Washington, D.C. – In a precedent setting case, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia has ruled that former homosexuals are a protected class that must be recognized under sexual orientation non-discrimination laws. The Court held that, under the D.C. Human Rights Act, sexual orientation does not require immutable characteristics.
“We are gratified that the ex-gay community in Washington D.C. now has the same civil rights that gays enjoy,” said Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), which had filed the lawsuit against the District of Columbia government for failing to protect former homosexuals in the Nation’s Capital.
http://pfox.org/Court-Rules-Sexual-Orientation-Laws-Include-Former-Homosexuals.html
Friday, August 28, 2009
U.N. Agency Calls for Teaching Children 5-to-8 Years of Age about Masturbation
By Christopher Neefus
(CNSNews.com) – A June report from the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) suggests children of all countries and cultures are entitled to sexual and reproductive education beginning at age five. The report, called International Guidelines on Sexual Education, was released in June in conjunction with the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), an organization which works for universal access to “reproductive health care.”
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=52988
(CNSNews.com) – A June report from the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) suggests children of all countries and cultures are entitled to sexual and reproductive education beginning at age five. The report, called International Guidelines on Sexual Education, was released in June in conjunction with the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), an organization which works for universal access to “reproductive health care.”
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=52988
ACLU’s Request to Jail Lisa Miller Fails in Virginia Court
Winchester, VA – Earlier today, Liberty Counsel appeared in court to defend Lisa Miller from a complaint filed by the ACLU of Virginia on behalf of Janet Jenkins. The ACLU asked the judge to order Lisa to jail for not delivering her own daughter, Isabella, to Vermont for unsupervised visitation with Janet. The ACLU also requested Lisa to pay attorneys fees and costs. No jail time was ordered and the court rejected the ACLU’s request for money.
Although the court ruled that Lisa had violated a Vermont judge’s visitation order, no fines were assessed against her. The court ordered that Lisa pay $100 per day for pending visitation orders issued in Vermont, but there are no pending visitation orders at this time. The ACLU vigorously argued against Liberty Counsel’s requested change of venue to Bedford County, where Lisa lives and Isabella attends school. However, the court ruled that future disputes in this case will be heard in Bedford County.
http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?PID=14100&PRID=846
Although the court ruled that Lisa had violated a Vermont judge’s visitation order, no fines were assessed against her. The court ordered that Lisa pay $100 per day for pending visitation orders issued in Vermont, but there are no pending visitation orders at this time. The ACLU vigorously argued against Liberty Counsel’s requested change of venue to Bedford County, where Lisa lives and Isabella attends school. However, the court ruled that future disputes in this case will be heard in Bedford County.
http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?PID=14100&PRID=846
What the Experts Are Saying Now
The most recent research in child development. Among the findings: 4-year-olds lie once an hour.
By KAY HYMOWITZ
For more than a century American parents—ever more distanced from grandmothers and suspicious of tradition—have looked to social science to explain their children to them. Thus they have gobbled up books and articles by experts who periodically deliver the latest truths about child-rearing. Back in 1945, when Dr. Spock published his "Baby and Child Care," readers' devotion to expert opinion was so intense that he began his book with the reassuring words: "Trust yourself." Not that he believed it. The book was jammed with advice.
Now, in "NurtureShock," Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman survey the newest new findings about child development. Little in the book is all that shocking, but given our enthusiasm for turning tentative child research into settled policy, the studies that the authors discuss are of more than passing interest.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574371422231600220.html
By KAY HYMOWITZ
For more than a century American parents—ever more distanced from grandmothers and suspicious of tradition—have looked to social science to explain their children to them. Thus they have gobbled up books and articles by experts who periodically deliver the latest truths about child-rearing. Back in 1945, when Dr. Spock published his "Baby and Child Care," readers' devotion to expert opinion was so intense that he began his book with the reassuring words: "Trust yourself." Not that he believed it. The book was jammed with advice.
Now, in "NurtureShock," Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman survey the newest new findings about child development. Little in the book is all that shocking, but given our enthusiasm for turning tentative child research into settled policy, the studies that the authors discuss are of more than passing interest.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574371422231600220.html
Fathers aren't dispensable just yet
This story is a fascinating “take” on the differences between mothers and fathers, and possibly relevant to the debate over same sex parenting….
by Linda Geddes
YOU may be tempted to think men are becoming an optional extra in the mating game, but biochemical evidence in mice and people suggests that fathers may play a key role in the rearing of offspring. Previous studies have hinted at the importance of fathers in child-rearing. Some have shown that girls reach puberty younger, become sexually active earlier and are more likely to get pregnant in their teens if their father was absent when they were young. Others have suggested that the sons of absent fathers display lower intimacy and self-esteem.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327184.000-fathers-arent-dispensable-just-yet.html
by Linda Geddes
YOU may be tempted to think men are becoming an optional extra in the mating game, but biochemical evidence in mice and people suggests that fathers may play a key role in the rearing of offspring. Previous studies have hinted at the importance of fathers in child-rearing. Some have shown that girls reach puberty younger, become sexually active earlier and are more likely to get pregnant in their teens if their father was absent when they were young. Others have suggested that the sons of absent fathers display lower intimacy and self-esteem.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327184.000-fathers-arent-dispensable-just-yet.html
Art galleries that don’t respect children
Carolyn Moynihan
Is it safe to take your children to an art gallery these days? A writer complains in the New York Times about taking his twin boys, aged 7, to one of his favourite galleries and running into an exhibition with “graphic images”. The name, “And/Or”, provided no clue to the genitalia displayed; the warning sign at the entrance was in very small print.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/art_galleries_that_dont_respect_children/
Is it safe to take your children to an art gallery these days? A writer complains in the New York Times about taking his twin boys, aged 7, to one of his favourite galleries and running into an exhibition with “graphic images”. The name, “And/Or”, provided no clue to the genitalia displayed; the warning sign at the entrance was in very small print.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/art_galleries_that_dont_respect_children/
Feet first into marriage
What can we learn from couples who don't live together before tripping down the aisle, asks John Naish
by John Naish
'Why didn't we live together before we got married?" I asked my wife. "It was your idea," she replied. "And a particularly daft one." Nevertheless, I should be feeling smug after a recent burst of headlines forecasting marital misery and early divorce for couples who cohabit before getting wed. We're the only marrieds we know who lived separately before the big day.
More than three-quarters of UK couples now live together before marriage. If you subtract strictly religious spouses from the non-cohabiting cohort, there's only a small minority left. But perhaps something helpful can be learned from the oddball few who decide to plunge straight in. Not that they are nicer, more upstanding, virginal types, but that their actions could betray a higher level of commitment to the actual idea of being married.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/22/feet-first-marriage
by John Naish
'Why didn't we live together before we got married?" I asked my wife. "It was your idea," she replied. "And a particularly daft one." Nevertheless, I should be feeling smug after a recent burst of headlines forecasting marital misery and early divorce for couples who cohabit before getting wed. We're the only marrieds we know who lived separately before the big day.
