Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

It Seems that Keith H. Kerr, the Clinton Plant, was not a Brigadier General and Served Only in the Reserves

So at least contends  Brigadier General William Becker in a communication to David Horowitz.  The communication reads as follows (the capital letters are original to the letter):

IN SPITE OF MY CURRENT DISTRACTIONS AT HOME I AM FORCED TO ENTER THE PUBLIC ARENA TO EXPRESS MY OUTRAGE AT THE CURRENT REPUBLICAN DEBATE AS MANAGED BY CNN. GAY KEITH IS NOT A BRIGADIER GENERAL. HE IS NOT EVEN AN ACTIVE DUTY RETIRED ARMY OFFICER. HE SPENT HIS YEARS AS A RESERVIST SOLELY IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA MILITARY BUREAUCRACY. HIS BIO IS PUBLISHED IN THE GAY ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO VOIDING THE "DON'T ASK DON'T TELL" POLICY.

FOR DETAILS. YOU MUST NOTE THAT KERR WAS RETIRED FROM THE INACTIVE ARMY RESERVES IN THE GRADE OF COLONEL. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW YEARS SERVED ON ACTIVE DUTY AS A LIEUTENANT HIS ENTIRE SERVICE WAS IN THE RESERVES IN CALIFORNIA. HE WAS PLACED IN RETIRED RESERVE STATUS WITH THE CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD RESERVES AND PROMOTED TO BRIGADIER GENERAL IN THAT FEDERALLY UNRECOGNIZED STATUS.

THIS IS CONSIDERED AN "HONORARY" TITLE SIMILAR TO THE PHD AWARDED BY UNIVERSITIES AS HONORARIUM. WE WOULD NEVER REFER TO SUCH AWARDEES AS "DOCTOR". IT IS ALSO NOTEWORTHY THAT HE WAS A GRADUATE OF UC BERKELEY AND SERVED AS AN INSTRUCTOR IN ACADEMIA. HE HAS NO COMBAT EXPERIENCE DURING HIS 43 YEARS OF "SERVICE" AND IT IS A DISGRACE FOR HIM TO BE ASSOCIATED BY THE MEDIA WITH THE ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY!!!!

THANKS FOR LISTENING TO THE VOICE OF WRATH OF THIS OLD MILITARY AVIATOR. BRIGADIER GENERAL BILL BECKER UNITED STATES AIR FORCE, RETIRED COMBAT VETERAN WWII, KOREA, VIETNAM

See my earlier post on the CNN sponsored Republican debate.

  

Comparing the Effects of the Internet with the Invention of the Telegraph (1844)

John J. Miller interviews Daniel Walker Howe, author of  What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848.       

MILLER: Was the invention of the telegraph in 1844 more significant than the spread of the Internet today?

HOWE: The electric telegraph probably lowered the costs of business transactions even more than did the Internet, and it certainly seemed to contemporaries an even more dramatic innovation. For thousands of years messages had been limited by the speed with which messengers could travel and the distance eyes could see signals like flags or smoke. Neither Alexander the Great nor Benjamin Franklin (America’s first postmaster-general) knew anything faster than a galloping horse. With the electric telegraph, instant long-distance communication became possible for

According to Gallup, Republicans Report a Much Higher Level of Mental Health

Since I don't put a whole lot of stock in polls of any kind, I don't put much stock in this one either. On the other hand, I can think of reasons why it might be somewhat credible.  For those who are interested:

PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats or independents to rate their mental health as excellent, according to data from the last four November Gallup Health and Healthcare polls. Fifty-eight percent of Republicans report having excellent mental health, compared to 43% of independents and 38% of Democrats. This relationship between party identification and reports of excellent mental health persists even within categories of income, age, gender, church attendance, and education.  (more. .)

Evel Knievel Dies at 69

The Associated Press reports the legendary daredevil died today.

Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over crazy obstacles including Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho's Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.  (more . . )

I reported back in September his remarkable conversion to Christian faith and his baptism at the Crystal Cathedral in California.  That post and video-link can be found here.

