Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

CORRUPTION IN KANSAS TO PROTECT "PLANNED PARENTHOOD" AND THE ABORTION INDUSTRY

Dennis Boyles pens the story of the incredible pro-abortion machinations taking place in Kansas from the Supreme Court on down. Money and power are involved.  Surprised? It's another one of those "hard to believe" stories, that seem to be occurring ever more frequently. 

In short, it is alleged that "The state’s largest abortion providers — including Johnson County’s Planned Parenthood clinic and George Tiller’s infamous late-term-abortion clinic in Wichita — have not only performed illegal abortions, they’ve also falsified documents as part of a cover-up."  And everyone is going after the prosecutor to shut him up and close the case down. 

Read about it here.

SEX AND THE CITY - And being single today

Kathryn Jean Lopez offers a unique review of the move and in a later post offers some reading ideas to deal with the pain that comes with the "Carrie approach."  Lopez's suggestions:

As for writing — Jennifer Marshall has written thoughtfully about single life, helping single people feel confident without giving up. Jennifer Roback Morse has written with some authority and experience on why the Carrie approach isn't the right one. Leon and Amy Kass have put together a great collection on courtship I like to give young people — how many young people have ever thought about that word? Kate O'Beirne has written about what feminism has wrought, which is really a big reason why we're where we are — why Carrie and the girls have been so darned unhappy. Michael and Harriet McManus do a good job of presenting the practical drawbacks of cohabitation — and urge churches to take the lead in helping singles wait. Kay Hymowitz reminds us about how the inner-city truly suffers without marriage. And Kathleen Parker embraces men and rejects feminist hostility toward them in her new book, which really is a healthy cleansing — and one I wish Carrie and the girls could have had a long time ago.

COLORADO'S "OPEN DOOR" BATHROOM POLICY - UNBELIEVABLE!

I've filed this post under my "hard to believe" category.  Can a state legislature be so stupid -- so insane -- as to insist that all public bathroom facilities be open to both men and women?  Not only that, but violation of the law comes with a fine up to $5,000 penalty and up to a year in jail.  We live in crazy times, folks. Truly unbelievable. 

Dr. James Dobson over at Focus on the Family issued a press release last night and discussed the issue during the first five minutes of his radio program today.  Here is his press release regarding SB 200 just signed into law by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter:

“Who would have believed that the Colorado state Legislature and its governor would have made it fully legal for men to enter and use women’s restrooms and locker-room facilities without notice or explanation?

“Henceforth, every woman and little girl will have to fear that a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence. The legislation lists every conceivable type of organization to which this law applies, including restaurants, bathhouses, massage parlors, mortuaries, theaters and ‘public facilities of any kind.’ Those who would attempt to protect females from this intrusion are subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year behind bars.

“This is your government in action. It represents a payback to Tim Gill and two other billionaires who have essentially ‘bought’ the state Legislature with enormous campaign contributions. Coloradans deserve better!

“And by the way, because of the way this bill is written, it is not subject to the initiative process. There is no recourse.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Read previous CitizenLink coverage.

RON SIDER'S OPEN LETTER TO BARACK OBAMA

It appears on the Evangelicals for Social Action website and reads as follows:

Your stand on abortion deeply troubles me. Yes, I know you are a Democrat and thus, sadly, almost by definition, you must be pro-choice. But do you need to be one of the most tone-deaf Democrats when it comes to the painful, divisive issue of abortion?

It bothers me greatly that as a state Senator in Illinois, you opposed a bill (the Born Alive Infants Protection Act) that would have defended the life of a living baby, outside the womb, that had been aborted but had somehow survived? (You voted against that legislation twice and, a third time, prevented the legislation from leaving your committee.) Do you really think being pro-choice means not caring for a living baby outside the womb?

REVIEW OF ALAN JACOB'S BOOK, 'ORIGINAL SIN: A CULTURAL HISTORY"

The reviewer in the New York Sun is Bruce Chilton who sees strengths and weaknesses in Jacob's book

BOOK REVIEW OF "SEX AND THE SOUL"

Jane Lapman writing for the Christian Science Monitor has interesting (and sometimes sad) things to say about the current college scene as revealed in the new book Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion on America's College Campuses.by Donna Freitas.

