Inspiration - Individuals Can Make Change the Narrative

Julia Bluhm, a 14 years-old, decided she didn't like how "Seventeen" magazine photoshops the young female models it features so she started a petition--and "Seventeen" responded to the 84,000 signees.

 "Seventeen" agreed, and now, thanks to Julia and the 84,000 signees who joined her effort, the nation's most influential teen magazine is promoting true beauty, without the airbrush according to LifeSiteNews.com.

I can't wait for this discussion: Science and Faith: Friends or Foes? - Oct. 12 & 13

Science and Faith: Friends or Foes?

October 12, 2012 - October 13, 2012 - FREE for Students
Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis

Are science and faith compatible? Does biology support or undercut human uniqueness? Is there evidence that life and the universe were intelligently designed? Explore these questions and more at this special two-day conference to be held October 12-13, 2012 on the campus of Covenant Seminary in St. Louis.

Featured speakers include Dr. Jay Richards, co-author of The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed For Discovery and editor of God and Evolution: Protestants, Catholics, and Jews Explore Darwin’s Challenge to Faith; Dr. Ann Gauger, senior research biologist at the Biologic Institute and co-author of the new book Science and Human Origins; Dr. C. John Collins, Professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary and author of Science and Faith: Friends or Foes? and Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?; Dr. Paul Nelson, Adjunct Professor of Science and Religion at Biola University and featured science expert in documentaries such as Metamorphosis and Unlocking the Mystery of Life; and Dr. John West, author of Darwin Day in America and editor of The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society.

Sessions will explore the compatibility of science and faith; the impact of Darwinian evolution on ethics, society, and theology; debates over human origins and human uniqueness; the scientific evidence for intelligent design in cosmology and biology; and C.S. Lewis’s prophetic insights into both the benefits and limits of modern science.

The conference starts Friday night and concludes Saturday evening with the premiere of The Magician’s Twin, a new documentary about C.S. Lewis’s views on science and scientism. The screening will be followed by discussion and Q and A with the contributors to a new book of the same name.

General Admission: Includes admission to all sessions from Friday night thru Saturday night, plus a free book and DVD. General admission does NOT include lunch or dinner on Saturday. A limited number of box lunches can be reserved at the rate of $11 per person by those who pre-register.

Early-Bird Registration (thru Sept. 21, 2012): $25
Regular Registration (from Sept. 22-Oct. 5): $35
FREE for High School, College and Seminary Students

Student Admission: High School, College, and Seminary Students can come for free, but they must register. They will need to show student ID when checking in. Student admission does NOT include lunch or dinner on Saturday. A limited number of box lunches can be reserved at the rate of $11 per person by those who pre-register.

Registration will be open later in July.

http://www.discovery.org/e/3321

RELEASE: HATCH, MORAN QUESTION TREASURY’S USE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS IN SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS

The U.S. Treasury posted social media messages advocating that more funds be appropriate to other federal agencies.

Who are these people working for!?!  

