Former Abortionist: ‘If Anybody Thinks Ripping Off Arms and Legs … Isn’t Painful….’
[CNSNews.com]
Dr. Anthony Levatino, former abortionist turned pro-life activist
(CNSNews.com) – A former abortionist who said he had performed some 1,200 abortions before his conversion to pro-life activist, said Thursday at a House subcommittee hearing that abortion causes pain to unborn babies.
“If anybody thinks that ripping off arms and legs and crushing these children the way we’re doing during these procedures isn’t painful, they’re just kidding themselves … badly kidding themselves,” Dr. Anthony Levatino said at a hearing on the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.
Levantino was one of four witnesses at the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice hearing to discuss fetal pain and the bill, H.R. 1797, which would ban abortion after 20 weeks across the nation.
Will U.S. Designate Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq and Nigeria As Religious Freedom Violators?
[CNSNews.com]
May 20, 2013 By Patrick Goodenough
Pakistani Christians protest against the country’s blasphemy laws and violence targeting their minority community. An independent U.S. watchdog has urged the executive branch every year since 2002 to designate Pakistan as a “country of particular concern” over religious freedom violations. (AP Photo)
(CNSNews.com) – As the State Department prepares to release its annual report on international religious freedom Monday, a key issue for many Americans concerned about religious persecution is whether it will blacklist a handful of particularly egregious violators – or, as in previous years, ignore the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The question is especially sensitive in the case of countries where the plight of minority Christians has worsened, even as their governments benefit significantly at the cost of U.S. taxpayers.
Among the religious freedom violators are four of the top ten recipients of U.S. foreign aid in fiscal year 2013 – Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq and Nigeria. Another is Vietnam, whose communist government has seen its diplomatic and economic ties with the U.S. improve dramatically over the past seven years.
On Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry will release the administration’s report on the state of religious freedom around the world in 2012, a requirement under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), which sought to enhance the importance of religious freedom in the pursuit of U.S. foreign policy.
The primary tool available to the executive branch under the 1998 legislation is the designation of “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) – those whose authorities either commit or are judged to tolerate violations of religious freedom. CPCs are subject to U.S. sanctions or other measures designed to prod governments to improve.
Currently designated CPCs are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan.
But a handful of other countries deserve to be on the list too, in the view of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent body established under the IRFA, comprising unpaid commissioners appointed by congressional leaders and the administration.
When it released its own yearly report three weeks ago, the USCIRF pressed for Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam to be designated CPCs.
In some of those cases, the recommendation has been disregarded for years.
Pakistan, home to some of the world’s most notorious blasphemy laws, has evaded CPC status despite USCIRF recommendation every year since 2002, as have Turkmenistan since 2000, Egypt since 2011, Nigeria since 2009, and Tajikistan since last year.
The other two, Iraq and Vietnam, were both previous designated CPCs. The Bush administration removed Iraq in 2004, following the fall of Saddam Hussein regime; and Vietnam in 2006, citing improvements as a result of active lobbying of the communist authorities in Hanoi.
Each year since 2008 the USCIRF has recommended that Iraq be returned to the CPC list. In the case of Vietnam, the commission never agreed with its delisting, and has recommended its return every year since, also to no avail.
Last week House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) introduced legislation calling on the administration to relist Vietnam as a CPC, citing authorities’ refusals to grant legal recognition to churches, as well as assaults, harassment, imprisonment and home destructions targeting Christians.
Last year’s State Department report on international religious freedom referred to “continued reports of abuses of religious freedom” in Vietnam and said that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other senior State Department officials “raised religious freedom concerns with government officials and called for continued improvements in religious freedom.”
Those diplomatic efforts did not appear to have had any effect, however: The report also noted that Hanoi “did not demonstrate a trend toward either improvement or deterioration in respect for and protection of the right to religious freedom.”
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report earlier this year examining compliance with the IRFA noted tensions between the USCIRF and State Department as each has sought to do its respective job.
The report prompted USCIRF chair Katrina Lantos Swett to underline in a letter to the GAO that the commission’s “mandate is neither to conduct diplomacy nor balance religious freedom against other U.S. national interests.”
Swett said the USCIRF recognized that its role “sometimes poses a challenge for the State Department” – but also noted that “at times, our findings draw the ire of offending governments that would prefer their shortcomings remain hidden.”
