Culture Challenge of the Week: Comfort Care

An interesting story from www.HowToSaveYourFamily.com about this deadly medical procedure. This follows this post about the California Senate race. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.

Culture Challenge of the Week: Comfort Care‏

If you are a regular reader of this newsletter, then you know that most times I discuss ways that "young" parents can strengthen their relationships with their children, grow their faith in God and equip them to tower above the pop culture. But, I'm interested in helping another type of parent too -- the grand and great-grand parents; those who are older, and sadly, now among the most vulnerable in our society.The bottom line is this: We live in culture that does not value all human life equally. After all the years of civil rights struggles, there are still classes of people that don't have equal protection under the law. And, instead of getting better and improving the way we as a nation treat others, we are regressing into a society that is beginning to value only the healthy, strong, and productive. The hard reality is you now have to fight to protect the lives of your many of your loved ones: the elderly, severely disabled, ill, or very young. I've made this topic my Culture Challenge of the Week:
Culture Challenge of the Week: Comfort Care
You’ve probably never heard of Don Holley. But, you should know his name, and you should know how his family said he died: in a San Francisco hospital at the hands of medical staff using a procedure called, "Comfort Care."More and more people are finding that the hospitals they go to for help are becoming the places that permanently put them, or their loved ones, out of their misery. In Don Holley’s case, the hospital he went to for healing morphed into a medical version of the nightmarish "Hotel California," described in the popular 1970s song by the Eagles.I recently wrote in this newsletter about my family’s horrible experience warding off the medical death squad when my dad was hospitalized for a heart attack. We won that battle, and dad went on to live several more years. Many of you responded with nightmare stories of your own; stories of loved ones who were killed by the modern medical culture that has developed the personal belief that many patients are often better off dead, and that is up to hospitals to make sure they are.Don Holley was a 90-year-old man who died in May from choking on a pool of blood caused by medical professionals who were starving and dehydrating him. You can learn more about Holley's death by searching for "Don Holley" at www.kgo-tv.com, but here’s a summary of the report:Mr. Holley entered the hospital after suffering a stroke. Although he was recovering, personnel convinced his neighbor, who had his power of attorney, that Don’s condition was so serious he should be put on what they call, "Comfort Care." This insidiously evil, but lovely sounding procedure simply means you are heavily drugged while you are denied food and water. It is a barbaric way of killing helpless patients who someone has determined aren’t worth bothering with anymore. In Don’s case, oxygen was still administered while his body was shriveling up from dehydration, causing the blood vessels in his nose to burst and bleed into his throat. The hospital staff decided it was too much trouble to continue to suction the blood from his throat, so they let him drown in his own blood while family members stood by helplessly pleading for someone to save him.
I wish Don’s case were a horrible anomaly -- the result of terrible confusion and mismanagement by a bumbling hospital or a crazed, rogue nurse that hates old people. But, not so. He was passively, but systematically, killed by a medical culture that is now more influenced by organizations like the infamous Hemlock Society, which has cleverly been renamed the pleasant sounding "Compassion and Choices," than it is by the time-honored principle to "first do no harm." You must know Don Holley’s story because it just might become your own.How to Save Your Family Members from the New "Comfort" CultureFight for their lives. Fight tooth and nail if you have a hospitalized family member who is being denied basic care, or if you are being pressured to sign documents you don’t understand. Call for free legal help.
You can contact the Liberty Counsel at (800) 671-1776, or by visiting www.lc.org. The organization moves quickly to intervene in situations of emergency. But, don’t wait until an emergency to take action. Become an advocate right now for the most vulnerable among us: the sick, aged, disabled, and very young. They have a right to live. And, when they go to a hospital seeking medical care, they have a right to receive it. We live in a culture where we can no longer assume that hospitals are places of healing and help. There is an evil sweeping our nation that is using very clever, compassionate sounding language to hasten the deaths of people who are inconveniences, or who -- hospitals believe -- don’t contribute to society. Not unlike your worst nightmare or a horror movie, a hospital can quickly morph into the "Hotel California," where "you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave."
The very best place to educate yourself quickly on both the history and recent activities of the death movement is at the website of the International Task Force at www.InternationalTaskForce.org. You owe it to your elderly parents and grandparents -- if you are still blessed enough to have them -- to sit down and have a discussion about how you will be their advocate if the time comes when they are vulnerable and ill. And, although we don't like to think about infant or child mortality, you must also be prepared to fight for the lives of your children should they ever enter a hospital. The bottom line is that patients in hospitals need advocates, and you should vow right now to become a very vocal advocate for your loved ones if they are ever hospitalized. Ask questions. Demand pain control. Sleep in the room to be there to make sure they are getting the care they need. Medical professionals are, by nature, mostly decent people who enter the profession because they care about patients. But, that does not mean they share your principles about the value of every human life. And, in this era of government-run health care, more and more decisions, even about life and death, will be made according to what is expedient. Don't let your family members fall victim.

