Whose to Blame for the Crisis? The Democrats' Disastrous Dismantling of the Bush Energy Plan

...A New York Times headline from August 20, 2003, sums it up: "Ambitious Bush Plan Is Undone by Energy Politics."

That's an understatement. Instead, Democrats ridiculed Vice President Cheney for meeting with oil industry representatives to craft U.S. energy policy — and for insisting on finding more oil.

They had no plan themselves, mind you — apart from massively expensive global warming initiatives that would force Americans to lower their standard of living to Third World levels by spending as much as $800 billion a year to cool Earth.

Yet, if Bush's plan had been put in place in 2001, we'd have replaced millions of barrels of oil, billions of tons of coal and untold trillions of acre feet of natural gas with clean, safe nuclear power.

We'd be pumping millions of barrels more of oil, creating thousands of American jobs, cutting prices and saving literally hundreds of billions of dollars every year —money that today goes to line the pockets of the Saudi royal family, Venezuelan petrotyrant Hugo Chavez, Libyan leader-for-life Muammar Qadhafi and Vladimir Putin's Russia.

When the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, and oil was $50 a barrel and corn $2 a bushel, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised an energy plan. We're still waiting for it. Today, crude oil is $134 and corn is $6.50.

It's pretty clear who's to blame: Congress. In fact, House and Senate Democrats have obstructed any progress in America's fight to regain some semblance of energy independence.

"Now is the time for Congress to move and get something done," President Bush said all the way back in August 2003. He's still waiting, and so are we...

The entirety of this brilliant June 16 editorial from Investor's Business Daily is reprinted by Smart Green USA right here.

Have Our Leaders Lost Their Minds?

That's the extremely pointed (but eminently pertinent) question asked by Newt Gingrich in this Human Events essay. In it he deals with Israel's and America's recent forays into the most irrational and dangerous appeasement policies.

Is the "Cat Out of the Bag" in John Edwards' Scandal Story

Roger Simon over at Pajamas Media weighs in (and strongly) on the John Edwards adultery scandal.

Another Oops Moment for Denver's Democrat Mayor

The city of Denver doesn't pay fuel taxes (state or federal) and, it turns out, neither do the Democrats who are organizing this summer's political convention. A sweet deal, to be sure.

The deal was between Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper (himself a Democrat and thus a generously free-spender of other people's money) and the convention committee members which allowed them to fill up their vehicles at the city's own gas pumps. Thus, they avoided paying the 40.4 cents per gallon in state and federal fuel taxes that all other Colorado citizens and visitors must.

Oh yeah; there were free car washes too.

It is, of course, an ugly and, according to the state's attorney general, probably illegal act of favoritism. And it's been going on for 4 months.

Not surprisingly, the deal was shelved as soon as the public became aware of it. (Well, there were a few hours in between, perhaps to allow the Democrat committee members to top off their tanks.)

The red-faced mayor's immediate reaction was to duck for cover and insist, like a goofy teenager, that his actions were excusable because others were doing it too. "I do know for a fact that they're doing the same exact thing in Minneapolis," Hickenlooper insisted.

That's not a good defense in any case.

But it's an even worse defense when it's a lie.

Teresa McFarland, a spokeswoman for the Minneapolis-St. Paul host committee for the G.O.P. convention there, said its members are getting their gas at public pumps. "We're not getting a tax break on fuel," she said. "That's not the setup at this end."

There are other shenanigans of Mayor Hickenlooper's discussed in this Rocky Mountain News story, including his administration's habitual practice of having work performed on behalf of the city before a contract for that work has been fully executed and properly signed. Like an unbelievable 79% of the time?

Here's the story.

Today's Posts

Preventing Abortion And...

Obama's "Fake Interviews" Disturbs Veteran Reporter

Planned Parenthood Can't Stand the Truth...In More Ways Than One

Secularism Reigns...But Not Well

Preventing Abortion And...

The following comes from the AZ (Arizona) Policy Blog. It's a valuable site and their latest post is a great sanity check for pro-life activists.

During this legislative session, there was a lot of discussion about banning partial-birth abortions through legislation. One legislator argued that we instead should focus on preventing unwanted pregnancies, and thus preventing abortions. This legislator was pro-choice, but I don't think she wanted more and more abortions to be performed in Arizona.

Is this something we can all agree on? "We should work together to prevent abortions." Certainly, we can find "common ground" here. But does that mean we should only focus on prevention?

A lot of abortion advocates want to direct our attention away from banning (or restricting) abortions through laws, and instead focus on prevention through education. Pro-choice advocates criticize pro-life groups for not focusing their attention on "prevention." But there seems to be a problem with that criticism.

Imagine if dentists wouldn't treat cavities, but they would only try to prevent them. What if plumbers decided not to fix your leaky sink, but only work to prevent the problems? Obviously, that doesn't make much sense.

If there are certain negative consequences (abortions, cavities, leaky sinks), you need to work to fix them. One way to address the negative consequences of abortion is to pass laws to restrict abortions and punish doctors for killing innocent babies.

Does this method fix all the problems and address all the issues? Probably not, but that doesn't mean our only focus should be prevention.

Pro-choice and pro-life groups can probably agree that preventing abortions is a good thing. But pro-life advocates should not waver in their stance to make sure that these terrible procedures are outlawed and that people are punished for killing innocent babies.

Obama's "Fake Interviews" Disturbs Veteran Reporter

Andrea Mitchell might be a doyenne of the liberal media, but she has her reporter's pride and principles, both of which have been trampled by the way the Obama campaign has managed the media during the candidate's current trip to Afghanistan and Iraq. Mitchell let loose on this evening's Hardball, speaking of "fake interviews" and indicating we don't know the truth of the trip because we don't know what was edited out of the video that's been released...

Lucianne.com excerpts this teaser from a Mark Finkelstein post over at NewsBusters, a post dealing complaints by longtime (and hardly conservative) TV reporter Andrea Mitchell about Barack Obama's "fake interviews."

However, when a middling size site like NewsBusters gets headlined by a mega site like Lucianne.com, the server of the former can easily be overwhelmed. And that's just what's happened. So, if your attempt to link to the NewsBusters post doesn't go through, try later in the day to watch that video clip. It's worth it.

Planned Parenthood Can't Stand the Truth...In More Ways Than One

What happens when Planned Parenthood is forced to tell the truth about abortion?

Planned Parenthood closes down.

Here's the story.

