Leave It In the Garage: Americans Are Driving Less

I know it doesn't seem like it from your daily hassles with traffic but the Federal Highway Administration has just come out with the data (derived from 4,000 automatic traffic recorders operated around-the-clock by state highway agencies) that Americans are driving a lot less than a year ago.

Like 100 billion miles less.

Is it just the high gas prices we experienced this year? No, say the feds. "The fact that the trend persists even as gas prices are dropping confirms that America's travel habits are fundamentally changing," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said.

Other factors seem to be computers allowing more work from home and an increase in mass transit users.

Now this is a piece of good news for several reasons, not the least of which is that getting out on the highway is the most dangerous thing we do every day. Anything that cuts down on our chances of being run over are good. But it's als0 good news for our savings and for the environment.

So is there any bad news here?

Well, there is a serious gap between federal gas tax revenues and the government's commitments to fund state and local highway repair and construction projects. The decline in driving thus plays a significant part in widening that gap yet further. Congress already made an "emergency infusion" from the general treasury this year to fund some of those projects -- some $8 billion worth.

Secretary Peters has said, "As driving decreases and vehicle fuel efficiency continues to improve, the long-term viability of the Highway Trust Fund grows weaker."

But don't worry. The Obama administration will certainly find several other ways to tax us to make up the difference. And that will diminish our financial capability to drive (or perhaps do anything else, for that matter) even more.

Look Out America, Here Comes Obama's Global Warming Police

"After the selection of a largely centrist economic team, liberals have been asking when President-elect Obama would give them a seat at the table. Well, now we know, and Americans should strap themselves in..."

The editors of the Wall Street Journal then go on to explain just who the "carbon buster" appointments are as well as suggesting some of the dangers these folks will pose to American businesses, consumers and the overall economy. The foremost two (among a whole gang he's assembling) are the global warming zealots Obama has tapped for, respectively, Energy Secretary (Steven Chu) and "energy czar" (the far left bureaucrat bully and Al Gore protégé, Carol Browner)

Browner was head of Bill Clinton's Environmental Protection Agency and was a disaster.

...The EPA long ago became the government arm of the environment lobby, but Ms. Browner was especially political. During her EPA salad days, she put out air-pollution standards that even the agency itself said would have no measurable impact on public health, purely as antibusiness punishment. She forced GE to dredge the Hudson River of PCBs that posed no threat to the public. Ms. Browner also rewrote a law called New Source Review so that power plants, refineries and other industries were always breaking the particulate emissions rules.

But her most pernicious inspiration was the idea that the EPA could by itself classify carbon as a "dangerous pollutant" under current clean-air laws and thus impose new taxes and restrictions on all types of energy...

The Obama Administration is "sitting on some authority," Ms. Browner warned at the Center for American Progress recently. She says the White House is prepared to use that power "in the event that perhaps there can't be some sort of agreement reached with Congress on how to move legislation." In other words, Ms. Browner will use the threat of brute regulatory force as a political bludgeon if Capitol Hill declines to inflict some carbon tax on voters in the midst of a recession.

Not only will this incur colossal economic costs, but it bypasses normal democratic debate. In that sense it's suggestive of the radicalism of Mr. Obama's climate agenda. When Mr. Obama said during the campaign that he favored "nothing less than the complete transformation of our economy" in the name of global warming, we figured he couldn't mean something so utopian. Maybe he does...

Ideology Effectively Presented: How Republicans Can Get Back in the Game

...Here's the real problem. Too often Republicans begin by talking ideology as opposed to solutions. They start with cutting taxes, balancing the budget and less government, but forget to say, "why?" Instead, begin with outcomes - more jobs, affordable health care and better education. Ideology is a means to these ends - not the end itself...

Excessive "ideology-speak" particularly harms Republicans with swing voters. Research shows these Americans are more interested in solutions than philosophical debates. Promoting ideology first makes Republicans sound out of touch or even wacky to those who don't live and breathe politics.