Culture Challenge: Communism’s Forgotten Victims

An interesting article from Rebecca Hagelin about the MANY victims of Communism throughout the world over the years! Click the links near the bottom!

Culture Challenge: Communism’s Forgotten Victims
It's not often that I will write about issues of national security or national freedom in this e-newsletter. I normally like to focus on offering help for every day problems you might be facing in your family. However, given that this generation of children has no personal memory of a momentous historic event that affects all of our lives, and millions upon millions around the world, I thought it is important to address the anniversary of this great event: The fall of the Soviet Union.I hope you will make time to discuss the topic with your own kids so they can understand just how blessed they are to live in a free society. Perhaps you can use my Culture Challenge of the Week as a discussion guide, and visit one or more of the Web sites below with your child.
Culture Challenge of the Week: Communism’s Forgotten Victims
Three summers ago, I witnessed the dancing eyes and exuberant smiles of fellow humans who were tasting freedom for the very first time. I was on a Florida barrier island when some three-dozen very lucky Cubans escaped their captors, beat the odds in dangerous seas, and finally stepped into freedom on America’s shore. It seemed that they came from another time--almost like characters from an old black-and-white movie about war and oppression. As I processed what I was witnessing, I began to realize that they were flesh-and-blood representatives of millions like them who have suffered in the clutches of communist regimes. From the Soviet gulags, to China’s Tiananmen Square, to North Korea, to the tiny island of Cuba and other places in-between, 100 million men, women and children around the world have been victimized by communist thugs. Just 90 miles from our own border a third generation of Cuban people remains captive to the same brutal regime that terrorized their grandparents. Americans are often oblivious to the tragic reality that people in our own backyard, and around the world still suffer and die under brutal communist oppression.
The news media is all but silent about the bloody history while propagandists like Michael Moore get rich from extolling a radical socialist agenda and portraying the oppressive communist systems as benevolent.
Our children’s textbooks are strangely void of even a mention of the 14 million political prisoners, who either barely clung to life or died in inhumane Soviet gulags. Meanwhile, every year, thousands of Cubans are still imprisoned and severely punished in dank jails. Thousands of others leave their loved ones in the dark of night, slip into home-made rafts, and brave the deadly Florida Straits in search of freedom. Most Americans don’t realize that we are one month away from the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union. I will always remember how stunning it was to see the wall come tumbling down. But, I am just as stunned when teenagers and young adults have no idea just how significant that day was -- or just how wrong it is that 20 years later communism still has a strangle hold on many of our fellow humans. Ignorance may be bliss, but it can also be deadly. If we do not pass on the truth about communism’s bloody history, and if our culture continues to ignore the lingering infection and festering of communist ideology and brutality on mankind, we are in grave danger of falling victim to either it or one of its numerous insidiously evil ideological cousins.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is dedicated to preserving the stories of real people who suffered, and continue to suffer, under communism's fist. Dr. Lee Edwards, chairman of the foundation -- and a powerful voice for the oppressed, a noted historian, and a perfect gentleman if ever there was one -- seeks to save future generations from oppression by honoring those who have stood in the face of it. Dr. Edward’s latest effort to share the horrible truth about communism includes a display of deeply disturbing paintings of human misery by 14-year gulag survivor, artist Nikolai Getman. The forlorn faces and eyes in these paintings are haunting and vacant -- a stark contrast to the joyful eyes of those I met on the beach that day. The Gulag Collection is on display through November 9 at The Heritage Foundation in Washington DC, and is free and open to the public.

