Hard Starboard

Millions Of Gun Owners Put Bullseyes On Their Chests

2009-07-09T21:12:34Z

Millions Of Gun Owners Reject Sotomayor

Gun Owners and Supporters of the Second Amendment:

Please join me, Sandy Froman the former President of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the national leaders listed below urging the Senate not to confirm Sotomayor. We have signed the following letter supporting Second Amendment gun rights and need you to add your name to the list and immediately fax your letters to the Senate.

Tell the Senate to Reject the Anti-Gun Sotomayor Nomination
Select Here Reject An Anti-Gun Supreme Court-Fax All 100 Senators
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/ccrkba_rejectsotomayor/?a=2697

Thank you. I know I can count on you.

Sincerely,

Alan Gottlieb
Chairman
Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

Letter to Reject Sotomayor and Protect the Second Amendment

Dear Senators:

July 7, 2009

As Americans who have dedicated themselves to protecting the Second Amendment right of U.S. citizens to keep and bear arms, we urge you not to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the next associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.

It is extremely important that a Supreme Court justice understand and appreciate the origin and meaning of the Second Amendment, a constitutional guarantee permanently enshrined in the Bill of Rights. Judge Sotomayor's record on the Second Amendment causes us grave concern over her treatment of this enumerated constitutional right.

Last year, the Supreme Court decided the landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller, holding that the Second Amendment guarantees to all law-abiding, responsible citizens the individual right to keep and bear arms, particularly for self-defense. Following Heller, the Supreme Court is almost certain to decide next year whether the Second Amendment applies to states and local governments, as it does to the federal government (see NRA v. Chicago and McDonald v. Chicago.)

While on the Second Circuit, Judge Sotomayor revealed her views on the right to keep and bear arms in Maloney v. Cuomo, a case decided after Heller, yet holding that the Second Amendment is not a fundamental right, that it does not apply to the states, and that if an object is "designed primarily as a weapon" that is a sufficient basis for total prohibition even within the home. Earlier in a 2004 case, United States v. Sanchez-Villar, Sotomayor and two colleagues perfunctorily dismissed a Second Amendment claim holding that "the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right." Imagine if such a view were expressed about other fundamental rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, such as the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

Surprisingly, Heller was a 5-4 decision, with some justices arguing that the Second Amendment does not apply to private citizens or that if it does, even a total gun ban could be upheld if a "legitimate governmental interest" could be found. The dissenting justices also found D.C.'s absolute ban on handguns within the home to be a "reasonable" restriction. If this had been the majority view, then any gun ban could be upheld, and the Second Amendment would be meaningless.

The Second Amendment survives today by a single vote in the Supreme Court. Both its application to the states and whether there will be a meaningfully strict standard of review remain to be decided by the High Court. Judge Sotomayor has already revealed her views on these issues and we believe they are contrary to the intent and purposes of the Second Amendment and Bill of Rights. As Second Amendment leaders deeply concerned about preserving all fundamental rights for current and future generations of Americans, we strongly oppose this nominee, and urge the Senate not to confirm Judge Sotomayor.

Sincerely,

Alan M. Gottlieb
Chairman, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

Joseph P. Tartaro
President, Second Amendment Foundation

Sandra S. Froman, Esq.
Former President, National Rifle Association of America
NRA Board of Directors and Executive Council

Landis Aden
President, Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association

Scott L. Bach, Esq.
President, Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs

The Honorable Bob Barr
Former Congressman, 7th District of Georgia
NRA Board of Directors

Ken Blackwell
Senior Fellow, Family Research Council
NRA Board of Directors

Representative Jennifer R. Coffey
Representative Jennifer R. Coffey, NREMT-I
Representative, New Hampshire General Court
Director and National Coordinator, Second Amendment Sisters, Inc.
Advisor, New Hampshire Pro-Gun Advisory Council

Robert K. Corbin, Esq.
Former Attorney General, State of Arizona
Former President of NRA and current member
of NRA Executive Council

