Today is National Banana Split Day! The delicious mixture of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream, on top of a split banana and covered with flavored syrups and additional toppings, was supposedly invented in 1904.

Especially enjoyable on one of these hot summer days. Note that some references say August 25, not August 10, is the official day. Just Split the difference, and chow down on a banana split both days. Enjoy!

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A review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association documents the accuracy of a simple blood test for sex determination of a developing human fetus as early as 7 weeks gestation. The study simply looked at the reliability of such tests, but did not bother to address the ethical questions about such tests, other than a brief mention: “A much broader potential application for fetal sex detection is family balancing, which poses ethical concerns.”

The availability of early accurate fetal testing can easily be abused for sex selection or other eugenic abortions. Indeed, ethicists on all sides of the abortion debate recognize the concerns. Pro-choice ethicist Arthur Caplan calls this a “troubling technology”, while Wesley Smith notes:

Society will rise or fall ethically by how we live our individual lives. Thus, we may want a boy or a girl, but that does not mean we should do whatever it takes to obtain our desire.

Eugenic abortions, including sex selective abortions, are unfortunately widespread. Estimates are that over 160 million female babies have been aborted since the 1970′s by parents who wanted sons instead of daughters. And eugenic testing and abortion of individuals with conditions such as Downs Syndrome is also well documented. The eugenic process of sex selective abortion is leading to an estimated 10%-20% excess in young males in China and India. The increasingly easy availability of fetal testing will only accelerate this imbalance, as well as other eugenic practices. As William McGurn has noted, 160 million girls aborted simply because they weren’t boys is a “moral outrage.”

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Dr. Bernadine Healy, the first woman to serve as Director of the National Institutes of Health, died at her home in Cleveland last Saturday. Dr. Healy also served as head of the American Red Cross during the September 11 terrorist attacks, and as Dean of the Ohio State University Medical School.

Dr. Healy was forceful and outspoken, and was a strong women’s health advocate. She said:

“I always try not to be strident, but I do try to be forceful about things that are right.”

One of the things about which she was right as well as forceful was stem cells; she noted back in 2009 that embryonic stem cells already were obsolete. Cutting-edge science has passed by embryonic stem cells, not only with the advent of iPS cells as a superior alternative for laboratory studies, but more significantly with adult stem cells for patient treatments now.

Dr. Healy, thank you for your forceful advocacy and integrity.

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Source: Pew Forum, "Rising Restrictions on Religion"

An arresting new study, issued by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, demonstrates that “restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose between mid-2006 and mid-2009 in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%).”  However, as the study notes, this 12% figure is misleading: “Because several countries with increasing restrictions on religion are very populous, however, the increases affect a much larger share of people than of states. More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third (32%) of the world’s total population of 6.9 billion – live in countries where either government restrictions on religion or social hostilities involving religion rose substantially over the three-year period studied.”

The Pew report is well quantified; “The researchers involved in this process recorded only concrete reports about specific government laws, policies and actions, as well as incidents of religious violence or intolerance by social groups; they did not rely on the commentaries or opinions of the sources.”  In other words, the researchers can back up what they claim with hard data, which makes their findings all the more disturbing.  Family Research Council believes that religious liberty is a right bestowed by God, which is why we advocate for it here at home and stand with those persecuted for their faith around the world.

In comments to a group of the Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1789, George Washington noted that “The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshiping Almighty God agreebly to their conscience, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights.”  The right of religious liberty is endowed to all men, everywhere, as each of us is made in God’s image and likeness and merits the freedom conscientiously to follow Him.  When government interferes with that right, it oversteps its God-given authority.  Sadly, such overstepping is far too common in our time.

Christians can write or email the embassies of offending countries, respectfully calling on them to stop persecution of believers in their nations.  Some can go to the regions affected to minister to those who are oppressed.  Most can give to organizations that help fight persecution (see FRC’s Real Compassion to learn about ministries that work for international religious liberty).  And all of us can pray.  Let us.

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Over the past three nights, there have been many riots in English cities.  Here is a map for riots in London alone from August 6-9.  The Left is trying to spin the story that budget cuts caused people to burn buildings and steal plasma TVs.  Ridiculous.  Completely on point are the many articles and books by Theodore Dalrymple.  For decades he has been writing about the decline of British civil society and the simultaneous rise of a vicious underclass with little or no moral consciousness.

