Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex

Monica posts some interesting news on the recently reported monkey embryonic stem cell research advances and a recent surprise by the researcher who brought us Dolly the cloned sheep.

We mentioned a little while back that Monica had begun the Adult Stem Cell Awareness blog. She has arranged to have Dr. Dan Pepin write a regular Q&A column for ASCA. Dr. Pepin is professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Edison College in Naples, FL; instructor of Human Biology at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey, MI; and Consultant on Bioethics for the Dioceses of Venice, FL and Gaylord, MI.

So, if you have questions about stem cells, Monica has given you the venue to get them answered. Go over and ask Dr. Dan your questions.

LifeSiteNews reports on a Norwegian pre-school operator, backed by child psychologists, who are pressing to encourage kindergarten children to dance naked and masturbate. The psychologist fears that unless these children learn to their sexuality, “thing can go very wrong.” He doesn’t seem to have a clue though, that their is a wrong way and a wrong time to try to learn it. However, I must admit that these would be child abusers are not without any restraint. They say:

“… their sexuality must also be socialized, so they are not, for example, allowed to masturbate while sitting and eating. Nor can they be allowed to pressure other children into doing things they don’t want to,

Sure, I can see that. Eating and masturbating would just be plain impolite. The article reminds of a German government education pamphlet from earlier this summer in which the German Ministry for Family Affairs encouraged parents to sexually massage their children, for fathers to pay attention to their young daughters’ genitals, and for parents to teach their children the movements done in copulation.

Recently the APA released a report on the dangers of early sexualization of children. At least some professionals are still able to see clearly enough in this country to realize that children need to be protected from sexualization. However, given the way that we follow Europe in the slippery slope to social mayhem, I would not be surprised if the APA doesn’t reverse themselves on this in the not too distant future. Remember, this is the group that allowed activist pressure to force them remove from their list of sexual disorders same sex attraction disorder such that now any doctor who tries to treat it as a disorder is in danger of being punished or expelled for “unethical” practices.

When man forgets God, he becomes an enigma to himself and eventually turn on himself. This is what we are seeing today. Science has no resources for ascertaining morality, nor do they have the resources to understand the complete human person. Empirical data can and is interpreted in ways that support ideologies and so I would argue that because Europe has removed God from public life they have no defense against the implosion of their culture. Unfortunately, because our cultural “elite” in the entertainment and news media, and among social “progressives” are intent on following Europe in this secularization of public life, our hopes don’t look very promising either.

Monica mentioned to me yesterday that Bill Schneeberger would be on EWTN radio today with Teresa Tomeo (Shelray’s travel guide to the Holy Land). Well I missed it since she broadcasts at 8am central. Did anyone catch it?

Well who is Bill Schneeberger you might ask. He is the owner of BOGO wines, a winery that contributes from its proceeds to great Catholic, pro-life organizations:

Monica shared with me that he has developed a plan modeled after that of Susan Komen of the “pink ribbon” campaign. The focus of his plan is to generate awareness, interest, and funding for ethical stem cell research (adult, cord, autologous, etc). Monica writes:

He studied the Susan Komen plan to find out what made it so successful. You can barely buy a bag of chips now without inadvertently funding the the Komen foundation — it’s crazy - they are wildly successful at doing what they have done. I was at Target tonight w/ my husband and noticed they’ve got a whole “October is breast cancer awareness” promotion thing with all these pink products you can buy to help the Komen foundation. If Schneeberger’s initiative is only a fraction as successful as the Komen one, it will still do so much to help advance ethical research.

Schneeberger has obtained a patent trademark/logo for Adult Stem Cell Awareness. Yes, it is meant for car magnets - among other things, but please don’t think this is just about silly car magnets and even “Adult Stem Cell Awareness Month” . . . it’s about finding a way to get “adult stem cell awareness” into the world of the regular guy — and as small as it sounds, things like car magnets and awareness campaigns are incredibly effective. Well, just ask the Susan Komen foundation, right?

Now, it’s true, I’m hoping therapies such as autologous tissue engineering will help my child survive her heart defects, God-willing. But there are millions of people out here who stand to benefit from this kind of awareness campaign — not only because it is ethically sound, but because adult stem cells are really producing life-saving results. One of the orgs that this kind of campaign will help, certainly, is Dr. Moy’s John Paul II Stem Cell Research Institute. This is the kind of organization that we Catholics need to stand behind.

