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BLACK IVORY SOUL
by Angélique Kidjo
released: 2002
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BLACK IVORY SOUL by Angelique Kidjo was a 2004 birthday gift to me from one of my few true friends, Melanie. [Thanks, MelNel!] She was turned onto it by the receptionist at her dentist’s office. Melanie immediately determined to get me a copy too, knowing that I’m the hippest, most soulful White dude this side of RESTAURANT 28 -- an excellent soul food joint in Glendale, Arizona. And did I like the music immediately? Did Louis Armstrong like red beans and rice? Does a bear like honey? Does Albert Pujols like a hanging curve ball? Does Terrill Owens like Donovan McNabb? (Oh, I guess I got carried away.)
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What I don’t like is this bovine excrement that passes for music amongst our brain-dead youth today. (I call all of their bands ‘THE NAKED EMPERORS.’) If it’s not Bimbo Pop pap, it’s Rap crap, or what’s called “Alternative” (meaning: alternative to “music”.) I don’t buy music anymore; having an I.Q. over 50, I don’t watch MTV; I don’t go to dance clubs; and the only contemporary music [sic] I’m exposed to is through commercials and the half-wit sitting next to me at the red light. So although my familiarity with it has been limited, I’d say that Angelique Kidjo’s BLACK IVORY SOUL is the best music yet to emerge from the 21st Century.
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From the liner notes: “Kidjo has crossed musical boundaries by blending the tribal and pop rhythms of her native West African heritage with a variety of styles, including Funk, Salsa, and Jazz. On BLACK IVORY SOUL, Kidjo explores the musical and cultural kinship between Africa and Brazil, specifically her homeland and the province of Bahia.”
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Now, if that sounds like a real potpourri of influences, I can assure you that it does not come off as being some patchwork quilt of disparate styles. BLACK IVORY SOUL is a very unified and unique musical statement. The whole piece is tied together by intriguing , exotic rhythms and (though few of the lyrics are sung in English) the album is loaded with catchy melodies and hooks galore. It’s as memorable as any Pop album ever created by an English-singing music stylist.
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The musicianship -- especially the drumming and percussion -- is first-rate throughout, and Kidjo displays remarkable vocal control and an expressive instrument that conveys many emotional shadings regardless of language. Man, this is stellar stuff! You could dance to it, sing to it, contemplate to it. The only thing you won’t be able to do is sleep to it -- it’s entirely too energetic for that.
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There’s not a single track that I don’t really like on BLACK IVORY SOUL, but if I had to pick a favorite, I’d probably side with OMINIRA. Thanks to the English translations provided in the accompanying booklet, I know that Angelique Kidjo is singing: “Everybody wants freedom / Everybody wants to find one’s soulmate / Take my hand / I can promise you / Life will bring us freedom.” From Kidjo’s lips to God’s Ears!
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The only negative comment I have to make is directed at Dave Matthews who duets with Kidjo on IWOYA. While I like the song and also Dave’s voice, it kind of irks me to hear him singing, “You don’t have to be old to be wise / Don’t you hear the baby crying?” I just happen to know that Dave Matthews associates with Planned Parenthood, and a few years ago his band did a benefit concert on behalf of that organization which is the nation’s largest promoter of abortion. I’ve got a question for you Dave: How ‘bout you? Don’t you hear the “unborn” baby crying?
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Other than this “insensitive” singer/songwriter’s hypocritical participation, I really dig Angelique Kidjo’s BLACK IVORY SOUL. It makes my own Irish / German / Scottish / American Indian soul sing. (I may be a mutt but I ain’t no dog!) If you’re the soulful sort and can appreciate great music regardless of its origin or the language of its lyrics, then you’re gonna love BLACK IVORY SOUL, and I wouldn’t Kidjo ‘bout that. (Ha! Sorry. I guess I got carried away... again.)
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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FREAKONOMICS
by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
released: 2005
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It was Mark Twain who popularized the aphorism of Benjamin Disraeli that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. I kept hearing all these marvelous things about FREAKONOMICS, a book by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, so when I ran across it at 25% off, I did a stupid freakin’ thing and bought it. I thought: What the freak, I’ve got a pretty inquisitive mind and I’m open to seeing things differently, to discovering new viewpoints.
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The doubt started early when I got the book home and I first noticed the glowing comments on the dust jacket from the likes of Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times. When all of the Liberal news agencies are lining up to tell me how wondrous a certain publication is, I’m immediately going to be freakin’ suspicious.
