CANADIANS: Change the culture! Tell the CRTC what you think... #roft

About the way cable companies operate.

I know most of you hate paying for channels that you don't use. Tell them: Stop the packaging system and end cable monopolies!

This is something that affects almost everyone. If we could get this changed, that would be a huge improvement to popular culture.

Pass it on!

Trust Women...?

I've always hated that slogan.

Because it presumes that women must always be trusted. And if you question it, you somehow don't trust women. Which, of course, is a farce.

New York Magazine has an interesting article about the struggling pro-abortion movement in the US.

It depicts a counselling session involving a woman who already has three children and is aborting this child because her boyfriend doesn't want any more kids. The counsellor, Claire Keyes, is not happy about having to deal with this situation.

Keyes gestures toward the waiting room, where the patient’s boyfriend is sitting. “Is he an important part of your life?”

The woman hesitates. “I guess. For now.”

“He doesn’t have kids?”

“He’s got kids. He just don’t want any more.”

Keyes pauses. “I don’t feel you in this decision, and that makes me sad.” She thinks. “If you had to name a percentage—pick a number—what percentage of your decision to be here today is yours?”

The woman stares into space. “Basically, 99 percent of it is him.” She looks listlessly at Keyes. “So. Get it done and over with.”

Keyes gently returns her look. “We have a saying around here: We don’t do abortions for boyfriends.”

The woman is silent for several long, drawn-out seconds. Then, she offers something. “But see, that’s where it comes down to my percent. I have three kids already. So, he leaves, and now I have four children and no dads.”

(...)

A few minutes later, we leave the room. Keyes is shaking. I start to ask her a question, but she cuts me off. “Do I feel good about signing this? ***, no.” She wipes her eyes. “And I could deny her. We do deny women abortions.”

Deny women abortions?

Wha...? What about...Trust women?

You mean some women shouldn't have abortions?

Some women don't know what's best for themselves?

Some women make dumb decisions and should be stopped from following through?

Why that's positively paternalistic!

Clearly this woman does not want an abortion. She has been deprived of support. The abortion is so easy. There's obviously a lot going on in her life that needs fixing-- it doesn't take a genius to see that. She's desperate to hold on to this man-- for the sake of the kids. I understand that, I'm a mom, I'd want help around the house, too if I were single. Like any typical mom, she thinks about everyone else before she thinks of herself. And herself would rather not have this abortion.

But when pro-lifers create pregnancy centres precisely to bring out these marginalized feelings of ambivalent women, we're accused of being tyrannical misogynists bent on controlling women's reproductive lives.

See, you have to trust women. Except when you're pro-choice. Then you can doubt women. Trust them to go to the abortion clinic. Don't trust them to go to the Pregnancy Centre. Argue for choice, but don't help them really choose. Empower them to have abortions, but don't empower them to carry pregnancies to term.

This is why we equate pro-choice with "pro-abortion".

Former Korean Abortionist Speaks of His Struggle

For nearly two decades, obstetrician Shim Sang-duk aborted as many babies as he delivered -- on average, one a day, month after month.

"Over time, I became emotionless," the physician said. "I came to see the results of my work as just a chunk of blood. During the operation, I felt the same as though I was treating scars or curing diseases."

Shim, 42, eventually came to despise himself, despite the money he earned from the procedures. So, two months ago, he founded an activist group of physicians who refuse to perform abortions and advocate prosecution for doctors who continue to do so.

The group's stand has brought a tidal wave of criticism from the Korean Assn. of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which represents more than 4,000 physicians in this country where abortions, although technically illegal, are so prevalent it has been tagged as "the Abortion Republic."

Unlike in America, where doctors have been threatened and even killed for performing abortions, Shim says he's received death threats for deciding to stop performing them.

Read the rest. Good stuff.

VIDEO: Sarah Palin talks about her faith

I like unusual Catholic figures...Servant of God John of Monte Corvino

Today is the feast of John of Montecorvino, a medieval Catholic missionary who travelled to Iran, India and China.

It amazes me what they would endure for the sake of the Faith, when life was hard and often short. They would go to the ends of the earth to make a convert.

He is not officially canonized, but is widely revered (and if he's on the calendar, I presume because he's beatified.)

When You Miss One Holy Communion

It is well for you to consider what you lose every time that you pass up Holy Communion.

1. You miss a personal visit with Jesus, Author of all spiritual energy and of all holiness;

2. You lose a special increase of sanctifying grace, which makes your soul more pleasing to God;

3. You lose a quota of sacramental grace which entitles you to special help in times of temptation and in the discharge of your daily duties;

4. You lose a precious opportunity of having all of your venial sins wiped away;

5. You miss the special preserving influence which each Holy Communion confers against the fires of passion;

6. You miss the opportunity of having remitted a part, or all, of the temporal punishments due to your sins;

7. You lose the spiritual joy, the sweetness and particular comfort that come from a fervent Holy Communion;

8. You lose a part of the glory that your body might enjoy at its resurrection on the Last Day;

9. You lose the greater degree of glory you would possess in Heaven for all eternity;

10. You may lose:

a) complete victory over some fault or passion;
b) some particular grace long prayed for;
c) the conversion or salvation of some soul;
d) deliverance of a relative or friend from Purgatory;
e) many graces for others, both the living and the dead.

Will a few extra minutes of sleep repay you for all these losses?

At the hour of death our greatest consolation will be the Masses we have heard and the Holy Communions received. What riches hundreds of thousands of Catholics deprive themselves daily by neglecting Mass.

With Ecclesiastical Approval
Chicago, December 6, 1940

Source

Muslims taking over the streets of Paris

For the last ten years, Muslims in the 18e arrondissement of Paris (known as Barbès) have been illegally taking over the sidewalks in order to pray every Friday, according to this left-wing blog.


They set up ten loud speakers around their mosque where hundreds of Muslims set up their prayer carpets. For twenty minutes, the mosque essentially broadcasts Friday afternoon prayers.

The whole set up is illegal of course. There's no permit for this. The Muslims take over the sidewalks and the pedestrians are forced to walk on the bike path or on the street.

Here's some video of the event:



Pretty impressive crowd.

And the French authorities do nothing.

I know there are lots of people in France who object to this kind of thing.

Why don't they just show up for a counter-protest? The police would probably HAVE to intervene and then do something.

Union Leader Unhappy at O'Brien Wanting Wage Freeze

Mayor calls for legislated wage freeze

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 503, which represents thousands of city workers and has an arbitration clause in its contract, says O’Brien’s call is an “attack on the city workforce.”

“Why should the workers pay for the bad decisions that (O’Brien) has championed over his term as mayor?” the local’s president, Brian Madden, said in a release.

Why should we, the taxpayer, have to pay for your fat cat wages when we're constantly getting tax hikes, which in part can be attributed to the generous contracts that local government has little control over?

What makes you think you're entitled to your salaries when we have trouble paying for the basics?

What's good for the goose...

The new measure, similar to one the Baltimore City council approved that is awaiting the potential signature or veto from the pro-abortion major, would fine centers that don't post signs saying they don't do abortions.

