Before you read any further I must warn you that this will be hard to read. It’s a horrible and sad story, but one that discusses a trend that can’t be ignored.

CONTENT WARNING!!!!

   We see the effects pornography can have on men, women, marriages, and society. It’s a serious problem. Society has become accustomed to it everywhere on TV, in advertising, magazines, and the like. We’re so used to it, that we just tune it out. But the effects on children can be just as bad, or worse, and is often not talked about. That needs to change. Whether we realize it or not, it’s already having devastating effects on young lives.

   The following story will just break your heart. It’s yet another sad commentary on the downgrading of our society’s conscience. As the envelope is pushed further and further, the decline and coarsening of society becomes more obvious.

   I just want to point out a couple of things I observed while reading it. The first is that the Telegraph seems to completely miss the obvious. While the story frets about the over sexualization of children and society, they contribute to the problem with the “Related Stories” links such as “How to avoid 50 shades of grey injuries”. They miss the sad irony of saying there’s a problem in the story while the sidebar has an “In Sex” category and a story about mistakes women make in the bedroom. Really? Nobody thought that might seem a little hypocritical, that maybe it dilutes the message you were trying to get across?

    The second thing is they completely miss, or ignore, one of the biggest contributing factors, the decline of faith in the community. The decline of morality is related to it whether they see it or not. When society denies God, refuses His moral teachings and standards, what else is there to restrain them from pursuing their baser inclinations? A strong church and church leaders helps to fight these declines in standards. Without them, you can see the results for yourself. It’s not pretty. In the UK and much of Europe God has been removed from the conversation, and the lives of it’s residents. Many in this country wish the same for us. We cannot stand by and allow that to happen. We must fight that battle, because if we don’t, who will?

Again, and I can’t stress this enough due to the adult nature of the subject,

CONTENT WARNING!!!!

From TheTelegraph.UK

““Never before has girlhood been under such a sustained assault – from ads, alcohol marketing, girls’ magazines, sexually explicit TV programmes and the hard pornography that is regularly accessed in so many teenager’s bedrooms,” says the psychologist Steve Biddulph, currently touring the country to promote a book called Raising Girls.

It is a follow-up to his best-seller Raising Boys – and they are under pressure too, being led to believe that girls will look and behave like porn stars. Our children are becoming victims of pornification.

“It is usually girls who are on the receiving end of some pretty degrading stuff,” says Claire Perry MP, who has just been appointed David Cameron’s special adviser on the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood. “We’ve got young girls being asked to write their names on their @#%@# and send pictures. Parents would be really shocked to know this is happening in pretty much every school in the country. Our children are growing up in a very sexualised world.”

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What’s interesting in the news today?

Let’s do an Open Thread.

Here’s a couple to start things off.

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First…….

CATS— Cute and fuzzy companions?

Or hairy balls of death responsible for the destruction of numerous other species?

😯

From BBCNews

“Cats are one of the top threats to US wildlife, killing billions of animals each year, a study suggests.

The authors estimate they are responsible for the deaths of between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.”

“Felines accompanying their human companions have gone on to prey on the local wildlife, and they have been blamed for the global extinction of 33 species.”

Next time you see your cat staring at you just be careful, it’s probably plotting your death.

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And next we have a letter for your consideration, signed by 1100 Green Berets, in defense of the 2nd Amendment.

From ProfessionalSoldiers.com

“Protecting the Second Amendment – Why all Americans Should Be Concerned

We are current or former Army Reserve, National Guard, and active duty US Army Special Forces soldiers (Green Berets). We have all taken an oath to “…support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.…” The Constitution of the United States is without a doubt the single greatest document in the history of mankind, codifying the fundamental principle of governmental power and authority being derived from and granted through the consent of the governed. Our Constitution established a system of governance that preserves, protects, and holds sacrosanct the individual rights and primacy of the governed as well as providing for the explicit protection of the governed from governmental tyranny and/or oppression. We have witnessed the insidious and iniquitous effects of tyranny and oppression on people all over the world. We and our forebears have embodied and personified our organizational motto, De Oppresso Liber [To Free the Oppressed], for more than a half century as we have fought, shed blood, and died in the pursuit of freedom for the oppressed.

