The article The War Against Girls in last Saturday’s Wall Street Journal reviews Mara Hvistendahl’s book “Unnatural Selection”, where the title of this post comes from. As a strong anti-abortion advocate and even stronger pro-adoption supporter, the reality of folks around the world using technology to kill their own unborn daughters to have a larger percentage of sons is abhorrent. Another terror brought about by the ‘elite’ among us.

But oddly enough, Ms. Hvistendahl notes, it is usually a country’s rich, not its poor, who lead the way in choosing against girls. “Sex selection typically starts with the urban, well-educated stratum of society,” she writes. “Elites are the first to gain access to a new technology, whether MRI scanners, smart phones—or ultrasound machines.” The behavior of elites then filters down until it becomes part of the broader culture. Even more unexpectedly, the decision to abort baby girls is usually made by women—either by the mother or, sometimes, the mother-in-law.

Bad things happen when there aren’t enough women to tame and civilize the men in a society.

Ms. Hvistendahl argues that such imbalances are portents of Very Bad Things to come. “Historically, societies in which men substantially outnumber women are not nice places to live,” she writes. “Often they are unstable. Sometimes they are violent.” As examples she notes that high sex ratios were at play as far back as the fourth century B.C. in Athens—a particularly bloody time in Greek history—and during China’s Taiping Rebellion in the mid-19th century. (Both eras featured widespread female infanticide.) She also notes that the dearth of women along the frontier in the American West probably had a lot to do with its being wild. In 1870, for instance, the sex ratio west of the Mississippi was 125 to 100. In California it was 166 to 100. In Nevada it was 320. In western Kansas, it was 768.

The article wraps up with some conclusions that I heartily agree with:

Despite the author’s intentions, “Unnatural Selection” might be one of the most consequential books ever written in the campaign against abortion. It is aimed, like a heat-seeking missile, against the entire intellectual framework of “choice.” For if “choice” is the moral imperative guiding abortion, then there is no way to take a stand against “gendercide.” Aborting a baby because she is a girl is no different from aborting a baby because she has Down syndrome or because the mother’s “mental health” requires it. Choice is choice. One Indian abortionist tells Ms. Hvistendahl: “I have patients who come and say ‘I want to abort because if this baby is born it will be a Gemini, but I want a Libra.’ ”

This is where choice leads. This is where choice has already led. Ms. Hvistendahl may wish the matter otherwise, but there are only two alternatives: Restrict abortion or accept the slaughter of millions of baby girls and the calamities that are likely to come with it.

It’s time to overturn Roe v. Wade, and “educate” our girls and young women that an unwanted pregnancy can become a very special gift through the selflessness of giving that child up for adoption. One can only hope that we are not so totally gone over to narcissism for this to eventually come to pass.

Fifty nine years ago today, couldn’t tell ya the time without tearing the place apart to find the birth certificate (at least I DO HAVE ONE! ), a 5-plus pound baby boy was born in a clinic in Tulsa Oklahoma. Some poor soul, for reasons unknown, was unable, or unwilling to keep the child that her body had produced, and instead of finding some back-alley abortion option had carried it to term and then had given it up for adoption.

A few hours after being born, that baby boy went home with the only parents he ever knew, James (Duke) and Anna Mae Baker to a little house on No. Cincinatti in Tulsa. A few years later the crew moved to a farm outside of Collinsville where I had a near idyllic childhood. I often think back in wonder at all the experiences had on that plot of land, especially when I see the kids getting out of middle-school a few blocks from here walking home, texting or talking on their smart phones, beating the neighbors flowers with sticks, talkin’ trash at each other . . . knowing that they are going home to their Playstations and iPods, YouTube video making and the like. They’ll never know what they have missed out on, but their souls will long for something . . . more.

Each year on this day I reflect on the thought that if Roe vs Wade had been the law of the land in February 1952, I am most certain that I would not be here to write this. Many tens of millions of nascent human beings have had their lives terminated since that SCOTUS decision. I truly wish that folks would make the right choice when faced with an unwanted pregnancy, and choose LIFE. There’s always some good folks out there without kids of their own — waiting, wanting to love and raise that baby as their very own.

So, thanks birth mom, whoever, wherever you are/were — my birthday wish is that there will be many more like you with the strength and courage to do the right thing. Who knows, 59 years from now, some grateful son or daughter might just be thanking you . . .

Visit The Anchoress’ blog to catch up on Heather, Kim and Little Faith. Then you will comprehend the significance of this excerpt:

I am absolutely astounded, instructed, edified and in all ways humbled in the face of faith this open, courageous and hearty. In a world where society encourages us to avoid the painful realities of life (and all the terrible beauty found therein) to shut ourselves off and remain comfortably anesthetized throughout our lives, these young women and their husbands – with the help of family, friends and faith – say “yes” to the difficult, “yes to the pain, “yes” to what comes their way.

