Life Issues

On human potential

“TheRealSasha” has commented, here, on my essay, “Why Ethics?”

From the comment:

However I believe the application of the argument is limited.. As it doesn’t address the contested questions such as definition of when life begins. As such your ‘hierarchy of importances’ only follows if the assumption is make that life begins at conception.

I think an issue the post doesn’t consider, is the greatest potential of the woman and man who will be caring after the child when they are born. If the child/fetus in the womb is found to be severely deformed and close to a vegetated state, which will involve a lifetime of the most basic care for their needs, it will mean the life of the carers will be such that the large part of it will have to be devoted to looking after a child that may not even comprehend who their own parents are.

I believe that taking your own argument of the greatest potential, it can be argued that the child given in the above example has less potential in having something resembling ‘life’, than the potential life/lives lost of their carers.

Science depends on the study of events that can be observed by different observers in different labs, under similar conditions.

The one-celled embryo, the zygote, is unique in that the products of two cell lines, a sperm and an egg, which are at the end of their life cycle, combine to form the beginning of a new life cycle. Any argument in favor of potential is only a personal belief, inconsistent with observable facts. We know that fertilization is a point that a technician can identify in the in vitro lab. No one implants unfertilized eggs. In fact, we can watch the changes by serial ultrasounds and blood hormone levels that result from the new embryo.

Philosophy can utilize the same criteria: what would happen in another place if the same value were given to another child at another age? Why not kill the child with less “potential” after birth?

Sasha gives a classic example of utilitarian ethics: the greatest good for the greatest number, without regard to individual, inalienable rights. Utilitarianism allows fickle, faddish and selfish motives or might makes right to determine the safety that each of us can expect from society and law.

Anyone is at risk of becoming like the human in the example Sasha gives: a fall, a bad allergic reaction, an assault could leave any of us at least temporarily or permanently dependent on others for “the most basic care for their needs.” Why not snuff out the life of these people?

An Open Letter to Republican Leaders

Conservative Republicans from my home town of New Braunfels and all over Texas have made it a point to tell me that they are frustrated with you. Even as you begin asking for our support in next year’s election, y’all don’t seem to remember who brought you to the dance, and that we are supposed to lead.

You may have heard our Conservative song at times; even going so far as to dance all around your own Bills in order to appear in step with us. But you still dance to a beat we don’t like far too often.

We worked so hard last year to send a Republican majority to Austin and Washington, only to have the people we elected seem to pay little attention to us and our Party Platform.

In Austin, it was a compromise on the Speaker and toll roads. In DC, we’re watching this political theater about the budget and the debt ceiling.  Why are Republicans, with a majority in the House and a clear mandate from the voters, still getting bogged down in “negotiation?”

And don’t tell us how hard it is to hammer Bills into Laws. This is your job, the one you volunteered for. It can’t be any harder than what we did to get you there in 2010, and what you’ll ask us to do in 2012.  And we did it on top of our regular duties, not as a paid, full-time job!

After all the time and money we  invested in your campaigns before the primaries, some of us spent  thirteen hours working the polls on Primary Day and rushed from there to attend our Precinct Conventions.  Delegates to our Precinct and County Conventions gave up hours on Primary night and on a Saturday later in the month. Before these meetings, we reviewed the old Party Platform and carefully crafted new resolutions. Then we defended them at our Precinct, County and State Conventions. Some of us served on Convention Committees at the County and State level, giving more time to sift through the Resolutions, put them in order and finally come up with a Platform that our Delegates approved at the State Convention.

I’m sorry if this seems like I’m giving you a hard time, and I’d rather be spending my time encouraging you than griping. But, still,  if we can do all that, why can’t y’all cut spending in DC?

Franken got it wrong

Al Franken, (See the Politico story, here) the nominal Senator from Minnesota, attacked the representative of Focus on the Family, Tom Minnery, claiming that Mr. Minnery is unreliable because of the way he read a report on statistics on marriage and the health of children. Mr. Minnery’s testimony is here.