Update 12/1/07 - In articles summarizing his life I haven't yet seen any mention of his remarkable late-date Christian conversion.  I suppose that is a sign of our secular society which doesn't think such things important. Knievel, I think, probably thought it the most important event/happening in his life. See the link in the paragraph above.

Good News in Iraq Creates Problems for Democrats

Victor Davis Hanson recapitulates the Democrats' poll-watching frenzy and analyzes where it leaves them now.

Ralph Peters - We're Winning Baghdad

Facebook Users Protest Online Tracking

For the story click here.  (HT: Drudge).   I posted privacy concerns earlier here and here.

Update - A blogger asks and details a question:

So the question that Facebook absolutely needs to make clear is simply: “When we click ‘no thanks’ or opt-out of a site, is that data then being deleted and therefore not stored anywhere?”

He posts evidence that Facebook still collects all manner of data, even if it isn't published.

- PC World adds an article

Did You Drink Water Out of that Glass by the Sink in Your Hotel Room?

So you think those glasses have been washed in soap and water?  Think again.  A shocking undercover video shows how those glasses are "cleaned" by housecleaning workers at three major hotels in the Atlanta area.  Better bring your own paper cups next time!  As Dana Fowle notes, when was the last time you saw racks of clean or dirty glasses on housekeeping carts?

CNN's Debacle at Hosting a "Republican Debate"

Update: 11/30/07 - "Journalistic Malpractice" - Here is Michelle Malkin's video interview on Fox and Friends, plus her updated blog and NY Post article. 

**
Michelle Malkin rounds up all the non-Republican plants who asked questions of Republican candidates at last night's Florida debate.  CNN has egg all over its face.

Hugh Hewitt opines:

From the awful judgment displayed with the opening guitar serenade through the preposterous selection of topics and questions right to the stark reality that CNN either was easily and completely manipulated by the Dems with planted question after planted question or were totally complicit in the hijacking of a Republican debate . . . The network is either incompetent in a way no serious news organization should be, or wholly captured by agenda journalists of the left.

Subsidizing Immigration

Mark Krikorian comments as follows at NRO's The Corner:

My center released a new profile of the immigrant population today, focusing on low education levels and consequent high rates of poverty, lack of insurance, and use of government services. We got a pretty good bounce (both the good Times and the bad Times, Post, USA Today, etc.) and most of the stories were pretty straight, reporting the numbers and the usual obfuscatory quotes from the open-borders crowd. But one statistic that seems to me should have garnered more attention is that among Mexican immigrant households — by far the largest immigrant group — half are on welfare. This isn't because they're plotting to rip us off, but because they're 19th century workers in a 21st century economy, and simply don't have the tools to support themselves. The result is government-subsidized immigration, with taxpayers footing the bill for all this "cheap" labor.

Why a Candidate's Religious Beliefs Matter

Andy McCarthy explains why we shouldn't shy away from scrutinizing a politician's religious beliefs.  He's taken a politically incorrect position.  I think McCarthy is right.  Following are some excerpts.

If a Muslim were running for high office, even if (however unlikely this seems) he never mentioned his religion or gave public indications of how he understood its doctrines, I would want to know his interpretation of jihad, and his views about such things as whether his first allegiance was to the Muslim umma or the U.S., whether sharia should be the law of the land, the authority of the governed to depart from Islamic doctrine, whether the Qur'an reflects the immutable word of God, whether Mohammed is the ideal role model, whether all people are equal regardless

How Should One Respond to Philip Pullman's "The Golden Compass" Movie?

Update 12/7/07 - see my post "The Golden Compass" Revisited

Update: 12/4/07 - Tom Smith calls it a "lovely fascist fable just in time for Christmas."

**  I think Mark Earley offers wise counsel to Christians and others disturbed by the new movie coming out in December, "The Golden Compass," based on the first novel in Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials.  Early writes:

All of you have probably received the e-mail by now. A lot of Christians have, including many of us here at BreakPoint. One of my colleagues received it from five different people no less!