How would Republicans apply this approach to an issue such as health care? Instead of starting by offering a tax credit, why not say this: "We understand your anxiety. We will make health care more affordable by allowing insurance companies to compete and giving you a chance to purchase health care that best fits your family's needs. You and your doctor, not the government, should decide what works best, Republicans will further cut costs by taking on trial lawyers to curb frivolous lawsuits. Let's also use American ingenuity and technology to reduce your health-care costs. Taken together, these changes will make health care more affordable for you and your family." Changing tax policy may be a means to the end, but it's not the final goal - affordability and quality are.

Republicans should apply this outcomes-based approach across the policy spectrum - promoting exceptional schools, providing better jobs, raising stagnant wages, creating independence from foreign oil. How? This can be achieved through competition, markets that spur innovation and lower prices, a government closer to the people, and modernizing bureaucracy. But note the ideological underpinnings are the period in the sentence, not the opening line.

This solutions first, ideology second approach is emerging as a way forward for electorally beleaguered Republicans. Many GOP governors such as Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana are on the forefront of developing the ideas and rhetoric that apply conservative principles to real-world problems. Congressional Republicans should import these statehouse smarts to improve their damaged Washington brand.

(Gary Andres, "To Revive the GOP Corpse," a very interesting article at Real Clear Politics)

Obama "Saddened and Sobered" by Blagogate. Thanks, But Where's the Outrage?

Political observer Andrea Tantaros describes Barack Obama's less than promising, less than effective response to Chicago's ongoing political scandal.
If that’s true [that Obama had nothing to do with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's attempts to sell Obama's Senate seat] why was Obama’s initial response so muted? On Tuesday, following the reports that Blagojevich had been arrested, Obama said he was “saddened and sobered” by the news. Saddened? Movies on Lifetime make people sad. This should make him furious. For someone who ran on a platform of transparency, accountability and above-board behavior Obama is certainly sounding like Jimmy Carter 2.0.

O: Where’s the outrage?? And the straight story?...

The final flub came yesterday when Obama called for the Governor’s resignation through a spokesperson — a weak play from the future leader of the free world.

It is evident that Obama hasn’t learned the lessons of the Reverend Wright ordeal: denounce and distance early. For the sake of his own career and future perception of his administration he needs to take a zero tolerance policy on corruption and impropriety, particularly since it’s so close to home, by coming out swinging (though it’s worth noting that Obama has long been silent on fraud in Illinois, perhaps trying to skirt the subject of his role with Tony Rezko).

He should have been tough and clear this week that if anyone in his circle was implicated they would lose their jobs and that he will aid in the investigation any way he can. Sitting silent appears sketchy...

Today's Posts

Faithless Franky Schaeffer's Latest Outrage: Support of Legal Abortion

Colson, Sinese, Bird Among Winners of the Presidential Citizens Medal

Newsweek Comes Out Swinging -- Against the Bible and For Homosexual Marriage

Hey, Al; That Crowd of Scientists De-Bunking Global Warming is Growing Bigger By the Day

What Every Couple Needs to Know. What Every Woman Has a Right to Know.

Faithless Franky Schaeffer's Latest Outrage: Support of Legal Abortion

Frank Schaeffer continues to delve the depths of backsliding in the most bizarre, ego-driven, angry, and irrational ways imaginable.

His latest act since energetically supporting Barack Obama for President? Going on NPR to explain why he now supports legal abortion.

You say you remember Franky Schaeffer as a zealous pro-life advocate who shared in the work of his noble father? Yes, I do too.

But that Franky is long gone. And replacing him, like some evil clone in a rotten sci-fi movie (come to think of it, Franky's made a couple of those himself) is this new guy -- the one who is hailed as a "prophet" by the NAE's leftist and heterodox lobbyist Richard Cizik -- who said McCain-Palin rallies "are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs" -- and whose self-glorifying website boasts Schaeffer's availability to speak on these topics:

* "From Religious Right Activist to The Huffington Post's Number One Obama Supporter"
* "Inclusive Spirituality In An Exclusive World--Beyond Certainty, Finding Comfort in Doubt and Mystery"
* "Confessions Of A Former Fundamentalist--My Journey From Right to Left"

And then, of course, there's the title of one of his newest books, "Crazy for God: How I Grew Up As One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back."

This is a sad, scary story of a man's complete capitulation to that sophomoric yearning to be noticed and liked. But, unfortunately, he'll never make it.