Jim Dark
Former Executive Director, Texas State Rifle Association
NRA Board of Directors

Tom Gresham
Host of "Gun Talk"
Nationally syndicated radio talk show

Gene Hoffman, Jr.
Chairman, The Calguns Foundation

Susan Howard
NRA Board of Directors

Tom King
President, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association
NRA Board of Directors

John T. Lee
President, The Pennsylvania Rifle and Pistol Association

Owen P. Buz Mills
President, Gunsite Academy, Inc.
NRA Board of Directors

Evan F. Nappen, Esq.
Corporate Counsel and Director, Pro-Gun New Hampshire, Inc.

Grover G. Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform
NRA Board of Directors

Sheriff Jay Printz
Retired Sheriff and Coroner, Ravalli County, Montana
Successful plaintiff in U.S. Supreme Court case Printz vs. U.S.
NRA Board of Directors

Todd J. Rathner
President, T. Jeffrey Safari Company
NRA Board of Directors

Wayne Anthony Ross, Esq.
President, Alaska Gun Collectors Association
Former Attorney General, State of Alaska
NRA Board of Directors

Don Saba, Ph.D.
Sierra Bioresearch
NRA Board of Directors

Robert E. Sanders, Esq.
Former Assistant Director (Law Enforcement), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
NRA Board of Directors

Jon A. Standridge
Brigadier General (USA Ret.)

Jim Wallace
Executive Director, Gun Owners' Action League

** Current and past affiliations are for identification purposes only.

Tell the Senate to Reject the Anti-Gun Sotomayor Nomination
Select Here Reject An Anti-Gun Supreme Court-Fax All 100 Senators
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/ccrkba_rejectsotomayor/?a=2697

Like all other threats against our freedoms, we must rise and defeat this nomination, slap it down hard.

To stop Obama's backdoor anti-gun nomination and hold him to his promise that he would not try to take away anyone's firearms -we need to let the U.S. Senate know with thousands of faxes telling them to leave guns alone.

Americans like you who understand what our Founding Fathers envisioned for our nation…and who are willing to fight to defend our Constitution and for what it stands.

So please, help the Citizens Committee and me defeat those who wish to gut and trash the United States Constitution.

Help me flood the U.S. Senate with a sea of FAXES big enough to drown each and every Senator willing to vote away the Second Amendment.

Please, send your Donation and FAX TODAY!

Tell the Senate to Reject the Anti-Gun Sotomayor Nomination
Select Here Reject An Anti-Gun Supreme Court-Fax All 100 Senators
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/ccrkba_rejectsotomayor/?a=2697

Keep calling your Senators today, toll free numbers include 1-877-851-6437 and 1-866-220-0044, or call toll 1-202-225-3121 AND REGISTER YOU'RE OUTRAGE at ongoing efforts to take guns away though the Supreme Court!

CALL PRESIDENT OBAMA, 202-456-1111 and 202-456-1414 expressing your disdain and ABSOLUTE REJECTION of all GUN BANS by nominating Sotomayor.

DO NOT BE SILENCED - MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

NOTE: We need TENS OF THOUSANDS of faxes and PHONE CALLS and EMAILS delivered to ALL Senators right away!

For our projects to be successful, we must count on the voluntary financial support from individuals like you who care.

Your contribution of $20 or $25 is urgently needed today.

Your donation for just $10 will help so much. If you can afford to send $50 or $100 or more it would truly be a godsend.

Remember, protecting our freedom is not inexpensive.

But then, it's impossible to put a price tag on freedom.

Tell the Senate to Reject the Anti-Gun Sotomayor Nomination
Select Here Reject An Anti-Gun Supreme Court-Fax All 100 Senators
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/ccrkba_rejectsotomayor/?a=2697

Together, we can preserve the Constitutional rights our Founding Fathers intended our people to have forever.