More than three-quarters of UK couples now live together before marriage. If you subtract strictly religious spouses from the non-cohabiting cohort, there's only a small minority left. But perhaps something helpful can be learned from the oddball few who decide to plunge straight in. Not that they are nicer, more upstanding, virginal types, but that their actions could betray a higher level of commitment to the actual idea of being married.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/22/feet-first-marriage
American Mistra: Putting the Culture Back in the Culture Wars
by Matthew J. Milliner
The urgency of protecting the sanctity of life, the dignity of the human person, and the institution of marriage goes hand-in-hand with cultivation of the arts.
John Witherspoon (the man after whom Public Discourse’s sponsoring institute is named) was faced with a choice. His eighteenth-century Scotch-Presbyterian milieu was divided between two parties. The Popular party, which today might be called the conservative wing, displayed the rigorous thought that accompanied Calvinist orthodoxy. The Moderate party, the more liberal branch, was doctrinally compromising, but peppered sermons with generous helpings of poetry, drama and literature. Faced with these alternatives, the young Witherspoon picked a definite side and became the champion of the Popular party. Witherspoon perceived that the Moderate penchant for poetry was not a supplement to classical doctrine, but an attempt to replace it. He penned a widely read satire of the Moderates, wherein they recited an “Athenian Creed” which began, “I believe in beauty and comely proportions of Dame Nature…,” and ended with, “I believe in the divinity of Lord Shaftesbury, the saintship of Marcus Antonius,” and so on. Witherspoon was a serious man who chose hard thinking over sponsorship of the arts. On the matter of Christians attending the theatre he was clear: “Where [amusement] is not necessary, it must be sinful.”
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2009/08/798
The urgency of protecting the sanctity of life, the dignity of the human person, and the institution of marriage goes hand-in-hand with cultivation of the arts.
John Witherspoon (the man after whom Public Discourse’s sponsoring institute is named) was faced with a choice. His eighteenth-century Scotch-Presbyterian milieu was divided between two parties. The Popular party, which today might be called the conservative wing, displayed the rigorous thought that accompanied Calvinist orthodoxy. The Moderate party, the more liberal branch, was doctrinally compromising, but peppered sermons with generous helpings of poetry, drama and literature. Faced with these alternatives, the young Witherspoon picked a definite side and became the champion of the Popular party. Witherspoon perceived that the Moderate penchant for poetry was not a supplement to classical doctrine, but an attempt to replace it. He penned a widely read satire of the Moderates, wherein they recited an “Athenian Creed” which began, “I believe in beauty and comely proportions of Dame Nature…,” and ended with, “I believe in the divinity of Lord Shaftesbury, the saintship of Marcus Antonius,” and so on. Witherspoon was a serious man who chose hard thinking over sponsorship of the arts. On the matter of Christians attending the theatre he was clear: “Where [amusement] is not necessary, it must be sinful.”
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2009/08/798
A tarnished gold standard
Michael Cook
The last-ditch defence for experimenting with human embryonic stem cells is that they are a “gold standard” for stem cell research. Nonsense.
Heard much about human embryonic stem cell research lately? Whether or not embryos could be destroyed in the search for medical breakthroughs was one of the most controversial topics in the last US presidential election. It sparked bitter debates over the ethics of creating and dissecting nascent humans in Australia, Canada and the UK.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/a_tarnished_gold_standard/
The last-ditch defence for experimenting with human embryonic stem cells is that they are a “gold standard” for stem cell research. Nonsense.
Heard much about human embryonic stem cell research lately? Whether or not embryos could be destroyed in the search for medical breakthroughs was one of the most controversial topics in the last US presidential election. It sparked bitter debates over the ethics of creating and dissecting nascent humans in Australia, Canada and the UK.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/a_tarnished_gold_standard/
Children are worth having
Barbara Lilley
Are people who have children selfish? Would the world be better off if more of us were childless?
In an August 3, 2009 Maclean's Magazine article, “No Kids, No Grief”, author Anne Kingston takes a look at what appears to be a growing and vocal section of society – people who have decided against having children.
The reasons for refusing to procreate seem to run along the lines of the following: it's better for the environment, children are expensive, having them means you have to give up some material things you'd rather not and my personal favourite, childless marriages are far happier.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/children_are_worth_having/
Are people who have children selfish? Would the world be better off if more of us were childless?
In an August 3, 2009 Maclean's Magazine article, “No Kids, No Grief”, author Anne Kingston takes a look at what appears to be a growing and vocal section of society – people who have decided against having children.
The reasons for refusing to procreate seem to run along the lines of the following: it's better for the environment, children are expensive, having them means you have to give up some material things you'd rather not and my personal favourite, childless marriages are far happier.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/children_are_worth_having/
Demographic Bomb - the movie that says demography is destiny
Andrea Mrozek
What should we make of a movie claiming the human family is headed for decline?
When World Population Day came and went on July 11, it was with all the requisite fear mongering about there being too many people on the globe. [1] This accepted view—the fear of people falling off the globe causing grave environmental damage even as they go— is not true. Under population is in fact likely the more pressing problem in our future, not merely in rich industrialized countries, but everywhere. This sounds so foreign as to be false, which is evidence of the ubiquity and success of Malthus and his modern followers— those who believe societal ills could be staved off were there only fewer people on the planet.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/review_demographic_bomb_-_the_movie_the_says_demography_is_destiny/
What should we make of a movie claiming the human family is headed for decline?
When World Population Day came and went on July 11, it was with all the requisite fear mongering about there being too many people on the globe. [1] This accepted view—the fear of people falling off the globe causing grave environmental damage even as they go— is not true. Under population is in fact likely the more pressing problem in our future, not merely in rich industrialized countries, but everywhere. This sounds so foreign as to be false, which is evidence of the ubiquity and success of Malthus and his modern followers— those who believe societal ills could be staved off were there only fewer people on the planet.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/review_demographic_bomb_-_the_movie_the_says_demography_is_destiny/
Will court enforce rules about RU-486?
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -
An Ohio law dealing with the abortion drug RU-486 will see even more court action.
The law simply requires abortion facilities administering the drug to do so according to federal guidelines, rather misusing it. An abortion business filed a lawsuit in 2004, saying the statute was ambiguous. The case has been in the courts since then, but Mark Lally of Ohio Right to Life tells OneNewsNow the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=651832
An Ohio law dealing with the abortion drug RU-486 will see even more court action.
The law simply requires abortion facilities administering the drug to do so according to federal guidelines, rather misusing it. An abortion business filed a lawsuit in 2004, saying the statute was ambiguous. The case has been in the courts since then, but Mark Lally of Ohio Right to Life tells OneNewsNow the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=651832
Christian runaway safe from Muslim family...for now
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow -
The head of a ministry dedicated to helping former Muslims is welcoming the news that a Florida judge has ruled that a 17-year-old Christian girl can remain in Florida and not have to return to her Islamic family in Ohio. But she also believes the fight isn't over yet.