Schaeffer will, unless he one day repents, be left on the outside looking in, exploited by the left but never really trusted or respected or even liked by them. He will forever be the adolescent fawner who throws integrity, principle and even the ideals of his family and faith away, hoping to impress the naughty (but oh-so-hip) upperclassmen...but who still gets left behind when they head to their frat party anyway.

Franky, you've wallowed in that pig sty long enough. Come home, boy.

Colson, Sinese, Bird Among Winners of the Presidential Citizens Medal

Don't you wish you could turn on TV news and instead of watching celebrity gossip, liberal propaganda, and the anchorman cooking Shrimp Orleans, you could hear about things like...well, for instance, the Presidential Citizens Medals being given out to such American heroes as Chuck Colson, Gary Sinese and Dr. Forrest M. Bird?

From the White House website, here's the list of 24 to whom President Bush awarded the medals earlier this week.

Newsweek Comes Out Swinging -- Against the Bible and For Homosexual Marriage

You may have heard of the puff piece advocating homosexual marriage (creating a religious case for it, no less) published in the cover story of this week's Newsweek magazine. Even in the sandbox of slanted reporting, irreligious attitudes and ideological arrogance in which Western journalism routinely plays, the Newsweek piece was particularly bad.

Mark Hemingway has a very good analysis of the article as well as Newsweek's subsequent defense of itself as an advocate of liberalism.

Hey, Al; That Crowd of Scientists De-Bunking Global Warming is Growing Bigger By the Day

The UN global warming conference currently underway in Poland is about to face a serious challenge from over 650 dissenting scientists from around the globe who are criticizing the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore.

Set for release this week, a newly updated U.S. Senate Minority Report features the dissenting voices of over 650 international scientists, many current and former UN IPCC scientists, who have now turned against the UN.

The report has added about 250 scientists (and growing) in 2008 to the over 400 scientists who spoke out in 2007. The over 650 dissenting scientists are more than 12 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers.

The U.S. Senate report (complete pdf file here) is the latest evidence of the growing groundswell of scientific opposition rising to challenge the UN and Gore...

What Every Couple Needs to Know. What Every Woman Has a Right to Know.

Ask yourself.

1. Do you want to know more about how your menstrual cycle works?

2. Are you tired of taking birth control pills, using condoms, using gels or diaphragms?

3. Are you looking for something to manage your fertility that is entirely natural?

4. Are you tired of having the birth control pill recommended for the treatment of nearly every woman's health problem?

5. Are you interested in a family planning system that also allows you to monitor and maintain your health?

6. Are you looking for a family planning system that is completely safe and has no medical side effects?

7. Are you looking for a family planning method where surveys have shown a high level of couple satisfaction?

8. Are you looking for a solution to a reproductive problem? Infertility? Miscarriage? Stillbirth? Prematurity?

9. Are you looking for a solution to premenstrual syndrome? Recurrent Ovarian Cysts? Abnormal bleeding?

10. Would you like a family planning system that actually helps bond your marriage? Where both the the man and the woman work together?

11. Are you looking for a system of family planning that is morally acceptable to you and your spouse?

If your answer was "YES!" to any of the above questions, then you should seriously consider contacting an affiliated center of FertilityCare™ Centers of America.

To locate a FertilityCare™ Center in your area, please go to www.fertilitycare.org for a complete lising of Centers located in the United States and Canada.

(Source of the above? Our good friends over at the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction.)

Today's Posts

The NAE's Richard Cizik: A Case in Point of What's Wrong in Today's Evangelicalism

Keen's Global Warming Quiz

George Ryan Hopes for Bush Pardon

Human Rights? Not in Canada.

The NAE's Richard Cizik: A Case in Point of What's Wrong in Today's Evangelicalism

I hope that this LifeSiteNews report of recent comments of the Rev. Richard Cizik, the Chief Lobbyist and Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, will be enough to cause you to write a polite (but firm) letter to the NAE asking that Cizik be immediately removed from his positions there. For the story describes Cizik's recent comments (on NPR, wouldn't you know) in which he calmly shrugs off off the extreme seriousness of abortion, unfairly criticizes Sarah Palin, accepts the legitimacy of homosexual unions, boasts that he voted for abortion extremist Barack Obama, and suggests that for modern times the teachings of the Bible need to be given "a different slant."

