BABY EARNS NICKNAME 'LITTLE NUGGET' AFTER UNEXPECTED BIRTH AT MCDONALD'S
from: LiveAction News

(1 Dec) A baby girl in Georgia made an unexpected arrival last week, as her mother went into labor while in a McDonald's bathroom.

Alandria Worthy and her fiancé, Deandre Phillips, were en route to the hospital when Worthy requested they stop so that she could use the McDonald's restroom. Once she was inside, labor started progressing very quickly.

"I went into the bathroom and my water broke immediately," Worthy told WXIA. "It was an experience because it happened so fast."

The restaurant's manager, Tunisia Woodward, rushed to Worthy's aid. "I thought they was joking, and I open this door, didn't see anyone, but I saw feet [under the door]," Woodward said. "I opened, and she was on this toilet lying back, screaming. Then I knew to tell my crew; we're having a baby today."

Employees Sha'querria Kaigler and Keisha Blue-Murray also offered assistance and called 911. Phillips, who had been waiting in the car, came inside when he sensed something was wrong.

"She was on the toilet screaming," Phillips told WXIA. "I was trying to calm her down because she was frantic. I was like 'just breathe.' I got her on the floor, and I took off my coat. The ladies at McDonald's were at her front side, holding her hands, I had her feet propped up on my knees. We told her to push three pushes. She was a fighter." In just 15 short minutes, Nandi Ariyah Moremi Phillips was born.

Woodward said it was teamwork that led to the successful delivery. "We all are mothers and so we put our heads together and all we needed daddy to do was catch the baby. And he did," she said of herself and her coworkers. "It's a day I'll never forget. I'm going to tell this story from here on out."

Both Phillips and Worthy credit "divine inspiration" for their stop at McDonald's, with Phillips noting it would have been much harder for him to help Worthy had she given birth on the road. "I was on the phone with emergency dispatch so they were telling us what to do through the phone. That was the good thing that we had many people there – because I wouldn't be able to multitask if I was on the highway in the car and the traffic," he said.

Before the couple left the restaurant, baby Nandi already had a nickname fitting for her birthplace: "little nugget." "She's definitely a nugget," Phillips said. "My parents loved the name, too. We were like, OK, it fits her. My little nugget." [read more...]

COMMENTARY: This story "made my day!" I'm happy to read about ordinary people who step up to help when others are in a desperated situation. May more Christians get involved when they hear about such immediate crises!

'I FELT LIKE A KNIFE HAD BEEN PUT INTO MY HEART': DOWN SYNDROME WOMAN
from: BioEdge.org

(29 Nov.) The UK Court of Appeal has dismissed a legal challenge brought by a woman with Down syndrome against a provision of the Abortion Act which allows unborn children with a disability to be aborted.

Heidi Crowter, a 27-year-old woman who has Down syndrome, joined with Maire Lee-Wilson, whose son Aidan has Down syndrome, to fight a 1990 amendment which allows abortion up to the time of birth if "there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped."

Ms Crowter declared in a tweet that: "When mum told me about the discrimination against babies like me in the womb, I felt like a knife had been put into my heart. It made me feel less valued than other people."

The claimants argued that article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights confers a right to respect for "the sense of identity and the feelings of self-worth and self-confidence" of people with serious disabilities. A law which permits the abortion of a seriously disabled foetus interferes with that right because it conveys a message that the lives of those born with a serious disability are of lesser value.

Lord Justice Underhill explained the reasoning of the court: "I should emphasise that this Court, like the [High] Court, is only concerned with an issue of law. The question of whether, and if so in what circumstances, it should be lawful to abort a viable foetus on the basis that it will or may be born with a serious disability is one of great sensitivity and difficulty. But it is a question which it is for Parliament, and not the Courts, to decide. The only question for us is whether the way that it was decided in 1990 involves a breach of the Convention rights of the Appellants as people born with such a disability. For the reasons given I do not believe that it does."

Clare Murphy, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, applauded the verdict, saying that Heidi Crowter’s lawsuit was an attack on the rights of pregnant women. "There is no contradiction between a society which champions the rights of disabled people and one which allows women to make difficult decisions in heart-breaking situations," she told the BBC. "If successful, this case could have had far-reaching implications. The claimants have argued in court that foetuses should have human rights – this has never been decided in law and would go against many years of legal precedent in the UK." [read more...]

