Thursday, February 28, 2008
Planned Parenthood: Wanting fewer blacks 'understandable'
By Bob Unruh
From WorldNetDaily
A student-run magazine at UCLA has revealed an undercover investigation in which representatives of Planned Parenthood, the nation's abortion industry leader, admitted willingness to accepting a financial donation targeting the destruction of an unborn black baby.
Lila Rose, who edits The Advocate, previously revealed how Planned Parenthood officials expressed a willingness to conceal statutory rape, an investigative piece that earned her an appearance on The O'Reilly Factor.
Now she's told WND she hopes the taped responses of Planned Parenthood officials in seven states reveal to her local UCLA community and the nation at large the racist leanings of the organization.
WND calls to Planned Parenthood of Idaho, which was featured in The Advocate report, requesting a comment were not returned.
"Students on campus are shocked and saddened that such a huge organization would have racist leanings in the present day," she told WND. "They are surprised to hear the truth about [Planned Parenthood founder] Margaret Sanger, and how the African-American community is being hurt by abortion.
"There's a lot of surprise out there. Planned Parenthood does an excellent job of covering up the facts," she said.
Sanger supported eugenics to cull those she considered unfit from the population. In 1921, she said eugenics is "the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems."
At one point, she lamented "the ever increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all." Another time, Sanger wrote, "We do not want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population."
According to Bryan Fisher, executive director of Idaho Values Alliance, Planned Parenthood, which gets an estimated $200 million annually from U.S. taxpayers, has located nearly 80 percent of its clinics nationwide in minority neighborhoods, and about one-third of all abortions are performed on blacks, even though they make up only 13 percent of the population.
Nationwide, almost half of all black pregnancies end in abortion, officials said.
"It turns out that blatant racism is alive and well in Idaho, but it's not coming from the Aryan Nation types it's coming from way-left organizations like Idaho's own Planned Parenthood," Fischer said. "If Idaho is in fact a haven for white racism, it turns out that Planned Parenthood and not Richard Butler is to blame."
Richard Butler, who died in 2004, was a notorious white supremacist who founded Aryan Nations in northern Idaho. He lost a 20-acre compound in 2000 when a $6.3 million civil judgment against his group led to a bankruptcy.
"Idaho didn't have room for Richard Butler and shouldn't have room for Planned Parenthood," Fischer said.
The Advocate released a transcript of a conversation between an actor presuming to be a racist and wanting to make a donation, and a woman identified as Autumn Kersey, vice president of marketing for Planned Parenthood of Idaho.
Actor: I want to specify that abortion to help a minority group, would that be possible?
Planned Parenthood: Absolutely.
Actor: Like the black community for example?
Planned Parenthood: Certainly.
Actor: The abortion I can give money specifically for a black baby, that would be the purpose?
Planned Parenthood: Absolutely. If you wanted to designate that your gift be used to help an African-American woman in need, then we would certainly make sure that the gift was earmarked for that purpose.
Actor: Great, because I really faced trouble with affirmative action, and I don't want my kids to be disadvantaged against black kids. I just had a baby; I want to put it in his name.
Planned Parenthood: Yes, absolutely.
Actor: And we don't, you know we just think, the less black kids out there the better.
Planned Parenthood: (Laughs) Understandable, understandable.
Actor: Right. I want to protect my son, so he can get into college.
Planned Parenthood: All right. Excuse my hesitation, this is the first time I've had a donor call and make this kind of request, so I'm excited, and want to make sure I don't leave anything out.
The investigation included calls to Planned Parenthood in Idaho and half a dozen other states
"I think Idahoans are going to be horrified and shocked at the blatant racism and bigotry exhibited by our local Planned Parenthood affiliate," said Fischer. "I just cannot imagine they're going to stand for that."
He said the timing of the release of the information was intriguing, because the Idaho Legislature is scheduled this week to have its first public hearing on a bill written to prevent Idaho women from being forced into having abortions they do not want.
Lila Rose said students at UCLA now have begun a petition to request the school cut its affiliations with Planned Parenthood.
She said the actor specifically asked about lowering "the number of black people," and each PP branch called agreed to process the racially earmarked donation.
"None expressed concern about the racist reasoning for the donation," The Advocate said.
