Brenda Almond is Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Philosophy at the University of Hull. She is President of the Philosophical Society of England and Vice-President of the Society for Applied Philosophy. Her books include: The Fragmenting Family, Exploring Ethics: a traveller's tale, Moral Concerns, and The Philosophical Quest.

Biographical details: Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Philosophy, University of Hull, B.A. M.Phil. (London), doc.hc. (Utrecht). Studied philosophy under A.J. Ayer at University College, University of London. She subsequently held lectureships in philosophy at universities in England and in W. Africa (Ghana), as well as visiting appointments in the USA and Australia . She has lectured widely in Europe and the Far East. She moved from Surrey University to the University of Hull in 1986 and was appointed Professor of Moral and Social Philosophy there in 1992. (http://www.the-philosopher.co.uk/brenda_almond/brenda_almond.htm)

The Fragmenting Family - Synopsis
Brenda Almond throws down a timely challenge to the liberal consensus about personal relationships. She maintains that the traditional family is fragmenting in Western societies, and that this fragmentation is a cause of serious social problems. Behind this phenomenon Almond finds a new ideology according to which the family is seen no longer as a natural procreative unit, but rather as a social construction, a set of legal and social relationships. She gives an urgent warning about the danger of legal changes which weaken the contractual status of marriage and discount genetic and biological parenthood. These changes threaten the parent-child link which is fundamental to human life. The Fragmenting Family challenges widespread beliefs about commitment and freedom in partnerships and parenthood. Almond urges that we reconsider our attitudes to sex and reproduction in order to strengthen our most important social institution, the family, which is the key to ensuring healthy relationships between parents and children and a secure upbringing for the citizens of the future. Anyone who is concerned about how the framework of society is changing, anyone who has to face difficult personal decisions about parenthood or family relationships, will find this book compelling. It may disturb deep convictions, or offer an unwelcome message; but it is compassionate as well as controversial.

For details see: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fragmenting-Family-Brenda-Almond/dp/0199267952/ref=sr_1_1/202-8821530-0288627?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191622939&sr=1-1

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FEATURED NEWS ARTICLES

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1. Gen. Pace repeats view that gay sex immoral

By Anne Flaherty, Associated Press Writer, Sep 26, 7:27

WASHINGTON - Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, caused a stir at a Senate hearing Wednesday when he repeated his view that gay sex is immoral and should not be condoned by the military.

Pace, who retires next week, said he was seeking to clarify similar remarks he made in spring, which he said were misreported.

"Are there wonderful Americans who happen to be homosexual serving in the military? Yes," he told the Senate Appropriations Committee during a hearing focused on the Pentagon's 2008 war spending request.

"We need to be very precise then, about what I said wearing my stars and being very conscious of it," he added. "And that is, very simply, that we should respect those who want to serve the nation but not through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God's law."

. . . "I would be very willing and able and supportive" to changes to the policy "to continue to allow the homosexual community to contribute to the nation without condoning what I believe to be activity — whether it to be heterosexual or homosexual — that in my upbringing is not right," Pace said.

Pace's lengthy answer on gays was prodded by Sen. Tom Harkin, who said he found Pace's previous remarks as "very hurtful" and "very demoralizing" to homosexuals serving in the military.

In March, the Chicago Tribune reported that Pace said in a wide-ranging interview: "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way."

. . . Pace noted that the U.S. Military Code of Justice prohibits homosexual activity as well as adultery. Harkin said, "Well, then, maybe we should change that."

To read entire article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/pace_homosexuals;_ylt=AllcEqd8rANcaIVP6zkz64ZI2ocA

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2. Clinton pledges to overturn limit on stem cell R&D

By Jeremy Pelofsky

Reuters, Oct 4, 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton vowed on Thursday to lift President George W. Bush's restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

She also accused the Bush administration of having "declared war on science" by injecting politics into decisions about health and the environment, such as trying to limit the availability of contraceptives without a prescription and minimizing the impact of global warming.

"When I am president, I will end this assault on science," the New York senator and former first lady said at the Carnegie Institution for Science. "America will once again be the innovation nation."

