First the good news. From the Associated Press, today...

To give us a break from the daily grind...

More photos on page 2...

On Monday, a star-studded pro-life line-up - Lila Rose, Judie Brown, Pastor Walter Hoye, and Bella movie producers Jason Jones and Leo Severino - announced the launch of the CA Human Rights Campaign.

This will be an effort to add the Human Rights Amendment as a CA ballot initiative in 2010.

If passed, the amendment would "recognize[ ] the inherent human rights, dignity and worth of all human beings from the beginning of their biological development," read a statement.

In other words, we have here another personhood initiative.

This followed the Aug. 24 announcement that the CO Title Board had approved language for a personhood ballot initiative redo there in 2010.

And the Sept. 2 announcement that the MT attorney general had approved language for a personhood ballot initiative there in 2010.

And the Sept. 11 announcement that language had been submitted to the FL secretary of state for a personhood ballot initiative there in 2010.

And the Sept. 17 announcement that pro-lifers had submitted language to the MO secretary of state for a personhood ballot initiative there in 2010....

Then there are the legislative personhood efforts....

So the personhood movement has quickly grown too big to contain, and it has not been just pro-aborts interested in doing so....

The most interesting educational component of personhood endeavors is what they force the other side to admit. From the LA Times...

Read my column, "Personhood initiatives proliferate," in its entirety at WorldNetDaily.com.

I agree with USA Today that the timing is "interesting," although I'll take it. Jon Gosselin wouldn't be the 1st rogue to sow wild oats only to find the grass isn't greener (bad mixed metaphor, sorry):

Only moments after TLC released the news this morning that Kate is moving on with without Jon, In Touch Weekly is reporting that Jon has submitted court papers to suspend his split with Kate for 90 days.

For whatever reason, I hope the 2 get back together for the sake of their kids. More from Pop Eater:

It's a busy day in Gosselin-ville. Jon Gosselin is trying to slow down - if not halt altogether - his divorce from Kate Gosselin, telling In Touch Weekly exclusively: "I regret my conduct since Kate and I separated.... I used poor judgment in publicly socializing with other women so soon." He's filed paperwork looking to stall the divorce for 90 days "to regain control over the future of our family."...

I wrote yesterday that smart pro-lifers differ on whether state personhood statutes or constitutional amendments would lead to the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

I linked to a recent column by Americans United for Life's Clarke Forsythe. Clarke made the case that they wouldn't.

Now American Life League's Judie Brown has rebutted Clarke in a column this afternoon. Be sure to read it.

I think the world of both Judie and Clarke. I, therefore, appreciate Judie's tone in her albeit firm response. This is the way for colleagues to debate...

by JivinJ

After months of pushing the issue, Mr. Stupak said in an interview, Mr. Obama finally called him 10 days ago. "He said: 'Look, try to get this thing worked out among the Democrats. We want you to work it out within the party,'" Mr. Stupak said, adding that Mr. Obama did not say whether he supported the segregated-money provision or a more sweeping restriction. "We got his attention, which we never had before."...

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Last night I grandly kicked off my fall speaking schedule at the Grand Traverse Area Right to Life banquet in MI's beautiful upper peninsula. I must say I like this photo, by the Traverse City Record-Eagle. I'm describing the baby I held at Christ Hospital only 10 years ago, believe it or not. Seems like a lifetime ago...

Here's the Record-Eagle's related story....

Many now know James O'Keefe for his undercover video sting of several nefarious ACORN outlets around the country. But this was not James' 1st video exposé.

In 2007 James portrayed himself to staff at UCLA Berkeley's Ashe Center and The Center for Women and Men, supposed student health groups, as a studly student about to embark on a Catalina boat orgy. Today I'm rereleasing this video classic on YouTube, exposing the unsafely sexy side of these 2 organizations as well as James O'Keefe's boldness. If only we could clone him! No, wait... :)

Reported Live Action.org's The Advocate...

by JivinJ

The irony was not lost on one experienced negotiator in attendance: "I find it interesting that, as crisis negotiators, we are trying to talk people out of killing themselves. But by the end of the afternoon, we had a social worker from the oncology department of the hospital talking about being able to assist people in killing themselves."...

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[hat tip: Ken]

UPDATE, 1:30p: Per Keith Mason, who heads up PersonhoodUSA.com, the "Bella Movie guys" are producers Jason Jones and Leo Severino. Lead actor Eduardo Verastegui will also help promote the CA initiative. He would have liked to sponsor it, but he is not a US citizen.
_______________

I'm told Lila Rose, Pastor Walter Hoye, Judie Brown, and the "Bella Movie guys" (don't know which ones) will be present to launch the CA Human Rights Campaign at a press conference today in Sacramento....

Here's a smattering of good political satire this week...

by Chip Bok at Townhall.com...

Replay of crying Nancy...

On September 18 the inventor of ultrasound imaging, Dr. John J. Wild, died at the age of 95....

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Teen abstinence programs always spotlight this point, and rightfully so. Something to think about. From Breitbart, September 23:

The average British man or woman has slept with 2.8 million people - albeit indirectly, according to figures released on Wednesday to promote awareness of sexual health.

A British pharmacy chain has launched an online calculator which helps you work out how many partners you have had, in the sense of exposure to risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

The "Sex Degrees of Separation" ready reckoner tots up the numbers based on your number of partners, then their previous partners, and their former lovers, and so on for 6 "generations" of partners.

The average British man claims to have actually slept with 9 people, while women put the figure at 6.3, giving an average of 7.65.

"When we sleep with someone, we are, in effect, not only sleeping with them, but also their previous partners and their partners' previous partners, and so on," said Clare Kerr, head of sexual health at Lloydspharmacy.

"It's important that people understand how exposed they are to STIs and take appropriate precautions including using condoms and getting themselves checked out where appropriate."

The test is interesting...