The Advocate said an Ohio representative, identified as Lisa Hutton, listens to the racist reasoning, but confirmed Planned Parenthood "will accept the money for whatever reason."
Rose said her UCLA campaign has been endorsed by Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King, who said she supports "the student campaign to get UCLA to cease its programs with Planned Parenthood."
Another Planned Parenthood branch, in Kansas, is facing 107 misdemeanor and felonies charges for allegedly violating Kansas abortion law.
WND reported Rose earlier posed as a 15-year-old seeking an abortion at a Planned Parenthood center in Santa Monica, Calif. She was equipped with a hidden camera when she met with an employee to discuss her options.
When Rose revealed she was 15 and her boyfriend was 23 the employee informed her Planned Parenthood was legally required to report the statutory rape, a transcript of the conversation shows.
The Planned Parenthood representative then suggested she could say she was 16, and avoid complications. "Well, just figure out a birth date that works. And I don't know anything," the rep said.
The Texas-based pro-life group Life Dynamics earlier conducted an extensive undercover project in which an adult volunteer posing as a 13-year-old called every Planned Parenthood clinic in the U.S., saying she was pregnant by a 22-year-old boyfriend. Almost without exception, the clinics advised her to obtain an abortion without her parents' knowledge and told her how to protect her boyfriend, who would be guilty in any state of statutory rape.
'Miracle' baby arrives after abortion recommended
From WorldNetDaily
The case developed in the Fetal Medicine Unit at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, where doctors first thought the baby known as Brandon Kramer, and who now is teething and trying to talk, had Down's Syndrome, according to a new report in the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom.
They later diagnosed the more rare brain condition after they determined he suffered from a swollen head and hydrocephalus while in the womb. They said tests showed his condition worsening, and they recommended to the parents that he be aborted.
The newspaper cited medical notes written by pediatric neurologist Dr. Cathy White shortly before Brandon's birth:
"Rhomboencephalosynapsis is an extraordinarily rare congenital abnormality and this, therefore, makes it very difficult to predict the long-term outcome for this baby," she wrote.
"I have explained to them [the parents] that children with this condition are likely to be profoundly handicapped with severe physical and learning disabilities and will be totally dependent for the whole of their life," she continued. "They often need the level of care given to babies for the whole of their lives."
Brandon's mother, Becky Weatherall, and father, Kriss Kramer, were offered "termination" because of the diagnosis and doctors' expectations he would be born deaf and blind and would survive no more than a few hours.
The report said, however, Brandon was born naturally and quickly given a clean bill of health after being examined by a team of specialists.
The parents say they are publicizing their situation to let people know.
"Perhaps doctors shouldn't put so much confidence in scans," Weatherall told the newspaper. "One of the older doctors we spoke to said a scan is like a fuzzy image of a snowstorm it cannot be relied upon and he turned out to be right."
The British Pediatric Neurology Association confirmed MRI scans are a new development, and "the problem is that it's hard to go from what the brain looks like to how it's going to work."
Officials at Cardiff told the newspaper they couldn't comment on individual cases because of confidentiality issues, but "ultrasound is not 100 percent accurate."
"I feel incredibly guilty thinking that I could have killed him and then I find myself wondering how many other babies are killed who would have turned out to be completely health," Weatherall said. "Just two weeks before he was born scans showed that his head was so swollen it was off the scale for normal babies but when he had an MRI scan on Christmas Eve it was confirmed he was completely healthy.
"We had prepared to spend Christmas without him we thought we'd be planning a funeral. Instead, it was the best Christmas present ever and now we're having a christening."
On the newspaper's forum, Sarah noted that scans are a "doubled edged sword" because they sometimes are inaccurate.
"Congratulations and well done for publicizing the story so other parents are made aware of these kinds of mistakes," added Cathy.
Officials said their investigation will focus on whether the diagnosis was incorrect, or whether the baby had some abnormalities, but then recovered.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Joel Osteen
[TBC: Joel Osteen was interviewed on FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace, and made the following remarks as to whether Mormons were true Christians.]
WALLACE: And what about Mitt Romney? And I’ve got to ask you the question, because it is a question whether it should be or not in this campaign, is a Mormon a true Christian?