Secularism Reigns...But Not Well

Following up on a post from several days ago, here's a few more alarming items regarding England's youth. Both reports demonstrate the sad consequences of a comprehensive secularism.

* Knife crime continued to make the headlines in Britain as fatal stabbings continued. Police recorded 22,151 knife crimes in England and Wales in a year. The British Crime Survey showed 130,000 knife attacks a year. The Daily Mail said the actual figure was probably 80 per cent higher. It said the majority of people found carrying knives were let off with a caution, and of 6,314 convicted of carrying a knife in 2006, only nine were given a maximum sentence. If offenders were sent to jail at the same rate as in Spain, it said, the UK would have 369,000 in prison instead of 80,000.

* Figures for sexually transmitted diseases in Britain in 2007 were six per cent up on the previous year and the highest since current records began. Although the 16-to-24 age group comprises only one-eighth of the population, it accounted for 65 per cent of new cases of chlamydia, 55 per cent of new cases of genital warts and 50 per cent of new cases of gonorrhoea. Professor Peter Borriello, of the Health Protection Agency, said casual sex is now ‘part of the territory, part of life’ for young people.

(Source: If you would like to receive e-mails with the Prayer Digest reports, just, send your e-mail address to prayerdigest@uwclub.net, and it will be e-mailed to you.)

Today's Posts

Who Needs More Grossness in Their Life? Comments on Batman: The Dark Knight

Religious Robbery

Looking for Help After an Abortion?

Colombians Really Have Something to Celebrate

Facing the "New Realities" in Iraq

Who Needs More Grossness in Their Life? Comments on Batman: The Dark Knight

Chuck Donovan, commenting on the blog of the Family Research Council, is one of the millions of moviegoers who gave Batman: The Dark Knight the largest opening gross ever. But his review, though a generally positive one, was enough to convince me to save my money.

Indeed, even from Chuck's muted description, it seems evident that the word "gross" is applicable to the film in more ways than one.

And really, guys...who needs even more grossness in their life?

Aren't the "fightings within and without" that Christians experience in this decadent, death-mesmerized culture more than enough? Do we need to let grossness serve as the locus of our entertainment too?

Apparently I've got a much lower "gross tolerance" than Chuck for there's no way I could find pleasurably entertaining a film that, using Chuck's own words, is "almost unremittingly dark." Indeed, he describes Gotham City as a "murky moral swamp" and admits the film is needlessly violent with "instances of implied sexuality and some language." (Batman: The Dark Knight is, of course, a "talkie" so I assume Chuck means by that last bit -- profane language.)

Oh, yes; he also gives this pointed warning. "The Joker wielding knives in the face of his victims are stomach-churning to watch."

Now, that would be called a "spoiler" for some moviegoers, but personally I'm quite grateful for it. For that line alone will keep me from "spoiling" an evening (and perhaps even a subsequent dinner) by going to see Batman: The Dark Knight.

Am I too squeamish? Too much of a prude? Not adult enough? Is that why my entertainment choices run more to the films of, say, Fred Astaire, Ronald Colman or Groucho Marx than to "almost unremittingly dark" stomach-churners which feature neurotic anti-heroes?

Hardly. Here then, in short and basic form, are the three basic reasons for that lower "gross tolerance" I mentioned earlier.

1) As a Christian pro-life activist, one who is daily engaged in fighting such evils as abortion, euthanasia, genetic engineering, the persecution of believers, drunk drivers, and not to mention the efforts to persuade people to receive the gospel of Christ and therefore escape the unremitting horrors of hell, I'm just not going to find solace (or even a pleasurable recess) in films, plays or novels which are set in "murky moral swamps."

And no, this isn't mere escapism for, again, I haven't shied away from actively opposing (and for an awfully long time now) "real life" wickedness. So consider -- why would a sidewalk counselor like myself find entertainment value in a film where a greedy, heartless villain threatens (with a blade, no less) innocent victims?

2) There are alternatives to schlock. For crying out loud, we are not beholden to Hollywood to watch whatever they produce. We never need drink from unhealthy waters. Indeed, Christians have been given very strict commands about these matters. There are movies (I won't even bother right now to get into matters of literature, sport, conversation, hobbies and other alternatives to moviegoing) which uplift, ennoble, and are fun. And through technological innovations, we have more opportunities to watch those than ever before. For example, the internet and subscriber film services have now made hundreds of fine films easily and inexpensively available to your family -- films that entertain without requiring a compromise of your values. Why on earth don't we take advantage of these opportunities?

Squeamish? No, just selective. I want the best.

Prudish? No, just principled. I don't want to surrender my conscience (or my sensitivity, standards and reputation) for a couple of hours of unsatisfactory entertainment.

And finally, 3) Though I became a Christian at a young age (19), the years immediately preceding my conversion were a headlong pursuit of pride and hedonistic pleasure. A detailed description of the "murky moral swamps" in which I slogged isn't necessary so let it suffice to say that I've already experienced my nauseating fill of the "dark nights" that the world has to offer. Therefore, novels and films which use them as their milieu are anything but entertaining to me. They are but reminders of the agonizing emptiness and oppressive frustration which once dominated my life...and which I know is still the lot of millions of people. (Included in that last group, of course, was Heath Ledger, the actor who plays The Joker in the movie. Ledger, a product of a broken family who suffered clinical depression, died from a drug overdose earlier this year.)

So no, the world's system (sought always by moderns to be portrayed, to use their words, in "gritty realism") remains my enemy. It is something to expose, not be entertained by...something to actively resist, not inattentively receive.

My specific suggestion then? Don't bother with, as Chuck Donovan describes, the "twisted ethical dilemmas" of Batman: The Dark Knight. Why not try the alternative Claire and I went with; namely, watching Batman: The Movie, a camp classic from 1966? You'll have a lot of fun watching the Dynamic Duo win out against no less than 4 super-villains and smile at a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor.

And, not at all insignificant, you'll not have a single scene that churns your stomach, twists your ethics, or causes you embarrassment in front of your kids. Enjoy.

Religious Robbery

Here's yet another example of the teachings of Christianity being wildly distorted and then exploited by malicious men of the cloth. This story involves a couple of the usual characters, the egocentric (and eerie) televangelists Benny Hinn and Todd Koontz, shepherds whose lavish wealth has come from their manipulative talents not to lead the sheep...just to shear them.

