I've cleaned up the South Dakota blog roll a little bit, getting rid of a couple that I know are no longer active.
I also added a couple of church blogs. There's Voices Carry from Pastor Steve Hickey of Church at the Gate in Sioux Falls and GraceLife from Pastor Richard Wells at South Canyon Baptist Church in Rapid City. Pastor Hickey's deals mostly with pro-life and other current events issues, while Pastor Wells' are primarily reprints of his weekly bulletin article for South Canyon; Pastor Wells' subjects are sometimes theological topics that are thought-provoking, and at other times delve into current events.
These two have been added to the SD blogs blog roll on the left-side column, and to the recommended blog posts that automatically show up in the right-side column.
If you know of another good South Dakota church blog out there, post a comment here and I'll consider it for inclusion.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Blog Roll Updates
South Dakota Bishop OKs Abortion Petition
About a month ago, a pro-life coalition under the umbrella of VoteYesForLife.com began circulating a petition to limit abortions in South Dakota.
Unlike the abortion ban which was rejected by voters in 2006, this ban would allow exceptions for rape, incest, and the health of the mother. The exceptions outlined in the proposed law are worded so as to prevent misuse and abuse.
For instance, the rape/incest exception requires that the crime be reported to law enforcement authorities, and DNA evidence must be obtained and stored for use in prosecuting the perpetrator.
The health exception is only allowed when there is "serious risk of a substantial and irreversible impairment of the functioning of a major bodily organ or system" which could be prevented by an abortion.
Since the petition was filed with the South Dakota Secretary of State, hundreds of pro-life people and churches across the state have been circulating the petition in pursuit of the nearly 17,000 signatures required to bring the proposed ban to a vote in November 2008.
Many pro-lifers believe that even the child conceived in rape or incest is a human being, endowed by its creator with dignity and the right to life. Because of this, some have been hesitant about supporting the proposed ban.
Yesterday, LifeNews.com reported that Bishop Paul Swain of the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese has spoken out in support of the ban because it is a move in the direction of stopping as many abortions as possible.
According to the latest statistics (for 2006) from the South Dakota Department of Health, only 0.4 percent of abortions were done for rape and incest. Those done for health reasons similar to the exception provided in the proposed ban comprised 1.5 percent of all abortions.
Therefore, under the proposed ban, 98.1% of abortions in South Dakota would be stopped. This includes the 84.6% done because "The mother did not desire to have the child," or abortion as outright retroactive birth control.
According to a statement by Bishop Swain at the Catholic Advocate Network, Catholics should approach this issue prayerfully, with an informed conscience.
Swain says that while Catholics may decide to oppose this referendum because it "does not reflect the fullness of the Church's teaching on the sanctity of all human life," but does say that it is alright to sign the petition and to help circulate the petition.
Bishop Swain says that despite the exceptions which make the proposed ban less than ideal, it is a move in the right direction that can be morally supported:
Sometimes morally flawed laws already exist. In this situation the process of framing legislation to protect life is subject to prudential judgment and 'the art of the possible.' At times this process may restore justice only partially or gradually. For example, Pope John Paul II taught that when a government official who fully opposes abortion cannot succeed in completely overturning a pro-abortion law, he or she may work to improve protection for unborn human life, 'limiting the harm done by such a law,' and lessening its negative impact as much as possible (Evangelium Vitae no. 73). Such incremental improvements in the law are acceptable as steps toward the full restoration of justice. However, Catholics must never abandon the moral requirement to seek full protection for all human life from the moment of conception until natural death.
Many in the pro-life community, and not only Catholics, continue to believe that the total ban on abortions offered in 2006 is the best, most consistent approach because it affirms human life regardless of origin, but in the end most have decided to support the proposed ban with exceptions because it would stop over 98% of abortions in South Dakota.
Saving everyone from danger is always preferable, but if given a choice of saving 98% or saving 0%, most caring people will opt to save the 98% today...and continue working to save the remaining 2% tomorrow.