TIM KELLER ON EVANGELISM

The Florida Baptist Witness published the following article:

WHAT'S WRONG WITH VIDEOGAMES?

Tom Chatfield provides an inside perspective. A major discussion of the article can be found here.

WE ARE TO BLAME FOR OUR OWN TROUBLES

Victor Davis Hanson posts a superb article.  Baby boomers have never grown up. 

SACRIFICES TO THE CLIMATE GODS

Dr, Roy Spencer makes many good points.  Note: I would have provided excerpts of the article but the updated software associated with "Typepad" (the software associated with this blog) has all kinds of bugs in it making posting very difficult these days.

THE URGE TO CONQUER - ALIVE IN ISLAM

Clifford D. May provides a useful history lesson.

There’s an anniversary this week we might do well to recall. On May 29, 1453 — just 555 short years ago — troops led by Mehmed II broke through the walls of the ancient Christian capital of Constantinople. . .

“We are in the process of an historical war between the World of Arrogance and the Islamic world,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared, “and this war has been going on for hundreds of years.”

“We are not fighting so that you will offer us something,” said Hussein Massawi, a former leader of Hezbollah. “We are fighting to eliminate you.”

“Rome will become an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread though Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, even Eastern Europe,” Yunis al-Astal, a Muslim cleric and Hamas parliamentarian has pledged. “Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our prophet Muhammad.”

Mehmed the Conqueror would understand, though his defenders would say he was never quite as radical as are the Islamic warriors of the contemporary era.

QUICK TAKES

1) Mark Krikorian - "The chief point of Dr. Bostom's The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism (reviewed here and here) is the same as his earlier Legacy of Jihad book — the problematic aspects of Islam, namely the sacralization of jihad war and of Jew-hatred, are not modern alien viruses but instead are integral to the faith."  See also Andy McCarthy's post (page 2)

2) Theodore Dalrymple -

And as is now well-known, a disturbing number of British Muslims have proved susceptible to the ideology of Islamism. A recent survey found that 40 percent of British Muslims under 24 wanted to live under sharia; 36 percent supported the death penalty for apostasy. Significantly, the figures for older Muslims were considerably lower. Another poll found that a fifth of all British Muslims had sympathy with the “feelings and motives” of the London suicide bombers. Only a third of British Muslims, a Guardian survey found, want more integration into British culture.

 … Pew Center research shows that six times as many Muslims in France as in Britain consider their national identity more important than their religious one: 42 percent versus 7 percent.

3) Thomas Sowell writes on the Left using Blacks as trophies or mascots.

GOLDA MEIR, INDIRA GANDHI, MARGARET THATCHER COMPARED WITH HILLARY CLINTON

Peggy Noonan draws a devastating contrast between the above three women and Hillary Clinton. They, as Noonan points out, were in a league of their own.

Updates

- "Loser Letters" - Letter #2   (Clever Christian apologetics) 

- "Barack Obama - the Non-Messiah" - Charles Krauthammer on Obama's gaffes

Homecoming

Michael Ledeen says (and he's right):  A video is worth a thousand words on Memorial Day.  Michelle Malkin blogs the same video and includes a lot more viewer comments.

THE STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN FAMILY TRAGEDY

Most have probably already heard the tragic story of the death of little five year old Maria Sue Chapman.  Michelle Malkin writes movingly about the tragedy and includes a multitude of links and videos.

GALLUP POLL - 70% APPROVE OF DIVORCE

Click here.  The Family Research Council comments:

In a world where marriage seems less binding than a cell phone contract, it's no surprise that divorce tops the list as the most "morally acceptable act" in Gallup's annual "Cultural Tolerance" survey. More Americans consider divorce acceptable (70 percent) than ever before, say researchers, who asked 1,000 people to rank 16 social taboos. The percentage of respondents who have no ethical qualms about ending their vows has jumped 11 percent in the last seven years. To give an indication of how inured society is to family breakdown, more people would condemn buying or wearing fur (39 percent) than filing for divorce (22 percent). Although young people held marriage to a higher standard in previous surveys, this poll showed that the value of the institution is eroding quickly in the next generation. If the country can't understand the importance of marriage, then how will we preserve it?  . . .