I am referring to the e-mail that is circulating about the upcoming fantasy film The Golden Compass, based on the book by Philip Pullman. It says that Pullman's fantasy trilogy is openly anti-Christian.

Unlike many other e-mails that get circulated, The Golden Compass e-mail is not a hoax, though, in fairness, there are some incorrect details. (For example, contrary to what the e-mail cites, Jesus is mentioned in the books, and the girl and the boy at the center of the story do not kill God, though they are present when a being calling himself God is killed. God is actually presented as completely unreal in The Golden Compass; there are only angelic beings who try to set themselves up as God and are defeated.)

But the part about Pullman hating the idea of God is completely accurate. He uses his stories to twist and distort familiar biblical accounts of creation, fall, and redemption, making heroes of those who rebel against religion, and having one of his “good” characters even say, “The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake.” It’s sort of a Da Vinci Code theme for kids.

But I suggest that

Autism and Cell Phones

This is a major article that not only discusses  the relationship of autism to cell phones but the safety of cell phones in general.   

Update 3/10/08 - Growing Concern Over Safety of Cell Phones for Children

Mitt Romney Attacked by Former Head of the Massachusetts Republican Party

In the interest of even-handedness, since I've posted negatives on Mike Huckabee, I should also post serious criticisms of Mitt Romney.  Here is Byron York reporting:

A scathing attack on Mitt Romney today from Jim Rappaport, the former head of the Massachusetts Republican party who just held a conference call with reporters to announce his endorsement of Rudy Giuliani. Rappaport praised Giuliani's record in New York and said Romney "has a strong record of showmanship as opposed to actual performance." Discussing Romney's relationship with the Massachusetts state legislature, Rappaport said of the former governor, "His word is no good…Mitt Romney would say one thing in a meeting and literally go out of the meeting to the press and tell the opposite story. There was no desire in the legislature to be accommodating to him because they couldn't trust him." Romney, Rappaport continued, "will be clear today on what he believes today, and he'll be clear tomorrow on what he believes tomorrow, but they may be different things."

Religion of Peace: British School Teacher Faces Lashes in Sudan After Class Teddy Bear Is Named Muhammad

Update 12/29/07 - Ms. Gibbons has been sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation from Sudan.  Michelle Malkin asks, "Where are the human rights groups, the feminists, the moderate Muslims?"  E.D. Hill and Michelle Malkin discuss the situation in this video interview .  Note: the U.S. gave Sudan $2.6 billion in aid in 2005-2006.

Update: Michelle Malkin comments.

**
The Times of London carries the story here.  Excerpts:

Teachers at the school, in central Khartoum only a mile from the River Nile, said that Ms Gibbons had made an innocent mistake by letting her pupils choose their favourite name for the toy as part of a school project.

A British primary school teacher arrested in Sudan faces up to 40 lashes for blasphemy after letting her class of 7-year-olds name a teddy bear Muhammad. . .

Her colleagues said that they feared for her safety after reports that groups of young men had gathered outside the Khartoum police station where she was taken and were shouting death threats. . .

Archbishop of Canterbury Calls America "Imperialist"

Never underestimate the folly of supposed "leaders."  Take Rowan Williams, for example, the current Archbishop of Canterbury.  An article in the Times of London reports:

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday.

According to the article,

Williams suggested American leadership had broken down: “We have only one global hegemonic power. It is not accumulating territory: it is trying to accumulate influence and control. That’s not working.”

He contrasted it unfavourably with how the British Empire governed India. “It is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources into administering it and normalising it. Rightly or wrongly, that’s what the British Empire did — in India, for example.

And how about this?  The interview was given to a Muslim magazine.

In the interview in Emel, a Muslim lifestyle magazine, Williams makes only mild criticisms of the Islamic world. He said the Muslim world must acknowledge that its “political solutions were not the most impressive”.