It is also clear that the British authorities have policies in place to deal with a civilized population that no longer populates that country.  A furniture business started in 1867 survived the Blitz but not the Huns of 2011.  Here was the caption under two photographs: “Croydon: A woman leaps from a burning building in Surrey Street, after flames threaten to engulf her. People stand to catch her as she jumps to safety.”

So, the police will need to use greater levels of force to maintain peace. Rubber bullets are being threatened tonight. Maybe.

Laws without moral inhibitions supporting them usually prove ineffective.  This is what we have seen in London the past few days.  Is it possible that the social conservatives are on to something?  Mike Judge of the U.K.’s Christian Institute had these comments about the riots.

Pray for a peaceful night in the United Kingdom.

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For more information on the August 1st HHS interim rule which addresses women’s preventive services that insurance providers are now mandated to cover contraceptives with no co-pay, see this new FRC fact sheet.

You have an opportunity to voice your concerns. HHS is receiving comments from the public on the new rule until September 30, 2011. Please Note: all comments submitted to HHS will be made public so be careful not to include personally identifiable information.

According to the notice issued in the Federal Register on Wednesday, August 3rd, you can send comments in a variety of ways:

You may submit comments in one of four ways (please choose only one of the ways listed):

1. Electronically. You may submit electronic comments on this regulation here. Follow
the ‘‘Submit a comment’’ instructions.

2. By regular mail. You may mail written comments to the following address ONLY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Attention: CMS–9992–IFC2, P.O. Box 8010, Baltimore, MD 21244–8010. Please allow sufficient time for mailed comments to be received before the close of the comment period.

3. By express or overnight mail. You may send written comments to the following address ONLY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Attention: CMS–9992–IFC2, Mail Stop C4–26–05, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244–1850.

4. By hand or courier. Alternatively, you may deliver (by hand or courier) your written comments ONLY to the following addresses prior to the close of the comment period: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Room 445–G, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201.

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Adult stem cell transplants are helping thousands of patients every year. Of the over 50,000 adult stem cell transplants per year, a little less than half use donor (“allogeneic”) adult stem cells, from bone marrow or umbilical cord blood. In those cases, it is critical that a proper match be made. Without a good match, the transplanted donor cells may fail to engraft, or worse, may attack their new host, a condition called “graft versus host disease” (GVHD).

Now scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have shown that growing blood-forming adult stem cells in the lab for about a week can overcome much of the problem of immune rejection for these transplants. They developed a recipe for growth of both mouse and human adult stem cells in culture, greatly expanding the numbers of cells available for transplant. They also found that the lab-grown adult stem cells started to produce a specific immune system inhibitor, CD274, on their cell membranes and this also improved transplant efficiency. Overall, they achieved a 40-fold increase in transplantation ability, using mice as a model. They hope to be able to achieve as least as good a result for human adult stem cells.

According to senior author Dr. Cheng Cheng Zhang:

“If donor human [adult stem cells] can be expanded in culture and engraft non-matched or low-matched patients without graft-versus-host disease, this strategy will possibly lead to an ultimate solution to problems in allogeneic transplantation.”

In other words, a short period of growth in the lab could mean no more problems in matching for donor adult stem cell transplants.

The research is published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

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Despite critiques of the U.N.’s world population predictions, a recent Wall Street Journal article by Jonathan Last could have gone even further in pointing out how bleak the developed world’s demographic picture is.

This past May, the U.N. released its latest report on world demographics, saying that Italy, Poland, and the European Continent as a whole, have rosy demographic futures. Last correctly takes issue with these predictions saying that in order for the world to actually achieve the U.N.’s projected numbers, one big assumption had to be made, that “starting tomorrow, every country in the world with fertility below the replacement rate of 2.1 will increase its fertility. And this rise will continue unabated, year after year, until every First World country has a Total Fertility Rate (TFR) near replacement.”