So, the goal is to try to get the info about the awareness campaign initiative in the hands of people who can really lobby for it. Politicians - for sure. I’ve already written my congressman. Unfortunately, it’s pretty slim pickings up here in terms of “pro-life” legislators. But can we be creative about who can help? Any ideas? What about professional societies who can lobby - how about Catholic hospitals? Catholic Universities?

In conjunction with Bill’s efforts, Monica has set up a blog which focuses on promoting Adult Stem Cell awareness. Go check out the blog, add it to your daily blog visits, and if you can get involved in some way, please contact Monica.

The number of girls and young women who have unexpectedly died after being injected with Gardasil has climbed to 11 with 3779 Adverse Reactions.  Judicial Watch filed a request with the FDA on August 20, 2007  for updated adverse event reports which was suspected to be only a “partial response”.  On October 3, 2007, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the FDA.

LifeSite

US Government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database indicates that there have now been 7 deaths associated with administration of Gardasil with ages listed for four of the girls: 11, 12, 15 and 19. The general public can access vaccine related side effects on-line including Gardasil (ENTER HPV4 in the scroll down menu). Gardasil’s effectiveness beyond 4 years has yet to be established.

Gardasil offers protection from a subset type of cancer which currently accounts for less than 0.007 % of the new cancer cases and less than 0.006 % of cancer deaths that occur annually in the U.S.

H/T LifeSite

Now 1-800 End of Life Consultation service offers free counseling advice for suicide instructional sessions for terminally ill patients. The recent change in tactics by frustrated pro-suicide activists who have failed five times to legalize physician-assisted suicide through the California Legislature is to employ a “counseling” service in which “patients” can obtain information on such suicide methods as the use of plastic bags and stockpiling drugs. In my opinion, an assisted suicide public service based upon one’s own weaknesses and fear is  worthy of criminal prosecution.

With physician assisted suicide proving to be pretty much impossible to pass through the California state legislature, suicide assistance advocates are now switching their tactics by putting on a happy face through an “aid in dying” ministry. The bill would allow terminally ill California adults to have an option to attain a lethal prescription if they had a prognosis of less than three months to live.

Representatives of the new End of Life Consultation Service say they will advise the terminally ill on how to better access pain treatment and end-of-life care. Clergy and trained volunteer counselors also will advise the terminally ill against violent suicide, instead helping to identify a path to what they describe as a peaceful death.

A counselor will remain present to comfort a terminally ill person taking their own life, however, if that person wishes, program representatives said.

“Volunteers will neither provide nor administer the means for aid in dying,” said The Rev. John Brooke, a United Church of Christ minister from Cotati. “Clients will obtain and self-administer these means. We will not break or defy the law.”

Putting all the manipulative jargon aside, this bill actually has the potential to be more sinister in it’s nature than physician assisted suicide, as it lends itself to opportunistic targeting of undesireable, terminally ill individuals. Countering the assisted suicide mentality, clinical studies have shown that some suicidal cancer patients who were treated for depression actually resulted in significantly decreased suicidal thoughts or totally alleviated their desire to die. Lastly, I’ve always wondered if people who fight for the right to take their own lives ever invested in something commonly called life insurance? My intention is not to judge the individual person choosing to take their own lives but the vanity and self-love that often goes along with suicide, and maybe it would be nice to leave those left behind a little more than just nice memories of a dignified patient who chose to do things their way.

For parents who buy into the hype of the drug companies (Merck) and school administrators who are pushing the drug Gardasil really need to stop and take the responsibility upon themselves to do what is in the best interest of their children. Whatever the reason behind the parents consenting of the HPV vaccine, there are some relatively significant and dangerous side effects that they nor the child is aware, and the overall benefits of this injection may fall well short of their original expectations.

Just to put the massive but deceptive marketing of Gardasil into perspective, an inoculated child may be protected from 4 (70% of cancer causing) out of the possible 200 strains of the virus for a yet to be determined amount of time (4 years?) from a type of cancer which make up about 0.007 % of new cancer cases and 0.006 % of cancer deaths that occur annually in the U.S. In return for these modest benefits of Gardasil in 2007, there have been (1) 5 deaths, (2) 31 life-threatening adverse events, (3) 1,385 required visits to the emergency room with (4) 451 of the girls not having recovered as of July 2007 , (5) with 51 of the girls resulting with a disability(source). To boot, a new analysis has provided statistically significant evidence for a previously denied association between Gardasil and Guillain-Barre Syndrome (OOPS! Permanent disability. There is no known cure!!!) when co-administered with other vaccines. What else don’t we know!? Convince me that any other non-sex, agenda driven pharmaceutical would get such a pass from the media or pharmaceutical watch dog organizations. Not that Gardasil is a bad drug onto itself (for married couples), but the means of it’s deceptive marketing nuances and dirty secret side effects marketed towards young teens is despicable.

