From LifeNews.com comes this good news::
In what has become an annual debate, the House of Representatives again turned back efforts by abortion advocates to allow abortions to be performed at military base hospitals and clinics.
The U.S. military currently allows doctors to perform abortions at military medical facilities only in the rare cases or rape or incest or to prevent the death of the mother. Three California Democratic representatives argued that women shouldn't have to go someplace else to have an abortion. However, opponents of their proposal said taxpayers shouldn't be forced to finance military bases and personnel performing abortions.
"Allowing self-funded abortions will simply turn our military hospitals overseas into abortion clinics," Rep. Jim Ryun, a Kansas Republican, said during the debate, according to an AP report. The House ultimately rejected the proposal on a 233-194 vote. Previous attempts to rescind the military abortion rules have also failed. National Right to Life Committee legislative director told LifeNews.com after the vote that "once again, lawmakers have affirmed that military medical facilities should not become abortion mills."
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Amnesty International: No Sense of Scale
From the Washington Times...
The London-based human rights organization called the U.S. facility in Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our time," comparing it to the Soviet Union's slave-labor camps where millions of people died.
Amnesty International also suggested that foreign governments investigate senior U.S. officials involved in "torture scandals" and arrest and question Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, former CIA Director William Tenet, and Vice President Dick Cheney.
"I think it's irresponsible. I think it's absolutely irresponsible," Gen. [Richard] Myers told "Fox News Sunday."
"I think I'd ask them to go look up the definition of gulag as commonly understood. We've had 68,000 detainees since this conflict against violent extremism started. We've had 325 investigations into alleged abuse. We've had 100 cases of substantiated abuse and there are 100 individuals that have had some sort of action taken, either court-martial or administrative action," Gen. Myers said.
The London-based human rights organization called the U.S. facility in Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our time," comparing it to the Soviet Union's slave-labor camps where millions of people died.
Amnesty International also suggested that foreign governments investigate senior U.S. officials involved in "torture scandals" and arrest and question Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, former CIA Director William Tenet, and Vice President Dick Cheney.
"I think it's irresponsible. I think it's absolutely irresponsible," Gen. [Richard] Myers told "Fox News Sunday."
"I think I'd ask them to go look up the definition of gulag as commonly understood. We've had 68,000 detainees since this conflict against violent extremism started. We've had 325 investigations into alleged abuse. We've had 100 cases of substantiated abuse and there are 100 individuals that have had some sort of action taken, either court-martial or administrative action," Gen. Myers said.
But the "Moral Police" Have Been Disarmed
When, in the name of progress and other false gods, you move the ancient boundary stones, there will follow confusion, then decay, and ultimately chaos. This opinion piece in the U.K.'s Telegraph (written by Philip Johnston) demonstrates how this sad situation is playing out in Europe. And, of course, the lessons are just as relevant to Americans also.
Monday, May 30, 2005
General Orders #11
Click on the title of this post to read the foundational document of Memorial Day. It was declared by the Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, General John Logan. Logan was one of the more successful "civilian" generals of the Civil War and was a key part of Sherman's march south and the taking of Atlanta.
In these orders, Logan hoped to expand the practice of honoring the war dead by taking proper care of their memories, aims and grave sites. He also hoped to help reconciliation efforts though there were phrases in this document that offended many Southerners. Indeed, most of the states of the former Confederacy did not recognize Memorial Day for decades, preferring to select different days to honor their fallen heroes. Nevertheless, Logan's effort was sincere and noble and the first ceremony, held at the cemetery at Arlington, involved the laying of wreaths and flowers on the graves of both Federal and Confederate soldiers.
Reflecting on General John Logan's orders are a great way to begin your commemoration of this important (but much too neglected) holiday.
In these orders, Logan hoped to expand the practice of honoring the war dead by taking proper care of their memories, aims and grave sites. He also hoped to help reconciliation efforts though there were phrases in this document that offended many Southerners. Indeed, most of the states of the former Confederacy did not recognize Memorial Day for decades, preferring to select different days to honor their fallen heroes. Nevertheless, Logan's effort was sincere and noble and the first ceremony, held at the cemetery at Arlington, involved the laying of wreaths and flowers on the graves of both Federal and Confederate soldiers.