An Orlando judge ruled Friday that 17-year-old Rifqa Bary can stay under protective custody in Florida as authorities there launch an investigation into her family and the Muslim community in Ohio where she lives. The teenager ran away last month because she believed her family would kill her for converting to Christianity. The girl's family members, who originally are from Sri Lanka, say they have never threatened to harm her.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Persecution/Default.aspx?id=653952
The head of a ministry dedicated to helping former Muslims is welcoming the news that a Florida judge has ruled that a 17-year-old Christian girl can remain in Florida and not have to return to her Islamic family in Ohio. But she also believes the fight isn't over yet.
An Orlando judge ruled Friday that 17-year-old Rifqa Bary can stay under protective custody in Florida as authorities there launch an investigation into her family and the Muslim community in Ohio where she lives. The teenager ran away last month because she believed her family would kill her for converting to Christianity. The girl's family members, who originally are from Sri Lanka, say they have never threatened to harm her.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Persecution/Default.aspx?id=653952
Abortionist Carhart denied hospital privileges
Butts - OneNewsNow -
A request to open a late-term abortion clinic has been shot down in Wichita, Kansas.
Operation Rescue's Troy Newman launched an online petition drive to convince a local hospital not to grant hospital privileges to well-known abortionist LeRoy Carhart. The answer came just a few hours later.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=648614
A request to open a late-term abortion clinic has been shot down in Wichita, Kansas.
Operation Rescue's Troy Newman launched an online petition drive to convince a local hospital not to grant hospital privileges to well-known abortionist LeRoy Carhart. The answer came just a few hours later.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=648614
Head Chef in the Cafeteria
By Brad Miner
When I think of Edward M. Kennedy (“Teddy” early on before the more respectful “Ted”), I first think of Terry Malloy, the character played by Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront.” Kennedy’s brothers got title shots (one was champ), but, like Terry, Teddy got a “one-way ticket to Palooka-ville!” Did he think, I coulda been a contender? Oh yes.
But unlike Terry, Teddy was no bum, and, despite some astonishing missteps, he got to hang out with the punchy Palookas in the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body, that Gleason’s Gym of blow-dried heavyweights, the United States Senate. Indeed, he became the longest-serving senator in Massachusetts history, second-longest in the current Senate (after Robert Byrd, for whom nearly everything in West Virginia is named), and the third-longest since Vice President John Adams pounded the gavel at the Senate’s first session on March 4, 1789. This is remarkable, since in the aftermath of July 18, 1969 the oddsmakers were wagering Kennedy’s political career had sunk as low as his Olds Delmont 88 (and, lest we forget, Miss Mary Jo Kopechne) into that dark Chappaquiddick tidal pool. Mr. Kennedy was thirty-seven when his career died. He announced that he would not seek re-election to the Senate in 1972.
http://www.catholicthing.com/
When I think of Edward M. Kennedy (“Teddy” early on before the more respectful “Ted”), I first think of Terry Malloy, the character played by Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront.” Kennedy’s brothers got title shots (one was champ), but, like Terry, Teddy got a “one-way ticket to Palooka-ville!” Did he think, I coulda been a contender? Oh yes.
But unlike Terry, Teddy was no bum, and, despite some astonishing missteps, he got to hang out with the punchy Palookas in the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body, that Gleason’s Gym of blow-dried heavyweights, the United States Senate. Indeed, he became the longest-serving senator in Massachusetts history, second-longest in the current Senate (after Robert Byrd, for whom nearly everything in West Virginia is named), and the third-longest since Vice President John Adams pounded the gavel at the Senate’s first session on March 4, 1789. This is remarkable, since in the aftermath of July 18, 1969 the oddsmakers were wagering Kennedy’s political career had sunk as low as his Olds Delmont 88 (and, lest we forget, Miss Mary Jo Kopechne) into that dark Chappaquiddick tidal pool. Mr. Kennedy was thirty-seven when his career died. He announced that he would not seek re-election to the Senate in 1972.
http://www.catholicthing.com/
Sweden outlaws home schooling
Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -
The founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association says home schooling in Sweden will soon be banned altogether, with a few minor exceptions. Mike Farris says that Sweden will ban all home schooling except for children with medical exemptions and foreign workers with the appropriate work visas.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=648486
The founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association says home schooling in Sweden will soon be banned altogether, with a few minor exceptions. Mike Farris says that Sweden will ban all home schooling except for children with medical exemptions and foreign workers with the appropriate work visas.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=648486
Monday, August 17, 2009
BREAKING NEWS: Obama comes down on DOMA
Jim Brown (OneNewsNow) and Associated Press -
A pro-family leader says the Obama administration is playing dishonest "Chicago-style politics" by defending the Defense of Marriage Act while undermining the law in a court filing.
The Obama Justice Department today filed court papers claiming the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act discriminates against homosexuals. In the meantime, the DOJ lawyers are seeking to dismiss a suit brought by a homosexual California couple challenging DOMA. (See Associated Press story below)
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=646972
A pro-family leader says the Obama administration is playing dishonest "Chicago-style politics" by defending the Defense of Marriage Act while undermining the law in a court filing.
The Obama Justice Department today filed court papers claiming the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act discriminates against homosexuals. In the meantime, the DOJ lawyers are seeking to dismiss a suit brought by a homosexual California couple challenging DOMA. (See Associated Press story below)
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=646972
Iran’s plummeting birth rates
Michael Cook
Despite its fundamentalist Islamic reputation Iran has experimented with birth control with some unexpected, and unwelcome, consequences.
If demography is destiny, the family of Farzaneh Roudi is a snapshot of Iran’s past, present and future. A program director at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington DC, Ms Roudi was born in Iran. Her grandmother had 11 children, her father had 6 and she has 2.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/irans_plummeting_birth_rates/
Despite its fundamentalist Islamic reputation Iran has experimented with birth control with some unexpected, and unwelcome, consequences.
If demography is destiny, the family of Farzaneh Roudi is a snapshot of Iran’s past, present and future. A program director at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington DC, Ms Roudi was born in Iran. Her grandmother had 11 children, her father had 6 and she has 2.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/irans_plummeting_birth_rates/
Babies have a right to a heritage
Brenda Almond
Fertility clinics are creating a new class of dispossessed human beings, says a British philosopher.
Baby manufacture is already big business. Recent ads targeting women college students in America have offered them free holidays in India in exchange for parting with their eggs during their visit, with Indian women teamed to become paid surrogates and return the product – the student’s child – to those who commissioned it. Do other jurisdictions want to follow this precedent and should Americans be more concerned about what is done in their name? The selling of slaves was considered offensive – should selling babies be OK?