In Canada, the Bishops are fighting the Ontario Liberal Government which has mandated that the vaccine be administered in all catholic schools. Their resolution proposes that the school board will not support the administration of the vaccine nor will it be permitted to be administered on the property.

Watch the Merck commercial - political or evidence based medicine?

Sources:

National Vaccine Information Center

The Real Ilena Rosenthal

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales publicly respond to the draft of a Government legislation to be debated by Parliament later this year where scientists will be given permission for the first time to create such (human-animal cybrid) embryos for research, as long as they destroy them within two weeks. The Human Tissue and Embryo Bill includes sections on test tube babies, embryo research and abortion. The Bishops oppose the creation of animal-human embryos, but also want to limit the destruction of such life once it had been brought into existence. If such creations of animal-human embryos (which would be more than 99 percent human) came into being, they argued that these “chimeras” must be regarded as human and a have a right to life and the genetic mother should be able to raise them as their own children if they so desire.

In their submission to the committee, they said: “At the very least, embryos with a preponderance of human genes should be assumed to be embryonic human beings, and should be treated accordingly.

“In particular, it should not be a crime to transfer them, or other human embryos, to the body of the woman providing the ovum, in cases where a human ovum has been used to create them.

“Such a woman is the genetic mother, or partial mother, of the embryo; should she have a change of heart and wish to carry her child to term, she should not be prevented from doing so.”

?!

In responding to Cardinal Pell telling Catholic state lawmakers that human cloning and the destruction of embryos for research was a “serious moral matter” and their votes would have “consequences” for their lives in the Church, a New South Wales politician responded by stating he would rather go to Hell rather than oppose legislation legalizing human cloning for embryonic stem-cell research.

“Maybe I’ll go to Hell, but if I go to Hell I’m going to do so by saving a lot of lives, because that’s what this bill is about,” said Tony Stewart. “We don’t need a religious leader telling members of parliament what should be done.” The bill would permit “human-animal hybrids”, “fertilizing immature eggs from aborted girls with adult male sperm” to form new embryos, and “mixing the genetic material of more than two persons” and destroying them at 14 days for their stem-cells.

I don’t believe for a second any human being or politician who truly believed in hell would knowingly offer up their soul in exchange for scientific research. Hopefully, Stewart’s political hyperbole won’t end up being a self fulfilling prophecy.

In what may seem at times, as a hopeless battle to save God’s plan for life, we can take consolation in the fact that evil is by its very nature divisive and incapable of long-term stability or unity.

From the creators of the reality series Big Brother is a controversial show called The Big Donor Show, where a 37 year old woman gets to choose which of three “contestants” will receive her kidney. Viewers will also be able to send in their advice by text message during the 80-minute show. Who knows, maybe they have some swell consolation prizes to give away as well.

Update: It seems it was a kind of publicity stunt to raise awareness for the need for organs. Thanks Monica.

Judicial Watch has attained information from the FDA under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act on adverse events of the HPV vaccine. Included were three deaths, two of which were teens, who died from cardiac events and/or blood clots. Other adverse events included spontaneous abortions, fetal abnormalities and a significant amount neurological disorders (Bells Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, speech disorders and seizures) - some of which were determined to be permanent disabilities. The adverse events were reported in girls as young as 7 years old with a significant majority of the events being reported on girls 17 years and younger.

According Merck’s safety profile in their package insert, they stated that there was no evidence of harm to the fetus, nor was their any mention of neurological adverse events - both of which appeared repeatedly on the adverse event reports. What is probably most disturbing is the prevalence of spontaneous abortions which have occurred on the same day of the patient receiving the HPV vaccine, but the bureaucrats at the FDA and CDC fail to see, or refuse to assume a possibility of a link between the drug and fetal destruction.

FDA spokesperson Karen Riley said the agency has been monitoring adverse events associated with Gardasil but has not “seen anything at this point that would suggest we’d make any changes in the product.” John Iskander, acting director of the Immunization Safety Office at CDC, said, “None of the information I’m aware of or have seen suggests that there’s any pattern here linking birth outcomes to the vaccine.” Iskander added that pregnant women who have received the vaccine should “make sure they’re enrolled in the registry and make sure they keep up with their routine prenatal care”

Of the 18 adverse events experienced by pregnant women, 16 involved miscarriages. Richard Haupt, executive director of medical affairs for Merck, said that Gardasil likely did not cause the miscarriages (even though a majority of cases occurred just hours after the HPV injection), adding that miscarriages are common during the first three months of pregnancy. According to the Journal, one pregnant woman was found to have an abnormal fetus and another woman’s fetus was found to have an increased risk of fetal defects; however, outcomes have not been reported in the two cases.

