Archives for 2009

Check out the last two paragraphs of this story:

Dr. Tiller’s killing has pushed some young doctors to commit to a career in abortion. Lisa Hofler, a medical student at Emory University, had been mulling over the idea for some time despite her husband’s concern for her safety. Now, she said, she’s determined to offer abortions as part of her practice.

Still, she expects to limit her practice to first-trimester abortions. She doesn’t feel comfortable, she said, pushing the boundaries.

Admittedly not very scientific. There may be 3 doctors who won’t consider offering abortions for every one who will. I know, I know. I just wanted to point out that things aren’t always as black and white as all that.

Here’s a post that explains how to make your own slime. That little boy sure looks very pleased with his.

“Pop Can” baby doing well:

PITTSBURGH, June 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On March 12, parents Brittany Rideout and Adam Bouchat welcomed their beautiful and extraordinarily tiny little girl, Taylor Rideout, at Magee-Women’s Hospital of UPMC in Pittsburgh. Born at 26 weeks gestation, Taylor was a mere 12.5 ounces or 350 grams, about the size of a pop can.

Ms. Rideout suffers from lupus, and about six weeks into the pregnancy she underwent two strokes and two seizures, says Mr. Bouchat in a video on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s website. She was hospitalized for a month. Then, two months after she was released, she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome. “Her blood pressure was sky-high and her liver was failing,” said Mr. Bouchat.

Faced with the possibility of death for both mother and child, they chose to deliver baby Taylor at 26 weeks. According to Taylor’s doctor, Dr. Jennifer Kloesz, the smallest babies they had delivered before Taylor were about 500 grams, but these babies were only 24 weeks gestation. Dr. Kloesz said that Taylor was about half the size of a normal 26-week baby.

[…]

Taylor is now 83 days old, and weighs 3 pounds. She has been transferred into a transitional unit for a couple weeks in preparation for leaving the hospital.

Jolly good show!

Things people discover, I tell ya.

Despite sex education in schools and information from friends, parents, medical professionals, the Internet and the mass media, many young women and men don’t know “sex was supposed to feel good,” says researcher Sarah Flicker, a professor of environmental studies at York University.

She was involved in a major study of more than 1,200 Toronto teens.

The ground-breaking report found the young people surveyed aren’t getting what they want from sex education — information about sexual pleasure and relationships.

[…]

“Over the years, we have gotten a very clear sense from youth that while they appreciate concrete information on sexual health, pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, they have at the same time sensed a lack of attention and discomfort on the part of educators to focus on human relations,” said McKay, who recalls being part of a panel 20 years ago with a group of teens.

“One of the teenaged boys said: ‘We’ve had it up to here with the condom talk. If you want us to use condoms, try talking about relationships and having good relationships’.”

Allow me to go get my crusty old goat hat once again, and ask: Where are the parents? Aren’t they supposed to talk about the importance of having good relationships? That perhaps good committed relationships between people who are somewhat older than 13, have the potential to lead to good sex, not the other way around? Oh, and one more thing: If teenagers are having as much sex as we suspect, and still don’t know it’s “supposed to feel good,” why on earth are they doing it then? Isn’t hedonism supposed to be fun?

I don’t spend time reading press releases from the Governor General’s office. But this one is on the short side, no?

More details on why these three resigned from the Order of Canada here.

Colby Cosh has a longish piece about the murder of George Tiller, which he concludes thusly:

No: Like most pro-lifers, [Jim Hughes, of Campaign Life Coalition] is simply a purveyor of beliefs whose literal truth he does little or nothing to act seriously upon. (As I’ve pointed out in this space, you can make Henry Morgentaler a member of the Order of Canada, thus offering the grossest provocation imaginable to Catholics and evangelicals who have received the honour, and literally 99% of them will suck it up.) But, very occasionally, some ardent religious loner is confused enough to hear those beliefs, conclude they are true, and follow through. And a doctor somewhere ends up maimed or dead. And we blame only the individual who pulled the trigger.