What I see, over and over again in their stories is a peace the world cannot fathom, the “peace beyond all understanding.” As with the Gospels, where a rich young man was attracted to Christ but unwilling to give up his material things, we see here a peace many want, but few have the courage to pursue.

Dean Barnett passed away today. Born in 1967, he was a young 41 years old. What a shame, what a loss for all of us.

I first discovered Dean while he was guest posting at Hugh Hewitt’s blog where his opinions and prose entertained and informed with a sense of glee. I used to send him Photoshops and he used one once, and often commented on others that he liked. When I got an email from him that was special. I loved it when he guest hosted for Hugh on the radio. That voice, that Boston accent, the way he had such fun talking with Glen in Texas.

Dean had cystic fibrosis and had already out survived the odds. He had many close calls before, but a new type of treatment gave him hope, and extra months and years. Dean wrote about CF in a blog 2006 post.

CF is a genetic disease, the number one genetic killer in the country. The average age of death is 36. I’m now 39; when I was born in 1967, the life expectancy for a newborn with CF was 8 years.

Yet, he thought that he was a lucky man.

Until I was a teenager, I was mostly asymptomatic. Even after I was a teenager, I enjoyed what is considered good health in the CF community. I’ve certainly been luckier than most CF patients.

After having a serious setback a few years ago and being placed on the lung transplant list he got a chance at being in a test of a new treatment.

At one point during my interview, the questioner asked me if I expected to see a cure to CF in my lifetime. I answered no, but that it doesn’t really matter. When you see death up close, a couple of things become clear. One is that we all die, and that death is just part of the deal. The other is that life is such a blessing, that’s it just so great, even though you know the inevitable might be near you still want as many bites of the apple as possible.

None of us know what the future of the salt water treatment might be. My health will maintain its current state indefinitely in the truest sense of the term. The good times could continue for years, or it could all crash tomorrow.

That treatment brought him a bit over 18 extra months of the “good times”.

Godspeed Dean. May God’s grace and comfort be with your family and friends.

Others honoring Dean:

Hugh Hewitt

Mitt Romney

Captain Ed

Ace

Wizbang

LGF

Article 6 Blog

Protein Wisdom

The Anchoress

And I’m sure, there will be many, many more . . .

Technorati Tags: Dean Barnett, cystic fibrosis

Those who have read this blog for very long will know that I am a strong Pro-Life blogger, having come to that position from several angles, having been an adopted child from birth for one, and a strict So. Baptist upbringing for another. Unless there is a risk of immediate, fatal harm to the mother, I can’t see a rationale that supports the killing of innocent nascent human life. Not hard to see why Barack Obama leaves me especially cold, as he is one of the most pro-abortion candidates ever on a national ticket. As the ad above shows, Barack Obama voted multiple times against an Illinois law that would mandate that a baby born alive from a botched abortion MUST be taken care of and not be left to die, even if that had been the intent of the mother.

The spokesperson in the ad is one Gianna Jessen, herself the product of just such a botched abortion. I saw her on Hannity and Colmes last night and her story is compelling. When it was Allan Colmes turn to interview her, even he squirmed and looked decidedly uncomfortable as he mouthed the tired old liberal positions about a woman’s right to choose, and as he tried, and in my opinion failed, to defend Obama’s votes on this issue. She even challenged him, asking him to look at her now and tell her to her face that she should have been left to die because it was her mother’s right to choose that she should die.

The Anchoress breaks it down like this:

The way I understand it, the Infants Born Alive Bill was introduced to the IL Senate and Obama voted against it because he wanted it to have the same language as the Federal Born Alive Bill. When the bill was re-presented containing that clause, Obama voted against it again. So, given the chance, twice, to vote against infanticide, Obama voted for.

He also lied about all of this earlier in the campaign, before admitting that he was lying.

Obama has the most liberal voting record you can have on the issue of abortion. He does not, like Joe Biden, draw the line at the savagery of partial-birth abortion – he sides with the scissor, the vacuum and the death. He does not draw the line (as Nancy Pelosi and even Hillary Clinton do) at infanticide. His votes say, “that baby was supposed to be dead; let it die.”

Gianna Jessen was once such a baby — her 17-year old mother wanted her to just die already!

Here is Gianna’s story:

Gianna Jessen does not quit. Giving up is not an option to her. Gianna has what she refers to as the “gift” of Cerebral Palsy. She weighed a mere 2 lbs at birth and the doctors said she would never be able to hold up her head, sit up, crawl or walk. She began to walk by the age of three years old with the help of leg braces and a walker.

Gianna doesn’t believe that her Cerebral Palsy takes away her life, but, rather, enriches it. . . she walks with a slight limp today and runs marathons. On April 30, 2005 she completed her first 26.2 mile marathon after running just over 7 hours and was presented with the coveted blank blank award! On April 23, 2006 she completed the London Marathon as well. She is now determined to run marathons all over the place, because she was never supposed to even walk!

