Mac and Melissa

Live Blogging the State of the Union

2011-01-25T21:04:00.006-05:00

Just to lay out my expectations, I expect to hear more calls for increased spending, I expect a greater push for government planning, and I expect a continued ignorance from this President concerning the importance of the individual citizen when it comes to economic activity. Remember, Obama's defining speech on political philosophy was his "Only Government" speech.

Okay here we go:

9:11 and the Pres gets going. Intro is always a waste of our time and moment for politicians to reflect on their self-importance.

9:15 shameless calls for cooperation from the most partisan "Hey, I won" Pres. Uh Oh! Regent Libs will have a fit with Obama referencing the USA as "the light of the world"

9:19 amazing, this pres is blaming american innovation for the decline in the economy!!

9:21 okay, Obama is talking the free enterprise talk.

9:23 here we go...only the government provides what is necessary to make innovation happen. Sputnik moment? More spending on 'investments'. Government is now the arbiter of innovation?

9:26 Ah yes, the big villain oil! Ethereal goal of "clean energy." Yes Mr Pres, but will people be allowed to run with their ideas or will the government demand they conform to bureaucratic rules and red tape.

9:30 Amen on education reform! Let's start teaching the kids again and allow parents to choose the better school without the Unions.

9:32 Platitudes on education. Become a teacher!!

9:34 No university should not be for everyone because that is forcing your ideals on other people. There is a reason that the trades are filled with immigrants.

9:36 Wow, I never expected this Pres to support Colonialism.

9:38 How about we attract new businesses from within. And WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE $828 BILLION IN STIMULUS FOR 'SHOVEL READY' JOBS ON AMERICA'S INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS.

9:42 Yeah, flush the tax code and stop hating companies that provide jobs, create wealth, and fight poverty by making profits.

9:44 Unnecessary burdens from government... that's exactly what I am hearing from this Pres.

9:47 No we are demanding a government that stops its spending madness now. You call for a 3% spending cut over 10 years... pathetic!!!

9:52 Why should social security not be tied to the whims of the Stock Market but it should be tied to the whims of the Govenment?

9:55 another web site that gives us government transparency...kinda like the bills being online for 5 days before you sign them? or the website with the details of stimulus funds being spent in zip codes that did not even exist? Vetoing earmarks?!! You?! My ass!

10:03 South Sudan...15 years and millions dead too late.

10:09 Paying lip service now to America. Obama does not believe this, just read his books and listen to Rev Wright.

10:11 The miners were rescued and it was not the government that did it, it was a man with an idea and an opportunity. this is all rubbish now, the Pres does not believe a word of this and that is why no one is applauding. The left wing is not having any of this and the right wing knows the Pres is not to be trusted when talking about free enterprise and American Entrepreneurship.

Conclusion:
A poor showing for this Pres. He did not talk of a new direction nor did he recognize the Nov elections. He drew battle lines and retrenched himself in his policies of government importance and largess. He will fight for entrenched government and so his last 10 minutes of free enterprise cheer-leading was nothing but lip-service. When you call several private industries your enemies in the same speech, you do not mitigate uncertainty.

Me-ology

2010-12-21T09:15:00.002-05:00

What is meology? It is the study of me and everything that I am entitled to have. In its legal setting, meology tries to figure out how the law should be applied to others whilst I receive a pass. In its religious connotation, it refers to the efforts to conform God to my vision of what he should be. It pervades every aspect of our entitlement culture and has its greatest following in the Millennium Generation. Argumentation for meology usually concerns some form of fairness...of course it is unfair if my definition of fairness is not applied to the argument.

For this post, let us look at defining God in my image. How can I do that? It is simple. The Postmodern mindset has the reader being the chief translator of the message being conveyed and for our purposes, that means the Bible. So, If I don't like certain passages of the Bible, I can take a wink and a nod at the page and try to find something that is, let us say, more appealing to my sensibilities.

The popular Jesus is the soft and fluffy Jesus. We don't like judgment, so we conveniently leave out Jesus condemning sin (and people!) because that's too mean. We don't like to think that God would be condemning especially to people who don't receive the message of Jesus. When in reality, there is something we hold close and don't want to be judged for. This stems from a week view on repentance and an inflated view of human identity. I find it amazing that in Mark, arguably the first written Gospel, Jesus' first words are judgmental. "The Kingdom of God is near, repent...." Oh Dear! How do we change this? Simple, just focus on the second portion of the statement. "...Believe the Good News!" Huzzah to that! No repentance, just grace and faith.

I think we are all guilty of this to some degree. Most of us struggle with what we don't like in the Bible in a mature manner. We let the tension guide our understanding of who God has revealed himself to be. However, it is the immature thinker who cannot handle the tension and starts to excuse it as contradiction or unreasonable. Worse, it is the meologian who devises a whole new vision of God and revelation to suit his or her sensibilities. It is the height of self-focus to believe that God conforms to our needs. It also speaks to an ingratitude that has lost the vision of a gracious God revealing himself to humanity, saving humanity from its sin, and including humanity in His Kingdom.

One thing about the story of God's salvation in the world that I have observed concerns His highlighting of our ignorance and the revealing of what is true concerning who God is. Throughout the Bible, people have diminished certain aspects of God and elevated others. Sadly, this aspect of human nature has continued in the Church. If the Kings of Israel and Judah were meologists, why am I surprised to find the same thing today? I just don't like the fact that judgment (there is that bad word again) usually followed in the footsteps of the apostate Kings.

The Cheap Gospel of the West

2010-12-14T08:47:00.003-05:00

I find in my anecdotal observations of Western Society and Culture that liberal enlightenment philosophy has worked itself out to a significant degree in common Christian Theology. I have been asking myself for a few years why there is so much emphasis on salvation through the distribution of material goods. Liberation Theology and Word Faith theology are naked purveyors of materialism. Social Justice theory and Comfort-and-Happiness-Suburban-Christian belief systems depend on what we have in the house and available to us in service. In both of these examples the not-having or the having of material goods is the focus.

If I were to matriculate with this subject in mind, my thesis would be such:

With its focus on the workings of the material world, the Enlightenment of the West sought to de-mythologize culture. With its focus on anti-supernaturalism, materialism grew in stature and was under-girded by man's increasing ability to manipulate his environment. With the growth of industry and agriculture, man no longer needed a provider. With the increase in knowledge of the human body, man no longer needed a healer. With the growth in abilities to manipulate the elements, man no longer needed a creator. With the assumption that soon the evils of the world would be solved as knowledge increased, man no longer needed a savior.

...Or something like that with less antagonistic rhetoric.

Here is the rub, I agree with the good that has come out of the Enlightenment. Capitalism has become the greatest engine at reducing poverty and famine the world has ever seen. The advances in health care are amazing and my parents would be long dead without them. The human capacity to understand our creation has gone a long way to sustaining the a world population of 7 billion. However, we will never solve the evils of this world. Each of these advances has been perverted and used for evil and no matter how hard we try to manipulate the systems of exchange and control, the reality remains that somewhere someone will abuse another person for gain...regardless of their station in life. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said it best when locked in the Soviet gulag, "It was lying on that bed of straw in that small cell that I discovered the line between good and evil runs through everyone's heart." (paraphrased).

Back to the material gospel, as much as the conservative and liberal wings of the Church say they do not agree, both have bought into the material gospel. The Social Justice crowd cannot speak of anything but the distribution of materials. Their bitterness and anger is evident in their writings and their speeches. They use the the prophetic tradition to teach the hatred of certain classes of people. Wait, there's more! The self-reliant crowd in the Church is to quick to point out how materially well-off they are, so they should not be bothered with the pleas of the poor because our Western Democracies give opportunity to those who are willing to work. A good life is measured by how much material you can provide for your family.

I think that there is an anti-supernatural bias living below the surface of our congregations. "Man's Effort" has become the focus of the the West and the Church has bought into it. Of course we will hear of God's work in someone's life, but I cannot help but question what that really means. In J.I. Packer's words the Gospel means, "God saving people." If we really believe that then we must see salvation as primarily spiritual and the biggest gift of salvation is not the material goodies of a plush western life. No the biggest gift is the Holy Spirit of God for the Jew and the Gentile, the slave and free, the male and female, the rich and poor.

Salvation is clearly a supernatural event, the gifting of the Holy Spirit. This is the line of demarcation. Instead of fussing over who has what bobble, Christian's should be wondering how we translate this supernatural event into the natural world in which we live. In the polite society of the chattering classes or in a group where the biggest toy wins, that is the truly hard part because the door has been slammed shut on the supernatural. How do we move away from the rubric of materialism that our societies base themselves upon and seek God's Kingdom when we make our decisions? How does the Church regain her composure away from the material and help believers understand the Holy Spirit?

Our Theology of Love...Is it in the Bible?

2010-11-30T09:07:00.001-05:00

Of course love is in the Bible! I just used the title as a rhetorical tool similar to those edgy questions the less orthodox theologians like to use. For them, it is not always about good theology but questioning everything. For example, Trinitarian Theology is a target b/c "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. However, I do find it curious that the resurgence of Abelardian atonement theory seems to be used as a tools to rubbish other parts of God's character.

Indeed, the Apostle John says, "God is love" (1John4:8b, 1 John4:16b). Before you let the warm-fuzzies sink in, there is much context to be sorted through in that same passage. First, this letter is written against the Gnostics who are claiming special revelation and hidden truth concerning God. This part of 1 John declares God's revelation to be evident, unveiled for all to see. Finally, the Apostle is giving assurance to those under attack from the Gnostics. What you do is the sign that God is working in your life because God has given His Spirit, so do not fear those who say they have a special knowledge of things godly.

Crammed between the two God-is-Love statements above is this passage, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1John4:10). Oh Dear! How is whipping and beating and hanging your Son on a Cross love?

To my point: Jesus never claims to be Love. One would think that God himself would plainly reveal such a salient aspect to His character. Jesus said: I am the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Gate, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way the Truth and the Life, and the Vine. Jesus also called God Good and Holy. Jesus refers to the Father as a King full of power and glory. Where Jesus most directly addressed love in in the Great Commandment and the second: Love God and Love neighbor.

If I am to look upon the Cross and see only a divine example of how to live my life, then I walk away from that setting intellectually discourage because I am presented with and incoherent picture that does not reflect the full story of the Bible. I am forced to ignore much of the Old Testament, I must now think of the Letter to the Hebrews as extra-biblical, and 1John4:10 must be redacted from in between the two God-is Love statements that surround it. So, I am left in a conundrum. Either my emotional response to the violence of the Cross must be placated by denying that sin is the ultimate problem of this world. Or I must be intellectually curious and explore further what Jesus means when he says, "Only God is Good."

I think the philosophical underpinning of this overemphasis on Abelardian thought is tolerance. Our society, ironically, condemns intolerance. Everything is permissible except for declaring something impermissible. We want God to do the same. There is no judgment on the cross because then we must start wondering why God would be judgmental. So, God is not judging from the cross, his is shouting his love for us, desiring our attention. For when we see this love on the cross, we will seek to change and follow that example of good living in Jesus Christ.

This sounds somewhat good because there is real truth there. God does display love on the cross, although it does not come in the form of tolerance. The love on the cross is God himself meeting the full penalty of law under the curse...death. That God would subject himself to evil for the sake of relationship with his people is love. The atonement is more than affective it is also effective. I am glad that I understand God's judgment upon and intolerance of sin, for I can understand the great cost of salvation. It is with affection that I love God because the judgment upon and the atonement for sin has provided for intimacy with God that was lost in sin. The indwelling Spirit is the only reason that I do good because, "Only God is Good." Without the cross there is no Spirit, without the Spirit there is not Good, without Good we cannot properly love.

Government Goons

2010-11-15T10:30:00.007-05:00

Here is a way to cut the budget, it is time for the TSA to be disbanded. Department of Homeland Security was by far Bush's worst policy. Here is the problem. Psychologically, when you randomly select someone for enhanced screening and there is the presumption of guilt by the state. Those individuals must now subject themselves to humiliation and violation (hereinafter violence). If the individual refuses, violence is threatened by the state. If you continue to refuse violence is then perpetrated by the state. Ultimately, what individual can withstand the violence of the state?