Sociology: The Divine Imprint
The Truth Project continues this week at South Canyon Baptist Church in Rapid City this Sunday from 8:57 am to 10:15 am. Come and join us for Lesson 7 on sociology.
The order we observe in the natural realm is even more apparent in the social systems God has established: family, church, community, state, labor, and the union between God and man. Life is a series of relationships that flow out of and reflect the Trinitarian nature of the Creator.
Visit www.thetruthproject.org for more information.
Friday, February 22, 2008
A 'yes, we can' plan with beef
BY STAR PARKER
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
COALITION ON URBAN RENEWAL & EDUCATION
With the wide public sympathy today for "cleaning up Washington," it's too bad that more attention hasn't been given to Mike Huckabee's "Fair Tax" proposal.
There is no perfectly constructed tax, and this idea, like all, has its critics. But it also has huge benefits relevant to today's concerns and warrants much more serious attention than it's getting.
The proposal would get rid of all existing taxes -- the income tax on individuals and corporations, the payroll tax, the estate (death) tax -- and replace them with a single national retail sales tax. Fair Tax proponents say that it would take a sales tax of 23 percent to meet current obligations.
Enactment of such a tax would be accompanied by repeal of the 16th Amendment, which was ratified in 1913 and made it possible for Congress to tax income.
Most probably are not even aware that the Constitution had to be amended to make an income tax possible, and that this did not occur until the beginning of the last century.
It's also worth noting that, in the early part of the last century, most tax revenue occurred at the state and local rather than the federal level. Shortly before enactment of the federal income tax, federal taxes accounted for just 3 percent of the nation's GDP. Today they account for close to 20 percent.
Economists can argue cause and effect. I'll just point out that as soon as we enacted the income tax, growth of the federal government took off and outstripped state and local spending as the major tax burden on citizens.
The income tax, with its 45,000 pages of tax code, is now simply a sandbox for politicians and lobbyists to play in. This is what we should focus on in all the discussion about special interests, lobbyist influence and runaway growth in government.
With a national retail sales tax to finance government, the tax burden on citizens would be totally transparent. Whenever you make a purchase and look at the sales slip, you'd see the 23 percent tax and know that's what you are paying for the federal government and its programs.
When a Sen. Smith or a Congressman Jones shepherds some new program through Congress and the president signs it into law -- ka-ching! -- we'd immediately see it at the cash register. When you ask the cashier why you are now paying 24 percent instead of 23 percent, he or she can explain that you are paying for some wonderful new government program.
Anyone who has been around Washington for a while knows that it is next to impossible to get a 1 cent increase in the federal gasoline tax passed. Despite a consensus that we should dampen our consumption of gasoline, no politician wants to take credit for transparently raising a retail sales tax.
Consider the impact on special interests.
Most of those 45,000 pages of the tax code reflect special treatments and deductions for businesses, particular types of investment, or behavior. This stuff got in there and regularly gets modified and changed as a result of various special interests working their magic.
The number of registered lobbyists in Washington doubled over the last eight years from 17,000 to over 34,000. A good chunk of their business is generated by proposed additions or changes to the tax code.
If you listen to Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, with all the talk of reducing lobbyists' influence, most of their pitch is using the tax code for their social engineering programs.
I say get rid of the code, the Internal Revenue Service and the lobbyists.
Ironically, the major reason why the national retail sales tax gets so little attention is because insiders deem it politically impossible to achieve. Those who are part of the problem don't want the solution. The tax code is now one huge special-interest honey pot and the swarming bees want to keep it that way.
The best reply to this challenge came from the Republicans' own "yes, we can" man, Mike Huckabee.
When NBC's Tim Russert challenged Huckabee on the political likelihood of the Fair Tax, Huckabee's response was:
"... Tim, ... everybody talks about how unlikely these things are. That's what's wrong in America. We're always talking about what we can't do."
Are we really at the point where major reforms are no longer possible in this country?
Republicans ought to get behind this "yes, we can" plan with beef.
Star Parker is president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education and author of the new book White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay.
