SHEEP'S CRIB - ISSUES

BOOK REVIEW: The Rose Conspiracy; Craig Parshall, Harvest House, 2009

2009-04-03T08:21:00.006-05:00

"Please don't let this case get to the death-penalty phase. Do that for me, will you?"
Antagonist to her Protagonist attorney

I evaluate books on the basis of our worldviews; clearly we select our reading material on that basis. The following are ten worldview factors considered relevant to an objective review of The Rose Conspiracy:
Moral Offense/Personal factor: very low
Agenda/Worldview factor: high/religious
Readability factor: high
Interest/Attention factor: high - slow to start but ultimately high
Fog/Confusion factor: low
Historical factor (if applicable): strong
Educational factor (if applicable): medium to strong
Novelty factor: high
Finish factor: medium
Overall Rating: On a scale of one to ten - an eight point five; if you're not a history fan, or you're an anti-religion zealot, you may not see it my way ... but, then, I don't really care!
See below for the key to these factors.

OVERVIEW

According to Harvest House, the publisher ...
Parshall takes his readers to the nation’s capital, where a hitherto unknown [John Wilkes Booth] document has turned up...and turned into murder.

As the Smithsonian’s president examines a newly discovered account of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, an intruder steals in, kills him, and disappears into the night with the document.

Vinnie Archmont, an accomplished and stunningly beautiful artist, is implicated. She hires the brilliant but secretly guilt–burdened criminal law professor J.D. Blackstone.

Blackstone finds himself uncovering the Mystic Freemasons’ most guarded secret. He reluctantly turns to his uncle, a Bible–quoting Anglican priest and occult–religions expert. Enemies like a sorcery–obsessed billionaire English lord, a powerful U.S. Senator, and a ruthless prosecutor force Blackstone to employ all his cunning.

In the process, he is compelled to choose between [the] spiritual counterfeit and [what is presented as] Gospel truth, [between] guilt and forgiveness ... [as well as between] destruction and a new beginning.
Parenthetical inserts are The CRIB's clarifications.

Overall I enjoyed the read; though not as engrossing as I prefer, it was a pleasant read and not a waste of time as so many are after you've read a couple thousand books in your lifetime; by that I mean the author overcame my overread prejudices.

Those prejudices tended to make the characters and plot somewhat predictable and, in many ways, poorly developed. However, after finishing the book and looking back, I see this criticism as relatively undeserved.

The intent of the author and the publisher was to present a Judeo-Christian worldview in the context of an historical setting. Did they accomplish that? I would answer that with a qualified yes. Simply put "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" and so I would have preferred a frontal assault on the subject.

By chapter 46 a subtle Judeo-Christian witness picks up and becomes quite well conceived and presented.

At at least one point (about Ch. 28) the reading slowed to a crawl and at another point (about Ch. 37) I began to feel like there were too many cliches being thrown in ... however, in both cases the distraction brief.

As a big fan of historical fiction, I would have enjoyed a greater development of the Lincoln assassination and the plethora of Civil War connections. But on the whole the work did not suffer from their absence.

I would recommend this book to any reader; especially those who enjoy criminal or historical fiction, specifically those with a Judeo-Christian worldview.

AUTHOR

Craig Parshall is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the National Religious Broadcasters Association, and the author of six legal–suspense novels: the five books in the Chambers of Justice series, and the stand–alone Trial by Ordeal. He speaks nationally on legal and Christian worldview issues and is a magazine columnist. He has coauthored five books with his wife, Janet, including the historical novels Crown of Fire and Captives and Kings.

DISCLAIMER

I am not an employee of Harvest House Publishers, nor am I associated with them or the author; additionally, I've received no compensation for this review; the book was provided to me at no cost for the purpose of review by Active Christian Media.

FACTOR KEY
Moral Offense/Personal: did the author include material I found personally or morally offensive?
Agenda/Worldview: did the author use his work to push an agenda or personal worldview?
Readability: how did the text flow; did I have to stop and go back? A little or lots?
Interest/Attention: Was I grabbed early on and held there to the end?
Fog/Confusion: did the author write more than needed? was his style or plot line confusing? did I feel uncertain about where the author was going at any time?
Historical: Since I read lots of historical stuff, were there a lots of historical goodies for me to munch on as I read? (Note: full coarse meals earn "very high" ratings)
Educational: did I learn anything I did not already know or had forgotten?
Novelty: did the author present novel approaches in his plot and people?
Finish: did the author leave me hanging? did I feel cheated after sacrificing my valuable time to read his stupid book? In other words, did he finish his effort in a valiant way?
Overall Rating: the author's final grade; a one is an "F", a five is a "C", and a ten is an "A."

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CRIB NOTE: Been away!

2009-01-10T09:38:00.003-06:00

Family, work and the holidays took me away from blogging for awhile. I'm also over at Twitter evaluating its effect on my blogging. Plus I need to evaluate my overall blogging goals - especially at Cristophobia Watch.

Give me a few days and I'll be back ... maybe differently but I'll be back.

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BUSH 43: A very good man!

2008-12-26T10:48:00.000-06:00

Jeff Emanuel has put a post up as a follow-on to a Washington Times piece on the positive side of the Bush-Cheney legacy.
Whatever problems and disagreements we all may have with President Bush (and I have more than my share, starting with '04-'06 Iraq, '07 Israel, '07-'08 North Korea and Iran, TARP, immigration, NCLB, the Auto Bailout, and many, many more), there's one fact which all who are not blinded by the most irrational form of Bush Derangement Syndrome can agree on: a very good man is leaving the White House in just under a month.
I've my problems with the man too, but bottom-line I'd love to call him friend.

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POLITICAL: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-24T11:36:00.004-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning all things political ...
GUNS: More people in America are killed by pit bulls, than by NRA card holders. [FOX News]

JUSTICE FOR ALL: Not hardly - California's judicial system is thoroughly irrational and out of the control of the people. [FOX News]

SPLIT PERSONALITY: Time Magazine makes Obama "Man of the Year" one month and then calls him a bigot the next! A little conflicted wouldn't you say? [News Busters]

OBAMA AND GUNS: He says "take me at my word" - Hmmmm!!! Seems his base did and are not happy now! [American Thinker]

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: Air America agrees with Rush Limbaugh on the fairness doctrine - Jon Sinden of AA says libs don't need FD to compete - WOW [News Busters]

GLOBALISM: Denials aside, I'm convinced if the USA is taken over, it will be from the inside by outsiders. [FOX News]

LIBERTY: Maggie's Farm has some thoughts on the subject. [Maggie's Farm]
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FAITH: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-24T10:12:00.003-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning people and events of faith ...
MARRIAGE: Well written response to Newsweek's diatribe duo, Meacham and Miller - WARNING: Traditional view presented [Tennessee Baptist Convention]

HAGGARD: it's hard to forgive this guy - but the Lord says we must. [FOX News]

ELIMINATIONALISTS: WSJ via Maggie's Farm - Rick Warren and the left are "eliminationalists" - I don't believe the former, but I do the latter [WSJ; Maggie's Farm]

EUTHANASIA: a rational argument against it - Physician Assisted Suicide not justifiable - it's an act of individualism. [Doc Is In]

PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Counselor caught on video resigns - now will the rest of them follow her example? [FOX News]

CONSTITUTION: Here's Separation of Church and State I can live with ... can't have cake and eat it too ... I hope! [Yahoo! News]

CHILD PORN: appellate court gets one right - sexual images with kids, even if drawn or digital, are illegal. [FOX News]
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SIGNS OF THE TIMES: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-24T09:43:00.002-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning church & cultural decay ...
Getting away with murder in the land of the free and the home of the brave: despite the popularity of TRU TV's Forensic Files and CBS's CSI triumvirate, the homicide clearance rate in the good ole USA has dropped by a third in a third of a century. [Yahoo! News]

DEEPAK CHOPRA: skillfully debunked by someone who, until recently, didn't even know the nonsense guru existed. Chopra blames his adopted country for the world' problems but makes no mention of Islamic fundamentalist's murderous global Jihad. [Am Spectator]

SECULAR HUMANISM: Interesting Telegraph UK piece that comes alongside my posted review of Herb London's "America's Secular Challenge" [Telegraph UK; Sheep's Crib]

SOCIAL ENGINEERING: Explain this to me - it's okay for your adolescent children to have tattoos and body piercings but not our pets / Hello! [Yahoo! News]

ENDANGERED SPECIES: California Supremes put the Good Samaritan on the list. [LAT]

2008 WRAP-UP: Brussels Journal has an excellent wrap-up of "signs" from the UK and the Continent. [TBJ]
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SCIENCE / TECH: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-24T08:34:00.004-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning the scientific & technological ...
I'm fascinated by old (even deceased) publications ... this is great ...
Google has added a magazine rack to its Internet search engine. As part of its quest to corral more content published on paper, Google Inc. has made digital copies of more than 1 million articles from magazines that hit the newsstands decades ago.

For now, the old magazine articles can be found only through Google's search service for finding digital copies of books. But the Mountain View, Calif.-based company plans to eventually include magazine articles in its general search results.

Users who want to restrict the scope of their inquiries to magazines can choose that option through the book search's "advanced" function.
[Yahoo! News]

Excavation unearths British Mensa ...
British archaeologists have unearthed an ancient skull carrying a startling surprise — an unusually well-preserved brain. Scientists said Friday that the mass of gray matter was more than 2,000 years old — the oldest ever discovered in Britain. One expert unconnected with the find called it "a real freak of preservation."
[Yahoo! News]

SANCTITY OF LIFE: OK and rain causes wet grass ... duh? [Black Kettle]

Faith & Science have been at war for 3 centuries: a commentary. [First Things]

Somnambulism yes but somnpostalism? Naw! [Telegraph UK; h/t Brain Terminal]

Ten 2008 health stories FOX News thinks you need to know about ... [FOX News]

KID'S HEALTH: CDC recommends "23 vaccine injections (item 3) for kids by time they turn 2two years old" What are they thinking? [FOX News]
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SANCTITY OF LIFE: Right to life declared in 1776!

2008-12-21T11:42:00.006-06:00

While "tweeting" on Twitter this am (shame on us we skipped church) I was urged to click over to Red State and read ...
The Declaration of Independence, in which our Rights as Americans and humans were so eloquently advanced, stated that all humans are created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable (intrinsic, non-severable) Rights. It does not state that humans are born equal, but created so. For this reason it matters when human life is created. For the answer we turn to science.

Ask any geneticist when life begins and (assuming sexual reproduction) they’ll tell you it’s when the ovum is fertilized by the sperm. At that point the fertilized egg has the same genetic structure it will have for its entire life, and much of the course of its future life is set, unless interrupted by accident or violent attack. Life begins when the genetic structure is in place and the biological processes begin. It’s the same with a human as it is with a kangaroo or an amoeba. Life, human or otherwise, begins at the beginning. That is the instant of creation. The act of creation invoked in the Declaration is found at the beginning of life. [Red State - LJ Miller]
I would highly recommend my readers do what I did and read this fine piece. Lot's of comments over there.

One thought we must grasp from this: from a pro-life and Constitutional perspective one must see the DNA of A, impregnated with the DNA of B, combining to create the DNA of C; C's DNA didn't exist till the genetic combination of DNA from donors A and B.

C's DNA does not equal A's DNA or B's DNA (unless A and B are identical twins), it is unique.

Since human life is schematically represented by its DNA (something it mysteriously acquires at or immediately following impregnation; the egg losing its donor's uniqueness, and the sperm losing its donor's uniqueness), life as we define human life must by default begin at or immediately a following impregnation.

It boggles my mind that so many fail to see the simplicity of this: to abort a fetus is to end a human life and, also by default, violates that American's right to equal protection.

I don't claim to have all the answers but you don't have to be a genius or a Phd to see this.

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POLITICAL: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-20T21:14:00.003-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning all things political ...
FAIRNESS DOCTRINE: look out Beck, O'Reilly and Dobbs - Solis the Socialist is coming through the back door [Yahoo!]

