How can we as taxpayers tolerate our tax dollars being used to add to the profit of the abortion machine Planned Parenthood? Michelle Malkin provides insight into how this Washington-funded operation works--or doesn't.

Planned Parenthood's Obscene Profits
Michelle Malkin--Wednesday, June 04, 2008

GOP presidential candidate John McCain sounded more like a Democratic presidential candidate (a recurring trend) when he joined the Left's oil industry bashers a few weeks ago. Asked by a North Carolina voter whether he supported a Jimmy Carter-era windfall profits tax, McCain responded: "Um, I don't like obscene profits being made anywhere -- and I'd be glad to look not just at the windfall profits tax -- that's not what bothers me -- but we should look at any incentives that we are giving to people or industries or corporations that are distorting the market."

Here's an idea for all the hand-wringing GOP strategists in Washington wondering what it will take to win back disgusted economic and social conservatives: How about a Republican presidential candidate who will talk about the tax-subsidized abortion industry the way McCain talks about the oil industry?

In April, the annual report for Planned Parenthood Federation of America revealed that the abortion giant had a total income of $1.02 billion -- with reported profits of nearly $115 million. Taxpayers kick in more than $336 million worth of government grants and contracts at both the state and federal levels. That's a third of Planned Parenthood's budget.

And what market-distorting results do we get for those government incentives? In 2006 alone: 289,750 abortions.

Oil execs, tobacco execs, banking execs, pharmaceutical company execs and baseball players have all been hauled up before Congress for highly publicized whippings by crusading lawmakers. But the executives of Planned Parenthood have escaped government scrutiny and public accountability for their predatory behavior, dangerous medical practices, deception and deadly windfall.

In Washington, D.C., the family of 13-year-old Shantese Butler filed a $50 million suit against Planned Parenthood after a botched abortion left the girl permanently injured and infertile. Students for Life of America reports that Shantese was left with "severe abdominal bleeding, severe vaginal injury, severe injury to the cervix, significant uterine perforation and a small bowel tear." In addition, parts of the unborn child were found inside Shantese's abdomen.
In Nebraska, Planned Parenthood refused to disclose the terms of a settlement with another victim whose botched abortion resulted in a perforated uterus, massive blood loss, an emergency hysterectomy, permanent infertility, seizures, and lifelong pain and suffering. According to the suit obtained by Life News, the woman instructed the abortionist and his assistants to stop, but was told: "We can't stop." The Planned Parenthood employees held her down to complete the procedure.

Where's the subpoena-wielding Henry Waxman? Can Orrin Hatch spare a moment from investigating the New England Patriots to probe Planned Parenthood's efforts to advise underage teens on how to circumvent parental notification laws to secretly obtain RU-486, the abortion drug cocktail? Where is the concern for the women and children who were mistreated by Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas, where Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline has filed a 107-count criminal complaint against the abortion racket, with charges ranging from falsifying documents to performing illegal late-term abortions?

And where are Nancy Pelosi and the For The Children brigade to investigate the shocking evidence of Planned Parenthood's nefariousness exposed by undercover student journalist Lila Rose?

Last year, Rose caught a Planned Parenthood official encouraging a female minor to evade statutory rape laws in order to obtain an abortion in California. In February, Rose released undercover tapes of her discussion with an Idaho Planned Parenthood official eager to accept money from a racist donor who wanted his funds earmarked for aborting black babies. In April, she released video of clinic officials in New Mexico and Oklahoma willing to take money from a blatantly racist donor. One Planned Parenthood staffer admits that "for whatever reason, we'll accept the money."

For whatever reason, Washington has turned a blind bipartisan eye to this bloody, government-funded business -- and pro-life, limited-government conservatives in the Beltway have gone along with subsidizing it. "Obscene profits," indeed.

Copyright © 2008 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.

Your Teen and MTV

Jonathan McKee is a nationally known Youth minister. I was stunned when I read his observations and comments regarding MTV and the teen culture. This commentary should be an eye-opener for every Christian parent.

