Treatment Planning "Real Teeth"

I have been blessed for over a quarter of a century to be a member of one of the greatest professions, dentistry. In cleaning out some of my old, and less used, accumulations, I found a freshman dental school textbook, “Treatment Planning”. It discusses many concerns for a new practitioner, such as what method and means of treatment would be appropriate for a particular patient. After twenty-five years of practice, most of these questions are answered automatically. Is a tooth restorable? How best to restore proper function in chewing, biting, slicing, and speech. Can the patient’s expectation for appearance be achieved? Last but not least, would the proposed treatment violate that universal dogma, “Doctor, do no harm”? My textbook on treatment planning was obviously void of many options on today’s dental landscape. There have been advances in most subspecialties, the dental implant has become a treatment, and now they are talking about genetically growing “real teeth”.

Real Teeth? Could this be anything like the “real teeth” Pope Benedict XVI has proposed in his latest encyclical, Caritas In Veritate? This 51-page letter on Charity and Truth, is addressed to everyone from Bishops, to all people of good will. Under section 67, he makes his diagnoses: To manage the global economy; there is urgent need of a true world political authority. His plan of treatment for this situation is proposed earlier in the same section, “so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire “real teeth”.

What in the world could my Pope possibly be planning?

• Real teeth that chew-up open ecclesial opposition, and silence, to an earlier encyclical on human life, Humane Vitae?
• Real teeth that can slice through the scandal, of honoring the most pro-death President in our history, at our nation’s most “Catholic” institution, Notre Dame?
• Real teeth that bite-off the mockery of using a Divine Liturgy, for the purpose of honoring one of the most pro-abort senators in recent history.
• Real teeth, positioned properly, to allow the proper sounds to words that condemn the book and lifestyle of homosexual Bishop Weakland?

I humbly suggest that my Pope ponder the inverse of the question for Bishops, “If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?” 1 Timothy 3:5 NIV. I say, “If anyone does not know how to take care of God’s church, how can he take care of the world family?”

My diagnosis is simple: the Catholic Church in America is edentulous. The treatment plan: Pray for “real teeth”! And, the universal, or catholic, doctrine holds true, “Papa, do no harm!”

The Price of Freedom

The value of freedom, for you and for me,
May vary as far as the eye can see,
The freedom to speak, to assemble, to pray,
Are guarded throughout this U.S. of A.

But what of the freedom to compete with your trade,
To market your wares, without a blockade.
Or worse even yet, let’s say for the day,
Big brother comes in and gives it away.

The market is gone, the need erased.
You’re left with a hollow, an empty place.
The reason for this, is simple you see.
It’s political econom-mix, it only takes three.

One is the lady, who pulls on the purse,
To fund number two, who drives freedom’s hearse.
And three is a voter, a you, or a me,
Who grabs at this freebee, and runs off in glee.

What have we got, as we rest for a breath?
It isn’t as free, as we’d grown to expect.
It comes at a price, too high and too dear.
Our free market’s been sold, to a red ink balloteer.

Dr. Mike Hargadon, 1992

Feeling Our Abortion

One month ago, two of my liberty-loving friends and I attempted to produce a weekly two-hour pro-life radio program. We call it, “Pro-Life Unity Radio”, and it airs in Ocala FL, on 104.3 FM, and on the Liberty Works Radio Network lwrn.net. We had a guest last weekend, Pastor Johnny Hunter from LEARN Inc., a group working to educate the African American community to the racial dimension of abortion. During our conversation, we concluded, “What good is affirmative action to an aborted black baby”? We then expanded the question to, “What good are liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, to a dead baby?

These are philosophical concepts that lose their relevance without life. Affirmative action was a brainstorm to correct a perceived imbalance of liberty and the pursuit of happiness. History has shown that a person’s freedom and their ability to move within the economy are interrelated. When these two rights are taken away, the person begins to loose his or her identity. Taken to its extreme, the person could loose life. We use liberty, and our pursuit of happiness, to protect life. This is probably easiest seen with abortion.