The last video is from the movie Airplane 2. That was 25 years ago and very relevant for today.

THE TERRORISTS HAVE WON!

Government Gone Wild

2010-11-12T08:04:00.002-05:00

As we settle into year 3 of our economic troubles, it seems that the federal government continues its decadent lifestyle. A new survey finds that the richest counties in America center around Washington DC.

Only One Person in This Crowd of Our Intellectual Superiors

2010-11-02T08:05:00.005-04:00

This video is great. At the Stewart/Colbert rally for the Democrats, this fellow has a great idea to test the indoctrination level of the attendees. At least one person understood the question. As I cannot adjust the size of the video, you will see the full screen if you watch it on YouTube.

(HT Proteinwisdom)

How the Division of Labour Innovates

2010-10-15T08:31:00.003-04:00

I realize this is politicizing a great moment of joy, but it dovetails nicely with my previous post. The rescue of the Chilean miners was about as good as it gets when dealing with tragedy. The mine in Chile was a government owned and run. The suppliers of the rescue equipment and expertise were private companies and individuals. Precisely because these rescuers focused their attention on such skills their whole working career, they were able to develop the intricate tools needed for this amazing rescue. This is the result of the division of labour and market based capitalism rewarding innovation. For details please follow this link.

The best line from the editorial is from the Chilean Health Minister who said that he did not even know about copper-lined socks that kill bacteria on feet. Exactly Mr Minister! Innovation is the product of the mind and cannot be centrally planned, likewise it should not be controlled save for the moral and ethical values that most societies adhere to. Each of the products used in the rescue were ideas that people believed would benefit society, so they were developed and brought to the marketplace. Each community has unique needs and unique people filling those needs. Free trade simply allows communities to talk with one another to see if what they have will benefit another community. Chile was a microcosm of this reality.

Trolling For Insight

2010-10-13T10:22:00.001-04:00

I have just spent a good while trolling multiple Christian web-logs with one aim in mind...to sniff out ideology that smuggles itself in a theology. I am increasingly dismissive of the anti-Capitalism Christians. I read them only to discover that some political rant-du-jour has become fashionable. I don't want to be dismissive, but all I read is, "we are being screwed by market based economics and if you don't see otherwise, your are a collaborator or worse not (very) Christian." I want to hear a Christian response to the market economy. Yet, I am force-fed some reworking of collectivism or worse the Utopian ideals of "radical ecclesiology" where everyone gets along with some new mindset of sharing and caring. Meanwhile, life goes on.

Chief among these anti free-market capitalism criticisms is the dislocation of the individual from the land, which in economic terms translates into, "the division of labor is problematic". Indeed, there are problems with the division of labor, but we cannot think that subsistence economies don't have their problems (think grinding poverty and starvation). The point that most of these pundits make that I think is germane centers around people being removed from production. The irony is that the Utopian ideas of 'living off our own land' has a romantic view of agrarianism and a deep seated ignorance of how integrated the division of labor is with production.

From a personal perspective, I have taken up gardening and construction over the past years and have come to appreciate the farmer and the tradesman on a higher level. The idea of sending people out to build a homestead and grow their food is fraught with real danger. You don't just stick seeds in the ground and then harvest. Similarly, you simply don't cut a tree down, plant it in the ground and call the house done. My garden has had meager yields, and my constructive efforts take about three times as long as someone with practice.

So, how do you avoid starving and homeless multitudes? The division of labour! People trained in specific skills tend to be more productive. If you have higher farm yields from someone who understands farming, is not that better than and ignorant person starving? Likewise, a tradesman who can frame a house in a couple days with confidence of structural integrity is far more beneficial to society than some rube like me who needs to refer to DIY videos before every new project.

As for people removed from the productive side of life, I would agree that is a problem, but it is not the private sector's problem; it is the government's and academy's problem. Someone working in the lumber industry is deeply concerned about the health of forests and the care thereof. They have seen the destruction caused by past abuses and have honed their skills to avoid such catastrophes. As for farming, few in North America do not know of the dust bowl...the largest agricultural catastrophe in history. There has not been another event because of knowledge gathered and applied by people trained in agriculture.

All this to say that the division of labour is a good thing. Yet, as with all human activities, there are abuses. A free market based division of labour is far more appealing than a forced division of labour which works out in feudalism (modern fascism), slavery (communism) and social injustice (restricted labour force) or a prescribed NO division of labour which is based in subsistence (fend for yourself). And, if we decouple the world economy from free trade, how is that not a regressive form of neo-tribalism? And who enforces such restrictions?

Underlying much of this call for tighter trade is control. Controlling how neighbors freely interact is a Pandora's Box. And regulating the actions of 7 billion humans is no small task. Who calls the shots? Why are those in power better equipped to know what is best in my community compared to me and my neighbor?

Translation

2010-09-23T21:42:00.001-04:00

We cannot let this Gook from Saigon, Vietnam take our seat.

The Decalogue

2010-09-16T08:14:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the absence; I have been diligently remodeling part of the house. Now back on topic:

There is a series of films by a Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski that goes by the name. The idea is to put into real life the realities of the Ten Commandments. The series is well done, and the crowning touch is that it all takes place in Communist (read deeply secular) Poland.

On to the question banging about in my head. The first film based on the First Commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me," has a family paying the price for science being their god. In this current age of bringing science and religion into dialogue (I am thinking of Francis Collins and Allister McGrath and Polkinghorne) of which I support wholeheartedly, has Christianity given up too much ground? Specifically, in the Post-modern mindset, is there room to draw a line when it comes to epistemology? Is the Church still willing to call out science when it claims god-like status?

A Christian on the 4th

2010-07-06T09:16:00.003-04:00

As the US has wrapped up its 234th birthday, I wonder what the truly appropriate posture for the Christian is to be towards his or her country, in this case the USA. It seems there are two competing factions in the battle for the Christian's affection. On the left, we have Rev Jeremiah Wright (God damn America it says so in the Bible!) and for a little less radical position, Stanley Hauerwas (If your church has an American flag in the sanctuary, you better reconsider your salvation). On the right, there is D James Kennedy, posthumously (Taking back America for Christ by remembering our Christian foundations) to Sean Hannity (America is the World's last best hope). I am reluctant to use Hannity because his is first and foremost a political commentary and not theological, but I do not find many accomplished right wing theologians writing on God ordaining the USA.

Where there are extremes of patriotism and anti-Americanism in the Church I think represent two sides of the same coin. Both find an perverted and watered-down escahton in the realm of politics. To think that the USA is the pinnacle of God's work in history is ridiculous. Thinking that the USA will stand for God's justice with a mighty arm to put down evil fails to account for sin that infects every human and thus the institutions that humans form. America will decline and if history is any indicator, will someday be a repository for archaeological digs. This does not negate the realities of this time in history, it only speaks to the sovereignty of God who determines the time for all things. It is true that the right seeks for find morality embedded in the fabric of America and for the most part, it will be found. However, morality has never really been dictated by the government to the people, it is the other way round. Doing justice in the community and loving your neighbor has been the endeavor of the local population from the beginning, starting with the Church.

On the other side of this coin is the left that finds government's roll to be one of systemic justice dictated by the government. This country COULD be great if only true justice is achieved. The systems must be tinkered with and adjusted and studied until all the inequalities are removed. The system is the problem. Once again, sin is forgotten and the multitude of bureaucracies that seek to fix the system are actually adding sin into the system. When looking at American history, it is easy to find the commissions of evil. So why would the Church seek to abdicate its God-given roll of seeking Justice and doing Mercy and walking with God to the government?

A moral and just community is one forged at the individual level and transferred through meaningful relationships. By giving away its authority to the government, the Church has lost direction and focus...it has traded the Kingdom of God for a cheap substitute. In this headlong rush for justice and morality, I think we have lost sight of a greater reality. In all appearances, God has set things up so that even the wicked among us will find salvation. The wheat and the tares grow up together. This is the hard part of the Gospel, because the wicked can inflict such harm. I think the Church needs to believe it can make a difference and should be the one guiding the country by example, no matter how popular Her detractors may be.

What Real Dangerous Politcal Types Look Like

2010-06-29T15:39:00.002-04:00

This is just a reminder to my myriad of readers. Last September 12, a substantial group of Americans gathered in Washington, DC to voice their disgust with outrageous government spending and the loss of liberty that inevitably occurs when statist policies become de rigeur. The conventional wisdom of the leftist press labeled these gathered folk dangerous to democracy and seething with anger that could lead to violence. Meanwhile, back in their academic caves and political dens, left-wingers continued their tirade against free enterprise and demonized business as the cause of the world's ills.

Jump ahead to Toronto last weekend and you have the outworking of a political philosophy that finds villains under all private business dealings. By beating the drum of "criminal capitalism" is it any wonder that groups of malcontents are emboldened to smash and burn the focus of such hate filled rhetoric? Once again, the philosophies of the left find their voice in division and violence.

Jealous Lefitist in America

2010-06-24T09:17:00.003-04:00

Danny Glover sings his praises and Oliver Stone has a man crush on him. I am talking about Hugo Chavez, the guy that Jimmy Carter vouched for a few years ago (Jimmy still can't find a dictator he does not like unless he is an American president with and R after his name). This week, Chavez announced the nationalization of a US company's oil drilling platforms. Lefties in the US want more government in business dealings, and in the wake of the BP oil spill, they have called for increased strong arm tactics. Robert Reich, former labor secretary under Clinton and all around enemy of private dealings, made the case for seizure just last month. Various left-wing members of Congress and radicals on the left have endorsed nationalization policies when different people make different decisions. Indeed, it is far easier to take something than to do the hard work of creating economic activity that helps you and your neighbor. Ever wonder why little old ladies' purses are snatched or criminals use guns to take some guy's wallet after going to the bank?

Broken Window Theory

2010-06-14T09:21:00.004-04:00

The US Government is trying to spend billions more in stimulus money. The same old excuse of "we need to stimulate the economy" is being used to increase government spending so that government employees don't need to participate in this extended recession. But, as we all know, politicians are no lovers of economics or the realities of life. They justify their position by claiming the money spent will be distributed to the community through the spending of the employed government worker, a form of trickle down economics determined by the government authority rather than the liberal position of individual determinants.

This is where the Broken Window Fallacy comes into play. Frederic Bastiat called it the seen and unseen costs of destroying personal property. But Mac, there is no destruction of personal property! Indeed there is, the $12,000,000,000,000 in accumulated debt has destroyed the wealth of the coming years. Business owners know that the day of reckoning is coming very soon, therefore they suspend their ingenuity because they understand that a stable environment is required for risky investment in unproven technologies. The tax requirements to service the debt will be laid on the productive workers in the US (private sector is the only worker that produces wealth). So, where the public service sector might stay employed at 150% the average private sector, the golden goose has been butchered for their magnificent meal. Instead of spending money on innovation and technologies that will employ productive workers and the workers spending money on other productive workers products, those funds will be demanded to service debt so that the government can continue its spending spree.

Our Nanny Government at Work

2010-06-09T09:53:00.002-04:00

"...For the children!" The rallying cry for the vacuous political scoundrel. As we progressively bubble-wrap society and sand-down all of its sharp edges, we give more and more power to the central authorities (because someone needs to monitor and remedy dangerous situations). This mentality is derived from "the system is the problem" worldview. If we mollify the system, everyone will be happy and healthy, i.e. we will finally have justice or at least another step towards utopia.

So, what happens when there is a disturbance in the system, the central authorities put us back on track towards justice and utopia. Notice that the students doing the harm were somehow provoked by a system that allows sign-language. Safety first, for the children. Apparently, bullying is caused by a system that allows for individual expression. As is expected by any central authority bent on collective power, the individual must be crushed in the name of "safety" or "progress" or "justice" or whatever ends can justify the means.

