Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

CHICAGO OLYMPICS AND OBAMA CRONIES

Michelle Malkin provides what you need to know.  It ain't purty.

IS THE BRICK AND MORTAR COLLEGE A THING OF THE PAST? "YES"; IS ONLINE EDUCATION THE FUTURE? "YES"

So says Dr. Marvin Olasky, a 30 year veteran of higher education.   Olasky begins by asking basic questions:

Can online education match the classroom experience? And, since college tuition buys not only education (sometimes) but higher status and improved future earnings, will online diplomas be satisfactory union cards?

Olasky offers the following answers to these questions:

Some new evidence suggests that the answer to both questions will soon be yes. More than 1,000 studies of online learning have been published during the past 13 years. A U.S. Department of Education analysis of them concluded that, on average, "students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction" in the same courses. One reason is that face-to-face is often not face-to-face: Many college students snooze in big lecture halls. In good online courses, though, instructors 

SARAH PALIN'S NEW BOOK, "GOING ROGUE," DUE OUT NOV. 17TH

Update 9/30/09 - Amazing: Palin's book number one on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller list; unprecedented advance sales! 

Forty-eight days before the release and she’s already topped Dan Brown’s latest conspiracy-theory casserole at both top retailers.  [more..]

(Original Post) -It should be a blockbuster.  The initial print run is for 1.5 million copies!    Michelle Malkin explains:

"The title is “Going Rogue” — an allusion to the in-fighting between Team Sarah and the McCainiancs that broke out in the last weeks of the campaign."              

John Fund adds:

Sarah Palin may no longer be governor of Alaska, but she’s certainly destined to become a best-selling author. HarperCollins, her publisher, has announced the print-run of her memoir will be a staggering 1.5 million copies — equal to the print-run of Senator Ted Kennedy’s posthumous autobiography published this month. Publishing sources tell me that such a giant run is only ordered up when there is clear evidence from booksellers and surveys of massive interest in a book.

The book, which will be published on November 17, was a crash project. Ms. Palin actually moved temporarily to San Diego after she resigned the governorship in July so she could be close to her collaborator, Lynn Vincent. I bumped into Ms. Vincent, a former editor at the Christian-oriented World magazine, in New York a few weeks ago, where she had parked herself in a hotel close to the offices of HarperCollins while working on the book’s final edits.  [more..]

Me: What caught my eye was that Palin collaborated with Ms. Vincent of World magazine.  Vincent is a fine writer, and would be an exceptional choice to express Christian perspectives with sympathy and skill. 

THE UNITED STATES -- LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD NO MORE!

In a devastatingly accurate editorial, the Washington Times suggests that the mantle, "Leader of the Free World," has now passed to Israel.  The paper editorializes:

Israel is looking like the new leader of the Free World. The previous leader, the United States, resigned this role last week at the United Nations to take the position of global community organizer. This was made plain by President

Obama in his speech, titled "Responsibility for Our Common Future," in which he heralded "a new chapter of international cooperation." By contrast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a blunt and forceful call to action in the central challenge facing free people today. This is the struggle of "civilization against barbarism" being fought by "those who sanctify life against those who glorify death." [more...]

BILL CLINTON DENOUNCES "VAST LEFT-WING COVER-UP"

Well, not exactly.  In order to help out President Obama and the Left because of the exposure of ACORN's
unbelievable corruption, Clinton resurrected the tired and empty accusation of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."  So once again we have a "shoot the messenger" strategy employed by Clinton, Podesta, and the Left.  Will it work?   The media so far has shown little interest in investigating ACORN, but a lot of interest in investigating the intrepid reporters, Giles and O'Keefe.  Andrew Breitbart analyzes the predictable "protective" behavior of the devoted left-wing media (once known as "mainstream"), and doubts it will work a second time.  ACORN has been exposed as corrupt, and it would seem a little hard to deflect attention from that fact long term.  We'll see.

OBAMA DITHERS; THE TIME FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN IS NOW!

So says Ambassador Dore Gold, former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations and author of the newly released The Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Tehran Defies the West.   Gold writes:

[...] After Obama revealed the startling fact that the Iranians had built a secret uranium-enrichment facility — the “size and configuration” of which, according to Obama, showed it was not designed for peaceful purposes — one might have expected him to announce a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward Iran, away

from the policy of engagement that he has promoted. But, unfortunately, Obama’s bottom line was simply a repetition of his longstanding position: “We remain committed to serious meaningful engagement with Iran to address the nuclear issue though the P5-plus-1 negotiations.”

Some more details about the West’s response came from Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy of France: “If by December there is not an in-depth change by the Iranian leaders, sanctions will have to be taken.” At the last G-8 meeting, in July, Obama and the leaders of the industrial world declared September a firm deadline for the

BEN WITHERINGTON EVALUATES DAN BROWN'S NEW BOOK "THE LOST SYMBOL"

Dan Brown is the author of the best-selling The Da Vinci Code (2003).  Concerning Brown's latest book, The Lost Symbol, Ben Witherington writes,

Its Number One on Amazon, and has gone to the top of several best seller lists, and the reviews are pouring in for Dan Brown's latest blockbuster novel, sure to be made into a movie.  But even Mr. Brown's fans, reviewing the book on Amazon, are about equally divided as to whether this novel makes Mr. Brown a dude or a dud.