Prior to her involvement in social activism, Star Parker was a single welfare mother in Los Angeles, California. After receiving Christ, Star returned to college, received a BS degree in marketing and launched an urban Christian magazine. The 1992 Los Angeles riots destroyed her business, yet served as a springboard for her focus on faith and market-based alternatives to empower the lives of the poor.
Producing A Generation of Air-Heads Or Is It Heartless Greed?
by Carrie K. Hutchens
It's bad enough walking through China-Mart, I mean Wal-Mart, trying to find something that isn't made in China, when you have a fondness for buying American made products, but that bad has gotten even worse.
China's products made our pets sick. Then they made our kids sick. Now information is coming out that medicine (or the ingredients) are also coming from China? Whose air-head idea was that one?
I cannot believe that people in the power think it is a good thing to out-source our jobs to places like China. We take away jobs here to get products cheaper so the now unemployed workers will be able to afford them? Guess that makes sense to someone, since that is what it looks like is happening. But it doesn't make sense to me. I see it as a deadly game. I see it as offering our citizens up for the sacrifice and slaughter for the almighty dollar or some silly idea of how if we give them all our work and our money -- China might like us and be nice.
KMBC has an interesting article on this matter, "China Makes Many Drugs Sold In U.S. - Blood Thinner Heparin Linked To Deaths" (Kansas City, MO - POSTED: 4:50 pm CST February 21, 2008. UPDATED: 9:57 pm CST February 21, 2008). An article that should be an eye-opener to people who are naively thinking the high standards for our meds, food and products are still in place.
I, too, feel that China isn't all that concerned about it's own citizens. It's irrational to think they are going to be overly-cautious with products for us and give all the sub-standard to their own. So the question becomes, "Why in the world would anyone in this country think they would be more concerned about us -- a people that they seem to merely tolerate for the opportunities, money and jobs they can take at our expense?"
I'm not sure if we produced a generation of air-heads or simply one with some pretty heartless and greedy people, but the craziness of this all ought to be getting pretty obvious to the American people. Made in China products should no longer be considered a mere annoyance. It should be taken for what it truly is -- a matter of national security! A matter of China destroying America by America's own defect -- air-heads and the heartless greedy!
We teach our children that they should say "no" to drugs. Maybe we should teach our society to say "no" to drugs from China. Maybe we should go one better than that. Maybe we should say "no" to anything made in China and to the stores that overwhelming sell their products rather than Made in the USA ones. Maybe it is time for our voices and our concern to be heard and responded to.
As consumers, we do have the power to make a difference. A difference the air-heads might not grasp, but the heartless greedy will be scrambling to get the profit margin back up and that is to our advantage. I think it is about time we take advantage of that advantage and stop the China frenzy. Stop the dangerous imports that threaten our lives and our livelihood, and the dangerous export of our jobs that threaten to totally destroy our economy! It's time to take our market and, therefore, our country back! It's past time to say "NO" to China and "YES" to the USA! Why not say it today?
Clinton Escort Officer Dies
KMBC.com reported...
Clinton Motorcade Escort Dies In Crash
Crash Happened Before Clinton's Vehicle Slowly Passed
POSTED: 9:44 am CST February 22, 2008
UPDATED: 10:21 am CST February 22, 2008
DALLAS -- A Dallas motorcycle police officer has died after crashing Friday while escorting the Hillary Clinton motorcade to a campaign rally, according to news reports.
(Full Article)
Prayers go out to the officer, his family, friends & the department!
Huckabee Pushing for Brokered Convention
From WOAI Radio comes an article claiming Mike Huckabee is placing his hopes on forcing a brokered convention by winning in Texas and Ohio, thus denying John McCain a walk-way victory for the primary.
Huckabee says with an upset win in Texas, and a win in the Ohio Republican primary the same day, Huckabee could deny front runner John McCain the nomination in the primaries.
“If we win Texas, I think it changes the dynamics of this race. It could well go all the way to the convention. If the convention delegates pick the president, chances are they would pick the most conservative. I would be the one they would end up picking, if that’s the criteria.”