Gianna understands the plight of orphans, being one herself. She was placed into the foster care system early on in life, eventually being taken into the loving home of a woman named Penny. Penny has been a mother to 56 foster children in her life. Gianna was later adopted by Penny’s daughter, making Penny Gianna’s grandmother. According to Gianna, Penny saved her life.

Gianna is a Christian. Her life was given to her by the grace of God. She shouldn’t be walking, but more miraculous still; she should not even be alive. Gianna’s biological mother was 17 when she had a saline abortion in her third trimester. Many Americans don’t realize it is legal to have an abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy. After being burned alive for approximately 18 hours in the womb from the saline solution, Gianna was delivered alive in a Los Angeles County abortion clinic. Her medical records state, “born during saline abortion”…this is what caused her Cerebral Palsy.

I’m certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that if Roe v. Wade had been the law of the land in 1952 that this ol’ Okie would have been nothing more than a forgotten spatter of discarded tissue in some abortion mill in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Instead, I got to experience being raised by two of the most amazing people I can imagine ever having lived on this Earth. I’m not delusional, I know that is not everyone’s story, adopted or not. However, if you are never allowed to live, just because it might be an inconvenience, just because that might be the repercussions of a bad decision, just because you can’t afford the cost of having a child — then how can you ever know? Pretty lame excuses for killing something human. If we were talking about puppies or kittens, there wouldn’t be any discussion at all, as the Pro-Choice folks would walk through fire to save them.

Especially if it involves a child, born yet or not — If in doubt, choosing “life” is the only moral option.

Technorati Tags: Pro-Life, Barack Obama, Gianna Jessen, Allan Colmes

I didn’t get to watch Meet the Press on Sunday, but if I had I’d have been riled up enough to get this out soonest. You see, when the Democrats try to show how religious they are, they usually stick both feet in their mouth. Now, I’m sure there are a lot of God-fearing, church-going Dems out there, it’s just hard to figure them out when their current supreme leader, Nancy Pelosi (R – Cal) shoots off her mouth. In response to Tom Brokaw’s question as to what she would advise Barack Obama on the beginnings of life, since good ol’ Barack says that question is “above his pay grade”, she said:

I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. And Senator–St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose. Roe v. Wade talks about very clear definitions of when the child–first trimester, certain considerations; second trimester; not so third trimester. There’s very clear distinctions. This isn’t about abortion on demand, it’s about a careful, careful consideration of all factors and–to–that a woman has to make with her doctor and her god. And so I don’t think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins. As I say, the Catholic Church for centuries has been discussing this, and there are those who’ve decided…

Brokaw reminds her that the Church states that life begins at the moment of conception, to which she replies

I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy.

I’m not a Catholic, the last church I was a member of was a Southern Baptist church, but even I know that the Catholic Church has never sanctioned abortion. Nancy Pelosi just went on national TV and told a whopper! And, at the same time, maligned an entire organized religion to boot. Way to go miss representative from San Francisco.

Now, it didn’t take very long for some high-ranking members of the Catholic Church to take note and decide that Nanny Nancy needed a bit of remedial-catechism. From Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl:

We respect the right of elected officials such as Speaker Pelosi to address matters of public policy that are before them, but the interpretation of Catholic faith has rightfully been entrusted to the Catholic bishops. Given this responsibility to teach, it is important to make this correction for the record.

Wuerl pointed out that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear, and has been clear for 2,000 years. He cited Catechism language that reads, “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception … Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.

On the 25th, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver addressed Pelosi’s lies about the Church and its stance on abortion:

Since Speaker Pelosi has, in her words, studied the issue “for a long time,” she must know very well one of the premier works on the subject, Jesuit John Connery’s Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective (Loyola, 1977). Here’s how Connery concludes his study:

“The Christian tradition from the earliest days reveals a firm antiabortion attitude . . . The condemna-tion of abortion did not depend on and was not limited in any way by theories regarding the time of fetal animation. Even during the many centuries when Church penal and penitential practice was based on the theory of delayed animation, the condemnation of abortion was never affected by it. Whatever one would want to hold about the time of animation, or when the fetus became a human being in the strict sense of the term, abortion from the time of conception was considered wrong, and the time of animation was never looked on as a moral dividing line between permissible and impermissible abortion.”

Or to put it in the blunter words of the great Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

“Destruction of the embryo in the mother’s womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed on this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder.”

Furthering the re-education of the Dem wits on Catholic theology regarding abortion, the Archbishop had this to say to Obama’s VP pick, Joe Biden (D-Del), self-professed Catholic and huge abortion supporter:

I certainly presume his good will and integrity,” said the archbishop, “and I presume that his integrity will lead him to refrain from presenting himself for Communion if he supports a false ‘right’ to abortion.

