Two-Faced Tenet

Victor Davis Hanson's National Review Online piece today compares some of the recent selective memory loss/revisionism of Clinton-appointed former CIA Director George Tenet to Tenet's 2002 congressional testimony:

Tenet said he would expect U.S. troops “will find caches of weapons of mass destruction, absolutely,” were they to invade the country.

If the United States decides not to go to war with Iraq and instead waits on inspectors, Hussein will continue developing weapons of mass destruction, Tenet said. “He will continue to strengthen himself over time,” he said.

Tenet described Abu Musab Zarqawi...as a “senior al Qaeda associate.” Zarqawi sought medical care in Baghdad, has met with Osama bin Laden, has been financially supported by al Qaeda and has taken “sustenance” from Iraq.

There are some people--like President Bush--who will stick with what they know is right, regardless of criticism. Then there are others, perhaps like Tenet, who head for the tall grass when criticized because they care more about what petty people think than about the truth.

Yet Another Scientist Not on the Global Warming Train

From the International Herald Tribune:

DENVER: The United States' leading hurricane forecaster said Friday that global ocean currents, not human-produced carbon dioxide, are responsible for global warming, and the Earth may begin to cool on its own in five to 10 years.

"They're blaming it all on humans, which is crazy," he said. "We're not the cause of it."

On Friday, Gray complained that politics and research into global warming have created "almost an industry" that has unfairly frightened the public and overwhelmed dissenting voices.

He said research arguing that humans are causing global warming is "mush" based on unreliable computer models that cannot possibly take into account the hundreds of factors that influence the weather.

Gray said little-understood ocean currents are behind a decades-long warming cycle and disputed assertions that greenhouse gases could raise global temperatures as much as some scientists predict.

That "settled science" of Al Gores doesn't look very settled. The hundreds or perhaps thousands of scientists who disagree about global warming presents just a tiny problem for the assertion of global arming apostles that everyone agrees on it.

My Country, Always Wrong

Thanks, Democrats, for disgracing our country and lending aid to the enemy.

From WorldNetDaily:

"We see Hillary (Clinton) and other candidates are competing on who will withdraw from Iraq and who is guilty of supporting the Iraqi invasion. This is a moment of glory for the revolutionary movements in the Arab world in general and for the Iraqi resistance movement specifically," said Abu Jihad, one of the overall leaders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization.

"The (Democrat) debate showed that like in Vietnam the American people needed these thousands of soldiers killed to see that invading other people will always result in a failure. ... I think the Democrats will win and apply an immediate withdrawal, but if they don't (withdraw), the revolutionary movements in Iraq will intensify attacks, and I think you should prepare for another big attack in the U.S."

The terrorists told WND an electoral win for the Democrats would prove to them Americans are "tired." They rejected statements from some prominent Democrats in the U.S. that a withdrawal from Iraq would end the insurgency, explaining an evacuation would prove resistance works and would compel jihadists to continue fighting until America is destroyed.

It's a shame and a disgrace that as a nation we no longer have the will to deal with treason and aiding the enemy as it used to be and still should be.

"Comfort and Encouragement to Al-Qaeda"

Somebody gets it (I just wish more in Congress did).

From Breitbart.com:

The US Congress' vote to push for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq was wrong and will bring comfort to Al-Qaeda insurgents, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Friday.

The Democrat-dominated US Senate on Thursday passed legislation which set a timeline for the recall of US troops from Iraq, where the US has been engaged in a bloody war since March 2003.

US President George W Bush has vowed to veto the law.

"I think it is wrong, and I don't think it is doing anything other than giving great comfort and encouragement to Al-Qaeda and the insurgency in Iraq," Howard said.

"They are looking at all this, they read newspapers, they see it on television and they say, 'The American domestic resolve is weakening, therefore we should maintain our resolve.'

Democrats...on the verge of manufacturing the new "Vietnam" that they've wanted and worked so hard for since 2003.

Democrat Candidates Destroy Earth to Save It

From Newsday:

WASHINGTON -- A flock of small jets took flight from Washington Thursday, each carrying a Democratic presidential candidate to South Carolina for the first debate of the political season.

For Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden, it was wheels up shortly after they voted in favor of legislation requiring that U.S. troops begin returning home from Iraq in the fall.

No one jet pooled, no one took commercial flights to save money, fuel or emissions.

All but Biden, who flew on a private jet, chartered their flights -- a campaign expense of between $7,500 and $9,000.

It's comforting to see that global warming is such a priority...for the little people.

Governor George W. Bush's Involvement with Texas Futile Care Law

GUEST COLUMN

(Special thanks to Carrie K. Hutchens for contacting Texas Right to Life for clarification on this issue, in light of controversy surrounding Emilio Gonzales, the Texas Futile Care Law and the involvement of then-Governor George W. Bush. Graham sent Hutchens this previously issued statement.)

