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1. Ageing Population - November 11, 2006
Canada - Our Suicidal Northern Neighbor - The proportion of Canadians 65 or over will go from 13% today to 25% by 2040
By Joseph A. D'Agostino, Vice President for Communications, Population Research Institute
FRONT ROYAL, Virginia, November 10, 2006 (pop.org) - Liberals, of the sort
who just won control of Congress, like to say that the United
States should become more like Canada. So let's take a quick look at our highly
respected northern neighbor from a demographic perspective.
Experts are always analyzing all sorts of trends to judge a country's health,
yet demographics are often ignored. But how many factors affect a society long-term
more than birthrates, aging, and the like?
Canada has many good qualities, such as a low violent crime rate, lots of open space, and excellent maple syrup. She has some unfortunate ones as well, such as a socialist health care system that forces citizens to wait years for major medical procedures finished within weeks in the United States, not to mention a tendency to blame America for the world's problems. Yet at the rate she's going, Canada's qualities soon won't matter one way or another, because the liberals' second-favorite nation (France being most beloved) is committing suicide.
The United States' birthrate is 2.0, slightly below replacement level, which
is enough to cause massive aging and financial problems such as the bankruptcy
of Social Security and Medicare. Canada's birthrate is a fatal 25% less, at
1.5. Canadians are fading out. Prime Minister Stephen
Harper's conservative government is considering small measures to increase Canada's
birthrate, measures that are almost certain to be too little, too late.
Even the United Nations' overly optimistic projections say that the proportion
of Canadian 65 or over will go from 13% today to 25% by 2040, and continue to
rise from there. Imagine living in a nation where 1 of 4 people is of retirement
age. The proportion of the oldest old, 80 or over, will triple. Those between
15 and 24 will drop from 13.5% to 11%.
Who will support all these elderly Canadians, with their generous social services
so attractive to American liberals?
And Canada's birthrate continues to drop. It could easily reach 1.0 in a decade. It declined by 25% between 1992 and 2002, and its current stabilized situation is unlikely to last given underlying cultural trends. The liberal, populous provinces of Ontario and Quebec are losing babies the fastest, while the more conservative sparse areas in the west of the country are doing better - but not liberal British Columbia.
French Catholic Quebec, like Latin Catholic Italy and Spain, is imploding demographically. The denizens of Quebec may huff and puff about reserving their cultural and linguistic heritage, but they don't care enough about it to actually produce more Quebecois. The '60s hit Quebec hard: In 1959, she had the highest birthrate in Canada. By 1971, she already had the lowest, though those of Italy and Spain are even lower than hers today. Who says the '60s revolution failed?
"Not long ago, Quebec was a Catholic Christian society, whose loyalty to its faith and historic traditions seemed unswerving," wrote Ted Byfield in the Calgary Sun last month. "Now, having all but abandoned the Church, it has the lowest attendance rates in Canada - and the highest rate of cohabitation outside marriage, highest divorce and abortion rates and lowest birthrate. The cry of the Quebec separatists, who now sizably outnumber federalists, is they must leave Canada to preserve their heritage and culture. This is simply a lie. First to last, their culture and heritage is Catholic Christian, and they have forsaken it. What they want to preserve is somebody else's culture, Sweden's perhaps."
Also last month, prominent Quebec leader and former premier Lucien
Bouchard generated a lot of protest when he condemned Quebec's combination of
massive debt, low productivity, and abysmal birthrate. He pointed out that the
situation could not continue much longer.
"We don't work hard enough. We work less than Ontarians and infinitely less than Americans," he said. He said that Quebec cannot sustain her large social programs and other benefits, such as low college tuition, while working much less than Americans and having few children.
"In Quebec it's like being in a big plane," he said. "It's warm and comfortable, with no problems. But when you look out the pilot's window, you see a big mountain, and it's certain we're going to crash into it."
If current trends continue, the rest of Canada is right behind.
Joseph A. D'Agostino is Vice President for Communications at the
Population Research Institute.
2. Canadian Same-Sex 'Marriage's Real Goal Is To Abolish All Marriage Says Author - September 25, 2006
Says Canadians "being played for a bunch of fools by your legal-political elite"
September 25, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a National Review Online article this past February, U.S. author/researcher Stanley Kurtz charged that Canadians still don't get it that the legal change to the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples is part of an overall strategy to completely abolish marriage in Canada.
The Tories promised motion to re-visit the same-sex marriage issue in Parliament is about to be introduced this October or November and yet many religious and other groups and pro-marriage Canadians are perceived by pro-family leaders as again making only weak, half-hearted efforts to support the motion. The Stanley Kurtz article may help Canadians become more aware about the severe consequences of losing the vote on that motion and the vote on any following bill to re-instate the traditional definition of marriage.
Kurtz starts his article by noting the mid-January 2006 Justice Department study that called for the decriminalization and regulation of polygamy.
With that in mind he follows: "And even that is only part of the story. Canadians, let me be brutally frank. You are being played for a bunch of fools by your legal-political elite. Your elites mumble a confusing jargon to your face to keep you from understanding what they really have in mind."
Kurtz continues with some very brief but explosive quotes from a 2001 Law Commission study, "Beyond Conjugality," that questioned whether there should even be any continued legal privileges and obligations for marriage after gay 'marriage' is legalized.
Even though the 2001 report was made public he says, "nobody got it. Everyone noticed that a government commission had backed same-sex marriage. But few recognized, grasped, or could bring themselves to take seriously, the central thrust of Beyond Conjugality: that after the legalization of same-sex marriage, Canadian marriage itself ought to be abolished."
The plan is so obvious says Kurtz. "It's like this. The way to abolish marriage, without seeming to abolish it, is to redefine the institution out of existence. If everything can be marriage, pretty soon nothing will be marriage."
The most worrisome part of all this, according to Krutz, is that despite the obvious evidence, "The Canadian public cannot bring itself to believe that the abolition of marriage is the real agenda of the country's liberal legal-political elite."
Polygamous Muslims and Mormons fit right into the strategy, says Kurtz, only to politically justify further changes, which would have as their ultimate real goal the elimination of all marriage.
See the complete Kurtz article with all his evidence and reasoning The Conspiracy to Abolish Marriage in Canada http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/060925a.html
See also Stanley Kurtz's article Beyond Gay Marriage
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/938xpsxy.asp
3. Changing Names, Changing Perceptions - October
19, 2006
At the recent World Federation of Right to Die Societies
conference in Toronto (Sept 7 - 10) a presentation was made concerning polling
that had been done in the US concerning terminology that was considered more
acceptable by the general public.
Clearly identified in the polling data was that the term
suicide must not be used because it included negative connotations concerning
actions that many people consider morally wrong. When the term assisted suicide
was dropped for aid in dying or assisted dying the support for the same act
increased.
The following articles simply represent the fact that
the Oregon State government has been convinced that support for assisted suicide
in their state will increase on a state-wide and national basis if they simply
change the terminology.
People need to be concerned that the constant word smithing
by euthanasia advocates will result in greater support for the same act that
people have regularly voted against in plebiscites throughout the US. The idea
is that if you think that something that you perceive to be wrong is something
else then you can fool some of the people to support it.
In other words assisted suicide ceases to be assisted
suicide if you stop calling it 'assisted suicide'.
What's next?
Alex Schadenberg
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
'Assisted-death' wording stirs debate - The Statesman
Journal, Oregon, October 17, 2006
Oregon DHS will stop referring to practice as suicide
The Oregon Department of Human Services no longer will use the phrase "physician-assisted suicide" when referring to the state's unique law.
But the new phrase "physician-assisted death" could be as controversial as the old one.
People on both sides of the debate about Oregon's Death with Dignity Act have
been arguing about what to call the practice since 1994, when voters approved
the law.
Advocates of the law and patients thinking about asking for a lethal prescription have said it is offensive to use the word "suicide."
Before her death in August, Charlene Andrews of Salem told the National Press Club, "Please do not call it suicide. That is an insult to my fight against cancer. With cancer, we know when there are no treatment options."
Andrews died without lethal medication.
Mike Gander of Salem took care of his son and mother-in-law while they were dying. He said this debate about words is similar to the one regarding abortion.
"It's like using the terminology 'choice' when it comes to abortion," he said. "No one wants to use the word 'abortion'; they want to use the word 'choice.' But the terminology - whether accurate or inaccurate - still results in the same thing. 'Physician-assisted death' is the same as suicide."
Compassion & Choices, a national group that supports patients who want to use Oregon's law, formally asked the agency to review its wording in light of statute's language.
Oregon Department of Human Services officials said the name change better reflects the agency's role as a neutral party that collects data and provides information.
The statute says, "Actions taken in accordance with (Oregon's Death With Dignity Act) shall not, for any purpose, constitute suicide, assisted suicide, mercy killing or homicide, under the law."
"This will be a sea change because how you speak of things strongly influences how you think of them," said Kathryn Tucker, the director of legal affairs for Compassion & Choices.
Gayle Atteberry, the executive director of Oregon Right to Life, said the language change is "outrageous."
"They have changed it to a euphemism to make it more palatable," she said. "Do they think it is going to make it easier for people to kill themselves?"
4. Children's Rights - Newspaper Ad And What To Do - December 6, 2006
Dear friends,
Our Canadian Parliament will likely vote whether to review the current marriage law that allows same sex partners to marry and has, as a consequence, the effect that children's right to both a mother and a father is denied.
The ad was placed in this week's the Hill Times, Parliament Hill's weekly newspaper.
You may circulate this ad to your MPs riding office(s) by fax, email, regular mail or hand delivery.
All MPs also need to hear from you, their constituents. Those who are in favor of traditional marriage need your support. Those who are undecided or even against must also hear from you.
Your calls can influence your MP. Just make sure you identify yourself as a resident of his-her riding.
You may also call the leaders of the parties opposed to this review, i.e. Liberal,
NDP and Bloc if you are in Québec, and invite them to recognize that
children have rights and reopen the marriage law. Leaders of these 3
parties are exerting considerable pressure not to reopen the issue, concentrating
on adults as if children simply don't exist!
Liberal - Stéphane Dion - Ottawa Office: 1-613-996-5789; fax: 1-613-996-6562;
Riding Office: 1-514-335-6655; Fax: 1-514-335-2712 NDP - Jack Layton -
Ottawa Office: 1-613-995-7224; Fax: 1-613-995-4565
Riding Office: 1-416-405-8914; Fax: 1-416-405-8918 info@jacklayton.ca
Bloc - Gilles Duceppe - Ottawa Office: 1-613-992-6779; Fax: 1-613-954-2121
Riding Office: 1-514-522-1339; Fax: 1-514-522-9899
Even our Prime Minister needs to hear about children.