Youth Culture Window

No Limits--A Glimpse of Pop Culture through the Lens of the MTV Movie Awards
Jonathan McKee

I love movies… and I love good TV. But the MTV Movie Awards always leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. First, understand how powerful an influence MTV has on our kids. It’s amazing if you think about it. MTV pre-dates cell phones, iPods, Xbox and the Internet. MTV filled homes across the world while MySpace creator Tom was still in diapers. Jordon Sparks and Chris Brown had yet to sing together… actually, they weren’t even born when MTV already “owned” a young generation. That generation has already grown up and is raising kids of their own. These kids now watch the same channel their parents watched, just with less videos, more reality shows, and much more sexual references per hour. As we rolled into the new millennium, when everyone had an email address, a cell phone number and a Starbucks addiction, MTV was still named the top choice for advertisers who wanted to reach teenagers. Now, in 2008, MTV still “owns,” although now they probably share the crown with Nick, American Idol, Facebook and iTunes. But on this past Sunday night, all eyes were on MTV for their annual MTV Movie Awards hosted by Michael Myers and featuring every celeb imaginable, from Will Smith to Juno’s Ellen Page. I’ve gotta be honest with you. I’m biased. I don’t like MTV. As a parent, I struggle with a channel that gladly peddles smut to our kids to make a buck. Think about it for a second. If a man walked up to our kids in a grocery store and starting talking about the content that MTV doesn’t hesitate sharing every day… most parents would be either calling security or smacking the individual. But what do we do? We reward this individual and give him free reign over our children. It’s mind blowing. So last night I sat down to try to stomach another year of what MTV had to offer. As a movie fan I normally would enjoy Michael Myers, Will Smith and Jack Black…but not this night. Not on this channel.After the “gold carpet” pre-show with “role models” like Diddy, Paris Hilton, and the Pussy Cat Dolls, the show started with a creative introduction from Michael Myers that had a few chuckling moments. The show went downhill from there. I’ll highlight the good and bad for you quickly, share some of the trends I noticed this year, and finally make two suggestions of how we can respond as parents and youth workers.The Good Part of the Show:

I always enjoy seeing Chris Brown dance—a very talented young man.
It was fun to hear Coldplay’s new song performed live.
And I was truly excited this year when all the nominees for their annual “Best Kiss” award were actually a kiss between a guy and a girl!
Well, that wraps up the good. Here’s the bad. The Bad Part of the Show:

Every year the show seems to award a bunch of movies that parents wouldn’t really want their kids watching. Considering that MTV is the “top-rated network in the 12-24 demographic,” it’s discouraging that racy R-rated movies like Knocked Up, Superbad and Sex in the City were in the lineup.

The show featured a moment that is probably the most blatant televised promotion for smoking weed that I’ve ever seen. Seth Rogan and James Franco lit up a big fatty joint and smoked it live right in front of thousands of cheering fans.

This show is a gateway drug to other MTV shows. They consistently plugged other trashy MTV shows like The Real World and Tila Tequila where the commercial featured a lengthy shot of two girls passionately kissing. They also plugged new shows like House Bunny, where a playboy bunny moves into a sorority… oh… why even bother explaining. Sigh.

Almost every commercial break cut to a piece of Usher’s “Let’s Make Love in This Club” video.
Michael Myers, as funny as he is, never ceased to cross the line. Somehow, he seemed to twist every little introduction into something sexual. “Our next presenters did a movie together called The Foot Fist Way and surprisingly, it’s not a celebrity sex tape.” Other times he played creatively quirky characters including his sketch as an ex-porn star who now caters for movies. She (Myers) told us to be careful what we “put in our mouths.”