Could Obamacare Go the Way of McCain-Feingold?
[American Spectator]
By David Catron on 11.30.12 @ 6:10AM
The “Affordable Care Act” might die a death of a thousand legal cuts.
Last June, upon learning that the Supreme Court had ruled Obamacare’s individual mandate constitutional, many observers were forced to concur with the Dickens character who opined, “If the law supposes that… the law is an ass.” Yet, the increasing number of anti-PPACA lawsuits that have been receiving serious attention from the courts suggests that the legal system may not be as irrational as it seemed when Chief Justice John Roberts began braying from the bench on June 28. If this seems Pollyannaish, consider the fate of McCain-Feingold.
Supreme Court orders new look at Liberty University’s health care challenge
[FoxNews.com]
Associated Press
Published November 26, 2012
The Supreme Court has revived a Christian college’s challenge to President Obama’s health care overhaul.
The court on Monday ordered the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., to consider the claim by Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., that Obama’s health care law violates the school’s religious freedoms.
A federal district judge rejected Liberty’s claims, and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the lawsuit was premature and never dealt with the substance of the school’s arguments. The Supreme Court upheld the health care law in June.
The justices used lawsuits filed by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business to uphold the health care law by a 5-4 vote, then rejected all other pending appeals, including Liberty’s.
The school made a new filing with the court over the summer to argue that its claims should be fully evaluated in light of the high court decision. The administration said it did not oppose Liberty’s request.
Thank you to our defenders of freedom
[HumanEvents.com]
November 12, 2012
By: Debbie Lee
It is with great respect, admiration and deep understanding that I write this letter to honor each and every Veteran that has served or is serving our blessed Country! I understand and appreciate all who have given so much for me, so that I could enjoy my daily freedoms.
I was able to sleep well in the safety of my bed last night, because you served.
I was able to pray before my meal this morning in a public place without fearing arrest, because you gave.
I am able to freely speak my mind and voice my opinion without fear of retaliation against me or my family, because you cared.
I am able to stand up for what I believe in and not have a Dictators thoughts and opinions forced down my throat, because you stood up to the call to defend.
I am free to worship the one true God who created me in His image, because you were selfless in your actions.
To each one of you I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are my heroes and I want to remember and honor you this Veterans Day. Not a single day goes by that I don’t think of the sacrifices you and your families have given!
Romney paid extra taxes in 2011, Democrats complain
[DailyCaller.com]
Get Neil Munro Feed 
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign fundraising event in Sarasota, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Democrats complained Friday that Gov. Mitt Romney boosted his federal income bill to fend off criticisms about the low tax-rate owed on income earned from investments.
“Romney manipulated one of the only two years of tax returns he’s seen fit to show the American people — and then only to ‘conform’ with his public statements,” said a statement from Sen Harry Reid, the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate.
“Had he not limited his [charitable] deductions … what would Gov. Romney’s effective tax rate have been?” asked an afternoon email from Obama’s campaign staff.
In 2011, Romney choose to deduct from his taxable income only $2.2 million of the $4 million he donated to charity. By limiting that deduction, he increased his own federal tax rate to 14.1 percent, and deflated Democratic allegations that he paid little or no taxes in some years.
Without teleprompter, Condoleezza Rice brings GOP faithful to their feet
[DailyCaller.com]
Follow Caroline May 
TAMPA, Fla. — Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rallied the GOP faithful at the Republican National Convention with a barn-burner speech Wednesday night.
The only speaker of the convention thus far to take the podium without the assistance of a teleprompter, Rice spoke of the challenges facing the country, both foreign and domestic, and the need for a leader.
Commencing with an anecdote about the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Rice transitioned to the economic crisis and turmoil abroad. She pointed out that around the world people ask “Where does America stand?” only to find that the answer is ambiguous. To Rice, the country is in need of leadership.
“I know too that there is a weariness I know there is a sense that we have carried these burdens long enough,” she said, noting that the country has no other choice by to be a leader, because “either nobody will lead and there will be chaos or someone else will who does not share our values. We do not have a choice. We cannot be reluctant to lead — and you cannot lead from behind.” Rice asserted that Romney and Ryan are the ones who can lead.
Getting Rid of the ‘Likable’ President
American [Spectator.org]
By Andrew B. Wilson – August 29, 2012 @ 6:08AM
Or is he just an “untouchable” member of the Ruling Class?
