NOW, THE NEWS:
PRESSURED BY HER BOYFRIEND, UK STAR WENT TO ABORTION CLINIC THREE TIMES BEFORE CHOOSING LIFE
from: LiveAction News
(30 Oct.) Author and former model, Katie Price, has said she tried to have an abortion three times but couldn't go through with it.
According to her latest autobiography, Harvey and Me, Price found herself pregnant in 2001. Her then-boyfriend, Dwight Yorke, had been a striker for Aston Villa and Manchester United football clubs, and he allegedly indicated that he wanted no part in the baby's life.
In her book, Price says: "Dwight gave me the impression that if I kept it, he wouldn't want to be with me. I didn't think that would be fair to our child. They hadn't even been born yet and they would already be from a broken home."
"I just thought, 'How would I cope on my own?' I was only young and I presumed that nobody would want a single mum. So I booked in to a private clinic to have an abortion. I actually ended up going to the abortion clinic a total of three times."
She said that when she told Dwight that she was pregnant, "he didn't even offer to pay towards it." She adds: "In fact, he didn't offer me any support whatsoever. He didn't even ask if I was OK. Having an abortion wasn't a decision I took lightly - I don't think it is for any woman. So it would have been nice to have him there with me." [read more...]
COMMENTARY: This story vividly illustrates the modern view that sex is for recreation, not for procreation. The lack of a committed marriage relationship shows that the couple, especially the man, is not interested in providing a strong and healthy environment in which to raise the next generation, they are only interested in self-gratification. Far too often the line – "But we really love each other!" is merely an excuse for selfish pleasure.
EUTHANASIA FUNDAMENTALISTS STILL AT WORK IN THE NETHERLANDS SELLING 'MITTEL X'
from: BioEdge.org
(30 Oct.) Dutch police are investigating the deaths of dozens of people who purchased a suicide powder called Mittel X ["Substance X"] from members of a fundamentalist euthanasia group.
So far, three members of Cooperatie Laatste Wil (CLW, Last Wish Cooperative), an extremist group which promotes "assisted suicide and self-euthanasia without the intervention of doctors," have been arrested.
The first to be charged, back in August, was Alex Schot, 28, who sold Mittel X to a number of people. The second is the chairman of the cooperative, Jos van Wijk, who was charged this week. He has always maintained that CLW operates within the law.
However, the other person to be arrested this week, Wim van Dijk, 78, openly admitted to the media that he had sold Mittel X illegally to more than 100 people. He expressed his defiance in a feature article in De Volkskrant.
"I am aware of the consequences of my story. I don't care. I want the social unrest to become so great that the judiciary cannot ignore it. I don't really care if they arrest me or put me in jail. I want something to happen."
Contrary to what some people outside the Netherlands might believe, euthanasia there has guardrails. Violations of regulations are sometimes ignored or overlooked - but not the requirement that a doctor should be the agent of ending a person's life. This is why the Dutch police are taking the actions of the CLW members so seriously. [read more...]
COMMENTARY: This entire issue of BioEdge contains several articles on the subject of euthanasia and assisted suicide. It seems like modern man is suffering from ennui and loss of purpose in life. The teaching of our children that humans are merely "meat machines" - slow-speed computers immersed in a saline solution - has produced generations of people indoctrinated with meaninglessness and hopelessness, thus giving up on living.
AZERBAIJAN: ALTERNATIVE SERVICE "NOT UNDER DISCUSSION" DESPITE LATEST ECtHR DECISION
from: Forum 18 News Service
(5 Nov.) Despite another European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision that Azerbaijan violated the human rights of two more conscientious objectors, Saadat Novruzova of the Presidential Administration's Human Rights Protection Unit told Forum 18 that changing the law to introduce a civilian alternative to compulsory military service "is not under discussion." Azerbaijan committed to the Council of Europe to introduce an alternative service by January 2003. The 7 October ECtHR decision reminded Azerbaijan of a similar earlier decision that "calls in principle for legislative action" to satisfy "the obligations incumbent on it of assuring ... the right to benefit from the right to conscientious objection."
