Parents' horror as Chinese boy, 6, has his eyes GOUGED OUT after being 'kidnapped by organ trafficker

A six-year-old Chinese boy had his eyes gouged out after reportedly being kidnapped by an organ trafficker.
Family members found the youngster covered in blood some three to four hours after he went missing while playing outside his home.

The child's eyes were found nearby but the corneas were missing, reports said, implying that an organ trafficker was behind the harrowing attack.

Police offered a 100,000 yuan ($16,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of the sole suspect, who they said was a woman.

'He had blood all over his face. His eyelids were turned inside out. And inside, his eyeballs were not there,' his father told Shanxi Television.

Its report showed the heavily-bandaged boy being taken from an operating theatre and placed in a hospital bed, writhing in agony as family members stood at his bedside weeping.  (more...)

Parents' horror as Chinese boy, 6, has his eyes GOUGED OUT after being 'kidnapped by organ trafficker

Homosexuality: A New Approach is Needed

If we are going to save our culture, it is important that Christians change their approach toward homosexuality. Fighting the GLBTQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) agenda in the legislatures and courts will not succeed as long as the GLBTQ activists define the debate. We must treat same-sex attraction and sexual identity disorders (the so-called transgendered and queer) as what they are—preventable and treatable problems.

Such a change in attitude has happened before with alcoholism and abortion and needs to happen again.

In the 19th century alcoholism was considered an untreatable and deadly condition that destroyed lives and families. Many people came to believe that prohibition of the sale of alcoholic beverages was the only solution. The 18th amendment passed, but failed to achieve its goal. After repeal, alcoholics were treated as a joke in films or even heroes, but a quietly growing movement—Alcoholics Anonymous, a 12 step program based on spiritual insights—provided the answer. There are still alcoholics and drunk drivers, but now there is hope and help. Millions of men and women are living full lives in recovery.  (more...)

Homosexuality: A New Approach is Needed

U.S Behavioral Research Studies Skew Toward Positive Results

Researchers from the Universities of Stanford and Edinburgh found, in a comparison of 1,174 primary outcomes from 82 meta-anlyses of biological and behavioral research, that U.S.-based behavioral researchers were more likely to exaggerate overall effect sizes in relation to individual results. “These problems are hypothesized to be worsened by lack of consensus on theories and methods, by selective publication processes, and by career systems too heavily oriented toward productivity, such as those adopted in the United States,” say the authors, “Behavioral studies have lower methodological consensus and higher noise, making US researchers potentially more likely to express an underlying propensity to report strong and significant findings.”  (more...)

U.S Behavioral Research Studies Skew Toward Positive Results

‘Ex-gay is OK’

Chuck Peters, director of Sexual Orientation
Change Institute in Beverly Hills, Calif., speaks
at a rally in Washington.

WASHINGTON—The cultural shift on same-sex marriage can be traced in large part to people who personally know someone who identifies as homosexual. If a friend is gay, it becomes harder for the average person—who doesn’t have biblical convictions—to oppose the behavior, which is why homosexual activists have for decades urged people to “come out of the closet.”

On Wednesday, a small band of former homosexuals representing about 10 organizations stood on the steps of the Supreme Court to demand recognition and equal rights under the Constitution.

“Anti-ex-gay extremists say that I do not exist—that we don’t exist,” said Christopher Doyle, president of Voice of the Voiceless and Equality and Justice for All. “Tell that to my wife of seven years. Tell that to my three beautiful children.”  (more...)

‘Ex-gay is OK’

Archbishop Chaput: American Culture Digesting Latino Values

Philadelphia's Archbishop Charles Chaput addressed a national convention of Catholic Hispanic leaders Friday, warning that an idea that Latinos, simply by their presence in the United States, "might restore the moral tenor of our public discourse is a delusion."

In a talk at the national convention of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL) held in Los Angeles, the archbishop spoke about "why faith matters," explaining the importance of recognizing and respecting human dignity.

Toward the end of his discourse, the prelate reflected on Latino influence in the United States.

"Nations change when people change. And people change through the witness of other people -- people like each of you here in this room. That brings me to the main reason for my comments today. When Archbishop Jose Gomez [of Los Angeles] and I founded CALL eight years ago, our goal was simple. Demography is destiny. The Latino population in the United States is growing very rapidly -- more rapidly than any other ethnic group -- and transforming the face of our country. The 'next America' will have a spirit infused with Hispanic experience. This should be a good thing. And it is a good thing, because Latin American culture, even today, has a legacy of respect for the family, for community and for the Catholic faith that too many North Americans have traded away, much too cheaply, for the satisfactions of social approval and material success," Archbishop Chaput said.  (more...)

Archbishop Chaput: American Culture Digesting Latino Values

TDSB has a false sense of security

Ever wonder why governments are almost always broke and harassing hard working people for more money in the form of increased taxes, fees or “revenue tools?”

It is because they are fiscally irresponsible and childish in their decision making.

For example, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is spending $10 million on security that won’t actually keep kids safe.

According to a report on CTV, this is the first fall that every elementary school in the TDSB system will have a security system that has every door locked during class, with a requirement that visitors must be buzzed in.

CTV reported that it comes with a $10-million security commitment from the province following the “tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that left 26 people dead, including 20 children.”  (more...)

TDSB has a false sense of security

Rays of Light in Higher Education

Canadian government policy over the past few decades has been to open universities to the largest possible number of students—a seat for everyone who wants to attend, as Ken Coates and Bill Morrison describe it in their higher education exposé Campus Confidential (2011). Partly as a result of this open-door policy, a perfect storm has battered the Humanities.

Program requirements have been reduced or eliminated altogether, replaced by an ever-widening range of popular electives. At my university, “Magic, Witchcraft, and Occult Phenomenon” was the most popular course for a number of years running. In addition, the content of individual courses has been progressively watered down to accommodate those students who have neither the time nor the inclination to read. A recent American study by Philip Babcock and Mindy Marks showed a significant decline in the number of hours students spend studying every week. At the same time, grade inflation has run rampant, both to pacify students and to support the university’s stated goal of “retention” (i.e. preventing dropouts). Working in tandem with all these developments has been the infiltration of once-legitimate academic subjects by progressivist ideology.

The dispiriting results should surprise no one: a generation and more have learned buzz words rather than knowledge; many are barely literate, incapable of understanding what they read or of expressing an idea in precise and correct language.  (more...)

Rays of Light in Higher Education