The Anchoress, to whom I will defer all things Catholic, writes this:

[I]f Pelosi wants to quote Augustine’s saying “three months,” as somehow authoritative – even if the church does not – how does she reconcile that with her abortion voting record, which upholds later term abortions, partial birth abortions, embryonic experimentation, etc, etc. She says “I personally think the answer is 16 weeks,”, but that’s just an opinion, like anyone else’s opinion, even mine – and if she believes the answer is 16 weeks, how can she possible vote in favor of, say, partial birth abortion?
{…}
I mean, I’m not expert, and I’m far from brilliant. But one does not have to be brilliant to figure that out. Err on the side of life, not death. It might be a legislative conundrum, and a sickle into the side of free will and free conscience, but in simple terms of life and death, the moral calculus is not really that difficult.

Hey lady, you are brilliant! And, you’re dead-on correct on this one.

Hey folks, it’s a right to life issue. Abortion is a right to end life, not save it, or make someone else’s life easier or more convenient. Barack Obama is the most abortion-supporting candidate ever to be at the top of a US national ticket for President. But, at least he isn’t out there miss-stating lying about Catholic Church doctrine. Naw, he’ll leave that one up to Slow Joe . . .

Technorati Tags: Nancy Pelosi On Abortion, Nancy Pelosi, Roe v. Wade, Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl, Archbishop Charles Chaput

Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon professor and deliverer of the above “The Last Lecture” has lost his battle with pancreatic cancer and died. He gave the touching and uplifting presentation last September at CMU. If you haven’t yet watched it, please do so now, and then say prayers for his family and friends.

Technorati Tags: Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

A bit over three weeks ago, as I sat bedside with my mother-in-law who was battling her end days with cancer, emphysema and heart failure, I was asking these questions:

It’s in times like these that one’s beliefs are challenged. Why must she suffer so? Why does God allow this to happen? Why not allow assisted suicide to folks that have no hope of survival, not much time left, and are in agony? Good questions all, and I am at a loss for any good answers, except for the belief that our Lord has a purpose for his children, and that there are lessons for us to learn[.]

I can hear that heavenly reprimand echoing in my mind, “Oh ye of little faith,” especially after reading through Elizabeth Scalia’s A Tsunami Cannot Be Drawn in Pastels: On Dignity and Suffering posted at InsideCatholic.com. I had read her posts in real time that first half year of my blogging, as she and her family watched and dealt with the loss of her dear brother to cancer. I thought that I was moved at the time, having lost my own mother just two years before, however nothing I felt then prepared me for what I encountered during this reading, having lost my wife’s mother just a few short weeks ago.

She harpoons my question, “Why does God allow this to happen?”, by explaining that without sorrow there is no joy, without loss, there is no appreciation, without extreme hardship, there is no personal growth — it is as it ever was. How foolish the collective “we” have all become; “We” only want to live our lives from cradle to grave with as little challenge and impediments as possible, constantly in a state of middling euphoria, with never a pain or a loss seemingly too great to bear — can’t have ourselves being put to that test, mind you . . .

It would do no justice to excerpt this important read, so just go and read it all. If you would like to read more from her, then do so here.

The Okie’s wife’s mother passed away this am just before 8 o’clock. It’s been a hectic day. I was with her a good bit of the day yesterday and it was time amazingly well spent, time that I wish I had been able to have spent with my own dear mother a little over four years ago — no, make that five years ago! It was in ’03 . . . I’m so bad with dates.

I will have a proper remembrance for my mother-in-law by, over the weekend. It’s off to bed, long day tomorrow — much to arrange.

Thank you dear Lord for sparing her any further suffering. Only you truly know how hard she worked to stay with us until after the 15th!

I’ll explain later.

BTW — thanks for all the kind thoughts and especially the prayers . . .

Life sometimes rears up and says, “Hey Okie, whatever you have planned, you’re gonna do this for a while instead!” Life’s been real intrusive lately.

The wife’s mother is in the hospital, had to be taken to the ER by paramedics last Friday after several falls the night before. She’s a dear lady, 86 years old, with emphysema, congestive heart failure, and newly diagnosed late-stage breast cancer that has spread to her lungs — can you imagine a more devastating diagnosis? I can’t. Only so much pain relief can be administered without resulting in respiratory failure, so pain management is definitely an issue.

It’s in times like these that one’s beliefs are challenged. Why must she suffer so? Why does God allow this to happen? Why not allow assisted suicide to folks that have no hope of survival, not much time left, and are in agony? Good questions all, and I am at a loss for any good answers, except for the belief that our Lord has a purpose for his children, and that there are lessons for us to learn, especially for us that bare witness to this dear woman’s plight.