Conservative - Stephen Harper - Ottawa Office: 1-613-992-4211; Fax 1-613-941-6900
Riding Office: 1-403-253-7990; Fax: 1-403-253-8203
You can get your MP's coordinates by dialing 1-800-O-Canada (1-800-622-6232) from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM or go to http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?Source=SMlang=E and enter your postal code.
The issue of children's rights is one of fundamental justice. Refusing to reopen marriage means that children do not have any right to a father and a mother. It means that we are choosing to be partial, and unjust.
Let's speak up for children! Debate starts Wednesday with a vote likely no later than Thursday. Do it now!
Preserve Marriage PDF file link follows:
Preserve Marriage - Protect Children's Rights
5. Christmas Cake Annual Sale - November 21, 2006
Campaign Life Coalition NS
PO Box 2085, Fall River, NS B2T 1K6
Tel 902-861-1982 or 902-861-1527 Fax
Call Now fro pre-Christmas Delivery
Fireside Kitchen- Our rich dark fruitcakes are full of fruit soaked in sherry
and covered with almonds, walnuts and cherries. Consider our attractive wooden
box selections for "Extra Special" gift giving.
Order now for pre-Christmas Deliver. Fireside Kitchen- Our rich dark fruitcakes
are full of fruit soaked in sherry and covered with almonds, walnuts and cherries.
Consider our attractive wooden box selections for "Extra Special"
gift giving.
Orders must be placed early to ensure delivery and procurements. Fireside
Kitchen operates on a small scale where everything is made from scratch. Fireside
Kitchen is operated by the Halifax Adult Services Society, which provides vocational
training and work experience for adults who are intellectually challenged.
2 lb Boxed Cake 18.00
2 lb Boxed Cake with Jam/Jelly 25.00
2 lb Unboxed Cake 16.00
1 lb Boxed with Jam/Jelly 18.00
1 lb Unboxed Cake 9.00
6. Communiqué Of The Christian Heritage Party Of Canada - November 28, 2006
Volume 13 No. 48 - Nov. 21, 2006
Stop listening to naysayers: We can win!
Two columns that came to me by e-mail last week fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle-and when the pieces were put together, they produced a conclusion that might surprise at least one of the authors.
Tristan Emmanuel of the ECP Centre wrote one of the columns. It was a clarion call for "SoCons" - Social Conservatives -
"Neither Liberals nor the national media control all the variables that could impact the upcoming election." He wrote. "Hubris does not win elections.
"But if we listen to our opponents, then we are sure to give in and give up. We would do well to learn from their own determination back in the early ' 70s, the homosexual lobby was told in the strictest possible terms that they would never achieve social acceptance-never-did they listen?
"Now that the tide has changed, should we listen to them?
"Nothing is hopeless. When the media pelts us with negative messages, we know it's time to tune them out, turn them off and stay the course."
The very next e-mail I opened was a Chicago Sun-Times column by Mark Steyn.
The headline made the point:
The only choice on war is to win it or lose it.
Both writers were essentially making the same point: whether it's a shooting war or culture war, those who would preserve our society must resolve to "stay the course." There is no other option.
But there's a more subtle point to be derived from linking their counsels: history is only in our own hands alone if we choose to capitulate; we must remember that it is God who raises up and puts down governments.
In the same sense, if we listen to those who say, "Ideological purists
cannot win; we must compromise so we can gain or hold power" we concede
the field to the enemies of what is right. And we betray a lack of trust in
God.
Those who say Biblical principles cannot win are, in effect, saying that God has lost His power to rule in the affairs of men. That's simply not true!
Compromise is always the first step towards quitting. Already, we see the mentors of the global jihad rejoicing that the Democrats won the midterm elections in the USA: they foresee a compromise on Iraq, and they see it as a step towards victory for the jihadists.
Indeed, it was a series of "pragmatic" compromises that led us into the quagmire of social crises that have, step-by-step, betrayed our children. A little here, a little there-and suddenly we realized that the goal posts had been moved so far that Christians were off the playing field!
The question isn't whether God is for this group or against that group; the real question is: "Who is uncompromisingly for HIM?"
SoCons - and especially Christians - should take this morsel of advice from Tristan Emmanuel and Mark Steyn: stop listening to the naysayers, and find the courage to do what you know in your heart is right!
By RON GRAY - CHPLeader@chp.ca CHP National Leader
This Communiqué may be copied and is available free via e-mail or fax.
If you or someone you know would like to receive this publication contact Sylvia
at edchp@qc.aira.com or send your subscription to the national office: Christian
Heritage Party of Canada; PO Box 4958; Station E, Ottawa ON; K1S 5J1
Phone: 1-819-281-6686
Fax: 1-819-281-7174
E-mail: NationalOffice@chp.ca
Read about the CHP (Christian Heritage Party of Canada): http://www.chp.ca or text only Archive: http://www3.telus.net/chp
7. Critical Marriage Vote In Parliament Coming Soon! -November 14, 2006
Urgent
Reminder! - Critical Marriage Vote in Parliament Coming Soon!
Dear Supporter of Marriage,
In the next few weeks we expect the long awaited vote in Parliament on reopening the marriage definition question will once again be in front of us.
To help support the Government in succeeding on this vote, it is incredibly important that we continue to build our Restore Marriage Canada Petition. Copies of this petition will be presented to each MP before the vote. More than 41,000 Canadians have already signed this petition. By getting your friends and neighbours involved we can continue to build this list. With your help we will be able to continue to put the pressure on those MPs voting against reopening the issue.
It important that these MPs understand that they will be accountable to you their voters, so we also encourage you to contact your own MP and let him or her know how you feel about restoring traditional marriage in Canada. If you are unsure how to contact them, click here. We also encourage you to get as many others to contact their MP as well.
These are the things to keep in mind. The first vote was uninformed. Little was done to study the effects on children from legalizing same sex marriage. Such a fundamental switch in our social fabric should not have been leaped at without serious consideration of all consequences. In France, for example, the French National Assembly (similar to our Parliament) sent out a 30 member multi party commission to travel to various countries reviewing all points of view.
With the information they gained their report to the French National Assembly called on their government to protect the rights of children by refusing to legalize same sex marriage or even same sex adoption. By protecting these rights they realized that society, and children in particular, benefit most when children are raised within the basic family unit, mother father and children.
The French Assembly recognized that children "must not suffer from conditions imposed upon them by adults." They concluded that the best interests of the child should be the first priority and should rank higher than adult freedoms and lifestyle choices because of that vulnerability.
Please help us continue this serious fight. We need to continue to educate people on this important issue and continue to bring pressure on Parliament to step back and thoroughly consider the impacts of legalizing same-sex marriage.
We can only do that with your continued help!
Sincerely,
The Hon. Dr. Grant Hill, P.C.
Coordinator, Restore Marriage Project
Please forward this on to others! - To subscribe to this e-newsletter, click here
8. Don't Believe The Hype, Wal-Mart Is Still In Bed With Homosexuality - November 23, 2006
Operation Save Wal-Mart press conference, Friday, Nov. 24
Contact: Rev. Flip Benham, Dr. Pat McEwen, 972-200-4074 on site, both with Operation Save America, Operation Save Wal-Mart
CHARLOTTE, NC, Nov. 22 /Christian Newswire/ - In a statement to the American Family Association yesterday, Wal-Mart agreed that they, "...will not make corporate contributions to support or oppose highly controversial issues unless they directly relate to our ability to serve our customers". To this we say, "NUTS!"
"Wal-Mart is running scared! It fears the power of the Church of Jesus Christ to move in people's hearts and change them - to change even where they shop. Wal-Mart needs to fear the God of Sam Walton!"
· Wal-Mart is still a "corporate member" of the National Gay
&
Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and will continue a financial stake in promoting
the radical homosexual agenda.
· Wal-Mart still dispenses the "Plan B" abortion pill that
kills unborn children.
· Wal-Mart has not issued an apology for its actions.
· Wal-Mart has not fired its homosexual marketing agency.
· Wal-Mart has not removed the many filthy books for sale on its website.
While Wal-Mart has caved on controversial corporate sponsorships, the Gospel continues. Christians from across the nation will bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores this Friday, November 24th. They will call Wal-Mart's corporate leadership to true repentance, repentance that goes beyond last minute face-saving efforts, half-way apologies, and crocodile tears.
"Every executive at Wal-Mart that allowed this to happen needs a good old fashioned spanking" said Flip Benham, Director of Operation Save America, creators of the SaveWalMart.com website. "What Wal-Mart has done is sin! It is a betrayal our Lord Jesus, of Sam Walton's Christian legacy, and Christian families everywhere. Wal-Mart must bear the fruit of repentance."
"Sam Walton is dead. He can't fix the sorry estate Wal-Mart finds itself in. He faithfully ran his lap of the race and served his Lord well. Now it's our turn!"
We continue to encourage men and women, dads and moms, grandpas and grandmas, Christians from every walk of life to call on Wal-Mart to change its course and return to traditional family values and the Biblical principles that made it great.
We are not a protest. We are a proclamation that Jesus Christ is Lord! We are
calling an "old friend" back to its Godly roots. Wal-Mart can be saved
and so can America. It begins with God's Church!
What: Operation Save Wal-Mart Press Conference
Where: Wal-Mart on J.W. Clay Street, off Harris Blvd., Charlotte, N.C.
When: Friday, November 24, 2006, 11:30 A.M.
9. Fighting Back Against Fashion Industry - November 24, 2006
The following article is located at:
http://www.christianity.ca/family/parenting/2006/11.003.html
A program for girls, teaches them modesty, purity and chastity as well as the
ins and outs of hair, make-up and posture. The girls model what they've learned
on a catwalk. - By Sara Loftson
These days Emily Morrow-Fick keeps busy organizing runway lessons, wardrobe fittings and easing last-minute stage fright as she prepares 55 young girls to take center stage at a Pure Fashion fashion show.
A model walks on the runway of the 2005 Pure Fashion Show in Atlanta, Georgia,
while other young women look on.
"It's not just about fashion, a lot of it is teaching girls how to present
themselves without feeling like they have to act like Britney Spears or Paris
Hilton," said Morrow-Fick, 18, a student at St. Mary's College and the
co-chair for Pure Fashion in Calgary.
