Gosnell: The Movie--Trying to Tell the Story of an American Serial Killer Which Strikes Too Close to Home

[L] Ann McElhinney and [R] Phelim McAleer

Last spring, husband and wife veteran filmmakers Phelim McAleer and Anne McElhinney were publicizing their feature documentary Fracknation as the murder trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell was occurring in Philadelphia.  McAleer was amazed at the lack of coverage of a prolific serial killer that murdered two women in botched late term abortions in unsanitary conditions, used a brutal snipping technique to kill a thousand children beyond the legal limit for abortion and also dealt prescription drugs.

Yet the national mainstream media ignored the Gosnell case, dismissing it like a local murder case while lavishing attention on the concurrent Jodi Arias murder trial. McAleer did man on the street interviews in California to learn about what the public knew about sensational murder trials.

As Katherine Graham, the former publisher of the Washington Post, proclaimed: "What we cover and what we don't matter a lot...The power is to set the agenda."  Fox News commentator Greg Gutfeld recently speculated about the reasons why most of the mainstream media (including Fox) did not cover the Gosnell trial closely:

"The reason why they don't do this one is not because the evil is so grotesque.  It's that it's too close to a moral choice they've made.  That's what it's about.  It's not that like, ah it's so hard to do something on this man who butchered babies.  It's because it's too close to the pro-choice mindset."

However, McAleer and McElhinney were so haunted by the Gosnell trial that they backed away from other crowd-source funded projects so as to make a movie about Gosnell.  Yet Anne & Phelim Media encountered more velvet gloved censorship by Kickstarter, which claims to not curate projects but would not allow them to describe their dramatized movie idea as being about a mass murderer who killed a thousand children as it allegedly violated community standards which Kickstart "encourages and (selectively) enforces".  McAleer believes that it is within Kickstarter's right to not facilitate funding but that it should be forthright that it is due to the project matter not a transparent lie about community standards which it does not enforce for sundry other offensive projects.

So they moved their crowd-source funding efforts to Indiegogo, where they have raised $1.2 million  of a fixed target $2.1 million.  If they do not make their designated funding mark by May 12th, the money reverts  back to the prospective investors.

There is already an excellent documentary film 3801 Lancaster, which interviews victims of Gosnell's House of Horrors.  So McAleer and McElhinney want to make dramatized version of the Gosnell story which would run on the Lifetime  Movie Network rather than a feature documentary to reach a wider audience.

 It is easy for seaboard elitists to dismiss a film about Gosnell as just being by religious zealots with pro-life propaganda, which is a touch charge to apply to McAleer and McElhinney. In addition, this dismissive instinct ignores how Dr. Gosnell was a racist as he gave his white patients much better and cleaner abortion services than his clients of color.

A film about Gosnell must also include a political angle.  Former Governor Tom Ridge (R-PA) was elected as chief executive of the Keystone State as a moderate Republican.  The governor's office made it clear that the Commonwealth should do nothing to impede abortion services, so Gosnell's clinic was not properly inspected for 17 years, despite gruesome reports and several deaths. 

Gosnell's clinic was raided because Gosnell was writing prescriptions like a pell mell pill mill for Oxycotin and the ilk.  That raid permitted police to stumble upon an unsanitary abortion butchery, where Gosnell kept severed limbs as trophies.

Hearing the filmmakers promote their project, it is clear that they yearn to tell a compelling true story about a prolific American serial killer and pull back the curtain on details which a progressive public would rather ignore.

If one wishes to help actuate the Gosnell movie project, one can contribute to the efforts at www.gosnellmovie.com.  Those who contribute $25 will get a DVD of the film.  But the filmmakers also implore people to contribute anything to show that people care.

Spiritual Technology Promoted During the Super Bowl

The Church of Scientology, founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in 1952, ran a bold branding television ad during Super Bowl XLVIII in several major regional markets, such as New York, Washington, DC and Los Angeles.  This glitzy and costly mass media message promotes a religion which the United States recognized in 1993, but which the American Religious Identification Survey in 2008 indicated that Scientology only has 25,000 adherents in the US, albeit with prominent members such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Greta Van Susteren.

The "Spiritual Technology" ad is a follow up to last year's Super Bowl ad "Knowledge".  But this year's Super Bowl ad more prominently featured Scientologist symbols, the  FLAG Super Power Building in  Clearwater Florida (which Scientologists bill as a 21st Century Cathedral) and the electropsychometer (a.k.a. the e-meter) which Scientologists use  in Dianetics inspired auditing.




