the contest between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater in 1964.

I was in the 8th grade in Golden, Colorado.

In that race, educated and enlivened by my classmate, Grover Coors III, whose family had been rock-ribbed Republicans as long as they had been brewing beer, I came out swinging for Goldwater. I took the Arizonan's side in a formal class debate, argued economic conservatism with my pals...I even bought an AuH2O bumper sticker for my Dad's car.

Confidentially, Dad never used that bumper sticker but, since he voted right anyway, I didn't hold it against him.

That race set the tone for my political future -- except for one brief fling in the '72 primary season when Claire and I supported Democrat Henry "Scoop" Jackson. But then Jackson almost didn't count insofar as he was more Republican than Democrat -- a national defense "hawk" who was strong on law and order, civil rights and fiscal responsibility. But, as you remember, the Democrat party lurched wildly to the left that year and picked George McGovern as its standard bearer, as wacky a liberal as had, in those days, come down the political pike.

So we voted Nixon that year...as did most everyone else in the country. We never again looked seriously at a Democrat because the Democrats took that '72 election to dedicate itself to the dark side. Indeed, since those days Democrats have not only been the party of big government, confiscatory taxes, weak national defense and Nanny State tyranny, they've declared themselves the enemies of those moral standards that have stood civilization well for millenia. It's the party that rewards sloth and shoddiness. The party of abortion. The party that opposes family values...even marriage itself.

McGovern, what hath thou wrought!

Naturally then, our votes have always been for Republicans. Even when the party didn't field the best candidate. Gerald Ford and Bob Dole come to mind. And even though Claire and I have always been registered Independents. Why? Because to support anyone else (Democrat or third party candidate) served nothing but the cause of the Democrat agenda.

And the Democrat agenda (in all things: economics, foreign policy, education, commerce and moral values) is disastrous both for the United States and the cause of liberty around the globe.

I repeat -- I am an Independent. I am an Independent by legal registration and by conviction. And yet I urge those of you who have been frustrated by the G.O.P.( no one has been more infuriated by them at times than me) to carefully see how the Democrats yearn for division in the conservative ranks come election season. Genuine, thorough-going conservatives fight tooth and nail for their convictions -- even within the ranks. But the infighting must never become a substitute (not even a distraction) from the bigger fight we have with the Democrat Party and its nefarious designs on Western culture.

Recent history is quite clear that third parties, splinter groups, protest no-show intentions (even when principled and earnest) do not serve the conservative cause. Indeed, they give a tremendous advantage to Democrats to become even more entrenched, to pack the courts, to pack the bureaucracies, to write the rules, and to control the education system. Need I mention how valuable was Ross Perot to Bill Clinton?

The tea party movement, the general disappointment (in some circles, make that disgust) with Barack Obama, the rise of the alternative media are all dramatically changing the Republican Party. That's good because these factors are all increasing the party's power and its quality. There are still, as I've written before, plenty of "RINOs, Rockefellers and country-clubbers" who the party must purge from its ranks. But the Democrat power structure must be dismantled before principled and efficient conservatism will even have a chance.

I think I'm speaking for Grover Coors here...and, quite probably, for "Scoop" Jackson too. Let's first get rid of the stranglehold Democrats have on the nation. And then get back to streamlining, purifying and increasing the appeal of the G.O.P.

Letting a Little Light Into the Conversation

After the Hatchet Falls

The wisest thing in the world is to cry out before you are hurt. It is no good to cry out after you are hurt; especially after you are mortally hurt. People talk about the impatience of the populace; but sound historians know that most tyrannies have been possible because men moved too late. It is often essential to resist a tyranny before it exists. It is no answer to say, with a distant optimism, that the scheme is only in the air. A blow from a hatchet can only be parried while it is in the air.

So wrote G.K. Chesterton in the opening paragraph of Eugenics and Other Evils (1922). Tragically, the hatchet blow of humanist eugenics was not parried by the Church in those days when it could have, and we must now struggle against a "culture of death" that has become all too entrenched.

Yes, we will fight and fight gladly the terrible things the eugenics movement started (abortion, disrespect for the institution of family, an anti-child mentality, euthanasia, genetic engineering, and so on) but G.K.'s words remind us of how much more difficult is the struggle when God's people slumber through the first alarms.

Beyond Obama's Pay Grade? Science 101.

Japan Relief Dollars: Should They Go to World Vision?

