# 1341 (9/7) LABOR DAY: "In Celebration of Labor - THE VALUE OF A GOOD DAY'S WORK"

"In Celebration of Labor - THE VALUE OF A GOOD DAY'S WORK" - By: Chuck Colson|Breakpoint.org: September 7, 2015;  http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/12/28114?spMailingID=12321231&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=620316980&spReportId=NjIwMzE2OTgwS0

The bumper sticker read "I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go." Well, that's what many, including many Christians, think of work. What does Labor Day mean? For most of us, it's nothing more than a welcome break from what we tend to see as "the daily grind." Work to so many people is simply a necessary evil. The goal in life is putting in enough time to retire and relax.

But that attitude and that goal is contrary to a Christian worldview perspective on work. Christians have a special reason to celebrate Labor Day, which honors the fundamental dignity of workers, because we worship a God Who labored to make the world—and Who created human beings in His image to be His workers. When God made Adam and Eve, He gave them work to do: cultivating and caring for the earth.

In the ancient world, the Greeks and Romans looked upon manual work as a curse, something for lower classes and slaves. But Christianity changed all of that. Christians viewed work as a high calling—a calling to be co-workers with God in unfolding the rich potential of His creation.

This high view of work can be traced throughout the history of the Church. In the Middle Ages, the guild movement grew out of the Church. It set standards for good workmanship and encouraged members to take satisfaction in the results of their labor. The guilds became the forerunner of the modern labor movement.

Later, during the Reformation, Martin Luther preached that all work should be done to the glory of God. Whether ministering the Gospel or scrubbing floors, any honest work is pleasing to the Lord. Out of this conviction grew the Protestant work ethic.

Christians were also active on behalf of workers in the early days of the industrial revolution, when factories were "dark satanic mills," to borrow a phrase from Sir William Blake. In those days, work in factories and coal mines was hard and dangerous. Men, women, and children were practically slaves—sometimes even chained to machines.

Then John Wesley came preaching and teaching the Gospel throughout England. He came not to the upper classes, but to the laboring classes—to men whose faces were black with coal dust, women whose dresses were patched and faded. John Wesley preached to them—and in the process, he pricked the conscience of the whole nation. Two of Wesley's disciples, William Wilberforce and Lord Shaftesbury, were inspired to work for legislation that would clean up abuses in the workplace. At their urging, the British parliament passed child-labor laws, safety laws, and minimum-wage laws.

But here in America we've lost the Christian connection with the labor movement. In many countries, however, from Canada to Poland, that tradition still remains strong. Much of our culture has a distinctly Greek view of work: We work out of necessity. But you see, we are made in the image of God and as such we are made to work—to create, to shape, to bring order out of disorder.

So this Labor Day, remember that all labor derives its true dignity as a reflection of the Creator. And that whatever we do, in word or deed, we should do all to the glory of God.

(This commentary originally aired September 1, 2003). [bold and italics emphasis mine]

FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION - Our vocations and careers are avenues that allow us to bring glory to God, using the abilities and talents He has given us. This Labor Day, celebrate the dignity of work, remembering Paul's admonition to the Colossians, "Whatever you do, do your work knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve."
RESOURCES:
"Loving Mondays: Business as a Calling" - Chuck Colson | BreakPoint.org | September 3, 2006;https://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/13429?spMailingID=12321231&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=620316980&spReportId=NjIwMzE2OTgwS0
"Life Beyond a Cubicle" - Chuck Colson | BreakPoint.org | September 1, 2006;https://www.breakpoint.org/commentaries/5383-life-beyond-the-cubicle?spMailingID=12321231&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=620316980&spReportId=NjIwMzE2OTgwS0
"The God of Wooden Plows " - Chuck Colson | BreakPoint.org | September 1, 2008;https://www.breakpoint.org/commentaries/2312-the-god-of-wooden-plows?spMailingID=12321231&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=620316980&spReportId=NjIwMzE2OTgwS0
"Why Work? (pdf)"[12 pp.] - Dorothy Sayers;http://www.faith-at-work.net/Docs/WhyWork.pdf

# 1340 (9/6) SUNDAY SPECIAL: "Is Work a Curse or a Gift?"

"IS WORK A CURSE OR A GIFT?" - Jerry Newcombe | Sep 03, 2015;
http://townhall.com/columnists/jerrynewcombe/2015/09/03/is-work-a-curse-or-a-gift-n2047350/page/full

Millions of Americans are perpetually unemployed. Writing for Pew Reports (11/14/14), Drew DeSilver notes, “…more than 92 million Americans —37% of the civilian population aged 16 and over—are neither employed nor unemployed, but fall in the category of ‘not in the labor force.’ That means they aren’t working now but haven’t looked for work recently enough to be counted as unemployed…the share of folks not in the labor force remains near all-time highs.”