Witherington comments on the book's literary worth, its historical accuracy (or inaccuracy), and Brown's treatment of the Bible and orthodox Christianity.  On this, Witherington offers an important critique:

In his attempt to explain why the Bible has endured through the ages  Peter Solomon, Robert Langdon's mentor and a Mason says the following: "The reason...is that there exist powerful secrets hidden in the pages of this ancient book... a vast collection of untapped wisdom waiting to be unveiled." (p. 489) The hidden meanings in the Bible are the reasons why the finest minds have pondered this book for so long. 

DOCTOR ZERO: "THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF ACORN"

Doctor Zero does a superb job explaining the inevitability of organizations like ACORN that form circles of corruption in a society that has moved from humility to entitlement.  I despair of extracting quotes since the whole article needs to be read to understand the cancer that ACORN represents.

Well, I've changed my mind.  I will extract some quotes.

When charity is replaced by entitlement, the voluntary flow of donations to small, local organizations transforms into the accumulation of stupendous amounts of money in Washington. Not only is there a huge pile of taxpayer loot to be divided, but the power of government is fantastically valuable. ACORN made a huge amount of money - and helped crash the entire financial system - by using government

“ISLAM ON CAPITOL HILL” EVENT ATTRACTS FAR LESS THAN EXPECTED

- Update: Pamela Geller posts extensive photos of the event and draws on an Amil Imani commentary that argues Muslims and Muslim organizations are guilty of dissimulation and fraud in representing Islam in the West.

- (Original Post) - Joel Rosenberg offers an excellent report and challenge:

Islamic leaders predicted 50,000 Muslims would arrive on Capitol Hill today to provide a show of Islamic solidarity. It didn’t quite turn out that way.

Less than 3,000 Muslims showed up, according to the Washington Post and other eyewitnesses. And those who did got more than they had bargained for. The followers of Muhammad came for a day of prayer and Islamic sermons, which they got. But they also found dozens of followers of Jesus Christ — some of them evangelicals from from Arab countries — eager to share the gospel with them and pray for them to find the love and forgiveness found in the Bible.

“Our church prepared 2,000 packets to be given out to Muslims at the end of the event,” an evangelical Christian woman who lives in the Washington, D.C. area told me in a phone

JOHN BOLTON ON OBAMA'S U.N. SPEECH: "THE MOST RADICAL ANTI-ISRAEL SPEECH I CAN RECALL ANY PRESIDENT MAKING... I WAS VERY SHAKEN BY THIS SPEECH"

Pamela Geller put up a blog post at Atlas Shrugs featuring Glenn Beck's interview with John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.  I am a fan of John Bolton and value his perspectives.  Excerpts (emphases are Pamela Geller's):

Bolton: This is the most radical anti-Israel speech I can recall any president making.

Two phrases in what you've just heard, the president says that "America does not accept" and I'm quoting now, "the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements." Not 'new Israeli settlements', "continued Israeli", which, this is Mr.Wordsmith here, that calls into question in my mind all Israeli settlements.

WHAT WAS THE WORST PART OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH AT THE UNITED NATIONS?

(

Update 9/27/09 - Former Bush speechwriter, Michael Gerson, delayed commenting on Obama's UN speech because he was so angry.  "I can recall no other major American speech in which the narcissism of a leader has been quite so pronounced."  His analysis is definitely worth reading.  (See end of this post for excerpts)

(Original Post) -  Rich Lowry: 

Hard to say, but when Obama said this “For those who question the character and cause of my nation”. . .   I sort of expected him to follow up with something like, look at the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg address, this nation's contribution to winning WWI, WWII, the Cold War, etc. Instead, he said this: "I ask you to look at the concrete actions we have taken in just nine months." He really imagines himself — to borrow the title of Allen Guelzo's fine Lincoln biography — the redeemer president. Here's my NY Post column on it today.

Me: Obama's megalomania is stupefying.  As also his ignorance of history, world politics, and the nature of mankind.  On the other hand, he exemplifies the product our Ivy league universities churn out.  As it has been said

NETANYAHU SPEAKS AT THE U.N. - "HAVE YOU NO SHAME?"

Update: Pamela Geller has the text and video of Netanyahu's UN speech.

(Original post) - Joel Rosenberg says,

Over the years, I’ve heard Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deliver a lot of speeches. But none so powerful as this.

Highlights from Rosenberg:

• The Prime Minister laid down the gauntlet with Iran, and the world.
• He commended the nations whose leaders and diplomats either boycotted or walked out of Ahmadinejad’s speech yesterday for their “moral clarity.”
• He also shamed those who stayed and those U.N. leaders who gave the Iranian leader — who calls the Holocaust “a lie” while publicly threatening to annihilate the Jewish people in the not-too-distant future — a platform to spew his vile beliefs.
• “To those who gave this Holocaust denier a hearing, I say on behalf of my people, Have you no shame? Have you no decency?”
• Must-see video clip of Netanyahu’s speech. [1 minute, 40 seconds]
  
• He showed the world original Nazi documents explaining the Holocaust that were given him by the German government and repeatedly asked world leaders, “Are these a lie?”
• He noted that President Obama recently visited a Nazi death camp in Europe and asked whether Obama gave validation to “a lie.”
  
• Netanyahu urged the world to stop Iran now from getting the Bomb, and warned the failure to do so could lead to incalculable suffering and damage.
• He challenged the U.N. for its anti-Semitic and anti-Israel “Goldstone Commission” report. The report charges the Jewish state with war crimes for defending her people from eight years of 10,000-plus rockets and missiles raining down from Gaza. What’s more, he challenged the U.N. to reject the commission’s report and thus side with Israel, or accept the report and side with and reward the Hamas terrorists in Gaza. He asked how Israel could possibly take more “risks for peace” if the world condemned Israel for defending herself from terror attacks launched from the last swath of land offered to the Palestinians in the name of peace.