The commercial seems like a calculated attempt to tap into a societal veneration of technology.  The text of the spot has a narrator intoning: Imagine science and religion connecting.  Imagine technology and spirituality combining. And now imagine that everything that you've imagined is possible. Scientology--there are higher states of existence."

On social media sites, some have been creeped out by the slickly packaged commercial.  But the commercial can also be an intriguing exercise in hermaneutics and eschatology.

The Scientology Cross is described as: "The horizontal bar represents the material universe, and the vertical bar represents the spirit. Thus, the spirit is seen to be rising triumphantly, ultimately transcending the turmoil of the physical universe to achieve salvation." Combine that with the inwardly focused can do through technology approach, it gives a techno-futuristic sense of eschatology.

 In contrast, the Cross of Christ marks man's salvation history.  Sin  impaired man from having an  eternal relationships with the Lord.  So He sent His only begotten Son to be born as man and be the perfect sacrifice to free man from the eternal bonds of slavery of sin and death.  But this salvific victory is represented via violent symbol of punishment of a just man which brings about our redemption. The Christian cross reinforces the scriptural wisdom that God's ways are not man's ways.

For those who would wish to learn more about Spiritual Technology, surely they can pay to take some courses about Scientology  to learn more. If one is otherwise disposed, one can pray Joshua 24:15.

A God Forsaken Patriotic Beer Commercial

A new advertisement campaign by Samuel Adams Brewing from Boston, Massachusetts has an "Independent" take on our founding fathers' declaration:
  

 

The namesake of this brewery would certainly have qualms about this God-forsaken omission. Samuel Adams opined: 

But the brewery was not the first to lop off "endowed by their Creator".  President Obama was infamous for not reading those lines about our Creator  off the teleprompter when reciting patriotic phrases.

Capitol Visitors' Center,Washington, DC

This advertising omission is just another instance of secular humanists trying to re-write history and claim that our Founding Fathers were atheists and to deny  the importance of a God centered revolution to bestow liberty upon America. The $621 million Capitol Visitors Center initially tried to pass off "E Pluribus Unum" as the national motto instead of "In God We Trust".   This was corrected only after 108 lawmakers backed Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA 4th) protested to the Architect of the Capitol for this historical inaccuracy.  

Washington Monument Capstone Replica, Washington, DC 

There was considerable controversy in 2007 when the "Laus Deo"  inscription on the replica capstone of the Washington Monument was   obscured.  The National Park Service promised to correct what it characterized as a stupid mistake. Praise God that that they felt the heat and then saw the light. 

Perhaps the Samuel Adams Brewing  ad was just another isolated incident of forsaking the faith of our founding fathers.  But as Independence Day approaches, we ought to toast the unalienable rights granted by our Creator for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. 

Peeps Awaiting a Confectionary Resurrection

As the Easter Octave has come to an end, and most of our baskets are empty from the confectionary delights which celebrated the Feast of the Resurrection.   So it may be a good time to highlight the winner of the Washington Post's seventh Peep Diorama competition.

Leslie Brown and Lani Hoza of Charlottesville, Virginia cooked up a tongue in cheek memorial  for the loss of a beloved mass market treat:  "Peeps mourn their Peeps: Twinkie Rest In Peace".

This dirgeful diorama also honors other tasty treats involved in the union killing of Hostess in November 2013.

It is unclear what relation the Peeps were to Twinkie the Kid.

But in the spirit of Eastertide--the Twinkie will also be resurrected.  Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co. bought the rights for Twinkies for $410 million.  Dean Metropoulos is  renowned for repositioning tired brands like Pabst Blue Ribbon.  The problem with Hostess is that the bankruptcy wiped out Twinkie manufacturing and distribution.  They promise that the Twinkies and other snacks will return to store shelves by the summer 2013.

Until then, we can appreciate the Peeps diorama.  After all, if one hasn't consumed a Peep for a day, it is so stale that it will seemingly  last forever like  Twinkie, so it well suited for diorama art.

h/t:  Washington Post

Ham Handed Holiday Special

Wonder what Wal-Mart was thinking? But don't bother to boycott. It seems that the photo was a fake. But it sure did conjure up some chuckles.