At first I was excited because they brought Dana Carvey in as a guest to do a live “Wayne’s World” sketch with Mike Myers. I was amazed with what they got away with on TV, joking about “pubes,” porn film titles, and a whole little bit about proclaimed bi-sexual Tila Tequila reaching down the front of people’s pants and being satisfied with whatever she finds down there (complete with hand gestures). It was embarrassingly graphic.

As a whole, the show was a giant infomercial. At times, it was hard to decipher between the show and advertisements. I wasn’t alone in this observation.

MTV’s commercials always bother me, but at the same time, I think MTV tips their hand with their advertisements. It’s very clear what kind of audience they expect with their advertisements for new “unrated” movies and racy reality shows.

This Year’s TrendsEvery year I notice certain trends in pop culture programming. The 2008 MTV Movie Awards revealed plenty. But three trends seemed to float to the top.

A Warped Sense of Heroes--In a world where many kids feel ignored by their parents, a void can grow in their lives. Kids seek heroes. If mom and dad aren’t there… who remains? Enter Seth Rogan and The PussyCat Dolls stage right. Don’t worry mom and dad, your little boy could grow up just like what Seth portrays: smoking pot, cursing, and joking incessantly about sex and porn. And your little girl can someday do soft-core porn routines like a Pussycat Doll. Or maybe it’s something a little more subtle. Take Tranformer’s Megan Fox for example, wearing a dress shorter than her dad’s t-shirt, and her only comment on stage being “Transformers II is going to be f***ing bad*ss!” How’s that for a hero? This year’s MTV Movie Awards provided plenty of these “anti-roll models.” People you’d never want your kids to hang out with… yet we give them standing ovations. Adam Sandler, Diddy, Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan… need I go on?

Gross-out Humor--Gross-out humor springboarded to mainstream exactly a decade ago with the success of the 1998 Farrelly Brothers’ movie There’s Something About Mary. Since then, movies have strived to push the limits, and MTV has followed suit. MTV’s Jackass is synonymous with “gross-out.” So it was no surprise to see even more of it in full gear on this year’s show. From the sketch where a monkey gets freaky with the MTV popcorn trophy (right before getting covered with snot, urine and more) to Mike Myer’s unremitting, over-the-top sexual jokes.

No Limits--This paragraph probably appears redundant, but gross-out humor is probably only one sub category of displaying “no limits.” MTV excels at letting loose with no limits. Mike Myers’ jokes didn’t stop at gross out humor (like his sketch where he was eating fecal matter), then ventured to the sexual, homo-sexual and even bestiality. Nothing was out of bounds. And we’re raising a generation of kids that don’t see much as “off limits.”So what can we do as parents and youth workers?

Connect with our kids. It happens all the time. A parent catches a true glimpse of their kid’s world and throws a tizzy! Don’t overreact and throw your TV out the window or ground your kids for a year. I say it in every parent workshop I teach—I can’t emphasize it enough: “Rules without a relationship lead to rebellion.” As a parent or a youth worker, we need to get to know our kids. Connecting means learning their interests, listening to their dreams, and noticing their needs. A relationship is the starting point for building values into them and talking with kids about issues of discernment. And the greatest gift we can give our kids is TIME.

Build lasting values. We need to teach the importance of guidelines to a “no limits” generation. As believers in Christ we can point to the Word. When this world cleverly lies to us and tells us that “everything is okay,” our kids should see the Bible as an unchanging source of truth. Paul talks about this truth we can hold on to in the book of Ephesians. “Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.” (Ephesians 4:14-15)Parents, it is okay to say, “Sorry, that doesn’t belong in our house.” We need to teach Biblical discernment.

Discernment might begin with blocking MTV.

Environmentalists Pick Up Where Communists Left Off

It seems that many in the political and scientific community, through demagoguery, are trying to move the world to panic in regard to global warming. The truth is that there are a great many credible scientists who insist that man has very little to do with this phenomenon. Sunday I read an article by Charles Krauthammer that reflects my position on the matter, and I thought others might find it quite interesting and informative, so I post it here.