Pure Fashion is a Catholic program that promotes modest dress for girls in
grades eight through 12.
Young women attend training sessions to learn about the virtues of modesty,
purity and chastity, as well as the ins and outs of hair, make-up and posture.
This all leads up to a fashion show where the girls model all that they've learned
on the catwalk.
"Trendy but tasteful" is the catch phrase national chairwoman Brenda
Sharman uses to describe the philosophy behind Pure Fashion.
"Pure Fashion has grown into a whole person developmental program. Modesty
is more than what you wear on the outside, it has to be an exterior reflection
of an interior attitude," Sharman, who brings 20 years experience in modeling
and acting to Pure Fashion, told The Catholic Register in a telephone
interview from Atlanta, Georgia.
"Their intention should be to turn as many hearts as possible, not heads."
Pure Fashion lists specific clothing guidelines girls are to abide by during
the fashion show and potentially retain once it's over. Material must not be
thin nor sheer, necklines should not be more than four fingers below the collarbones
and skirts and dresses should be no shorter than four fingers above the top
of the kneecaps are three examples.
"Girls are very hesitant to accept the idea of being modest in a society
that tells them to wear short shirts, heavy eye make-up and act ditzy. They
are hesitant to be more confident unless they are wearing these clothes,"
said Morrow-Fick.
Not all girls buy into the Pure Fashion message, but the program is meant to
plant a seed for the future, added Morrow-Fick.
Sharman agrees living out the principles of Pure Fashion is not easy. "It's
a countercultural message because right now all the things you read are about
how to be hot and sexy."
Anne Moroney, 14, has been sold on the Pure Fashion message. On May 7-06 she
participated in her third fashion show at the Spruce Meadows Congress in Calgary.
"I really like fashion and clothes but I also think that we should stand
up for all the rest of the girls and show we can be stylish and modest and really
show our dignity and show we're worth dressing nicely," said Moroney, who
convinced two girlfriends to join her this year.
… her daughter's confidence has increased since modeling with Pure Fashion.
Moroney said it helps having peers who also practice modesty. "There's
always pressure to dress immodestly, especially from girls your age and our
culture is very immodest. You'll go into a store and try on something immodest
because it's hard to find other clothes."
Barbara Moroney said she's noticed her daughter's confidence has increased
since modeling with Pure Fashion. She welcomes the modesty message coming from
outside the home.
"The pressure is for them to sell their body," said Moroney, a Catholic
who home-schools Anne and her five other children. "In many ways they are
still little girls, so I think it's about trying to protect them without becoming
the enemy, but sometimes it can be a battle. They tend to say the parents are
the bad guys."
The Moroney family got involved with Pure Fashion through the Challenge Girl
Club, a Catholic leadership program for girls within Regnum Christi, an international
Catholic lay and religious movement. Seven years ago, a group of mothers and
daughters in the United States decided to hold small informal fashion shows
that promoted modest dress in church halls and basements.
It's grown to 15 chapters in the United States and one permanent location in
Calgary that started three years ago. In just three years, the Calgary chapter
has grown, its budget going from $2,500 to $35,000. The ultimate goal is to
make Pure Fashion into a product that can be franchised, said Jodie Britton,
chairwoman for Pure Fashion Calgary.
Britton's unchurched background inspired her interest in the program. "I
can attest coming from teenage years without Christ that there's no fulfillment
in shopping or boys," said Britton, mother of three boys.
She said she tries to help girls become real models as role models. She believes
girls who learn the virtue of modesty are models for living chastely later in
life. "The girls that I do know that are 18-19 are able to be more well-balanced
and peaceful and happy because they've remained pure of body and heart so the
temptations just aren't there in a relationship."
Pure Fashion is slowly expanding in Canada. Vancouver and Edmonton have hosted
informal Pure Fashion shows and in just under two months a group of women in
Halifax slapped together a Pure Fashion show held April 2, 2006. After four
preparatory sessions, Keri Webber was one of 25 models aged ten-18 who strutted
down the catwalk.
"It was really fun. (It) made you realize how much you come across to
other people," said Webber, 17, a Grade 11 student who had no previous
modeling experience.
Webber said after the show she went to Old Navy and bought all the outfits
she modeled in the show.
Melanie Douchesne had a similar experience. Since participating in the show
she doesn't wear low-cut shirts or low-rise pants. "I can bend down and
not worry about my underwear sticking out."
"I find once you're out of high school it's not as bad," said Melanie
Douchesne, an 18-year-old first-year student at St. Mary's University in Halifax.
"I don't find that there is any pressure any more. I just wear the clothes
that suit my personality."
Although Douchesne said she may be in the clear, she thinks junior and early
high school-aged girls face the most pressure. "Everyone dresses up and
tries to be that pretty girl in school. I see my little sister and her friends
do it and they are only 14 and 15 years old."
In the first of four sessions, the girls learned how to stand up to the pressure
of society and the media. They analyzed magazine ads. A recent university grad
spoke about her battle with anorexia and two university-aged men described what
they look for in a woman. They talked about how they wouldn't take an immodestly
dressed girl seriously in the future, said Webber.
"The more skin girls show (the more) guys (stop) looking at them for their
personality. They are more like, they think she has a nice body," said
Webber, explaining what she learned during the presentation.
"Our theme is looking good inside and out," said Donna Webb, one
of the workshop facilitators. "You might attract someone for a little while,
but will they stay?"
"My senses are assaulted all the time when I walk down the street,"
Webb said. "There's no modesty, no purity left in the culture. And it's
sending our young people in the wrong direction. We just want to open their
eyes to a different way of life."
Webb said although she doesn't have any daughters, she has a vested interest
in teaching girls the value of modest dress.
"I have five sons. It's important to me the type of women they are going
to be attracted to. They will be the mothers of my grandchildren."
… it does not tout itself as Catholic-run.
Webb decided to spearhead the fashion show after she received a call from friend
and Juno-nominated Catholic recording artist Janelle Reinhart. As the national
spokesperson, Reinhart composed the Pure Fashion theme song "It's a new
day." She sings it at fashion shows across North America.
Webb and the other organizers were impressed with the 200-person audience and
expressed interest in putting another show together next year.
Now that Pure Fashion is branded as its own organization, separate from Regnum
Christi, it has its own logo, posters and Website,
though it does not tout itself as Catholic-run.
"If we are going to address this worldwide problem of immodesty, then
we have to be inclusive," Sharman explained. "It's going to take all
of us uniting as Christians to fight this battle because Satan has been alive
and well in the fashion industry."
Originally published in the Catholic Register, May 7, 2006.
Used with permission. Copyright © 2006 Christianity.ca.
Copyright © 2003 The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, All Rights Reserved.
10. Historic Declaration On Marriage Signed By Over 40 Denominations And Faith Leaders - November 15, 2006
For immediate release from The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada - November 10, 2006
Ottawa - On November 9, Bruce J. Clemenger, president of The Evangelical
Fellowship of Canada, joined Most Rev. Marcel Gervais, Roman Catholic Archbishop
of Ottawa, Very Reverend John Jillions, Dean Annunciation Orthodox Cathedral
(Ottawa), Orthodox Church of America, and Rev. Ken Bellous, executive minister
of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, in an historic presentation
to MPs of a joint Declaration
on Marriage (French
version), signed by over 40 denominational and religious leaders.
"As different faith communities, we came together to present to Parliament
and society as a whole, our common view on marriage," said Clemenger. "The
Prime Minister, by promising to hold a vote to re-open the debate on marriage,
is giving Canadians an opportunity to have sober, second-thought on this issue.
As communities of faith, we would welcome an opportunity to participate in reasoned
and constructive public dialogue concerning the nature of marriage."
Gervais repeated what is essential for the participating faith
groups. "Our appeal is that law and public policy recognize the essential
and unique importance of marriage as the union of one man and one woman for
the security, nurturing and well-being of children. As religious leaders from
diverse faith communities, we find common ground in affirming that the best
interests of the child must prevail over adults' exercise of their liberty."
"This Declaration on Marriage is consistent with thousands of years of
reflection and practice," stated Bellous. "We seek justice for all
while valuing the importance of marriage."
The Declaration on Marriage is intended to give guidance to Parliamentarians
and to members of society as Canadians continue to debate this important issue.
The signatories represent a broad spectrum of the faith communities from across
Canada. And denominational and religious leaders are continuing to sign the
document (additional signatories will be available in the web version of this
release). "Today, several others have asked to be included," said
Clemenger. "I don't recall a time when such a broad spectrum of denominational
and religious leaders have signed a common declaration such as this. It is very
encouraging."
There are reports that the vote on the motion to reopen the marriage debate
could happen as early as December.
-30-
For more information contact:
Gail Reid
Director, Communications
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
905 479 5885 x 227
reidg@efc-canada.com
11. Lifeissues.net Newsletter #299 - November 17, 2006
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
It has often been said that the pro-life cause has suffered a political setback in the United States following the results of the mid-term elections for Congress. With the Democrats now in control of Congress and the Senate, it's going to be a rough ride indeed. Was the defeat a crushing blow to the pro-life movement with a tailspin of epic loses? Not really. It can be an uphill climb for pro-life advocacy but I'd like to think that the political thump is just a good opportunity for pro-life action and change.
Any significant change in building a culture of life must continue to grow despite socio-political stress and strains. We only need to re-examine our priorities and shift gears at suitable turns. If we look at Africa, Latin America and Asia where the well-oiled peddlers of death coercively dump their death wares and flex their formidable muscles to snuff life and break families, we will see the urgent need to put our hands together and foment change. Change begins by changing our mindsets on how we look at events and by creating strategic opportunities out of these to achieve our desired goals even beyond our territories. As Albert Einstein said about the splitting of the atom at the onset of the nuclear age, everything changed except the way we think. The fight for life cause thrives when creative thoughts are translated into measurable goals and quantifiable actions to make a difference.