Barack Obama floats like a butterfly, even if he lacks the verbal facility to sting like a bee. He was lucky to draw the befuddled John McCain as his opponent in the 2008 presidential race. Rather than exposing Obama’s bloated ego to the ridicule that it so richly deserved, McCain decided to make nice — adding his voice to the hosanna chorus greeting the young Messiah. “And, finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters,” McCain said in his acceptance speech at the Republican National convention. “We’ll go at it over the next two months — you know the nature of this business — and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and my admiration.”
RNC Protester Arrested Carrying Machete
[Breitbart.com]
by Breitbart News – August 26, 2012
Police arrested a Tallahassee man protesting at the Republican National Convention for carrying a machete into the Event Zone.
According to authorities, Jason T. Wilson had a “full size” machete (pictured left) strapped to his leg at a Sunday protest.
When deputies approached Wilson, they said he continued to walk away despite orders to stop.
“When deputies caught up to Wilson, he advised he did not have to stop and that he was allowed to carry whatever he wanted,” HCSO spokesperson Larry McKinnon said.
When deputies attempted to physically stop him, Wilson allegedly began resisting arrest and was physically restrained.
The police have not connected Wilson to any particular organization or entity protesting at the RNC.
Although formally organized left-wing protesters promise “non-violent” tactics, they plan to disrupt businesses and not cooperate with police investigating other protesters who may damage property or harass private citizens. An anonymous individual threatened to “legitimately rape” conservative activists Brandon Darby and Lee Stranahan at the convention.
Romney: Put Akin on Ice
[Breitbart.com]
Romney To Akin: Step Aside
by John Nolte – August 21, 2012
In a statement just released from the Romney campaign, the new leader of the Republican party has stepped up to lead:
As I said yesterday, Todd Akin’s comments were offensive and wrong and he should very seriously consider what course would be in the best interest of our country. Today, his fellow Missourians urged him to step aside, and I think he should accept their counsel and exit the Senate race.
Be Not Afraid, Mitt
American [Spectator.org]
The Obama Watch
CWN Posted: August 12, 2012
Romney should keep rolling out ads about Obama’s war on religion.
The most anti-Catholic president in American history is on track to win the Catholic vote, according to recent polling. Obama enjoys a 51 to 42 percentage lead over Romney, reported the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life last week. Alarmed by this gap, the Romney team has finally rolled out an ad that highlights Obama’s war on religion.
Drawing upon images of Pope John Paul II and Lech Walesa, the ad makes use of Romney’s recent trip to Poland, where he recalled the late Holy Father’s words, “Be not afraid.”
Should Romney Apologize for Romneycare?
[Townhall.com]
July 9 , 2012, by Byron York
It’s always been a challenge for Mitt Romney to explain the differences between Romneycare and Obamacare. The two programs share a lot of the same features — mandate, penalties, subsidies, exchanges and others. Romney has consistently argued that those provisions are acceptable, even good, at the state level, but not acceptable, and in some cases not even constitutional, at the federal level.
The problem isn’t just that Romney frequently finds himself making detailed explanations, which is never a good thing in politics. The problem is that it always sounds a little odd to voters for Romney to say that when he did it in Massachusetts, it was a great thing, but when Barack Obama did it nationwide, it was a terrible thing.
Now, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Obamacare decision, Romney’s job has gotten even harder — so hard that there will likely be growing pressure on him to admit that Romneycare, his signature achievement as Massachusetts governor, was a mistake.
The problem is the court’s ruling that Obamacare’s individual mandate is a tax. Even though most Republicans had wanted to see Obamacare struck down, many embraced the mandate-is-a-tax ruling because it allowed them to accuse the president of raising taxes.
Black pastors: Let’s reject Obama!
[WND.com] ELECTION 2012
Christian leaders turn on president ‘stooping to lead country down immoral path’
Published: July 7, 2012 by Chelsea Schilling
A group of black pastors is blasting President Obama for his support of homosexual marriage and calling on black pastors across America to stop supporting him.
“By embracing gay marriage, President Obama is leading the country down an immoral path,” said Rev. William Owens, president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors, in a statement. “The black church has always been the conscience of America, and today we are calling on black pastors and black Christians to withhold support from President Obama until he corrects course.
