Category Archives: news

Planned Parenthood, Legislator Defend Massive Overbilling Practices in California

In new comments about a case pending in federal court showing how California Planned Parenthood massively overbilled the state on the purchase of birth control for poor residents, the abortion business and a state legislator are defending its actions — that could cost it federal funding.

P. Victor Gonzalez, the former Chief Financial Officer for Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles saw millions in fraudulent overbilling to state and federal governments and was subsequently fired when he blew the whistle.

He filed a lawsuit that a lower court dismissed but a federal appeals court, in July, reinstated.

Gonzalez says his own internal audit estimates that Planned Parenthood overcharged California taxpayers for purchasing birth control by at least $180 million.

A new Fox news report indicates he also found $5.2 million in overbilling at one Planned Parenthood affiliate in San Diego alone and he says Planned Parenthood officials intervened to prevent internal audits.

While other public health facilities and private facilities charged the state between $8 and $9 for a cycle of birth control pills, Planned Parenthood charged almost $12. The Planned Parenthood charge to the California government was several times more than it paid for the drugs originally.

In one case Fox News highlighted yesterday in its report, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles paid $225,695.65 for Ortho Tri-Cyclen birth control pills but billed the state government more than $918,000.

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California defends the practice in comments to the news outlet.

“The allegations in the lawsuit are false and were addressed by the State of California long ago,” it says. “The California State Legislature passed a law in 2004 making it clear that the billing practices at issue in the case are completely permissible.”

Former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson was the sponsor of the law — which came in response to reports of the overbilling instead of fines or charges for those involved in defrauding the government — and she defending the practice to Fox News as one of “access,” saying Planned Parenthood could never afford to give birth control to poor women of California without overcharging the state when it sought Medi-Cal refunds.

Though Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California dismisses the lawsuit and questions about it, the national Planned Parenthood abortion business is apparently more concerned.

The regional affiliate of Planned Parenthood where teenager Holly Patterson died from using the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug first lost its affiliation with Planned Parenthood in early August because of significant financial mismanagement.

Earlier this month, the New York Times released a new report showing Planned Parenthood Golden Gate faces an audit from the criminal division of the Internal Revenue Service.

The report detailed how an unnamed former employee interviewed with the Oakland field office of the IRS on Tuesday in response to a complaint he lodged with the governmental agency.

The employee, who would not let the Times name him for fear of his future job prospects, said he filed a two-part complaint about the abortion business’ problematic relationship with its political arm and about financial problems at the abortion business.

The overbilling problems also extend to Planned Parenthood centers in New Jersey.

The U.S. Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services uncovered a consistent problem with New Jersey-based family planning clinics run by the Planned Parenthood abortion business. They were found to be improperly billing Medicaid for services that did not qualify as family planning.

New Jersey authorities were sent letters in July 2007, June 2008 and August 2008 notifying them of the problems and requesting action to correct the errors. The reports found billing errors from February 1, 2001 through January 31, 2005.

An initial audit revealed New Jersey improperly received federal reimbursement at the enhanced 90% rate for 160,955 prescription drug claims that were billed as family planning, but did not qualify as family planning services. A letter from the Inspector General to New Jersey officials recommended that New Jersey repay $2,219,746 to the federal government.

The state eventually returned $2.9 million to the federal government last month.

Also, pro-life advocates say they believe Planned Parenthood in Iowa is overbilling the state for “bilking insurance companies out of grossly inflated fees.”

Operation Rescue revealed Planned Parenthood is charging insurance companies $1,000 for the drug-induced abortion process even though the overhead costs for the abortion are lower with the abortion practitioner off site via telemed abortions.

This overbilling effectively drives up the cost of health insurance for everyone, its president, Troy Newman, contends.

“Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is making a killing on medical abortions,” he said. “Planned Parenthood is gouging insurance companies twice the price of their cash abortions. That’s how they can afford to keep their smaller clinics running.”

“And if taxpayers are forced to fund these abortions, there’s no telling how much they will charge, because government funding is a blank check,” he added.

Source: LifeNews.com, September 10, 2010.

Ushering in a New Era in Ohio Manufacturing

By Senator Sherrod Brown

Today, when the sun rises in Youngstown, a third-shift worker driving home may well be sitting in a seat built in Warren. There is a pretty good chance that the brake system was manufactured in Findlay. An added safety feature – the folding air bag – may have been made in Dayton. The car engine and windshield glass were also probably manufactured in the Buckeye State. Ohio is ushering in a new era of auto manufacturing.