Environmentalists Pick Up Where Communists Left Off
Charles Krauthammer Saturday, May 31, 2008
WASHINGTON -- I'm not a global warming believer. I'm not a global warming denier. I'm a global warming agnostic who believes instinctively that it can't be very good to pump lots of CO2 into the atmosphere, but is equally convinced that those who presume to know exactly where that leads are talking through their hats.

Predictions of catastrophe depend on models. Models depend on assumptions about complex planetary systems -- from ocean currents to cloud formation -- that no one fully understands. Which is why the models are inherently flawed and forever changing. The doomsday scenarios posit a cascade of events, each with a certain probability. The multiple improbability of their simultaneous occurrence renders all such predictions entirely speculative.

Yet on the basis of this speculation, environmental activists, attended by compliant scientists and opportunistic politicians, are advocating radical economic and social regulation. "The largest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity," warns Czech President Vaclav Klaus, "is no longer socialism. It is, instead, the ambitious, arrogant, unscrupulous ideology of environmentalism."

If you doubt the arrogance, you haven't seen that Newsweek cover story that declared the global warming debate over. Consider: If Newton's laws of motion could, after 200 years of unfailing experimental and experiential confirmation, be overthrown, it requires religious fervor to believe that global warming -- infinitely more untested, complex and speculative -- is a closed issue.

But declaring it closed has its rewards. It not only dismisses skeptics as the running dogs of reaction, i.e., of Exxon, Cheney and now Klaus. By fiat, it also hugely re-empowers the intellectual left.

For a century, an ambitious, arrogant, unscrupulous knowledge class -- social planners, scientists, intellectuals, experts and their left-wing political allies -- arrogated to themselves the right to rule either in the name of the oppressed working class (communism) or, in its more benign form, by virtue of their superior expertise in achieving the highest social progress by means of state planning (socialism).

Two decades ago, however, socialism and communism died rudely, then were buried forever by the empirical demonstration of the superiority of market capitalism everywhere from Thatcher's England to Deng's China, where just the partial abolition of socialism lifted more people out of poverty more rapidly than ever in human history.

Just as the ash heap of history beckoned, the intellectual left was handed the ultimate salvation: environmentalism. Now the experts will regulate your life not in the name of the proletariat or Fabian socialism but -- even better -- in the name of Earth itself.

Environmentalists are Gaia's priests, instructing us in her proper service and casting out those who refuse to genuflect. (See Newsweek above.) And having proclaimed the ultimate commandment -- carbon chastity -- they are preparing the supporting canonical legislation that will tell you how much you can travel, what kind of light you will read by, and at what temperature you may set your bedroom thermostat.

Just Monday, a British parliamentary committee proposed that every citizen be required to carry a carbon card that must be presented, under penalty of law, when buying gasoline, taking an airplane or using electricity. The card contains your yearly carbon ration to be drawn down with every purchase, every trip, every swipe.

There's no greater social power than the power to ration. And, other than rationing food, there is no greater instrument of social control than rationing energy, the currency of just about everything one does and uses in an advanced society.

So what does the global warming agnostic propose as an alternative? First, more research -- untainted and reliable -- to determine (a) whether the carbon footprint of man is or is not lost among the massive natural forces (from sunspot activity to ocean currents) that affect climate, and (b) if the human effect is indeed significant, whether the planetary climate system has the homeostatic mechanisms (like the feedback loops in the human body, for example) with which to compensate.

Second, reduce our carbon footprint in the interim by doing the doable, rather than the economically ruinous and socially destructive. The most obvious step is a major move to nuclear power, which to the atmosphere is the cleanest of the clean.

But your would-be masters have foreseen this contingency. The Church of the Environment promulgates secondary dogmas as well. One of these is a strict nuclear taboo.
Rather convenient, is it not? Take this major coal-substituting fix off the table and we will be rationing all the more. Guess who does the rationing? (Copyright © 2008 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.)