SAVE THE UIGHURS

The Uighurs are a tribe of Turkik, Muslim, people who live in East Turkestan (also known as the Uighur Autonomous Region); and for decades they have been the victims of systematic human-rights abuses at the hands of the Chinese government.

In November, 20 Uighurs, including two children, escaped their homeland and sought asylum in Cambodia. Initially, the Cambodian Foreign Affairs Ministry announced that it would cooperate with them and offer them asylum. However, two days later, these poor people were declared “illegal entrants,” handcuffed, and detained. On 19 December 2009, a Chinese plane, under cover of darkness, departed the Phenom Penh airport carrying the 20 escapees back to China, where they will undoubtedly be mistreated severely, as former escapees from that country have been treated. Chinese practice has been to declare such persons criminals without any proof of that charge.

Why did this happen? Cambodia is the recipient of hundreds of millions of dollars of aid from China and $1 billion in foreign direct investment from China. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has called China Cambodia’s “most trustworthy friend.”

Hmmm...! I wonder, could this deportation of 20 Uighurs be due to a bribe? Let us remember that as these poor people are abused unjustly, so are we, fellow members of the human race.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of your friends or of your own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” John Donne 1572-1631

DOES ABORTION REALLY HURT WOMEN?

YES! It most certainly does. There are six ways in which abortion injures the female sex:

First, with abortion easily and readily available, as well as socially acceptable, it is easier than ever for men to exploit women. Men do not have to live with the decision to abort—women do. Women are ultimately responsible for killing the innocent life within them; and they do not take failure of that responsibility lightly.

Second, abortion separates women from their reproductive potential. In effect, it de-sexes them. Abortion erodes the natural pride which women enjoy in being able to conceive and bear children—a creative wonder which no man can duplicate.

Third, through abortion, women are being abandoned by a society which has no patience for a problem unique to women—an unplanned pregnancy. The young, pregnant, and unmarried woman is being pushed out of school, the family, the home, and friendship links to go it alone and solve her own problems. Abortion, unlike childbirth, is always a lonely process.

Forth, Instead of helping women to be strong, independent and capable of handling their lives in spite of social prejudices against “problem” pregnancies, the expediency of abortion encourages women to be weak, dependent, and incapable of dealing with unexpected challenges. The pro-choice movement says to the woman, “If you want to be equal to a man, you need to have an operation.” This is a bunch of nonsense!

Fifth, there is a significantly higher incidence of depression in women following an abortion.

Sixth, there are physical complications of abortion including the occasional incidence of infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and possibly breast cancer.

Let us not kid ourselves, abortion is not a simple, uncomplicated little operation similar to ear piercing or vaccination. Abortion hurts women.

Why Women Have Abortions

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the following reasons are given by women who have abortions. Most women who have abortions provide more than one reason, and almost all of those reasons reflect a lack of practical resources and personal support.

From the latest fact sheet:“Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.”

We can help these women by understanding their needs and helping them surmount them. However, we must also impress upon them that killing an unborn baby does not relieve pain—it only increases it in the long run.

"When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is something wrong in society—so when a woman destroys the life of her unborn child, it is an evidence that either by education or circumstances she has been greatly wronged."
—Mattie Brinkerhoff, The Revolution, 4(9):138-9 September 2, 1869

Let’s all advocate to relieve the pain of unmarried, pregnant, women. WE CAN SAVE LIVES BY DOING THIS!!

Health Care Industry Profit Margin

It has often been said, lately, especially by President Obama, that the health care industry is taking inordinate amounts of profit from the money it takes in from premium payments paid by its customers. The table below indicates that the health care industry is #86 among other industries in the United States in amount of profit margin. This table was constructed in August 2009 by Mark J. Perry, Professor of Economics and Finance in the School of Management at the University of Michigan. Dr. Perry has a Ph.D. from George Mason University and a MBA from the University of Minnesota. His complete report on this issue can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/nyw78m. (Double click on the table to view it in a zoomed in size.)

It seems to me that, even though, 3.3% of the premium money that goes into health care payments, is a lot of money, this is not an unreasonable amount of profit for an American industry.

Sex Ed Fails, Say Dissenters to CDC Report

Comprehensive sex education programs are highly effective if one is to believe the official conclusions of a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

However, data in the same report indicate that in reality, sex ed has no significant impact on teen condom use, pregnancy, or STD’s, according to Irene Ericksen and Danielle Ruedt, two members of the study’s panel of consultants.

Conversely, Ericksen said abstinence education programs produce a significant reduction in teen sexual activity. Ericksen is a research analyst with the Institute for Research and Evaluation in Salt Lake City.

“It is unfortunate that the statistical evidence that demonstrates the above discrepancies was not released to the public,” Ericksen said. She and Ruedt issued a dissenting viewpoint to the official report.

Leslie Unruh, President of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, expressed concern as well: “These results present a different picture than the (CDC) study’ published conclusions, especially for school-based comprehensive sex education. Policy makers deserve accurate information regarding the lack of effect of these condom-centered programs.”

www. christiannewswire.com 11/6/09

Federal Workers' Raise Exceeds Inflation Rate

Everyone employed in the federal government will be getting a 2% pay increase this year, a rate above the inflation rate, according to James Shrek of the Heritage Foundation.

“While private sector employees have had a drop in over seven million jobs, and millions of private sector workers are now unemployed, government employment has actually increased by almost 200,000 jobs in Washington,” Shrek said. “Private sector employees are bearing all the pain and making all the sacrifices while government employees basically aren’t feeling any of it.”

A USA Today analysis of federal salary data found that federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession’s first 18 months. According to the report, the average federal worker’s pay is $71,000, 44% more than the $40,000 average in the private sector.

www.onenewsnow.com 12/14/09

True Love

"The love for equals is a human thing - of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles.

The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing - the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.

The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing - to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints.

And then there is the love for the enemy - love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured’s love for the torturer. This is God’s love. It conquers the world."

— Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat

The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell.

Could we with ink the oceans fill and were the skies with parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the sky contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.