NAE President Rev. Leith Anderson has told the association's Board of Directors that Rev. Richard Cizik's words “did not appropriately reflect the positions of the National Association of Evangelicals and its constituents.”

Big deal.

Does Rev. Anderson think that his mild letter of disapproval will get the same attention as did Cizik's interview on national radio? Of course not. So whether or not Cizik's heterodox views "appropriately" reflected the opinions of evangelicals, the listeners of NPR are certainly going to think they do

...When Rev. Cizik appeared on the Fresh Air program on National Public Radio last Tuesday, he announced he had voted for Barack Obama in the Virginia primary, saying "I happen to think ... it was the best choice."...

Cizik professed a character-based voting philosophy, and suggested that issues such as abortion and marriage ought to be weighed together with issues like health care and the economy. "It would be possible for Evangelicals to disagree with Barack Obama on same sex marriage and abortion and yet vote for him," said Cizik.

Asked to weigh in on Sarah Palin, Cizik, who has become known for his environmental activism, said she was "ignorant" on the subject and accused her of lacking humility, a trait he said he admired in Barack Obama.

On homosexual marriage, Cizik told the host he was admittedly "shifting" on the subject. "In other words I would willingly say that I believe in civil unions. I don't officially support redefining marriage from its traditional definition I don't think."

He suggested that all Evangelicals ought to "reevaluate" homosexuality and "look at it a little differently." "I'm always looking for ways to reframe issues. Give the biblical point of view a different slant," Cizik said.

Cizik is trying to take the tired and cowardly way out here, blaming listeners for misunderstanding what he said and assuring us that he still believes and supports the NAE's official positions.

Good grief. Cizik has been pulling these stunts for some time. And getting away with it. And it looks like Anderson and the rest of the gang in the NAE offices are coddling him yet again.

It certainly gives cause to wonder if perhaps Cizik doesn't represent the views of NAE leaders more than what they're willing to publicly admit. If the NAE really does care about a firm, engaging defense of the sanctity of life, of marriage, and of biblical authority...why don't they bounce this guy?

To see the sad pattern of Cizik's liberalism and the subsequent acceptance of it by the NAE, take a look at these previous Vital Signs Blog posts: "Richard Cizik And the National Association of Evangelicals Are Way Off Course;" "The Sinking Ship of the National Association of Evangelicals;" and "Can Obama Win Over Religious Conservatives? He's Certainly Trying;" and the most recent, "Newsweek/Washington Post Fumbles Its Coverage of Evangelicals and Global Warming."

In light of these latest outrageous statements by Richard Cizik, I can only repeat below the very words I typed here in July of 2007:

"And, of course, more disturbing than the over-the-top political correctness of Cizik himself is that the NAE has yet to discipline him for his irresponsible remarks or even rein him in.

Therefore, if you are a member of the NAE or even just a Christian who realizes how dangerous it can be when the MSM have "liberal evangelicals" in leadership that they can point to and quote in order to steer a news story their way, please contact the NAE and ask them to remove Richard Cizik from his vice-presidency and to insure that the NAE makes a return to theological orthodoxy and priority."

The contact info is:
National Association of Evangelicals
c/o President Leith Anderson
PO Box 23269
Washington, DC 20026
202-789-1011
president@nae.net

Here's a copy of my latest letter to the NAE:

Dear Rev. Anderson,

The recent comments of the Rev. Richard Cizik on NPR must surely be enough for you to finally bounce this guy! If not...if you coddle him once again for not merely roaming off the NAE range but indeed engaging in very serious errors of heterodoxy, then suspicion as to the true opinions and character of the rest of the NAE is inevitable.

For crying out loud. Cizik shrugs off the extreme seriousness of abortion, unfairly criticizes Sarah Palin, accepts the legitimacy of homosexual unions, boasts that he voted for abortion extremist Barack Obama, and suggests that for modern times the teachings of the Bible need to be given "a different slant."

And he's still at his NAE desk?