I remember sleeping across two chairs at the foot of my mother’s hospital bed on the night of the day after Christmas four years ago, listening to her pray to her Lord to take her home — her heart was a mess and she had decided to refuse any more treatment or meds. Sixteen days later her wish was granted. That was a long sixteen days for her.

“Lord, please take thy daughter in Christ home, gather her unto your bosom and give her the peace of eternity in your presence, grant unto her the eternal sleep we all must face, let her congregate among all those who have gone before and are waiting for her. Release her into your eternal comfort .

Amen.”

If only it was that simple . . .

Randy Pausch reprises his “Last Lecture” on Oprah.

It’s 11 minutes and 32 seconds of your life –

that just might change your life . . .

[H/t: The Anchoress]

[I wrote this post I think on Wednesday and thought that it had been posted -- Doah!]

What a great announcement coming just before Thanksgiving — that scientists have successfully transformed human subsurface skin cells into stem cells that behave like embryonic stem cells, all without having to destroy a living human embryo! This came out of research announced last summer that had done the same thing with mice cells, with human cell success projected to be years away. My, how time compresses in today’s modern world. From the LA Times article of today:

Researchers from Japan and Wisconsin reported Tuesday that they had reprogrammed mature human cells to behave almost exactly like embryonic stem cells, a biological breakthrough that instantly recasts the field’s ethical, scientific and economic landscape.

By activating a handful of dormant genes, the researchers were able to coax the cells back in time to a point in embryonic development before they had committed to becoming a particular type of tissue.

The rejuvenated cells were able to grow into all the main tissue types in the body, including muscle, gut, cartilage, neurons and heart cells.
{…}
For scientists, the method offers a straightforward alternative to the tricky and still unsuccessful cloning process in which a patient’s DNA is inserted into a human egg to create a cloned embryo whose stem cells theoretically could be harvested.

The technique also bypasses the thorny debate over the morality of destroying embryos in the cause of alleviating human suffering.

As I was reading this I was also wondering what the rationale was going to be for scientists to keep on killing human embryos to harvest embryonic stem cells for research, because I just knew they would. The secular researchers see little to no value in human embryos, they’re just more tissue masses to them, more tools to play with. Well, another article in the LA Times provides that info too.

The political controversy over restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is unlikely to end with Tuesday’s news that mature human cells can be made to acquire the powers of embryonic stem cells, because scientists say research on both types of cells is closely related and is needed to inspire and cross-check each other.
{…}
“I must say, this is a very exciting breakthrough, and it shows great promise, but it’s still in its very early stages,” said Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), a leading supporter of loosening federal restrictions on human embryonic research. “People like me feel we have to encourage all forms of the research, because you never know where the cure is going to come from.”

Amy Comstock Rick, chief executive of the Parkinson’s Action Network, said research on embryonic stem cells was much more advanced. “Unless something has been shown to fail, it should not be taken off the table, and embryonic stem cell research has shown great promise,” she said.

The two kinds of scientific research will probably move in tandem for some time.

I’m sure they will. Gotta look on the bright side, Okie. And, without President Bush’s insistence on restricting federal funds for embryonic stem cell research to the existing lines, these new breakthroughs might just not have happened at all.

As the LA Times columnist Jonah Goldberg wrote last month in Why be pro-life?:

I don’t know if life begins at conception. I don’t really know what “life” means. Consciousness? Possessing a soul? Well, if consciousness defines the issue, then life surely does not begin at conception. Not even the most adamant pro-lifer claims otherwise.

As for souls, I believe we have them, but I don’t know how they work. Indeed, ensoulment — the process by which God puts a soul in our bodies — is a controversial topic among religious scholars, people who know a lot more about such things than I do. And I’m not sure any of them are right anyway.
{…}
[U]nless you are 100% sure that babies only become human beings after the umbilical cord is cut. I don’t see how you can be that sure, which is why I’m pro-life — not because I’m certain, but because I’m not.

No one really knows, and if you are not religious, why would you have a tendency to be certain one way or the other? Therefore, if you can’t be certain, why not always err on the side of life?

One week from today will be the 3rd anniversary of the first Okie on the Lam blog post, albeit for about three weeks it was a Blogger blog. The first WordPress Okie post was on Oct. 17. Over that first year of blogging yours truly was involved in a couple of blogging compaigns that were near and dear to my heart, one of which almost took away my desire to blog.

On February 21, 2005 I got involved in writing about the Terri Schiavo debacle. I think that this excerpt from that post is indicative of how difficult the situation was to come to grips with.

Tomorrow the court could make their final decision, and her feeding tube could be removed, and she would begin starving to death. According to the law, it will be legal so it won’t be murder. According to all that is holy, it is at the very least killing, and might just be murder. At our [SCBA] luncheon the question was asked whether one can pray for something bad to happen to someone, ie Terri’s husband. If he is truly evil, imprecatory prayer is an option. But there’s the rub. Is he an evil man, thinking only of himself, or is he also a victim of the situation?

