iPandora

Heather MacDonald in the Wall Street Journal:

Some in Mr. Wright’s crew of charlatans have already had their moments in the spotlight; others are less well known. They form part of the tragic academic project of justifying self-defeating underclass behavior as “authentically black.”

Obama is coming out hard against the man he previously dismissed with “Oh, him? He’s just crazy sometimes. But he doesn’t mean any harm…”

The wise saying that one’s walk talks louder than their talk talks is bringing all Obama’s chickens home to roost.

He spent 20 years listening to this vitriol and hatred spewing against the very nation which has blessed him, his ungrateful and narcissistic wife, and his children. He chose to allow this man to be a confidant and counselor. He exposed his children to a hate-monger.

And we trust him to make good and sound judgments for our entire nation?

Moving on to other news:

I’ve never much cared for Newt since his affair. A man who cannot love his wife is a man I cannot trust.

But this is against his philosophy and all the good things he has stood for:

This is mostly right:

“If enough of us demand action from our leaders…”

After all, it is our leaders who have not allowed us to harness the natural resources so plentiful in our land.

This is all wrong:

“…we can spark the innovation we need.”

Thomas Edison did not ask government to invent a light bulb. He did it himself.

Many liberals are claiming now that the “deregulated” energy companies need government oversight to ensure they are innovating enough and not gouging their customers.

If they were indeed deregulated there would not be an issue. It is the fact that the energy industry has to ask permission of the government before their allowed to breathe, let alone innovate. A deregulated energy industry would be drilling in ANWR right now, without harming animal populations (because who wants the backlash from that). We would have been building Nuclear power plants by the dozens and they’d be efficient and reliable and safe, the way they have been.

Instead we’re stuck with too little growth and subsequently higher and higher costs for energy.

Scoop your brains back into your skull Newt. Government is never the answer.

This movie is long, but worthwhile. Very worthwhile.

On government responsibility and prerogative and power:

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
~P.J. O’Rourke

“If the Internet has taught us anything, it’s that it’s pretty presumptuous to predict what the future will be. We should be very, very cautious about imposing regulations based on what we think competitors will do in the future and how we think consumers will respond based on what we think competitors will do.”
~Senator John Sununu, (R) New Hampshire

Unlike many tech-savvy people I know, I’m completely against government-mandated “Network Neutrality”.

Government is not a cure, it is a necessary evil in most situations, and a tolerable necessity in some very few.

Defining the responsibilities of private organizations is not now, has never been, and will never be, a role assumed by good government.

The market will define the needs and services worth offering.

Government mandated contractual obligations between service providers and governments have birthed the monopoly-style market of internet and communication services currently existing in America.

Further government regulation is not the solution.

Deregulation and government withdrawal from oversight and manipulation of the service providers is the only and best solution.

Survival of the fittest- a predominant thought and prevailing theme in our modern society (especially in the scientific world) – or at least it seems to be.

Do we really live this way, though?

No. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have homeless shelters, orphanages, food kitchens, etc.

However, if survival of the fittest is true, we should just dismiss all the programs, right? Leave the people to fend for themselves.

They either make it or they do not. That’s the teaching of evolution, right?

One species adapts and survives, and those that don’t are weak and die off.

However, in America, individuals, celebrities, etc. are praised for their humanitarian work.

If we did not have these programs, we would come across as cruel and uncaring.

And that’s the fallacy of evolutionary thinking in America.

People who don’t:

• use their eyes to perceive
• their ears to hear
• their minds to comprehend
• or their hands to explore

That’s what frustrates me.

What frustrates you?

This morning in chapel at the small Christian College I attend, the speaker made several statements which I found very interesting and thought-provoking:

“I heard about a man who was accused of scaring people into heaven. I asked him about this recently and he said, ‘When my children were little, I scared them from touching a hot stove or from poking something into a plug outlet… I don’t think it’s a bad thing to scare people sometimes.’

“Now, I don’t know if I believe that that is right, it’s certainly not friendship evangelism. However, there are many people in America smiling all the way to hell. I don’t think it’s wrong, with a person you have talked to several times, to warn them about what they will face.”