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/babies_have_a_right_to_a_heritage/
Fertility clinics are creating a new class of dispossessed human beings, says a British philosopher.
Baby manufacture is already big business. Recent ads targeting women college students in America have offered them free holidays in India in exchange for parting with their eggs during their visit, with Indian women teamed to become paid surrogates and return the product – the student’s child – to those who commissioned it. Do other jurisdictions want to follow this precedent and should Americans be more concerned about what is done in their name? The selling of slaves was considered offensive – should selling babies be OK?
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/babies_have_a_right_to_a_heritage/
American Babies Are Ruining Everything
WILLIAM MCGURN
The truth is more brains will likely mean cleaner energy technologies.
Forget about the birthers, and the nutty claims that Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
More and more, we are hearing from people who might best be described as anti-birthers. Their claims have nothing to do with long- versus short-form Hawaiian birth certificates. Instead, they advance a simple proposition: that the birth of each additional American child is a kind of calamity for the environment.
The most recent example of anti-birth thinking comes from Paul Murtaugh and Michael Schlax of Oregon State University. In a study called “Reproduction and the carbon legacies of individuals,” they suggest that if you truly care about the environment, it’s not enough to trade your SUV for a Prius, use the right lightbulbs, or limit your lawn to organic fertilizers. To the contrary, you need to start thinking about something way more important: i.e., having one less child.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204313604574328823712388930.html
The truth is more brains will likely mean cleaner energy technologies.
Forget about the birthers, and the nutty claims that Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
More and more, we are hearing from people who might best be described as anti-birthers. Their claims have nothing to do with long- versus short-form Hawaiian birth certificates. Instead, they advance a simple proposition: that the birth of each additional American child is a kind of calamity for the environment.
The most recent example of anti-birth thinking comes from Paul Murtaugh and Michael Schlax of Oregon State University. In a study called “Reproduction and the carbon legacies of individuals,” they suggest that if you truly care about the environment, it’s not enough to trade your SUV for a Prius, use the right lightbulbs, or limit your lawn to organic fertilizers. To the contrary, you need to start thinking about something way more important: i.e., having one less child.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204313604574328823712388930.html
A parent's guiding influence
Mark Gregston
A parent's desire to hold on to a child's innocence in his early years is normal and necessary. Early childhood is obviously not the right time for them to know certain things. But kids today are exposed to negative influences at earlier and earlier ages, and it is often out of a parent's control.
Age 16 used to be the benchmark for teens. It was the age most could begin to drive, and when given a set of car keys, the influence a parent has on how much of the world their teen experiences changes dramatically. But today, a younger teen has the keys to "drive" on over to some of the seediest places on earth, with the click of a mouse button. The Internet has changed everything.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=640998
A parent's desire to hold on to a child's innocence in his early years is normal and necessary. Early childhood is obviously not the right time for them to know certain things. But kids today are exposed to negative influences at earlier and earlier ages, and it is often out of a parent's control.
Age 16 used to be the benchmark for teens. It was the age most could begin to drive, and when given a set of car keys, the influence a parent has on how much of the world their teen experiences changes dramatically. But today, a younger teen has the keys to "drive" on over to some of the seediest places on earth, with the click of a mouse button. The Internet has changed everything.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=640998
Personhood amendment making inroads in Colorado
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -
Personhood Colorado is preparing for a major effort to get a proposed pro-life amendment on an upcoming ballot.
The amendment would declare that personhood starts at "the beginning of biological development of a human being," which changes the previous amendment's wording from "the moment of fertilization." Personhood Colorado campaign co-chairman Gualberto Garcia Jones says 75,000 petition signatures are needed to get the issue on the 2010 ballot. He is optimistic because his group did well taking the issue to voters last year.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=638268
Personhood Colorado is preparing for a major effort to get a proposed pro-life amendment on an upcoming ballot.
The amendment would declare that personhood starts at "the beginning of biological development of a human being," which changes the previous amendment's wording from "the moment of fertilization." Personhood Colorado campaign co-chairman Gualberto Garcia Jones says 75,000 petition signatures are needed to get the issue on the 2010 ballot. He is optimistic because his group did well taking the issue to voters last year.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=638268
British tax and benefit system favours single parents
Carolyn Moynihan
Does the British government actually not want some people to marry? It rather looks like it, judging by the financial penalty many couples face as a result of the tax they pay and the benefits they do not receive. In fact, it looks as though the government wants those who are married to split up.
An analysis of 98 couples with different earnings and numbers of children carried out by the charity Care showed that 76 of the couples would be better off if they split up and claimed welfare benefits that average £8007. Increasingly it is middle-income families where both parents work that suffer this “couple penalty”.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/british_tax_and_benefit_system_favours_single_parents/
Does the British government actually not want some people to marry? It rather looks like it, judging by the financial penalty many couples face as a result of the tax they pay and the benefits they do not receive. In fact, it looks as though the government wants those who are married to split up.
An analysis of 98 couples with different earnings and numbers of children carried out by the charity Care showed that 76 of the couples would be better off if they split up and claimed welfare benefits that average £8007. Increasingly it is middle-income families where both parents work that suffer this “couple penalty”.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/british_tax_and_benefit_system_favours_single_parents/
Freedom, solidarity, subsidiarity
Martin Fitzgerald
Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical continues 120 years of Catholic social doctrine based on the dignity of the human person and his participation in society.
To understand Pope Benedict XVI’s recent encyclical, Caritas in veritatem (Charity in truth), you need to know something about the history of ideas. This is not a document which the Pope tossed off after a couple of months of reflection. It is the latest instalment of at least 120 years of major documents from popes commenting on social trends especially in the field of economics. Broadly speaking, this is called the “social doctrine” of the Catholic Church. It is a collection of principles governing social development while still respecting the integrity of the human person.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/Freedom_solidarity_subsidiarity/
Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical continues 120 years of Catholic social doctrine based on the dignity of the human person and his participation in society.
To understand Pope Benedict XVI’s recent encyclical, Caritas in veritatem (Charity in truth), you need to know something about the history of ideas. This is not a document which the Pope tossed off after a couple of months of reflection. It is the latest instalment of at least 120 years of major documents from popes commenting on social trends especially in the field of economics. Broadly speaking, this is called the “social doctrine” of the Catholic Church. It is a collection of principles governing social development while still respecting the integrity of the human person.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/Freedom_solidarity_subsidiarity/
UN Disabilities Treaty does not create abortion rights
Austin Ruse and Piero A. Tozzi
Abortion has not been smuggled into international law by hiding under the banner of "sexual and reproductive health".
Late week, United States signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – the first binding United Nations treaty to mention "sexual and reproductive health." The term has provoked concern among pro-lifers, who worry that it creates an implicit right to abortion. Let us emphatically state: It does not.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/un_disabilities_treaty_does_not_create_abortion_rights/
Abortion has not been smuggled into international law by hiding under the banner of "sexual and reproductive health".