Today, 46 million Americans are living on food stamps. That’s almost one out of six of us subsisting on something initially designed as a stop-gap measure for the truly down and out.

This is quite tragic when you think about it. I think part of this is the result of the nanny state. Big government tries to solve problems and ends up creating more problems. As Ronald Reagan said in his First Inaugural Address (1/20/1981), “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” He added, “From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people.” Thus, we have replaced “we the people” with “we the elite,” and we’re paying a price for it.

But all politics aside, is work part of God’s design or is it a curse? 
     Work is good. Work was designed by God, says the Bible: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to care for it.” We are designed to work and labor gives meaning and purpose to everyday lives. We are commanded to work.

Work came before the fall of man. It’s made harder by the fall, but work itself is not a curse. It’s just that everything, including work is under a curse. We don’t necessarily think of ancient man as being lazy. But I think it’s fair to say that ancient wealthy man was. The Greeks and the Romans used their slaves to do their hard work. The late Larry Burkett points out: “The Greeks degraded into a nation of idle talkers who were easily overrun by the Romans.”

D. James Kennedy and I pointed out in our best-selling book, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?: “Prior to Christ, the nations of antiquity despised honest work and consigned it to slaves...three-quarters of Athens and half of the Roman empire were made up of slaves. We get a taste of how ‘gentlemen’ did no labor in ancient Greece in Acts 17, when Paul visited the Athenians to spread the gospel there. ‘For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear something new’ (Acts 17:21).”

We go on to observe, “But Jesus revolutionized labor. By picking up the saw, the hammer and the plane, he imbued labor with a new dignity. Over the centuries, where the Gospel worked its way into and through­ out a land, it translated the slaves and serfs into people of the working classes. Without work, it is impossible for any human being to fulfill the probation that God has given him in this life.”

I believe in the sanctity of work---all work is good if done unto God. Unless it’s directly contrary to the law of God (like producing pornography) work that is well done is a service to God and our fellow citizens---even if it is not necessarily work of direct “ministry.”

Part of the Christian tradition has been the notion of calling---that God has called different people to different functions---perhaps at even different sequences in our lives. The main point is that we do whatever our function well.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

So this Labor Day, we do well to remember that work is a blessing. For those temporarily out of work, there are plenty of opportunities to make be useful. Even volunteering can help one transition back to work. But the key is that each of us, to the extent we are physically able, are to be doing some kind of work---and will lack a sense of fulfillment and purpose without it. As the Bible says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Dr. Jerry Newcombe is a key archivist of the D. James Kennedy Legacy Library and a Christian TV producer.

[comment left at end of this email website ] ·
"In the Bible it says "with the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread". This is not a statement of fact, it is a commandment, we were commanded to work in order to eat bread. Work is good, work gives our lives a purpose, it teaches us so many good things that we are not able to learn any other way. This is why you see all those millionaires and even billionaires work, and sometimes they work even harder than before they became millionaires, because they enjopy it, not because they need the money or, as some would say, they are greedy."-Rachel Slomovic 

# 1339 (9/5) PRO-LIFE SAT: "Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinics Failed to Report Rape of Teen Girls in Seven States"

"PLANNED PARENTHOOD ABORTION CLINICS FAILED TO REPORT RAPE OF TEEN GIRLS IN SEVEN STATES" - Steven Ertelt, SEP 3, 2015
|http://www.lifenews.com/2015/09/03/planned-parenthood-abortion-clinics-failed-to-report-rape-of-teen-girls-in-seven-states/

 SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must De-Fund Planned Parenthood Immediately - http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/congress-must-de-fund-planned-parenthood-immediately.html

The Planned Parenthood abortion business is currently embroiled in a national scandal surrounding its sales of aborted babies and their body parts. Now, the abortion company is caught up in another national scandal over its repeated failure to report cases of sexual abuse and statutory rape...

