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If You Don't Read, How Can You Learn?

"ON THE LIGHTER SIDE" by Dan Gura

A recent Associated Press Poll (1) of 1,003 American adults asked, "Have you read any books in the past year?"  An amazing 27% said not a one.

Even more alarming, of the literate 73%, only 64% had read the Bible or other religious text (44% of the respondents were Protestant and 27% Catholic (2) which means well over half of American adults did not turn to Scripture during an entire year.

The fact that one in four American adults claim not to have read a single book made banner headlines across the globe, including mother Russia's own PRAVDA. (3)  The much copied AP story opines, "the survey reveals a nation whose book readers on the whole can hardly be considered ravenous."  Curiously, it doesn't mention how newspaper readership is dropping quicker than Rex Grossman taking a snap from center.  On October 31, 2006 The Washington Post reported newspaper circulation nationwide has been sliding since 1987 and dropped 2.8% from the comparable period the year before; the LA Times led the pack by dropping a whopping 9%.

If you have any doubt how thin the ranks of readers are, I challenge you to take a commuter train downtown; walk through the cars and count how few people pass their time with either a book or newspaper.  Cell phones, laptops, and every sort of music making electronics abound, but nary a dog-eared tome in sight.

I am proud to report that my children are all insatiable readers.  In fact, I call my daughter Corrina--now a college teacher--a book devourer because of how fast she reads.

To what do I attribute their love of the printed word?  Certainly not to twelve years of public schooling--their education was also deficient in history, English and geography.  However, all four have excellent self-esteem and know how to celebrate Kwanzaa.  Unlike the "good old days" when we were assigned lists of books which MUST be read over the summer--lest ye incur the wrath of a nun who was only slightly bigger and stronger than Brian Urlacher--not a one brought home so much as a list of suggested reading.

No, my children are excellent readers for two reasons.  The first is the example my wife and I set by reading to, then with, them.  The Little House on the Prairie series was an early family favorite and now even my Mom is reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels.

Second, they were required to not only read books, but to share their newly acquired knowledge as well.  Every night at dinner--including during summer vacation--I asked each in turn, "What did you learn today?"

Some nights, despite spending an entire day in the classroom, four blank faces stared back at me.  It would take subtle prodding--"whoever didn't learn anything today does dishes all by themselves"--to motivate the gray matter.  Then the learning pours out.

"J. Frank Dureyea won America's first automobile race on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1895 when he drove 52 miles from Jackson Park in Chicago to Waukegan in only 10 hours and 23 minutes."

"The legal avoirdupois weight as fixed by the U.S. government for a single bushel of potatoes is sixty pounds, except for North Carolina and West Virginia where it is only fifty-six pounds."

Why?  I don't know.  Maybe I'll learn the reason tomorrow.  All I know is they had to not only make the effort to learn something, but to remember it until dinner time as well.

Even though my children are now adults, it is rare to see them without a book because good habits last a lifetime.

So, what can you do to give your kids a competitive advantage in life?  Simple, you must get involved.  If you hook 'em on reading while they're young, they will be readers all their lives.

Pay a visit to your child's school and examine their curriculum.  If your child does not have a class devoted to reading, demand to know why not.  Hold them accountable--you are paying their salaries, either through taxes or tuition.  That means they work for you.  Do not settle for mediocre.

Learn what programs are available for parents who do not want their children to be left behind. Then take advantage of them.  Two great resources are Reading Is Fundamental, the nation's oldest and largest nonprofit children's literacy organization, whose mission is to "ensure that every child believes in the value of books and the importance of reading," and Readers Are Leaders.  Their name is not just a slogan.  They are a foundation whose goal is getting children interested and excited about reading. (4)

I found an article titled, "Be Excellent, Readers are Leaders" which quoted a survey of American business people that found executives at Fortune 1000 companies read 6.7 books per year while the average respondent read but 7/10 of one book every three years!

It seems pretty obvious:  The more you read, the more you succeed.  If you don't believe me, I will close with two examples of two avid readers who achieved their dreams.

While touring Ronald Reagan's boyhood home in Dixon, Illinois, the docent showed us a small table with four chairs around it.  She explained that during the darkest days of the great depression Nelle Reagan would place a single lighted oil lamp at the center of that table and the family would sit around it and read--often the Bible.  During his presidency, Reagan was known as the Great Communicator.  A coincidence?  I don't think so.

