FRC sent me a disturbing e-mail about "health expert" testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. I added the bold.
Yesterday[that would be Thursday], the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held an extremely one-sided hearing to assess the effectiveness of authentic abstinence education. It took just one look at the witness list to see how Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) had stacked the deck against abstinence proponents. When asked by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) if they would support abstinence education, three of the four "health experts" who testified against it said they would oppose abstinence even if scientific evaluation showed it to be as or more effective than so-called comprehensive sex ed. Dr. Harvey Fineberg of the Institute of Medicine was the only one in this anti-abstinence group to maintain a sense of scientific integrity by quietly answering yes. On the positive side, Dr. Stan Weed, the lone pro-abstinence health expert at the hearing, testified solidly on behalf of the positive impact of abstinence-centered education. He presented research that demonstrates the effectiveness of abstinence programs across the country, including two of his own studies that showed decreases in rates of sexual initiation by 45 and 50 percent in youth when compared to non-program groups. Missing from the discussion was the fact that the Chairman's own state has never accepted federally allocated Title V money for abstinence education--and its teens are suffering greatly for it. California is a tragic example of what can happen in today's culture in the absence of strong abstinence-centered education. Since rejecting the abstinence funds in the first year they were offered to states, the rates of STIs in California youth exploded at an estimated 1.1 million new cases per year in 2005. Congressman Waxman should recognize the dire need of young people in his own state and stop protecting entities that promote high-risk behavior to youth.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
No Public Schools?
Via the SchoolsAndState.org site mentioned below, I found a very interesting article about the economic implications of abolishing public schools and going with all private or home schools. It is a very interesting read. It points out that public schools generally cost twice as much as private schools. People don't notice this because they pay for it through taxes instead of out right. Anyway, I encourage everyone to read it.
In short, if we could abolish public schools and compulsory schooling laws, and replace it all with market-provided education, we would have better schools at half the price, and be freer too. We would also be a more just society, with only the customers of education bearing the costs.
In short, if we could abolish public schools and compulsory schooling laws, and replace it all with market-provided education, we would have better schools at half the price, and be freer too. We would also be a more just society, with only the customers of education bearing the costs.
Homeschool Cartoon
I found a new site today called http://www.schoolandstate.org/home.htm. This little cartoon was posted there under "On the Lite Side".
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Demographic Winter
I would love to hear your comments about this clip and/or the DVD if you have seen it.
Darwinism, Hilter, and Expelled
There is an interesting article by Jack Cashill on WorldNetDaily.com about how the movie Expelled has gotten a lot of criticism about connecting Darwinism to the Holocaust. Yet Mr. Cashill, says that Expelled didn't go nearly as in depth as it could have. Here are the opening paragraphs.
Darwin critics know Ernst Haeckel as the German philosopher whose faked embryo drawings helped generations of clueless students accept Darwinism – "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" and all that.
But there is still another problem with Haeckel, a darker one than mere fraud. Critics of the Ben Stein film, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," apparently do not know this.
If they had, they would not have savaged Stein for daring to connect Adolf Hitler to Charles Darwin. In Scientific American, for instance, editor John Rennie describes this connection as "heavy-handed." In Reuters, Frank Scheck calls it "truly offensive."
In reality, it is neither. If anything, Stein and the makers of "Expelled" understate this historically irrefutable link, and the key to understanding it is Haeckel.
Darwin critics know Ernst Haeckel as the German philosopher whose faked embryo drawings helped generations of clueless students accept Darwinism – "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" and all that.
But there is still another problem with Haeckel, a darker one than mere fraud. Critics of the Ben Stein film, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," apparently do not know this.
If they had, they would not have savaged Stein for daring to connect Adolf Hitler to Charles Darwin. In Scientific American, for instance, editor John Rennie describes this connection as "heavy-handed." In Reuters, Frank Scheck calls it "truly offensive."
In reality, it is neither. If anything, Stein and the makers of "Expelled" understate this historically irrefutable link, and the key to understanding it is Haeckel.
Alan Keyes Leaves GOP
OK, I know that this is mostly old news (from April 16th), but I just found out about it. I really like Alan Keys and if he does end up running for the Constitution Party, I will likely vote for him. Here are some quotes from the USA Today story.
Keyes, who also ran as a Republican to challenge Barack Obama's U.S. Senate bid in Illinois in 2004, says he is talking with leaders and rank-and-file members of the Constitution Party.
"They're considering me, I'm considering them," Keyes said in a conference call late Tuesday night. "We have so much in common that I find it hard to believe we won't be able to work out a common basis for working together."
Keyes singled out the nation's present "border issue" as a reason he is leaving the GOP, saying it is a "threat to the sovereignty to the American people."
"There are clear signs that our leaders no longer have an allegiance to the sovereign people of the United States," Keyes said.
Keyes, who also ran as a Republican to challenge Barack Obama's U.S. Senate bid in Illinois in 2004, says he is talking with leaders and rank-and-file members of the Constitution Party.
"They're considering me, I'm considering them," Keyes said in a conference call late Tuesday night. "We have so much in common that I find it hard to believe we won't be able to work out a common basis for working together."
Keyes singled out the nation's present "border issue" as a reason he is leaving the GOP, saying it is a "threat to the sovereignty to the American people."
"There are clear signs that our leaders no longer have an allegiance to the sovereign people of the United States," Keyes said.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Expelled in Top 10 After Opening Weekend
Expelled is in the top 10 after its opening weekend even though it opened in way fewer theaters than the other movies in the top ten.
Garage Sales for Jesus
Our church has a program called Share the Joy. In this program, each small group is encouraged to find a person in need and raise or donate funds for them in the name of Jesus. Then the church will match up to $1000. To this end, my small group had a garage sale this weekend.
5 or 6 families came to set up on Friday. Then people came in shifts on Saturday morning. It went really well with the grand total coming to $766. We are planning to help a recovering drug addict.
Imagine what good could be done if small groups across the country did the same thing. Even if your church doesn't match the funds, $700+ is nothing to sneeze at and could do a lot of good. I hope that our small group continues to use the stuff that we no longer need to bless the community in Jesus name.
5 or 6 families came to set up on Friday. Then people came in shifts on Saturday morning. It went really well with the grand total coming to $766. We are planning to help a recovering drug addict.
Imagine what good could be done if small groups across the country did the same thing. Even if your church doesn't match the funds, $700+ is nothing to sneeze at and could do a lot of good. I hope that our small group continues to use the stuff that we no longer need to bless the community in Jesus name.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
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