The first Chevy Cruze rolled off the assembly line in Northeast Ohio this past week. To build this new, fuel-efficient car, the GM plant in Lordstown added a third shift which created hundreds of new jobs in Ohio –a far cry from a year and a half ago when the company’s future was in doubt.

Ohio is home to more parts suppliers, materials industries, and technology companies that support America’s auto manufacturing base than almost any other state. More than 440,000 Ohio jobs directly or indirectly depend on the auto industry. It is the engine that drives American manufacturing and provides an entrance to the middle class.

A year and a half ago, the Obama Administration made the tough – and yes, unpopular – decision to save the auto industry from collapse. In the process, it helped prevent Ohio workers from losing their livelihood and helped maintain manufacturing jobs that keep our economy strong. While we still have a long way to go, the U.S. auto industry today enjoys the most job growth in a decade.

There were some naysayers who thought we should do nothing and let the U.S. auto industry crash and burn. If they had their way, we’d be looking at padlocked plant gates instead of watching new cars come off the line this week. Instead, it is a new day for the industry in Ohio.

Ohio workers – in small towns, rural areas, and big cities in 78 out of 88 counties – contribute to the U.S. automotive industry. The U.S. auto industry is one of four manufacturing industries that make up 56 percent of private sector research and development.

But as we continue to work our way toward economic recovery, one thing is clear: we’re not going back to business as usual. The Cruze – with its assembly in Lordstown and its components coming from across our state – shows that clean energy and fuel efficiency represent the future of our state’s manufacturing base.

Ohio is at the forefront of some impressive changes, quickly becoming a national hub for clean energy manufacturing. But this won’t happen without the right federal policies in place. I have been working to pass my Investment for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology Act – legislation that would create a revolving loan fund to help auto suppliers and other small- and mid-sized manufacturers retool their operations so they can participate in the clean energy supply chain. The IMPACT Act could create more than 52,000 jobs in our state while helping to revitalize Ohio’s manufacturing base.

We also need to ensure that our state’s most important asset – our skilled workforce – is prepared for the clean energy jobs of the 21st century. That’s why I am fighting for the Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success (SECTORS) Act. The SECTORS Act provides grants for sector partnerships among institutions of higher education, industry, organized labor, and workforce boards to stop the shortage of skilled workers for many emerging industries that can open doors in Ohio.

And to keep moving forward, we need to make the business climate more fertile for development by creating policies that encourage research and development. When President Obama visited the Cleveland area, he called for a permanent extension of the research and development (R&D) tax credit. R&D tax credits incentivize investment in emerging manufacturing industries like clean energy development.

The R&D tax credit promotes innovation by encouraging the domestic production of new clean energy technologies. Many important clean energy projects are under development in our state. At Hocking College Energy Institute in Logan, students are learning about automotive hybrids and advanced energy fuel cells that will continue to reshape the automotive industry. CODA Automotive – an electric vehicle manufacturer – recently announced plans to build a battery manufacturing plant in Franklin County. Building a lithium-ion battery to fuel electric cars creates clean energy jobs right here in Ohio, staves off an unhealthy addiction to foreign oil, strengthens America’s economic stability, and enhances our national security. This progress means that the late shift worker does not have to pay gas prices that fluctuate at the whim of a foreign government.

President Obama made a decision that saved the U.S. auto industry from collapse. Ohio’s steelworkers, plastics producers, and stamping plant workers were able to keep their jobs. Ohio auto parts suppliers were able to hire more people and build capacity. We owe it to our children and we owe it to Ohio workers who come home from the late shift to create a climate that fosters Ohio innovation and creates Ohio jobs.

Stem Cell Showdown

By D. Sullivan

In a dramatic ruling, a federal district court judge has blocked the Obama administration’s new guidelines on embryonic stem cell research. Judge Royce C. Lamberth issued a temporary injunction on August 23rd to prevent federal funding of embryo-destructive research, this in spite of an executive order by the president to permit this.

Judge Lamberth’s decision should not be surprising, for it is based on clear and unambiguous law. The Dicky-Wicker Amendment, passed in 1996 as part of a federal appropriations bill, has been passed again every year since. This amendment specifically prohibits the use of federal funds for:

(1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or (2) research in which a human
embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death . . .