Reflecting on General John Logan's orders are a great way to begin your commemoration of this important (but much too neglected) holiday.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Sex Education by a Conservative Senator? The Post Can't Stand it!
The Washington Post's "coverage" of Tom Coburn's STD lecture just drips with disdain, mockery and self-appointed superiority. It is the obvious prejudice of the MSM (like seen in this story) that is making its readership drop like a rock.
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Latest "LifeSharer" Letter On The Web
For those of you interested in an update of what is happening with Vital Signs Ministries, our monthly "LifeSharer" letter is always posted on the VSM web site. Click on the post to read the most recent one.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Mona Charen on the Stem Cell Hustle
The Kansas City Star, editorializing about the president's threat to veto the stem cell bill passed by the House, described human embryos as the "excess products of fertility procedures." The Los Angeles Times, contemptuous of the president's ethical misgivings, declared: "It's not a choice between a human life and an embryo's life. It's a choice between real human lives and a symbolic statement about the value of an embryo."
Mona's column is as good (and as important) as usual. God bless her.
Mona's column is as good (and as important) as usual. God bless her.
Aborted Babies Used for Beauty Treatments?
A shocking story from Tom Parfitt, The Observer's man in Kiev. Do read the whole report but here's a sample...
Racketeers pay Ukraine women to sell foetuses to quack clinics for £10,000 courses of 'anti-ageing' jabs
Aborted foetuses from girls and young women are being exported from Ukraine for use in illegal beauty treatments costing thousands of pounds, The Observer can reveal.
The foetuses are cryogenically frozen and sold to clinics offering 'youth injections', claiming to rejuvenate skin and cure a raft of diseases.
It is thought that women in the former Soviet republic are being paid £100 a time to persuade them to have abortions and allow their foetuses to be used in treatments. Most of the foetuses are sold in Russia for up to £5,000 each. Some are paid extra to have abortions late in their pregnancy.
Border guards stopped a train entering Russia from Ukraine last week and arrested a 'mule' carrying 25 frozen foetuses hidden in two vacuum flasks. The man said he had bought them from a medical research centre.
Racketeers pay Ukraine women to sell foetuses to quack clinics for £10,000 courses of 'anti-ageing' jabs
Aborted foetuses from girls and young women are being exported from Ukraine for use in illegal beauty treatments costing thousands of pounds, The Observer can reveal.
The foetuses are cryogenically frozen and sold to clinics offering 'youth injections', claiming to rejuvenate skin and cure a raft of diseases.
It is thought that women in the former Soviet republic are being paid £100 a time to persuade them to have abortions and allow their foetuses to be used in treatments. Most of the foetuses are sold in Russia for up to £5,000 each. Some are paid extra to have abortions late in their pregnancy.
Border guards stopped a train entering Russia from Ukraine last week and arrested a 'mule' carrying 25 frozen foetuses hidden in two vacuum flasks. The man said he had bought them from a medical research centre.
Condoms Are Not the Answer
With apologies to the stubborn anti-natal lobbies in the U.N., the U.S. government and the big foundations, here's the hard truth: condoms will NOT stop the AIDS plague in Africa. This essay from Brian Saint-Paul, the editor of Crisis Magazine is a good one.
"The English Patient"
Don't miss this Weekly Standard piece by Wesley J. Smith about Great Britain's National Health Service going to court to deny Leslie Burke a feeding tube. Mr. Burke, a victim of a deteriorating nerve condition, successfully sued the government for a right to a feeding tube when he needed one. It seemed incredible to many that such a move was deemed necessary but now the NHS is appealing the ruling. The NHS health professionals (term used loosely, of course) don't like the precedent Mr. Burke's court victory sets and are arguing that Mr. Burke's right to live ends when he is unable to feed himself.
Cheap DeLay Smear on "Law & Order"
I confess I have never watched an episode of NBC's long-running drama series, "Law and Order," but numerous reports from friends and reviews of several specific programs I have read suggests that the series is notoriously stinky for its negative portrayal of conservatives, religion and traditional morality. In the series finale', however, NBC reached a new low by linking Representative Delay's name to the murder of judges by "right-wing extremists."
Appropriate responses to NBC are lawful and in order, including passing the word to all your buddies that watching "Law and Order" is anything but cool.