[HT: Kelli; photo via Breitbart]

Hey! Just an fyi to explain I've been a tad out of pocket the last few days over the ACORN/SEIU/Obama story.

Remember I live in IL. And suddenly there is a lot of information being discovered and dots put together between not just ACORN/SEIU and Obama, but also between ACORN/SEIU and former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, current Gov. Patrick Quinn, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, yadda yadda.

So I'm still here and very busy, just veering momentarily in a slightly different direction.

Plus my computer is suddenly bogging down, and I have to call Dell.

Plus I accidentally left my oven on all night and have a repairman at the door as I type.

Like I said, yadda yadda.... :)

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by JivinJ

This lovely fall day didn't seem like it could get much better until I got to actually talk with one of our rock stars. One of our celebrity doctors. Oh, how I swooned! Have you seen that commercial where they show the co-inventor of the flash drive walking down an office corridor, people in business attire are falling all over each other and wanting autographs, and they say something like "our rock stars aren't like your rock stars"?? Okay, seriously: it was like that. I felt privileged and honored (I am not someone who gets all worried about titles and stuff) to speak to one of our super heroes: Dr. Carhart. And yes: he's super nice. Are you jealous?

Their rock stars certainly aren't like our rock stars. I find it hard to swoon over someone responsible for the deaths of countless unborn children and Christin Gilbert, a young pregnant mother with Down syndrome.

As my WorldNetDaily.com column today details, I became involved in 2004 with the Service Employees International Union trying to keep Advocate Health Care from building a new hospital. I opposed Advocate because it committed abortions; SEIU did because Advocate's 25,000 employees weren't unionized....

From the Associated Press, today:

Former child star Mackenzie Phillips said Wednesday her father, John Phillips, who was a leader of the 1960s pop group the Mamas and the Papas, raped her when she was a teenager and that her sexual relationship with him later became what she termed "consensual."

Mackenzie Phillips writes in her new book, High on Arrival, that she had sex with her father on the night before she was to get married in 1979 at age 19, according to People magazine....

In the spring of 2004 we learned Advocate Health Care wanted to build a hospital in a southwest suburb of Chicago, my home turf.

Advocate owns nine Chicago-area hospitals, one of which is Christ Hospital, where I discovered as a labor and delivery nurse in 1999 that late-term babies were being aborted alive and shelved to die with no medical intervention....

Pro-lifers immediately opposed Advocate's expansion....

We organized a protest of Advocate at a public hearing to consider its plan. It was there we first encountered the Service Employees International Union, also protesting Advocate.

Advocate, as "metropolitan Chicago's leading private provider of health care and its third largest private employer," according to an SEIU flyer, had 25,000 nonunionized workers....

Working with SEIU against Advocate was the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, only I didn't realize it then....

So I introduced myself to SEIU organizer Joseph Geevarghese, saying I was glad we were on the same side.

Joseph said perhaps we could join forces. He was also working with a church organizer, he said....
_______________

As the media started spending more time on ACORN last week, I realized it was connected to SEIU. I recognized some of its tactics.

I wondered if I had held on to that Advocate/SEIU file, now five years old. Reviewing it might be enlightening, I thought.

I did, and it was. I had kept pretty much everything - SEIU's Hospital Accountability Project newsletters, my invoices, and letters.... one from then state Sen. Barack Obama....

Read my complete column today, "What I know about ACORN, the SEIU, and Obama," at WorldNetDaily.com.

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by Carder

The folks at Americans United for Life have provided a flow chart to help us understand how abortion will be funded in healthcare reform. Or is it health insurance reform? Someone needs to make up their mind.

[JLS note: AUL's CEO Charmaine Yoest has an excellent op ed in today's Washington Times entitled, "Is abortion health care, or is it not?"

I've written vaguely before about amendments to healthcare bills presented by pro-lifers - and shot down by pro-aborts - that would codify promises the other side makes, such as "Abortion isn't in healthcare." Oh yeah, then why stop the amendments insuring that?

So I thought you'd be interested in specific amendments to the Baucus healthcare plan that were presented today as the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Baucus, began considering his healthcare plan....

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by JivinJ

"But what we're being offered is not enough," she said, contending that President Obama had "traded many women's futures away" when he assured Congress on Sept. 9 that the new health plan would provide no public funds for abortion....

I've written several times about the creepy signs in the windows of Northern Illinois Woman's Center in Rockford, IL, as well as the erratic behavior of people associated with that abortion mill.

Now Rockford pro-lifers have posted a shocking video on YouTube.

These pro-aborts are sickos.

by JivinJ

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Irene Vilar is no pro-lifer.

About her upcoming book, Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of an abortion addict, which tells the story of her 16 abortions in 15 years, Vilar writes on her web page:

Impossible Motherhood is committed to eliminating the stigma of abortion by creating new ways to talk about abortion honestly and publicly. It understands the complex moral decision making surrounding a pregnancy decision and how devaluing to women's real experience is any bumper sticker approach to choice....

The aim is to celebrate the transformative power of pregnancy and envision a world in which abortion is understood as a moral decision without stigma.

But Vilar seemingly says the opposite in a book excerpt published online...

I have a new poll question up (lower right side of home page):

The Family Research Council just completed a presidential straw poll at its Value Voters Summit. For whom would you have voted?

Here are the results of my previous poll. You overwhelmingly agreed...

Lots of good political cartoons week on both ACORN and healthcare.

First, on the liberal media ignoring the ACORN story...

by Eric Allie at Townhall.com...

And by Glenn McCoy at Townhall.com...

The past week has seen the US Census Bureau, US Senate, and US House all move to defund ACORN within days of the release of videos showing ACORN employees around the country helping an undercover pimp and prostitute skirt tax law while smuggling underage El Salvadorean girls for sex trafficking.

Weekend question: Why did undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood employees around the country helping an undercover minor hide the rape of her adult boyfriend not get similar traction? What is the difference?