Despite a further decision from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg that Azerbaijan had violated the human rights of two conscientious objectors, an adviser in the Presidential Administration's Human Rights Protection Unit indicated that the regime has no plans to introduce a civilian alternative to compulsory military service. Reminded of Azerbaijan's commitment to the Council of Europe to introduce such a civilian alternative service by January 2003, Saadat Novruzova responded: "At the moment this is not under discussion." She declined to discuss the latest ECtHR decision with Forum 18.
Lawyers who have taken cases to the ECtHR and human rights defenders have repeatedly pointed out that Azerbaijan fails to take the corrective action it is obliged to undertake – such as changing laws - in response to such decisions to prevent the violations recurring. "It is easier a couple of times a year to buy off those few complainants who manage to get to the European Court than to change the well-established system that suits the authorities," human rights defender Eldar Zeynalov told Forum 18 in March.
On 7 October, the ECtHR accepted Azerbaijan's admission that it had violated the human rights of two young men who had been convicted in 2018 for refusing compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. Both Emil Mehdiyev and Vahid Abilov had declared a willingness to conduct an alternative civilian service. Both lost their appeals against their suspended jail terms in Azerbaijan's Supreme Court before taking their cases to Strasbourg. The ECtHR ordered that the victims be paid compensation and costs. The total amount Azerbaijan is to pay each of the victims in compensation and legal costs is 3,500 Euros (6,850 Azerbaijani Manats, 35,000 Norwegian Kroner or 4,000 US Dollars). [read more...]
COMMENTARY: The right to freely express one's religion, although guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and those of many other modern democracies and pseudo-democracies, is being limited and even denied by countries passing laws and making rules that contradict their own constitutions. This right of religious expression belongs to all people, not just to those we happen to agree with. It is easy to guarantee religious freedom in the sense that people can believe something in their hearts while the state and/or public opinion forbid a person's exercise of that right in public life, not just in state-approved religious buildings.
KIDS' MEDICAL RECORDS MAY HOLD CLUES TO AUTISM SCREENING
from: Disability Scoop
(26 Oct.) New research points to a simple way to flag children at risk for autism that has the potential to cut the rate of false positives of traditional screening in half. By analyzing the diagnostic codes present in a child's existing medical records, researchers say they can reliably identify those most likely to qualify for a diagnosis on the spectrum.
"Using the information already being gathered and being able to harness it for this kind of exploration and clinical use is exciting, and it really has the potential to be a game changer," said Dr. Peter J. Smith of the University of Chicago, an author of the study published this month in the journal Science Advances.
For the study, researchers developed a computer algorithm to assess the diagnostic codes in a child's medical chart against comorbidities known to be associated with autism. Such codes are readily available since all doctors assign standardized codes from the International Classification of Diseases to each patient visit. The algorithm known as the autism comorbid risk score, or ACoR, determines how likely it is that a child will receive an autism diagnosis.
The study found that ACoR was better at identifying which children were likely to have autism than the commonly used M-CHAT/F screening method. The algorithm was even more successful when used in tandem with the M-CHAT/F. [read more...]
COMMENTARY: It is commendable that researchers have discovered another method of diagnosing autism at an earlier age. We know that first symptoms of this condition usually appear at around two years of age. Treatment can now begin at an earlier age, including behavioral reinforcement as well as pharmaceutical drugs. One wonders if there might also be a spiritual or environmental component causing the increase in diagnosed cases of autism.
DURING PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW'S VISIT TO U.S., RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH RENEWED TALK OF "PERSECUTION" OF MP IN UKRAINE
from: Religious Information Service of Ukraine
(27 Oct.) The Moscow Patriarchate is again talking about new "persecutions" because of the visit of Patriarch Bartholomew to the United States. In Ukraine, in their opinion, there will be persecution of the UOC-MP. Earlier, they spoke about similar "persecutions" in connection with Bartholomew's visit to Ukraine.