COMMENTARY: It is heartbreaking to read about the discrimination against babies born with conditions like Down syndrome... or aborted. Christians should break out of their "holy huddle" and take action such as supporting petitions against such rulings.

OCCUPIED UKRAINE: "THERE IS NO ONE TO REPLACE THE ARRESTED PRIESTS"
from: Forum 18 News Service

(30 Nov.) Russia's National Guard seized two priests in Russian-occupied Berdyansk on 16 November. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Donetsk Exarchate denies Russian claims that Fr. Ivan Levytsky and Fr. Bohdan Heleta stored explosives in the church and had "extremist" literature. Fr Bohdan needs regular medicine. "Being under arrest and being tortured pose a very serious threat to his life." On 26 November, the tortured and shot bodies of Pentecostal deacon Anatoly Prokopchuk and his son were found, four days after the Russian military seized them.

On 16 November, Russia's National Guard (Rosgvardiya) arrested the two Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish priests in the Black Sea coastal town of Berdyansk (Zaporizhzhia Region), Fr. Ivan Levytsky and Fr. Bohdan Heleta. The following day, Russian forces searched the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin and claim to have found explosives and "extremist" literature. It appears that the Russian occupation forces are considering bringing one or both priests to trial on terrorism charges.

Fr. Ivan had taken part in pro-Ukrainian demonstrations until the invaders banned such peaceful protest. Following the ban, he had continued to pray each day at 12 noon at the 'I love Berdyansk' installation in the town center.

"Although the 'administration' installed in the territories captured by Russian troops accuses our priests – Fr. Ivan Levitsky and Fr. Bohdan Heleta – of storing explosives and weapons, as well as supporting 'partisan' activities, we emphasise that the only reason the priests were detained and illegally held is their loyalty to their people and their Church," the Donetsk Exarchate told Forum 18 from Zaporizhzhia.

The Donetsk Exarchate called for the two priests to be freed immediately and noted that Fr. Bohdan needs regular medication for a health condition. "Being under arrest and being tortured pose a very serious threat to his life," it warned.

"At the moment, the church is not operational, as there is no one to replace the arrested priests," the Donetsk Exarchate added. "All parish activities have stopped."

Officers of the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya)'s Southern Region in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on 30 November refused to give Forum 18 contacts for Rosgvardiya in Berdyansk or Zaporizhzhia Region of Ukraine. The telephone at the (Russian) Berdyansk District Police was not answered or was busy each time Forum 18 called. On 25 November, Russian forces detained Fr. Petro Krynitsky, parish priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Region. They released him the same day, but forced him to leave for Ukrainian government-held territory. "Fortunately, Fr. Petro is now safe – he was 'deported' to Zaporizhzhia," the Donetsk Exarchate told Forum 18. Elsewhere in parts of Ukraine under Russian occupation, "a small number of our parishes continue their activities," the Donetsk Exarchate noted. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: These priests, pastors, and deacons should be treated with respect, not as criminals. The criminal Russian armed forces have used them as hostages, abused them, and even killed them. Pray for the Church in occupied Ukraine!

CONTROVERSIAL AND OFTEN-USED PRACTICES CAUSE HARM, EVEN DEATH, AMONG STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
from: Disability Scoop

(29 Nov.) BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – A girl at a school in New York defied her teacher's instructions to finish an assignment and crawled under a desk. The teacher held her in a physical restraint in a chair for seven minutes.

In West Virginia, a teacher shut a 4-year-old alone in a bathroom until his hysterical screams made staff members in other rooms take notice. His mother, who worked a few classrooms away, believes her son was held in that bathroom multiple times prior. Years later, the boy is traumatized and doesn't attend school regularly.

Then, there was a 13-year-old boy with autism, Max Benson, who was held face down on the floor by staff members at a school in El Dorado Hills, Calif., for one hour and 45 minutes while he struggled, vomited and urinated until he lost consciousness. The next day, he died.

"He died over "a long period of time in pain and fear in front of all of his peers," his mother, Stacia Langley, said in a recent interview. "If there's something worse that can happen to someone, I don't even want to think about it."

Every day in public and private schools across the country, children are "restrained" – physically held by staff members, pinned to the ground or bound by mechanical devices such as straps or handcuffs. Other times, students are kept in "seclusion," confined alone in rooms ranging from windowless small supply closets and bathrooms to spaces resembling padded cells.