Pastor Tommie Ferreira of the AGS Church in Johannesburg, who was himself helping out in Hinn's grandiose event said one of Hinn's American guest speakers, Pastor Todd Koontz, spoke about financial burdens and said 500 audience members would receive "an exceptional blessing". "He said the service would yield millionaires and billionaires within 24 hours. Everyone had to donate $1,000 because an exceptional blessing rested on $1,000." Koontz apparently really had the congregation scrambling when he said, "This blessing will be poured out for only two minutes." Ferreira said: "People stormed to the front - poor people, rich people, people from all sections of our society."

Hinn's co-pastors apparently had credit-card machines ready with which they could take donations. "He (Koontz) said God would bless the people's credit cards and they would be able to rule over South Africa with their money."

"Eventually there were no fewer than 1,000 people who made such donations."...

The Lord hasn't yet made millionaires out of any of these people, though two have come forward to testify they soon will be. It seems they received e-mails from "the widow of a Nigerian prince" promising them $200 million if they would only send over a $500 administration fee.

They did.

Gullibility is a hardy vice.

Looking for Help After an Abortion?

"How you can find hope, help and healing after abortion?"

Leslie Graves has an extremely informative article which answers the above question -- an article written with compassion, grace and wide-ranging knowledge.

You'll find it, along with many other helpful resources, at the Silent No More website.

Colombians Really Have Something to Celebrate

"For the first time in my lifetime we are really starting to believe that peace is possible."

Contrary to the opinions of the leftist politicians, journalists and judges who coddle criminals (even murdering terrorists), it is only when governments get tough on the bad guys that freedom and justice have a genuine chance to flourish. Note this story from the International Herald Tribune about the huge Independence Day rallies in Colombia -- rallies involving more than a million people who were celebrating, more than anything else, President Alvaro Uribe's determination to triumph in the 44-year old guerrilla war with the thugs of FARC.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia pose as a socialist people's army but are merely an anarchistic gang of murderers, terrorists, bombers, kidnappers, extortionists, drug dealers, and...you get the idea. But until Uribe, no one has dared to take them on with a practical view to beat them.

And so the people are happy, hopeful and joining in his resolve. That's the spirit of true independence.

Here is a related story from MSNBC that details correlating events occurring in some 40 other cities around the world.

Facing the "New Realities" in Iraq

Peter Ferrara gives us a review of recent history that is "just a tad different" from what we've been getting from Katie and company. Below is a portion of that National Review Online report:

Barack Obama continues his overseas trip today in the Middle East, where the facts on the ground have recently been moving so fast hardly anyone in the U.S. has really kept up. But unheralded press reports in recent weeks establish this new reality.

The war in Iraq is over. America and her allies won. Sorry, Barack, but it is too late for you and your misguided, uninformed, anti-American netroots to surrender.

The surge that Obama opposed and said would fail has succeeded spectacularly. McCain was right about that from the beginning.

General Petraeus, leading American and Iraqi troops, has smashed al-Qaeda, which has now basically withdrawn and fled to remote hideouts in lawless, ungoverned, western Pakistan. The Sunni Awakening is now over a year old and has been widely reported. The Shia majority government of elected Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has moved brilliantly in recent months to rout the Shia militias as well, creating a broad, popular base of support for him. The Kurds continue to prosper in peace and harmony.

American troops are already coming home. As McCain reported weeks ago, the surge itself is now basically over, with the additional troops all now on their way out. This fall, more American troops will be coming home. By January, still more will have returned.

The only real question now is which U.S. forces will be stationed in long term bases in Iraq. American and Iraqi government officials are even now negotiating a permanent status of forces agreement to take effect next year that will resolve that question. The plan is for Iraqi forces to take over responsibility for all remaining Iraqi provinces by then, with American troops out of all Iraqi cities. Probably less than half of the full complement of American forces will remain in Iraq long term to back up the Iraqi military, and keep tabs on Iran.

One big remaining fly in the ointment is that Iraq continues to be under attack by Iranian special forces — which may attempt intensified attacks this fall. Iran remains unfinished business. But the brutal defeat that al Qaeda suffered in Iraq discredited it in the Arab world. As Osama bin Laden himself has said, people will follow the strong horse. It is America, not al Qaeda, that is now that strong horse...

Today's Posts

These Sure Aren't Your Mom's Girl Scouts!

FRC's Latest Review of Adult Stem Cell Successes

Peru Fights International Abortion Agitators

An Embarrassing Revelation for Darwinians

Physicist Organization Reverses Its Position on Global Warming

These Sure Aren't Your Mom's Girl Scouts!

Former Girl Scout Jane Chastain is shocked, disappointed and angered at the transformation of that once-noble organization, particularly at their embrace of the eerie New Age doctrines of Transitional Awareness.

"Back in 1995, the Girl Scouts put an asterisk by the word "God" in the Girl Scout Promise, which allowed members to tell the Almighty to take a hike. It's been downhill ever since."

Read Jane's description of just how steep and slippery that slope has become right here. And then be sure to remember these spooky things the next time cookie-selling season and, for that matter, the coercive United Way drive comes round.

FRC's Latest Review of Adult Stem Cell Successes

It takes a while to scan through -- but it's well worth your time.

I'm talking about the Family Research Council's terrific review of adult stem cell success stories. This is their third such report (boy, these guys are invaluable, aren't they?) and this review, though just covering adult stem cell success stories from this year to date, is their biggest yet.

From Northwestern University's Dr. Richard Burt's work with autoimmune disorders, to heart tissue regeneration, breast reconstruction, leukemia, Parkinson's Disease, cerebral palsy, vision restoration, sickle cell disease, and many more, the advances in medical science which utilize adult stem cells are not providing tremendous hopes for the future, they're helping people in many marvelous ways right now!

I think you'll find it very encouraging reading. Plus, it's a great resource to remember when addressing your political representatives, local hospitals and letters to the editor columns about science that, unlike embryonic stem cell research, is working wonders and doesn't kill anyone.

(H/T: A Matthew Eppinette post on Americans United for Life Blog.)

Peru Fights International Abortion Agitators

Apparently frustrated by the failures of the international abortion lobby to decriminalize the killing of the unborn in Peru, the pro-abortion organization "Human Rights Watch" is lashing out at the country in a new report that critics say distorts and misrepresents the truth about Peruvian law and the nation's maternal health.

Despite an ongoing campaign funded by multi-million dollar organizations, the Peruvian government has resisted all attempts to establish abortion as a legal "right" by means of a "protocol for therapeutic abortion" - an official document demanded by pro-abortion groups that would give guidelines for killing unborn children in specified cases...