Franken claimed that Minnery was wrong in assuming that the families in question were composed of one husband and one wife. Hamming it up, pausing for laughter, Franken claimed to have read the study from the “Department of Health and Human Services” and to understand it better than Mr. Minnery. Franken’s claim was that Mr. Minnery had no reason to assume that the definition of “nuclear family” used in the study (“A nuclear family consists of one or more children living with two parents who are married to one another and are each biological or adoptive parents to all children in the family.”) did not include same-sex married couples.

Franken was wrong. See the original CDC study, “Family Structure and Children’s Health, in pdf, here.

The CDC paper Franken waved around about specifically mentions – on Page 12 – that it is referring to the “‘traditional” nuclear families” and further confirms that “spouse” is defined as “husband/wife.” The data came from 2001 to 2007, and Massachusetts became the first State to legalize homosexual marriage in 2004. There were evidently not enough same sex married parents to cause a bump in their years-long process. The definitions and clarifications in question are on page 12.

Regardless of your personal political leanings, there simply is not enough empirical or historical evidence to justify changing the basic unit of society. First same sex legal marriage in the States was less than 10 years ago. There have always been legal interracial marriages throughout history, with evidence that the marriages produce stable families. There’s more historic evidence that polygamous families are stable forces in society than there is for same-sex couples.

The social eugenics are bad enough, but in the litigious United States, the problem then becomes, if you don’t want a church that preaches homosexual acts are a sin and won’t bless their marriages, don’t go to one. Or, if you don’t want an Inn that refuses to host same-sex weddings, don’t own one. Sure —- The problem becomes lawsuit here a lawsuit there, etc.

Conservatives in Action: TED CRUZ THE SQUEAKY CLEAN TEXAS SENATORIAL CANDIDATE

Conservatives in Action

Conservatives in Action: TED CRUZ THE SQUEAKY CLEAN TEXAS SENATORIAL CANDIDATE.

From “Red Sonja”, Conservatives in Action:

In an attempt to bring first hand information to you about some of our 2012 candidates I sat down and visited with Texas Senatorial candidate Ted Cruz. The YouTube video is just 5 minutes and 17 seconds in length. Actually, I spent more like 30 minutes visiting with him. Cruz has never run for elected office before but has a very successful record as former Texas Solicitor General. He has a very impressive family background and other than not graduating from a Texas university, has a squeaky clean record. He has a way about him that is pleasing and his manner of speaking is easy listening. He seems sure of himself and is passionate and unshakable about his conservative values. Because of his court battles he is unflappable and knowledgeable in the critical issues facing us. I believe he would stand firm against the Obama Administration and against tyranny.

As the Solicitor General under Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, Cruz was instrumental in winning several landmark cases in the US Supreme Court and the Federal Court of Appeals. He has personally argued cases before the US Supreme Court, such as Medellin vs Texas and successfully defended the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2006. Consequently he is well versed in understanding what it takes to win. His knowledge and expertise will be extremely effective if he is elected to the Senate.

Cruz exemplifies the American Dream. His father born and raised in Cuba fought in the Cuban Revolution and was imprisoned and tortured. Ted’s grandfather got him out of prison and he fled to America in 1957 seeking freedom from oppression. Ted’s father enrolled at the University of Texas and worked hard all his life. Ted’s parents, as small business entrepreneurs, managed a data processing company in the oil and gas field. It was great listening to Cruz comment that his father was his ‘hero’.

Read the transcript from the interview, here and watch the video on YouTube:

Dividing Conservatives: Who Started This, Anyway?

(The ACLU is probably hiring lawyers as we speak. See! Government can create jobs outside of Government bureaucracies.)

Remember when we were told not to pay attention to what people do in the privacy of their own bedrooms? Now, they’re forcing us to watch. We didn’t start this round, but get ready: Conservatives who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman will be treated as divisive and accused of splitting the Conservative vote.

President Obama has declared his support for legislation ending the Defense of Marriage act. The bill, the Respect for Marriage Act, will be heard today in the Senate Judicial Committee.

The full title is, “S.598, The Respect for Marriage Act: Assessing the Impact of DOMA on American Families.” In the House, it’s H.R. 1116. According to the Examiner.com,

The bill which was introduced by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) would repeal all three sections of DOMA which places a strong federal hold against states rights in the matters of legalized same sex marriage recognition.