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY (PA) ACADEMICS: OUTRAGEOUSLY RE-WRITING HISTORY TO FOSTER ANTI-SEMITISM

What is happening in the Middle East is really chilling.  Can the world (i.e. genuine scholars) stand idly ignoring the travesty of scholarship that is taking place in the interest of bald-faced anti-Semitic propaganda?  Consider this account of what is happening by Ithamar Marcus and Barbara Crook:

• In 1998, PA historians held a conference in which they devised a policy of historical revisionism. The developing PA educational system would not aim to teach historical truth but rather to convey a political history aimed at denying Israel's right to exist in the Land of Israel. Palestinian academics, recognizing the futility of attempting to erase the documented history of the Jews, instead adopted a different solution of literally stealing the identity of the Jews by identifying ancient Hebrews as both Arabs and Muslims and denying their connection to today's Jews of the state of Israel. Another component of the negation of Jewish history is the denial of modern Jewish experience-including the horrors of the Holocaust.
• Many PA academics have gone beyond the theoretical "struggle." They teach that the killing of Jews by Muslims is a precondition of world redemption. Because Jews are inherently evil and an existential danger, their annihilation is justified self-defense, a service to humanity, and an enactment of God's will.

Here are some extracts that elaborate on the above:

BARACK OBAMA - THE NON-MESSIAH

Update 6/10/08 - Off camera Barack cannot speak.

- Consider Barack Obama's gaffes.  In listing them, Michelle Malkin concludes: "Barack Obama — promoted by the Left and the media as an all-knowing, articulate, transcendent Messiah — is a walking, talking gaffe machine. How many more passes does he get? How many more can we afford? - Update 5/24/8 - Charles Krauthammer notes with respect to sitting down and talking with enemies, "Such rhetorical flailing has done more than create an intellectual mess. It has given rise to a new political phenomenon: the metastatic gaffe. The one begets another, begets another, begets . . . .

- Amir Tahiri says Ahmadinejad got a huge boost from Obama.  Tahiri's article underscores the fact that Obama is a dangerous space cadet lost in fantasyland and hypnotized by his own rhetoric. To elect him as leader of the free world would be to commit national and civilizational suicide.  But then, that's exactly what Malcolm Muggeridge said long ago in his profound essay, "The Great LIberal Death Wish." (Also here.)

- Michelle Malkin - The blogosphere schools Barack Obama in asymmetric warfare

- As for his judgment on Iraq, he has been consistently wrong.  John McCain points out:

"Senator Obama has consistently offered his judgment on Iraq, and he has been consistently wrong. He said that General Petraeus' new strategy would not reduce

Homosexual Practice - Not Known for Monagamy (As If You Didn't Know)

Joe Carter supplies a series of statistics related to the low value (!) homosexuals place on monogamy.  Some complain the statistics need updating, and that seems a fair comment. Nevertheless, homosexual promiscuity so far studied remains breathtaking.

Few "gay" relationships last longer than two years, with many homosexual men reporting hundreds of lifetime partners. Source: Pollack, M. " Male Homosexuality," in Western Sexuality: Practice and Precept in Past and Present Times, ed. P. Aries and A.Bejin, pp. 40-61, cited by Joseph Nicolosi in Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality (Northvale, N.J., Jason Aronsons Inc., 1991), pp.124-25.

50% of homosexual men over the age of 30, and 75% of homosexual men over the age of forty, experienced no relationships that lasted more than one year. Source: M. T. Saghir and E. Robins, Male and Female Homosexuality: A Comprehensive Investigation (Baltimore: Williams Wilkins, 1973), pp. 56-57.