“Sin is shown as being happy, go your way, suffer no consequences, etc. – and it’s not wrong to bring some sobriety into the situation.”

I have to say this wasn’t something I’d considered before.

What do you think?

I attended an impromptu comedy troupe performance on Saturday at a local Christian College of impeccable reputation.

During one of the skits there was a stirring speech about the American justice system complete with flag waving behind the speaker.

As the skit progressed though, the heroic moment was over and for convenience sake, the flag was wadded into a ball in the hand of one of the troupe members.

Some of the comedy was edgy and slightly uncomfortable given the mixed company and the environment, but the part that affected me most was seeing that flag wadded into a ball in the hand of the performer.

I posted a comment on the event website and received a response and query from one of the troupe members. He assured me it was an oversight that left the flag so, a lack of thought into the implications.

But then:

Just out of curiosity, why is flag etiquette so important? In my personal opinion, it doesn’t seem to matter. I just want someone else’s perspective on this, maybe it will challenge the way I think. Please don’t be offended.

I am sorry, but I was offended. This is a student at an upstanding Christian College. I assume he’s a Christian, and he lists his political views as “Apathetic”.

So I responded:

You live in America, the flag is a symbol of what is good in America. It is the symbol of our military men and women. It is the symbol of our noble past and our hopeful future.

Proper flag etiquette shows respect for your country.

If you disagree with the current state of America, the flag symbolizes the beauty of the American system allowing your dissent without fear of government reprisal and your ability to work to try to change the system.

Frankly I’m kind of surprised and disheartened by your statement that “it doesn’t seem to matter”. I assume you’re an American citizen? If not, then out of respect for your host country and the fact that despite the many appalling things which occur in America today I can still challenge you to find a nation which is freer, has a surer moral footing, a stronger past, or a more promising future, with the knowledge that you cannot find a better country.

If you are an American citizen, I ask you: Is nothing sacred anymore?

Do you hold your hand over your heart when the anthem is sung or when the pledge of allegiance is recited? Or do you shuffle uncomfortably? Or could you care less and you look around, wondering how long they’ll take this time…

John says if we don’t love our own brothers and sisters, who we see, how can we love God who we can’t see?

I ask, if you can’t honor this nation which God has blessed you to be involved in and benefiting from, and which you can see and work to change as you desire, how can you honor God who you can’t see and who accepts no change to meet our whim?

How would you have responded?

Do you believe differently?

And that is why I didn’t write a piece today called “All Americans Eat Burgers”.

Neil gets around. A lot.

There have been at least two cases this week where I’ve found some new blog or something outside my regular reading and there in the comments was Neil, arguing with lucidity and alacrity for truth in whichever topic was being discussed.

Truly an amazing man… being from the greatest state in America has it’s benefits.

But one comment in particular stood out to me this week, or today.

On the Forbes.com blog Digital Rules, Rich Karlgaard wrote regarding freedom of thought in academia and science, specifically in context of the issue of Evolution and alternative theories and the newly released documentary/movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

To be a skeptic of Darwinism today is indeed costly. You will be publicly ridiculed. You will be called stupid, ignorant, bigoted, irrational and unenlightened. You will be compared with Neanderthals and flat-earthers. You could easily limit your career if you work in academia or science.

He ended his post with a query:

What do you think? Do advocates of intelligent design have a case? Is Darwinism flawed and are its proponents trying to silence the debate?

Neil concluded his reasoned response:

We have lots of evidence for the existence of God – cosmological (“first cause”), teleological (design), morality, logic, the physical resurrection of Jesus, etc. If atheists don’t find that compelling, then so be it. I’m on the Great Commission, not the paid commission. But to insist that we have no evidence is uncharitable in the extreme and makes reasoned dialogue impossible.

“I know what I am headed for but I face my destiny with my head held high, standing upright and with the interior solidity of one who has the certainty of his faith.”
~Magdi Allam, Journalist and Christian convert from Islam