In an early term abortion, the killing team can attack the person within the womb. If this occurs at an early enough stage, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are ended, within the veil of an adult female person. No fight! Nary a word. No problem?

The fight, the cruelty, the problem, become more evident when the child is brought out of the womb in the procedure commonly known as partial birth abortion. Its official name is intact dilation and extraction. What is inferred in this official procedural name is the third step in this “procedure”, the “killing” of the partially born child.

Here is the gruesome description:

Usually, preliminary procedures are performed over a period of two to three days, to gradually dilate the cervix using laminaria tents (sticks of seaweed which absorb fluid and swell). Sometimes drugs such as synthetic pitocin are used to induce labor. Once the cervix is sufficiently dilated, the doctor uses an ultrasound and forceps to grasp the fetus' leg. The fetus is turned to a breech position, if necessary, and the doctor pulls one or both legs out of the birth canal, causing what is referred to by some people as the 'partial birth' of the fetus. The doctor subsequently extracts the rest of the fetus, usually without the aid of forceps, leaving only the head still inside the birth canal. An incision is made at the base of the skull, scissors are inserted into the incision and opened to widen the opening,^[8] and then a suction catheter is inserted into the opening. The brain is suctioned out, which causes the skull to collapse and allows the fetus to pass more easily through the birth canal. The placenta is removed and the uterine wall is vacuum aspirated using a cannula.^[9]

A healthy child in the womb may: float in amniotic fluid, suck its thumb, listen to its mom’s heart, be fed, and stretch. This is the economy of the womb. The womb allows a child to exercise its rights of free movement, within a boundry, that allow for growth. To change the cervix, and contract the uterus, at a premature stage in development is an attack on the economy of the womb. The child’s pursuit of happiness has been taken. To grab the child’s foot, and pull he or she through the birth canal is the attack on its freedom, its liberty. Having lost both protective rights, the child becomes a defenseless victim.

The cervix of our economy has been dilated. Our money is worthless. We have allowed private powerful bankers to expand our money supply, print fiat paper money, and throw economic realities to the wind. The government now controls most aspects of our economy, so they have started the pitocin drip of fear. They are contracting the uterus of our civilized society with war as a way of life, with the unnatural as natural, and with the demolition of skyscrapers and our economic security.

Lets prepare ourselves for the next dose of pitocin: explosions, contrived riots, marshal law. We will need a little more induction before we can be guided into our birth canal camps: something to justify disarming us. Who would grab the foot of a little one if he or she was packing a 357 revolver? Once they take our guns, and the rest of our Bill of Rights, we will be defenseless.

Feel them grabbing for your foot? They will drag us through our canal of freedom, to be prepped for the completion of this procedure, “post birth abortion”, our abortion.

Time to Act!

We did our first two-hour radio program, "Pro-Life Unity Radio", on Liberty Works Radio Network yesterday, May 9th. Aside from some initial technical difficulties, it went fairly well. In the fifth of six segments, we discussed the Notre Dame scandal, as they intend to honor Mr. Obama. Allen Keys and 21 other were arrested yesterday, for "trespassing", to demonstrate their disapproval of this planned event. They were charged with trespass, a misdemeanor, and $250.00 fine. I believe the protest is misdirected.

The only real leverage in this matter is the Church. That really is the point. That is the scandal! The Catholic Church is not a democracy or republic. So, why petition? Why demonstrate? Expect the Church to act. The Catholic Church is an organization with rules, and a chain of command that depends on obedience, with jurisdictional matters decided by the local Bishop. In Pope John Paul II's teaching document Ex Corde Ecclesiae, this authority is referenced in five separate places. The local Bishop has the authority and the responsibility to proclaim a college or university, "Catholic".

As this confrontation builds, the lack of leadership within the Church will be front and center. This problem never should have gotten this far out of hand. The remnant faithful in our Church, and the country at large, will be confirmed in our principles, if and when the local bishop, Bishop John D'Arcy, does more than just "disapprove". It is great that he has enough moral compass to recognize this scandal, but he has a responsibility to his flock. He is responsible for the Catholic Church in his area. What the Catholic or "universal " Church does in South Bend, affects the church in Baltimore.