The new bill is set out to repeal specifically the sections in which DOMA defines marriage as the union between a man and a women, instructs states not to recognize same sex marriages performed in other states and prohibits the federal government from recognizing legally performed same-sex marriages.

Which is probably exactly where it should be heard. After all, now there can be more lawsuits,like this one in Vermont against private business owners who does not want to celebrate same sex marriage in their Inn.

There’s a conversation on Facebook about whether the phrase “gay conservative” is an oxymoron. I maintain that it is.  Will organizations like the Log Cabin Republicans still want to vote with Conservatives who are happy to form coalitions on fiscal  matters, small government, and the sanctity of life, but who won’t support the change they want to make in the family or the definition of marriage? Will they join in the debate in favor of “Respect for Marriage,” and how will they do it?

The basic unit of society is the family. Social experiments with the family are not conservative because they risk weakening that basic unit, the source of support and protection in times of crisis and where we learn the skills that allow us to function in the greater society.

There is no historical support for same sex couples forming a stable family.  There’s more empiric evidence for stable families resulting from polygamy. For that matter, the Egyptian Pharaohs, who practiced incest in order to keep their power in the family, managed to hold their reign together longer than the entire history of open same-sex lifestyle, much less the legalization of their “marriages.”

Those who disagree with me tell me to go along to get along and to quit bringing “the church” into politics, “because parties are about politics & policy issues not religious ideology.”

While I do have strong religious convictions, I don’t like to use religious arguments in politics. I don’t need to claim that the only reason to support traditional monogamous marriage is because marriage is a covenant with our Creator. I consider the fact that I can debate tough philosophical (even “ideology”) by using empirical arguments is proof that my position is close to the truth.

My fellow conservatives and I did not start this. The ones bringing in “controversy” are the ones who demand to make us aware of what should be a very private matter and that we agree with their redefinition of marriage and the family.  It is they who insist on dividing conservatives by identifying first as homosexual, then as fiscal conservatives, etc. This identification declares that their purpose is not to cut spending or support small government: their primary purpose in forming a political group is to gain sympathy for their true cause.
(edited, 11AM, 7-20-11, to remove a repeated sentence. 8-9-11, for grammar and to add link to NYT story on Vermont Inn.)

Pump It! Wash it! Hospital videos for handwashing – cute!

“From the 6th floor right on down to Rehab!”

Paradise Valley Hospital in National City, California, has produced several videos to remind staff, patients and the rest of us to wash our hands to save lives.

So, which is your favorite, the Black-eyed Peas(or is it Robert Rodriquez?) take-off, “Pump It!” or the Michael Jackson-like “Wash it!” There’s a more traditional video with soothing “spa” music, and a language lesson, too, “Clean Hands Save Lives.”

(Thanks to Dr. LR for the heads up!)

“Rebuilding the Dream” (Marx’s dream, that is.)

My initial impression of the moveon.org “Rebuilding the Dream” “House Meeting” on Sunday, July 17, 2011, at the New Braunfels Public Library was that I had visited another planet. However after thinking about my experience for a day or so, I’ve decided it was more like visiting an impoverished culture that sort of speaks my language, but with an almost impenetrable accent. Over the next couple of days, I’ll try to interpret the goings-on for my fellow conservatives from Texas, to whom the ideas, the hatred, and the stereotyping would be completely foreign.

First of all, despite the stereotype, I’ve seen much more diversity at our Tea Party meetings – and certainly at our Republican meetings. I heard no “foreign” accents at all. Among the 25 in attendance, the only literal, non-philosophical accents that I noticed were “Yankee” accents wielded by Non-Texans, maybe from California or the State of Washington, a few even from the Northeast and Chicago. Most had been “born and raised” in Texas. The majority was older than I and retired from various jobs. All but two or three were of the same Western European heritage that we call “White” around here. There were no blacks or Asians and less-than-a-handful of people whose grandparents might have been, like my great-great grandmother, American Indian.