It didn’t stay confusing to me for very long, as the seemingly inevitable outcome drew ever closer. The religious side of the right-wing Blogosphere worked day and night, urging the contact of House and Senate members, emails and calls to Jeb Bush, calls to prayer vigils — all to the glee of the Left and the death-mongers out there. On March 18, I got my first, and so far, only national cable TV exposure as Okie, albeit via phone, so I got a banner, not a pic.

Today I was part of a two-man interview given by MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer about all the activity in the Blogosphere over the Terri Schiavo case. Jeff Jarvis, president & creative director of Advance.net who blogs at Buzzmachine was the other blogger interviewed, and we were reacting just minutes after it had been announced that Terri’s feeding tube HAD been removed, so it was a delicate, but poignant time for this interview.

Jarvis was going on about the escalating division between the left and right bloggers over the issue and how much the rhetoric was heating up and how nasty it was becoming. Asked about this, I responded that I didn’t really know about all that as I was still involved in the support movement, focusing on the save Terri sites & blogs and in passing info on to my readers.

My first time being interviewed on “live” TV (via phone), I blanked on Jarvis’ last segment, but having been given the last word, I stated that the center-right bloggers are very concerned about the legal precedents that are being set in this case that would further support the “right to die” movement, hastening the day when it would be normal to euthanize the brain damaged and other handicapped people. That was it, the segment was over.

I don’t know why they called “little ol’ me”, but I hope that in my few minutes of commentary I did the “save Terri” movement some justice.

The following Monday afternoon, motivated by being on TV and because Hugh Hewitt was discussing this issue on his radio show, I made my first, and to date only, call to a nationally syndicated radio show. I think it was because I had gone toe-to-toe with Jarvis that got me on Hugh’s show, but although I was very nervous, more so than when called by MSNBC, Hugh was very gracious and talked me through 45 seconds or so of comments. I sent him an email thanking him for his on-air generosity and he replied:

“Hi Dale: THANK YOU for the call –the lifeblood of talk radio. Your posts on Terri have been hugely helpful, and I think your blog will prosper because it is well written and earnest. Cheers and call again/. Hugh “

That sure felt good, however, feeling good was relative during that period of time. By the 26th, I was coming to grips with the fact that the side of life had lost, and what was going to be was — going – to – be.

I am not going to write anything else about Terri Schiavo for now, at least not until she is no longer with us. Unfortunately for all of us, it is all over now but the dying. That may sound harsh, but since it is a fate that awaits us all, it’s not meant that way. The manner in which this particular death has been forced upon this tragic soul, however is supremely harsh, inhumane, immoral, and will need to be reckoned with at a future time.

Once I can relocate my bearings, calm my raging anger, and begin the research I will work via this blog to see that everyone that has had a hand in this killing is defeated at the ballot box, impeached from the bench, or just plain outed as the heartless S.O.B.s that they most certainly are. Now, that’s harsh!

On the day of Terri’s death, I’m sure that the clueless clowns of the fever swamp of the Left will dance in the streets, celebrating their “victory” over George Bush and those pesky Evangelical Christians. It will be the dance of fools! The humane among us will not be amused!

On Thursday, March 31, 2005, the good Lord finally took Terri Schiavo from this world. It didn’t take long to feel the anger rise up from the remorse, probably because there was a significant degree of separation between being just a blogger and being part of the family. This is how I reacted later that day:

For me, it is all much too fresh to try and analyze right now, as any conclusions that I might come up with would most likely be so tainted with emotion and anger that they would be incomprehensible. I do think that as bloggers for Terri we have had a bit of a reality check. Even I was thinking that if the Blogosphere could topple Trent Lott, humble John Kerry and get Dan Rather to step down as anchor at CBS, we could certainly help affect a positive outcome for Terri Schiavo. Well, now we know first hand how difficult, if not impossible, it is to sway the opinion of non-elected power brokers as evidenced by our esteemed judiciary.

Looking at it like this, it seems to be way to much all-about-ME!, although if you go back and read the dozens of post in that time frame, it wasn’t, not at all. I’ve only participated in a couple of other blogger mass events, the next one starting that very next month — trying to influence the Senate to stop filibustering Bush’s judicial nominees. That one ended with the Gang of 14‘s so called “compromise” that will come back to haunt our side for a long time.

Although from looking at the post count for the following months you wouldn’t know it, the fatigue I was feeling by that time was intense and I almost quit doing this. Looking back on everything since the Spring of 2005, I’m sure glad that I didn’t stop. It gets hard sometimes, this week is one of those, with too much going on to really think about stuff in depth and not enough energy to do more than take a look back. The URL will get renewed next month, and this spate of rambling will continue.

I guarantee . . .