For more information about CCRKBA go to http://www.ccrkba.org/

If you prefer to donate by check, please mail to:

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
12500 NE Tenth Place
Dept Code 2689
Bellevue, Washington 98004

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States. The Citizens Committee can be reached by phone at (425) 454-4911, on the Internet at http://www.ccrkba.org/ or by email to InformationRequest@ccrkba.org

Cyberstrike

2009-07-09T19:06:22Z

U.S. Representative Peter Hoekstra said Thursday that North Korea is likely behind the recent cyber attacks and the appropriate response would be a "show of force or strength."

The Michigan Republican and top GOP member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence told the Washington Times' America's Morning News radio show that President Obama's and previous administrations' soft-touch approach on bringing such rogue nations as Iran and North Korea back to the fold is not working.

"All of these folks believe that through the power of their personality or persuasion they can bring these irrational players to the negotiating table to do rational things," he said. "And they're just wrong."

"Whether it's a counter attack on cyber or more international sanctions, it's time for America, South Korea, Japan and other countries to stand up to North Korea or the next time they'll go in and shut down a banking system ... or manipulate the electrical grid either here or in South Korea," said Mr. Hoekstra, Michigan Republican. "Or they will try and miscalculate, and people will be killed."

U.S. authorities eyed North Korea as the origin of the widespread cyber attack that overwhelmed government Web sites in the United States and South Korea, although they warned it would be difficult to definitively identify the attackers quickly. The Treasury Department and Federal Trade Commission Web sites were shut down by the software attack, which lasted for days over the holiday weekend. Others such as the Pentagon and the White House were able to fend it off with little disruption. The attack targeted dozens of government and private sites and underscored how unevenly prepared the U.S. government is to block such multipronged assaults.

Mr. Hoekstra thinks "the best people in America" investigating the incidents have reached the conclusion that the targets, the broad scale of the attacks and the timing have "all fingers pointing" to North Korea.

National Security Ain't Marketing

2009-07-09T15:17:08Z

Dear Fellow Conservative,

A couple weeks ago, I asked grassroots activists across the country to share their thoughts and opinions with me about President Obama's domestic agenda. Thousands of grassroots leaders like you were gracious enough to take the RNC's online survey and make their voice heard about how the liberal Democrats are governing our country.

Today, I am asking for your input on President Obama's foreign policy.

President Obama came into office promising a new kind of American foreign policy. One in which America would open up dialogues with some of the world's worst dictators and tyrannical regimes. The closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay -- where some of the world's most dangerous terrorist reside -- would earn us goodwill. And apology tours of Europe and the Middle East would yield greater cooperation.

The results:

Obama kept his promise to engage tyrants by exchanging pleasantries with Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez and starting low level talks with the Iranian Mullahacracy, which has now turned on its own citizens to keep an iron grip on power.
North Korea, feeling slighted by the Obama Administration, brazenly conducted a nuclear test and continues to threaten America and our allies through bellicose rhetoric.
Various Obama officials have dropped the terms "War on Terror" in favor of the phrase "overseas contingency operations" and acts of terrorism have been labeled the Orwellian term "man-caused disasters."
And Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay, but has faced challenges on moving the terrorists as his apology tour of Europe yielded few takers for the prisoners. The Obama Administration even considered moving Guantanamo Bay inmates to the United States.

The liberal media would have you believe that President Obama has already "rebuilt" America's image in the eyes of the world. That our country is now safer and more secure.

I'm not buying it -- and I don't think you are either.

But I want to know firsthand your thoughts about some of the most critical foreign policy issues facing our nation.

Please take a moment right now to fill out online the Obama Foreign Policy Survey to let Republican leaders in Washington, D.C. and across the country know where you stand on matters of global importance.

And when you've completed your survey, I hope you will make a secure online contribution of $25, $50, $100, $500 or $1,000 to help the RNC hold President Obama accountable for his foreign policy decisions.