Here's more from LifeSiteNews.com.

An Embarrassing Revelation for Darwinians

"When a butterfly has to look like a leaf, not only are all the details of a leaf beautifully rendered but markings mimicking grub-bored holes are generously thrown in. "Natural Selection," in the Darwinian sense, could not explain the miraculous coincidence of imitative aspect and imitative behavior, nor could one appeal to the theory of "the struggle for life" when a protective device was carried to a point of mimetic subtlety, exuberance, and luxury far in excess of a predator's power of appreciation. I discovered in nature the nonutilitarian delights that I sought in art. Both were a form of magic, both were a game of intricate enchantment and deception."

The above paragraph was written, not by William Jennings Bryan or Ben Stein, but by the decidedly irreligious author of Lolita and Pale Fire (and, more importantly for my money, the translator of Pushkin), Vladimir Nabokov.

It turns out that Nabokov served as the curator of lepidoptera (butterflies) at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology in the 1940s. In fact, according to his biographer, Nabokov "became the authority on the little-studied blue butterflies (Polyommatini) of North and South America" and was " a pioneer in the study of butterflies' microscopic anatomy, distinguishing otherwise almost identical blues by differences in their genital parts." And besides his novels and short stories, he published articles in such scientific journals as The Entomologist, The Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, The Lepidopterists' News, and Psyche: A Journal of Entomology.

This creates a problem, of course, for the secularists who have so highly regarded Nabokov's literary work. I mean, a liberal humanist who vigorously disputes evolution -- and does so from the most intricate scientific reasoning?

Richard Dawkins, call your office.

Here's more from the Discovery Institute.

Physicist Organization Reverses Its Position on Global Warming

Those of you who are regular visitors to Lucianne.com (and, naturally, you all should be!) have probably already seen their link to this Daily Tech report about the American Physical Society's dramatic reversal on global warming.

The APS, representing nearly 50,000 physicists, had once declared the evidence for global warming as being "incontrovertible." Well, many of their membership are now "controverting" up a storm, maintaining that further research has made them skeptical of global warming and man-made climate change. So many indeed that the APS has officially dropped its previous position.

Lucianne Goldberg's crack staff wryly commented with their link to the story, "MSM has not quite found the time to publish this extraordinary finding."

Today's Posts

Planned Parenthood Subsidizes Racism and Barbaric Violence: Chris Smith Illuminates Congress in this Video Clip

Congress' Approval Rating Dips to Lowest Ever

The Carbon Emissions Folly

Barack Obama: "Big on Rhetoric, Media Manipulation and Pzazz, Short on Substance."

Media Crush on Obama Goes Overseas (and Overboard)

Planned Parenthood Subsidizes Racism and Barbaric Violence: Chris Smith Illuminates Congress in this Video Clip

Rep. Chris Smith has some straight talk for the Congress about Planned Parenthood. It's an illuminating, alarming presentation -- full of incontrovertible facts that Americans ignore at the peril of their souls.

However, you need not have been in the gallery that day to hear (and see) Smith's challenging presentation. You can check it out right here in this 10 and a half minute YouTube video.

Watch. Pray. And e-mail this post to others as Mary Jane Ziola did for me.

Congress' Approval Rating Dips to Lowest Ever

The press reports are legion about President Bush's low approval rate. That's certainly no surprise given the MSM's constantly blaming the Chief Executive for just about everything bad they can think of: gas prices, foreclosures, carbon emissions, acne.

And, of course, that low approval rate can only endure if Bush gets absolutely no credit for anything, even the increasingly successful war in Iraq, the administration's outstanding impact on the African AIDS crisis, America's protection from major terrorist attacks, and so on.

But if the MSM's remarkably unfair treatment of President Bush is a large part of creating his 28% approval rating, then how does one explain the even lower approval rating of Congress though these guys generally get advantageous press coverage. That rating, by the way, is just 14%. That's the lowest since Gallup first began asking the question in 1974.

Our Congressmen and Senators (with tragically few exceptions) are so out of touch, so liberal, so lobbyist controlled, and such irresponsible spenders that the frowzy facts cannot be contained even by a favorable press.

Bad odors will out. And out they should be -- if, that is, American voters will finally begin to hold them accountable for their smelly performance.

The Carbon Emissions Folly

Electrical engineer (and rocket scientist) Dr. David Evans, writing in the Australian about global warming mania (more specifically, about the lack of evidential reasons for falling prey to that psychosis), has today's "must-read" article.

I devoted six years to carbon accounting, building models for the Australian Greenhouse Office. I am the rocket scientist who wrote the carbon accounting model (FullCAM) that measures Australia's compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, in the land use change and forestry sector.

FullCAM models carbon flows in plants, mulch, debris, soils and agricultural products, using inputs such as climate data, plant physiology and satellite data. I've been following the global warming debate closely for years.

When I started that job in 1999 the evidence that carbon emissions caused global warming seemed pretty good: CO2 is a greenhouse gas, the old ice core data, no other suspects.

The evidence was not conclusive, but why wait until we were certain when it appeared we needed to act quickly? Soon government and the scientific community were working together and lots of science research jobs were created. We scientists had political support, the ear of government, big budgets, and we felt fairly important and useful (well, I did anyway). It was great. We were working to save the planet.

But since 1999 new evidence has seriously weakened the case that carbon emissions are the main cause of global warming, and by 2007 the evidence was pretty conclusive that carbon played only a minor role and was not the main cause of the recent global warming. As Lord Keynes famously said, "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"...

What is going to happen over the next decade as global temperatures continue not to rise? The Labor Government is about to deliberately wreck the economy in order to reduce carbon emissions. If the reasons later turn out to be bogus, the electorate is not going to re-elect a Labor government for a long time. When it comes to light that the carbon scare was known to be bogus in 2008, the ALP is going to be regarded as criminally negligent or ideologically stupid for not having seen through it. And if the Liberals support the general thrust of their actions, they will be seen likewise.

The onus should be on those who want to change things to provide evidence for why the changes are necessary. The Australian public is eventually going to have to be told the evidence anyway, so it might as well be told before wrecking the economy.

Barack Obama: "Big on Rhetoric, Media Manipulation and Pzazz, Short on Substance."

The Telegraph's Gerald Warner isn't one of those MSM pundits enthralled by Barack Obama -- most definitely not.