I have an idea.

Pro-lifers should elect a majority pro-life Council, and then have them pass an ordinance saying that any facility committing abortions should have a sign outside its entrance saying "this place kills pre-natal human beings."

You know. For good measure.

Liberals attempt to smear Tory MP over pro-life comments

Paul Tuns:

These attacks are so lame, you would think that Warren Kinsella is still running the OLO war room.

(...)

Vellacott has noted the link between abortion and breast cancer and pointed out that reckless men ‘benefit’ as much from abortion as feckless women when they are able to avoid the consequences of their sexual activities. Are those views really odious, vile, insulting and denigrating? Do pro-abortion zealots think there can never be any criticism, any questioning of abortion. (The answer is yes.)

What I find insulting is the notion that women cannot handle being more fully informed about abortion. What I find odious is that there can never be a discussion about abortion and what it is and what are its consequences. Hardcore abortion supporters should stop treating women like children who must be protected from any information that might discomfort them. That is denigrating.

I find the conflation between "women" and "ideology" to be oh-so-irritating.

Lisa Zarac, Anita Neville and others are not defending women. Women are not a special interest group. Women are not a monolithic entity. From the standpoint of intellectual honesty, they cannot be treated as having one will, one interest. Women oppose each other. So how can any one ideology claim to represent women as a whole?

Feminists routinely accuse their opponents of disrespecting women when in reality, their offense consists of opposing an ideology.

Opposing abortion is not disrespectful of women.

Anyone who equates opposing abortion to disrespecting women is an ideologue attempting to smear their opposition as misogynists and shame them into silence.

I wish more women would stand up against the ideology that co-opts their gender and claims to know what women think, want.

True equality would consist in treating women as diverse as men. Men don't treat themselves as a monolith. Why should women allow themselves to be treated that way?

UPDATE: Pro-Life Advocate Threatened With Knife by Woman Seeking Abortion Speaks Out

Duluth, MN (LifeNews.com) -- One of the pro-life sidewalk counselors at a Minnesota abortion center who was attacked on Tuesday at knifepoint by a woman considering an abortion is sharing her story. Leah Winandy and her mother found themselves on the receiving end of a woman who held a knife to their throats.

As LifeNews.com reported Wednesday, the woman brandished a knife after Leah urged her to reconsider her decision to have an abortion.

Her mother met the same fate and the woman was eventually apprehended by police inside the Building for Women abortion center and found the knife in her purse.

Now, in an email LifeNews.com has obtained, Winandy shares more about what happened.

Winandy says Duluth has one abortion center that does approximately 600 abortions annually and she and her family have been helping women find positive alternatives for more than four years.

On Tuesday, Winandy was present at the abortion center with her mother and Jim Tuttle of Pro-Life Ministries of Duluth.

"I saw a lady walking toward the building, who I figured must be a client," she relates.

"Before I could talk to her or approach her with literature, she snapped open a knife. She waved the point at me saying, 'Don't come near me,'" Winandy explained. "I stayed where I was and said, 'Please don't kill your baby, fear God.'"

"She walked past into the courtyard, so I moved to the fence corner to continue counseling. She then turned around, came up to me and held the point of the knife at my throat," the pro-life advocate continued.

Winandy said she had a momentary fear of what would happen to her if she were a victim of a stabbing but said her Christian faith helped her overcome it.

"She turned around, and began to walk through the court yard again. My Mom, Sarah, who was standing at the other end of the fence, called out to her, 'We love you, and care about you, don't kill your baby,'" the young woman explained. "The women turned and waved the knife at her yelling, 'I'm certified crazy, that's why I'm doing this!' She then went into the building."

Tuttle called the police at this point and seven squad cars with police eventually showed up on the scene.

"Several went immediately into the building, and shortly came out with the women in handcuffs, she was crying. They interviewed us, had us write reports, and told us that this is a felony offence," Winandy continued. "My Mom told two of the officers that we feel very sad for the women who did this, and we will be praying for her. One of the officers looked shocked at that."

Winandy said she talked with a local news reporter about the violence of abortion and how the incident will not change her mind about helping women find better solutions.

Winandy related in the email LifeNews.com received that not only is she thankful for the incident but she said the story is not over.

"As the police were leaving, a young women ran into the building very quickly," she said. "After a few minutes she came out onto the sidewalk, and seemed to be waiting for someone. My Mom talked to her, and she turned out to be the friend of the women who had just been arrested."

"Not knowing what had just happened, she had come to support her friend, but was told that her friend had left the building quickly. They didn't even tell her why or in what state she had left," Winandy continued.

"So we were able to minister to this women, her name is, Melissa and her friend, who had been arrested is Michelle," Winandy said.

Winandy indicated she and her mother talked with Melissa about their Christian faith and she indicated it may be possible for the Winandys to visit Michelle in jail.

"Please pray for these two women. I do forgive Michelle," she concluded.

Well, Ms. Winandy, please keep us posted about this.

I would love to know how that jailhouse visit goes.

This is so intriguing.

The problem with legalizing marijuana

Many people like to be really "live and let live" and respect people's choices about what they do in their own house.

So many of these types favour the legalization of marijuana.

The problem with legalization is that it doesn't just affect the individual who smokes dope.

In my neighbourhood, some people openly smoke marijuana on their stoop or in the street. Like they're taking a cigarette break. I've thought about calling the cops, but they're often finished doing their dope in five minutes anyway.(And I have a nagging feeling the cops wouldn't care that much anyway.)

And those are the ones that I can see. There are countless others sitting in their apartments with open windows who pollute my air to the point that in the summer I can't open my window at night because I will be forced to smell that crap. I have a right to fresh air. And so, granola pot-smoking enviro-nutters, I must turn my air conditioner to chase away the marijuana smell in my house.

This is the case when marijuana is illegal. What happens when it becomes legal?

Will people do dope at the entrances of malls and other buildings, the way they smoke cigarettes now?

It's clear that a large number of pot smokers don't respect the law. Why would they respect anti-pot restrictions in the future? People say "legalize it and tax the hell out of it."

You seriously think that pot-growers are going to pay tax on something they've always grown and sold themselves, tax-free?

And if it becomes legal, what of marketing? Do I want to see marijuana commercials on prime time television? Do I want corporations sending the message to my kids that smoking dope is acceptable and even desirable?

Do I want more people walking around stoned? Not really.

But hey, let's just legalize marijuana, and that consequences be damned! Like the only thing we'd have to consider is the autonomy issue.

I seriously couldn't care less if you get stoned (from a pragmatic point of view).

But it's not all about you, folks. When millions of people perform an act, it's not a private act any more. It has social (and environmental) consequences. Even if you do it in your basement from from the madding crowd.

Freedom cannot be based on anti-social behaviour. Getting stoned is anti-social.

Woman Heading for Abortion Faces Assault Charges, Pulled Knife on Pro-Lifer

Watch for the the abortion apologists to justify the woman's action in my comments section. "She had it coming."

Leah Winandy and other pro-life advocates were gathered outside the abortion business in Duluth when an unnamed 25-year-old woman from Superior approached the Building For Women abortion center on 1st Street at around 8:00 a.m. local time Tuesday morning.