The Market of Ideas

2010-06-01T08:01:00.002-04:00

There are two professions that seem to avoid the heavy hand of government regulation. Can anyone guess what they are? Hint, they are the professions that seem to influence legislation the most. That's right, the Law and the Academy. These professions would argue that their very industries promote a certain self-governance that precludes any sort of government regulation, a 'free market' where scrutiny and process force the mediocre out. I guess this free market is good because the goals are noble (justice and truth!) where as free market enterprise has an ignoble goal of profits. The irony is that these two untouchable professions are the ones that stand strongest against a free market for goods and services.

That aside, when the Academy becomes a 'rent seeker', is it still a body where self-governance rules supreme? I am thinking of the current controversy here in Virginia where a politically-motivated Attorney General is challenging a politically-motivated academic. The governments of the world pour hundreds of billions of dollars into the academy for scientific research. By any definition, this is a huge market that individual communities within the Academic structure seek to capture through (let's hope quality!) research. This sounds a lot like a marketplace. Should the academy be held responsible when it rips off its customers? Virginia feels ripped off by a certain Academic when his work was shown to be shoddy and politically motivated.

Is it time to regulate the academy? With so much cash flung about it creates a temptation to do terrible research, publish quickly, and tell the rent givers what they want to hear.

Immgration Arrogance

2010-05-14T09:47:00.003-04:00

I look at the debate over Arizona and its federally compliant immigration law, and I scratch my head in wonder. My bewilderment stems mostly from the outraged protests coming from the laws opponents...or is it feigned protests.

First, from the established political powers in the US. If the Washington leftists and the occasional rightist had read the laws wording they will note that the language matches the federal statute. What has changed concerns the requirement of State Law Enforcement to carry out what federal law enforcement is required to do by law. It is no coincidence that the American Feds are trying to deflect the reality of dead Americans on the Arizona border. Had the Feds done their job, people would be alive and the law would not be necessary.

Second, from the political powers in Mexico. Give me a break when talking about rights. If you actually cared for your people, they would not need to flee Mexico. I also know that the second largest part of your economy is money sent from the USA. Why would any government want its second largest sector of the economy impeded? Mexico, you should be ashamed that you force your sons and daughters into the hands of ruthless 'coyotes' at the expense of life and liberty. Why don't you develop an economy for the common person?

Third, from the intellectuals. Why don't you actually do something other than storming mount grievance to attack people who actually suffer under the oppression created by the current system of lawlessness. Is it because you want to come home and tell your gardener that you care for 'his people' in an effort to assuage your Imperialistic American guilt?

This current immigration problem can be traced back to the 1980s when it was promised by the central government to secure the border in exchange for amnesty. Nothing has happened except for a trashed environment, a list of dead Mexicans and Americans, and an emboldened drug trade that has the Mexican government on its heals and out of control of its northern border.

When Gaia Theory Meets Totalitarianism

2010-05-13T09:42:00.004-04:00

Good grief, this video is ridiculous. If I could write the opening sentences for the state organ it would go like this..."This Enviro Jugend group wins contest from party leaders for showing their zeal for enviro purity and opposing those who threaten the good of the Mother. Party leaders were regaled by the smiling faces of these youth leading the next generation into the glorious future. The party leaders saw first hand how the peoples' monies are being spent to insure a lasting legacy of peace and justice."

Follow this link for the full story.

The Truth Behind GM's Government Loan Repayment

2010-05-09T17:09:00.001-04:00

Dispatches from Western Utopia

2010-04-28T14:25:00.003-04:00

Can someone please explain how this case is not murder. Don't get caught up in the emotion of the word murder, instead look at the situation and apply the strict definition. I really do not understand how people, and especially so-called Christians, can support a central government legitimizing such things as described. There will be no justice in this case. Just as the people of Queens, NY gawked that this poor man, so too will the self-styled human rights activists walk on by.

Goodbye Old Neighbor

2010-04-21T09:22:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, we lost a grand old neighbor. This neighbor has been pillar in our community for all the years I have lived here. I trusted her with my friends who came to visit. She always watched over our area and was a landmark for all. She helped me navigate the ocean. Goodbye 47th street water tower. Now how do I give directions to my friends? Take the immediate right next to the .......

Left v Right Difference

2010-04-17T10:55:00.004-04:00

Cops at Left and Right Protests. First is the Tax Protest from April 15 (Right wing). The Second is from the International Monetary Fund Protest (Left wing). Both protests occurred in Washington, DC. Notice the Protest that requires riot police. The officer sitting on his bike was quoted, “These people [Tea Party] are great. It’s like a day off, very relaxing.” The Life Magazine photo was documenting the IMF protests of 2002 when the Left-wingers were trying to close off streets and violently engage the police.

An Apology

2010-04-13T12:04:00.003-04:00

As was the self-loathing chique of the American and ex-patriot left during the G W Bush years, I would like to apologize to the Canadians for our current president. Even though you love and adore President O!, he has treated your great country with contempt first by slapping your hand and banning Canadian products in the $813 billion stimulus package, now he wags his finger in the face of your Prime Minister. Compared to the US leadership, Mr Harper has masterfully led the Canadian economy through treacherous economic waters. I don't think our president likes to be overshadowed by solid leadership, thus Obama needed to belittle PM Harper.

American Tax Fairness

2010-04-08T10:00:00.002-04:00

From this Article:

About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability. [...]
The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment.

About 50% of the country does not participate in the stewardship of our nation. There is something fundamentally discouraging about this reality. Everyone should have a stake in the place where they live and move and have their being. The other distressing aspect to this tax lopsidedness is that a hit to income in the top 10% results in a vulnerability to 73% of tax revenues.

If, as I believe, the economy will continue to adjust away from consumer credit based consumptions, this necessarily means tighter profit margins and higher bankruptcies for the coming few years. These leaner times will result in lower tax revenues. All the while, the Democrats are increasing spending to levels never before imagined. Cloward Piven?

Again With the Canadian HRC

2010-03-25T16:42:00.002-04:00

The Canadian Human Rights Commission has been petitioned by Ann Coulter (political pundit from the USA) to investigate the promotion of hatred against her by the University of Ottawa provost. After a letter was circulated by the provost, the ensuing riots and bedlam forced Miss Coulter to hire bodyguards for her safety and the University of Ottawa to cancel her speech due to actual threats to her safety. The U of O student union also had a hand in the incitement of hatred as they place placards about the campus calling for action against Miss Coulter.

The HRC's mandate calls for investigation when hatred is promoted against identifiable groups. Is there actionable evidence here with the riots and threats of personal violence?

Looking for the Good

2010-03-24T10:09:00.004-04:00

Well Demcare has passed in the USA!! Hooray for us!! I am now restricted by federal law on what medical services my insurance savings plan can pay for. But that's okay because the faceless central authority should determine what is good for my health, right? If I do spend money on these 'unapproved' health costs, I will be charged a 20% penalty. So what have we just learned class? In this 'health care for all' bill is a tax increase of 20% on medical procedures.

So, here's the good: First, I will save $2,500 each year on health costs. President Obama promised!! Second, well there is no second. I want my $2,500!

A Point of Order

2010-03-22T09:54:00.002-04:00

I watched as the Democrats voted to secure more power for the Federal Government last night. I was not surprised because politicians love power and they love to shove it down your throat. My gripe is with the speech Bart Stupak gave when defending his vote to nationalize abortion funding. Remember, this is the 'pro-life' Democrat. He trotted out the canard that being pro-life means you stand for life outside the womb. This is the same argument that Jim Wallis, Tony Campollo, Ron Sider and some other Christians use to justify government programs that pay for health insurance or whatever other benefit government can give in the name of helping 'the poor'.

My gripe is this: first, the argument assumes that the opponents want what is bad for people. Not only is this slanderous, but it is also very unchristian. Second, equating the active and planned killing a defenseless child with policy decisions is beyond intellectual dishonesty. It is bearing false witness. Last night, someone on the floor of the House called Stupak a baby-killer. CNN sniffed and harrumphed as the lack of decorum. However, I do not remember such tut-tutting by the newscasters when the Democrats were accusing the Newt Gingrich led congress of wanting to kill old people and starve children with their budget allocations during the 1990's.

Perhaps the abortion opponents have had too much decorum by claiming to be 'pro-life'. Now that the language has been lost to muddled political-speak, the abortions foes should re-brand themselves as 'anti-murder'.

Someone in Rhode Island is Smart

2010-02-21T09:28:00.002-05:00

The USA was once considered a top-notch educated society. Much had to do with the K-12 education system. For the past 40 years, the US has more than doubled real spending on each student while the quality of graduate has plummeted. Wonder why? Maybe this article can shed light on some of the problem. Hopefully, there will be more gutsy superintendents around the nation.

One of the Many Reasons the Government is Broke

2010-02-18T10:05:00.005-05:00

Public Service Unions are notorious for budget-braking contracts in Europe. Just look at Greece. The notoriety comes from their extortionist tactics of general strikes witch scares the nickers off of politicians. So, the government caves with the hope that the good-times tax revenues in the future will cover the extravagance. The only problem is when the bad times roll around and those negotiated increases come due. California is broke. Michigan is broke. New Jersey is broke. New York is broke. Read this article and breathe in the left-wing union madness.

Greece Looming

2010-02-04T10:13:00.002-05:00

One of the many left-wing countries of Europe, Greece faces massive debt, a burgeoning deficit, and potential collapse. The country has demanded of its productive sector more and more sacrifice while its non-productive sector refuses to stop demanding more and more benefit. There has been months of strikes which have slowed down an already recessive economy leading to more economic hardship all in the name of that famous left-wing abstraction "Fairness". The country teeters while the unions fiddle.

Greece is a case study of how a centrally-planned mixed-economy is not the Utopia that so many in the US seek. When the state guarantees your pension, you are beholden to the budgeting of fools and scholars alike. A centrally planned economy, by definition, does not care for the local community. The theoretical always outweighs the practical until reality sets in and ruin is upon everybody. The sad reality is, people will do as little as they can to get as much as they can.

A government benefit does not come from the government, it comes from your neighbor. When your neighbor stops being productive fewer people must become more productive in order to support government benefits. No one is willing to give up their government benefit, but those same people will force the producers to give up their time with family, their time in the garden, their pay, and their savings. There is never a 'thank you' only the demand for more.

Taxes and Spending

2010-02-02T10:11:00.002-05:00

There are few things more political than government taxation and government spending. The great Pres O! has put forward the largest deficit in the history of the US building upon the already massive deficit from the prior year. With no $800 billion stimulus package, I am left to wonder what constitutes the increase in spending over last year. Sure the Dems pay lip service (as did the Repubs during the 2000's) about capping discretionary spending, but that is only a tiny portion of the budget.

Entitlement spending is the key, and it is untouchable. No one will try to reign in the political lunch wagon that is free money. Otherwise, you want old people to die or the poor to starve. Never mind that the elderly are the wealthiest people in the country or that if we really helped only the destitute, we would have plenty of funds to support mental health services for those who need it to turn their lives around and Medicaid would not be broke in every state.

All that said, my wife did not get a raise and she make well below the national average. Funny...our federal income tax went up by 20%. Another 20% coming from the productive and going to the non-productive side of society.

Media Madness

2010-01-21T09:45:00.003-05:00

I want to say that if a Democrat had won Kennedy's old seat in the Senate that the Right Wingers would have been just as ridiculous in their reasoning as to why the Republican candidate lost. This time, I really do not think I can make such an assertion. On MSNBC (I know but stick with me) the commentator slandered the senator elect as a sexual pervert who hates everyone not like him. But this host is simply a nasty bigot; he is filled with hate. He represents the lowest form of dissent.

In other commentary, the people of Massachusetts are sexists because they had the chance to elect a female and did not. Funny, I thought the idea of sexism was voting because of one's sex, so endorsing a female simply because of XX chromosomes seems, well, sexist to me. This is grievance dissent. As is the commentary claiming that Brown's white-maleness put him over the top.

Finally, a commentary in the Mass newspaper claimed that Brown's victory was eerily like date rape. This is humorless humor. The fellow is trying to be clever in covering up his sour grapes.