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Author Malcolm Gladwell tells us on the cover, “Prepare to be dazzled”. Well, evidently Ol’ Malcolm is dazzled a whole lot easier than I am. (I won’t even mention the smug mug of Stephen Dubner that taunted me from the book’s dust jacket because I don’t want you to get the idea that I judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, a writer by his physiognomy. So I won’t mention that.)
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If you’re the kind of person who is amazed to learn that 70% of auto accidents occur within 10 miles of a driver’s home, then you just MIGHT be dazzled by FREAKONOMICS. If I tell you that the company that issues its 5-day-a-week employees only 3 uniform shirts, thinking that it is cutting costs, is probably increasing its overhead, and this fact astounds you -- if you must ask “But how?” -- then, yes, buy FREAKONOMICS and be dazzled!
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Mostly what FREAKONOMICS offers (when its conclusions can be trusted) is just what we used to call “common sense.” But since America has been reduced to a bunch of corpulent, brain-dead zombies staring vacuously at that glowing box of SURVIVORS, and AMERICAN IDOLS, and LOST knuckleheads, good old-fashioned common sense now appears to dazzle the dead (when you can sever them from that glowing box and put a real book in their hands, that is).
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I dove into FREAKONOMICS hoping to find my purchase worthwhile. I got no further than page 13 when my fears were realized: everything would require second-guessing and verifying. On that page, Smug Mug tells us (based on a single report by the Institute Of Medicine) that “drinking eight glasses of water a day has never actually been shown to do a thing for your health.” Fortunately, I read YOUR BODY’S MANY CRIES FOR WATER by Doctor F. Batmanghelidj over a decade ago, so I already knew what a bunch of bunk that was.
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In chapter 4, Smug Mug “proves” that legalizing abortion in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade decision was responsible for a national drop in the crime rate. This represents the centerpiece of his book, both literally and ideologically. The first thing the reader must accept is that there really has been a significant drop in crime since the early 1990s.
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On page 92, the author acknowledges that the police in Atlanta were discovered to be under-reporting crime in the early ‘90s in hopes of landing the 1996 Olympics. Well, would police forces nationally have an incentive to under-report crime generally if it has actually dramatically increased since the ‘90s as predicted? True, being honest might be means to an increased budget, but it sure would make your department appear inept and unable to maintain control. And surely the Chamber Of Commerce and the big business interests would frown on that public perception. Let me ask, do YOU actually feel you’re less likely to be the victim of a crime now than you did in the early 1990s? That’s funny, me neither. There’s so much crime now that some of what was once reported to the police agencies goes unreported, and recently, an ex-police officer friend told me that cops can no longer engage in some of the micro-policing they were able to do in the ‘80s and ‘90s because crime is so out-of-control now.
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In dismissing other possible factors responsible for the huge drop in crime (if this claim is a verity), Dubner states that increased police personnel accounts for only 10% of the drop. Having a bit more insight into the nature of police work than does the average civilian, it’s funny that I find myself even contending with the stats Smug Mug uses that actually WORK AGAINST his theory: I believe the wide-scale hiring of police officers since the early ‘90s could have impacted the crime rate only minimally -- less than the 10% -- while actually increasing the municipal coffers via traffic citations significantly. And Dubner concludes that right-to-carry firearm laws “simply don’t bring down crime”. (Be sure to read the utterly fascinating book GUNFIGHTERS, HIGHWAYMEN & VIGILANTES by Roger D. McGrath, for a decidedly different and scholarly viewpoint!)
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In dismissing all explanations for the unexpected drop in crime except legalized abortion, I didn’t notice any mention of the tremendous increase in homeschooling and the proliferation of private schools since the early ‘90s, and I wonder if that might have some statistical bearing. Ya think? Yes, I think Smug Mug is selective. He calls some abortions a “crude and drastic sort of insurance policy”. Not “immoral.” Not “sinful.” But then I didn’t expect Smug Mug to call a sin a sin.
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And even if Levitt and Dubner’s hypothesis is correct, that abortions have lowered crime, the fact remains that not every aborted child would have eventually murdered an innocent person, but every aborted child was an innocent person murdered. So why are we even discussing this? I’ll tell you why... Because the Pro-Choice folks can feel a slightly shifting consensus, and now they’re pulling out all the stops, trying to “statistically” convince the masses that they’re safer with all those unborn potential criminals missing. I find this repulsive! (And there are studies indicating that those missing people have, and will continue to have, a massively negative economic impact on society.)
