In 2003 then-Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, and other abortion supporters in her state had a problem. The new attorney general, Republican Phill Kline, was poking around state agencies looking for figures and documents related to Planned Parenthood and late-term abortionist George Tiller, both staunch political allies of the governor.

It soon became obvious what Kline was after: He had discovered that Planned Parenthood and Tiller were regularly performing abortions on girls under age 15 (166 over 18 months), but during that time they reported only one of those cases each to the state as child rape.

State agencies tried to stonewall the investigation, resisting Kline’s efforts to obtain the documents he needed to file misdemeanor charges of failing to report child rape. Over the next six years, the Sebelius political machine and the Kansas legal establishment so effectively vilified Kline publicly he was twice booted from public office. This month a state disciplinary board recommended that he be stripped of his law license in Kansas even though two previous ethics investigations had cleared him. (See “Vengeance on the prairie,” May 21, and “‘All a diversion,’” Oct. 20.)

But the problem, instead of going away, somehow just keeps getting worse. Planned Parenthood is now facing the 107 criminal charges that Kline managed to file just before losing his job as Johnson County, Kans., district attorney in 2008. Most are misdemeanors for failing to keep proper client records and properly determining the viability of late-term babies before performing abortions—all of those charges arose during the initial investigation into child rape.

Twenty-three charges are much more serious felonies: making “false writings.” The abortion giant is accused, essentially, of forging client records in an attempt to avoid prosecution for failing to keep proper records.

Sebelius, now President Obama’s secretary of Health and Human Services, and her former administration in Kansas found themselves back in the middle of the mess last week, when the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) revealed that in 2005 it had destroyed records important to the investigation of the current “false writings” charges. … MORE >>

Read Les Sillars complete Web Extra report.

Occupy Oakland protesters have reclaimed the grassy plaza outside City Hall, just days after police forcefully removed their encampment citing safety and health concerns.

By Saturday morning, about 60 tents had resurfaced as protesters discussed the logistics of staging a citywide strike on Wednesday. Many said they are more resolved to participate in a strike and the worldwide Occupy Wall Street movement after the Oakland Police Department’s raid Tuesday.

“Are we going to rebuild the camp to what it was? I don’t know, but I do know we’re going to be here every night,” said Anthony Daquipa, 38, of Oakland.

In one of the more violent clashes between Occupy activists and law enforcement officials, Bay area police officers threw bean bags and sprayed tear gas at protesters camped on the Frank Ogawa Plaza early Tuesday morning as they refused to leave the campsite for sanitary cleaning. Police said they responded defensively to protesters who threw rocks, bottles, and cans of paint at them. More than 100 were arrested with one serious injury reported. … MORE >>

Read Mary Jackson’s complete WORLD California report.

A few days ago I asked this question around the dinner table: Which state is in the most desperate financial trouble right now? Answers were immediate: New York. Illinois. California. In volume, few states could match the buckets of red ink those three produce. But when it comes to balancing payment demands with available resources, Rhode Island is the most precarious.

Even The New York Times took notice last week: “The Little State With a Big Mess: For Rhode Island, the Pension Crisis Is Now.” Gina M. Raimondo, Rhode Island’s general treasurer, has been touring the state telling retirees that they will have to face some cutbacks. Naturally, she’s not the most popular Rhode Islander at the moment. “You’re going after retirees!” a former firefighter shouted at her. “In this economic time, how could you possibly take a pension away?” Others chime in that the state is reneging on promises.

Well, yes. Rhode Island made a lot of promises—literally too many to count. Besides the state pension system, almost every city and municipality has one. The Providence Journal counted up 155, but admits it probably missed a few. Ten cents of every state tax dollar goes to retired public workers, and that ratio is climbing fast: toward 20 percent or even higher. A state that spends one-fifth of its revenues on retirees isn’t going to have much left for roads, schools, public buildings, law enforcement—“I ask you, is it morally right to do nothing, and not provide services to the state’s most vulnerable citizens?” replied Raimondo.

That’s a good question. Walter Russell Mead, at the American Interest blog, is very blunt: “To tell a 50-year-old pretty lies about the soundness of a pension plan is one of the most wicked and irresponsible things you can do without actually shedding blood; people who believe these phony promises will not make the extra savings, work the extra years or otherwise take steps to protect themselves until it is too late.” He blames legislators, union bosses, journalists, and governors nationwide for feeding the illusion machine.