A report Alliance Defending Freedom issued Thursday catalogs multiple instances of Planned Parenthood performing abortions on sexually abused minors and failing to report the rapes to authorities as required by law. Affiliates of Planned Parenthood Federation of America instead accepted money for the abortions and allowed the rapists to roam free without any notification to the proper authorities. ADF Legal Counsel Natalie Decker told LifeNews.com that the abortion giant has been taken to court in multiple instances and has been forced to settle lawsuits in the past over its failure to protect young girls victimized by sexual predators. “Americans shouldn’t be forced to subsidize a scandal-plagued, billion-dollar corporation,” Decker said about how taxpayers fund Planned Parenthood.“The recent CMP undercover videos have revealed only the latest scandal. As our report demonstrates and documents, Planned Parenthood has been involved for many years in performing abortions on underage, sexually abused girls and letting their rapists go free, many times to go on abusing the same girl or other children,” she added.

The report presents a pattern of Planned Parenthood incidents involving sexually abused minors in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Ohio.“Over and over again, across the country, Planned Parenthood has been accused of ignoring mandatory sex abuse reporting laws, inevitably resulting in the continued victimization of young children,” the report explains. “In some instances, Planned Parenthood has been directly sued for failure to report sexual abuse or to notify parents of minor children seeking abortions, whereas in other instances the fact that Planned Parenthood failed to report sexual abuse of a child becomes evident in a criminal case. In both of these situations, the child victim is brought in for an abortion and, because no report is made to the proper authorities, no investigation is initiated and the abuse is permitted to continue.”

“Our report adds to the growing mountain of information that makes defunding Planned Parenthood a clear priority,” said ADF Senior Counsel and former U.S. Attorney Michael J. Norton. “Thousands of true community health centers can be trusted with our hard-earned money. Planned Parenthood has proven for decades that it can’t be trusted. The only thing it’s entitled to is a federal investigation.”

The most recent case of Planned Parenthood failing to protect minor girls comes form Alabama. In a story LifeNews.com broke, a new report from the Alabama state health department confirms that the Planned Parenthood abortion business failed to report the rapes of a 14-year-old girl who ultimately had two abortions during a four-month time period. The latest report from the Alabama Department of Public Health about the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Mobile is dated from November but was only made public on August 13th. There are several other major problems, including failure to report possible sexual abuse of minor, failure to document all records correctly, patient care issues, and infection control problems.

Planned Parenthood has a history of not reporting statutory rape or sexual abuse to authorities.
Planned Parenthood abortion clinics have come under fire countless times over the years for not reporting cases of statutory rape to authorities as required by state law. In Arizona, officials say the abortion giant failed again to provide the proper report to authorities about a victim of a young man who is a serial rapist.Not only did Planned Parenthood intentionally fail to report the rape but, in so doing, it allowed the rapist to rape as many as 18 or more teenage girls, authorities say, making it so the abortion company is partially responsible for victimizing them as well.

In addition to this new report, ADF has provided a regularly updated report to Congress that identifies waste, abuse, and potential fraud by Planned Parenthood, state family planning programs, and other organizations. ADF has also filed a complaint in Colorado that asks a state agency to investigate two Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood employees involved in performing an abortion on a raped 13-year-old girl and not reporting her rapist to authorities.

Additionally, ADF is litigating lawsuits, including Norton v. Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood and Thayer v. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, that allege misuse of taxpayer dollars.

[bold and italics emphasis mine]

# 1338 (9/4) "Kentucky Clerk Not Issuing Gay Marriage Licenses Causes Uproar..."

"KENTUCKY CLERK NOT ISSUING GAY MARRIAGE LICENSES CAUSE UPROAR. North Carolina Shows Better Way." - Ryan T. Anderson/ @ryantand / September 01, 2015 / http://dailysignal.com/2015/09/01/kentucky-clerk-not-issuing-gay-marriage-licenses-causes-uproar-north-carolina-shows-better-way/ [UPDATE/Sept. 3 - Judge orders clerk to jail.]