It reminded me of President Bush’s speech to the U.N. in September 2002 when he challenged the world community to effectively hold Saddam Hussein accountable for dozens of violations of international law or risk irrelevance.

Today, Netanyahu challenged the world to stop Iran from acquiring weapons of genocide, or risk losing all moral legitimacy.

RALPH PETERS - "THE RULES MURDURING OUR TROOPS"

I am exercised over what follows because I have independent knowledge that our men are dying for exactly the reasons Peters states.  Realism is in short supply when you dwell in la-la land.  Peters writes: (HT: Corner)

When enemy action kills our troops, it's unfortunate. When our own moral fecklessness murders those in uniform, it's unforgivable.

In Afghanistan, our leaders are complicit in the death of each soldier, Marine or Navy corpsman who falls because politically correct rules of engagement shield our enemies.

Mission-focused, but morally oblivious, Gen. Stan McChrystal conformed to the Obama Way of War by imposing rules of engagement that could have been concocted by Code Pink:

* Unless our troops in combat are absolutely certain that no civilians are present, they're denied artillery or air support.

* If any civilians appear where we meet the Taliban, our troops are to "break contact" -- to retreat.  Keep reading...

JOEL ROSENBERG ON AHMADINIJAD'S U.N. SPEECH - "DECEITFULLY TAME"

Rosenberg offers first impressions of Iranian President Ahmadinejad's speech:

• His tone was low-key, quiet, deceitfully tame — it was clear he didn’t want to make splashy, provocative headlines this time around. (Why? See below)
  
• He repeatedly denounced Israel and the Jewish people, as expected.
• Yet he seemed to be making a calculated effort to appear reasonable — he didn’t deny the Holocaust, he didn’t call for the annihilation of the U.S. and Israel or say that both countries were doomed and “nearing the end of the road” as he did in 2008.
• Noteworthy was that he didn’t end his address with a prayer to Allah asking him to hasten the coming of the Islamic Messiah, known as the “Twelfth Imam,” or the “Mahdi,” or the “just and promised One” as he did in 2005 and 2006.
  
• Nor did he open the speech by praying for the Allah to hasten the coming of the Islamic messiah, as he did in 2007.
• That said, Ahmadinejad’s address contained more references to the coming of the Mahdi than any of the others, including his 2008 speech which did build on this theme. He referred at least twice to a Shia Islamic eschatological notion of “entezar.” This is the capacity for a Shia Muslim to wait patiently for the coming of the Islamic Messiah.  Once the transcript is available, I’ll point out these references more clearly.
• Bottom line: Ahmadinejad speech reflected the fact that he knows he’s walking a fine line. He desperately wants to stay true to his End Times theology and prepare the world for the coming of the Mahdi, but he also needs to keep the world community from unifying to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
• The Canadian, American, British, French, German and Israeli delegations walked out, among others.   [Argentina, Australia,  Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand - ed]
• But I suspect his ploy to appear “reasonable” enough to most U.N. leaders to avoid draconian economic sanctions just may work.

IRVING KRISTOL, 1920-2009

- Update 9/26/09 - Mary Eberstadt offers an entertaining and insightful look at the man and his work.  She tells what it was like working as an intern in the Public Affairs office (fascinating reading), and offers substantial guidance to many of Kristol's articles and ideas.  Melanie Phillips (below) offers a wonderful introduction, and Eberstadt takes the introduction to a deeper level in her brilliantly written piece.

- (Original Post) - I have read many tributes to this great man, but the one I have chosen to link to is by the British writer, Melanie Phillips.  She begins by saying,

I am very sad indeed to read of the death in Washington DC of Irving Kristol at the age of 89. Kristol was one of the intellectual titans of our age, and his influence on the course of American thinking, culture and politics was simply immense. As the godfather of neo-conservatism, the philosophy which has been so much misunderstood and grievously misrepresented as the ‘war-mongering’ doctrine behind the administration of George W Bush, Kristol – along with his wife, the scarcely less intellectually formidable Gertrude Himmelfarb -- was the first public intellectual to understand and articulate a defence of western civilisation against the onslaught mounted by the moral and cultural relativism of the nihilistic left.

She continues:

SARAH PALIN SPEAKS IN HONG KONG, CHAMPIONS "COMMON SENSE" CONSERVATISM

Update 9/24/09 - Sarah Palin offers an enlarged number of excerpts from her Facebook page.

(Original Post) - The Wall Street Journal offers a number of excerpts.  On the government's culpability in the recent financial crisis, she said:

Lack of government wasn’t the problem. Government policies were the problem. The marketplace didn’t fail. It became exactly as common sense would expect it to. The government ordered the loosening of lending standards. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates low. The government forced lending institutions to give loans to people who, as I say, couldn’t afford them. Speculators spotted new investment vehicles, jumped on board and rating agencies underestimated risks…

How can we discuss reform without addressing the government policies at the root of the problems? The root of the collapse? And how can we think that setting up the Fed as the monitor of systemic risk in the financial sector will result in meaningful reform? The words “fox” and “hen house” come to mind. The Fed’s decisions helped create the bubble. Look at the root cause of most asset bubbles, and you’ll see the Fed somewhere in the background.  [MORE . .]

(Ht: HotAir, which offers a video with responses of those who heard her speak)

IS THE YEARNING FOR PEACE UNIVERSAL?