By Elizabeth Graham, Director, Texas Right to Life

Congressional efforts to save and protect the life of Terri Shiavo have drawn some attention to President Bush’s support of the Texas Advance Directive law passed during his tenure as Governor. Some claim that Bush has been inconsistent by both supporting the Texas Advance Directive Act in 1999 and now intervening in the Shiavo case; yet his position is very consistent. In Texas in 1999, due to his leadership, the Advance Directive law restricted the practice of euthanasia; beforehand there were no safeguards in place for patients. Some explanation may clear this confusion. (Full Story)

Fantasies More Important than Freedom

Leave it to Democrats to celebrate some hypothetical environmental wacko cause on America's birthday, the dawning of more freedom and prosperity than the world had or has ever seen.

From CNS News:

"Global warming is "one of humanity's greatest challenges," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared on Wednesday. She said House Democrats are "working diligently" on legislation to address global warming challenges, and they expect to unveil their proposals by July 4, which she called "Energy Independence Day."

Democrats Must Pretend to be Theocrats to Get Elected

From CBN News:

Delaware senator and 2008 presidential candidate Joseph Biden says Democrats must convince voters that his party is comfortable with religion.

How will they convince Americans they're comfortable with something they clearly loath? I don't know.

Biden says religion is treated like a "third rail" in the Democratic party.

More like a dirty sock, something you hide if it's laying around when someone might see it.

He says Democrats don't have to demonstrate deep religious faith, but must understand religion's role in the America's life.

I don't think they could demonstrate that if they had to, and I doubt they could even acknowledge religion's role in the life of Americans if they did understand it. To do so would undermine and unravel their contention that America was a secularist enclave until theocrat Bush came along.

Good luck, Joe.

Hillary: Military Action Against Iran May be Needed

Hmmmm. From the Jerusalem Post:

Democratic presidential candidate and New York Senator Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that it might be necessary for America to confront Iran militarily, addressing that possibility more directly than any of the other presidential candidates who spoke this week to the National Jewish Democratic Council.

While it might seem surprising to see a Democrat speak positively about military action against an evil, terrorists regime, it's really not that big of a deal.

If Bush does do what should be done and things don't go perfectly, Hillary can always say Bush lied to her and have Bill Moyers do a special to rewrite history.

An Inconvenient Truth, or a Convenient Fiction?

There's a new film out that responds to Al Gore's global warming hysteria: An Inconvenient Truth, or a Convenient Fiction.
From Human Events:

In the film’s introduction Hayward states “the problem with Vice President Gore and other global warming extremists is that they distort the science, grossly exaggerate the risks, argue that anyone who disagrees with them is corrupt, and suggest solutions are easy and cheap -- And that is an all too convenient fiction.”

The film will help those who find it difficult to respond to Algore's haughty but empty rantings on global warming.

Global warming skeptics can find it difficult to verbally puncture Gore’s allegations because of the barrage of scientific gobbledygook used in the film and most environmentalist literature. Luckily, skeptics now have an in-stereo reference guide to help shut down your neighborhood scaremonger. Hayward’s film makes the points -- in clear, everyday terms -- that every American can use to deflate global warming myths.

In other words, it's hard to argue with a complete idiot, because what comes out of his mouth makes so little sense, you don't even know where to begin.

I have that problem sometimes in responding to my four year old son, but he's just beginning to understand the world around him. There's nothing shameful in a small child not making sense; it's altogether different for adults. I don't know what excuse these liberals have, but the parallels are uncanny.

Brownback Backtracks on Immigration

From the Washington Times, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS),2008 presidential candidate, says he no longer supports the immigration bill he helped pass.

"What we got through was what we could get through the Senate and move the process forward," Mr. Brownback said in explaining his vote. "There are things in it that I don't think are good within that."

He said the bill would lead to too much "chain migration," allowing immigrants to sponsor family members to join them in the United States. Mr. Brownback said he supports sponsorship of spouses and children, but that thinks siblings should be excluded.

I'm not sure what that bit about "spouses and children" but not "siblings" means, but it sounds like he's at least moving toward a more sensible position on illegal immigration.

The area of illegal immigration has been my only reservation about supporting Brownback's presidential campaign. Other than that, I think he's a fine candidate and will likely be the one I'll get behind.

I was highly impressed by his unapologetic position on abortion and other matters when I heard him speak at the Capitol Rally in Pierre in October 2006. He's definitely not a liberal Republican like Rudy and not a "finger in the wind" type like McCain.

Dinosaur DNA

From OneNewsNow, something interesting to ponder regarding the recent announcement that scientists have analyzed dinosaur DNA:

Dr. Grady McMurtry, president of Creation Worldview Ministries, says the discovery offers proof for a young Earth. "Now first of all, let's think about this. Most molecular biologists will tell you that DNA could not possibly exist for more than 10,000 years," he notes. So, since evolutionists believe DNA does not last millions of years, he says the discovery of DNA in a dinosaur bone is consistent with the biblical account of creation.

