POLITICAL: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

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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POLITICAL: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

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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SHINSEKI: Maybe not one of Bush 43's best decisions!

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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FAITH: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!!

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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ISLAM: And the days ahead!

Okay, you pantywaists and sycophants, here is what you can expect from your peace at all costs, hyper-capitulatory eloquence ...

Muslim militants are crucifying children to terrorize their Christian parents into fleeing Iraq, a parliamentary committee studying the persecution of religious minorities heard yesterday.

Since the war began in 2003, about 12 children, many as young as 10, have been kidnapped and killed, then nailed to makeshift crosses near their homes to terrify and torment their parents.

One infant was snatched, decapitated, burned and left on his mother's doorstep, the committee was told.

Filham Isaac, speaking for the Nineveh Advocacy Committee, told the human rights committee that Iraqi Christian churches were bombed, clergy murdered and unveiled Iraqi women raped or scarred with acid.

It's part of a systemic -- and very effective -- campaign to ethnically cleanse the area of any non-Muslims, he said. Chaldean and Assyrian Christians, known as Chaldo-Assyrians, were once the largest Christian minority in Iraq. They are also the oldest, descendants of ancient Mesopotamians who adopted Christianity in the first century.

Fools stand by while all around them falls apart; only the intellectually dishonest and morally bankrupt are blind enough not to see what is coming from an alliance with Islam ... in almost every form.

Is that what your legacy to your children and your children's children will be? Pray it is not!

[This just in "Christians on trial in Algeria"]

HT: The Black Kettle

Christianity, Persecution, Religion

FALSE TEACHERS: Westboro Slammed to the Mat - GOOD!

The ministry of Westboro Baptist is an embarrassment to the entire Body of Christ ...

The father of a fallen Marine was awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday in damages by a jury that found leaders of a fundamentalist church had invaded the family's privacy and inflicted emotional distress when they picketed the Marine's funeral.

The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned later in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress to the Marine's father, Albert Snyder of York, Pa.

Snyder sued the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified monetary damages after members staged a demonstration at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

I hope they collect every penny.

Christianity, Courts, False Teachers,
Irag, Religion, Westboro Baptist

TALIBAN: Answering the unanswerable!

Today's article suggests the Taliban may be ready to release their Korean hostages (mostly women).

I've been personally frustrated by various complaints from Christians and Christian organizations about the silence from the Christian community and the Godblogosphere concerning these "Christian" aid workers. The complaints are warranted to a certain extent but let's face reality.

At this juncture, two male members of the Korean group have been murdered; there is no guarantee more won't suffer the same fate.

Most Western Christians are news savvy and know when they are dealing with ignorant unprincipled people; leaders who have no moral compunctions other than their wild allegiance to an aberrant idea.

This does have a tendency to dampen involvement.

And speaking for myself - I have 24 hours each day to minister for the Lord; I'm obligated to use those hours as a gift (no, I'm not always perfect in their use) and to prioritize my labors. Like Satan, I cannot be everywhere at once, all-knowing, and all-mighty. Most of us are doing the best we can.

And I would suggest that Darfur, the Iraqi Christian exodus, and Arab persecution of Christians in general trump the hostages ... and where pray tell is the UN, man's answer to all of this? What a waste!

In other words, where can my noise, my sweat, and my heart do the most good? And since when is this a problem of the American church only? And is the noise I hear from the Church in the North, South, and East not still "from the Church"? Why is so much guilt placed on the shoulders of the Church in the West? We are one body!

Bottom-line, Paul knew before going "to Caesar" that he might not come out alive; the same was said by Jesus on His entry into Jerusalem.

When we opt to go on mission for God, and opt for a dangerous mission field (the field of another), there is a certain awareness of the dangers involved. In some fields (like Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Afghanistan) there is a tacit understanding that there are no clandestine black berets lurking in the shadows to extricate us if we get in trouble.

My feeling is the criticism is both warranted (in a qualified sense) and unwarranted (in an unqualified sense). Perhaps the critics should reexamine their criticism.

Chritianity, Criticism, Geopolitics,
Hostages, Korean, Missions, Taliban

EXIT STRATEGY: A Delightful Little Proposition for Gen. Lute!

While reading the Washington Post's morning commentary on the appointment of a "War Czar" it occurred to me there's a delightful solution to many of the West's present problems. Bear with me a moment while I lay some foundation.

A little over a year ago, in the Boston Review, Barry Posen penned a thoughtful piece on an exit strategy for Iraq. In it he said:

The United States needs a new strategy in Iraq and the Persian Gulf. The war is at best a stalemate; the large American presence now causes more trouble than it prevents. We must disengage from Iraq—and we must do it by removing most American and allied military units within 18 months. Though disengagement has risks and costs, they can be managed. The consequences would not be worse for the United States than the present situation, and capabilities for dealing with them are impressive, if properly employed.

Some people argue that the United States should disengage because the war was a mistake in the first place, or because it is morally wrong. I do not propose to pass judgment on these questions one way or the other. My case for disengagement is different: it is forward-looking and based on American national interests. The war as it has evolved (and is likely to evolve) badly serves those interests. A well-planned disengagement will serve them much better by reducing military, economic, and political costs.

According to Wikipedia an "exit strategy" is, in general:

... a means of escaping one's current situation, typically an unfavourable situation. An organization or individual without an exit strategy may be in a quagmire. At worst, an exit strategy will save face; at best, an exit strategy will peg a withdrawal to the achievement of an objective worth more than the cost of continued involvement.

In military terms it is:

... understood to minimize what military jargon calls blood and treasure (lives and matériel).

Now one additional little tidbit ...

In a piece on John Bolton, our former unconfirmed UN Ambassador, entitled "We must attack Iran before it gets the bomb," Toby Harnden wrote for the Telegraph:

A nuclear Iran would be as dangerous as “Hitler marching into the Rhineland” in 1936 and should be prevented by Western military strikes if necessary, according to a leading hawk who recently left the Bush administration.

Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said Iran should be attacked before it develops nuclear weapons John Bolton has close links to the Bush administration

John Bolton, who still has close links to the Bush administration, told The Daily Telegraph that the European Union had to "get more serious" about Iran and recognise that its diplomatic attempts to halt Iran's enrichment programme had failed. [HT: Black Kettle]

Go here to see why Norm Podhorertz, writing in Commentary Magazine, concurs with Bolton.

A DELIGHTFUL PROPOSITION: Let's take care of Im-In-Need-A-Job and his bomb and the need for an exit strategy all in one fell swoop ... making Lt. General Lute a hero at the same time ... let's just exit Iraq by way of Tehran on the way to an ally's border.

Some may think I am being factious but, what with Western Civilization's future hanging by a toasted frog's whisker, I'm deadly serious. Let's just send the Air Force over Tehran and prepare an exit strategy for our men and women on the backs of as many Shias as we can find.

Bolton, Exit Strategy, Iran, Iraq, Lute,
Nuclear Bomb, Terrorism, War Czar, WOT