The Epidemic of STDs Is Getting Worse

Politics isn't the only disease rampant in Washington, D.C.

It also has the dishonor of having higher rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis than any of the 50 states!

The District's chlamydia rate of 1,177 cases per 100,000 people was almost three times the rate of its neighbors, Virginia and Maryland. For gonorrhea, D.C.’s rate was 451.5 cases per 100,000, almost twice that of second-ranking Mississippi and more than three times the rate of neighbors Virginia and Maryland. (And more than 13 times the rate of Oregon, more than 25 times the rate of Utah.)

With syphilis too, Washington, D.C. led the nation: a rate of 24.8 cases per 100,000 overwhelmed second-place Louisiana's 16.5 per 100,000 rate and third-place Alabama’s rate of 9.7 per 100,000.

What is the answer? Chasity, of course.

But you'd never know it from this outrageously biased Reuters news story for it claims (directly contrary to well-established fact) that abstinence-only sex education doesn't work as well as value-free, no-limits, "safe sex" programs. Indeed, this nitwit reporter (Maggie Fox by name) manages in her story 1) to praise Barack Obama, 2) to use only the CDC party line (no contrary voices) for expertise, 3) to attribute increased rates of promiscuity among blacks to the increased rates of incarceration among blacks, and 4) to introduce her argument that the soaring rates of STDs are primarily because we're not talking about sex enough in America!

Where has this dolt been? As if sex wasn't the constant in American entertainment, a standard feature in education, the most common topic of conversation (and text messaging) among youth, and -- given the ever decreasing number of chaste citizens in the country -- a well-practiced, hands-on pastime.

But, as liberals are wont to do, they'll keep throwing good money and hard effort at miserably failed solutions. And the numbers of people affected by STDs will continue to climb.

From Whence the Health Care Bill?

Rich Terrell's cartoons can be found at AfterMath.

Describes Terrell about his new career, "Now retired from teaching high school economics and math (thus “AfterMath”) I turned my hand to Photoshop cartooning. My cartoons are unabashedly conservative. This conservatism comes from experience as much as from studying conservative philosophers and economists like Hayek, Smith, Sowell, Milton Friedman. Living in Berkeley , California for seventeen years cured me of any lingering illusions about liberalism. People’s Park alone stands as squalid witness to liberalism’s failure. I do, however, borrow from the radical Saul Alinsky one useful concept -- the importance of mocking the opposition."

Another Muslim "Honor Killing?" The Media Dares Not Report the Facts.

Another Muslim "honor killing" that the press refuses to identify as such?

It sure looks like it. A 28-year old British Punjabi woman, mother of two children, died after being found in a London street, bleeding from extensive head injuries and from having her right hand chopped off. 6 men have been arrested -- including the woman's estranged husband.

The dismemberment appears to be a symbolic horror related to the practice of Sikhs wearing the kara, a metal bangle which adorns the right wrist. The kara is, as a friend of the young mother said, "a permanent reminder to live a moral and good life and once it's on you can't get it off. So her murderer was both dishonouring her and perhaps trying to show she had been dishonourable - which is just barbaric."

One more note -- in almost none of the newspapers covering the story will you read the word "Muslim" or "Islam." Indeed, in the first stories which appeared, the woman was simply described as "Asian."

Political-correctness is killing us.

A Closer Look at Animal Rights Organizations

Today’s animal rights movement has never wavered from its ultimate aim: the complete abolition of a long list of consumer choices that most Americans enjoy. These include meat, dairy foods, hunting, fishing, zoos, aquariums, circuses, rodeos, fur, leather, wool, and silk.

Activists even want to do away with vital medical research that uses animals. PETA co-founder and president Ingrid Newkirk once proclaimed: “Even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we’d be against it.” And PCRM recently filed a complaint against a hospital whose doctors were using pigs to hone their surgical skills—the most realistic option available for medical training.

Inch by inch, groups like PETA, PCRM, and HSUS continue to advance toward a society that views human beings as no different from (and no more important than) barnyard livestock and lab rats. Giving legal “rights” to Babe and Rover is an integral part of an animal rights future...

The Center for Consumer Freedom exposes the ugly underbelly of America's animal rights movement in many ways. But if we hope to protect ourselves from the pantheistic paganism of the animal rights organizations, we must do what we can to inform others about what these groups are really into.

So, to season your conversations and letters to editors and politicians, check out this page on the website of The Center for Consumer Freedom and pay special attention there to the easy-to-read (but fascinating and infuriating) Pdf files they've created concerning People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

Each is entitled “7 Things You Didn’t Know” and they will quickly introduce you to the deception, manipulation and hunger for tyrannical power behind these groups.