The Man Who Wrote the National Anthem

CBN News has a good piece on Francis Scott Key, the man who wrote The Star Spangled Banner (I just read about the composition of the song in William Bennett's "America: The Last Best Hope Volume I" a couple of nights ago).

Key was raised in a Christian home.

Gephardt said, "His mother led prayers, not just for the family, but also for the servants, and so they would all gather around and have prayers in the evening."

After the War of 1812, the lawyer even considered going into the ministry.

Key was a cofounder of the American Sunday School Union, giving generously to seminaries, missions, and organizations that educated low-income children.

"He was a very fair-minded person, very charitable," Gephardt said.

He also wrote hymns: "Lord, with glowing heart, I'd praise Thee, for the bliss Thy love bestows, for the pardoning grace that saves me, and the peace that from it flows."

Key's faith in Jesus Christ motivated him throughout his entire life.

Go read the whole article.

Carbon Offsets are Full of Hot Air

The Financial Times has found that these "carbon offset" deals are just a smokescreen.

The FT investigation found:

• Widespread instances of people and organisations buying worthless credits that do not yield any reductions in carbon emissions.
• Industrial companies profiting from doing very little – or from gaining carbon credits on the basis of efficiency gains from which they have already benefited substantially.
• Brokers providing services of questionable or no value.
• A shortage of verification, making it difficult for buyers to assess the true value of carbon credits.
• Companies and individuals being charged over the odds for the private purchase of European Union carbon permits that have plummeted in value because they do not result in emissions cuts.

My first thought when I heard of these "carbon offset" things that it was a sham of a scam. My conscience isn't perfect, but darn it, it was just a little too rigid to allow me to pursue some of this easy money.

Made me think of a comedy routine I saw back when I wasn't concerned about the moral fiber of what I watched. Anyway, it was a Sam Kinison routine about how he wanted to get into the "animal psychology" racket. In his routine, some people with a disturbed dog "Rusty" came to see him, complaining that he just wasn't a happy dog any more. Sam took the dog into his office, closed the door and proceeded to beat the dog silly, telling him, "You're a dog! Just bark! Go chase the Frisbee!" Then he comes out and tells the dog owners, "Yeah, Rusty's all better now. That'll be $500."

Easy money...just like "carbon offsets."

Scientists Unsettled on the "Settled Science"

From the Standard Freeholder, two more scientists who aren't settled on the "settled science" of "global warming":

Carleton University science professor Tim Patterson said global warming will not bring about the downfall of life on the planet.

Patterson said much of the up-to-date research indicates that "changes in the brightness of the sun" are almost certainly the primary cause of the warming trend since the end of the "Little Ice Age" in the late 19th century. Human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the gas of concern in most plans to curb climate change, appear to have little effect on global climate, he said.

"I think the proof in the pudding, based on what (media and governments) are saying, (is) we're about three quarters of the way (to disaster) with the doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere," said Patterson. "The world should be heating up like crazy by now, and it's not. The temperatures match very closely with the solar cycles."

Professor Patterson also points out that CO2 isn't a pollutant, but is plant food.

What could we be doing instead of going hysterical over all this silliness?

"All the money wasted on Kyoto in a year could provide clean drinking water for Africa," said Patterson. "We're into a new era of science with the discussion of solar forces. Eventually, Kyoto is going to fall by the wayside. In the meantime, I'm worried we're going to spend millions that could have been spent on something better like air pollution."

It's a very interesting article. I'd encourage you to read the whole thing.

Half Right

KELO has a story on Planned Parenthood's offer of free HPV vaccinations.

Their headline, however, is inaccurate and misleading: Cervical Cancer Vaccine Offered." It isn't a vaccine against cervical cancer; it's a vaccine against the Human Papilloma Virus, a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer. Many media outlets around the country have made this "mistake," so KELO isn't alone.

To give credit where it's due, though, they do explain this in the last sentence of the article:

The vaccine is aimed at a virus that comes from sexual activity.

As Pat Powers says at the South Dakota War College today, Planned Parenthood isn't doing any favors to conservatives who support the taxpayer-funded immunizations.

There's Whacked and Then There's Whacked

This Cheney impeachment thing proposed by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) sure separates "the men from the boys" as they say...or in this case, the Leftists from the truly whacked.

What parade of political mutants support this juvenile act? From CNS News:

Impeach07 is a coalition of high-profile anti-war, anti-Bush groups including World Can't Wait Coalition, CODE PINK Women for Peace, and the Cindy Sheehan-led Gold Star Families for Peace.

Kucinich's articles of impeachment, which allege that Cheney purposefully misled the United States into war in Iraq, have yet to garner any support from his colleague in the House, prompting the long-shot candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination to say that "no one's with me but the people on this."