No.  Cliff May injects needed reality:

President Obama: “The yearning for peace is universal.”

 

Cliff May:  Unfortunately, it is not and has never been. Genghis Khan did not yearn for peace. Napoleon did not yearn for peace. Hitler did not yearn for peace. People who call themselves “jihadis” — by definition — do not yearn for peace except the peace that follows the defeat of all infidels who are — by definition — their enemies.

HONDURAS IN CRISIS, WITH A HAND FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA

At Hugh Hewitt's blogsite, "Jude" writes wisely, if dishearteningly, about Obama's stupid handling of the Honduras crisis.  Is "stupid" the right word?  No. Treacherous would be better.  Jude writes:

Yesterday brought the news from Honduras that ousted - and now former - President Manuel Zalaya had found his way back into the country, holing up in the Brazilian Embassy.  Honduras is now poised for violence, I fear.  By encouraging the return of Zalaya, our government has encouraged instability in Honduras.  Calls for "calm" from this administration are pretty bold now, considering how they've contributed to the trouble, first by not

IMPORTANT WEBSITE: "FORMER MUSLIMS UNITED"

Today I learned of the website, "Former Muslims United" from Pamela Geller's Atlas Shrugs which has been following the case of the young former Muslim, and now Christian,  Rifqa Bary (see also here). "Former Muslims United" plans a news conference for September 24th at which it will "call on the Department of Justice and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to investigate possible hate crimes and civil rights violations against apostates from Islam, including the circumstances of the current Florida case of 17-year old Rifqa Bary, a former Muslim."  It also plans to release FMU's groundbreaking text, “Muslim Pledge for Religious Freedom and Safety from Harm for Former Muslims.”  These developments strike me as extraordinary.  May God bless these efforts which, properly understood, must be viewed as heroic. 

At the FormerMuslimsUnited website, one can find a link to Dr. Andrew Bostom's important article, Apostasy and the Islamic Nations which shows how the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam blatantly contradicts the 1948 U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the United States Bill of Rights.   Bostom cites the Muslim texts that demand the killing of apostates, a chilling reality that has yet to penetrate the minds of uncomprehending Western multiculturalists.

(See my former post on Rifqa Bary here).

WILLIAM BENNETT & ERGUN CANER -- TWO OUTSTANDING SPEECHES FROM THE "VALUES VOTER SUMMIT"

Last weekend I was able to watch a few of the "Values Voter Summit" speeches "live" via streaming internet, but not all.  Now the Family Research Council has made them available as webcasts for leisurely viewing.   Of those I saw, I found William Bennett's comments on his two-volume textbook, America: the Last Best Hope, both entertaining and instructive.  He makes history "live" and made me want to go out and buy his two books.

A far different talk was given by Dr. Ergun Caner, the President of Liberty Theological Seminary, and a man who was raised a Muslim.  If you don't watch any other speech, this would probably be the one to see, especially if you have an interest in Islam and would like to hear the story of how one Muslim became a follower of Jesus.  Caner's talk is powerful, personal, insightful, and entertaining, and well worth the 25 minutes it takes to watch it. 

You can find these two speeches, and many more, here.

WHY DOES THE AARP SUPPORT OBAMACARE? IS THERE SOMETHING ROTTEN IN DENMARK?

Michelle Malkin uncovers something smelly.  Read Michelle's post: "Hmmm:  Is the AARP getting "kickbacks" from Obamacare?

C.S. LEWIS - BOOKS THAT SHAPED HIS LIFE

I recently encountered once again the list C.S. Lewis provided in response to The Christian Century's question, "What books did most to shape your vocational attitude and your philosophy of life?"  Lewis responded:

Phantastes, by George MacDonald; The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton; The Aeneid, by Virgil; The Temple, by George Herbert; The Prelude, by William Wordsworth; The Idea of the Holy, by Rudolf Otto; The Consolation of Philosophy, by Boethius; Life of Samuel Johnson, by James Boswell; Descent into Hell, by Charles Williams; Theism and Humanism, by Arthur James Balfour.  

The list appears in Walter Hooper, C.S. Lewis: A Companion & Guide (p. 752) and originally appeared in The Christian Century (6 June 1962).

DOUG GILES - "NO, IT WASN'T MY IDEA FOR MY DAUGHTER TO DRESS LIKE A HOOKER AND INFILTRATE ACORN"

Doug Giles is the father of Hannah Giles (of recent fame!) Most readers will want to read Doug's Townhall column setting straight many false accusations hurled at James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles -- and Dad Giles, too.

Update 9/21/09: Andrew Breitbart, creator of biggovernment.com (the site which posted the O'Keefe/Giles videos exposing ACORN), explains the strategy.  The Breitbart piece is well worth reading.  Not only has ACORN been exposed, but also the bias of old-line media.  To get past the protective, leftist, old-line media gatekeepers and spinmeisters, there had to be a strategy.  Breitbart explains it.  (HT: HotAir)

RANDY ALCORN'S BOOK: "IF GOD IS GOOD . . . FAITH IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING AND EVIL"

From Between Two Worlds:

Randy Alcorn's new big book on the problem of evil and suffering is now available: If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil (Multnomah).

You can read the table of contents and some excerpts at EPM's page, read an interview that Andy Naselli did with Randy here at Between Two Worlds, or read a review of the book by Tim Challies.

Me:  I've clicked through the links.  This book looks tremendous!  I'm reminded of his earlier blockbuster, Heaven, which I have on my shelf and need to get to soon.