...The Obama campaign is Blair writ large: big on rhetoric, media manipulation and pzazz, short on substance. What there is of substance is deeply ominous for America. Obama is so liberal he is off the radar. The National Journal's rating system, based on votes in the Senate, showed Obama was the 16th most liberal senator in 2005, the 10th in 2006 and the most liberal senator in 2007.

He has massive approval ratings from all the harpie pressure groups whose obsession is to maximise the killing of American babies. He opposed the ban on partial-birth abortion - a moral obscenity so grotesque it is prohibited even on this septic isle - and even opposed a bill in the Illinois State Senate to prevent the killing of infants accidentally left alive by abortion.

The impetus behind the Obama phenomenon is the recognition that at some point there will be a black president and it will be a holistic moment for America. On this basis, the liberal media have set a bandwaggon rolling, without regard to the quality of the candidate, who increasingly displays naivety on foreign policy and economics.

The truth is that a white candidate with Obama's liberal agenda would have been shunted off to join George McGovern in the dustbin of radical history round about the stage of the New Hampshire primaries. America does not do liberal. In terms of healing racial wounds, it would have been preferable if the first black contender had been a Republican or conservative Democrat, rather as Margaret Thatcher became our first woman prime minister owing nothing to the feminist sisterhood.

Obama's agenda fuels the paranoia of nocturnal cross-burners in Mississippi, just as his lack of originality inspires wider distrust. In America's current crisis, a JFK re-enactor is as useful as an Elvis impersonator.

Media Crush on Obama Goes Overseas (and Overboard)

Senator John McCain's trip to Iraq last spring was a low-key affair: With his ordinary retinue of reporters following him abroad, the NBC News anchor Brian Williams reported on his arrival in Baghdad from New York, with just two sentences tacked onto the "in other political news" portion of his newscast.

But when Obama heads for Iraq and other locations overseas this summer, Williams is planning to catch up with him in person, as are the other two evening news anchors, Charles Gibson of ABC and Katie Couric of CBS, who, like Williams, are far along in discussions to interview Obama on successive nights.

And while the anchors are jockeying for interviews with Obama at stops along his route, the regulars on the Obama campaign plane will have new seat mates: star political reporters from the major newspapers and magazines who are flocking to catch Obama's first overseas trip since becoming the presumptive nominee of his party...

The imbalance has appeared in various analyses of the news coverage. The Tyndall Report, a news coverage monitoring service that has the broadcast networks as clients, reports that three newscasts by the traditional networks — which have a combined audience of more than 20 million people — spent 114 minutes covering Obama since June; they spent 48 minutes covering McCain...

The news industry's fascination with Obama has carried over to general-interest magazines, with the candidate landing on considerably more covers in recent months than has McCain. In the last couple of weeks Obama has graced the front of Rolling Stone and, for the second time now, that of Us Weekly (both of which are owned by the company of a prominent Obama supporter, Jann Wenner)...

Ned Martel, the deputy editor of Men's Vogue, said, "He's what is called in the magazine world an 'interest driver.' " The magazine put Obama on its cover in 2006 and has recently dispatched the photographer Annie Liebovitz to produce another spread for an upcoming issue. It did do a feature on McCain in 2006 as well; it did not make the cover...

Read the rest of Jim Rutenberg's story in the International Herald Tribune and see how the MSM explains that this imbalanced coverage is completely appropriate and fair because: 1) Obama is new; 2) Obama is "an object of fascination in the news media"; 3) Obama is an African-American; 4) Obama is an "untested politician"; 5) Obama stories are more financially profitable; and, my favorite, 6) it's actually McCain's fault since his campaign has emphasized Obama's lack of experience.

And you thought it was just another case of liberal media bias.

Today's Posts

We've Got A Lot of Summer Left. Stay Cool.

And The Point Is...

Can't Come to Cambridge This Summer? Then Let Cambridge Come to You!

Tell Congress: End America's Dependence on Foreign Oil!

Sending the Homeless to the Zoo?

We've Got A Lot of Summer Left. Stay Cool.

And The Point Is...

Just a reminder to make The Point a frequent rest stop on your cyberspace travels. I do. Here's just a few samples from recent days to show you why it's a very valuable site.

* Links to Chuck Colson's latest (and one of his most compelling) commentaries on Communist China's cruel disregard of human rights AND a detailed BreakPoint Fact Sheet listing numerous resources dealing with the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

* Regular Point contributor Diane Singer alerted visitors to this stirring CBS news video about Atlanta's judge Marvin Arrington and his blunt, "tough love"message to the black community.

* Gina Dalfonzo's call to drop the "S" word along with a link to a rigorous NRO editorial decrying the MSM's ongoing campaign of malfeasance, misinformation, mud-slinging against the Swift Boat veterans.

* And just one more of many I could list, Kim Moreland's summary of an article published in the July/August online edition of the Atlantic.

The saddest part of this Atlantic article (profanity alert) is that it was a predictable outcome from a governmental initiative. The story goes that housing officials decided it best to tear down inner-city Section 8 housing and move residents to suburban neighborhoods in hopes of creating better living conditions for the poor. But the law of unintended consequences can now be felt in burbs across the country.

What's happened is the poor have congregated in once low-crime neighborhoods and criminals and gangs have followed them. So many suburban neighborhoods are now experiencing "an epidemic of violence.”...

Can't Come to Cambridge This Summer? Then Let Cambridge Come to You!

If your summer vacation plans take you to England, be sure to put a walking tour of Cambridge on your itinerary. And make sure that your tour is guided by the engaging, knowledgeable and dedicated scholars of Christian Heritage Cambridge. Claire and I can personally testify that it is an illuminating experience not to be missed.

After all, you'll learn why Cambridge has for centuries been such an outstanding and important university. And how it is linked to the Reformation, the founding of the United States of America, the abolition of the Slave Trade, the development of modern science, and to such giants on the world's stage as Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Oliver Cromwell, William Wilberforce, C.S. Lewis and so many more.

And if, by chance, you're not going to make it over to the UK real soon, I'd advise you to do the next best thing to that walking tour of Cambridge. And that's to brew up, lay out some scones or biscuits on a tray, and treat your family and friends to a viewing of "Saints and Scholars," the video from Christian Heritage Cambridge that not only serves as a great introduction to the history of Cambridge but vividly describes why and how Cambridge has played such a foundational role in the development of Western Culture.

