NOTE:  A commenter has brought it to my attention that the article referenced in this posting has been retracted.  Here is the retraction:

Author’s Note: I made a serious error in reporting this column that undermines the conclusion I drew. I compared statistics on contraceptive use from a January 2011 Guttmacher Institute fact sheet to a year 2000 study on the same issue.  However, I did not realize that the 2011 fact sheet derived its statistics from the year 2000 numbers, so my argument was not supported by the data. I am deeply sorry for the error, which invalidates my piece.

First of all, thank you to the commenter for letting us all know of the error.  We always want to get the facts right.  We can’t make rational decisions based on myths and errors.  As Daniel Patrick Moynhan is quoted as saying, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”

I must point out,  however, that some of the statements in the article itself are not without merit.  For example, the statement that 54 percent of women who had abortions had used a contraceptive method in the month they got pregnant came directly from a Planned Parenthood information sheet.  It’s still a sobering number for those who claim that handing out condoms to teenagers will make abortion “rare.”  Yes, the statement is based on data gathered in 2000, but Planned Parenthood is still quoting this number today, so we have no reason to doubt that much has changed.  I referenced this in my previous posting on the relationship between contraception use and abortion.

ORIGINAL POSTING:

Even the Left is beginning to see Planned Parenthood’s deception.  Here is an article entitled Busting the Birth-Control Myth, written by Kirsten Powers, a former member of the Clinton administration.

I’ll admit I bought the argument—it makes intuitive sense—and initially opposed cutting off [Planned Parenthood] funding for precisely that reason.

Then I did a little research.

***

It’s unclear whether Planned Parenthood officials simply don’t understand statistics or are so accustomed to having their claims unquestioned that they think if they repeat them often enough, the facts will disappear.

***

… their dishonesty in how they present their organization to the public, along with ignoring basic statistics about their area of expertise, makes you wonder what else they are hiding. It’s also hard to deny that they are at core a blindly ideological organization, not a run-of-the-mill charitable nonprofit.

Entire column here.

When I started this blog earlier this year, one goal was to give you the very best pro-life information and analysis.  Not the daily news that will be forgotten in a month or so, but the stuff that really matters.  As a measure of our success, FAB was recently recognized as the best pro-life blog in all of Karns!

But this is more than a pro-life blog.  As politically active patriots, we share many interests that FAB touches on every now and then.  As it turns out, FAB provides expert economic analysis as well as pro-life commentary.  You are really getting two experts for the price of one!  On September 9, FAB wrote:

The ultimate cause of the economic conflagration was the widespread belief that this economic gravy train—25+ years of Reagan-Bush recovery—would never end.  This belief caused people throw caution to the wind.  They took on way too much debt to buy bigger and bigger houses and other stuff they didn’t need and couldn’t afford.  Lenders lent money to people who couldn’t afford to pay it back.  Corporations focused on short-term profits at the expense of long-term stability.  It’s very tempting to throw your money around at the casino if you get the stupid idea that the game won’t let you lose.

To elaborate, the crisis wasn’t created by just one culprit, but by the cumulative effects of more and more greed that manifested itself as risky economic behaviors, especially excess debt, at all levels of society, from the household to the state house (e.g., California and New Jersey) to the halls of Congress.

Well, it appears that the New York Times has finally caught up.  In Gold Fever: Pondering the Causes, NYT chief financial correspondent Floyd Norris observes:

… the problem seems to be perpetual weakness in rich economies that have been hobbled by debt foolishly taken on by people from bankers to subprime home buyers who had one thing in common: a belief that the risk of something going very wrong was all but nonexistent.  (emphasis added)

My mom always said she’d rather be right than rich.  Well, it seems I’ve gotten her wish.

Want some good investment advice?  FAB actually stole this from Somebody Else:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  (Matthew 6:19-21)

More on the way.  By the way, I’m also a Tennessee sports fan, and when we start winning football games, you’ll hear more about that as well.

Operation Rescue is hosting an online debate on personhood.

This is too funny.

BTW, UT fans may note that Hitler’s respons to the GOP takeover was uncannily similar to his reaction when Lane Kiffin bolted for USC, but I don’t want to get into that.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlnd4zW1NCU

Georgia Right to Life (GRTL) has announced that of the 104 candidates they endorsed for the November 2 elections, a whopping 90 of them won their elections.  This achievement is made even more remarkable when you consider the very strict endorsement criteria employed by GRTL.

All 9 of the statewide constitutional offices on the ballot won their races.  They were:

• Governor – Nathan Deal
• Lt. Governor – Casey Cagle
• Secretary of State – Brian Kemp
• Attorney General – Sam Olens
• State School Superintendent – John D. Barge
• Commissioner of Insurance – Ralph T. Hudgens
• Commissioner of Agriculture – Gary Black
• Commissioner of Labor – Mark Butler
• Public Service Commission, District 2 – Tim Echols

On average, there was a full 15% advantage given to GRTL-endorsed candidate over the next nearest pro-abortion candidate in each prospective statewide race.

We congratulate GRTL on their victories!

This ain’t on any of the wire services.  I got it from the very top; you saw it here first.  Republicans have picked up a whopping 14 seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives.  Only a couple of weeks ago, a member of the Tennessee House told me they “might pick up as many as 4.”  Wow.  Current score is 64-34-1.