Bishop D'Arcy should find the Notre Dame administration in violation of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, and give them a deadline, as to when he WILL remove ND's Catholic credentials. It's that simple. The Bishop has to take ACTION! This is not meant to second guess the bishop, rather it is just a statement of the obvious. The Church either acts now, or we scatter. It takes a special father to ACT in this politically charged environment. Pray for spiritual testosterone for Bishop D'Arcy.

Consistent Pro-life Message

Jane and I attended the 30^th annual Maryland March for Life. The organizers did an excellent job, the speakers were great, and Steve Peroutka’s treat for refreshments, made this year’s event, the best.

Before the March, Archbishop O’Brien con-celebrated the Holy Mass with about a dozen priests. The Archbishop painted a dismally honest picture of our struggles ahead with this pro-abortion administration. He also challenged the pro-lifers’ positions on the death penalty and immigration. His plea was to have a “consistent pro-life message”. He concluded his homily with the statement, “We have much to pray about”. The Archdiocese of Baltimore is blessed to have a man of the Archbishop’s stature.

I am on board with his anti-death penalty position, but I have reservations about how illegal immigration warrants a mention, when trying to save unborn children? Either way, it is good news, that there will be consistency in how the Bishops deal with these issues.

Having seen Bishop Madden marching next to the Governor and Lt. Gov., to the “repeal the death penalty rally” in Lawyer’s Mall (C.R. 3/5/09), I expected to see a bishop at our March for Life, which rallied at Lawyer’s Mall. If one was there, I didn’t see him.

It is also good to know that Bishop Madden will take these repeal the death penalty events, as opportunities to specifically mention the need to “repeal abortion”. Let’s be consistent.

Honest Money Update

During our effort to promote the Honest Money Resolution, some of us took the time to lobby Delegates at the Maryland House. Others promoted the effort to friends and family, and still others networked with existing groups who may be like-minded. I was excited about this resolution and I volunteered to help with all three. I specifically volunteered to contact Save a Patriot to ask for their support.

Save a Patriot’s founder, John Kotmair, was glad to see the effort. He got right on it, and made several suggestions on the wording of the resolution, to make it more constitutionally correct.

When I contacted Joe Arminio, the lead proponent of the Honest Money Resolution in the Maryland Republican Liberty Caucus, he was not interested in considering John’s suggestions, and wished to distance the effort from Mr. Kotmair and his SAP group. I disagreed, and have not received any further updates from Joe. My understanding is that the resolution is awaiting its death in Rules Committee.

If you are interested in John Kotmair’s view of Honest Money, John will be speaking at the Maryland Constitution Party’s Meeting, Saturday morning, April 4th, 10:30 a.m. at the Howard County Central Library.

Yeave Me A Yone!

My wife and I attended the Campaign For Liberty Forum, last Friday evening, as part of the CPAC Convention in Washington D.C. We listened to six great speakers, which included Congressman Ron Paul, Thomas Woods, and Judge Napolitano. The ballroom had to be stuffed with at least four hundred liberty-loving patriots. We cheered for over two hours as we were enlightened, and inspired, by statements like Judge Napolitano’s, “Lincoln was our nation’s worst president!”

One of the guest speakers enumerated some of our liberties: freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the right to bear arms, etc. Then he condensed them into a broad but encompassing right: “The right to be left alone!” This is what the American, and for that matter foreign, freedom lovers really want: to be left alone.

Our empire, is not only entangled with 135 foreign countries, is destroying the economic future of our financial system, our families, and the dollar, but has its crosshairs set on our right to own a firearm, and a mandatory draft. Our foreign neighbors are hollering, our free market is hollering, and our families are hollering, “Leave us alone!”

