Missouri’s Todd Akin is Now Up Four Points Against McCaskill

/1 Comment/in /by

The new poll out Monday showing that Todd Akin is leading Claire McCaskill in their U.S. Senate race comes at a pivotal time.

And it better be a renewed wake-up call to all the Missouri Democrats and McCaskill supporters who might think she’s going to walk to victory over Akin because of his asinine comments on abortion.

The poll, by Republican-leaning Wenzel Strategies, shows a 49 percent to 45 percent lead for Akin. That’s up just a bit from the 45-42 lead Wenzel had for Akin in late August.

In other words, Akin isn’t losing support despite weeks of negative attack ads on him by McCaskill and her forces.

The Akin camp thinks it’s getting a bounce from the revelations last week that McCaskill’s husband benefited from his investments in federally subsidized housing.

Read more from this story HERE.

New Low in Missouri Senate Race: McCaskill Ads Feature Rape Victims Attacking Akin

/0 Comments/in /by

By Stoyan Zaimov. Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill released a number of television ads attacking GOP senate challenger Todd Akin featuring rape survivors talking about their experiences and criticizing the representative’s previous comments on “legitimate rape.”

Akin’s comment in August that women’s bodies could prevent pregnancies in cases of “legitimate rape” stirred up a political firestorm for the Republican Party, causing a number of leaders, including GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, to ask him to step down from his position. Akin refused, but apologized in a video for his remarks.

McCaskill’s ads bring the issue back to light, however, and feature three women sharing their rape experiences and the choices they made regarding taking emergency contraception, which Akin stands against. One of the ads features a mother who calls herself a “woman of faith,” and is a member of the Republican Party, who said that she is pro-life and decided not to take the contraception after she was attacked, but still supports a woman’s individual right to choose.

Representatives of Todd Akin did not respond to phone calls and email messages from The Christian Post by time of press, and the Missouri politician has not yet made a statement addressing the hard-hitting ads.

Akin has clearly stated his views on abortion, however, saying at an interview in August with Kansas City radio station KCMO: “As far as I’m concerned, the morning-after pill is a form of abortion. I think we just shouldn’t have abortion in this country.” Read more from this story HERE.

Gingrich calls out Rove super PAC, NRSC for abandoning Akin

By Paul Conner. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich criticized two major Republican campaign organizations for not continuing to back Republican candidate Todd Akin in the Missouri Senate race.

In an interview with The Daily Caller’s Ginni Thomas, Gingrich called out GOP “establishment types” — Crossroads GPS super PAC and the National Republican Senatorial Committee — for pulling funding from Akin, a congressman whose comments about “legitimate rape” caused a national uproar.

“If you applied the Todd Akin rule to Joe Biden, he’d be resigning the vice presidency once a week,” Gingrich said in Akin’s defense. “You have this bizarre double standard where Biden can say the weirdest things, and people just laugh and say, well, that’s just old Crazy Joe, you know; after all, he’s only vice president.”

“In Akin’s case, the establishment types saw a chance to get rid of a trouble-maker, replace him with somebody who’d be malleable, do it in the name of winning the election — and some of the things they said were quite extraordinary.”

“I mean, Karl Rove’s not-very-funny statement ‘If Akin gets murdered, don’t look for me,’ you know, I told Karl: in the age of Gabby Giffords, this isn’t funny, this isn’t a joke, you shouldn’t be able to say this in polite company.” Read more from this story HERE.

Doctors File Legal Brief: 20-Week-Old Babies Feel Pain During Abortion

/2 Comments/in /by

A doctors group that supports an Arizona law restricting non-emergency abortions after 20 weeks filed a legal brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit showing that babies feel pain during an abortion as early as the same amount of weeks into a pregnancy.

The 9th Circuit ruled to temporarily prevent implementation of Arizona H.B. 2036 on Aug. 1. The passed law, which is now being considered by the court, would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy save in the event of medical emergency.