INSANITY: "Like putting Cheney in charge of gun control," Joy Behar [News Busters]

MSM: Obama seems to be ending up on the floor a lot lately; odd considering being in bed with them during the whole campaign. [News Busters]

ECON 101: classic article on basic economics - The Pencil - 1st read this via Sowell several years ago. [FEE; h/t Am. Digest]

MSM: "Ann Curry, you can't handle the truth." And Rick Warren gave it to her! [News Busters]

SOCIALISM: NYT helps move USA to left then complains when China censors them? [FOX News]

NATO: America's retreat to fortress foreign policy will replace NATO's dependence on US defense umbrella w/ all the attendant risks. [Brussels Journal]
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POLITICAL: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-19T22:51:00.002-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning all things political ...
You have to admit Obama's campaign logo was and is effective ... like to know how it came to be? [Next Gen GOP]

Does the Hill have her own Constitutional Crisis? Yes she does, according to some. [Am Spectator]

FAIRNESS DOC: again & again we're told by the left they won't seek reinstatement of fairness doctrine but here it is again [NewsBusters]

E!! points us to a political grid test - where do you land? Left/right? Authoritarian/Libertarian? [Political Compass; h/t E!!]
Coming to our shores soon - censorship the European way; "Freedom is what freedom does!" - Forrest Gump [Brussels Journal]

Interesting Telegraph UK piece that comes alongside my posted review of Herb London's "America's Secular Challenge" [Telegraph UK; Sheep's Crib]

IRAQ VICTORY: death rate in Basra, Iraq, now lower than that of Detroit, Mich. Cobb says, "smells like victory" [Cobb]
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FAITH: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-19T09:25:00.003-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning people and events of faith ...
If it's true that Prez Elect BHO will offer up his first post-inaugural speech in a major Muslim nation, perhaps he should listen to this guy? [YouTube]

Another fine article on the church at The M Blog; one I entirely agree with. [M Blog]

Faith & Science have been at war for 3 centuries: a commentary. [First Things]

The Establishment Clause did not establish what revisionists say it did ... but they control public podium, so it means whatever they want it to mean. [Medved: Townhall; h/t View From 1776]

Russell Moore links to and comments on Christopher Hitchens' cristophobic and incoherent rant at Slate (Jesus for President) [Slate; h/t Moore to the Point]

Interesting Telegraph UK piece that comes alongside my posted review of Herb London's "America's Secular Challenge" [Telegraph UK; Sheep's Crib]

David Dockery writes response to Newsweek's diatribe duo at TBC [Baptist & Reflector - TBC]
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BOOK REVIEW: America's Secular Challenge - Herbert London

2008-12-18T07:37:00.006-06:00

As the effects of and depression from Mistake '08 begin to wear off, my mind swirls with questions, issues, imperatives, responsibilities, and choices.

Often I imagine I must write a book on all of this, especially radical Islam, but the jumble of thoughts won't coalesce: hard and soft jihad, terrorism, taxes, America's socialistic drift, family, finances, deeply held spiritual concerns, children and grandchildren, collapse of traditionally democratic Europe, AIDS, political malfeasance, Sanctity of Human Life, absence of godliness, voter ignorance, biblical ignorance, and public ignorance ... to name a few.

But my main concern has been the continuing rise of secular humanism - a menacing cultural, geopolitical, and philosophical hydra - among our people, and its debilitating affect upon our will to defend ourselves.

Well, Herbert London (bio below) has had the same concerns and written a 97 page book which expresses them better than I ever could have.

From the Hudson Institute web site (CRIB's emphasis):
In this timely and wide-ranging book ... London argues that the pervasive culture of secularism in the United States is an inadequate response to the challenge of radical Islam. As London explains, in the so-called war of ideas, our reflexive belief in relativism has handicapped our ability to thwart the inroads of fanaticism.

Taken together, traditional religion, multiculturalism and cultural relativism, materialism, and the belief in scientific rationality as the ultimate arbiter of human value underwrite a view of life that is ill-equipped to meet the challenge of a zealous enemy with totalitarian ambitions. In undermining the traditional roots of America, secular humanism has destroyed the West’s only beliefs worth defending.

This anemic remodeling of our culture has left us exposed in the monumental battle against ideological forces with radical global ambitions. America’s Secular Challenge is a sobering wake-up call and a battle plan for the political and existential trials of the twenty-first century.
Author's Bio:
Herbert I. London is president of the Hudson Institute, a world renown think-tank in Washington DC. He is professor emeritus and the former John M. Olin Professor of Humanities at New York University. And he was responsible for creating the Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 1972 and was its dean until 1992. This school was organized to promote the study of "great books" and classic texts.

[...]

In 1989, Dr. London was one of the Republican candidates for Mayor of New York City. In 1990 he was the Conservative Party Candidate for Governor of New York garnering more votes than any third party candidate in the state's history. ....
Order your copy of this must read book here. Look, it's only 97 pages, who can't read 97 pages of really readable counsel. And for $18.00, the content cost less than 20 cents per page. And if you are a believer in American traditionalism and exceptionalism you would be wise to read America's Secular Challenge.

I actually made copious notes to prepare for this review but have decided the above is sufficient to the purpose here. If you have questions, leave a comment or email me.
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JIHAD (Hard & Soft): Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-17T08:36:00.004-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning Jihad, both soft (activist) & hard (militant) ...
HARD - re imminent bio-terror attack - with any luck, Jeb Bush will be elected 45th POTUS in 2012 so the Dems, the Libs, and the Leftists will have a Bush to blame for it in 2013. [Yahoo! News]

HARD - re the above terror warning, Threats Watch has a readable summary of the report and the threat. [Threats Watch]
SOFT - ALLAH is not the “express image of the invisible God” only _____ is! [Bart Barber; h/t Moore to the Point]
SOFT - Repugnant name callers call name calling a "violent hate crime." [Yahoo! News; h/t News Busters]
SOFT - A Muslim slaughterman's attempts to discredit the New Zealand meat industry have drawn the attention of the country's spy service. [The Press; h/t Europe News]

SOFT - Anti-Christmas: tell me the difference between this irrational Muslim protest and this rational American voice? [Islamophobia Watch; WND]

SOFT - Deepak Chopra skilfully debunked by someone who until recently didn't know the nonsense guru even existed. Chopra blames his adopted country for the world' problems but makes no mention of Islamic fundamentalist's murderous global Jihad. [Am Spectator]

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POLITICAL: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-15T22:37:00.003-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning all things political ...
Eight really, really scary predictions. [Fortune Mag.; h/t Justin Tapp]

Every where we look people are warning about pres-elect's abortion program plans. [Am. Thinker; h/t Black Kettle]

Vet's widows wronged and it ain't right! [Yahoo! News]

Right to die ain't a right but is fashionable. [Times Online UK; h/t Black Kettle]

Are there three parts to freedom? Night Twister at Red State thinks so ... go there and see if you agree! [Red State]

I was referred to Kudzo 630's Blog by the Kudzo himself ... he's posted a brief review of Ch. 2, "The Need for Principles", from Russell Kirk's 1957 non-fiction The American Cause (may be out of print); Ch. 1, Ignorance: A Dangerous Luxury, is here. The reviews are pithy and relevant. [Kudzo 360's]

Here is why I don't believe our intervention in Iraq will have lasting results ... these people are nuts! [BBC]
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SHOUT OUT: Second Amendment Book Bomb!

2008-12-15T19:25:00.005-06:00

Don't usually do these, but this one really excites me! Not much time to get involved so decide right now to help

h/t Pax Parabellum

According to the originator ...
December 15 marks America’s Bill of Rights Day, the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. To commemorate this event, we have created the Second Amendment Book Bomb [read about the book below], a unique and powerful way to communicate the importance of the Bill of Rights’ Second Amendment for the protection of liberty. With your help, we can launch constitutional rights to the top of national book bestseller lists, making a loud and clear statement that Second Amendment rights are inalienable!
The goal as presented ...
The Second Amendment won a historic victory on June 26, 2008, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own and bear arms. To secure that right, however, the American public must be made aware of the reasons why the Founders sought to protect this right.

The goal of the Second Amendment Book Bomb is to help educate more Americans about this right, informing one million Americans about Dr. Stephen P. Halbrook’s remarkable book, The Founders’ Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms, during the 2008 Holiday Season and throughout the New Year ahead.
About NOON today ...
Halbrook's book [was] up to No. 327. ... Amazon [is] sold out, and they said a resupply is being shipped today, and should be available to fill orders within a couple of days.
The book and author ...
The renowned Second Amendment scholar and lawyer Dr. Stephen P. Halbrook, Research Fellow at The Independent Institute, was key to the Heller victory—as well as to three previous gun-rights victories in cases before the Supreme Court. And his definitive defense of the Second Amendment is now available in The Founders’ Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms the first in-depth, book-length account of the origins of the Second Amendment and the most readable, comprehensive, and compelling work ever assembled arguing that the right to own a gun is as fundamental under the U.S. Constitution as freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
What you can do ...
Let’s make the Second Amendment Book Bomb a publishing phenomenon so great that even the mainstream media will have to take notice. Let’s spread The Founders’ Second Amendment so far and wide that Americans across the political spectrum, and all walks of life, will be discussing the Second Amendment in every possible venue.

With your help, we can make Stephen Halbrook’s book #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. To make this happen, please pledge to buy at least one copy of the book before or on the December 15th Second Amendment Book Bomb date (or even afterward, if this is your only option), and then spread the word to others. Let’s make this the most amazing and explosive event ever on the right to bear arms, and declare in no uncertain terms that the Second Amendment will be around for a very long time to come.
You're on your own; I'll order my copy as soon as this post leaves my harddrive.

Place your order on back order today - don't wait for the restock ... if you want it now call around or try other booksellers.

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ODDS & ENDS: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-13T18:43:00.003-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning whatever won't fit elsewhere ...

Warning: watch how you approach the guy in the corner, the drooler in the wheelchair, he's armed. [FOX News]

Check out something called CD/DVD rot. [Wikipedia; h/t Maggie's Farm]

Elephants live longer in wild than in zoos You think? [Yahoo! News]

Great mashup of Hitler film clip [Sense; h/t Am Digest]

That's sad ... no way to start a democracy! [FOX News]

Ten months at sea, rowed over 9,500 nautical miles, Italian adventurer quits 65 miles from goal. [FOX News]

This ain't right ... people change and jobs are tight! This kind of retribution is wrong! [FOXNews]
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MILITARY: Spec. Forces team garners ten Silver Stars - a record!

2008-12-12T18:09:00.005-06:00

Capt. Kyle Walton and his Spec. Forces team from ...
the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group had been sent to kill or capture terrorists from a rugged valley that had never been penetrated by U.S. forces — or, they had been told, the Soviets before them.

He peered over the side of the cliff to the dry river bed 60 feet below and considered his options. Could he roll the wounded men off and then jump to safety? Would they survive the fall?

By the end of the six-hour battle deep within the Shok Valley, Walton would bear witness to heroics that on Friday would earn his team 10 Silver Stars, the most for a single battle in Afghanistan. [Yahoo! News]
We owe these guys a really loud ho-rah ... God bless you and your team Captain.

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FAITH: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-12T17:53:00.003-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning people and events of faith ...
Tolerance, justificatory liberalism, freedom of religion, and California's Proposition 8 ... what they have in common. [First Things]

I know it's sacrilegious but I think it is creative. [MacCleans]

Our government is so good to us lowly citizens ... they've agreed to display a copy of our Declaration of Independence in their new $621 million Capitol Visitors Center and even use some God speak (like "In God We Trust") ... well, whoop dee do! [Christian Post]

Obama family nativity ... HO-HO-HO! [Reyters; h/t Brain-Terminal]

POLL: One-third of Americans believe OT & NT are word of God
That’s about the same as the percentage of people who believe in UFOs (36 percent) and less than the amount of people who believe in ghosts (44 percent), Harris Interactive found through its online survey.
[Christian Post]

David Dockery's reading list for 2008 [Tim Ellsworth]

Really, except for researchers and theologians, what difference does it really make? [Christian Post]
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FAITH: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-11T07:16:00.007-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning people and events of faith ...
NAE in hot water again ... this time for an NAE executive's personal views concerning traditional values (abortion, gay marriage) as they relate to elections and candidate qualifications. [Christian Post] UPDATE: Exec resigns.