The online news group, RedState has noted in their “Cargo Cult Watch”* that Jone’s Dream is an attempt to recreate a Left wing version of the Tea Party. However, the small group that I met – while very upset that the on-line address for future plans of the Movement was  “contract.rebuildthedream.org,” (warning: video of Robert Reich) because it reminded them of Newt Gingrich – was willing to divide in to 4 tables of 6-7 participants each, with pre-determined table leaders. Can you imagine a Tea Party event like that?

The culture must be “impoverished” because their highest goal is to make the Nation “middle class.” From Van Jones, who is spearheading the Movement, said:

“Rebuild the middle class – and pathways into it – by fighting for a “made in America” innovation and manufacturing agenda, including trade and currency policies that honor American workers and entrepreneurs.”

And they’re willing to vote themselves a lot of everyone else’s money to make sure that no one rises above “middle class,” too! It’s also obvious that Mr. Jones has no clue what an entrepreneur risks – or what he expects in return for his risks and everything he or she gives up for success.

Did you grow up wanting to be middle class? I grew up thinking that if I worked hard enough, I could be rich, the President, or go to the moon. (Okay, I didn’t quite think a girl could do some things until I was grown.  I sure didn’t expect to do it all, myself, but I was very happy to discover that some of my sisters could. Someday, there will be a “Mrs. President.”)

More to come. . .

*Cargo Cult: a reference to a – probably fictional – story about a primitive tribe that lived on a Pacific island that US forces chose for a temporary airbase. After the War was over, the GI’s left, and the planes and air drops containing riches stopped coming. The locals made faux radios, headphones from coconut shells, followed the rituals that they’d seen the tower crew act out in an attempt to get the gods to send more treasures from the sky.

We Republicans

“We ended up with candidates chosen by the least knowledgeable voters.”

Here’s an older post that I wrote June 1, last year. It still applies, more than ever!

We Republicans are the Tea Party. If you look at the Tea Party, you will see the Conservative foundation, the remnant that have opposed “centrists” and “moderates” for years. We are the ones who have known all along what the Dems relearn each election cycle, but some of our own never seem to: Americans are conservative, to the right of center. When all the couch potatoes woke up last year, we were the ones who were here to welcome them and give them somewhere to start.

Some of us sat out the 2006 and even 2008 elections to “teach them a lesson;” that they need to legislate like Republicans if they want us to support them. Where Republicans turned out to vote, we held offices. Where the Republican voters were no-shows, we lost ground and offices. In a few cases, Republicans crossed over in the name of Chaos and strong conservatives were narrowly defeated in the Primaries, leaving us with a choice between a RINO, a Democrat or an under vote. We ended up with candidates chosen by the least knowledgeable voters.

Well, that was successful, wasn’t it? Can’t you just imagine all the true conservative candidates in the Presidential primary of 2008, each wishing the Chaos voters had turned out for them?

The Dems won a majority and then a super majority in the Federal House, Senate and the White House, allowing them to ram-rod their agenda to spread the wealth around, undermine families and threaten the weak and sick at all stages of life. Corrupt and corrupting Chris Dodd, Charlie Rangel, and John Conyers wield Committee Chairmanships when they should be indicted. The media ignored – and continues to ignore – our plainly stated opposition, underreporting our numbers and drowning out our voices as they proclaim that we lost because the Left better represented the voters and the Country was ready for Change! And now, the media and the liberals are crowing about the power of the tea partiers, and asking everyone who will give them a few seconds what we’ll “do” with “them.”

Unfortunately, the “moderate” Republicans and some of our conservatives didn’t learn the lesson we wanted to teach them. Instead, they decided they need to spend more time and money wooing the swing voters and undecideds. The Big Tent is looking more like a Circus. (See CPAC and “gay conservatives.”)

Many who have appropriated the title of “conservatives” – those who have never been active (or even voted) in the Republican Party before and those who spend their “meet-up” time with the Libertarian Party – are using any and all opportunities to infect the Party with their discontent. If they can destroy us for their own political gain and “Revolution,” they will be happy.

If your goal is to throw the bums out for the sake of defeating the old established leadership, if you think it’s your turn at power, even if you’ve never been involved, much less been a leader, then perhaps your motives aren’t as pure as they should be. Please reconsider what your real goal is and how – whether – your actions will achieve your purpose.

