92-Year-Old NC Man Receives Purple Heart Earned in WWII

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A 92-year-old North Carolina man has finally received the Purple Heart he earned more than 70 years ago while fighting in Belgium during World War II.

Oscar Davis Jr. was a private assigned as a radio telephone operator when he was knocked down by a large piece of shrapnel during the Battle of the Bulge, according to a Fayetteville Observer report . The radio on Davis’ back protected him, but the German artillery barrage knocked down a tree that fell on Davis, injuring his spine.

He was paralyzed from the waist down for three weeks and ultimately rejoined his unit in Germany. (Read more from “92-Year-Old NC Man Receives Purple Heart Earned in WWII” HERE)

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Trump Accuses Freedom Caucus of Saving Planned Parenthood and Obamacare

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The fallout over the failure of the House GOP to pass the Obamacare replacement bill last week continued Sunday. In an early morning tweet, President Trump accused the House Freedom Caucus and other conservative groups of saving Planned Parenthood and Obamacare by refusing to back the GOP effort.

And to think, on Friday, Trump called the Freedom Caucus “friends.”

Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint responded to the President’s tweet, saying the American Health Care Act would not have repealed Obamacare and lowered premiums. He did agree with Trump that a “better bill” is within reach and offered up Heritage’s own plan.

President Says “Do Not Worry!”

The AHCA was pulled from the House floor Friday in what the media is touting as a humiliating political defeat for the president. Trump isn’t acting too humiliated. In a Saturday tweet he assured the American people, “Do not worry!” He promised “we will all get together and piece together a great health plan for THE PEOPLE.” And he again declared Obamacare is collapsing of its own accord.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus agreed, telling Fox News Sunday “Obamacare is imploding, it’s exploding.” He also suggested that “at the end of the day it’s time for the (Republican) party to start governing.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan admitted as much Friday after pulling the bill. He blamed the failure to get the bill passed on the “growing pains of government.” “We were a 10-year opposition party, where being against things was easy to do,” Ryan said. “You just had to be against it. Now, in three months’ time, we tried to go to a governing party where we actually had to get 216 people to agree with each other on how we do things.”

Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday it’s “back to the drawing board.” However, Priebus warns holdout Republicans no perfect bill exists. “We can’t be chasing the perfect all the time,” he said, “Sometimes you have to take the good and take the win.”

Meanwhile, the progressive dream of a single-payer health care system is alive and well. Sen. Bernie Sanders told a town hall Saturday he plans on introducing a “Medicare for all” bill in the next couple weeks. (For more from the author of “Trump Accuses Freedom Caucus of Saving Planned Parenthood and Obamacare” please click HERE)

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Don’t Follow That Shiny Object! RINOcare Defunds Planned Parenthood but … Not Really

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Call it Obamacare-lite, RINOCare, Repeal in Name Only, Ryancare, or Trumpcare … the new health care plan looks like a stinker right out of the gate. Nonetheless, it stands to gain at least a modicum of public support for one of its most precarious proposals.

While language defunding America’s largest abortion provider and infamous peddler of baby body parts is one of the few redeeming portions of the new “replacement” bill, it’s little more than a shiny object and fig leaf for the GOP leadership’s latest legislative dumpster fire.

At the sight of the language, the abortion lobby’s water carriers went to work almost immediately panning the provision.

Due to the naturally Manichean nature of the politics of killing the unborn, responses like these are sure to illicit at least the desire to celebrate Obamacare-lite from the “not forcing people to subsidize baby murder” front. Pro-lifers, however, should be careful not to get played like they were the last time Republican leadership promised a defund provision … or the time before that.

First off, it’s highly unlikely that the defund provision will make it past the parliamentarian on the Byrd Rule (which keeps regulations out of funding measures). So unless leadership is willing to swap out parliamentarians (it won’t be), it won’t clear the first hurdle.

Even in the unlikely event that the defunding provision makes it to the Senate, it probably won’t survive scrutiny in the upper chamber, which will be far more hostile to the measure.

Saying that this bill “at least” defunds Planned Parenthood is like saying that there’s “at least” no gun control; that ought to be a baseline[AK1] . There’s no reason that abortion providers should continue to receive public funds when Republicans were handed both houses of Congress and the Oval Office running on an overwhelmingly conservative platform.