EUTHANASIA: American retires to UK in order to go to Switzerland to end his suffering now a docu-celeb! I don't begrudge him his choice but it doesn't change who gives and takes life (Deuteronomy 32:39). [Sky News; h/t FOXNews]

If you are a regular at The CRIB you may have noticed there's no ephemeral category for "Sports." That's because we stopped being a fan when athlete felonies exceeded hail-marys.

But then I didn't know about this ... awesome! I'd love to attend! Nothing better than a squad of God's men singing His praises! [Christian Post]

Yea, and we have the "right" to be self-indulgent fools as well, I guess! [FOX News]

Lisa Miller in her Newsweek cover story offers an excellent example of what happens when you buy into the teachings of liberal theologians. Speaking out of the natural man rather than the supernatural man, rather than change her worldview to accommodate His message, Miller redacts His text in order to fit her message. [Newsweek; h/t News Busters (related: Is Newsweek's Meacham challenging religious America?)]

This is the reason I'm more forgiving of Bush 43's record concerning issues of faith over the past 8 years ... he simply doesn't know any better! [FOX News]

The Cardinal, the Madonna, and the Dictator (or more relevantly - the apostate, the sinner, and the oppressor) ... definitely a sign of the times! [Yahoo! News]
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POLITICAL: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-10T08:15:00.006-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning all things political ...
I have not been a fervent supporter of Bush 43 since the end of his second year in office, his unbridled spending and repeated failure to veto disturbed me .... however, we're about to draw the drapes on the Bush mausoleum and forget this somewhat unpleasant component of our history.

But along comes Philip Klein with a well-written and well-justified tribute to one of the lamest ducks in that history. [American Spectator]
This may put the quietus on Hillary's confirmation as SOS ... one that even Slick Willie may not be able to circumvent. [FOX News]
More effort to lay war crimes at the feet of Bush 43 and those in or formerly in his administration. [Classical Values]
Now this is disturbing ...
Government investigators digging into the grim hidden history of mass political executions in South Korea have confirmed that dozens of children were among many thousands shot by their own government early in the Korean War.
And there's apparently evidence our military was complicit in some of the horror! Damn! [Yahoo! News]
BREAKING: The United States of America started the Pacific part of WWII. [Maggies Farm via Dan Ford]
Ezra Levant offers a timely reminder of John Milton's relationship to freedom from censorship ... "give me liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience." [Financial Post; Ezra Levant]

"I thot I saw a Twitter Bird? I did! I did! I saw a Twitter Bird." Conservatives Unit! [TCOT; h/t Urban Conservative]
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SINS: They will find you out!

2008-12-09T20:18:00.004-06:00

For thousands of years man has tried to hide his dark side, to redact his history, and to spin events in such a way the harsh things of life simply tickled their ears (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

But the sins of man will always rise to the occasion (Numbers 32:21-23).
Who lies beneath the more than 30 white metal crosses — bearing no names or dates or other details — at a makeshift cemetery near the grounds of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, where youngsters were routinely beaten and abused in the 1950s and '60s.
Two memories exist of this time 50 years ago; one recalls horror and abuse, the other recalls juvenile delinquents getting their just rewards. Time will tell; the state of Florida plans a forensic investigation.

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SCIENCE / TECH: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-09T09:12:00.003-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious concerning the scientific & technological ...
Global warming fix is now certain ... [FOXNews]
A group of western Pennsylvania college students are hanging 350 bras, underwear and socks out their dorm windows as part of an environmental message.
NYT advocates world commitment to 100 trillion dollar expenditure ... to global financial crisis??? No! Duh! To lower global mean temperature by 1 degree centigrade! [NYT; News Busters]

Same model made to appear 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 ... exceptional combination of photography, cosmetic art, and cosmetology ... clearly a ten! [picdit]

Six consecutive named hurricanes hit mainland USA for the first time in history; "experts not sure if global warming has anything to do with it." I can clear that up ... NO! (h/t Black Kettle)! [FOXNews]

36 PhD candidates perform interpretive dance routines of dissertations ... the result is 36 YouTube sensations [Gonzo Labs; see Science Now for winners and abstracts; h/t FOX News]

A living hell? Sounds to me like Heaven, but with a memory of our temporal existence (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:3-4).
What would it be like to have an immaculate memory, so that every detail of life was instantly inscribed in the brain?
A living hell is too gentle! [Der Spiegel; h/t Science Blog]

Viewing several autopsies while in Junior college was extremely educational; however, witnessing the dual autopsies of twin still borns was the end of the line ... too much for my 21 year-old mind and heart! But to see the autopsy of a relative or friend would have been unthinkable ... in fact this was thoughtless! [FOXNews]

Darwinist/naturalist fool comes unhinged. [Huffington Post; h/t Aeropagus]

Are reports of dangerous toys over reaching? [Junk Science]
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SIGNS OF THE TIMES: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-08T10:16:00.003-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious ...
Speaking of Catholics, it seems they have a better grasp on the signs of the times ... and yet they are self-critical of their own voice in today's culture. [LifeSiteNews; h/t Black Kettle]
"A Canadian student association has voted to drop cystic fibrosis research as a charity. On the grounds that the disease isn’t 'inclusive' enough, as it mainly affects whites, and men." [ACE]
This will not be the problem; one day the Al Aqsa mosque will be. [Christian Post]
This kind of behavior is bizarre in any era, but today it is a sign of the times. [FOX News]

BREAKING NEWS: Terrorists take over Lego product facility ... demand release of Muhammad [FOX News]

UPDATE: Forces (lawyers and the MSM) opposed to those behind the above rallied to take Muhammad by force if necessary. A full Lego Battalion has be formed to move on the rogue facility. [Money Times (In.); h/t Europe News]

Hedonism in a culture of society has always spiked just before God's judgment; vanity surgeries are a sure sign of this godless, self-obsessed philosophy. [FOXNews]

Here are 20 celebrity hedonists who went too far. [CG Blog]

BREAKING: The United States of America started the Pacific part of WWII. [Maggies Farm via Dan Ford] tb = http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/comment.php?type=trackback&entry_id=10051

Christ must be cringing ...
With sport-utility vehicles at the altar and auto workers in the pews, one of Detroit's largest churches on Sunday offered up prayers for Congress to bail out the struggling auto industry.
[Reuters; h/t Brutally Honest]
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FAITH: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-08T09:58:00.004-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious ...
Russell D. Moore at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary leads off his pro-life commentary with this ...
Ross Douthat heroically engages the attempt to blame the meltdown of the Republican Party on pro-lifers.
[NYT; Moore to the Point]

CELEB TESTIMONY #1 - Celebrity testimonies give me a pain where the grass won't grow. Here is an entertaining testimony by a well-know celebrity ... and not a single mention of Jesus, sin, confession, forgiveness, or the need for a Savior. [Powerline; h/t Maggie's Farm]

CELEB TESTIMONY #2 - Jessica Simpson wants to return to her roots ... will her public give her a chance? Based on her behavior and her words, I'm curious just who her father might be? [John 8:48; Christian Post]

CELEB TESTIMONY #3 - Have you ever wondered about Willie Nelson's faith? Well, wonder no longer! [Moore to the Point]

The Miracle of Hope ... no not BHO's, Angola's ... no not the country, the prison. Yeh! The one in Louisiana.

We watched the documentary last night and was blessed. I wonder though how long it will be before the ACLU and the other God haters try to shut down the success of this faith-based effort? [Christian Post; buy the DVD at BrooklynTabernacle]

Atheism vs Christianity; especially the latter as it relates to our nation's foundations from the mind of a critical thinker. [Hillsdale; h/t View from 1776]

Montana is not that far from Oregon, so this is not surprising; what continues to be surprising is the arrogance of man. [FOXNews]

Words have meaning; without words, there is no meaning; without traditional and historical words, traditions and history lose meaning, without which a nation has no meaning! [Telegraph UK; h/t Black Kettle]

The Grand Duke of Luxembourg (a Catholic) is opposed to euthanasia (and so is the Vatican); refuses to sign a law permitting the practice. However, the Prime Minister (also a Catholic and leader of the country's "Christian" Socialist Party) endorses killing the unwanted and inconvenient; he is in a position to push legislation that would downgrade the Grand Duke's legislative role. Three cheers for murder! Yahoo! [Times Online; h/t Cranmer]
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SHINSEKI: Maybe not one of Bush 43's best decisions!

2008-12-07T23:26:00.003-06:00

There is a need for context and content in the Shinseki stories floating around, not to mention truthfulness.

Some in the liberal media are gleefully re-telling the 2003 story of the now famous general's senate testimony regarding troop levels in Iraq and his subsequent retirement.

But the truth of the matter, based solely on hindsight, is that his advice might have been helpful.

Clearly, there's an element of Bush rebuke in the appointment but what departing president has every not been symbolically rebuked by at least one of his successor's decisions?

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ISLAM: And so it comes to pass!

2008-12-06T09:26:00.006-06:00

Over one millennia ago, Muhammadans designed minarets into their houses of worship. Now, when built in traditionally Western towns and cities, they stick out like a sore thumb. And, rightly or wrongly, people complain.

Over one millennia ago, Christians began to designed crosses into their houses of worship. Then, as now, when built in traditionally Western towns and cities, they didn't and don't stick out like a sore thumb to the "christian" city fathers, planners, or citizens.

But they do, and have, for centuries, to Muslims. Especially when built along the lines of cathedral architecture.

The design concepts accomplish two common objectives in the worldviews of Muslims and Christians; first, to glorify their respective Gods and, second, to assist in city wide awareness of their location and presence.

Had authentic Christians (Matthew 7:22) in those communities where the cloud scrapping minarets have become an eye irritation been obedient to their God's instructions (Matthew 28:18-20) they would not now be suffering this communal angst.

That Islam is now in ascendancy in the West is the fault of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13), not the fault of Islam or the local government. To their credit they are doing what their teachings tell them to do.

It is also the fault of the Western Body of Christ to have developed an economy so dependent on oil ... for oil is the cash cow of Islam's growth. Without the petro-dollars they now enjoy, they couldn't build a chicken hutch in my backyard.

So, "church," don't complain to government agents or bureaucrats when an enclave of Muhammadans move into your town; instead, organize a community wide outreach (Acts 1:7-8) at your church, with your members, next Sunday afternoon.

h/t Islamophobia Watch

UPDATE: If this has wet your appetite visit Cranmer for a post on the health of the church in the UK.

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FAITH: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-05T22:24:00.007-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious ...
Sometimes it is necessary to subdivide in order to multiply; rotten fruit of liberal North America Anglicans continue bears rare new fruit tree. [AP/Yahoo! News]

Talmudic flavor suggested for New Testament exegesis of study. [Assistant Village Idiot; h/t Maggie's Farm]

What do you make of this?
Voters' economic status and religious convictions played a greater role than race and age in determining whether they supported the Nov. 4 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California, a new poll shows.
[Yahoo! News/AP]

University of Dallas was the recent scene of a conference on "the justice or injustice of More's trial."
Thomas More, we now know, was a sage and a saint, but was he guilty of the formal charges that led to his execution on July 6, 1535?
[First Things]

Turks & Kurds threaten 1600 year-old Assyrian Monastery. [AINA; h/t Europe News]

Christian activist rises to cabinet post in Muslim dominated government. [Christian Post]

This is not Psalm 122:6 ... sometimes I worry about my spiritual family!
Some Christians pray for the peace of Jerusalem; others work to tear Jerusalem to pieces. The wealthy New York based United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) tends toward the latter. The GBGM recently approved grants to several anti-Israel groups, including a program operated by Palestinian Liberation Theologians.
[Front Page; h/t Black Kettle]

Political correctness gone mad (video); how a non-religion becomes a stealth religion. [Black Kettle]

Suffering for Jesus in the real world can't be assessed from an ivory tower. [Somewhere In South America]

Bowden McElroy speaks of his colleagues and it's a warning for those seeking professional counseling help -
The idea of living a principled and examined life based on universally accepted values is simply not on their radar.
[McElroy Counseling]
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TAXATION: Without representation all over again!

2008-12-05T07:05:00.006-06:00

According to news reports yesterday, over 60% of American taxpayers opposed the $700 billion bailout of the mortgage industry, now an equal number oppose bailing out the auto industry. This is significant because American liberals (and the world in general) have validated Obama's recent victory at 52.3% as a "landslide" (specifically the 349 - 147 electoral college vote) for the president elect; what's good for the Grand Goose is good good for the Geezer Gander.

