ELON MUSK: ABORTION AND BIRTH CONTROL THREATEN FUTURE OF HUMANITY
from: LiveAction News

(20 Apr.) WATCH THE VIDEO! Billionaire Elon Musk sat down for an interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson this week, during which he argued that abortion and birth control are fueling the population collapse.

In the interview, Musk said the human urge to procreate has been "subverted" by abortion and birth control, pointing out how in countries like Japan, deaths outnumber births.

"In the past we could rely upon, you know, simple limbic system rewards in order to procreate," he began. "But once you have birth control and abortions and whatnot, now you can still satisfy limbic instinct, but not procreate." The ability to delay childbearing, or kill preborn children if women do get pregnant, could lead to the fall of civilization, he warned.

Musk has often warned about population collapse in recent years, even calling it the "biggest problem" facing the world today. For decades, supposed "experts" have warned of the dangers of overpopulation, but the reality is, nearly half of the world’s countries are below replacement rate, meaning the population is declining, not growing. Japan, as cited by Musk, has been one notorious example of a "demographic time bomb," with entire villages disappearing as the aging population dies, while young people struggle to find work. Meanwhile, the elderly still alive have no one to care for them.

Other countries, like China, are facing similar concerns. But some countries – such as Denmark, Italy, Norway, Germany, and Hungary – have enacted policies encouraging people to have more children in an effort to combat low fertility rates. In the United States, the fertility rate is the lowest in 30 years.

Yet people still encourage abortion as a means to combat overpopulation, even though it is a myth… lending credence to Musk's concerns that abortion will seriously harm global civilization. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: Although Elon Musk isn't a paragon of virtue or a good example of life-long, monogamous marriage, he certainly knows the facts about the coming demographic collapse. The left-wing mass media will doubtless pick apart his words for being interviewed by Fox News. The leftist media have a network of collaborators like the "fact checker" Daniel Grossman, an abortionist with financial ties to abortion pill manufacturers, who Facebook hired to "fact check" and censor a Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America ad on Facebook about the dangers of abortion pills, stating that 1 in 6 women suffer complications from taking abortion pills. But it's the truth! Here is the latest update from Live Action: "Supreme Court allows the abortion pill to remain on the market – for now."

ABORTION MEDICATION HEADED BACK TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT IF DUELLING COURTS CAN'T RESOLVE INCONSISTENT RESULTS
from: BioEdge.org

(18 Apr.) In Texas, federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk declared that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had improperly approved mifepristone. He banned its use across the country. In the state of Washington, federal judge Thomas Rice ruled that mifepristone should be made available in 17 states and the District of Columbia.

The White House issued a fact sheet which described Judge Kacsmaryk’s decision as "dangerous" and said that the President "stands by FDA's scientific and evidence-based judgment that mifepristone is safe and effective."

The drug and biotech sectors were outraged. More than 400 leaders of drug and biotech companies – none of whom make mifepristone – signed a statement condemning the Texas decision. The statement said, "Judicial activism will not stop here. If courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for science or evidence, or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome as mifepristone."

Media coverage of this dispute is a classic example of blinkered reporting on an divisive issue. There was almost no analysis of the legal arguments and a great deal of reporting about the influences which had obviously biased Kacsmaryk’s decision. The New York Times quickly discovered that this hitherto-unknown judge had been appointed by President Trump, that he was a devout Christian, that he had expressed pro-life views, that he was a conservative, and had worked for a conservative religious foundation, First Liberty Institute. "For Texas Judge in Abortion Case, a Life Shaped by Conservative Causes" was the headline.

The text of the judge’s ruling, however, contains some surprises. While it certainly is consistent with a pro-life framework, it raises some uncomfortable questions for the abortion industry, the Biden Administration, Big Pharma, and the FDA. It begins:

Over twenty years ago, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved chemical abortion. The legality of the 2000 Approval is now before this Court. Why did it take two decades for judicial review in federal court? After all, Plaintiffs' petitions challenging the 2000 Approval date back to the year 2002, right?

Simply put, FDA stonewalled judicial review – until now. Before Plaintiffs filed this case, FDA ignored their petitions for over sixteen years, even though the law requires an agency response within "180 days of receipt of the petition." But FDA waited 4,971 days to adjudicate Plaintiffs’ first petition and 994 days to adjudicate the second. Had FDA responded to Plaintiffs’ petitions within the 360 total days allotted, this case would have been in federal court decades earlier. Instead, FDA postponed and procrastinated for nearly 6,000 days.