Restraint and seclusion, which are legal in most districts nationwide, are commonly used when students – particularly those with disabilities – are in distress, engaging in self-harm or acting in ways that could cause injury to themselves or others.

These practices are used thousands of times per school day nationwide. They cause thousands of injuries to students and staff members each year. While rare, dozens of young people over the past three decades have died after being restrained or kept in seclusion; most deaths have happened in residential facilities or other settings that cater to children with disabilities. An untold number of students suffer lasting emotional trauma, including for those who witness the episodes, experts say.

Yet many people don't know this happens at all. Parents have in some cases gone weeks or years without knowing their child had been regularly subjected to these controversial interventions. Some families found out only after a child died.

These practices are meant to keep students in distress from hurting themselves or others. They are supposed to be a last resort in emergencies when other efforts have failed. But a yearlong national investigation by Hearst Newspapers found that accountability and oversight of restraint and seclusion in schools across the country are sorely lacking.

Some students are subjected to the practices hundreds of times in a school year or held in restraints or kept in seclusion rooms for hours at a time, records show. In some cases, children are restrained or secluded not as a safety measure but as a form of discipline. Handcuffs are sometimes used, and police are sometimes called.

Many schools use dangerous maneuvers, including restraining children in the prone, or face-down, position; federal education officials say prone restraints "should never be used" because they can restrict a child's breathing.

Staff members who have no training in use of restraint and seclusion perform these interventions hundreds of times per year. In some places, state laws are routinely violated.

Government leaders have known about serious problems surrounding these practices for years. Advocates have pleaded for reforms. Changes have been slow and piecemeal. Glaring gaps remain. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: This article contains much more info, so I urge you to follow the "read more" link if you're interested. It is a sad fact that people who have – or are assumed to have – mental or psychological disorders are often treated as less than human, their freeedom and rights being violated.

DETAINED MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE PRIESTS COULD BE SWAPPED FOR UKRAINIAN POWS
from: Religious Information Service of Ukraine

(1 Dec.) UOC-MP priests could be exchanged for Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia if such an offer were received. This was stated by Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s defense intelligence, GUR, reports the agency's press service. At the same time, the official noted that the Russians are most interested in exchanging officers and servicemen with specific knowledge and skills.

Answering the question of whether collaborators from the the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) can become part of the exchange fund if they are proven guilty of criminal offenses by court, Andriy Yusov noted: "Ukraine has shown that it is ready to demonstrate the most creative approaches to returning its citizens home, using the example of the great exchange and the fate of (Vladimir Putin’s major political operative in Ukraine Viktor - ed.) Medvedchuk. Ukraine will definitely use every tiniest opportunity that will emerge to this end – formal and informal, public and non-public, open and covert."

According to the GUR spokesman, since the beginning of the full-scale war, 1,286 Ukrainian POWs have been swapped. Andriy Yusov recalled that the recent exchanges have been taking place with fairly high intensity. Over the past week, three swap efforts were completed within four days – almost 100 Ukrainians returned home from enemy captivity.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the SBU conducted raids in dioceses of the UOC MP in various regions of the country. Many clerics were found to have Russian citizenship, having stocked up on pro-Russian literature and millions in cash.

A large number of anti-Ukrainian print materials, including propaganda literature denying the very existence of independent Ukraine, were found at the premises of the Pochaiv Theological Seminary and the Ivano-Frankivsk Diocese. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) have been vocally supporting Russia, serving as a "fifth column" of disinformation that is spread across Ukraine and around the world. It is high time that Ukrainian authorities have finally taken action against these wolves in sheep's clothing.

EU EYES SPECIAL COURT TO TRY RUSSIA FOR UKRAINE WAR
from: The Moscow Times

(1 Dec.) European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday floated the idea of a "specialized court" to put Russia's top officials on trial over the war in Ukraine.

On the ground, Russia said it had captured a few settlements in eastern Ukraine, eager for a win after a series of setbacks since invading its pro-Western neighbor in late February.

Von der Leyen suggested a specialized tribunal to prosecute Russian officials over the conflict that has killed thousands and displaced millions from their homes.

"While continuing to support the International Criminal Court, we are proposing to set up a specialized court backed by the United Nations to investigate and prosecute Russia's crime of aggression," she said.