SALMON RUSHDIE CLAIMS THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNRELIABLE BECAUSE IT WAS WRITTEN (HE SAYS) 100 YEARS AFTER THE EVENTS IT DESCRIBES. IS HE RIGHT?

I was disheartened the other day as I began browsing in Ibn Warraq (ed) The Quest for the Historical Muhammad.  On page 15, Warraq embeds a quote from Salmon Rushdie:

"... Our records of Christianity date from about a hundred years after the events they represent.  It's a really long time.  The degree of authority one can give to the evangelists about the life of Christ is relatively small." 

My instant reaction:  "How sad for him to be so tragically misinformed!"  It struck me as similar to those Jews at the time of Christ who dismissed Jesus' Messianic credentials outright because they thought he had been born in Galilee, and they knew that the Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem.  [John 7:40-44] Their misinformation represented a fundamental error of factual knowledge that could easily have been corrected.  (Jesus had  been born in Bethlehem!)

In the case of Salmon Rushdie, how I wish he (and others similarly mislead), knew some of the facts that can be found in Frank Turek and Norman L. Geisler's book, I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist and similar sources.

There is actually only a 15 to 40 year gap between the life of Christ and the writings about him.  Turek and Geisler headline one section of their book: "Some New Testament Books were Penned in the 40s and 50s A.D., with Sources from the 30s  (Only a Few Years After the Death of Jesus).  (p. 241) They write:

"There is no doubt from anyone--including the most liberal of scholars--that Paul wrote his first letter to the church at Corinth (which is in modern-day Greece) sometimes between 55 and 56.

WHAT'S THE BEST TERM FOR THE NON-WESTERN WORLD? - "THIRD WORLD"? "TWO-THIRDS WORLD"? "GLOBAL SOUTH"? or "MAJORITY WORLD"?

Timothy Tennent takes a few pages to discuss the merits of each term in his excellent book, Theology in the Context of Global Christianity.  On the designation "Third World" (coined in 1952 by the French demographer Alfred Sauvy), Tennent says:

It quickly entered English as a helpful phrase to speak collectively about Africa, Asia, and Latin America.  It was originally articulated in the context of the Cold War, when the world was polarized by the two "worlds" of the capitalistic, industrialized West and the communist, state-controlled East.  It began as a political expression.  Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, the expression "Third World country" began to be used in an economic

QUOTE OF THE DAY - (RE: OBAMA FOREIGN POLICY SURPRISES)

Jay Nordlinger writes:

I thought Barack Obama would be a poor and troublesome president. Did I think he would yuk it up with Hugo Chávez, smirk with Daniel Ortega about the Bay of Pigs, turn his wrath on a Central American democracy trying to follow its constitution, denounce President Bush abroad, bow to the king of Saudi Arabia, endorse a radical Middle Eastern view of how Israel came into being, knock Western countries that try to protect Muslim girls from unwanted shrouding, invite the Iranian regime to our Fourth of July parties, stay essentially mute in the face of counterrevolution in Iran, squeeze and panic Israel, cold-shoulder the Cuban democrats in order to warm to the Cuban dictatorship, scrap missile defense in Eastern Europe, and refuse to meet with the Dalai Lama — in addition to his attempts to have government eat great portions of American society? No, I did not. You?

POLISH NEWSPAPER: "BETRAYAL! THE U.S. SOLD US TO RUSSIA AND STABBED US IN THE BACK"

I lament the Obama administration's decision to abandon Eastern Europe to the tender mercies (!) of Russia.  Earlier I had posted a letter from Eastern Europe leaders (including Vaclav Havel and Lech Walensa) imploring Obama not to do that.  But he has done so. 

Reactions have been pouring in.  John Bolton calls it "pre-emptive capitulation"   Peter Kirsanow says, "Keeping your fingers crossed against a possible disaster does not qualify as a national-security policy."

Maybe worst of all, the President said he would stand by Eastern Europe.  His "word" proves worthless.  One can safely ignore him when he says, "Let me be clear."   Here's a video of what he said in Prague on April 5, 2009.  And here's the text of his remarks:  (HT: Rich Lowry)

So let me be clear: Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat, not just to the United States, but to Iran's neighbors and our allies. The Czech Republic and Poland have been courageous in agreeing to host a defense against these missiles. As long as the threat from Iran persists, we will go forward with a missile defense system that is cost-effective and proven. (Applause.) If the Iranian threat is eliminated, we will have a stronger basis for security, and the driving force for missile defense construction in Europe will be removed. (Applause.)

NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLARS RICHARD BAUCKHAM AND JAMES CROSSLEY DEBATE THE HISTORICAL RELIABILITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT GOSPELS

Wintery Knight is on a roll.  Today he posts links to a debate between New Testament scholars Richard Bauckham and James Crossley.  The subject is the reliability of the Gospels.  In recent years I have read outstanding and intriguing reviews of Bauckham's work which takes the defense of the gospels in new directions.  This debate should be terrific.  Part 1 – (1 hr 20 mins)   Part 2 – (1 hr 20 mins)

Faith and Reason (Apologetics): More Resources

The following comes courtesy of Wintery Knight blog.  He spotlights a recent apologetics conference held at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church.  For a video and audio of the following lectures, click here.