In June, Bush vetoed for the second time legislation to expand federally funded embryonic stem cell research, despite support from a few dozen Republicans. Congress has been unable to override his vetoes.

Embryonic stem cells are the source of every cell, tissue and organ in the body. Scientists want to use them to find cures for such debilitating illness as Parkinson's, cancer and diabetes.

The president and other critics condemn the legislation as morally offensive because it would lead to the destruction of human embryos to derive stem cells.

To read entire article:

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2007-10-04T203454Z_01_N04346952_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-POLITICS-CLINTON.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C3-politicsNews-3

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3. Foes hit continued abstinence funding

By Cheryl Wetzstein

Washington Times, September 30, 2007

Congress again has extended funding for a core abstinence-education program, sparking protests from sex-education advocates who want Democrats to pull the plug on such programs.

"Their actions defy logic and common sense," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth.

First, Congress funds what Mr. Wagoner called unproven abstinence programs. Then it commissions a study that shows they don't work, but lawmakers ignore those results and continue to fund the programs.

"Teens deserve better policies. We all deserve better leaders," said Mr. Wagoner, whose organization stresses rights, respect and responsibility in sex education.

Rep. James P. Moran, Virginia Democrat, said he supported "with frustration" the second three-month extension of the $50 million Title V abstinence-education program and several health programs that serve low-income families.

The health programs are effective, but unfortunately they are "held hostage" to the abstinence program, "which prizes ideology over science and ... harms our children through the provision of medically inaccurate information," Mr. Moran said Wednesday. The Senate passed its extension of Title V and other health programs on Thursday.

Abstinence supporters have been playing defense, especially since April when Mathematica Policy Research Inc. released a long-awaited evaluation of four abstinence programs. It concluded that the programs didn't affect teen sexual behavior.

"Abstinence programs don't as yet have a long track record," Janice Shaw Crouse of the Beverly LaHaye Institute wrote in a paper called, "Why the Left is Attacking Abstinence Programs."

Mathematica studied teens who received abstinence education when they were ages 9 to 11, but received no follow-up, Mrs. Crouse said. However, 12 other studies on abstinence compiled by the National Abstinence Education Association indicate "remarkable effectiveness," she said.

To read entire article:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070930/NATION/109300045/1001

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4. Washington Court OKs Gay 'Marriages' From Canada

CitizenLink, September 24, 2007

Homosexuals travel north in their effort to redefine marriage.

It’s the latest example of state officials reinventing policy on marriage. The Washington state Court of Appeals said it’s OK for the mayor of Seattle to recognize same-sex “marriages” from other countries.

In 2004, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels issued an executive order forcing all city departments to give benefits to "married" homosexual employees. Gay “marriage” was and still is prohibited in Washington, but not in Canada. To get the benefits, Seattle gays traveled north of the border. Nickel’s policy is now the law of the land.

“What business has Mayor Nickels got in taking his local agenda and pounding it through here?" asked Larry Stickney of the Family Policy Institute of Washington.

Brian Raum of the Alliance Defense Fund said proponents of traditional marriage challenged the mayor’s executive order, but lost in court.

“The court in Washington suggests that the same-sex marriages recognized there are only for the purposes of benefits and somehow that’s OK," he told Family News in Focus. "I think that’s a very dangerous position to take because the very essence of what they are trying to do there is gain marriage equality, and that’s one of the tactics that those who support that are using.”

There’s a similar battle brewing in New York.

To read entire article:

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005541.cfm

Related Article: N.J. Commission Expected to Push for Same-Sex 'Marriage'

CitizenLink, October 1, 2007

Apparently, homosexuals are not satisfied with civil union law.

Gay activists are complaining that New Jersey’s civil union law is failing. Family groups say this is the next phase of getting what homosexuals want — full-marriage status.

The Civil Union Review Commission has launched its first of three biweekly meetings to hear complaints that civil unions are a “failed experiment” and carry a “second-class status.”

