Good Morning!
Dorothy Sayers, who was a friend of C.S. Lewis and a popular British writer, once observed:
“Those who prefer their English sloppy have only themselves to thank if the advertisement writer uses his mastery of the vocabulary and syntax to mislead their weak minds.”
We begin by calling out the deceptive language of the Left:
- The Senate & America Reject Abortion on Demand
Focus on the Family president Jim Daly writes:
The Senate’s rejection of the dubiously titled, “Women’s Health Protection Act” – legislation intended to enshrine abortion on-demand into law regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on Dobbs – was much closer than it should have been, but still a promising denunciation of a radical anti-woman and anti-life point-of-view.
Monday’s procedural vote would have required 60 votes to advance in the Senate. It received just 46 votes – all Democrats. Senator Joe Manchin (WV) was the lone Democrat who opposed the bill.
Senators Feinstein (D), Inhofe (R), Kennedy (R), Lujan (D), Paul (R) and Warnock (D) did not vote.
While this bill had no chance of passing, it was nevertheless a nod and attempt to appease the radical abortion lobby – many of whom are beginning to panic in the face of an increasingly pro-life electorate, along with a Supreme Court that appears inclined to allow state restrictions on abortion.
It’s telling when you have to use misleading terminology to try and soft sell a dark reality. Monday’s rejected legislation really had nothing to do with protecting women’s health. Do activists not realize at least half of all babies aborted are female? In fact, this bill had everything to do with codifying the destruction of innocent children’s health. It’s that simple and straightforward.
After decades and decades, momentum is finally moving in the direction of life. The Left is in a defenseless position. Just look at an ultrasound. Listen to a heartbeat of a pre-born child. Count the fingers and toes.
Our work in the pro-life community continues. Even when the Supreme Court acknowledges a state’s right to restrict abortion, those of us committed to both mother and child will continue to work on their behalf well beyond birth.
The radical abortion lobby in the Senate pushed this bill forward in order to make a point – and that’s exactly what they did. They made it clear to the American people that pre-born children have few fans or friends in their party. Despite what some in Washington may believe, our children deserve to be defended and we will never tire or stop in our efforts to protect them.
- The Real War on Women: Word ‘Woman’ Removed from Radical Pro-Abortion Bill
From The Daily Citizen:
The bill (H.R. 3755) was the most extreme, radical pro-abortion piece of legislation ever considered by the United States Congress, and thankfully, it fell far short of gaining the 60 votes needed to move forward to a final vote.
The motion failed 46-48, with three Democrats and three Republicans not voting on the measure, and Democrat Senator Joe Manchin joining all other Republicans in opposition to the bill.
The act would have prohibited “states from creating any new law to restrict abortion access” and would have invalidated “hundreds of state abortion laws already on the books across the country.”
Some of the laws the bill would have invalidated (among others) include:
- Laws prohibiting the gruesome procedure called partial-birth abortion, where a preborn baby is half-delivered prior to being killed.
- Protections for babies born alive after a failed abortion attempt.
- Parental consent requirements.
- Bans on late-term abortion.
- Restrictions on discriminatory abortion that are done based on a preborn baby’s race, sex, or disability.
The bill is evil. Plain and simple. And it’s good it was defeated.
- Biden Contends ‘We Are Stronger Today’ in State of the Union Address, GOP Says Pro-Family Revolution Coming
From CBN:
President Biden delivered his first official State of the Union address Tuesday night, touting what he considers to be the achievements of his administration.
The address comes at a crucial time with numerous domestic and international crises unfolding in his presidency.
Biden began his speech by honoring all Ukrainians and the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, Oksana Markarova, who was in attendance with First Lady Jill Biden.
For the GOP rebuttal to Biden’s speech, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds argued that Biden opened the door for the Ukraine war by creating weakness that endangers America’s allies and emboldens our enemies. She said Biden’s botched military pullout from Afghanistan laid the groundwork for Vladimir Putin to challenge the world with his assault on Ukraine.
Reynolds also pointed to an impending red wave midterm election for Congress, saying there will be a pro-parent, pro-family revolution. Many political experts agree Democrats will be thrown from power in the House and Senate in the fall elections.
RELATED:
Biden Misses the Moment in His State of the Union Address
From the Wall Street Journal:
On his domestic agenda, Mr. Biden acknowledged inflation, as he had to given the polls. But he blamed rising prices on the pandemic and greedy businesses, and his solutions are to unleash prosecutors and antitrust cops, and to spend even more money on social welfare and entitlements. His most other-worldly line was that his program would “cut energy costs for families an average of $500 a year by combating climate change.”
The entire point of his climate agenda is to raise the price of energy for Americans by reducing the supply and increasing the cost of coal, oil and natural gas. His regulators are working to do that every day in every way. It was as if the horror of the last week, which exposed the folly of Europe’s dependence on Russian oil and gas, had never happened. The climate left still has a choke hold on this Presidency.
An anxious world is looking for American leadership in a dangerous new era. Instead Mr. Biden offered a rehash of his first-year domestic agenda that has brought him to his low political ebb. It’s dispiriting that a White House facing so many daunting challenges could come up with so little. The President really does need to fire some people and get better advice.
- California, Washington, Oregon To Lift School Mask Mandates
From the Daily Wire:
The state of California is lifting all mask mandates in schools after March 11th, in conjunction with the states of Oregon and Washington.
According to Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom’s official website, “[a]fter 11:59 p.m. on March 11, California, Oregon and Washington will adopt new indoor mask policies and move from mask requirements to mask recommendations in schools.”
“State policies do not change federal requirements, which still include masks on public transit,” it added.