In March of last year, President Obama attempted to reverse long-standing policy from the Bush administration banning federal funding for embryo-destructive research through the National Institutes of Health. That decision has paved the way for billions of dollars in proposed embryonic stem cell projects, in spite of the Dicky-Wicker Amendment cited above.

Two researchers, in collaboration with pro-life groups, brought suit in federal district court. Their research on so-called adult stem cells is promising and not ethically controversial. They fear that the Obama guidelines may de-fund their work. In his ruling Judge Lamberth acknowledged that the researchers had standing to bring their suit forward, and granted the injunction.

The Obama administration is appealing the ruling. Stay tuned.

Source: CedarEthics, August 25, 2010.

9/11, Meaning of Its Message

Some claim 9/11 has been politicized by the controversies about Pastor Terry Jones’s radical attention getting “Burn a Koran Day” and the Ground Zero mosque plans. Yet, 9/11 would be meaningless without being political. The message of those Middle East Jihadists endures through the images, protests, and commemorations of 9/11.

Yes, America honors their heroes who sacrificed their lives to save others. We remember the innocent victims who died at Ground Zero. It is part of the message produced by those Islamic radicals who attacked America.

Since that terrible day, September 11, 2001, American officials have obscured that message. At first, those so-called terrorists were accused to attempting to destroy our way of life. They presumably hated the freedoms of our open society. We also were told that those terrorists attempted to destroy important American landmarks. Apparently, public officials wanted to deflect our attention from the fact that those landmarks were all political institutions with global influence on Middle East governance and culture. Housed in the Twin Towers was government or quasi-governmental and international economic organizations. Surely, the Pentagon is more than an historical landmark. Yet, Al-Qaeda’s stated goal was to severely impede the U.S. government’s controlling influence in the Middle East. They came close to succeeding.

Consequently, Congress declared war on all terrorism. Being fair-minded egalitarians, most abhored the idea of only fighting against Islamic terrorists. That would be profiling. Therefore, all potential terrorists or radicals must be opposed even right wing Christian groups.

Whether America’s war on terror actually is comparable to the cold war with Russia, or the war on drugs, poverty, obesity, middle class lack, or the like is still uncertain. What is certain, like the cold war, America’s war on terror will be waged until politicians and bureaucrats discover Islamic radicalism can no longer justify their policy agendas like the New World Order many hoped Obama could achieve.

Many Americans have missed another very important part of the message sent by those Muslims who piloted their hijacked Boeing 747s into Twin Towers and the Pentagon. We have been told by politicians, government officials, Muslim leaders, other religious leaders, and the media that Islam is a religion of peace. Those radical terrorists do not represent true Islam, and many Americans believe them except those who have studied the Islam.

In the excellent article titled What is radical Islam?, the author, who has studied Islam for 8 years, persuasively argues that “radical Islam” does not exist. The words and acts of so-called terrorists, like members of Al Qaeda, demonstrate their strict adherence to the Quran, Hadith, and Shariah. Islamic moderates are those who are not faithful to Islam. It is no different from saying liberal Christians who defy certain parts of the Bible and doctrines are moderates while those who are truly faithful are radical fundamentalists.

As pointed out by the author of What is radical Islam, there is no such thing as moderate Islam and radical Islam.

“[T]he problem is that Islam is radical. It is not that there is a separate religion called ‘radical Islam’, but that the religion of Islam has many components that are considered radical/unacceptable/violent by modern societies…. To make Islam moderate, we would have to expurgate many verses (and entire chapters, such as that on raping female captives without impregnating them, so that their slave price does not fall) from the Kuran and Hadith.”

The author also wrote that those who claim radicals like Bin Laden are hijacking Islam are obscuring the facts. They are in fact seeking to hide from the scrutiny of Americans and others in western cultures.

“Every single action [Bin Laden] has done is justified by the Kuran and Hadith, and he has taken great pains to provide the verses that justify his actions. Not only that, for centuries, people like that were hailed as Ghazis (holy warriors) within Islam. It is not for nothing that in the muslim world, a majority of people hail him as a hero. It is only when you are trying to hide from the scrutiny of the west that you say he has “hijacked Islam.” He is merely a person who follows Islam to the word. He is, in many ways, a true muslim. In numerous Hadith, Muhammed says that the best muslim is not one who fasts and prays, but who gets on his horse and fights against infidels (especially polytheists) for the spread of Islam. That is what Bin Laden is doing. What about the innocent women and children he kills? Guess what – the Hadith emphatically state that it is perfectly alright to kill the women and children of polytheists. Nothing Bin Laden does is outside the Kuran and Hadith. He is not a “radical” muslim, he is merely a practising muslim!”