Rowan County Deputy Clerk Nathan Davis, right, informs David Moore, center, and David Ermold, left, that he won't issue them a marriage license Thursday, August 13, 2015 at the Rowan County Clerk's office in Morehead, Ky. Moore and Ermold were at the courthouse early Thursday following an order by a federal judge that Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis issue the licenses, despite her religious convictions. (Photo: John Flavell/TNS/Newscom)

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling redefining marriage throughout the country, there’s an open question as to what happens to people who believe marriage is the union of husband and wife.

Yesterday the Supreme Court declined to review a lower court’s ruling requiring the county clerk of Rowan County, Ky., to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples. Kim Davis, the clerk for Rowan County, has a sincere religious belief that marriage is the union of husband and wife, and says she cannot in good faith issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple. As a result she stopped issuing marriage licenses to all couples (both same-sex and opposite-sex) after the Supreme Court’s marriage ruling in June.In this way she thought she would avoid the charge of discrimination. She also wouldn’t allow any other clerks in her office to issue marriage licenses. The result: no one could get a license in Rowan County.

This created a problem. The citizens of Rowan County have a right to receive in a timely and efficient manner the various government provisions—including licenses—to which they are entitled.
At the same time, the employees of Rowan County (including civil servants) have rights, including religious liberty rights, and they are entitled to religious accommodations. But a religious accommodation, like religious liberty in general, is not absolute.

The law requires a reasonable accommodation that does not place undue hardships on the employer—in this case the government. Saying your religion requires your entire office to stop issuing marriage licenses to everyone, while perhaps a sincere belief, cannot be reasonably accommodated without placing undue hardships on the citizens unable to receive their licenses in their county and forced to drive to another.

That the clerk in Rowan County couldn’t be accommodated does not mean that no clerk should ever be accommodated. Unfortunately, some activists on the left think all wedding professionals and civil servants should be forced to violate their beliefs about marriage or find a new line of work.

There’s a better way. As I explain in my new book, “Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom,” there are ways in which public policy can create a win-win situation: where all eligible couples can receive a license and where as many employees as possible can be accommodated.

North Carolina provides a great example. The state legislature earlier this year passed a law that protects magistrates who object to performing solemnizing ceremonies for same-sex marriages and clerks who object to issuing same-sex marriage licenses. It also makes clear that no one can be denied a marriage license, but magistrates or clerks could recuse themselves from the process behind the scenes should they have sincere objections to same-sex marriage. Again, it’s a win-win for everyone. No one loses anything.

It’s not just the North Carolina law. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires the government to accommodate conscientious objectors as best it can. Title VII applies to all employers, including the government, and requires that employers grant reasonable religious accommodations to employees, provided those accommodations don’t create an undue hardship for the employer.

Professor Robin F. Wilson of the University of Illinois Law School writes, “A common refrain is that religious objectors in government service should do all of their job or resign. This stance conflates the public receipt of a service offered by the state with the receipt of that service from each and every employee in the office who is available to do it.” In other words, as Wilson says, citizens have a claim to receive certain “services from the state, but they do not necessarily have a claim to receive the service from a particular public servant.”

Religious objection is not a trump card, but employees’ religious objections should be accommodated when possible. The Rowan County clerk’s demand couldn’t be accommodated. But North Carolina provides a great model for achieving peaceful coexistence going forward.

[bold and italics emphasis mine]

Ryan T. Anderson, Ph.D., researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty as the William E. Simon senior research fellow in American Principles and Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation. He also focuses on justice and moral principles in economic thought, health care and education, and has expertise in bioethics and natural law theory. He's the author of the just-released book, Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Liberty." Read his research.
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"Liberal Media Don’t Understand Christianity … At All" - Leah Barkoukis | Sep 02, 2015;http://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2015/09/02/media-doesnt-understand-christianity--at-all-n2047153

#1337 (9/3) "4 Misleading Claims Obama Made About Iran Deal In New Remarks"

"4 MISLEADING CLAIMS OBAMA MADE ABOUT IRAN DEAL IN NEW REMARKS" - Michaela Dodge/August 28, 2015/ http://dailysignal.com/2015/08/28/4-misleading-claims-obama-made-about-iran-deal-in-new-remarks/\ [NOTE: You probably didn't hear about this comment from our "impartial" mainstream media - "‘Take That, Bibi’: PBS Journalist Mocks Israeli Prime Minister After Iran Deal Victory" -Cortney O'Brien | Sep 02, 2015;
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2015/09/02/take-that-bibi-pbs-journalist-mocks-israeli-prime-minister-after-iran-deal-victory-n2047120]
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President Obama addressed the nation in a continued effort to reverse Americans’ declining support for the Iran deal. In the past few days alone, more than 900 rabbis have voiced their opposition to the deal. In addition, a group of almost 200 retired generals and admirals have signed a letter urging Congress to reject the deal (the White House mustered a group of 30 retired generals to come out in support of it).

