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Total entries in this category: Published On: Apr 03, 2007 11:58 PM |
Mon - March 26, 2007I'm not the only one running...Talk about ultra-marathons! The Presidential
race seems to be in full swing already. For those of you who haven't been
paying attention (very sensible of you!) here's a summary of how the contest for
the nomination is going so far:
The heir apparent* is facing a surprisingly strong challenge by Mr. Charisma** while the Intriguing Alternative, Favored by Many***, bides his time and waits for an opening. Meanwhile, Mr. Good-Looking-And-Smooth-Talking**** is dismayed to see his hopes fading into the sunset even though it is still dawn. And a whole bunch of wanna-be candidates***** continue to tilt at windmills with Stassen-esque determination, while the candidate everybody in the Party would most like to see in the White House****** finds himself locked out of the process. *Hillary / McCain **Obama / Guilani *** Richardson / Thompson **** Edwards / Romney ***** Pretty much everybody except you and me. ****** Bill C / Jeb B Regardless of all that, is America really ready for a Chief Executive named Hillary, Barak, Rudy, Fred, Mitt, Jeb or Newt? Maybe so, we've already had Millard, Grover, Lyndon, Dwight, Woodrow, Ulysses ... Posted at 10:37 PM Sat - March 17, 2007Dogmatic Christians- claiming they have a hotline to God on political issues"This war, from a Christian point of view, is
morally wrong — and was from the beginning," the Rev. Jim Wallis, founder
of Sojourners/Call to Renewal, one of the event's sponsors, said toward the end
of the service to cheers and applause. "This war is ... an offense against
God."
Posted at 10:07 AM Fri - March 9, 2007Christians in Politics: It isn't just "what", but "how"I'm all for Christian involvement in politics.
It is an important stewardship and for many a divine calling. But if we are to
be politically involved as Christians we must remember that it isn't just WHAT
we stand for (the positions we promote) but HOW we go about the process.
Whatever your views there will be many of your allies who agree with your "what"
but don't want to follow God-honoring
"how's".
Peggy Noonan is a person who understands the importance of the "how" of political involvement and is one of the few political commentators who keeps bringing the subject up. Today's piece is well-worth reading and heeding. Excerpt: Here is what has been said the past week or so that sparked argument: Bill Maher, on HBO, said a lot of lives would be saved if Vice President Cheney had died, and Ann Coulter, at a conservative political meeting, suggested John Edwards is a "faggot." She was trying to be funny and get a laugh. He was trying to startle and get applause. What followed was the predictable kabuki in which politically active groups and individuals feigned dismay as opposed to what many of them really felt, which was grim delight. Conservatives said they were chilled by Mr. Maher's comments, but I don't think they were. They were delighted he revealed what they believe is at the heart of modern liberalism, which is hate. Liberals amused themselves making believe they were chilled by Ms. Coulter's remarks, but they were not. They were delighted she has revealed what they believe is at the heart of modern conservatism, which is hate... Fifty years ago, no one speaking at a respected political gathering would say, would even think of saying that Adlai Stevenson is a faggot. Nor would Arthur Godfrey or Jack Paar have declared on their television shows that we'd be better off if Eisenhower died. Is our discourse deteriorating? Yes, it is... I think the atmosphere of political correctness is now experienced by normal people--not people who speak on TV, but normal people--as so oppressive, so demanding of constant self-policing, that when someone says something in public that is truly not nice, not nice at all, they can't help but feel that they are witnessing a prison break. As long as political correctness reigns, the more antic among us will try to break out with great streams of Tourette's-like forbidden words and ideas. We should forbid less and demand more. We should exert less pressure from without and encourage more discipline from within. We should ask people to be dignified, hope they'll be generous, expect them to be fair. When they're not, we should correct them. But we shouldn't beat them to a pulp. Because that's not nice. Posted at 01:00 PM Wed - February 21, 2007Quit Blaming the teachers!There ARE problems with our education system, the
main one being that good teachers aren't rewarded and bad teachers don't get
fired. But the many good teachers deserve far more credit than they get.