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I won’t even go into chapter 5, 'What Makes A Perfect Parent?' Suffice to say that as usual (surprise! surprise!) all the statistics Dubner employs nearly always seem to confirm the rightness of the Liberal dogma on each issue. Funny how those crunched numbers always crunch conservative beliefs. Just know that if you’re a working mother, you haven’t cheated your child in the least, but if you’re a dad who thinks that an occasional spanking is in order, you are “unenlightened”. If your kid is watching lots of TV, it isn’t turning the “child’s brain to mush”. (No word on whether or not it’s turning his/her morals to mush though.) And the studies (that we are called to pay attention to) show “that a child’s character wasn’t much affected whether or not he was sent to day care, whether he had one parent or two, whether his mother worked or didn’t, whether he had two mommies or two daddies or one of each.” (I’ve often wondered what might have happened to me if my Mom, who was home most of the time, hadn’t been there to hammer the dangers of drugs into my head day after day, year after year, while I was growing up in the ‘60s and ‘70s.)
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I’ve given FREAKONOMICS two stars because I did find the section on the naming of children very interesting, as well as the story of Stetson Kennedy’s fight against the “three Ks”. But if you’re smarter than I am, you’ll borrow this book from your library rather than paying money for it. Economically speaking, that’s just "common cents".
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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[This Review Originally Published On JULY 31, 2006.]
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AMERICAN LIFE LEAGUE
The Life Guide Series -- Vol. 4
"The Facts About Title X:
The Six Billion Dollar Scam"
by Judie Brown
copyright: 1997
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Although I'm not Catholic, through the years I have made monetary contributions to American Life League (ALL), a Catholic antiabortion organization which publishes quality literature in support of the pro-life movement. (One magazine in particular that would be beneficial to teens regardless of Christian denomination is called, 'REALITY CHECK.') Several years ago, ALL sent me Volumes 1-4 of their 'Life Guide Series' as a premium in appreciation for my years of support.
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Volume 4, 'THE FACTS ABOUT TITLE X: THE SIX BILLION DOLLAR SCAM' is dedicated "to all the innocent human beings who have fallen victim to U.S. Government population control programs. May God forgive our nation!"
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I feel that a better plea would be for wisdom and enlightenment, regardless of what means God must use to bring them about... even if it requires severe judgment and wrath upon our nation, which it surely deserves.
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This booklet of 82 pages was well worth reading as it made me aware of some IMPORTANT FACTS about Title X that I did not learn in my previous 45 years. I'll share some interesting facts with you that I gleaned from my reading:
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* WHAT WAS THE STATED PURPOSE OF THE TITLE X PROGRAM? Title X of the Public Health Service Act was passed first in 1970 and was called the Tydings Act. The argument in 1970 for passing this bill was that the bill was needed "to reduce the number of illegitimate births and the medical and psychological complications for both mother and child often resulting from them." [page 3]
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* HAS THE TITLE X PROGRAM ACHIEVED ITS STATED OBJECTIVES? According to the Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Reference Data Book and Guide to Sources, the rates of out-of-wedlock births among teenage girls (ages 15-19) in the United States are as follows:
1940: 5.8%
1950: 5.3%
1960: 7.0%
1970 (Title X funding for family planning begins): 22.4%
1980: 27.6%
1990: 38.1% (This booklet was published in 1997) [page 4]
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* WHERE DOES THE TITLE X MONEY GO? The recipients of Title X funds include state health departments, affiliates of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and other facilities that provide birth control counseling, birth control devices, health education services and sex education. School-based clinics, and off-campus clinics designed to provide counseling on matters relating to reproductive health also receive funding from Title X. [page 4]
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* TITLE X AND ABORTION: IS THERE REALLY A CONNECTION? There is. The program funds abortion -- thousands of abortions. Title X provides funding for chemical abortions as well as funding for organizations that promote abortion... An abortifacient is a chemical or a device that causes abortion in the first days or weeks of a human being's life in the womb. Title X provides funding for the provision of these birth control methods that act, at least partially, to abort. Therefore, Title X does fund abortion. [page 5]
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* Since 1970, Title X has gone through many revisions and amendments, but none have altered the underlying goal, which is clearly to serve the pro-population-control agenda of the organizations that benefit from the funding. Planned Parenthood is among the chief recipients of those taxpayer dollars. [page 10]
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* Contraceptive, generally, means a device (e.g., a condom) that prevents conception. For Planned Parenthood it is a euphemism for chemicals and devices that can cause abortions at very early stages in a preborn child's life (i.e., Birth Control Pill, IUD, Norplant, Depo-Provera and RU-486).