Defunding Planned Parenthood was a major GOP promise during the 2016 campaign, and one they should follow through on (come hell or high water).

What it shouldn’t be, however, is political cover for abject FAILURE to follow through on another vital campaign promise, by foisting Obamacare-lite on the American people. (For more from the author of “Don’t Follow That Shiny Object! RINOcare Defunds Planned Parenthood but … Not Really” please click HERE)

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A Painful Transgender Warning Against Transanity

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In response to my latest article on “transanity,” I received an email from an individual whom we’ll call Irene and who identifies as a transgender woman. The story Irene shared with me is poignant and painful. It’s a strong warning against transgender activism. It also presents a major moral dilemma.

Irene was born male, then had sex change surgery while running from God. Irene has now changed his legal identity to female and married a man. Since then, Irene has come to faith. Now both Irene and Irene’s husband want to follow Jesus together.

Irene’s Story

This is the first email Irene sent me:

Dr. Brown,

Just read your Transanity article. Thank you for curt and scripture based article on this. I am a transgendered person. I struggled all my life. I turned from God and did what I knew was wrong many years ago. I was born a male, and now live as female for the last 15 years. God started calling me back a couple years ago. I rededicated my life to following Jesus, and living for him, and what he can do for a lost person. I can’t change the things I’ve done to myself, and ones that loved me. God showed me that I should not promote, or be in that community because of the insanity of thinking. God forgiving me for taking my life in my hands was easy. It has always been forgiving myself that has been hard. I am still a work in progress. I spend time with my Lord and Savior everyday. My past is not mine anymore. My future is in God’s hand. Again thank you for your article. I get tired of articles and news promoting the lifestyle.

So, Irene, who self-identifies as “a work in progress, expressed regret for transitioning from male to female. Irene also spoke of the “insanity of thinking” among transgender activists.

I wrote back, asking Irene, “Do you feel that God ultimately wants you to identify as female?”

How God ultimately wants me to identify is confusing. I am married* to a loving husband who shares my faith, and have been for the last 13 years. It was his mother who got me going back to church, and ultimately rededicating my life to Christ.

What about the choice to transition? How does Irene view that choice now?

Was my choice to transition what God wanted for my life? No I don’t believe it was. I believe I had let so much sin into my life that I made selfish sinful choices in my life. At this point I don’t see God wanting me to destroy a second marriage, and destroy a person, my husband.

I don’t live a life of promoting my choice. In fact I cringe each time I see on television, online, or read about how great it is for transitioning. I know the pain, the sin, the hurt, and how confused the people are. Before they make a choice that changes their life forever, they need to have a God conversation instead of a Selfish conversation with themselves, or some group promoting and encouraging them.

For all those celebrating the likes of Bruce Jenner and Jazz (the teenage, transgender reality TV star), and for all those promoting transgender ideology, I urge you to read these words again: “I cringe each time I see on television, online, or read about how great it is for transitioning. I know the pain, the sin, the hurt, and how confused the people are.”

What are the lasting effects of Irene’s choice?

There are residual damages from my choices that don’t go away. Consequential Sin I call it. I have to live with the consequences of my choices, pain I caused myself, others, and the way I ran away from God. God is slowly healing my life, and relationships I ruined with sin. Can God still use me to impact others. Yes, He can and He does.

And where does that leave Irene today?

I am not trying to justify myself or choices. That’s what I did 18 years ago to justify my choices. I have an intimate relationship with God, and He directs my path at this point in my life. Ultimately He will put me where he wants me, and use me as He wants. I pray for His direction in my life constantly.

Praying for Irene and Others Struggling With Gender Identity

Join me in praying for God’s best for Irene and Irene’s husband. Pray that God would make His will known and that He would pour out His all-sufficient grace to walk out the hard choices that lay before them. I don’t know if they’re in a celibate, best-friend relationship right now or actually living as a married couple. Let’s continue to pray for those who struggle deeply with their gender identity while also opposing the transanity of our culture.

We need hearts of compassion and backbones of steel. We need true compassion to stand with those who are hurting and confused. We also need steely courage to stand against those who are advancing a hurtful and confusing agenda.

*I understand that, in God’s sight, this is a marriage between two biological males, but I share this to help readers realize how difficult these issues are for people to work through.