Like you, we are also loving and caring fathers and grandfathers. Like you, we have been stunned, horrified, and angered by the tragedies of Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Fort Hood, and Sandy Hook; and like you, we are searching for solutions to the problem of gun-related crimes in our society. Many of us are educators in our second careers and have a special interest to find a solution to this problem. However, unlike much of the current vox populi reactions to this tragedy, we offer a different perspective.”

“So, what do we believe will be effective? First, it is important that we recognize that this is not a gun control problem; it is a complex sociological problem. No single course of action will solve the problem. Therefore, it is our recommendation that a series of diverse steps be undertaken, the implementation of which will require patience and diligence to realize an effect. These are as follows:”

They then present an 8 point plan that seems pretty reasonable, and ensures our rights. Numbers 5, 6, and 7 I find of particular interest, and are some issues that are sadly missing in much of the current discussion.

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What’s news today?

Today I’ll start with some sports news. It is after all supposed to be a pleasant distraction from the bad news all around us.

Oh wait. Nevermind.

🙄

First to baseball, where PED’s are everywhere it seems. Some say this is all coming out now because the Steinbrenner boys see an out from the overly generous contract they gave this guy. I say “let’s hope so”. It’s time to put an end to the distraction known as ARod. The freed up money will just be a bonus at this point. You would think he’d have been playing better if he was juicin’, but no. Two other former Yankees, and some other big names are involved as well.

From MSN/FoxSports

“Alex Rodriguez was ensnared in a doping investigation once again Tuesday when an alternative weekly newspaper reported baseball’s highest-paid star was among a half-dozen players listed in records of a Florida clinic the paper said sold performance-enhancing drugs.”

“The Miami New Times said the three-time AL MVP bought human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing substances during 2009-12 from Biogenesis of America LLC, a now-closed anti-aging clinic in Coral Cables, Fla., near Rodriguez’s offseason home.”

“The newspaper said it obtained records detailing purchases by Rodriguez, 2012 All-Star game MVP Melky Cabrera, 2005 AL Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon and 2011 AL championship series MVP Nelson Cruz of Texas.”

“Other baseball players the newspaper said appeared in the records include Washington pitcher Gio Gonzalez, who finished third in last year’s NL Cy Young Award voting, and San Diego catcher Yasmani Grandal.”

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And then it’s on to the NFL, for some more abuse of PED’s and assorted banned substances. First let me say, in the interest of full disclosure, that I don’t like this guy. At all, so maybe I’m biased. But what I’d really like to know is why this guy is playing in the Super Bowl if he violated the policy? C’mon Commissioner, do you really wanna end it? Now’s your chance. C’mon, set an example. What have you got to lose? You’ll already be the most hated man in the building come game time. Saints fans will already boo you mercilessly, why not have the Ravens fans join the chorus too? You’d be HUGE in San Fran next time you visit.

🙂

From BostonCBSLocal

“Ray Lewis’ final season and Baltimore’s run through the AFC to the Super Bowl has been described as destiny or a fateful miracle, but it appears as though Lewis’ recovery from a torn triceps was aided by the use of a banned substance.

Sports Illustrated reported that among Lewis’ many treatments for his torn triceps, suffered Oct. 14, was a deer-antler spray, which is banned by the NFL. Philly.com published quotes from the SI article from phone conversations between Lewis and Mitch Ross, the owner of “Sports with Alternatives to Steroids” (S.W.A.T.S.).”

“The deer-antler products are described as containing IGF-1, which is banned by the NFL. The report explains that IGF-1 is what human growth hormone is converted into when it reaches the liver.”

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Don’t worry. I did find a good one to share too. Crazy if you ask me, but pretty cool too.

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For this next one I need my shocked face.

😯

There it is! OK, now I’m ready.

From FoxNews

“A preliminary draft of a report by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on  Climate Change was leaked to the public this month, and climate skeptics say it  contains fresh evidence of 20 years of overstated global warming.

The report — which is not scheduled for publication until 2014 — was leaked by  someone involved in the IPCC’s review process, and is available for download  online. Bloggers combing through the report discovered a chart comparing the  four temperature models the group has published since 1990. Each has overstated the rise in  temperature that Earth actually experienced.”

““Their predictions have largely failed, four times in a row… what that means  is that it’s time for them to re-evaluate,” Spencer said.”

Re-evaluate? More likely they just double down on it.

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Sure they broke the rules, BUT……….. you’re still supposed to feel bad for them and reward their bad behavior.

It’s just common sense or something.