Jivin J mentioned yesterday that Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, had been invited to the White House to discuss problems pro-lifers have with any of the proposed healthcare bills.

This morning Charmaine spoke with Fox's Megyn Kelly about the meeting...

The Population Research Institute has posted a clever 1:30 cartoon on YouTube, entitled, "Obamacare: Seniors need not apply." The description of the video reads:

Obama says he can make health care work without cutting costs. We think he will do that by cutting people.

[HT: Colin]

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About this new study, Brent Rooney, MSc, director of the Reduce Preterm Risk Coalition emailed...

In a fundraising letter for her husband's US Senate campaign in February 2004, Michelle Obama called partial birth abortion "a legitimate medical procedure."

With Politico reporting yesterday Michelle "plans a packed autumn that aides say will include a 'dedicated focus' on health insurance reform," will she be pitching mandated public and private insurance coverage of partial birth abortions?

Oh, I know pba is now illegal, but Michelle also claimed in that fundraising letter a ban against it was "clearly unconstitutional and must be overturned." Michelle could add relegalizing pba to her healthcare pitch.

President Obama's speech writers apparently relied on the liberal online journal Slate for this false story Obama told during his speech before the Joint Session of Congress last week:

More and more Americans pay their premiums, only to discover that their insurance company has dropped their coverage when they get sick, or won't pay the full cost of care. It happens every day. One man from IL lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn't reported gallstones that he didn't even know about. They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it.

Now here's what really happened, from the Wall Street Journal, yesterday...

From the Washington Times, this morning, "How rogue conservative filmmakers took down ACORN"...

For the longest time, conservatives were content to sit around and kvetch about the state of the culture, complaining about the ascendancy of Michael Moore and the double standards of the mainstream media when it came to documenting the foibles of the political parties.

With this week's bombshell release of a series of videos implicating employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN, for short - in a willingness to engage in criminal activities, it has become apparent that those on the right are learning to play the game just as fiercely - and effectively - as their counterparts on the left....

Inspired by Monty Python and the Holy Grail...

by JivinJ

Never mind Republican and pro-life aversion to the Baucus healthcare plan introduced in the Senate yesterday. Take a look at some of the headlines in today's Huffington Post, a liberal rag. They're pretty funny. Obviously the other side is becoming increasingly frustrated. Click to enlarge:

See how easy this is? The obvious comparison to ACORN would be Planned Parenthood, of which undercover videos and audios - many made by the "pimp" in the ACORN sting, James O'Keefe - have revealed equally scandalous behavior. But PP still has a giant stranglehood over congressional power brokers.

From The Hill, this afternoon:

House Republicans won a rare victory on Thursday when the lower chamber voted to defund the embattled community organizing group known as ACORN.

In a vote of 345-75-2, the House approved a resolution to deny funds for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now that has been accused of committing major crimes including voter fraud....

Republicans are pushing for more measures to block federal funding from going to ACORN, the community organizing group and top target of conservatives....

Rasmussen Reports, today:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 48% believe any government-subsidized health care plan should be prohibited from covering abortion procedures. 13% believe such plans should be required to cover abortions, and 32% favor a more neutral approach with no requirements in either direction....

by Bethany Kerr

To give us a break from the daily grind, Susan Boyle on America's Got Talent last night...

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Tuesday night The Daily Show's liberal host Jon Stewart was truly appalled by the behavior of nationwide ACORN employees caught in a video sting expressing willingness not only to help a supposed pimp and prostitute get a mortgage but also to provide cover-up tips for sex trafficking of minor girls from El Salvadore.

Stewart then slammed the liberal press for letting amateurs on a shoestring budget get this scoop. Bear with the slightly coarse language for Stewart's humorous take on this scandal...

From Amanda Carpenter at the Washington Times this morning:

MSNBC anchor Norah O'Donnell suggested a pair of conservative filmmakers who secretly recorded ACORN workers giving them tax advice on how to run a brothel may be guilty of a serious crime during a recent on-air segment about the explosive videos....

UPDATE, 2:08p: As noted in some of the comments, Fr. Jenkins has yet to drop charges against the ND 88, the protesters who trespassed Notre Dame's property during the President's commencement address. Hot Air's Ed Morrissey provides relevant analysis:

Jenkins himself will participate in a massive protest against abortion. Will he do so while prosecuting the woman at the center of the court case that has lent years to the pro-life cause to undo the damage of Roe, merely for the offense of having embarrassed Jenkins during Obama's appearance? Does Notre Dame, a Catholic institution, really want to press criminal charges against fellow pro-lifers who did nothing on their campus except hold signs and pray the Rosary?...

Yesterday ABC's Charlie Gibson told Chicago ABC talk radio hosts Don and Roma, "(laugh laugh) I don't even know about it!" - ACORN, that is.

Well, today he does. Or at least his teleprompter fed him enough info to introduce a Jake Tapper World News story tonight on ACORN. Click on graphic below to link to the story...

James O'Keefe sent me a link to the following New York Post story, up on Drudge right now, with this note:

Millions and millions are reading about the Planned Parenthood videos Lila and I did. What serendipity.

Indeed. Here's an excerpt, with an accompanying video...

Click to enlarge...

Democrat MI Congressman Bart Stupak, also House pro-life caucus co-chair, gave an excellent interview to Fox's Megyn Kelly this morning, strongly stating that Obama and Pelosi's contention that abortion isn't in healthcare "is just not true," and that he is "disappointed" the president continues to make that assertion.

Here's the clip...

Partial transcript...

by Bethany Kerr

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UPDATE, 11:06a: Politico itemizes the abortion riders in the Baucus bill.
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For months a "Gang of 6" (3 Dems, 3 Republicans) in the US Senate Finance Committee have met to try to come up with a compromise healthcare bill.

The committee, "the last of 5 congressional panels to grapple with [healthcare] legislation," according to Bloomberg.com, released its plan today. First, note this, quoting Bloomberg:

... Committee Chairman Max Baucus unveiled [the] legislation.... [w]ithout support from a single Senate Republican....