Your participation in the Obama Foreign Policy Survey -- and your continuing generous support of the RNC -- is vital. Please make your voice heard today.

Sincerely,

Michael Steele
Chairman, Republican National Committee

Plan For Red Barry's Tianenman Square Massacre

2009-07-09T13:47:05Z


		After the July 4th Tea Parties, What's Next? Dear Friend, This past weekend there were hundreds of protests against Big Government around the country. Hundreds of thousands of pro-freedom Americans gathered in small towns and big cities across America to send a message to their local governments and Washington, D.C. that the Tea Party movement will continue with the same energy as before. Now that Congress is back in session, we have to work hard to defeat cap and tax in the Senate, and to make sure that we defeat all schemes to socialize medicine in this country. In order to help focus attention on the biggest issues and events of the day, we've launched a great new tool to help you get organized in your state. Check out our brand new Ning social networking site, which will allow you to connect with FreedomWorks members in your area, to send each other messages, discuss what's going on, and plan travel arrangements for our March on Washington on September 12th. Please join the community today, and invite all your friends to join as well, by using the "invite" feature on the site. Join the group for your state and get to know others that share your passion for freedom. It is our hope that you will find this tool to be helpful, and that we can grow the community quickly to connect people who want to travel together for the September 12th for the March on Washington. Now that the successful July 4th Tea Parties are over, many are asking the question, "What's next?" Join our online Ning community and help us answer that question by organizing with others to plan for the historic March on Washington on September 12th! We have already accomplished a lot, but there is still work to do. Thank you for your continuing dedication to freedom, and for your sacrifices to defend our liberty from big government. Sincerely, Dick Armey Chairman FreedomWorks.org

Interesting, But Not Surprising

2009-07-09T07:37:41Z

Obama is sinking fast...but the damage is done. Although some people are starting to wake up, he's the president now. Unless he does something really stupid and gets caught doing what he's probably been doing privately since day one, we can't impeach him. He still has mindless drones who will love him no matter what...kinda reminds me of the morons wailing over Michael Jackson. Never mind what he's actually DONE, what he actually IS, he's just SO dreamy. And black, did we mention he's black?

Obama has already done more damage to the economy in six months than I would have thought possible. Thing is, he's just getting started. Now he wants to do more of what is clearly not working. And Cap&Trade? That would absolutely kill our economy. Thing is, that's what Obama wants. Kill the private sector, put government in control of as much as possible, then Democrats will claim to be the only ones who can save the poor whom they created. Da Guvment will take care of you! Hey, it worked with the housing debacle, didn't it?

JASmius adds: Not really. According to even partisan (i.e. other than Rasmussen) polls, huge majorities of Americans were always against bailouts going back to last September when this nightmare started. It was the Democrats who created the housing debacle in the first place who pushed them, and the lame-duck Bushies just rolled over and let 'em do it, to the point of letting Red Barry oversee the White House "summit" with his congressional accomplices.

But even so he was smart enough to only be a figurehead in that process, unlike John McCain, who was dimwitted enough to wade right into the middle of it and indellibly tar himself with complicity with what "Da Peepul" vehemently didn't want. That, and not the Democrat Financial Logic Bomb itself, is what sank Darth Queeg's campaign.

Yeah, False Messiah's Jemimah Glory is fading, but so what? He still has at least a year and a half of unchallenged power with which to inretrievably communize the country. Even if Republicans can actually retake both houses of Congress as in 1994 - possible in the House, impossible in the Senate - there will sit B.O. with his veto pen and his ACORN storm troopers, ready for "mortal kombat" on a scale that makes La Clinton Nostra look like the Three Village Historical Society. Our guys, who to this day haven't figured out that "government as usual" went the way of the dodo at least twenty years ago, won't even get their gavels back before the Dems start taking their heads off.