The Coalition of African-American Pastors, or CAAP, has launched a marriage petition at 100000Signatures4Marriage.com. The group describes itself as “a grass-roots movement of African-American Christians who believe in traditional family values such as supporting the role of religion in American public life, protecting the lives of the unborn, and defending the sacred institution of marriage.” It notes that it “is not affiliated with any political party or denomination.”
How to Defeat and Replace Obamacare Now
American Spectator
[Spectator.org]
The Right Prescription (Stop the Obama Tax Tidal Wave)
By Peter Ferrara on 7.5.12 @ 6:10AM
There is life after Roberts’ double cross and Obama’s latest flurry of lies.
Whether Left, Right, Independent, or Confused, no one who is not bought and paid for as part of the Obama political machine is going to like the Obama Double Cross of the American people on Obamacare. Before Obamacare was passed, Obama told the American people over and over, even on national TV, that the individual mandate was not a tax. After Obamacare was passed, Obama sent his lawyers into courts all over the country to argue that the individual mandate is constitutional precisely because it is a tax.
This is the top argument to feature now in discrediting Obama and Obamacare. No one likes a dishonest liar. Even worse when that dishonest liar is supposed to be our nation’s leader. When he sent his own lawyers into courts all over America to argue that the individual mandate is constitutional because it is a tax, he demonstrated that when he told the nation it was not a tax, he knew all along that was not true, and that he was planning all along to double cross the people he was supposed to be leading. That alone disqualifies him from serving as President. The majority of Americans who are still capable of thinking will recognize that we can’t have as our nation’s leader a dishonest double crosser.
Romney and his Republicans must now play in ads all over America the clips of Obama and his Democrats denying in dismissive terms that the individual mandate could in any way be considered a tax. Then they need to dramatize that after the Obamacrats had tricked the American people, they sent their lawyers into court to argue just the opposite, thinking that the American people are too stupid to realize they had been tricked.
Valour-IT 2012 — Saluting all United States Military Personnel; Happy 4th of July!
[FloppingAces.net]
As America celebrates her independence, Soldiers’ Angels Project Valour-IT is fighting to save a program that gives a bit of independence to severely-wounded veterans.
In the last seven years, Project Valour-IT has supplied over 6,000 voice-controlled and other adaptive laptops to severely wounded American troops, but that work could soon come to an end. Every week brings more wounded heroes home from the battlefield, but donations are not keeping pace with their needs. Over 70 wounded warriors are currently waiting for a Valour-IT laptop, with 10 new requests coming in each week.
To address this growing need, military support nonprofit Soldiers’ Angels is conducting a summer-long fundraising drive. The goal is to provide 250 more laptops to help wounded warriors stay connected while they recover or build a new life as they transition out of the military.
From July 4 through Labor Day, patriotic Americans across the country are donating and spreading the word through Social Media and good-old-fashioned word of mouth. Divided among four “virtual teams” named in honor of U.S. military service branches, they are relying on friendly inter-service rivalries to spur them on to at least $100,000 in fundraising.
It’s hard to overstate the impact Project Valour-IT has on those wounded warriors lucky enough to receive a laptop. “This project changes lives,” says Soldiers’ Angels Founder Patti Patton-Bader. “Major Chuck Ziegenfuss, whose experience as a wounded Soldier inspired the project says receiving a voice-controlled laptop said it was ‘the first time I felt whole. ‘”
Fawning NBC Hypes Obama’s Immigration Pander: ‘Young People’ ‘Cheered’
[Newsbusters.org]
By Scott Whitlock | June 18, 2012 | 13:15
NBC’s Nightly News on Friday offered a one-sided segment touting Barack Obama’s decision to lift the threat of deportation to young people who came to America illegally. The Pete Williams report featured six clips of individuals or groups thrilled by the reaction, only two against and one nuanced response by Mitt Romney. The other networks followed a similar pattern.
Williams began by touting, “Young people covered by the new policy cheered the announcement outside the White House.” An unidentified woman enthused, “I can’t describe it. It’s so amazing. I’m so happy.” A crowd in front of the White House chanted, “Yes, we did! Yes, we did! Yes, we did! Yes, we did!”
The NBC correspondent’s segment was heavily weighted with people who applauded the decision:
JANET NAPOLITANO (Homeland Security Secretary): They’ve grown up here, they speak the language here, they’ve stayed out of trouble here. They’re getting their education here. They have wonderful talents to contribute to our country.