Why aren't these tinfoil-hatted nutcases going after Cheney and not Bush? One reason and one reason only:

Impeachment advocates would like to impeach Cheney before pursuing President Bush, because if they were to successfully impeach and remove Bush, Cheney would become president. Hence, they want to remove the vice president from office first.

The only positive thing in this inane, divisive act is that even the majority of Democrats know they simply don't have a case and they aren't willing to spend political capital on an utterly unfounded case.

New Dow High: Don't Mean Nuthin'!

From the unbiased Argus Leader:

The Dow Jones industrial average reached a new benchmark Tuesday, trading above 13,000 for much of the day and closing at 13,089.89.

Breathless news in some quarters.

But what it means for investors and the economy is simply that the Dow Jones reached a new benchmark.

If this "benchmark" had occurred when His Eminence Bill Clinton was on the throne, er, in office, he would have been proclaimed the new messiah from Boston to the Left Coast.

Just remember the media rule of thumb: if it's good news, minimize it and in no way connect it to President Bush. If it's bad news, no matter what it is, it's Bush's fault.

[The Patriot Post (PatriotPost.US)]

Temperatures Going Up?

If global warming is happening to the earth (i.e. globally), we should see a general increase in temperatures across the planet, right?

From CO2 Science:

This issue's temperature record of the week is from Dixon, IL. During the period of most significant greenhouse gas buildup over the past century, i.e., 1930 and onward, Dixon's mean annual temperature has cooled by 2.01 degrees Fahrenheit.

Not much global warming here!

President Bush Signed the Texas Futile Care Bill Into Law: Who Cares?!?!

Tonight CNN covered the Texas Futile Care Law case involving Baby Emilio Gonzales. Wouldn't you know it -- President Bush got brought up "AGAIN". Some just have to make an issue about him signing this bill into law, while then trying to save Terri Schiavo. Must have a chance to call him a hypocrite. What would news be without getting that jab in?

First of all, I don't care who signed the bill into law. It is being abused! That is "the" issue at hand. All the other rubbish has no place in the debate about whether this law, as it stands, is flawed or not.

Because I can't always resist doing a little jabbing too...

My understanding is that this bill was meant to protect patients from physicians deciding care was futile and taking matters into his/her own hands about removing care personally deemed futile. So, if this is the case -- I wasn't there -- then what President Bush (then governor) thought he was signing was not a bad concept. How could he know it would then be used as a tool to take away patient and family rights?

In short, the comparison (as an irony), between him signing this bill into law and fighting to save Terri Schiavo's life, falls short of flying. As a matter of fact, it never got off the ground. It's nitpicking at its most obvious level.

President Bush signed the futile care bill into law? So what if he did? He certainly isn't the one abusing it -- that job goes to the physicians and so-called ethic committees that believe in 10 Day Life-Termination Notices! The job goes to them and so should the focus be on them and on fixing the law that so easily condemns people to death against their own wishes and the wishes of their family!

Children in the Colosseum

Planned Parenthood is showing how truly extreme they are, defending the completely barbaric partial birth abortion procedure.

From LifeSite New:

NEW YORK, April 25, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Planned Parenthood called for a day of nationwide rallies and demonstrations in protest of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold the federal abortion ban on the gruesome partial-birth abortion procedure.

Look here or here to see what these radicals are fighting to preserve the right to do.

Only the most callous pro-abortionist could defend this bloody procedure. They would have been right at home in the Roman Colosseum, cheering for the lions.

Bush Showed Leadership on Kyoto

President Bush took a lot of heat for rejecting the feel-good/do-nothing global warming Kyoto Treaty.

Yet now this from the National Center for Policy Analysis:

China is soon estimated to surpass the U.S. as the leading emitter of greenhouse gases. Yet earlier this month the Chinese government reaffirmed that while they would participate in negotiations to shape a post-Kyoto treaty limiting greenhouse gas emissions, they would not commit to binding reductions in CO2.

And it isn't just us and the Commies who have decided not to play Al Gore's little game.

And now Canada's Prime Minister has apparently come to the same conclusion. Canada's Environment Minister John Baird recently said Kyoto compliance would cost Canada 275,000 jobs and push its economy into recession. Instead of Kyoto, Canada will join the U.S.-led Asian-Pacific Partnership -- whose members also include Australia, China, India, Japan and South Korea. The so-called AP6 was launched in mid-2005 to make voluntary cuts in greenhouse gases.

Leadership isn't looking to see what everyone else is doing and getting on board with that. Leadership is taking a candid look at something, making a decision and sticking to it. It's good that the grown-ups are in charge in the White House and kept us away from this foolish Kyoto Treaty.

A Culture of Abortion

A chilling picture painted from Port Elizabeth, South Africa in the Mail & Guardian Online:

The health worker said the fact that girls did not need their parents' permission to have an abortion, and that nurses were bound by confidentiality, were all part of the problem.

"Young girls -- some in their school uniforms -- come to the hospital in droves during school hours," she said.

"Many girls use abortion as a method of contraception, as you see many of these young faces coming for an abortion for a second time."