When my youngest son, who is 21 years old, was three, he prophetically coined our battle cry. He has always been strong willed, and at three, he had not quite mastered the roll of the tongue, which is necessary for the “l” sound. That didn’t stop him from exercising his freedom of speech. Whenever he was corrected, and decided he had had enough, he would let loose an emphatic directive, “Yeave me a yone!” He didn’t need the “l”; we knew what he said.

Having lived through this almost primordial sound of command, I could not get Friday’s message out of my mind. The truth of government's intrusion into our lives, begs the question of credibility. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, are they still recognized rights in the USA?

So today, as I drove through a suburban wooded park, I opened my window, and let it rip: “Yeave me a yone!” It felt great. Try it. The revolution has begun.

Belle, Rudy, and R.J.

Belle, Rudy, and R. J. were some of the best pets I ever had, and they were goats.

My first goat, Belle, was a black, brown and white Nubian (the kind with long floppy ears). I purchased her as a project for my children to produce goat milk. The first thing I learned about goats, and sheep for that matter, is that they are herd animals and need company. Just as I was about to be cited by my neighborhood for having a screaming solitary goat, she solved her problem. She had two adorable kids. We learned to milk Belle, played with her kids, and sold them to a friend.

To get the milk operation back up, and solve Belle’s increasing bleating, we mated Belle. We hoped she might throw three kids, so we might try some goat meat. She only had one, and we decided to keep him as company for Belle. He was a beautiful tan color, so we named him Rudy.

Rudy was all play, loved sweet corn, and quickly grew in excess of two hundred and fifty pounds. Once he ripped his side flank open on a nail while rubbing against the walls of the barn. It was our first and only home-visit by the vet, who promptly asked, “Who is responsible for this obese goat?” Rudy would play by standing on his hind legs, rear back, and lean his forehead into you: a slow-motion butt.

My wife and I went to Ireland for our 25^th anniversary. On our return, we were greeted at the airport with the sad news, “Rudy had hung himself!” Evidently, he had lost his footing while reaching for some honey suckles on the back fence, and his collar got stuck on the fence. He hung there for two days until my son found him.

About the same time, a neighboring pig farmer had inherited a 4-H goat. The farmer didn’t have any other goats, and Belle needed the company, so I offered to keep the 4-H goat. It had coloring very similar to Rudy, and had won 1^st place in the County Fair. We named it RJ, for Rudy Junior, and he got along great with Belle.

Belle eventually passed away. Now, to keep RJ company, I thought I might get a sheep and try producing some lamb. Another friend had been raising lambs for years, so I purchased a young female. She was skittish, flighty, most unfriendly, and pregnant. She would always stay two lengths behind RJ, as RJ could never get enough pets and rubs. R.J. was another lovable goat. There was a natural calmness in placing my forehead against R.J.’s, all the while keeping eye contact with those wide-set peaceful eyes.

The sheep gave me two lambs, which were great in the freezer. We bred her again, and she had one lamb, which we also took to market. R.J. eventually went lame with hoof rot, and both he and the sheep went to their earthly judgment: the livestock auction.

I tell this short story in an attempt to defend the reputation of goats. Goats have been a convenient target of failed judgment from the scripture of the Final Judgment. Both Roman rite and Eastern rite priests have consistantly painted the image of the ornery, smelly, disobedient, and impossible goat. The connection is made that these supposed characteristics of goats, in people, will place you to the left, and doomed. “And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left… ( Matt 25: 32-33).

Instead of Christ actually making a character judgment on goats; could it be, might it be, that all Christ meant, is that there is a difference? As easily, and matter of fact, as a shepherd, or I, can tell the difference between goats and sheep, so to, will Christ be able to tell “the difference” between: those who have lived for Christ, and those who have rejected Him. There is a difference between those who accept Truth, and those who knowingly accept a credible lie. Could it be as simple as, “there is a difference”? God knows!

Implication of Doing Nothing

This past November, I ran for the House of Representative seat of the 7^th district in Maryland. The most common advice I received was, “Start lower on the ladder: dogcatcher, school board, or State office”. This would have made more sense to me, if I had a passion for any of these positions, or if the current incumbent had a serious challenger.

