Family Research Council

FRC Web Briefing

by Family Research Council

February 23, 2007

Life & Bioethics

• [Cloning] Troubled Iowa Dreams — Richard Doerflinger (National Review Online)
• [Assisted Suicide] Forced Participation in Assisted Suicide Under A.B. 374 — Wesley Smith (Bioethics.com)
• [Cloning] Full-Blown Human Cloning is Inevitable, says Nature — Nigel Cameron (Bioethics.com)

Marriage & Family

• [Children] Sexualizing Girls — Mona Charen (National Review Online)
• [Marriage] New push for gay marriage bill — Crystal Yednak (Chicago Tribune)
• [Education] Illinois Tries to Make Hand-Washing Before Meals at School Mandatory (FOX News)

Culture & Society

• [William Wilberforce] Hollywood’s ‘Amazing’ Glaze — Charlotte Allen (The Wall Street Journal)
• [William Wilberforce] Amazing Man (National Review Online)
• [William Wilberforce] Evangelicals Rally AroundAnd Disagree onGrace — G. Jeffrey MacDonald (USA Today)
• [Satire] Iraq Terror Groups Offer Non-Binding Ceasefire — Scott Ott (Scrappleface)

FRC Blogger’s conference call write-ups

by Jared Bridges

February 21, 2007

Matt Anderson at Mere Orthodoxy has written some summaries (with commentary) of two of our recent FRC Blogger’s Briefing conference calls:

• Our February 8 call with University of Alabama professor Michael New
• Our February 15 call with David All, of the David All Group

If you’re a socially conservative blogger and would like to join us for some of our conference calls,

with your name and blog information.

FRC at National Religious Broadcasters

by Family Research Council

February 18, 2007

The National Religious Broadcasters have hit Orlando and FRC is here talking about our radio program, Washington Watch Weekly. (You can listen here!) If you are anywhere in the area, be sure to come by and see us at Booth 324. . .

… this is the booth going up with our NRB team: Dave Salkeld, Bethanie Swendsen, Alexandria Crowley, Craig Ballard and my daughter.

Blogger’s Briefing Update

by Family Research Council

February 2, 2007

Our guest for today’s FRC Bloggers’ Briefing was Dr. Charles Dunn, dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University. Dr. Dunn discussed the upcoming presidential candidates and the future of religion in American politics. Tomorrow Dr. Dunn will be hosting Regent’s 2nd Annual Ronald Reagan Symposium, which will address such issues as whether religion has a proper role in politics, if Christians over-emphasize politics, and whether Americans can come together when religion often divides.

The event will be streamed live via webcast (see this link). Bloggers interested in interviewing Dr. Dunn or any of the conference panelists can contact me at jpc[at]frc.org.

The following is a schedule for the Symposium:

9:00 a.m. 10:10 a.m. Speaker Introductions. Speakers 15-20 minutes Main Theater

• Hadley Arkes, That Superintending Principle: The Author of the Law that was there before the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
• Daniel Dreisbach, George Washington on Religions Place in Public Life
• Michael Novak, Lessons from the Founders
• Jean Bethke Elshtain, Religion in the Public Square

10:10 a.m. 10:20 a.m. BREAK Theatre Lobby

10:20 a.m. 11:30 a.m. First Panel Discussion, with Q & A Main Theatre

11:30 a.m. 1:15 p.m. LUNCH

1:30 p.m. 2:40 p.m. Speaker Introductions. Speakers 15-20 minutes Main Theatre

• Marvin Olasky, Evangelical Political Models: Fenimore Cooper or William Wilberforce
• Darryl Hart, Left Turn? Evangelicals and the Future of the Religious Right
• Michael Cromartie, Red God, Blue God: Is There a God Gap between the Parties
• Michael Barone, Politics and Religion in the Post-Reagan Era

2:40 p.m. 2:50 p.m. BREAK Theatre Lobby

2:50 p.m. 4:00 p.m. Second Panel Discussion continued, with Q & A Main Theatre

If youre a social conservative who blogs and are interested in participating in the briefings, send me an email at jpc[at]frc.org.