Annnnnd with Sarah Palin having capitulated to the murderous enemy assault, there is nobody on the Republican side with the faintest prayer of taking out the Chosen One in 2012. And no, it won't matter how dire our national circumstances become, because given how throughly the Obamunists will fix the formerly democratic (small "d") process (think "comprehensive immigration reform"), there will simply be no way that a Newt Gingrich or a Mitt Romney or a Charlie Crist will be able to scale an electoral mountain skewed so steep that even once-impregnable GOP bastions as Texas have turned "purple". Whatever 2010 gains Republicans pick up will be wiped out two years later for much the same reasons.

If anybody can suggest a name on the right side of the aisle with the charisma and pedigree (and courage) to endure the Donk attack machine and overcome this harrowingly daunting challenge to earn a crack at restoring the America that ceased to exist six months ago, I'm all ears. Just be sure to bring your flack jacket, kevlar vest, and personal multiphasic deflector shield. Whoever they are are gonna need it.

Red Barry's "Totalitarian Visions"

2009-07-08T22:01:45Z

JASmius http://www.hardstarboardblog.com ]]>

Stop The Unstoppable

2009-07-08T15:07:16Z

WASHINGTON is moving to take away control of YOUR HEALTH CARE – BUT THEY ARE KEEPING THEIR GOLD-PLATED PLANS!

Stop Them Today By Clicking Here!

President Obama made clear last week that Michelle and his daughters would be exempt from any new health care plan passed by Congress, just as members of
Congress are exempt from the plans they make for the rest of us.

President Obama is holding screened “townhalls” where union members get to ask questions – the same union members Max Baucus wants to exempt from a new health benefits tax on everyone else.

They’re trying to push health legislation through just like they did the “stimulus” – Will members of Congress even take time to read it before they sign it?

WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?

TELL BARACK OBAMA AND MAX BAUCUS:

Hands Off My Health Care!

Sign the Petition Today!

President Obama, Ted Kennedy and Max Baucus are trying to seize control of our health care, and to pay for it they want to cut existing Medicare and Medicaid benefits by $400 Billion and raise our taxes! Their government takeover of health care will drive us deeper into debt and it won’t even help most of those they claim they want to help – the uninsured. The poor and the uninsured will still be getting a raw deal, as will the taxpayers!

The Congressional Budget Office says Kennedy’s bill would leave 34 million uninsured – yet cost at least $600 billion to increase government control of the rest of us.

250 million Patients like us have been left out. We can’t sit by and let this happen, or else we lose:

Our choice of doctors
All control of our health insurance options
Timely access to quality health care
Money by paying for a government takeover

You just celebrated the American freedoms we cherish. Don’t let Washington take away our health care freedoms!

Visit www.JoinPatientsFirst.com to sign the petition! Contact your senators and tell them to keep their
hands off your health care!

Sad Day, Indeed

2009-07-08T15:02:36Z

Yeah, it was a sad day yesterday. Not because of the death of Michael Jackson, but the circus that was held to memorialize him. My goodness, could it have been any more pathetic? As Neil Boortz points out, how many soldiers who died fighting for our country were buried yesterday. If anyone deserves a huge memorial, it is they. However, they would not want that. The nincompoops who filled the stage yesterday may be mourning, yes, but that's not the only reason they were there, in my opinion. There was enough narcissism up there to fill an ocean.

JASmius asks: On which side of the aisle did all the cub scouts (inflatable and deflowered) sit? Was there a Michael Jackson Memorial Ferris Wheel in front of the building? Did any of the mourners ride the depressurization chamber or light their hair on fire in tribute?

And can you imagine the size of the spectacle when Barry O descends past that same mortal coil, even if he makes it to centenary territory? It'll make the Moonwalk Circus look like Life After People.

Central Command News (7/8/09)

2009-07-08T12:23:56Z

US CENTCOM Latest News Feed

President hails Iraq city withdrawal as 'important step'

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 05:25 AM PDT

WASHINGTON – President Obama praised the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraqi cities as "an important step forward."