Finally, I'm re-reading Veeck as in Wreck, the autobiography of Bill Veeck, baseball's PT Barnum and twice owner of the Chicago White Sox. (5)  In Bob Verdi's foreword he states, "Call him a voracious reader and you would be correct.  Call him a voracious thinker and you would truly define him."

Veeck had a lifelong love affair with knowledge and he knew the best way to acquire it was through reading.  We can only pray that our children's children make this same discovery, lest we become a nation who only knows that which they Google.

(1) The poll was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, project #81-5681-13, on August 6-8, 2007, and had a margin of error of +/- 3.1 for all adults.   

(2) 38% of the respondents described themselves as "born-again or Evangelical Christians."

(3) PRAVDA On-line claims to "continue the history of the newspaper that was closed by then-President Boris Yeltsin in August of 1991."

(4) www.rif.org   www.readersareleadersfoundation.org

(5) Bill Veeck is the consummate showman who gave us baseball's first midget--3'7" Eddie Gaedel, the exploding scoreboard at Comiskey Park, the ivy at Wrigley field, and Disco Demolition Night.

Dan Gura is a contributing editor to RFFM.org.

Over 1,000 Prayerfully Protest Aurora Abortion Clinic by Dan Gura

Auschwitz on the Fox, Aurora, Illinois

On September 18th Planned Parenthood is prepared to open one of the largest abortion mills in the United States--if not the world--in Aurora, Illinois.  Several groups, including the Pro-Life Action League and Families Against Planned Parenthood, are fighting the good fight--God's fight--to stop the slaughter of innocent babies.

Saturday, August 25th, dawned with dark gray foreboding skies on the western horizon.  All across Chicagoland, homeowners cast a wary eye at the gathering storm clouds as they began their weekend.  To the north, a light drizzle joined the foot of rain already on the ground.  As I drove south on Route 53, my windshield wipers beat out a steady rhythm as the rain grew heavier. I know that I am not the only one who said prayer for the storm to hold off until the afternoon.

After a week of almost non-stop rain, I'm sure the pro-aborts were expecting the prayer warriors in front of Planned Parenthood's megamill to throw in the towel...or at least have trouble fulfilling their goal of forty days of around-the-clock prayers.  Instead, Satan's minions showed up to find over three hundred Catholics kneeling in the mud, praying the Rosary...their voices thundering towards heaven, louder than the roar of any storm as they petitioned the mother of our Saviour to intercede on behalf of the thousands of babies who will be slaughtered if this outpost of hell is allowed to open.

By 8:45 the trickle of pro-life witnesses had turned into a surge as car load after car load arrived from every direction.  Just before nine A.M., the Lord answered our weather-related prayers by making His face shine upon us; the sun burst forth and burned away the threatening clouds...a glorious light bathed the faces of well over 1,000 witnesses for life.  Yes, you read that right...well over 1,000 men, women and children showed up to tell Planned Parenthood that their slaughterhouse was not welcome in Aurora.

New York Street and Eola Avenue were lined with hundreds of prayerful pro-lifers bearing signs...some showed fetal development, others featured graphic pictures which alerted passing motorists to the truth about abortion.  Others had printed messages--red octagons demanding STOP ABORTION NOW, and black and white rectangles stating KEEP ABORTION OUT OF AURORA and PLANNED PARENTHOOD KILLS BABIES (the letters O in parenthood were replaced by menacing skulls).  Dozens of home made signs expressed their holders belief in the sanctity of human fife.

People of ever age, plus at least a dozen babies in strollers, marched together for two hours in an endless procession in front of the soon to open abortion mill, hoisting high signs warning passers-by of the evil which will soon befall their community.

Across the street, a mere ten pro-aborts, including the usual motley crew of NOW femalcontents and some left over relics from the Socialist Workers Party, held signs celebrating killing babies (their home made signs were of such poor quality that they were unreadable).  They looked a little uncomfortable because they were outnumbered by better than 100 to 1...that much Grace has to make those indwelt with evil nervous.  But not to worry, the Aurora police stood vigil as their diminutive ranks were flanked to both the east and west by those who follow God's command, Thou Shalt Not Kill.

Before the first hour was up, every last pro-abort had fled, much as had every dark cloud in the sky. It was now a brilliant azure blue with huge white clouds accenting heaven, a glorious backdrop for the TV cameras which showed up to document our life or death struggle.