What all of these commentaries have in common is the typical left-wing 'you-are-so-stupid' undercurrent. Whether it is your susceptibility to emotional fervor, your inability to eclipse your primal instincts, or your weakness in the face of temptation, all of these commentators think you are too stupid to have made a reasoned decision. This is based on media bias which generally believes the left-wing agenda is good and the right-wing agenda is bad, so to vote for the right-wing is stupid.

Ad Hoc

2010-01-20T09:02:00.003-05:00

I have not posted for a long time, mostly because I have not really had much to say, but I have also been observing the scenery. So I will try to cover the landscape with what I have observed.

First, I am still surprised that the water is being carried on this man-made global warming stuff. There is still talk of carbon taxes, co2 emissions limits, and massive funding going to a clearly politicized topic that tries to pass itself off as science. This worldwide fraud is funded by hundreds of billions of dollars and has become a self-important industry unto itself. It is time to stop funneling this money to arrogant and hostile persons who seek ambition and start using the money to actually clean up real environmental messes that exist around the world. Humans cannot control the environment no matter how much these empty cans rattle.

Second, I have watched the health insurance (not health care) reform debate in the US with interest and have noted a few things. There is no mention of limiting the costs created through the egregious medical tort system in the US. There is no reform giving people the ability to buy insurance across state lines. The current measures as they stand, take the individual out of the process and leave all decisions to government or other bureaucracies. Finally, there is a jail-time provision for people who do not purchase insurance. Talk about criminalizing poverty. I have some compromise proposals:

First and the most obvious, eliminate the 7% income floor for making health costs tax-deductible.
Let people buy insurance from any provider in the country
Reform medical malpractice so that it is not 25% of the nations health costs
Give small business the ability to pool resources and buy insurance at the large company discounts
Set up a fraud detection system for Medicare and Medicaid similar to the systems used by credit card companies looking for illegal transactions (I get a call at least 3 times a year making sure things are on the up and up)
If there is a government plan, give people the ability to opt out of the government plan and buy a policy with a Health Savings Account which the government would fund with the money the government would have spent on insuring this individual up to $4,000 per year. This is a great option for young people without the resources to buy insurance.

Finally, a Republican won Ted Kennedy's seat in the Senate. This is the third big loss for Democrats this election year (09-10). I hope the spending insanity in Washington will slow down. As much as the ruling class likes to trumpet their importance, it is the local community that must deal with the realities of waste and fraud emanating from the central authority. Perhaps we are rediscovering our roots of radical volunteerism in this country. The voluntary association is the hallmark of the free society.

Political Demagoguery

2009-12-21T10:03:00.005-05:00

One of the chief authoritarian arguments for government meddling in health care has been the rejection of claims by the 'evil' insurance companies. The American Medical Association has scored this claim with the big winner of the 'evil' title going to ......... the government! That's right, the government rejects most claims on a two year rolling average of 5.5% rejection. Their closet competition for the title of 'evil' is Aetna and Anthem at 4.5% rejection.

Of course, all a politician needs to do is throw the word justice around and no one is willing to challenge the assertion that only government has the necessary solution.

A Modest Proposal

2009-12-11T09:42:00.005-05:00

This week, a writer in Canada's Financial Post opined that the primary solution to the world's ills lies in the China one-child policy. She uses phrases like "disastrous global birthrate" "unsustainable" and "overpopulation." These are the typical fear mongering tactics the demagogues use when science is not on their side.

Usually, I chafe at environmental wackos like this, but not this time. I think Diane Francis has a point, thus my modest proposal.

How about all government workers, humanities department academics, and journalists voluntarily adopt a no child policy. I specifically choose these people because they are the non-productive members of our world. They do not contribute to the community in a positive way and they demand the producers support their self-important girth. If we can shrink the amount of resources being poured in to the non-productive sector of society, then we can cut back on the amount of materials required from our natural resources. Thus the land gets a rest, we won't need to listen to these self-important academics, bureaucrats, and journos pontificate about our excess as they jet off to another meeting of the self-admiration society, and resulting plenty can be shared.

Now I know that my proposal will be ignored for two reasons: First, it is not a mandate where the "policy is imposed" so the elites will be denied their control and second, it makes too much sense to cut the unproductive sectors of the world.

UPDATE: Turns out that Diane Francis has two children, Indeed!!

Simple Question

2009-12-01T09:51:00.002-05:00

Now that the science behind global warming extremism appears to be politically based, who is going to deprogram all the children propagandized over the last 20 years? Heaven knows there are kids with PTSD after watching some poor polar bear doomed by their mommy and daddy driving to work in SUVs.

I will have a later post on the whole who-ha.

Another Perspective on Palin

2009-11-24T10:22:00.002-05:00

I read an interesting article trying to explain the left-wing reaction to Sarah Palin. It is one of the best commentaries I have read to date. Sadly, I think it is accurate, not because I am sympathetic towards the former Governor, but because the article finds its critical voice in how Hillary Clinton was treated during the Democrat primaries. I also think it explains the way the McCain campaign treated the Governor as they were worried she would upstage the Senator. Power is the issue with Palin and that scares most of the left and many on the entrenched right. In order to maintain their power, Sarah must be attacked so her supporters see how foolish they are to oppose those in power.

Feeling Rich

2009-11-14T10:31:00.005-05:00

Our power has been out for almost 2 days now. The storm dropped many trees, some over power lines. My feeling has nothing to do with electricity, but our lack of it. Thomas Edison said, "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles." I was burning two oil lamps so I could read. I was also burning wood to keep warm.

This caused me to start thinking about what it costs people to light and heat their houses without electricity (that would be a significant portion of the world's population). I spent $15 on wood that will only produce 6 hours of heat. Lamp oil burns slowly, but burning 2 lamps from 5 PM until 10 PM will probably cost a bottle of oil every 3 days. I have not even considered the cost of fueling food preparation. While I have just considered the financial costs, the environmental costs are even more staggering. Can you imagine the smoke pollution from tens of thousands of cooking fires burning every day. Add to that the deforestation required to resource the daily fires and you are looking at shortages within months.

I am thankful for cheap electricity. Electricity lights our homes and keeps our forests standing. It also makes life very manageable. There is a par of me that enjoys the the lack of electricity, but I think that has more to do with my wealth than any deep moral obligation to turn off my electrical appliances. My cheep electricity gives me the option to choose power or no power. I will be sad when the power supply is returned to my home, but it will be short lived as I can once again cook, wash the big pile of clothes stacking up, and heat the house so I don't have to spend $10 each day to have 4 hours of heat in one room. I hope for cheap electricity the world over because it really is a good thing.

Frontline on Healthcare

2009-11-11T10:00:00.006-05:00

I watched a television show called "Frontline" last night as its topic was on universal health insurance. The series runs on PBS and is notoriously left-wing in its perspective. Usually, Bill Moyers is the propagandist, but last night it was a different fellow. Sadly, the presenter's bias was easily uncovered. The US health care system was "bad" and the universal insurance systems were "good." The basic arguments presented against US insurance were as follows:

US administrative fees ran at 22% of cost compared to 5-8% in other systems.
US health insurance companies were 'for profit' the other country's' insurers were not.
The US spends 16% of GDP on health whereas the other spent 6-8% of GDP on health.
There are many medical bankruptcies in the US and none anywhere else.

All the topics are good ones to cover, but one would expect some intellectual honesty in the discussion. With each of the topics presented the dialogue seemed to come straight from the Michael Moore guide to screed. The US does this poorly, this other country does so well, why is this? The easy answer was always 'profit'.

Lets pop the profit balloon right now. First, a for profit entity only means that there are equity investors involved at the foundation of the company where year end surpluses may be given to the equity investors (dividends). In a not for profit entity, the year end surpluses are placed in reserves not earnings; there are no dividends, but it is the same thing. These left over earnings in both for and not for profit entities are used to fund future operations.

The second myth on profit is the bottom line. With an insurance industry standard of 2%-6% profit, that will not cause the problems Frontline claims. If the US spends 16% GDP on health care and theoretically the GDP is $100,000, then $16,000 is health costs and of that $320-$960 is profit, or 0.32%-0.96% of GDP is health care profit. As evil as one wants to make profit, the argument is sentimental at best because it carries no water. With profit out of the equation, US health care is 15% of GDP.

Finally, if profit were the true motive of the insurance companies, administrative fees would not be 22%. Administrative fees are the first place any good manager looks to cut costs to increase the bottom line. There must be another reason. The 'Evil of Profit' has become favored the left-wing trope when taking a moral stand.

One topic that the show did not touch upon was medical tort costs which account for 13% of the of health costs. In Germany, medical malpractice insurance is ~$1,400 per year compared to ~$140,000 in the US. The reporter was not ever curious as to why this might be. There is a reason John Edwards lives in an 18,000 square foot home, and health care is expensive in the US. If the show wanted to be fair, the case would have been made that lawyers should not make big profits off of health care in the US.

Overall, the show was incurious emotional propaganda packaged as intellectual argumentation.

Finally, A Judge Has Ruled What We All Know Is True

2009-11-05T09:57:00.004-05:00

In the UK, (HT Tim), a judge has ruled that Climate Change Belief is a religion. From now on, I will be referring to this as the Church of CCB with its pope being Al Gore and is Chief Profit being David Suzuki. Apparently, the science is NOT settled and the only way to protect this boil from a healthy lancing is to call it a religion. As for me, I rather enjoyed the apocalyptic narrative that was being force fed to us. Every year the rhetoric became sillier with everything from earthquakes to acne being blamed on global warming. Regent College had a bit about a Lament for the Climate, my lament is for the intellectual climate.

Odds and Ends

2009-11-03T10:19:00.002-05:00

Just some random thoughts:

Al Gore has been accused of profiting off of his Global Warming snake oil. His excuse is actually a good one! He wonders why he should not put his money where his mouth is. I agree. Now if he and the left can stop demonizing those who make money in other industries.

Today is election day in a few places. The New Jersey governors race is most interesting. I don't think the republican will win. Why? Because the polls are too tight and in a tight race in the Northeast, the republican ballot box fraudsters are far outnumbers by their democrat counterparts.

I recently read an article by a Christian who remarked that someone was over-housed. I thought the author might be Hugo Chavez, but it was not.

I'm going to vote for a Democrat assemblyman today because the incumbent Republican has been the chief money spender in Virginia for many years and our budget problems are legion (the spending grew faster than inflation and population growth over the past 8 years). I don't expect my vote to change the balance of power in the Assembly, but I hope a new finance chair will be the result.

The evil (so says Pres O!) profiteering health insurance companies make 2-6% income year over year. That's about in line with long term government bonds.

The director of a Texas Planned Parenthood clinic has resigned after watching an ultrasound of an abortion. Good for her.

News Flash

2009-10-02T11:55:00.005-04:00

International Olympic Committee wants Obama to Fail:

Pushing aside one of President Obama's job creating plans for America, the IOC has rejected Chicago's Olympic bid. Standing opposed to the new savior of the World (go to the 50 second mark), the IOC has now joined with the Tea Party crowd, the Townhallers, and Rush Limbaugh in opposing Obama. We are waiting on comments from Speaker Pelosi. Will she call the IOC a NAZI organization?

Kudos to Walter Williams

2009-09-24T15:45:00.003-04:00

Dr Williams asks a great question. In responding to a Christian who says that Capitalism is anti-Christian by failing to protect the poor, Williams responds:

"If you're an unborn spirit, condemned by God to a life of poverty but allowed to choose the country in which to be poor, would you choose a country near the communist end of the economic spectrum or the capitalist end?"

I think the question answers itself. Being poor in Canada is far better than being poor in Cuba (especially if you complain about the lack of food). Christian Anti-Capitalist movements could not flourish outside of the US and other Capitalistic societies because it requires the productivity of capitalism (which it aims to tear down, no less) and its religious freedoms to fund its temper-tantrum.

Obama Jugend

2009-09-24T10:29:00.001-04:00

Here we go again. Can someone please point me to the public school children singing the praises of GW Bush?