In 1978, a study done by two homosexual doctors revealed staggering statistics. Of 685 homosexual men, 589 (83%) had 50+ partners in their lifetime, 497 (73%) had 100+, 394 (58%) had 250+, 284 (41%) had 500+, 182 exceeded 1000 partners, an astonishing 26%. And 79% noted that over half their sexual contacts were total strangers. Source: Bell, A.P. and Wienberg, M.S. " Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women " (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1978.)

Thomas Sowell Offers Summer Reading Suggestions

To counter the steady diet of liberal-left indoctrination students receive in schools and colleges, Sowell recommends the following books (see his article for explanations):

     Thomas Sowell's  Economic Facts and Fallacies

     The Best-Laid Plans by Randal O’Toole

     Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg
  
     Shelby Steele’s book on Obama, titled  A Bound Man    

      Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics

MARY EBERSTADT - "THE LOSER LETTERS" (SCREWTAPE LETTERS FOR OUR MESSED UP TIMES)

Update 6/7/13 - I discovered today that all the links below have died.  The articles have been compiled and published as The Loser Letters published February 2010.  Mary Eberstadt has also written Adam and Eve After the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution (2012) and How the West Really Lost God: A New Theory of Secularization (2013)  Last night I read her original 2007 essay published in Policy Review, "How the West Really Lost God."  Highly recommended!

** Original post:

This open letter to spokesmen of the New Atheism is a clever bit of Christian apologetics.  Supposedly written by a Christian convert to atheism, it turns out to be a witty and biting commentary on the sexual dystopia that atheistic secularism has produced.  More letters are said to follow.  (Edited 5/17/08)

Update 5/24/08 - Letter #2 - "Some Little Contradictions and How They Grew"

Update 5/30/08 - Letter #3 - "The Trouble With Good Works

Update 6/6/08 - Letter #4 - The Trouble with Dull Art

Update 6/13/08 - Letter #5- "About Those Totally Annoying Christian Convert Traitors"

Update 6/20/08  - Letter #6  -  "Query: Do Atheists Know Any Human Women, Human Children, or Human Families?

Update 6/29/08 - Letter #7 -  "The Unbelievably Annoying Problem of Christian Moral High Ground"

Updeate 7/11/08 - Letter #8 - From Baby Killers to Barnyard Mayhem: My Turn to Atheism, Part One

Update 7/24/08 - Letter #9 - My Turn to Atheism, Part Two. An Internet Café in Portland, the Little Debbie Tea Party, and You.

Update 7/25/08 - Letter #10 - Final letter - Onward, Anti-Christian Soldiers

http://www.amazon.com/Loser-Letters-ebook/dp/B003A2C3N2/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370641950&sr=1-4&keywords=Mary+Eberstadt

QUICK TAKES

- Michael Reagan - The Left's Racist Group Think   - "To leftists, you aren't a person: you're only a member of a race, a sex, or a class"    Add to that Victor Davis Hanson's observation that race, class, and gender (RCG) - liberal mantras for the last 30 years -- are now entering new unforeseen solidarities in this primary season.

- Eli E. Hentz - Palestinian Peoplehood Based on a Lie  - "The Palestinian claim that they are an ancient and indigenous people fails to stand up to historical scrutiny."

- Good point from Andy McCarthy - 

Can Somebody Explain to Me ... how Obama sat in Wright's church for 20 years and managed never to hear anything, but hears 20 seconds of a Bush speech that doesn't mention him and perceives a shameful personal attack?

THE MOVIE "PRINCE CASPIAN" OPENS TODAY - C.S. LEWIS'S "JUST WAR" TALE

- Update 5/30/08 - This review by by Joe Carter over at The Evangelical Outpost has won me over.  I hadn't planned on going to see the movie, but now I plan to see it (at some time or other).

- Update 5/17/08 - Frederica Mathewes-Green thinks the movie improves on the book!  She lists other books that have fared better as movies as well.  You might want to see if you agree with her! - Thomas Hibbs laments alterations the film makes from the book.