The battle for Aurora's soul will next move to the City Council...your prayers are needed more than ever.  Fire up the prayer chain.  Ask God to soften the hearts of the city's bureaucrats...ask Him to make wise men find a loophole to stop this killing machine from ever claiming its first victim.

If we fail, Aurora will forever be known as a place where thousands have been murdered as a sacrifice to the hedonistic god of choice.

NOTE:  Above photo is of author and contributing editor Dan Gura driving his truck with sign that reads PLANNED PARENTHOOD KILLS BABIES (the letters O in parenthood were replaced by menacing skulls) and was taken by Jill Stanek.

Click link below for Pictures of the Prayer Vigil in Aurora taken by Dan Gura:

http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2007/08/aurora-protest-.html

Dept. of Public Health Adds To Confusion Regarding Mad Cow Disease Scare in Logan County, Illinois

RFFM.org Commentary by Daniel T. Zanoza, Director

For weeks, there was a rumor that a Logan County, Illinois woman was dying from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.  Otherwise known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, the rumors spread like wildfire throughout the small communities which make up Logan County, located in Central Illinois about 35 miles north of Springfield.

Sadly, on Saturday, August 18th, Connie Albert, 57, of Lincoln, succumbed to the disease and it became time for fact to take the place of rumor.

As an Internet news service, which primarily covers the mad world of local, state and national politics, I felt the story was too big for RFFM.org to handle and I contacted executives at NBC's Chicago affiliate (WMAQ-TV Channel 5).   On Monday, August 20th, during the 10 P.M. news broadcast, NBC 5 in Chicago confirmed the Illinois Dept. of Public Health had indeed attributed the death of Mrs. Albert to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.  On August 21st (the next morning) RFFM.org published an exclusive Internet story which also stated the Illinois Dept. of Public Health had also confirmed the woman's cause of death with RFFM.org as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

In the RFFM.org story, we were careful to point out there are a number of different forms of the disease and the state was still waiting for a report from the Prion Research Institute in Ohio regarding the tissue samples that were sent to the research facility.  NOTE:  The Prion Institute, headquartered in Alberta, Canada, primarily researches animal-borne diseases which can mutate into forms which affect human beings.  The simple fact the Illinois Dept. of Public Health had sent tissue samples to Prion was, in a way, telling, but in no way confirmed mad cow disease was the cause of Mrs. Albert's death.

The variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease is caused by the consumption of tainted beef and a rash of cases had plagued Europe a few short years earlier.  The story was huge for obvious reasons.

If indeed Mrs. Albert had died from mad cow disease, it would not only have an impact on the state's agricultural economy, but it would also potentially have a devastating impact on the sale of American beef on an international level.  Obviously, the Dept. of Public Health in Illinois and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) in Atlanta, has to play the story close to the vest.  If Mrs. Albert had not died from BSE, the impending scare alone could have a devastating effect on the beef industry in the United States.  If Mrs. Albert had indeed succumbed to BSE, her tragic death would be the story of the year and probably the decade.

The Illinois Dept. of Public Health's response to the story on August 21st can only be called confusing, misleading and, at times, surreal.  After the NBC 5 story of August 20th, many news organizations were obviously in hot pursuit of information from the Illinois Dept. of Public Health, but the organization began to play a game of cat and mouse which served no one.

"They started to back off their original story," said an NBC 5 official.  "At first they confirmed the woman's death may have been caused from mad cow disease.  But, by the end of August 21st, the Illinois Dept. of Public Health was now saying it could be a more common form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease."

If the story progressed from there, many would not have a problem because, from the beginning, the Illinois Dept. of Public Health said it was going to take two weeks before definitive results would come back form the Prion Institute regarding whether the tissue samples obtained from the Illinois woman contained a variant form of BSE.  However, suddenly I was receiving phone calls and e-mails from the media who were telling me the Illinois Dept. of Public Health did not know why they were getting  calls pertaining to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

I made another phone call to the Illinois Dept. of Public Health and their spokesperson had definitely been instructed to take a different tact concerning the story.  "We cannot comment on any specific cases," I was told.  But the Illinois Dept. of Public health spokesperson did not deny some form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease had taken the life of Connie Albert.