Jimmy's Rhetoric

2009-09-17T08:02:00.004-04:00

Jimmy Carter is at it again. If he hates your policy stance, he labels you as evil. First it was the election of GW and his writing of his book on the decline of America. Second, it was his dislike of Israel's prevention of terrorism. Finally, it is people demonstrating against big (authoritarian) government. In each case, the people who disagree with Carter are labeled evil. The GW Bush people disregard the rule law and civility, Israel becomes an apartheid state, and now protesters are evil racists.

Here is this man's quote:

I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man. I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that share the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans.

And that racism inclination still exists. And I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply.

The key to understanding Carter's rhetoric is the first sentence. He (I think purposely) says animosity instead of opposition. Keenly, Carter has now called policy differences hatred. This is a classic progressive left wing tactic. In the more progressive nations, these dissenters are called 'counter revolutionaries' or 'enemies of the people'. Carter just calls them enemies of the (black) President, a definite false witness of who these people are. The intellectual dishonesty of Carter's remarks are founded in the left's belief that the opposition is stupid and unthinking, therefore, no thoughtful policy debate can happen, thus these people must be (insert ad hominem attack here).

The real disservice that Carter does to race relations is to deny the President full access to the arena of ideas. What Carter demonstrates for us is the plantation owner mentality of the left. The left believe that minorities do not have the capacity to compete in America without the direction of government. This is the institutional racism of America, the bigotry of low expectations. I actually think that Carter and the left are afraid of the truly successful Obama, they may start to see an secure voting block think outside the party.

Back When The Nobel Peace Prize Mattered

2009-09-13T14:21:00.004-04:00

Norman Borlaug died. He lived 95 years. In 1970, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. If you are still wondering who he is and why he won the prize, I will tell you. Dr Borlaug was a scientist who revolutionized agriculture. He is considered the father of the green revolution. His scientific work led to the development of high yield crops and crops that do well in extreme conditions. His work is credited with saving billions from starvation. This was at the same time people like Paul Ehrlich and his Malthusian counterparts were predicting the end of the world through famine. Dr Borlaug is a real environmentalist, instead of calling for the control of human breeding, he sought out productive ways to support both humans and the planet.

Speaking for the Progressive Left

2009-09-03T09:58:00.001-04:00

One of the many Czars had loving things to say about people he disagrees with. Mind you, the republican opposition does not have legitimate beliefs (we know that because the talking heads constantly call republicans stupid, just remember the treatment of GW Bush, Sarah Palin, Dan Quayle, Reagan) so the only reason they stand opposed to progressive lefties is because...take it away Czar.

Trading Reason For Madness

2009-09-02T09:19:00.002-04:00

I am generally skeptical of the Human caused theories of Global Warming. I do not think humans can control the climate and it is the utmost hubris to suggest that humans can control the climate. Indeed, climate control is the last gasp of Modern Man's attempt to exert his authority in the name of science. And, because many people saw Algore's farce and believed the propaganda, Western nations are implementing policies that are dubious at best and dangerous at worst.

The prime example is the compact fluorescent light. We are about to put billions of these in circulation and the government is forcing us to buy them. So, based on the speculation of climate modeling, we have increased the risk of mercury poisoning. This is where reason has gone out the window. We know that CFLs contain mercury and must be disposed of in a toxic waste approved way. We know that incandescent lights are tungsten, aluminum, and glass (non-toxic). Yet, because of arrogance, we have traded what we know to be reasonable (the toxic for the non-toxic) for the madness of what we don't know (the future climate).

Ted Kennedy's Legacy

2009-08-31T08:27:00.002-04:00

We have heard how much Ted loved the oppressed and downtrodden. His tireless political career centered around getting a fair shake for the little guy...unless the little guy lived under the boot of the former USSR. Kennedy, supporter of the weak and champion of our common humanity, saw political opportunity in cutting a deal with the former Evil Empire to undercut his own President. Never mind that the Soviet Union was the touchstone for injustice, it was their intentions on being a worker's paradise that only matters to the progressive. I am sure the people of Russia,Ukraine et. al. are glad Teddy K was wrong.

Burning the Reichstag

2009-08-27T09:11:00.002-04:00

There was vandalism at the Denver office of the Dem Party. The hot-headed townhallers were originally blamed. Turns out a young lefty was behind the destruction.

Correcting Some Errors

2009-08-23T08:52:00.002-04:00

St Augustine published his Retraciones, so I will put right some improper opinion.

1. I have roundly criticized the Bush Admin for creating the TSA. These are the people who run the airport screenings. My criticism had to do with the frisking and strip searching of the elderly. Logic would say that these people were not terrorists and should not sap valuable resources away from the search for real people seeking to do harm. Was I ever wrong! After this last August, we have not discovered that these old people are domestic terrorists. The left has exposed the great underbelly of the USA, just look at the guy in the picture...terrorist thug.

2. Ted Kennedy is an upstanding fellow. He is always concerned for the other person. Whether its Mary Jo Koepechne, or his constituents, there has never be a self serving bone in the Senior Senator from Massachusetts. Why, just last week he wrote a letter to Gov Deval Patrick asking for a speedy transition to find his replacement as Kennedy is quickly dying from his cancer. The current law of Mass call for a special election which could take as long as 5 months...time that this Senate cannot afford to be without a senator. Never you mind that Kennedy had the law changed 4 years ago to a special election so that Republican Gov Romney could not appoint Sen Kerry's replacement had he won the 2004 Presidential Election. Nothing to see here...for the children, justice!

3. I have been wrong to question the propriety of the health reform legislation being discussed by the current Congress (and lobbied for by the current President). There will be no bureaucracy which determines how to administer care. There will be no health-care-based limitations placed upon people due to weight, smoking habits, and diet. The President and members of Congress have never said they are pushing towards a single payer government system. Individuals will not be fined $2500 for refusing the government mandates. The IRS will not be used to garnish bank accounts. Why can I say this...because there is no final bill being debated, so I should just shut up with my opinions and stop being an un-American dissenter (I am still waiting for my check from the insurance industry, they promised to pay me and bus me to townhall meetings).

4. Dissent is not just un-American, it is racist. Just this last week, pundits have declared political debate and activism to be racist. From Paul Krugman and Joel Klein in the media to NY Gov Paterson, the only reason one opposes the government is due to racism. Two reasons: The Pres is black so any opposition is race based, and minorities will benefit under health reform so opposition is race based (never mind that poor whites far outnumber poor minorities in real numbers).

5. Only right wingers can be compared to jack-boots. This was fully acceptable during Bush's term as protest after protest compared the Bush cabinet to Nazis and called for his assassination (scroll down a bit to see the placards, if you really want to be disgusted continue to peruse the linked site, but I warn you, the pics are not safe for people with easily upset stomachs). Now that the Repubs are out of power, rhetorical extremism is passe and too vile?

Proverbs 27.15

2009-08-12T14:11:00.000-04:00

A nagging wife is like water going drip-drip-drip on a rainy day. How can you keep her quiet? Have you ever tried to stop the wind or ever tried to hold a handful of oil?

This article is too funny.

Gordon Brown's Foolish Greed

2009-08-11T10:03:00.002-04:00

Left wing politicians love to levy taxes. If the tax targets 'the rich', even better. Britain's PM and Liberal party have raised the top tax rate to 50% on everyone who make 150,000 pounds or more a year. We can all agree that seeing the rich as money machines is fair and just. Demanding more from them should never be an issue. There is a problem brewing and it is not just with the top earners. Top Premier League footballers are leaving for other clubs around Europe. I don't know much about Premier League football, but I do know that the fans take their teams seriously. The fans are from every economic class and they will get angry if their teams hemorrhage players and start to lose games because of Mr Browns left wing lust for more revenue.

When Dissent is Inconvenient

2009-08-07T08:34:00.003-04:00

Americans are outraged. The federal government is out of control in its spending. 2 industries have been nationalized. Finally, the health care debate has been duplicitous and the people are starting to see through the politicians' doublespeak. At town hall meetings across the country, angry citizens are challenging the politicians. The liberals and the media have called these protests 'fake' and 'angry mobs' sponsored by the insurance industry. The protesters are too well dressed to be serious Americans.

I think the real problem is the unexpected nature of the protests. Conservatives usually have jobs to go to or businesses to run and don't waste time carrying placards and shouting slogans and liberals know that. However, things are a bit different. These protesters are using tried and true left-wing protest tactics and this has the Dems frustrated. Only Conservatives should be shouted down or intimidated off the stage because only conservatives stand for injustice. So, as a reactionary measure, the Dems are bringing their union muscle to silence dissent.

It's Time to Regulate

2009-08-06T09:07:00.002-04:00

There are two industries in the USA that have carte blanche to operate in any manner they see fit.

First the Movie Industry: Try to get a refund if the movie is bad. This is the last vestige of unregulated buyer-beware commerce in our society. Oh sure, the ratings and review industry tells the viewer what content is there, but every person has an opinion. If I don't like a product I buy at Target, I take it back for a refund. Inevitably someone will like that product. Where is our Ralph Nader to declare movies 'unsafe at any (shutter) speed!'

Second the Trial Lawyers: Just as the combined Attorney's General of many states sued Big Tobacco for the increased health costs due to tobacco use, it is now time to sue Big Law for the increased health costs due to frivolous law suits and decadent lifestyles. Perhaps Pres O! should limit lawyer pay as he seeks to limit executive pay or maybe the congress can pay a 70% tax on lawyer fees associated with health care lawsuits to pay for 'health care reform.'

It is time to reign in these out of control industries that abuse the consumer and earn their ill gotten gains off the backs of the common worker.

A Good Primer On Left Wing Agit Prop

2009-08-05T09:21:00.003-04:00

The writer is a former propagandist from the USSR. He does a good job of explaining the provenance of current left wing anti-capitalist anti-west thinking. It is a two part series and a long read. Part 1. Part 2. Ignore the writers focus on the current president, it is irrelevant to the history.

I think there is criticism to be made of the West, but let's have original criticism. I am tired of the rent-a-mob crowds that show up to a Noam Chomsky rally parroting the same anti-capitalism lines given them by hardcore leftwingers 50 years ago. From the article, do you recognize these arguments particularly #6 and #9?:

Generated in the depths of KGB think tanks, the Cold War-era propaganda template is comprised of the following linked axioms:

1. Socialism is “progress.”

2. Aversion to “progress” is a sign of outmoded backward thinking.

3. All forward-thinking people are leftists.

4. Leftists always speak for all people.

5. People always unanimously support leftist leaders.

6. Leftists are always under assault from the well-organized capitalist enemy.

7. All workers and peasants hate capitalist exploiters.

8. Armed resistance to a leftist government can only conceivably be staged by CIA agents in the service of American imperialism.

9. Capitalists engage in relentless anti-socialist propaganda, subversion, and sabotage; they will commit any crime in order to kill hope and prevent the masses from liberation.

10. The dying non-socialist sector of the world is run by a criminal conspiracy of capitalist oligarchs operating from the United States (and sometimes from Israel when appropriate).

Episcopal Irrelevence

2009-08-04T09:36:00.003-04:00

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA has declared salvation the great Western Heresy. More specifically, she thinks that the message of personal salvation has led the all the ills that plague the Western World. The financial crisis and the degraded environment can all be laid at the feet of the western notion of the individual (never mind the crushing poverty and environmental disasters of collectivist societies).

Where the Bishop will get some support from me concerns the 'cheap grace' aspect of certain salvation philosophies. Blabbing a sentence in no way gets me access to God. Likewise, it is wrong for the Bishop to think that salvation is the act of the community. That means there are human gate keepers...our betters who decide what salvation looks like. This is the Marxist heresy. Both philosophies are wrong because salvation alone is the work of the Holy Spirit and the Church has recognized this fact through the ages.

Because Jefferts-Schori is firmly rooted in systematic analysis of all things, she cannot name the one ancient affliction that has plagued humanity for all time, Sin. She sees history as a compilation of bad communities that have let down their constituents because of systematic injustice. So to her, greed and rapacious appetites are the function of an ill ordered community instead of the deep workings of a corrupt heart. By rejecting the salvation of the individual and the responsibility of that person to seek after God's kingdom, the Bishop has not addressed the main cause of injustice in the world...the evil of sin in the heart of every human.

