A Moving Picture of Repentance

Andrea Roncato is an Italian actor and infamous playboy who is now, at 80 years old, reflecting on his life choices. One choice that he regrets is one he made with his former partner.

Roncato’s new book includes a poem he wrote to the son whose life they ended through abortion. The poem is called “I Would Have Liked You.”

One section reads: “I would have liked you to be small, so I could hug you.

“I would have liked you to be big, so I could lean on you.

“I would have liked you to be looking out the window in winter, watching the snow begin to fall.”

It ends this way: “I would have liked you near me on the day I must leave this world. I wish I had wanted you, the time when I didn’t want you…”

This is a moving picture of repentance—and it’s also a reminder that abortion harms more than just the ones who die. The ones who must live with their decisions suffer as well.

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Dirty do-gooders

As a hard left political organisation masquerading as a charity, Oxfam has for decades been prominent in the international aid conspiracy. The exposure of Oxfam's contemptuous exploitation of disaster victims is long overdue. Oxfam and all other fakes should be stripped of charitable status.

Oxfam abuse victims were sent back to war zones after raising complaints against aid workers, it was claimed in an official report exposing the scale of the scandal that engulfed the charity.

The report, by the Charity Commission, accuses Oxfam of underplaying the scale of allegations made by victims in Haiti and the UK in an attempt to protect the charity’s reputation and keep donations coming in.

It found that the charity failed to respond adequately to allegations that aid workers in Haiti were sexually abusing women whom they were supposed to be helping.

It also found that 16 child volunteers in UK high street stores had complained of being victims of abuse. However the report found that Oxfam “tolerated poor behaviour”.

The Charity Commission, which has been investigating Oxfam since last year, concluded that the charity’s approach to the allegations was marked “by a desire to protect its reputation and donor relationships”.

One allegation in the report, published yesterday, said: “Beneficiaries who raised complaints against Oxfam GB and UN staff were removed from camps and repatriated back to conflict zones by staff who wanted to protect their colleagues.”

The report came a year after allegations emerged that Oxfam aid workers had used prostitutes in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. The claims resulted in more than 7,000 people cancelling their donations, forcing Oxfam to make £16 million of cuts to aid projects.

Oxfam held its own investigation following allegations by a whistleblower in 2011, resulting in four people being sacked and three others, including Roland van Hauwermeiren, its former director in Haiti, being allowed to resign.

The Charity Commission report, which concluded that Oxfam put vulnerable children at risk by not investigating allegations of sexual assault by aid workers, came after an 18-month investigation and a six-month delay.

On Tuesday, the National Crime Agency confirmed it was investigating a case relating to two Haitian girls, aged 12 and 13, who claimed that they were “beaten and used” by an Oxfam “boss”.

Their emails were seen by Dame Barbara Stocking, the charity’s CEO at the time, and the charity concluded that the claims were “fake”.

However the report condemned the charity saying it did not take their allegations “seriously enough”, that it “should not have taken the risk with the safety of minors” and should have reported the allegations to police.

Regarding allegations that war refugees were “repatriated” if they raised concerns or reported staff had abused them, Stephen Twigg, Labour MP and chairman of the International Development Committee, said: “This allegation is extremely serious and merits further investigation.

There is a clear need to change the culture away from maintaining reputations of organisations. Staff need to have confidence that they will be protected and believed.”

This comes as a separate Oxfam-commissioned Independent Commission on Sexual Misconduct, Accountability and Culture conducted a global audit of the charity and concluded that it is blighted by “toxic working environments”, “colonial behaviour”, and sexism.

In response, Caroline Thomson, chairman of trustees at Oxfam GB, said that the charity is “deeply sorry” for its failure to prevent sexual abuse by its former staff in Haiti. “It was a terrible abuse of power, and an affront to the values that Oxfam holds dear,” she said.

She added that Oxfam has begun to implement the review’s 79 recommendations and accepted that its response to safeguarding should have been improved “further and faster” after Haiti, and added that the “very uncomfortable” findings from the inquiry will be used to “spur to greater improvement”.

Regarding the claim that victims were “repatriated”, a spokesman said more details have been requested.

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Massive Victory For Religious Freedom Over Obamacare Contraceptive Mandate

In a sweeping and dramatic victory for religious freedom, that the establishment media has refused to cover and Google has all but hidden from search results, a federal court in Fort Worth, Texas permanently blocked the federal government from enforcing the Obama Administration’s “Contraceptive Mandate” against any employer or individual who objects to the provision of contraception on religious grounds.

The court issued this injunction in response to a class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of individuals and employers who object to the Contraceptive Mandate based on their religious beliefs. The objecting individuals were represented by four Christian residents of Fort Worth who wish to purchase health insurance that excludes coverage of contraception, but are unable to do so on account of the Obama-era Contraceptive Mandate. The objecting employers were led by Steven F. Hotze, M.D., who operates his company as a Christian business and is unwilling to provide contraceptive coverage in the plan that he offers to his company’s employees.

Federal Judge Reed O’Connor’s 35-page decision is thorough and comprehensive in its reasoning. No American company should be forced to violate its religious beliefs, and no American should be forced to forgo health insurance to avoid subsidizing contraceptive methods that violate his or her religious convictions.

“The Contraceptive Mandate systematically discriminates against the Individual Class by blocking members’ entrance into the marketplace—due to religious exercise—[and] is a substantial burden of the highest order,” the court held in siding with religious freedom. The Court applied and enforced the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, which is based on the First Amendment, to protect all who oppose the Contraceptive Mandate on religious grounds.

