Justin Bieber’s Mom Chose Life, Not Abortion

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Last year, Justin Bieber made waves around the world for proclaiming himself pro-life. But a new interview his mom gave to the Today show’s Kathie Lee Gifford provides an extraordinarily background as to why Bieber may oppose abortion — his mom chose life.

Justin Bieber’s mother, Pattie Mallette, explained to “Today,” in an interview that will air this week, about the sexual abuse she suffered before becoming pregnant and how she was determined to make it through a difficult pregnancy situation and give birth to Bieber.

Prior to becoming pregnant, Mallette suffered sexual abuse, a subject she discusses in her new book, “Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber’s Mom.” Of that abuse, Mallette told Gifford, “I’ve learned it’s normal and natural for anybody who’s been through sexual abuse to carry that shame and that blame and feel like there’s something wrong with you. So I definitely carried that.”

The shame was so much Mallette attempted to kill herself. She told Gifford that the suicide attempt was “a culmination of, you know, built up over the years with the abuse and the pain and at the time I was messed up with all the drugs and alcohol. I was in a depression and the drugs and alcohol kind of spurred that on some more.”

By the age of 17, Mallette became pregnant with Justin, and at the time, she was encouraged to abort the baby. Of course, Mallette said that was an option she couldn’t consider. “I just knew I couldn’t. I just knew I couldn’t. I just know I had to keep him,” she told Gifford. “And, do the best. I — you know, I didn’t know how I was going to do it. But I just knew that I couldn’t — I couldn’t abort. I had to do my best. I had to see what I could do. And I was determined to do whatever it took.”

Mallette went on to say that the first time she heard her son cry, it was literally music to her ears. “I know this sounds crazy, but he sounded like he was singing. He did,” she said. “It was like this, like, ‘A hah, a hah.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it is so precious and amazing. I just want to squeeze him.’”

The full interview airs September 18-19 on the Today show.

In the February 2011 interview that made headlines, Rolling Stone magazine initially reported Bieber said: “I really don’t believe in abortion … It’s like killing a baby.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Nearly 40% of Striking Chicago Teachers Send Their Own Children to Private Schools

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Photo credit: firedoglakedotcom

The Chicago teachers’ strike is an awkward dinner conversation between President Barack Obama and his former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Many of the policy prescriptions in the new Chicago teachers’ contract designed to create more accountability are supported by the Obama administration.

As the Chicago teachers’ strike continues, we’ve learned that they make $71-76,000 a year and they turned down a 16% pay increase, which amounts to $11,360. They work nine months out of the year, but say that this strike is benefits oriented. However, given that ABC World News didn’t even air this story last Sunday and most of the media, with the exception of CBS, failing to mention the compensation statistics in their broadcast – suffice to say that the media will probably ignore the fact that almost 40% of Chicago’s public school teachers send their kids to private schools.

I’m not against public education, but the fact that these teachers make enough to send their kids to private schools shows that Chicago’s public teachers are aware of the serial failure within the system. Second, it shows that these teachers have zero confidence in their own respective school district. Why are the teachers going on strike? Aren’t the contentious measures they’re squabbling about aimed at enhancing accountability that will make their institutions of learning better for the students? It appears this strike, like most union strikes, are defined by these three words: give. me. more.

However, given the state of public education and that of Chicago, it’s not alien for public school teachers to ship their kids to private institutions.

To see the actual statistics for Chicago and other areas, read more from this story HERE.

NASA’s Cover-Up of Buzz Aldrin’s Communion Observance on the Moon

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Photo credit: NASA Goddard

As America offered its official farewells in a memorial service September 12 to Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, the second man on the moon, Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin, was no doubt recalling that first lunar mission in mid-July 1969. And among the recollections of the event that have been resurrected by the media over the past few days was Aldrin’s decision to mark the historic occasion in perhaps the most appropriate way possible: by taking a few moments to worship God through communion, partaking of the emblems of Christ’s body and blood.

NASA allowed an astronaut to take a small bag of personal items with him on such flights, and amongst his own effects Aldrin, an elder in his Presbyterian church back home in Texas, packed a communion wafer and a small vial of communion wine consecrated by his pastor. A few minutes after he and Armstrong landed on the lunar surface, Aldrin, pilot of the Lunar Module, radioed back to Mission Control in Houston, with this personal message: “I’d like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.”