A district court found that “the unborn child has developed pain sensors all over its body by 20 weeks gestational age” and that there is concern for “the health of the pregnant woman” because the instance of complications is highest after this time.

“Every innocent life deserves to be protected. Not only does this law protect children in the womb who experience horrific pain during a late-term abortion, it also protects mothers from the dangers and tremendous psychological consequences of late-term abortions,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden. “The ACLU and the Center for Reproductive Rights, who filed this lawsuit, apparently don’t care about this. Instead, they prefer to pursue their own agenda.”

“This brief is intended to educate the court and the public about the reality that babies feel pain during an abortion as early as 20 weeks into a pregnancy,” Aden added. “That’s just one reason that Arizona’s law is entirely reasonable and constitutional.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Huckabee Tells Christians to Come Out of their Closets

/2 Comments/in /by

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told a Christian gathering in New York on Saturday that it is believers’ responsibility to get more involved in civic life, give a bold declaration of the life of the Gospel, and not live as if they were “recruited by the Secret Service.”

“I think a lot of Christian people tend to think they need to disassociate themselves from cultural pillars. I think it’s the opposite,” said the former presidential candidate, the keynote speaker at Saturday night’s kickoff banquet in Cicero, N.Y., for a new non-profit organization, Ten Good Men Inc.

“Christians in this country could be the most important source for good in America if they would execute their basic civic responsibilities,” said Huckabee, a Fox News Channel personality. “Many (Christians) think they were recruited by the Secret Service instead of giving a bold declaration of the life of the Gospel.”

Huckabee added that Christians should not blame “things that putrefy and get spoiled, because that’s what things do when they’re left alone and godless.” If things are dark, it’s the Christians who are going to turn the lights on, he said. “If politics is dirty in this country, it’s dirty because not enough good, clean people get involved.”

Huckabee told the 130 guests at the banquet that only about half of Christians were registered to vote, and further only half of those registered actually cast a ballot.

Read more from this story HERE.

Shrinking Product Sizes Hides Inflation

/18 Comments/in , /by

By Mary Kay Linge. These incredibly shrinking products are putting a stealth squeeze on our already thin wallets.

More companies are downsizing their packages — but many consumers don’t realize they’re getting the shaft because price and size changes are carefully camouflaged.

“We get a ton of examples of these from readers,” said Chris Morran of the Consumerist Web site. “You pay the same price but you get less product.”

Not even supermarket standards like the 5-pound bag of sugar are safe from shrinkage. The new normal: 4 pounds of the sweet stuff per bag.

Ivory Soap bars have slimmed down — going down from 4.5 to 4 ounces.

Toilet paper, once sold in standard 4.5-inch-square sheets, now may be so narrow that it slides out of your wall holder. Read more from this story HERE.

List of 10 Shrinking Products

By Consumer Reports.

Ivory dish detergent
Old: 30 oz.
New: 24 oz.
Difference: -20 percent
Reason: The 30-ounce product was discontinued in smaller stores, due to increased costs for raw materials.

Tropicana orange juice
Old: 64 oz.
New: 59 oz.
Difference: -7.8 percent
Reason: Last winter’s freeze in Florida. The choice was to raise prices drastically or drop package size. Based on consumer research, people preferred to keep the same price and get a little less juice to keep within their budgets.

Kraft American cheese
Old: 24 slices
New: 22 slices
Difference: -8.3 percent
Reason: The larger 16-ounce package was discontinued because it wasn’t selling.
More from Consumer Reports.

Kirkland Signature (Costco) paper towels
Old: 96.2 sq. ft.
New: 85 sq. ft.
Difference: -11.6 percent
Reason: “It’s a good question. I’ll look into it and e-mail a response.” (We never got one.)

Häagen-Dazs ice cream
Old: 16 oz.
New: 14 oz.
Difference: -12.5 percent
Reason: Due to the cost of ingredients and facility costs, it was either change the size of the container or raise the price.

Read more from this story HERE.