Late week, United States signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – the first binding United Nations treaty to mention "sexual and reproductive health." The term has provoked concern among pro-lifers, who worry that it creates an implicit right to abortion. Let us emphatically state: It does not.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/un_disabilities_treaty_does_not_create_abortion_rights/
The business of looking after the family
Nuria Chinchilla
Only if they act responsibly towards the family can businesses and society at large thrive.
Anyone listening to business leaders these days, or simply doing the weekly shopping at the supermarket, can hardly miss the impact that the “green” movement is having on the production and marketing of goods. For decades, businesses washed their hands of their impact on the environment, but this attitude has changed recently. There are rules, quality certifications and laws that have made businesses more aware of their responsibility to the environment and the need to preserve the earth’s natural resources in our own interests and for the sake of future generations.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/the_business_of_looking_after_the_family/
Only if they act responsibly towards the family can businesses and society at large thrive.
Anyone listening to business leaders these days, or simply doing the weekly shopping at the supermarket, can hardly miss the impact that the “green” movement is having on the production and marketing of goods. For decades, businesses washed their hands of their impact on the environment, but this attitude has changed recently. There are rules, quality certifications and laws that have made businesses more aware of their responsibility to the environment and the need to preserve the earth’s natural resources in our own interests and for the sake of future generations.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/the_business_of_looking_after_the_family/
Infidelity and Its Implications
by Christopher O. Tollefsen
As recent polls and recent events show, Americans remain morally opposed to sexual infidelity in marriage. At the same time, Americans show broad acceptance of premarital sex. But an examination of the reasons why infidelity within marriage is detrimental to human flourishing reveals sexual infidelity prior to marriage to be just as harmful.
Proponents of traditional sexual morality can take some comfort in the fact that, a few cynics and radical secularists aside, there is widespread agreement about the moral wrong of sexual infidelity in marriage. Although the norm requiring sexual exclusivity within marriage can sometimes seem as if it is honored more in the breach than the observance, the response to recent cases of adultery among public figures is not limited to accusations of hypocrisy. Most commentators, and most ordinary citizens, agree that married persons must remain sexually faithful to their spouses and that failure in this regard constitutes a particularly egregious betrayal of the marriage vows.
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2009/07/761
As recent polls and recent events show, Americans remain morally opposed to sexual infidelity in marriage. At the same time, Americans show broad acceptance of premarital sex. But an examination of the reasons why infidelity within marriage is detrimental to human flourishing reveals sexual infidelity prior to marriage to be just as harmful.
Proponents of traditional sexual morality can take some comfort in the fact that, a few cynics and radical secularists aside, there is widespread agreement about the moral wrong of sexual infidelity in marriage. Although the norm requiring sexual exclusivity within marriage can sometimes seem as if it is honored more in the breach than the observance, the response to recent cases of adultery among public figures is not limited to accusations of hypocrisy. Most commentators, and most ordinary citizens, agree that married persons must remain sexually faithful to their spouses and that failure in this regard constitutes a particularly egregious betrayal of the marriage vows.
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2009/07/761
ABA meddles in marriage issue, members exit
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -
The American Bar Association House of Delegates has approved a resolution calling on Congress to repeal a section of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, that denies federal marital benefits and protections to same-gender couples married in states where it's legal.
OneNewsNow contacted Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver, dean of the law school at Liberty University, for reaction. He says the American Bar Association (ABA) is intruding on matters that have nothing to do with the general practice of law, pushing a political position that upsets many members.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=634228
The American Bar Association House of Delegates has approved a resolution calling on Congress to repeal a section of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, that denies federal marital benefits and protections to same-gender couples married in states where it's legal.
OneNewsNow contacted Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver, dean of the law school at Liberty University, for reaction. He says the American Bar Association (ABA) is intruding on matters that have nothing to do with the general practice of law, pushing a political position that upsets many members.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=634228
Pro-aborts clouding issue of healthcare reform, abortion
Brown - OneNewsNow -
National Right to Life accuses the pro-abortion lobby of "creating smokescreens" intended to prevent Americans from finding out that their tax dollars will be used to fund abortion in the Democrats' government-run healthcare plan.
Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards claimed earlier this week in a piece for the Huffington Post that taxpayers would not be forced to fund abortions in the government health insurance plan advocated by President Obama. "The public health insurance plan...would operate like any private insurance plan would," she wrote. "Therefore, there is no reason to treat any coverage issue, including abortion coverage, differently in the public health insurance plan than in private plans...."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=633186
National Right to Life accuses the pro-abortion lobby of "creating smokescreens" intended to prevent Americans from finding out that their tax dollars will be used to fund abortion in the Democrats' government-run healthcare plan.
Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards claimed earlier this week in a piece for the Huffington Post that taxpayers would not be forced to fund abortions in the government health insurance plan advocated by President Obama. "The public health insurance plan...would operate like any private insurance plan would," she wrote. "Therefore, there is no reason to treat any coverage issue, including abortion coverage, differently in the public health insurance plan than in private plans...."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=633186
Families gather around TV to do their own thing
Carolyn Moynihan
Electronic media, once a force for togetherness as whole families gathered around the radio or television, are now pulling families apart, according to a report from the UK’s communication’s regulator, Ofcom.
James Thickett, Ofcom’s director of market research, said: “What we find is that there has been a trend for people to converge on the living room, to watch the 37in high-definition television, but when they get there they start to do something else like surf the internet as well.”
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/families_gather_around_tv_to_do_their_own_thing/
Electronic media, once a force for togetherness as whole families gathered around the radio or television, are now pulling families apart, according to a report from the UK’s communication’s regulator, Ofcom.
James Thickett, Ofcom’s director of market research, said: “What we find is that there has been a trend for people to converge on the living room, to watch the 37in high-definition television, but when they get there they start to do something else like surf the internet as well.”
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/families_gather_around_tv_to_do_their_own_thing/
Lead us not into temptation…
Carolyn Moynihan
In a refreshing change from research that looks for excuses for everyday vices in people’s genes or family background, a study from the Kellogg School of Management looks at things like temptation, willpower and humility (yes, really) in impulsive and addictive behaviour.
Previous research has shown that people in a “cold state” (not experiencing hunger, anger, sexual arousal and so on) tend to underestimate how a “hot”, impulsive state will influence their behaviour.
The new study led by Loran Nordgren confirmed that, and also found that those who are most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give into temptation.
“People are not good at anticipating the power of their urges, and those who are the most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give into temptation,” said Nordgren. “The key is simply to avoid any situations where vices and other weaknesses thrive and, most importantly, for individuals to keep a humble view of their willpower.”
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/lead_us_not_into_temptation/
In a refreshing change from research that looks for excuses for everyday vices in people’s genes or family background, a study from the Kellogg School of Management looks at things like temptation, willpower and humility (yes, really) in impulsive and addictive behaviour.