The "Saints and Scholars" DVD can be purchased for £8.00. (That's about $16.) And here's the specific page where you can order the DVD. (And remember, if you live in the USA, make sure you order the NTSC version.)

Tell Congress: End America's Dependence on Foreign Oil!

The vigilant watchdogs over at Citizens Against Government Waste are urging you to ask your Congressmen to act and act now to end America's dependence on foreign oil. Yes, President Bush recently lifted the executive ban on drilling for oil on the Outer Continental Shelf -- a long overdue move. But Congress itself has passed additional restrictions on drilling on the OCS as well as in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.

With gasoline priced higher than $4 a gallon and dramatically affecting the inflation on food and other essentials, we've got to utilize those rich domestic sources of energy we have. To fail to do so isn't just politics; it's sheer madness.

AS CAGW explains, "The recent hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico proved that drilling offshore can be done in an environmentally safe way. There were no significant oil spills from the battered rigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston. In addition, the Prudhoe Bay oil field has demonstrated that a trans-Alaska pipeline can exist in harmony with nature."

The majority of Americans support domestic offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. Yet it's the radical, irresponsible environmentalists who are getting the MSM attention...and who are constantly agitating Congress through their special interest lobbyists.

Our voice needs to get louder. And we need to communicate this simple message: drill! America is in trouble and much of it comes from our shocking overdependence on foreign energy sources.

Please write or call your Representative and Senators today and ask them to vigorously support any bill or amendment that encourages increased domestic energy exploration and production. If you'd like, you can also use this handy e-mail form provided by CAGW.

Nowadays, I'm setting records for the highest price I've ever paid for a tank of gas -- every time I fill up! The latest? $67. If you're like me, that hurts something awful. And that's not mentioning $2 for a dozen eggs or $1.69 for a single green bell pepper. Yipes.

So, c'mon -- let's let our political representatives "share our pain" and perhaps a few of them will finally begin to do something about it.

Sending the Homeless to the Zoo?

The city wants to look its best when the world comes to town this summer so it's cleaning up, dressing up...and deftly arranging to keep its less attractive citizens out of sight.

I must be talking about Beijing's preparations for the Olympics, right?

Well, no. The city in question is Denver, Colorado. And when the Democrats come to the Mile High City for their political convention, officials hope to have swept from public (and press) gaze, the homeless. But nobody's going to be thrown into jail or trucked out of town -- those are Beijing methods of dealing with undesirables (i.e. the poor, the religious, the politically dissident).

No, Denver is just sending the homeless to the movies. And the zoo. And, of course, to that perennial favorite of the homeless, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. In addition, several of the shelters will expand their hours. Big screen TVs are being donated to these places as well to keep them entertained...and out of camera range.

And, not too surprising, there will be a voter registration drive at shelters and health clinics "to ensure that metro area homeless people have access to the polls in November."

The scheme is being defended as "a more sanitary and humane way to take care of people." But those backers of the plan do not explain why such entertainment hasn't been provided before the convention. Nor why there are no plans to continue it after the Democrat coventioners leave.

Today's Posts

Life in Cuba: What Oliver Stone Hasn't Told Us

Follow the Money: Grassley Investigates Pharmaceutical/Psychiatrist Links

13 Was His Unlucky Number: A Persistently Drunk Driver May Finally Be Taken Off the Road

And You Thought "Planet of the Apes" Was a Fantasy

Barack Obama: Enough of This Superpower Jazz

Life in Cuba: What Oliver Stone Hasn't Told Us

Interested in hearing what's really going down in Cuba -- reports you don't get from the MSM, Hollywood, or America's Democrat Party leaders? Then listen in to this illuminating conversation between a few young Cubans. Don't worry if your Spanish isn't that sharp -- there's English subtitles. (By the way, thanks to The Real Cuba for the tip.)

Follow the Money: Grassley Investigates Pharmaceutical/Psychiatrist Links

If you're a reader of Dr. Robin Cook's suspense novels, you'll know what manipulative, underhanded (and certainly lucrative) villains can be made out of the pharmaceutical companies.

Well, it may be that Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa found time to read one or two of those thrillers. At any rate, something has made him wonder if the big drug boys that made such realistic bad guys in Cook's fiction might not be realistic bad guys in fact. And again, like a Robin Cook story, don't you know there's even the possibility of a complex conspiracy as well.

Here's a report from MedPage Today about Grassley's widening investigation of psychiatrists' links to pharmaceutical companies, including the huge amounts of money paid by the drug companies to the American Psychiatric Association for advertising in their journal.

13 Was His Unlucky Number: A Persistently Drunk Driver May Finally Be Taken Off the Road

It's a particularly outrageous example of the system's failure to protect American lives -- and by "the system", let it be plain that I mean the egregious irresponsibility of prosecutors, judges and officials who give too early a release to drunk drivers.

Jessie James Hogan has apparently tried to live up to his notorious namesake (Thanks, Mom) by amassing a 15-page criminal history in his 46 years, including being arrested for drunken driving 13 times.

10 of those arrests have been in Missouri's St. Clair County.

In a case that is all too typical of the system's spinelessness in stopping drunk driving, Hogan has only been convicted about half the times he's been arrested. Still, his 7 convictions are plenty of evidence to any judge that this guy is an extreme danger to the lives, health and property of innocent citizens.

Yet Jessie James Hogan has served a total of...10 months.

That bother you? Then you're not going to like the revelation that one of his prison stints was for just two months -- even though he was in there on a plea bargain deal for three separate DUI charges. And that was his sixth DUI conviction!

His only other prison stretch (eight months) followed his 7th conviction.

Two months after that release, Jessie James smashed up his Mazda (fortunately, it was in a single-car crash) and was yet again arrested for DUI. This was number 12. But despite his record, the system churned out a mere misdemeanor charge! Hogan got out on bail for $300.

And now we come to number 13.

A Fairview Heights police officer pulled over Hogan's Cadillac Eldorado (not equipped, as you've already guessed, with an ignition lock sobriety device) during a routine traffic stop. Slurred speech and bloodshot eyes were bad enough to warrant sobriety tests and (surprise, surprise) Jessie James failed the tests and was arrested.

What's next? Well, there's a new law in Illinois law designed to strengthen penalties against repeat DUI offenders. A person with 6 or more DUI convictions should be charged with a Class X felony, the prison term for which would be from 6 to 30 years.