The meaning of 9/11 is that Islam’s true believers will fight the perceived oppression and corruption of the American empire and its leaders. Of course, it is the influence of secularism assisted by American business on their cultures; our government’s hindrance to their eliminating Israeli governance in Palestine; and America’s not-so-righteous military launching attacks on fellow Muslim countries from their homelands that forms their perceptions. That is why they attacked our national landmarks. That is why some respond to our political and military victories by retorting, “Kill Americans (read, infidels) anywhere you find them.”

The message that Islam is a religion of peace reveals a serious internal conflict within both America and Islam. It is a pervasive type cognitive dissonance about truth and its public expression. The culture war between conservatives and progressives, moderates and fundamentalists, religious fanatics and secularists is one by-product and the so-called war against terrorism is another.

Although denied by secularists, America was founded by Christians whose religious text does not justify violence and injustice. Judaism influenced the formation of America ideas as well. Although some Torah laws and punishments seem abusive to moderns, only in the Promised Land–Israel–is violence permitted in the due process of upholding law. Because the vision of Islam encompasses the conversion of the world, its justifications of violence and abuse make it dangerous. Nevertheless, as long as criminal laws exist and are strictly enforced, Americans can expect moderation from adherents of American Islam and all others.

But, watch out for those who would make American law conform to Islam’s Sharia.

More Clean Energy Jobs Going Overseas

by Dustin Ensinger

The incandescent light bulb was born in American, and according to The Washington Post, it appears as if it will die in America as well, taking plenty of well-paying manufacturing jobs with it.

This month, General Electric is permanently shuttering its last major factory that produces incandescent light bulbs. The closure will cost 200 employees their jobs.

In all likelihood, those jobs will be transferred to China, where the much more energy efficient bulbs known as compact fluorescents, or CFLs, can be produced at a much lower cost.

Despite the fact that CFL’s were invented in America in the 1970’s, virtually none are made in American. Because they require much more hand labor than you typical incandescent bulb, labor costs are also much higher, leading many companies to the massive low-cost pool of labor available in China.

The factory closure is symptomatic of America’s larger economic problems – a declining manufacturing industry and a utter failure to adapt to changing needs in the marketplace to capitalize on emerging industries such as the CFL’s.

When campaigning for the presidency, Barack Obama vowed to restore America’s manufacturing base through clean energy technologies, innovation and less reliance on foreign oil, all with the goal of creating five million so-called “green collar” jobs.

“My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process” he said.

It appears, however, that America missed that boat. China’s cheap labor, combined with free trade policies that afford companies with international portability, have propelled China to the top of the mountain in terms of clean energy investment.

In 2009, China became the world’s leader in private investment in renewable energy, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Even in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression, China invested $34.6 billion in green technologies.

America, meanwhile, has leaked clean energy investment and jobs like a sieve. According to the report, the U.S. has invested just over half the amount of China in clean energy technologies. For all of 2009, private investment in the U.S. totaled just $18.6 billion, down 48 percent from 2008.

A report by the Investigative Reporting Workshop and ABC News, found that $8 of every $10 spent on wind energy projects through the stimulus package went to a foreign company. Total recovery funds spent on wind energy projects total nearly $2 billion.

The report estimates stimulus funding for wind projects have created roughly 6,000 manufacturing jobs overseas and just hundreds in America. Thus far, the Recovery Act has paid to create 1,807 wind turbines to fuel American homes, businesses, schools and other buildings. Just 588 of those were manufactured domestically, according to the report.

“The United States’ competitive position is at risk in the emerging clean energy economy,” Phyllis Cuttino, director of the Pew Environment Group’s Global Warming Campaign, said in a statement attached to the group‘s report.

Originally published in Economy in Crisis on September 8, 2010.

Why Ground Zero Mosque is Not Good for Islam or America

No wonder Muslims around the world claim the Ground Zero mosque and cultural center project is bad for Islam. First, the original name proposed by Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf for the mosque, Cordoba House, is a throw-back to its Middle Aged namesake famous as a launch pad for Islam’s militant efforts of global domination. The term used for it is Jihad, which is more than just a religious concept of self-rule. It also is a term depicting militant religious conversion of all infidels or non-Muslims.