Contrary to their constituent's wishes, their representatives went ahead and passed the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "bailout" scam. Now, ignoring that some of the funds in that scam have been used where not intended (where they've reached the intended target, they've not been disbursed by the recipients according to plan), our "representatives" are poised to pass this auto bailout scam.

Where there's no consequence for performance or behavior, man is prepared to perform and behave as badly as his circumstances will allow him. Since we, the people, have no power or control over the performance or behavior of either the lending or the auto industries, we look to our government to protect us from their bad performances and behaviors. The same principle is true with regard to our national defense; we look to our government representatives to protect us from the performance and behavior of those over whom we have no control.

Our representatives are already using the bailout of the lending industry as justification for bailing out the auto industry ... which begs the question of where we stop the bailing out? This doesn't even address oversight ... an hidden cost of all bailouts.

Nor does it address the subject of "representative" governance.

The reason for the American War of Independence was the Crown's failure to provide both representation and protection. The Declaration of Independence was written to tell him his colonialists were through with his failures and intended to set up their own government to do what he would not do. Our current government, the one in WDC, the one under George 44, is worse than the one under George III.

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GLOBAL WARMING: The lie that keeps on giving!

2008-12-05T06:56:00.010-06:00

Global warming is messing with our lives; we're beginning to think the New York times has a point: the leadership of our "Democratic" republic should order the auto industry to stop producing SUVs and Vans as a pre-condition of any bailout.

Ten months ago tomorrow, we moved from a sunny seaside resort in Mexico to a tree filled arroyo in Missouri. Last winter we survived temperatures as low as 44 °F on the shores of Mar de Cortés, and then as low 22 °F here in our new home state.

This morning, in just ten short months, according to the plastic thingy on our back porch, it's 10 °F around our small scrape of Missouri. Damn climate change!

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ODDS & ENDS: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-04T10:35:00.005-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious ...
Slide show of eccentric castle converted to hotel, $1000/night - QUOTE:
The Versailles Road castle in Woodford County [just outside Lexington, Kentucky] has been renovated after a devastating fire in May of 2004. The Castle, now dubbed CastlePost by owner Thomas R. Post, is open as a tourist home/inn. There are sixteen bedrooms, four of which are in the outside turrets. Hear what Post has to say about his dream come true during the media interview.
[Hearld Leader; h/t Justin Tapp]
Same model made to appear 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 ... exceptional combination of photography, cosmetic art, and cosmotology ... clearly a ten! [picdit]
The historical and philosophical reasons the "chicken crossed the road." [eserver]
Reminds me of Jimmy Roger's "Honeycomb" ... assassin! [Image Nebula]
So you like ghosties? [Anomalies-Unltd.]
Amateur philosophers unite! Here is a site for the time constrained philosophile (squashed as in condensed or abbreviated) [Squashed Philosophers]
Now this is "identity theft" at the imperial level! [FOX News]
Hey ladies! Coveting that hourglass figure may be bad for your health. [Life Science; h/t FOX News]

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POLITICAL: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-04T01:29:00.000-06:00

This periodically fugacious post should have appeared a week ago, I found it hiding as a "draft" ...
Let's hope Cao, the good guy, wins this one ... "a Vietnamese refugee-turned physics major-turned Jesuit-turned philosophy professor, lawyer, and dual-hurricane survivor." [American Spectator]
Free speech making a comeback in Canada ... but extensive Cristophobia revealed in the process. [Ezra Lavant]
Obama and others have repeatedly claimed the current financial crisis is "the worst since the great depression" but 95% of them are not economists nor do they have any expertise to support the claim; someone who does, says, "Bull puckey." [WaPo; News Busters]
I truly hope Joe the Plumber sues the hell out of Ohio and the dimwit who thought she was a real wit! [Yahoo! News]
We were told Main Street was the target group, not Wall Street ... so what happened? [Yahoo! News]
The spy game (aka - cold war) heats up in Canada. [The Right Perspective]
If you fix the data but move the centerline of a normal distribution one standard deviation to the left, can you then say the leftists in that standard deviation are now centrists? Some thinks so! [American Spectator]
Ed Driscoll quotes John Agresto: "there's a whole segment of our country we can never reach. These people ... are the people to whom things are owed" [Ed Driscoll; via Maggie's Farm]

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POLITICAL: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-03T22:57:00.004-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious ...
When one should be embarrassed for being a Jew! [Ezra Lavant]
Canada winning a big one for free speech and liberty against fascist censors. GO CANUCKS! [Ezra Lavant]
You can please some of the Libs some of the time, and some of the Libs all the time, but it is outright impossible to please all the Libs all the time.
"The issue now is that there’s too long of a wait between now and January 20. That’s it in a nutshell, I think: Always one revolution away from happiness. Always."
[House of Eratosthenes; h/t Maggie'sFarm]

"the Global PEACE Coalition will honor President George W. Bush for his unprecedented level of contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS as U.S. president" - well deserved but underreported [Christian Post]
Laura says she and Dubbya will settle in Dallas when the headache is over. Nice lady, really! [FOX News]
Why does it seem as if everyone is holding the Holder accountable for the Rich pardon while the Hillary gets a free ride? [Eyeblast; h/t News Busters]
29 pages of Medicaid regulation for a $3.40 co-pay: no wonder health care's such a hassle [PRI]
Saxby Chambliss says, ''When she walks in a room, folks just explode." [FOX News; h/t sisu]

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FAITH: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!!

2008-12-03T08:47:00.005-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious ...
Insight: God knows what "100 mph" means! [Yahoo! News]
For an Iraqi Christian, Syria and Hell are preferable to going home! [Christian Post]
This makes one wonder why homosexuals, as victims of HIV/AIDS, hate Bush 43 so much? [Christian Post]
The cost of the Obama victory to our witness is finally setting in with some Christian leaders! (I suspect the link below is further evidence.) [Christian News Wire]
Franklin Graham, Son of Billy Graham, at California Megachurch: "Abortion is Murder" Yes, it is! [Life Site News]
What's going on in Kentucky? The secular humanist band plays on! Psalm 2:1-3 [FOXNews/AP]
The Daily Mail and "His Grace" are reporting on the latest in Soft Jihad in England ...
Muslim prayer rooms should be opened in every Roman Catholic school, Church leaders have said. The Catholic bishops of England and Wales also want special toilet facilities in schools to be adapted for Islamic cleaning rituals.
Cranmer asks - "Can we expect Muslim reciprocity?" [DM; Cranmer]
It would not be a good idea to stand near this guy on judgment day! [FOX News]
Paul, of The Dickens Family, comments on faith and community, something I commented on from the perspective of "connectedness" a few days ago. Both posts are worth the read, especially if you follow our links. [SBC Aggregator; SHEEP'S CRIB]
Paul also links to Bro. Matt's Blog re kids and the innate knowledge of God! [SBC Aggregator]
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FINANCIAL CRISIS: Stein doesn't have it all but he's fingered the crime and criminal!

2008-12-02T06:56:00.006-06:00

Ben Stein went to Texas to ...
... speak to a large group of financial people about how government started this crisis. They started it by mandating home loans to people without credit worthiness, then made it worse by not regulating or banning credit default swaps arranged by people without any insurable interest in the bonds they "insured." [American Spectator; CRIB emphasis]
His sollution ...
... government can cure the crisis by guaranteeing solvency of inter-bank loans and by sharply curtailing liability under credit-default swaps. They are also going to need a real stimulus package of major size.
Not everyone agrees with Stein's views, however, here is where the man on the street (aka: me) agrees with Ferris Bueller's former instructor ...
Of course, instead, under that imbecile, Henry M. Paulson, we get state socialism of banks and investment banks. The bailout has morphed from being a help to borrowers in Muncie to being an immense life raft for Paulson's buddies on Wall Street. This is a last, desperate act of rapine against the American people by Mr. Paulson and I do not like it at all.
Here is my question all along ...
Yes, give them loans they have to repay. Yes, underwrite their loans. But don't buy them and continue to let their executives loot the system. Why on earth should a farmer in eastern Washington state have to prop up Goldman Sachs with his hard-earned money?
A dumbed-down public has an impact ...
I really do not understand why there is no revolution. The bailout was sold as a way to stabilize the mortgage situation, i.e., money for banks to allow them to keep lending to homeowners. Now it's a rescue package for billionaires in Greenwich. How come no one is even saying, "boo!" about this?
The reason there is no revolution is that the la revolution is that almost half of our citizenry have been turned into unquestioning leftists by academia; and unless our MSM media drives a cause it is not a cause as far as the brain-dead public is concerned!
Nice work, Henry M. Paulson, for not doing the smart thing right away but instead letting world confidence in financial markets simply vanish. Has there ever been a worse Treasury Secretary than Mr. Paulson? I don't think so.
Many of us have tried to warn America of this scam by someone who simply doesn't know what he's doing ... and still doesn't ... yet there are hundreds of wealthy Wall Streeters dancing a jig.

Now the line between private and public has been blurred by a huge intrusion of the government into the private.

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PALIN: Blame Sarah in 2013!

2008-12-01T21:41:00.006-06:00

Assuming Sarah Palin can be the 2012 success we think she can be (see comments; h/t Ed Driscoll), the following should give the Democrats and the Robamatons some comfort ...
The United States can expect a terrorist attack using nuclear or more likely biological weapons before 2013, reports a bipartisan commission in a study being briefed Tuesday to Vice President-elect Joe Biden. [Yahoo! News]
Because, if we allow for a serious Robamaton screwup in preventing such an attack, the BHO administration will have Sarah to blame in 2013, guaranteeing an unbroken record for blaming others and job security for some aging journalists.

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FAITH: ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-12-01T08:00:00.003-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious ...
It's not often I say this about a Catholic brother, "Idiot!"
"A senior Vatican cardinal has thanked Muslims for bringing God back into the public sphere in Europe and said believers of different faiths had no option but to engage in interreligious dialogue."
[Reuters India; h/t Europe News]

In the midst of a global sinking feeling, a calming word comes to us via a traditional Christmas hymn (O Come, O Come, Emanuel) and Quin Hillyer at American Spectator.

Interesting ... check out God's "Yellow Pages" [Air Mail]
Just one more reason we shouldn't idolize men. [Christian Post]
Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian! Some hard truth in #1! [Evil Bible]
Go here just because I can't stand Al Franken! [A Flame of Fire]
Judaism 101; Judaism for the curious or the seeker. I'd prefer you go to Christianity 101. [Jew FAQ; Basic Christian]
Third Day, one of the really great Christian sounds, celebrated their first AMA win following three nominations. [Christian Post]
Love and care for others is not dead but alive and well in the post office. [Tweety]

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CATHOLICS & FOCA: Should be no complaints there!

2008-11-30T18:33:00.003-06:00

Jeffery T. Kuhner, of the Washington Times, is of the opinion that if President-elect Barack Obama signs the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) that ...
it will trigger a harsh response from Pope Benedict XVI, as well as a political revolt among practicing American Catholics. [WashTimes]
It may well be that Benny the 16th will rebuke our new president (he seems not to fear any man) but I can't fathom what "American Catholics" will have to complain about ... they got what the voted for, just like the rest of the blind.

h/t Black Kettle

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CLINTON: Our new SOS, what if?

2008-11-30T18:13:00.003-06:00

If President-elect Obama appoints Hillarious Clinton as his administration's Secretary of State, what happens if, on Friday the 5th of December, SCOTUS vacates Obama's election because he fails to prove his qualifications as a viable candidate for the office of POTUS.

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AMERICA: How the West was lost!

2008-11-30T17:08:00.006-06:00

I loved that old western by Louie L'Amour, "How the West Was Won."

So this is how it was really won? Same three letters - WON and OWN!

Little did Lincoln know what was wrong with his famous quote: "government of the people, by the people, and for the people"? Right!

Can our government do anything right?

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OBAMA: What? The President-elect is black? I didn't know that!