(For more from the author of “A Painful Transgender Warning Against Transanity” please click HERE)

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Beauty and the Beast’s Other Gay Moment

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Now that everyone knows what Beauty and the Beast’s much-bally-hooed “exclusively gay moment” was all about, it might seem anti-climactic to some. (Spoiler alert: LeFou dances with a man in drag.) To a kid not paying attention, it could still fly under the radar as a slightly strange apparent accident: LeFou cuts in and unexpectedly finds himself with a male dance partner. The fact that this is the same man who happened to be rather fond of his “new look” might not click together with LeFou’s sexuality for younger and (hopefully) still innocent viewers.

Likewise, much of the innuendo probably flew over many little heads. But, as unpleasant as it is, we need to talk about the other gay moment in Beauty and the Beast.

The String of Gay Moments

Really, there’s a string of “gay moments” leading all the way up to the promised “Gay Moment.” Actor Josh Gad’s performance was hyped as “tasteful” and “subtle.” It is many things, but tasteful and subtle it certainly is not. Some people who were rigidly searching for something blatant like a gay kiss have come out reporting there’s no there there. I disagree. Between asexuality and “gay kiss” territory, Disney has plenty of room to work with, and they certainly work it.

LeFou’s famous set piece is the smarmy “Gaston,” in which he minces about and invents all manner of strange doggerel to describe our villain’s general fabulousness. An early clip of the scene showed Gad unmistakably playing up LeFou’s gay mannerisms and physical attraction to Gaston, via eye-rolls, tush-waggling, and other such (un)subtle fare.

But it didn’t show the worst part, which involves the choice of business around the lyric “In a wrestling match, nobody bites like Gaston.” Originally, LeFou chomps down on an unfortunate bloke’s calf for illustrative purposes. This put the line in the unambiguous category of non-sexual male horseplay — two men grappling, one needs to break a hold and sees a chance to play foul. Not anymore. Apparently, it just wouldn’t be 2017 without a gag about love bites.

That’s right: In this version, LeFou directs attention to … his own chest. He sings the line while baring his stomach, and what should he reveal but a bite mark. Get it? In a wrestling match nobody bites like Gaston! Hohoho! Good one, Disney! Now everyone knows that, like Oklahoma’s Ado Annie, LeFou “sorta has a feelin’ that he won” that particular “wrestlin’ match.”

The fact that many kids will blink and miss (or just forget) is irrelevant. The image will take its place in the furniture of their minds. Every now and then, their idle thoughts might drift back to it. And they might think that it seemed kind of weird for a guy to have a bite mark on his stomach. Because it is weird. It’s more than weird. It’s disgusting.

If you will, try to picture the same gesture, in a movie with the same rating, but in a heterosexual context. Granted, the nature of a musical allows deliberately ambiguous words to overlay a scene. Still, I know and you know that even such a fleeting allusion as this would normally be out of bounds for anything with a G or PG sticker on it. If it were a woman doing the bragging, well into PG-13 territory, at least.

With Bite, Disney Shows Its Real Hunger

I highlight this moment because so many people have missed it, whether through distraction or sheer innocent-mindedness. Stephen Greydanus is the only reviewer to have pointed it out, that I’m aware of. But we cannot miss it, because it is here that Disney’s mask starts to slip. There’s a reason why all the leaked news and interviews and promotional buzz focused on the moment where LeFou and his new friend dance together. They chose this moment, because it’s a “nice” moment. Because awwwww, they’re dancing!

Sorry, but no cigar. Disney can’t have its cake and eat it too. They can’t conjure up the image of one dude biting another dude on the stomach, only to pretend they’re teaching children that gay people are just as innocent and normal and fun as everybody else.

Dissenters will protest, “But some men and women do it too!” See above. The fact that Disney felt free to include such a gag in such a film reflects the normativity of unpleasant sex practices within the gay community. Aside from the particularly disgusting details of their substitute consummation, two gay men are intrinsically set up to be rougher, more unpleasant, more uninhibitedly kinky in their sexual behavior than a man and a woman. Yes, there are women who will play along, but even a prostitute will have her limits. Without that tempering female influence, the sky is the limit.