Now that the election is over, we find our country is accelerating into a self-destruct hole of federal interventionism, worthless paper money, and an economy of eugenics. The Union is out of balance, in that the three branches of government are no longer “checks” of each other; they are enablers. The sovereignty of our individual states, may be our only hope of retaining our inalienable rights?

This past Thursday, I ventured down to the General Assembly in hope of affecting some influence, through our State government. I visited some of the offices of our state delegates, to get co-sponsors for a house resolution to resist this national decline. This resolution, introduced by Delegate Rick Impallaria, is titled, Federal Money and Banking. It urges the United States Congress to restore honest money backed by silver and gold in accordance with the requirements of the United States Constitution, phase out Federal Reserve notes, and return to the free market banking practices that the Founding Fathers codified in the United States Constitution. At this writing, we have fourteen co-sponsors. The delegates were friendly, and encouraged my participation. I was surprised though, by some of the reasons the delegates had for not wanting to co-sign on a resolution, that only “urges” a responsible constitutional monetary policy.

I was only a small part of this effort, and found the staff at these delegate offices to be exceptionally helpful. I spoke personally with a half a dozen delegates, but most would not commit. Several of them specifically gave the reason of, "I don't know enough about it." Article 1 section ten of our Federal Constitution states, “No state shall…make any thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender of Payment of Debts,”. One might think that a delegate should realize that our founding fathers were obviously attempting to secure value within the Union. Another conservative delegate, supported the premise, but wanted to know the "implications", if this resolution would pass? He didn't want to be blamed for the collapse of the dollar.

If, and when, the dollar collapses, it certainly won’t be due to the state of Maryland urging the Federal government to restore a value to our currency. The truth is, that the value of the dollar is collapsing as the credibility of paper money collapses. Colorado, Indiana, and New Hampshire also have honest money bills. We, the states, not only need to urge, but we need to tell the Federal government to stop ignoring our Constitution. When our elected officials take office, they swear an oath on the Bible, to protect and defend the Constitution. In their lack of defense of the Constitution, these officials should be concerned with breaking their oath to God, an implication of doing nothing.

Honest Money in Maryland

The Maryland Liberty Republican Caucus is supporting Delegate Rick Impallaria in his effort to pass a resolution for honest money. The first draft of the bill is listed below.

By: Delegate Impallaria

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

Federal Money and Banking

For the purpose of urging the Unites States Congress to restore honest money backed by silver and gold in accordance with the requirements of the United States Constitution, phase out Federal Reserve notes, and return to the free market banking practices that the Founding Fathers codified in the United States Constitution.

WHEREAS, There is a nationwide economic crisis that needs a speedy resolution; and

WHEREAS, Future recurrences of a similar crisis should be prevented; and

WHEREAS, Federal Reserve notes are unconstitutional, inflationary and at the heart of the present economic distress; and

WHEREAS, Free market banking practices are in the best interests of the citizens of the United States; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That the United States Congress is urged to:

(1) Restore honest money backed by silver and gold in accordance with the requirements of the United States Constitution;

(2) Phase out Federal Reserve notes; and

(3) Return to the free market banking practices that the Founding Fathers codified in the United States Constitution; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be forwarded by the Department of Legislative Services to the Maryland Congressional Delegation: Senators Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin, Senate Office Building, Washignton, D.C. 20510; and Representatives Frank M. Kratovil, Jr., C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger III, John P. Sarbanes, Donna Edwards, Steny Hamilton Hoyer, Roscoe G. Bartlett, Elijiah E. Cummings, and Christopher Van Hollen, Jr., House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515.

An Alternative?

For those Maryland liberty loving conservatives who wish the Republican Party would speak boldly against:

• The Federal Reserve,
• Our involvement in the Middle East,
• Our irresponsible debt,
• The never ending growth of government,

THIS MAY BE FOR YOU?