It happens too often. Charitable corporations (even Christian ones) get really big -- so big that policies and positions get complex (if not actually contradictory) -- so big that they compromise their founding ideals in order to accomodate large staffs, governments, NGOs, big donors, changing cultural norms, evolving philosophies, political-correctness, and so on.

And sometimes they're so big that the regular guy doesn't have access to detailed information. And when that regular guy (or gal) is trying to decide where to give their money or time, such a lack of information can be deeply troubling.

Yesterday, I heard and then read a couple of warnings about giving money to World Vision. I had posted something on my Facebook page about being careful of scams in the wake of the disasters besetting Japan and cautioned people to give to only reputable organizations. The one I cited was World Vision, one of the relief organizations that I have always thought was reputable, if not as devoutly evangelistic as others.

It was because of that post a trusted friend suggested a couple of articles about possible problems with World Vision. One came from Discover the Networks: A Guide to the Political Left. It lists World Vision under the category of Religious Left and has a detailed (but, I think, a bit dated) article suggesting that World Vision "is decidedly supportive of the Palestinian cause and condemnatory of Israel." Furthermore, the article characterizes the general outlook as leftist. "Viewing capitalism as an instrument of societal injustice, greed, and exploitation, WVI favors an economic model based on socialism and the redistribution of wealth."

The other article (a more recent one) dealt with World Vision's troubling promotion of contraceptives and the contraceptive mentality, its endorsement of abortifacient "birth control," and its partnership with the goals of the United Nations Population Fund.

I have written a letter to World Vision with my concerns and will let you know their answer, if and as soon as I receive it. But, in the meantime, you might consider any gifts you're considering for Japan relief efforts to go to religious denominations you know well. For Claire and I, we now feel safest (in terms of conscience) with giving to Baptist Global Relief.

Yet Another Reason to Avoid Mattel Toy Company

Oh, boy; Mattel Toys is at it again.

I've blogged about these guys before: Mattel Toys: Paranoid, Grubby and Heartless and About That $95 Homeless Doll. But there's a whole new reason I'm warning you this morning to buy your kid's toys from someplace else.

Theresa over at Stories for the Homeschool Heart has the whole sordid story on Mattel's Monster High Girls, little "fashionita dolls" who are the teenage daughters of monsters like Dracula and the Wolfman. The dolls come dressed for the evening in super-short, skin-tight, skin-showing goth outfits.

Chatty Cathy, where have you gone?

Monster High Girls fashion accessories include fishnet stockings, stiletto heels, fangs, and horns. There's also extra stuff that goes along with the little tarts -- items like the Dracula Jewelry Coffin in which they sleep, a Monster Fearbook Journal,  Skull Sensor Door Alarms and a Monster High Tatoo Roller in which the doll's owners can apply to themselves that special touch for a night out -- you know, things like stitches, bite marks and snake skin.

And did I mention the market for these little ghouls? It's little girls -- ages 6 to 12.

But I've barely got started here. Theresa has a lot more over at her blog post...information about the related games and songs and pop-off hands. Sigh. Go on over and check it out. 

We've written letters to Mattel (without reply, I might add) asking them to explain their bizarre, anti-child behavior. We will continue to do so. But the company isn't going to change its weird ways until they get an awful lot of letters and an awful lot of parents choosing other, more healthy and life-affirming toys for their children. So after you scoot over and read that post, come back here and use the contact information offered below to call or write Mattel. Let them know you're going to pass the word to other parents and grandparents to avoid Mattel products at all costs.

Mailing address: Mattel, Inc., 333 Continental Boulevard, El Segundo, CA 90245-5012.
Phone: Customer Relations at 800-524-8697

Now This Is Moral Responsibility. This Is Fiscal Leadership.

Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is voting AGAINST the 3-week spending bill unveiled in the House last Friday. Why? Because it is merely a delay game that refuses to defund ObamaCare, refuses to defund Planned Parenthood and NPR, that refuses to get down to enacting the very things Republicans have promised to work for.

The 3-week spending bill is nothing but a loaded, bloated compromise with Democrats who continue to close their eyes to the desperate condition America is in.

When are Republicans going to start standing up to foot-dragging Dems?

Thank you, Congressman Jordan, for doing the right thing.

“Americans sent us here to deal with big problems in bold ways. We’re borrowing billions of dollars a day, yet Senate Democrats have done little more than wring their hands for the last month. With the federal government facing record deficits and a mammoth debt hanging over our economy and our future, we must do more than cut spending in bite-sized pieces.