As NASA officials, nervous about the backlash over religious expression by the astronaut, blacked out the radio communication with the rest of the world, Aldrin proceeded with his own personal observance, reading aloud the words of Christ from the Gospel of John: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Then in the 250,000 miles of silence between him and Earth, Aldrin recalled later in a Guideposts magazine article, he observed the solemn Christian tradition that has connected millions of Christians over the past 2,000 years to their Savior. Opening the package containing the emblems of Christ’s body and blood, “I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine,” wrote Aldrin. “I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility.” He added that “it was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”

The young astronaut had intended to share the special moment with the entire world, but officials at Mission Control had second thoughts and “requested that I not do this,” recalled Aldrin. “NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Dr. James Dobson Blasts GOP’s “Vicious” Attack on Akin

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Dr. James Dobson, whose advice about parenting, child-rearing, marriage and faith has guided millions of Americans and whose counsel on family matters has been sought by presidents, today blasted the Republican Party for abandoning a strong GOP candidate to be U.S. senator, U.S. Rep. Todd Akin.

Dobson, the founder and president of Family Talk, which produces his regular radio program, “Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk,” told WND it is “disgraceful” that the “GOP political bosses” have told Akin to drop out of his race, have withdrawn financial support and publicly maligned the congressman.

“I regret to say that Congressman Akin has been subjected to disgraceful treatment at the hands of the GOP political bosses,” Dobson said. “They have withheld funds for his campaign, even though he won the GOP primary for the Senate seat. Karl Rove and Haley Barbour have said things about his character that are untrue. Their vicious opposition could get his Democratic opponent elected in his stead. That is curious since an Akin win could give the Senate majority to the Republicans.”

Akin has endured a gauntlet of rebuke during the past few weeks over what he explained was a misstatement in an interview, when he used the phrase “legitimate rape” (i.e., actual rape) as an awkward synonym for forcible rape.

He apologized repeatedly for the error, as well as for mentioning a controversial medical theory regarding rape and conception. He also made it clear he is remaining in the race against incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, and says he intends to win.

Read more from this story HERE.

House GOP Passes Budget Including Funding for Planned Parenthood, Obamacare

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The Republican-majority House of Representatives on Thursday passed a $1.047 trillion bill funding the federal government through March 2013 that will permit funding for Planned Parenthood and ObamaCare–including the regulation that took effect on Aug. 1 that will require virtually all health plans in the United States to cover, without fees or co-pay, sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that induce abortions.

The vote was 329-91, and the bill now goes to the Senate for expected approval next week.

The bill funds the government for six months into the new fiscal year and for almost five months after the November elections. Congress turned to the stop-gap measure after failing to pass any of the 12 appropriation bills necessary to fund day-to-day government operations.

The Catholic bishops of the United States have unanimously declared the Obamacare sterilization-contraception-abortifacient regulation an “unjust and illegal mandate” that violates the right to free exercise of religion not only of Catholic institutions but also of Catholic business owners and workers.

The bill, a continuing resolution (CR), does not prohibit funding for either ObamaCare programs or Planned Parenthood. Nor does it stop the government from enforcing regulations, such as the mandate from the Health and Human Services Department that nearly all health insurance plans provide contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs free of charge.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ann Romney Claims She “Walked In” on George Bush

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Photo credit: marcn

If Mitt Romney wins the presidency, he won’t be the first commander in chief whom his wife has seen in a compromising position.

During a taping of “Live! With Kelly and Michael,” potential first lady Ann Romney said she once walked in on former President George W. Bush receiving a massage in the White House, according to a pool report.

“We had the unbelievable pleasure of spending the night at the White House and the next morning I was like, exploring everywhere,” Romney said when asked to name the most embarrassing thing she had ever done. “And I was supposed to be at meetings and Mitt was like, ‘Ann, you’re supposed to go,’ and I said ‘No, I’m exploring.’ I went into one door, I was with Anita Perry, by the way. I’ll put blame on her. And Anita and I were like ‘We wonder what’s behind this door?’ It was George Bush having a massage.”

Anita Perry is the wife of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whom Mitt Romney defeated in the Republican presidential primaries.

“He was covered up,” Ann Romney said. “But I was so embarrassed that the next time I did see him, I didn’t know what I was going to say to him. We were going down the elevator from the White House going to an event together, and I walked up to the elevator and am just blushing, blushing, blushing. And he looks at me and he winks as he does and says, ‘I look pretty good, don’t I?’”

Read more from this story HERE.