God bless,
Marlon Castillo Ramirez
Assistant Editor
mcr4lifeissues@gmail.com
QUOTE: "When plunder and deception becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." - Frederic Bastiat, The Law
Lifeissues.net Newsletter #299 - November 17, 2006
Table Of Contents:
1. Surgeons Ready To Perform First Womb Transplant
2. Missouri Committee Blames Abortion For Need For Illegal Immigration
3. Doctor Ordered To Pay For Unwanted Baby
4. Right-To-Life Referendum Looms After Embryo Ruling
5. Wal-Mart Hits Teens With Gay Porn How-To Manual
6. Adult Stem Cells Offer Hope For Diabetes Treatment
7. Australian Senate Okays Embryo Cloning
8. Heavy Smoking Cuts Chances Of IVF Success
9. No One Chooses His Or Her Sex, Despite What Congress Says, Warns Spanish
Bishop
10. Church Believes In Cures That Don't Sacrifice Life
Focus: Asia
Seoul, South Korea: Hwang Woo-Suk, the South Korean scientist who claimed to
have cloned a human embryo and was dismissed from his university of his exaggerated
claims, is suing Seoul National University in a bid to be reinstated. His lawsuit
claims that his dismissal would deprive people of hope by ending Mr. Hwang's
research. View full article at TimesOnLine: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,200-2442231.html
Item #1. Surgeons Ready To Perform First Womb Transplant
Doctors are preparing to carry out what they hope will be the world's first
successful womb transplant. Giuseppe Del Priore, from Downtown Hospital in New
York, has been given permission to perform the procedure and claims to have
found a number of potential donors.
Last month Dr. Del Priore's team performed a successful womb transplant in
a rhesus monkey. The monkey was monitored for only 20 hours, and did not get
pregnant. However, its new uterus had a healthy blood supply and the drugs given
to prevent rejection by the animal's immune system appeared to work.
The first attempt to transplant a womb was made in Saudi Arabia in 2000 when
a 26-year-old woman received the womb of a woman 20 years older who had undergone
a hysterectomy. However, it had to be removed 99 days later because of clotting
in the connecting blood vessels.
If you want to see the full article, visit:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-2444965,00.html
Item #2. Missouri Committee Blames Abortion For
Need For Illegal Immigration
(LifeSiteNews.com) A Missouri state panel is under fire for issuing a report
that blames 33 years of legalized abortion for the United States increasing
dependence on illegal immigration. Missouri's House Special Committee on Immigration
Reform also credited "liberal social welfare policies" for discouraging
Americans from working jobs taken by illegal immigrants.
The report stated: "Suggestions for how to stop illegal hiring varied without any simple solution. The lack of traditional work ethic, combined with the effects of 30 years of abortion and expanding liberal social welfare policies have produced a shortage of workers and a lack of incentive for those who can work." The report then added, "Today's growing affinity for government dependency has created a class of potential employees who are not eager to work."
View full text at LifeSiteNews:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/nov/06111408.html
Item #3. Doctor Ordered To Pay For Unwanted Baby
A court ruling which ordered a gynecologist to pay child support for up to 18
years as compensation for botching a contraceptive implant was condemned by
the German media as scandalous on Wednesday.
The Karlsruhe-based federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the doctor must pay his former patient, now a mother of a three-year-old boy, 600 euros ($769) a month because she became pregnant after he implanted her with a contraceptive device. "A child as a case for damages - this perverse idea has now been confirmed by one of Germany's highest courts," conservative Die Welt daily newspaper wrote in an editorial on Wednesday.
The device is meant to protect against pregnancy for up to three years, but half a year after the operation, the implant could no longer be found in the woman's body, the court said.
While it should be welcomed that a doctor can now be held to account in the same way as a shoddy plumber, the newspaper said, how could a child whose parents had sought damages for its birth ever come to terms with the situation?
"In addition to the highly private inkling that he was not wanted by his parents, he now has official confirmation that he was born by mistake," Die Welt also said. The award covers the first years of the child's life and also subsequent costs to the age of 18.
The parents, who had known each other six months at the time of the conception, were no longer together, the court said, ruling that the father should also be compensated for the maintenance he was paying toward the child.
The ruling could spark a flood of similar claims against gynecologists, Stern magazine wrote on its Web site.
The full text of the story is available at:
http://today.reuters.com/news/ArticleNews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-11-15T140459Z_01_N15385573_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHILD-COMPENSATION.xml
Item #4. Right-To-Life Referendum Looms After Embryo
Ruling
The country could be plunged into another divisive right-to-life referendum
after a landmark High Court ruling found embryos not yet implanted in the womb
did not enjoy the constitutional protections afforded the unborn.
As a result of the ruling, a mother-of-two seeking to become pregnant with embryos created through IVF with her now estranged husband, has been refused her request to have the embryos implanted.
Mary Roche, aged 41, from Leopardstown, Co Dublin, had asked the High Court to rule that the embryos, currently in storage in an IVF clinic, had a right to life under the Constitution that took precedence over their father's right to refuse the pregnancy attempt.
The embryos are stuck in limbo and are likely to continue to be frozen indefinitely, as there is no law to say whether they can be destroyed, donated to a couple or used for research.
View full text at Irish Examiner:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=18399-qqqx=1.asp
Item #5. Wal-Mart Hits Teens With Gay Porn How-To
Manual
(LifeSiteNews.com) - A graphic
sex-ed manual promoting lesbianism to teenage girls is now offered for sale
by Wal-Mart Canada. Called "irresponsible and obscene" and by the
Institute for Canadian Values, the material contains explicit directions for
engaging in oral/anal sexual acts. The book encourages same-sex experimentation,
telling girls that only 10 percent of the population is actually heterosexual,
while 80 percent is "mixed" or bi-sexual.
Produced by St. Stephens' Community House in Toronto, the book titled "The Little Black Book for Girlz: A Book on Healthy Sexuality" caused a storm of controversy earlier this fall when parents and pro-family groups first became aware of the books' content after it was published in September.
The manual was further condemned for using obscene and derogatory language. Examples include a section entitled "My First Time F***ing a Girl" and the statement "If you need someone to represent God The Holiness, then for me, it's a fat black dyke."
The manual contains misleading and dangerous information on "safe" sex devises, assuring teenagers that condom use is 100 percent effective in preventing the transmission of disease. That statement contradicts the World Health Organization's recent admission that condom use fails to protect against HIV/AIDS transmission up to 20 percent of the time, crucial information missing from the manual.
View full text at Life Site News:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/nov/06111507.html
Item #6. Adult Stem Cells Offer Hope For Diabetes
Treatment
(LifeSiteNews.com) - Adult
stem cells may soon be used to treat human diabetes, after a study by U.S. researchers
showed the cells increased insulin production in mice with Type 2 diabetes,
and may also have aided in kidney repair.
Researchers at the Tulane University in New Orleans injected human stem cells,
taken from bone marrow samples obtained from adult donors, into diabetic mice
with high blood sugar levels and kidney damage.
Tests after three weeks showed the mice who received the human stem cells had
lowered blood sugar levels.
The researchers found that the stem cells had traveled to each mouse's pancreas and repaired insulin-producing tissues. The tissue produced mouse insulin, not human insulin, showing that the cells were highly adaptable to tissues in need of repair, Tulane University Magazine reported. As well, the mice also showed evidence of some kidney repair, indicating the stem cells were capable of repairing damaged kidney tissue.
'We are not certain whether the kidneys improved because the blood sugar was lower or because the human cells were helping to repair the kidneys,' Dr. Darwin Prockop lead author of the study and director of the Tulane Center for Gene Therapy, told BBC News.
See the full article at LifeSiteNews:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/nov/06111302.html
Item #7. Australian Senate Okays Embryo Cloning
Australia's Senate narrowly voted Tuesday to lift the country's ban on cloning human embryos for stem cell research.
The bill, which was approved 34-32, would relax rules on stem cell research
and allow therapeutic cloning of embryos for medical research. The House of
Representatives still needs to pass the bill before it becomes law, but lawmakers
had expected the Senate to pose the biggest hurdle.
Scientists hope stem cell research will eventually lead to treatments or cures
for diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, as well as spinal cord injuries,
diabetes and arthritis.
The emotional debate on the legislation introduced by a former health minister, Sen. Kay Patterson, began Monday. Opponents, including Health Minister Tony Abbott, warned that therapeutic cloning is open to abuse and could create animal-human hybrids.
Parliament passed Australia's first laws on stem cell research in 2002, allowing scientists to extract stem cells from spare embryos intended for in vitro fertilization but preventing them from using them for cloning.
Should the bill pass the House, all cloned embryos would have to be destroyed
within 14 days and could not be implanted in a woman. Last minute amendments
to the bill proposed by the Australian Democrats minor opposition party, increased
from 10 to 15 years the prison sentence for flouting safeguards designed to
prevent abuse of embryonic cloning. Another amendment prevented researchers
from getting licenses for creating human-animal hybrid embryos.
View full text at Sci-Tech Today:
http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=013000QGDEJD
Item #8. Heavy Smoking Cuts Chances Of IVF Success
(Reuters) - Heavy smokers are less likely to become pregnant through IVF treatment,
even with donated eggs, fertility experts said on Thursday. They found that
smoking more than 10 cigarettes a day makes the womb less receptive to the embryo
and reduces the odds that it will implant and result in a pregnancy.
Smoking has been known to affect a woman's fertility but Dr Sergio Soares, of the IVI Clinic in Lisbon and his team believes their findings are the first to show heavy smoking has an independent impact on the uterus.
"Cigarette smoking negatively affects pregnancy probability even when the eggs come from a non-smoker," he told Reuters. "This is the first time an effect of tobacco consumption has been demonstrated on the uterus." He added that even if fertilization takes place, heavy smokers have less chance of achieving a successful pregnancy.
View full article at Reuters:
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-11-09T011352Z_01_L08131552_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-SMOKING-DC.XML&WTmodLoc=SciHealth-C1-Headline-10
Item #9. No One Chooses His Or Her Sex, Despite
What Congress Says, Warns Spanish Bishop
Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Tarazona said this week persons do not determine
their own sex, despite what Congress says, because in the beginning, 'God created
man, male and female He created them.'
In a letter entitled, 'God Loves Homosexuals Too,' the bishop responded to a new law approved by the Justice Committee of the Spanish Congress, which would allow people to change their names or their sex on their national identity cards, without having undergone a surgical procedure or legal process.
Bishop Fernandez warned that the law 'is against the truth of man' and is of no help to persons with homosexual tendencies. In addition, he said, 'It sows confusion in the social environment in which we live.'
The bishop noted that God 'does not have contempt for any of his creatures' and He loves homosexuals 'because they are persons, created by God for his glory.'
'There are no first-class and second-class persons. Much less throwaway persons,' he stressed.