Now, about abortion in Baucus's plan, a DC source emailed this information...

UPDATE, 2:37p: From Doug Johnson:

One minor correction: The Sun ran essentially the same piece twice, but they were not quite identical. The second iteration was a hair softer on Kathleen Parker. I don't know if this was a deliberate down-toning by PPFA, or, more likely, just some editor making it a little shorter.

On September 10, and again on September 13, the Baltimore Sun published the identical op ed by Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards.

It was the same ole, same ole - none of the current healthcare bills force public or private insurance coverage of abortion.

This is false, but stepping back I've wondered before why Cecile - the president of the United States' largest abortion provider - is apparently cutting off her nose to spite her face. Why is Cecile helping promulgate this untruth? Why instead isn't she throwing a temper tantrum in the Oval Office, screaming, "And why the h-e-double-bamboo-shoots isn't abortion covered?!" There are 3 reasons...

For 36 years, pro-aborts have engaged in a risky public-relations campaign to detract from their mounting preborn baby body count.

It is pro-lifers, not pro-aborts, who are violent, they have said. While collectively and openly advancing the abortions of over 50 million children, they have held up as evidence 6 unbalanced people calling themselves pro-life, but repudiated by the pro-life community, who have aborted 8 abortion workers.

Totally illogical, but nevertheless, with liberal media and political support, the accusation has stuck.

Not that I've ever minded. Having such a reputation has brought me closer than anything else to knowing how Hell's Angels must feel when walking into a bar, which is kind of cool, even as I laugh at the absurdity of pro-lifers metaphorically dressed in biker leather.

But with the murder of pro-lifer Jim Pouillon on Sept. 11, that particular debate between pro-lifers and pro-aborts changed. Their post-born killing slate is no longer clean. It was only a matter of time.

I hesitate to discuss Jim's death in purely pragmatic terms. If I were to be killed for my pro-life convictions, I'm sure it would hurt my family to read the ridiculous and cruel comments by pro-aborts as we argued about me on the Internet as if I were just a debate topic, not a real person.

Then again, maybe not....

Continue reading my column today, "Pro-life martyr Jim Pouillon," at WorldNetDaily.com.

UPDATE, 4:55p: Here's an Associated Press story on the press conference.
_______________

Over a dozen parents with children with disabilities joined Congresspersons Cathy McMorris-Rodgers and Trent Franks today in a press conference to reveal rationing in healthcare bill.

The group came together under the Healthcare For Gunner coalition to educate President Obama and Congress know that it will be their children and families who suffer the most and be denied critical care under current health care reform plans.

According to the press release:

"I want my family and my doctor to control my son's healthcare decision, not a government-appointed committee," said Kristan Hawkins, executive director of Students for Life of America and founder of Healthcare for Gunner. "Should President Obama get his way, the life of my son, and millions across the country who are elderly, chronically ill, or require expensive medical treatment, will be at the hands of some bureaucrat in Washington."...

From Illinois Review:

This morning on WLS 890 AM, talk show hosts Don and Roma talked to ABC News' Charlie Gibson about the hot ACORN funding story, and the Senate vote to cut off funding to ACORN. Gibson admitted he didn't know anything about the scandal or the Senate vote.

Maybe Don and Roma should have turned the tables on Gibson as he did on Sarah Palin and ask him his thoughts about the "ACORN doctrine"?

I know this is hard to believe. Hear for yourself...

Since the Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor, chatter about judges has died down. But here is an insightful and heartening post from the Committee for Justice today:

In an article that otherwise reads much like a White House press release, Jeffrey Toobin's piece in the September 21 New Yorker gives conservatives several reasons for cheer about the judges issue.

Toobin's main themes are that President Obama has embraced the notion of judicial restraint, has "distanced himself" from activist Justices like William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall, prefers pragmatism to ideology in selecting judges, and intended the Sotomayor nomination to be a "post-partisan choice." Rather than focus on the trouble we have buying Toobin's spin, we'll go right to the reasons for cheer.

First, Toobin's observation about this summer's Sotomayor hearings...

By Bethany Kerr

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I'm sure the ACORN scandal will lead to the White House if investigations aren't squashed.

First, this backdrop, from the Union News, October 17, 2008:

NPR reports that ACORN's cofounder, Wade Rathke, also founded SEIU....

ACORN's biggest union backer, the Service Employees International Union, gave more than $4 million to the community organization and its affiliates from 2006-07, according to Dept. of Labor filings....

Living in IL, I've sensed an unholy alliance between the SEIU and Barack Obama for several years. I didn't realize ACORN was in that mix until recently.

In 2003-4 the SEIU invited me to join forces with it and a Chicago community organizing group to keep Christ Hospital from building another hospital in my suburb. SEIU cared because Christ wasn't unionized....

UPDATE, 12:30p: From The Radio Patriot a few minutes ago:

Glenn Beck just wrapped up what had to be the most compelling radio I've heard... and lately, most of his shows have been pretty compelling.

Whew, where to start? Well, how about this: you should make it a point to do two things today: watch his TV show at 5 ET this afternoon on Fox News, and hit the Big Government website an hour earlier at 4 ET.

Here's what you'll find - the latest video sting of ACORN. This one in a San Bernardino ACORN office where the employee can't talk fast enough about the connections they have to politicians (naming them by name) and even an admission of murder....

by JivinJ

But $100 on the birth of a girl - or even $2,500 at her marriage - means nothing to the country's wealthiest families. And that is where the gender gulf is yawning most deeply. The richest neighbourhoods in the country - the wealthy farming areas of the Punjab, the middle-class areas of Mumbai and other cities, and here, the leafy neighbourhoods in the south of the capital - have the biggest gaps....

This morning dawned with security guards and deathscorts ready and willing to usher mother in to the Naples, FL, Planned Parenthood to abort their babies....