Yes, I understand that you've given him "a good talking to" and that you've reassured the board that Cizik remains one of the team. But do you think that your mild letter of disapproval will get the same attention as did Cizik's interview on national radio? Of course not. So whether or not Cizik's heterodox views "appropriately" reflected the opinions of evangelicals, the listeners of NPR are certainly going to think they do.

Cizik is trying to take the tired and cowardly way out here, blaming listeners for misunderstanding what he said and assuring us that he still believes and supports the NAE's official positions.

Good grief. Cizik has been pulling these stunts for some time. And getting away with it.

But hasn't he gone too far this time -- even for you? I mean, if the NAE really does care about a firm, engaging defense of the sanctity of life, of marriage, and of biblical authority...why won't you remove Cizik from his bully pulpit?

Please do so immediately.

Denny Hartford
Director, Vital Signs Ministries
Omaha, Nebraska

Keen's Global Warming Quiz

Want to take a crack at Keen's Global Warming Quiz?

Developed by Dr. Richard Keen of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC) at the University of Colorado, you'll find this little excercise extremely informative, provocative and, unlike my science classes in high school, kinda' fun.

Have at it. And then pass it along.

George Ryan Hopes for Bush Pardon

Speaking of political corruption in Illinois -- as everybody is right now -- does anybody remember the former Republican governor of the state?

George Ryan is finally in prison, convicted in 2006 of racketeering, mail fraud, tax fraud, and lying to federal investigators. And that's not all he should be in for. Yet he remains as arrogant and unrepentant as ever.

Might George W. Bush pardon such a crook? Ryan is begging hard for one and Illinois' high-level Democrats have joined in to try and pressure Bush to do so.

Of course, one of those Democrats, current Governor Rod Blagojevich, himself indicted yesterday on the most severe corruption charges, has not only made his appeal a criminally ironic one but perhaps has drawn so much attention to how desperately wicked is Illinois government that Bush dare not sign a pardon for anybody there.

Let's hope so. Ryan is a despicable guy and should not even be considered for a presidential pardon, especially when pardons have yet to be given for Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, the two former border agents on the list who were convicted in 2006 of shooting and wounding a fleeing drug dealer at the Texas-Mexico border.

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (California) has been leading a chorus of House Republicans urging a pardon for these officers. “President Bush still has time to do the right thing and commute wrongly imprisoned Border Agents Ramos and Compean. If he doesn’t, while at the same time pardoning blatant criminals, then he will be remembered for the personal persecution and values that decision reflects.

“The fact that the President has neglected to free these men from their imprisonment while freeing drug dealers, embezzlers and other criminals is insulting to the American people who have been begging and pleading for the President to release the agents whose prosecution was unjust from the beginning. For the sake of justice, let’s hope this is not the last round of pardons and commutations.”

And what about "Scooter" Libby, Dick Cheney's former top aide, who was convicted in the case of the leaked identity of a CIA operative? Or Marion Jones, the Olympic sprinter who was convicted of lying about steroid use? Or perhaps a few blanket pardons for CIA officers and others who played a part in the use of "enhanced interrogation" techniques in the war on terror -- officers who just might become the targets of aggressive prosecutions by the incoming Democrat administration?

If Bush is considering other pardons (he's been very reluctant to hand them out so far), these would certainly be much more appropriate than the likes of George Ryan.

Human Rights? Not in Canada.

Today is Human Rights Day, the day that commemorates the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights exactly 60 years ago - December 10th 1948. To be honest, I had no great interest in a day dedicated to human rights until agencies of the Canadian state started trying to deprive me of mine, and any professed respect in this space for the UN Declaration is, frankly, largely tactical. But I noticed a year ago, when Ezra Levant and I began our crusade against the deranged Dominion's thought police, that if you pointed out its "human rights" regime was at odds with English Common Law and Canada's 800-year legal inheritance stretching back to Magna Carta, it was greeted with a shrug of indifference...

Canada, its "human rights" commissions, and in particular Section 13 of the Human Rights Code are in sustained breach of key provisions of the UN Declaration. To whit...

And the detailed "whit" that Mark Steyn goes on to provide will, though it goes down hard, make for an important and stirring read. Don't miss it.