“The net effect of that law was simply to create a vehicle by which homosexual activists could run a dog-and-pony show, essentially to force the Legislature's hand to create same-sex marriages rather than civil unions," said Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action.

Len Deo of the New Jersey Family Policy Council said the commission is stacked.

“Steven Goldstein is the head of Garden State Equality, which is the leading homosexual-rights activist group in New Jersey," he told Family News in Focus. "On top of that, he’s also the vice chairman of the Civil Unions Commission — which is basically the wolf watching the henhouse.”

The commission is expected to present its findings to lawmakers to justify a bill allowing same-sex marriage. John White with the Knights of Columbus said that was the plan all along.

“They haven’t been satisfied with domestic partnerships," he said. "That was supposed to be all they wanted. The next thing they wanted was civil unions, they got civil unions, and now that’s not enough.”

To read entire article:

http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000005601.cfm

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5. Senator Brownback Bill Would Require Ultrasound before Abortion

CitizenLink, September 25, 2007

Abortion activists don't want women to have this choice.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., has introduced legislation that requires abortionists to offer every woman seeking an abortion a chance to see an ultrasound image of their preborn babies. The images are remarkably effective at reducing abortions. It’s the first time the measure has been introduced in Congress, and there’s hope it will pass.

The Ultrasound Informed Consent Act gives every abortion-minded woman the chance to see the life she is about to sacrifice. Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee said it’s a good bill that puts the onus on the abortionist.

“It requires that the ultrasound image be displayed by the abortionist," he told Family News in Focus. "Of course, the woman has a right to look away and not to view it if that’s her choice.”

Johnson thinks the bill has a fighting chance.

“This is not an issue that’s come up in Congress before," he said, "but, based on past votes we’ve had on issues like informing a woman of the capacity of the child to experience pain, I’d say that this might well command a majority in the House and Senate.”

Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus on the Family Action, said ultrasounds are popular with pregnancy resource centers because when the mother sees an image of her baby, she often declares a decision not to abort.

“Approximately 88 percent of the women who are at risk for abortion, who go into a pregnancy center for counseling and to see an ultrasound, indicate they end up changing their minds," she said.

To read entire article:

http://www.citizenlink.org/aaa/news1.html

Related Article: Verizon U-turn on abortion rights program

Associated Press, CNNMoney.com, September 27 2007

Trenton, N.J. -- Reversing course, Verizon Wireless said Thursday it will allow an abortion rights group to use its mobile network for a sign-up text messaging program.

The announcement came a day after the Basking Ridge-based unit of Verizon Communications Inc. said it had denied a request by Naral Pro-Choice America for the program.

"The decision to not allow text messaging on an important, though sensitive, public policy issue was incorrect, and we have fixed the process that led to this isolated incident," Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson said in a statement.

Behind T-Mobile's customer service success

"Upon learning about this situation, senior Verizon Wireless (Charts, Fortune 500) executives immediately reviewed the decision and determined it was an incorrect interpretation of a dusty internal policy," Nelson said. "That policy, developed before text messaging protections such as spam filters adequately protected customers from unwanted messages, was designed to ward against communications such as anonymous hate messaging and adult materials sent to children."

The program by Naral, based in Washington, D.C., lets people sign up to receive its text messages by punching in a message to a five-digit number. Known as "short codes," the five-digit numbers have become a popular way to get updates on everything from sports to politics to entertainment news.

Other leading wireless carriers have accepted Naral's request to use their networks.

To read entire article:

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/27/news/companies/bc.apfn.verizonwireless.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007092711

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COMING EVENTS

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NINTH WORLD FAMILY POLICY FORUM

July 7 - 9, 2008

Provo, Utah

Sponsored by the World Family Policy Center, Brigham Young University. Participation and attendance at the Forum is by invitation only. For further information, contact Sarah Stewart 801-422-5192

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Note: The Featured Articles excerpts are highlights of current events and

do not necessarily represent the views of the World Family Policy Center

or Brigham Young University.

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Newsletter created and distributed by:

World Family Policy Center (www.worldfamilypolicy.org)

J. Reuben Clark Law School

Brigham Young University

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