I then received a phone call from Phil Kadner, a popular columnist with the Daily Southtown, a daily newspaper which serves a significant portion of the Chicagoland area and its southern suburbs.  "They are denying everything," said Kadner, "when I asked them if there was any cases of mad cow disease reported in Logan County, I was told no--in no uncertain terms."

I quickly came to the conclusion the Illinois Dept. of Public Health was playing a very close to the vest game of semantics with the press.  If you asked the wrong question, or presented the query in a technically inaccurate form, the Illinois Dept. of Public Health was not going to clarify or confirm by any means.  In layman's terms, if you came late to the table, you were out of luck and the answer you received might be something completely different from the information given to news organizations just hours earlier.

NBC 5 News in Chicago ran a second story on Tuesday, August 21st, stating the Illinois Dept. of Public Health was now denying any possible link between Albert's death and mad cow disease.  But the executives at NBC 5 made sure to note this was different information then what they had been told a mere 12 hours earlier.

Some questions need to be asked concerning the Illinois Dept. of Public Health's handling of the Albert's case.  It certainly appears there was not an effort to be straightforward with the public.  The Illinois legislature and Governor Blagojevich should launch an investigation as to why such conflicting information was given to the media.

The primary role of the government is to protect its citizens.  Those who were responsible for the flow of information regarding the mad cow disease scare in Logan County, Illinois need to do some revamping of how the system works for the sake of us all.

Aurora Protest Pictures - 1

Summer funding woes hurt Illinois Family Institute

COMMENTARY by Daniel T. Zanoza, Director, RFFM.org

For those familiar with Illinois politics, the halls of the capitol building in Springfield are filled with lobbyists.  There are those representing big business and practically every segment of our society.  Their goal is to influence elected officials by getting them to vote "their way" on anything and everything--from airport construction to zoo maintenance.

There are plenty of lobbyists representing organizations that would advocate:
* special rights for homosexuals,  
* unlimited abortion rights and
* legislation that would outlaw Second Amendment freedoms. 

There are a plethora of other liberal groups seeking to impact targeted legislators.

Sadly, individuals lobbying on behalf of pro-family issues are less numerous.  The Illinois Family Institute is one group which attempts to advocate on behalf of Illinois citizens who believe:
* marriage should be solely between one man and one woman;
* the unborn have a right to life;
* in traditional values--which have been the underpinning of American culture from more than 225 years.

However, the Illinois Family Institute (IFI) is currently undergoing a budget crisis of drastic proportions.  It can be said every non-for-profit organization goes through these budget woes during the summer months, but this year has been especially hard on the Illinois Family Institute's bottom line.

"Donations drop off by more than 50% during the summer," said David Smith, IFI's Executive Director.  "But during the last year, we have taken on some landmark projects that have drained our coffers."

The Illinois Family Institute stands as a consistent firewall against the forces whose sole purpose is to change our society--in most cases, for the worst.  Homosexuals are attempting to indoctrinate children within our public schools and abortion is a social ill which takes the lives of millions of innocent unborn children every year.  There are many organizations which do great things to advance the pro-family cause in Illinois.  However, I would like to call on RFFM.org readers to do everything possible to help IFI get through these lean times. 

For those able to make a contribution, go to the IFI's home page [http://www.illinoisfamily.org/] and click "Send a Donation" or paste this link in your browser:

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=E_agz_mUmCMR0wcR5kf9itXicihh0B4H6DscDNgodimTq0N5e8LS4g6sJ8WFzbZMOZAuk0&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f941d8253416939c6057d1d6643efcf2a1df7e608afc2281b

Or you can simply mail a donation to the Illinois Family Institute at: 799 Roosevelt Road, Building 3, Suite 208, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

From $5.00 to $500.00, I'm sure every gift will be deeply appreciated and well spent in the battle to promote traditional family values in Illinois.

NOTE:  RFFM.org will soon be posting a list of non-profit organizations which depend on the support of people like you.  Watch for it soon.

Liberals and Intelligent Design – Part 3: Do The Math: 30 Billion Miles of DNA by Bill Zettler

From the Desk of Bill Zettler

In this third and last column on “Liberals and Intelligent Design,” I will examine the mathematics that liberals point to for their ultimate argument against Intelligent Design.

Their theory could be best described as “Accidental Design” (AD) whereby starting with methane gas, sulfur compounds, water and perhaps lightening, mechanistic forces plod through eons of time creating species by minute selective steps interrupted occasionally by mutations. The end result, according to AD, is all living things.