Nation's Leading Abortionist Planned Parenthood Caught Lying and Breaking the Law Yet Again

From Fox News (and thanks for the tip, Ruth):

A college student posing as a pregnant 13-year-old was told at a Planned Parenthood clinic to lie about the age of her baby's father to skirt Indiana laws on parental consent for abortion and on reporting child sex abuse.

According to a report in the Washington Times, Lila Rose, 20, went undercover as a 13-year old named "Brianna," who said she was pregnant by a 31-year old man. Rose, president of a pro-life organization at UCLA, recorded the interaction with a hidden camera; the video has been posted on YouTube.

Click here to see the video.

The video shows "Diana," a nurse at Planned Parenthood in Bloomington, Ind., telling Brianna that she is required to report the pregnancy to Child Protective Services, because it "could be reported as rape." But she goes on to tell Brianna that if she lies about the age and identity of her baby's father, she can avoid turning him in.

"I didn't hear the age. I don't want to know the age," Diana says in the video. She tells Brianna, "You've seen him around, you know he's 14, he's in your grade and whatever. You know what I mean?" Indiana law requires that sexual acts between an adult and children under 14 be reported to law enforcement and Child Protective Services.

The nurse also is seen giving Brianna information on where to get an abortion in Illinois, where parental notification laws are not enforced.

The Washington Times reported that Rose said her organization had taped several examples of similar conduct.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana suspended the nurse on Wednesday, the Times said, and issued a statement.

"We are deeply concerned about the content of the video. ... The apparent actions of the employee would be in violation of our strict policies and procedures," Betty Cockrum, the state chapter's president, said in the statement. The organization said it would investigate the incident.

An Inside Look Into Prison Ministry

I was thrilled (as I always am) to read the latest in the ongoing adventures of my old buddy, Tom Beatty, jail chaplain and Director of New Life Corrections Ministry in Aurora, Illinois. I have a hunch you'll appreciate reading this article from his newsletter too.

A few months ago, I visited Staff Chaplain George Adamson at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet. He gave me the “grand tour,” during which he showed me the “NRC Unit” in which 1600-1800 inmates are housed. Here, all the men from northern Illinois who are sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections, spend 3-6 weeks while they’re being classified. After classification, they’re transferred to various prisons throughout Illinois. While in NRC, the men are locked down in their cells 23+ hours per day with no services available to them, with absolutely nothing to do–no televisions, no radios, nothing.

I suggested that they allow New Life Corrections to begin a “literaturedistribution” ministry to these men. They did! They allow us to take in Bibles, New Testaments, Bible Lessons (especially designed for prison inmates), tracts and teaching brochures (also especially designed for prison inmates), Christian books, magazines, and newspapers. It’s “sowing seed” in “thirsty” soil. Like a friend of mine used to say, “It’s like fishin’ in a stocked pond!”

It’s an exhausting ministry, in an oppressive crowded atmosphere. The men are housed two per cell. The cells are in three-tiered cellblocks, so it’s up-and-down lots of steps. I visit the men, going cell-to-cell. The men are glad to see a Chaplain! They more than welcome the books and magazines.

A frequent response when receiving a tract with my “before & after” pictures on it is, “Is this you?” When I assure them it is, the next question is often, “How did you change?” I understand completely. I remember wanting to change and now knowing how to change. So when I hear this question, it’s a delight to tell them how I, at age 30, first began reading the Bible and entered into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Many of the men start the Bible Lessons. I’ve used these lessons for 25 years and have seen many come to faith in Christ just completing the first lesson! There are 224 lessons in the course, so we can keep them busy for some time. And of course, they have the time. Along with this incredible opportunity is even more incredible potential! As these men are classified and then sent off to prisons all over the state, experience has shown us that the Bible Lessons are “contagious!” I expect more requests for Bible Lessons from men in prisons all over Illinois!