So when will his endless campaigning on the taxpayer dime ever end?

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Meanwhile, Jay Carney get’s in on the disinformation campaign as well.

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Never been more secure?

From TheWashingtonTimes

“Even as President Obama travels to Las Vegas Tuesday to call  for legalizing  illegal immigrants, the latest numbers from the U.S.  Border Patrol suggest that  the flow across the nation’s southwest border  jumped by 9 percent last  year.

The Border Patrol made 356,873 arrests along the U.S.-Mexico  border in fiscal year 2012, up from 327,577 in 2011, according to  figures  obtained by the Associated Press and confirmed by The Washington  Times. Border  Patrol officials estimate that apprehensions are a good  proxy for illegal  crossings, so when the numbers go up, it means that  the flow of illegal  immigrants is going up as well.”

And the number will only increase now that amnesty has been promised. I should have known they were lying since their lips were moving.

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What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread. What have you got?

Here’s mine.

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Anything that delays or limits Iran’s nuke program is good news.

From TimesOfIsrael

“Israeli intelligence officials have confirmed that a major explosion has rocked an Iranian nuclear facility, according to a report Monday in The Times of London.

The British daily cited officials in Tel Aviv who said the blast occurred last week, as originally reported on the website wnd.com.

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Here’s a piece that takes issue with the NYT and their March For Life coverage.

From Patheos.com

“We’ve received quite a few complaints about the religion angle the New York Times chose for its story on the March For Life. And I’d sure as heck like to join in.

But before I do that, I want to point out that the Times also ran a straight news story covering the march and, unlike any year I can recall, it actually ran in the print edition and not just as a brief mention on a blog post. The story that has outraged so many folks is the primary story on the march that ran in a more prominent position than the straight story. In fact, it ran above the fold of the national news section, headlined “In Fight Over Life, a New Call by Catholics.””

“And color me shocked (shocked!) that they might try to sabotage the March for Life by releasing a letter from 60 (not 50, but 60) folks saying that if those hundreds of thousands of marchers enduring brutal conditions were really pro-life, they’d happen to support the issue that President Barack Obama is pushing at the moment. Whatever else might be said on the topic, and I imagine that there are as many views on gun control among the marchers as there are in the general population — some of which would probably be quite worth including in the story and would be challenging to the dominant narratives we hear from progressive activists and their NRA counterparts — what a great way to distract from Roe v. Wade.”

Meanwhile, another paper must have missed the rally as well and wonders “Where have all the children gone?”. As usual, they never quite figure it out.

Also from Patheos.com

“Most of us know the answer.

The Chicago Tribune puts its finger on a trend with significant implications:

Demographers have long known that the baby boom of the 1950s was giving way to a baby bust nationwide. Now Illinois and the Chicago area are providing a vivid example of the trend: According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2000 to 2010, Illinois had a 6.2 percent drop in children under 10, among the biggest declines in the country.

The impact is being felt in declining school enrollments and refashioned youth programs, officials say. In coming years, it will be felt in a workforce with fewer workers to replace retirees and help replenish pension coffers.”

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Here’s more on the proposed “bi-partisan” immigration amnesty reform thing.

From WTVY.com

“U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee and former Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement on the new push for comprehensive immigration reform and amnesty:

“Americans overwhelmingly oppose illegal immigration. They have pleaded with Congress to end the mass illegality for decades to little avail. All the while, millions have been added to the total of those illegally here.

It’s time to fix that broken system. Now we are told that the Obama Administration and members of Congress say they have a plan that they promise will do the job. So, the American people will need to watch closely. And, members of Congress must insist that they have a full and complete opportunity to study and amend such legislation.”

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The Seattle Police Dept’s gun buy-back has some competition it seems.

From TheSeattleTimes

“Within hours of launching the first gun-buyback program in more than two decades, Seattle police took in so many guns they had to shut down the site Saturday and turn away scores of people after running out of gift cards to hand out.

People on foot and in vehicles were corralled into a parking lot underneath Interstate 5 between Cherry and James streets, where they traded unwanted weapons for gift cards of $100 for handguns, shotguns and rifles, and $200 for assault weapons.”

“Not all of the guns brought to the buyback were handed over to police, however.

Officers stood by as makeshift gun shows sprang up on the sidewalks, just steps away from the buyback tents, as gun enthusiasts and collectors waved wads of cash for the guns being held by those standing in line.”

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