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* The National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1988-1992, reports that by age 13, 8.6% of youth are sexually active; by age 14, 17.7%; by age 15, 31.2%; by age 16, 54.9%; and by age 17, 68.6% of youth are sexually active. [page 14]
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* The annual number of divorces has tripled from 393,000 in 1960 to 1.2 million today. [page 18]
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* "YOU DECIDE" -- When considering sexual involvement, Planned Parenthood tells adolescents, "[T]he only question is What's right for you? You decide... Don't borrow your decisions. Make up your own mind." (from 'Teen Sex? It's OK To Say No Way', No. 99, 5/84, published by Planned Parenthood Federation of America.) [page 19]
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* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control notes that 28.6% of teens had premarital sexual relations in 1970 and that this increased to 51.5% by 1988. [page 27]
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* GEORGE MOSBACKER: "From 1971 to 1981 there was a 306% increase in federal expenditures on family planning with a corresponding 48.3% increase in pregnancies and a 133% increase in abortions for women aged fifteen to nineteen... Those states with the highest expenditures on birth control ... showed the largest increases in abortions and illegitimate births between 1970 and 1979." [page 33]
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* CELIA DESCHIN: "If there is a teenage culture and if youth takes its cues from the peer group, it is a reflection on adults and their abdication of responsibility for setting standards and providing guidance to help young people adhere to those standards. To expect each and every adolescent to be able to do this for himself and by himself suggests a flight from reality. If then today's adolescents -- those known to be engaging in sexual activities premaritally -- see in sexual involvement a major area in which to find security, this should not be so surprising in light of the models of behavior presented to them by the mass media and what they observe around them." [page 35]
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* Planned Parenthood's own data indicate that, despite increased use of birth control devices, "both the number of illegal abortions and the number of unintended pregnancies are reported to be very high." This is obviously due to the failure rate of the devices and the fact that people, especially teenagers, will engage in sex more frequently if they think they are protected. With this increase in sexual activity comes a corresponding increase in abortions, sexually transmitted viruses, and other health problems. [page 50]
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The older I've gotten and the more politically and Spiritually aware I have become, the less respect I have for the government of my nation. And as I look around me, I'm forced to conclude that common sense in my countrymen is now so uncommon that it really should be valued more highly than any precious metal or gemstone.
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It makes me so doggone angry that my government takes money from me in the form of taxes and turns it over to organizations that commit murder (and that's what it is, regardless of the fact that our supremely ungodly Supreme Court has declared it legal). Make no mistake about it people, there is a Supreme Being whose authority is superior to our Supreme Court and one day -- probably in the not too distant future -- our country will answer to Him for Title X.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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2017 Review Update:
I urge everyone -- no, in fact, I BEG everyone -- to take just 7 minutes out of their lives to click on and watch the following video...
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Tucker Carlson interviews Abby Johnson
(former Planned Parenthood manager)
"We have monthly abortion quotas"
Link...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYW6hEsktYY
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[This Review Originally Published On JULY 31, 2006.]
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AMERICAN LIFE LEAGUE
The Life Guide Series -- Vol. 3
"The Facts About Abortion"
by Judie Brown
copyright: 1998
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Although I'm not Catholic, through the years I have made monetary contributions to American Life League (ALL), a Catholic antiabortion organization which publishes quality literature in support of the pro-life movement. (One magazine in particular that would be beneficial to teens regardless of Christian denomination is called, 'REALITY CHECK.') Several years ago, ALL sent me Volumes 1-4 of their 'Life Guide Series' as a premium in appreciation for my years of support.
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Volume 3, 'THE FACTS ABOUT ABORTION' is dedicated "to every mother who welcomes God's blessing in the reality of His child within her."