“Democrats control both the Senate and the White House, and it’s time they stopped dithering. We need swift action to deal with spending for the rest of this year. We need to stop sending taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood, and we need to defund ObamaCare. And we need to start tackling next year’s budget, the debt-ceiling, and other challenges standing in the way of job creation. We've made some solid first downs on spending. Now it's time to look to the end zone.”

Please forward this post to your own Congressman and Senators, asking them to follow the principles of this genuine conservative leader.

Planned Parenthood Keeps Getting Busted. But Does the Media Notice. Do the Politicians Care?

Planned Parenthood has been misleading Congress and American taxpayers for many years. I know -- I was part of the deception. For eight years I worked at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas, and for two of those years I was the clinic's director.

Here are the ways Planned Parenthood is deceiving the public -- and taxpayers -- about what it does...

Let Abby Johnson give you the straight skinny -- great information that you can then pass on to the ones who most need to know. C'mon, guys; let's make the very most of Abby's conversion from Planned Parenthood. The babies, the mothers, and the cause of justice deserve no less.

Stop Planned Parenthood from Endangering America's Daughters

Ozzie and Harriet Do Not Live Here Anymore: ABC's "Good Christian Bitches" in the Works

The devolution (no, make that degradation) of American culture continues.

Today, the Parents Television Council called for members and concerned citizens to take action against Disney-owned ABC by signing a petition to protest the offensive title of its pilot, “Good Christian Bitches.”

“ABC’s decision is not only an affront to women, it blatantly attacks the world’s largest faith. The ‘B-word’ is toxic and is used to degrade, abuse, harass, bully and humiliate women. And the ‘Christian’ element only adds insult to injury. Regardless of whether the title ultimately makes it to broadcast, ABC has publicly proclaimed its values and it has tarnished the Disney brand,” said PTC President Tim Winter.

“Would ABC even consider another faith to denigrate?  Would they even consider a program title or a plot line based on ‘Bitches’ who were Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist? I suspect not, and I certainly hope not.  So why the double standard?

“Unfortunately, this show is just one example of a larger trend. ABC already pounced on another pilot titled ‘Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23.’ From Investigation Discovery’s ‘Who the [Bleep] Did I Marry?’ to CBS’ ‘$#*! My Dad Says,’ it’s clear the pattern will continue unless Americans speak out and advertisers come to their senses.

“This is the latest strike in what appears to be a concerted effort to popularize profanity on network television. On prime time broadcast TV, use of the b-word alone increased from 431 instances in 1998 to 1,277 in 2007.

“Unless or until ABC realizes that its decision about ‘Good Christian Bitches’ was misguided, PTC will use every method at its disposal to turn advertisers and viewers away from a provocative title that compromises respect for both women and Christians in an attempt to draw ratings,” Winter concluded.

Let ABC know what you're thinking:

Anne Sweeney, President
ABC Entertainment
500 S. Buena Vista St
Burbank, CA 91521-4551
(818) 560-1000 or (212) 456-7777
E-Mail -- netaudr@abc.com

Planned Parenthood: Where Are the Missing Millions of Our Tax Dollars?

A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on federal tax money funneled into Planned Parenthood and similar organizations raises more questions than it answers about the nation’s largest abortion chain.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s (PPFA) audits show the organization spent just $657.1 million between 2002 and 2008 from federal government grants and programs, but the abortion behemoth’s own annual reports show that it took in $2.3 billion from government grants and programs during the same time period.

That’s not pocket change. Why the discrepancy?

The report (the first of its kind since 2002) was released in response to a request from 31 U.S. senators and representatives and in an atmosphere increasingly hostile to abortion. Not surprisingly. then, its findings are fueling an escalating outcry to defund Planned Parenthood.

Since 2009, at least five nationwide polls have confirmed that a majority of Americans consider themselves pro-life.

Someone, then, needs to explain to all those people why $2.3 billion in tax dollars have been doled out to an organization that admits to systematically having killed more than 1.8 million pre-born babies between 2002 and 2008 and then reports it only spent $657.1 million in federal dollars.

Has Planned Parenthood managed to tuck away megamillions of our tax dollars, seemingly unnoticed? Or is that much of its government funding coming from sources other than the federal government? Or is there a problem with the way Planned Parenthood is reporting its expenditure of our federal monies?...

Read more of Rita Diller's Washington Times report here. Read it and then forward it to your Congressmen and Senators. Maybe write a personal letter, e-mail or make a call and include a couple of the points from the news story. Tell them to defund Planned Parenthood now. No excuses. No delays. Get it done.