Federal Court of Appeals: Women Have the Constitutional Right to Engage in Self-Abortion – Sort of

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The Ninth Circuit has broken new constitutional ground in its Sept. 11 decision in McCormack v. Hiedeman. According to the court, women have a constitutional right to engage in self-abortion – sort of.

Jennie McCormack, mother of three born children and pregnant with her fourth, reportedly obtained abortion pills over the Internet and self-aborted. Police found out about the abortion from a tip, came to her residence and, according to an Los Angeles Times article, “McCormack eventually took them out to her back porch, where the remains of her fetus were on the barbecue, wrapped up in a plastic bag and a cardboard box. ‘My baby is in the box,’ McCormack said.” The news account added that “[o]fficers uncovered the frozen remains of a 5-month-old fetus [that] had fully formed facial features, tiny fingernails, hair.”

McCormack was prosecuted for an illegal abortion, but a state court dismissed the charges, while leaving open the possibility of charges being refiled. McCormack then sued in federal court, challenging the Idaho law, Idaho Code § 18-606, making it a crime for a woman to submit to an illegal abortion.

The federal district court granted a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of 18-606, and the local prosecutor appealed. The Ninth Circuit issued a decision affirming in part and reversing in part.

The opinion is in some ways a goodie bag for the pro-abortion movement. Judge Pregerson, writing for the three-judge panel, goes out of his way to plug favorite arguments of the abortion apologists. For example, he declares that abortion regulations have historically been adopted to protect women, the unspoken implication being that since abortions are so safe nowadays, there is no reason to prohibit them (p. 10924-25). This account is badly incomplete, as it ignores the legitimate societal concern with protecting the unborn, a motivation that Roe v. Wade itself acknowledged,(pp. 141-142), and which the Supreme Court has repeatedly reaffirmed. Pregerson also laments the “anguish” of a woman contemplating abortion, while pointedly dismissing any notion that a woman could have mental trauma as a result of the abortion (p. 10934 & n.8). He goes on at length reciting the many reasons why abortion should be available, and the difficulty a pregnant woman may encounter in trying to abort her baby (p. 10934-36), while not breathing a word about the documented shoddy practices and deceptive tactics of abortion facilities. Pregerson rules that McCormack cannot validly challenge Idaho’s Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which was not even in effect when McCormack self-aborted, yet he nevertheless takes gratuitous swipes at that statute (p. 10945 & n.13) and expressly notes that other persons may well challenge that law in a different case (p. 10950 n. 14).

Read more from this story HERE.

“Children’s Rights Movement” Actually Killing Children

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There is a growing so-called “children’s rights” movement that is attempting to hijack parental rights, and, as a result, prematurely end the life of ill children.

A recent article in the Journal of Medical Ethics outlines the “suffering” and “torture” supposedly inflicted by parents who insist on continued medical treatment for their sick children. The authors of the review, Dr. Joe Brierley and Dr. Andy Petros, two pediatricians from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, argue that subjecting children to treatment—when, in their opinion, a child is terminally ill—is “inhumane.”

In fact, they argue that continuing to medically treat a child when doctors have given up hope could constitute a breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits “torture.”

The two doctors reviewed 203 cases at the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care unit, where parents were advised that life support systems should be turned off for their children because recovery, in the view of the hospital staff, was unlikely. Seventy percent of deaths at the unit resulted from withdrawing medical care.

As the authors explain, the religious beliefs of parents “can lead to children being potentially subjected to burdensome care in expectation of ‘miraculous intervention.’” And since the children being cared for are usually “too young to subscribe to the religious beliefs by their parents,” doctors should not be beholden to the parents’ faith in determining care.

Read more from this story HERE.

California Legislature Authorizing Midwives, Other Non-Doctors, to Perform Abortions

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The California Senate passed a bill September 6 that would make it legal for non-physician medical professionals such as midwives to perform abortions under a statewide training program. The measure now awaits Democratic Governor Jerry Brown’s signature. (Gov. Brown pictured to the left of the state seal, Sen. Christine Kehoe to the right.)

According to LifeSiteNews.com, the bill (S.B. 623), introduced by Democratic State Senator Christine Kehoe, “extends a program run by the University of California at San Francisco [UCSF], in which nurse practitioners, midwives, and doctors’ assistants are trained to perform abortions without any further training in medicine. Kehoe argues the bill is necessary because there aren’t enough doctors performing abortions in California.”