If peace with the Western world were actually the Rauf’s goal, why then has he developed a Shariah Index? Not to be confused with some of financial indexes, the purpose of his index is to measure how well nations conform to the Sharia law. It is a Western tool to make governments and cultures compliant to policy goals. The Koran provides the principles and Sharia law provides enforceable sanctions. After Muslims conquered Spain over 1,300 years ago, they launched their camapign to conquer the Western world from Cordoba. The Shariah Index shows Rauf’s intention is to launch a similar campaign to again conquer the West. However, this time Jihad comes in the deceptive form of tolernace, education, and peace.

The ultimate aim of Muslim clerics like Rauf is to convert the world to Islam. At Cordoba Spain, the victory was secured by militant Jihad. Peaceful co-existence came at the point of swords of Muslim rulers. Peaceful co-existence was the result of enforcing Shariah law upon predominately Christian Spain.

Amerincans and the West becoming aware of such relations between Muslim and Christians at Cordoba indeed would not be good for the Islamic cause.

Second, one of the primary financial backers of the Ground Zero mosque is Hisham Elzanaty, who has been a financial supporter of Hamas. Elzanty, an Egypian born New York medical supply dealer, also has gained noteriety for attempting to scam Medicaire. Don’t ask–don’t tell policy in Islamic circles may make it difficullt for fellow Muslims to distinguish between those who are committing “terrorism” and who are doing good social works, but to many Western onlookers their seems to be little difference. This is more than Islamaphobia or racism; it is just the proper kind of skepticism or maybe fear. (NY Post, September 3, 2010)

Third, and last, is the recent discovery that the U.S. government is funding the construction and renovation of mosques around the globe. Ancient Rome under Caesar did the same thing. Nicole Thompson, spokeswoman for the State Department’s U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), stated the purpose of these projects:

“It is helping to preserve our cultural heritage. It is not just to preserve religious structures. It is not to preserve a religion. It is to help us as global inhabitants preserve cultures.” (Newsmax, September 6, 2010)

Notice, the Obama administration justifies spending millions of taxpayer money to fund foreign “cultural preservation” projects as somehow preservering our cultural heritage. Islamic cultural is not our culture. It may be Obama’s and Hilary may have adopted her assistants religious culture, but is not America’s culture. Christian culture and law our heritage. The U.S. is not the United Nations, but apparently, globalists like Obama think otherwise.

Obama’s official support of the Ground Zero mosque and cultural center is a tell-tale sign of why it is not good for Americans either. Not only is federal tax dollars financing Imam Abdul-Rauf’s fundraising trips but state taxpayer money may also be given to underwrite the mosque. Obama’s diplomatic along with financial backing of the Ground Zero mosque and cultural center gives legitimacy to the ancient dream of a global and triumphant Islam. (NY Post, August 10, 2010 and Reuters, August 27, 2010)

A New Victim of Gay Sexual Politics, Evangelical Lutheran Church

By Daniel Downs

The Washington Times recently reported that a majority of leaders in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted to change church law admitting non-celibate gays into the sacred office of the clergy. At the same time, a majority of church leaders changed denominational law to recognize same-sex common law marriage (but by other terminology).

According to the report, “The resolution on clergy, easily the most controversial, passed by 559 ‘yes’ votes (55.3 percent) to 451 ‘no’ votes (44.6 percent). It committed the ELCA to open its clergy ranks to people in “publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships.”

The vote allowing congregations to ‘”recognize, support and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships,” passed by 619 ‘yes’ (60.6 percent) to 402 ‘no’ votes (39.3 percent) was less controversial than allowing non-celibate gays to represent the church and Christ.

The report noted two responses to these developments: Those who believe it will result in many people leaving the church and those who believe it will result in significant church growth. One member of the Metropolitan New York Synod said gays were the reason her congregation was growing. Leaders representing most American and foreign synods voiced strong disapproval of these decisions because of those decisions opposed more fundamental doctrines of the church.

As with other mainline denominations, the democratic politics and secularly defined social relevance appears to be the most important factors in these decisions.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in American cannot be charge with religious fundamentalism. They have tossed the fundamentals out. The most important fundamental is abiding under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. As recorded in the book of Revelation, Christ told the churches in Asia Minor that he hated the politics and practices of sexual immorality that were being spread by the Nicolaitans and Jezebel, who was likely one of their leaders in Thyatira. Like the mediocre Laodiceans, the Evangelical Lutheran Church can only be charged with being faithful to secular fundamentalism.