The problem with AD is after 148 years (Darwin’s book was published in 1859) it still cannot explain how complex biological systems, such as eyesight, developed. Darwin anticipated this when he wrote in that same 1859 book: "If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.” And, as an example, Darwin continues, “To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree."

Absurd in 1859 and even more absurd today.

And these same elitists constantly attempt to use mathematics or “numbers” to prove other points. For example they state that the estimated number of planets in the universe is 10 to the 23rd (10 with 22 zeroes after it) and therefore other intelligent species, perhaps thousands or millions of them, must be “out there” just waiting to contact us. And, of course, they must be smarter than us. And if these alien species are smarter than us, then the Intelligent Designer must not think much of us. Therefore, either we are not important or there is no Intelligent Designer.

Another problem AD’ers have is that the numbers do not add up, i.e. the earth has not existed nearly long enough to have developed its complexity via Darwin’s theory. For example scientists (not priests or religious figures) have calculated the probability of certain biological functions developing randomly. In two independent studies (among many others) scientists Yockly and Sauer both came up with the same odds for a simple, functioning 100 amino acid protein to develop randomly: 1 in 10 to the 65th power. That’s 10 with 64 zeroes after it--a number so large as to approach impossibility. Applying known rates of mutation to that probability gives a time frame trillions of times the age of the universe. Many scientists disagree with Yockly and Sauer’s calculation, but have not come up with any viable estimates of their own. Whatever the probability is, it is certainly large.

If a simple protein of 100 linked chemical compounds (a complex protein would be a chain over 1,000 chemical compounds long) has long odds of being randomly created, whatever those odds are, then what is the probability of randomly creating an 18 billion chemical chain that would live, think and procreate? That chain of chemicals, the great protein creator, is called human DNA.

And, amazingly, every cell in your body contains over a yard of DNA. That’s 30 billion miles of DNA in every human being – and, supposedly, all by accident.

The numbers go on. What are the odds of those 18 billion chained chemicals randomly creating 30,000 specific genes? What are the odds of those 30,000 genes randomly creating 100,000 specific proteins? What are the odds of those 100,000 proteins randomly creating one unique, specific human life, unique as a snowflake?

So it is long odds, times long odds, times long odds, times very long odds. Like winning the lottery a trillion times in a row. Not likely, even in the four billion years of earth’s existence.

Since Darwin’s theory cannot explain how even the simplest protein developed and all of life is a series of cellular events choreographed by specific proteins in precise sequence and with precise timing, one has to wonder why the theory is still hanging around in its current state. The sun does not revolve around the earth and Darwin’s evolutionary theory cannot explain life as described by DNA. Darwin would be the first to agree.

No one knows the answer to the math question, but one could argue that the probability of human DNA happening randomly, out of cosmic dust, would be many, many magnitudes greater than the number of livable planets in the universe and, therefore, the odds of other intelligent life in the universe approaches zero.

Meaning ET is not coming and the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) radio broadcasts into outer space have not received an answer back because there is no one out there to answer.

This is important because--if true--then we are most certainly alone and we are the most intelligent entity in the universe-–except, of course, for the Intelligent Intelligence Designer.

* * * * *

Part 1:  Men + Women Are Equal: http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2007/08/liberals-and-in.html

Part 2:  What Would Darwin Do? http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2007/08/liberals-and--1.html  

Copyright 2007 Bill Zettler

Bill Zettler is a contributing editor to RFFM.org

Liberals and Intelligent Design – Part 2: What Would Darwin Do? by Bill Zettler

In the first column "Men and Women are equal" in this three-part series titled “Liberals and Intelligent Design”, [http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2007/08/liberals-and-in.html] I discussed the liberal concept of male and female equality. In this column, I will discuss the liberal concept of species equality.

When it comes to species--other than the human species--there are many “Intelligent Design” theories from the secular Left. The best-known example is the concept of the need for “species diversity”. Thus we should save Lyme-disease vulnerable deer and bird-flu vulnerable Canadian geese, even if this harms our own species. And we should reintroduce coyotes, wolves and bears to our environment and even share our backyards with them. This is not Darwinism at all. Darwin would say kill the predators before they kill us and harvest the prey to feed our children and community. Anything else is a religious belief system unfounded in science and completely lacking in empirical evidence. In other words, leftist Intelligent Design that should not be taught in our schools.