Michael Bertocchi announces a meeting of The Constitution Party of Maryland on Saturday, January 24, 2009, from 11 am to 1 pm at: Howard County Central Library,10375 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Maryland 21044. Call 410-313-7850 (The library is 3 blocks from the Columbia Mall.)

Guest Speaker -- Brad Botwin from Help Save Maryland ( http://www.helpsavemaryland.com/ ). He'll talk about the effects of illegal immigration on Maryland citizens.

The Constitution Party of Maryland will also hold their elections for Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, & Treasurer. (You must be a registered voter with the Constitution Party to vote & hold office.) Please bring your voter registration card so we know you are a registered voter with the Constitution Party along with a photo ID such as your driver's license. You may change your political affiliation to the Constitution Party by going to http://www.elections.state.md.us/about/county_boards.html

Other topics to be discussed are:
• The upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) meeting on Thursday, February 26 through Saturday, February 28 Omni Shoreham Hotel
• The Spring National Committee meeting -- Thursday, June 11 through Saturday, June 13 Newark, New Jersey.
• Discussion and talk concerning Alain LaReau’s decision to run for Congress in the 3rd Congressional district.

contact:
Michael Bertocchi
Rockville, Maryland
Constitution Party of Maryland
301-814-2005

The Complainer!

One of the Republican friends I met during this last election cycle, made a point of reading my blog. He later confided that he understands my positions, but is convinced that I complain too much. He instructed me, that I would have a better chance of winning people over, if I did not complain about them. “You should talk about your ideas, but not criticize others. If you complain about a particular person, or persons’ position, they will not listen to you, associate with you, or have you to dinner.”

My response was, that maybe that is what is wrong with the Republican Party. Maybe everyone is so intent on going along, to get along, they forgot how to complain. They forgot to complain when a Republican justifies war, to create “a beachhead for democracy”. They forgot to complain when Bush pushes through a bill that creates a DNA bank for newborns in the U.S., or when Posse Comitatus was violated, or when Ron Paul supporters were hassled by the security at the GOP Convention, or when the supposed facts of 9-11 are so unbelievable, that pilots, engineers and architects, and some clergy are demanding the truth.

And then there is the Gaza War; dare I complain?

Neo-Conservative Steele

We here in Maryland are supposed to be all excited that one of our own, Michael Steele, is in the running for the Chairman of the R.N.C. I am still awaiting a reply from Mr. Steele to my inquiry concerning his apparent cave-in on ESCR.

His chummy relationship with FOX news, also concerns me. FOX would not allow Ron Paul in the New Hampshire primary debate, and in a later debate, they showed their true Neoconservative color, when they tried to embarass Dr. Paul, by insinuating that he didn't belong on the stage.

As a Ron Paul Republican, looking for a humble foreign policy, I find Mr. Steele's Iraq position unconstitutional. We go to war to "establish a beachhead of democracy"? I hope the nearly one million civillians who have been murdered in the anarchy we created feel the same. Oh, they're dead.

Q: Do you believe the war has been worth the price we've paid in lives and costs?
Steele: I think the war has been worth it to the extent that what we're trying to establish there is a beachhead of democracy. When we walk out of Iraq, what do we want? Do we want an Iraq that's an ally of the US, or do we want an Iraq that is an enemy of the US? We want an ally, so it's been worth it to us to establish this beachhead of democracy and an ally in an area where we've had some trouble in the past.
Source: 2006 Maryland Senate debate on Meet the Press Oct 29, 2006

And, I thought the former seminarian, Steele, would use the constitution to attempt to save some babies. Dr. Paul suggested that we, through the Congress, through the constitution (Article 3 section 2), tell the federal courts to stay out of questions related to the life of the unborn, and let the states decide. Steele is fine with Roe v. Wade. I hope the thousands of babies that are aborted are also fine. Oh, they're dead.

Q: Would you hope the US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade?
Steele: My desire is that we follow what stare decisis is at this point.
Source: 2006 Maryland Senate debate on Meet the Press Oct 29, 2006