This is a key issue – and one which was barely covered in the media. For most journalists, abortion was settled long ago. It is the status quo. Which is precisely the point, contends Kacsmaryk –

Chemical abortion is only the status quo insofar as Defendants’ unlawful actions and their delay in responding to Plaintiffs’ petitions have made it so. The fact that injunctive relief could upset this "status quo" is therefore an insufficient basis to deny injunctive relief. [read more...]

COMMENTARY:This is just another example of how the left-wing mass media distort these issues, decrying the fact that Judge is "a devout Christian, that he had expressed pro-life views, that he was a conservative, and had worked for a conservative religious a devout Christian, that he had expressed pro-life views, that he was a conservative, and had worked for a conservative religious foundation, First Liberty Institute." This clearly implies that they prefer judges who are leftists, atheists, pro-abortion, and work for anti-religious, leftist causes. Since abortion pills were approved in 2000, they have killed 5.6 million preborn children – and the number is skyrocketing. Over 50% of abortions in America are now committed by abortion pills.

64 MILLION BABIES CONDEMNED TO PAINFUL DEATHS...
from: National Pro-Life Alliance

(22 Apr.) – LIFE AT CONCEPTION PETITION

Whereas: Because of Roe v. Wade, more than 64 million unborn children have died through abortion; and

Whereas: Science is clear that human life begins at conception when a new human being is formed; and

Whereas: A Life at Conception Act, by declaring that unborn children are persons legally entitled to constitutional protection, will rescue millions of unborn children from dying by abortion-on-demand;

Therefore: I urge you to cosponsor and cast every vote for a Life at Conception Act, and to do everything necessary to win ultimate passage in the United States Congress.

(Please go to https://nationalprolifealliance.com/rlacaa_petition.aspx and sign this petition!)

COMMENTARY: For more than a year now after the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous Roe v. Wade was overturned, the U.S. has been struggling with the illogical, contradictory notion that the overturned 1972 ruling still allows people to treat unborn babies as "just a lump of tissue" or "merely a product of conception" – not real human beings. Sign the petition! I did!

'SHOCKING' NUMBER OF KIDS WITH AUTISM KICKED OUT OF DAY CARE, STUDY FINDS
from: Disability Scoop

(17 Apr.) About 1 in 6 children with autism have been asked to leave a child care or preschool setting, new research finds, and the experience has long-lasting consequences.

In a study looking at more than 200 kids with autism ages 4 to 7, parents reported that 16% had been expelled before reaching elementary school, most often for behavior issues.

"It’s shocking," said Jan Blacher, a professor at the University of California, Riverside and the University of California, Los Angeles who led the study published recently in the journal Exceptional Children. "These little kids were asked to leave school because they demonstrated behaviors directly related to their autism. So, they were being expelled from preschool for the very problems that they needed school for."

Children were a little over age 3, on average, when they were kicked out of their child care program, the study found. The expulsions were more common in private versus public programs. The researchers noted that many of the children who were turned away from school had not been identified as having a disability.

"That suggests to us that it never occurred to the teachers to refer them for assessment," Blacher said. "So, part of it is a lack of teacher awareness of the prevalence of autism, and how it manifests in a very young age. Had they understood autism, they might have been inspired to deal with it, and say, 'Maybe I should have this child assessed.'"

By the time they reached kindergarten, the study found that kids who had been asked to leave school during their early years experienced more conflict with their teachers and were more dependent on them, among other challenges.

"These are very young children who have no idea why they are being asked to leave school. And it leaves the kids in kind of a quandary," Blacher said. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: We must do away with the mistaken notion that a child with autism is deliberately misbehaving and should be punished or expelled. This child needs special care and understanding, not punishment. Discipline can be firm without punishing.

HELPING NOT TO FREEZE: HOW UKRAINIAN, AMERICAN, AND AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIANS JOINED EFFORTS TO HELP THE NEEDY
from: Religious Information Service of Ukraine

(18 Apr.) The winter cold and a year of full-scale war have passed. Ukrainian aid organizations continue to sum up this period and report on their activities. Among them are Christian charities, church and interfaith funds, communities, and private initiatives.

