FaithWalkers — Roe v Wade Confusion, Brain Damage in Football, Clinton Testifies on Benghazi

The FaithWalker’s Daily is a quick review of key news stories of the day from the perspective of a conservative Christ-follower living in, but not of, the world.

• Roe v Wade Anniversary Polls Show Confused Nation

The Basics —

The 40th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision shows a deeply divided — and confused — nation on the issue of abortion.

Dig Deeper:

• Dr. Brian Mattson offered this guest post yesterday: Roe v Wade at 40: I Have a Dream. Well worth the read.
• NBC poll says majority want abortion legal now for the first time.
• Via AllahPundit at Hot Air: “When you drill down into that data, you find that the number who want abortion legal in all cases — no exceptions, presumably not even for late term — is 31 percent, which is also a new high. Say this for Obama’s new coalition — they elected the right guy.”
• Of course the 18-29-year-old demographic which heavily influenced the polling apparently don’t really know what issue Roe v Wade dealt with.
• New York trying to remove even limits on third trimester abortions, enraging even some Democrats.

A Few Thoughts…

Sadness. Great sadness is what I feel when thinking about a culture that so flippantly throws away that which it should be protecting to the most exreme measure. Life. It’s difficult to talk about tackling terrorists who are killing handful of Americans while we are killing ourselves by the thousands each day. And then to be woried about brain damage to footbal players — the inconsistency is staggering.

The word inalienable used to mean something. What happens now that it doesn’t?

• New Study Suggets Football Players May Suffer Brain Damage

The Basics —

A new study by researchers at UCLA on five living, retired football players reveals a buildup of protiens linked to repetitive head trauma and Alzheimers.

Dig Deeper:

• Via Fox News, the study results were the first of their kind. Past results have depended on autopsies. Key graph: “Recent studies have found that NFL players have a four times greater  probability of dying from Alzheimer’s than the general population.  In  other studies, if you look at people, not just athletes, but people in general  who’ve had a concussion that has led to an hour of unconsciousness – it doubles  their risk of Alzheimer’s.”
• Via The Los Angeles Times: “Chronic traumatic encephalopathy… can lead to memory loss, depression, suicidal behavior and dementia, among other symptoms.”
• Medical geeks amongst us can read the official research report here.

A Few Thoughts…

I’m concerned about the media — which can’t be trusted to present much of anything anymore without an agenda — and yet I’ve never been able to understand the desire to ram one’s head into something at full speed. Tackle football, consequently, was never my thing. But I thought we were a pro-choice culture? Should we begin to regulate or outlaw such behavior that might harm those who willingly participate? I see the need for parents to be informed and, perhaps, have their kids take up another less physical sport in order to preserve life — a biblical value if ever there was one.

How harmful are the countles hours spent watching the players acquire the brain damage in the first place? Not to mention the commercials.

• Clinton Finally to Testify on Benghazi Terrorist Attack

The Basics —

Secretary of State Clinton will finally testify before both House and Senate committees today about the many security failures that led up to the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya last September 11, more than four months ago.

Dig Deeper:

• More on the story from Fox News. Key questions abound:

There are also questions about how the Obama administration responded to the  crisis during the Sept. 11, 2012 attack. Fox News has learned from senior U.S.  defense officials that a FAST team of Marines out of Spain was asked by State  Department officials to change out of their Marine uniforms after being asked to  leave for Libya to help — this required them to deplane and delayed them by  about 90 minutes, according to Pentagon officials.

• Via The New York Times, some Benghazi terrorists now placed at scene of Algerian hostage bloodbath.
• ABC News reminds us that nobody really got fired for their failures.
• Doug Powers of MichelleMalkin.com reminds us of the timeline discrepancies based on the President’s own comments.
• Key graph from the Times story:

“This is the result of the Arab Spring,” said the official said, who spoke on condition of anonymity because investigations into the hostage crisis were still under way. “I hope the Americans are conscious of this.”

A Few Thoughts…

Now that the election has been won and Obama ran out the clock with help from a willing media, Clinton will give what will likely be useless testimony. Perhas she will even shed a tear. We all know the State security was a failure. Clinton should be held accountable for the failure. She won’t be. She’ll run for President in 2016. The real question remains: What did the President know and when did he know it? Why did he tell the American people and the world that the attack was due to a video that got out of hand when he knew with great certainty that his statement was not true? And why the delays and hesitations to send in troops to rescue the brave Americans who gave their lives, all the while expecting American calvary to arrive at any moment.

Cowardice can be made to look like bravery given enough press conferences and media spin. But dead bodies are stubborn things.

A Few More Stories You Might Hear About Today

• Woman talks whose picture was used in Manti Te’o hoax.
• Alleged Petraeus lover denies, speaks out against media frenzy. Amazing how different the truth is from the media accounts.
• Japanese minister says old people should hurry up and die. Ahh, the slippery slope….
• Hugh Hewitt notes The Mickelson Effect on charities as the generous wealthy pull out of high-tax states.

A Little Something to Grow Your Faith….

A holy life would not be so rare and difficult a thing if our devotions were not so short and hurried. ~ E. M. Bounds

To receive The FaithWalker’s Daily in your in-box each morning, simply put your e-mail in the “Subscribe” box in the upper right.