Such a scenario would be better than we have now, as Huckabee would definitely be more conservative than McCain.
What I wonder is whether some of the candidates who have already pulled out of the race could throw their hats back in the ring. After all, even though Huckabee is better than McCain, he's far from a conservative.
It would be good to have some real conservative choices back in the game, like Tom Tancredo or even Duncan Hunter. Hunter has an unassailably conservative record across the board. He hasn't waffled on immigration, defense, marriage, pro-life issues, religious rights, crime, the war on terrorism, or anything.
Duncan Hunter is the man who should have been the GOP nominee. But in a choice of McCain or Huckabee, I'll take Huckabee.
NewsBusted Conservative Comedy, 142
Topics in today's show:
--Barack Obama hires an old JFK speechwriter
--Hillary Clinton campaign hits financial trouble
--U.S. Latino population expected to triple by 2050
--NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg says "threat" of global warming just as bad as terrorism
--A musical version of "Fight Club?"
NewsBusted is a comedy webcast about the news of the day, uploaded every Tuesday and every Friday. Check us out on Myspace at http://myspace.com/newsbusted
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Hillary Clinton: The Health Insurance Issue
Carrie Hutchens is a former law enforcement officer and a freelance writer who is active in fighting against the death culture movement and the injustices within the judicial and law enforcement systems.
A Moment to Reflect
We've had a week of depressing stories of children shooting classmates, children taunting and harassing veterans in Berkeley and a Presidential-candidate's wife who doesn't know what pride in America means. I can't help getting a little depressed and pessimistic at times. When I get that way, invariably something comes along to cheer me and reassure me that God is in His Heaven and I have only to have faith in Him.
That happened today when I received an e-mail foward from a friend that I would like to share with you. Here is a rendition of an old hymn that should rouse any red-blooded American. It is done by school children and it reminds me that we are still a great nation and there are still parents raising up their children to be proud Americans and God-fearing citizens. God Bless us all.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Prosecutor: Teen Wanted Parents Dead For Inheritance
According to KMBC.com...
Prosecutor: Teen Wanted Parents Dead For Inheritance
Teens Arrested In Alleged Murder-For-Hire Plot
POSTED: 4:22 pm CST February 20, 2008UPDATED: 6:08 pm CST February 20, 2008INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Two Truman High School students remain in custody in connection with an alleged murder-for-hire plot.
Joseph R. Garcia, 17, and Jacob A. Jett, 18, were charged with second-degree attempted murder and armed criminal action. They had their first court appearance Wednesday.
Police said the pair tried to hire hit men to kill Jett's parents.The Jackson County prosecutor said Jett wanted his parents dead because he wanted to inherit their money. Jett also thought his parents were too strict, the prosecutor said.
(Full article)
OBGYN 'Ethics' Committee Tries to Force Abortion on Doctors
MEDIA ADVISORY, Feb. 20 /Christian Newswire/ -- In Nov 07, the (ACOG) American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology's Ethics Committee issued a formal Opinion titled "The Limits of Conscientious Refusal In Reproductive Medicine." This Opinion warns Ob/Gyn doctors that their practice pattern can be considered "unethical" by ACOG standards if they do not either do abortions, or refer patients desiring an abortion to an abortion provider.
The Opinion goes so far as to suggest that pro-life doctors should locate their office in proximity to an abortion provider, for the convenience of such patients.
The American Board of Ob/Gyn in January 08, published revised standards for doctors seeking recertification (which maintains their professional reputation in good standing). The revised standards are tied to ACOG Ethics compliance. This is a raw power play to cripple, and ultimately eliminate from practice, those doctors who hold a conscience conviction on the sanctity of human life, and refuse to have a part in doing, or referring for, the elective, deliberate taking of an unborn human life.
The American Association of ProLife Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) objects strenuously to this attempt, by a professional medical organization (ACOG), using "ethics violations" and "denial of recertification" as a battering ram, to force pro-life doctors into pro-choice compliance. This country has, since its beginnings, honored the legitimate conscience convictions of its citizens. Pro-life doctors refuse either to electively kill the unborn, or to become an accomplice to such killing by referral to an abortionist. This is a legitimate conscience conviction held by AAPLOG members, and by many other physicians in various specialties.