The administration wouldn’t be having such a hard time achieving consensus if it had done a better job negotiating. A majority of Americans, and even Israelis, favor a diplomatic solution to the problem. Nevertheless, the president has continued to try to sell the bad deal.

Here are some of the Obama’s most misleading claims.

1) “This deal blocks every pathway Iran might take to obtain a nuclear weapon.”
     This statement is untrue. A piece of paper cannot stop a determined country from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The cash-strapped regime in North Korea is a great example.

To make matters worse, the deal does not dismantle Iran’s uranium enrichment infrastructure, which was developed in defiance of Iran’s international obligations.The deal effectively rewards years of Iran’s violations of its international obligations with billions of dollars to fund terrorism and lifts sanctions on advanced technologies and materials usable in Iran’s nuclear program, including Tehran’s ballistic missile program.

The deal even opens a path for Iran to buy functioning parts of a nuclear weapon.“It ensures that centrifuges are removed except for a handful.” Usually, a handful does not mean thousands, as is the case with the number of Iranian centrifuges the deal leaves untouched.

Additionally, the deal allows Iran to continue research and development of more advanced types of centrifuges, including letting Iran operate them by hundreds.None of the centrifuges will be destroyed. And they are only a part of the problem. Maintaining skilled people who know how to manage the centrifuges is just as serious.

Should Iran decide that the deal is no longer in its interest, it will be in an excellent position to restore its capabilities fast.The United States will not be able to impose a sanctions regime that would be as rigorous as the existing regime, which is a result of years of labor and hundreds of trips of U.S. officials to foreign banks. Once cash starts flowing, it will be immensely difficult to re-impose these sanctions. Sanctions relief is front-loaded, further reducing Iran’s incentive to not follow through with all its obligations.

2) “But this deal does not rely on trust. It relies on verification.”
    How will members of Congress know if Iran is cheating, let alone the American people, since the administration has failed to provide documents outlining details of verification? In fact, neither Secretary of State John Kerry nor Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz has read these documents.Just last week, it became clear that Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate sites suspected of conducting nuclear weapon work. This is akin to letting a fox guard a chicken coop. The verification regime is particularly weak when it comes to undeclared/covert activities and activities that do not involve radioactive material.

Iran can hold up inspectors for months and will be provided information about where covert activities are occurring, making it easier to cover them. Iran has been lying, cheating, and covering up its nuclear activities for years. Americans and the International Atomic Energy Agency, responsible for deal’s verification, have been surprised more than once in the past regarding Iran’s illicit nuclear activities.

3) “We are not giving away anything in this deal in terms of our capacity to respond if they chose to cheat.”
      Obama will be putting future American presidents in a tough position.This is because Iran will be able to spend billions of dollars on terrorist activities—and the United States and allies will be on the receiving end of these activities. Tehran will be able to obtain advanced weaponry from Russia and China, certainly complicating U.S. options should Iran decide to cheat.

[bold, colored, and italics emphasis mine]

Michaela Dodge specializes in missile defense, nuclear weapons modernization and arms control as policy analyst for defense and strategic policy in The Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies. Read her research.

