Abortion Down Among the Young, Yet A Form of Birth Control for Older Women

The Senior Fellow of Concerned Women America’s Beverly LaHaye Institute is Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse. She is an eloquent speaker and a great writer who has, among other things, performed as a speechwriter for President George W. Bush. Her work at CWA has really been admirable. One of her latest articles is a brief primer on the current state of abortion in the U.S. It is a quuick but important read and I urge you to take a few minutes and check it out. Just click on the title of this post.

Cracking Down on Lobster Abuse in Italy

This story needs no additional commentary. The irony is too obvious -- as is the danger it reveals about the most absurd political correctness increasingly being enforced by law...

They might not be able to cuddle or play fetch like most cats and dogs, but an Italian restaurant has been fined over $860 for its display of lobsters on ice to attract customers, in an innovative application of an anti-cruelty law usually applied to household pets. According to reports, a court in the northeastern city of Vicenza ruled the display was a form of abuse dooming the crustaceans to a slow death by suffocation.

"We're appealing," says Giuseppe Scalesia, who runs La Conchiglia D'Oro, or Golden Shell, restaurant along with his brother Camillo. "They said that the lobsters, laying on the ice, suffer... They compared them in court to other animals, like cats and dogs."

According to the restaurateur, four years ago there were no specific guidelines on maintaining live lobsters, regulations which entered the law books only in 2004, Italian news agency ANSA reports...

Huge Charity Donation Isn't Newsworthy -- Only Because It's From Dick Cheney

John Reiners writing in today's edition of Hernando (Florida) Today...

Let Vice President Cheney unload a hail of buckshot - and it makes mainstream media headlines as a defining moment is his failed vice presidency.

Let him file his federal tax return and it is reported by CBS News that "Cheney tops Bush in the battle of the bucks."

Let him donate what was the largest amount of bucks in history to charity by any public servant, and you guessed it - nary a headline.

But then again it was a paltry $6.87 million, more than three-quarters of the reported income of the Cheneys. Read this again: The Cheneys gave $6.87 million to charity in 2005.

A small story perhaps, but come on - doesn't a multimillion dollar contribution to charities by a vice president deserve special recognition? Frankly, I was astonished when I first read this and thought it was a typo because it was buried in a column that leads off with President Bush's tax return - which wasn't even newsworthy - just the typical annual report on the tax returns of the president and vice president. As a matter of fact, the AP headline read "Cheney's income 10 times the Bushes'. And the L.A. Times reported: "Bush pays taxes, Cheney awaits refund,"

I could go on with other headlines, but you get the point. Not one headline in the mainstream media that Cheney gave $6.87 million to charity. The "refund" headline by the L.A. Times is laughable. The reason he's getting a refund is because he overpaid in estimating his taxes and had too much withheld.

Another paper spun the AP story by saying not only did Cheney make ten times as much as Bush, but "He is looking for a $1.9 million refund." What gall. Another equally compelling headline would have been when a former vice president's tax return - Al Gore's - reported a paltry $367 in charitable contributions in 1997. Of course this item never made the headlines either - given the bias of the mainstream media...

For the full article, go here.

When Hollywood Went to War

I know there have been a few articles like this floating around the last couple of years but John McCaslin's was one of the best I'd seen. It's a keeper...

Hollywood is missing in action when it comes to fighting for America in recent conflicts, not the least being the war against terrorism.

We hereby challenge readers to name one modern American celebrity, apart from the late football star Pat Tillman, who served or fought for his or her country in the past 15 years.

"Even Hollywood . . . sent its best to wars prior to Vietnam," University of Dayton professor Larry Schweikart reminds us in his new book, "America's Victories," writing that professional actors were as "thoroughly represented" in the fighting military during World War II as any other group.

In fact, we read an amazing list of Hollywood men who tossed aside lucrative scripts for their country. Topping the list, albeit technically too old to serve, was Clark Gable, who enlisted as a private and ended up flying B-17s over Europe. Jimmy Stewart started as a "buck private peeling potatoes," the author notes.

Stewart's radioman was Walter Matthau, awarded six campaign stars. Charles Bronson was a tailgunner on B-29s; Gene Autry flew C-47s; Robert Conrad flew F4Us; Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry flew C-46s; Robert Altman flew B-24s; and Jack Palance crash-landed his B-17. (Let's see Tom Cruise try that when not leaping off Oprah Winfrey's sofa.)