Is Bill Clinton Sabotaging Obama’s Re-Election?
[PersonalLiberty.com]
June 15, 2012 by Chip Wood
My, my, my. Is it my imagination, or are things starting to get a bit testy between the most popular former Democratic President in America, Bill Clinton, and the current occupant of the White House?
There’s been a rumor floating around Washington for weeks that the Clintons and President Barack Obama are going to cut a deal to make Hillary Clinton the Vice Presidential candidate. Joe Biden would plead health reasons for stepping down, and Hillary Clinton would resign as Secretary of State to run in the No. 2 slot. This would give the Democrats a much stronger ticket for 2012 — and Hillary Clinton a virtual lock to be the Democratic nominee four years from now.
It’s a juicy tidbit, but I don’t believe it for a moment. I suspect Dick Morris was much closer to the truth when he appeared on Sean Hannity’s TV program last week. The glee was obvious in his voice when the Republican pundit declared, “Bill Clinton does not want Barack Obama to win.”
Congressional Black Caucus Director: Opposition To Obama Is Racist [Really? MLK: Content of Character]
[FrontPorchPolitics.com]
Written on June 14, 2012 at 6:47 pm by Tim Brown
The Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus, Angela Rye, claims that Barack Obama’s first term has languished because of racially motivated opposition from conservatives who don’t like having a black president.
Appearing on CPAN, Rye said, “I think that a lot of what the president has experienced is because he’s black. You know, whether it’s questioning his intellect or whether or not he’s Ivy League,” she continued. It’s always either he’s not educated enough or he’s too educated; or he’s too black or he’s not black enough; he’s too Christian or not Christian enough. There are all these things where he has to walk this very fine line to even be successful.”
“There’s an ad, talking about the president is too cool, is he too cool? And there’s this music that reminds me of, you know, some of the blaxploitation films from the 70s playing in the background, him with his sunglasses,” Rye said. “And to me it was just very racially-charged. They weren’t asking if Bush was too cool, but, yet, people say that that’s the number one person they’d love to have a beer with. So, if that’s not cool I dont know what is.”
The director claims that she has no idea if black support and enthusiasm is lower since 2008. She also didn’t mention the Obama campaign’s own urban styled radio spot.
State Department Purges Religious Freedom Section from Its Human Rights Reports
[CNSNews.com]
(AP photo)(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. State Department removed the sections covering religious freedom from the Country Reports on Human Rights that it released on May 24, three months past the statutory deadline Congress set for the release of these reports.
The new human rights reports–purged of the sections that discuss the status of religious freedom in each of the countries covered–are also the human rights reports that include the period that covered the Arab Spring and its aftermath.
Thus, the reports do not provide in-depth coverage of what has happened to Christians and other religious minorities in predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East that saw the rise of revolutionary movements in 2011 in which Islamist forces played an instrumental role.
Remembering our guardians at the gate
The solemn act of honoring those who have fallen in battle is a custom that seems to have faded in importance to our nation over time.
Nowadays, many Americans have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At cemeteries across the country, the graves of the fallen are sadly ignored, and worse, neglected.
While there are towns and cities still planning Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some think the day is for honoring anyone who has died, not just those fallen in service to our country.
Perhaps they do not know how deeply our nation once appreciated those who sacrificed their lives in defense of the principles we hold most dear. Perhaps those very principles of individual sovereignty, freedom and liberty are no longer so important.
It was not always so. In 1868, on May 5th, Memorial Day, originally called “Decoration Day,” was officially proclaimed by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11.
General Logan asked that we cherish “tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes. Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders.”
But times change. In the 1960s our warriors were not welcomed back from battle with parades and cheers, and the fallen were not honored as they had been in the past.
Perhaps reflecting those times, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed in 1968 as part of a move to use federal holidays to create three-day weekends – time for fun and recreation, rather than remembrance and reflection.
Thus, from 1971 onwards, the Memorial Day holiday was officially observed on the last Monday in May and became the unofficial start of the summer, with barbecues, blockbuster movie openings and mattress sales.
No less than the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization was later moved to say “Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.”
It was around that time as well that defense spending began a steep decline, and in 1976, for the first time, entitlement spending exceeded defense spending. It is a trend that has rapidly accelerated, with spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid more than double that of national defense, a core constitutional function of government.