Bishop Fernandez also stressed that 'one does not choose one's sex, no matter what Congress says. Whatever a person's inclination may be, you should accept yourself as you are and live out your sexuality in a climate of chastity, which teaches you to love freely. Human sexuality is also damaged because of sin, and it must be redeemed through an ever-growing love, which all men can attain with the grace of God.'
View entire text at CNA News:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8047
Item #10. Church Believes In Cures That Don't Sacrifice
Life
There is a great deal of confusion in our society about stem-cell research.
An important distinction must be made about embryonic stem-cell research that
kills innocent human life and adult stem-cell research that doesn't.
The Catholic Church opposes embryonic stem-cell research but strongly supports adult stem-cell research. Opponents of the Church have branded us as being opposed to science and indifferent to those who suffer from illnesses. But we support ethically responsible scientific research and are very committed to searching for cures, as long as it doesn't kill human life.
This is indeed a pro-life issue. We believe that there are strong ethical issues involved here. Even a small embryo is a human being. We all started out as embryonic stem cells. To harvest embryonic stem cells' even to help human life' is wrong because it kills the embryo. It means in effect using tiny human body parts for scientific purposes.
The end does not justify the means.
View entire text at ABQJournal:
http://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/guest_columns/511607opinion11-12-06.htm
Action:
1. Pray that we all may have the courage to be God's presence in
society and support those who have been deemed "unworthy of life".
2. Stay informed at Lifeissues.net website: http://www.lifeissues.net.
3. Consider participating with a financial donation to help pay travel
expenses for Fr. Jerry's Speaking Tours to poorer countries in Asia.
(Purpose: Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia. Series of lectures on "The
Family at Crossroads: Trends and Challenges".) Remaining 2006
schedule: November - China; November - Hong Kong. Thanking you in advance for
your active participation and making this missionary project possible. Kindly
send donations directly to: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor;
Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072
4. All past issues of LifeIssues.net Newsletter available online. Click
here:
http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0.
(These newsletters are an extension of the Website.)
Contact Editor: Jerry Novotny, OMI; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406; E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net
Websites by Editor:
English site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html
12. Lifeissues.net Newsletter #300 - November 26, 2006
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
After four weeks, I returned to Japan from a three-week trip to China and one-week to Hong Kong. The Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia was both successful and a learning experience. In a country with a rich culture and history, the people are extremely kind and generous. Their hospitality stands second to no other country. The Chinese Catholic Communities are alive and their Faith is solid and strong. The government is placing emphasis on peace and harmony among all its people. The people believe this. Definitely problems still linger in certain areas, but in general, one can feel a change taking place. Let us join in their hopes and dreams with our prayers.
A spate of teen suicides in Japan has been blamed on bullying at school. Six young people in one week aged from 12 to 17 killed themselves by jumping from buildings or hanging themselves, and thousands of calls about bullying overloaded a children's helpline. An education researcher says schools need to relax curriculum demands and reduce class sizes to give quality attention to students. He said children have difficulty coping with others because they grow up without siblings or they rarely interact with neighbours. He put bullying down to the need to relieve stress. In recent months, there has also been a sharp increase in other countries.
France has the second highest birthrate in Europe. Part of this is due to their large Muslim population, but part may now be due to government incentives. The government gives medals for successful large families and higher benefits for three or more children. It gives a childcare allowance encouraging mothers to return to their careers after having children. Its birthrate is 1.9 per women, exceeded in Western Europe only by Ireland at 2.0. (The US is 2.1). France now has graduated its income tax rate, so that more children means less tax for parents. The government also pays a monthly allowance of $314.00 for families with three children. They get a "large family card", which gives a thirty percent reduction in train fare and half for riding the metro. It also gives free entrance to swimming pools and other venues as well as certain other benefits. These benefits are certainly the most generous of any nation that we know of and may well be a factor in the up-tick in births.
God Bless, Jerry Novotny, OMI
P.S. Today we publish our 300th LifeIssues.net Newsletter via email. During this Thanksgiving Season, we join with you in giving thanks to God and His Blessed Mother for their Guidance and Love as we continue with our struggle for the "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia" and for the "Culture of Life" throughout the world, which our Holy Father so strongly endorses. Many thanks for your continued prayers and support.
(A Quote) Euthanasia. CEI: Life Cannot Be Destroyed Nor Rejected - (AGI) - Vatican City, Nov.21 - "It is impossible not to love life, it's the first and most precious gift for every human being. Life stems from love, and all it wants is love. That's why it finds its real meaning in love. It can never be rejected, nor destroyed," reports the CEI message for the 29th Day of Life, to be celebrated on 4 Feb 2007.
Lifeissues.net Newsletter #300 - November 26, 2006
(Table Of Contents):
1. Doctor To Pay For Unwanted Baby
2. South Africa Becomes 'Sodom And Gomorrah'
3. Frozen Embryos Have No Right To Life: Irish Court
4. Nicaragua's Abortion Dilemma
5. China's HIV/Aids Cases Jump 30%
6. S. Korean Population Set To Dwindle From 2020
7. More Longtime Couples In France Prefer L'Amour Without Marriage
8. Polygamists Fight To Be Seen As Part Of Mainstream Society
9. 37 Percent Of U.S. Births Out Of Wedlock
10. Deadly Toll Of Botched Abortions
11. What An Interesting Month November Has Been In The United Kingdom.
12. Italian Bishops: "Nothing Is More Inhuman Than Eugenic Selection"
Focus On Asia: [Developing world's population is younger] The population
of the developing world is younger and growing faster than more developed countries,
and many of their economies are now among the fastest growing. "Emerging
economies with young and rapidly growing populations are typically expected
to have more investment opportunities than domestic saving can finance, while
mature developed economies with older, aging populations might be expected to
have the reverse."
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8LFCP5O0.htm
Item #1. Doctor To Pay For Unwanted Baby
A doctor who carried out a failed contraceptive operation has been ordered by
a German court to pay financial support for the child.
View full text at BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6155200.stm
Item #2. South Africa Becomes 'Sodom And Gomorrah'
Despite pleas the country would become the "Sodom and Gomorrah of Africa,"
South Africa has become the first nation on its continent to legalize homosexual
unions.
Within hours of the Parliament's passage of a same-sex-union statute, citizens protested the move was "against African culture."
View full text at WorldNetDaily.com: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52980
Item #3. Frozen Embryos Have No Right To Life:
Irish Court
A woman lost her fight to have a child without the consent of her estranged
husband on Wednesday when an Irish judge ruled frozen embryos did not enjoy
the same constitutional right to life as those carried in the womb.
Justice Brian McGovern said most agreed frozen embryos resulting from infertility treatment deserved special respect but ruled "the right to life of the unborn" in the Irish constitution did not extend to them.
"I have come to the conclusion that the three frozen embryos are not 'unborn'," the judge said in a landmark High Court ruling complicated by the fact that existing legislation does not define "unborn."
View full text at Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061115/sc_nm/ireland_embryos_dc_3
Item #4. Nicaragua's Abortion Dilemma
In the yellow-walled church of San Francisco in central Managua, the capital
of Nicaragua, there is moral clarity. Abortion is wrong. No ifs, no buts, no
clouded judgement.
It is just one of the Catholic churches here that serves 70% of a population that looks to Rome for its religious guidance and spiritual nourishment. "Abortion is the murder of an unborn child," says Father Ronaldo Alvarez, the priest here, who speaks for the church on this matter. "Just because you can't see the baby, doesn't mean it has no rights."
View full text at BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6162670.stm
Item #5. China's HIV/Aids Cases Jump 30%
More than 180,000 people are now confirmed to have the infection, a rise of
nearly 40,000 cases in a year. Authorities say the increase is partly due to
better testing and reporting of cases, as the government has made tackling the
disease a priority. The figure is below China's estimate that total infections,
including unreported cases, have reached 650,000.
Health officials also warned that HIV/Aids appears to be spreading from high-risk groups to the general public. A total of 183,733 cases have been reported so far this year, up from 144,089 last year, according to health ministry figures. The ministry has attributed 37% of the reported cases to drug abuse, and 28% to unsafe sex.
View full text at BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6171630.stm
Item #6. S. Korean Population Set To Dwindle From
2020
South Korea's population is forecast to decline beginning in 2020 due to its
low fertility rate, the country's statistics office said Tuesday.
Korea's rapidly aging society will see citizens over the age of 60 account for more than 14 percent of the population, known as an aged society, by 2018, reported the National Statistical Office.
The report showed that the country's population will start to decrease from 2020 after peaking at 49.34 million in 2018. The country's populace currently stands at 48.12 million.
See the full article at Yonhap News:
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20061121/640000000020061121120055E3.html
Item #7. More Longtime Couples In France Prefer
L'Amour Without Marriage
In France, the country that evokes more images of romance than perhaps any other,
marriage has increasingly fallen out of favor. Growing numbers of couples are
choosing to raise children, buy homes and build family lives without religious
or civil approval of their partnerships. In the past generation, the French
marriage rate has plunged more than 30 percent, even as population and birthrates
have been rising.
"Marriage doesn't have the same importance as it used to," said France Prioux, who directs research on changing social trends for France's National Institute of Demographic Studies. "It will never become as frequent as it once was."
Marriage is in decline across much of northern Europe, from Scandinavia to France, a pattern some sociologists describe as a "soft revolution" in European society -- a generational shift away from Old World traditions and institutions toward a greater emphasis on personal independence.
View full article at Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/20/AR2006112001272_pf.html
Item #8. Polygamists Fight To Be Seen As Part Of
Mainstream Society
In her battle to legalize polygamy, the only thing Valerie hasn't revealed is
her last name. The mother of eight has been on national TV; her photo along
with that of her two "sister-wives" has graced the front cover of
a glossy magazine dedicated to "today's plural marriages."...
Valerie and others among the estimated 40,000 men, women and children in polygamous communities are part of a new movement to decriminalize bigamy. Consciously taking tactics from the gay-rights movement, polygamists have reframed their struggle, choosing in interviews to de-emphasize their religious beliefs and focus on their desire to live "in freedom," according to Anne Wilde, director of community relations for Principle Voices, a pro-polygamy group based in Salt Lake.
View full article at Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/21/AR2006112100206_pf.html
Item #9. 37 Percent Of U.S. Births Out Of Wedlock
Out-of-wedlock births in the United States have climbed to an all-time high,
accounting for nearly four in 10 babies born last year, government health officials
said Tuesday. While out-of-wedlock births have long been associated with teen
mothers, the teen birth rate actually dropped last year to the lowest level
on record. Instead, births among unwed mothers rose most dramatically among
women in their 20s.