The list of Hollywood's brave soldiers, sailors and Marines (several of whom died or were injured in battle) is extensive, among them: Humphrey Bogart (a World War I vet, he tried enlisting in World War II, but was too old), Jason Robards (Pearl Harbor), Henry Fonda (the South Pacific), George C. Scott (Europe), Glenn Ford (France), Brian Keith (Rabaul), Ernest Borgnine (where else, the South Pacific), Eddie Albert (Tarawa), and Navy buddies Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Kirk Douglas, Shecky Greene, Paul Newman, Jack Lemmon, Bob Barker, Jackie Cooper, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Cliff Robertson, Rod Steiger, Dennis Weaver and Robert Stack.

Also dressed for battle were James Arness (Marshal Dillon of "Gunsmoke" was wounded at Anzio), Alan Hale Jr., Victor Mature, Telly Savalas ("Kojak" earned a Purple Heart), Arthur Godfrey, Tyrone Power, Ed McMahon, Lee Marvin (survived fierce combat on Saipan), Don Adams, Sterling Hayden, John Russell (wounded and decorated for valor at Guadalcanal), James Whitmore, Rod Serling (wounded with his 11th Airborne Division), Jack Warden, Ted Knight (Ted Baxter of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show") cleared land mines and was awarded five Bronze stars, Burt Lancaster (North Africa and Italy), George Kennedy (served under Gen. George Patton in France), Art Carney (wounded invading Normandy), Burgess Meredith, Cameron Mitchell, Kevin McCarthy, Martin Balsam, Jackie Coogan, Dale Robertson, "Superman" George Reeves, Russell Johnson, Robert Preston, George Gobel, Gene Raymond, Karl Malden, Red Buttons, Robert Taylor and Charles Durning (the Tony Award winner earned three Purple Hearts as one of the few American POW survivors of the massacre at Malmedy, France.)

Lee Powell, the first silver screen "Lone Ranger," was killed invading Tinian. Also in uniform were Carl Reiner, John Agar, Jeff Chandler, Ossie Davis, Frank Gorshin, Werner Klemperer, Rick Jason (who starred for five seasons on TV's "Combat"), Charlton Heston, William Holden, Robert Montgomery, Desi Arnaz (first rejected for being a Cuban, he was injured as an infantryman), Norman Mailer (invaded the Philippines), Alex Haley, Louis L'Amour (Normandy) and Bob Keeshan of "Captain Kangaroo" fame...

Pro-Abortion Vandals Finally Charged

Dr. Sally Jacobsen, the pro-abortion English lit professor at Northern Kentucky University who led several of her students in destroying a pro-life display on the campus lawn has finally been charged with misdemeanors in the case. Six of the students have also been charged by Campbell County Attorney Justin Verst. Argues Verst: "The property was damaged... the crosses and the sign. They were thrown in the trash can. They were taken and vandalized. To me, it's pretty clear cut that's a crime."

The story (described in these Vital Signs Blog entries: 1 and 2) has received nationwide attention and it was feared the forces of political correctness would let these vandals skate away. But, thanks to Mr. Verst's action (and the facts that the vandalism was pictorially captured by the school newspaper and boasted of by the vandals themselves), at least a trial for the crimes has been deemed in order.

Jacobsen and the students were all charged with criminal mischief and theft by unlawful taking, plus Jacobsen was given a third charge of criminal solicitation for inciting and leading the students in destroying the pro-life display. The theft charge is a class A misdemeanor and punishable by up to one year in jail and a $500 fine while the criminal mischief and criminal solicitation charges are class B misdemeanors and could result in 90 days of jail and a $250 fine.

Northern Kentucky University has also placed the tenured professor on permanent leave -- she has announced that she will retire at the end of the semester.

Through her lawyer, Jacobsen (who earlier had apoligized - well, kinda' apologized) is claiming now that she will plead "not guilty" since her vandalism doesn't really constitute any kind of crime. "The intent was just an expression of freedom of speech," the lawyer said. "She saw harm coming from it [the pro-life display], and she was just expressing her attitude towards the harm." This, of course, is how liberals view fee speech nowadays. It's free unless they don't like it.

Cal Thomas: "See Flight 93"

A strong endorsement of the new movie, Flight 93, in which the story is true, the heroes are real, and the message is full of faith, courage and patriotism.

Writes Cal Thomas -- ...Yes, the film is difficult to watch, but that should not be an excuse not to watch. Vivid pictures of the consequences of drug use, promiscuous sex, drinking and driving and other harmful behavior have long been used to cure apathy and to positively motivate. This film demonstrates the consequences of not being prepared and the wisdom of constant vigilance.

The show business publication Variety reported that studio tracking of "United 93" shows a high percentage of people are "definitely not interested" in seeing it, though by a slim margin, the picture is the top choice among males. It should be a top choice for everyone. "United 93" is a valuable weapon in our counterattack against terrorism. No American should miss it.