Darwinian facts state if 90% of all species had not been destroyed by some unknown calamity 300 million years ago (the Cambrian Extinction) we, the human species, would not be here. Ditto for the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction 65 million years ago when 85% of those species remaining from the Cambrian de-specification were destroyed, including dinosaurs. So, if you believe in Darwinian logic, saving species now--as liberal secularists want to do--is denying future species their rightful place in the inexorable march of Evolution. To deny that is to practice “Intelligent Design’ i.e., we humans know, because we are so intelligent, which species should survive. Very God-like, but very unscientific.

A more recent example would be the ground sloth, which died out about 10,000 years ago. To visualize what a ground sloth looked like imagine an 800 pound possum in your back yard. Here’s a way to test the liberal's “all species must survive” theory. At your next barbeque, ask your neighbors this question: “Which of you have been negatively affected by the ground sloth’s extinction?” My guess is the barbeque attendees will give you a look something on the order of “He’s been spending too much time at the beer cooler”. No one cares because it has had no effect on us. Unfortunate for the ground sloth perhaps, but, to all the remaining species, it is a non-event because our species survived and there is now one less competitor for resources. That’s Darwinian logic at work.

And you will notice that the species “Intelligently” chosen to survive by the liberal elite tend to be the cute ones – deer (remember Bambi?), wolves (they look like Rover), dolphins (they’re just like us), baby seals and, inexplicably, killer whales whose favorite meals include baby seals and dolphins.

When was the last time you saw anyone protesting to save sewer rats or baby cockroaches? Isn’t choosing to save baby seals over baby cockroaches “Intelligent Design” and intruding liberal elitist secularist religion into science? Why aren’t liberals throwing themselves on Roach Motels to save baby cockroaches from evil exterminators rather than attacking destitute Eskimos for harvesting baby seals?

Darwin said there is no “feel good” about other species, as liberal theology would have you believe. In fact, Darwin’s theory explicitly and demonstrably states that if any species must kill (and eat) every other species in order to survive then indeed, that is what it should do. Darwin said we have one job and one job only: to make certain our species survives at all costs. We pass the genetic baton on to the next generation, just as our parents passed it on to us.

For example, in 10,000 B.C. there were three million humans and 20 million wolves. In 2000 A.D. there were six billion humans and 200,000 wolves. Who then is the master Darwinian survivor? Humans, of course, because we killed them before they killed us. For now at least we have won that Darwinian battle.

And that is what elitists cannot tolerate. In their view, humans do not deserve to win--we are a curse and need to be held in check. Bring back the wolves, they are better than us. Plus, they are really cute--except, perhaps, when they are disemboweling fawns and family pets.

In the end, the argument is this: are human beings special, chosen, designed, created differently than all other species or are we just one of many--meaningless as flat worms and amoebas, doomed to be cast to the side of the evolutionary road as our betters, mutant replacements, pop up.

Leftists would have us believe that we are special in the sense that we know which species should survive and which should die (preferably humans) and we are all in this together, philosophically speaking. But we are not really, really special in the sense that we are chosen and have an innate moral sensibility given to us by a superior intelligent designer. Liberals would have us believe that we are the “choosers” but not the “chosen”.

But how can that be? If we are not chosen, but just one of the many, then how can we be morally superior to the cockroach? Deciding which species lives or dies is a moral decision: where does that moral superiority come from, better mutations?

So you must make a choice: either accept that Darwin is right and we are an inexorable accident and, like the wolves, in a fight for survival at all costs against all other species; or admit there is some a priori moral intelligence in our birthright that allows us to decide right from wrong, who lives and who dies.

You cannot have it both ways.

In the third and final column on “Liberals and Intelligent Design” I will explore the mathematical probabilities of human existence in an un-designed universe.

Bill Zettler is a contributing editor to RFFM.org.

Mad Cow Disease May Have Led to Death of Logan County Woman -- RFFM.org NEWS Exclusive

RFFM.org NEWS --  EXCLUSIVE

Lincoln, Illinois -- On Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Public Health in Springfield confirmed a Logan County woman had died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.  RFFM.org NEWS has decided to withhold the name of the deceased who died last Friday (August 17th).

The spokesman for the Illinois Dept. of Public Health told RFFM.org NEWS the state-run organization was awaiting confirmation of test results from the Prion Research Institute, headquartered in Alberta, Canada.  The spokesman said it could take up to two weeks before test results were known.