2008-11-30T15:26:00.003-06:00

Well so much for a color-blind society.
The number two man at NBC News believes Barack Obama's skin color gives him more legitimacy around the world than possibly any American leader in history.
I think it goes beyond the Middle East, and I think it's a bigger phenomenon which is the leader of the biggest democracy in the world is now a person of color and that is going to give him what political scientists would call a legitimacy in the street around the world that I don't think an American leader has had, ever perhaps.
[News Busters; via Marc Shepherd at American Thinker]
After watching the left, the MSM, and the Democrats fawn all over each other for six months and noticing they brought up BHO's race ad nauseam, I'm convinced almost half of our citizens never considered the man's ethnicity an issue. And they lost the election.

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MUMBAI: Melanie Phillips agrees with me!

2008-11-30T09:30:00.003-06:00

Yes, she agrees with me And so does Daphne at Jaded Haven ... Melanie first.
The atrocities in Mumbai have left reporters and commentators floundering for explanations. Why India? Was this a local terrorist group or al Qaeda? Why single out Americans and Brits if they also targeted Indians in the railway station? Why attack some obscure Jewish organisation? And so on.

They are floundering because they still just don’t get it. The atrocities demonstrated with crystal clarity what the Islamist war is all about – and the western commentariat didn’t understand because it simply refuses to acknowledge, even now, what that war actually is. It does not arise from particular grievances. It is not rooted in ‘despair’ over Palestine. It is not a reaction to the war in Iraq. It is a war waged in the name of Islam against America, Britain, Hindus, Jews and all who refuse to submit to Islamic conquest. [Melanie Phillips]
I like this lady, often, not always.
Watching the latest Islamic terrorist horror in India starts a rolling list in my head that can’t be stopped; Iran, Beirut, USS Cole, Somalia, 9/11, Spain, London. Those are just the big ones, everyday around the world Islamists murder in the name of their politicized religion. They attack women, children, the old and infirm, coreligionists, non-believers, white, brown or yellow, it doesn’t matter. An alarming portion of their fellow Muslims support their grisly agenda, some of them actively, others by dancing in the streets, expressing joy in the deaths of strangers. I hate these bastards.

I find myself increasingly repulsed by Muslim practices and beliefs. Middle Eastern, African, Asian, American, the country of origin makes no difference. Women and children treated as chattel, genital mutilation, child brides, honor killings, culturally accepted pedophilia, the black drapes and head coverings, no rights, no votes, little to non-existent educational opportunities, no voice, no choices, no recourse. Persecution of homosexuals. Imprisonment, stoning and whipping for morality crimes. Lack of free speech. The foul treatment of non-Muslims in Islamic countries. The demented hatred of Jews. Sharia Law. Wahhabism. Madrasas. Blind obedience to Mullahs. Praying towards Mecca - a place on the map few will ever see. Individuality is shut down, originality and freedom of the mind discouraged. Islam pisses on human talents that fall outside the dark walls of its faith. Hell, I even dislike their dislike of dogs. [Daphne]
I like this gentle spirit as well. These two ladies are my kind of men! For them a spade is still a spade, political correctness be damned!

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OBAMA: Birth Certificate question redux!

2008-11-30T09:14:00.005-06:00

I don't think anyone in his right mind really believes that the "system," or anyone in it, will force Obama to reveal his trump card until after he's broken the "natural born" clause of the US Constitution. Once the precedent has been established the courts will simply re-interpret (pdf) that clause of their "living" document.

So it seems simple to me: one way to get this birth certificate issue before a federal judge is for someone to directly disobey a clear order of the next Commander-In-Chief.

Someone, somewhere, will be in a position to perform an act of insubordination on the basis that BHO is an illegitimate pretender to the highest office in the USA.

The only problem with that is that Joe Biden will inherit the office.

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GLOBAL DENIAL: A world caught in the headlights of Islam!

2008-11-29T11:05:00.005-06:00

A universe of intelligent people are caught asking the wrong questions about the Mumbai terrorists: Were they Brits? Were they Pakistanis? Afghans? Al Qaeda? Home grown Indian? Is this a new form of terrorism?

Good grief, the right question: Were they Muslims? Yes! Where they are from is irrelevant!

That Islamic teachers and preachers are raising a borderless army of fanatical assassins and murderers, that is what is relevant. Besides, it is not just in Mumbai!

Wake up world! We are undeniably on a course to WWIII. And platitudes will not help. Nothing short of global military action will stop these madmen! In the end, the fanatics will be annihilated or we will, but the civilized world will NEVER be the same.

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POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: 100 well-reasoned reasons PC must die or death will visit its practitioners!

2008-11-29T09:20:00.006-06:00

I hate filth for filth's sake ... but the truth concerning censorship is found in this list of timeless secular wisdom, and it applies so specifically to that contemporary form of censorship we call political correctness!

Mark Twain said it best ...
"Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it." [The Forbidden Library]
And good ol' Ben Franklin in his Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759, added this ...
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." [The Forbidden Library; quoted out of context I fear, yet it is applicable to censorship]
Is there a place in society for censorship? Yes! In the home where real training and formulation of the future takes place. (Proverbs 22:6)

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NEWS MEDIA: Once in awhile!

2008-11-28T17:18:00.004-06:00

Yes, every once in awhile someone puts fingers to keyboard (we used to say pen to paper) and writes something so clear, so prescient, so common-sensible that it needs to be passed on to others ... often.

Alan Nathan writes such a piece regarding the abysmal and embarrassing self-destruction of the national press in America ...
What chance do arguments have to rise and fall on their merits if they're framed by a seemingly party-owned press?

And once that party comes to power, won't its lackey journalists constitute a type of state-owned press? In other words (after Inauguration Day), how can the blushing news media keep from sharing President-elect Barack Obama's political bed - given they have already serviced his electoral needs? [Washington Times]
Not a rhetorical question, by any means, but a question with only one possible answer.

Some day the whole lot will awaken and ask, "My god, my god, what have we done?"

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MUMBAI & DEMOCRACY: Dismembering the political turkey before the public's eyes!

2008-11-28T08:40:00.009-06:00

What's the recipe for preparing and dismembering the bird of an opposing political view?
Sprinkle generously with a choice word here and a choice word there (planting seeds of doubt; e.g., change, right-wing, hope, fascist, Nazi, right ... as in a "right" to this and a "right" to that)
Rub vigorously with twists of meaning here and twists of meaning there (raising suspicions concerning motivations leading to distrust of the opposition; e.g., pro-"choice", "separation" of church and state, constitutional "right," as well as "the era of hope," "eight more years," "politics of hate")
Bake slowly under the watchful eye of cultural elites, academics, and a biased press (keeping the dumb-downed public's focus from real issues and the facts; e.g., immigration policy, radical Islam, government by entitlement, defense vis a vis economy)
Maintain temperature high enough to keep the hungry at a distance (socialists don't want the public to see the cooking bird is not really a turkey ... rather it's the democratic eagle)
When done, take a sledgehammer to the sucker and smash it to smithereens.
The remains will usually feed as many of the ignorant masses who want to pack their gullets with their dying liberties, freedoms, and participatory politics.

I bring this culinary delight to you as the result of seeing Martin Sullivan's all too transparent application of this recipe to Martin Wingfield's 11/28/08 post concerning the obvious ties between Islam and the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. (See Atlas Shrugs for antisemitic tie.)

Sullivan is the principal contributor for Islamophobia Watch, an Islamic apologetics collective and news site purporting to expose Western Islamophobia.

Does he comment on the content of the post? No! Does he exposit the article with critical comment? No! Does he excise the falsehoods and present evidence of their falsity? No! Does he point to an alternate explanation or facts unavailable to or ignored by Wingfield? No! Not a word.

So what does he do? He does what all of us do when we blog, he selects what he feels are money quotes from the article and publishes those for his readers. Okay, so if we all do that, what has he done wrong?

He takes the anti-democracy recipe and applies it in his title: "Fascist draws lessons from the Mumbai terrorist attacks."

Dear reader, do you know if Wingfield is a fascist? No! But the first word off Sullivan's keyboard warns you he can't be trusted. Who would trust a fascist after all? No one in their right minds would, now would they?

Have your read Wingfield's entire post? Go there and look for misstatements of fact or distortion of the news. Enthusiasm for his viewpoint? Yes! Hyperbole? Yes!

Sullivan also adds one sweet spice to his title, the choice word "lessons." Sullivan knows that in our modern Western culture no reader wants to receive a "lesson" from a news source. That's anathema!

The only crime Wingfield has committed is that he has used what remains of Britain's freedom of speech to speak his mind.

It is true that he is a member of the dreaded BNP (British National Party), a party branded as fascist by radical Muslims throughout Europe and enabled in doing so by leftist elites, academics, and press.

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JIHAD (Hard & Soft): ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-11-27T22:05:00.005-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious ...
SOFT - There ought to be more of these if people really understood the inherent duplicity of the people called Muslims ... [Yahoo! News]
A Muslim charity and five of its former leaders were convicted Monday of funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, finally handing the government a signature victory in its fight against terrorism funding.
SOFT - "Under a settlement of a federal religious discrimination lawsuit, up to 100 Somali Muslims who are current or former workers of a St. Cloud, Minnesota, meatpacking plant will receive a total of $365,000." We must stop more immigration of Muslims ... period! [One News Now; h/t Europe News]
SOFT - A non-profit group has erected a 48 ft. billboard along side Interstate 75 (Detroit) in opposition to Islamic Sharia Law, a legal system that is a growing threat to the Constitution. "The billboard ... states "Sharia Law Threatens America". [Right Side News; h/t Europe News]
HARD - (11/26/2008) a thousand Egyptian Coptic Christians were trapped inside their church in Cairo, when more than twenty thousand Muslims attacked them.
[Aina News; h/t Europe News]
SOFT - Either 1.) I am an Islamophobe, 2.) these people are self-deceived (let alone of questionable intelligence), 3.) there is a global conspiracy to capitulate to Islamic indoctrination and domination or, 4.) they are members of entrenched academia. [FAIR; h/t Islamophobia Watch]
SOFT - Ezra Lavant, a Canadian Jew, writer, and blogger, has been a one-man battlewagon against Canada's HRCs (Human Rights Commissions), those Gestapo-like censors of free-speech in the frozen north, and their cohorts itinerant professional Muslim libel tourists ... it appears he and his supporters may be winning. [Ezra Lavant]
NEUTRAL - Recent reports highlight the difficulty of interfaith dialogues ... especially those between Catholics and Muslims. [Areopagus]

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FAITH: ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-11-27T22:04:00.003-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious ...
"An annual parade of boats on a Long Island river that dropped 'Christmas' from its name has apparently lost lots of supporters." [FOXNews]
Jordin Sparks - Superwoman or saintly woman? How walking the walk lets you talk the talk! [FOXNews]
Do they know something we don't? Heretics, one and all! Who's left? [Revolution]
This is how God interacts in real time, this side of heaven ... yep, that's the way He does it! Where are your caves of Adullam? (1 Samuel 22:1-2) [M Blog]
Ted Haggard: not ready for prime time! [Christian Post]
NEUTRAL - Recent reports highlight the difficulty of interfaith dialogues ... especially those between Catholics and Muslims. [Areopagus]
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PALIN'S CONNECTEDNESS: That intrinsic our MSM, politicians and bureaucrats so readily forget!

2008-11-26T08:21:00.013-06:00

A gentle and insightful article caught my attention this morning; it prompted me to think about life and its meaning.
Small towns have been in the news lately. The past election featured them often. Barack Obama commented on the bitterness of those who cling to guns and religion. Sarah Palin and the McCain campaign celebrated small town virtues to contrast with “big city elitism” of the Democrats. [First Things]
Most, who really care about such things, realize in the grand scheme of things "the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning" (Isaiah 29:14) matter little.

Any rational, unbiased historian realizes the panoply of man's history does not well recognize the intellectual, the writer, or the orator (Ecclesiastes 12:11-12) ... manifold generations have brought forward few of these.

It's as if an unseen law scrubs our history of their memory; as if that law says, "If you (i.e., mankind) won't acknowledge my work in your world, all memory of you will perish from it."

History's heroes surprise the intellectual, the author, and the orator (as well as the politician and bureaucrat); yet they don't or won't proclaim the law, to do so would make the foundations of their choosing tremble, so they stumble over it!

Only those who seem to somehow discern the existence of this royal law (James 2:8), understand it, accept it and defer to it.