Wow Alert! National Public Radio Gets Busted!

In a remarkable bit of undercover film, NPR gets royally busted as an elitist and extremely biased media source. Big surprise, huh?

The video clip "stars" Ron Schiller, President of the NPR Foundation and Senior Vice-President of National Public Radio, having a luncheon with two men whom he believes are members of a Muslim Brotherhood front group and who are ready to donate a few million dollars to NPR coffers. Also present is Betsy Liley, Senior Director of NPR's Institutional Giving.

But it is Schiller whose remarks are the most shocking -- even to those conservatives who are aware of NPR's longtime liberal slant. Indeed, what this fellow says about Americans, Jews, Christians, the need for an educated elite, Republicans, the Tea Party, and more will curl the hair of liberals too. For liberals may be used to saying these kinds of things among themselves. But they loathe it when their true opinions get a public airing like they do here.

Of course, you'll see that Schiller's lines are the most laughable when he starts dissing Juan Williams. Schiller explains that NPR's "feeling is that if a person expresses his or her opinion...they are compromised as a journalist. They can no longer fairly report." Well, watch the tape and you'll hear Schiller express views that are more sinister, more despicable and more offensive to more persons than anything Juan Williams ever dreamed of saying.

You've got to pass this one around. And, as you do, also pass along your hope that people will contact their Congressmen and Senators with a demand that the taxpayer funding of NPR be ended ASAP. If there was ever any doubt of the extreme leftist bias of NPR, it's certainly been exposed now.

"When Swing Was King" Is on the Road Again!

"When Swing Was King," Vital Signs Ministries' program for nursing homes and retirement centers continues as strong as ever. We've already presented Volume 9 twice last week with great success. There's another this afternoon and several more scheduled throughout the month.

Volume 9, like all of the others, brings together 13 terrific songs from the big band era with a Power Point visual show and an entertaining commentary related to the sights and sounds of the program. "When Swing Was King" thus provides for the seniors a wealth of pleasant experiences: the great music of their youth, memories, visual and audio stimulation to combat the tedium of nursing home life, stories with humor and human interest, opportunities for conversation, and the development of new friendships.

We remain delighted and inspired by the ministry "When Swing Was King' has created. And we once again invite you to come along for the fun.

The specific lineup for Volume 9? Here it is.

Glenn Miller Orchestra: "American Patrol"

Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Frank Sinatra, the Pied Pipers: "Street of Dreams"

Shep Fields Orchestra: "Lavender Blue"

Duke Ellington Orchestra: "Five O'Clock Whistle"

Vaughn Monroe & Orchestra: "Tangerine"

Ray Anthony Orchestra: "I Only Have Eyes For You"

Ink Spots: "Ring, Telephone, Ring"

Freddy Martin Orchestra: "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"

Doris Day: "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"

Nat King Cole Trio: "It's Only A Paper Moon"

Benny Goodman Orchestra: "Let's Dance"

Harry James Orchestra with Betty Grable: "I Can't Begin To Tell You"

Bob Crosby Orchestra: "Muskrat Ramble"

 

Again, these folks could sure use another friend or two in their lives so your participation in "When Swing Was King" is more than welcome. Give us an e-mail or a call soon.

Liberal, Pro-Choice Pundit Calls for De-Funding of Planned Parenthood

Yes, you read that headline right.

Kirsten Powers worked in the Clinton Administration for 5 years and has gone on to write for the New York Post and many other mainstream newspapers and magazines. You've probably seen her on television from time to time as well. She also writes a regular column for The Daily Beast which is where this eye-opening article appeared. In it Powers argues that because of Planned Parenthood's inefficiency and blatant dishonesty, they shouldn't be receiving any tax money.

Read and pass along.

...Over this time period, the U.S. government has funneled billions of dollars to Planned Parenthood, in large part because the organization claims to provide services to avoid unplanned pregnancies – a laudable goal. Yet despite a robust budget—Planned Parenthood reported a total annual revenue of $1.1 billion in its last financial filing—the organization has done absolutely nothing to change the fundamental dynamics of the United States’ abortion rate.

Asked about the “Contraception” study, the Guttmacher numbers and why no women were saying they got abortions due to lack of access to contraception, a Planned Parenthood spokesman emailed this Orwellian response: “I think the biggest barrier is access to affordable contraception.”  Huh?

I was pointed to a Planned Parenthood study that showed that one in three women voters reported having struggled with the cost of prescription birth control at some point.