"Obama’s Iran Policy: Trust, Don’t Verify" - Clifford May/ August 29, 2015;
http://dailysignal.com/2015/08/29/obamas-iran-policy-trust-dont-verify/
"More Than 200 Retired Military Leaders Push Congress to Reject Iran Deal" - Natalie Johnson / @nataliejohnsonn / August 28, 2015;http://dailysignal.com/2015/08/28/more-than-200-retired-military-leaders-push-congress-to-reject-iran-deal/
"Thousands Take to New York Streets to Protest Iran Deal" - Natalie Johnson / @nataliejohnsonn / September 02, 2015;http://dailysignal.com/2015/09/02/thousands-take-to-new-york-streets-to-protest-iran-deal/

# 1336 (9/2) "9th Shocking Video;.."

"9TH SHOCKING VIDEO: Planned Parenthood Sells Intact Aborted Babies, One 'Just Fell Out'of the Womb" - Steven Ertelt, SEP 1, 2015;
http://www.lifenews.com/2015/09/01/9th-shocking-video-planned-parenthood-sells-intact-aborted-babies-one-just-fell-out-of-the-womb/

SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must De-Fund Planned Parenthood Immediately - http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/congress-must-de-fund-planned-parenthood-immediately.html

 The Center for Medical Progress released a new video this morning — the 9th in its series of videos catching the Planned Parenthood abortion business selling aborted babies and their body parts. This latest video catches a Planned Parenthood medical director discussing how the abortion company sells fully intact aborted babies — including one who “just fell out” of the womb.

The ninth video in the Planned Parenthood baby parts scandal focuses on Advanced Bioscience Resources, Inc. (ABR), the small and secretive company similar to StemExpress that has harvested and sold fetal body parts at Planned Parenthood clinics longer than any other entity.

The video features undercover conversations with Dr. Katharine Sheehan, the long-time medical director of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest until 2013; Perrin Larton, the Procurement Manager for ABR; and Cate Dyer, the CEO of rival fetal tissue procurement company StemExpress.

Sheehan tells actors posing as a new human biologics company that at Planned Parenthood Pacific Southwest, “We have already a relationship with ABR.” Sheehan explains, “We’ve been using them for over 10 years, really a long time, just kind of renegotiated the contract. They’re doing the big collections for government-level collections and things like that.” When one of the actors negotiates, “We return a portion of our fees to the clinics,” Sheehan responds eagerly, “Right, get a toe in and make it, make a pro–alright.”

Perrin Larton, the Procurement Manager at ABR, is shown describing ABR’s fetal tissue harvesting practice to a prospective buyer. She explains of situations where there has been a great enough degree of cervical dilation to procure an intact fetus: “I literally have had women come in and they’ll go in the O.R. and they’re back out in 3 minutes, and I’m going, ‘What’s going on?’ Oh yeah, the fetus was already in the vaginal canal whenever we put her in the stirrups, it just fell out.” “And they have a smell. It’s just, it’s not right. It’s kind of icky,” Larton says of babies who have been killed with the drug digoxin, which doesn’t allow Planned Parenthood to sell them for their body parts.

At one point in the video, Larton gives the undercover acts two thumbs up — saying “We think that’s good” when body parts are easily obtainable from fully intact aborted babies.

In an August 27 letter to Congress, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards referenced a California Planned Parenthood affiliate that currently receives $60 “per tissue specimen” from a tissue procurement organization. The Center for Medical Progress, the group producing the videos, identified Planned Parenthood Pacific Southwest and ABR as the affiliate and TPO referred to in Richards’ letter, based on process of elimination.

“We now know from Cecile Richards’ letter that $60 per collected tissue specimen is what will ‘get a toe in’ to harvest baby parts at Planned Parenthood Pacific Southwest,” CMP director David Daleiden said. Daleiden said multiple tissue specimens often come from a single fetus, $60/specimen can quickly add up to hundreds of extra dollars in revenue per abortion. Yet, the sale or purchase of human fetal tissue is a federal felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to $500,000 (42 U.S.C. 289g-2).

ABR, founded in 1989 by CEO Linda Tracy, charges $340 per second-trimester fetal tissue specimen, yet seems less concerned about tissue quality than other harvesting companies: “Whenever we have a smooth portion of liver, we think that’s good!” says Larton.

Daleiden says Cate Dyer, who used to work as a procurement technician for ABR before founding her own company StemExpress, shares some of the financial details of ABR. “They were funding places in Hawaii for themselves,” she divulges. “Some staff–not that I know so much on the Planned Parenthood side, but I wouldn’t be surprised–there are some staff in the past that have been on the payroll with ABR.” According to Dyer, ABR would pay an “advisor fee” to a clinic manager or director in order to preserve their exclusive right to harvest fetal tissue at that location. “There’s like, well enough known,” says Dyer, that “for a long time there were certain clinics that because they had paid advisors that were sitting on boards for these clinics, that were also an advisor to ABR, you were just never going to go anywhere with them, you know what I mean?”