According to data from a nationwide sociological survey published in February, one-third of Ukrainians consider social service to be a priority activity of the Church. However, their activities are not always well-known to the general public. Sometimes, large and informative materials about their ministry do not contain the basic thesis of why they are doing this.

Their activities are based on the commandment of love for one's neighbor, which is common to all Christians. Therefore, this commonality often unites Christians of different denominations in their service to their neighbor, as Jesus Christ himself taught. RISU, as part of its information support and cooperation, continues to inform about such service.

As of the end of November 2022, there was not a single critical energy infrastructure object in Ukraine that had not suffered from Russian missile attacks. We remember the panic at that time, that it would be very difficult to survive the winter cold in such conditions, especially for those living in occupied areas or those subjected to frequent shelling.

Ukrainian and American charitable organizations, the Ukrainian “Fond Myru ta Rozvytku” (FMR, the Peace and Development Foundation - Ukraine) and the American Peace and Development Foundation - USA (PDF), together with partners in November 2022 launched a winter aid crisis project for Ukrainians affected by Russian energy terror. The project included three types of assistance: portable stoves, generators, and warm footwear.

Peace and Development Foundation - Ukraine in Kyiv was founded in 2016 by representatives of three main Christian denominations (Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants), inspired by the example of serving God and people through their profession and faith. In fact, the fund became the successor to the public movement "Alliance of Christian Professionals," which was active from 2011 to 2015. Later, a representation of the fund was created in the United States.

Until February 2022, FMR was engaged in projects in the field of education and innovation in key areas for society, including education and medicine, supporting domestic professionals through the involvement of the best international experience in these areas, experts, and resources in Ukraine. The fund also supported media projects in the fields of peacebuilding and interfaith dialogue. However, the challenges of the war brought the task of helping people in humanitarian crises to the fore.

During the first two months of the full-scale war, believers from different churches abroad donated over $100,000 to the American fund, which was immediately distributed among partner Ukrainian churches and para-church organizations. These funds were urgently used for the evacuation and purchase of critically needed humanitarian aid for refugees and internally displaced persons. The winter challenges also required urgent action. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: The Peace and Development Foundation is certainly an organization that deserves the support of all Christians – Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants alike. Working together to care for the innocent victims of Russia's war in Ukraine ought to transcend all doctrinal and cultural barriers between Christians.

POVERTY NOW THE FOURTH GREATEST CAUSE OF AMERICAN DEATHS
from: Disabled World

(17 Apr.) Poverty has long been linked to shorter lives. But just how many deaths in the United States are associated with poverty? The number has been elusive – until now. A UC Riverside paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association associated poverty with an estimated 183,000 deaths in the United States in 2019 among people 15 years and older.

This estimate is considered conservative because the data is from the year just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused spikes in deaths worldwide and continues to take its toll. The analysis found that only heart disease, cancer, and smoking were associated with a greater number of deaths than poverty. Obesity, diabetes, drug overdoses, suicides, firearms, and homicides, among other common causes of death, were less lethal than poverty.

"Poverty kills as much as dementia, accidents, stroke, Alzheimer's, and diabetes," said David Brady, the study's lead author and a UCR professor of public policy. "Poverty silently killed 10 times as many people as all the homicides in 2019. And yet, homicide firearms and suicide get vastly more attention."

Another finding is that people living in poverty - those with incomes less than 50% of the U.S. median income - have roughly the same survival rates until they hit their 40s, after which they die at significantly higher rates than people with more adequate incomes and resources.

The analysis estimated the number of poverty deaths by analyzing income data kept by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan and death data from household surveys from the Cross-National Equivalent File. Deaths reported in surveys were validated in the National Death Index, a database kept by the National Center for Health Statistics, which tracks deaths and their causes in the U.S.

Their findings have major policy implications, the researchers say. "Because certain ethnic and racial minority groups are far more likely to be in poverty, our estimates can improve understanding of ethnic and racial inequalities in life expectancy," the paper reads.

Additionally, the study shows that poverty should get more attention from policymakers, said Brady, the director of UCR's Blum Initiative on Global and Regional Poverty. Beyond the emotional suffering of surviving family members and friends, deaths are associated with a great economic cost. Experts agree that a death is expensive for a family, community and government, Brady said.