The Sacramento Bee reported that the bill extends a UCSF program, begun in 2007, that “evaluates the safety and effectiveness of allowing certain non-doctor medical providers to provide abortions…. The goal is to increase access to the procedure in parts of the state where doctors are scarce.” Kehoe noted that the program is “an existing study that’s been extended several times, [and] this is an additional extension. Otherwise the study would cease at the end of this month and the practitioners participating in the city would no longer be able to perform this procedure.”

The Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF), a California-based pro-life group that has been pressuring the UCSF for its records on the controversial program, explained that the measure was hidden in an unrelated bill at the end of the state’s legislative session after previous attempts to pass it had failed. “This bill was originally created to regulate boat paint,” Dana Cody, LLDF’s executive director, said of the bill carrying the abortion measure. “Now it’s regulating and destroying human lives.”

The Bee noted that several Republican lawmakers criticized the bill, hidden in the boat paint measure, as a last-minute “gut and amend” bill. “I don’t understand the germaneness” of boat paint and training for abortions, confessed Republican State Senator Bob Dutton, one of the bill’s opponents. “I’m questioning whether this is even appropriate to be brought up.”

Read more from this story HERE.

First Murder in Disney-Planned Florida Town Involved Popular Teacher Who Allegedly Molested Male Students for Years

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The first homicide in the Disney-developed community of Celebration, Florida, grabbed headlines around the world. While the Walt Disney Company had largely divested control of its model town by Thanksgiving weekend 2010, when Matteo Patrick Giovanditto was found murdered in his condominium, Celebration was still widely seen as existing in a Disney bubble. With its picture-perfect streets, lined with homes fronted by porches, picket fences, and manicured lawns, Celebration is, by design, bathed in nostalgia, almost an extension of Disney World’s idealized Main Street U.S.A., which stretches out a few miles away.

Any murder would likely have pierced the bubble. But the lurid violence of the town’s first killing was especially shocking. Giovanditto, 58, was a retired teacher who had a longtime love of all things Disney; according to neighbors, he claimed to be counseling troubled youth. David-Israel Zenon Murillo, a 30-year-old transient who is currently awaiting trial on charges of first-degree murder, told police that Giovanditto approached him and offered him money to wash his Corvette. Murillo said Giovanditto gave him a beer and that Murillo then fell asleep, awaking to find Giovanditto “on top of me,” attempting to sexually assault him as he lay face down. Believing, because he felt groggy, that the beer had been laced with drugs, Murillo told police he became enraged. He said he discovered an ax in a closet, which he used to bludgeon Giovanditto three times before strangling him with a shoelace to ensure that he was dead.

I never met Giovanditto, but I know many people who were his students in the early 1980s. Giovanditto, always known as Mr. G at school, was raised in Boston. He began his teaching career at the now defunct Villa Oasis boarding school in Eloy, Ariz., in the 1970s. He relocated to Florida in 1981 and began teaching 7th- and 8th-grade social studies at Lehrman Day School, a private Jewish school in Miami Beach. From there he became headmaster at the Crossroads School, now the Kentwood Preparatory School, which was for kids with ADHD and was located in Davie, Fla.

I am a Miami Beach native, and several of my friends at Miami Beach Senior High came to the school from Lehrman, which went up to eighth grade. I remember hearing about Mr. G with a mixture of wonder and envy as they described a fun-filled—and toy-filled—classroom and weekend trips with their teacher to Disney World and the Everglades. Students who received top grades were invited to sleepovers at Mr. G’s house at the end of the semester and on outings to concerts, amusement parks, video arcades, and go-carting courses. Girls, however, were rarely part of these adventures.

One of my friends, Peter Klein, was Giovanditto’s student at Lehrman, and was later his faculty colleague at Crossroads: Klein, now a journalist, taught math and science at the school after graduating from college. He remembers Giovanditto as “a wonderful, inspiring teacher,” but says that as years passed, he was troubled when he looked back on the time and attention Giovanditto lavished on his students. “Once you become an adult and you’re in a role similar to his, I could never imagine anything close to the kinds of trips and relationships he had with kids,” he said. “And that made me uneasy.” Klein also wondered about his background, with Giovanditto’s fancy sports cars and frequent travel suggesting an income source beyond a private-school salary. Over the years, Klein was unable to find any information about Giovanditto online—strange, since Giovanditto was an early adopter to home computing. A couple of times, Klein also “checked the sex registry to see if he popped up.”

Read more from this story HERE.