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This booklet of 117 pages was well worth reading as it made me aware of some IMPORTANT FACTS about abortion that I did not learn in my previous 45 years. I am single; always have been single and -- looking like a corpulent bulldog with a glass eye and a nervous tic (pun alert!) -- I probably always will be single. And since my religious convictions exclude premarital sex, the information I found herein will not likely impact my lifestyle. But since it may be relevant to your circumstances, I'll share some interesting facts with you that I gleaned from my reading:
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* Sir A. William Liley said in 1977: "The baby or zygote with his cargo of genetic information is much more than a mere blueprint of a new human being. A blueprint is simply a plan, and does not include the machinery to fulfill that plan -- but a zygote does." [page 6]
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* Week 6 -- The brainwaves of this little boy [or girl] can be recorded. His [her] different muscles begin working together.
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Week 8 - His [her] fingers and toes are fairly well defined, and fingerprints, a unique and defining feature of every human being, are permanently engraved on his [her] skin. All of his [her] organs are present, complete, and functioning (except the lungs). Fifty percent of the abortions performed in America take place between now and Week 9. [page 8]
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* Month 4 -- Rapid eye movement (REM) can be recorded, indicating that he [she] is dreaming.
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There is no question that a unique human being exists from the moment fertilization occurs. If this little person is left undisturbed, he [she] will grow and flourish. [page 9]
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* Abortifacient birth control includes the Pill, Depo-Provera, Norplant, and the intrauterine device (IUD). Other methods of chemical abortion, also known as medical abortion, include: RU-486, methotrexate + misoprostol and the "morning-after-pill" -- a mega-dose of birth control pills designed to prevent implantaion of a newly-conceived child. [page 16]
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* Many of the methods of birth control that are most popular today (and those that are currently being developed, including the anti-pregnancy vaccine) do by chemical what surgical abortion does by instrument: they kill tiny boys and girls. They are not designed to protect a woman from pergnancy but are designed to eliminate the child if the child is conceived. [page 63]
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* It is clear that the U.S. Supreme Court, lower courts and most politicians view abortion only in terms of women's rights and as a matter of the ideology of political correctness. The reality of the child as a human being totally escapes most of them. We, the people of this nation, have allowed this to happen. We have failed to focus constantly on whose life is at stake when a mother seeks the abortion of her child. It is a serious mistake to expect the Supreme Court to reverse itself and hand down a ruling that would restore the basic moral and biological truth that it has ignored and distorted for more than 30 years. [page 31]
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* Dr. John F. Brennan wrote: I have delivered babies for over 50 years. I have never encountered a pregnancy where an abortion would have "saved the life of the mother." [page 36]
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* Choosing to do what is wrong is not choice. It is license ... The pro-aborts who cry "keep the government out of the bedroom" are the same ones who got the government in. [page 58]
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* One human being's rights should stop short of threatening the rights of another. That is why no woman should have the right to abortion -- an act that kills a human being. The preborn baby is not part of the mother's body; he or she should not be devalued because of where he or she lives. [page 61]
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* Dr. Albert Schweitzer devoted his life to Africans afflicted with leprosy. He taught that when you lose respect for one life, you lose respect for all life. It appears he was correct. [page 66]
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* There is strong evidence that having an abortion can increase the risk of breast cancer, especially if the woman's first pregnancy is aborted. [page 70]
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* Expectant mothers who have had previous abortions have a 200 percent increased risk of miscarriage. [page 71]
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* The claim of 5,000 to 10,000 deaths per year from illegal abortion in the 1960's is totally false. Dr. Bernard Nathanson, a physician, former abortionist, founder of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League and author of 'ABORTING AMERICA' wrote: "In 1967... the federal government listed only 160 deaths from illegal abortion. In 1972, the total was only 39 deaths ... hardly an overwhelming rate." [page 72]
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* The California Medical Association ... said less than three years before Roe v. Wade ... "The result has been a curious avoidance of the scientific fact, which everyone really knows, that human life begins at conception and is continuous whether intra- or extra-uterine until death." [page 96]
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* Lost in most of the Roe and Doe decisions is the object of abortion -- the preborn child. While the Court refers to a pregnant woman as a "mother", it refers to the baby in the womb as "the developing young" or "potential life." [page 94]
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And that reminds me of one of my own observations of many years ago (which so impressed my Brother when I mentioned it to him). When a woman who was looking forward to motherhood loses a child in miscarriage, she always loses the "baby". You would never ever say to her, "I'm so sorry about the loss of your fetus". And yet political correctness dictates that we refrain from saying that a woman aborted her "baby" -- suddenly the baby is referred to as a mere "fetus". It's odd (and very sad) how that works, isn't it?