The followers of Christ, from the 12 disciples on, has been a community of radical volunteerism. Radical because it calls for immediate allegiance to a way of life that is contrary to the human systems of the fallen world. Voluntary, because it is the work of the Holy Spirit on the believer's heart, not the compulsion of a neighbor (or the purchase of indulgences for the church community) that brings one to the Kingdom.

I suggest the Very Right Rev. stop reading her liberation theology books and start reading the classics to find the salvation of the individual in Roman times (St. Augustine) and Alexander Solzhenitsyn to find the line of evil that passes through every human heart. Indeed, if she reads the Gospels, she will see Jesus interacting with people in a personal way, not talking about concepts of political organization or abstract principles of ordered systems except to mock James and John who wanted prestige. Concerning moral superiority, Jesus said it was His Kingdom vs. all the rest, and he was speaking in an adversarial manner. Concerning prosperity, the Kingdom of God is like a pearl of great price.

Here is the great irony of this Bishop's statement. She has just poked the eye of at least 575,000,000 Christians. There is not much ecumenism or community bonding going on.

What Say You, Regent College?

2009-08-02T12:58:00.002-04:00

The collective moan at Regent College when I attended always centered around how G W Bush and the religious right were bringing Church and State too close together. This 'religious right' wanted theocracy blah, blah, blah. Anyhow, the right kind of Christian is now the Pres of the USA which leads me to ask about this picture. How will Regent respond? I am sure there will be a feigned demure attitude, but deep in the hearts of many there will be a secret joy.

Canadian HRC To People

2009-07-25T13:24:00.004-04:00

"Your religion is rubbish...fairy stories made up by superstitious anti-intellectual rubes from a by-gone era. If you work for the government, you must deny everything you believe when you enter the government building's front door and follow government orders without question. We support your right to believe what you want (even though it is stupid), but we will not defend your right to live peaceably by your beliefs if it interferes with people we deem more entitled to rights than you."

So, are people going to sue under the HRC when someone cannot perform a government service due to language conflicts? This sounds like a targeted hit on this one man because the two men in question were married by another commissioner. I wonder if someone on the HRC put the couple up to going after this guy because he filed his case 6 months prior to the marriage request. I would not surprise me one bit as the HRC has been shown to be a bully.

Nature...Still Stronger than Humans

2009-07-25T08:42:00.004-04:00

A peer reviewed paper has once again confirmed the theory that natural forces are far superior to modern man's pedestrian attempts at climate control. After pumping $80 billion dollars into the the man-made global warming yes-man community, all the USA has to show for it is a really bad documentary from a former vice president. Of course this means nothing in a political culture that is convinced CO2 is humanity's bane. The Academy will continue to publish nonsense because the free flowing cash from world governments is too big a prize to forsake for data supported conclusions. And who wants to be labeled a 'denier'.

In related news, Thomas L Friedman, columnist for the NY Times, lamented the US Cap and Tax bill would not reduce Carbon emissions to the level that (junk) science requires for humans to release control of the environment back to nature. Mr Friedman's estate could not be reached for comment.

Reading Genesis

2009-07-24T13:03:00.005-04:00

I have a question regarding Genesis Chapter 3:17.

And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

Is the curse highlighted above still in effect? There has been an increased focus on creation in many Christian circles. I like creation, because I am a part of it, and by God's definition a good part of it. Therefore it is in my best interest and my neighbors best interest to learn about creation and how to exploit resources without being rapacious and how to encourage the regenerative processes of nature.

However, I have problems with increased focus on the soteriological and eschatological roles of creation. I am not convinced that nature is fully redeemed and the eschaton is somehow frustrated until humans living in 'balance' with nature. I think Genesis 3:17 is in effect until Jesus returns to renew all things. The wheat and tares will grow up together. So, we will deal with the bad and the bounty of nature until the end of the age.

Shameless Advertisement

2009-07-23T09:14:00.002-04:00

Come to Virginia Beach and you will see dolphins, or as we call them porpoise. Sorry about the quality, I was trying to steer the boat and shoot the video while managing two foot seas.

America...Hands Off Honduras

2009-07-22T17:15:00.002-04:00

Using its financial and political weight, the United States is bullying the people of Honduras. In an effort to secure influence over the political process in this sovereign country, the USA along with its political pawns in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba are demanding the constitution of Honduras be scrapped even as evidence mounts showing the illegal actions of the former president Zelaya. The people of Honduras are being threatened with sanctions that will starve children and keep medical supplies away from the old and sick. We must demand justice from the USA and President Obama before the people of Honduras lose their rightful place as a free and self-determining people. The progressives pulling the strings of the Obama administration seek to set up a puppet government in Honduras which will give the USA unfettered access the regions resources. American hegemony must be resisted in Central America.

Progressives and Identity Politics

2009-07-21T12:37:00.003-04:00

Senator Boxer is arrogant and condescending. She treats her position, not as service but as power. In this clip, you will see the way racist white liberals treat black people who have left the plantation. It is a rather disgusting display and Senator Boxer tries desperately to back-peddle. To summarize what you are about to see:

Senator Boxer: Look boy, the other darkies don't agree with you, what's your problem?

Harry Alford: Hey, I am an American citizen here to talk about energy. Don't you dare tell me how to think. This is not Jim Crow and I will not sit in the back of the bus with other black people just because you tell me to.

BRAVO MR ALFORD!!

This Is Eerily Relevant

2009-07-11T10:36:00.003-04:00

In a previous post, I suggested:

Did Gov Palin so explode the heads of the progressive elites with her blue collar background, lack of Ivy League pedigree , and five children (one of whom should never have been born per the progressive's playbook) that the successful-woman template as defined by the left is now in jeopardy?

Judith Warner of the New York Times has put Sarah Palin on the poster for all that is wrong with American culture re: women's status. From her article, "This is why Palin — in her down-home aw-shucks posturing — is the 21st-century face of the backlash against women’s progress. " In context, Warner believes that 'thinking women' pose a threat men and traditional women and are the object of increasing attack in our society. By making this statement, Warner assumes Palin is not thinking, but that has been the Mallick-Dowd hate-filled narrative from the beginning. Palin has not sufficiently thrown off 'teh patriarchy' by only going to Idaho State and joining the Republicans.

What is really kooky about the article is that Warner is trying to defend a university professor who left her 5 children at the mall so she could rest...in an incident which happened in 2007. Warner's hate for Sara Palin compels her to write the governor into the piece. Because this woman has a PhD and is not down-home and you-betcha, she was treated harshly? Seems to me this Warner can find a bogey-man under any rock she turns over which is a sad commentary on Judith's state of mind. I cannot imagine Sara Palin opposing any of Warner's success or rights to equality save for abortion, and that is Palin's real sin against the sisterhood (well besides joining the Republicans which is teh Patriarchy).

If I were to speculate about Ms Warner's American paradigm, it would be:

1. The USA is a country of systematic oppression through racism and sexism.
2. Minorities and women can only succeed when the oppressors are brought to heal by the government.
3. The oppressive classes must be constantly scrutinized because through shift and graft, they will seek to turn back the clocks of equality and put people 'in their place.'
4. There are code words that represent oppression eg. responsibility, character, small town values, family values, etc.
5. People like Sarah Palin get where they are, not through hard work, but because they are acceptable to the oppressors and are a token only to deflect criticism.
6. Ms Warner sees her duty to fight a war against a political enemy that is constantly lurking in the shadows, pulling the strings of power.
7. Ms Warner thinks it is society's greatest fault that people do not think like she does and this fact points to the embedded oppression.

I find it sad that Ms Warner is trapped in a world of suspicion and cannot see that the USA has afforded people like Oprah Winfrey, a product of the worst Chicago had to offer in public housing, to become the most powerful woman in media. Or, growing up in segregated Mississippi, Condi Rice can earn a PhD and become Secretary of State. And why is Sara Palin as governor a failure for the womyn? Because she chose a different path, outside of the progressive formula.

When Progressives Are Wrong

2009-07-10T09:14:00.003-04:00

...Nobody holds their feet to the fire.

I love listening to NPR as they have some NGO interviewee telling the audience about the most pressing human right, woman's sexual rights. Of course, it is usually advertised as a discussion on teen sexual health and the problems of STDs and pregnancy. Over the past eight years, the narrative has been the Bush admins abstinence programs were terrible failures because 1: kids were going to have sex anyway, and 2: a better equipped teen, emancipated from puritanical sexual morals, is what society really needs. These interviews assumed that abstaining from sex was passe, a bygone standard. But what do you expect from a culture that is fed a false representation of promiscuity from Hollywood every day of the week?

So, Britain invested millions of pounds in a sex education program that gave sex advice and contraception to girls because abstinence will never work. Imagine the surprise on when the proggos got the report that the program led to a doubling of the pregnancy rate for those in the program. Alas, there will be no surprise because the intent is all that matters to the progressive.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2009-07-09T21:13:00.006-04:00

So here are some pics of the garden. Sorry for the quality of the shots. We have 8 foot tomatoes and spastic zucchini. The cucumbers are growing on the trellis. Watermelon and peppers of all kinds are growing on the left. There is an herb section and some corn off in the distance. The boat, sigh, is being ornery and won't run on a regular basis. I am in the process of fixing it with my brother's help.

The Obligatory Palin Post

2009-07-08T11:59:00.002-04:00

First off, let me say that I am scratching my head at her decision to resign. Second, leaving office mid stream will not bode her well in the future if there is a future. Finally, I don't know the full reasoning for her resignation.

That said, what is the left-wings reason for their visceral hatred of Gov Palin? Why does the liberal media care about a vice-presidential candidate from the losing ticket? It could be that she drew 30,000 to a speech in New York when the same week VP Biden only drew 100, but if that's the case the lefties sure are insecure. Did Gov Palin so explode the heads of the progressive elites with her blue collar background, lack of Ivy League pedigree , and five children (one of whom should never have been born per the progressive's playbook) that the successful-woman template as defined by the left is now in jeopardy?

From Heather Mallick to Maureen Dowd, the naked hatred for the Governor is not resigned to the nutty fringes. Starting with NBC's Brian Williams from the floor of the GOP convention in 2008 who read directly from Democrat talking points re: criticizing Palin and extending to investigative reports on who was actually Trig's mother, the media has been relentless in its attempts to bring down this woman...by any means necessary. I don't get it, but I find it too convenient that the media carries the Democrat bucket in personally destroying this woman while the Dem Party chiefs try to extort all of her money through bogus ethics investigations (14 in the past 9 months costing $500,000 to defend with favorable judgments to date). Sounds like Chicago thuggery to me.

When a Coup is Not a Coup

2009-07-04T12:28:00.002-04:00

Honduras, June 2009.

President Zelaya has been exiled from Honduras at the request of Honduras's Congress, Supreme Court, Electoral Tribunal, attorney general, and national prosecutor. Even his party wanted him gone. Zelaya was attempting to change the Honduran constitution so he could become El Presidente y El Jefe for life. He is only allowed one term under the law. Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, and Fidel Castro are all supporters of this man. Chavez even printed up the referendum ballots and shipped them to Honduras. The military refused to deliver the ballots to the polling places, as is there usual election duties, at the request of the Supreme Court that ruled the referendum illegal. Zelaya insisted on the referendum and was ordered arrested for breaking the law by the Congress and Supreme Court.

I thought a coup was when power transferred in an unconstitutional manner. This appears to have been adjudicated with civilian control of the military intact. So why is the rest of the world calling for Zelaya's return? This seems like meddling to me. I thought meddling in a country's affairs was now passe. Or does that only count when the country is hacking to death its protesters with axes and shooting young girls dead in the street.

New Masters

2009-07-02T11:20:00.002-04:00

According to scientist, the Earth has been taken over by a super colony of ants. In the esteemed words of Kent Brockman, "As for this [man], I welcome our new ant overlords."