Romney Supporters Coming Out of Their Hollywood Closets: Today, Scott Baio & Piers Morgan

/1 Comment/in , /by

By Erin O’Sullivan. Chalk one up for Mitt Romney – he’s got former “Happy Days” star Scott Baio’s vote.

The actor, now starring in Nick at Nite’s new comedy, “See Dad Run,” stopped by Access Hollywood Live on Friday where he explained why he supports the Republican Presidential nominee.

“I believe in Governor Romney for a lot of different reasons. I’ve met him many times and he’s a straight up guy, he’s a good guy, great family man [and] his kids are fantastic,” Scott told Kit Hoover and Billy Bush. “I think we need to be fixed in this country.”

Scott said being a Republican in typically-left-leaning Hollywood can be intimidating and he feels for actress Stacey Dash, who recently faced a barrage of mean-spirited comments after revealing she’s voting for Romney.

“I don’t think anybody should bash anybody for what they believe. I have my beliefs, you have yours,” he said. “Just leave her alone, let her say what she wants to say. Freedom of speech.” Read more from this story HERE.

Piers Morgan Calls Romney the Least Principled Politician He’s Met, but He’s Endorsing Him

By Piers Morgan. An extraordinary political earthquake struck America this week. Mitt Romney, widely assumed to be the ‘best of a weak bunch’ of Republican candidates, suddenly overtook Barack Obama in election polls.

Remarkably for someone with a reputation as Mr Dullard, it was his brilliant performance on October 3 at the first of three presidential debates, where he scored the biggest win ever over an oddly downcast Obama, that propelled him into the favourite’s chair.

Should Romney now win on November 6, America will not only have replaced its first black President with its first Mormon President.

It will also have elected the squeakiest-clean man ever to run for the presidency in any country in the world.

Imagine for a moment an interview with a British politician that went as follows:
Q:  Have you ever drunk alcohol?
A:  No.
Q:  Have you ever taken drugs?
A:  No.
Q:  Have you ever had an affair?
A:  No.
Q:  Have you ever smoked a cigarette?
A:  No.
Q:  Do you ever use swear words?
A:  No.

Read more from this story HERE.

The Undecided: Interview With Black Catholic Woman, Changing Mind on Obama (+video)

/4 Comments/in , /by

[Mary] Roberts straddles several demographic categories the campaigns want to win over: She is a practicing Catholic — and since 1972, no president has won office without taking the nation’s Catholic vote. She is over 65 — and seniors vote with greater regularity than any other age group. She is African-American — and while African-Americans came out in record numbers to vote for Barack Obama in the last election, some experts question whether they will turn out again in the numbers the president needs to win.

Roberts has always been an Independent. She says she votes the person, not the party.

The moderate views of Republican hopeful Mitt Romney resonate with her. She thinks his business experience could better guide the economy. But lately, she has seen ads saying Romney’s company, Bain Capital, sent jobs overseas. “That makes me nervous.”

She says she’s also bothered by the way conservatives often talk about the poor: as if they deserve to be just that. She doesn’t buy the assertion that the government should stay out of people’s lives, at least financially. Or that unfettered competition between corporations will allow Americans who work hard enough to share in this country’s riches.

Roberts voted for Obama in 2008. She admired his fearless rhetoric about change. Today, she’s torn. She says his actions haven’t been bold enough. “I hurt because I’m on the fence about him, just hurt.” Read more from this story HERE.

Rapper Shyne & Lindsay Lohan Both drop Obama, Endorse Romney

/1 Comment/in , /by

Rapper Shyne Endorses Romney, Blames Obama for His Problems

By Daily Mail Reporter. Blaming President Barack Obama for his legal troubles, rapper Shyne says he would vote for Mitt Romney in November.

Unfortunately, Shyne can’t legally vote.

The Belize-born MC is a convicted felon who was deported in 2009 after being released from prison following a 9-year sentence for his part in a 1999 Club New York shooting.

Shyne blames Obama for not helping him return to the U.S.

The two have a mutual acquaintance, Harvard professor Charles J. Ogletree.