Appropriate responses to NBC are lawful and in order, including passing the word to all your buddies that watching "Law and Order" is anything but cool.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
For Criticism of Islam, Popular Italian Author Must Stand Trial
And this is how it goes. Free speech is being obliterated -- but for all the politically-correct reasons -- so no one in the MSM need complain. Sigh.
As Always, Peggy's Got Their Number
Peggy Noonan's excellent piece on the 14 "preening popinjays" and the ongoing senselessness of the U.S. Senate.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
The Old Is New Again -- Belarus KGB Given Invasion and Internal Spy Powers
A new report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty --
Last week a law came into effect in Belarus allowing the State Security Committee to conduct searches in private apartments and offices of public organizations, including foreign ones, without search warrants from prosecutors, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported on 24 May. The law obliges KGB officers to notify a relevant prosecutor about a search within 24 hours after it took place. Another novelty in the law is the provision allowing the KGB to plant secret agents in any organization in Belarus. Those exposing such agents to the public will face imprisonment of up to five years.
Last week a law came into effect in Belarus allowing the State Security Committee to conduct searches in private apartments and offices of public organizations, including foreign ones, without search warrants from prosecutors, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported on 24 May. The law obliges KGB officers to notify a relevant prosecutor about a search within 24 hours after it took place. Another novelty in the law is the provision allowing the KGB to plant secret agents in any organization in Belarus. Those exposing such agents to the public will face imprisonment of up to five years.
Wrapped Up In Sin
Janice Shaw Crouse writes about the "Saran Wrap" techniques which Planned Parenthood is touting for America's teenagers. These guys are really perverse...but then, that's how they keep building the clientele for their abortion services.
U.S. "Ally" Continues Its Persecution of Christians
This report from Charisma News Service on Saudi Arabia's latest outrage:
Religious police recently broke up another private worship service of expatriate Christians, arresting five elders of a house church in Riyadh's central Al-Olaya district. High-ranking Muslim sheikhs reportedly took part in the April 29 raid on a congregation of 60 Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians who had gathered for prayer, Compass Direct reported. The worshipers' Bibles and one woman's cross necklace were confiscated.
During the initial fours days of their incarceration, the five Ethiopian elders were permitted telephone contact with their families, but they have reportedly been transferred to undisclosed prison facilities. The group of East Africans had met for prayer and worship in Riyadh for the last four years, a local source told Compass. It was the second recent crackdown of expatriate believers in Riyadh. On April 22, 40 Pakistani Christians were arrested for participating in a joint Catholic-Protestant prayer service. Except for two men held an additional day, the Pakistani Christians were all released the same day.
Religious police recently broke up another private worship service of expatriate Christians, arresting five elders of a house church in Riyadh's central Al-Olaya district. High-ranking Muslim sheikhs reportedly took part in the April 29 raid on a congregation of 60 Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians who had gathered for prayer, Compass Direct reported. The worshipers' Bibles and one woman's cross necklace were confiscated.
During the initial fours days of their incarceration, the five Ethiopian elders were permitted telephone contact with their families, but they have reportedly been transferred to undisclosed prison facilities. The group of East Africans had met for prayer and worship in Riyadh for the last four years, a local source told Compass. It was the second recent crackdown of expatriate believers in Riyadh. On April 22, 40 Pakistani Christians were arrested for participating in a joint Catholic-Protestant prayer service. Except for two men held an additional day, the Pakistani Christians were all released the same day.
Wise Counsel from Cal Thomas on the Stem Cell Debate
According to the National Cord Blood Program at the New York Blood Center and researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, umbilical cord blood transplants have proved effective for treating patients suffering from inherited immune disorders like sickle cell anemia and leukemia, even when those transplants are from unrelated donors. These are precisely the type of afflictions some believe embryonic stem cells might cure.
If we can make scientific progress toward curing maladies from paralysis to leukemia, but without the destruction of human embryos, isn't this a win-win for everyone? We preserve at least some value for human life (already severely damaged by our tolerance of abortion on demand), while simultaneously moving ahead with our desire to find cures for various afflictions...