An Unpopular Truth

We adults are sometimes hard on the upcoming generation of kids, but there are some real heroes out there who aren't afraid to speak up for the truth. Sometimes they encounter resistance for speaking the truth in a politically-correct "do whatever feels good" culture.

From WorldNetDaily:

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of students in several Sacramento area school districts are being penalized by school officials for objecting to the homosexual advocacy "Day of Silence," according to a law firm handling many complaints.

"We are looking at our options. If our affiliate attorneys come forward and help us with these … there might be dozens of lawsuits. I believe we have enough good attorneys both in skill and as a matter of conscience to step up to the plate," Kevin Snider, the chief counsel for the Pacific Justice Institute told WND.

If I remember correctly, a record number (something like 7,000) of students participated nationwide in this the third year of the Day of Truth.

I spoke with South Dakota's Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney last night and fortunately he said no problems had been reported from South Dakota students who participated in the Day of Truth last week. Our schools usually are a cut above the rest, anyway, so let's hope it remains that way.

Nora, The Piano Playing Cat

If you haven't seen this yet, you gotta!

News Media or Propaganda Organ?

THE WORLD HAS GONE MAD

By Carrie K. Hutchens

The Chronicle online (The Independent Daily at Duke University), has an interesting article, "Times Lax Coverage Comes Under Scrutiny" by Iza Wojciechowska (April 24, 2007). An article that focuses on the Time's coverage of the Duke Lacrosse case, but also one that can be applied when thinking of the coverage of other cases as well. (Full Story)

Study: Childbirth Reduces Cancer Risk

Seems there was a nugget in that Harvard abortion/breast cancer study that the "mainstream" media somehow "missed."

From LifeNews:

Lost in the abortion-breast cancer link debate was the fact that the researchers affirmed previous studies showing that a full-term pregnancy before age 35 reduces the long-term risk of developing breast cancer.

Also...

Also, researchers at the German Cancer Research Center found a woman's risk of contracting breast cancer is lowered and the decrease is more substantial the more pregnancies a woman has had.

Indoctrinating Children About Homosexuality

HT to the World Magazine blog regarding these videos showing kids at a Quaker school and a school in New York being taught to accept homosexuality as normal, natural and healthy.

In a group setting, one lady who I assume is a teacher, asks, "As a school are we saying that kids have to support this? I guess that's what it sounds like to me that we're saying. If a child comes from a background that says homosexuality is not correct, are we telling that child that they're supposed to, that this is what you're supposed to do?"

Another lady in that group replies, "I don't know if this works for you, but I think that we are asking kids to believe that this is right. Not as a matter of moral principle but as a matter of...we're educating them and this is part of what we consider to be a healthy education."

The video then shows, for first and second grade classrooms, a teacher showing kids a book entitled "Asha's Mums." In the story, the teacher sends home a permission slip for a field trip. It comes back signed by two women. When the teacher asks which of the signatures belongs to the child's mother, the girl replies, "My brother and I have two mums." The teachers tells little Asha that she must have her actual mother sign the form or she can't go on the trip. The teacher reading the book then asks the children in her class, "Now if you were Asha, how do you think you would feel?" One of the students surmises that the teacher must not have been "very open minded" about having two mums and being a lesbian. When the teacher asks the little boy to clarify what he meant by "open minded" he draws the analogy of being open to trying a new vegetable.

The video also shows children singing "This Little Light of Mine," which usually means the light of Christ's truth, but apparently in this case they are celebrating the "shining light" of a homosexual who has come out of the closet.

A homosexual teacher also talks to the kids about how revealing his homosexuality helps him to be a better teacher, etc.




The second video starts with an effeminent male teacher introducing a little girl who celebrated "Mother's Day" with two mothers. The little girl says that when she invited a little boy to come over to her house, but the boys' parents wouldn't let him because of the two lesbians living in her house. "One night I called their house and the mother told me their version of the Bible."

Every Bible I've ever seen says homosexuality is wrong, so I'm not sure of the name of the Bible version these lesbians are reading.

The teacher then has the children role play as if they were judges deciding whether homosexuals should be able to "marry." Legal wisdom such as "I don't see why they shouldn't" soon follows, rivaling what is sometimes seen from the real bench these days. These children probably also don't see why they shouldn't play in the street, eat what they want and stay up all night, either. But that's why the grown-ups have traditionally been in charge.

The video ends with some really out-dated and old-fashioned statements from the Bible about how God doesn't approve of homosexuality. But then, since God is eternally ancient and unchanging, maybe He knows what He's talking about.



Your tax dollars at work.

UPDATE: LifeSite.net has this information about the origin/background of the video clips:

Amazingly, the video, while newly posted on the internet, is a clip from a 1996 pro-homosexual film called "It's elementary". While the first segment of the YouTube clip of the film covers Cambridge Friends School (CFS) in Massachusetts, a second clip covers New York City Public School 87 where similar propagandising occurs.

