Cognitive Dissonance Set Aside

I decided to check out a website that is run by Christians endorsing Barack Obama. I am not going to criticize their reasons for supporting O!, however their defense of his positions on abortion are ridiculous. They ignore the Senator's voting record and Obama's very own arguments on the floor of the Illinois Senate. Instead they cite a Relevant Magazine interview from April 2008. This from the same people who constantly berate other Christians for being uncritical of republicans. How are these people supposed to speak "truth to power" if they are this in the tank for Obama? I have always suspected these Christians were just as politically biased in the other direction as they accuse the religious right of being.

Party, Palin and Polls

The Republican insiders are not going to happy. The blue blood country club repubs had finally found a way to get rid of those pesky conservatives. There is an unpopular (quasi-conservative) president, the dems were getting religious, and John McCain had won the nomination. I guess McCain is nobody's stooge, thus we see him pick a conservative woman who is about as far from Washington as you can get. Now the entrenched Rockefeller repubs have a serious problem. I believe the blue bloods wanted McCain to lose, the party would be in disarray, and the conservatives would be shut out.

I still don't understand McCain and I think he is a poor choice for a candidate, not because he's unqualified, but because I disagree with his liberal tendencies. I think his pick is politically brilliant. I wonder how loud Hillary swore when the pick was announced. I think McCain knows that Obama is the clear favorite even though the polls show a close race. This pick does a few things for McCain: 1. It appeals to Hillary's disaffected voters, 2. It appeals to conservatives who will not vote for McCain as candidate, and 3. It appeals to independents because Palin is way outside the Beltway.

An Historic Election

The United States of America will make history this election season. Regardless of who is elected, the White House will employ either an African American or a Woman. Huzzahs to the USA.

Enough Already

The hubris coming from foreign countries during this US election cycle is getting tiresome. The meme states, 'those Americans are too racist to elect a black man even though he will save their (stupid) country.' With all due respect I am waiting for your viable minority candidates. Where is the First Nation party leader? Germany, I'm waiting for that Turkish Candidate. Britain, any Bahamians yet? France, how bout them Algerians?

Sorry if I offended with the unedited version. Hopefully this draft has more decorum.

Our newest roommate

Well here's one for the books. This evening i walked into our bedroom to get ready for the evening. Movement caught my eye.... and as i turned I saw a bat flying around our bedroom. I shrieked and yelled for Mac (not one of my bolder moments), saying that we had a bat in the apartment. Now for those of you who don't know, we live in a little apartment in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto. Or at least we do until this coming Wednesday when we move Stateside.

Mac walked in to the bedroom and looked around but the bat had already flown out. We looked around and initially couldn't find him.... I will admit i started to wonder if my new muscle relaxants caused hallucinations. But then we found him (or her?). The reason we didn't find it originally is that we were looking for it on the ceiling or flying around somewhere. But it had landed on the floor near our linen closet and bathroom. I was rather uncomfortable with the bat, so i retreated to the bathroom while Mac used a pot and some card stock to confine the bat to taken it outside and release it.

Now this all begs the question... how the heck did it get in here?? Option one: The door to our apartment was propped open this morning for about 5 min, and he flew down the hallway around 10am, in broad daylight and into our home. Option two: we have a screen that doesn't quite fit one of our windows (in the living room) properly. Perhaps he crawled in through there -- but that window is never open except when we're home and usually one or both of us are in the living room, FACING the window. So not sure how we would have missed that. Option three: there is a hole somewhere in this apartment that we haven't found and it crawled in through there and has been living with us for awhile...... ok option three makes my skin crawl.

Our little roommate is now gone and we are back to a family of 2. Glad to keep it that way!!

Obama and China and Prosperity

Interestingly, Barack Obama wants Americans to look to Beijing for economic and infrastructural models. This vexes me. How can a US presidential candidate approve of confiscating land and displacing people? I thought slave labour was wrong? But then again I believe property ownership is a fundamental human right, sadly certain leftist political theories have a feudalistic foundation of throwing peasants off the land when the lord wants to change use.

And the Order of Canada Goes To...

Well, I was going to post a scathing criticism of the Canadian government and their glorification of someone know for their anti-human rights record. I don't because of the Human Rights Commission. Can you feel the chill?