According to the Mayo Clinic, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, in most cases, is another term for Mad Cow Disease.  Information form the Mayo Clinic's web site regarding this disease (http://www.prioninstitute.ca/) states: 

Before the mad cow disease epidemic in the mid-1990s, few people had heard of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). That's because Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, an invariably fatal, degenerative brain disorder, has always been considered rare. Worldwide, doctors typically diagnose one case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease per million people each year, most commonly in older adults.

That changed a decade ago when an unusually large number of people in Great Britain developed what appeared to be CJD. Most were relatively young, and all had eaten meat from cattle suspected of having bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the medical term for mad cow disease.

Scientists eventually concluded that the new ailment — named variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) — was a form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease resulting from exposure to BSE. Since then, a number of cases of vCJD have been linked to contaminated beef in Great Britain and in other countries, including Spain, Portugal, France and Germany.

Although "classic" Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease hasn't been linked to infected beef, it's similar to vCJD in many respects. No treatment exists for either type of CJD, and nothing can slow the progression of the disease.

The Mayo Clinic clearly acknowledges there is a chance the form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) which took the life of the Logan County woman, in rare cases, is not connected with the consumption of tainted beef.

It is not clear whether the Illinois Dept. of Public Health plans to issue a statewide warning or press release related to the Logan County woman's death before the results from the Prion Institute are received.

Copyright 2007 RFFM.ORG NEWS

Liberals and Intelligent Design – Part 1: Men + Women Are Equal by Bill Zettler

From the desk of Bill Zettler

Liberals fulminate regularly in the media about how “Intelligent Design” and its concept of “irreducible complexity” fall completely outside of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and, in fact, constitute the intrusion of religion into science. But, if you look closely, you will notice liberals have several of their own versions of “Intelligent Design” that fall outside the concept of Darwin’s Theory. However, when liberals stroll outside the bounds of Darwinism, as they often do, nary a word of criticism is heard.

In this three-part series, I will explore several Intelligent Design concepts of the Left to determine if they are truly Darwinian.

One of the most obvious examples is this: men and women are equal.

I am not speaking of equal rights or woman’s suffrage here. No one would argue with political equality.  I am speaking about the liberal, anti-Darwinian belief that physically, mentally and emotionally men and women are the same, i.e. equal. They are genetically equivalent and can--and should--do the same jobs equally.

There is a reason there is no WNFL – Women’s National Football League. The participants of the WNFL would be crippled up in enormous numbers – women’s bodies are not “designed” to take the kind of pounding that men’s bodies are. Their bones are thinner, their musculature is much less robust, their connective tissue is weaker and their innate physical design is to carry babies with big heads and this design makes them especially prone to hip, pelvis, knee and ankle injuries.

And consider this fact: every single world record in track and field, the most basic of physical contests, is held by and has always been held by a man and, in every case, by a large margin. For example, there are no women who would rank in the top 1000 of the shot put, javelin or 200-meter dash. This record of physical superiority is overwhelming, 100%, not even close.

The reason for this is called sexual dimorphism, an evolutionary concept every biologist would agree with. Since sexual dimorphism shows us that female humans cannot compete equally with male humans in physicality, why would we believe they should be in combat platoons or on fire ladders or with police SWAT teams? Darwin says they should not be and, in fact, in those physical situations, women are likely to be a danger to themselves and others.

Who can forget what happened in Atlanta, Georgia on March 11, 2005 when Brian Nichols, a 6’2”, 235 pound former college linebacker on trial for murder, overwhelmed his guard, a 51-year old female sheriff’s deputy, 5'2" Cynthia Hall. As Darwin and sexual dimorphism would have predicted, the larger, much more powerful male easily overwhelmed the smaller, much weaker female. Nichols beat Hall so severely she was brain damaged. As she lay on the floor of the courthouse bleeding and unconscious, he took her sidearm. Nichols then shot and killed a judge and a court reporter with Hall’s gun. Un-Darwinian political correctness killed two innocent people in Atlanta that day.

Elitists who say women should be treated equally in physical occupations are practicing a very dangerous kind of secular “Intelligent Design”.