The still popular song lyric sung by Jackie DeShannon expresses the religious sentiment of modern sexual politics, “all we need now is love … sweet [tolerant] love” not holiness and truth.

The problem with all of this is not whether the church will grow, or split, or gain social relevance. After this season testing, the problem will be when and how the Lord will come and fight against the immoral and their supporters. As Christ promised the Pergamum church, he will come and fight against them with the sword of His mouth. If that means anything like his warning to the unrepenting Jezebel, they and their loving supporters may receive the same judgment that the members of the tolerantly immoral cities of Sodom and Gomorrah received.

Whatever the outcome, it is clear that those who do not like a God who actually judges and punishes moral crime (sin, immortality) hate the rule of law and especially moral law. Moral law is God’s law.

One of the foundational doctrines of the Evangelical Lutheran Church concerns salvation: forgiveness of our moral crimes because Jesus suffered our punishment for them. That is what the death of Jesus on a wooden cross is all about. This grace of God is not tolerance. It is covenantal love based on unbending justice. The power of this gospel is newness of life by the power of God. A new life means old sinful lifestyles pass away. Anything less is a mockery of Christ’s life and death as well as God’s mercy and power, which “taking the name of the Lord in vain” means. It’s like being married but not acting like it, which is the reason the Church cannot justify marrying gays or any other sinners.

The Church cannot serve two masters: one in conformity with secular politics and the other with God in covenantal holiness. Condoning sin while claiming righteousness is so oxymoronic to be laughable. Maybe this is the reason for talk about the Church being irrelevant in contemporary culture.

Yes, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America maybe another victim of secular sexual politics, but it is also another denomination that has failed to overcome the trial Jesus said would come. Jesus also said, “Watch out! You who have brought about that fall; it would have been better had you crucified yourselves rather than to suffer the judgment that will overtake you” (Matthew 18:3-11, paraphrased).

Source: Washington Times, August 22, 2009 and

Restricting Parental Access to the Classroom

In April, 2002, Minnesota parents concerned about curriculum content in a freshman class at Big Lake High School were invited to sit in on the class and see the content for themselves. That is, until principal Darrel Easterly found out. Suddenly, the morning of their scheduled visits, several moms learned that they had been banned from the school due to “privacy laws.” Mary Stultz, one of the moms, was stunned. “I was in total shock and spent the morning talking to a lawyer,” Stultz told writer Laura Adelmann at the time.

Another mom called Big Lake Superintendent Bob Lageson, who assured her it “should never happen again.” Yet, within weeks, the local school board was meeting to discuss adopting a policy requiring parents to make an appointment three days in advance of a visit, and granting to the principal wide discretion to prevent parents from entering the building even then.

After an unprecedented public outcry, the school board softened the three day requirement for parents of students to merely “as much advance notice as possible” – but they passed the new restriction. They even granted to the principal authority to detain unauthorized visitors until law enforcement arrives, citing criminal trespass laws.

Today, the current student handbook (pp.7-8) declares that “Big Lake High School does not allow students to bring guests or visitors to classes,” which includes parents. Even more importantly, the events that unfolded in Big Lake have played out numerous other times as well, throughout the country. And the courts have consistently upheld such decisions.

I don’t know if Xenia City Schools have in place such a policy; if their is, parents do have a potential remedy.

A proposed Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution can halt the erosion of parental rights nation-wide, and restore to parents the right to visit their child and see what is being taught. This will not allow individual parents to shape curriculum for an entire school, but it will allow any parent to remain informed of classroom content, and hopefully to opt their child out of material they find offensive.

To learn more about the Parental Rights Amendment, go to ParentalRights.org.

Freedom’s God

By Daniel Downs

Last Friday, August 28, America commemorated the famous I Have a Dream speech of Martin Luther King, Jr. Throughout his pivotal protest speech, King alluded his religious faith, hope, and expectation of the freedom from oppression and the mundane challenges of realizing justice. He repeatedly referred to all people as God’s children. This expectant faith for freedom climaxed in the last three paragraphs in which King proclaimed:

… when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,

… “Free at last, free at last.

… Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

The negro spiritual directs us back to the source and beginning of social, economic, and political freedom. The God of the Bible. This God liberated the Jews from Egyptian slavery. He is the God of Jesus who was sent to set free those enslaved by addictions, poverty, immorality, despair, as well as effects of oppression. Yet, the liberated are not free from a life without God. That would to return to Egypt or to some other source of bondage.

Is that not exactly what America has done?

The struggle for freedom that Americans enjoy began long ago in halls of Western Christendom. The legal and theological struggle for justice resulted in a long history of natural law rights that included life, liberty, property, and happiness. They were not vague principles as some seem to believe. Legal battles, social conflicts, and wars were fought against those authorities intending to deprive the descents of Anglo-Saxons and others of their inherent and inherited rights. America is an inheritor and promulgator of that long fought heritage of rights law that was firmly rooted and legitimated by biblical principles and right reason, none of which was outside the social or political geography of Christianity.

That is why the Continental Congress established the United States of America by a two-fold covenant: a covenant with God and a social compact with all citizens. That also is why America was established by a two-fold legal compact: a document defining the nation under natural law, the Declaration of Independence, and a document defining the type of government to fulfill the objectives of the national definition including the protection of those rights and perpetuate the right so defined, the Constitution.

King’s promissory note analogy of rights based on the equality of human nature is part of America’s national definition. Thomas Jefferson knew America was already in trouble with God because Negro slavery was made an exception to that equality and the enjoyment of those rights. It was made an exception by removing the clause from the national definition that would have ended slavery forever. Jefferson apprehension of divine judgment for this came to pass. Both the Civil War and the violence during the Civil Rights movement were proof. War, natural disasters, and similar tragedy represented to divine judgment to nearly all early Americans. That was the consensus view of the citizenry and leaders of Christian America until at least the beginning of the twentieth century.

The language of Abraham Lincoln’s speech the Emancipation Proclamation parallels the Declaration of Independence invoking God’s favor for an act of justice rooted in the Constitution. However, that justice was defined in the Declaration not the U.S. Constitution. The 13th Amendment did not become law until 1865. The Emancipation Proclamation was given on January 1, 1863. The language of Section 1 of the 14th Amendment (1868) references the Declaration as well.

Freedom’s God is nature’s God. Nature’s God is humanity’s God who created them. God created humans with an equality of worth and dignity because human nature is a reflection of himself. God created them in his image and capable of his likeness. Natural rights are constituted in socialibility of human nature. Jefferson saw them as gifts of God. They are the goods of the promise land that had to be fought for and must be maintained by a strong defense.

Unfortunately, it seems that that defense has been weakening because the Supreme Judge of the world has been ignored. Maybe God had been ignored for such a long time because America’s intentions has not been rectifiable before the divine bar of justice and truth. Consequently, the Protection of divine Providence cannot be expected. In fact, America officially seems to disregard divine Providence even after disasters like 9/11, Katrina, the great economic recessions, and the like.

Nevertheless, freedom has always been and will always be a divine gift based on moral law and human conformity to it. Without God, freedom progresses to various forms of slavery.

Sen. Brown Joins Mayor Bayless at HOPE Cafe in Xenia

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Xenia Mayor Marsha Bayless visited the HOPE Café in Xenia yesterday morning. Brown and Bayless toured the cafe and spoke with current and past apprentices participating in the program.

“Businesses like the HOPE Café provide participants with the skills and support to re-enter the workforce as competitive employees who are able to live independently,” said Senator Brown. “By providing tailored education programs for regional industry needs, we can ensure that all Ohioans are equipped with the skills for jobs of the 21st century.”

Through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, Hope Café received $123,985 in funding through the Community Action Partnership. Brown and Bayless were joined by HOPE Café Director Gale Hutchinson.

Hope Café opened in September 2009 as a small catering company to provide culinary skills and job training for homeless men and women to prepare them for jobs in the restaurant and service industries. Just two weeks ago, HOPE Café opened as a restaurant. When the apprentices graduate from the eight week program they receive assistance in finding jobs at local restaurants.

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[While working in Ashland, this blogger visited Pump House Grille. It was developed by one of Ashland’s pastors (and, if memory serves, professor at Ashland College) to help homeless and low income individuals gain marketable skills. The food was quit good and the atmosphere very unique. The restaurant and related ministry outreaches are located in the abandoned F.E. Meyer Pump manufacturing building that was donate by its previous owner. Looking forward to visiting Xenia’s unique Hope Cafe.]