All of which led the historian Victor Davis Hanson to respond in a classic, must-read rebuttal:

I suggest that the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams read a little history about the British experience in India before he offers politically-correct but historically laughable

David Horowitz Blasts the Bush Administration for Staging a "Munich" in Annapolis

Update:  Bernard Lewis lays out the scenario especially well:

The first question (one might think it is obvious but apparently not) is, "What is the conflict about?" There are basically two possibilities: that it is about the size of Israel, or about its existence.

If the issue is about the size of Israel, then we have a straightforward border problem, like Alsace-Lorraine or Texas. That is to say, not easy, but possible to solve in the long run, and to live with in the meantime. . .
 
If the issue is not the size of Israel, but its existence, negotiations are foredoomed.  And in the light of the past record, it is clear that is and will remain the issue, until the Arab leadership either achieves or renounces its purpose--to destroy Israel.  Both seem equally unlikely for the time being.

Andy McCarthy in a biting article calls the Annapolis meeting a "farce."

Buried in Annapolis will be the last shards of the Bush Doctrine, the blunt marker the president once put down to signal a do-or-die choice for jihadist nations. Are you with us, he asked, or with the terrorists?

Caroline Glick says:

But in the interests of bringing about the declaration of a sovereign state of Palestine, Rice and her associates are advancing policies that smack of moral dementia.

Her powerful article explains why. 

 **
David Horowitz can't put his objections too strongly. 

An American Secretary of State should be in Baghdad brokering a reconciliation between Iraqi factions and locking down a victory for which nearly 4,000 Americans gave their lives. Iraq is the central front in the holy war against  

Who is the Real Mike Huckabee?

I confess I am not sure.  Today Robert Novak came out with a blistering column that agrees with a strongly negative National Review editorial  a week ago.  Novak titled his column "The False Conservative."

Huckabee is campaigning as a conservative, but serious Republicans know that he is a high-tax, protectionist advocate of big government and a strong hand in the Oval Office directing the lives of Americans.

Huckabee's pro-life stance causes conservatives like me to want to like him, but accusations like the following I find really troubling:

But Huckabee simply does not fit within normal boundaries of economic conservatism, such as when he criticized President Bush's veto of a Democratic expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Calling global warming a "moral issue" mandating "a biblical duty" to prevent climate change, he has endorsed a cap-and-trade system that is anathema to the free market.

Read the whole article.  Conservatives need to weigh Huckabee's pros and cons carefully.

Happy Thanksgiving!- Mark Steyn Contrasts America with Europe

Steyn, as is his wont, has produced another unique article that probably no one else could write, at least certainly not so wittily and engagingly.  In the process he awakens readers to the exceptional nature of America in the course of world history.  Consider:

“The New World” is one of the oldest settled constitutional democracies on earth, to a degree “the Old World” can barely comprehend. Where it counts, Americans are traditionalists. We know Eastern Europe was a totalitarian prison until the Nineties, but we forget that Mediterranean Europe (Greece, Spain, Portugal) has democratic roots going all the way back until, oh, the mid-Seventies; France and Germany’s constitutions date back barely half a century, Italy’s only to the 1940s, and Belgium’s goes back about 20 minutes, and currently it’s not clear whether even that latest rewrite remains operative. The U.S. Constitution is not only older than France’s, Germany’s, Italy’s or Spain’s constitution, it’s older than all of them put together.

He goes on:

Americans think of Europe as Goethe and Mozart and 12th century castles and 6th century churches, but the Continent’s governing mechanisms are no more ancient than the Partridge Family. Aside from the Anglophone democracies, most of “the west’”s nation states have been conspicuous failure at

Frederica Mathewes-Green Really Likes the New Movie "Enchanted"

She offers a bubblingly positive review for this new Disney film.   Mathewes-Green:

I’m going to try not to gush, but it’s hard when a movie is this delightful. Enchanted is even more than that, it’s original — lovely, fresh, funny, and charming to a princely degree.