It’s unclear whether Planned Parenthood officials simply don’t understand statistics or are so accustomed to having their claims unquestioned that they think if they repeat them often enough, the facts will disappear. Obviously, you can complain of struggling with the cost of prescription birth control and also face an unwanted pregnancy for reasons that have nothing to do with lack of access to birth control. (By the way, Guttmacher was founded by Planned Parenthood; these are the numbers the group views as the most reliable.)

The House recently approved a Republican proposal to block $363 million in federal aid for Planned Parenthood, a move wholly motivated by opposition to the abortion services that the organization provides--even though officials say they don't use federal funds directly to perform abortions. The vote was mostly along party lines, with 10 Democrats voting for the measure to defund, and seven Republicans opposing it. It is unlikely to survive in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

To preserve its federal subsidy, Planned Parenthood continues to claim that without its contraception services the abortion rate will go up. This deception smacks of a fleecing of taxpayers in an effort to promote an ideological agenda, rather than a sincere effort to help women plan families.

What is that ideology, exactly? To find out, you have to dig through Planned Parenthood’s tax forms because the group certainly isn’t going to tell you. According to its most recent tax filing, the purpose of Planned Parenthood Federation of America is to provide leadership in “[a]chieving, through informed individual choice, a U.S. population of stable size in an optimum environment; in stimulating and sponsoring relevant biomedical, socio-economic, and demographic research.”

So it is, in reality, a population-control organization. Funny, this was never mentioned in the gauzy $200,000 advertising campaign launched last week. It also doesn’t make it into the “About Us” section of the group’s website, which repeatedly claims its mission is to protect women’s health, when in fact the real mission is to keep the birth rate at whatever level the leaders believe it should be.

To hear Planned Parenthood and their supporters, they exist only to provide Pap smears or breast exams or prenatal services. In fact, President Cecile Richards has gone so far as to erroneously imply that they provide mammograms. (A spokesperson for the group confirmed to me that this is untrue.)

Planned Parenthood officials are allowed to believe whatever they want and to pursue whatever goals they choose. But their dishonesty in how they present their organization to the public, along with ignoring basic statistics about their area of expertise, makes you wonder what else they are hiding. It’s also hard to deny that they are at core a blindly ideological organization, not a run-of-the-mill charitable nonprofit.

Whatever you think of abortion rights, this is not the kind of organization that taxpayers should be funding.

What Gives? Pro-Abortion Leader Disses Pro-Abortion Movement.

Long famous for her aggressive advocacy of abortion, Catholics for a Free Choice founder Frances Kissling surprised a few folks with her op/ed column for the Washington Post last weekend. The reason for the surprise is certainly hinted at by the title of her article: "Abortion Rights Are Under Attack -- Pro-Choice Advocates Are Caught in a Time Warp."

However, Kissling's motives for writing the piece are pretty obvious for those that have followed her well-paying career as a heretic and abortion advocate: 1) She is a sincere and energetic zealot for abortion. And 2) She loves the spotlight. Both motives were served by the article.

True, there were a few of Kissling's colleagues who were ticked off by the article, people like Maryland's former head of NARAL Karyn Strickler, a hardcore enthusiast who has championed partial birth abortion as a good and necessary thing. She interpreted Kissling's criticism of the pro-choice movement as "a total sell-out" that must be rejected. "Under not [sic] circumstances should pro-choice advocates give into the kind of surrender that Kissling champions."

But Strickler represents those obscurantist pro-abortion leaders that have done so effective job in disgusting the American people. By ardently campaigning for such obvious atrocities as late-term abortions, such leaders have demonstrated to the general public a lack of compassion, a lack of balance and even a lack of reason.

Kissling only states then what is obvious to all but the most muddle-headed when she writes, "We can no longer pretend the fetus is invisible...Very few people would argue that there is no difference between the decision to abort at 6 weeks and the decision to do so when the fetus would be viable outside of the womb, which today is generally at 24 to 26 weeks. Still, it is rare for mainstream movement leaders to say that publicly. Abortion is not merely a medical matter, and there is an unintended coarseness to claiming that it is. We need to firmly and clearly reject post-viability abortions except in extreme cases."