These have learned humility before that law for ...
they understand its most comic moments shame the accumulated wisdom of the world's wise men
they have relaxed their "can do" will, and stand in slack mouthed awe at the presence of the law's greatest weakness, and
they see how it accommodates the unwanted, the unwashed, the unprotected, and the unrich ... bringing humiliation those who boast in their possessions.
Rather than time irradicating the law or the memory of it, time has exalted and commemorated it to the lasting chagrine of those who boast in the things of this world.

I moan when the MSM and the liberal left wax on about the genius, the education, the charisma, the experience of Obama and his cabinet designees; though I admit there are a few bright lights on the left.

When they use these descriptors on Obama and his cabinet picks, they are denigrating the rest of us ... especially the lame-duck administration. The establishment boasts endlessly about an existential and materialistic world.

The kneejerk reaction of the MSM and our political elites is not introspection but frontal assault: those who suggested they were elitists and snobby were attacked; those who pointed to the existence of a vast "fly over" land found their communities denigrated, their neighbors mocked, and their hobbies ridiculed.

At few points did those who hold social or cultural power, position, or privilege acknowledge their critics' roles in our common society and culture ... rather, they were treated as lepers, were disdained, and were summarily dismissed.
One cannot help but to be connected to those around you in a small town. Many of them are related to you by blood. They are kin. Folks can rattle off relations and branches of the family tree. As an outsider, this can be quite intimidating.

But there is a virtue in living in the midst of such family ties that is hard to describe. It involves living in such a way that you, as a person, are not an individual. You are not a solitary center of decision-making. Rather, you exist in a web of tangled claims. You are a point at which many lives intersect. You are at the same time a son or daughter, a granddaughter, a great-granddaughter.
Mistake '08 clearly revealed the extent to which the educated, the powerful, and the articulate of this great nation have fooled themselves and stumbled from under the intrinsic protection of the unseen law.
Such connectedness often produces a reflexive attitude of caring that strikes a newcomer as strange. One does not hesitate to visit, be with, console, or give to those around you. The web of relatedness surfaces at times of loss and significance and stress. Often there are no concrete actions that express this attitude other than visiting.
In case you don't see it, connectedness equals community and vice versa.

This solves the mystery which surrounds the public's fascination with Sarah Palin ... she, her family, her friends, and her neighbors get it!

When she spoke of "real Americans," she wasn't disparaging the rest of America, she was speaking to her audience, the audience who knows her because of common (root of community), about tradition, culture, and connectedness.
It is this sort of connectedness to place and people and the past that that makes small towns different. It is not an easy set of slogans that can be trumpeted by a political party or captured in a sound bite. It is the shape of the small town itself which has embedded itself in its people. That shape takes the form of a web that connects that person to a multitude of places and people and past experience. That web becomes the stuff of that person; it is his identity.

Such a way of being a person is slowly being worn away by the storm surge of generic commercial culture. The children feel less a part of the small town than their parents, who are less connected than their parents. It is an inevitable process. Yet small towns are still here, struggling, battling tough economic realities but not extinct. Their shared past is still felt and passed on. The stories are told. The visiting still goes on. The churches and groceries and service stations and post offices still function as gathering places. The connections are still being made.
This generation and the previous generation are too quick to move the boundaries, to bend or destroy fences, and to build roads without signage or shoulders.

Unfortunately, over half of America's citizenry comes from or are influenced by these two generations; it is to their ultimate demise that they are unaware of connectedness and its corollary - community.

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WARNING: Connect the dots, connect the dots!

2008-11-25T21:14:00.004-06:00

Reports have it that part of Obama's planned infrastructure and service program is a national police force. Though the idea is not new with him; Mexico is currently evaluating such a move.

Today we were informed that Bush 43's Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, has been wooed by the Obama administration to remain put for a couple of years.

Now we're told that Gates wants
... to conduct a broad review to determine whether the military, National Guard and Reserve can adequately deal with domestic disasters and whether they have the training and equipment to defend the homeland. [CRIB emphasis; Yahoo! News]
We must remember that a national police force was instrumental in the rise of Hitler to power in Nazi Germany. I believe the same is true of Stalinist Russia. (others)
His memo comes in the wake of a stinging 400-page independent commission report that concluded the military isn't ready for a catastrophic attack on the country, and that National Guard forces don't have the equipment or training they need for the job.

That report, released early this year by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, said the Pentagon must use the nation's citizen soldiers to create an operational force that would be fully trained, equipped and ready to defend the nation, respond to crises and supplement the active duty troops in combat.

In response, Gates said that indeed the Guard and Reserves are an integral part of the force and have assumed a greater role in military operations. And he pressed his top leaders to review the training that active duty and reserve troops receive for homeland defense and civil support missions, as opposed to the warfighting now consuming them.
I can't see the future or into the hearts of men but I do know this: history is filled with the tormented futures of many generations led to disaster by men with dark and evil hearts ... most of them proclaiming to have the best interest of their compatriots at heart.

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MSM: The media, undergirded by cultural ignorance, reveals perverse fantasy!

2008-11-25T07:10:00.003-06:00

Increasingly and suffocatingly, Americans are being exposed to MSM and liberal bias (h/t News Busters), a bias not always well hidden.

WARNING: NOW ENTERING OBAMALOT

What's been revealing to this writer is their continued and persistent desire, on the one hand, for a Messiah figure in our national leadership and, on the other, for a royal family (h/t News Busters). As far back as March 2008, Kathleen Parker discussed the public's Messiah fixation.

I seriously doubt that anyone in the MSM or on the liberal left would acknowledge the existence of such a perversity in American politics, but I predict the existence of just such a phenomena will one day be reported by historians and political researchers as they uncover this kind of piffle ...
It’s a symbiosis in which shows such as “Access Hollywood” and “Entertainment Tonight” cover the Obama family like royalty, bringing back a Camelot mythology to the White House. In return, they are enjoying a ratings bump with unexpected staying power. [TV Week]

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PROPHETIC VOICE: Be assured America's respect for life will soon end after Europe falls!

2008-11-24T20:00:00.005-06:00

If the gist of this report is true ... no rational reason to assume it's not ... then all we have to do is wait until the EU shoe drops, the cheap thud of the USA shoe won't be far behind ...
Pro-life and pro-family campaigners have been warned to expect the publication of documents, funded by the European Union, promoting abortion, euthanasia and other anti-life and anti-family practices. These documents will purportedly allow “zero tolerance for dissent,” in particular seeking to eradicate the right to conscientious objection. [LifeSite News; h/t Black Kettle]
If this continues at its present pace, I envision a Christian Masada on every continent at some point ... unless the Lord takes us up first (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
The movement towards removing the right of “conscientious objection” has also become a looming concern in the United States. President-Elect Barack Obama has promised to sign into law the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), should it be passed by Congress. FOCA would force all hospitals and medical professionals to provide abortions, with no rights of conscientious objection.
The man calls himself a Christian but he is a fraud, a total fraud.

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JIHAD (Hard & Soft): ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

2008-11-24T13:12:00.004-06:00

The CRIB's periodically fugacious ...
Hard - Why the Bush administration put so much into Pakistan's Musharraf I'll never know; but his exit has already aided the war against Al Qaeda both theirs and ours. [Yahoo! News]
BOTH - Software is available to block Spam, viruses, Trojan Horses, no good people, porn, and popups ... so why not terrorists? [Telegraph UK; h/t Europe News]
SOFT - Muslims are to be offered Sharia-compliant pension funds by a new Government body. [Telegraph UK; h/t Islamophobia]
SOFT - Link roundup of Islamic advances and targets of soft jihad in the US, UK, and AUS. [Ironic Surrealism]
SOFT - Oh the hypocrisy: Muslim illegals really ham it up! [Ironic Surrealism]
HARD - The Third Jihad - you ain't seen nothing yet! [Europe News]
SOFT - Some really care about CAIR; four former clients of CAIR, the phony Muslim charity and civil rights NPO, have served the organization and its leadership with subpoenas ... and they did it with class (video)! [SANE; h/t Europe News]
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PROPHETIC VOICE: America is dying but I'm not laughing!

2008-11-23T20:35:00.002-06:00

I'm increasingly concerned about the destructive potential of contemporary partisan politics on our great nation - both parties; the objective of representative government is to "represent" the people and their views, not the party and its views.

Post-Obama victory Democrats are learning this lesson the hard way; as did the Republican base with George 43.

Republicans spend most of their time positioning themselves contra the Democrats, and vice versa; whatever time they have left they spend electioneering or railing against the opposition.

History may well confirm we fulfilled Tocqueville's prophecy concerning the fall of the American experiment.
America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
Our two parties have ceased to be good because half of our people have ceased to be good ... this is frightening and prophetic.
A critic of individualism, Tocqueville thought that association, the coming together of people for common purpose, would bind Americans to an idea of nation larger than selfish desires, thus making both a self-conscious political society and a civil society which wasn't exclusively dependent on the state. [Wikipedia]
Look, my dear neighbors, at the height from which we have fallen.

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GENERAL: Things moving too fast!

2008-11-23T20:25:00.002-06:00

I've been busy with church and family all weekend.

I have to admit that I'm overwhelmed with stuff to write on; I'm tempted to just delete all my news and blog feeds for the past two days and start over tomorrow morning.

I'll guarantee nothing of eternal significance will happen at the natural and secular level.

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HOMOSEXUALS: The incredible mind games of "do gooders"!

2008-11-23T09:12:00.005-06:00

The incredible mind games of the left!

English translation of text:
The only difference between homosexuality and heterosexuality is homophobia.

When you are an adolescent and wondering about your emotional and sexual orientation, you may unfortunately also discover homophobia and its violence. This period in your life is often difficult to endure and can lead to serious problems, sometimes even suicide.

A national re-education campaign signed by: The Ministry of Health, Youth, Sports and Related Associations; and the National Institute of Health. (CRIB emphasis)
Re-education? Seems to me Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Fidel, Hugo and Ho Chi have all tried this with abysmal results.

As a heterosexual I assure you there is a plethora of difference between hetero and homosexuality.

But the "suicide" phrase? That makes me wonder if the liberal/left is capable of doing anything but harm to the cultures where they've taken political root!

The Brussels Journal asks -
"Does it help to warn them that they may be headed for suicide?"
A mere suggestion or insinuation is all that's needed for a confused young person to take their own life.

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FAITH: Linking the ephemeral by their DNA!

2008-11-23T08:45:00.005-06:00

A CRIB offering of the periodically fugacious ... by their common ancestry!
Gaggle of gay geeks pushes SF police to perform public service for proselytizing prayer party! [Never Yet Melted (video)]
American Jewish thoughts on the unborn's right to life and the seemingly contradictory position on partial birth by Jews in general. Read carefully and in context. [Classical Values]
Seems Catholic Cardinals should know that "blistering rants" and "diatribes" are the private preserve of the Main Stream Media and not to be used by men of the cloth. [News Busters]
At the time I thought something smelled about the CIA's testimony before congress - a missionary's wife and daughter died - a yet to be detailed Inspector General's report reveals just how bad. [FOXNews]
Sure wish I could do what the Ayatollahs have done; Obama has plans of his own [FOXNews; American Thinker]
More on the place where the king eaten by worms (Acts 12:23) may have been buried. [Yahoo! News]
It's one of the most disobeyed commandments in Scripture ... them and widows (Zechariah 7:9-10; James 1:27) [Christian Post]
Though I'm not anti-Catholic, I'm not pro-Catholic either; but good news is good news for Muslim conversions in Kosovo [Balkan Insight; h/t Europe News]
Moore on more of Joseph's tailor and Potiphar's wife ... oh yea, and God's will for our lives. [Moore to the Point]
Sad to hear some are losing their Focus but I knew it was coming; a sign of the times? [Christian Post]
Now this is a horse of another color and curiously fascinating - and I like the adherence to the biblical texts. [FOXNews]
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SCIENCE/HI-TECH: Linking the ephemeral by their common DNA!

2008-11-21T19:55:00.004-06:00

Offering the fugacious ... per their common ancestry ...