Stem Cell Research Breakthrough

The New York Times reports a new stem cell method eases ethical concerns.  The Family Research Council summarizes:

Two prominent embryonic stem cell scientists today published results showing that they can produce cells with the qualities of embryonic stem cells directly from human skin cells, without the need for creating or destroying embryos, without cloning, and without the need for eggs used in cloning. The groundbreaking news by Dr. James Thomson, first to grow human embryonic stem cells, and Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, Japan, was that

Sharansky on "One Jerusalem" and Annapolis

Here is a substantial video interview that Sharansky granted Chris Mitchell of CBN News.

Hadley Arkes: The Nomination and Election of Rudy Giuliani Would Mark the End of the Republican Party as the Pro-Life Party in Our Politics

Hadley Arkes, the Ney Professor of American Institutions at Amherst College, articulates the same position James Dobson has taken.  That fact, given Arkes' academic reputation, should weigh heavily on the minds of those tempted to dismiss Dobson as an unreasonable man of the Christian Right.

After arguing his case, Arkes says:

It is conceivable, then, that from the standpoint of the pro-lifers it might be better to lose to Hillary Clinton than to win with Rudy Giuliani. The Republican party left standing after the defeat would still be a pro-life party. . .  The Republicans might be diminished, but they would be essentially intact as a pro-life party; and, when the electoral winds shift again, they have a chance of coming back with their character intact.

As to the question of abortion being a moral issue or not, Arkes invokes the disagreement between Lincoln and Douglas regarding slavery.

During the famous debate between Lincoln and Douglas, Douglas professed to be neutral on the matter of slavery. He professed to have reached no moral judgment. And so, he concluded, people should be free in the separate territories to vote slavery up or down. But, as Lincoln pointed out, he had indeed reached a moral judgment. If he had regarded slavery as a wrong—as Douglas had regarded polygamy—he would have understood that a wrong is that which no one ought to do, that anyone may be properly restrained from doing. To say slavery is something legitimate to choose is to say that slavery stood in the class of things “not wrong.”  (my emphasis)

In an eerie echo, Giuliani reproduced precisely the same argument in an interview with Charlie Rose. . . [Read on . . ]

UN's AIDS Statistics Inaccurate and Overblown

I have updated a previous post to reflect the latest admissions.

National Review Online (NRO) Doesn't Like Mike Huckabee

Today's NRO editorial on Mike Huckabee attacks his domestic programs and record.  Earlier tonight on television I saw Fred Barnes and Charles Krauthammer point out Huckabee's lack of experience in foreign policy.  I reproduce NRO's editorial below for the record so that one might be aware of the arguments some conservative make against Huckabee.

When they debated economic issues in Dearborn, Mich., most of the Republican presidential candidates talked about how good the economic statistics look. Mike Huckabee was the candidate who offered sympathy for the public’s anxieties. So it has been throughout the campaign. Huckabee, more than the other Republican candidates, understands

Alison Jaggar - Radical Feminist/Marxist University Professor

Click here for a synopsis of a radical feminist/Marxist university professor's views on humanity and the sexes.  As they say, "you can't make this stuff up."

Egypt Enables Hamas to Train in Iran

Click here.   And note, incidentally, how Jordan, contrasts with Egypt.  It doesn't allow weapons or smuggling into Israel or the disputed territories.

Anti-Semitic Publishing Industry Flourishes in Egypt

Egypt publishes really awful stuff.  P. David Hornik writes:

Egypt is “the Arab world’s biggest center of publishing anti-Semitic literature.” So says a new report by the Tel Aviv-based Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

This literature that Egypt puts out, says the Center, “is marketed across the Arab and Muslim world, distributed through the Internet, and sold every year at the Cairo International Book Fair.” The Egyptian government, “despite its ability to impose strict censorship,” allows all this to go on.

Read on for detailed examples.

Charles Colson vs. Christopher Hitchens: Christianity & Slavery

Colson says Christopher Hitchens needs to get his facts straight.

In his new book, "God Is Not Great", subtitled "How Religion Poisons Everything," anti-theist Christopher Hitchens states, “religion makes people do wicked things they wouldn’t ordinarily do . . . the licenses for genocide, slavery, racism, are all right there in the holy text.”