Technorati Tags: Okie on the Lam, Terri Schiavo, Gang of 14

Go to Laer’s post at Cheat Seeking Missiles to read the story of the Afghani boy named Mahsoom. The boy was horribly burned at home by an accidental propane fire and faced a life of horrible disfigurement and constant pain — until he was brought to the attention of the local U.S. base commander, Army Capt. Jay Berendzen. The Capt. couldn’t do anything for Mahsoom officially through military channels — Mahsoom’s injuries weren’t life threatening, however, that didn’t stop him from appealing to the most effective force on this side of the pond — the generosity of the private sector.

Be sure and read it all — it will make you proud to be an American. As Laer writes in his wrap-up:

How is al Qaeda going to compete against that? If we’re in need of a more straightforward definition of the good vs. evil battle we’re fighting, this is it.

Unfortunately, a lot of the secular Left won’t understand this, won’t understand it at all . . . ’cause it’s impossible to comprehend the battle of “good vs. evil” when you don’t believe in evil, and when to you, good is relative.

Technorati Tags: Army Capt. Jay Berendzen, Mahsoom, good vs. evil

The populace of the great mis-guided state of California voted in the Nov. ’04 election to authorize up to 3 billion dollars for stem cell research. Not that stem cell research in itself is mis-guided, it’s just that this bond issue was targeted at research using embryonic stem cells, which require the destruction of nascent human life for harvesting. I wonder if the language of this measure will allow researchers to shift gears in light of this week’s news about the three teams of scientists that have created “embryonic” stem cells from the skin cells of mice tails?

Three teams of scientists said yesterday they had coaxed ordinary mouse skin cells to become what are effectively embryonic stem cells without creating or destroying embryos in the process — an advance that, if it works with human cells, could revolutionize stem cell research and quench one of the hottest bioethical controversies of the decade.

In work being published today, the scientists describe a method for turning back the biological clocks of skin cells growing in laboratory dishes. Thus rejuvenated, the cells give rise to daughter cells that are able to become all the parts needed to make a new mouse.

If the process also works with human cells, as scientists suspect it will with some modifications, it would mean that a person’s own skin cells could be converted directly into stem cells without having to collect healthy human eggs or destroy human embryos — steps that until now have been required to obtain embryonic stem cells.

Those stem cells could then be used to make a wide variety of personalized replacement tissues.

It’s not a slam dunk, human being wise, with much research left to do to see if this will be viable for devising human treatments, and there are basic problems with the procedures required to force mature cells to turn back into an embryonic form like tumors for instance — which by the way is a problem that keeps showing up in the embryonic stem cell research. Things with the capability to turn into anything sometimes do just that.

If you read the whole WaPo article, you’ll see that the scientists are still fuming over the Congress’ not yet overturning Bush’s veto on the use of embryos in this type of research. Figures — they want increased access to tax payers’ dollars.

I hope that “we” decide to spend a big bunch of those on the perfection of this exciting new method! That’s a big win-win for us all!

Technorati Tags: embryonic stem cells, stem cells

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court has upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003. Split along ideological lines, the court’s 4 committed conservatives along with Justice Kennedy gave Pro-Lifers the first glimmer of hope in a long time.

The Supreme Court upheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure Wednesday, handing abortion opponents the long- awaited victory they expected from a more conservative bench.

The 5-4 ruling said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.

The opponents of the act “have not demonstrated that the Act would be unconstitutional in a large fraction of relevant cases,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion.

The decision pitted the court’s conservatives against its liberals, with President Bush’s two appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, siding with the majority.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia also were in the majority.

It was the first time the court banned a specific procedure in a case over how—not whether—to perform an abortion.

The “give-death-a-chance” folks will be screaming at the hills over this one, claiming that it’s the worst setback to women since before suffrage. Pro-lifers will have to understand that it’s only the banning of a specific, horrendous, barbaric procedure, not the restriction of all late-term abortions. But, it’s a start in the right direction.

More than 1 million abortions are performed in the United States each year, according to recent statistics.

That statistic will be used to make pro-late term abortion not sound very common — only 10%. But, 10% of 1 million is 100,000 nascent humans killed, 100,000 babies not born, 100,000 people that will never be known, never give joy to parents — blood or adopted, never be productive, never to be — anything to anyone.

Europe bought into the mass-abortion push in a big way along with all the other ’70s zero-population-growth madness and is paying a huge price today, and maybe will pay the ultimate price in the near future as its immigrant population destroys the very fabric of Western Civilization over there. We need each and every one of those 100,000 here — actually we need all 1 million: To be born, to be nurtured, to become productive, to pay taxes, to vote — to become Americans.

If, as the old college ads used to say, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”, then 1 million “lives” wasted each and every year is a complete-unforgivable disaster! Thank you SCOTUS, for hopefully turning this in a new, life-oriented direction. Remember in ’08 why, after prosecution of the war against radical Islam, that election will matter so very much — It’s the courts, stupid!”