Often they are trying to teach children whose "family life" is so dysfunctional
that it leaves them emotionally unable to be effective learners. Still, the
teachers get blamed when kids from broken and dysfunctional families do poorly,
despite the teachers best efforts to do what they can during the the 20-30 hours
(absenteeism is high) they have each week. Take, for example, this story , from New
Orleans:
A recent murder encapsulated the difficulties. After a 17-year-old was beaten up, his mother gave him a gun and told him to get revenge, and he killed the boy he fought with. When police went to his home to investigate, they found the mother with cocaine and a family photo on display of the son with a gun in one hand and a fistful of cash in the other. "For us to correct this, we have to look at the root of the problem. The root of the problem is our education system," Police Superintendent Warren Riley said in an interview. Posted at 12:12 PM Tue - February 20, 2007Kansas City, Here I Come...After showing a clip of Romney
telling "This Week," "Our belief is just like it says in the Bible. The Messiah
will come to Jerusalem,"
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos said Sunday on "Good Morning America": "We checked in with a Mormon spokesman. They say it's not actually true. They believe the New Jerusalem is in Missouri and that's where Jesus is going to come." Posted at 09:26 AM Wed - February 14, 2007Putin's tantrumYou may have heard about it . Though he didn't put it in
these words, I think Max Boot is right to imply that this is like the drunk who
loses his job and then berates and beats his wife and kids. It's no fun being
the leader of a rapidly declining
nation:
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin has gone from ruling 293 million people (not counting Eastern Europe) to 143 million, fewer than Bangladesh. Given Russia's low birth rate and life expectancy (on average, men die at 60), its population is projected to fall to just 109 million by 2050, making it about the same size as Vietnam. The once-mighty Red Army has been reduced to a shell of its Cold War self, falling from 5.2 million soldiers in 1988 to 1 million, most of whom have terrible morale and worse equipment. Even with oil prices high, Russia's GDP is just $763 billion, ranking No. 14 in the world, ahead of Australia but behind Mexico, according to the World Bank. Putin has done little to address his country's serious woes. Instead, he has used its oil wealth to expand its influence in a pathetic attempt to maintain the illusion that Russia remains a great power. Posted at 10:35 AM Mon - January 29, 2007Race in America: Some Good News39% of blacks live in the suburbs, 46% own their
own homes, 33% earn over $50K per year, 60% of Americans 16-29 have dated
someone of another race. We haven't yet "arrived" but Martin Luther King Jr's
dream is becoming reality: skin color is no longer a significant factor in human
relations for most Americans (link ). Two generations ago our cities were
divided into Polish, Italian, Irish, German, Hungarian, Swedish sections and
there was a lot of violence and hatred between these "races".
Two generations from now? There will be so many Caucasian-Oriental-Black-Hispanic individuals that these old racial delineations will be as passe as the European ones are today. After a brief historical lull, the melting pot is back, and then some. In 2075 there will still be Blacks and Hispanics and Orientals and Whites and Arabs - in other parts of the world. But they'll be joined by a sixth major ethnicity: American, the mixed race inhabitants of this nation who no longer identify with any of the old categories. Pat Buchanan and Jesse Jackson may not approve, but I think it's awesome. Posted at 10:38 AM Tue - January 2, 2007The faith of President Ford
At the time that Gerald Ford became President, I was a new believer, attending (of all places) Utah State University, where one of Ford's sons was, like me, a forestry major (we both graduated in '75). Ford had another son who attended seminary and entered the ministry. We always wondered if the president himself was born again; this article seems to clear away any doubt. Posted at 10:25 AM Fri - December 15, 2006I wish you a non-offensive seasonal occurrence...I get several versions of this emailed to me each
year about this time; you probably do too. But in case you haven't
...
For
My Democrat
Friends:
"Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. And without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes. By accepting these greetings you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher." For My Republican Friends: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Posted at 02:56 PM Fri - December 1, 2006Faith, Reason, or Both?The real battle going on in world affairs seems
to be between three worldviews. One, most notably represented today by radical
Islam (though plenty of Christians fall in this camp also) exalts faith and
denigrates reason. The second, most notably represented by western secularism,
exalts reason and denigrates faith. This article , by Daniel Henninger, explains why
the only hope of mankind is an approach that honors our full humanity by
allowing a full say to BOTH faith and reason.
Posted at 11:47 AM Fri - October 27, 2006Why there are more jobs here than in Europe...People talk a lot about outsourcing, but the real
story is re-sourcing. In the US, for every job lost it seems two new ones are
created. We tend to lose a lot of jobs due to the competitive nature of our
economy. But we create more than anyone else. Less short-term security + more
opportunity = more long-term security. Europeans have better job security in
the present jobs, but their unemployment rates are much higher than
ours.
"If you want to understand the real enduring strength of America as a nation, look at the Dow Jones industrial average. Not the record 12,000 level reached this month — that may last no longer than a day or a week. Look instead at the 30 companies that make up the Dow index. Only two of the original 30 companies in the index in 1930 — General Electric and General Motors — are still there today. Most of today’s Dow components — the Microsofts and Intels — weren’t even around 50 years ago. If you look at the relevant stock market indices for Germany, France or even Britain, you will find them dominated by companies that have been around for generations." Link Posted at 06:16 PM |
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