It is a rather empty accusation when put alongside a man like William Wilberforce, who as the film Amazing Grace shows, attacked and abolished the slave trade because of his Christian convictions. As you can see, that raises a difficult question for people like Hitchens: If Christianity “licenses” slavery, then why was the abolition of slavery, both in antiquity and in modern times, driven by Christians?

Did Saddam have WMD's?

John Loftus sifts the evidence.  Opening paragraph:

Finally, there are some definitive answers to the mystery of the missing WMD. Civilian volunteers, mostly retired intelligence officers belonging to the non-partisan IntelligenceSummit.org, have been poring over the secret archives captured from Saddam Hussein. The inescapable conclusion is this: Saddam really did have WMD after all, but not in the way the Bush administration believed. A 9,000 word research paper with citations to each captured document has been posted online at LoftusReport.com, along with translations of the captured Iraqi documents, courtesy of Mr. Ryan Mauro and his friends.  (more) 

Caroline Glick - "Islam and the Nation State"

Click here.  Some excerpts:

... . . Muslim minorities throughout the world are being financed and ideologically trained in Saudi and UAE funded mosques and Islamic centers. These minorities act in strikingly similar manners in the countries where they are situated throughout the world. On the one hand, their local political leaders demand

Monkeys Rampage in Indian Capital

The monkeys are causing a very serious problem in Delhi.

. . . Along with an estimated 35,000 sacred cows and buffaloes that roam free in the capital, marauding monkeys have been longstanding pests. . .   Estimates of Delhi's monkey population range from 10,000 to over 20,000.

. . . Efforts to drive out the animals is complicated by the fact that devout Hindus view them as an incarnation of Hanuman, the monkey god who symbolises strength. Killing them is unacceptable.

(HT: Drudge)

The Insurance Industry is Taking Note of the Link Between Abortion and Breast Cancer

One cannot overemphasize the importance of this article. 

The mainstream media have again almost totally ignored a new study published in the "Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons" that found that abortion is the "best predictor of breast cancer" in eight European nations.

Insurance companies are beginning to take notice:

More significantly, this research was discussed in the insurance magazine "The Actuary." Insurance actuaries were advised to adjust their insurance premiums and reserves accordingly in order to plan for a 50% increase in breast cancer projected out to 2029.

The fact that most media outlets fail to report this fact (with the exception of the Chicago Tribune), causes Karen Malec of the Coalition of Abortion/Breast Cancer to say:

The media's behavior is very problematic. When the history books are written on the abortion-breast cancer link, women are going to be appalled by the major media's behavior on this matter and the media will suffer further lose of credibility."

Ramesh Ponnuru Contrasts Republican and Democratic Health Care Proposals

Click here.  In a related post, John Hood refers to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll that asked the following question:

"When it comes to the issue of health care, which of the following two options would you prefer to help cover those without health insurance?

Option A: Requiring all Americans to have health insurance, with the federal government helping pay for health insurance for low-income families.

Option B: Providing health savings accounts and tax credits to help individuals and employers purchase health insurance."

Hood reports:  "Respondents preferred Option B, but by a relatively narrow 49-40 margin. This debate has only just begun."

Scientists Acknowledge AIDS Crisis Is Distorted and Overblown

Update 11/20/07 - The popular press now carries the story.  Here are a few excerpts from the Washington Post's coverage:

The United Nations' top AIDS scientists plan to acknowledge this week that they have long overestimated both the size and the course of the epidemic, which they now believe has been slowing for nearly a decade, according to U.N. documents prepared for the announcement. . . 

The latest estimates, due to be released publicly Tuesday, put the number of annual new HIV infections at 2.5 million, a cut of more than 40 percent from last year's estimate, documents show. The worldwide total of people infected with HIV -- estimated a year ago at nearly 40 million and rising -- now will be reported as 33 million.

James Chin, a former World Health Organization AIDS expert who has long been critical of UNAIDS, said that even these revisions may not go far enough. He estimated the number of cases worldwide at 25 million.