But there have long been DUI laws on the books that could have kept Jessie James Hogan from getting behind the wheel of a vehicle that he was too plastered to operate safely. No, the laws haven't been the primary problem here.

It's the system.

And You Thought "Planet of the Apes" Was a Fantasy

"I am an ape," declared Pedro Pozas, a Spanish animal rights activist, in 2006. The Spanish parliament, which apparently has come to see things Pozas's way, is now poised to endorse the Great Ape Project, granting chimps, bonobos, apes, and orangutans some of the same rights that Jefferson once rooted in the human condition.

The Great Ape Project was launched just 15 years ago by Princeton utilitarian bioethicist Peter Singer and Italian animal rights philosopher Paola Cavalieri with the stated goal of obtaining a United Nations declaration welcoming apes into a "community of equals" with humans. In a kind of parody of the Declaration of Independence, the project's "Declaration on Great Apes" asserts that "all great apes: human beings, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans" have basic rights including "the right to life," the "protection of individual liberty," and the "prohibition of torture," construed to include "deliberate infliction of severe pain for an alleged benefit to others," clearly aimed at the use of apes in medical research.

But why grant apes rights? After all, if the Spanish parliament deems these animals insufficiently protected, it can enact more stringent protections, as other countries have. But improving the treatment of apes--of which there are few in Spain--is not really the game that is afoot. Rather, as Pozas chortled after the environment committee of the Spanish parliament passed the resolutions committing Spain to the Great Ape Project, this precedent will be the "spear point" that breaks the "species barrier."

And why break the species barrier? Why, to destroy the unique status of man and thus initiate a wholesale transformation of Western civilization.

Specifically, by including animals in the "community of equals" and in effect declaring apes to be persons, the Great Ape Project would break the spine of Judeo-Christian moral philosophy, which holds that humans enjoy equal and incalculable moral worth, regardless of our respective capacities, age, and state of health. Once man is demoted to merely another animal in the forest, universal human rights will have to be tossed out and new criteria devised to determine which human/animal lives matter and which individuals can be treated like, well, animals...

Read the rest of Wesley J. Smith's cogent commentary here.

Barack Obama: Enough of This Superpower Jazz

"That is why, on my first day in office, I would give the military a new mission: ending this war."

Note -- Barack Obama doesn't say "winning" the war in this remarkable statement made in his recent New York Times op/ed article, just "ending" it.

So much for the saying, "These colors don't run."

Today's Posts

Here's UK News & Commentary You Can Trust

Paul Broun Gets It? Do You?

Caribou, Polar Bears, and the Need for Oil: What's Up With Those Pictures?

A Behind the Hype Look at a Faith Healer

Intolerance Goes Hollywood

Here's UK News & Commentary You Can Trust

Dr. Greg Gardner over in Birmingham, England sends along to visitors of Vital Signs (particularly those interested in the latest engagements of the culture war in the UK) a couple of very good news and commentary sources -- reputable, relevant and rightly purposed.

1) The Christian Institute is a nondenominational Christian charity committed to upholding the truths of the Bible with it's resources designed to promote the Christian religion in the United Kingdom. The CI also helps inform Christians of how the issues of the day relate to their biblical obligations and assists Christians in the normal practice of their faith through CI's fine legal team.

A case in point, both in the CI's legal assistance and the subsequent news coverage of the affair, is a Christian from Islington whose job was threatened because she asked to opt out from performing civil partnership registrations involving homosexual couples. With the CI's help, the employment tribunal unanimously decided that the Christian woman had been directly discriminated against by the Islington Council because of her faith-based request.

Here's that story from the Christian Institute website and here is the page linking you to more detailed information about the organization itself, including a faith statement and positions on key issues.

2) Christian Concern for our Nation describes itself as "an organisation that exists to serve the Church by providing information to enable Christians to stand up publicly against a tide of unchristian legal and political changes in the United Kingdom. It brings together focused legal, policy and media expertise and strategic intervention in order to secure favourable legal and political outcomes in areas of concern... CCFON was established to inform and empower Christians to speak with a coherent and cohesive voice against ungodly and unjust laws, and to speak up for righteousness and justice..."

This organization also hosts a website that is an excellent source of information, an example of which is this Andrea Williams’s summary of just where pro-life Britons are in their struggles against the monstrous Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill recently passed by Parliament and now awaiting possible amendments.

Paul Broun Gets It? Do You?

“First and foremost, I am a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and I live to serve Him. The ‘We Get It!’ declaration is both biblically and constitutionally sound. As potential global warming is investigated, it is imperative to use proven science, to be consistent with God’s Word regarding stewardship, and to be aware of those ‘Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.’ (Romans 1:25)

Sadly, many well-intended proposals before Congress are seriously flawed, would achieve no measurable difference in temperature, and would push millions of souls beyond poverty to starvation by dramatically increasing food and fuel prices, and exponentially increasing the cost of doing business. I look forward to working together for results-based, fiscally prudent, common-sense, environmental proposals based on biblical principles, property rights, and factual evidence. I am proud to support the ‘We Get It!’ declaration.” (U.S. Congressman Paul Broun)

AS I've reported here before, Vital Signs Ministries pleased to support the "We Get It!" campaign and several members of the VSM team have joined Chuck Colson, James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Senator Tom Coburn and others in signing the declaration and spreading the news.

How about you?

Caribou, Polar Bears, and the Need for Oil: What's Up With Those Pictures?

Visiting Chip Maxwell's blog this morning, I discovered a post very helpful to appreciating an e-mail I (like Chip) had found several times in my inbox the last few days. Here's how Chip describes it:

The remission of my McCain Derangement Syndrome has been aided by John McCain's declaration that the U.S. should drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. An anonymous e-mail about drilling in ANWR is making the rounds. I checked it out at Snopes.com.

I don't know who or what Snopes is. I don't know why Snopes should be considered neutral and authoritative, but it is considered a go-to source for checking the validity of claims made in e-mails and web sites.

Snopes calls the presentation "scant and one-sided," but seems to grudgingly acknowledge the validity of the pictures and facts presented.

Click here to see the presentation on the Snopes web site.

A Behind the Hype Look at a Faith Healer

Divine healing?

Religious philosopher William Dembski is also a loving dad who wants whatever help he can find for his autistic son. In this Baptist Press story, Dembski gives an enlightening (and very personal) look at how one rich and famous "healer" (and, sadly, there's more than a few of these hustlers out there playing the crowds) conducted his show.