Afghan pilots closer to providing own air support

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 06:25 AM PDT

KABUL, Afghanistan – After an absence of nearly a decade, the Mi-35 attack helicopter is again flying the skies of Afghanistan.

Odierno: U.S. troops out of Iraqi cities ahead of June 30 deadline

Posted: 29 Jun 2009 06:01 AM PDT

WASHINGTON – The U.S. military will have no issues complying with the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement, the MNF-I commander said Sunday.

US CENTCOM Press Releases

Operation Khanjar restores government control in Khan Neshin

Posted: 06 Jul 2009 07:43 AM PDT

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – Afghan National Police and forces from Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan have restored government control in the town of Khan Neshin as part of MEB-Afghanistan’s ongoing Operation Khanjar, designed to provide stable conditions for the Afghan people by disrupting insurgents’ lines of communication and freedom of movement in Helmand province.

Marines engage local leaders in Helmand province

Posted: 03 Jul 2009 10:50 AM PDT

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (July 3, 2009) — U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers and police are continuing clearing operations in key population centers along the Helmand River valley in an effort to secure the local population from the threat of Taliban and other insurgent intimidation and violence.

One Marine reported killed as Operation Kahnjar continues

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 11:30 AM PDT

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers and police are continuing clearing operations in key population centers along the Helmand River valley in an effort to secure the local population from the threat of Taliban and other insurgent intimidation and violence.

Marines, Afghan troops launch large operation in Helmand

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 05:55 PM PDT

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (July 2, 2008) — U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers and police launched a major operation in central Helmand Province today as forces from Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan (Task Force Leatherneck) and Afghan national security forces moved into towns and villages along the Helmand River valley in an effort to secure the local population from the threat of Taliban and other insurgent intimidation and violence.

CENTCOM climbs aboard social media train

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 09:13 AM PDT

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — As social sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube storm the world, United States Central Command has begun their Twittering and Facebooking in order to better reach the people around the world and get the word out about operations and what's happening in the area of operations.

Useful Idiot

2009-07-07T13:59:04Z

Okay, you and I already know Barack Obama is a useful idiot to pretty much any tinpot dictator around the world. Here is a great PowerLine entry regarding just that. And, of course, the usual New York Times whitewash of it.

This past Sunday the New York Times reported that in 1983, as a Columbia undergraduate, Barack Obama was among the useful idiots expressing high-minded disparagement of Reagan's defense policies. That's not exactly how the Times puts it, because reporters William Broad and David Sanger fail to supply the missing historical context that Charen's book provides, and perhaps because the Times itself figures prominently among the useful idiots chronicled by Charen.

This is what we as Americans have foisted upon ourselves. A 60s hippie/radical/anti-America type bent on weakening our country by any means possible.

JASmius adds: There's one little detail that Brother Trunk left out:

The Times article reports on Obama's 1983 article Breaking the war mentality. The Times notes that in the article Obama railed against discussions of "first-versus second-strike capabilities" that "suit the military-industrial interests" with their "billion-dollar erector sets," and agitated for the elimination of global arsenals holding tens of thousands of deadly warheads.

The Times chooses to portray Obama's 1983 article as the early expression of his continuing pursuit of "a nuclear free world."

President Reagan had the same ostensible goal, as a matter of fact. He said so on many occasions. The difference between Dutch and Judas Obamiot is twofold: Reagan knew how to attain a "nuclear free world" (or as close a fascimile as practical) because (1) he recognized who the enemy was; and (2) he understood that enemy had to be removed before the ultimate goal could be reached. And he did so without firing a shot.

Barack Obama, being ideologically sympathetic with that era's enemy as well as our current ones, sees America as the enemy standing in the way of "peace" and is consequently waging a war against our own country from the inside. Not in the hopes that his friends in Tehran, Damascus, Caracas, Pyongyang, Moscow, and Beijing will follow suit, but in the hopes that those friends will "cut us down to size" either by attrition or by open, direct, frontal attack.