Surprise: Religions is Good for Children

A new study finds that both parents and teachers rate the behavior of children better when the family regularly attends religious services and talk with their children about religion.

They found that the children have better self-control, social skills and learn better than non-religious families.

From Fox News:

Bartkowski thinks religion can be good for kids for three reasons. First, religious networks provide social support to parents, he said, and this can improve their parenting skills. Children who are brought into such networks and hear parental messages reinforced by other adults may also “take more to heart the messages that they get in the home,” he said.

Secondly, the types of values and norms that circulate in religious congregations tend to be self-sacrificing and pro-family, Bartkowski told LiveScience. These “could be very, very important in shaping how parents relate to their kids, and then how children develop in response,” he said.

Finally, religious organizations imbue parenting with sacred meaning and significance, he said.

Really not such a surprise here that taking the time to instill values in children helps not only their behavior but their ability to learn. Teaching them that they're a purposeless animal--either through action or inaction--just floating through life with no destiny doesn't bode well for good behavior or for their emotional health.

Huge Fossilized Rain Forest Found

A huge underground fossilized rain forest has been found in a coal mine in Illinois.

From Yahoo News:

“As you’re walking down these passageways you see these pillars of coal on either side of you and above you—imagine an artist’s canvas painted a flat grey and that is sort of what the grey shale above the coal looks like.”

The largest ever found, the fossil forest covers an area of about 40 square miles, or nearly the size of San Francisco.

Now, scientists usually tell us everything geological has been laid down slowly, taking thousands and millions of years to deposit and form. So ask yourself: how does organic material (leaves, stems, tree trunks, etc.) last for thousands or millions of years--long enough to become fossilized--without rotting as they normally do?

Creation scientists have been saying for years that this is evidence of catastrophic burial, such as would have happened in the Bible's account of the global flood.

Seems evolutionists have finally smacked themselves in the forehead and realized the problem of non-rotting organic matter that becomes fossilized is a major fly in their ointment.

So now they've come on board the catastrophism train...but still can't quite bring themselves to consider something as unsophisticated as the Biblical explanation:

The scientists think a major earthquake about 300 million years ago caused the region to drop below sea level where it was buried in mud. They estimate that within a period of months the forest was buried, preserving it “forever.”

“Some of these tree stumps have been covered geologically speaking in a flash,” Elrick said.

It couldn't have happened in a cataclysmic global flood as the Bible says, though. That would have been too much to pull off for the God who created the entire universe out of nothing.

The "Gore Pledge" For Celebrities

From the Washington Times:

A leading skeptic of global-warming science is challenging celebrity activists such as Al Gore and Sheryl Crow to lower their "carbon footprint" to the same level as the average American by Earth Day in April 2008.

"I simply believe that former Vice President Al Gore and his Hollywood friends who demand we change the way we live to avert this over-hyped 'crisis' not only talk the talk, but walk the walk," said Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican.

"How hard is it for these elitists to become as frugal in their energy consumption as the average American? I think the American public has a right to know they are being had."

Don't hold your breath.

Abortion/Breast Cancer Study Flawed

Results of a study were released yesterday that found no link between abortion and breast cancer.

If the risk isn't there, then it isn't there. There remain many reasons why abortion is harmful not only to the unborn child who is killed, but the mother as well (increased risk of miscarriage, infertility, depression, substance abuse, suicide, etc.).

However, there is already a host of research that indicates a link between abortion and breast cancer, and this study is likely politically motivated. Why? There are many in the "scientific" community who will fight to preserve the "right" to abortion regardless of the harm it does to mother and child.

Some information about the study from CNS News:

The survey followed 105,716 women between 29 and 46 years of age from 1993 on, with updates collected every two years until the study was concluded in 2003. In the end, it said, "16,118 participants (15 percent) reported a history of induced abortion, and 21,753 (21 percent) reported a history of spontaneous abortions [miscarriages]."

One of the key problems with the study? With cancer, cause and effect usually don't follow in just a few short years.

One of the problems with the study was its lack of sufficient follow-up time, Malec said. She noted that participants who reported having an abortion in the later part of the decade-long research period wouldn't have had time to get breast cancer.

"If you start smoking cigarettes today, are you going to develop lung cancer next month? Will you get it in six months?" she asked. "It's going to take years before you develop lung cancer, if you're going to get it at all.

How do scientists believe the abortion/breast cancer link develops?

Proponents of a link between abortion and breast cancer risk say that upon conception, the level of estrogen in a woman's body increases dramatically. This results in the development of undifferentiated cells in the breast, which pose an additional cancer risk.

Late in the pregnancy, these cells become milk-producing cells, cease posing a greater cancer risk and in fact provide added protection against cancer.

If a woman has an abortion before that stage - and the vast majority of abortions would occur before then - her body is left with a high number of undifferentiated cells which increase the risk of her contracting breast cancer, they argue.