In a statement, Newsom said, “California continues to adjust our policies based on the latest data and science, applying what we’ve learned over the past two years to guide our response to the pandemic. Masks are an effective tool to minimize spread of the virus and future variants, especially when transmission rates are high.”
- Two More Federal Courts Rule in Favor of Religious Objections to Military’s Vaccine Mandate
From The Daily Citizen:
Our nation’s military servicemembers were ordered last September to receive COVID-19 vaccinations or be discharged. Some exemptions have been granted for medical and administrative reasons, but almost none have been granted for religious objections, despite thousands of requests. Many servicemembers of faith are successfully challenging the military’s hostility to religion in the courts, alleging the vaccine mandate violates their freedoms under the First Amendment and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
I’m pleased to report that two more federal courts have ruled in favor of the religious claimants in recent days.
In a case The Daily Citizen has been following, 35 Navy SEALs and other Naval Special Warfare Command servicemembers were granted a preliminary injunction by a federal district judge in Texas that prevents the Navy from punishing those servicemembers for their failure to get vaccinated as deadlines have passed and the litigation proceeds. The Navy then asked the lower court judge to “stay” or delay the effect of the preliminary injunction, which was denied.
At that point, the Navy asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to “stay” or limit the district court injunction so that it could take into account the vaccination status of those servicemembers in deployments and assignments during the pendency of the lawsuit.
6. Southern Baptist president won’t seek second term, breaking decades of precedent
From the Washington Times:
The Rev. Ed Litton, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said Tuesday he would not seek a second consecutive term as head of America’s largest Protestant denomination.
Instead, Mr. Litton said in a video posted to YouTube, he will devote his time to racial reconciliation.
The announcement follows a tumultuous year for the 14.1 million-member denomination, which is wrapping up a sexual abuse investigation, and which also lost two prominent members: ethicist Russell Moore and author and Bible teacher Beth Moore. The two Moores are not related.
- What are the Origins of Lent?
From The Conversation:
In late winter, many Christian denominations observe a 40-day period of fasting and prayer called Lent. This is in preparation for the spring celebration of Easter, a religious holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
The word “Lent” has Germanic roots referring to the “lengthening” of days, or springtime. But facts about the early origin of the religious observance are not as well known.
As a scholar who studies Christian liturgy, I know that by the fourth century, a regular practice of 40-day fasting became common in Christian churches.
The practice of fasting from food for spiritual reasons is found in the three largest Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In all three, refraining from eating is intimately connected with an additional focus on prayer, and the practice of assisting the poor by giving alms or donating food.
In the Gospels, Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness to fast and pray. This event was one of the factors that inspired the final length of Lent.
Early Christian practices in the Roman Empire varied from area to area. A common practice was weekly fasting on Wednesday and Friday until mid-afternoon. In addition, candidates for baptism, as well as the clergy, would fast before the rite, which often took place at Easter.
During the fourth century, various Christian communities observed a longer fast of 40 days before the beginning of the three holiest days of the liturgical year: Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter.
- More Americans than ever are afraid of the dark, experts say. Here’s why.
From USA Today:
While a fear of the dark is most common among children 3-12 years old (affecting nearly 3 out of 4 kids, according to one study) many adults are also prone to fears of darkness. An estimated 11% of adults were already struggling with this fear before the pandemic, and experts say COVID has made matters worse.
“Fear is triggered by a real or perceived threat. The global pandemic has evoked much uncertainty in different aspects of all our lives,” said Dr. Gifty Ampadu, a psychologist for the Montefiore Health System.
And because research shows that fear of the unknown compounds other anxieties, fears of the dark and other phobias have increased exponentially.
Children and adults suffer from a fear of the dark for a variety of reasons. For example, darkness impairs one’s vision. Not being able to see as well “increases anxiety, uncertainty and tension and this can lead to fear of the dark in any age group,” explained Dr. Gene Beresin, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the executive director of the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital.
- 10–20% Lower Death Risk From Just 30–60 Minutes of Weekly Muscle-Strengthening Activity
From SciTechDaily:
Between 30 and 60 minutes of muscle-strengthening activity every week is linked to a 10-20% lower risk of death from all causes, and from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, in particular, finds a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The findings are independent of aerobic exercise. But the analysis points to a J-shaped curve for most outcomes, with no conclusive evidence that more than an hour a week of muscle-strengthening activity reduces the risk further still.
Physical activity guidelines recommend regular muscle-strengthening activities for adults, primarily because of the known benefits for skeletal muscle health. Examples of these activities include lifting weights; working with resistance bands; push-ups, sit-ups, and squats; and heavy gardening, such as digging and shoveling.
Previous research indicates that muscle-strengthening activity is associated with a lower risk of death, but it’s not known what the optimal ‘dose’ might be.
10. Church Clock Facing $56K Repair Bill Gets Fixed By 2 Bell-Ringers With A Can Of WD-40
From The Sun:
Officials feared having to launch a major fundraising appeal to fix the timepiece.
But Rick Haywood, 47, and Jay Foley, 15, managed to get it going with a good clean.
Grimsby Minster’s clock has been stuck at 12:02 for 12 years.
Experts, including the firm working on Big Ben’s £80million restoration, said scaffolding was needed around the 287ft tower, dating to 1365, to carry out external repairs.
But cheesemaker Rick and student Jay decided to have a go themselves.
The clock mechanism is housed in a box on the wall of the bell-ringing chamber.
And the pair, due to perform maintenance on the bells, decided to look at the clock workings at the same time.
Rick, of Grimoldby, Lincs, said: “We did not think we could do any more damage.
“We found various dead pigeons gumming up the bearings. Some of the bearings were very dry.
“We gave it grease and WD-40 and managed to get it running.