United States Senate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:  Julia Lawless (Hatch) July 24, 2012 (202) 224-4515                                      Garrette Silverman (Moran)                                                            (202) 224-6521 HATCH, MORAN QUESTION TREASURY'S USE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS IN SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS In Letter to Treasury Secretary, Senators Write, "Your political rhetoric aside, Treasury's social media links to instances in which you advocate that Congress act on legislative proposals seem contrary to appropriations language." WASHINGTON –Today, U.S. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, questioned the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury's legal authority to use taxpayer dollars to fund social media campaigns designed to defeat legislation pending before the U.S. Congress. This month, Treasury posted, across several social media outlets, material targeting appropriations bills pending before Congress - H.R. 5973 & H.R. 6020 - and advocating that more funds be appropriated to other federal agencies.  In a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today, the lawmakers argued such action is contrary to appropriations language, and runs counter to laws and statutes that forbid agencies from spending appropriated funds to lobby for or against legislation.   "Throughout many of your social media postings, there are links to presentations designed to support or defeat legislation pending before the Congress," the Senators wrote. "Your political rhetoric aside, Treasury's social media links to instances in which you advocate that Congress act on legislative proposals seem contrary to appropriations language." To view a signed copy of the letter click HERE. Below is the full text of the letter: July 24, 2012 The Honorable Timothy Geithner Secretary, Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20220 Dear Secretary Geithner: As the Ranking Members of the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, we share responsibility for oversight of Treasury activities, for authorization of those activities, and for the funding of your Department's operation.  Over the past few years, Treasury activities in the so-called "social media" (e.g., Treasury's: "Treasury Notes" blog; "Twitter" account; "Facebook" page; "YouTube" postings; "Flickr" entries; "slideshare" entries) have been expanded significantly and at some cost to the taxpayers. In recent postings to the Treasury Notes blog, Treasury's Twitter account," Treasury's Facebook page, and to slideshare, the Treasury department broadcast, under Treasury's logo, the attached "infographic" which identifies appropriations legislation pending before the Congress as "Pound Foolish."  Elsewhere throughout many of your social media postings, there are links to presentations designed to support or defeat legislation pending before the Congress.  For example, there are links in your social media postings to a 2011 interview on BloombergTV with you, during which you advocated that Congress adopt what the President labeled his "American Jobs Act" and you stated that "if Congress doesn't act, it'll be because Republicans decided they did not want to do anything to help the economy." Your political rhetoric aside, Treasury's social media links to instances in which you advocate that Congress act on legislative proposals seem contrary to appropriations language (e.g., Sections 716 and 719 of P.L. 112-74).  The infographic referred to above appears clearly to be designed to defeat legislation pending before the Congress.  At a minimum, such activity runs counter to P.L. 112-74 and a statute (P.L. 66-5; 41 Stat. 68; 18 U.S.C. 1913) forbidding agencies from spending appropriated funds to encourage the public to contact Members of Congress.  With respect to the attached infographic, while you continue to promote the so-called "Dodd-Frank" financial reforms, your interest in such promotion does not constitute a rationale for spending funds appropriated to Treasury in an attempt to defeat appropriations legislation pending before Congress.  Moreover, it is unclear why the Treasury Department is spending taxpayer funds advocating that more funds be appropriated to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).  Those agencies stand apart from Treasury.  I request that you respond to the following, by close of business on July 30: 1.      Identify any and all "social media" outlets used by Treasury. 2.      Identify your understanding of the laws, regulations, guidelines, and precedent governing what you may or may not broadcast on your social media outlets. 3.      Provide all internal (to the Treasury Department) policies and procedures governing what you may or may not broadcast on your social media outlets, including the date(s) on which those policies and procedures were adopted and modified. 4.      Provide an accounting of the Treasury personnel, in terms of full-time equivalents and outlays for their work time, devoted to feeding, monitoring, updating, and maintaining your social media outlet presence. 5.      Provide an accounting of any public relations or public affairs firms with which Treasury contracts for services related to your social media outlets, and associated outlays. 6.      Provide Treasury's policies on social media "linking," including the date(s) on which those policies were adopted and modified. 7.      Provide Treasury's policies on "retweeting" posts, such as the "retweets" of "tweets" of the White House, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or other independent agencies. 8.      Identify what your objective was in broadcasting, across many social media outlets, the attached infographic, and why your Department is lobbying on behalf of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission with respect to appropriations. 9.      Provide any communications that your Department had with the SEC and CFTC with respect to the attached infographic. 10.  Identify what you believe are limits on what your social media outlets may broadcast to express your Department's interest in supporting or defeating legislation pending before the Congress.  We will appreciate your prompt response to these requests. Sincerely, HATCH MORAN ###

Teen Eagles Host - World View Conference - St. Louis - July 21-22

In our world today, three worldviews demand total allegiance from their adherents. Islam, Marxism and Christianity each claim to possess absolute truth. What world view do you hold? What is the effect of these three dominant world forces? Come discover the truth about each world view as we hear from a  series of dynamic speakers at the World Views, Collision Course Conference! 

Location:  The Conference will be held at The Pillar Foundation 

15820 Clayton Rd. 

Ellisville, Mo. 63011

Time:  Friday, July 20th, 7:00-9:30pm. Saturday, July 21st, 9:30am- 3:30pm

Cost:  $10 per person, $25 per family, to be paid at the door.

Attire: Business Casual

We would love to have you come and be apart of this wonderful event! RSVP, by July 9th. To claim your spot, please call the pillar foundation at (636) 386-7722, send an email to Teeneagles@gmail.com or visit the St. Louis Teen Eagles web-site at stlteeneagles.wordpress.com and click on the tab to the top right of the page titled "Worldviews, Collision Course Conference!" Space is limited so sign up your whole family as soon as possible! 

Nixon VETOED SB 749 -- Fails to protect Religious Freedom

Update: http://stlouisreview.com/article/2012-07-12/gov-nixon-vetoes

Gov. Nixon vetoes religious liberty bill
SB 749: Provides protection for the religious beliefs as to the imposition of certain health care services such as abortion, contraception, or sterlization

STEP 1: Click here to read Sam Lee's Top Ten Reasons Why Governor Nixon Should Sign SB 749.

STEP 2: Call Governor Nixon tonight AND tomorrow morning at (573) 751-3222 or visit http://governor.mo.gov/contact. Ask him to "Take a stand for our religious liberties and SIGN SB 749 into law!"

STEP 3: Pass this email on to 10 friends and update your Facebook status. Here's what one of my friends is doing. Feel free to use it if you like it.

Violating someone's religious and moral liberties by forcing them to pay for abortions or contraceptives in their health insurance plans is just wrong. Call Missouri Governor Jay Nixon NOW at (573) 751-3222 or visit http://governor.mo.gov/contact and ask him to sign the Conscience Rights bill, SB 749!

Goal: If we each do our part, Governor Nixon's office will be flooded with an additional 2,000 calls and emails tonight and tomorrow morning in support of SB 749!