This drug was declared safe for pregnant women based on the studies of mice, and the employee from Merck making the asinine statement which minimizes the seriousness of miscarriages by calling them “common” during the first three months of pregnancy is irrelevant to the facts. There is just cause to, at the very least, issue a product warning for pregnant women.

The burden of this dangerous immunization (which is suspiciously dissimilar to it’s FDA approval safety profile) being assumed by young girls receiving the HPV vaccine, without any evidence of the vaccine’s efficacy beyond four years is, at the very least, irresponsible - bordering on criminal. Can you imagine being the parent whose daughter died at the age of 12 after learning it was fully effective for only 4 - 6 years from a cancer of which comprises of less than 1% of the total cancer deaths in woman?

H/T LifeSite

Kevorkian is scheduled to be paroled on June 1st, after serving just over eight years of his 10-25 year sentence for second-degree murder in the televised death of Thomas Youk. Kevorkian’s parole of two years includes the provision of banning him from attending any assisted suicides or acting as a caregiver for seniors or the disabled.  For those interested, you many want to read Wesley J. Smith’s rather disturbing piece on Kevorkian published in The Daily Standard.

 Kevorkian put his suicide machines to work terminating the lives of scores of disabled people. Indeed, about 70 percent of the nearly 130 people who died in Kevorkian’s rusty van or other venues were not terminally ill. Most were disabled and depressed. At least five had no discernible illnesses whatsoever upon autopsy.

This has been the truth about Kevorkian from the very start. In 1991, Kevorkian’s second victim, Marjorie Wantz, complained bitterly about unresolved pelvic pain. But she was an emotionally disturbed woman who had been in mental hospitals. Her autopsy showed no discernible pathology of any kind.

Kevorkian, who has claimed to have been responsible for approximately 130 deaths during the1990’s, is currently diagnosed with hepatitis C and diabetes, and has a life expectancy of less than one year. It just so happens, that he graduated from the same medical school, The University of Michigan Medical School, as our friend over at Scorpion Stalking Duck.

H/T: LifeSite

Please take a look at this you-Tube video. It will remind you that every human life is precious and that we can see this truth most clearly through the face of a helpless, innocent baby who can do nothing for us but allow us the opportunity to give ourselves to him in love. It teaches that joy comes through giving oneself to another for their own sake and that authentic joy can be experienced in the midst of difficulties and evenamidst tremendous sorrow. Mostly, it will reveal the heroic courage and life affirming witness that is possible for those open to and animated by the life of the Holy Spirit. Take a look but make sure you have your Kleenex ready:

Update: As requested by one of our commenters, this is the testimony of a young couple about their Trisonomy 18 baby.

This newly developed Chimera maintains the body of a sheep while the hybrid’s internal organs are made up of a combination of human and sheep cells. In addition to the obvious grave immorality of developing chimeras that mix animals with humans for any reason what-so-ever, some in the scientific community fear that, “Many silent viruses could create a biological nightmare in humans because mutant animal viruses are a real threat, as we have seen with HIV.” While on the other side of the chasm, the animal rights activists fear for the sheep which could take on human characteristics.

Facts presented in a lawsuit against the FDA reveal that it had skirted laws and regulations which were originally put into place to ensure all drugs made available to the public are safe and effective. What is most alarming to me in this unprecedented move by the FDA is the approval a more potent formulation of over-the-counter Plan B than those by prescription. The FDA never required or requested any manufacturer information on the safety and efficacy of the higher doses when taken by girls during puberty. Other actions by the FDA which ignored the measures normally put in place to protect the safety of the public include:

A misleading label which does not provide the legally required disclaimers to delineate what it can and cannot do, which is required for ALL MEDICATIONS.

Its failure to conduct the necessary rulemaking process which is required by the Administrative Procedure Act and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Its approval of OTC Plan B even after it found that it was unsafe for girls to use this product without medical supervision, as denoted by the fact it is prescription- only for those under 18.