"... there will be more seizures of churches and other similar actions against the faithful of the canonical Ukrainian church (UOC-MP - Ed.)," archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, Secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations for inter-Orthodox relations, told Russian media RIA Novosti. This is reported by the Spiritual Front of Ukraine.
The spiritual front of Ukraine notes that the thesis of persecution is not confirmed in any way during a detailed review of the transitions of communities from the UOC-MP to the OCU. In fact, it turns out that the majority of believers voted for a change in church subordination, and representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate categorically cannot agree with this free expression of will. [read more...]
COMMENTARY: This should be obvious to any unbiased observer as pure propaganda: there is a lack of truth and great propaganda value in Moscow's allegations of forced takeover of UOC-MP parishes in Ukraine. A symptom of guilt projection is the excusing of and deflecting attention from Russia's ongoing invasion and occupation of Crimea and Donbas since 2014, thus freeing themselves of the feeling of guilt by blaming the other side. They may not feel guilt but still be guilty.
COVID-19 IN THE U.K.: DECODING THE ANTI-LOCKDOWN ARGUMENT
from: Disabled World
(26 Oct.) When Covid-19 first raised its ugly head, Britain's government were arguably slow in reacting to the unfolding global crisis, preferring to delay action until the virus had apparently circulated uncontrollably around the UK and with hospitalisations going through the roof.
Now, was this slowness to act simply the consequence of sheer incompetence or was government simply preparing to ride out the storm in order to keep the economy open, knowing full well there would be many deaths as a result? Despite being the early days of Covid, medics had already highlighted the social groups likely at risk from dying from it.
Therefore, there was enough data around to warn the British government of who was most likely to get very sick from this illness. Yet, it sat on its hands, talked publicly about herd immunity and then seemingly panicked when U.K. scientists began predicting that such a course of (in)action would lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths – if not millions.
As a minimum, our hospitals would have been completely flooded, not a great look for a so-called modern and civilized society. But all this is history and there is certainly enough evidence around to argue that the British Government was grossly incompetent, out of its depth over Covid or that it simply didn't care. [read more...]
COMMENTARY: We know much more now about Covid-19, how it is spread, which categories of people are most likely to become ill from it, and how to treat it. But this does not excuse a "What? Me worry?" nonchalant attitude toward a disease that preys on the disabled and elderly.
NOW, OUR VIEWS:
As I've recently been reading, studying, and sharing lectures on the Old Testament, it has become clear to me that ancient Israel was more often in violation of the Ten Commandments and the other rules of living found in the Torah, than in obedience to them. By the end of the period of judges, the Israelites chose deliberately to forsake God's kingship over them, but instead ask for a human king like the surrounding pagan nations: see 1 Samuel ch. 8.
This led to Israel adopting the pagans' idolatrous and immoral customs and behavior, until Josiah, the reformer king, arose: see 2 Kings ch. 23 on how he purged the false priests, their idols "for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the host of heaven," their astrology worship of the sun, moon, and stars (vv. 4-5), and the "male prostitutes" – homosexuals – (v. 7) who had wormed their way into the Temple dwelling places.
What was needed was not merely a political reform, as we see today in our biennial changes of leadership; rather, a deep and sincere change of heart by all the common people as well as the leaders:
"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. A new heart also I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them." (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
As the political season heats up, let's not be distracted by outer symtoms: the cause of the disease is sin – rebellion against and forsaking the one true God, and the cure is repentance and accepting the cleansing and filling of our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We need a "heart transplant!"
Please remember to pray for Christians in Secularized Countries, and for...
Your fellow-servants,
Bob & Cheryl
p.s. Unless I love God with all my being and my neighbor as myself, all my ideals, health & wealth "ain't wuth a hill o' beans!"