Disney can spray around as much rose-scented air freshener as they like to hide that stench, but the truth will out (no pun intended). If LeFou is “token Disney gay, PG version,” I don’t think I want to know what the PG-13 version will look like.

Parents Can’t Afford to Remain Innocent

It’s unpleasant but true: If parents want to be able to navigate culture alertly, they can’t afford to remain as innocent as their children. Yes, they should still strive as much as possible to dwell on what is pure and lovely and of good report, as St. Paul adjures. Yet Jesus said we should also be wise as serpents. That may require us to go to some dark, nasty places. It may require us to scrutinize things young children might well not even notice … yet. But one day, they will. When that day comes, will you be caught by surprise? Or will you be five steps ahead of them? (For more from the author of “Beauty and the Beast’s Other Gay Moment” please click HERE)

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Vandals Spray-Paint LGBT Slogans on Marriage Groups’ Tour Bus Near UN

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Two men spray-painted and smashed the windshield of a tour bus used by the National Organization for Marriage in “broad daylight” Thursday in New York City, the pro-marriage group says.

The two men “approached the bus with a can of spray paint and a hammer and they began spray-painting on the side of the bus,” National Organization for Marriage spokesman Joe Grabowski told The Daily Signal in a phone interview.

The bus driver tried to stop the men during the incident, which occurred near the United Nations, Grabowski said.

“There was a bit of an altercation and then they smashed the windshield with the hammer and put a couple of holes inside of the bus as well as spray-painting it,” Grabowski said.

The men spray-painted what appeared to be slogans in favor of “LGBT rights” for lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender individuals. One said: “Trans liberation.”

“They were able to get away,” he said. “The driver was not injured except for a scrape on his hand.”

National Organization for Marriage, which defends marriage as the union of one man and one woman, calls the bus its Free Speech Bus.

The bus tour is a joint initiative with CitizenGo, which seeks to “defend and promote life, family, and liberty,” and the International Organization for the Family, which works to protect marriage globally.

The purpose of the bus, Grabowski said, is to “convey the message [that] biology is the basis of sex, that we are made male and female, and that’s rooted in biology and can’t be changed.”

The New York Police Department is investigating the incident. Grabowski said his organization doesn’t know the identities of the vandals.

This incident, he said, illustrates the lack of tolerance some have on the issues of same-sex marriage and gender identity:

We would also point out that if the shoe were on the other foot, if this was a transgender rights bus, that had a bus driver [been] pushed around and the vehicle vandalized, that would be all over the major news outlets, and it would also probably spur a civil rights investigation from the Justice Department. There’s a great amount of hypocrisy we feel.

Gregory Mertz, U.S. director of CitizenGO, told The Daily Signal in an email that the bus was in New York City until Friday to participate in the 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations.

The session, which began March 13 and ended Friday, sought “how to mandate comprehensive sexuality education to children as young as 4 years of age, which includes the teaching of gender ideology,” Mertz said.

According to its website, the Commission on the Status of Women at the U.N. says its purpose is to advance women’s rights, “documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.”

Ryan T. Anderson, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal in an email that civility must surround the debate on both sides of the issue:

For most Americans, debates surrounding the concept of gender identity are new. Rather than rush to impose a politically correct orthodoxy on the entire country, we need to foster civil and thoughtful conversations.

The bus will continue its tour along the East Coast, despite “some major costs to get the bus back on the road this weekend,” Grabowski said.

The Free Speech Bus is scheduled to travel to Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., in the coming week. (For more from the author of “Vandals Spray-Paint LGBT Slogans on Marriage Groups’ Tour Bus Near UN” please click HERE)

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State Passes Pro-Life Bill to Protect Unborn Babies With Down Syndrome

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The Oklahoma House passed a pro-life bill Tuesday that would prevent women from aborting unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome.

Known as HB 1549 or the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2017, the bill protects unborn children with Down syndrome or another “genetic abnormality” from being aborted because of their diagnosis. Physicians who knowingly violate the act would have their licenses removed. The bill passed Tuesday, which was also World Down Syndrome Day, with a House vote of 67-16, NewsOK reported.

The bill comes at a time when many pro-choice advocates around the world are pushing acceptance of abortions based on genetic abnormalities. LifeSite News reported last week that in Iceland, 100 percent of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted. Last year a French court upheld a ban on a video called Dear Future Mom celebrating the lives of children and adults with Down syndrome. The ban was upheld since the video was “likely to disturb the conscience of women” who had chosen to abort their babies because of a Down syndrome diagnosis, France’s State Council ruled.