I can’t speak for others, only for me. Here’s why I blame only the individual who pulled the trigger. For the same reason I don’t blame Muslims (or even “just” the hard-core ones, or even peaceful anti-Iraq war activists) for the shooting death, on Monday, of a young soldier outside a U.S. Army recruiting station in Arkansas. Because every individual is responsible for his or her own actions. You can’t blame those of us who say Dr. Tiller made a living taking innocent lives, or even that he was a murderer, for his death the same way you can’t blame the folks who claim U.S. soldiers are murderers for the death of that Arkansas soldier.

Ideological disagreement, moral confusion, religious bigotry, anger or even blind hatred are not the same as murderous intent, as any first-year law student can tell you.

Angelina Jolie is apparently too old, at 33, to play Lara Croft.

I think I need a drink.

(I am, however, pretty sure I don’t need this invention…)

Someone suggested I was over-reacting in this case by allowing myself to be terrified by European bureaucrats. Maybe, who knows. So to try and be more balanced, allow me to terrify ALL OF YOU with atrocious (and extremely detailed) accounts of something even worse that’s happening to “our” society – right here in North America. Warning: This may be too much for some readers.

Are you ready? You sure?

OK.

One of the most popular television shows in history contains a “large number” of tobacco-related scenes, say researchers who watched 400 episodes of the cartoon for science.

“We recorded 795 instances of smoking or references to smoking,” says Dr Guy Eslick, a fellow of the International Union Against Cancer and honorary associate of the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health.

“The most notable characters who smoked were Marge Simpson’s sisters Patty and Selma, Krusty the Clown and Bart’s school teacher Mrs Krabappel.”

Dr Eslick assessed the first 18 seasons of the program and found the number of smoking references per season ranged from just over 10 to more than 60.

Smoking was presented in a “positive way” in just two percent of these cases, in a negative way in 35 percent of cases and neutrally in 63 percent.

Can you imagine? Exposing the nation’s children to the sight of animated morally neutral tobacco smoking? Run for the hills, I tell you. RUN!

We’ll need every pro-life group to stand up and condemn this:

Within hours of the Sunday murder of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller, several leading pro-life groups genuinely and thoroughly condemned the killing. The reiterated the fact that, while they opposed the abortions Tiller did, they equally oppose the use of violence and death as a solution….

“Kansans for Life deplores the murder of Dr. George Tiller, and we wish to express our deep and sincere sympathy to his family and friends,” KFL director Mary Kay Culp told LifeNews.com immediately after the shooting. …Our organization has a board of directors, and a 35 year history of bringing citizens together to achieve thoughtful education and legislation on the life issues here in Kansas,” she explained. “We value life, completely deplore violence, and are shocked and very upset by what happened in Wichita today.”

I’d echo those sentiments. It’s horrifying and I will pray for his family and friends.

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Brigitte adds: Absolutely and without reservation. As Andrea likes to say, we don’t kill to solve our problems.

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Rebecca adds: I can’t say it better than Robert George does in The Corner:

Whoever murdered George Tiller has done a gravely wicked thing. The evil of this action is in no way diminished by the blood George Tiller had on his own hands. No private individual had the right to execute judgment against him. We are a nation of laws. Lawless violence breeds only more lawless violence. Rightly or wrongly, George Tilller was acquitted by a jury of his peers. ‘Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.’ For the sake of justice and right, the perpetrator of this evil deed must be prosecuted, convicted, and punished. By word and deed, let us teach that violence against abortionists is not the answer to the violence of abortion. Every human life is precious. George Tiller’s life was precious. We do not teach the wrongness of taking human life by wrongfully taking a human life. Let our ‘weapons’ in the fight to defend the lives of abortion’s tiny victims, be chaste weapons of the spirit.”

The lovely Rebecca Walberg in the Winnipeg Free Press today with a book review of United in Hate.

If I weren’t a very confident sort of girl I’d say you are starting to make me feel incompetent, Rebecca. Where do you find the time to do extra book reviews?

However, I am confident so instead I’ll say Well Done! and count my lucky stars that you are on my side.