OSTEEN: Well, in my mind they are. Mitt Romney has said that he believes in Christ as his savior, and that's what I believe, so, you know, I'm not the one to judge the little details of it. So I believe they are.
And so, you know, Mitt Romney seems like a man of character and integrity to me, and I don't think he would — anything would stop me from voting for him if that's what I felt like.
WALLACE: So, for instance, when people start talking about Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, and the golden tablets in upstate New York, and God assumes the shape of a man, do you not get hung up in those theological issues?
OSTEEN: I probably don’t get hung up in them because I haven’t really studied them or thought about them. And you know, I just try to let God be the judge of that. I mean, I don’t know.
I certainly can’t say that I agree with everything that I’ve heard about it, but from what I’ve heard from Mitt, when he says that Christ is his savior, to me that’s a common bond.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,318054,00.html
Monday, February 18, 2008
Another Christian Group Targeted in Gaza
Another Christian/Western Target Attacked in Gaza
At least ten armed men blew up a YMCA library in the Gaza Strip, destroying thousands of books early Friday. This appears to be the latest attack by Muslim fundamentalists against either Christian or Western targets.
An estimated 10,000 books, some of them very old, were destroyed when an explosive device was placed in the Young Men Christian Association's library in Gaza City before dawn on Friday, said Isa Saba, director of the YMCA there.
The Palestinian news agency Maan said that more than 10 armed men had broken into the library after midnight, overpowered the guards and abducted them. The gunmen then returned to blow up the library, the report said.
Over the last few years, a number of Christian and Western interest have been attacked in Gaza, including the local Bible Society, a church and Internet cafes.
Saba told Cybercast News Service in a telephone interview he did not know who was behind the attack but he did not believe it had anything to do with the fact that the YMCA is Christian. He said the organization has never been threatened or attacked before this.
The YMCA has been serving Gaza's Palestinian and Arab society for 55 years. It has an art school, a library, summer camps and youth exchanges, which benefit both the Christian and Muslim communities, Saba said.
There are an estimated 3, 500 Christians living amid 1.4 million Muslims in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200802/INT20080215d.html
Bishop warns of no-go zones for non-Muslims [Excerpts]
Islamic extremists have created "no-go" areas across Britain where it is too dangerous for non-Muslims to enter, one of the Church of England's most senior bishops warns today.
The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester and the Church's only Asian bishop, says that people of a different race or faith face physical attack if they live or work in communities dominated by a strict Muslim ideology.
Bishop Nazir-Ali warns that attempts are being made to give Britain an increasingly Islamic character.
The Muslim Council of Britain today described his comments as "frantic scaremongering", while William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said the bishop had "probably put it too strongly."
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the idea of no-go areas was "a gross caricature of reality".
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Bishop Nazir-Ali compares the threat to the use of intimidation by the far-Right, and says that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Christianity to be the nation's public religion in a multifaith, multicultural society.
Bishop Nazir-Ali, who was born in Pakistan, gives warning that attempts are being made to give Britain an increasingly Islamic character by introducing the call to prayer and wider use of sharia law, a legal system based on the Koran.
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, has accused Muslims of promoting a kind of "voluntary apartheid" by shutting themselves in closed societies and demanding immunity from criticism.
Bishop Nazir-Ali, whose father converted from Islam to Catholicism, was criticised by Ibrahim Mogra, of the Muslim Council of Britain. He said: "It's irresponsible for a man of his position to make these comments.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=BDZVD2NMKCW0LQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2008/01/06/nislam106.xml
[Unfortunately, as we have learned from the experience of other nations, the Bishop's statements simply reflect reality. The "no go" areas of France received attention during the Islamic riots of a few years ago. At the same time Scandinavian nations acknowledged the same problems.]
Friday, February 15, 2008
Ten Plagues
The Ten Plagues of Egypt:
Yahweh vs. the 'Gods'
Plague 1. Nile River (Exodus 7:14-25):
Aaron stretched out his staff over the Nile River and it was changed to blood. Hapi was the god of the Nile. He was supposedly the spirit of the Nile in flood and "giver of life to all men." The annual innundation (when the Nile was in flood stage) was called "the arrival of Hapi".