The chief of staff to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the idea, saying: "Russia will pay for crimes and destruction." But the initiative faces formidable legal and political obstacles.

The main problem is that the International Criminal Court (ICC) does not have jurisdiction over Russia's "crimes of aggression" – its invasion and war in Ukraine – because Moscow is not a signatory to the court's treaty. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: We could get The Moscow Times print edition when we lived in Moscow, but now they've been forced to leave Russia due to their opposition to the war in Ukraine. We now get the free weekly e-mail edition, and we're thankful for their fine reporting on the war.

A tactic of information warfare is to confuse the opposite side by sowing doubt: it can paralyze them into indifference and inaction. The RT ("Russia Today") pro-Moscow disinformation website recently posted some memes – "Ukrainian soldiers used as cannon fodder" and about NATO – "Fight to the last Ukrainian!" which some people repeat in social media. Quite often in warfare, one side will accuse the other of what the former is most guilty of: the Russian expression "pushichnaya myaso" (cannon fodder) is frequently used by ordinary Russians when referring to their own soldiers, often sent into battle poorly equipped and inadequately trained, soon becoming cannon fodder for the other side.

This "human wave" tactic worked for the Chinese and North Koreans who sent wave upon wave of soldiers against the South Korean and American positions to soak up all their ammunition during the Korean War. The Chinese could afford it, with ten times more people than Russia. But the Russian state is running out of people able and willing to fight. Mothers are protesting, young men are escaping the country. The common folk value human lives far more than their government does.

I've read many pieces by both well-known conservative commentators and ordinary people in the West about Russia's supposed justification for their war against Ukraine, often repeating what Russian moles and trolls have sown on the internet, pretending to be westerners, to justify Russia's actions. But have they ever stopped to ask what Ukrainians think about it? Recently a good friend who has spent several years ministering in Russia and Ukraine sent me the following analysis from a friend of his who married to a Ukrainian and is there in Ukraine, to counter Moscow's "narrative" (disinformation) about their genocidal war against their "Ukrainian brothers" –

"What are our weapons? There are different kinds of weapons. We have the opportunity to send all our enemies to hellfire, but this is not our task. We listen to the words of the Creator in our hearts and obey them. These words give us a sacred goal. The goal is to stop the supreme lord of hell, no matter what name he uses – Satan, Lucifer or the Devil. Because his goal is death. Our goal is life."

This is how Dmitry Medvedev, ex-president of the Russian Federation, describes his country's unprovoked war of raping, pillaging, forced evacuations, bombing residential buildings and land grabbing in Ukraine. While Russia acts like a modern incarnation of the 12th century Mongolian horde, it cloaks itself with Christian language and symbols. Its targeted, specialized propaganda has affected even Christians in the West! Ukraine desperately needs military, humanitarian and financial help from Europe, the U.S. and other countries.

While the aid it has received so far has allowed it to survive and even make significant gains against the Russian military, it cannot continue to fight – and win – without an increase in aid! Yet many Christians have doubts about supporting Ukraine in its desperate fight for survival. We must, therefore, begin by briefly addressing some of Russia's propaganda that is knowingly or unknowingly parroted by some western Christians, politicians and journalists (such as Fox's Tucker Carlson). (The latter is often triumphantly quoted on Russian state television for representing "thoughtful" Americans.)

Russian propaganda points – and brief answers

CLAIM: The war is the necessary result of NATO expansion in Eastern Europe, threatening Russia's existence.

REALITY: NATO has never threatened Russian statehood. Russia could have applied for NATO membership in the 1990's or 2000's, but chose not to. Putin himself never complained about NATO expansion. This is a much more recent theme in his rhetoric. (See this panel discussion with Lord George Robertson giving details [see at 43:00-45:00 minutes].) Putin uses NATO as a foil to shift attention from corruption and a host of other domestic problems. –

CLAIM: Ukraine is corrupt and undemocratic, persecuting political opponents.

REALITY: Ukraine is an imperfect democracy. It has grown out of the very corrupt ashes of the Soviet Union. Yes, Ukraine must develop and purify its legal system and do more to fight corruption, but it is Russia's influence that has held it back from positive western influence in these areas! Ukraine does have a free press that openly criticizes its rulers and it has a plethora of political parties (unlike the U.S.). Many of those parties have been Russian state puppets, though, which is why they were outlawed at the beginning of the war. Indeed, it is mostly members of the main pro-Russian opposition party who are now welcoming Russian invaders with open arms! Would the U.S. have tolerated Japanese- or German-funded political parties during WWII?