• How Can I Know God Exists? – Dinesh D’Souza
• How Did the Universe Begin – William Lane Craig
• If God Exists, Why is there Evil? – Norman Geisler
• Has Science Made Belief in God Obsolete? – J.P. Moreland
• What Do the Gospels Really Say About Jesus? – Darrell Bock
• How Can I Defend My Faith Without Sounding Defensive? – Greg Koukl

Wintery Knight also includes the following new audio lectures and video from William Lane Craig:

Can We Be Good Without God? (National Faculty Leadership Conf. 2008)  Audio

Why Does Anything at All Exist? (National Faculty Leadership Conf. 2008)  Audio

Healthy Relationships (National Faculty Leadership Conf. 2008) Audio

Who Does Jesus Think He Was? (National Faculty Leadership Conf. 2008)  Audio

Why Does Anything at All Exist? (Wake Forest University)  Video

Response to Richard Dawkins book, The God Delusion (University of Florida) Audio

One Question: The top 3 questions Univ. of Florida students are asking God (University of Florida)
Audio

RAMADAN AS A FESTIVAL OF HATE

So sad.  It's all about Islamic anti-Semitism.  Click here.

C.S. LEWIS ON OBJECTIVE VALUE

1. "The doctrine of objective value [is] the belief that certain attitudes are really true, and others really false, to the kind of thing the universe is and the kind of things we are. . . . Because our approvals and disapprovals are thus recognitions of objective value or responses to an objective order, therefore emotional states can be in harmony with reason (when we feel liking for what ought to be approved) or out of harmony with  reason (when we perceive that liking is due but cannot feel it). No emotion is, in itself, a judgement: in that sense all emotions and sentiments are alogical. But they can be  reasonable or unreasonable as they conform to Reason or fail to conform."  --The Abolition of Man (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975), 31-32.   (HT: Doug Groothuis)

Me: This is a great quote.  A bombshell, really.  So many people assume that their "feelings" tell them truths about the universe and about ethics.  Not so.  Anyone who absorbs the message and insights of "The Abolition of Man" will find themselves at revolutionary odds with the insanity of contemporary Western culture.

SHOCKING: PRESS ACCURACY RATINGS HITS TWO DECADES LOW

-- Pew Research Center -  Press Accuracy Ratings Hits Two Decades Low  Everyone agrees:  Mainstream media is biased and inaccurate.  No wonder newspapers can't sell papers anymore.  (HT: HotAir)

-- Bernie Goldberg (author of Bias) says we should no longer use the title "Mainstream Media."  He asked for suggestions from his readers and received the following:  (samples) - "Progressive Media," "Subversive Media," "Propaganda Press," "Trivial Media," "The Incurious Media," "Cheer the Leader Media," "Action Left News," "Left Wing Media," "Establishment Media," (keep the initials: 'Mainly Socialist Media,'" "State-Supported Media," "Dancing with the Czars Media," "The Lemmings Media," "LSM - Left Stream Media," "Liberal Media," and more . . .  (HT: O'Reilly Factor)  Update: Michelle Malkin opts for "Ostrich Media"

--- Addendum 9/15/09 -  "Acorn Story Grows But Mainstream Media Refuse to Cover It" - 

This story has everything you could ever want – corruption, sleazy actions at tax-funded organizations, firings, government ties, sex, hookers. It is a network news director’s dream. Imagine the ratings. But almost no one is covering it.

Bruce Springsteen once wrote: “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come).” I doubt

QUICK TAKES

- Slanted media:  How Bad was the  New York Times Whitewash of Van Jones?  It has come to this.  (HT: HotAir)

- Jay Nordlinger - "Funny about our new president. He seems to reserve his harshest words, and biggest stick, for two little, struggling democracies: Honduras and Israel . .   Would that he were a fraction as tough on bad regimes — Iran’s, North Korea’s, Sudan’s, Venezuela’s, Cuba’s, Syria’s — as he is on those little democracies Israel and Honduras. Funny, this president.

9/12 TAXPAYER TEA PARTY MARCH ON WASHINGTON, D.C.

Update 9/13/09 - London's Daily Mail offers lots of pictures and good coverage.

(Original Post) - Mark Henninger has great coverage with terrific photos.  Michelle Malkin has  excellent coverage as well.  And check out this site which is replete with many good links, including a video of Tea Partyers drowning out a CNN reporter.

All in all a stunning turn out!  Here's coverage from the Washington Post.  (Better than I expected).

OBAMA FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS IRAN: DISASTER IN THE MAKING

The redoubtable Iran watcher, Michael Ledeen weighs in with his post, Appeasement Runs Wild in the West:

The seriousness of the West has been tested once again, and once again the West has chosen dishonor. Today that grand master of appeasement, Javier Solana [EU foreign policy chief], announced that Iran's proposal for broad talks has been accepted, and the State Department tells us that the talks will take place in December.

In other words, when we announced that we would give Iran until September to fish or cut bait on their nuclear program, it was a hoax. All we wanted — all the Obama administration has ever wanted — was the chance to sit down around a table with the

QUOTE OF THE DAY - LIMITS OF WESTERN WILL?

Mark Steyn:

[...] The president of the United States congratulates himself on his fearlessness in standing up for the right of a woman to choose to wear a hijab but won't say a word about the young Muslim girls murdered by their families in America, Canada, Britain, Sweden, Germany, and around the world for choosing not to wear a hijab. As is now traditional for the observances of the anniversary, the media offer their doleful reports on American Muslims' "fears" of a "backlash" against them, even though the post-9/11 period has been an era not of Islamophobia but of weirdly insistent Islamophilia. And in our broader culture, self-loathing, trutherism, and other fin du civilisation poses run rampant, even unto the heart of the government.

9/11 was bad news if you were enjoying the good life in a jihadist training camp in the Hindu Kush. But, over the long run, it was a useful lesson in the limits of western will.