For more information on how to view the collection visit www.Heritage.org.

You and your children can learn about those who stood up to communism, how to pay tribute to them, and how to help those who continue to suffer by visiting www.VictimsOfCommunism.org and the Global Museum on Communism at www.GlobalMuseumOnCommunism.org.

If you care to read more about the day I witnessed those Cuban refugees enjoy their first hours of freedom, visit my Web site where you can access my column archives. I was actually the only journalist on-site when they arrived, and had the incredible honor of filing the first news story about their successful landing. It was truly a life-changing experience for them -- and for me!

Spring Break Reading

Here is a very interesting column to read before Spring Break. H/t www.townhall.com PS. Click through the links for some VERY interesting reading!!!

Parents Should Raise the Bar for Their Kids
Rebecca Hagelin

Spring break is in full swing for many college students across the country. And believe me, when I say "full swing," I mean full-rockin', rollin' party-hearty swinging!
But given that nearly all of these students’ lifestyles are still funded by their parents, and that nearly all are still under the legal drinking age, it makes me wonder: What are their parents thinking?
As a mom of two college men I actually find it fairly easy to boldly proclaim: "If you are livin' on my dime, then you are livin' by my rules."
My rules for them as adults are actually filled with freedom, coupled with the principle of "self government." They were raised with this consistent theme, and they understand that my husband and I practice the "abuse and lose" approach. (I.e., they have both freedom and our full support as long as they follow basic rules that provide for their safety, moral development, and future.)
Of course, I can hear the naysayers now: "But they’re adults. You can't tell adult children what to do." To this I simply answer, "BALONEY!"
I am a much-older adult, and I understand that an employer can impose certain codes and expectations for my behavior on me. That's the deal in life -- you work for someone, you have to play by their rules. (Of course I know they can't trample your basic rights, deny civil liberties, etc. So don't go there. You know what I'm talking about.)
The young college men in my life -- of whom I am so very proud and blessed to be called their "mom" -- also know that my husband and I are fully committed to them as individuals and will provide plenty of opportunities for good, safe fun.
Let's get back to Spring Break as an example. Instead of shrugging our shoulders and letting them go off to some distant beach where mayhem, alcohol and "Girls Gone Wild" abound, I booked a house at our favorite beach, which is located on a barrier island on Florida's Gulf Coast. With no bridge (you have to get here by boat) and no bars, this break is a lot safer and a lot more meaningful than what many are experiencing.
One of my dear friends has a house nearby and her daughter, also on Spring Break, has brought about nine of her "best friends" too. So, there's plenty of social activity, fun and friendship without the nonsense. The kids go back and forth between our houses, so my friend and I both get to spend time with them and listen to their entertaining -- and interesting -- chatter.
Last night the gang was at my friend's house and the main topic of conversation proved an-eye-opening, mind-numbing experience for her.
Most of the girls on this trip are freshmen, and somehow the conversation led to a shared humiliating experience now common at most college campuses: the mandatory co-ed, sex-ed course they all attended during their first few weeks on campus. They described the graphic nature of the class, and how embarrassed and outraged they were when they were shown how to put a condom on a banana.
But then it got worse -- they were all encouraged to do the condom/banana exercise, too. The girls spoke of how a couple of their fellow students seemed to take great pride at their skill in demonstrating what seemed an all-too-familiar maneuver. However, my young friends said they were mortified and left the course feeling "trashy" and belittled by administration officials who expect them to all behave like wild animals in heat. "They seemed to be encouraging us to be sexually active," one member of the volley ball team said. "I was insulted and offended by the entire experience."
This particular young co-ed had gone to a private Christian high school, so she had managed to escape the low expectations that many educators bring to today's youth. She and her mom weren’t aware that in today's public schools, millions of boys and girls are now, indeed, treated as if they are going to be sex-crazed creatures and, therefore, are actually encouraged to engage in risky behavior.
Face it: When an adult in authority stands in front of the classroom and directs graphic discussions of sex in every form, forces boys and girls to sit by each other throughout the humiliating lectures, and then further violates the child's natural tendencies to be private or modest, then you end up with kids who follow what they’ve been taught. On the other hand, when kids are treated with dignity, taught the value of abstinence, and how to avoid placing themselves in compromising situations in the first place, the research shows that more of them do, indeed, respond by adopting a lifestyle of self-control and more responsible behavior than those drowning in "sex ed". Also critical to the delayed on-set of sexual activity is parental involvement. I can not overstate the influence that loving, connected parents have on their teens and young adult children.