The Cure (for Rising Gas Prices) May be Much Worse than the Disease

Here is a much different spin than the ones you usually see regarding the increasing cost of gasoline. The article comes from TCS (Tecnology, Commerce Society) Daily.

...According to the Bureau of Economic Affairs (see chart here), American consumer spending on energy as a fraction of total personal consumption has declined considerably since 1980. Whereas 25 years ago, one in every ten consumer dollars was spent on energy, today it's one in every sixteen bucks. In other words, what it takes to heat and cool our homes and drive to and from our jobs and vacation destinations is relatively less costly than it once was.

This goes a long way to explaining why even while gas prices rise this summer, and while they will be higher than they were through the 1990s, people will still be driving more -- it's much more of a value than it was a generation ago...

...Of course, no one likes to pay higher prices at the pump. And our political class, in a bi-partisan tizzy, is threatening to do something -- raising taxes, cutting taxes, more regulation, less regulation. But the price mechanism, even when it acts in ways we don't like, is something we monkey with at our peril. It serves a critical function by sending information signals throughout an energy market that is global and highly competitive; these signals help determine where best to allocate capital to increase supplies. The last things needed at this point are political maneuvers that will distort and warp these signals.

The energy market is already badly and inefficiently regulated as it is, a mish-mash of tax breaks, government subsidies, taxes and regulations. Almost everything being proposed from President Bush to Sen. Dick Durbin on down -- subsidies to alternative fuel sources, changing CAFE standards, tax breaks as well as windfall profits taxes -- would make a bad regulatory situation much worse...

$80,000,000 a Minute?

The staff writers over at the Family Research Council have a few disturbing facts to share with us --- and a few subsequent questions. Check it out.

Congress is spending $80 million a minute and there is no sign of them slowing down! Congress is currently working on a $100+ billion emergency spending bill for hurricane relief and the war on terror. I'll bet you didn't know that there's an "emergency" that requires Congress to spend $3 million for tourism in Kentucky or nearly $1 million for Dartmouth College. They're pretty far from a hurricane, but too close to the federal trough. President Bush--at last--is threatening a veto.

The Bush administration "strongly objects" to spend $700 million to relocate a "privately owned rail line that runs along the Mississippi Gulf Coast." That's Sen. Trent Lott's (R-MS) pet project. It just so happens it would also aid the casino industry in Mississippi. That's doubly offensive. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), chairman of the Republican Study Group, are both calling for the President to unsheathe his veto pen. I completely agree. Sen. Frist made his well-deserved reputation as a cardio-thoracic surgeon. He should wield his scalpel on this bloated spending bill. He now says he will support a veto--if necessary--to trim out-of-control federal spending. In my view, it's long overdue.

And, instead of trying to out-socialist the socialists, Republicans should give up their ill-considered investigation of oil industry executive salaries. If Congress really wants to help us at the gas pump, how about cutting the federal gasoline tax?

By the way, here's a few details of just what is hiding inside this "emergency spending" bill, courtesy of Tim Chapman's Town Hall column.

Why Are We Not Winning Wars?

It's an old game we're playing; namely, wishing, hoping and talking about how badly we want something but refusing, in fact, to do what's necessary to get it. Check out this article -- but notice how brief the story is and how little coverage the general's remarks received eleswhere in the MSM.

Americans spent as much on "plastic Santa Clauses and tinsel" and other holiday niceties last Christmas season as they do on their military for a year, the Army's top general said Wednesday. Lamenting complaints by some about too much defense spending, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, told reporters: "I just don't understand .... what's the problem?"

Schoomaker said the defense budget the Bush administration requested this year — nearly $440 billion, not including the costs of war in Iraq and Afghanistan — is just over 3 percent of the nation's $13 trillion overall economy. During World War II, military expenditures accounted for more than one-third percent of the entire economy.

"Here's what is amazing to me ... What do you think we spent on plastic Santa Clauses and tinsel and all this stuff for Christmas last year?," Schoomaker asked during a meeting with reporters. "The answer is $438.5 billion, roughly equivalent to the defense budget..."

..."I mean I don't get it," he said. "We've got a lot to be thankful for in this country and we've got a lot to lose. And one of the first responsibilities of government is to defend the country. The Constitution says that."