WE REMEMBER 9/11

Hugh Hewitt expresses my sentiments exactly:

Thanks to the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, coast guard, counter-terrorism and public safety professionals who have prevented a second attack for eight years.

The enormous cost of the battles in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world have been made so that there have not had to be more pictures like this one.  We remember the victims of 9/11 today, but we also need to salute the thousands killed and tens of thousands wounded in the war with the Islamists, fanatics who would gladly see a 9/11 every day in their war with the West.

IMAGES FROM REFURBISHED HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

Wow.  Take a look at these Hubble space photographs.   Earlier today I read Isaiah 40:26 -

Lift up your eyes on high and see:
     who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
     calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
     and because he is strong in power
     not one is missing.

SECOND VIDEO SHOWS "ACORN" OFFICIALS HELPING 'PIMP,' 'PROSTITUTE' IN WASHINGTON OFFICE

Story here.  Wow!   "ACORN" - what a slimy organization!  And they get millions of tax dollars to do their unethical, illegal, and  smutty stuff.  That's my first reaction.  My second is, "Wow, what a smart team of undercover kids" (James O'Keefe & Hannah Giles).  They didn't limit themselves to just one ACORN office.  (See yesterday's blog post on their undercover work at the Baltimore "ACORN" office).   My hat is off to them.   They deserve the gratitude of the entire country.  Here's the video on their undercover work in the ACORN Washington, D.C. office.

Update:  It's become obvious to me that anyone wanting to keep up with the news needs to keep tabs on the biggovernment.com website.  Recent headlines:

- James O'Keefe - Why I Don't Return Phone Calls from an Intrepid CNN Producer

- Maryland ACORN official: It's racism.

- Michelle Bachmann (R- MN) -Demands Investigation and Suspension of  Taxpayer Funding to ACORN 

- U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves - Letter Announcing Decision to Sever ACORN Ties

- Update 9/12/09 - Former Leftist Activist Pulls the Curtain Back on Acorn.  Brandon Darby tells the disreputable, thuggish nature of ACORN in post-Katrina New Orleans and thereafter.
 

BREAKING NEWS: PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST SHOT AND KILLED IN OWOSSO, MICHIGAN

Terrible news.  Story here.     (HT: Drudge)    I'll be revisiting this post later.

Update:  USA Today provides more details:

Some activists in Detroit mourned the death of Pouillon, who they said was a well-known abortion foe.  "Jim Pouillon is a hero," said Monica Migliorino Miller of South Lyon, the director of Citizens for a Pro-life Society. "He died for the cause of life."

Miller said Poullion was dependent on an oxygen tank and wore leg braces. She said he often stood outside Flint area abortion clinics and  Planned Parenthood offices. . .   Pouillon, who often carried an oxygen tank and often used a wheelchair, was known around town as an active anti-abortion activist who displayed graphic images of aborted fetuses.

STING OPERATION: ACORN CAUGHT ADVISING A "PROSTITUTE" AND "PIMP" PLUS OKAYING SEX TRAFFICKING

Update 9/11/09 - Hannah Giles, the 20 year old woman posing as a prostitute, tells the story of the sting operation.

(Original Post) - Wow!  What an amazing undercover operation.  Fox news carries the story here.  Incredible, damning videotape can be seen in its entirety here at the BigGovernment.com blog.  Andrew Breitbart says of the undercover man, James O'Keefe:

   So who is James O’Keefe?

Morley Safer meets Sacha Baron Cohen, I think. Not precise. But you get the point.

This isn’t your mother’s “60 Minutes.” But then again, why would a twenty five-year old even think straight journalism? His crowd doesn’t even know who Don Hewitt is. They need it quick cut, set to music and packaged to go viral on YouTube.

From what I gather, James wants to speak to his twenty-something peers who have been asked to pay for unaccountable big government ventures like ACORN on their maxed-out

JONAH GOLDBERG: "THOMAS FRIEDMAN IS A LIBERAL FASCIST"

Jonah Goldberg, the author of Liberal Fascism, put up the following post today:

Thomas Friedman writes:

One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages. That one party can just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century. It is not an accident that China is committed to overtaking us in electric cars, solar power, energy efficiency, batteries, nuclear power and wind power. China’s leaders understand that in a world of exploding populations and rising emerging-market middle classes, demand for clean power and energy efficiency is going to soar. Beijing wants to make sure that it owns that industry and is ordering the policies to do that, including boosting gasoline prices, from the top down.

Our one-party democracy is worse....

[Goldberg]  So there you have it. If only America could drop its inefficient and antiquated system, designed in the age before globalization and modernity and, most damning of all, before the lantern of Thomas Friedman's intellect illuminated the land. If only enlightened experts could do the hard and necessary

CHARLES COLSON: CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW A NECESSITY, NOT AN OPTION

I like what Colson says.  His message carries the announcement that he has developed a new website to help develop Christian worldview thinking -- ColsonCenter.org

Read the whole article  [my emphases]:

What is the vision of the Church? That was the sermon topic one Sunday a dozen years ago or so when I visited a friend’s church. But as I listened, I found my mind wandering. I had just signed a contract to write a book on Christian worldview, and I was experiencing writer’s remorse. Did this book really need to be written?

Suddenly the pastor’s words caught my attention. The mission of the Church, he said, is to prepare for Christ’s return in five ways: prayer, Bible study, worship, fellowship, and evangelism. In that instant, all doubts about writing the book vanished. Of course, these five spiritual exercises are central to the Church’s life, but we can never overlook our responsibility to redeem all of culture as well. Though well-intentioned, the pastor’s words were a prescription for the continued marginalization of the Church.