Winandy told the woman she cared about her unborn child but the woman responded by reportedly brandishing a knife and held it to Winandy's throat.

"We asked the women 'please don't take the life of your unborn baby we care about what happens to them,'" Winandy told the Northland News Center.

"She said 'don't do this,don't talk to me, don't come near me' and I just said 'fear god,' and she had the knife to my throat and I was a little nervous," Winandy added. "She was probably trying to threaten me and intimidate me...but for what reason I don't know."

A generic "eff off" wasn't enough?

I always want to know what motivates people to do things like that. I know people are passionate about this issue, but most people don't resort to violence. What did she want to accomplish by pulling a knife? Discourage more abortion counselling? Silence the counsellor? Exact revenge?

I hope the media follows up on this story. I wish it was part of the judicial process to force people to explain their actions. There's something very unsatisfactory of convicting a criminal, but not getting an explanation from him for his actions.

Stephen Harper's Religious Faith

The Fundamentals About Harper:

The church he currently attends is theologically conservative and is strongly oriented toward public service and social justice, but even that tells us little about Harper. Does he accept some of his church’s tenets of faith? All? None? Does he simply go for the music and coffee after the service? In short, to state that he holds a “fundamentalist” faith that “drives his domestic and foreign policy agendas” is sheer conjecture on the part of Behiels.

In fact, certain of Harper’s policy decisions suggest just the opposite. Despite heavy lobbying from social and religious conservatives, he has refused to re-open Canada’s abortion debate. Similarly, during the federal same-sex marriage debate, Harper angered hardliners from the Christian-right by proposing and supporting civil unions as a “middle way” to allow gays and lesbians to legally partner for life.

Washington Post: Palin has a shot at the presidency

Not that I really care about the article itself. I just like the headline.

Here's my take on the Sarah Palin phenomenon at No Apologies.

One former abortion staffer's burnout

From The Abortioneers:

I have toyed around my mind with all sorts of thoughts on what to write. I'm not in the direct line of action these days and truly I'm in need of this hiatus. There were and still are so many other things stirring in my soul that I need this time to work through. While working as an abortioneer for the last 4 years, I had an ovary removed due to a 13 cm cyst, I came out as lesbian, I was raped by a woman, I experienced large scale disaster and temporarily lost my home, and my sanity, I was also robbed at gunpoint and jumped exactly one year later.

Not long before I left my job in abortionland a wonderful supervisor noticed the burnt out nature of many of the employees. We all love helping women get the information and care we need, but its also exhausting as we often share. This boss lady brought us information about Secondary Trauma and Compassion Fatigue. Many of us joked about these very seemingly silly concepts. As I have had a moment to breath a bit a fresh air, I began to think more about the things I learned in abortionland, experiences gained as well as the difficulties. Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder(STSD) is about experiencing symptoms much like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of working with someone else who has experienced trauma.

Read the whole thing. It's an eye-opener.

Although I'm sure that dealing with the tough-luck stories of all the women seeking abortions is draining, I wonder how much the existential question of what they're doing weighs on them. They know they're killing. One of the abortioneers said it herself: Abortion is a form of violence. Some abortionists like Warren Hern have reported lots of nightmares about dying fetuses.

And they try to abortion out to be a healthcare option like any other...

VIDEO: Update-- the Chicago Bubble Zone Mayhem

As some of you may have heard, there is a new bubble zone law in Chicago designed to prevent sidewalk counsellors to come within eight feet of abortion-minded women.

Here is a video depicting the first day of the enforcement of that Bubble Zone Law:

VIDEO: 10th anniversary of first GAP display in Canada

At the University of British Columbia:



Tolerance at work!

VIDEO: Thanksgiving SUCKS (humour)

I thought the ending was a bit much, but I really laughed my butt off during the whole thing:

VIDEO: Waiting for Sarah Palin in Roanoke, VA

They just keep coming up with new ways to kill babies

I've been scanning the medical literature when I came across this "gem" of an abstract describing a new way to kill the unborn during a multi-fetal "reduction".

Feticide by injection of potassium chloride usually involves sticking a needle into the chest, preferably into the heart of the baby.

With multi-fetal reduction, the intended victim of this procedure is a couple of inches long and his heart is tiny. So it's tough to hit the target, especially when he's moving around desperately trying to escape the needle.

These geniuses from Turkey suggested that instead of stabbing the heart, they should try to stab his head.

Isn't that lovely? What a heart-warming medical breakthrough.

Korean Campaign to Reduce the Number of Abortions

Kind of interesting:

A group of more than 700 obstetricians sent promotional posters to 3,400 physicians nationwide Friday to urge them to participate in abolishing illegal procedures.

The group held a rally Sunday in front of Seoul Station and said it would reveal the names of clinics participating in their campaign online at www.antidc.org.

The Korean Gynecological Physicians' Association (GYNOB) claimed that all abortions should be banned except in cases where the woman is in danger of dying if she were to give birth.

"The moment the fetus is conceived, it has life. Its life should be respected like any other human beings in all circumstances," Anna Choi, the spokeswoman for the group and chief director of Ion Clinic, said. GYNOB previously said it would report clinics that conduct abortions to the government from next year.

'World's biggest animal sacrifice' in Nepal

Just ew:

KATHMANDU, Nepal—Thousands of Hindu devotees have flocked to a village in Nepal ahead of the planned sacrifice of more than 300,000 animals in a ceremony condemned by animal rights activists, including French actress Brigitte Bardot.

Priests are preparing for the slaughter of more than 15,000 buffaloes and 300,000 birds
, goats, and sheep during the event, which starts Tuesday and is thought to be the biggest ritual sacrifice anywhere in the world.

Every five years, the village of Bariyapur, near Nepal's southern border with India, hosts this religious festival dedicated to Gadhimai, the Hindu goddess of power.

But leftitst will have more sympathy for these animals than for the unborn. Fetuses have to suffer and die? Who cares!

VIDEO: Street Preacher Arrested for Preaching Christ to the Bar Crowd

Charges have been dismissed. But clearly, this is a form of intimidation.

Pregnant Pro-Lifer Attacked By Abortion Worker Outside KC Abortion Clinic

Kansas City, KS – An abortion clinic employee attacked a pregnant pro-life volunteer outside the Central Family Medicine abortion clinic in Kansas City, Kansas, while she was engaged in peaceful, First Amendment activity.

On November 14, 2009, an unidentified abortion clinic employee came out of the Central Family Medicine abortion clinic and began to taunt the pro-lifers. Her verbal abuse escalated into violence as she rammed her shoulder into sidewalk counselor Jennifer McCoy, who is noticeably six months pregnant. A photograph taken by protest leader Mark Gietzen of the Kansas Coalition for Life shows McCoy recoiling and bracing for the hard impact that occurred a split second later.

Police were summoned, but the abortion worker attempted to flee the scene before they could arrive. McCoy followed the woman to keep her from evading the police. After realizing that she could not get away, the worker returned to the abortion clinic where she hid behind locked doors.

