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WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2007 – Kate Deyermond is going on a $15,000 holiday spending spree today -- but not for herself or with her own money. Ken Fisher, Fisher House Foundation chairman, receives a $100,000 check from Margaret McKenna, Wal-Mart Foundation president, during the kick-off of “Operation: Deck the Walls,” Wal-Mart’s new program to bring holiday cheer to recovering military families at Fisher houses in the United States and Germany. Photo by Linda Hosek  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The manager of the three Fisher House facilities at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here will use donations from...

Part one of this series discussed natural family planning (NFP) as a means of treating infertility and introduced readers to the basics of artificial reproductive technologies (ART). Parts two and three explained the Church's teaching on human sexuality, with special attention paid to the link between infertility treatments and the contraceptive mentality. A Response to Readers clarified the Church's teaching on the use of Intrauterine Insemination (IUI). Here, we enter into the heart of the mystery of infertility. If, as the Church teaches, children are the "supreme gift" of marriage, how are couples (like us) to understand their infertility as a...

While natural family planning (NFP) is not always effective for couples (like us) who are trying to conceive naturally (see part one of this series), the Church has good reasons for its teaching on human sexuality (see part two and our "Response to Readers"). Nevertheless, many couples believe they can use intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) without violating their consciences or their faith, because, after all, such techniques create life, not destroy it.Flirting with DangerProponents of artificial reproductive technologies (ART) often argue that IUI and IVF are actually "pro-life." The thinking behind this assertion is that every...

As we saw in part one of this series, couples who have learned to chart effectively have a 76 percent chance of conceiving during their first cycle of use and a 98 percent pregnancy rate by their sixth cycle. Still, even if natural family planning (NFP) does not work for everyone (us included), artificial reproductive technologies (ART), such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF), are contrary to the Church's teaching on human sexuality. Not only do IUI and IVF frustrate the unitive aspect of lovemaking, they violate the baby's right to be conceived through a person-to-person, body-to-body...

Having struggled with infertility for nearly six years, we know the pain of not being able to have a baby. We're also familiar with the awkward silences — and tears — that often accompany conversations with those who have never experienced infertility. On the one hand, people tend to believe fertility is something we have perfect control over. "Just relax," we've been told. "When you settle down, I'm sure it will happen." Or, "Maybe you're just not ready yet," as if "buying a house" or "getting a better job" would make us pregnant. On the other hand, it's a...

Source: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Date: September 15, 2007 Mother's Milk A Gift That Keeps On Giving Science Daily — Extensive medical research shows that mothers' milk satisfies babies' nutritional needs far better than any manufactured infant formula. It also protects babies against many common infectious diseases and certain inflammatory diseases, and probably helps lower the risk of a child later developing diabetes, lymphoma and some types of leukemia. These conclusions appear in a major new review of the medical literature published this month entitled "Benefits and Risks of Breastfeeding." The article, published in the current issue...

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2007 – A New York State-based business owner made a seven-figure donation in frequent-flyer miles to the Fisher House Foundation as part of a Memorial Day-weekend promotion sponsored by CNN, a Fisher House official reported. Advertising and public relations executive Eric Mower donated 1 million frequent flyer miles that he’d accumulated during business travel with Delta Airlines over the past few years, said Pam Lea-Maida, program manager for Fisher House’s “Hero Miles” program at the organization’s headquarters in Rockville, Md. Air mileage donated as part of the program is used to provide transportation for family members...

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2007 – While stationed at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, over Christmas 2006, Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan Richards received a special care package with an extraordinary gift to be claimed upon his return to the states. Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan Richards, center-right, of St. Louis, got the keys to his new Dodge Caliber at a Rally’s drive-in restaurant in his hometown May 30. The Checkers/Rally’s fast-food chain donated the car, which was part of an Operation Gratitude care package Richards received while stationed in Iraq over Christmas 2006. Carolyn Blashek (second from left), founder of Operation Gratitude, is...

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2007 – Two home-front groups are helping American citizens support servicemembers and their families worldwide through the donation of gift certificates. “Gift of Groceries” and “Gifts from the Homefront” allow contributions to be made through “CertifiChecks” that can be redeemed at military commissaries and exchanges worldwide. Both groups are members of America Supports You, the Defense Department program connecting grassroots organizations with men and women of the military at home and abroad. Mike Baskerville, vice president of sales at CertifiChecks, first contacted the Defense Commissary Agency about starting the program in 2002 after he had difficulty...