The Position Statement issued by AAPLOG on Feb 6. 2008, concludes, "... it seems that the (ACOG) Ethics Committee does not understand the strength and depth of a conscience conviction against the elective, deliberate taking of an unborn human life.
This is not a negotiable issue for those who hold this conviction.
The United States Supreme Court allowed elective abortion to be a legal right. The U.S. Supreme Court is not an infallible moral guide for a person's conscience, as evidenced by a previous similar egregious ruling. (This references the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision, in which the US Supreme court, by a 7-2 majority, concluded that Africans are "beings of an inferior order" than the white race, and slaves are property devoid of all rights of legal redress for grievances.
The US Supreme court got it wrong in 1857, and they made the same mistake in 1973 in Roe vs. Wade: Unborn children are fully human, and are entitled to the same right to life as the rest of society.)
The complete AAPLOG Statement may be accessed here.
Waterboarding Isn't Torture
James Zumwalt, a retired Marine writing at Human Events today, examines waterboarding.
We have heard a number of people in recent months and years, including presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain, who claim waterboarding is "torture" and shouldn't be used to obtain life-saving information from captured terrorists.
Were American forces to use this technique on every captured POW simply to gain whatever tidbits of miscellaneous information possible--much as the North Vietnamese did to POWs like John McCain (only using much more painful and damaging techniques)--then I would probably consider that an abuse of the technique and an abuse of the prisoners.
However, based on testimony from intelligence agents, it seems this was used on two or three terrorist prisoners to obtain vital information since the beginning of the war on terrorism. It seems to have been very successful, while inflicting no real pain (though a lot of discomfort) and no physical damage.
What's more, many Americans may not be aware that our special forces troops go through waterboarding as a part of their training, to help prepare them in the event they are captured by the enemy.
Would we subject our own troops to this, if it was such a heinous technique? It's effective in gathering information, but torture?
From Zumwalt's piece, here's what one special forces troop has to say about waterboarding:
While it is clearly a de-humanizing and unpleasant procedure that breaks one’s morale and will, he believes it is not torture. As a boxer, Wages took some devastating hits that were far more brutal and damaging to his body than was waterboarding. But even immediately after his second waterboarding experience, there were no lingering effects of physical bodily injury manifesting what he had just gone through -- seldom the case when torture is applied.
Editor Jed Babbin includes this editor's note, lest you think this is simply one GI Joe tough-guy who doesn't think waterboarding is torture:
I continue to get e-mails from active duty and retired naval aviators who were waterboarded in SERE training as recently as 2001. They, like Wages, don’t believe it is torture. And, to a man, they believe it should be used on terrorist suspects held overseas.
John McCain, a Vietnam POW who actually was tortured, should understand better than anyone that waterboarding isn't torture. The only reason I can think of to explain why he says it is may be his overwhelming compulsion to please the "mainstream" media. He knows he'll win points with them if he says things they like, so he says things they like.
But we don't need a media-pleaser as our president. This is a key reason why I haven't supported GOP candidates like John McCain and Mike Huckabee--neither of them has the resolve to deal firmly with international threats.
But don't get me wrong, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama are even less equipped for dealing with foreign threats.
We're entering a time in America's history where we need God's protection more than ever...and given the way we've been thumbing our nose at Him, somehow I'm not confident we can count on it.
More Aid to the Enemy from Hollywood
Why is that those who have perhaps been most blessed by the affluence our free society fosters, are the ones most quick to demonize this free country?
I'm talking about Hollywood, of course, as actress Sharon Stone becomes the latest to give aid and comfort to our bloodthirsty enemies. She does what many Leftists, inside and outside Hollywood, have done in recent years: denounce the most free, most just, most fair country in the world, and in doing so, strengthen and boost the morale of those who live to kill innocent people.