Oklahoma’s HB 1549 will now move to the state Senate. (For more from the author of “State Passes Pro-Life Bill to Protect Unborn Babies With Down Syndrome” please click HERE)

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Drinking Tea Daily Can Slash Dementia Risk

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A cup of tea a day can keep dementia away, according to a study from the National University of Singapore, which found that tea can slash the risk of dementia in people aged 55 and older.

Drinking tea cuts the risk of cognitive impairment in older people in half, but the news is even better for those who are genetically at risk of Alzheimer’s. In people who carry the APOE e4 gene, tea reduces the risk by as much as 86 percent.

The researchers also discovered that the ability of tea to protect the brain isn’t limited to a particular type of tea, as long as the tea is brewed from tea leaves, such as green, black or oolong tea . . .

Other studies have found that tea protects the brain. In Alzheimer’s patients, amyloid protein in the brain forms into clumps and fastens onto nerves in brain cells, causing them to die. Scientists at Britain’s University of Leeds found that treating the proteins with extracts of green tea and resveratrol disrupted the ability of amyloid to clump. (Read more from “Drinking Tea Daily Can Slash Dementia Risk” HERE)

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Chicago Teen Apparently Gang-Raped on Facebook Live

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A 15-year-old Chicago girl was apparently sexually assaulted by five or six men or boys on Facebook Live, and none of the roughly 40 people who watched the live video reported the attack to police, authorities said.

The video marks the second time in recent months that the Chicago Police Department has investigated an apparent attack that was streamed live on Facebook. In January, four people were arrested after a cellphone footage showed them allegedly taunting and beating a mentally disabled man.

Police only learned of the latest alleged attack when the girl’s mother approached the head of the police department, Superintendent Eddie Johnson, Monday afternoon as he was leaving a department station in the Lawndale neighborhood on the city’s West Side, department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Tuesday. She told him her daughter had been missing since Sunday and showed him screen grab photos of the alleged assault. (Read more from “Chicago Teen Apparently Gang-Raped on Facebook Live” HERE)

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Gorsuch Responds to Sexism Allegation From Former Student

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During his Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Judge Neil Gorsuch addressed accusations from a former law student claiming he had encouraged sexist hiring practices in the classroom.

The student in question, Jennifer Sisk, took one of the Supreme Court nominee’s classes at the University of Colorado Law School and wrote in a letter sent to lawmakers Sunday night that Gorsuch said “many” working women exploit employers when receiving maternity benefits.

The Daily Signal reported Monday that Sisk has close ties to the Democratic Party. She is a former political appointee of the Obama administration and worked for former Sen. Mark Udall, a Democrat. In covering Sisk’s allegations, multiple media outlets did not initially disclose her ties to Democrats and President Barack Obama.

After being questioned about the letter by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Gorsuch—who noted the first time he heard about this was the night before his confirmation hearing—responded to this accusation by implying that it was a misunderstanding he wanted to clear up.

“I teach from a standard textbook … there is one question in the book that is directed at young women—because sadly, this is a reality that they sometimes face,” Gorsuch said.

“The problem is this: Suppose an older woman at the firm that you’re interviewing at asks you if you intend to become pregnant soon, what are your choices as a young woman?” Gorsuch asked rhetorically. “You can say yes, and tell the truth … and not get the job and not be able to pay your debts [from law school]. You can lie, maybe get the job, say no, that’s a choice, too, it’s a hard choice. Or you can push back in some way, shape, or form.”

The judge added that the question raised by the textbook was a part of a broader discussion on the hardships lawyers face in life, including high suicide rates, alcoholism, divorce, depression, and financial difficulties.

“We talk about the pros and cons in this erratic dialogue and they can think through things on how to answer very difficult questions,” Gorsuch said.

Gorsuch then asked that everybody who has heard questions like this from employers to raise their hand—attempting to make the point that these “inappropriate questions about family planning,” as he said, are fairly common.

“It still happens every year,” Gorsuch said. (For more from the author of “Gorsuch Responds to Sexism Allegation From Former Student” please click HERE)

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