Conservatives Praise the Speech?

by Family Research Council

January 24, 2007

Did we all watch the same speech?

Over at the Corner, John Podhoretz is saying the speech was “better than anyone expected.”

And Erick, at Red State, said “I liked the Speech.”

Maybe if the house was made of brick?

by Family Research Council

January 11, 2007

Apparently the Big Bad Wolf is wanted for questioning

Three Pigs Trigger Fire in Rural Serbia

BELGRADE, Serbia — A farmer’s home in northern Serbia was destroyed in a blaze caused by three pigs that broke out of their pen, walked into the living room and knocked over the TV, police said Wednesday.

The television tube burst, starting a fire that spread through the house late Monday in Temerin, 50 miles, northwest of Belgrade, local police said.

No people were hurt, but the pigs perished. The farmer was out at the time, police said.

Only in Nancy Pelosis (D-CA-0%) home town

by Family Research Council

January 11, 2007

Yale barbershop singers recovering after ambush http://http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070110/ennew_afp/afpentertainmentus_070110163008&printer=1

Wed Jan 10, 11:30 AM ET

Members of a close-harmony group from Yale University are recovering after being ambushed and beaten up while on tour in California.

Members of the a cappella Baker’s Dozen were performing at a party in San Francisco at the new year when their rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” apparently sparked taunts and threats from fellow partygoers.

As the group left the house, they were attacked by dozens of assailants, suffering scrapes, black eyes and concussions, said Connecticut’s News Channel 8.

“Besides any bruising or scrapes to the face, the main injury I suffered was I broke my jaw in two places,” one of the singers, 18-year-old Sharyar Aziz, was quoted as saying.

When Rep. Pelosi (D-CA-0%) says We will make America safer do you believe her?

by Family Research Council

January 10, 2007

US News and World Report found some interesting tidbits in the Democrats bill on 9/11 beyond what we reported on yesterday in the Update. Is it any wonder they are vulnerable to criticism they are weak on the War on Terror? The tidbits include.

TSA unionization: The country’s airport screenersa force that today includes about 43,000 people have been unable to formally unionize, which has greatly upset the Unions, who the Democrats are extremely beholden to. The House bill gives all TSA employees collective bargaining rights, including the right to strike.

Redress for watch listers: Democrats want to create a formal Office of Appeals and Redress that will handle the few cases each year of people who believe they are incorrectly on the TSA’s no-fly or special selectee list.

Funds for Muslim schoolchildren: 9/11 commission member Tim Roemer praised Democrats on Monday for introducing a bill that would ensure “progress on winning hearts and minds around the world.” Democrats plan to create an International Arab and Muslim Youth Opportunity Fund that would invest in public education in Arab and Muslim countries. No word in the bill on how much such an effort would cost.

This Day in History/Quote of the Day

by Family Research Council

January 10, 2007

The first educational television network launches on this day in 1967. Seventy independent, affiliated educational stations interconnected to show a live broadcast of President Lyndon Johnson’s State of the Union address. The network, called National Educational Television, started broadcasting regularly scheduled programs in November. It eventually grew into the Public Broadcasting System. When it was first created in 1967 it was before the Internet, satellite television, DVDs, and cable TV with hundreds of channels. A case might have been made then that there was a public benefit to subsidize other voices and programming. Now, with the media explosion of the past quarter century, there is little justification left for public subsidies that total hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

QoD: Who shot him? I asked. The grey man scratched the back of his neck and said: Somebody with a gun. Red Harvest by Dashiel Hammett, who died on this day in 1961.

Two comments on the (kinda) new stem cell discovery

by Family Research Council

January 10, 2007

One from the Vatican

And one from me

Talk about distinguished company!

Now I need to work on my new encyclicals