The Nile water was thought to be the transformed life-blood of Osiris (god of the dead who was second only to Ra; he was also the father of Horus and husband of Isis). The fact that the Nile turned to blood, which was abominable to Egyptians, was a direct affront to one of their chief gods.
The fish-goddess was Hatmeyt, yet she was shown to be powerless when all the fish in the Nile River died.
To illustrate the fact that the plagues of the Exodus were directed against the gods of Egypt, we note some Egyptian prayers to those gods. (The reference to "Nine Gods" apparently did not include pharaoh. It may be of interest that there were just nine plagues before Yahweh killed the sons of pharaoh.)
Praise to thee, 0 Nile, that issueth from the earth and cometh to nourish Egypt . . . That watereth the meadows, he that Ra hath created to nourish all cattle. That giveth drink to the desert places, which are far from water . . . When the Nile floodeth, offering is made to thee, cattle are slaughtered for thee, a great oblation is made for thee . . . Offering is also made to every other god, even as is done for the Nile, with incense, oxen, cattle, and birds upon the flame . . . All ye men, extol the Nine Gods, and stand in awe of the might which his son, the Lord of All, hath displayed, even he that maketh green the Two Riverbanks. Thou art verdant, 0 Nile, thou art verdant. He that maketh man to live on this cattle, and his cattle on the meadow . . ." (Adolph Erman, The Ancient Egyptians, 1966, p. 146.)
The Nile flooded every year, making the land fertile. If the Nile did not flood enough there was famine; if it flooded too much there was famine. The Nile was, indeed, the lifeblood of Egypt, and thus it became one of their gods. Heathen gods often have some connection with the economics of daily life, but especially in the case of the sun.
Plague 2. Frogs (Exodus 8:1-15):
The land was so filled with frogs that they became objects of loathing. Heqt, the frog-headed goddess, played a part in "creation." Hers was one of the oldest fertility cults in Egypt. Though she was the goddes of frogs and fertility, she too was discredited when she failed to control the fertility of a these frogs. Because of this plague they became a stench to the Egyptians.
Plague 3. Lice (Exodus 8:16-19):
The land of Egypt was supposed to be sacred to nearly all of the Egyptian gods. But when it was defiled by lice it revealed their weakness to protect it. Crops and animals were also affected, reducing the food supply. In addition to being the god of the dead, Osiris was the god of vegetation.
The Egyptian magicians, unable to duplicate this plague, attribute it to "the finger of God" (Exodus 8:19), and they withdrew.
Plague 4. Flies, or Beetles ("insects" -- Exodus 20 - 32):
Although it is not clear which insect the Hebrew word arob refers to (it can be literally translated as swarms), this plague may have been against the beetle-god Khephira, a scarab-headed god regarded as a manifestation of Atum or Ra. Khephira was supposed to be god of the resurrection. Priests wore scarabs as charms.
Plague 5. Disease Upon Cattle (Murrain or Anthrax) (Exodus 9:1-7):
This judgment against the bull god, Apis. It was also against Hathor, the cow-headed love goddess. The pharaoh worshipped Hathor, whose name means "house of Horus," bringing special reproach against him when she failed to protect the "sacred cattle of Hathor."
Other gods associated with cattle were Ptah and Amon.
Great cemeteries of embalmed cattle have been excavated. The symbol of the bull was the symbol of pharaoh himself. In the "Hymn to Amun," it is difficult to distinguish the Pharaoh from the bull. The title is: "Adoration of Amunre (Amun-Ra), Bull of Heliopolus, chiefest of all gods, the good god, the beloved, who giveth life to all that is warm, and to every good herd."
Praise be to thee, Amunre, Lord of Karnak, who presideth in Thebes. Bull of his Mother, the first on his field! Wide of stride, first in Upper Egypt. . . . Greatest of heaven, eldest of earth, lord of what existeth, who abideth in all things. Unique in his nature among the gods, goodly bull of the Nine Gods, chiefest of all gods. Lord of Truth, father of the gods, who maketh mankind, and createth beast. (Erman, p. 283.)