Why Does the Media So Spitefully, Irrationally Hate Sarah Palin?

Newsweek devoted its latest cover story to attacking Palin -- a refreshing change of pace from Newsweek's weekly cover stories praising Barack Obama. According to Newsweek, she's a "problem" in need of a solution, perhaps because she looks good in shorts.

There seems to be a media competition at work, a sort of championship tournament. Every reporter, anchor, and pundit in America is engaged in a frantic effort to be the hero who fires the silver bullet that slays the Republican werewolf from Wasilla.

Whether or not Sarah Palin is the last, best hope of the GOP, she is inarguably the worst nightmare of crusading liberal journalists. Not since Oliver North showed up for a key congressional hearing in his Marine Corps uniform has the Washington press corps been so spectacularly vexed at its inability to destroy an intended victim. Her mere survival makes her Evil with a capital "E." The only way Republicans can save Palin from this incessant maelstrom of media hatred is to nominate a Limbaugh-Coulter ticket in 2012...

Robert Stacy McCain's article in American Spectator is a hoot -- and though humorous, is a very insightful piece. Read it here.

Your Wednesday Tea Break (Crystal Gayle)

Today's Posts

Why Does the Democrat Party Fear These Women So?

Will Iran Stop the Persecution of Christians?

Barack Obama and Harry Reid Want This Radical Leftist on the Court of Appeals

Prenatal Development, Pregnancy Education and More at EHD

Shrugging Off Ayn Rand

An Encouraging AWANA Response

Attention Facebook Users: Beware the Hackers Posing as Friends

How Low Will Our President Go? Putting Obama's Bow to Akihito "In Context"

Why Does the Democrat Party Fear These Women So?

...Women like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann -- attractive, conservative, content in their marriages, devoted to God, family and country -- are as comfortable in politics as they are in their homes, caring for their families. They are a new breed of woman, and they are a threat to the liberal orthodoxy. They are the true representation of American women, as evidenced by the fact that the last time a Democrat presidential candidate won a majority of white women was 1964.

Liberals are angry and unhappy people, and they hate and fear the new breed of female politician represented by Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann. These women are cut from the same bold cloth as Margaret Thatcher. They love liberty, and that puts them at the top of the hit list for every leftist in America. Nancy Pelosi has targeted Michelle Bachmann for defeat in next year's congressional election because Bachmann threatens Pelosi's extremist agenda.

As for Palin, she is a tough-as-nails mother of five who took on the corruption of her own state party officials, tamed the Alaskan oil industry and rose from city council to governor to vice presidential candidate. Her very existence incenses the left. Not since Phyllis Schlafly infuriated them with her organized opposition to the ERA in the early 1970s has anyone so unnerved the liberal forces of "hope and change."

When you hear elitists across the political spectrum vilify conservative women like Palin and Bachmann, know that it is because they fear them. Left wing politicians of either gender represent the politics of the past. Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann represent the future. That makes them dangerous.

(Read the entirety of Doug Patton's fine column right here.)

Will Iran Stop the Persecution of Christians?

There may be freedom in the futures of Marzieh Esmaeilabad and Maryam Rustampoor, two Iranian Christians who I mentioned to you earlier this month. But prayers are still very much needed for their release from an Iranian prison and for safety from future persecution because of their Christian faith.

Here's the latest.

Two young Christian women who faced execution or at least life imprisonment in Iran for converting from Islam to Christianity were to be released as early as Tuesday, November 17, after international pressure and prayers, their representatives told BosNewsLife.

Elam Ministries, a group founded by senior Iranian church leaders, said Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30, and Maryam Rustampoor, 27, were told over the weekend they would be freed following some 257 days imprisonment in one of Tehran's most notorious prisons.

There release was already expected Monday November 16, but other Christians cautioned it may take a little bit longer due to bureaucratic procedures. "We understand after their release they might have to attend court hearings," cautioned Elam Ministries in a statement. However, "We are rejoicing at the prospect of their release but would ask you to pray for their full and unconditional release, and for their safety and quick recovery."

Barack Obama and Harry Reid Want This Radical Leftist on the Court of Appeals

With Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's announcement that he will move forward this week with the process of confirming the outrageously liberal David Hamilton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, it is time for you to:

1) Revisit this Vital Signs post from last April.

2) Re-read this Power Line post from last March.

3) Then jot down a couple of the biggest scandals associated with this fellow and let your Senator know you definitely don't want this guy on the 7th Circuit!