“This is a dramatic, historic victory for religious liberty in our country,” Dr. Hotze declared. “We took a strong stand for our beliefs and it is gratifying to prevail in protecting this fundamental right of Americans to remain true to their religious beliefs.”

The Contraceptive Mandate has forced religious objectors to financially support abortifacients, drugs that cause abortions, despite their opposition to abortion. It has also compelled religious employers to become complicit with the provision of abortifacients. These compelled violations of religious freedom were permanently prohibited by Judge O’Connor’s ruling.

This decision follows on the heels of the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision from 2014, and continues the broad protections for religious liberty that were established in that ruling. “The Individual Plaintiffs having demonstrated a substantial burden on their religious exercise, it is again up to the government to demonstrate that the compelling interest test is satisfied,” the court held. It concluded that “the Government cannot do so,” and that religious freedom must prevail over the Contraceptive Mandate.

“I want this decision to encourage Christians to assert their religious liberty rights against the Obama Administration’s regulations,” said Dr. Hotze. He further stated, “There is a war between the secularists who promote a culture of death through the killing of the unborn and those who adhere to a Biblical faith and revere life. All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing. It is critical that Christians demonstrate the courage of their convictions and oppose the civil government when it violates their fundamental, God-given rights.”

The unprecedented news blackout of this important decision is in stark contrast to the wall-to-wall coverage of the order of a federal judge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who issued a nationwide injunction blocking a Trump administration healthcare policy that would allow employers to choose whether or not to provide free birth control to employees. The policy was supposed to take effect on Monday.

When U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone issued the injunction back in January, temporarily preventing the policy from taking effect that would have reversed a mandate from Obamacare forcing employers to provide free healthcare to employees, whether or not they may have a moral or religious objection to birth control practices the major networks gave it substantial coverage and news of the temporary injunction still tops Google search results on the subject.

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Masterpiece Cakeshop Was Just Sued For 'Discrimination' For A THIRD Time

Masterpiece Cakeshop is again under fire, now the subject of a third discrimination lawsuit alleging that owner Jack Phillips "discriminated" against a customer by refusing to make a cake for an unspecified event.

Phillips, of course, won at the United States Supreme Court after suing a Colorado "human rights" commission that punished him for refusing to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding in Denver, a task Phillips said violated his religious conviction that true marriage is between one man and one woman. Phillips offered to sell the couple a pre-made cake or refer them to another baker — solutions that would have allowed Phillips to avoid material participation in the same-sex wedding — but the couple wasn't satisfied and leveled a complaint with Colorado authorities.

Ultimately, in a decisive Supreme Court victory, Phillips won against the Colorado human rights commission, but the victory hinged on the behavior of the commission itself, which SCOTUS found to be harassing and discriminatory. The Supreme Court refused to issue a verdict on whether the First Amendment's free exercise clause protects Christians from being forced to participate in same-sex weddings — or any event or action that violates their right of conscience.

But, intent on punishing Phillips for his "crimes," leftists have hit the baker twice with lawsuits alleging further "discrimination," once the day of the Supreme Court verdict — that was tossed out — and again last week, according to CBS's Denver affiliate.

"The latest lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Denver District Court on behalf of Autumn Scardina by attorneys Paula Greisen and John McHugh," the outlet reports.

Scardina is the same woman who filed the previous lawsuit alleging discrimination after Masterpiece Cakeshop denied her request — made the day Phillips won his case — for a cake celebrating her gender transition. Reports on this newest lawsuit are vague on the theme of the pastry in question — they have said, so far, only that Scardina requested a "birthday cake" — but previous filings indicate that Scardina has gone out of her way on several occasions to request cakes Masterpiece Cakeshop clearly will not make.

Newsweek reports that the baked goods at the center of Scardina's previous complaints to Colorado authorities included a "cake to celebrate Satan's birthday," with "cheesecake frosting" that would feature "a large figure of Satan, licking a 9” black Dildo...an actual working model, that can be turned on before we unveil the cake."

Phillips said then that he believes Scardina regularly requests objectionable cakes from his bakery, including cakes with pentagrams and upside-down crosses.

Scardina's previous lawsuit, based on claims Phillips made during the original same-sex wedding cake litigation that he would make "any" cake for an LGBT customer except for a wedding cake, was dropped back in September of last year, after Phillips agreed to drop his own discrimination case against the state of Colorado, according to Colorado Public Radio.

But Scardina, apparently, felt no need to give up.

"A new lawsuit has been filed against Masterpiece Cakeshop that appears to largely rehash old claims. The State of Colorado abandoned similar ones just a few months ago. So this latest attack by Autumn Scardina looks like yet another desperate attempt to harass cake artist Jack Phillips. And it stumbles over the one detail that matters most: Jack serves everyone; he just cannot express all messages through his custom cakes," Phillips' attorney said in a statement Monday.

This latest lawsuit bypasses the state of Colorado and requests a trial by jury instead.

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the  incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of  other countries.  The only real difference, however, is how much power they have.  In America, their power is limited by democracy.  To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already  very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges.  They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did:  None.  So look to the colleges to see  what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way.  It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH,   EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and  DISSECTING LEFTISM.   My Home Pages are here or   here or   here.  Email me (John Ray) here.  Email me (John Ray) here. 

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