Thursday, February 20, 2014

United Nations making sense for a change

For years, the international community has been criticized in the United States because of the efforts of various state legislatures, including Ohio, to limit and restrict abortion activity.

 

The battle cry of these mostly European liberals has centered around a woman's right to determine what she does with a conglomeration of cells in her own body. They view  abortion as no more significant than having a wart removed.

 

Unfortunately for the  pro-abortion crowd, a recent United Nations report released on Monday shows a little crack in the international armor frequently worn by those who want to end the life of the unborn.

 

The new report catalogs scores of human rights violations taking place in North Korea: Murder, rape, and the systematic torture of those who oppose the government. The report was commissioned by the UN and written by a former judge from Australia.

 

Some have glossed  over one of the major concerns listed in this comprehensive report. This highlighted human rights violation is the act of forced abortions.

 

If abortion is merely the removal of irrelevant tissue, then why is a forced abortion considered a human rights violation?

 

The answer is obvious.
The  United Nations commission recognizes that a forced abortion constitutes the violent death of a child brutally and bloodily extracted from a horrified mother.

 

Take that, international community. The United Nations has recognized the importance of the unborn child and the tragic consequences visited upon a mother who loses that child at the hands of the abortionist.

 

The report also contains a letter from the United Nations commission asking the Chinese government to help put pressure on North Korea to cease and desist in undertaking these horrible human rights atrocities.

 

The director of the commission felt that North Korea's superpower ally would be the country most likely to have some influence over Kim Jong-un, the egotistical North Korean leader.

 

Unfortunately, the commissioners have forgotten that China itself, with its one child per family policy, has been and continues to engage in the diabolical practice of forcing women onto the gurney at the point of a gun to  engage in their version of forced fetal executions.

 

Listen folks, if an organization such as the United Nations is willing to admit that abortion is a horror, then the rest of us need to rally the rest of the world to do something.

 

If getting mankind to stop forced abortions in North Korea becomes the first step in stopping the unprecedented destruction of pre-born life throughout the world, and I'm all for it and am willing to support the United Nations in this effort.

 

During World War II, humanitarians urged President Franklin Roosevelt to do everything in his power to put an end to the merciless destruction of the Jews at the hands of the godless and satanic Nazi regime.

 

The innocent unborn child faces the same death camp as did our Jewish brothers and sisters in the 1940s.

 

Are you still willing to be silent?

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Wake up Lake County and the rest of the region!

Whatever happened to regionalism?

 

If you been studying Cuyahoga County's attempts to extend the sin tax for another 20 years, you have to conclude that regionalism has lost its sex appeal.

 

Back in 1990 the residents of Cuyahoga County decided that every time you buy a pack of cigarettes, you should pay an additional 4.5 cents in order to support the construction of the Indians Stadium and the Cavaliers arena. In addition, extra fees were lopped onto the purchase of beer, wine, and hard liquor. By the way, the sin tax on 1 gallon of hard liquor is a whopping three dollars.

 

Since its passage, $350 million has been raised for those glorious sports palaces.

 

The new sin tax extension will generate approximately $260 million and will be applied to the Q, Progressive Field, and FirstEnergy  Stadium, the Cleveland Browns facility being a newly added beneficiary of your smoking and drinking in Cuyahoga County.

 

Here's my problem.

 

The presence of the sports teams makes for better quality of life and helps us to attract business activity in the entire region of Northeast Ohio.

 

There are six counties that are contiguous to Cuyahoga County: Lake, Geauga, Medina, Portage, Summit, and Lorain.

 

They benefit from and use the sports facilities just as much as those  from Cuyahoga County do.

 

As a matter of fact, it's no secret that the lion's share of wealth in Northeast Ohio lies outside of Cuyahoga  County in the six counties I just identified where people of greater means live in luxurious housing developments far from the  crime  of the central city in Cleveland.

 

It's only fair that those that derive the greatest benefit from the sin tax should share in paying it.

 

Here's another way of restating my proposition.

 

Poor people and others who live in lower income areas are paying a higher cost for cigarettes and alcohol than wealthy folks who are the ones most likely to enjoy the benefits of the Browns, Cavaliers, and Indians.

 

Who can afford to attend these sporting events? I think you'll find that season-ticket holders and others who could buy the expensive seats,  overpriced food, and  high priced parking are people that drive in from outside of Cuyahoga County so they can entertain their families and their corporate customers.

 

I am urging citizens of Cuyahoga County to turn down the sin tax until the burden is shared by the entire region.

 

In addition,  I am telling the citizens of these six contiguous counties to step up to the plate.

 

Stop taking advantage of those in the lower income brackets who paid for your sports playgrounds. Go ahead and have a good time, but let's not do it completely at the expense of those who can least afford it.

 

Something is wrong when the Kirtland millionaire at a tribe game looks with contempt at the wino who paid for the stadium.

 

All I'm asking you to do is pay your fair share so that the entirety of the burden doesn't fall on Cuyahoga County residents alone.

 

Is that so much to ask?

Thursday, February 6, 2014

True love means sacrificial commitment

The other day I heard an amazing story.

 

It seems that a young man and his bride were looking forward to their wedding day which was only a few months out into the future.

 

The handsome young man and  beautiful young lady each had promising professional careers ahead of them. They also  looked forward to children.

 

One night, the bride-to-be had a terrible nightmare that caused her to jump headfirst off  the end of her bed.

 

She snapped her neck and within a few days she was pronounced a permanent quadriplegic.

 

Here's where the real miracle begins.

 

The bride's father had a man-to-man talk with the groom, explaining that everyone would understand if he decided to back out of the wedding.

 

The groom's circle of friends and family also counseled him to withdraw from his nuptials.  Well-meaning associates warned him of the struggles that lay ahead in tying the knot  with the young lady who couldn't even tie her own shoes.

 

This determined groom then explained  to all the definition of love. He told them that he had made a permanent commitment to the woman that he loved in a way that transcended physical limitations. There was no sacrifice he would not make for his beloved.

 

The wedding went forward and this dynamic couple is the very picture of marital love.  They are heroic lovers.

 

Then there's the couple by the name of Mary Lou and Jim Beers.  He suffered a stroke in 1971 and was  unable to move  his limbs during 37 of the 40 years of marriage.

 

Jim died just a few years ago but his wife's dedication to him and to their relationship is a touching tribute to the power of the human soul.

 

Valentine's Day will be with us in just a few days.

 

 

Does your love come from your soul instead of your loins?

 

Is your love truly unconditional to the point where there is no pain or inconvenience that you wouldn't endure in order to be of loving service to that one single person to whom you've made a lifetime commitment?

 

In our culture of oversexed and superficial relationships, the meaning of true love is rarely put on display.

 

Unfortunately, this frequently means that a middle-aged man feels justified in dumping his wife for a perkier model with tight buns.

 

All of us need to know this: when the clumps of dirt are thrown upon our casket and we watch from afar in bodiless spirit form, the scorecard for our eternal existence will show a massive accumulation of points for those that loved truly and dearly and sacrificially.

 

Those that have loved superficially, unwilling to put aside concern for themselves, will find that they are watching their own burial from an uncomfortably warm climate.

 

If you want to be a true lover, sacrifice and never abandon.

 

After all, it's for better or for worse, right?

 

Peace.