You'll find loads of data and research on both points at
www.abstinenceclearninghouse.com and www.familyfacts.org

Which, once again, brings me back to the plethora of wild Spring Break "pah-tays" going on around the country as you read this. I wonder: if more public junior high and high schools joined hands with more parents in teaching abstinence education, the concepts of self-worth and basic morality, wouldn’t our nation's kids have a higher view of themselves and rise to meet the expectations?
And if colleges and parents expected better of our kids, wouldn’t more of them choose the higher ground? If more parents took the effort to provide safer -- but still "way fun" -- supervised beach trips and other options for college kids, would more of them opt for something other than the drunken orgies that many Spring Break trips have become? In short, are older adults getting exactly the type of behavior from young adults that we expect?
Granted, my personal "focus group" is small. But the data, my experience, and the e-mails I receive from thousands of people tell me this: Young adults are still malleable, still looking for direction, and still crave to rise above the status quo. But they need help and encouragement. They need to be told that they can be self-controlled people of strong character, and they need to be provided with opportunities to thrive, have fun, and become men and women they can be proud of.
Young adults rise or fall to the expectation levels set for them. Will you help raise the bar?

Dark Horse

I wanted to let you know about this book that came out this year. It does show the problems that getting involved in politics can lead to, in a somewhat entertaining way. One of the main problems is that people do seem to have to compromise their principles to win elections, especially in a party politics system. Of course, our own church does publish some booklets that talk about the coming King of Kings who won't have to be dependant upon anyone for electoral favors such as this booklet
http://www.gnmagazine.org/booklets/JC/ which is well worth rereading again if you haven't in a while. Anyway, the book I wanted to let you know about is reviewed below if you are interested in it.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191865776&referer=brief_results
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
A Look Behind the Curtain,
By
Bill Wood "Perimeter reader" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
Dark Horse is a fast paced story that could have been easily lifted from newspapers or right off of the network news programs. Although it was a little challenging at the very beginning, probably due to the reader being dropped into the middle of a political process with a large cast of characters, Once you sort out the players the payoff is worthwhile. Ralph Reed has been involved in bare knuckled politics for many years. It is obvious from the tags for this book, that he continues to be a lightening rod of vitriol from his political adversaries. I suppose success brings both adoration and vilification. Notwithstanding all of that, Dark Horse is a fun read, in the way that Bill Buckley's Blackford Oakes series are fun to read. One gets the sense that as this story unfolds the reader is treated to a behind the scenes look at the intrigue of a national campaign. Who better to let us in on that than one who has been in the center of many political storms over the years. Though Reed portrays politicians and religious leaders reasonably realistically, every one appears to be brawlers when the gloves come off in the heat of the battle. it is easy to imagine that much of the story was drawn from Reed's experience as a consultant in the political process and a former candidate for office himself. That little touch of realism makes the story that much more interesting. If you are looking for a fun read with a little constitutional education and political drama, Dark Horse fits the bill. For the aspiring young politico, Dark Horse captures the heat and emotion and does so in a manner that one would not mind their kids picking up the book and reading it. Hopefully Ralph will give us another book in the no so distant future that extends the story line of some of the interesting characters we have met in this book. And another review is here http://www.townhall.com/columnists/RebeccaHagelin/2008/06/19/bet_on_this_dark_horse