This isn't considered a factor with miscarriages, since most miscarriages occur due to insufficient estrogen, there isn't enough of the hormone to produce significant amounts of undifferentiated cells in the breast.

For more on the abortion/breast cancer link: here.

Bill or Hillary: Hillary or Bill

Does anyone know which Clinton is actually trying to win the presidential nomination? The lines seem to be a little blurry there.

Forget Lethal Injection -- Execute by Dehydration

I just read, "Study: Lethal Injections Slow, Painful Deaths" by AP and appearing on KMBC.com (April 23, 2007). Unbelievably the report says things like:

"The drugs used to execute prisoners in the United States sometimes fail to work as planned, causing slow and painful deaths that probably violate constitutional bans on cruel and unusual punishment, a new medical review of dozens of executions concludes."

and...

"But 11 states have suspended its use after opponents alleged it is ineffective and cruel. The issue came to a head last year in California, when a federal judge ordered that doctors assist in killing Michael Morales, convicted of raping and murdering a teenage girl. Doctors refused, and legal arguments continue in the case."

Where was all this concern as Terri Schiavo was being slowly starved and dehydrated to death? A process that took 13 agonizing days to complete. But then... if what was done to Terri wasn't cruel and unusual punishment, why not execute by dehydration? Yes, why not?

Lemmon Drink?

ON THE CHURCH AND SOCIETY

By Raymond J. Keating

The United States’ 14-year experiment known as Prohibition, in effect from 1920 to 1933, did not work out too well. A new book titled Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City by Michael A. Lerner provides an interesting reminder of the consequences of this sweeping fit of social engineering. (Full Story)

Rove, Crow and David: And Now, The Rest of the Story

As I suspected might be the case, another side of the story regarding the incident with Karl Rove, Sheryl Crow and Laurie David is now coming out.

This is just an excerpt from National Review Online:

In the eyewitness' version, again, David and Crow are a bit more aggressive than their own story suggests. The eyewitness says David told Rove, You need to bring in new people to tell you the truth. Rove mentioned Dr. John Marburger, the White House science advisor. At that point, according to the eyewitness, Crow began poking Rove's chest with her finger, demanding to know what corporations were underwriting Marburger's work. Rove said Marburger had been in academia most of his career.

Whether you like Rove or not, any senior White House official of any administration is almost certain to act more responsibly than Rove was portrayed in Crow's account.

And knowing the typically petulant behavior of liberals when dealing with grownups, I was pretty sure the "tantrum" was on the opposite end of Crow's claim.

Never My Fault

The ever-liberal New York Times sees an increasing infant mortality rate in Mississippi as the fault of those evil rich racist Republican welfare-cutters.

This bit was included in the report, but of course the portion I bold-typed couldn't possibly have anything to do with the health problems:

The setbacks have raised questions about the impact of cuts in welfare and Medicaid and of poor access to doctors, and, many doctors say, the growing epidemics of obesity, diabetes and hypertension among potential mothers, some of whom tip the scales here at 300 to 400 pounds.

This kind of lifestyle couldn't possibly have anything to do with health problems, either:

Ms. Allen greeted visitors with breakfast in hand: a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bag of chips.

TimesWatch, however, is able to make the stunningly brilliant deduction:

Personal responsibility took a back seat in Eckholm's story, with this nugget buried deep inside: "Visits with pregnant women and mothers in several Delta towns suggest that many poverty-related factors -- including public policies, personal behaviors and health conditions -- may contribute to infant deaths."

Heaven-forbid we make any value judgments about someones behavior, though! Let's just throw more money at more programs in the hopes that if we bury people in enough free cash, their lives will be better.

We make choices that put our own health at risk--and those of our children--yet it's the fault of budget cutters for not making our lives perfect without any effort on our part.

I really shouldn't be surprised after all these years, but it never ceases to amaze me how liberals can look at a human being, created in the image of God with a free will and a reasoning brain, and see that human being like a fish flopping around helplessly on the dry ground of inadequate government spending.

Sheryl Crow: The Hypocrisy Tour

HT to Drudge for the link to the Smoking Gun piece on Sheryl Crow's shopping list when she's on tour.

I don't remember toilet paper being mentioned (maybe she brings her own environmentally-friendly roll that'll last the whole tour), but there are plenty of other requirements for uptown adult beverages.

This environmental warrior who thinks Karl Rove ought to "take a new look" at global warming brings 3 semi-trucks, 4 buses and 6 cars.

Couldn't she walk or ride a bicycle or take a horse or something? Oh, sorry, I forgot; that's for the little people.

Chameleon Hillary

HT to Drudge for this video of how Hillary Clinton "adjusts" her accent to try and score points with her audience.

While petty on the surface of it, this is why you can't trust these people an inch. The only thing you can count on Hillary and her like for is that they'll pretend to be whatever it takes to get you to drop your guard long enough for them to push their socialist agenda.