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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[This Review Originally Published On JULY 31, 2006.]
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AMERICAN LIFE LEAGUE
The Life Guide Series -- Vol. 2
"The Facts About Birth Control"
by Judie Brown
copyright: 1997
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Although I'm not Catholic, through the years I have made monetary contributions to American Life League (ALL), a Catholic antiabortion organization which publishes quality literature in support of the pro-life movement. (One magazine in particular that would be beneficial to teens regardless of Christian denomination is called, 'REALITY CHECK.') Several years ago, ALL sent me Volumes 1-4 of their 'Life Guide Series' as a premium in appreciation for my years of support.
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Volume 2, 'THE FACTS ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL' is dedicated: "To all those who have been deceived by the birth control movement and victimized by the sexual revolutionaries of our day.".
This booklet of 74 pages was well worth reading as it made me aware of some IMPORTANT FACTS about birth control that I did not learn in my previous 45 years. I am single, I always have been single (and since the "lady" seems to be extinct in my country), I probably always will be single. And also since my religious convictions exclude premarital sex, the information I found herein will not likely impact my lifestyle. But since it may be relevant to your circumstances, I'll share some interesting facts with you that I gleaned from my reading:
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* In 1970, the federal government authorized and funded the first government birth control program. Shortly thereafter, in 1973, the Supreme Court struck down all laws prohibiting abortion. It was clear that the proponents of birth control had won the cultural argument. No longer would people have to worry about the moral implications of acting against nature, because the government was in charge of the question. [page 5]
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* Over the last 30 years, for example, the number of known venereal diseases has grown from 5 to 50. The divorce rate has skyrocketed. The number of out-of-wedlock pregnancies has risen, and in America alone, there are more than one million surgical abortions each year. In addition, millions of unseen abortions occur because of the ways in which certain types of birth control actually work. [page 5]
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* True contraceptives never cause abortions. The only true contraceptives are condoms, diaphragms and spermicides. [page 8]
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* Birth Control: An action taken to control the onset of pregnancy -- or to control the outcome, if pregnancy does occur, by ending the pregnancy before the baby is born. The Pill, the IUD and other methods act not only against pregnancy but also against the newly-conceived baby. [page 9]
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* Far from being a check to the sexual revolution, contraception is the fuel that facilitated the beginning of the sexual revolution and enables it to continue to rage. In the past, many men and women refrained from illicit sexual unions simply because they were not prepared for the responsibilities of parenthood. But once a fairly reliable contraceptive appeared on the scene, the barrier to sex outside the confines of marriage fell. The connection between sex and love also fell quickly. [page 13]
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* Fertilizaton: A person begins the first day of his or her life within the mother's body. At this point the 23 chromosomes carried by the sperm and the 23 chromosomes carried by the egg combine to form a new one-cell human being, or human embryo, containing 46 chromosomes. The new person is called a human zygote. Each of the 46 chromosomes is composed of genes, or units of DNA, that contains all of the genetic information of the new person. No genetic information is either gained or lost. The zygote is already genetically an individual human being and a "he" or a "she." [page 20]
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* Oral contraceptives work in three different ways. They:
1) prevent ovulation (release of an egg from the ovary);
2) cause changes in the cervical mucus, which block or slow the travel of the sperm; and
3) prevent implantation of the newly conceived baby into the lining of the mother's womb, thus causing an abortion. [page 23]
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* While more than 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce, it is very rare for spouses using Natural Family Planning to divorce (2 to 5 percent). [page 48]
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* Call it a fetus if you will. Just don't forget that "fetus" is the Latin word for "baby". [page 73]
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While I obviously find the use of abortifacients repugnant and would urge only the use of "true contraceptives" (i.e., condoms, diaphragms and spermicides), I must state that I oppose the Catholic dogma against the use of true contraceptives within a marriage as stated on page 70: "The first universal legislation by a Pope against contraception, contained in the Decretals of Gregory IX (4.5.7) contained Si conditiones; it declared null any marriage entered into with a condition of avoiding children."
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It states on page 50 that, "We must, as human beings and children of God, be aware of the illicit practices promoted in a society that has lost its moral compass. How can we expect more from the younger generation than we have given them when we have consciously taken moral absolutes away from them?" No argument from me on THAT point.
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One cannot put a price on the information in this booklet, particularly if it saves the life of an unborn child and/or prevents the ruination of a girl's youth.