Nonetheless, the United States of America still possesses the greatest military force the world has ever known. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen volunteer to protect and defend this country and all its citizens, and do so with honor, integrity and excellence. Our nation continually asks them to do more and more, with less and less.
We must never forget why we have, and why we need our military. Our armed forces exist solely to ensure our nation is safe, so that each and every one of us can sleep soundly at night, knowing we have “guardians at the gate.”
Those who serve today deserve our gratitude, those who are returning from the battlefield deserve our open arms, and those who will never return deserve our thoughts, tributes and remembrance.
In 2000, President Clinton passed a resolution asking all Americans to observe a “National Moment of Remembrance” at 3 p.m. on each Memorial Day “to remember and reflect on the sacrifices made by so many to provide freedom for all.” I know what I will be doing at 3 p.m. this Memorial Day. I hope I will not be alone.
For as General Logan proclaimed, “Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”
They were steadfast and loyal.
Congressman Allen West is the U.S. representative for Florida’s 22nd congressional district and a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel.
‘I Don’t See Any Difference Between’ Obama and ‘Henry VIII’–For Greater Glory Star
[CNSNews.com]
Eduardo Verastegui as Blessed Anacleto Gonzalez Flores in For Greater Glory.
(CNSNews.com) – Eduardo Verastegui, who plays the Catholic martyr Anacleto Gonzalez Flores in the soon to be released film For Greater Glory, says that Mexican President Plutarco Calles, whose government was responsible for Flores’s martyrdom in 1927, and President Barack Obama, who is moving forward in 2012 with a health-insurance regulation that will force Catholics in the United States to act against their faith, are both like Henry VIII, who martyred St. Thomas More in 1535 when More refused to act against his faith and take an oath affirming that Henry was the supreme authority over the church in England.
In January, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius finalized an Obamacare regulation that will require virtually all health-care plans in the United States to cover sterilizations and artificial contraceptives, including those that cause abortions. The regulation says that health-care plans must provide these benefits without any fees or co-pay.
Egypt’s Brotherhood Goes All out for Presidency
[Newsmax.com]
Sunday, 20 May 2012 10:45 AM
© 2012 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood planned a mass climax to its presidential campaign on Sunday, hoping to sway undecided voters and clinch victory in this week’s election when Egyptians will choose their leader freely for the first time.On the last day of official campaigning, the Brotherhood told Egyptians to “book your place anywhere in Egypt” for evening rallies in support of its candidate Mohamed Mursi.
Brotherhood supporters seem unfazed by surveys that show their unfancied contender trailing rivals who entered the race earlier and are spending heavily in the dash for votes.
In one poll published last week in al-Masry al-Youm newspaper, Mursi was last of the four front-runners but 37 percent of the people surveyed were yet to make up their minds.
The polls, a relative novelty in Egypt, are admittedly unreliable and the large cohort of undecided voters further complicates any effort to pick a winner in the country’s first genuinely contested presidential election.
“Egyptians are a religious people and Mursi appears to be a man of God,” said Farag Ibrahim, a 44-year-old in the Nile Delta town of Mansoura. “That is why I will vote for him, and because I think many others will too, and he will win.”
With a grassroots network stretching into Egypt’s smallest villages, the Muslim Brotherhood has consolidated its influence since Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow in last year’s popular uprising.
Blind Chinese Activist Who Fought Forced Abortions Arrives in NYC With Wife and Children
[CNSNews-AP]
By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press
May 20, 2012
Blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng arrives at Washington Square Village on the campus of New York University, Saturday, May 19, 2012, in New York. Chen escaped from his village in April and was given sanctuary inside the U.S. Embassy after seven years of prison and house arrest. He is planning to study law at NYU. But before that, he says he is planning to spend time recuperating. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
NEW YORK (AP) — A blind Chinese legal activist who escaped house arrest, endured a nearly month-long diplomatic tussle and a hurried daylong flight paused ever so briefly upon his arrival in New York City before taking up a familiar fight.
Taken from a hospital in his homeland and put on a plane for the U.S. after Chinese authorities suddenly told him Saturday to pack and prepare to leave, Chen Guangcheng embraced his new surroundings at New York University and renewed his call to fight injustice.
“I believe that no matter how difficult the environment nothing is impossible if you put your heart to it,” he told a cheering crowd at NYU shortly after arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport on Saturday evening.
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