Previous research has shown that people in a “cold state” (not experiencing hunger, anger, sexual arousal and so on) tend to underestimate how a “hot”, impulsive state will influence their behaviour.
The new study led by Loran Nordgren confirmed that, and also found that those who are most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give into temptation.
“People are not good at anticipating the power of their urges, and those who are the most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give into temptation,” said Nordgren. “The key is simply to avoid any situations where vices and other weaknesses thrive and, most importantly, for individuals to keep a humble view of their willpower.”
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/lead_us_not_into_temptation/
Adult stem-cell research sees another success
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -
Chinese scientists are producing live mice from adult stem cells, and experts call it an exciting discovery.
It represents another breakthrough for adult stem-cell research, according to Ben Kinchlow of the Adult Stem Cells Information Coalition.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=625300
Chinese scientists are producing live mice from adult stem cells, and experts call it an exciting discovery.
It represents another breakthrough for adult stem-cell research, according to Ben Kinchlow of the Adult Stem Cells Information Coalition.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=625300
Justifying one's existence
Barbara Kay
Choosing to live out one’s natural life will soon be as unpopular as refusing an abortion.
Have you noticed that the subject of euthanasia/ assisted suicide is picking up momentum -- that it is, so to speak, taking on a life of its own? I mean in particular that we seem to be approaching one of those interesting tipping points in public debate where the tone of those supporting a once-shocking idea is shifting from defensive to offensive.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/justifying_ones_existence/
Choosing to live out one’s natural life will soon be as unpopular as refusing an abortion.
Have you noticed that the subject of euthanasia/ assisted suicide is picking up momentum -- that it is, so to speak, taking on a life of its own? I mean in particular that we seem to be approaching one of those interesting tipping points in public debate where the tone of those supporting a once-shocking idea is shifting from defensive to offensive.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/justifying_ones_existence/
'I need to wait'
Christopher Blunt
Surprisingly good messages about teenage sex and parenthood surface in an MTV series.
Culturally conservative messages about premarital sex have surfaced in an unusual place: MTV. The music-television network’s new reality series, 16 and Pregnant, follows sixteen-year-old American girls through five to seven months of their pregnancies and the experiences of young motherhood.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/i_need_to_wait/
Surprisingly good messages about teenage sex and parenthood surface in an MTV series.
Culturally conservative messages about premarital sex have surfaced in an unusual place: MTV. The music-television network’s new reality series, 16 and Pregnant, follows sixteen-year-old American girls through five to seven months of their pregnancies and the experiences of young motherhood.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/i_need_to_wait/
A daring Baltic ban on gay propaganda
Bryan P. Bradley
A new Lithuanian law aims to protect minors from information that could be harmful to them.
Lithuania’s parliament found energy this month not only for budget cuts to keep a financial crisis at bay but also for a strong stand on family values which challenges the status quo in the European Union and has sparked an uproar in the international community. Lawmakers in the Baltic nation’s 141-member chamber on July 14 voted 89-6 to adopt a Law on the Protection of Minors, which limits the propagation of information that could be harmful to young people. Alongside examples like graphic violence, instructions on how to make explosives, presentation of drug use in a positive light and pornography, the law also restricts information “which promotes homosexual, bisexual, and polygamous relations."
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/a_daring_baltic_ban_on_gay_propaganda/
A new Lithuanian law aims to protect minors from information that could be harmful to them.
Lithuania’s parliament found energy this month not only for budget cuts to keep a financial crisis at bay but also for a strong stand on family values which challenges the status quo in the European Union and has sparked an uproar in the international community. Lawmakers in the Baltic nation’s 141-member chamber on July 14 voted 89-6 to adopt a Law on the Protection of Minors, which limits the propagation of information that could be harmful to young people. Alongside examples like graphic violence, instructions on how to make explosives, presentation of drug use in a positive light and pornography, the law also restricts information “which promotes homosexual, bisexual, and polygamous relations."
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/a_daring_baltic_ban_on_gay_propaganda/
Friday, August 14, 2009
Newsweek: 'Traditionalists better get used to' polyamory
Colleen Raezler - Guest Columnist -
Editor's Note: This commentary contains descriptions that some readers may find offensive.
According to Newsweek, polyamory is here to stay and "the traditionalists had better get used to it." Polyamory, reporter Jessica Bennett explained in her July 29 article, is the act of "engaging in loving, intimate relationships with more than one person – based upon the knowledge and consent of everyone involved."
While Bennett acknowledged that keeping track of multiple partners' (and their partners') needs and wants isn't for everybody, she concluded, "perhaps the practice is more natural than we think: a response to the challenges of monogamous relationships, whose shortcomings – in a culture where divorce has become a commonplace – are clear."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=625368
Editor's Note: This commentary contains descriptions that some readers may find offensive.
According to Newsweek, polyamory is here to stay and "the traditionalists had better get used to it." Polyamory, reporter Jessica Bennett explained in her July 29 article, is the act of "engaging in loving, intimate relationships with more than one person – based upon the knowledge and consent of everyone involved."
While Bennett acknowledged that keeping track of multiple partners' (and their partners') needs and wants isn't for everybody, she concluded, "perhaps the practice is more natural than we think: a response to the challenges of monogamous relationships, whose shortcomings – in a culture where divorce has become a commonplace – are clear."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=625368
China’s abortion surge blamed on young, single women
Carolyn Moynihan
A report in the official Chinese newspaper China Daily reveals some shocking figures on abortion in that country: 13 million surgical abortions a year performed in hospitals, 10 million abortion pills sold every year, and unknown number of abortions done in unregistered rural hospitals. “Family planning” statistics are usually considered state secrets, so why this sudden revelation?
Apparently, nobody knows, but the original report -- picked up by media around the world -- highlighted the information that nearly two thirds of the hospital abortions were done on single women aged between 20 and 29. A government official quoted in the report said nearly half of those having abortions reported using no contraception when they conceived. A sex therapist blamed it all on a lack of sex education (and doesn’t that sound familiar?).
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/chinas_abortion_surge_blamed_on_young_single_women/
A report in the official Chinese newspaper China Daily reveals some shocking figures on abortion in that country: 13 million surgical abortions a year performed in hospitals, 10 million abortion pills sold every year, and unknown number of abortions done in unregistered rural hospitals. “Family planning” statistics are usually considered state secrets, so why this sudden revelation?
Apparently, nobody knows, but the original report -- picked up by media around the world -- highlighted the information that nearly two thirds of the hospital abortions were done on single women aged between 20 and 29. A government official quoted in the report said nearly half of those having abortions reported using no contraception when they conceived. A sex therapist blamed it all on a lack of sex education (and doesn’t that sound familiar?).
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/chinas_abortion_surge_blamed_on_young_single_women/
Info on homosexual health risks squelched
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -
A pro-family activist group is calling for a federal study of the health risks of homosexual conduct.