In reading Dembski's experience, I was reminded of a "Vital Signs" radio commentary I did several years ago which dealt with this matter. I print the transcript of that brief program below:

Faith Healing VS Divine Healing

There is an important and very distinct difference between faith healing and divine healing.

That’s what I said – these are not synonymous terms.

Faith healing is a phenomenon known even in the general culture for it centers upon the actions of the sick person himself or, in some cases, upon the person who claims to have special gifts or a unique connection to higher powers. The field of faith healing thus includes psychotherapy, hypnosis, placebos, positive thinking, and the theatrical productions that glorify celebrity healers.

But divine healing is radically different. Divine healing is God supernaturally reaching down and healing someone. And when God heals, it is He and He alone Who gets the glory. There’s no human healer on stage standing in the glare of a spotlight to confuse the issue.

Furthermore, God doesn’t need you to somehow work up enough faith (or money) to get Him on the job. When God heals, He does it in His way, in His time, and, make no mistake about it, for His glory alone.

And despite the unbiblical claims of many prosperity preachers, God frequently (I would even say usually) decides not to heal. Remember the Scripture – “It’s appointed unto men once to die”? That’s all men. "The wages of sin" inescapably involve decay and death. But this simple truth is frequently forgotten in many Christian circles and the results are disastrous.

Whether it’s the heartbreak of someone like Joni Eareckson-Tada being pushed out of healing crusades still in her wheelchair, the dangerous confusion which results when believers seek miraculous manifestations more than they do their daily responsibilities to live in holiness and compassion, or the dishonor brought to Christianity when the world discovers the many frauds in the faith healing biz – we’ve clearly got things out of whack.

It’s way past time to quit making up our own religious doctrines and get back to diligently studying the Good Book…serving Jesus by His rules, His priorities, and for His glory.

(H/T to this Pearcey Report post for drawing my attention to Dembski's moving story.)

Intolerance Goes Hollywood

Andrew Breitbart has a very witty article in today's Washington Times about the left's monopoly of Hollywood -- an article that asks poignant questions, effectively pops some politically-correct balloons, and gives interesting tidbits about Robert Downey Jr and Angelina Jolie.

Here's a teaser:

While it is true that the ratio of Obama-to-McCain bumper stickers in West L.A. is about 250-to-1, there are untold closet Republicans in the entertainment industry who dare not advertise their beliefs in movie studio parking lots. (Unfortunately, car keying is a tactic wielded liberally by the self-described "tolerant.")

But in this land of superficiality and augmented assets, the inconvenient truth is that, in Hollywood, absolute conformity to the Democratic Party is a well-constructed facade. The environment is not so much unfavorable to the Grand Old Party as it is utterly totalitarian. There's simply no lifestyle choice that receives a worse response at dinner parties.

Convicted murderer? Has anyone optioned the rights to your story?

Avowed Marxist? Viva la revolucion!

Scientologist? Do you take Visa or Mastercard?

Syphilitic drug abuser? Let's talk!

Conservative? You should go.

Only proclaiming one's self a practicing Christian is met with greater disdain - making Christian Republicans the gold standard in Hollywood pariah status. Fortunately, their Savior - that dude from Mel Gibson's highest-grossing blockbuster that was shunned by the major studios - wrote the script on how to live with an unpopular point of view...

There are tons of movies on Nazi Germany. But why the dearth of stories on the rise and fall of the Iron Curtain? Are there no stories of tragedy and triumph in the 100 million or so dead, or those who came out alive?

All historical political episodes are seen through the eyes of Democrat protagonists and Republicans are cast as the villains. If only the GOP could outsource its PR burden to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). Those guys sure know how to erase negative stereotypes from the big screen.

More than a dozen box office failures vilify the troops without a single counterperspective seeing the light of day. Yet one positive Iraq war film, "Brothers at War," dares to tell the story of a noble and patriotic American family - but it can't find a distributor.

The litany of negative consequences to the ideological rigidity of modern Hollywood is virtually limitless. The lack of tension between competing ideas has made the arts increasingly tedious and rendered the celebrities woefully uninteresting...

Today's Posts

Checking in With Eternal Perspectives -- Always a Profitable Thing To Do

Au Courant Culture Calamities: A Quick Wrap

Intellectual Freedom Law Is Bobby Jindal's Latest Conservative Success

Self-Command, the Prudent Use of Freedom...and WALL-E

Is Anyone Surprised? Barack Obama Is the Preferred Candidate of Abortionists

Checking in With Eternal Perspectives -- Always a Profitable Thing To Do

Not surprisingly, Randy Alcorn has some terrific articles in the summer edition of Eternal Perspectives -- "What Does a Cross Bearer Look Like?", "The Relationship Between the Holy Spirit and the Word of God", one that lists his favorite books (in various genres, no less), and a particularly able answer to the question, "Doesn’t the concept of tithing rob people of the joy of giving?" Very good stuff.

Also in this summer edition of the magazine (a publication of Eternal Perspectives Ministries) is a brief devotional by Charles Spurgeon; a splendid challenge called "The Indispensable Father" by Rick Johnson, excerpted from his book Better Dads, Stronger Sons: How Fathers Can Guide Boys to Become Men of Character; and even a reprint from a Vital Signs Ministries LifeSharer letter written by a venerable sidewalk counselor some of you may know.

As always, Eternal Perspectives Ministries is providing strong, timely help for godly living. They are good people to be roped to.

Au Courant Culture Calamities: A Quick Wrap

* Thousands of students in Scotland were told they couldn’t make Father’s Day cards at school this year for fear of embarrassing classmates who live with single mothers or lesbians. School officials said the policy was adopted “in the interests of sensitivity,” and local authorities said teachers must adapt to the “changing patterns of family life.”

* Why is this not shocking? An abortionist who has killed more than 20,000 unborn children and who claims he's doing "God's work" every time he does was once was the personal OB-GYN to...Hillary Clinton.

* The National Children's Bureau, a government sponsored agency in Great Britain (getting about £12 million a year from tax coffers), has distributed a 366-page guide for staff in charge of preschool children that includes warnings of how "toddlers who turn their noses up at spicy food from overseas could be branded racists by a Government-sponsored agency."

The guide suggests that leaders and nursery teachers "be alert for racist incidents among youngsters in their care. This could include a child of as young as three who says "yuk" in response to being served unfamiliar foreign food. It alerts playgroup leaders that even babies can not be ignored in the drive to root out prejudice..."