"If we had less poverty, there'd be a lot better health and well-being, people could work more, and they could be more productive," Brady said. "All of those are benefits of investing in people through social policies." [read more...]

COMMENTARY: Poverty is certainly not a good thing, but the article concludes that if the government would only "invest in" (subsidize) the poor, they would work more and become more productive. This is soft-headed thinking: if you give people money for not working, they will work less and less so that they can get more and more. Welfare programs have undermined marriage, intact family life, church attendance, and faith in God. I've done job counseling for years in poor neighborhoods and know that many poor people want help to write a resume and fill out 2 job applications online so they can continue receiving unemployment benefits: they've actually told me this.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace almost exactly one year ago published the article Putin's War Has Moved Russia From Authoritarianism to Hybrid Totalitarianism by Andrei Kolesnikov. Until now, I have been reluctant to swallow wholesale this notion, having invested much of my adult life dealing with and living in the USSR and Russia. But now it's time to reassess this terrible thought.

We have personal friends with whom we can no longer communicate: their emails and posts on Facebook have disappeared. Contacting them would endanger their lives and liberty. We know two young couples there: both had two little boys when we left Russia 16 years ago who now are young men likely to be drafted or have already been. We ask ourselves: are they even still alive?

The mass slaughtering of civilians along with the soldiers holding out in the huge Azovstal factory a year ago left the city of Mariupol in total ruins. Bakhmut, a beautiful city two years ago, has likewise been reduced to rubble and ashes: compare the first video of Bakhmut in 2021 with the second one of today: destruction beyond comprehension. Russian elite paratroopers there are now using hyperbaric artillery and bombs (air-gas weapons) which create a wave of fire that sears the lungs of victims as it ignites the oxygen in the air, consigning them to a slow, torturous death by suffocation. The largest hyperbaric bombs are equivalent to a small nuclear bomb.

Another article, Putin’s not a fascist, totalitarian or revolutionary – he’s a reactionary tyrant, discounts the idea that Russia is becoming totalitarian, but quashing dissent and imprisoning those who speak out are signs of both totalitarian and reactionary regimes. Raping, pillaging, and destroying infrastructure is called "denazifying" Ukraine. Russia has more than enough Nazis itself – I've seen them in action there, stifling free religious expression.

The Foreign Policy website features a recent article Staring Down the Black Hole of Russia’s Future by a Russian emigree that questions whether "A Ukrainian victory may be the country’s only chance at long-term salvation." and points out that Ukraine will almost inevitably emerge from this war to become a member of NATO and the European Union – just the opposite of what Putin started this war to prevent, while Russia will descend into a black hole of miltary, economic, and social collapse. My wife and I lived through the times of one-million-percent hyperinflation there in the early 1990s and know personally how devastating it was for the Russian people.

Dr. Jade McGlynn, a Russian analyst, rebuts the argument in her article "Do ordinary Russians support Putin’s war?" that most Russians oppose this war: "If you were a Russian mother, would you rather believe that your son gave his life heroically fighting Ukrainian Nazis, or that he died butchering innocent civilians? The former, most likely. It is not easy to admit – to oneself or to others – that you live in a country that has murdered tens of thousands of Ukrainians, or that has pointlessly sacrificed the lives of its own people." The masses of Russian citizens are conditioned to believe that their country is fighting a just war because its very existence is threatened by an encroaching NATO and European Union. It's not the country that is being threatened, though, it is the totalitarian state.

In late February of this year, Prospect Magazine published "A year after it invaded Ukraine, Russia is weakened and humiliated" that explains – "The war has been catastrophic for both sides. But Putin's 'special military operation' has been a strategic disaster." It states – "Already an authoritarian state, it has descended with frightening speed into something approaching totalitarianism, where military training is compulsory for schoolchildren, peaceful protest against the war is punished by 15 years in prison and TV pundits threaten Ukraine-supporting states with nuclear annihilation." I can only hope that Russia will be defeated, will throw off the yoke of totalitarian dictatorship, and somehow emerge again as a free and prosperous country. But will it? Rumors of Putin's failing health are just that – rumors, and hopes that his regime might be replaced by a benign, freedom-loving Jeffersonian republic may be merely wishful thinking.

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