Police attempted to enter the clinic to arrest the woman for battery, but they were denied access by another worker who demanded that the police get a search warrant, then lied to them saying that the woman was not there.

McCoy has since been in contact with police, who are pursuing the case. There remains the possibility that the second abortion worker could face criminal charges for impeding a police investigation.

Those inconvenient babies

From Choice is Murder...

Tim Murphy, Peter Krump, Edmund and I would rendezvous at nine or ten o'clock on a Saturday night at Blackie's, a bar on the south end of the Loop--a bar popular with young singles. Sometimes earlier in the week Tim would have gone by himself to the Michigan Avenue Medical Center trash dumpster and retrieved a box of babies. One night Edmund, Peter and I sat at a table at Blackies waiting for Tim to arrive. When he did, he walked into the bar carrying a large paper bag concealing the smallish, duct-taped cardboard box that contained the bodies of aborted babies. He had found the box in the dumpster on Wednesday and brought it to the bar to give it to Edmund and me to photograph the remains.

At first we were humored by Tim's brazenness. But then, to say the least, we all felt ill at ease with the box sitting on the table in the hip singles bar. I was also struck by something else. Young, attractive men and women professionals drank beer and Screwdrivers, played pin ball, watched sports programs, talked and laughed while in their very midst lay the hidden remains of aborted children. The tragedy of what the box contained clashed so completely with the noisy, rock music-filled, worldly gaiety of this place. The box of aborted babies thrust into the swanky bar was a kind of silent indictment of the sort of world the bar represented--the world so completely oblivious to the rejection of the aborted child.

VIDEO: SoulWOW (Humour)

Autonomy: it's just not for killing

Sane Conservatism is a new blog that is worthy of your consideration. Today's topic: euthanasia.

The most common argument in favor of euthanasia is an appeal to choice. The philosophical presupposition to this argument is the harm principle which was articulated by the philosopher John Stuart Mill. This is the well worn adage that you should be free to do whatever you want as long as you don't harm others. But, it is interesting that Mill himself argued that one could not appeal to the harm principle to sell oneself into slavery. On the surface it might seem this should be allowed. If I am willing to accept slavery to pay for a life saving operation for my wife or child say, then who are you to stop me. However, Mill noted that the purpose of the harm principle was to protect freedom and slavery clearly vitiates the very freedom the principle is supposed to protect.

I think the same case can be made for euthanasia. To kill oneself is to radically, once and for all, put an end to all future choices. It is, indeed, a radical end to ones ability to choose in way which is much more radical than selling oneself into slavery. After all a slave may be freed at some later time. My point, of course, is not that euthanasia is on par with slavery, but rather that euthanasia is in fact an attack upon the very freedom its most ardent promoters intend to defend. Euthanasia does not protect freedom, rather it is the death of freedom.

The same could be said of abortion. The right to control your body is not a license to kill. As I'm fond of saying.

From the bulging "abortion is a shady business" file

Hodari Forced Abortion Suit Alleges Woman’s Mouth Covered to Muffle Her Screams

On June 17, 2009, Caitlin Bruce filed a suit against Hodari and his assistant, “Victor”, over an incident that took place at Hodari’s Flint, Michigan, abortion clinic in April, 2008. In that suit, Ms. Bruce alleges that she went to Hodari’s clinic seeking an abortion, but before the procedure began, she changed her mind and decided against it. She notified Hodari that she no longer wanted the abortion.

However, Hodari and his assistant, Victor, forcibly restrained Ms. Bruce, holding her down. Ms. Bruce screamed “Stop, stop, I don’t want this,” but her mouth was covered to muffle her pleas while Hodari forced the abortion upon her.

Included in the suit are six counts against Hodari, including lack of informed consent/medical malpractice, battery, fraud, misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and ethnic/gender intimidation.

Who do you suppose feminists are going to defend in this confrontation?

Omar bin Laden spills the beans on his famous dad

Osama bin Laden.

Once we were at his feet, my father said, “There is a paper on the wall of the mosque. This paper is for men who are good Muslims, men who volunteer to be suicide bombers.”

He looked at us with anticipation shining in his eyes. No one spoke or moved a muscle. So my father repeated what he had said. “My sons, there is a paper on the wall of the mosque. This paper is for men who volunteer to be suicide bombers. Those who want to give their lives for Islam must add their names to the list.”

That’s when one of my youngest brothers, one too young to comprehend the concept of life and death, got to his feet, nodded reverently in my father’s direction, and took off running for the mosque. That small boy was going to volunteer to be a suicide bomber.

I was furious, finally finding my voice. “My father, how can you ask this of your sons?”

Over the past few months, my father had become increasingly unhappy with me. I was turning out to be a disappointment, a son who did not want the mantle of power, who wanted peace, not war. He stared at me with evident hostility. “Omar, this is what you need to know, my son. You hold no more a place in my heart than any other man or boy in the entire country.” He glanced at my brothers. “This is true for all of my sons.”

My father’s proclamation had been given: His love for his sons did not sink further than the outer layer of his flesh. At last I knew exactly where I stood. My father hated his enemies more than he loved his sons.

Kuwait parents reject music classes as un-Islamic, 'Satanic'

"Music is not part of our tradition and religion, and we totally reject it," Qatar's Gulf News quoted parent Salih al-Khalid as saying. "What will our sons gain from learning this Satanic course?"

Yeah. It's like all the poetry-reciting crap. And that painting non-sense. Who needs it? And sculpture. Pouah. Only leads to idolatry.

Mary's role in the life of grace

I've been having a discussion elsewhere about devotion to Mary and related topics.

Many people tend to relegate Mary to the background, as if devotion to her was some quirky habit that detracts from the main event-- the devotion to Jesus Christ.

But the mind of the Church does not go in this sense. I don't want to turn this blog into a theological treatise, but as an example of this, I would like to publish an excerpt of Pope Pius X's encyclical AD DIEM ILLUM LAETISSIMUM, published in 1904 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

(I erased some of the academic referrals for readibility.)

When the supreme hour of the Son came, beside the Cross of Jesus there stood Mary His Mother, not merely occupied in contemplating the cruel spectacle, but rejoicing that her Only Son was offered for the salvation of mankind, and so entirely participating in His Passion, that if it had been possible she would have gladly borne all the torments that her Son bore. And from this community of will and suffering between Christ and Mary she merited to become most worthily the Reparatrix of the lost world and Dispensatrix of all the gifts that Our Savior purchased for us by His Death and by His Blood.

13. It cannot, of course, be denied that the dispensation of these treasures is the particular and peculiar right of Jesus Christ, for they are the exclusive fruit of His Death, who by His nature is the mediator between God and man. Nevertheless, by this companionship in sorrow and suffering already mentioned between the Mother and the Son, it has been allowed to the august Virgin to be the most powerful mediatrix and advocate of the whole world with her Divine Son (Pius IX. Ineffabilis).

(...)