He'd probably prefer the former, but I don't think in his (morally) black, scheming, flinty heart he'd mind the latter too terribly much. After all, an aspiring dictator can't have too many "crises" to exploit.

Petitioning The Tyrant

2009-07-07T13:48:24Z

President Obama and Congress are pushing for "reform" that will move America closer to a government-run system like Canada or Great Britain. If they succeed, most Americans will no longer be able to keep the insurance they have. Instead, they will be forced into a government-run health insurance market, with most people enrolled in a government-run health plan.

I support the following as key elements of any health care reform plan:

Choice: I support the right to choose my own doctor and to choose a health insurance plan that best fits my family's needs and budget.
Access: I want to get the treatment I need, when I need it, without delay or denial and I want my health care to be patient-centered rather than government-centered.
Fairness: I want the same tax breaks employees get if I have to pay for my own health insurance; and I want government assistance redirected to those that truly need help.
Responsibility: I want more control to cover my own health care decisions and I want a system that encourages everyone to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse. I want insurance that I can take with me if I have to change jobs.

To sign the “Free Our Health Care NOW!” petition, click here.

The Suppression Of Virtue

2009-07-07T03:12:37Z

An editorial of Heartbeat Of The Ministry, the newsletter of CareNet, providing pregnancy and family services to Pierce County, Washington.

~ ~ ~

Last September the Washington State Healthy Youth Act (HYA) was enacted and many Abstinence-Until-Marriage sexual health and relationship programs were no longer allowed to present in the public schools. The State appointed two people, one from the Department of health (DOH) and one fromthe Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to critique all of the sex education programs and judge, using a rubric, which ones were "acceptable". Of the sixty abstinence-until-marriage programs that went through that particular process for being allowed in the schools, zero passed. The reasons given were along the line of "too much ideology" and "not enough medical and scientific accuracy."

Programs that passed do not have marriage mentioned in the curriculum, and the definition of abstinence is greatly distorted - meaning, waiting two weeks to have sex is being "abstinent". Programs accepted into the schools mention birth control methods, but do not mention the risks of using these methods or which methods are ineffective.

Having observed the outcome of true sexual health programs that are based on abstinence-until-marriage in the DOH/OSPI process, we decided to follow another option stated in the HYA law instead of risking being denied access to the many schools in which we currently give presentations. We enlisted the help of five physicians in the Seattle/Tacoma area, four OB/GYNs and one Family Practice physician, to review the curriculum that we use. Prior to the review, we updated the curriculum and used statistics and information that is verified by research in compliance with scientific methods, is published in peer reviewed journals, and is recognized as accurate by objective professional organizations and agencies with expertise in the field of sexual health, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Washington State Department of Health, and the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The five physicians each reviewed the curriculum and information citings and wrote leters of approval for our use. They each also signed an affidavit as to the accurancy, medically and scientifically, of the curriculum. As of April 1, 2009, we are once again able to offer "Smart Love" in the schools and have had several schools sign up for the spring semester presentations.

One other aspect of this process that has made us aware of a great need is that parents are unaware of what is being taught for "sex education" in the schools. It has been mentioned in articles previously, but deserves to be mentioned again: parents have to voice their concern for the "comprehensive" sex education curriculum that many schools are now presenting to their children that encourages risky behavior and does not give complete information about the ineffectiveness of some methods of birth control in preventing STDs.

CareNet of Pierce County is in the process of developing a new curriculum to be shared with parents in order to educate and assist them in speaking to their children about sexual relationships and health. Our "Smart Love/Smart Home" staff was selected to attend a special training in Dallas, Texas at the end of last month, sponsored by World Vision and the Medical Institute of Sexual Health. The training workshop was titled, "Building Family Connections" and has ten modules for teaching parents.