From WorldNetDaily:
Mideast terrorist leaders today thanked actress Sharon Stone for claiming to Arab media the U.S. used the Sept. 11 attacks as "pretext" for launching wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The terrorists stated Stone's remarks, published this week in Arabic, reinforce their views that current U.S. foreign policy is leading America toward destruction.
"What Stone said strengthens what we have been saying all along – that the Bush administration and the American evangelical Christians who control U.S. policy are leading America to defeat," said Muhammad Abel-Al, spokesman and senior leader of the Popular Resistance Committees terrorist organization.
Yes, the destruction of two skyscrapers, many other buildings, a strike on the Pentagon, and the destruction of three plane-loads of Americans, along with nearly 3,000 other Americans was just a flimsy "pretext" to attack the peace-loving terrorists and dictators in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Most average Americans know not to put a whole lot of value in statements made by a woman whose most noteworthy accomplishment was exposing her privates in a movie 16 years ago.
But those bent on killing and destroying will not hesitate to make the most of statements like this. Indeed, they encourage them in their efforts.
Regular Americans should denounce Stone and those like her as the traitorous, enabling filth they are. Does America have enough moral center remaining to do that?
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Minn. bus crash kills 4 students
Minn. bus crash kills 4 students
By ELIZABETH DUNBAR, Associated Press Writer 21 minutes ago
COTTONWOOD, Minn. - A school bus and several other vehicles crashed in southwestern Minnesota Tuesday, killing four students and forcing the first-arriving motorists to rush some of the injured to nearby hospitals.
The bus was hit by a van around 3:25 p.m. on a highway south of Cottonwood. The bus then hit a pickup and tipped on its side, State Patrol Lt. Mark Peterson said. At least 14 people were hurt.
It is always sad when a life is lost, but even more so when it is a child. Sadly, four children lost their lives in this wreck.
May all who believe in prayer, pray for all involved, whether directly or indirectly, in this tragedy.
Nation Of Andorra Not In Africa, Shocked U.S. State Dept. Reports
Nation Of Andorra Not In Africa, Shocked U.S. State Dept. Reports
The United States gave billions of dollars in aid to the wealthy European principality of Andorra, which it mistakenly assumed was a poor African country.
President of a Country You Disdain?
I have to give Michelle Obama kudos, because I really appreciate honesty. She did something that Leftists seldom get caught doing in the United States: revealing how little she thinks of our country.
Here's what she said yesterday at a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin:
What we've learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback, and let me tell you something, for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.
I don't think I'm that exceptional when I say that I'm frequently proud of my country.
In fact, during the course of my adult life, I've been really proud of my country so many times it would be impossible to count them--and every time, it feels like the first time!
From the time I first enlisted, to the time we bombed Libya, to the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the liberation of Kuwait, to the heroes of Flight 93, to the way we came together after 911, to the invasion of Afghanistan, to the liberation of Iraq from its dictator, to every time I visit Mount Rushmore, to everything I saw in Washington D.C. a few months ago, to every time I see our flag, to every time I review the Bill of Rights, to every time I read some of our history,...and pretty much every day of my life, I feel really proud of my country.
I was really proud of my country countless times even before I became an adult, and was able to better appreciate why the United States is so worth being proud of.
Some might dismiss Michelle Obama's words as something carelessly spoken, something said in the heat of a campaign speech.
I can't imagine those words ever coming out of my mouth under any circumstances. Even when I think of how far we have allowed liberals to take our country off course, even when I consider how far we've drifted from constitutional integrity, even when I ponder the societal decay we're now experiencing, even when I acknowledge the genuine wrongs this country has committed over its history...even then, I cannot help but realize that despite our failings, shortcomings, and current misguided ways, America is still incomparably better than any other place in the world.
What kind of woman has such disdain for her own country that it has taken her roughly 25 years of adult life to reach a moment when she could say that she was "really proud" of her country? And that the first such moment came not because of the great freedom we have here, the system of justice, the immense opportunity or prosperity we enjoy, or the noble stands this country has made, but because her husband's campaign is going well, and because she hopes some people are hungry to take America even farther from her heritage and her constitution?