WingRight

Today’s newspaper is out. I’m still getting the bugs out. If you find some of the chosen articles are inappropriate, please let me know. WingRight.

For Texas’ Atheists

Preamble to the Constitution of the great, sovereign State of Texas:

Humbly invoking the blessings of Almighty God, the people of the State of Texas, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

Just FYI.

And, BTW, according to the 1st Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, it’s “Freedom OF Religion,” or “the free exercise thereof,” not “Freedom From Religion.” thought you would want to know, since you’re suing Governor Rick Perry over the Response prayer gathering on August 6th, at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.

(Thanks to LukeL of FreeRepublic.com for the reminder about the Preamble.)

First Amendment: excuse for lawsuits or freedom?

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The Texas Tribune, that NPR/University of Texas online news organization that accepted $150,000 from George Soro’s “Open Society,” (whose url is “soros.org”), reports that atheists backed by an organization from Wisconsin, have filed suit to stop Governor Rick Perry’s participation in the prayer gathering in Houston next month. They claim that the 1st Amendment prohibits State Governors from public religious expression. It doesn’t seem odd to to them that the same Government should defend their right to not be religious while forcing others to refrain.
Forget for a moment that the Constitution is talking about the Federal Congress and not a State Legislature or Governor – look at the rest of the Amendment.

“… shall make no law” – no law for and no law against
“. . . the free exercise thereof . . . “
“ . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . .”
“. . . right of the people peaceably to assemble . . .”

The comments on TT  concerning the lawsuit are the typical Austin liberal screed, with an added anti-religious hatefulness and the obligatory hair comments thrown in. Knowing the type of readers who comment on these pages, I’m still surprised at the prejudice and lack of knowledge displayed. So, here’s my answer to their questions and doubts:

Yes, Christians do believe that the Lord chooses our Governors and other leaders. And, yes, Christians do have a need and “Commission” to testify about our faith and blessings. And many of us do not believe that we can abdicate our own private duty to Christ to care for the sick, poor or children to government, which hasn’t proven a good steward. And, no, you don’t have the right to be free from knowledge and tolerance of our free exercise of religion, speech, and assembly.

God bless their little hearts.

Get the RINO’s out, now!

I tend to be a “some is better than none” type of voter. Normally, I say that just about any Republican is better than just about any Democrat.
But not on life and family issues. I wont cast a vote for pro-aborts or pro-homosexual “marriage” RINO’s.
I did refrain from criticizing my own State Senator, who is both, because of a misguided loyalty to the Party – and my husband is the County chair. In reward the man refused to allow me to be introduced as “Doctor of the Day” at the Senate, this May and he fought our ultrasound bill.
Never again.
Every Republican who cannot stand for the sanctity of life and traditional marriage should be hounded out of office, not just voted out. No violence, no threats, just unrelenting pressure to resign. (My husband says, “Good!” or I wouldn’t put this on line. I really do believe what I say about marriage.)

New Budget Committee Report: Skyrocketing Debt Hampering Private-Sector Job Growth

Cut spending first. Pass the Balanced Budget Amendment with caps. Then we can talk about true “loop holes,” but leave things that we want to encourage alone – like child and mortgage interest breaks.

New Budget Committee Report: Skyrocketing Debt Hampering Private-Sector Job Growth | Speaker of the House John Boehner | speaker.gov.

Let’s see: Life or Toll Roads?

Every 30 minutes, today, the “news” on the radio claimed that Governor Rick Perry can’t count on Texas Christian Conservatives.

Well, he sure could in November, 2010! (and 2006 and 2002, too!)

The San Antonio radio station, WOAI 1200 AM, is the local talk-show leader, with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and our own Joe “Pags” (I’m not even going to try to spell it – that’s what he calls himself). The Station has played harsh sound bites all day on the news, accusing Governor Perry of having “corporate slush funds.”(Money the Legislature has appropriated specifically for a specific purpose is not a “slush fund.”)