Mickey Mouse Creeping Sharia Lawsuit

Two years ago, Imane Boudlal was fired as a hostess at Disneyland’s Grand Californian hotel Storyteller’s  restaurant.  The now 28 year old  Ms. Boudlal, a Moroccan born Muslim who is an American citizen had worked at Disneyland for two years when she began wearing her hijab (head scarf) to work.  If you totally believed the fact pattern as told by the ACLU and the Hadsell Stormer Richardson & Renick lawyers, Ms. Boudlal was fired by Disney due to anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias which religiously discriminated against her.




What the jury and the court of public opinion should take into consideration before rushing to judgment are the accommodations which where purposed and rejected by Boudlal.  All workers at Disney resorts wear uniforms or “costumes”, particularly front-line employees at thematic attractions and restaurants.  Boudlal asked that her costume at the fin de siècle themed restaurant could be modified.  Disney offered a compromise attire which should have satisfied the modesty rationale for observant Muslim women wearing a hijab.

Ms. Boudlal, however, rejected this employer accommodation by asserting “The hat makes a joke of my religion and draws even more attention to me” and "They don't want me to look Muslim. They just don't want the head covering to look like a hijab."  Disney notes that Boudlal was offered four different roles out of the public view, which she rejected. In lieu of the rejected accommodation attire, Boudlal was given a choice to take off the hijab, work in the back or go home.  Boudlal went home and tried reporting to work for several other days wearing her head scarf before being terminated.

Some may wonder why it took two years for Ms. Boudlal to file her discrimination lawsuit. The Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Los Angeles tried to use Boudlal as a cause célèbre  two years ago but attorney Ameena Qazi could not successfully try the case in public.

 

Even observant Muslims like Qudosi Chronicles editor Shireen Qudosi questioned Boudlal’s stated rationale for wanting to wear the hijab in “observance” of  Ramadan is ridiculous and a false act of faith.  Moreover, an observant Muslim woman who believing in it would not considered a head covering optional for over two years as did Boudlal.

It is also important to note that when Boudlal was terminated, she was represented by UNITE Local 11, which did not have a labor contract with Disney hotel employees for over two and a half years.  Hence, mocking the proposed costume accommodations made for Boudlal was good agi-prop for the Union’s perception among the public.  Well, UNITE Local 11 signed a five year agreement with the Mickey Mouse Company, and the higher wages and better health care seemed to supercede standing up for their “discriminated” Muslim union sister Boudlal.   So it was wise for Boudlal’s new legal representation before her right to sue expired.

Boudlal’s statements and actions are confusing.  Boudlal did not claim to have a spiritual conversion but was motivated to assert her religious rights as she became an American citizen.  Boudlal then complained that the sartorial accommodation drew even more attention to her and being out of uniform did not do the same.  Boudlal as an employee seems to think that she can dictate how an entertainment company that is theatric and thematic can present its employees to the public.  It does not seem that CAIR saw any accommodation for Boudlal’s modesty other than allowing her to shatter the carefully cultivated public images which Disney presents to the public and Boudlal agreed to as part of her employment.

Perhaps this is a case of creeping Sharia, where an active minority uses lawfare to dictate terms to the public.  If this case ever goes to trial, may the jury weigh all of the facts of the matter as they deliberate on this Mickey Mouse alleged discrimination case.

Laus Deo--Bible Museum to Be in DC

[L] Curator Dr. Scott Carroll [R] Steve Green

The Museum of the Bible, a non-governmental not-for-profit organization, has secured a site two blocks from the National Mall to open a large scale national, non sectarian gallery  to display sacred texts by 2016.

Steve Green, the heir to the the Hobby Lobby craft chain (and current President) began collecting bible artifacts in 2009.  In collaboration with his “Indiana Jones” manuscript expert Dr. Scott Carroll, Green estimates that he spends half of his time now amassing 40,000 biblical antiquities which comprise the Green Collection. Currently, the collection includes Torahs, papyri along with illuminated or decorated manuscripts which are valued at between $20 million to $40 million.  The antiquities world marveled at the rapid acquisition rate of the Green Collection.

 Traveling as part of the Passages exhibition, 400 pieces of the Green Collection is touring the world, with stops at the Atlanta and soon Charlotte, NC.  A smaller portion of the Green Collection traveled to the Vatican during Lent for a Verbum Domini, a exhibition celebrating interfaith contributions to the Bible.



The Green Collection will find a permanent home in Washington, DC at 300 D St. SW in a $50 million deal for a building which was previously  a home design center. The spokesman for the yet to be named biblical museum observed that Washington, DC was chosen over Dallas and New York City due to the ten hour driving proximity to over half of the United States.