Calling the president ‘corny,’ Shyne told MTV News that Obama should have used Ogletree to reach out to him.

‘He knows who I am, he knows what’s happenin’,’ Shyne said of Obama. ‘He’s always talkin’ about he listens to hip-hop and his daughter listens to hip-hop. He knows who Shyne is, he knows I’m deported.’ Read more from this story HERE.

Lindsay Lohan Ends Long-Time Support for Obama, Goes for Romney

By Hugo Gye. Mitt Romney has picked up hundreds of thousands of new supporters across the country since his commanding performance in last week’s debate against Barack Obama.

But he may not be delighted with one of his more notorious new fans – troubled actress Lindsay Lohan.

The star is a longtime Obama supporter, but announced at a Hollywood launch party yesterday that she was switching her endorsement to the Republican candidate.

Before the 2008 election, Lohan repeatedly encouraged her fans to vote for Obama and criticised GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

But now it seems she has changed her tune – and she blames consistently high unemployment for the U-turn. Read more from this story HERE.

Harvard Neurosurgeon: Heaven is Real

/2 Comments/in /by

As a neurosurgeon, I did not believe in the phenomenon of near-death experiences. I grew up in a scientific world, the son of a neurosurgeon. I followed my father’s path and became an academic neurosurgeon, teaching at Harvard Medical School and other universities. I understand what happens to the brain when people are near death, and I had always believed there were good scientific explanations for the heavenly out-of-body journeys described by those who narrowly escaped death.

The brain is an astonishingly sophisticated but extremely delicate mechanism. Reduce the amount of oxygen it receives by the smallest amount and it will react. It was no big surprise that people who had undergone severe trauma would return from their experiences with strange stories. But that didn’t mean they had journeyed anywhere real.

Although I considered myself a faithful Christian, I was so more in name than in actual belief. I didn’t begrudge those who wanted to believe that Jesus was more than simply a good man who had suffered at the hands of the world. I sympathized deeply with those who wanted to believe that there was a God somewhere out there who loved us unconditionally. In fact, I envied such people the security that those beliefs no doubt provided. But as a scientist, I simply knew better than to believe them myself.

In the fall of 2008, however, after seven days in a coma during which the human part of my brain, the neocortex, was inactivated, I experienced something so profound that it gave me a scientific reason to believe in consciousness after death.

I know how pronouncements like mine sound to skeptics, so I will tell my story with the logic and language of the scientist I am. Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s a video interview with Neurologist Eben Alexander:

Tennessee GOP Congressman, Claiming to Be “Tea Party and ProLife,” Pushed Mistress to Have Abortion

/1 Comment/in /by

In this sordid report from the leftist Huffington Post, another Congressman is outed as not reflecting the values he campaigned on. In this case, he had multiple affairs and pushed one mistress to have an abortion when he suspected the child was his:

A pro-life, family-values congressman who worked as a doctor before winning election as a Tea Party-backed Republican had an affair with a patient and later pressured her to get an abortion, according to a phone call transcript obtained by The Huffington Post.

The congressman, Rep. Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, was trying to save his marriage at the time, according to his remarks on the call, made in September of 2000. And, according to three independent sources familiar with the call and the recording, he made the tape himself.

DesJarlais, who was provided a copy of the transcript by HuffPost, did not deny its contents, but in a statement released through his campaign characterized it as just another sordid detail dredged up by the opposition. “Desperate personal attacks do not solve our nation’s problems, yet it appears my opponents are choosing to once again engage in the same gutter politics that CBS news called the dirtiest in the nation just 2 years ago.”

That race featured charges culled from DesJarlais’ divorce from Susan DesJarlais, which was finalized in 2001. The filing included allegations that he held a gun in his own mouth for hours in one instance and that he “dry fired” a gun outside his wife’s bedroom in another.

DesJarlais’ campaign vigorously denied those charges in his 2010 race against Democratic Rep. Lincoln Davis, saying they were hauled out of history for political purposes and had not been deemed credible at the time.