14. We are then, it will be seen, very far from attributing to the Mother of God a productive power of grace—a power which belongs to God alone. Yet, since Mary carries it over all in holiness and union with Jesus Christ, and has been associated by Jesus Christ in the work of redemption, she merits for us "de congruo," in the language of theologians, what Jesus Christ merits for us "de condigno," and she is the supreme Minister of the distribution of graces. Jesus "sitteth on the right hand of the majesty on high" (Hebrews i. b.). Mary sitteth at the right hand of her Son—a refuge so secure and a help so trusty against all dangers that we have nothing to fear or to despair of under her guidance, her patronage, her protection. (Pius IX. in Bull Ineffabilis).

15. These principles laid down, and to return to our design, who will not see that we have with good reason claimed for Mary that—as the constant companion of Jesus from the house at Nazareth to the height of Calvary, as beyond all others initiated to the secrets of his Heart, and as the distributor, by right of her Motherhood, of the treasures of His merits,—she is, for all these reasons, a most sure and efficacious assistance to us for arriving at the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. Those, alas! furnish us by their conduct with a peremptory proof of it, who seduced by the wiles of the demon or deceived by false doctrines think they can do without the help of the Virgin. Hapless are they who neglect Mary under pretext of the honor to be paid to Jesus Christ! As if the Child could be found elsewhere than with the Mother!

Korean Planned Parenthood Affiliate Looking to PROMOTE childbirth

I was rather bowled over by this interview with the Choi Seon-jeong, the head of the Planned Population Federation of Korea, the Korean affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

MercatorNet: You recently argued in the JoongAng Daily that "Religious groups need to advocate respect for life, abortion prevention and positive values on marriage and parenthood, encouraging the younger generation to form families and have children." These are unusual suggestions from Planned Parenthood. Does this indicate a shift in policy, or special circumstances faced by Korea?

Choi Seon-jeong: It is true that Korea implemented the family control policy to reduce the volume of population. It was a kind of family planning to meet the needs of that time. In principle, family planning means to plan how many children to have for happy family life. So when too many children impose a heavy burden on a family and the society, to reduce the number could be an appropriate way of family planning. On the contrary, when there are few children, to bear and raise more children will contribute to our happiness and the way of family planning will be also changed accordingly.

As the needs of Korean society have changed, we changed the name from "family planning association" into "planned population federation" in 2006.

Doesn't that sound just a wee bit creepy to you? I'm all for more babies, but it's just weird to go from the "family planning" business to the "population planning". It just smacks of big-brotherism.

With the change of name, we have reorganised ourselves into a low fertility rate team, an ageing society team, a public relation team, and so on and started to design and implement more comprehensive family planning programs, such as programs to prevent induced abortions, programs to support infertile couples, match-making programs, programs to dispatch assistants to women with her new-born babies, programs to enhance awareness of the public, and so on. To promote child-bearing and child-rearing, we should make efforts to prevent induced abortion, especially in cooperation with religious circles.

But...but...but...abortion was all about a woman's choice. Encouraging child-bearing? Preventing abortions. Match-making. Not very feminist, at all.

But it was never about feminism in the first place, right?

Maybe the hope of the world is Australia

The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2008 births report found the nation's total fertility rate rose from 1.92 babies a woman in 2007 to 1.97 last year, the highest since 1977.

source

If they could just inch it up to 2.2, perhaps they could escape the social dysfunction of an inverted demographic pyramid. If they could grow their population, they could maybe become a political force in this world from the fact that they decided not to give up on childbearing.

Quebec Ex-Minister Dumps on Jihad

Jacques Brassard, separatist and former minister from Quebec writes on his new blog:

La tuerie de Fort Hood n’est qu’une manifestation, parmi d’autres, du djihad islamique. Comme l’attentat monstrueux du 11 septembre. Les massacres de Londres et Madrid. Les guerres d’Afghanistan et d’Irak. Les tueries perpétrées par le Hamas et le Hezbollah. Les chrétiens persécutés et assassinés partout dans le monde musulman, dans l’indifférence totale de l’Occident. Le projet iranien de " rayer Israël de la carte ". La volonté des mollahs d’Iran de se doter de l’arme nucléaire. Il faut vraiment être une autruche pour ne pas voir que le djihad islamique est une guerre contre l’Occident et ses valeurs fondamentales et fondatrices.

The killing at Fort Hood is only one manifestation, among others, of Islamic jihad. Just like the monstrous attack of September 11th. The massacres in London and Madrid. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The killings perpetuated by Hamas and Hezbollah. Christians persecuted and assassinated everywhere in the Muslim world, met by the complete indifference of the West. The Iranian plan to "eradicate Israel from the map." The desire of Iranian mullahs to arm themselves with a nuclear weapon. You have to be an ostrich to not see Islamic jihad as a war against the West and its founding and fundamental values.

VIDEO: Rosary for Life in Toulouse: Pro-aborts vent their hatred

Yesterday I posted about the Rosary for Life held in Bordeaux. I just got wind that the viglers at Saint-Étienne Cathedral in Toulouse were also the object of the pro-aborts' contempt. You can watch in the video (it's about 2 minutes). There's no voiceover, but the images speak volumes.

Rosaire national pour la Vie : Toulouse
par STTP31

Note how the pro-aborts were behind baracades and the police had to intervene to keep them back. One pro-abort commenter of the SOS Tout-Petits blog complained that a young counter-demonstrator ended up being "arbitrarily" arrested and getting seven stitches.

It doesn't look like there were too many arbitrary actions to me.

But remember, the pro-lifers are the violent ones!

Anti-Catholic Hatred Unleashed in Bordeaux at Rosary for Life

Today is the 23rd anniversary of the French pro-life group SOS Tout-Petits. To mark the anniversary, the group held rosaries for life in over 28 cities across France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Phillippines. (Gee, maybe us Canadians and perhaps some Americans should get in on the act next year-- already 4 countries there, why not make it six?)

But I digress...

AvortementIVG.com reports that the group in Bordeaux met at the St. André Cathedral with police presence and numbered 150 people strong. They were met with strong anti-Catholic hatred from the pro-abort counter-demonstration. Although I would normally expect this sort of opposition if the event were held in front of a clinic, I was quite surprised that they bothered to show up at a church event.

As usual, tolerance and inclusivity radiated from the left-wing crowd. They pro-aborts vented their hatred in the form of chants such as Caca-catholic and Jesus, Mary, we sodomize you and If Mary had had an abortion we wouldn't have this sh**.

To the credit of the pro-lifers, none of them were perturbed by the leftist agitation.



Original Source.

But we knew that, right?

An Abortioneer writes:

A lot of pregnancies I see at work are wanted, even if they aren’t planned, even if the boyfriend is a jerk and the woman is still in school or even on drugs. Some women really want the baby, but it’s the circumstances and the future that they don’t want, and that tells them that they won’t really be able to support this pregnancy.

Pro-lifers dedicate millions of dollars to help these women bring their wanted pregnancies to term.

Abortioneers just stick a vacuum up their crotch and charge them $500 for it.

That's feminist empowerment for you.

The Death of Reason is the The Death of Man

(Grab yourself a coffee...this is a long one ;) )

As we marked Remembrance Day this week, my attention turned towards the World War II era and I read up on the scientific racialism that fuelled the Nazis’ killing spree.