Jeff Gannon Redux

2009-06-24T12:54:00.002-04:00

Does anyone remember Jeff Gannon and his alleged fake, planted question for President GW Bush? The media went daft over the softball question bemoaning the decline professional standards of the press at the hands of the Bush White House. Yesterday, the Obama White House planted a question with the knowledge of the whole White House press corps using the Huffington Post reporter Nico Pitney. But this is okay because its the chosen O!ne. Is there anyone in the press who will say no to this administration?

Tonight is the ABC sponsored White House anouncement of America's journey to government medicine. Once again, Obama is using the Chavez playbook on how to get on primetime television using a complicit media to force his agenda.

Isolation

2009-06-24T09:26:00.004-04:00

Apparently, the new foreign policy of the USA is isolation. The President said he did not want to meddle in the affairs of other countries so they could not blame the US for their own problems. I am sympathetic to this view but not for the same reasons. I don't want other Western countries to blame the US for the problems in other countries. This has been the prima facia argument against the US used by the progressive Western politicians and left-wing activists for the last 40 years. If the US is not involved, then oppression is not as distasteful to these intellectual sophists. Left-wing icon Noam Chomski famously declared the Cambodian genocide was not as bad becuase of:

"a seriously distorted version of the evidence available, emphasizing alleged Khmer Rouge atrocities and downplaying or ignoring the crucial U.S. role, direct and indirect, in the torment that Cambodia has suffered."

As we know now, it was the communist thugs of the Khmer Rouge who killed millions of people, not the USA's 'invisible hand' that left-wing conspirators love to point to when their ideological chums massacre people. I find a dark comedy where left-wing human rights atrocities are blamed on some form or capitalistic imperialism...either comedy or psychosis.

So, I welcome the isolation. The UN can go back to strongly condemning and then turning a blind eye to oppression. After a few hundred thousand are killed they can convene reconciliation councils and the Western progressive intellectuals can tut-tut the tribalism and religious dogmas that sparked such violence and call for an end to intolerance by passing some new declaration on human rights before heading off to their cocktail parties where they play nice to the next despot who is arming their militia (with Chinese or Russian AK-47s and RPG's) to kill their political rivals and associated tribes in the name of justice.

The Human Rights Catastrophe Known as Jimmy Carter

2009-06-19T10:30:00.002-04:00

The more I read about this man, the more I find out just how much human misery has come about as a result of his actions. This brings me to my question: Why do people gush over this man? I am thinking about doing a 15 part series on the dictators who Carter has sidled up to. Disturbingly, many (left leaning) Christians point to this man as some model of compassion in leadership. I would suggest that this man's compassion (as best as I can define means talking nicely to dictators) is based on political ideological grounds that have been baptized as Christian.

Today, I point to Robert Mugabe a man of blood lust power. Did you know that Jimmy Carter and Andrew Young (UN Ambassador for the USA) supported this guy? Indeed, the elected moderate Bishop Muzorewa was seen as a Western stooge and a vestige of colonial rule even though he was duly elected in a free election. But because the Soviet and China funded and armed generals were not in the election, the lefties of the world cried foul (along with the other Marxist supported dictators of sub-Saharan Africa). Andrew Young liked the brutal junta men of Nkomo and Mugabe even calling them kind and gentle.

Here's the problem, Muzorewa was anti-Marxist. He was one of those people accused by the left of leading the world to war by being mean to communists. In this time of Detente, the group speak claimed the anti-Marxists were causing the Marxists to kill people. Basically, the Marxists were throwing their murderous tantrums because the mean older brother of Western Capitalism refused to let the Marxists have their time in the toy bin. So under immense pressure from the left, Muzorewa was overthrown and Mugabe put in place for life (you know democratically, like Castro).

So, now we have a new election in 2008 where Mugabe looses yet retains power. We have a Zimbabwe that cannot feed its people. We have a currency that is a joke which means hard assets are required for any sort of trade...which means no food because the new land policies have ruined farming and no one accepts Zim dollars. Thanks Jimmy! I am glad America has lost this value.

Good Craic and Bad Theology

2009-06-19T09:18:00.003-04:00

This is a great article on how the academics hoax each other. My favorite line:

[T]o put it another way, he argued that the traditional concept of gravity was just a capitalist fiction that would be made irrelevant by the socialist/feminist/relativist theory of 'quantum gravity.'

Now for the bad theology. Some open theists have used quantum theory to buttress God's limited capacity to foresee randomness. I hope the purveyors of this thinking were not the victims of a hoax because some of their arguments stem from a 'social construct' perspective arguing that God's omniscience is the product of human history not revelation.

I found this hoax to be hilarious on many levels. Of particular delight was the hoax title, "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity." How many theology papers have I read that said 'Transformative Hermeneutic?'

How Virginia Takes Care of Its Bridges

2009-06-12T11:25:00.002-04:00

Bridge Demolitions By Sounds - More amazing video clips are a click away

Cognitive Dissonance

2009-06-03T12:49:00.003-04:00

Some things that I have heard in the media recently:

-Osama Bin Laden's latest tape is no big deal because the head of Al-Quaida is a has been and the Muslim world doesn't pay attention to him anymore because of Barack Obama. A has been? Didn't we ignore OBL in the 1990's?

-The economy is coming back never mind the jobs shed and out-of-control deficit spending. At least the Chinese economic students in Beijing knew to laugh at Treas. Sec. Geitner when he said such things.

-Sen. Leheay (Dem-VT) has ridiculed the treatment of Judge Sotomayor as racist. Yeah, well how does the Honorable Senator explain his treatment of Clarence Thomas, Miguel Estrada, Alberto Gonzalez, and Janice Rogers Brown.

-8 months ago, the media narrative concerning GM and Chrysler was 'no to bankruptcy' because no one would buy the cars or do warranty work. So what has changed other than the government has nationalized the two companies and politically driven the two company's restructuring? Now the media is doing puff pieces on how the gov't is, dare I say...savior of the auto industry.

-Finally, there were two (domestic) terrorist events in the US on Sunday and Monday of this week. I bet most people can only name one. BTW, the under-reported event follows in a string of similar attacks over the last 7 years taking place in Washington, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chapel Hill.

Political Cartoon

2009-06-01T09:50:00.002-04:00

The Benefits of Opaque Transparency

2009-05-29T10:17:00.002-04:00

The current POTUS promised transparency in his administration. The blinds would be open to whoever wished to peer in the window. Bills would be posted online for 5 days prior to signature, policy meetings would be open, and the kangaroo courts would be televised as the enemies of the revolution were tried and denounced. I digress.

Chrysler has been taken over by the Democrats in Government. Hundreds of dealerships were summarily closed. No one can explain the closure process and the White House disclaims any involvement even though the administration appointed a 'Car Czar,' the Pres personally derided bondholders for not taking his deal, and the White House pressured the bankruptcy court to fast-track the Chrysler reorganization.

Some people are digging into the closure results based upon a political analysis. The results are telling. I hope the assertions are unfounded.

More Tax News

2009-05-27T10:12:00.002-04:00

Revenue to the IRS plunged by 34% in April when turnover is compared year to year. We all know that the economy is suffering, so tax revenues will naturally fall. But, the big and never reported story is the main reason for the decline. The US has tied its revenue cart to the super-wealthy. I have banged this drum many times in the past, but as the Rev J Wright likes to say, "America's chickens are coming home to roost."

The redistributionist tax code of the USA is manageable in the good times. We take 40% from the top 1% and distribute it to the bottom 45% through tax credits and services. The problem occurs when companies lose money and capital gains turn into capital losses. Many of the top 1% are small business owners who pay taxes based on their company's income. No income, no taxes! Yet the government keeps spending (or in this case increases spending!). When 40% of the revenue is tied to a very small group, you court disaster.

Bigotry on Display

2009-05-26T13:00:00.003-04:00

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,” said Judge Sotomayor, who is now considered to be near the top of President Obama’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees. (NYTIMES 5/15/09)

Obama has made his choice, and one need not twist sentences and deconstruct 'code words' to know this woman is a bigot. Simply read the above quote. This stuff really frustrates me. This justice says the white men (the hated enemy of progressive academia, politics, and religion) do not have rich experiences and therefore cannot reach better [more just] decisions than a Latina woman. This is hate speech by the progressives own definition of the term with one major exception, the target is acceptably hated. Good grief, one hundred years ago, these same vacuous arguments were being made to limit women's suffrage.

Can someone please explain to me why this is an acceptable ideology for a Supreme? This is not a joke at some roast where stupidity is de rigueur. This is not some off-colour comment made at a dinner to get under someones skin. This is a speech made at a Law School and therefore is representative of judicial policy.

Justice Sotomayor will not make a good justice precisely because she elevates her race, class, and gender above everyone else. I reject her Balkanized philosophy as it has no place in the American experience. I condemn her racism as the tool of thoughtless bullies represented by the likes of Bull Connor and George Wallace. I condemn her stereotyping of a people-group for many a tyrant has used this tactic to justify oppression.

UN Decisive Action

2009-05-25T09:09:00.002-04:00

On Monday, N Korea detonated its second nuclear weapon in a test designed to show the world that starvation is no inhibitor of tyranny. Taking counsel from Barry O! who called for action from the international community, the UN quickly convened to take up two resolutions: 1. To soundly condemn N Korean actions and 2. To forget the whole thing happened by Tuesday because they need to quickly return to controlling the global climate and coddling other, less-bad dictators.

Because the recent N Korean violation has triggered "a firm response" reaction from the UN, the stationary used to write the letter of condemnation will have the facsimile of a clinched fist as the UN's official signature. They really, really, really mean it this time! Take that Dear Leader (Kim not O!).

Meanwhile, the NY Time, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC and others all ran a reprise of Barry O's! great foreign policy victory over 4 teenage boys, I mean pirates, off the Horn of Africa.

Social Welfare and the Environment

2009-05-21T09:18:00.002-04:00

Europe, the model for social welfare government programs, has a problem. In order to pay for the lavish benefits offered to citizens, there must be enough people paying taxes into the treasury. The problem occurs as spending rises and more jobs must be created to pay more taxes which means more immigration, larger cities, and dreaded encroachment. Europe is facing a shrinking animal habitat. So, once again we see progressive left-wing ideas at odds with a sustainable environment.

A Question

2009-05-15T09:25:00.004-04:00

I have been trying to determine how the word 'injustice' is defined particularly the far left progressive definition. In my reading and listening to 'social justice' types, what I think of as personal responsibility, the far left progressives define as a traditional, systemic, and willful oppression of 'fill in the blank with your special interest'. Specifically, the progressives see the idea of personal responsibility as a bludgeon used by the powerful and integrated into all of society's systems to keep people down. Broadly put, if I make a mess, then it is unjust to assume I will suffer the mess because the traditional, systemic, and willful oppression of society is mostly responsible for my mess and therefore must be made to pay to clean that mess and afterwords be torn down so the mess never happens again. Am I crazy to think this?

More Canadian Fallout

2009-05-15T08:57:00.002-04:00

So Canada, bad ole Bush is gone and with him American hubris and hegemony. You were told not to believe the 'rumours' about Obama limiting trade between our two countries. You got your favoured candidate and guess what, he meant what he said about limiting trade. I wish I was there to hear the Toronto chatter about this latest outrage. Most of all, I want to hear how this is all being blamed on Bush and neocons.

Fitzgeralding

2009-05-13T09:37:00.002-04:00

I want to make up a new word. It is based on an experiment run by a university student. Having read the story, I propose a few definitions.

Fitzgerald v. - Purposely planting bogus information expecting the media to believe it. This works best with issues the media find tedious and wish to do as little as possible fact-checking or, as in the case of Sara Palin, an issue that the media is sympathetic towards and will spill much ink about before any fact-checking will discover the error (think troopergate, Baby Triggate, wardrobegate, & c).

Sentence usage: "We'll be fitzgeralding the new GOP candidate this weekend using the standard 'he's a white racist line'", J Garofalo said. While at a Monday press conference, Times reporter Libby Rall asked, "How do you explain your racism?" GOP candidate thinks, "Oh boy, I've been fitzgeralded."

Oh Goody!