Today was the 1st in 13 years that abortions were made available in conservative Collier County, courtesy of PP. An NBC-2.com article entitled, "Heavy security for abortion clinic opening," reported that FBI and Justice Dept. officials would also be on hand to ensure safe killing of preborn babies....

Read my first post on the 9/11 shooting of pro-life activist Jim Pouillon here. Click to enlarge Jim's photo above, taken 1 month ago, showing this most dedicated activist hooked up to his necessary oxygen supply via nasal cannula.

First, the Lansing State Journal reported yesterday the shooter, Harlan James Drake (pictured right), tried to kill himself September 12...

UPDATE, 9:32a: Beyonce is a class act. Epilogue...

UPDATE, 9:20a: Jim Geraghty at NRO's The Corner on comparing Kanye West to Joe Wilson.

[HT: kathrynlopez via Twitter]
_______________

Wow, Kanye West has been busy. First, at the MTV awards last night he conferred the mother of all disses upon poor Taylor Swift...

Point, by Jerry Holbert of Townhall.com...

Counterpoint, by Nick Anderson of GoComics.com...

From the Daily Mail, which reported, "Up to two million people marched to the U.S. Capitol today...."

Michelle Malkin reported that liberal "nutroots" claimed the screenshot from a livecam she posted of the Tea Party was photoshopped since the American flag was shown at half-mast. How quickly they forget 9/11, which the government still recognized early on 9/12....

I have a new poll question up (lower right side of home page):

Will the Tea Party movement effect the 2010 elections?

Here are the results of my previous poll. MSNBC won the distinct honor of being the least trusted news source. Combined, all left-leaning MSM outposts garnered about a little over 75% of the vote, while Fox, the lone right-of-center news agency, got a little under 25%....

Celebrate grandparents and grandchildren today if you can!

"Waking up is hard to do," by Neil Sedaka

A chat with Neil about his grandchildren...

RedState.com has a photo essay from the DC Tea Party today. Here was the best sign...

And 2nd best...

Moderator Carla posed a good question to pro-aborts in a comment this week:

HOW do they help a young woman who is pregnant, alone and broke but DOESN'T want an abortion?

Well?

[HT: moderator Bethany]

UPDATE, 9/12, 7:05a: ABC News is reporting the Census Bureau has severed its relationship with ACORN. Go, James, change the world!
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Those who watch Fox are aware of the video released yesterday showing Baltimore ACORN employees caught in an undercover video sting allegedly offering to help a pimp and prostitute evade tax laws and cover up sex trafficking of minor girls from El Salvador.

Today a 2nd video was released, showing similar actions by Washington, D.C., ACORN staff.

See both video stings at BigGovernment.com.

The "pimp" in the videos is James O'Keefe. The name or face may not be familiar, but James has played a huge part in the pro-life activist movement of late. You may not know who James is, but you know his work.

We 1st saw James in February 2008 when LiveAction.org released video of an undercover sting at UCLA's Ashe Center. James portrayed a student preparing for an orgy. Reported LiveAction...

by Bethany Kerr

UPDATE, 9/12, 7:55a: Cal Zastrow, friend and prayer partner of Jim Pouillon, reported in an email Pouillon's granddaughter was in the school where Jim was shot.
_______________

UPDATE, 9/12, 7:45a: Grr, did this RH Reality Check post piss me off ('scuse me) on Jim Pouillon's shooter, Harlan James Drake - and I said so.
_______________

UPDATE 9/12, 6:50a:

From CNN, last night:

Authorities have charged an Owosso, MI, man with 2 counts of 1st-degree premeditated murder in the Friday shooting deaths of an anti-abortion activist and another man, a prosecutor's office said.

Activist Jim Pouillon was shot and killed Friday while protesting outside Owosso High School....

This September 9 Washington Times column by Tony Blankley serves as an important caution that we cannot let up pressure to stop nationalized healthcare...

As the politicians who support the president's health care plans escape back into Washington from America - and the politicians who oppose those health care plans leave their safe redoubt in the heartland and go once more behind the lines into the hostile territory of the Federal Triangle, only one thing is certain: We don't know the end of this story....

I confess the seemingly boundless fights with our liberal Congress and president on all things other than national security (well, aside from our fight against their labeling pro-lifers as domestic terrorists) has dulled my senses about 9/11. The video below helped bring it all back, as we should constantly seek to do. We can never forget.

Bethany will post more on Lunch Break.

What were you doing...

by JivinJ

Why then, in the face of its bad arguments, does the pro-choice movement continue to prevail legally and politically?

I think it's because abortion is the debris of the sexual revolution. We have seen a great shift in the sexual mores of Americans in the past half-century. Today a widespread social understanding persists that if there is going to be sex outside marriage, there will be a considerable number of unwanted pregnancies. Abortion is viewed as a necessary clean-up solution to this social reality....

Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards just posted an interesting tweet.

"Enough w/ the scare tactics already!" ??

What's so scary about taxpayer funded abortions, Cecile?

And if abortion's really not in there, why aren't you as the CEO of the United States' largest abortion provider fighting for it? Why are you expending so much energy protesting that it's in there? Seems to me you're aborting your own funding.

I've been watching this story with interest, because feminists immediately took up the cause of 18-year-old South African Caster Semenya last month when the International Association of Athletics Federations ordered gender tests after s/he won a gold medal in the 800 meter run at the World Athletics Championships....

by Carder

Courtesy of the indefatigable crew at the Susan B. Anthony List via Politico, September 9...

Noted Politico's Ben Smith...

To give us a break from the daily grind... Jill posting today...

Moderator Bethany has her own blog, Happy to be called Mommy. Yesterday Bethany posted a photo of a special drawing. She explained:

The picture below was done by [son] Caleb, and it meant a lot to me and was very special. The reason? The picture is of our family tree. On the top you'll see our ancestors who have passed away, and they all have wings. The bottom 3 smiley faces are Caleb, Noah, and Bonnie - and if you look to the right, there's another little branch that Caleb added with a smiley that had wings. He told me that one was Blessing, our baby that we lost through miscarriage.