We have largely forgotten how widespread and accepted scientific racialism was back in the pre-war era. It was widely assumed that because whites were superior in this or that category, that gave them the right to kill or disrespect inferior peoples.

I’m not so irritated at the racism of the findings—that whites have higher IQ’s and that sort of thing. What grates on my nerves is that no one seemed to question that superiority gave one the right to kill. Even if, for the sake of discussion, you agreed that the Germans needed their Lebenstraum, what right did that give them to kill millions of people? Even if you thought that blacks constituted a threat to the purity of the white race, what right did it give people to lynch them?

There is absolutely no sense of responsibility toward others.

And of course this brings me to the fetal rights debate. You never read of a feminist claiming that a mother has a responsibility towards a fetus. A woman should be able to abort for any reason whatsoever, and no one is allowed to question that decision.

The fetus is a threat after all.

Poor choicers have no interest in that debate about the fetus. For abortionists and hardcore feminists, the fetus is worthy of zero moral consideration. Their allies in the poor choice movement may differ from one degree to another, attributing moral worth to the fetus in some circumstances and not others. A discussion on this matter would be politically fratricidal. Not to mention that it could play into the hands of pro-lifers by raising the status of the fetus, especially in Canada (where he has none). So the poor choice movement will remain officially mum on the fetus, holding to a relativistic position, with all the contradictions that that entails.

Poor choicers will continue to argue against fetal personhood based on the possible negative consequences of according that status. The problem with consequence-based thinking is that it make truth dependent on whether or not you like the results.

That may be a politically viable strategy. But it’s not intellectually honest. After all, even if Blacks had banded together and taken over the US and sullied “white culture”, was that any reason to deny their civil rights? If Jews had been the cause of all of Germany’s ills, would that have justified the Nuremberg Laws?

Of course not.

When you worry too much about consequences, you tend to forget principles. This leads to a mentality of accepting that the ends justify the means.

A lot of the argument about abortion is just that. Poor choicers posit that if pregnant women aren’t allowed to abort, they will be arrested for smoking a cigarette and that will lead to the establishment of the Republic of Gilead.

Let’s just assume for the moment that’s the case.

What right does that give anyone the right to kill their unborn child?

The argument from consequences is easy, because it by-passes the difficult process of actually using one’s reason and formulating principles. I’m not trying to argue that no feminist has an articulate defense for her beliefs beyond the typical pro-abortion slogans. But when you want to mobilize a bunch of people who may not be with you on a philosophical level, the easiest way to do that is by referring to what is concrete—namely potential consequences.

It’s the masses that seem to unquestioningly accept the idea that fetuses are not human beings (at least in Canada—perhaps this is less true in the United States). It is taken for granted that a woman’s autonomy outweighs the rights of the unborn child. There’s no consideration of the responsibility towards the unborn children. Just a raw desire to come out on top in the imagined maternal-fetal conflict, regardless of abstract principles. Respecting a two-celled human being seems so absurd in the absence of the value of the intrinsic dignity of human beings, the very basis of the Western idea of equality. People will respect an idea, however inconvenient, if they believe they must to remain honourable. They will not respect a prenatal human being solely on the basis of its DNA.

That sense of responsibility comes from the belief that human beings deserve respect; that humanity is something special and makes an individual worthy of consideration.

We have completely lost the sense that human nature is intrinsically valuable. I don’t wish to make the argument here because it will make my blogpost even longer than this. The loss of belief in the intrinsic value of human is what leads to mass atrocities. The Nazis didn’t think all humans had an intrinsic dignity. The atheist communists sure didn’t. Any time a group of human beings was not regarded as having intrinsic human dignity, they were targeted for abuse, exploitation or elimination.

I think this loss of the sense of human value is the consequence of the loss of any sense of metaphysics: the idea that our reason is able to know with certitude about intangible realities. Although the rejection of metaphysics began very long ago in the late Middle Ages, in the last century, we see not just a rejection of the power of reason to know, but an elevation of the non-rational, the irrational and the anti-rational as the foundation for a worldview. Take Freudian psychology. Based on no scientific observations whatsoever, it posited the existence of an “unconscious” in the mind, which contained an id, an ego and a superego (which is now largely discredited.) Post-modernist philosophy rejects any kind of absolute, and even accommodates contradictions, against the principles of logic.

The relativism and lack of intellectual discipline of our age makes any kind of abstract consideration to be a very daunting, if not seemingly impossible task. Of course I wouldn’t expect just anyone to be able to do this—abstract thought is not something everyone can do. But most college-educated people should be able to, especially those who graduate in the humanities. But this involves such a major challenge to everyday ideas that that it’d be hard to imagine anyone doing this spontaneously.

But the alternative is to ignore the truth. And lest I be accused of arguing based on “results” – against which I argued above—let me say that the whole purpose of thinking is to know the truth about reality, whatever that reality happens to be. You fail at the purpose of thinking if you can’t know basic things like who is worthy of moral consideration and what moral behaviour is.

People can accept that as a possibility. But we’re not programmed to remain in ignorance. That’s human nature.

McGill Student Union Revokes Choose Life's Club Status

Reports ProWomanProLife.

The motion, which passed by a vote of 16-7, stipulated that the “Student Equity Committee work with Choose Life to draft a document for Choose Life on how to abide by SSMU’s Constitution, By-laws, and Policies, which will be adopted by Choose Life.”

I'm intrigued to say the least. How will that work, exactly? Criticizing abortion is perceived as misogynist, but the SSMU is willing to work with the group so that it...won't criticize abortion?

Is this a question of co-opting a group to better control its message, after a bunch of renegades staged a temper tantrum at the Echoes of the Holocaust presentation and embarrassed the crap out of the university?

I wonder.

Update

I'm still sick. I was feeling better, but I had a relapse. Now I have a bad cough and runny nose. Maybe I picked up something new.

Meanwhile-- why not read the blogs on my sidebar?

Social Media and Pro-lifers

An excellent primer from the U of T Students for Life blog.

If you're reading this, you probably don't need it, but it's always good to publicize it (and maybe increase its Google Rank...who knows?)

Can the Church be Honest with Anglo-Catholics?

Anglican Samizdat raises some pertinent issues about the recent bid by the Church to open the gates to dissatisfied Anglo-Catholics:

For the Anglicans who accept what the charitable view as a more than generous offer and the cynical as opportunistic poaching, I wonder how they will feel when the Pope acts – and he or his successor will – on something they don’t agree with. Presumably those who are tempted by the current offer were not sufficiently tempted by previous ones or they would already be Roman Catholic; which means they don’t believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the one true church. Or perhaps some of the RC specific dogma about Mary, the authority of the Pope or praying to the saints stuck in their craw. For the priests, maybe it was the prospect of losing Anglo-Catholic paraphernalia – which now they can keep along with their wives; if that was the case, though, it seems like a shallow reason (well, apart from the wives) for resisting the call which has now become so compelling.