There are other criticisms of the pro-abortion movement that Kissling makes that are of significant interest. But no one should mistake the intent of her article. Yes, she understands why her movement is beginning to fail. Technology has opened the womb to careful scrutiny and what the public saw inside was not a mass of cells, not a blob of tissue, not a mere lifestyle choice -- but rather the wonderful, delightful, miraculous child who has an inalienable right to life. As even Sandra Day-O'Connor predicted, Roe v Wade was on a "collision course" with scientific realities. Kissling is smart enough to see that once preborn children star in TV commercials airing during the Super Bowl, the game is up.

But, despite the rant of someone like Strickler, make no mistake -- Francis Kissling remains imperiously pro-abortion. She's just trying to help get her pro-abortion colleagues to recognize the inevitable and gear up for new strategies -- strategies which will keep Planned Parenthood coffers full and abortion mills busy. Kissling isn't selling out the movement; she is only trying to repackage the rhetoric and tactics needed to keep abortion selling in the marketplace.

Thus she encourages the defense of existing abortion laws including, one is led to believe, laws prohibiting informed consent and parental consent. "Pro-choice advocates have good reason to oppose legislation that restricts abortion in any way," she writes. Kissling also denies that the preborn child has anything like a "right" to life since "its value may not be equal to that of the pregnant woman." She even thinks late-term abortion can be defended by  playing the exceptions game. "Exceptions include when the woman's life is at immediate risk; when the fetus suffers from conditions that are incompatible with a good quality of life; or when the woman's health is seriously threatened by a medical or psychological condition that continued pregnancy will exacerbate."

Note carefully Kissling's Orwellian line,"when the fetus suffers from conditions that are incompatible with a good quality of life." We know all too well how broad that "quality of life" stuff can be: Down's Syndrome, hemophilia, blindness, just about any disability you can name. Indeed, that line has even stretched to matters of gender, race, and guesses regarding the preborn's sociological future. And the "psychological condition" she mentions as an acceptable reason for post-viability abortion? Kissling well knows that's a convenient, all-purpose justification that abortionists have used for decades.

One other item. Kissling's article reveals a strategy already underway in the political debates about the de-funding of Planned Parenthood. It's a strategy that concedes a few pro-life points...but only to be used in the opening salvos of the public debate. When it comes to action, Kissling wants not only abortion protected from legal restriction, she also wants more government funding for birth control, for sex education of the progressive sort and for welfare policies that further erode family structure, moral traditions and personal responsibility.

No, it turns out that Kissling isn't surrendering a thing. Nevertheless, her article remains must reading for pro-life advocates for it does emphasize some of the points we must continue to press home to the American people. Tell the story of the marvelous advances in embryology. Talk it up about ultrasounds, about fetal surgery, about the increased survival rates of preemie babies. And make sure the agenda includes the trauma of abortion to the mother and the long-term health risks that abortion increases.  And don't neglect the moral arena. The Bible couldn't be clearer in its opposition to the murder of the innocent. Speak from that noble height as well.

The abortion movement has been weakened; there's no doubt about it. But it is still far from weak. Our moral duty is to make it more so day by day.

Vital Signs' Monthly Letter: Why the Evangelical Absence at Public Pro-Life Events?

The February LifeSharer letter featuring details from ProLifeCon and the March for Life in Washington, D.C., the Walk for Life in Lincoln, and updates from Vital Signs Ministries is up over at the VSM website. Here's an exhortational excerpt:

...That poor performance of evangelical Christians in the national March for Life is also seen in those state marches that occur throughout the nation.  Lincoln’s Walk for Life is an example.  Catholic schools, Catholic organizations, Catholic churches and clergymen, Catholic laymen – all are represented but it takes a very, very close look to discover evangelical counterparts.  This must grieve God deeply.  Evangelical Christians find time to go to concerts, movies, church picnics, endless youth events, men’s conferences, women’s conferences, sporting events and a whole bunch of other things.  But we can’t be bothered to join in the most important public testimonies against the despicable evil of abortion?

Pastors, really.  Why can’t you urge your parishioners to join you for a Saturday morning stroll through Lincoln?  It’s only one Saturday a year.  And pro-life state legislators say over and over again how important this public testimony is for their work to be most effective.  So why aren’t you there?  Christian school principals, how about you?  Why are all the school banners one sees in these events from Catholic schools?  Youth pastors?  Here is a short term mission project that is inexpensive, quick and easy – yet one that can be a life-saving as well as a life-changing ministry.  Why is it that year after year you overlook this wonderful opportunity?

Oh, what a difference we could have made in the culture wars of the last 40 years had we raised our voice in the public square - peacefully, winsomely and in concert with others who share our convictions about life and justice and decency.  What a difference we could still make!...