A Big Fix for the Courts

Ken Blanchard at South Dakota Politics has an excellent analysis of what the Roe decision did to the U.S. Supreme Court, in the same vein as Dred Scott, and how overturning this usurpation of power could restore respect to the court.

Read it here.

First volley fired in school funding suit against the state

By Gordon Garnos

AT ISSUE: Can a group of K-12 schools sue the state of South Dakota over inadequate funding? That question has been bobbing around for a long time, first as threats, then by the organization of about 70 school boards from across the state. Until recently there was a lot of question whether such a lawsuit could even be heard by the judiciary in South Dakota. Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur of Pierre recently announced the case can now proceed and the first volley was fired at what could be a series of preliminary hearings before the trial now scheduled to start in June 2008. (Full Story)

Media Were "Cheerleaders" for the Iraq War?

By Bob Ellis
Dakota Voice

Some people may have trouble accepting my assertion that Bill Moyers' upcoming propaganda piece on the media's activities leading up to the Iraq War is a bunch of bunk. I understand that the contentions of liberals thrive best in environments of uncertainty where the facts aren't convenient for immediate recall, and given that those pre-war days were four long years ago, maybe Moyers thinks, "Now is the time."

Moyer's revisionist program asserts the media just didn't do it's job, that it "enabl[ed] the Bush Administration to go to war," that they just didn't dig deep enough. They were too busy being "cheerleaders for the war" during the 7-month long "rush to war." (Full Story)

Kids and Climate Change

Some balanced advice from Rapid City meteorologist Chris Orr in his Rapid City Journal (dead-tree edition) column today:

I think we are too transparent with young children about some issues, global warming being one of them. Sure, teach them to fight pollution and not waste energy; but teaching a kid that the Earth will be nearly free from lifeforms, as we know them, by the time they reach their great-grandma’s age is a heavy burden to bear.

How the Allies Saved Hitler

If you're a history buff, there's a very interesting story about World War II today in today's Scotsman (HT to WorldNetDaily):

Major General Henning von Tresckow created a new force of around 20,000 troops based in German-controlled territory in the east, telling High Command it was needed to protect against a potential revolt by slave labourers.

Tresckow then organised a 'fashion parade' at which Hitler was to inspect new uniforms, little suspecting one of the models was a suicide bomber. Once the Führer was dead, Tresckow planned to blame the killing on rogue SS elements, use his secret army to take command, and end the war.

But the putsch was foiled days before it was due to be launched, thanks to the RAF. The uniforms were among the casualties from two nights of bombing raids on Berlin, so the plot was abandoned.

Normal, Natural and Healthy?

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Bay Area doctors are leading a campaign to bring gay men into their offices for a basic exam that women have been enduring for decades -- the Pap test.

The goal is to push back rising rates of anal cancer, a preventable disease that has increased 37 percent in the United States since a decade ago, when the total number of cancer cases increased only 1 percent.

Too Much Balance in the Media

From Cosmos:

MELBOURNE: Airing the views of climate change sceptics in the media may only be serving to keep the global warming controversy boiling, argue scientists.

What were they thinkin'? Don't they realize we need to get on about the work of crippling capitalism and the West? The media needs to get its act together and ensure this global warming matter is "settled science" like evolution.

Otherwise, they might get a visit from His Eminence Al Gore.

Media: America, the Enemy

From the New York Times:

MOSCOW, April 21 — At their first meeting with journalists since taking over Russia’s largest independent radio news network, the managers had startling news of their own: from now on, they said, at least 50 percent of the reports about Russia must be “positive.”

In addition, opposition leaders could not be mentioned on the air and the United States was to be portrayed as an enemy, journalists employed by the network, Russian News Service, say they were told by the new managers, who are allies of the Kremlin.

Gee, our journalists in this country will do the same thing without even being told to.

America Founded to Spread the Gospel

WorldNetDaily carries a story today about how after the revisionism at historic Jamestown, Virginia was exposed, tour guides are once again acknowledging our Christian heritage, even the fact that the reason this colony was established was to spread the Gospel:

"The first motivation mentioned in the 1606 charter is to spread the Christian religion. The statement below is made by or on behalf of King James to the major investors in the Virginia Company," the memo said.

Wee, greately commending and graciously accepting of theire desires to the furtherance of soe noble a worke which may, by the providence of Almightie God, hereafter tende to the glorie of His Divine Maiestie to suche people as yet live in darkeness and miserable ignorance of the true knoweledge and worshippe of God and may in tyme bring the infidels and salvages living in those parts to humane civilitie and to a setled and quiet governmente…

The memo said it obtained the documentation from two primary sources, the original charter granted by King James to the Virginia Company on April 10, 1606, and the London Council of the Virginia Company's "Instructions given by way of Advice," dated between Nov. 20 and Dec. 19, 1606.

Celebrating Earth Day: A Gore for All Seasons

[The Patriot Post (PatriotPost.US)]