Mr. Last reasons that this projection is dubious, in part because the U.N.’s model was based on data taken from a small group of mostly Scandinavian countries that have “recovered (sort of)” from sub replacement fertility. Last highlights Sweden, saying that its story is a complicated one, “involving pro-natalist policies, culture and not a little luck,” though somehow, the U.N. now assumes that all low-fertility, industrialized countries from Russia to Italy to South Korea will follow this same pattern.

While Last does highlight the dubious nature of the U.N.’s projections, he has not gone far enough in emphasizing exactly how incorrect they are. His suspicion was correct that other countries will not necessarily follow Scandinavia’s supposed trend. Though it (reportedly) experienced positive fertility results, even if Sweden’s success were based on culture and policies, these are not universal. However, the fact of the matter is that any projection made based off the “success” of these countries will be incorrect.

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“You’ll always be proud when you hear them play that tune,” said Boatswain Mate Chief Clarence Ward Hollowell to the graduates of Lima 74. We were getting ready to march out of boot camp at Cape May, New Jersey.

That had to have been the most miserable, cold, diseased thirteen weeks of my life. When we first arrived, in the middle of the night, they shaved our heads, made us strip down, and put our civilian clothes, our shoes, any watches or rings, in cardboard boxes and address them to our home of record. All the while they were screaming at us and banging on steel trashcans with baseball bats. I would have climbed into that box if I could.

But at the end, Chief Hollowell was right. We’d always be proud when we hear the Coast Guard’s March, “Semper Paratus” (Always Ready), played.

We’re always ready for the call,

We place our trust in Thee.

Through surf and storm and howling gale,

High shall our purpose be,

“Semper Paratus” is our guide,

Our fame, our glory, too.

To fight to save or fight and die!

Aye! Coast Guard, we are for you.

 I am deeply grateful for the years I spent, enlisted and officer, in the Guard. It shaped my thinking. Not just about the military, but about life in general.

Recently, the pro-lifers in a Midwest state told me they regarded their governor as a friend. “If we can get a bill through the legislature, we can usually get him to sign it,” they said. They thought of him as a great improvement over his liberal predecessor. And, by that standard, he was.

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The president turns fifty today. He’s a bit grayer now than he was when he ran for the office. He’s not treated quite so much as a rock star. But he did have one really great hit: He got Osama bin Laden. And just in time for a presidential birthday salute, the New Yorker magazine has provided an absorbing account of the May Day raid on bin Laden’s compound inAbbottabad,Pakistan.

Reporter-at-large Nicholas Schmidle’s 11-page article, “Getting Bin Laden,” gives us the minute-by-minute story of SEAL Team Six’s brave and brilliant raid on the Al Qaeda leader’s three-story compound. Many of the details of the raid have appeared in newpaper, TV, and online accounts before. We knew, for instance, that Helo One hard landed inside the compound in a heart-stopping moment.

Would this raid end in humiliating failure? Would it end like Jimmy Carter’s abortive  attempt in 1980 to rescue the American hostages inIran? Eight American soldiers lost their lives at Desert One, Jimmy Carter may have lost his presidency there, too.

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I don’t know who comes up with these “national days”, but National Chocolate Chips Day is worthy! (Note some references say May 15 for this celebration, rather than August 4; let’s just celebrate both days.) Chocolate being a major food group in and of itself, chocolate chips provide a convenient way to incorporate chocolate into lots of things, or simply to pop into your mouth.

You can learn more about production of chocolate chips as well.

Enjoy your chips!

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In late June, FRC reported on the story of Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who has been sentenced to death because of his “apostasy” — he left Islam and has become a Christian and house church leader.

Now, according to Compass Direct news, Pastor Nadarkhani “awaits the outcome of a judicial investigation into his spiritual background to see if he will be executed or, if possible, forced to become a Muslim, according to Christian groups with ties in Iran.” Yet “even if the investigation releases him from the charge of apostasy, it is likely the charge of evangelizing Muslims will still carry a lengthy prison sentence, sources said.”