Republicans also picked up one seat in the Tennessee Senate to improve their advantage to 20-13.

Republicans in this State have earned the trust of our citizens by moving forward with a common-sense conservative agenda over the last several years:  holding the line on spending, balancing the budget, just saying “no” to a state income tax, protecting the Second Amendment, moving an Amendment that will overturn a Supreme Court decision that prevents common-sense pro-life legislation, etc.  This is an example for Republicans all over the country.

I might have to move to Florida.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbaP0Jzd6QA

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHh6u4vunfM

I promised a big announcement this week, and here it is!

CBR Southeast / Pro Life on Campus is pleased to host Gov. Mike Huckabee for a spirit-filled evening of dinner and entertainment at the Knoxville Convention Center on February 14, 2011.  Gov. Huckabee was one of the top contenders for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination and is a possible 2012 candidate.

Also appearing will be Christian comedian Mike Williams, who has made millions of people laugh and will make you laugh, too!  Don’t wait to laugh; start now:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdE70-Os38o

Early-Bird Special.  Single tickets, $75.  Discounts for pairs and groups of 4.  Tables of 10 are $50 per person.  Get a table for your Church group, your Republican group, your pro-life group, or your friends and family.  What great Christmas presents! Reserve now, because tickets will go fast!

Get a table!  If you live anywhere near Knoxville, this is a great opportunity to introduce your friends to the great pro-life work that God is doing on campus.  Please invest $500 in babies and moms today, and the future of our Nation.  Get a table and bring your pro-life friends and family.

Meet Gov. Huckabee and Mr. Williams in person.  Sponsorships are available.  In addition to meeting Gov. Huckabee and Mr. Williams in person, sponsors will receive special recognition in event publicity and program materials.  Please call 1-800-521-6692 or e-mail jeff5120@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!

As far as I am aware, no one has asked President Obama a simple question: If your philosophy is so great, how come the countries that have embraced it for generations are so much poorer than we are?

Nor have they asked: If guaranteed health care for everyone will make us so much more “competitive,” how come we’ve been doing so much better than our “competitors” who already have socialized medicine, high tax rates, and lavish pensions?

(see more …)

This is one of the best I have ever seen and it was produced in 1948. This should be viewed by every American, whether Democrat or Republican. This cartoon is timeless and is even more true today as it was in 1948!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6H63CD7uQA

Great new movie out this week: I Want Your Money.

To find a theatre near you, click here.

Join filmmaker Ray Griggs in this documentary film I Want Your Money as he contrasts the two paths the United States can take using the words and actions of Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. The film uses interviews from well-known public figures, experts, movie clips, dramatic portrayals, music, graphics and even comedic animation to tell the story in the plainest terms of the choice between the Obama and the Reagan views of the role of the federal government in our society. It also examines how these big government programs have been tried in the past at great moral and financial cost to the nation. California is offered as a case-in-point in understanding what economic challenges might face the nation, if we choose the larger government path. Finally, I Want Your Money is a call to action for those who care about the future of the United States.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEPPHjKIZps

In a recent column, John Kass shared with us an excellent parable describing our relationship with the Federal government.  It’s called The Saga of Uncle Feds.

Uncle Feds is the big fat fellow who crashes on your couch. He’s been there for years and years. He demands roasts and chops, devouring whatever he can find in your refrigerator. And when you’re out working long hours, Uncle Feds sits on the couch ordering pay-per-view movies.

He was plenty big before all that hope and change. But in the last two years, Uncle Feds has become so incredibly large that his bulk defies description.

And while he eats, you begin to realize that you don’t have enough cash to fix that hole in your shoe, let alone think about college tuition for the kids.

So one night at dinner, Uncle Feds brings up the subject of your family’s financial problems. In a rational, calm and hopeful voice, he tells you that yes, the economy is lousy, but that you must stop worrying.

“Don’t be angry,” says Uncle Feds with a mouthful of rare beef. “Don’t focus on your anger. Don’t worry about a darned thing. I’ve just solved all your cash shortage problems.”

Your wife gives you one of those startled looks.

“Uncle Feds!” she says, “Just what have you done?”

“Well, I’ve just taken out a second mortgage on your house,” says Uncle Feds. “Your cash-flow worries are over.”

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like bad economics to me.  You reckon that makes me a racist?

Expanding on my previous post (and, lest you think Mark Levin was exaggerating), I wanted to call your attention to Michael Barone’s column (“The coming liberal thugocracy“) that appeared in the Washington Times in October 2008.

Barone forsaw the very kind of thuggish behavior that is proudly on display this election cycle.  The Family Research Council is reporting on it’s website:

Now we see thugocracy arriving in full form this election season. This past weekend President Obama said that campaign ads pointing out the voting records of Members of Congress who supported his policies were financed possibly by “foreign-owned corporations,” which is an accusation that even the New York Times found false.

Members of Congress are getting into the act as well by trying to silence any organizations that seek to expose their voting records. At least one of the targets of FRC Action PAC’s humorous “Get Government Off Our Backs” ad (CBS News and their online viewers declared the spot the “hottest ad of the week!”) has been calling television stations to stop the ads from airing. Congressman John Boccieri’s (D-Ohio) campaign called the ad misleading but after reviewing his voting record, the station quickly agreed the ad was truthful.

(Click here for more …)

Here’s the Get Government Off Our Backs ad:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XQNU0Fuj4g