Americans for Truth about Homosexuality president Peter LaBarbera tells OneNewsNow it only makes sense because the government will investigate the dangers of such habits as smoking and work to curb it. He cites information released by the Food and Drug Administration.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=621982
A pro-family activist group is calling for a federal study of the health risks of homosexual conduct.
Americans for Truth about Homosexuality president Peter LaBarbera tells OneNewsNow it only makes sense because the government will investigate the dangers of such habits as smoking and work to curb it. He cites information released by the Food and Drug Administration.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=621982
Home Depot building a 'le-gay-cy' for children
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -
Home Depot is helping to introduce children to the homosexual lifestyle.
The Nashville Gay Pride website notes that Home Depot contributed more than $5,000 to help finance the 2009 festival. The retailer also participated by conducting children's craft workshops at a special booth set up for them. The company has sponsored similar children's venues at pro-homosexual events in Atlanta, Kansas City, Durham, Portland, and San Diego.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=621908
Home Depot is helping to introduce children to the homosexual lifestyle.
The Nashville Gay Pride website notes that Home Depot contributed more than $5,000 to help finance the 2009 festival. The retailer also participated by conducting children's craft workshops at a special booth set up for them. The company has sponsored similar children's venues at pro-homosexual events in Atlanta, Kansas City, Durham, Portland, and San Diego.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=621908
Same-sex marriage has consequences beyond the couple getting married
A Saskatchewan marriage commissioner who refused to marry a same-sex couple has lost his appeal of a human rights ruling.
Orville Nichols was approached by a gay man who wanted to get married in 2005 . At first, Nichols congratulated the man, identified in court documents only as "M.J."
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/07/23/marriage-ruling.html
Orville Nichols was approached by a gay man who wanted to get married in 2005 . At first, Nichols congratulated the man, identified in court documents only as "M.J."
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/07/23/marriage-ruling.html
The Grail Searchers
Despite endless efforts to prove the contrary, science shows that an embryo is a human being.
By Maureen Condic, Patrick Lee, and Robert P. George
“The development of a human being begins with fertilization, a process by which the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote.” — Langman’s Medical Embryology, 7th edition, 1995
For people who advocate the killing of embryonic human beings in the cause of biomedical research, the Holy Grail is an argument that would definitively establish that the human embryo, at least early in its development, is not a living human organism and therefore not a human being at all. The problem for these advocates is that all the scientific evidence points in precisely the opposite direction. Modern human embryology and developmental biology have shown that fertilization produces a new and distinct organism: a living individual of the human species in the embryonic stage of his or her development.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDFkM2ZiOGEwOWVkY2Y2ZTlhNDk2MjdkMWQ3NzZhNmY
By Maureen Condic, Patrick Lee, and Robert P. George
“The development of a human being begins with fertilization, a process by which the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote.” — Langman’s Medical Embryology, 7th edition, 1995
For people who advocate the killing of embryonic human beings in the cause of biomedical research, the Holy Grail is an argument that would definitively establish that the human embryo, at least early in its development, is not a living human organism and therefore not a human being at all. The problem for these advocates is that all the scientific evidence points in precisely the opposite direction. Modern human embryology and developmental biology have shown that fertilization produces a new and distinct organism: a living individual of the human species in the embryonic stage of his or her development.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDFkM2ZiOGEwOWVkY2Y2ZTlhNDk2MjdkMWQ3NzZhNmY
Liberal academic Edward Green: the Pope is right about Aids and condom
According to Harvard professor Edward Green, Benedict XVI tells the truth about fighting the plague of the millennium in Africa: fidelity and abstinence promotion are better weapons than preservatives.
During his latest visit to Africa pope Benedict XVI told the journalists: “Condom distribution is not the solution to Aids, on the contrary they worsen it”. An editorial comment of The Lancet retorted that the Pope's comment was “outrageous and wildly inaccurate”. Based on your experience about the issue, is the Pope right or wrong?
http://www.tempi.it/007320-liberal-academic-edward-green-pope-right-about-aids-and-condom?page=0
During his latest visit to Africa pope Benedict XVI told the journalists: “Condom distribution is not the solution to Aids, on the contrary they worsen it”. An editorial comment of The Lancet retorted that the Pope's comment was “outrageous and wildly inaccurate”. Based on your experience about the issue, is the Pope right or wrong?
http://www.tempi.it/007320-liberal-academic-edward-green-pope-right-about-aids-and-condom?page=0
The duty to die
Sheila Liaugminas
It has already been a growing threat under the influence of the ‘right to die’ movement and spreading ‘futility care laws’.
Now it’s looming larger in the 1,018 page health care proposal as written, and more Americans are starting to become aware that it practically mandates rationing that will discriminate against the most vulnerable.
http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/the_duty_to_die/
It has already been a growing threat under the influence of the ‘right to die’ movement and spreading ‘futility care laws’.
Now it’s looming larger in the 1,018 page health care proposal as written, and more Americans are starting to become aware that it practically mandates rationing that will discriminate against the most vulnerable.
http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/the_duty_to_die/
Abortion unbound
Sheila Liaugminas
If passed as written, health care ‘reform’ in America would expand abortion more radically than anything since Roe.
Abortion activists first introduced the misnamed ‘Freedom of Choice Act’ (FOCA) with the help of Senate sympathizers in 1989 to create a fundamental right to abortion for all women, spread its access, and limit any government regulation, including any that even Roe v. Wade allowed. Twenty years and countless successes since then, the abortion movement put a sympathizer in the White House who had promised them he would sign that sweeping and radical legislation into law if elected.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/abortion_unbound/
If passed as written, health care ‘reform’ in America would expand abortion more radically than anything since Roe.
Abortion activists first introduced the misnamed ‘Freedom of Choice Act’ (FOCA) with the help of Senate sympathizers in 1989 to create a fundamental right to abortion for all women, spread its access, and limit any government regulation, including any that even Roe v. Wade allowed. Twenty years and countless successes since then, the abortion movement put a sympathizer in the White House who had promised them he would sign that sweeping and radical legislation into law if elected.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/abortion_unbound/
Teachers flocking to Christian alternative to NEA
Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -
The Christian Educators Association International says it has seen an increase in enrollment due to some developments in the National Education Association.
About one month ago, the National Education Association (NEA) voted to throw its full support behind homosexual "marriage," and members voted down a resolution calling for the NEA to take a "no-position" stance on abortion. Furthermore, NEA top lawyer Bob Chanin recently berated those within the NEA who hold to traditional conservative values, accusing them of trying to take down the union.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=616046
The Christian Educators Association International says it has seen an increase in enrollment due to some developments in the National Education Association.