Before rushing headlong into the unknown, we should ask some basic questions: Where is our home base and what is the fixed moral point that will guide us? Who are we - evolutionary accidents upon whom any and all experiments should be tolerated for the "greater good," or are we something else and someone else's? Who made us - a scientist in a laboratory dish, a cosmic accident or "our Creator"?
You don't have to be religious to embrace the notion that life and rights must come from outside of man in order for them to be protected and unalienable. To embrace anything less and to kill embryos in order to "save" older and more developed human beings is to embrace an Orwellian philosophy that "death is life." Do we want to travel to that destination?
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Compromise? Cave-In is the More Appropriate Term
There are several good pieces out there on the Republicans' latest act of dishonor and betrayal. Here is a concise, accurate description of what happened from the Family Research Council...
An Ignoble Judicial Compromise
In the year 1790 the original 13 colonies ratified the U.S. Constitution; over two centuries later, 14 U.S. Senators (seven Republicans, seven Democrats) agreed to a "compromise" on judicial nominations that effectively legitimizes overriding the presidential power to appoint judges with only the "advice and consent" of the Senate. The seven Republicans who participated in the deal need to explain what Republicans gained in this "compromise" that they did not already have--other than the fickle admiration of the mainstream media. The crux of the "deal" is that three judicial nominees (Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and William Pryor) will finally get an up- or-down vote. The "compromise" appears to abandon judicial nominees like Brett Kavanaugh, William Myers, Henry Saad, Thomas Griffith and William Haynes. All of the abandoned candidates are outstanding nominees who deserve the same up-or-down vote by the whole Senate but still face an unprecedented judicial filibuster.
However, seven Republican Senators, playing the role of Neville Chamberlain, threw them overboard in the name of "compromise." Peace won by the compromise of principles is a short-lived achievement. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) had it right when he described the "deal" on the Senate floor: "I fundamentally believe that it is our constitutional responsibility to give judicial nominees the respect and the courtesy of an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate. Investigate them. And question them. And scrutinize them. And debate them ... But then, vote ... each deserves a vote."
In the year 1790 the original 13 colonies ratified the U.S. Constitution; over two centuries later, 14 U.S. Senators (seven Republicans, seven Democrats) agreed to a "compromise" on judicial nominations that effectively legitimizes overriding the presidential power to appoint judges with only the "advice and consent" of the Senate. The seven Republicans who participated in the deal need to explain what Republicans gained in this "compromise" that they did not already have--other than the fickle admiration of the mainstream media. The crux of the "deal" is that three judicial nominees (Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and William Pryor) will finally get an up- or-down vote. The "compromise" appears to abandon judicial nominees like Brett Kavanaugh, William Myers, Henry Saad, Thomas Griffith and William Haynes. All of the abandoned candidates are outstanding nominees who deserve the same up-or-down vote by the whole Senate but still face an unprecedented judicial filibuster.
However, seven Republican Senators, playing the role of Neville Chamberlain, threw them overboard in the name of "compromise." Peace won by the compromise of principles is a short-lived achievement. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) had it right when he described the "deal" on the Senate floor: "I fundamentally believe that it is our constitutional responsibility to give judicial nominees the respect and the courtesy of an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate. Investigate them. And question them. And scrutinize them. And debate them ... But then, vote ... each deserves a vote."
Monday, May 23, 2005
Speaking of Chastity
Here are a few choice quotations from Focus on the Family's excellent film from the early 90's, Sex, Lies...And the Truth.
Miles McPherson - former NFL star:
"When you sleep with somebody, you give a part of yourself away. You give a part of your heart away."
"Love desires to please someone else at the expense of self because love wants to give."
"So how can you be safe? We're not talking about babies, even though that happens. We're not talking about abortion, even though that happens. We're talking about dying. We're talking about pain. We're talking about suffering. We're talking about your whole life ending in a terrible way when this thing [a condom] fails."
"You know, you could get her pregnant and a chance to get over 20 diseases - is an orgasm worth that risk? There's no orgasm in this world worth dying for."
Lakita Garth - TV model:
"I remain abstinent and plan to keep my virginity until I'm married because when I get to the altar, I can wear a white dress and mean it. And, I can say to my husband, 'I loved you before I knew you. I saved myself for you.'"