Technorati Tags: Supreme Court, Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, SCOTUS

Now, more than ever before, the faithful need to be washed in the Blood of the Lamb. The secularists have given their souls to science, and now fear that the very Earth that we all live on will annihilate them via global warming. The Islamists see their god as severely strident and ultimately vengeful — incompatible with the modern world. The atheists hate and fear all of the various faiths as forces raining on their selfish-hedonistic parade.

Jesus Christ, the son of God and man, made the ultimate sacrifice that we all might live in eternal glory. That’s pretty mystic, I’ll certainly admit. But, my faith tells me that it is also true.

Christ the Lord is risen, and lives in the heart of this humbled, ol’ Okie — Hallelujah . . . Amen.

The Blogs4Life group is having its second annual conference of pro-life bloggers this month in D.C. Here, I’ll let them tell ya:

Happy New Year from Blogs4Life team!

There is exciting news about Blogs4Life (www.blogs4life.com), the Second Annual Conference of Pro-Life Bloggers (Jan. 22, 2007).

We are privileged to announce that the following group of influential and noted pro-life leaders plans to speak at this year’s event:

• Bobby Schindler (Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation)
• Jill Stanek (noted pro-life leader/blogger and WorldNetDaily Columnist)
• Joe Scheidler (Founder, Pro-Life Action League)
• Ramesh Ponnuru (author of the Party of Death, National Review Online Editor)

In addition, we’ve just received word that Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KA) will address the conference in person.

The one-day event will take place on January 22nd, 2007 (in 17 days!) prior to and after the annual March for Life in Washington DC. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Family Research Council, the conference is located just a few blocks from the March at the FRC’s headquarters.

Joe Carter, the FRC’s Director of Web Communications, is organizing a virtual symposium leading up to the conference on various life issues. Visit Blogs4Life.com early next week for more information about how you can participate.

Blogs4Life will include a capstone session for the symposium and various workshops ranging from online activism to stem cell research.

This is an excellent opportunity for individuals and organizations to network with pro-life bloggers and develop an understanding about how weblog technology can be strategically used to promote life and turn ideas into action. It is also a unique occasion for bloggers to meet face to face and brainstorm about how to work together more effectively.

Please check out the conference website: http://www.blogs4life.com and register if you are able to attend .

Even if you are unable to attend, we would appreciate your help in promoting the event via a post or a link (please help).

Self explanatory! Go if you can, link if you can’t. Check in for updates, and pray for their success . . . (db)

Technorati Tags: Blogs for Life, Blogs4life, Second Annual Conference of Pro-Life Bloggers

Looking at my stats this AM took me to ProLifeBlogs which led me to this post at No Room for Contraception Blog. I guess I must be a bit naive, even at 54, ’cause I sure hadn’t thought about this one:

Here at NRFC, we’ve maintained that emergency contraception will allow child rapists to cover up their crimes. Though this man used an abortion clinic to cover up his crime, in the future people like him will use “Plan B” instead.
(…)
This man used a forced abortion to cover up his crime and got caught. Unfortunately for many young girls, over the counter access to Plan B emergency contraception will provide child rapists with “get out of jail” tickets.
(…)
In the future, it won’t be surprising if Plan B becomes known as the “child rape” drug.

I’m as opposed to the Plan B drug as I am to all other forms of abortion. Not just on moral and religious grounds, although those are strong enough, but because my sister and I were both adopted by wonderful, loving parents in an era where abortion was severely frowned upon and adoption was promoted — unlike today, where women are encouraged to rid themselves of the unwanted cellular material, because you just don’t know what kind of people might get your child, if you carry that unwanted fetus to term. And besides, how could you possibly live with the guilt of giving up the product that was made in your body?

Better just to kill it while you legally can!

I’m tellin’ ya — if abortion was legal in 1952 and promoted like it is today — this ol’ Okie would have been flushed down a drain, never to have been . . . anything at all. I thank God for those old draconian laws, and for an adoption system that worked. We need the same today. There always have been, and there will always be, unwanted or untimely pregnancies. There have always been, and until modern science becomes totally efficient there always will be those that want but can’t have children of their own. It seems to me that in a Western world where the birth rates are lower than what it necessary to maintain population levels without resort to massive immigration, that those two groups need to get together and save the unwanted children, instead of killing them in their nascent state.

The blog also comments on this program going on in Tulsa, OK. The “Birth Control Is Harmful” billboard campaign that the Respect Life office of the Diocese of Tulsa is sponsoring in response to Planned Parenthood’s “Birth control is Easy” billboards. I’m not willing to go that far, but I can understand why they would oppose almost anything promoted by Planned Parenthood, ’cause it sure seems like PP never met an abortion that they didn’t like! (db)

Technorati Tags: Plan B Drug, Abortion, Planned Parenthood, Tulsa Diocese

Cross-posted at Junk Yard Blog . . .