You might say, "Well, that's just his wife." That says nothing about Barak Obama himself. Really?
What kind of man would marry a woman who held such disdain for her country that she had to reach the age of 44 before she became "really proud" of her country, and only then because of her husband?
I can only say that I wouldn't marry or wouldn't have married a woman who thought so little of the country I love so much. I ran with some pretty low-rent gals in my intemperate youth, and still I can't imagine any of them saying something like this.
I would think there would be a certain level of compatibility, a certain level of agreement, for Barak and Michelle to be romantically and maritally compatible, so I have to wonder if he shares these sentiments.
If I'm wrong, I would expect Obama to repudiate his wife's comments.
Otherwise, do we want to seriously consider electing a man to run the country when he (or his wife) thinks there is so little reason to be proud of this country?
NewsBusted Conservative Comedy 141
Today's topics: --A Houston Obama volunteer flies a Cuban flag in the office --Chris Matthews says Obama makes a "thrill" go up his leg when he speaks --Grammy grumbling from Aretha Franklin --The Hollywood writers' strike ends NewsBusted is a comedy webcast about the news of the day, uploaded every Tuesday and every Friday. Check us out on Myspace at http://myspace.com/newsbusted If you like the show, be sure to subscribe!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Desperation a Pathetic Campaign Does Make
by Carrie K. Hutchens
Carrie Hutchens is a former law enforcement officer and a freelance writer who is active in fighting against the death culture movement and the injustices within the judicial and law enforcement systems.
The 'F' word is being used in Pierre when it comes to teachers' salaries
By Gordon Garnos
AT ISSUE: South Dakota's teachers are the lowest paid in the nation in that profession. This is a gray-hair issue for it has been in front of our Legislature for as long as I have been covering the Legislature, or longer.
There is a move now to set a base pay for our beginning teachers. However, will it succeed? By the way, before anyone gets the wrong idea, the "F" word bouncing around the Legislature refers to "funding" teachers' salaries. At the same time, our legislators are discussing a pay raise for themselves. I said in a few columns back that wouldn't happen this session as such an idea is too close to next fall's General Election. But I could be wrong.
TEACHER PAY, should it be a local issues or a state issue? Local school boards have watched this biggest item in their budgets with eyes of an eagle. Consequently, teacher pay has got out of step with the rest of a community's society. There was a time teachers were better paid than they are today. Their buying power was greater than it is today. The result is too many of our teachers are finding other employment.
Some statistics have surfaced that told a most uncomfortable story. Bob O'Connell of the Sioux Fall Chamber of Commerce told the SD Senate Education Committee that in 1995, teacher pay in Sioux Falls was 117 percent of that in the finance and insurance industry and 123 percent of that in manufacturing. At present growth rates, teacher pay in 2015 will be 73 percent of that in finance and insurance and 89 percent of that in manufacturing.
Oh, one could say, that is Sioux Falls. Its numbers aren't ours. If one could make comparisons even in the least populated school district, the revelation would be shocking, even to the most conservative school board member.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS South Dakota is losing a lot of good people. Many of them are not only leaving teaching, they are leaving our state, probably which has always been their homes as few come into South Dakota to teach.
There is no question the state's budget is tight, but if there are priorities set as to where the money should go, teacher salaries should be at the top of the list. South Dakota cannot afford anything else, even though Governor Rounds has set a 2.5 percent increase for the state's aid to education.
There may be a light at the end of the tunnel as far as bumping up this percentage. I only hope that light we see isn't an approaching train. The final bump won't be known until the last day or days of this session.
However, Senator David Knudson, the Senate majority leader, has proposed a
4.25 percent raise for our teachers for next year. If his bill wins that would increase the aid package by about $80 per student if they raised the average salary and benefits of teachers by that percentage.
However, as I have said before, it ain't over till it's over. There are other offers coming from legislators from both houses and both sides of the aisle. Who will win? Governor Rounds and his budget or legislative enablers who find a way to slow down the exodus for South Dakota's teaching profession and give our teachers salaries they deserve?