Schoomaker was discussing his fears that it might take a fight to get enough money from Congress over the next two years to rebuild the Army's equipment and supplies warn down in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wenyi Wang's Protest in Perspective

Mark Joseph has written a great column putting Wenyi Wang's shouting protest in perspective. Do read it in full but here's a teaser you can use to e-mail to your friends:

...Miss Wang's outburst may not be on par with a direct warning from the hand of God, but it was certainly in the finest tradition of speaking truth to power. The idea that she should be punished and spend six months in jail for breaking a law that punishes one who "intimidates, coerces, threatens or harasses a foreign official or an official guest or obstructs a foreign official in the performance of his duties" is ridiculous.

Rather, Miss Wang should be given a large book contract and given one of those Kennedy awards for political courage...

And, by the way, while you're e-mailing your friends, alerting them to this column, please urge them to send a letter to President Bush, asking him to do the right thing and publically intercede in Wenyi Wang's behalf. The President made a real bonehead play the other day when he apologized to China's President Hu Jintao for Miss Wang's protest. The very least Bush can do now is to apologize to Wenyi Wang and ask the courts to not only drop this prosecution but overturn the silly law underneath it.

Mailing Address:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Phone Numbers:
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461

E-mail address:
comments@whitehouse.gov

These Ain't Your Momma's Baby Dolls

"The Pussycat Dolls" are okay . . . if you are into porn chic and the continuing sexualization and defining of deviancy down of America. But is the burlesque show modelled after Vegas strippers (oops! I'm sorry--"exotice dancers") appropriate for your 6-year-old daughter?

No way!

But that's the plan of Hasbro. The toy company will market Pussycat Dolls modelled after the risque lingerie dance troop founded by Playboy centerfold Carmen Electra.

Incredibly, Hasbro intends to market the stripper dolls to six to nine year-old girls. "We looked at it as, let's not wait for the Pussycat Dolls to become big hits and we take the tail end of the value chain," the the company's marketing manager for marketing told The New York Times. This sickening new "child" product certainly gives new meaning to "tail" and "value." Does the doll come with lap dance lessons?...

Read the rest of Debbie Schlussel's commentary right here. But then come back to Vital Signs Blog in order to take down the following info so that you can let Hasbro know your opinion of their new dolls.

Hasbro Toys
1027 Newport Avenue, Pawtucket, RI, 02862-1059.
(401) 727-5318 or 401-431-TOYS (8697)
hasbrotoyspr@hasbro.com

A World First: Adult Stem Cell Implant in Orthopaedic Patient

Instead of the constant (but consistently fraudulent) hype about the potential of embryonic stem cell research here is yet another example of how research dealing with adult stem cells has already resulted in practical medical treatments.

Spanish Socialists Go Ape -- Literally

Veteran journalist Robert Duncan writes from Spain about how the Socialist Party there is moving to guarantee "human rights" to monkeys. You can't make this stuff up, you know?

After changing the definition of marriage by passing same-sex “marriage” legislation last year, now the Spanish government is bent on changing the very definition of “human.” Once again, the Spanish Socialist government is showing where its true priorities are – and it’s not about Iraq, nor immigration, and it’s certainly not about helping families. Instead, the Socialists are in a bother about … monkeys.

Spain’s Socialists want monkeys “to be immediately included in the same category as people.” The party presented this week in Spain’s Parliament a project for simians to have “Human Rights.” The Socialist argument is based on the calculation that men and monkeys have roughly 98 percent of their genes in common.

The Socialists want the initiative to be picked up by the United Nations. One wonders if the Socialists are also guilty of accepting banana kickbacks.

The Archbishop of Pamplona, Fernando Sebastian wryly noted, “Just to be progressive, one doesn’t have to be ridiculous.” Sebastian added, “monkeys should have monkey rights, because to do otherwise would be like asking taurine rights for humans.” According to the Socialists, the classifying of monkeys as people would grant them “the moral and legal protection that currently only human beings have...”

Lukashenka and His Dangerous Friends

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is reporting several news items about Belarusian foreign policy that are as alarming as the injustice and ineffectiveness of their internal policies. Specifics?

1) Lukashenka recently told Iranian Commerce Minister Masud Mir-Kazemi that Belarus plans to expand its trade and economic cooperation with Iran. Belapan reported. Bilateral trade amounted to $38.4 million last year, with Belarus's exports totaling $35.6 million. Belarus supplies MAZ truck kits to an assembly plant in Iran and is in talks for opening a similar assembly facility for MTZ tractors. The country also supplies Iran with road-construction equipment and petrochemical products.

2) The first of the our S-300 surface-to-air missile systems that Russia has contracted to supply to Belarus arrived in Minsk on April 21st. The remaining three systems will be delivered until the end of this year. The systems, which will reportedly include 24 launchers, are expected to be used in a common air defense system currently created by Belarus and Russia to guard Belarus's western borders. Maltsau denied a report earlier this month by Jane's Intelligence Digest suggesting that Belarus may reexport S-300 missile systems to Iran.