It is also known that men and women’s brains are different. Men’s brains are more symmetrical and spatially oriented, women’s are more asymmetrical and language oriented. If you think about this, it makes sense for survival: men, as hunters and explorers, need spatial skills to track game and enemies and find a new home--if the old one becomes dangerous. Women need community and language skills to teach and successfully raise children. Thus, under Darwin’s Theory, sexual dimorphism would increase the chance for survival. The innate, Darwinian, evolutionary skills of both sexes are equally valuable, but different. Women cannot hunt or defend as well as men and, by the same token, if men were the child raisers, the human species would have died off millennia ago.

For more than 99.95 per cent of Homo sapiens 120,000-year existence (all but the last 50 liberal-feminist years), sexual dimorphism was never in dispute. During that time frame, humans expanded from a few thousand to billions of individuals and became the dominant species on earth. It would be hard to argue that such success was just serendipitous.  We have survived and prospered because of the differences between men and women, not in spite of them.

History shows that men and women are equal, but not interchangeable. Men cannot have babies and women cannot drag 250 pounds of wounded soldier and his gear off of the battlefield and out of harms way.

Those who deny this are denying Darwin and embracing “Intelligent Design”. Their intelligence, of course, and their design, not Darwin’s.

In Part 2 of this three part series, "Liberals and Intelligent Design," I will discuss the liberal concept of species diversity.

Bill Zettler is a contributing editor to RFFM.org.

Killing Babies Makes Strange Bedfellows by Dan Gura

Killing Babies Makes Strange Bedfellows:  Planned Parenthood’s "Auschwitz on the Fox River" in Aurora, Illinois

In 1837, a permanent settlement on an island in the Fox River was named Aurora for the “goddess of the dawn.”  The nickname “City of Lights” was bestowed in 1881 when it became the first city in the United States to use electricity to light all of its streets.  With Planned Parenthood poised to open one of the largest abortuaries on the face of the earth it will soon earn the moniker, Auschwitz on the Fox.

On Thursday, August 16th over four hundred area residents filled Aurora’s Prisco Community Center to learn what they could do to stop Planned Parenthood from murdering innocent babies in their soon to be completed slaughterhouse.

On the sidewalk in front of the mill, scores of prayer warriors have been praising God and petitioning His intercession to prevent the 22,000 square foot Abortion Fortress from opening.  Those who walk in the light are well into a twenty-four hour a day, rain-or-shine, forty day prayer vigil (*1) which began on August 9th to keep Planned Parenthood from “threatening their families and the lives of countless unborn babies.” 

At the same time as the town-hall meeting, thirty-five (*2) enemies of life gathered across the street like so many black storm clouds on the horizon.  Their god is much baser—filthy lucre, stained with the blood of countless innocents under the guise of choice.  And what a stellar cast of characters joined Planned Parenthood to support their human abattoir; in addition to the usual handful of NOW and NARAL pro-aborts were several members of the Socialist Worker’s Party.

Killing innocent babies certainly makes strange bedfellows and, when you’re losing, as the pro-aborts most certainly are, one can become desperate.  It is sad to see that Margaret Sanger’s disciples of death have sunk so low as to crawl into bed with the Bolsheviks—godless communists whose stated goal is to overthrow our government.  It almost makes one nostalgic for the good old days when all Planned Parenthood wanted to do was murder innocent babies and destroy families 

Having made their deal with the devil, I would like to suggest a motto for the Planned Parenthood mill, “We kill the babies…We hurt their mommies.  No one wants us…but the commies!”   

Want to get involved?  A massive pro-life demonstration is planned for  Saturday, August 25th, from 9 A.M. until 11 A.M.  Complete details, as well as a map to the Abortion Fortress (3051 East New York Street, Aurora, IL) is available on the Pro-Life Action League’s web page www.prolifeaction.org or by calling (773) 777-2900.

If you can’t attend, we need your prayers.  Fire up the prayer chain!  Spread the word!  Shout it from the pews in your church and proclaim it loudly to your brothers and sisters in Christ, for Jesus said, “All things are possible to him that believeth.” (Mark 9:23) and “With God all things are possible."  (Matthew 19:26).

If we are not successful, the killing of innocents will begin on September 18th and that would make Satan very happy.

(*1)  The vigil will last until 8 A.M. on September 18th.  You can go to Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood’s web page http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/vigil.php to sign up.

(*2)  Estimate of the number of pro-aborts is from the Daily Herald, August 17, 2007, Clinic opens, protests greet it… “…a group of about 35 Planned Parenthood supporters."

Dan Gura is a conservative activist and contributing editor to RFFM.org.