Orel Herschier - Major league baseball hero:
"If you have been sexually active in the past, there is time to change. This may be a possibility of a new policy - a secondary virginity policy now that you have the information about HIV positive, about AIDS being transmitted, about the failure rate of the condom, about being self-controlled, about getting your dignity back. You can become abstinent from this time forward."
D.C. Talk - Christian rap musicians:
"How many of our friends didn't get to pursue the things we've been able to because we've chosen to abstain. Safe sex is a lie...Safe sex isn't safe emotionally. A man and a woman aren't made up the same way. Sexual confrontations might leave a woman more hurt that a man. We've got to realize that's why marriage is so important in a sexual relationship."
John Naber - 6-time gold medal Olympic swimmer:
"Nowadays society is trying to teach us that if it's sitting there at the table, go ahead and take it. Don't deny yourself anything. Grab for the gusto! You're # 1. And as a result, people tend to put the reward ahead of the process."
Dave Dravecky - Baseball star, author, foundation director:
"I had cancer. And ultimately from that cancer I lost my career as a baseball player. And in the process I lost my left arm. Cancer kills. Fortunately for me, it hasn't taken my life but it has taken something very precious away. You too are being confronted with that peer pressure to have sex. I want you to know that I hope you will make the right choice in abstaining from that. Hopefully in the process, that abstinence can save your life too."
A.C. Green - "Iron Man" star of the NBA:
"Having played in the NBA for many years, I've had many opportunities and temptations. But I chose to remain abstinent throughout my career. It's a choice I decided. It's the choice I decided to live with and I'm very happy I made that decision. If I can do it in the NBA facing the challenges I face, I know you can do it where you are."
Miles McPherson - former NFL star:
"When you sleep with somebody, you give a part of yourself away. You give a part of your heart away."
"Love desires to please someone else at the expense of self because love wants to give."
"So how can you be safe? We're not talking about babies, even though that happens. We're not talking about abortion, even though that happens. We're talking about dying. We're talking about pain. We're talking about suffering. We're talking about your whole life ending in a terrible way when this thing [a condom] fails."
"You know, you could get her pregnant and a chance to get over 20 diseases - is an orgasm worth that risk? There's no orgasm in this world worth dying for."
Lakita Garth - TV model:
"I remain abstinent and plan to keep my virginity until I'm married because when I get to the altar, I can wear a white dress and mean it. And, I can say to my husband, 'I loved you before I knew you. I saved myself for you.'"
Orel Herschier - Major league baseball hero:
"If you have been sexually active in the past, there is time to change. This may be a possibility of a new policy - a secondary virginity policy now that you have the information about HIV positive, about AIDS being transmitted, about the failure rate of the condom, about being self-controlled, about getting your dignity back. You can become abstinent from this time forward."
D.C. Talk - Christian rap musicians:
"How many of our friends didn't get to pursue the things we've been able to because we've chosen to abstain. Safe sex is a lie...Safe sex isn't safe emotionally. A man and a woman aren't made up the same way. Sexual confrontations might leave a woman more hurt that a man. We've got to realize that's why marriage is so important in a sexual relationship."
John Naber - 6-time gold medal Olympic swimmer:
"Nowadays society is trying to teach us that if it's sitting there at the table, go ahead and take it. Don't deny yourself anything. Grab for the gusto! You're # 1. And as a result, people tend to put the reward ahead of the process."
Dave Dravecky - Baseball star, author, foundation director:
"I had cancer. And ultimately from that cancer I lost my career as a baseball player. And in the process I lost my left arm. Cancer kills. Fortunately for me, it hasn't taken my life but it has taken something very precious away. You too are being confronted with that peer pressure to have sex. I want you to know that I hope you will make the right choice in abstaining from that. Hopefully in the process, that abstinence can save your life too."
A.C. Green - "Iron Man" star of the NBA:
"Having played in the NBA for many years, I've had many opportunities and temptations. But I chose to remain abstinent throughout my career. It's a choice I decided. It's the choice I decided to live with and I'm very happy I made that decision. If I can do it in the NBA facing the challenges I face, I know you can do it where you are."
"Sorry about Alderaan. Have a nice day."
Debbie Saunders scores big today with the best critique of the Star Wars phenomena to date. A profound and cleverly written piece.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)