The modules are:

1) Great Parenting

2) Effective Communication

3) Decision-Making Process

4) Adolescent Development

5) Teenage Pregnancy

6) Contraception

7) STI-HIV/AIDS

8) Healthy & Unhealthy Relationships

9) Abstinence

10) Tough Questions Kids Ask

After presenting this material to our volunteers and staff, our "Smart Home" staff will revise the modules to include the Biblical background and support for the topics and then be able to offer this program as "Smart Home" to parents throughout our area. This can be offered in Sunday schools, small groups, home groups, and community group settings. We are pleased to be able to expand our scope of programming for families utilitizing abstinence and marriage as God's plan for sexual health and purity.

The Martyrs Gather

2009-07-05T15:25:10Z

The Taxpayer March on DC and events scheduled in conjunction is quickly approaching! This event proves to be historical as numerous organizations have agreed to sponsor it and thousands of individuals have registered and booked their travel plans!

The Taxpayer March on DC is a nonpartisan event! Please assist us by inviting friends and family. Fox News has agreed to cover this event! But we need the assistance of our members to help get the word out!

Have you contacted your State Director or District Coordinator? We are working with One Step Promotions and Incentives to assist with air, charter buses, hotel packages, and everything to do with travel!

You can register on Resistnet.com on the front page or copy and paste this link:

http://www.resistnet.com/group/wethepeoplemarchonwashington

Would you be willing to volunteer with our security team, promotions, site set up, state or group organizing, etc..?

Please go to the above link and let us know your interest!

Folks, we have to show in great numbers! We have to prove to DC that we are the Americans who are concerned greatly by the current government, spending, taxation, and bills being shoved through without transparency! April 15th was great, July 4th was OK in attendance....but waning....September 12th needs to be phenomenal and it can be with your help!

Patriots, this is a call to join us in making a statement they cannot ignore! The packages for travel are reasonable, and some have offered to host people coming to DC.

As one gentleman from TX stated....Financially things are tough but we need to be there if we have to sell belongings and crawl!

Hotels are filing up! We really need you there!

Please add the event to your signature line of emails, send out a link to everyone on your email list, call or blog websites and organizations you belong to, download the event flier from our site and post, and don't forget to register today!

God Bless,
Darla Dawald
National Coordinator

EBC Missionaries Of The Week: Brian & Linda Davelaar

2009-07-05T15:08:19Z

The Davelaars conduct Five-Day Clubs and special events for Namibian children as a means of evangelism and discipleship through Child Evangelism Fellowship. They also train nationals in children's ministry.

They are currently stateside taking care of some health issues. They will be returning to Namibia sometime this year, LORD willing.

Lipstick On A Pig

2009-07-05T05:49:33Z

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day Everyone! I know, I know... I'm a day late on that, been a busy weekend.

With Governor Palin's big announcement Friday, many are assuming that means she has chosen to run for President in 2012. I hope that will ultimately be what she decides to do, but until she actually announces her intentions to run or not, then we are staying the course. Our cause has not changed! In fact we need to redouble our efforts to recruit more volunteers, organizers, newsletter subscribers and financial contributors.

I ask that you continue to send people to our site, urging them to sign up. We need to build an army ready to hit the ground running when and if Sarah decides to run. We have organizers in all but 8 or 10 states. Let people know we are connecting through all the major Social Networks. Below are icons linking to those pages. We are growing and thinking of new ways to spread our message of why we want Sarah Palin to run and encourage her to do so. With every new volunteer and/or organizer we add, we become stronger because everyone brings something important to this cause that is unique to them.

Below is an excerpt from a message on her Facebook Page:

I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint. I hope you will join me. Now is the time to rebuild and help our nation achieve greatness! -- Sarah Palin, July 4th, 2009.

Those are the reason so many American's are asking her to run and why you should help build this committee!!!! Don't forget to add your name to the Run Sarah Run petition. Send your friends this note asking that they join us. The petition is located at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/palin2012/

PALIN 2012 You Betcha!!!

Best to you and yours,

Your friend,

Randy Highsmith, Chairman 2012 Draft Sarah Committee