Experts said the overall rise reflects the burgeoning number of people who are putting off marriage or living together without getting married. They said it also reflects the fact that having a child out of wedlock is more acceptable nowadays and not necessarily the source of shame it once was. The increase in births to unwed mothers was seen in all racial groups, but rose most sharply among Hispanics. It was up among all age groups except youngsters ages 10 to 17.
"A lot of people think of teenagers and unmarried mothers synonymously, but they are not driving this," said Stephanie Ventura of the National Center for Health Statistics, a co-author of the report.
View entire text at Breitbart.com: http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/21/D8LHN3280.html
Item #10. Deadly Toll Of Botched Abortions
(SPUC) - An American study on unsafe abortion has used flawed data to promote
abortion in developing countries, according to the Society for the Protection
of Unborn Children (SPUC). A team of researchers from the Guttmacher Institute
in New York, led by Dr Shusheela Singh, has claimed that unsafe abortions in
the developing world cause the deaths of 68,000 women a year. [BBC News, 24
November] Paul Tully, SPUC general secretary, commented: "The author of
this story works for one of the most wealthy and politically powerful pro-abortion
lobby groups in the world, the Wall Street-based Guttmacher Institute. The "research"
was funded by the Hewlett Foundation, a notoriously pro-abortion body. Reports
of the study claim that Dr Singh found out about the rate of admission to hospital
following complications from unsafe abortion. This is not what she did. Dr Singh's
"findings" were not factual data established by research, but guesses
extrapolated from estimates. The burden of the study is clearly to promote the
killing of more unborn babies in poorer countries, regardless of the fact that
women do not want abortions." [SPUC, 23 November]
Read related BBC News / Health: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/health/6176756.stm
Go to SPUC Website: http://www.spuc.org.uk/
Item #11. What An Interesting Month November Has
Been In The United Kingdom.
On the 5th, the London Times Online reported that the Royal College of Obstetricians
and Gynaecology called on the health profession to consider permitting the euthanasia
of seriously disabled newborn babies.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2437921,00.html
On the 16th, the same paper reported that the Nuffield Council on Bioethics
made the recommendation that prematurely born infants should also be mistreated
to death.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8122-2455909.html
On the 17th, This Is London reported that doctors could face time in the slammer
for "denying the right to die". Still no word on prosecuting doctors
who deliberately withhold needed and customary care from patients, of course.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23374924-details/Doctors+face+prison+for+denying+right+to+die/article.do
On the 19th, the London Times Online posted a 3-page report of a man named
Dave Richards who took his own life in Zurich's Dignitas Clinic. The article
states that Britain should allow PAS because it could help such patients live
longer (if they knew they could die anytime at home). What?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2460102,00.html
If none of this is enough to get your hair standing on end, the Sunday Herald
has posted an editorial from Richard Dawkins, titled "Eugenics may not
be bad" wherein he suggests that Hitler's been dead long enough for us
to comfortably debate the morals of breeding out the bad seeds.
http://www.sundayherald.com/59116
People used to tell me I was paranoid about the slippery slope. These days - not so much. - Pamela
Item #12. Italian Bishops: "Nothing Is More
Inhuman Than Eugenic Selection"
By Hilary White
ROME, November 23, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In one of the strongest anti-eugenics statements from the Catholic Church since the end of the Second World War, the Catholic bishops' conference of Italy has prepared a document for the 29th Day of Life that identifies euthanasia as part of a resurgence of that discredited philosophy. Titled "Life to be Desired and Loved" the document was prepared for the first Sunday of February 2007.
The bishops' statement warns against the "diabolic deceit" that attempts
to legitimize euthanasia, "masking it with a veil of human mercy."
The bishops speak of the resurgence of eugenics that is becoming more and more
invoked as a solution to suffering, and in some places actually practiced.
The one who loves life, they said, "does not remove it but donates it,
does not take control of it but puts it to service of the others." To love
life "means also not to deny it to some, not even to the smallest and most
defenseless newborn, much less when it suffers a serious disability."
The purpose of human life is to love and be loved, and euthanasia, abortion
and genetic manipulation are opposed to that purpose: "From love, life
gushes and life wishes and asks love. For this, human life can and must be donated,
for love, and in this gift it finds the fullness of its meaning; it never can
be despised and much less destroyed."
"The plague" of abortion, the attempt to legitimize euthanasia and
the consequent degradation of human life is a concern for "all men of good
will," said the bishops. Referring to embryonic research and cloning, the
bishops state that human life cannot be used at its earliest stage as a means
to cure illness.
At a time when some European nations are considering installing and expanding
legal euthanasia for disabled children and even infants, the Italian bishops
write that the "unborn child, even the child with serious a disability"
is to be treasured and protected as a gift from God. They caution that the currently
popular philosophies that reduce human life to a thing subject to ownership
will end as they have in the past, with "massacres and homicide."
The inviolability of life, the bishops say, is a natural instinct and constitutes
the "irrenounceable principle" and foundation of justice, equality
and peace. Human life, the bishops say "originates from an act of love
on the part of the One… Life must be loved with courage, not only
respected, (but) protected, celebrated, cared for, educated."
The bishops confront the reality of human suffering and assert that life, not
death supplies the answer. "There is the time of the joy and the time of
suffering, the time of gratification and the time of disappointment…
sometimes hard work, illness and solitude can feel to us like a weight."
Instead of meting out death as a solution, the bishops say, mankind should "fight
pain, suffering and degradation - the enemy of life - with all his talent and
the contribution of science."
Life is not a thing subject to ownership. "True love for life," they
tell Italians, not false egotism and individualism, "is incompatible with
the idea of indiscriminate possession that induces us to think that it is 'mine';
'mine' in the sense of the absolute property, the will, the manipulation."
"Rather than the absolute owners, we are its faithful and passionate guardians".
We can never say life is 'ours'."
See the full message in Italian: http://www.fides.org/ita/documents/messaggio_giornata_vita_2...
Action:
1. Pray that we all may have the courage to be God's presence in society and
support those who have been deemed "unworthy of life".
2. Stay informed at Lifeissues.net website: http://www.lifeissues.net.
3. Consider participating with a financial donation to help pay travel expenses
for Fr. Jerry's Speaking Tours to poorer countries in Asia. (Purpose: Journey
for Life into the Heart of Asia. A series of lectures on "Pro Life Issues"
and "The Family at Crossroads: Trends and Challenges".) Your help
made it possible in 2006 to visit the poorer areas of Sri Lanka (twice), Philippines
(twice), Thailand, China (twice) and the Migrant workers in Hong Kong. The Culture
of Life message has reached many. Thank you very much and be assured of our
love and prayers.
Now we start preparing for 2007. Thanking you in advance for your active participation
and making this missionary project possible. Kindly send donations directly
to: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi
City, Japan; 780-8072
4. All past issues of LifeIssues.net Newsletter available online. Click here:
http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0.
(These newsletters are an extension of the Website.)
Contact Editor: Jerry Novotny, OMI; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan; 780-8072; Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406; E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net
Websites by Editor:
English site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html
13. Lifeissues.net Newsletter #301 - December 3, 2006
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.lifeissues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all the blessings God has given us. Our thoughts and prayers are with you as 2006 draws to a close. May each day be filled with reminders of God's blessings to you, your family and your society!
According to Joseph A. D'Agostino of the Population Research Institute (PRI), the proportion of Canadians aged 65 or over will go from 13% today to 25% by 2040. He said that, while the United States' birth-rate is 2.0 and slightly below replacement level, yet is enough to cause massive aging and financial problems, "Canada's birth-rate is a fatal 25% less, at 1.5". 2.1 children per family is necessary for population replacement. Canadians are fading out, he said. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's conservative government is considering small measures to increase Canada's birth rate, measures that are almost certain to be too little, too late. Even the United Nations' overly optimistic projections say that the proportion of Canadians 65 or over will go from 13% today to 25% by 2040, and continue to rise from there. Those between 15 and 24 will drop from 13.5% to 11%. Who will support all these elderly Canadians, asked D'Agostino. In addition, Canada's birth rate continues to drop, he pointed out. "It could easily reach 1.0 in a decade." It declined by 25% between 1992 and 2002, and its current stabilized situation is unlikely to last given underlying cultural trends, he argued.
Have a blessed weekend.
Jerry Novotny, OMI
(A Quote) "The first law of history is not to dare to utter falsehood;
the second, not to fear to speak the truth." -
Pope Leo XIII
Lifeissues.net Newsletter #301 - December 3, 2006
Table Of Contents:
1. Ageing
2. Australia Catholic Church Restates Opposition to Human Cloning Bill
3. University of Minnesota Researchers Making Strides in Non-Embryonic Stem
Cell Technology
4. Renewed push for voluntary euthanasia law
5. Raising Children of Character: 10 Principles
6. Arab Clergy Tackle an AIDS Taboo
7. Catholic bishops release 'gay'-ministry guidelines
8. British council rejects 'active euthanasia' for newborns
9. Abortion Drug RU 486 Wouldn't Help Most Women With Breast Cancer
10. European Union Finalizes Budget on Embryonic Stem Cell Research
11. UNFPA Convened Meeting Gets 180 Parliamentarians to Endorse Abortion
12. Abortion Movement's New Antagonist: The Post-Abortive Woman
New Website: House of Esau Ministries. House of Esau is a place were men can confidentially allow their pain to be acknowledged, affirmed and expressed, and their souls to be healed from the tragedy of abortion. http://www.silverlion.org/esau.html
Focus On Asia: Poor Pakistanis Donate Kidneys for Money
["I cannot work like I did before. I cannot walk. I cannot run. I did this for my father but destroyed myself."] Nassem Kausar has done it. So, she says, have her sister, six brothers, five sisters-in-law and two nephews. Each has sold a kidney to a trade that has led Pakistan's media to dub the country a "kidney bazaar." "We do this because of our poverty," said Kausar, who is in her 30s and lives with her family in Sultanpur Mor, a village in eastern Pakistan. A kidney nets the donor $2,500, sometimes less than half that amount, while recipients - some 2,000 a year - pay $6,000 to $12,000, compared with $70,000 in neighboring China.
Item #1. Ageing
Finland and Japan do not seem to have much in common, except that they are two
of the oldest societies in the world (with Italy). Also with China they are
ageing faster than all other countries.
As standards of health and hygiene improved many people were living longer. This is a blessing and in 1864 France was the first country where 7% of its people survived until 65. The percentage rise in elderly people increases of course when fewer babies are being born.