2009-05-07T10:49:00.004-04:00

The current administration has cut 0.5% of the budget deficit in the now infamous laser-like-specific-targeting-air-strike-precision budgeting process O! promised during his campaign. Too bad the spending increases were not as well thought out! What a joke, Rome is burning while the Congress and Pres figure out ways to pour gas on the flames.

Don't expect some partisan rhetoric from this writer! This all started under the Republicans and Bush. The government gives prescription drugs to the wealthiest class in the country. Meanwhile the busboy at Denny's is being fined 3.75% of his gross pay in order to pay for that giveaway to the rich. Bush and the Republicans also gave us the Dept of Homeland Buffoonery, placing tens of thousands of new employees on the government payrolls. In the previous eight years, the federal government decided to increase its control over the local school systems by funding a huge centrally-planned bureaucratic nightmare that the liberals use as a bludgeon every election cycle saying, "Schools are underfunded, schools are underfunded, republicans hate kids because schools are underfunded." Meanwhile, the teacher's unions strangle the life out of the school systems while demanding that kids be forced to attend crappy schools so they can get their federal funding all the while screaming, "Schools are underfunded." And the vicious cycle starts all over again.

But wait, there's more! The repubs and Bush threw in huge farm subsidies and every spending bill had thousands of earmarks attached. Every budget was larger than the previous year's because we can't live without the new and shiny government spending program. When did we trade reason for madness?

Update:
The Federal Bond Auction did not go well today. That means the USA's deficit spending will be more expensive in the future AND it will take more capital out of the productive sector in favor of the non-productive sector.

I Love the Onion

2009-05-06T17:06:00.000-04:00

Check out this video:

No Press Bias...He's Just New and Shiny!

2009-05-04T09:41:00.002-04:00

This is getting ridiculous. The press poodles so desperately want to be called on the master's lap.

It Can Now Be Revealed

2009-04-30T09:43:00.002-04:00

At the summit of the Americas, the now famous interactions of Hugo Chavez and Barack Obama were not just for propaganda purposes. While Chavez, Castro and Ortega declared mastery over Obama and all things American, the President was actually getting tips from Chavez on how to regularly show up on prime time television to denounce his political enemies without seeming to control the media. The book Chavez gave the President actually was a primer on how to denounce one's enemies while having the academic elites fawn all over your humility and passion for the "truth."

Like a good student, Obama was on prime-time last night for the 3rd time in as many months denouncing any dissent as partisan roadblocks and blaming any shortcomings on the previous corrupt administration. Compare this to Clinton's first term where he was on prime-time twice in 4 years. Papa Chavez must be beaming. Obama has received twice as much coverage in the media as Bush and Clinton combined over their first hundred days with 60% positive coverage (Clinton only received 44% positive).

A Belated Tribute to Earth Day

2009-04-24T09:29:00.003-04:00

A few things to note:

1. The USA now considers Carbon Dioxide a poison. Trees could not be reached for comment.

2. The BBC is desperately trying to hold onto the "science is settled" concerning Human Caused climate change. In the wake of dramatic cooling over the past 2 years and temp levels even or in decline over the last 8 years, the Beeb has too much invested in its doom-laden headlines to give up now.

3. Curiously, a dirtier planet and sooty bits in the air is being touted as a solution for Human Caused global warming. This by the very people who railed against such industrial pollution when Earth Day was founded.

4. The co-founder of Earth Day has killed more people than America's largest nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island. Ira Einhorn, hero of the left and all around groovy fella, murdered his girlfriend after she dumped him. The man stuffed her into a trunk and kept her in his apartment for 18 months before the stench alerted neighbors and police. He fled to Europe living on the lam for 16 years before capture and extradition.

5. US air and water quality has improved markedly over the past 40 years.

6. The free enterprise capitalistic system of economics has the absolute and indisputably best environmental record in modern history. The wealth generated by this economic system can afford to clean its messes. Precisely because private business is independent from government, corruption is less pervasive leading to greater adherence to environmental standards.

So Canada, Is This the Change We Need?

2009-04-22T12:34:00.002-04:00

Janet Napolitano, Cabinet Secretary and all around classy gal, has spent the better part of April infuriating all of North America. Tuesday, the Queen of slander decided to set her sights on Canada. She claimed the 9/11 hijackers came through Canada. Really? I thought we finally had brains back in the White House? I thought such arrogance expired January 20? This is what you wanted, right? It is becoming more and more apparent that the Obama administration IS what everyone thought the Bush administration was.

It's All Fatty's Fault

2009-04-21T08:51:00.004-04:00

Irrefutable proof has been given that fat people are ruining the climate. And we all know that the most fat people live in the USA, so once again, the US is leading the way in destroying the planet. The most puzzling quote was from OXFAM; they claim a 50% increase in climate related disaster over the next 6 years. Really? I predict a 50% decrease in independent thinking and reason based arguments at OXFAM over the next 2 days.

Why doesn't anyone do a study on the carbon emissions caused by despotic thugs and the lack of freedom? How much CO2 is pumped into the atmosphere because the West flies in billions of tonnes of food to nations where people are displaced by power hungry warlords? In the terribly cynical world of my mind, I guess the dead and dying peasantry in these oppressed countries count as carbon offsets to the abuses of the despots and thugs. Nothing to see hear.

UPDATE:

This sort of nonsense is working to scare the wits out of children. The fear-mongering of the enviros has a plurality of kids believing the world will be uninhabitable when they are adults!!! Environmentalism seems to have become the last refuge of the scoundrel...or at least the out-of-work totalitarian propaganda writer.

Covering the Background

2009-04-16T09:09:00.002-04:00

I am wondering what the jokes will be on late night television. Pres O! covered up any reference to Jesus while speaking in the Jesuit hall of Georgetown University. This is not an unprecedented act by any stretch. Remember, John Ashcroft covered up the naked breast of Lady Justice during his press conferences. He did not want a woman's boob over-shadowing his media time and as such was made fun of by all sorts of people.

Some suggestions:

Jay Leno: Did you see the President gave a speech at Georgetown University? (Cheers and applause) Yeah, he covered up Jesus who was behind him on the wall. Apparently, President Obama did not want to confuse the people watching who was actually speaking. (Uproarious laughter and applause)

David Letterman: Top ten reasons why President Obama covered Jesus during his speech.

#1. He wanted to make sure there was a smooth transition in changing his name to President Therock Obama.

To get the Letterman joke, you must read the last sentence of the article referenced above.

Political Maneuverings

2009-04-15T09:39:00.003-04:00

The administration has taken extraordinary steps to dull the sounds of hundreds of thousands of American standing up and calling for a return of sanity to Washington. Today is Tax and Tea day in the USA. All over the country, a community based phenomena is taking place, the Tea Party. These are protests against wasteful government spending and the bailing out of corporations "too big to fail." This orgy of spending started under GW Bush and has gone into overdrive with O!.

Because hundreds of thousands of people are showing up today, the government has made couple preemptive strikes. First, the Department of Homeland Security has released a document warning of the rise in right-wing terrorist activity the same week that the Tea Parties are to be held. Second, the Pres has made to policy speeches absolving the government of any wrong doing by claiming that all economists (straw-man) agree that spending lots of money is the only way for government to act in recession and the crisis is all Wall-Street and greedy bankers fault.

So, the government has come out and condemned today's protests as the gatherings of a bunch of stupid hot heads who may threaten violence and will try to thwart the efforts of the government to get the economy back on track. But wait, the left-wing surrogate of the Soros government have threatened to crash these events and stir things up, while the lefty bloggers are calling this a Fox News cabal of sorts. I must give organizational credit to the left, they have the Pres down to ACORN goose-stepping there way to opposing Tea Parties which can mean only one thing....George Soros is pulling the strings and owns the Democrat Party.

Financial Trivia

2009-04-15T08:53:00.003-04:00

Who can name the largest accounting scandal in the history of the USA? The first company that comes to mind is incorrect. There have been no movies produced about this scandal. The corporate officers were not arrested, and they could keep most of their bonuses (tens of millions of dollars) without ACORN showing up at their houses and threatening violence. The accounting manipulations were "deliberately created by management" yet there was no outcry by the media or the so-called corporate watch-dogs. Indeed, when this scandal was uncovered the findings of the investigation stated:

The report “shows that [the company's] faults were not limited to violating accounting and corporate governance standards, but included excessive risk-taking and poor risk management as well,” Randal Quarles, Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, said in a statement. “OFHEO’s findings are a clear warning about the very real risk the improperly-managed investment portfolios of [the company] pose to the greater financial system.”

This was in 2006, after a two year investigation. Nothing was done with the report. I bet you still don't know what I am talking about. Just yesterday, Pres O! was talking about Wall Street greed and bankers tricking dumb citizens into mortgages they could not afford. The Pres conveniently forgot to mention this company and it's sister organization (another clue). These companies are the political patronage entities of Washington. They are protected because directorships and executive positions are handed out by politicians to those who are looked upon favorably by the pols in DC.

Your Answer:

Random Thoughts

2009-04-13T16:20:00.003-04:00

Brain is on scramble today:

Why is the media treating the pirate affair as Obama's first real foreign policy challenge? Can someone explain to me how armed thugs in a life boat is a greater challenge than the launch of a ballistic missile by a country armed with nuclear weapons and a psychotic leader? I know that the UN passed a really really tough non-binding resolution condemning the N Korean government for breaking several other similarly tough worded Security Council resolutions, but the real mettle was Pres. O! picking on 4 men trapped in a dinghy.

I was disappointed that Shane Claiborne couldn't make it to the Indian Ocean to act as a human shield for the pirates like he did for Saddam Hussein. I guess now that Jesu....I mean Obama is President, there was no need because this president is good.

Someone should investigate how over-utilizing the socio-political hermeneutic has led to redefining theological language with political language, some suggested titles:

Jesus and Other Kingdoms: Why God's First Allegiance is to The Church and Why Christians Should Never Seek a King Like the Other Human Kingdom. The Root of Israel's Downfall and Judas' Condemnation.
Embarrassing God: How Stripping the Gospel from Biblical Theology Divides the Church.
Cheapening the Gospel: Why Axe-grinding Theology is Similar to Axe-grinding Politics.
Teaching Hate: Political Language Smuggled into the Church by Abusing the Prophetic Tradition.
Divided we Fail: What the Religious Left Failed to Learn from the Religious Right's Excursion into Politics.

Action Alert!

2009-04-13T09:51:00.002-04:00

USA, Hands off Somalia and its pirates, er...I mean people. Your oppressive imperialism perpetuates poverty in the horn of Africa forcing a desperate people to use violence in order to survive. We demand justice be done to the number one terrorist organization in the world, the US military which is the tool of Corporate globalization, an oppressor of Iraq and its people, and a perpetrator of violence against the peaceful people of Afghanistan. We demand global corporations to repatriate all monies and resources stolen from developing countries. We demand and end to global warming, racism, sexism, discrimination and colonialism. We demand fair wages for all workers around the world and the just distribution of assets to be properly maintained by fairly elected governments. No justice, No peace.

That was fun. My first excursion into writing left-wing, ax-grinding, propaganda is now complete and only took a couple minutes. The key is to make unsubstantiated assertions based on loose facts, rumor and suspected conspiracies, mix it with the language of justice, and then you have an unassailable high-ground from which to take pot-shots at all your detractors. Who can be against justice? Who can be against equality? Who can be against the environment? Only people shilling for the military, corporations, and enemies of the people, that's who!

Collect for Gov

2009-04-11T08:49:00.002-04:00

Almighty Gov, to whom all wallets are open and all communications are known,
cleanse the aspirations of freedom by the application of your schools,
that we may dutifully serve you and never complain how you spend our money.
We ask this in the name of our better citizens.

Why The Community is Better than The Government

2009-04-10T13:33:00.002-04:00

This is why I am for the decentralization of power to the individual and community. A group of Hawaiian residents could not wait for the government, so they repaired it themselves. Not only did they do it themselves, they did it in 8 days compared to the two year estimate of the state's reckoning. Sitting around and waiting for the government would have put many of these people into poverty...I still don't understand why people support liberal policies that encourage people to wait for the government to solve all the problems.