- Michael Ward, author of Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis, offers the following commentary:

"Caspian" is a fantasy, of course - but also a war story. Indeed, it's the tale of a just war: Prince Caspian's fight to return Narnia to its natural, Aslan-given order by driving the tyrant Miraz from power and bringing back and restoring the rights of talking animals, fauns, dwarves and other magical beings.

The tale is full of military events, councils, knights. Aslan gives a great war cry to summon and inspire his troops ("The Lion Roars"). Miraz is defeated in single combat, after which "full battle" is joined.

In fact, "Caspian" is centered on the theme of Mars, god of war.

Lewis wrote the Narnia Chronicles so that they would express the qualities of the seven heavens of the medieval cosmos, which he deemed "spiritual symbols of

SEN. TED KENNEDY (TRAITOR?) AND THE KGB

In short, Senator Ted Kennedy reached out to the Soviet leadership in a bid to counter and undermine President Ronald Reagan and his foreign policy.  Treason?  You decide.  The story, discussed by Paul Kengor and reproduced in his book The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism, is based on a fully-vetted May 14, 1983 letter discovered in the Central Committee archives of the former USSR.  Need it be said the document has been totally ignored by the main stream media?   

Regarding the letter in question, Kengor says:

ACTIVIST CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT GRANTS MARRIAGE STATUS TO HOMOSEXUAL UNIONS

- Maggie Gallagher discusses the ins and outs and implications. UPDATE: 5/21/08 - Gallagher has further observations that make for important reading.

- Hugh Hewitt weighs in here and here, and says regarding the November referendum to amend the California Constitution (and thus roll back the Supreme Court decision):

I hope every interested citizen in the country, every religious leader fond of religious liberty, every legislator who takes his or her job seriously will grasp that the vote on the marriage amendment on the Califoria ballot is really much much more than just a marriage amendment and concerns far more than just California law --it is a vote on who rules, judges or the People, and its result will mark a decisive beginning of a rollback of judicial imperialism or a capitulation to the courts on this and on any other issue the courts decide to impose their will upon.

- The Family Research Council comments:

After a brief period of judicial restraint, California voters watched in horror this afternoon as judicial activism returned with a vengeance in one of the most egregious

Polar Bears, Oil and the Environment

Michelle Malkin on polar bear mania (quoting Sen. James Inhofe and others). Earlier in the day she wrote on Politics and the Polar Bear.

Hugh Hewitt weighs in.

Roy Spencer has it right:

And with three presidential candidates who all agree with the environmental activists, the coming months and years are looking pretty bleak for freedom, capitalism, and prosperity. Meanwhile, the polar bears will do just fine, just as they have during previous warm periods in history.

I only hope when global warming ends, and is accepted to be a largely natural phenomenon rather than manmade, that all of the regulatory mistakes we’ve made can somehow be undone.

— Dr. Roy W. Spencer is a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He is author of the new book, Climate Confusion: How Global Warming Hysteria Leads to Bad Science, Pandering Politicians, and Misguided Policies that Hurt the Poor.

Oslo, Norway - Not a Safe Place

Ponder this report.

**

Ponder also this:

Crime happens because criminals know they can get away with it. Oslo has been mau-maued into its present condition by gangs, immigrant hooligans, and imported beggars and prostitutes.

In his book, Moment of Truth in Iraq, Michael Yon makes the point that small details are essential to a successful battle. Thus, if he is off to observe some engagement with the enemy, he will not get in a vehicle with dirty windows, or one with a slovenly crew. He knows from experience that the attention to detail and the realization that preparation is essential means the difference between success and failure.

1st Western Canada March for Life

10 minute video report here.

Dr. Ben Witherington on Deepak Chopra's Buddhist Jesus

Ben Witherington has a review of Chopra's new book, The Third Jesus.  (HT: smart christian) 

A commentator on Witherington's blog recommends an interesting critical view of Tibetan Buddhism from Victor and Victoria Trimondi, two former practitioners and supporters of the Dalai Lama.