This post also includes what The CRIB believes to be faux science ...
Rubber duckies? At first I thought Al Gore was involved but, no, this is serious. [Telegraph UK]
God's micro universe up close and personal. [Boston Globe; h/t Classical Values]
Obama and Emanuel claim Bush responsible for missing spider and lost tool bag on International Space Station. [FOXNews]
Eye see you in MyTube! A bionic tale to be told! [FOXNews]
What do a book, a hair, a grave, and some bones have in common? Until a few days ago, only Copernicus knew! [Yahoo! News]
Bush plans to institute "even more endangered species" regulations prior to the arrival of the Robamatons [Yahoo! News]
The green scene to blame for the Big Three's headache, nothing else ... so says Steven Milloy [Junk Science]
Online harassment/bullying being defined in key case [FOXNews]
Kilimanjaro is a pawn in the global warming game. [News Busters]
Someday soon they will help the rowdies erect the big tent! [Yahoo! News; also NGS News]
"Now you see me, now you don't!" Invisibility cloak is now a real possibility! [NGS News]
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ENTERTAINMENT: Rosie gets the last laugh but ...

2008-11-21T10:34:00.003-06:00

... why should there even be a last laugh?

One of life's great joys but great dilemmas occurs when two people (in this case Rosie Obamaton and Barbara Whawah) you detest take up swords against one another.

The joy comes from a root of evil ... revenge; the dilemma comes from having to consider which one you might support were you of a mind to support one or the other.

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ODDS & ENDS LINKS: Linking odds & ends ephemeral by DNA!

2008-11-20T19:53:00.004-06:00

A bi-daily and fugacious offering ... per their common and odd heritage!
Half million dollar housewarming gift starts new Roadshow season in January 2009. (Photo parade of AR Hall of Fame - fascinating!) [FOXNews]
FOX not only tops all cable news networks but it takes four of top ten spots for classy news ladies with great looks. [Maxim]
On-line harassment/bullying being defined in key case [FOXNews]
Now this is a hard way to have hard fun while doing hard time! [Yahoo! News]
Everyone knew Hitler was half nuts! [FOXNews; here for the song that made this fact famous]
Board games from the past 500 years [Bibliodyssey; h/t David Thompson]

"Hey, doc, I keep hearing this strange gnawing sound ... can you tell me what it is?" [FOXNews]
If you've never seen the "wolf boy" genetic disorder you are lucky ... it's a heart breaker to see a child literally covered in thick, dark hair. Doctors may have discovered a cure. [FOXNews]
Evidently this Irish solicitor suspects his "libel tourism" cash cow has a bad case of dry udder. [Irish Times; h/t Europe News]
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POLITICAL LINKS: Linking the transitory (ephemera) by their common DNA!

2008-11-20T00:38:00.005-06:00

Still working on the best way to report on the ephemeral. At this juncture The CRIB is offering the periodically fugacious ... by their common heritage!
Vanderleun says Jindal fine for sum but he likes Palin in 2012. The comments are helpful. [American Digest]
Here's something worth keeping an eye on ... as long as we have the freedom to do so. [American Thinker]
"Yo, dude, not in my hood." Obama not every black kid's role model. [Yahoo! News]
School sanctioned child abuse ignored for the sake of political correctness! [Ironic Surrealism]
This an echo of what he said ... [Doc Is In Blog]
Rush wasn't right ... how was I to know? He doesn't have the answers! So who does? [News Busters; video]
Second Amendment success story and the libertarians who made it happen! [Reason Online; h/t Maggie's Farm]
Soros and Franken, Soros, and more Soros [Various]
Seems Catholic Cardinals should know that "blistering rants" and "diatribes" are the private preserve of the MSM and are not to be used by men of the cloth. [News Busters]
Dog pack runs freely in democratically controlled region ... [NewsMax]
Two excellent reasons I favor certain kinds of stem cell research (here and here). [Various]
Good grief, God help us! The loba is in the hen house! [Yahoo! News]
What do you think ... any truth to the donation coruption rumors? [HotAir; h/t Black Kettle]

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OBAMA: Clinton redux!

2008-11-19T07:47:00.004-06:00

Were Obama supporters aware that what they would getting in an Obama administration is a Clintonian retread?

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SCIENCE: I never knew that I knew that!

2008-11-19T06:17:00.004-06:00

Deleted by the owner ...

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HILLARY: Secretary of State?

2008-11-18T21:21:00.005-06:00

Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
Marmion. Canto vi. Stanza 17.
Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832)

This I cannot even imagine ... I thought the One was going to bring change to Washington, I thought we weren't going to do things the way they've always been done, I thought we were going to leave the past in the past ... I must have been wrong, the One couldn't have been wrong could he? Could he?

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FAITH LINKS : Linking the transitory (ephemera) by their DNA!

2008-11-18T18:51:00.003-06:00

Still working on the best way to report on the ephemeral. At this juncture The CRIB is offering the periodically fugacious ... by their common heritage!
C. S. Lewis is haunting Chicago ... and they're coming back for more! [Christian Post]
Christianity "to the border of irrelevance"? How does that harmonize with "to the gates of Hades"? Hhhhmmmm! [Religious Intel; h/t Europe News]
Kiaros Journal: one of the finest Christian sites on the web.
Faith bullying in the UK ... (more) [Independent UK; h/t Islamophobia Watch]
Bill Maher is right, the "Old Testament Just a 'Book of Jewish Fairy Tales'" [Reuters/Hollywood Reporter; h/t News Busters]
Secular Coalition for America wants nonreligious molehill to be made into a mountain. [Stars & Stripes; h/t Areopagus]
A far better reason for doing church than what the mega-barns seem to be doing! [the M blog]
Glib Gibb replacement has coaching Redskins and Christ in common with predecessor. [Baptist Press Sports; h/t Tim Ellsworth]
PBS is on the Bible attack again; it seems not to occur with them that they might be wrong. [Christian Post]

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PROPHETIC VOICE: The American Angle of Repose!

2008-11-18T07:57:00.006-06:00

I've no idea why I'm writing this post; perhaps it's my "I told you so" ego; I no longer have any confidence that anyone is listening ... regardless, America is in danger of leaning so far left it will be unable to move back to the right.

There is a principle of physics (engineering mainly) called the "the angle of repose" and is related to "the angle of recline" ... its political application might be described like this:
The "angle of repose" in political philosophy is the maximum angle to which a political party/group may be tilted before its underlying principles give way (e.g., snowflakes prior to an avalanche).

Or "the angle of recline" in political philosophy is the maximum angle which a political party/group at rest may be tilted before it irrecoverably breaks the restraining friction upon which it rests, commencing to slide until forcibly stopped by an external force.
Another way to describe this danger is by way of illustration: in the state of Georgia there is a Civil War memorial called Stone Mountain, on the top of which is a warning sign and (I am told) a line painted beyond which the sight seer may not pass. This point is the point beyond which the visitor will be unable to return to a fixed position.

In the case of political philosophies, proceeding experimentally or vicariously beyond a particular point will always result in an irreversible forward motion and the inability to recover one's footing.

The linked post (and hundreds of others) at The Brussels Journal simple points out that Europe, in real time, has passed that point. It will, short of a continental civil war, never recover its once glorious footing. The inattentive citizens of Europe have had their freedom and liberty stolen in broad daylight by godless, leftist, self-absorbed bureaucrats.

The people of the United States of America are being manipulated by the same deranged leftist/liberal political philosophy ... I fear they've collectively passed or are in the process of passing America's unseen angle of repose or angle of recline.

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GAY MARRIAGE: A government "of the people ... !

2008-11-17T21:38:00.004-06:00

... by the courts, and for the special interest." [GLBT]
The United States of America is falling apart right before our eyes! An enemy within is killing her!
Former California governor, now State Attorney General, Jerry Brown somehow caught the ear of the State Supremes (something everyday Joes can't do) and got them to agree to examine the legality of Proposition 8.

If the dysfunctional behavior of Californians this past week were a family someone would be behind bars and they'd all be headed for court.

This kind of piffle does not instill confidence in the public's mind.

The Gay community is losing support in key places. If fear and intimidation is all that is needed to get your way, where will it stop?

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BAILOUT: Say what?

2008-11-17T16:55:00.003-06:00

Obama administration to control half the bailout!

P. T. Barnum was right, "There were 47 million suckers born in the USA" ... or something like that! And they're all Republicans.

It's bad enough the Dems will bailout the the automakers (a Dem-union voter stronghold), in Michigan (a Dem-state voter stronghold), and their extended support industries (mostly unionized suppliers and service organizations in the Great Lakes region who traditionally vote Democratic) but to let a Dem President/former community organizer/ACORN buddy/leftist/partisan control 350 billion of the taxpayers money is outrageous.

Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!
... congressional officials said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson passed the word over the weekend that he intends to leave $350 billion untouched when the administration leaves office on Jan. 20. That would mean the incoming Obama administration would decide whether and how the funds should be spent. [FOX News]
Tell me something: the bailout money comes from all 57 states, RIGHT? All taxpayers regardless of state, party, amount, ethnicity, religion, and personal sexual orientation, RIGHT? So how come one party and a single industry (one not in the original bailout bill) will have so much coming their way?

I sure hope someone saw this coming and got a watchdog busy monitoring an audit trail?

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MOTHERLESS: Disney background is a sadder tale than Cinderella or Snow White!

2008-11-17T09:06:00.004-06:00

Did Walt Disney leave mothers out of the scripts of his feature length cartoons due to his mother's death? Truth, in this case was sadder than fiction ...
Walt Disney risked virtually everything he had in order to produce Snow White, his first feature-length animated film (a format many people at the time felt was not commercially viable). Released in 1938, Snow White proved to be one of the greatest cinematic accomplishments of all time: Not only did Disney's gamble garner effusive critical acclaim, but it also became the highest-grossing movie of its era (and thus provided the financial wellspring from which subsequent Disney projects flowed).

The economic rewards that Snow White brought to the Disney organization allowed Walt and his brother Roy not only to finance a new studio, but also to purchase a brand new North Hollywood home for their parents, who had been living in Portland, Oregon. Unfortunately, the move soon indirectly led to the death of Walt and Roy's mother, Flora Disney, a misfortune that reportedly haunted Walt for many years to come:
The elder Disneys had been in their new home less than a month when tragedy struck. A defective furnace caused Flora's death by asphyxiation [from carbon monoxide poisoning] on the night of November 26, 1938. Walt and Roy were devastated, blaming themselves because their mother's death had happened in the house they had bought. Walt was sensitive about the tragedy until the end of his life.

[His mother's death] may have been the most shattering moment of Walt Disney's life. Though he seldom exhibited emotion outside the studio, he was inconsolable; a misery deepened no doubt by the fact that she had died in the new home Walt had given her, and by the culpability of his own workmen. (A report on the furnace ordered by Roy determined that the "installation of the furnace showed either a complete lack of knowledge of the requirements of the furnace or a flagrant disregard of these conditions if they were known.") ...
[Snopes]

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BAILOUT: Who decides who falls on his sword for the party?

2008-11-17T08:01:00.004-06:00

Let me see, if I understand this right ... the Postmaster General did it? They're going to have a Franklin heir fall on his sword?

Oh boy! As a taxpayer that makes me feel so secure! No lowly bureaucrat is going to get away with sticking it to the taxpayers that's for sure!

Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!
"We're taking it seriously enough that we wanted it reviewed and we didn't want it done internally," the chairman of the Postal Service Board of Governors, Alan Kessler, told The Associated Press

Kessler did not say how much the investigation would cost the Postal Service, which is cutting hours and overtime for its employees after finishing its fiscal year $2.8 billion in the red. He said the board was working to keep costs down.