The number of drugs which have failed in FDA approval since the Vioxx incident several years ago is unprecedented. The FDA and the pharmaceutical industry were forced to adhere to the public’s demand for safe and effective drugs, and as seen in recent months, if there are any hints of a concern over the safety of a drug - the FDA and the press are quick to respond. This issue of FDA approval of OTC Plan B is not only a concern for morality, but it is also a concern over women’s health and safety and this concern is now being expressed by those in the medical community. We have witnessed the corruption of a process meant to ensure product safety and efficacy by an institution which has been entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the public. The FDA has now betrayed that trust by allowing a politicially motivated agenda to trump the responsiblity they have towards those who could be potentially harmed by Plan B. The American Association of Physicians and Surgeons understand the significance of this irresponsible move by the FDA, which contradicts all of the rules and regulations, and yes even common sense, instituted for the purpose of public safety. That is why they have chosen to bring the FDA to court. In this instance, the FDA took it upon themselves to establish their own protocols in leiu of statutory and ethically mandated regulations because they caved into political pressure. This is totally irresponsible and should be of major concern to us all.

LifeSite

The Texas Heart Institute has progressed to the clinical phase of a FDA approved trial, using stem cells to repair the damage done by heart attacks, with the researchers being encouraged by the positive out-comes shown in pre-clinical trials. The results of the study will be evaluated after a six month follow up and presented in 2008. Despite what one may think about stem cell research, it’s difficult to dispute the facts that have shown, time and time again, that stem cells are effective in treating diseases and improving the lives of debilitated patients around the world.

Here at C-L-S, we feel that most of our readers are mature, rational adults who can handle the truth, so I will disclose some facts that you may not get when reading those articles or listening to debates that don’t feel the need to differentiate the type of stem cells being discussed. The research I mentioned above involve adult stem cells which are actually taken from the patient’s own fat tissue. Adult stem cell research has shown positive clinical results and useful treatments in human beings without compromising life including blindness, paralysis and child onset leukemia; while the same can not be said for the hopes in theoretical embryonic stem cell cures. Embryonic stem cell research has yet to get beyond the lab rat, and apparently tumor growth is a concerning issue due to the instability of the embryo. I guess if you’re advocating for something with the track record of embryonic stem cell research, it’s best to hide in the shadows of the successes of adult stem cells.

Update 02/10 : As always, I need to include M-M-D as the Catholic Blog resource for the latest in Stem Cell Research.

H/T: Lifesite 

There appears to be growing concensus among the elite in the psychiatric community who contradict the logic of using evidence based medicine to appropriately diagnose and effectively treat patients afflicted with gender dysphoria; choosing, instead, to collaborate with the illness and authorize a cosmetic mutilation commonly called a sex change operation. The scientific facts are that chromosomes, not genitals or cognitive discernment, determine gender. While in the womb, prenatal hormones shape the brains of the child, so rest assured, there is no invasion of a body waiting to trap a brain of it’s opposite sex.

Given the scientific evidence of gender development vs. a two year old insisting that he is a girl, I tend to support science. Unfortunately, there is resistance to provide any type of documented, long term follow up for those who undergo a sex change. I wonder why that is? Could it be the physicians and therapists who support this type of intervention ignore the facts that point to the appropriate diagnosis of Gender Identity DISORDER, so subsequently, they leave an illness untreated?

As for a story of the 12 year old boy who is undergoing hormonal therapy in order to protect his personality, I’m trying to understand how a denial of reality and deception used in conjunction with hormonal injections are supposed to nuture a healthy personality. As for the theory of a male being trapped in a female’s body, why do you suppose some men who have had their gentalia removed to become a pseudo-woman have wives and girlfriends? Thankfully, I don’t get “it”.

Catholic teaching in this area is clear. It is impossible to “change” a person’ sex.

Some relevant posts that we have done on this issue include: Extreme Makeover: The Tragic Edition and Sex and Human Personhood: Sex Differences.

After being investigated by the FDA for over 4 hours, Jennalee Ryan is reportedly tired of all of all the negative press about her home based business. Ryan is a broker who constructs her own custom made embryos from sperm donors who must be attractive and have doctorates, and eggs from a young, intelligent, and attractive white female. Anyone who uses her services have the limited options of choosing embryos already devised by Ryan’s personal creations, “based on what I feel that people want. Who wants an ugly, stupid kid?” She also markets her service where parents can get better babies.

Aside from the obviously grave immorality of genetically engineering children, I also have a concern over the emotional and spiritual development of a child who has been raised by the types of parents who would purchase their child based on the criteria of beauty and intelligence. Dysfunctional adults usually come from dysfunctional parents. Somehow, I have a feeling there would be a lot of pressure for the manufactured child to measure up to parental expectations and provide some sort of return on their investment. Children are not a manufactured commodity which is bred, but the fruit of the unconditional love between husband and wife.