by Matt Gauntt
One more funny for a Friday afternoon...from a City Hall, somewhere in California:
"Hello, may I help you?"
"Good morning. We want to apply for a marriage license."
"Names?"
"Tim and Jim Jones."
"Jones? Are you related? I see a resemblance."
"Yes, we're brothers."
by David E. Smith
Writing about gay "marriage" in California, Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn sarcastically asks -- "[d]oes your marriage feel a little less special today, straight couples?" -– a version of the oft repeated liberal talking point of "how does my gay marriage affect your marriage?" Predictably, Zorn declares that jettisoning the concept of natural marriage doesn't hurt his marriage and that he and his wife "simply feel inspired." (His entire column can be read here.)
We shouldn't be surprised that Zorn appeals to emotions on such an important topic -– it is fairly typical of the Left. But the truth is, one's "feelings" and emotions should have very little to do with how we make public policy in our country -– especially policies as critical to the fundamental societal institutions of marriage and family.
by Susan Ryan
This seems to be a sign of the times, while wondering about the southern drift into Illinois. A father lost his parental authority to ground his daughter in the Quebec Superior Court. He enforced his house rules (cutting off internet use for misbehavior), and was taken to court by his 12 year old.
The court ruled in the child's favor; in that she was suffering from unduly severe punishment. The punishment: the father chose to have her miss the class field trip.
by David Smith, Illinois Family Institute
Yesterday, Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby wrote about the compelling new documentary, "Demographic Winter: The Decline of the Human Family." The film, in which numerous experts are interviewed, explores "the causes and effects of one of what may be the most ominous reality of 21st-century life: the fall in human birth rates almost everywhere in the world."
Jacoby begins his column talking about Thomas Malthus, "The Population Bomb," and other items that for decades warned that the world's biggest problem would be overpopulation. However, time has proven the complete opposite.
by George Kocan
I refuse to use the g-word, in this discussion. I prefer SAD (Sodomy Attraction Disorder) because it describes a pathological condition in clinical and descriptive terms. The g-word is clearly prejudicial and self-serving. I, therefore, refer to a person suffering from SAD, a ‘SADist’ or a SAD person.
SADists have boldly proclaimed that SAD is inherited. The first person to do so was Magnus Hirschfeld, a SADist who lobbied to abolish laws prohibiting SADism in Germany in 1898 (1). He claimed that scientific evidence proved that SAD was inborn and irreversible. I do not know what evidence he had in mind. Nevertheless, since then, behavioral genetics has advanced greatly. The science has shown that a great deal of human and animal behavior results from genetic influence.
Today at 5:01 PM PST, same sex couples will be begin marrying in California, barring any additional court action. California's preparing for an onslaught of weddings, Associated Press reports...
Continue reading "Same sex marriage on its way to Illinois?" »
For the last 23 years, Father's Day has been a bittersweet holiday for me. In 1985, my presumably healthy, active dad suffered a devastating heart attack and died shortly thereafter. The last time I held my dad's hand, he was failing quickly. Even then, he squeezed back as only he could do.
I've been thinking for the past couple of days about Dad's hand. It was his right one that was so unique. With only an eighth grade education, Dad was an ingeneous tool-and-die maker for an airplane manufacturer, and became a crucial advisor to well-educated aeronautics engineers. Long before I was born, he lost all of his pinkie finger and half of his ring finger in a machine accident, permanently deforming his hand.
As a child, I was embarrassed about Dad's hand. When he reached out to greet a stranger, the missing fingers were immediately noticable and Dad would often apologize. But after time, it has become those remaining fingers and the strength they symbolized that I remember most about him, and of which I am now most proud.
This past weekend, IR posted information about a group of activist homosexuals called Soulforce meeting with church leaders at Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington. One of the activists, a transexual, shares his/her perspective on the weekend's meeting on his/her blog featured HERE . . .
Continue reading "Willow Creek Church meeting through eyes of a transexual" »
by Cal Skinner
One of the first articles on McHenry County Blog was "Will Those Illegally in Illinois Will Be the Biggest Beneficiary of Governor Rod Blagojevich’s 'All Kids' Health Plan?" It ran on October 24, 2005.
At a town meeting conducted by State Senator Pam Althoff and State Rep. Mike Tryon in Lake in the Hills on October 24, 2005, the question came up and impressed the Northwest Herald reporter and editor enough that it ended up on the front page of the paper.
Continue reading ""All Kids" means "all," but Gov doesn't know how many" »
by Ed Jahn
I stand here, before the silent witnesses who now ask me “What do I say?”
They have all made their statement –they have all told me, shouting at the top of their voices, what has been, and what continues to be, important. It is I who have been asked “What do I say?”
For each of us, if we trace our lineage far enough, there was a father, a mother, an uncle, aunt, grandparent or great grandparent who knew what to do when freedom, and life itself, was threatened. Not just for their own lives or those whom they loved, but, in many cases, for the lives of total strangers who were threatened by tyranny in other parts of our world – that is part of their greatness, their willingness to sacrifice themselves in the mere, barely-breathed hope of preserving life, even when at the cost of one’s own life.