"An Evangelical Manifesto: The Washington Declaration of Evangelical Identity and Public Commitment"

Alan Jacobs offers trenchant comments on the new "Evangelical Manifesto," seeing it weak and colorless and, as it stands, of questionable value.  He writes as an insider, not an outsider.  He is an evangelical himself, a professor of English at Wheaton College, Illinois.

The Associated Press covered the announcement here.  Warren Davis sees it representing a power struggle amongst evangelicals.  So many of the "Christian Right" were neither consulted nor asked to initially sign on.  That would include Dr. James Dobson and Dr. Richard Land, to name but two. 

Other commentators are more positive.  I personally have not had time to study the document and expect to blog further in due course.

BURMA'S TRAGEDY - WHERE WAS GOD?

Should God have given men free will to to do evil, to be irresponsible, callous, and derelict in duty and compassion?   Should God have allowed the United Nations power to achieve sanctimonious irrelevance and venality?  I ask these questions not to blame God, but to put the blame where it belongs:  on corrupt men and institutions.

The Burmese tragedy should never have occurred, at least not on the scale the world witnesses today. Read Joseph Laconte's account: Abetting Burma: The United Nations is complicit in the current catastrophe.

While you're at it, read John Bolton's assessment of the United Nations,  an address offered at a Hillsdale College gathering on February 11, 2008.

On the issue of possible global warming causes, read on...

Review of "Who Speaks for Islam? What A Billion Muslims Really Think"

Who Speaks for Islam? is written by John L. Esposito, founding director of Georgetown University's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, and Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies.

The book is propaganda and the books (statistics) have been cooked.  Read Robert Satloff's review in the Weekly Standard.  It is "must reading" lest the trusting public be taken in because of Gallup's name and reputation.

THE TRUTH ABOUT OIL

There's a whole lot more oil in the ground than most people realize.  Vasko Kohlmayer has posted a fascinating article.  Here's an excerpt, but there's a whole lot more besides:

A recent survey on the environment found that seventy percent of people worldwide think that the planet is running out oil. Only less than one quarter believe that there is enough of it to keep it as a primary source of energy. Petro pessimism runs especially high in the United States where a full two thirds think that the point of depletion is within sight.

Here are some hard facts.

According the Energy Information Administration as of January 2007 there was more than 1.3 trillion barrels of proved crude oil on earth. Even if this were all the oil on the planet there would be no immediate danger of shortages, because at the current rate of consumption – roughly 85 million barrels a day – this supply would last for more than 40 years.

But the 1.3 trillion in these so-called proved reserves refers only to a tiny fraction of earth’s oil, designating only that portion which can be extracted under current ‘economic and operating conditions.’ As it happens, this figure grows with each decade and usually dramatically so. . . 

Interview with Cindy McCain

Very interesting.  Click here.   

** Update 5/12/08 - Kathryn Jean Lopez transcribes an interesting phone interview.  In it Cindy McCain talks about the Sisters of Mercy, her adopted daughter, Bridget, the Pope's visit, and many other things.

32 CRUCIAL WEBSITES FOR EVERY INTERNET FREAK

Click here.   (HT: Evangelical Outpost)

Annotated Bibliography on Major Works of Historical Apologetics (1697-1893)

This list of books, all available online, is helpfully annotated, and thus all the more useful and instructive.   From the first paragraph:   (HT: Evangelical Outpost)

What follows is a highly selective bibliography in historical apologetics—the branch of apologetics dealing with the authenticity and credibility of the scriptures and particularly of the New Testament—from the late 17th century through the late 19th century. Although the progress of scholarship has raised new questions and provided additional lines of evidence, these older works are of more than merely historical interest. Most of the objections raised against Christianity today are variations on objections that go back hundreds of years, in some cases all the way back to Celsus and

THE TOP 100 PRODUCTIVITY AND LIFEHACK BLOGS

Click here.      (HT: Evangelical Outpost)

Liberals Try to Wiggle out of Embarassing Situations by Phony "Moral Equivalence" Contentions: The Case of Frank Rich, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and Rev. John Hagee

Dennis Prager illustrates by citing Frank Rich's sophistry:

. . . The New York Times columnist Frank Rich also sought to dismiss the general outrage at Wright's racist and anti-American diatribes. In Rich's view, American society's outrage at Wright is but one more example of American racism. His proof? America is not as angry at a white pastor, the Rev. John Hagee, who has endorsed Sen. John McCain, as it is at Wright and his 20-year bond with Sen. Barack Obama.