Steve Green effuses over engaging people in Scripture.  While there are other Bible Collections in America, like Manhattan’s American Bible Society, the aim to the yet to be named Bible Museum will be to inspire people with the story of the Bible and its history. Green notes that the “[Bible] has been banned and burned more than any other book. It has over 40 writers over  a 1,500 year period.  That in itself is an incredible story.”

The average household in America owns seven Bibles and it has become somewhat common place. Yet Green feels that we have become ignorant of the Bible as it is no longer taught in the schools. The aim of making the Green Collection accessible to the public is to re-engage them with scripture and become acquainted with the God of the Bible.

Although Steven Green is evangelical and his family comes from a Southern Baptist tradition, the Bible Museum is intended to be non-sectarian.  In fact, Green hopes that atheists and skeptics of the Bible will tour the Collection and recognize that it is the most documented book from antiquity for which so many people have given their lives so there may be something to it.

When the Bible Museum is slated to open in 2016, it does plan to charge admission.  In the Nation’s Capital, paid admissions are the exception and not the rule, due to taxpayer largess with the Smithsonian Museums and the National Gallery of Art.  In the past decade, there have been a couple of successful private museums which charge admission, like the International Spy Museum and the Newseum.  Both of those ventures have dynamic and interactive presentations and somewhat specialized subject matter.

Washington's Carnegie Library

There have been two spectacular failures of paid admission museums between-the-beltways.  The City Museum in Washington in the historic Carnegie Library across the street from the Washington Convention Center, opened in 2003 to great fanfare and a Disney-like attraction.  But it closed in 2005 due to financial difficulties.

John Paul II Cultural Center

More on point was the John Paul II Cultural Center, a 130,000 square foot museum  near Catholic University in Brookland, DC sought to explore faith in the world, opened in March 2001 at a reported cost of $75 million.  It is speculated that the downturn in tourism after the September 2001 terrorist attack and economic recession doomed the project.  That may be true but personally I felt that there was not much to the collection for the proffered entry fee and it was far from typical tourist sections of the Nation’s Capital.  The JPII CC has now closed and the monumental building was sold to the Knights of Columbus for a reported $22.5  million in 2011.

While Steve Green reverse the majesty of the King James Bible, it would behoove the Bible Museum to augment the scriptural story beyond the Authorized Version, which just celebrated its quadricentenary in 2011.  Even though The Voice translation of the Bible may not work, it is an example of contemporary efforts to engage readers with scripture and should be recognized.

During the recent Restoring Love Rally in Dallas, Glenn Beck showed one of the eight surviving copies of a Bible commissioned by the Continental Congress after the American Revolutionary War that was given to soldiers as a token of gratitude, as King George had prohibited Americans from publishing their own Bibles.  Perhaps the Bible Museum could consult with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to rediscover God in America to make connections between the Federal City and how scripture shaped the formation of the nation.

h/t: Philanthropy Roundtable

UK Must be PC on IPs

Adrian Smith, an 18 year veteran of the Trafford Council and Trafford Housing Trust (near Manchester, United Kingdom), was significantly demoted on his job for making moral comments on Facebook.

In October, Smith for daring to post on his own time on a private Facebook page that he thought that same sex “marriages” in churches was “an equality too far”.

These comments were brought to the attention of a supervisor. Subsequently, Smith was demoted from a £35,000 managerial post to a £21,000 position. The only reason that he was not fired outright was because of his long record of service.

The fracas over Adrian Smith’s Facebook posting raises some interesting issues...

READ MORE  at the DCBarroco website

Agonizing Ecclesial Re-Appraisals Between the Beltways

Two parishes in the Washington, DC Metro Area need to make agonizing reappraisals about their parishes.  Their struggles epitomize challenges of keeping the faith along with what church means during these turbulent times.

The historic Falls Church (Anglican) in Northern Virginia lost its six year battle with the Episcopal Church of the United States after it broke away from the denomination over the ordination of openly gay and incelebate bishops and the blessing of same sex unions. Now the large and vibrant Anglican faith community will lose rights to their church building, but not their congregation nor their steadfast faith.

In the Nation’s Capitol, St. Aloysius Catholic Church needs to choose how the congregation wants to reorganize as the Society of Jesus withdraws from leading the parish after 153 years.

Both parishes have to discern what is essential to the practice of their faith, how their faith is best formed and what sacrifices must be endured to achieve that end.

READ MORE at the DCBarroco website