Awwww.....

Email Bethany with your Lunch Break suggestions!

Congressperson Michelle Bachmann said on WLS's Don & Roma Show this morning that over 50 liberals in the House say they won't vote for healthcare if the public option is removed, and over 40 Blue Dogs say they won't vote for healthcare if the public option stays in. Pelosi can only lose 38 and still pass a bill.

The Hill reported these numbers on September 8...

Reposting from HotAir.com...

UPDATE, 1:12p: David Brody of CBNNews.com began his story on the Void the Abortion Mandate campaign today, along with poll findings by the Susan B. Anthony List, like this:

You have to hand it to pro-lifers. They don't give it. They are tenacious for sure and today they were back at it with new poll numbers showing that Americans are just not into government funding of abortions when it comes to health care. They also have started a new national campaign called, "Void the Abortion Mandate."

Yeah, pro-lifers!
_______________

Click on the voided check above or go to StopTheAbortionMandate.com to participate in a virtual rally TODAY.

What to do?...

Democrat Congressman Bart Stupak is not going away. From The Hill, tonight:

A leading pro-life Democrat in the House is threatening to block healthcare reform if Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) doesn't allow a vote that would prevent the bill from funding abortions.

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), co-chairman of the House Pro-Life Caucus, says the Democratic leadership must allow a vote adding the "Hyde Amendment" to the bill. That amendment prevents federal dollars from going to abortion funding.

"First of all, you have to give us our vote," Stupak told CBN News, repeating the message he's relaying to the Democratic leadership. "If you don't give us our vote, everything's off the table."...

A couple of responses to that part of Obama's speech tonight. First, from the National Right to Life Committee:

In his address to a joint session of Congress tonight, President Obama said, "One more misunderstanding I want to clear up - under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions."

Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the NRLC, commented: "Barack Obama needs to learn that the mere repetition of a verbal formula does not change reality. The reality is that the Obama-backed House bill would explicitly authorize the federal government insurance plan to pay for elective abortions and would explicitly authorize subsidies for private abortion insurance - and all with federal dollars, which are the only kind of dollars that the federal government can spend."...

UPDATE, 7:20p: Write comments about Obama's speech here.
_______________

And we have a preview...

Just the facts on healthcare, Mr. President, just the facts.

[HT: Phill Kline]

I love architectural design, and I love finding everything out about Planned Parenthood I can.

So today when I stumbled on 2 architect's videos discussing design of a PP facility, I felt like I'd won the "lot-to," as Chicago politician Mel Reynolds would say.

Friend John forwarded me a link to these videos, posted recently on the McGraw-Hill Construction Home Library website, about the 2003 remodel of 1 of Planned Parenthood Golden Gate's 7k sq ft Oakland, CA's, mills.

Without abortion, nationalized healthcare is doomed. The abortion industry will drop support quicker than it can abort a baby.

But it appears increasingly clear it is doomed with abortion. Here's another nail, supplied by Dan Gilgoff of U.S. News & World Report, this afternoon:

Conservative Christians have spent weeks decrying Democratic plans for healthcare reform over allegations that the proposals will increase abortion coverage, but recent days have seen a different camp raising abortion-related concerns in the healthcare fight: left-leaning religious activists....

by JivinJ

Now look at one way Mr. Obama wants to eliminate inefficiency and waste: He's asked Congress to create an Independent Medicare Advisory Council - an unelected, largely unaccountable group of experts charged with containing Medicare costs. In an interview with the in April, the president suggested that such a group, working outside of "normal political channels," should guide decisions regarding that "huge driver of cost... the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives...."

To give us a break from the daily grind...

[HT: Adam]

Email Bethany with your Lunch Break suggestions!

I wrote yesterday about a premature baby [Jayden Capewell, pictured right], who was left to die without being assessed by physicians for viability simply because at the gestational age of 21 weeks and 5 days he was born 2 days shy of the 22-week cut-off point.

I mentioned that I wondered if Britain's nationalized healthcare program played a part in this baby's death because of apparent rules cited in the article to withhold treatment of pregnant mothers in premature labor as well as very premature babies.

I've been doing more research on this. 1st, the Daily Mail story has been updated from yesterday. Its intro now reads...

Our August 12 quote of the day was from that month's Salon column by liberal and Obama supporter, Camille Paglia. This month's piece is just as frankly honest. The entire column is excellent. Here are excerpts:

... As an Obama supporter and contributor, I am outraged at the slowness with which the standing army of Democratic consultants and commentators publicly expressed discontent with the administration's strategic missteps this year. I suspect there had been private grumbling all along, but the media warhorses failed to speak out when they should have - from week one after the inauguration, when Obama went flat as a rug in letting Congress pass that obscenely bloated stimulus package. Had more Democrats protested, the administration would have felt less arrogantly emboldened to jam through a cap-and-trade bill whose costs have made it virtually impossible for an alarmed public to accept the gargantuan expenses of national healthcare reform. (Who is naive enough to believe that Obama's plan would be deficit-neutral? Or that major cuts could be achieved without drastic rationing?)

Pro-life hero and patriarch Joe Scheidler's 82nd birthday was yesterday! Happy birthday, Joe!

Today Joe emailed such a witty poem he wrote for the occasion. Here 'tis:

I'm eighty-two! By George, it's true. But there wasn't much that I could do...
I simply missed those lethal things that fit you out with "angel's wings."

So mark my age, and call me old, since that's what people do.
But one thing I know you don't know: I'll live to eighty-two.

I love the British press. The following sorts of stories could and should be published by MSM every day in America, because very young preemies are being shelved to die every day in America without being assessed for viability. The line is arbitrarily drawn.

