Monthly Archives: October 2016

Pentatonix

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A cappella is a kind of musical performance in which no instruments are used other than human voices and other body parts. There are quite a few excellent a capella groups, but one of the most astounding, to me at least, has been one that originated right near where I live: Pentatonix! Specifically, they hail from Arlington, Texas.

This was the first video of theirs I saw:

Being a typical guy, I paid more attention at first to the beautiful girl than the others. But that would not last long, because then I saw THIS:

 

WOW! And then I saw this, which proved they could do just about anything:

And here is a collection of facts about them:

Here is their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Pentatonix/

I think I will be paying much more attention to these people over the next few years.

 

 

Abortion Autonomy

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Read this story:

http://womendeliver.org/2016/women-perform-abortions/

Inna Hudaya was a woman in trouble. Lying in a shoddy hotel room, she squeezed her eyes closed as an old woman performed an abortion on her with no anesthesia and no painkillers. They barely spoke a word after the exchange of money — a lot of money, money Hudaya had borrowed and for which she had sold many of her possessions including her motorbike to repay. This, Hudaya thought to herself, is how I will die.

But what else was she supposed to do? She was 22, pregnant, unmarried, and living in Indonesia, a country where abortion remains illegal in nearly all cases and out-of-wedlock pregnancy is intensely stigmatized. A medical student, Hudaya was just getting a toehold on a life she hoped would keep her out of Tasikmalaya, the conservative city she fled after high school. Having a baby would mean the end of everything: her studies, her relationship with her family, her freedom.

The procedure ended, and Hudaya walked out of the hotel room alive. The pain, though, persisted. Her relationship ended. A close relative disowned her, telling her it is a sin for a woman to kill her own blood. For years, Hudaya had the same dream: a baby chasing her, crying.

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The Downfall of Billy Graham’s Legacy

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Long after I abandoned Christianity as a college student (after I learned that most of the claims made to support it were nothing but double standards and even outright lies), I continued to respect evangelist Billy Graham as one of the genuine Christians I knew of. While some of his fellow Christian leaders would join together to form the despicable scam known as the “Religious Right”, Billy Graham steered clear of such things and continued to merely preach the Gospel with no political references. He also befriended and advised both Democratic and Republican Presidents regardless of their political or religious background, even the first Catholic President John F. Kennedy.

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