Just like this pastor, many evangelicals define faith strictly in terms of personal salvation. Yet soul-winning is not an end in itself. We are not only saved from sin, we are also saved to something—to the task of cultivating God’s creation. Genesis teaches that on the first five days, God did the work of creating. But on the sixth day, He made human beings in His image to carry on His work—to develop the raw materials of the world He had created.

MORE SKIN CANCER SURGERY TODAY

I thought today's second facial surgery (see account of first surgery here) would be quicker and simpler than it turned out to be.  There proved to be a lot of wait time both in the waiting room, and also in the surgery room, with the result that I was at the clinic from 9:30  to 4:30 PM.  In addition to the repair from the first surgery, I also underwent "Mohs microscopic surgery" on a new squamous cell carcinoma on my ear.  So once again I am bandaged up!  But there is light at the end of the tunnel.  To those who prayed, I thank you heartily. 

HAS THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION "EVOLVED BEYOND RACE" OR THE OPPOSITE?

Victor Davis Hanson says "the opposite" and foresees a probable eventual "polarization we have not seen in generations."   Oh my... !   VDH elucidates:

Did Jones [the black czar who just resigned] or did not Jones in public and in interviews compare the president of the United States to a crack-cocaine addict, assert that white people are polluting the ghetto, that only white students commit mass murders in the public schools, that Republicans are a**holes, and sign a petition calling for an investigation of the Bush administration’s purported role in causing 9/11?

The Jones mess brings up a larger issue. Americans were assured that with the ascendance of Barack Obama we would evolve beyond race. Yet in the last ninth months it is almost as if precisely the opposite has occurred — but with a strange twist. The country has been serially lectured about race from some of the most privileged Americans in the country. Columbia law grad elite Eric Holder accused the country of cowardice for its reluctance to speak about race. Harvard-law alum Barack Obama accused the Cambridge police of profiling and acting stupidly in taking elite Harvard professor Skip Gates down to the station after his screaming

QUICK TAKES

I see the Wintery Knight Blog has once again linked to some of my blog posts.  I can easily reciprocate.  As I have repeatedly said, I regard WKB a daily must read.  Here are some of his latest posts together with required links:

Sen. Tom Coburn [R-OK] takes a hostile question (video) at a town hall  [Me: And gives a smashingly good answer]

New CDC study says that gay/bisexual men 50 times more likely to be HIV-positive  [Me:  That can only be news because of prior politically correct brainwashing]

Six prominent Jews explain why most Jews are so liberal  [Me: I always find it sad that so many Jews don't understand that evangelical Christians are their best friends.]

KEEPING UP-TO-DATE ON "CHILD DEVELOPMENT" NONSENSE FROM THE "EXPERTS"

Did you know that self-esteem theory has now been proven ineffective, and so have tolerance and diversity emphases?  "What!?" you say.  "I thought all that was established orthodoxy amongst social scientists."  No longer.  In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Kay Hyowitz published an eye-opening review of Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman.  Concerning the the latest research on self-esteem, Hymowitz writes:

As Mr. Bronson and Ms. Merryman remind us, the psychologist Nathaniel Brandon published a path-breaking paper in 1969 called "The Psychology of Self-Esteem" in which he argued that feelings of self-worth were a key to success in life. The theory became a big hit in the nation's schools; in the mid-1980s, the California Legislature even ­established a self-esteem task force. By now, there are 15,000 scholarly articles on the subject.

And what do they show? That high self-esteem doesn't improve grades, reduce ­anti-social behavior, deter alcohol drinking or do much of anything good for kids. In fact, telling kids how smart they are can be ­counterproductive. Many children who are convinced that they are little geniuses tend not to put much effort into their work. Others are troubled by the latent anxiety of adults who feel it necessary to praise them constantly.

The benefits of teaching tolerance and promoting ­diversity look equally unimpressive in the current ­research. According to "NurtureShock," a lot of well-meaning adult nostrums—"we're all friends," "we're all

100 YEAR OLD BRIT REUNITED WITH HUNDREDS HE SAVED FROM HITLER'S OVENS

Stephen Adams of the Telegraph has the story:   (HT: Kathryn Jean Lopez)

   But by virtue of the foresight, humanity and sheer bloody-mindedness of a young British stockbroking clerk called Nicholas Winton, 669 Jewish children were saved from the clutches of the Nazis.

On Friday, 22 of them were renited with their 100-year-old saviour – now Sir Nicholas – who has come to be known as the 'British Schindler'.

A steam engine specially requisitioned to re-enact the last

REP. SUE MYRICK'S (R-NC) HEALTH CARE TOWN HALL MEETING - ANYTHING BUT ASTROTURF!

Read the following entertaining and enlightening report submitted by Frank Turek.  You will consider it time well spent.

When I learned that my Representative, Sue Myrick, would hold a health-care town hall meeting at our local high school, I decided to attend to see firsthand how much of the passion against socialized medicine was the result of real grass roots or just “Astroturf” (as Nancy Pelosi put it). Sue is a strong conservative who came to office as part of the 1994 Republican revolution. Since she’s against the current house bill (HR 3200), I didn’t think all that many would turnout. Wow, was I wrong!

Let me set the context for you. I live in a half-rural half-residential town about 30 minutes outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Our population is about 8,000 (not counting cows and horses). There’s one small