"But something like this is serious enough where I don't want someone to do a cut-rate investigation," he said. "We want a professional review." [FOXNews]
That's admirable; perhaps he could advise the Senate and House Ethics committees, the GAO, the Justice Department, and also Reid and Pelosi on how to accomplish such a feat?
Details of Potter's deal with Countrywide was first reported by Conde Nast Portfolio magazine earlier this summer. The disclosure touched off calls for a Capitol Hill investigation into how prominent lawmakers and others received VIP loans.
And is such "a Capitol Hill" investigation being conducted? It's five months since disclosure and I'm not aware of one. The Real Estate Bloggers seem to think one is coming!
The victory of the Democrats in the Senate races this past week has been good news for the party, but the lingering trouble over past loans to Senators who were friends of Angelo linger on. Senators Dodd and Conrad are in the cross-hairs of a Federal investigation after taking sweetheart loans personally approved by Angelo Mozilo, then head of Countrywide Home Loans. [Real Estate Bloggers]
This from a November 2008 report, so perhaps there is hope ... Obama likes hope.
Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., have acknowledged receiving mortgages through the VIP program but have said they were unaware of any favorable treatment. Dodd was instrumental in crafting a $700 billion bailout for the financial industry. [FOXNews]
Here's a snippet of the Kevin Rennie article in the online issue of The Hartford Courant ...
Since the Dodd story broke in June, the five-term senator has offered contradictory fragments of explanations and intentions. Scheherazade after a six-pack of Red Bull would not have told more desperate tales. Dodd gallops the gamut from calling the allegations of special treatment "outrageous" to pledging repeatedly and specifically to release documents related to the $800,000 in sweetheart deals he got from Countrywide.

Still claiming "there's nothing there," Dodd refuses to say whether his Senate campaign committee's payments of $60,000 last summer to a Washington law firm, which has a history of representing Democratic senators in trouble, were for his defense in the Senate ethics investigation of his dealings with Countrywide. He suggested, before he fled to his third home in Ireland in August, that Countrywide was not cooperating in providing information. [Courant]
The piece is not long and worth a visit explaining why Dodd may be in deep doo-doo!

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RACISM: I guess it ain't over till it's over!

2008-11-15T21:09:00.002-06:00

Damn! And I had hopes, with the exception of a few holdouts, that we'd passed by that port!

This is not good!

Though I don't trust the man or his machine, this kind of piffle is unacceptable and very disturbing! Many of us who do not trust him and have said so publicly will come under a cloud of suspicion because of these idiots. Damn again!

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SATURDAY'S EPHEMERA: Linking the transitory (ephemera) every other day!

2008-11-15T01:11:00.003-06:00

Twenty of 'em; I'm dropping the "TRANNIES" gizmo ... corny!
Here is a link 50% of you won't go to, 99% of those who do won't take the time to slog through it, even though it's one of the most timely and relevant articles of the day! [Vanity Fair; h/t E!]
I wish it were this easy! Believe me it's not! [Yahoo! News]
Microcosm of Obama "rule" seen in former New Zealand Labor Party "rule" [American Spectator]
Take the Federal Reserve test! [Hermes-Press]
African photography like you've never seen before! [Young Gallery]
More black and white photography - the article says it was his wife, but the picture sure looks like a boy to me! Regardless, what he did was apparently wrong! [The Right Perspective]
Disturbing Baltimore police behavior [YouTube] He's actually a meter maid!
View from 1776 quote re automakers bailout:
"Why waste time funneling money to socialist labor unions via GM and Ford, thence to the Democratic National Committee as campaign contributions. Why not just transfer the auto bailout money directly from the Treasury into the DNC coffers?" [Thomas Brewton]
When in a hurry, be sure to leave the window down. [Maniac World; h/t Spam Richter]

Courtesy of Another Random Day
The One's new Caddy-One will have a new state-of-the-art search-lite feature that projects the O'Bama Logo into the night sky to call Chopper-One to take his Oneness to Air Force-One! [FOXNews]
Al Sharpton's campaign motto has been redacted to "Yes We Did!" Does this mean there is hope for a post-election investigation of Obama's financial improprieties? Nnnaaauuuggghhhttt!!! ) See also Ironic Surrealism's Velvet Hammer) [Yahoo! News]
What Mellanie Phillips says! [Spectator; h/t Black Kettle]
But can they make tequila out of diamonds. [Blogrunner]
I'd wager he was praying for number 33. [FOXNews]

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TERRORISTS: More idiots coming out of the woodwork!

2008-11-14T23:42:00.003-06:00

No matter what your complaint or imagined offense, this is not the answer.

Making terrorist threats hurts you, your family, your neighbors, and your country. If the point you are trying to make is a valid one, you help kill the chances of making a difference!

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GOP: Some people can write but few people make sense when they do!

2008-11-14T21:41:00.004-06:00

I'm beginning to love the way Jonah Goldberg thinks; a young Charles Krauthammer with practical insight and sensitivity concerning authentic conservatism.

Or am I missing something? Perhaps he is a bit vague or obtuse concerning what he means by "social and religious conservatives."

Some excellent quotes from today's NRO column (h/t Black Kettle) concerning the mission statement for the post-election conservative worldview ...
The GOP would simply cease to exist as a viable party without the support of social and religious conservatives.
And isn't this the truth; it is that simple for the opposition ...
To listen to many pundits and analysts, it means Republicans must become Democrats.
Clarity is key in political thought ...
This is not to say that one can’t be a moderate on this issue or that and be a Republican. But the idea that social liberalism and economic conservatism can coexist easily is not well supported by the evidence.
If it were only possible ...
One can be socially liberal and fiscally conservative, in the sense that you’re only willing to constrain your statist do-goodery to the extent you’re able to pay for it. This is certainly an intellectually defensible position.

But politically, this is hard ground to defend. It turns out that people who buy into the logic of social liberalism, not just on abortion but racial and other issues as well, usually find themselves ill-equipped ideologically to say no to additional spending on causes they care about.
"Ill-equipped" is an understatement historically; look at Bush 43s spending fiascos ...
The religious right is much more likely to stop being “right” than stop being religious. And secular conservatives and libertarians who passionately believe in limited government should be very grateful indeed that most of today’s religious conservatives believe in it, too.
True! And true again!

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DEMOCRATS: So much for a new bipartisanship inside the beltway!

2008-11-14T20:27:00.004-06:00

The One promised a new spirit of bipartisanship in Washington ... me thinks this is just the tip of the iceberg.

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CONSERVATISM: Authentic conservatives have been trying to tell gutless moderates for twenty years!

2008-11-14T08:15:00.003-06:00

Listen up you spineless and gutless Willy Wimp Wrist Republicans ...
Pundits are scratching their heads trying to figure out why Republicans -- and predominantly conservative Republicans at that -- did well in Arizona this election.

[...]
Throughout the country, voters rejected McCain and the GOP because they were too closely associated with the overspending Bush administration. But in McCain's home state, Republicans and conservatives did just fine running on principle. [American Spectator]
McCain and his minions need to understand the conservative base or get out of politics.

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FREE SPEECH: Put on uniform lose right to speak freely!

2008-11-14T07:23:00.009-06:00

Serving our nation in uniform should not be an excuse for a blanket loss of free speech!
Jesse Nieto is a 25-year Marine veteran whose honorable service to our nation included two combat tours in Vietnam. His youngest son, Marc, and 16 of Marc’s shipmates were killed on October 12, 2000, by Islamic terrorists who bombed the USS Cole. Nieto has worked as a civilian employee at the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina since 1994.

Since 2001, Nieto has displayed various decals on his vehicle expressing anti-terrorist sentiments, such as “Remember the Cole, 12 Oct 2000,” “Islam=Terrorism,” and “We Died, They Rejoiced.” On July 31, 2008, two military police officers (MPs) issued Nieto a ticket for displaying “offensive material.” [Ironic Surrealism]
A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Nieto. Cashier the Commanding Officer and Base Magistrate on behalf of the American people.

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BIN LADEN: Still hiding but not running!

2008-11-14T01:09:00.004-06:00

For keeping us safe for seven years, I hope Bush gets the SOB; for Nick Berg's sake, I hope they show his decapitated remains on Al Jazerra!
Usama bin Laden is isolated from the day-to-day operations of Al Qaeda, but the terrorist organization he built is spreading its influence in Africa and the Middle East CIA Director Michael Hayden said.

Al-qaeda, Bin Laden, CIA,
Geopolitics, WOT

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NORTH KOREA: I hate to say ...!

2008-11-13T20:03:00.003-06:00

... I told you so, but "I told you so!"
Former American Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton has been predicting North Korea would disavow previous commitments (inspection and verification efforts) made to America and its allies regarding its nuclear program

Bolton was right; and the New York Times editorial page was wrong when it trusted the North Koreans to follow through and blamed the Bush Administration for problems dealing with the North Korean regime. Now the North Koreans are threatening war if America tries to hold it to its promises. [Ed Lasky at The American Thinker; h/t Black Kettle]

Asia, Bolton, North Korea,
Geopolitics, United Nations

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CONSERVATIVES: The future of values voting!

2008-11-13T08:15:00.006-06:00

David Brooks, in an advice column to the forlorn says,
... the Reformers [what I call centrist-Republicans], argue that the old GOP priorities were fine for the 1970s but need to be modernized for new conditions.
The "new conditions" he alludes to are homosexuality (promoted by heterophobes), abortion on demand, Global warming (a scientific cult), Europeanization, Constitutional reconstructionism (anti-Americanism), globalism, big and leftist government, etc. Theories cloned by leftists in the American academic laboratory.

He goes on to say,
The reformers tend to believe that American voters will not support a party whose main idea is slashing government. The Reformers propose new policies to address inequality and middle-class economic anxiety. They tend to take global warming seriously. They tend to be intrigued by the way David Cameron has modernized the British Conservative Party.
Brooks obviously doesn't read the conservative British press or the Brussels Journal. R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., responds to Brooks in The American Spectator,
As for the Reformers' wariness about the popularity of limited government, according to a Rasmussen survey conducted on October 2, 59% of the respondents agreed with President Reagan's declaration in his first inaugural address that "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."
For those of you who were raised on "new math," that's six in every ten voters - regardless of party. Brooks' "Reform" minded conservative is what the Republicans just ran for president ... a reach across the aisle guy, who was soundly defeated. Sarah Palin is what Brooks argues against. [See Quin Hillyer's fine argument concerning conservativism in American Spectator]

Our party ran just what the Dems wanted it to run, a beatable middle-of-the-roader. Pshaw! The laugh is on the "Reformers."

People are wondering what is going to happen to the party and its conservatives. I would put the question differently: what will conservatives do with the Republican and Democratic parties?

I believe conservativism and traditionalism transcend parties (as the Rasmussen poll indicates); I believe both movements, because they are issue oriented, must shun party labels; I believe labels hinder and divide. I believe conservatives must vote the candidates who are on the issues we value ... even if they are Blue Dogs.

And, yes, I believe we must separate our religion from our politics in order to avoid divisions and labels on the issues conservatives agree on.

No one wants to believe their worldview is wrong, but someone's must be ... we can't all be right! That's why it is important to side with the issues, everything else is popularity driven.

Blue Dogs, Conservatives, Reformers,
Republicans, Resurgence, Traditionalists

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THURSDAY'S TRANNIES: Linking the transitory (ephemera)!

2008-11-12T13:41:00.006-06:00

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "As I watched the press conference on Friday [11/7/08] given by President-elect Barack Obama, I asked myself, 'How did this 47-year-old African-American with no executive experience and only three years in the Senate become the most powerful political leader in the entire world?'" [WND - Samuel Blumenfeld (h/t Black Kettle)]
118th pyramid found in Egypt... and it appears to be a small puppy! [FoxNews.com]
CAIR demands DHS explain 2004 'Profiling' of Muslims ... duh!
[PR News Wire]
El Baradei says Obama openness will loosen lips in Iran; yea, right! [Yahoo! News]
Sharia push in UK and EU continues coming to America soon [Jihad Watch]
Anglican angst ... bout time! [National Post]
Whales and subs back to ground zero! [Yahoo!]
When you smell democrat desperation in the air, does it smell of hypocrisy? [Q & O; h/t Maggie's Farm]
MUSLIM MEDICINE: Hypocritical Oath [Yahoo!]
How does this happen! [Yahoo!]
A Picture is worth $78.20. [Maggie's Farm]
The Big Three automakers remind me of my dog Buck ... blind, deaf, can't raise himself, cranky, incontinent, 105 years-old, and wanders ... I put him down recently! Nuff said! [FOX Business]
Multiculturalism and its link to Nazi-like nationalism or vice-versa [Brussels Journal]
Good news ... Bhudda's back! When was he gone? [FOXNews]
And in closing: good news about "the One" and his foreign policy! [Europe News]

Automakers, Archeology, Bhudda, ECUSA,
Ephemera, Episcopal, Foreign policy, Iran, Multiculturalism,
Muslims, Nationalism, Obama, Sharia, Trannies, Unions

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