In other words, the Iranian judicial system is trying to manipulate the pastor into saying he was forced to convert to Christianity as a teenager. Here’s what the Iranian court said about his appeal to his death sentence: “According to Part 2 of Article 265 of the Islamic Republic Criminal Law, this case was received by and must be returned to the state court of Gilan Section 11, and further investigated to prove that from puberty (15 years) to 19 he was not Muslim by his acquaintances, relatives, local elders, and Muslims he frequented. He must repent [of] his Christian faith if this is the case. No research has been done to prove this; if it can be proved that he was a practicing Muslim as an adult and has not repented, the execution will be carried out.”

The death sentence was issued even though there “is no Iranian criminal statute requiring the execution of those who abandon Islam. In September 2008 members of the Iranian parliament began writing a law instituting the death penalty for men, and life imprisonment for women, who leave Islam.” Instead, according to Jason DeMars, president of a ministry that works with Iranian believers, “the judges who issued the ruling appear to be relying on at least one fatwa, or religious edict, written by the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and on edicts issued by Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, a current religious leader in Iran. The edicts are based upon Shiite interpretations of the Quran and Hadith, a written record of the sayings and actions of Muhammad.”

Thankfully, Christians around the world are praying for Pastor Nadarkhani, his family, and for the hearts and minds of those making a decision about his fate (for example, see the Swedish Christian site World Today). We can be assured that the God Who knows the hairs of our heads is in control, even as we petition Him to strengthen this courageous brother in Christ and deliver him from his persecutors.

In addition to praying, call the Iranian Interest Section at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington, DC at (202) 965-4990. You can also contact the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the United Nations: Email — iran@un.int; Phone — (212) 687-2020.

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Once again, theMSM—mainstream media—is giving us an anniversary better left unnoted. This time, they’re telling us that on this day 45 years ago, a lone shooter climbed up into the Tower at the University of Texas in Austin and began randomly shooting at students and visitors to that beautiful campus.

This is exactly what our friends in theMSMshould not do. They should know this by now. Do we want more mass murders, like the recent bloody episode inNorway? Then go ahead and put the killers’ pictures on the covers of news magazines, publicize their names and their bloody deeds, show photos of their victims, provide timelines, print graphics of their bullets’ trajectories, and always, always show the grieving family members of their victims.

But if we want to stop this madness, we should listen to researchers who have studied suicide and mass killings. They know that contagion and suggestibility play a real role in sparking these events. They know, for instance, that when a single car accident claims the life of a famous movie actor or singer, there is a measurable increase in “copy cat” deaths that may well be hidden suicides.

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Many of us are familiar with the heroic and historic work of William Wilberforce in abolishing the slave trade in Great Britain in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Less well-known is the work of the Earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper (1801-1885). President of the British and Foreign Bible Society and stout advocate of the formation of a Jewish state in the Holy Land, this “peer of the realm” used his position to help the poor and mentally ill – out of his faith in Christ. As a conservative (Tory) Member of Parliament, he enacted legislation “that prohibited employment of women and children in coal mines, provided care for the insane, established a ten-hour day for factory workers, and outlawed employing young boys as chimney sweeps.” He also had a great heart for evangelism: “His commitment to spread the gospel led him to start a movement to hold religious services in theaters and music halls. Controversy ensued, forcing him to defend the movement in the House of Lords against charges that Christianity would be compromised if it were associated with scenes of frivolous entertainment.”

As Dan Graves writes, “Lord Shaftesbury was fierce in his conviction that Christ must be the center of a living faith. He spoke harshly against deistic tendencies. Yet he was a warm friend of the atheistic Prime Minister Palmerston who gently mocked his belief. The people, however, did not mock. When he preached Christ, they listened with respect. At his funeral, hundreds of thousands of poor stood hatless in a pouring rain to show their love for the man who had loved them.”

At a time when some Christians are calling for retreat from engagement in public affairs, we would do well to consider such men as Wilberforce and Shaftesbury, who grasped that the Gospel could not be preached with unashamed faces if, while doing so, those who proclaim it ignore grave social and cultural needs.

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In the tsunami of words leading up to last weekend’s analysis of the congressional deal on the debt ceiling, many of the principals and their spokesmen outdid  themselves in overflowing rhetoric. One stands out in particular, however. Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO) called the bi-partisan leadership agreement—which has yet to be approved by the rank-and-file—a “sugar-coated  Satan sandwich.” Cleaver, who is an ordained minister, is generally to be found on the left-most fringes of the House of Representatives’ Congressional Black Caucus. Clearly, I don’t agree with Mr. Cleaver’s politics, but I’m intrigued by his use of language.