3) Syarhey Sidorski met with Cuban leader Fidel Castro at the Revolution Palace in Havana on April 21, Belapan reported. Sidorski told journalists in Havana the previous day that Belarus had been invited to participate in a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement scheduled to take place in the Cuban capital this coming fall. Sidorski also noted that Belarus would like to actively develop economic relations with Cuba. Belarus exports mainly trucks and tractors to Cuba and imports raw sugar from there.

The world is becoming an uglier, more dangerous place every day -- and thugs like Lukashenka, Castro, Putin, Khamenei, and Ahmadinejad are all major components of that slide.

British Medical Leaders Choose Against Women's Health -- Not to Mention, Against Preborn Children

The British General Medical Council ruled that an abortion practitioner who nearly killed a woman in a botched abortion and was the subject of charges of sexual harassment from 35 women can practice medicine again if he undergoes retraining. He can keep his medical license if he can "regain and update his clinical skills" the panel ruled. The GMC will review Mr. Gbinigie's case again in nine months, when it will examine evidence of his retraining.

According to the BBC, Chairman Dr. Howard Freeman told him: "The panel notes that you have not undertaken any medical work since 2003 and is not satisfied that you would be safe to return at this time to unrestricted practice." The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists supported him returning to medicine. The GMC in January ruled he can keep practicing medicine but he was subject to earlier restrictions placed on him after the botched abortion. He has asked for the limits to be lifted.

And Now Cynthia McKinney Attacks Freedom of the Press

..."Well, you're a distraction because that seems to be all you want to talk about," McKinney responded. "But people here understand that my representation is much larger than any discrete incident."

McKinney then walked out on the interview. But she did not tell Starzyk that their conversation was over, nor did McKinney allow an audio technician to remove the wireless microphone attached to her for the interview.

While she was off camera, McKinney criticized a member of her staff, Coz Carson. "Oh, crap! Now, you know what?" McKinney asked an unidentified aide. "They lied to Coz and Coz is a fool!"

Realizing that her microphone was still on, McKinney returned to the room where the interview was being conducted and, knowing that she was on camera, told Starzyk: "Anything that is captured by your audio, that is captured while I'm not seated in this chair, is off the record and is not permissible to be used. Is that understood?" McKinney said...

Dems Hoping to Exploit Still Further ESCR Disinformation

The New York Times published a story today gleefully suggesting that Democrats are going to push embryonic stem cell research in order to exploit what is already soft-headed thinking on the issue by Republicans. That strategy, of course, depends on the media and even the scientific community (both of whom should know better) continuing their wild distortion of the facts. Our job is a big one...but it can be done... by getting the real case about ESCR and the much better (on all accounts) alternative, adult stem cell use.

Pastors, we sure could use some assistance from you guys too!

Who Remembers the Etruscans?

Terry Herring sent over a tip to check out this article from AgapePress. It is written by Ed Vitagliano, Editor of the American Family Journal and is entitled Europe’s Chastisement: How the Abandonment of Christianity May Be Leading to Disaster. In the article, Mr. Vitagliano deals with Europe's increasing "birth dearth" crisis, the severe loss of family cohesion and values, the surrender to "Islamification", and more. In the process, the writer leans on some very good sources, among them Mark Steyn, Chuck Colson, Don Feder, Maria Burani, and World Magazine's Gene Edward Veith. Thanks, Terry; it is a good one.

Viacom: Scum, Sleaze and Now, Selective Censorship

Brent Bozell's column puts the spotlight on both the filth and the hypocrisy of entertainment giant Viacom. His is an important piece to read but difficult to take. Sure, one knows it's really nasty out there but every once in awhile, a report like this one gives you details you weren't aware of...and which you don't really want to be aware of!

If there's no repentance in their future, the folks behind Viacom and South Park are gonna' be in big, big trouble.

(Adult) Stem Cell Treatment May Get Jacki Walking Again

...“I knew there was a possibility before I had surgery, but I asked her after surgery if the doctor fixed it, and that’s when she told me that he fixed my back but I still was paralyzed,” she said.

“My mom said I didn’t talk for a long, long time. I just stared at the walls and I cried a lot. I think what was going through my head was that I would always need help and not be able to do hardly anything and that pretty much my life was over.”

But about a year later, Rabon’s pastor at First Baptist Church in Waverly, Ill., called the family to tell them he had just watched a special on PBS about a cutting-edge surgery that involved harvesting stem cells from a patient’s nose and transplanting them into the site of a spinal cord break...

Read the whole story from the Baptist Press right here.