I admire the woman in question and believe that I agree with her on 98% of the issues. Terri Hall is the founder of San Antonio Toll Roads and Texans United for Reform and Freedom. I’ve held her baby while she lobbied, and testified with her against the expansion of toll roads and selling our infrastructure to foreign private interests this year.

I just don’t agree with her way of deciding which politicians to support. Matters of life and traditional marriage and family are enough to make me turn off on a politician – and they will also win my loyalty when there are some issues on which we disagree. (There’s a hierarchy: Life trumps Liberty, Liberty trumps Property and these all trump purely political divisions like how to pay for roads.)

The trouble is that Terri is as close to a one-issue person as I’ve seen, applauding pro-abortion Democrats in the same pages where she condemned those like State Rep Frank Corte. in his Republican Primary  a few years ago because he didn’t vote the way she demanded on toll roads. Never mind that Rep. Corte is one of the most conservative men in Texas and the author of dozens of pro-life and pro-family Bills that became law. Never mind that while in office, he was constantly attacked from the Left (called “Frank ‘the Fetus'”), and that her opposition fed their glee.

And yet, I can still join her in those fights we agree on.

We Conservatives can split hairs finer than Baptists – or the Galatians and Ephesians to whom the Apostle Paul wrote 2000 years ago. Whether you’re a Christian or not, Paul had gave good advice when he admonished us to edify one another and to gently correct our opponents.

Edited for grammar, 18:20, 7-7-11, BBN)

Federal Court Scheduled to Hear Challenge to Texas Sonogram Law

Can you imagine what would happen if Cardiologists hid the screen while a heart sonogram was being performed?

Federal Court Scheduled to Hear Challenge to Texas Sonogram Law. From Joe Pojman, Executive Director of Texas Alliance for Life:

The Office of Attorney General Greg Abbott is defending the law and filed a response yesterday demonstrating that the law is constitutional. The first hearing will be today. Texas Alliance for Life’s staff will be present.

Texas also has laws mandating informed consent for hysterectomies, radiation therapy and electric-shock therapy – all passed because of the public perception that doctors were patronistically making decisions for their patients, “for their own good.”

The sonogram has become standard of care, much as the sonogram of the heart or a catheterization before bypass surgery. Patients are already being required to pay for the sonogram in addition to or as part of the abortion fee. And yet, patients were not being allowed – in some cases, refused – to see their own medical information and the results of the test they had paid for.

For some reason, the Houston Chronicle, in its July 2 note on the lawsuit, only says that, “The center for Reproductive Right’s class action lawsuits were filed on of a San Antonio abortion provider. ” Planned Parenthood is not identified in today’s HC article, either.

Meatheads: MD Anderson grilling scare won’t cure cancer or cover up failure | JunkScience.com

When will our experts  learn to be responsible and careful? Junk Science exposes a silly press release from what should be a careful, reliable source.

Meatheads: MD Anderson grilling scare won’t cure cancer or cover up failure | JunkScience.com.

S.A. coffee co. starts national brouhaha over tweet – San Antonio Express-News

S.A. coffee co. starts national brouhaha over tweet – San Antonio Express-News.

The “Tweet” in question? “No human law can ever legitimatize what natural law precludes” #SorryFolks #NotEqual #WhyBother #ChasingAfterTheWind #SelfEvident

This very generic statement was interpreted as “intolerant” “homophobic” and “hate speech.” That tacky, foul-mouthed food critic even stuck his nose into the fuss: ” Anthony Bourdain, the host of the Travel Channel‘s “No Reservations,” chimed in Tuesday when he tweeted, “Dear Brown Coffee: God called. He said you suck.””

In other words, nation-wide psychological projection.

House reverses itself, passes the big money bill | Trail Blazers Blog | dallasnews.com

House reverses itself, passes the big money bill | Trail Blazers Blog | dallasnews.com.

Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, moved to reconsider the bill, defeated earlier, 79-64. King said he’s been assured that the House General Investigating and Ethics Committee during the interim will investigate concerns by Eagle Forum and other conservative groups that the Turkish-dominated Cosmos Foundation, which operates Harmony Schools and operates 33 charter schools in Texas, may not be following proper procurement procedures. (See The New York Times story on that subject here.)