Prenatal Development, Pregnancy Education and More at EHD

Arizona lawyer and pro-life activist extraordinaire John J. Jakubczyk recently recommended to his Facebook friends the web site of The Endowment for Human Development. John said that not only is it an "amazing" site, it provides "the perfect answer to anyone who falsely charges you with using religion to prove the humanity of the unborn child."

He was right.

Check it out right here.

Shrugging Off Ayn Rand

Peter Wehner has some refreshingly honest and perceptive comments (plus tossing in a few from others you'll want to hear like Whittaker Chambers and William F. Buckley) about Ayn Rand, that third-rate novelist and audaciously self-centered "philosopher" who has received way too much applause from members of the conservative movement.

Very good stuff, Peter.

Objectively, Ayn Rand Was a Nut

According to Politico.com, Ayn Rand — the subject of two new biographies, one of which is titled Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right — is “having a mainstream moment,” including among conservatives. (Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina wrote a piece in Newsweek on Rand, saying, “This is a very good time for a Rand resurgence. She’s more relevant than ever.”).

I hope the moment passes. Ms. Rand may have been a popular novelist, but her philosophy is deeply problematic and morally indefensible.

Ayn Rand was, of course, the founder of Objectivism – whose ethic, she said in a 1964 interview, holds that “man exists for his own sake, that the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose, that he must not sacrifice himself to others, nor sacrifice others to himself.” She has argued that “friendship, family life and human relationships are not primary in a man’s life. A man who places others first, above his own creative work, is an emotional parasite; whereas, if he places his work first, there is no conflict between his work and his enjoyment of human relationships.”

And about Jesus she said: "I do regard the cross as the symbol of the sacrifice of the ideal to the nonideal. Isn’t that what it does mean? Christ, in terms of the Christian philosophy, is the human ideal. He personifies that which men should strive to emulate. Yet, according to the Christian mythology, he died on the cross not for his own sins but for the sins of the nonideal people. In other words, a man of perfect virtue was sacrificed for men who are vicious and who are expected or supposed to accept that sacrifice. If I were a Christian, nothing could make me more indignant than that: the notion of sacrificing the ideal to the nonideal, or virtue to vice. And it is in the name of that symbol that men are asked to sacrifice themselves for their inferiors. That is precisely how the symbolism is used. That is torture."

Many conservatives aren’t aware that it was Whittaker Chambers who, in 1957, reviewed Atlas Shrugged in National Review and read her out of the conservative movement. The most striking feature of the book, Chambers said, was its “dictatorial tone . . . Its shrillness is without reprieve. Its dogmatism is without appeal . . . From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding: ‘To a gas chamber — go!’”

William F. Buckley Jr. himself wrote about her “desiccated philosophy’s conclusive incompatibility with the conservative’s emphasis on transcendence, intellectual and moral; but also there is the incongruity of tone, that hard, schematic, implacable, unyielding dogmatism that is in itself intrinsically objectionable.”

Yet there are some strands within conservatism that still veer toward Rand and her views of government (“The government should be concerned only with those issues which involve the use of force,” she argued. “This means: the police, the armed services, and the law courts to settle disputes among men. Nothing else.”), and many conservatives identify with her novelistic hero John Galt, who declared, “I swear — by my life and my love of it — that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”

But this attitude has very little to do with authentic conservatism, at least the kind embodied by Edmund Burke, Adam Smith (chair of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow), and James Madison, to name just a few. What Rand was peddling is a brittle, arid, mean, and ultimately hollow philosophy. No society could thrive if its tenets were taken seriously and widely accepted. Ayn Rand may have been an interesting figure and a good (if extremely long-winded) novelist; but her views were pernicious, the antithesis of a humane and proper worldview. And conservatives should say so.

An Encouraging AWANA Response

I received in my e-mail this morning a very encouraging note regarding my speaking last week to three groups of AWANA kids up at Country Bible Church in Blair, Nebraska. I have maintained for several years that this is my favorite speaking engagement of the year. And it remains so. After all, I have connections to Blair that go back as far as when I first hitchhiked into Nebraska back in...oh my...1970. And I really love these kids and deeply respect the AWANA leaders there.

And maybe, like anything else that is a yearly part of my schedule, it serves as a milestone. That quiet nighttime drive to Blair and back provides a nice hour for me to reflect on the year gone by since I last did the gig.

Among the topics I've talked to these kids about over the years have been Christmas, Balaam's talking donkey, an encounter with a giant spider in Nigeria, my childhood adventure featuring The Black Paw, a dramatic night when I learned what a hero my Dad was, my experiences at orphanages in Burkina Faso, India and Belarus, and more. Like I said, I've had a blast.