In Rich's words, "Mr. Hagee's videos have never had the same circulation on television as Mr. Wright's. A sonorous white preacher spouting venom just doesn't have the telegenic zing of a theatrical black man. It is disingenuous to pretend that there isn't a

Michelle Malkin - "Top 10 Reasons McCain Should Repudiate the National Council of La Raza"

Here (in part) is what Michalle Malkin says:

I told you yesterday about John McCain’s plans to speak to the National Council of La Raza (The Race) in July. Here are the top 10 reasons he should repudiate the radical open borders, speech-squelching group that he has long embraced:

10. La Raza supports driver’s licenses for illegal aliens.

9. La Raza supports in-state tuition discounts for illegal alien students that are not available to law-abiding US citizens and law-abiding legal immigrants.

8. La Raza opposes cooperative immigration enforcement efforts between local, state, and federal authorities.

12 Spiritual Lessons from "Prince Caspian"

Prince Caspian, the second movie in the "Chronicles of Narnia" series by C.S. Lewis, opens May 16, 2008.  These 12 spiritual lessons drawn from the book and movie  prove worth noting.

Rev. John Hagee - Hater of Catholics?

Rev. John Hagee,  for whom I have no particular fondness, nevertheless -- to set the record straight -- proved very kind to a group of Roman Catholic nuns.  It makes for an interesting story.

DAVID BERLINSKI DEFENDS THE MOVIE "EXPELLED"

David Berlinski is a secular Jew who appears in Expelled (the movie questioning Darwinists who disgorge at the thought of Intelligent Design).  He has replied  to John Derbyshire, a National Review writer and committed Darwinist.  Berlinski's article exhibits exceptional writing talent, and skewers Derbyshire's  intemperate dismissal of a movie he refuses to see.  Berlinski is the author of The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions.

Arther Berman - "Democrats and the Killing Fields"

Berman's recent article reminds us again of America's shameful flight from Southeast Asia and the killing fields that resulted.  It seems the Democrats are willing to do it again (this time Iraq) if given the chance.

Berman wrote earlier this year on "The Lies of Tet" demonstrating again how media misreporting has devastating consequences.  - For more on the Vietnam era and its relevance to current foreign policy, see my earlier posts here. 

IT'S A MYTH THAT EVANGELICALS ARE HEAVILY INVOLVED IN POLITICS

Joe Carter sets the record straight by noting:

. .  . The Family Research Council (FRC)--the premier lobbying organization of the Christian right in Washington, D.C.--has been attempting to collect signatures on an online petition asking President Bush to approve new Title X regulations ensuring that no taxpayer money goes to subsidize the abortion facilities of groups like Planned Parenthood.

To date, almost one million emails have been sent to Christians asking them to do nothing more than add their name. This is about as minor a level of commitment or involvement as it gets yet only about 3% have done so. More Christians voted for the 5th place contestant on last week's American Idol than have petitioned to defund abortion mills.

Michael Gerson on Obama: "The Perils of Patronizing"

Gerson writes an insightful article on Obama, Rev. Wright, and Black Theology.  Key sentence:

In the past few weeks, Barack Obama has learned the political perils of condescension.

His Philadelphia speech on race was filled with it. People who don't share Obama's views were not refuted, they were explained. (My emphasis)

The article gets still better.  Read on.

CHINESE BUILD SECRET NUCLEAR SUBMARINE BASE

This is serious.  The London Telegraph carries the story.   (HT: Drudge)

China has secretly built a major underground nuclear submarine base that could threaten Asian countries and challenge American power in the region, it can be disclosed.

There's a whole lot more in this article.  Serious indeed.  (more. . . )