But humanizing very young preemies would be anathema to the abortion industry. And so we latch on to honesty from across the pond. This just posted by the Daily Mail:

A young mother's premature baby died in her arms after doctors refused to help because it was born just before 22-week cut-off point for treatment.

Sarah Capewell, 23, gave birth to her son Jayden when she was 21 weeks and 5 days into her pregnancy.

Although doctors refused to place the baby in intensive care, Jayden lived for 2 hours before he passed away at James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, Norfolk, last October....

I hope it hasn't been noticeable, but I've had the pro-life doldrums for a week or 2. I can best describe it as pro-life PMS. Just crabby about it for no particular reason. So reading the following post today was a real spirit lifter, by blogger Nabriton on September 7:

STUPID

I ALMOST went to Toastmasters tonight and it's NOT EVEN ON. Thank GOD I checked.

Speaking of God, I've been attending church regularly for the first time in years. I feel quite happy about it actually. I never thought attending church would make me feel quite so happy, but it does. It's like my little piece of zen every week. Who knew? Crazy, evolutionist, pro-choice, sinful, sinful Nina.

Speaking of pro-choice, I think I have decided to change my mind about that, based on what our priest said in church. Babies are babies. And while I think a woman has a right to an opinion, and the right to choose to have an abortion, I think if a woman asked me how to decide FOR her, I would opt for her to have the baby. If she didn't want it because it was a product of rape or something, then she has the option of adopting it out. If it's an inconvenience, then I would say that she needs to face up to her responsibilities and the consequences of her actions....

While Nabriton isn't 100% with us yet, s/he's undergone quite the quick and complete conversion - even on the rape issue. Sometimes changes of heart are so simple and uncomplicated, just the flick of a switch.

Following are the lyrics to the post-abortion song, "Tears Fall," by BarlowGirl, from the album Love & War, being released today. According to CMSpin:

"Tears Fall," is without a doubt the most powerful song found on Love & War. This powerful piano ballad is a pro-life song that deals with the issue of abortion straight on. The band worked on this song for two and a half years to get its message just right.

Hear a snip of the song here. (Click on the 10th track.) The lyrics...

By Bethany Kerr

To give us a break from the daily grind...

[HT: Joanne]

Email Bethany with your Lunch Break suggestions!

UPDATE, 3:45p: Rove's take on the speech, which makes total sense, from the liberal Talking Points Memo site:

Karl Rove appeared on Fox News today, and joined in on the emerging right-wing line that the White House changed the text of the back-to-school speech which they say would have originally been aimed at political indoctrination of schoolchildren -- after conservatives objected. And Rove also charged that the whole speech is an improper use of government resources to advance President Obama's political profile.

"Oh, I bet it was," Rove said, when he was asked whether it was rewritten. "I mean, look, the WH was tone deaf, they clearly had a purpose here, which was, let's have the President speak to every student in the country, let's have a study guide, let's have them write the President and the President can write them back....

Planned Parenthood of IN is closing 5 of its 34 clinics, according to a statement it released to the Associated Press.

The Indianapolis Star has the most details on the closings, which include the Anderson, Franklin, Kokomo, Indianapolis Northwest, and Shelbyville PPs.

Basically PP says that because the state is restructuring the rules in October for $2 million in Federal Title XX grants so that those "receiving these grants [must] limit how much they charge to treat low-income patients," the profit margin for those 5 PPs is gone. And the PP nonmothership is not going to help keep them afloat. According to the article:

"PPIN has made the decision that many of our sites must now become fully self-sustaining, or independent, because of the restrictions placed on the funding," the statement read.

Sidebar: None of the closing clinics commit abortions, athough they all provide "abortion referral" and the morning-after pill. And neither of the 2 IN PPs exposed as part of last year's undercover sting by Lila Rose and LiveAction.org (here and here) are on the list.

Recall PPIN was the 1st to offer gift certificates last Christmas, so it has already demonstrated underachieving marketing skills.

[HT: reader Susie A.; PP gift certificate graphic via Citizen Link]

Missed this, from Human Events, August 31:

1. "I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them just to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking." ~ President Obama at an August 6 at a rally in VA

2. "They're carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on health care." ~ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) in an August 5 interview

3. "What good is reading the bill if it's a thousand pages and you don't have 2 days and 2 lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?" ~ Rep. John Conyers (MI) at the National Press Club, July 24...

Happy Labor Day! What are your plans?

by Lisa Benson of Townhall.com...

by Glenn McCoy of Townhall.com...

by JivinJ

by Bethany Kerr

To give us a break from the daily grind...

Email Bethany with your Lunch Break suggestions!

UPDATE, 10:40a: Along the lines of our topic, reader Susie A. just sent this neat photo, from a TN town hall meeting...

_______________

Much has been on the news about Barack Obama's plan to address America's public school students, K-12, next Tuesday, September 8....

by JivinJ

To give us a break from the daily grind...

Email Bethany with your Lunch Break suggestions!

I received the following email from Deidrea Laux, Baby Thomas's Mom, both of whom I featured in a post yesterday. Deidrea gave me permission to share her note with you.

Hi Jill -

My name is Deidrea Laux and I noticed that you posted our story from the Dallas Morning News.

I just wanted to tell you thank you for getting the word out there. One of the primary reasons we opened our lives up during such a difficult time was to bring awareness to situations like ours. We are blessed to be surrounded by a very supportive medical community. Once we decided to move forward with our pregnancy, our OB pulled together a team to walk us through medical decisions and they supported us 100%....