What jumped out at me first was the memorable phrase “sugar-coated.” President Abraham Lincoln used that term in his famous July 4, 1861, Message to Congress. The government printer objected to Lincoln’s sentence: “With rebellion thus sugar-coated, they have been drugging the public mind of their section for thirty years…” But that’s not dignified, objected John D. Defrees. He might have said it’s not presidential. With the country being torn apart, with Congress reconvening in just days, President Lincoln might have turned on Defrees and ordered him to print it and pipe down. But he didn’t. He just smiled tolerantly and said: “Well, Defrees, if you think the time will ever come when people will not understand what ‘sugar-coated’ means, I’ll alter it; otherwise, I’ll let it stand.” We do still understand what “sugar-coated” means. So that phrase has stood for the past one hundred fifty years.

Thank you, Congressman Cleaver, for bringing this venerableLincolnexpression back into public usage. I can appreciate your quotable quote at least that much.

Now, as to your “Satan sandwich” line, it’s odd, but a lot my friends agree with you, but for entirely different reasons. They know “the devil is in the details.” And they surely don’t like these details.

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The economic news released by the Commerce Department last Friday was not good at all.  The     Washington Times has a good editorial summarizing it in Monday’s edition (see “Obama’a Economic Collapse”).   The preliminary estimate for second quarter 2011 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was an anemic 1.3%.  More alarming was the revision of first quarter GDP downward from 1.9 percent to 0.4% — essentially flat, no growth at all.  In Politico, House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan has a noteworthy commentary piece making the point that the current debt/deficit debate has a huge health care component.  It is that component that is exploding government deficits and slowing economic growth and job creation – all being disastrous for family well-being.  Ryan makes one interesting point in passing: currently, about one quarter of all federal government spending goes to health care.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Family Research Council (FRC) expressed strong opposition to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Obama administration’s mandate that health care plans cover contraceptives with no cost-sharing to the patient.

The 2010 health care law, commonly known as “Obamacare,” requires coverage of preventive services for women to be covered with no cost to the patient, andHHSis adopting theInstituteofMedicine’s (IOM) recommendation to mandate contraceptive coverage. This means the cost will be shifted to other plan participants. Included in the list of mandated services are Plan B and Ella, both of which can destroy human embryos. The mandate only offers very limited conscience protections for some religious entities, such as churches, that fulfill certain criteria.

Jeanne Monahan, Director of FRC’s Center for Human Dignity, made the following comments:

“HHSoffered a fig leaf of conscience protection for certain churches that fulfill very specific criteria. However, religious groups that provide social services, engage in missions work to people of different religious faiths, religious health insurance companies, let alone religious health care providers and individuals in such health plans are not protected from any discrimination whatever. The new rule will force many Americans to violate their consciences or refrain from participating in health care insurance, further burdening an already costly system.

“The mandate will include FDA-approved drugs like Ella and Plan B that are misleadingly labeled ‘emergency contraceptives’ despite the fact that they can actually destroy a developing baby prior to or after implanting in the mother’s womb.HHSfailed to address this problem in the interim rule published today despite many public comments on this very issue.

“For an administration that promised to protect conscience laws in effect now, this decision completely ignores opinion, research and science that do not support a pro-abortion ideology. In the words of one of the committee members who objected to theIOMrecommendations, the ‘evaluation for evidence lacked transparency … the process tended to result in a mix of objective and subjective determination through the lens of advocacy.’

“This administration is promoting mandates that will violate the consciences of millions. Therefore,FRCurges Congress to pass the bi-partisan ‘Respect for Rights of Conscience Act of 2011,’ sponsored by Reps. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Dan Boren (D-OK), which would protect the conscience rights of those who object to being forced to cover, provide or pay for such drugs.”

Last January, FRCsent a letter to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urging HHSto reject the inclusion of abortion or contraceptive drugs as mandatory covered benefits at no cost to patients. FRCreceived no response or even acknowledgement of the letter. Click here to download a copy of FRC’s letter: http://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF11A26.pdf

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