Along with this incredible opportunity with incredible potential come some great needs. The Aurora Gideon Camp has already committed to helping with New Testaments, but we’re going to need more. The newspapers, magazines and devotional booklets are donated. We can print the Bible Lessons and the tracts we use in-house and inexpensively, but due to the 100's of lessons and tracts we’re using, even printing inexpensively is expensive! Every day I go to the Stateville Prison (Tuesdays and hopefully Fridays also), it costs nearly $65. So, I need some help! Would you please consider sponsoring a day’s ministry supplies? Or, if $65 is just a bit much to handle right now, would you please consider sponsoring the costs of supplying all 224 lessons for one person – about $11.00.

We’ll also need Bible Lesson Graders and prayer warriors for the inmates and please pray for me, too, as I meet the men and give them literature and Bible Lessons. If you’d like more information about this exciting ministry, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Chaplain Tom, at 630-723-exciting ministry, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Chaplain Tom at tbeatty@waysidecross.

The YWCA Has “Always Been Pro-Choice”

Huh?

The same YWCA that was started 150 years ago?

That's the preposterous claim of YWCA's chief executive officer, Dr. Lorraine Cole, whose moral sense turns out to be as bad as her historical.

In truth, the YWCA caved in to feminist pressures and adopted a pro-abortion position only in 1967. Currently their web site boasts that the organization's support of abortion “remains an important part of the comprehensive YWCA public policy agenda.”

Here's the CNSNews story (with an accompanying video interview of Dr. Cole) about the organization's urging Barack Obama to push the radically pro-abortion Freedom of Choice Act.

"Euthanasia" Suicide to be Broadcast on British Television

"What's on the telly tonight, dear?"

"Oh, there's a couple of moronic sitcoms, a documentary about hot air ballooning, an old movie with Richard Burton...and, hmm, this looks interesting -- a live feed from Sky Real Lives of a man dying of suffocation in a Swiss euthanasia clinic."

"Oh? Be sure and call the kiddies down for that."

Invented? No.

On British TV tomorrow night will be shown 59-year old Craig Ewert killing himself at a suicide clinic in Switzerland. The show's producers, in order to stay within British law, claim it is neutral on the subject of euthanasia.

But they're lying.

Note, for instance, the biased comments of the program's co-producer Terence McKeown: "It was an incredibly difficult experience for all of us. I think we’ve all suffered a bit of post-traumatic stress from it. It was profound and stayed with all of us, more so because we spent the previous few days with Craig, travelled with him to Zurich and got to know him quite well.

"He should have been able to do it at his home. He argued that it is quite inhumane to force people in various states of illness to go to a little apartment in a foreign city to die."

Televising a real person's suicide on TV? And doing so in a manner that profoundly encourages death as a good, friendly, welcome thing? We are indeed embracing a culture of death in the West as we brazenly, foolishly defy God.

A Soldier's Christmas

This moving poem was forwarded to me by a dear friend and pro-life colleague, Dr. Greg Gardner in Birmingham, England. I'm deeply grateful for it is a very stirring and important piece. I gladly pass it on and suggest you do the same. Also, please note that after the poem I have reprinted Marks' comments on the origins of the poem and responses to it.

A Different Christmas Poem by Michael Marks

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream..

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

'What are you doing?' I asked without fear,
'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!'
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said 'Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.'
'It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me..
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,'
Then he sighed, 'That's a Christmas Gram' always remembers.'
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.'

'So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.'
'But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.'

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
'Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'

©Copyright December 7, 2000

Author’s Note: In loving appreciation of the countless Americans who have, and continue to serve in the Armed Forces and those who gave their life for their country. Your sacrifices will never be forgotten. We look forward to the day you come home. God bless and keep you always, and God Bless America.

A Soldier’s Christmas was the first in this series of patriotic writings, drafted on Pearl Harbor Day 2000 when in the wake of the 2000 Presidential Election our nation saw the right of US Armed Forces personnel openly questioned and debated. I felt it unconscionable that at the onset of the Christmas season, those serving to defend our nation would hear anything but our love and support. It is our challenge to stand for their rights at home while they stand for our lives and safety overseas. This poem went out and quickly spread around the world in emails, letters, and magazines. I received letters from Marines in Bosnia, soldiers in Okinawa, from a submariner who xeroxed a copy for everyone on his sub. Moms wrote, dads, brothers and sisters. I have saved and cherish every letter and set out to continue writing throughout the year.

Other Michael Marks poems can be found here.