Anyhow, the note actually was forwarded to me by the person who had initially received it. She sent it over as an encouragement (this dear lady has been a cheerleader for our ministry for many years) and Claire suggested I print it here as a reminder to those of you with church, Sunday School, home school group, private school and AWANA club connections that, in addition to speaking to university students, preaching to adults, talking to pro-life groups and debating the anti-life crowd, I do speak to kids.

Here's the note: "Last Wednesday at Awana, Denny spoke. He did a beautiful job at storytelling. He basically told us of his experiences as a young Boy Scout in Colorado and how he “didn’t read the book” or “study” how to be prepared. As a result he and his friends had a miserable camping trip complete with sliding down the hillside in the pouring rain and waking up in a stream. He emphasized that we as Christians need to “read the book” and apply what we learn or we are going to end up in the crick.

He did a beautiful job with the “be prepared” and “apply what you study” message he presented. Because of what he said last week, the Sparks and Cubbies will be learning what to do with a personal quiet time; what it is; how to focus purposeful attention on God..."

So, if you have any of the connections I mentioned above, please consider asking me along to speak. As has been our custom ever since we started this work back in 1982, there is no charge for my speaking. And if we can fit it into the schedule, I would sure love to.

And, after all, don't you yourself want to hear the rest of the details about that disastrous camping trip?

Attention Facebook Users: Beware the Hackers Posing as Friends

Julie Schmit-Albin sent along a very important HACKER WARNING last night geared to Facebook users. And it proved timely for me -- this morning the very attack Julie described was attempted on me. Yipes!

Here's the deal as Julie described it, "There is a new way to hack your Facebook. A notification will be sent to you that one of your friends has commented on your status, it will open a new page and tell you to re-enter your Facebook user name and password. The page looks just like the FB login page, so be on the look out!"

In my case, there appeared on my Wall (supposedly from a person I know and trust -- but there's the rub, the hacker program hijacks names from your Facebook data base in order to fool you) the following, "lol, you gotta see this!"

Hitting the link got me to the page Julie described and, being forewarned, I recognized it and avoided the trap by NOT DOING ANYTHING except, of course, hitting "Remove" next to the item on my Wall.

Like Julie advised, do your friends a big favor by posting this warning on your Facebook page.

And while I'm at it, let me reiterate my grave disappointment with Facebook's recent changes (this inexplicably dumb division of News Feed and Live Feed) AND with the appalling lack of consideration shown by Facebook bosses to the thousands of complaints about the move.

For if one uses the News Feed format on his Home page, he misses a huge amount of the postings he was receiving before the change. And there seems to be no rhyme or reason about which posts are chosen. Plus they can change on you too. Very weird.

But if one uses the Live Feed format, you get so many posts (including all of the "X Is Now Friends with Y" stuff) that you can't keep up and end up missing another huge amount of the postings you used to receive.

Both from a personal angle (Facebook isn't half the fun, stimulating and helpful experience it was) and the professional angle (the visits to Vital Signs Blog which soared after I started mentioning them on Facebook have dropped considerably), the Facebook changes have proved very counter-productive.

And yet Facebook continues to stick its head in the cyber-sand. Bummer move.

How Low Will Our President Go? Putting Obama's Bow to Akihito "In Context"

Democrats who are trying to defend Barack Obama's most recent bow to a foreign figure (in this case, the Emperor of Japan) are using the line, "You've got to put it in context."

Well, that's just what Hot Air Pundit has done by posting photographs showing the moment of greeting between the Emperor and, respectively, 8 other heads of state and high-level dignitaries.

None of them bowed to the Emperor.

It is interesting to note that the goofball move of President Obama is being noted this time around by more than the alternative media. Could the halo finally be slipping? For instance, here's a take by Andrew Malcolm which showed up in the LA Times.

Among the thousands of comments left on the Ticket in recent days, most dealt with our item: "How low will he go?" about the awkward bow that President Obama gave Japan's Emperor Akihito over the weekend.

Apparently improperly briefed about accepted procedure in Japan or perhaps having a time zone mind melt, Obama stuck out his hand for a shake. Which was fine. And friendly.

He then proceeded to simultaneously bow. Which was not.

And take his eyes off the person he's greeting. Which was not.

And, worst in the eyes of many, the over-enthusiastic president of the United States bowed way down at a 45-degree angle, indicating in that culture, and apparently in the eyes of many others, subservience to the emperor, son of the man who authorized the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.