About one month ago, the National Education Association (NEA) voted to throw its full support behind homosexual "marriage," and members voted down a resolution calling for the NEA to take a "no-position" stance on abortion. Furthermore, NEA top lawyer Bob Chanin recently berated those within the NEA who hold to traditional conservative values, accusing them of trying to take down the union.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=616046
Babies have a right to a heritage
NOTABLE QUOTE: "...equity in the preservation of personal identity has not received as much attention as the rights of adults to fertility treatment."
Brenda Almond
Fertility clinics are creating a new class of dispossessed human beings, says a British philosopher.
Baby manufacture is already big business. Recent ads targeting women college students in America have offered them free holidays in India in exchange for parting with their eggs during their visit, with Indian women teamed to become paid surrogates and return the product – the student’s child – to those who commissioned it. Do other jurisdictions want to follow this precedent and should Americans be more concerned about what is done in their name? The selling of slaves was considered offensive – should selling babies be OK?
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/babies_have_a_right_to_a_heritage/
Brenda Almond
Fertility clinics are creating a new class of dispossessed human beings, says a British philosopher.
Baby manufacture is already big business. Recent ads targeting women college students in America have offered them free holidays in India in exchange for parting with their eggs during their visit, with Indian women teamed to become paid surrogates and return the product – the student’s child – to those who commissioned it. Do other jurisdictions want to follow this precedent and should Americans be more concerned about what is done in their name? The selling of slaves was considered offensive – should selling babies be OK?
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/babies_have_a_right_to_a_heritage/
Monday, August 10, 2009
Romania stiff-arms same-sex 'marriage'
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -
Romania's Parliament has moved to protect traditional marriage.
Roger Kiska, a member of Alliance Defense Fund's legal counsel, is stationed in Europe. He tells OneNewsNow that Romania adopted a strong civil code enshrining traditional marriage in law. "It's defined throughout the code -- spouse as between a man and a woman," he explains. "It forbids these backdoor, so-called same-sex 'marriages' where Romanian citizens or foreigners come into the country and ask that their marriage be recognized by the country. It also does the same with civil unions."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=612576
Romania's Parliament has moved to protect traditional marriage.
Roger Kiska, a member of Alliance Defense Fund's legal counsel, is stationed in Europe. He tells OneNewsNow that Romania adopted a strong civil code enshrining traditional marriage in law. "It's defined throughout the code -- spouse as between a man and a woman," he explains. "It forbids these backdoor, so-called same-sex 'marriages' where Romanian citizens or foreigners come into the country and ask that their marriage be recognized by the country. It also does the same with civil unions."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=612576
Survey: Third of Mass. transgendered weigh suicide
By Associated Press
BOSTON — Nearly a third of transgender residents in Massachusetts have considered suicide according to a new survey by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
The study compares the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents to heterosexual and non-transgender residents.
It found that about 31 percent of transgender respondents said they have considered attempting suicide in the past year, compared to just 2 percent for heterosexual residents, 4 percent for gay and lesbian residents and 7 percent for bisexual residents.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20090727survey_third_of_mass_transgendered_weigh_suicide/srvc=home&position=recent
BOSTON — Nearly a third of transgender residents in Massachusetts have considered suicide according to a new survey by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
The study compares the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents to heterosexual and non-transgender residents.
It found that about 31 percent of transgender respondents said they have considered attempting suicide in the past year, compared to just 2 percent for heterosexual residents, 4 percent for gay and lesbian residents and 7 percent for bisexual residents.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20090727survey_third_of_mass_transgendered_weigh_suicide/srvc=home&position=recent
Grandparents are funding their children’s IVF, finds Red magazine
Note: The success rate for IVF has risen in recent years but still only a minority become pregnant. For women aged under 35, the success rate is 28.2 per cent. It drops to 23.6 per cent for women aged 35 to 37, 18.3 per cent for women aged 38 to 39 and 10.6 per cent for women aged 40 to 42.
JRM's comment: where are they getting these success rates? Are these women who actually have a fertility problem? Or, are some of these women perfectly healthy women who have no male partner? It matters for understanding the success rates. I got these stories from mercator: http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/ I like their comemnt too: how mature are these people who are spending all their income until their 40’s?
Rosemary Bennett, Social Affairs Correspondent
Grandparents have been subsidising school fees and providing a free baby-sitting service for years. Now research shows that they are also footing the bill for the conception of their grandchildren.
A quarter of women over the age of 40, and 13 per cent of all couples undergoing IVF and other fertility treatments, are having them paid for by their own parents, anxious to have grandchildren. The average amount spent by grandparents is £5,413, slightly more than the cost of one cycle of IVF.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6737901.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797084
JRM's comment: where are they getting these success rates? Are these women who actually have a fertility problem? Or, are some of these women perfectly healthy women who have no male partner? It matters for understanding the success rates. I got these stories from mercator: http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/ I like their comemnt too: how mature are these people who are spending all their income until their 40’s?
Rosemary Bennett, Social Affairs Correspondent
Grandparents have been subsidising school fees and providing a free baby-sitting service for years. Now research shows that they are also footing the bill for the conception of their grandchildren.
A quarter of women over the age of 40, and 13 per cent of all couples undergoing IVF and other fertility treatments, are having them paid for by their own parents, anxious to have grandchildren. The average amount spent by grandparents is £5,413, slightly more than the cost of one cycle of IVF.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6737901.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797084
The end of IVF?
Note from JRM: She is also keen to remind women that IVF still has a relatively poor success rate. “At one of the most renowned New York clinics, figures indicate that among women under 35, the success rate is still only 47%.”
Anita Chaudhuri
If you' re having difficulty conceiving, then help is at hand. it comes not in the form of expensive drugs, but in a new book that takes a simpler approach to the treatment of infertility.
It’s a sad fact of life that one in six couples will have difficulty conceiving. Those praying for a miracle will often try anything, from the estimated 75% who experiment with alternative therapies, to the 1 in 80 women who will eventually give birth to an IVF baby in the UK each year. Now, two leading fertility specialists have decided to bridge the gap between conventional and complementary medicine, and offer an alternative to rushing into IVF. “I estimate that 50% of women on IVF don’t need it,” says Dr Sami David, a doctor involved with the first-ever successful IVF procedure in New York 30 years ago. “They could get pregnant naturally.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6721741.ece
Anita Chaudhuri
If you' re having difficulty conceiving, then help is at hand. it comes not in the form of expensive drugs, but in a new book that takes a simpler approach to the treatment of infertility.
It’s a sad fact of life that one in six couples will have difficulty conceiving. Those praying for a miracle will often try anything, from the estimated 75% who experiment with alternative therapies, to the 1 in 80 women who will eventually give birth to an IVF baby in the UK each year. Now, two leading fertility specialists have decided to bridge the gap between conventional and complementary medicine, and offer an alternative to rushing into IVF. “I estimate that 50% of women on IVF don’t need it,” says Dr Sami David, a doctor involved with the first-ever successful IVF procedure in New York 30 years ago. “They could get pregnant naturally.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6721741.ece
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