Rhode Island’s small size makes it a petri dish of statism gone awry. Lacking a large, diverse economy like California’s or a respectable industrial or agricultural base like New York or Illinois, it has little revenue to draw on. State government made the classic mistake of overestimating the return on investment of pension-fund moneys. Promises were made on the expectation of an annual return of 8.25 percent, but the actual number has been closer to 2.4 percent. That’s for the last decade, not just the last few years. Rhode Island had plenty of time to assess the situation and make adjustments. But it hasn’t, until now—when its cities are threatening bankruptcy and one town, Central Falls, has already filed.

It’s a grim picture, but this glowing National Review profile of Bobby Jindal shows that states can recover from natural disaster piled on years of corruption. Jindal, who is coasted to another term as governor of Louisiana with almost no competition, has provided whirlwind leadership to a lethargic mess, reducing the state budget by 26 percent, reforming public health services, and setting a disastrous education system on a path to recovery. From a ranking of 44th (sixth from the bottom) in ethics and legislative discloser, Louisiana is now number one. Honesty is the best policy for business: Assured that they won’t be slapped with new regulations or old taxes, entrepreneurs are flocking to Louisiana. This has nothing directly to do with pensions, except that growth is the best source of revenue. With sensible planning, there can actually be enough to go around.

If Rhode Island is the canary in the coalmine of impending disaster, Louisiana looks like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Neither is getting much attention right now, but in the coming election it would be great to see concrete examples of how to run a state, as well as how not to.

I went to a memorial service on Saturday. It was conducted mainly in Korean, like in the good old days when I was married into the Korean community and attended many a wedding, funeral, party, dinner, christening, ordination, and worship service all in Korean. If you could picture a woman Sunday-dressed and sitting ramrod straight in a packed hall for hours on end, you would understand that it was perfect weather conditions for my Walter Mitty mental wanderings.

This time I did it a little differently, which is an indication, I think, of God’s work in me over the last 12 years of widowhood. The Bible says we are God’s “workmanship” (Ephesians 2:10), the Greek word here being “poema,” and it is nice to see Him writing something new on my heart. I prayed in the car on the way to the event, asking the Lord to pour his Spirit on it. I never would have done that a decade ago. One goes to functions like this jaded and perfunctory, assuming that one knows exactly how the afternoon will go. What a boring way to live. Why not ask the Lord to descend with power?

When I sat at my table and they started praying in Korean, I prayed silently in English rather than just lowering my head and going through motions. And when some man gave a eulogy, I prayed for the woman beside me. And when a pastor delivered a sermon, I just kept praying.

I find that the alternative to praying, for me, is usually unproductive and repetitive and dead-end thinking. And at this stage of life, I don’t want even one thought not taken captive to God (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

Happy Reformation Day and welcome to WORLD’s online community.

This is our daily open thread, where you, the commenters, get to choose the topics of conversation and politely interact with one another.

Have a great start to your week.

Editor’s Note: This past week, WORLD editor in chief Marvin Olasky hosted a group of mid-career WORLD readers for a series of intense journalism training sessions in Asheville, N.C. One of their assignments was to analyze aspects of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and here is one of those commentaries.

Accusation: The homeless are messing up Occupy Wall Street. Reality: Not all homeless people follow the scent of hot dogs on a grill. Some come to help.

In Atlanta some homeless individuals have brought their expertise. They’ve helped protesters learn how to put up tents, live in close quarters, and live outdoors. Billy Jones, on the “security” detail, said he’s not just looking for free food: “I can get food anywhere. I don’t have to be at Occupy Atlanta to get food.”

The visible needs of homeless people heighten the public platform for protesters to share their political views. Salt Lake City organizer Jesse Fruhwirth said, “We can help people get out of homelessness.” But with the free food and medical care provided by those sympathetic with the movement, many among the homeless may not want to give up their way of life anytime soon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Editor’s Note: This past week, WORLD editor in chief Marvin Olasky hosted a group of mid-career WORLD readers for a series of intense journalism training sessions in Asheville, N.C. One of their assignments was to analyze aspects of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and here is one of those commentaries.

Occupy Wall Street. Occupy Detroit. Occupy Boise.

Occupy Sesame Street?

Numerous Facebook pages contain the first word “Occupy.” Beyond “Occupy Wall Street,” most of them name cities, and the majority appear to be in earnest. “Occupy Sesame Street,” which seems intended to provoke a grin, shows up with more than 40,000 “likes.”

The Occupy Wall Street movement is leveraging Facebook to spread its political philosophy. What economic and political conditions allowed for an innovation like Facebook to develop? It’s hard to imagine something like it emerging from a country that lacks the incentives of a free market economy.

