POLICE OFFICER BILLY RAY WATSON (END OF WATCH: DECEMBER 28, 1976)

On this date, December 28, 1976, Officer Billy Ray Watson was shot dead. The Cop Killer, Ronald Spivey was executed by lethal injection in Georgia on January 24, 2002.

Officer Billy Ray Watson

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.odmp.org/officer/13889-police-officer-billy-ray-watson

Bio & Incident Details

Age: 41

Tour: 6 years

Badge # Not available

Cause: Gunfire

Incident Date: 12/28/1976

Weapon: Gun; Unknown type

Suspect: Executed in 2002

Officer Watson was shot and killed when he walked into a robbery-in-progress at a local mall. The suspect was sentenced to death and executed on January 24, 2002.

Officer Watson had been with the agency for 6 years and was survived by his wife and three children.

Please go to this ODMP website to see the reflections from those who honor this fallen cop.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF GERALD FORD [PRO LIFE QUOTE OF THE FORTNIGHT ~ SUNDAY DECEMBER 15, 2013 TO SATURDAY DECEMBER 28, 2013]

 

Gerald Ford

QUOTE: One of the most controversial issues of our time and one in which we share a keen interest is the question of abortion. I have grave concern over the serious moral questions raised by this issue. Each new life is a miracle of creation. To interfere with that creative process is a most serious act. In my view, the Government has a very special role in this regard. Specifically, the Government has a responsibility to protect life--and indeed to provide legal guarantees for the weak and unprotected. It is within this context that I have consistently opposed the 1973 decision of the .Supreme Court. As President, I am sworn to uphold the laws of the land and I intend to carry out this responsibility. In my personal view, however, this court decision was unwise. I said then and I repeat today--abortion on demand is wrong. [Letter to the Archbishop of Cincinnati (September 10, 1976)]

AUTHOR: Gerald Ford A.K.A Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.; July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974. As the first person appointed to the vice-presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment (after Spiro Agnew had resigned), when he became President upon Richard Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974, he became the only President of the United States who was never elected President nor Vice-President by the Electoral College. Before ascending to the vice-presidency, Ford served nearly 25 years as the Representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district, eight of them as the Republican Minority Leader.

As President, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, marking a move toward détente in the Cold War. With the conquest of South Vietnam by North Vietnam nine months into his presidency, U.S. involvement in Vietnam essentially ended. Domestically, Ford presided over arguably the weakest economy since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession during his tenure. One of his more controversial acts was to grant a presidential pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. During Ford's incumbency, foreign policy was characterized in procedural terms by the increased role Congress began to play, and by the corresponding curb on the powers of the President. In 1976, Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, but lost the presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Following his years as president, Ford remained active in the Republican Party. After experiencing health problems, Ford died in his home on December 26, 2006. Ford lived longer than any other U.S. president, living 93 years and 165 days, while his 895 day presidency remains the shortest of all Presidents who did not die in office.

2013 CHRISTMAS MESSAGE BY THE NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE [ARTICLE ON PRO-LIFE OF THE MONTH ~ DECEMBER 2013]

NOTICE: The following article is written by the author itself and not by me, I am not trying to violate their copyright. I will give some information on them.

PAGE TITLE: http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/

ARTICLE TITLE: What Christmas says about human life and dignity

DATE: Friday December 20, 2013

AUTHOR: Paul Stark

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Paul Stark is a Communications Associate for Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, NRLC’s state affiliate. http://www.mccl.org/

URL: http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2013/12/what-christmas-says-about-human-life-and-dignity/

PHOTO SOURCE: http://shesaprettygoodchristian.com/2012/12/24/what-is-this-thing-we-call-christmas/

Christians use the Christmas holiday to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. This event (apart from everything else it entails) provides a number of insights about human life and dignity.

1. Each of us was once an unborn child. The Incarnation—the coming into the world of Christ—did not happen in the manger. It happened some nine months earlier. This is what the facts of human embryology and developmental biology tell us, and it is what the scriptural accounts affirm.

Mary is said to be “with child” (Matthew 1:18) upon Jesus being “conceived … from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). Earlier, Mary is told she will “conceive in [her] womb … a son, [to be named] Jesus” (Luke 1:31), who even before birth is called a “child … [who] will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Luke 1:41-44 recounts that the unborn John the Baptist (who was probably in his sixth month) “leaped for joy” in his mother’s womb when he entered the presence of the unborn Jesus (who was probably a very young embryo at the time).

Jesus began his earthly existence as an embryo and fetus. So did all of us.

2. The weak and vulnerable matter just as much as the strong and independent. God chose to enter the world in the most vulnerable condition possible: as an embryo, and then a fetus, and then a newborn baby lying in a manger. This is startling, and it turns ancient “might makes right” morality on its head. It suggests that human dignity is not determined by age, size, power or independence.

3. Motherhood is enormously honorable. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was utterly important, admirable and deserving of great honor. All mothers are important and deserving of honor.

4. Human life is extraordinarily valuable. Christmas is part of God’s larger plan to rescue humanity because He loves us (John 3:16). Jesus was born so that we might live. From this Christian perspective, God considers human life to be immensely precious, and worth saving at tremendous cost. “Christian belief in the Incarnation is thus inseparable from belief in the objective, and even transcendent, value of the human race as a whole, and of each human person as an individual,” writes Carson Holloway.

Christmas proves that human beings matter. All of them, at all stages of their lives—including the youngest and most vulnerable.