I have a friend who used to be an evangelical and converted to Roman Catholicism – mainly because he became convinced of the truth of transubstantiation. I asked him how he copes with some of the RC beliefs that are quite opposed to his previous views. His answer was that he ignores them – after all nothing is perfect. True enough, but I wonder how long Anglo-Catholic euphoria will last once the “Anglo” part fades under the weight of the Roman Magisterium.

I like the Anglo-Catholics. Really I do. But to be Catholic, you have to accept it as a package deal. There are lots of significant differences between traditional Anglicanism and Catholicism. Papal Supremacy being one. Marian dogmas are another. Prayers to saints. Purgatory. Sacred Tradition. And on and on.

Did no one else think of this?

My fear is that we'll be offering Anglo-Catholics a false deal. I'm afraid that there will be a lot of Marshmallow Bishops (to borrow John Pacheco's term) who will let all these people in because they are so morally correct, without requiring a profession of the Catholic faith.

And then when the Church defines another dogma, such as Mary Co-Redemptrix (which is even a hot dispute among Catholics) they'll be all miffed and say "we never signed on to this".

And the truth is, they won't have, but no one would have had the courage, honesty and charity to tell them.

The last thing we need in the Catholic Church is more dissidence and spinelessness.

Former PP Director Describes Watching Unborn Child Struggle Before Being Aborted

Lifesite:

"I saw a full side profile, so I saw face to feet on the ultrasound machine," said Johnson. "I saw the probe going into the woman's uterus, and at that moment I saw the baby moving and trying to get away from the probe."

"And I thought, 'It's fighting for its life," said Johnson. "And I thought, 'It's life.' I mean, it's alive. ...

"My mind was racing, my heart was beating so fast, and I just was thinking, 'Oh my gosh, make it stop.' Then all of a sudden, it was over. I saw the baby just literally crumble, and it was over."

The Silent Scream: Watch it if you dare. Skip the blah blah blah. Go to about the 15th minute. Tell me that's a "non-sentient" being.

Abortionist admits: I love abortion

Silky Laminaria confesses:

What do I mean when I say I love abortion? To me, there is absolutely nothing wrong or surprising with the supposed "controversial" statement. I love women, therefore I love abortion. Abortion is a part of women's lives.

But she doesn't love fetuses. They can suffer and die for all she cares. It's a zero-sum game, right? If you love women, you can't love fetuses. If you love fetuses, you can't love women. If you love women, you must support their "right" to have their fetuses ripped limb from limb. Because saying that women have a responsibility towards another human being inside of them is a profoundly hateful and misogynistic thing to say. Holding women up to the same moral standards as men is wrong, tragically, tragically wrong.

What a heartwarming thought.

It was bound to happen: Secularprolife.org

Very pro-fetal rights. I like that.

Not very "culture of life" though. They're not getting the connection between contraception, promiscuity and the perceived need for abortion.

Oh well. It's a step in the right direction.

PS: I'm quite sick right now.

Are date rape spiked drinks an urban myth?

The Daily Mail:

Last week, academics concluded that women who claim they've been drugged and raped were usually just drunk

(...)

Could it be that women instinctively feel that if they admit to themselves how much they had drunk they would also be admitting they were somehow to blame for putting themselves at risk?

Believing your drink was spiked transfers the blame to a malevolent, external force, something which women have no control over. It shifts responsibility.

Alcohol expert Robin Touquet, Professor of Emergency Medicine at Imperial College, London, points out: 'Women are demonising so- called drink spiking rather than facing up to the fact that drinking too much alcohol can put them in a highly dangerous situation.

I am certain that massive amounts of alcohol consumption contributes to abortions in this country.

If you're a woman who drinks large amounts of alcohol around strange men looking to score, you're placing yourself in danger. That is the reality.

Unfortunately, people have a strange way of denying reality.

And lest someone says I am "blaming the victim", note that people contribute to their own victimhood without being responsible for the act of violence against them. Like if you show up at a white supremacist meeting and denounce racism, they'll beat you senseless. Anyone can see that coming.

You are responsible for the foreseeable consequences of your actions. Doing something stupid under the influence of alcohol is one of them. That's obvious. So don't get drunk.

Personal Update

Three of my kids are sick or have been sick since Thursday. I have bathroom renos going on and I'm not feeling that hot myself. So don't be surprised if the posting is light.

UK: Falling birth rate is killing Europe, says chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Says Lord Sacks:

"Parenthood involves massive sacrifice: money, attention, time and emotional energy. Where today, in European culture with its consumerism and its instant gratification because you're worth it."

There was no room for sacrifice for "the sake of generations not yet born" in such a culture.

"Europe is dying," he concluded and compared the situation in the continent today to ancient Greece with its "sceptics, epicureans and cynics".

He said: "That is one of the unsayable truths of our time. We are undergoing the moral equivalent of climate change and no one is talking about it."

And he was also involved in an interesting court case:

The case involves a 12-year-boy's fight to gain a place at Britain's most successful Jewish school. M, a Jew who regularly attends a progressive synagogue, was told he could not be admitted to the JFS school because his mother had converted to Judaism in a procedure not recognised by the chief rabbi.

Overturning a previous judgment in favour of the school, the court of appeal said last June that a policy determining eligibility based on a person's descent, rather than religious practice, amounted to racial discrimination.

But this is ludicrous. There are black and oriental Jews. Jews are from all kinds of backgrounds. How can it be "racist"? Any person of any race can decide to become a Jew. Some people are "born" into it, according to whether the mother is Jewish. Since paternity isn't always known, but maternity is, that would make sense, wouldn't it?

Amanda Marcotte needs to get a clue-- (updated)

Many poor-choicers can't get over the fact that the director of a Planned Parenthood franchise had a change of heart and has renounced abortion.

It doesn't add up! Cries Amanda Marcotte.

Parenthood director to an anti-choice fanatic has more holes in it than a piece of Swiss cheese after being used for target practice. Johnson's story fits way too neatly into a bunch of easily disproven anti-choice myths, the main one being that all it takes is one glance at an ultrasound to cause someone to "realize" that hey! abortion removes a fetus from your uterus.

It would help if Amanda bothered to get the actual facts. Abby Johnson didn't have a conversion after seeing an ultrasound of a fetus.

She had a conversion after seeing the ultrasound of an abortion.

Anyone who has worked in or even spoken to someone about working in a clinic knows that there's not a lot of mystery around the procedure,

How often do abortionists WATCH the ultrasound as they're sucking the baby out of the uterus? And I don't see a "Doctor" besides her name. How much involvement does management have with an abortion?

"Probably seen" a lot of abortions? Speculation. She's not in the room watching it happen, right?

One of the most basic questions I have is this: How did Ms. Johnson become the director of a Planned Parenthood center that provides abortions up to 14 weeks - that is technically a second trimester abortion - without having seen an ultrasound image of a fetus in utero or an actual abortion being performed?

That's a question you should put to Planned Parenthood. After all, non-qualified medical personnel doing abortions is not unheard of by any means.

And she's only 29.

They're all defensive. They can't get over it: People like Bernard Nathanson, Anthony Levatino and other former abortionists come to realize that abortion takes a human life.

