Scrolling around...September 10, 2013

Ancient Golden Treasure Found at Foot of Temple Mount

Are Public Schools Modern Altars for Child Sacrifice?
...Many kids hate school and just get through it as quickly and as mediocrely as they can. Perhaps it’s because their specific likes and dislikes or personal learning styles aren’t taken into account. How can they in a system that has to cater to such a large group of children? Recently, a controversial article was written entitled, “If You Send Your Kids to Private School, You are a Bad Person” by Allison Benedikt that laments parents who want, and can pay for the best education their kids can get. Benedikt supposes all children should be in the public system even at their own detriment:

“Your children and grandchildren might get mediocre educations in the meantime, but it will be worth it, for the eventual common good.”

This is the ultimate child sacrifice, next to abortion, that calls for the educational execution of your children for some unidentifiable future children you should care more about than your own “spawn”, as Benedikt calls them. This is a classic argument from progressives, that those of us who choose not to use the public schools are the reason they are failing. How anyone can come to this conclusion when the state still gets the money allocated for my child even though I bear the entirety of her educational expenses is beyond me. I am actually paying double. I pay for a student (or maybe more, who knows?) in public school with my property taxes and I pay for a privately-educated child from my personal expenses. How the public school’s failure to produce readers is my fault is a head-scratcher...

Florida official tells Christian charity to choose between Jesus and cheese
A Florida ministry that feeds the poor said a state agriculture department official told them they would not be allowed to receive USDA food unless they removed portraits of Christ, the Ten Commandments, a banner that read “Jesus is Lord” and stopping giving Bibles to the needy.

“They told us they could no longer allow us to have any religious information where the USDA food is going to be,” said Kay Daly, executive director of the Christian Service Center.

Obamacare Regulations Are 8 Times Longer Than Bible  ...These regulations add up to 10,516 pages in the Federal Register—or more than eight times as many pages as there are in the Gutenberg Bible, which has 642 two-sided leaves or 1,286 pages.

Using the regulations.gov website and the Federal Register itself, CNSNews.com found 109 distinct regulations for the implementation of PPACA and the health-care related provisions of HCERA that had been finalized by various federal agencies and published in the Federal Register as of Sept. 9, 2013...

Obamacare Medical Device Tax Causes One Company to Lay Off Over 1,000 People
A Grand Rapids, Michigan report on a company that had to lay off over 1,000 people due to the Obamacare medical device tax...

DC Grants 9/11 Permit to Anti-American Muslims, Denies it to Patriotic Bikers
That seems appropriate enough as it neatly sums up the state of political priorities these days...

The Shocking Stats About Rising Rate of Unsafe Abortions in Africa
...One result of the proliferation of these unsafe abortions is the rise in the maternal mortality rate across many parts of Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), of the 6 million unsafe abortions that occur each year in Africa, 29,000 result in death and a further 1.7 million in hospitalizations. These statistics contribute to many countries’ high maternal mortality rates and the practical effects of so many complications are a financial burden on the government and health care system.

One example of this occurrence is Uganda, where some 85,000 women are treated each year for complications after undergoing an unsafe abortion procedure. "Post-abortion care is estimated to cost nearly $14 million annually in Uganda ... The epidemic of unsafe abortion takes a tragic toll on women and their families. It poses a significant, avoidable economic burden on Uganda's already under financed health system," Moses Mulumba, director of the Kampala-based Centre for Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), told IRIN...

“Gay rights vs. religious rights: 7 issues to watch”  The rights of religious groups or individuals that object to same-sex marriage continue to clash with those pursued by gay rights advocates. Now, the fight that started at state ballot boxes and in courtrooms has moved to floral shops, bakeries and photo studios.

As churches are concerned about the potential of facing lawsuits, some are changing their bylaws to explicitly reflect their views on traditional man-woman marriage.

The Very Sad Childfree Life
Time Magazine's recent cover story "the Childfree Life" has generated a good deal of controversy and commentary. The photo that graces the cover of the edition pretty much sums up the argument: a young, fit couple lounge languidly on a beach and gaze up at the camera with blissful smiles -- and no child anywhere in sight.

What the editors want us to accept is that this scenario is not just increasingly a fact in our country, but that it is morally acceptable as well, a lifestyle choice that some people legitimately make. Whereas in one phase of the feminist movement, "having it all" meant that a woman should be able to both pursue a career and raise a family, now it apparently means a relationship and a career without the crushing encumbrance of annoying, expensive, and demanding children...