"If they're coming out with 33 million, they're getting closer. It's a little high, but it's not outrageous anymore," Chin, author of "The Aid Pandemic: The Collision of Epidemiology with Political Correctness," said from Berkeley, Calif. 

Me: So what does this tell us?  It tells me that one has to be suspicious of U.N. statistics.  The estimate of AIDS patients in India was lowered by 50%, from six million to three million!! - What does that tell us about statistics and accuracy??  - One must also be suspicious of issues being politicized.   Certain groups have a vested interest in keeping  the money flowing into their coffers.   As James Chin said,  "They've finally got caught with their pants down."  Read the WaPo article cited above for sober comments of the same type.    

**
This two-part analysis needs to be studied carefully in order to get a true perspective on the AIDS crisis.  Part I is here.  Part II can be found here.   (HT: VirtueOnline) 

India: The Persecution of Dalits Who Convert to Christianity Continues

Chuck Colson has provided a useful overview along with excellent resources:

Visit the Dalit Freedom Network to learn how you can help the Dalits.

Yaroslav Trofimov, “In India, ‘Untouchables’ Convert to Christianity—and Face Extra Bias,” Wall Street Journal, 19 September 2007, A1.

Roberto Rivera, “The Baptist Tibet?” The Point, 3 October 2006.

Asra Q. Nomani, “The New Untouchables,” Washington Post, 4 November 2007, B02.

Henry Chu, “A Gift for India’s Inter-Caste Couples,” Los Angeles Times, 4 November 2007.

Stanley Kurtz Discusses the Tribalism of Waziristan in Northwest Pakistan and Its Significance

This is a major article and marks advance in our understanding.  Kurtz draws on, and evaluates, the work of American University professor Akbar S. Ahmed.

The End of the University as We Know It

David Horowitz examines a new report put out by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) called "Freedom in the Classroom" and finds it a shocking departure from previous accepted academic standards.  (A shortened version of Horowitz's analysis can be found in a Weekly Standard article.  From that I quote the following):

In its latest response to complaints about the politicization of higher education, the American Association of University Professors has embraced a novel view: "It is not indoctrination for professors to expect students to comprehend ideas and apply knowledge that is accepted as true within a relevant discipline." Under this precept, put forth in the AAUP's recent report "Freedom in the Classroom," teachers are no longer held to standards of "scholarly" or "scientific" or "intellectually responsible" discourse, but to whatever

Veterans Day Recognition: Congressional Medal of Honor Winner, Navy Lt. Michael Murphy

Chuck Colson rightfully focuses on Lt. Michael Murphy, a war hero if there ever was one, in his article, "A Debt That Cannot Be Repaid."  Murphy's story is told by fellow soldier Marcus Luttrell in the book Lone Surviror.

Colson offers resources for further reading:

“President Bush Presents Medal of Honor to Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, U.S. Navy,” White House Office of the Press Secretary, 22 October 2007.

John Gibson, “Why Didn’t Some News Organizations Cover Medal of Honor Ceremony?” FOX News, 25 October 2007.

“Medal of Honor Awarded to ‘Antithesis of a Warrior’,” CNN, 22 October 2007.

Talk of Worst Recession Since the 1930s

This may be overblown (as most financial headlines predicting the future generally are), but for what it's worth, Dan Dorfman reports the views of those making dire predictions.  (HT: Drudge)

A Wall Street superstar this year who runs Balestra Capital Partners, Jim Melcher, says he's "worried about a recession. Not a normal one, but a very bad one. The worst since the 1930s. I expect we'll see clear signs of it in six months with a dramatic slowdown in the gross domestic product."

D.C. Imam Declares Muslim Takeover-Plan

Art Moore of WND has the story: "Washington-based cleric working toward 'Islamic State of North America' by 2050."  Click here.

Take a Minute to Say Thanks

James S. Robbins posts:

Want to show your appreciation to service member overseas? Stop by the "Let's Say Thanks" website, sponsored by Xerox. You can send a card with a pre-printed message or one of your own — it takes only a minute and it is free! You will brighten the day of someone overseas, and that's something you can feel great about too.