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Dr. William Lynch, who taught Ob-Gyn at Tufts Medical College... never wearied of reminding not only his students and his patients but anyone else who would listen to him that "It takes ten years to know what a new discovery will do for you and it takes twenty years to find out what it will do TO you." [page 72] That's a very perceptive observation. It's now been 33 years since abortion was declared a legally acceptable form of murder in the so-called "civilized" United States, and it's been about 43 years since "The Pill" helped usher in "The Sexual Revolution." Take a good look around you and see what these loveless things have done TO us. To quote Warren Zevon: "It Ain't That Pretty At All."
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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[This Review Originally Published On JULY 31, 2006.]
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AMERICAN LIFE LEAGUE
The Life Guide Series -- Vol. 1
"The Facts Of Life"
by Judie Brown
copyright: 1998
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Although I'm not Catholic, through the years I have made monetary contributions to American Life League (ALL), a Catholic antiabortion organization which publishes quality literature in support of the Pro-Life movement. (One magazine in particular that would be beneficial to teens regardless of Christian denomination is called, 'REALITY CHECK.') Several years ago, ALL sent me Volumes 1-4 of their 'Life Guide Series' as a premium in appreciation for my years of support.
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Volume 1, 'THE FACTS OF LIFE' was evidently written with young adults in mind, though anyone might benefit from reading it. The primary goal of 'THE FACTS OF LIFE' is to explain the process of fetal development, with a focus on illustrating why "fertilization" MUST be considered the point at which human life begins. Promoting chastity in a world that has gone sexually mad is another purpose for this 80-page booklet's publication.
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Some of the information I found most enlightening:
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* At the moment you were conceived, the information contained in one single strand of your DNA held as much information as 33 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica. [page 3]
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* From the moment when the sperm makes contact with the ovum ... all subsequent development to birth of a living newborn is a fait accompli. That is to say, after the initial contact of sperm and egg there is no subsequent moment or stage which is held in arbitration or abeyance by the mother, or the embryo, or the fetus. Nor is a second contribution, a signal or trigger, needed from the male in order to continue and complete full development to birth. [page 19]
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* A world-famous geneticist, Dr. Jerome Lejeune, the man who discovered the extra chromosome 21 which causes Down Syndrome, once said that "If a fertilized egg is not of itself a full human being, it could not become a man, because something would have to be added to it, and we know that this is impossible." [page 19]
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* There are no two people on this earth who are exactly the same; every human being has his own unique "bar code", and that bar code is present at fertilization. [page 24]
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* WEEK 8 - His fingers and toes are fairly well defined, and fingerprints, a unique and defining feature of every human being, are permanently engraved on his skin ... Fifty percent of the abortions performed in America take place between now and Week 9. [page 26]
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* MONTH 4 - This little baby's heart is pumping six gallons of blood every day ... Rapid eye movement (REM) can be recorded, indicating that he is dreaming. [page 26]
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* The decision to abort is a criminal act against the laws of nature. [page 33]
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'THE FACTS OF LIFE' contains an Appendix A, B, and C, which are brief essays addressing interrelated topics. I felt that the first one on chastity by Ronald Lawler was rather mundane, although the second one on chastity by Mary Beth Bonacci, and Appendix C on The Connection Between Contraception And Abortion by Janet E. Smith had some very interesting ideas to share -- even though I part ways with Smith in her denouncing contraception in marriage. And by contraception, I mean the use of condoms, diaphragms, and spermicides ONLY! Naturally, I oppose the use of the other types of "contraceptives" which are in actuality abortifacients. (More on that in Volume 2, 'THE FACTS ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL'.)
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One cannot put a price on the information in this booklet, particularly if it saves the life of an unborn child and/or prevents the ruination of a girl's youth. If your choice is to buy this at full price or do without it, I'd say make the purchase, though I'd first recommend you try to acquire a used copy at a discount.
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The one statement made by Lawler in Appendix A which really got my attention was this: "Our world suffers in countless ways from its lust. It will return to wiser ways when it can bear its pain no more."