I received this response to my WND column, "Ted Kennedy's letter to the pope," from Amaury Nora, a professor of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio:

I hesitated responding to this Draconian attempt at debasing the name of a gentle man whose only imperfection is the possession of a different outlook on specific social issues. It is highly unprincipled insensitive, and callous to speak of a man who hasn't been gone from us but for a few moments. To defame the name of Ted Kennedy who stood for so many virtuous and humane causes simply because you disagree with his viewpoint is just wrong, particularly when he can no longer defend his beliefs. It is cowardice to attack the integrity of a man when his back is turned, but to do it when he is dead is unforgiveable. This conduct is cruel, dark, hedonistic, and overly UNchristian. The purpose of this short narrative is not to infuriate anyone, not to stir hateful emotions, nor to engage in a discourse on abortion or any other topic. It is merely to point out the offensiveness of the act itself. I beg that we treat others with tenderness in our hearts and judiciousness in our minds.

My response...

According to Insider.com yesterday:

Michelle [42] and Jim Bob Duggar [44], parents of 18 with a granddaughter on the way, made a big announcement Tuesday morning.

The Duggars, stars of the TLC show 18 Kids and Counting, shared the news on the Today show that they are expecting their 19th baby! Their son Joshua and daughter-in-law Anna are also expecting, with their baby girl due to arrive this fall....

To give us a break from the daily grind...

Email Bethany with your Lunch Break suggestions!

by moderator Carla

My daughter Aubrey died in the Meadowbrook Clinic in Minneapolis on September 5, 1990.

Each year gets harder and harder for me, and I seek to do something that helps me grieve.

This Saturday, September 5, I will be participating in the St. Croix Valley Triathlon in Aubrey's memory. I will swim 1/3 of a mile, bike 10, and run 4.

I will run the race to bring awareness to others of the devastating "choice" that abortion is. To kill your own child solves nothing and leaves wounded women and men. I long for others to know of the amazing abortion recovery resources that are available to help and to heal those that regret their abortions....

Thoughts of Ted Kennedy stir quite competing emotions in me.

Sadness and compassion are 2 I feel when considering Kennedy's family history.

All 3 of Kennedy's older brothers were killed young while serving their country. This meant that after his father died in 1969, Kennedy was forced at the age of 40 into the role of patriarch of a large clan that included 2 widowed sisters-in-law and 13 fatherless nieces and nephews.

Kennedy was present, for instance, at Ethel's delivery of daughter Rory 6 months after husband and father Bobby was assassinated.

But in an awful twist, John Jr. died in a plane crash on his way to Rory's wedding in 1999, yet another example of the seemingly never-ending Kennedy family tragedies.

And I feel bad about all that.

Then there's the Chappaquiddick Kennedy, which stirs shock and disbelief, and the rabble-rousing Kennedy, whose poor example did nephew William Kennedy Smith no favors, which stirs disgust.

And there is the Liberal Lion Kennedy, who wrought catastrophic harm to preborn human life.

This Kennedy infuriates me.....

Continue reading my column today, "Ted Kennedy's letter to the pope," at WorldNetDaily.com.

UPDATE, 9:40a: From moderator Chris:

There's another organization that helps celebrate these young lives. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is a non-profit that coordinates professional photographers to capture stories similar to Thomas's. They provide beautiful heirloom remembrance photography that helps heal and tell these poignant stories for families and loved ones.

My friend Allison Runnion-Baker forwarded the video below, made by the Dallas News. It tells the touching story of a couple who decided to carry their lethally ill baby to term. The video is very well done and sends a powerful pro-life message. Baby Thomas's mother Deidrea says in the video, "I think sometimes when you make the toughest decisions, you can get the greatest joy out of those."

Get your kleenex out. You will watch birth, celebrating life, and mourning death in quick succession....

Allison and I worked at Christ Hospital together. She testified with me before a congressional subcommittee about her experience there....

by JivinJ

by Raving Theist

Residents of Draper, UT, showed support for the Pregnancy Resource Center of Salt Lake and raised over $3,600 on August 12.

In addition to matching funds, participants were inspired by a "photo challenge" - the Center received $50 for each person who posed for the picture above (click to enlarge). It also received $25 for each essay submitted describing the importance of the Center's mission. The Center's executive director, Tamara Anderson (back row, in green directly under the "e" in the word "We" in the banner), looks forward to similar gatherings in the future. The event was hosted at the home of Allyson Dunbar (2nd row, end left).

[JLS note: I promised to post this photo as added incentive to the photo challenge, which is a great idea!]

To give us a break from the daily grind...

Email Bethany with your Lunch Break suggestions!

Administrative assistant Kelli had a baby boy on August 17!

He weighed a quite respectable 8 lbs. 8 oz, and was 21 1/2 inches long. He was welcomed home by Mom, Dad, big sister, age 9, and big brother, age 7.

The family has adjusted quite well during the last 2 weeks, with the exception that Kelli is sleep deprived. All moms in the audience will remember those days quite well.

Congrats to Kelli! We miss her very much here (I'm falling apart, actually) but want Kelli to be well rested and enjoy the fleeting moments while her baby is still a sweet newborn before returning here to steady our ship.

Summer intern Anne Marie D., a Nursing and Business Management student, has been a joy to work with. Yesterday was Anne Marie's last day as she leaves us to continue her studies as a senior in college.

We want to thank her for her diligence in preparing (Prolifer)ations every week, and for her work in writing other wonderful pro-life posts (here, here, and here) for us at JillStanek.com.

We wish you God's greatest blessings in all your endeavors, Anne Marie! You will be missed!

Here's an example how one stupid, misled man can cast a shadow on the entire pro-life movement. FoxNews.com reported yesterday:

A Phoenix-area pastor has started to draw protesters to his congregation after he delivered a sermon titled, "Why I Hate Barack Obama," and told his parishioners that he prays for President Obama's death.

Pastor Steven Anderson stood by his sermon in an interview with MyFOXPhoenix, which reports that the pastor continues to encourage his parishioners to join him in praying for the president's death.

"I hope that God strikes Barack Obama with brain cancer so he can die like Ted Kennedy and I hope it happens today," he told MyFOXPhoenix on Sunday. He called his message "spiritual warfare" and said he does not condone killing....