This came only a few months after White House aides denied that Obama bowed to the Saudi king, when it sure looked like a bow to non-aides.

And it all seemed to fit in with what critics mockingly call Obama's world apology tours.

It also adds to previous Obama diplomatic gaffes. There was that promise to talk with the president of Canada. A reference to not speaking Austrian. Giving Britain's prime minister a chintzy collection of American movie DVDs, which weren't formatted for video players in the U.K. And Michelle Obama's friendly or patronizing pat to the back of Queen Elizabeth II, who received as her presidential gift an iPod with Broadway show tunes...

Malcolm then goes on to link to this video clip produced by the Republican student group at the University of Connecticut which contrasts Obama's bizarre obeisance to (if I counted correctly) 46 dignitaries! None of whom bowed. Check it out.

May Fr. Tony Have a Word?

Having received this morning a letter obviously intended for me but nevertheless addressed to "Fr. Anthony Hartford," I have had to deal all morning with Claire calling me "Fr. Tony" and teasing me in all sorts of other ways -- "Do your vows allow you salsa on your egg burrito?", "What is the Latin for dust mop?", "What's Pope Benedict really like?", and so on.

What fun we have over here.

But this post really has another purpose besides eliciting your sympathy at what I'm enduring today. What I actually had to say was -- Sorry, but I won't be blogging today. The morning's sidewalk counseling shift, a few errands, getting the house ready for one of Vital Signs Ministries Book It! discussions tonight over C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters and, uh, finishing reading the book myself -- they have all conspired to keep me from my normal routine.

So, until tomorrow, Benedictio Dei. (Oh no; now she's got me doing it.)

Today's Posts

A Technology Stretch

The Overlooked Victim in the Ft. Hood Terrorist Murders

A Man Who Despises America Is, Uh...In the White House

Obama's Embrace of Islam: Let's Go to the Videotapes

NYC High School Students: "What's an Algebra?"

After Giving Away the Farm, Obama Wants to Recover a Couple of Chickens

A Technology Stretch

Okay, explain this to me one more time.

The Russian Antonov 225, nicknamed by NATO as "Cossack," is the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built. You tell me it weighs 650 tons and can carry another 275 tons in its cargo hold or 220 tons on top of its fuselage.

Okay, I've got that.

But I still don't understand --

How does the doggone thing get up in the air, let alone stay there!

The Overlooked Victim in the Ft. Hood Terrorist Murders

Mary Rose Rybak writes in First Thoughts (one of the blogs run by First Things magazine) about the 14th murder victim of Islamic terrorist, Nidal Hassan:

The suspect for the Fort Hood shootings, Nidal Malik Hasan, has been charged with thirteen counts of murder, the AP reports. "The officials said it is not yet decided whether to charge Hasan with a fourteenth count of murder related to the death of the unborn child of a pregnant shooting victim."

Well of course they’re not yet decided. That the unborn child really counts as a life–legally, that wouldn’t be for them to decide, right?

Despite our nation’s unprotection of unborn babies, you’d think this one should be easy: There’s good evidence that Francheska Velez, the mother, wanted to keep this child: She returned from her tour when she learned she was pregnant, and was filling out paperwork regarding her pregnancy at the very time of the shooting. According to news reports, “Francheska Velez was expecting a baby boy in May.”

But perhaps there’s more to it than this. In all likelihood, officials are waiting for more information to see if the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 applies in this case. According to this very complex and restrictive act, Hasan could be charged with the death of the unborn baby if, say, his actions are classified as an act of terrorism; but if not, I’m told, the legal questions are a bit murkier.

And that’s a shame–that even laws like these, meant to protect the unborn, are so restrictive that such clear-cut matters as this face indecision.

A Man Who Despises America Is, Uh...In the White House

Barack Obama despises America.

When people who voted for Obama in 2008 -- including registered Democrats -- start speaking in normal conversational voices at dinner parties, neighborhood gatherings and PTA meetings that the over-inflated ego from Chicago has it "in for America," then it's clear most reasonable people have reached the same conclusion.

The central conviction of Obama's ideology is that America is guilty of limitless moral failures and is the chief architect of the world's ills. Obama has boundless enmity for America, its key institutions, and its longtime allies. Consider these facts...

Mark Hyman then continues his American Spectator article by listing a very uncomfortable number of facts relevant to his charge. It's an alarming read. Yet I urge you to read it. Our country's future is at stake.

And then, to provide added punch to Hyman's contentions, please make sure you watch the remarkable video clip I link to in the next post.