Plague 6. Boils (Exodus 9:8-12):
This plague was especially against the god of healing, Im-Hotep, an outstanding nobleman of the Old Kingdom, later deified. But he could do nothing to help the Egyptians. The goddess Sekhmet was also known for her healing ability. This plague also affected animals and livestock, once again discrediting Anis and Hathor. Also Anubis, the jackal-headed god.
Plague 7. Hail (Exodus 9:13-15):
The sky goddess Nut was "the mother of the sun-god Ra, whom she swallowed in the evening and gave birth to again in the morning". She was especially culpable in this plague in that she was supposed to protect the land from destructions which came down from heaven. Exodus 9:31 mentions that the flax and barley were hit. Destruction of the flax was trying because it was used to wrap mummies and to make clothes.
Other gods discredited were, again, Apis and Hathor (the hail struck lifestock), and Osiris, god of vegetation.
Plague 8. Grasshoppers, or Locusts (Exodus 10:1-20):
The locust-headed god was Senehem. During the plague, the locusts were so thick that the "eye of the earth" was darkened (Exodus 10:5). One of the epithets of the sun-god Ra was "the eye of Ra." By causing darkness while the sun was shining, Ra was discredited. Osiris, too, was once again shown to be powerless.
Plague 9. Darkness (Exodus 10:21-27):
The greatest god of Egypt was the sun. The sun-god Amun-Ra was the principle deity of the pantheon. He made all growth possible. Pharaoh was considered himself to be the incarnation of Ra. With three days of darkness, the principle deity was scorned, while the Hebrews in Goshen were not affected by this plague. One of many hymns to the sun may help us feel their devotion to this deity:
Beautiful is thine appearing in the horizon of heaven, thou living sun, the first who lived. Thou risest in the eastern horizon, and fillest every land with thy beauty. Thou art beautiful and great, and glistenest, and art high above every land. Thy rays, they encompass the lands, so far as all that thou hast created. Thou art Ra, and thou reachest unto their end and subduest them for thy dear son [the Pharaoh]. Thou art afar, yet are thy rays upon the earth . . . etc., ad nauseum. (Erman, p. 289.)
Horus, son of Osirus, was also associated with the sun.
Plague 10. Pharaoh (Exodus 11-12):
The last plague was not only directly against the supreme god of Egypt, Pharaoh himself supposedly being the incarnation of Amun-Ra, but also against the future pharaoh, his son, the very next god of Egypt. He was to die on the same level as animals (not as a god), for the prophecy was that the firstborn of man and cattle would die.
Hymns of worship to many pharaohs have been found. Here is one to Rameses II:
The good god, the strong one, whom men praise, the lord, in whom men make their boast; who protecteth his soldiers, who maketh his boundaries on earth as he will. . . . (Erman, p. 258.)
Concerning the divinity of the pharaohs, William Edgerton notes:
As for the organization and powers of the government, everyone knows that the Pharaoh was an absolute monarch and that his authority rested theoretically on his supposed divinity. He is constantly called"the good god." One of his most frequent titles designates him as the son of the sun-god Ra, and we know that his claim of divine parentage was not a mere figure of speech; it was meant to be taken literally. Theoretically, of course, the Pharaoh's right-to-rule rested on his divinity. He was begotten by the sun-god Amon-Ra, who took the form of the previous king for this purpose, and Amon-Ra with the enthusiastic approval of the other gods placed him on the throne and decreed a long and brilliant reign for him. No doubt those theological fictions helped to strengthen the Pharaoh's position. But the really solid basis of his power was his control of the machinery of government, including the army and police. (Edgerton, Journal of Near Eastern Studies: 6, 1967, pp. 153-4.)
A great majority of the historical monuments were intended as official propaganda with the purpose of transmitting to posterity a "correct" impression of the glory and power of the pharaohs. Crises of revolution and that type of inner strife so common in the Orient, as well as military defeats in foreign wars, were either passed over completely or were interpreted so that the monuments conveyed impressions much distorted and unduly colored to the credit of the Egyptians. (Steindorff and Seele, When Egypt Ruled the East, p. 6, our emphasis.)
So, since the judgment was for both man and animals, Pharoah/Ra, and all of the animal-gods were once again exposed as completely and utterly helpless in the shadow of Yahweh. Only those who put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts were safe that night.
By Kristina Y. (some portions taken from internet sources)