This is not news. They just can't get over that people come to realize that. They want to treat the killing of a fetus like it's something banal. But it's not.

Oh well. Their own inability to confront the nature of the fetus, and the act of abortion is our strength.

H/T: ProWomanProLife.org

---

UPDATE from a Worldnet Daily:

She told WND the clinic was experiencing financial difficulties due to the economic downturn.

"Abortion is the most lucrative part of Planned Parenthood's operations," she said. "Even though they're two separate corporations, all of the money goes into one pot. With the family planning corporation really suffering, they depend on the abortion corporation to balance their budget, help get them out of the hole and help make income for the company."

She continued, "They really wanted to increase the number of abortions so that they could increase their income."

No vested financial interest in abortion whatsoever.

And her conversion:

Johnson explained that she resigned after she saw an ultrasound-guided abortion in which an unborn baby was vacuumed out of a woman's uterus.

"Ultrasound-guided abortions are not typically done in Planned Parenthood abortion centers because they're more time-consuming, and that's just not something that centers like that do," she said. "I'd never seen one of those done before. For whatever reason, the physician had called me back to assist with the procedure. When I saw that, that was really when my heart was changed."

Impossible! How could the picture of a screaming fetus possibly convince anyone that abortion takes a human life?

Pro-lifers: Becoming a Force to be Reckoned With

My latest at No Apologies:

The conventional wisdom is that the Tories can risk alienating their social conservative base because so-cons have nowhere else to park their vote. But so long as pro-lifers reward the Harper Conservatives, he and his band of sell-outs will continue to throw us under the bus in the name of political expediency.

The pro-life movement will never move forward in the legislative arena if we sell our votes cheap and reward politicians who don’t deliver. Therefore, instead of supporting useless Conservatives (i.e. those who work against our cause), I recommend that, where feasible, pro-lifers vote for the Christian Heritage Party.

The English Canadian MSM got it wrong re: Quebec College of Physicians and Euthanasia

Today, Dr. Yves Lamontagne, head of the Quebec College of Physicians, held a press conference regarding the euthanasia debate.

I watched this conference live on RDI. What the English Canadian media are reporting, and what I saw, are two different things.

The English Canadian media give the impression that the College was calling for euthanasia to be legalized.

CTV:

Doctors should work with patients who want to end their lives if death is inevitable but not if it means breaking the law, the Quebec College of Physicians is advising its members.

Toronto Star:

Quebec doctors open door to euthanasia

MONTREAL — In a move certain to be controversial, Quebec College of Physicians has taken a formal position endorsing euthanasia "in certain exceptional situations."

National Post:

Quebec College of Physicians favours euthanasia in 'certain circumstances'

MONTREAL -- The Quebec College of Physicians Tuesday called for changes to the Criminal Code of Canada that would permit euthanasia in cases of "imminent or inevitable death."

While it's true that the College is calling for debate, THIS IS NOT ITS OFFICIAL POSITION. The College issued a discussion paper to stir the debate. But it is not taking an official position.

Check the French coverage.

Radio-Canada:

Le Dr Yves Lamontagne, président du Collège des médecins du Québec, a présenté mardi un document de réflexion sur la question de l'euthanasie.

Il a prévenu de prime abord que le Collège des médecins ne prenait pas clairement position en faveur de l'euthanasie. Cependant, les médecins veulent apporter leur contribution à un large débat sur la question.

(Translation: The College is not taking a clear position in favour of euthanasia).

Canadian Press:

Pour ou contre l'euthanasie: le Collège des médecins pose la question autrement


MONTREAL — Contrairement aux fédérations de médecins spécialistes et d'omnipraticiens, le Collège des médecins ne prend pas clairement position en faveur de l'euthanasie.

Mais il ne prend pas non plus position contre.

Dans un document rendu public mardi, il affirme que la question ne se pose pas en termes de "pour ou contre l'euthanasie", mais en termes de dispensation des "soins appropriés en fin de vie".

(...)

"Le rôle de la médecine, ce n'est pas de tuer du monde", a lancé le docteur Yves Lamontagne, président-directeur général du Collège des médecins.

"Et le médecin, quel qu'il soit, où qu'il soit, son rôle, c'est bien clair, et il le sait et il le fait, c'est d'essayer de traiter le malade le mieux possible", a-t-il ajouté.

(Translation: The College is not taking a position for euthanasia; nor is it against it. It's trying to reframe the debate in terms of the best end-of-life care; The head of the College, Dr. Yves Lamontagne says the role of medicine is not to kill people, and that the doctor's job is to treat the patient the best way possible.)


I am just astonished at how biased some of the English Canadian media is, like they barely paid attention to the press conference at all. They did not emphasize that this was going to be a debate and a reflection; it's not the official policy.

Left-wing publication in denial about PP director's resignation

Salon:

That level of harassment is enough to make anyone consider a new profession. Not to mention, a threat to the life of one's husband and daughter would send most folks fleeing to the first bland desk job they can find. That is why anti-abortion activists do it; terrorism can be very effective. That isn't to say that Johnson was coerced into quitting her job and joining the other side. It's utterly believable that an ultrasound could change one's feelings about abortion, especially for someone living in a staunchly conservative community. However, it's hard to fathom spending eight years witnessing abortions, crossing picket lines and having your life threatened -- first as a volunteer and later as a rank-climbing employee -- without being clear on your feelings about abortion or the basic medical reality of the procedure. How many pamphlets and protest signs displaying extremely graphic images (far more so than an ultrasound) must have been shoved in her face over the years?

Don't they know the story of Bernard Nathanson, the man who founded NARAL, and how he rejected abortion when he saw the ultrasound of an abortion?

If anyone knows about being on the front lines of the abortion war, it's him.

And what about Norma McCorvey?

And what about other ex-abortionists?

There's a big difference between seeing graphic pictures and an ultrasound.

The pictures show a dead body and lots of tissue. When you're involved in medicine, you can be deadened to that sight.

But to see the act of abortion itself-- live-- is quite different. To see that baby scream that silent scream is like nothing else. It's visceral.

Dominican Community Apologizes for Nun Caught Acting as Abortion Escort

That's good. The question is: Will the nun stop being an escort?

I thought this blurb was interesting:

The Sinsinawa Dominicans took the opportunity to re-affirm unequivocally their commitment to the Catholic Church's core teachings,

"Core teachings"? Hm. That sounds like a code phrase for dissent, as if they're saying: Don't deny the Resurrection, but if you want to question the teachings on homosexuality or contraception, that's A-OK.

Now, will other congregations clamp down on dissenting sisters?

Not to mention the dioceses?

Are you paying attention, bishops of Canada?

FREE SPEECH VICTORY FOR PRO-LIFERS!

The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) today announced that the Alberta Crown Prosecutors’ Office has decided to stay the trespassing charges which the University of Calgary had pressed against its own students.

Read more.

Those pro-life kids in Calgary-- they have GUTS.

That's what will win the fight for the unborn, folks. Remember that.

VIDEO: Highlights 40 Days for Life Ottawa Closing Rally

Some highlights from last night's 40 Days for Life Closing Rally in Ottawa.