“In the twisted world of baby parts trafficking from Planned Parenthood abortion clinics, there are few unbroken rules,” notes CMP’s Daleiden. “After the serious admissions in Planned Parenthood’s letter to Congress last week, it is imperative for lawmakers and law enforcement to act decisively to determine the full extent of Planned Parenthood and their proxies’ lawbreaking, hold them accountable, and stop the taxpayer funding of these barbaric atrocities against humanity.” ... [The rest of article notes the other videos AND recent actions to restrict PP that have resulted from their release.]

[bold and italics emphasis mine]

# 1335 (9/1) "Tragedy in Roanoke"

"TRAGEDY IN ROANOKE" - Cal Thomas | Sep 01, 2015; http://townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/2015/09/01/tragedy-in-roanoke-n2046103/page/full [AS I SEE IT: The author of this article suggests sending notes of appreciation to our local newscasters and reporters to encourage them at this time. To that I would add let's use this occasion to remember to PRAY for them. More than protection from a crazed gunman they each need to know salvation through Jesus. Also, we should pray that Satan doesn't use their horrific loss to cause the family and friends of the slain to blame God and harden their hearts towards Him. HE is NOT the source of this evil but the (Evil) One who is would surely love to compound this tragedy by turning people from God.  - Stan]

The horrible murder of two local journalists in Roanoke, Virginia, has affected me more than I thought it would. Journalists are taught early on to compartmentalize. As a local TV reporter, I saw bodies from plane crashes and victims of mass murder. I covered natural disasters and witnessed the aftermath of cruelty to children and other inhumanities.

The murders of 24-year-old Alison Parker and her 27-year-old cameraman, Adam Ward, by a deranged and disgruntled man whose shoulder chip was as big as a boulder took me back to my early days in the business.

At Alison's age, I was working as an Army private with Armed Forces Radio in New York. Most of us had civilian jobs on the side to supplement our meager military pay. Mine was as an engineer at WOR-TV in the Empire State Building. Most journalists start out at small stations or small newspapers, learning the craft and honing skills. The salaries are puny, but love for the profession and the prospects for advancement (and higher pay) keep most plugging away in hopes of a career breakthrough.

At Adam's age, I was working for an NBC affiliate in Houston, covering the space program, the medical center and general assignments. My cameraman and I were sometimes exposed to the elements and potential danger, but we never expected to be shot dead while working, not even during a prison riot.

President Obama and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe were quick to exploit the incident, predictably calling for more gun laws. Understandably, Parker's father echoed their statements. In fact, had an armed security guard been present at the shopping complex where the shooting occurred, there is a good chance the shooter might have been stopped before he got close to his targets. Laws do not stop lawbreakers, but good guys with guns can stop bad guys with guns.

News networks and some local stations now have security never considered during my early years in TV and radio, beginning in the lobby. There are coded passes for employees, elevator cameras and bullet- and bomb-resistant doors that can seal off management and the offices of network stars at the push of a panic button. Some of the best known media personalities even travel with armed security.

I never met Parker and Ward, but I can identify with their ambitions. Each appeared to have bright futures in journalism. Both were in committed relationships. Investigators want to know how Vester Flanagan acquired his gun. They will also want to learn why his mental problems, unprofessional behavior and displays of anger that led to his dismissal from more than one TV station and put fear into his colleagues (police were called to escort him from the Roanoke station after he refused to leave and began cursing his boss and threatening revenge) did not show up during a required background check. These are legitimate questions.

Perhaps this incident will cause some to reconsider the universal denunciation of "the media." Most reporters have families and many work for lower pay than they might receive in other professions.

Everyone working in local news no doubt has been affected by this incident. While notes and gifts of condolences are being received at WDBJ7 in Roanoke, TV viewers in other markets might want to send their local station notes of appreciation for the job they are doing in bringing needed information to the public. That would be one good way to honor Alison and Adam.

[bold and italics emphasis mine]

Get Cal Thomas' new book, What Works, at Amazon.
Cal Thomas is co-author (with Bob Beckel) of the book, "Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America".