Today eight major countries are "aged" societies with 14% of the population over 65 years of age and next year Japan will become the first "super-aged" society with 21% over 65, to be followed by Italy in 2010 and Finland in 2017.
View full text at Archbishop of Sydney:
http://www.sydney.catholic.org.au/Archbishop/STC/2006/2006115_1494.shtml
Item #2. Australia Catholic Church Restates Opposition
To Human Cloning Bill
As the lower chamber of the Australia parliament prepares for a vote on a bill
to allow some forms of human cloning, the Catholic Church there is restating
its opposition to human cloning and hoping to persuade lawmakers to vote against
it.
View full text at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/bio1884.html
Item #3. University Of Minnesota Researchers Making
Strides In Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Technology
Although federally-funded embryonic stem cell research remains mostly off-limits,
University scientists are making advances studying other types of stem cells.
View full text at The Minnesota Daily: http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/11/14/69879
Item #4. Renewed Push For Voluntary Euthanasia
Law
A Sixth attempt will be made to introduce voluntary euthanasia legislation in
South Australia, with independent MP Bob Such finalizing a Bill to go before
state parliament.
View full text at Herald Sun: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20756576-5005961,00.html
Item #5. Raising Children Of Character: 10 Principles
Parenting is arguably the hardest job there is and the one for which we get
no training. Here are ten principles of parenting that can guide us in the demanding
work of raising children of character.
View full text at CERC: http://catholiceducation.org/articles/parenting/pa0117.htm
Item #6. Arab Clergy Tackle An AIDS Taboo
With infection growth rates second only to Eastern Europe, the pandemic poses
a mortal threat in the Arab world. But an effective response seems years away.
See the full article at Time CNN: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1559788,00.html
Item #7. Catholic Bishops Release 'Gay'-Ministry
Guidelines
Homosexual inclination 'objectively disordered,' acts 'objectively sinful'.
View full article at WorldNetDaily.com: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53000
Item #8. British Council Rejects 'Active Euthanasia'
For Newborns
A British bioethics council rejected a suggestion for "active euthanasia"
of severely disabled infants but recommended babies born before 22 weeks into
pregnancy not be treated.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics issued its report Nov. 15 after a request by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists produced worldwide anticipation. The ob-gyn group urged the Nuffield council "to think more radically about non-resuscitation, withdrawal of treatment decisions, the best-interests test and active euthanasia." As a result, the bioethics council agreed to include euthanasia of "extremely premature and seriously ill babies" in its consultation.
The Nuffield council rejected "active euthanasia," saying it, "concluded the active ending of life of newborn babies should not be allowed, no matter how serious their condition. The professional obligation of doctors is to preserve life where they can. If doctors were to be permitted actively to end the lives of seriously ill newborn babies, there is a risk that the relationship between parents and doctors would be negatively affected."
The council, however, established week-by-week recommendations for care of early born babies:
View full article at Christian Examiner:
http://www.christianexaminer.com/Articles/Articles%20Dec06/Art_Dec06_07.html
Item #9. Abortion Drug RU 486 Wouldn't Help Most
Women With Breast Cancer
Scientists released a new study Thursday showing the RU 486 abortion drug as
able to treat mice with the gene that causes breast cancer. Though the drug
helped block the breast cancer gene, 90 to 95 percent of women contracting breast
cancer won't get it from the gene and are still susceptible to the abortion-breast
cancer link.
View entire text at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/nat2792.html
Item #10. European Union Finalizes Budget On Embryonic
Stem Cell Research
The parliament of the European Union has finalized its research and development
budget, which will cover the next seven years. The budget contains a compromise
that would make sure the EU does not directly pay for embryonic stem cell research
but allows nations to fund it with their own money.
During the budget debate, a coalition of nations, led by Germany, had been working to block any funding for embryonic stem cell research and appeared likely to win a narrow vote.
However, Finland, which holds the EU presidency this year, proposed the compromise and Slovenia, one of the members of the German coalition, reversed its position and supported it. With the Slovenia position change, Germany announced it would back the compromise, provided that EU money not directly fund the destruction of human life.
View full text at LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/bio1893.html
Item #11. UNFPA Convened Meeting Gets 180 Parliamentarians
To Endorse Abortion
Approve "the promotion and protection of sexual and reproductive health
and rights", "unsafe abortion" and "safe motherhood"
Read full article at LifeSite.net: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/nov/06113004.html
Item #12. Abortion Movement's New Antagonist: The
Post-Abortive Woman
The landscape confronting the abortion movement has changed significantly. The
abortion movement has a hidden self-destruct mechanism. Having worked strenuously
to sustain itself as "the women's movement," they now face a problem
that originates with, well, women themselves.
Look at the data: abortion in America is on the decline. After Roe v. Wade, abortions remained consistently high at more than 1.55 million abortions annually throughout the 1980s. But after hitting a high of 1.6 million in 1990, the trend declined throughout the 1990s, reaching a new low of 1.3 million in 2000.
What's going on?
See the full article at Human Events: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18198
Action:
1. Pray that we all may have the courage to be God's presence in society and
support those who have been deemed "unworthy of life".
2. Stay informed at Lifeissues.net website: http://www.lifeissues.net.
3. Past issues of LifeIssues.net Newsletter available
online.
http://lifeissues.net/newsletters/mojo.cgi?flavor=archive&list=lifenews&start=0.
4. Consider participating with a financial donation
to help pay travel expenses for Fr. Jerry's Speaking Tours to poorer countries
in Asia. Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia is a series of lectures on
"The Family at Crossroads: Trends and Challenges" and "Current
Pro Life Issues".
Your help made it possible in 2006 to visit the poorer areas of Sri Lanka (twice),
Philippines (twice), Thailand, China (twice) and the Migrant workers in Hong
Kong. The Culture of Life message has reached many. Thank you very much and
be assured of our love and prayers.
Now we are starting to prepare for 2007. For those who wish to participate during
the Christmas Season and support this missionary project into next year, kindly
send your donations directly to: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor;
Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan; 780-8072 (or transfer donation directly
to ProLife bank account: Jerome Novotny, Shikoku Bank Asakura Branch, No. 102-1-0080824)
Contact Editor: Jerry Novotny, OMI; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan; 780-8072; Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406; E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net
Websites by Editor:
English site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html
14. Motion To Amend CUSA Constitution To Make It "Pro-Choice" Body - November 24, 2006
From - Sean Murphy, 7120 Tofino Street, Powell River, British Columbia,
The Carleton University Student Association Council will vote on a motion to amend the discrimination section of the CUSA Constitution to make it a "pro-choice" (i.e., pro-abortion) body. The amendment would make it impossible for ANY group that is not "pro-choice" (i.e., pro-abortion) to obtain club status or funding. They will have a special process to identify which groups are "anti-choice".
Those who believe that universities ought to model respect for tolerance, freedom of association, freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of religion should express their opposition to the proposed amendment by contacting the following persons.
Note: In the case of the university administration and board of governors, faxes may prove to be most effective.
Carleton University Students Association: http://www.cusaonline.com/
Phone: (613) 520-6688 / Fax: (613) 520-3704
Executive Coordinator - James Pratt exc@cusaonline.com
Phone: (613) 520-3999
President - Shawn Menard pres@cusaonline.com
Phone: (613) 520-2600 ext.1603
VP Finance - Shelley Melanson vpf@cusaonline.com
Phone: (613) 520-2600 ext.1604
VP Internal Affairs - Lyndon George vpi@cusaonline.com
Phone: (613) 520-2600 ext.1610
VP External Affairs - Blake Brooks vpx@cusaonline.com
Phone: (613) 520-2600 ext.1617
VP Student Issues - Isaac Cockburn vpsi@cusaonline.com
Phone: (613) 520-2600 ext.1607
VP Student Services - Katy McIntyre vpss@cusaonline.com
Phone: (613) 520-2600 ext.1606 - Originator of the
motion to force all clubs to be 'pro-choice'
Clubs & Societies clubs@cusaonline.com
Phone: (613) 520-2600 ext.1753 / Fax: (613) 520-3704
Carleton University Administration
President & Vice-Chancellor: Dr. Samy Mahmoud presidents_office@carleton.ca/
Phone: (613) 520-3801 / Fax: (613) 520-4474
Vice-President, Acting Provost and Vice-President (Academic) - Dr. Feridun
Hamdullpur, provost@carleton.ca
Tel: (613) 520-3806 Fax (613) 520-2536
Vice-President, Finance & Administration - Duncan Watt c/o b_wells@carleton.ca
Phone: (613) 520-3804 Fax: (613) 520-7870
Carleton University Board of Governors
Board of Governors: governors@carleton.ca
Phone: (613) 520-3811 / Fax: (613) 520-3731
15. Pilgrimage - Departing In May 2007 - Posted November 6, 2006
Sponsored by CLC NS.
Departing May 6th, 2007 (7 days)
Motor coach transportation (Air Conditioned). Accommodations for 6 nights, 1
dinner, 6 breakfasts and portage - Travel Insurance Available.
Triple Occupancy $529.00 / person
Twin Occupancy $629.00 / person
Single Occupancy $829.00 / person
All Taxes included.
May 6
Leave NS for Edmundston, NB with stay at the Days Inn. Lunch enroute not included.
May 7
Breakfast included. Travel to Quebec City and Beaupré. Stop at Albert
Gilles Copper Art Museum allow yourself to be seduced by "The Life of Christ"
in 50 hand wrought silver panels (15 years of labour). Check into the Basilica
Inn. Time for prayer and tour sanctuary and attend mass.
May 8
Breakfast included. Travel to Trois-Rivières, and overnight at the Madonna
Inn. Evening dinner and breakfast at the Inn are included. Evening Mass and
weather permitting, participate at the candlelight procession and the
Way of the Cross.
May 9
Morning mass. After included breakfast motor to Ottawa. Afternoon arrival at
Welome Inn. 7:30 pm Pro-life Mass at St. Theresa's followed by a Candlelight
Vigil at 9PM.
May 10
Breakfast included. Meet at Notre Dame Cathedral for 10 am Mass. Gather on Parliament
Hill for 10th Annual March for Life, which begins at 1:30 pm. Silent No More
presentation at 2:45 pm. There is a cocktail and Rose Dinner Banquet at Ottawa
congress Hall at 6 pm. Tickets are not included in package and will have to
be ordered separately. Time permitting either today or on Friday a visit to
Sts. Peter and St. Paul Melkite Church.