MEL Gibson says he is thankful for the experience, which has followed his drunken, anti-Semitic ramble to police officers who charged him with drink driving last year. "It's like God tapping you on the shoulder and saying, `Hey Bud – pull up for a second and sit still. Who are you? What are you doing?' That's all, and that's a gift," the actor turned filmmaker told the Nine Network's A Current Affair. In the first part of an interview to be completed on tomorrow's Today show, the Australian-raised Oscar-winning actor told Richard Wilkins he had put the July 28 incident...

The biggest impact from the new rules will be felt when donors sit down to itemize write-offs on their 2007 tax returns: No longer will the IRS accept “guesstimates” on the value of bags of used clothing given to Goodwill, change dropped in the Salvation Army bucket or the church collection plate or other small donations. Instead, taxpayers will now be required to document their giving in all shapes and sizes, from used cars to used clothing. In most cases that means obtaining receipts, but in instances where that is impractical — such as the church collection plate — detailed...

What do a gym membership, a bottle of prescription pills and a holiday gift card have in common? Each of them is a thing that is bought and then often goes unused. In their recent paper “Paying Not to Go to the Gym,” the economists Stefano DellaVigna and Ulrike Malmendier showed that people who buy an annual membership to a health club overestimate by more than 70 percent how much they’ll actually use it. Many people, therefore, would be better off buying monthly or daily passes. ...As for gift cards — well, let’s just say there is good reason that...

A Merry Claremont Christmas Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays. While you're there, curl up with one of these fine books...   Tom Karako Director of Programs, the Claremont Institute  The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men's Style, by Nicholas Antongiavanni  Few books may be called original. The Suit is a rare exception. Rarer still, because it has the virtue of being read on many levels, providing bona fide instruction for men's dress, a careful commentary on Machiavelli by one who knows him well, and, finally, managing to be extraordinarily funny. This little work allows the...

Are you having trouble trying to figure out what to buy your favorite Jihadist for Christmas this year? Look no further, The Rogue Jew is here to help you out so that you don’t LOSE YOUR HEAD this holiday season, we wouldn’t want to disappoint that favorite IslamoNazi in your life.

Dateline 06 December 2006 As we turn our attention to buying presents for friends and relatives the age-old problem arises. Everyone except John Kerry’s wife knows at least one person who is richer than they are. How do you buy a present for someone who has everything they might want, except for a handful of things that are out of your price range? The answer is simple: buy them a goat. I am guessing here, but probably your friend does not have a goat already, but if so, buy them another. You can never have too many goats. I should...

any suggestions on a monthly publication/magazine about investing,business,and money geared for college age young adults?

SIERRA VISTA — A large panther is now part of Fort Huachuca’s protecting force, courtesy of the city of Sierra Vista. Mayor Tom Hessler turned keys to a nearly $800,000, 78,900-pound fire-fighting monster over to Garrison Commander Col. Jonathan Hunter at a short Friday ceremony at the Pete Castro Maintenance Facility. The water, foam- and halotron-capable vehicle was constructed by the world’s largest fire truck company, Rosenbauer of Wyoming, Minn. The truck, which is designed to fight aircraft blazes, incorporates state-of-the-art technology, said Marty Huffman, the company’s Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting program manager, who lives in Sierra Vista. Fort Huachuca...

WASHINGTON: The one-upmanship between India and Pakistan may have become a no-contest now with New Delhi’s economic and strategic leap forward, but there is one area where Islamabad is a clear winner. Its munificent leaders are by far the most generous visitors to Washington, lavishing expensive gifts on American government officials from President Bush down to unnamed CIA officers. A list of gifts accepted by U.S officials from foreign government sources in 2004 published in the Federal Register last week shows that Pakistan outdid most countries in the world, gifting U.S officials carpets, rugs, shawls, jewelry and antique pieces. Pakistan's...

Terror leaders threaten Americans, hope boy, 16, 'goes directly to hell'TEL AVIV – The death yesterday of Daniel Wultz, a Florida teenager critically injured last month in a suicide bombing at an Israeli restaurant, is a "gift from Allah" and revenge against American Jewish support for Israel, Abu Nasser, a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, one of the groups responsible for the deadly blast, told WorldNetDaily. Abu Amin, a leader of the Islamic Jihad, which also took responsibility for the April 17 bombing in which Wultz was injured, told WND last night his terror group may target Americans...