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Of course, our world suffers in countless ways from more than just lust; there's other forms of selfishness and egotism, materialism, ignorance, and more. Lawler is right: Only when the world can bear these pains no longer will it collectively turn back to God. Although I firmly believe that we are quickly nearing the end of God's patience.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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THE PARTY OF DEATH:
The Democrats, The Media, The Courts,
And The Disregard For Human Life
by Ramesh Ponnuru
published: 2006
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THE PARTY OF DEATH by Ramesh Ponnuru is quite possibly the most important book published thus far into “The Aughts” (the year 2000 through 2006). This book goes straight to the heart of its subject, abortion, with penetrating logic, powerful arguments, and probing theories. This is hardly a diatribe; rather it’s reasoned fairly, but still a persuasive defense for Life, written from a purely secular position.
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This book deserves to be read and seriously contemplated by every single concerned adult, regardless of where they stand on this controversial and crucial issue. Are you Pro-Choice? See if your outlook can withstand Ponnuru’s insight and contentions. If so, you will finish the book more informed about your opinion. And if not, you will find yourself driven into the Light of Truth by a nonreligious text.
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Five Questions:
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1. Do you understand the great “misconception” about the Roe v. Wade ruling, and why it leaves the United States alone among its peers in offering no legal protection to the unborn at any stage of development?
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2. Did you know that when defenders of the Nebraska ban on partial-birth abortion cited the fact that no medical schools taught it as evidence for the claim that it had little medical value, some major medical schools began teaching it in time to affect the litigation?
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3. Are you aware that the much ballyhooed claim that the 1973 Roe decision was necessary to save the lives of women who were dying in large numbers due to illegal abortions is utter nonsense? The Centers for Disease Control reported that 39 women died from illegal abortions in 1972, while 24 women died that same year from the legal variety.
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4. Would you like to know how an offhand remark about the music group The Beach Boys was instrumental in transforming NORMA McCORVEY (the REAL name of “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade fame) from an abortion clinic employee into a dedicated anti-abortion protester and dogged proponent of a Roe v. Wade ruling reversal?
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5. In 1984, Dr. Bernard Nathanson (himself an occasional abortionist at the time) asked his friend Jay, another doctor who was then performing 15 to 20 abortions daily, to tape his next operation with an ultrasound device. Dr. Jay did so, and what he saw during the playback in the editing studio later left him so unnerved that he never performed another abortion. Does this tell you anything?
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A November 2004 poll found that 55% of the public thought abortion should either be illegal altogether or illegal with only rape, incest, and for saving-the-life-of-the-mother exceptions. 31% thought it should be legal for any reason but only during the first trimester. Only 9% felt that abortion should be legal for any reason at any time. So, why has the Federal Government agreed to enforce a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a social issue that only 9% of the population concurs with? (And if you think I’ve misrepresented the ramifications of the Roe v. Wade decision, then you should certainly have answered “No” to question number one above!)
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In THE PARTY OF DEATH, Ramesh Ponnuru also illustrates with fine diamond clarity the interrelatedness of abortion, embryo destruction, and euthanasia, and how the slippery slope of the first two will logically and inevitably lead to a snowball effect concerning the last, and subsequently, a severe degrading of society’s regard for life in general.
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Ponnuru’s writing style did not especially appeal to me, and I wish he had spent a little more time detailing the physiological reactions to CHEMICAL birth control forms, so readers would better understand why these are considered abortifacients by Pro-Lifers such as myself. [*For additional information on this point, see THE FACTS ABOUT ABORTION (AMERICAN LIFE LEAGUE’S LIFE GUIDE SERIES).] Regardless, Ponnuru’s mental acuity and scalpel-sharp theoretical comparisons makes THE PARTY OF DEATH a true “must-read” publication.
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Many years ago, an 18-year-old girl calling herself “TOO YOUNG IN LAS VEGAS” wrote a letter to Dear Abby. She told how she had become pregnant as a result of being raped (a very rare occurrence, by the way). But TOO YOUNG gave birth to the baby anyway and then put the boy up for adoption. Three years later, she was still wearing around her neck a locket containing a photograph of her son. I saved that article because I thought then (and still do) that this was the greatest example of following Saint Paul’s exhortation: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21) I will always love that woman, whoever she is, for her brave, bold, life-affirming and evil-conquering act! If only we all had the Spiritual sight of TOO YOUNG and could equally see the glory behind the grime.
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In THE PARTY OF DEATH, Ramesh Ponnuru effectively dismantles the myth that colonial America did not consider abortion to be a common law crime. And in The Declaration Of Independence, this country’s establishing document, our Founders wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Now, what part of “Life” doesn’t contemporary America understand?
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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