May 11
After breakfast included. depart for Montreal, Quebec City and with a late afternoon
arrival at Edmundston, NB at Days Inn.
May 12
Depart to NS after included breakfast. Expect late afternoon arrival in Halifax.
Contact for information and reservations, contact Herm at 1 902 864 1464 or Evangeline Tours PO Box 1149, Middleton, NS B0S 1P0 Don Kelly at Tel. 1-902-825-4506 Toll Free 1 -866-765-2725.
http://www.clcns.com/ or http://www.evangelinechartertours.com/
16. Repeat Abortions In The US On The Rise, Now Half Of All Abortions - November 23, 2006
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 22, 2006
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) - Repeat abortions used to account for about 40 percent of all abortions in the United States, but a new study from the Alan Guttmacher Institute shows that figure is on the rise.
Now, about half of every abortion done annually is an abortion done on a woman who has had at least one previous abortion. The study from AGI, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business, examined the abortions done on women in 2002.
AGI said the typical profile of a woman having a repeat abortion is
someone over the age of 30 who already has children and was using contraception
at the time of the pregnancy.
Women seeking repeat abortions were also mostly lower-income women and 60 percent already had at least one child.
The research group relied on different surveys from both government and private groups to compile its research report and it indicated that one government survey of abortions from 2001-2002 showed 48 percent of women having repeat abortions.
Rachel Jones, a senior research associate on the study, told Reuters
that the AGI survey "suggests that we need to do a better job helping all
women better prevent unwanted pregnancies, so they can avoid having to decide
whether to seek abortions or raise children they are not prepared for."
The survey also showed that one in three women had given birth to a baby in an unplanned pregnancy and 10 percent of all women had more than one unintended birth.
Sharon Camp, the president and CEO of AGI, told Reuters, that the
solution to the repeat abortion problem was more abortions.
Camp urged promoting abortion businesses so abortion practitioners could tell women about contraception use after they have an abortion - even thought most women having repeat abortions were using contraception at the time.
She also claimed the Bush administration's "wall of separation" between family planning clinics and abortion centers led to more abortions.
Printed from: http://www.lifenews.com/nat2778.html
17. Restore Marriage Canada - December 2, 2006
Urgent
Please Help!
Crucial Vote on Restoring Marriage!
Dear Friend of Marriage,
Wednesday, December 6th will see our Members of Parliament debating and voting on whether to revisit the marriage issue. This vote simply asks whether the House at some future time would be willing to reconsider the vote last year that legalized same-sex marriage in Canada.
This bill will not actually repeal same-sex marriage but merely study whether to consider doing that in the future. Passing this bill will allow Parliament to carefully and thoroughly consider the implications of so radically redefining marriage as we have done. This effort to thoroughly evaluate this action is essential because the previous Liberal Government did everything it could to prevent such a careful and thorough analysis and debate on the true implications of legalizing same-sex marriage before Parliament voted to do so last year.
Here is what we urge you to do as soon as possible.
Contact your MP immediately and urge them to support this bill. If you need contact information for your MP, you can find it through the Library of Parliament.
Calls to their offices in Ottawa are the best, but e-mails and faxes are also effective. There is probably not enough time for letters to be effective before the vote. Remember that you can call on weekends and after regular business hours to leave a recorded message. When you call, fax or e-mail be sure and give your address so that they will know you are a constituent.
We suggest that you convey a very simple message: That marriage is so
essential that we should not radically change or tamper with it unless we have
thoroughly considered all the impacts. You should add that this was not done
before same-sex marriage was legalized and voting for this bill will permit
the House to do that.
If your MP is one of the opposition, you should also contact the leader of that party requesting that a free vote be allowed and encouraged.
Help spread the word by forwarding this on to everyone you can who would also contact their MP.
I know that you understand that throughout human history, marriage between a man and a woman has been the essential foundation of every successful society. None of these societies has ever done what we have now done in Canada by radically redefining and devaluing this fundamental social institution by allowing two people of the same sex to marry. In fact, many nations have chosen not to change the definition of marriage.
It is hard for me to understand why any MP concerned about our future would not be willing to at least permit this kind of analysis before tampering with such a fundamentally important institution as traditional marriage. The three Liberal leadership hopefuls have all stated that they would force a vote against reopening the issue, thus robbing us of true democracy. Gilles Duceppe had announced publicly that he would allow BLOC MPs to vote freely on conscience issues, and yet is enforcing a block vote against re-opening the marriage issue. Jack Layton, leader of the NDP, is also forcing a block vote against reopening the issue.
Our combined voices will bring about change.
If enough constituents contact their MPs, then we have a chance to restore marriage in Canada.
This will be one of the most critical votes in our history because restoring traditional marriage is essential to preserving our future as a society and a nation.
Please do whatever you can to help!
Sincerely,
The Hon. Dr. Grant Hill, P.C.
Coordinator, Restore Marriage Project
Please forward this on to others!
To subscribe to this e-newsletter, click here
18. Wal-Mart Will Not Make Corp. Contributions To Support Or Oppose Controversial Issues - November 21, 2006
Please help us get this information into the hands
of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire email list of
family and friends.
Wal-Mart Says It Will Not Make Corporate Contributions To Support Or Oppose
Controversial Issues
Send Wal-Mart a "Thank you" for its statement.
Dear Ellen,
You have made a difference! Wal-Mart has announced they "will no longer make corporate contributions to support or oppose controversial issues unless they directly relate to their ability to serve their customers." AFA is pleased with this announcement.
Wal-Mart made the announcement Tuesday afternoon.
In response to Wal-Mart's statement, AFA has decided to cancel its efforts of encouraging people to not shop at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club this Friday and Saturday.
We believe that Wal-Mart will remain neutral in cultural battles.
Click here
to see the Wal-Mart announcement.
Take Action
Please take a moment to send Wal-Mart a "Thank You" email for its
policy statement.
If you think our efforts are worthy, would
you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough
to get involved.
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
P.S. Please forward this e-mail message to your family and friends!
19. We Are Making Progress In Restoring Marriage In Canada!
- October 16, 2006
It Is Still An Uphill Fight, But We Are Making Progress In Restoring Marriage In Canada!
Everyone Can Help!
Dear Defender of Marriage,
The showdown over whether to re-open the decision to legalize same-sex marriage in Canada and this time to fully and fairly consider its consequences for our future is still on track for a vote in Parliament before Christmas.
At this time, while it still appears that as of now the vote would fall short of a majority, there are some encouraging signs that the momentum may be shifting in our direction. That difference is the broader emphasis on the rights of children that was almost totally ignored in the debate when Bill C-38 passed. The media are beginning to pick up on this and more and more Canadians are thinking about the consequences of what we have done.
We Canadians rightly pride ourselves on our concern for individual rights and for our dedication to tolerance. The Liberal Government played upon this aspect of our national character by framing the debate over legalizing same-sex marriage as exclusively an adult right, something that if we did not grant to homosexuals violated their rights and condoned intolerance.
The Liberals ignored, suppressed or belittled any debate about the impact on children and the larger interests of society from legally eliminating any recognition of the importance to a child's development of being raised by both a father and a mother if at all possible. Their position is that "parents" are interchangeable and their sex does not matter, even though the overwhelming evidence from the social sciences shows that it is indeed critical.
It may be that I have a better appreciation of this debate because I am a practicing physician and have also served in Parliament. I see everyday that men and women are different in profoundly important ways. They react differently, their brains are wired differently: they are different psychologically and physiologically as well as physically.
It stands to reason then, that a child raised by a man and a woman is going to develop differently than one raised by either a single or by two "parents" of the same sex. And the evidence is clear and uncontestable that children raised by their married biological parents do the best by far on any measure of wellbeing compared to any other parenting situation.
Based on my service in Parliament, I find the position of many of our elected
officials to oppose even re-opening the debate over whether we should have legalized
same sex marriage to be both troubling and irresponsible. Their refusal to
consider all the facts says at least one of several things about them:
· They have already evaluated all of this evidence on their own before
voting on C-38 and found it unpersuasive (they would have had to evaluate it
on their own because it was never fully considered in the debate!).
· They understand the evidence that children do best raised by their
married biological parents, but the rights of children to be raised in this
situation are outweighed by the rights and desires of adults.
· They know that although children are our future, they do not care.
· They are simply tired of the issue and do not want to invest the mental
energy and endure the pressure to reconsider the issue no matter how important
it might be.
I could go on, but there is not a single good reason not to at least thoroughly and fairly look at the all evidence when there is so much at stake. Not to do so is irresponsible and a violation of the public trust.
The visits that thousands of Canadians made to their MPs over the past months have had an impact. The growing realization that legalizing same sex marriage raises more complex and much more complicated rights questions than had originally been recognized is also having an impact. It looks now like the vote, which had been expected to come in the next few weeks will now be put off until into December.
This means that we still have time to demand that our MPs act responsibly on this critical issue.
You can do the following to help:
· Continue to contact your MPs on this issue. If they are opposed to
reconsideration of the same-sex marriage issue, ask them to tell you in detail
why and why it is not worth considering the rights of children.
· Help spread the word to everyone else you know. The more Canadians
who understand the importance of considering this issue fairly and thoroughly,
the more pressure we will be able to bring on Parliament when the time comes
to vote. An easy way to do this is to forward this newsletter on to everyone
on your list.
· If you have not yet joined the tens of thousands of Canadians who
have signed our "National Petition to Restore Marriage" please do
so. We will be presenting this petition to MPs just before the showdown vote.
Click here
to sign.
Thank you for what so many of you are doing in what is literally the battle for Canada's future. This is a fight we can and must win!
Sincerely,
The Hon. Dr. Grant Hill, P.C.
Coordinator, Restore Marriage Project
P.S. You can help even more by making a generous contribution to support our
efforts to restore marriage in Canada. For information on mailing us a contribution,
click
here.
Special Reminder!
Please Sign the Restore Marriage Canada Petition
Over 35,000 Canadians have already signed our National Petition to Restore Marriage. This petition will be presented to every MP before the critical vote Prime Minister Harper has promised on whether to reconsider the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada.
If you have not yet signed this petition, please click here and do so. It takes just a few minutes. If you have signed it, please pass urge others to do so as well. You can do that by forwarding this newsletter on to others on your list with a short note from you or you can use the special feature on our Web site, which makes it easy to send a suggested alert to them. Click here to access this feature.
Please forward this on to others!
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