Christians at Work 2

This time it's in California...which does not surprise me. Two Christian doctors will be compelled to perform services that conflict with their faith. The wrong interpretation of the US Constitution's first amendment combined with radical secularization is driving the marginalization of faith. I wonder what happens if they continue to refuse?

Race in Elections

I'm not going to do an extensive thought dump on this. I will simply ask a question, and it is based on some observations in this campaign season. The Dems, Obama included, are making race an issue and suggesting opposition to Barack stems from America's endemic racist ways, a notion that I reject. My question is this, when Republicans of color run and lose are they victims of racism?

Christianity at Work

A chilling reality for Christians seems to be the aggressive secularization of the workplace and private organizations. There is this bothersome thing in Canada called the Human Rights Commission that is verging on a tool of secular persecution. This commission has the power to force Christians to suspend their beliefs in order to accommodate people with other ideas. The Commission cannot force you what to think, but they can fine you for thinking against their ways.

While the western governments won't come after the way Churches worship on Sundays, the way Christians worship the rest of the week is clearly under pressure.

Do The Dems Want To Lose?

I do not understand left wing thinking. The Dems have the Repubs over a barrel this election and they cannot gain any traction! The latest idiocy comes from the left wing media pundits who are trying to call McCain racist. The left has so overused racism when slandering a political opponent that the accusation is starting to be ignored. Indeed, Olbermann and Alter held a echo-chamber love fest descrying McCain's criticism of Obamania as racism. Sadly, there are real issues out there to talk about, and proper use of the issues will destroy the Repubs.

This is what happens when you rely on conspiracy theories. On the fringes of both parties are people who believe crazy ideas. I remember listening to some right-ring nut who said the UN was setting up concentration camps in the US. Likewise, the left likes to find 'codewords' and symbols that prove racism. In the 1990's the word was 'character' even though MLK desired character, not color, to be the yardstick of equality. Even though Obama wants to run a post-racial campaign, his media backers are not willing to give up such a prominent tool to run down political opponents.


Dems, you have a do nothing congress, an energy situation that is begging for leadership, an economy that needs leadership, and a electorate waiting for a leader to emerge. McCain recognizes this and has so criticized Obama's readiness to lead. And you scream racism? Do you want to lose? Are you having a bit of buyers remorse after McCain has taken the lead regardless of you dog and pony show around the world?

Sad Day

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn has died. We have lost one of the great ones. He was a man driven by his convictions and unafraid of the evil that was USSR. He did not finish with the Soviet Union. Indeed he criticized the West for its capitulation and convergence theory and brought steely glares and hisses from his Harvard audience when condemning cooperation with USSR and the lack of courage to make sacrifice in meeting this evil. The West was so caught up in self that is could not be bothered with what was going on in Russia.

Cowardice

I must qualify this post by saying I do not know what I would have done, BUT I hope I would have the sense of justice in this situation. On a bus ride from Alberta to Manitoba, a man attacked and killed another. The shocking part stems from the response of other passengers on the bus. No one attempted to help the victim. What's more, the bus stopped amid the screams of the victim and everyone fled. No person attempted to intervene. The cries of another for help were ignored.

Why did not anyone subdue the criminal? Were there no bags to bludgeon the attacker with? How can 35 people not overpower one? I am sure that it was terrifying to see another man attack another. I cannot imagine fleeing. My heart hurts thinking about this.

Moving on South

Well ladies and gentlemen,
It is now official. I can move to the States and live and work there legally.
The process of getting the paperwork together and mailing it in, and waiting for the final interview only took a year from the time we got married (we celebrate the 1 year mark on Monday). Yesterday we went to the US Consulate office in Montreal, stood in lines, waited for numbers to be called and spoke to a few different people. One woman, i'm sad to say, did not enjoy her job and showed in her (lack of) customer service. However, at the end of it all (4.5 hours later) I was granted my US Visa. For security reasons, they couldn't hand it to me in Montreal, so it was going to be printed yesterday and mailed either yesterday or today and we should have it either tuesday or wednesday. Once we get it, i'll have to cross the border with it to make it official, but other than that, we're all done!

We are so thankful for your prayers -- especially those for a) making them let me in and b) patience. It has been quite the journey, that's for sure. And now we look forward to our move south and set up home in only one home in one city in one country -- no more of this doubling up stuff. That's for the birds.