CLAIM: Russia is fighting for moral purity against an immoral Ukraine and West (see Medvedev's quote above).

REALITY: Russia has a thin veneer of "Christianity," created by the KGB-infiltrated Russian Orthodox Church. Yet Russia oppresses and persecutes Protestants. It is the country with the highest official abortion rate in the world. Corruption, political persecution, alcoholism and domestic abuse are out of control. While there certainly is a plethora of evil and immorality in the West, it is not the EU that is torturing and murdering people in Ukraine....

CLAIM: The U.S. has helped Ukraine to develop chemical weapons. This was used as one of the pretexts for the Russian full-scale invasion. Russia's ambassador to the U.N recently even claimed that Ukraine has developed disease-infected "combat mosquitoes!"

REALITY: See this Newsweek article explaining that the U.S. has never had labs in Ukraine for developing chemical weapons.

CLAIM: Nobody should send weapons to a corrupt Ukraine. The weapons will end up on the black market.

REALITY: Has there ever been a war that did not lead to some weapons showing up on the black market? Yet there is no evidence that this has happened yet with weapons earmarked for Ukraine. In fact, it is hugely important for Ukraine that this will not happen, since it would directly affect the aid it is receiving in its fight to survive! The U.S. is keeping close tabs on what goes where.

CLAIM: The U.S. has enough problems of its own. It does not need to get involved in Ukraine.

REALITY: This is a false, either/ or dichotomy. "This is like saying that a man must choose between being a committed husband, a loving dad, or a hard worker. Sometimes in life, one must do more than one important task at a time." (See this helpful article entitled "Ten Myths about U.S. Aid for Ukraine")

CLAIM: Diplomacy – not weapons – are the only way to end this war.

REALITY: The only effective way to end this war is for Russia to leave Ukraine. Sitting down for negotiations with Russia before it leaves Ukraine is letting it get away with murder – literally. Such negotiations would embolden Russia to bilaterally seize territory again in the future in Ukraine and elsewhere. Case in point – the partial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, followed by this year's larger invasion. Additionally, one must remember that Putin is a thug, not a diplomat. Thugs respect and respond to force.

CLAIM: Everybody knows that historically Crimea really belongs to Russia!

REALITY: Imagine what would happen if every part of Europe that once belonged to someone else were taken back by force! That's not the kind of world we want to live in. Do we really want to support that way of thinking? Yes, Crimea was ruled by Russia and the Soviet Union for 171 years before, then it was given to Ukraine in 1954 (68 years ago). But few people know that Crimea's centuries-old population, the Crimean Tatars, were brutally deported by Stalin to central Russia, resulting in the abandonment of 80,000 households and tens of thousands of deaths! Overnight ethnic Russians were hastily moved into Tatar homes, sometimes literally finishing the previous occupants' meals! But Crimean Tatars eventually were allowed to return to live in a peaceful Ukraine that has respected their heritage and rights. Since Russia's Crimean annexation of 2014, however, Crimean Tatars have again been brutally persecuted. Shouldn't they have a say in who owns Crimea?

CLAIM: The U.S. and EU are fighting a proxy war in Ukraine to destroy Russia.

REALITY: If only the U.S. and the EU were that committed to this war! This war was started by Russia and would have been over already if the U.S. and EU were more committed to helping Ukraine before and after it began.

CLAIM: If the West keeps arming Ukraine then Putin – backed into a corner – will use nuclear weapons.

REALITY: Putin's ultimate aim is to survive by staying in power. He will not use nuclear weapons if it is clear that doing so will cause his demise. Giving in to his demands, however, will embolden him to do whatever is necessary for him to accomplish his goals – including using tactical nuclear weapons. Experts disagree on how likely it is for him to use a limited nuclear option. But those who understand him best argue that he must be resisted at all cost.

CLAIM: Putin is crazy.

REALITY: He is acting rationally according to his own principles, goals and presuppositions. Believing that he is crazy makes the West afraid of opposing him, since he has that nuclear button. That's exactly what he wants – for people not to oppose him out of fear.

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