The events of this past week really gave clarity as to why I remain ‘sans political party’. Having once been a staunch Democrat, I could never quite bring myself to become a Republican, even as a business owner. Consequently, I’ve since been a registered Independent voting almost entirely, as much as it was possible, Republican/Conservative. To prove my point, today was the first time in at least ten years I’ve ever agreed with anything written in the New York Times, ‘The Audacity of the Pope’. Not only did I agree with Ross Douthat , he was spot on!

But Benedict’s encyclical is nothing if not political. “Caritas in Veritate” promotes a vision of economic solidarity rooted in moral conservatism. It links the dignity of labor to the sanctity of marriage. It praises the redistribution of wealth while emphasizing the importance of decentralized governance. It connects the despoiling of the environment to the mass destruction of human embryos. This is not a message you’re likely to hear in Barack Obama’s next State of the Union, or in the Republican Party’s response. It represents a kind of left-right fusionism with little traction in American politics. But that’s precisely what makes it so relevant and challenging — for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Contrasted with Kathleen Kennedy Townsend piece this week in Newsweek, and the left spinning Pope Benedict’s words faster than Michael Jackson’s stage spin, I had a an epiphany. Read the rest of this entry »

Note – This is a repost of a April 8th post which has been lost

Well, Dr. Oz may have actually said it, but as Wesley J Smith points out, try finding THAT in the transcript. I doubt the video will be on line much longer (both video and transcripts are linked in the W J Smith article).

One should be dishearten, to say the least, to hear these words from Michael J. Fox.

Michael says America has a lot of ground to make up when it comes to stem cell research. “We had eight years where there was no forward progress and some things people don’t even understand,” he says.

After all, if Michael J. Fox, both a patient and a man of means, can be this duped, doesn’t it prove the point of how deceitful the whole stem cell debate has been?

A few weeks ago, in the Sacramento Bee Wesley J Smith confirmed my similar thoughts regarding Obama’s lifting of the ban on federal funding of ESC’s; it had NOTHING to do with cures, and everything to do with politics! Read the rest of this entry »

Note – This is a repost of a March 13th post which has been lost

America, we’ve been duped; from our president, our fourth estate, and sadly even some of our scientists. President Obama’s lifting of the ban on federal funding for ESC research this week, albeit heart wrenching, was expected. What wasn’t expected, or reported in the MSM , was the “under the radar” revocation of funding for alternative stem cell research, Executive Order 13435 (June 20, 2007), by President George W. Bush.

I don’t know about you, but my head is spinning! I keep asking myself what I might be missing, but so far everything I read or research turns up the same. Are we really going to stop funding the ethical, ground breaking progress in ethical alternatives, and instead, fund the “unethical obsolete” embryonic research that involves the destruction of human embryos?

You will want to read what Attorney Sam Casey has to say. Prepare to be shocked and if you are a scientist or physician, I hope you will consider signing the Amnesty For Babies petition. Here’s an excerpt

Sam Casey, Advocates International’s General Counsel and one of the attorneys involved in the federal court litigation in 2001 that resulted in the lawful and ethical stem cell research policy revoked by President Obama, labeled the President’s actions today “legally limited, unnecessary, unethical and fiscally irresponsible.”

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It was scientifically unnecessary and even counter-productive because ethically sound ways and means for advancing stem cell science and medical treatments were already authorized and moving forward under Executive Order 13435 that President Obama revoked today.”

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Casey also points out that while opposition to human ES cell research is often cast by news reports as primarily a religious objection, there are many scientists, physicians, and reproductive health professionals who object based on their knowledge of the humanity of human embryos and their knowledge of stem cell therapeutics. A growing worldwide list of them is publicly expressing their objection by endorsing an online scientists’ and physicians’ declaration against human ES cell research and abortion. Read the rest of this entry »