While the specific goals of the Occupy movement remain vague, one of the major complaints seems to be against big, successful corporations and their ultra-rich CEOs. Facebook is worth $4.27 billion, yet the Occupy movement relies heavily on it to network its cause. I wonder if Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the world’s youngest billionaire, is camping out at any of the Occupy sites?

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Peace amid stress: hard to attain, hard to retain. The sixth game, 10th inning stars of both the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals profess Christ, and as fans screamed, both felt peaceful at the plate. All of the Rangers will need peace as well as they try to recover from their two nightmarish losses.

First, let’s review Thursday night’s 10th inning. In its top half, Josh Hamilton, who gives God credit for pulling him out of years of drug abuse, walked to the plate with one out and one on. Hamilton said he felt God telling him, “‘You haven’t hit one in a while, this is the time you’re going to.’ I probably had the most relaxed, peaceful at-bat I had the whole series at that moment. But there was a period at the end of that. He didn’t say, ‘You’re going to hit it and you’re going to win.’”

Texas would have won had not Lance Berkman of the Cardinals delivered a key two-out hit in the bottom of the 10th. Berkman, according to The New York Times, “reflected on a prayer he had said earlier in the day. He does not pray for outcomes, he said, only the strength to concentrate and do his best.” Berkman said, “I felt just at peace walking up to the plate, thinking, ‘I may not get it done, but I feel like I’m going to give him a good at-bat.’ And that’s what happened.”

Now to last night: The FOX announcers kindly offered consoling words to Texas fans when the seventh and decisive game of the World Series at October’s end concluded with a Rangers defeat. Announcers Joe Buck and Tim McCarver talked about what fine players the Rangers had under contract and how they could very well be back in the Series next year.

That’s true, but whistlers by the graveyard of baseball hopes should also note how hard it is to become champions: 162 regular season games, then up to 19 postseason games in three rounds, each of which must be won. The Boston Red Sox 25 years ago were the last team to lose after being only one strike away from winning the Series. They did eventually become world champions, but it took 18 years. Fans of the Rangers will need both hope and patience, which add up to peace.

Editor’s Note: This past week, WORLD editor in chief Marvin Olasky hosted a group of mid-career WORLD readers for a series of intense journalism training sessions in Asheville, N.C. One of their assignments was to analyze aspects of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and here is one of those commentaries.

Homeless people in cities have seen their turf invaded by Occupy Wall Street encampments. Some among the homeless do not fully embrace or understand the protesters’ concerns, but they know a good gig when they see one.

As the occupiers settled into parks to decry financial excesses, many members of the disenfranchised underclass living there joined their ranks and welcomed the influx of free food, shelter, and medical care. But do these street people really share the concern about corporate greed or the salaries of those who occupy the corner suites of nearby offices? Are they passionate about righting the economic wrongs that may have pushed them to the fringes of society? Or are they mingling with the protesters simply for the available perks?

Long after the Occupy Wall Street protesters have packed their tents and headed home, these street-savvy and resourceful homeless people will remain in the park. They learned long ago how to locate shelter, sniff out sources of food, and protect themselves from danger. They’ve also learned to work the system when a good opportunity comes along.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Editor’s Note: This past week, WORLD editor in chief Marvin Olasky hosted a group of mid-career WORLD readers for a series of intense journalism training sessions in Asheville, N.C. One of their assignments was to analyze aspects of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and here is one of those commentaries.

Evangelicals are conspicuously absent from Occupy Wall Street and its offshoots. Why aren’t more believers there to reach out not politically but pastorally with the truth of the Gospel?

Evangelicals should be there because Christ would be there. Jesus did not support the politics of the Zealots, yet he chose Simon as one of the Twelve. He opposed sexual immorality in any form but freely and openly associated with prostitutes and worse. He taught against theft but publicly sought out a notorious embezzler and befriended him.

Occupy Wall Street is an opportunity, and a fleeting one. Some understand this. The Episcopal priest who travels to different sites to pray with protestors gets it. The Jewish layman in Boston who coordinates religious services for the protests gets it. The New York imam, who sees his involvement as a duty, gets it and observes, “If Moses or Jesus or Mohammed were alive in this day and time they’d be out there guiding and inspiring and teaching these young people.”

By its absence much of the evangelical church seems not to get it. Yet the church is entrusted with the only answer that could change the lives of protestors individually and the movement as a whole: Salvation comes from Jesus, not government.

The best advice for evangelicals is to get it while the getting is good. The Great Commission is to go, not to wait for nobler occasions or more likable people. Scripture leaves little room for no-shows.

Why isn’t there more of a ministerial presence?

The Associated Press contributed to this report.