Are Flu Shots (and Other Vaccines) Good for You? Dr. Mercola Advises Against Them

Click here. 

Michael Gerson (Former Speechwriter for President Bush) Interviews Mike Huckabee

Perhaps the most interesting lines in this interesting article may be found in the last paragraph:

During our conversation, Huckabee's most compelling response concerned his background as a pastor. "There isn't a social pathology that I wouldn't be able to put a face to. I've talked with a pregnant 14-year-old who hasn't been able to tell her parents, with a 17-year-old high school student who believes he is gay and doesn't know how to break the news, with parents who have a son on life support after a motorcycle accident. . . . It makes me a different kind of public official, not as rigid, not blind to problems."

And that is not a bad thing -- in a Republican, in a candidate or in a president.

Me:  Yes.  True.

The Incompetent, Shameful, Utter Failures of the Democratically Controlled Congress

Karl Rove itemizes the ineptness, the stupidities, and the  maleficent short-sightedness of Pelosi and Reid and company.  I urge you to read this article.

When you take a look at the list of the Democratic Congress' utter failures, it is quite breathtaking -- and without excuse.  Truth be told, the current crop of Democrats do not know how to govern.  They act like immature children quite unable to handle the responsibilities handed them.  Folly indeed, it would be, to allow this circus to destroy the country's future.   

One should read, as well, Senator Joe Lieberman’s critique  of the Democratic party’s national-security stance.  A speech, by the way, that the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today failed to cover. I wonder why.

Liam Julian on Hip-Hop: Social Pathology that Degrades Urban Communities

Liam Julian writes:

. . . The public, to its immense discredit, is less honest than it should be about rap’s pernicious influence. Those who foist upon hip-hop a legitimacy it doesn’t deserve, act carelessly at best, and insidiously at worst.

Paeans to hip-hop’s supposed noble origins and message of black empowerment notwithstanding, the sensible person would be hard-pressed to find anything but discouragement in most  

Peggy Noonan Offers a Fascinating, If Somewhat Damning, Contrast Between Margaret Thatcher and Hillary Clinton

Noonan's article is well worth reading.

. . . Margaret Thatcher would no more have identified herself as a woman, or claimed special pleading that she was a mere frail girl, or asked you to sympathize with her because of her sex, than she would have called up the Kremlin and asked how quickly she could surrender.

She represented a movement. She was its head. She was great figure, a person in history, and she was a woman. She was in it for serious reasons, not to

SUPERBUG' HITS MYSPACE; infiltrating members' accounts and spamming over and over again to their friends...

Matt Drudge links to the story. 

Dems Waffle/Refuse to Fund the Iraq War: I'm Getting Disgusted

Click here for the latest summary of Democratic Congressional budgetary malfeasance.  I think it is time to crank up demonstrations against the Democratic Party's negligence to support our troops.

Sen.MitchMcConnell( R-Ky):

"While our troops are quelling violence and defeating terrorists in Baghdad and throughout Iraq, Democrats in Washington are trying to choke off funds for our troops in the field," he said.

Why Should Planned Parenthood, the Nation's Leading Abortion Provider, be Supported by Tax Dollars?

Rep. Mike Pence (R- Ind.), thinks it's a bad idea and so do I, and so do millions of other Americans.  It's a disgrace and a scandal that tax dollars from U.S. Citizens should go into the pockets of Planned Parenthood, which receives  fully1/3 of its billion dollar budget from government grants and contracts.

The Family Research Council writes the following:

FRC has learned that Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), one of Congress's most passionate advocates for the unborn, is poised to introduce a bill this week that would strip funding from groups like Planned Parenthood that perform abortions yet receive Title X family planning dollars. According to the organization's own annual report, Planned Parenthood received more than a third of its nearly $1 billion budget from government grants and contracts last year alone. As Rep. Pence says, "It's time that the American people know that the nation's biggest abortion provider is also the largest recipient of Title X dollars." And that's no coincidence. Although family

Facebook is Stalking You and How to Block It

Click here.