SPEAKING OF PAY raises, legislators are asking for a raise in their pay in a voice louder than what I have heard in a long time. They now get $6,000 annually and have not had a pay raise for 10 years, although they get an extra per diem check of $110 per day. Together, this amounts to $10,400 per year. One bill, if passed would bounce another $2,000 each in their direction. New Hampshire is the only state that pays less for their legislators. But that's a poor argument for our legislators to use.
Neither this nor a big teachers' raise is yet set in concrete even though this session is now on the down hill slide to its final day March 17.
The arguments for a raise in pay for our legislators range from it might attract more people to serve to a raise is necessary to cover expenses they occur when they are out in their districts doing state's work. The opposition is saying, "We don't need it." Giving our legislators a raise in pay may not be popular with the voting public. An idea here: I wonder what they would get if they received merit pay? Just a thought.
ANOTHER THOUGHT: Even as I wrote last week's column about Senate Bill 120 mandating local governments to use competitive bidding when they borrowed money in the bond market the winds of defeat were in the air. The Senate State Affairs Committee killed the idea on a 5 to 2 vote. Senator Heidepriem was the bill's prime sponsor. Even though competitive bidding on bonds won't be a law, it is still a good idea the next time your town or school board needs to make a big purchase.
AND ANOTHER THOUGHT: The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that electrocution is cruel and unusual punishment. Its Legislature will probably choose the more humane lethal injection for execution like they do here in South Dakota. My question: Why do they have to use a sterilized needle?.....
Gordon Garnos was long-time editor of the Watertown Public Opinion and recently retired after 39 years with that newspaper. Garnos, a lifelong resident of South Dakota except for his military service in the U.S. Air Force, was born and raised in Presho.
President's Day: A Tribute to President Lincoln
As we celebrate President's Day, which actually combines the celebration of the birthdays of both George Washington (Feb. 22) and Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12), I put together a couple of slideshows from pictures I took in the Washington D.C. area back in October 2007.
I posted the one dealing with George Washington earlier. While I have far fewer dealing with Abraham Lincoln, I nevertheless wanted to share those with you.
Lincoln was another of our most important presidents, having preserved our nation in it's most desperate hour, when strife and civil conflict almost tore the states inseparably apart.
Lincoln was a humble man, a Godly man, but a man of strength and resolve. It has a lot to do with why he was chosen as one of the remarkable presidents to appear on Mount Rushmore. .JPG)
I've included a couple of shots of the White House, and unfortunately the only others I have from my D.C. trip--other than his great memorial itself--are related to Lincoln's death. There are a couple of the outside of Ford's Theater where he was shot, and some of the house across the street where he eventually died.
Was Lincoln a Christian? Read his second inaugural address and see what you think. There is more on Lincoln's faith if you care to read it, but I doubt he would have been able to bear the incredible burden of the Civil War, were it not for his trust in God.
I hope you enjoy this President's Day slideshow as we remember one of the great ones: Abraham Lincoln.
President's Day: A Tribute to George Washington
President's Day has come to honor the birthdays of both George Washington (Feb. 22) and Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12).
I've created a slideshow below of some of the things I saw in and around Washington D.C. back in October that relate to George Washington.
Though Washington never lived in the White House, he chose the location for it and construction began while he was president.
I also included some shots of the Washington Monument, the feature which dominates the D.C. sky for miles around. The monument was built in honor of George Washington. And if you notice the difference in color part of the way up the monument (as I did), it's because the project ran out of money and sat unfinished for 27 years before work resumed to completion; so the bottom stones are 27 years older and more weathered than the rest.
The remaining photos are from George Washington's estate Mount Vernon along the Potomac River in Virginia. The estate has been beautifully restored and kept up by the Ladies of Mount Vernon. We were not permitted to take pictures inside, but it was an incredible tour. I remember the feeling of history as I walked upstairs, running my hand along the same banister that the father of our country had done so many times so many years ago. I remember the aged but ornate look of the largest room in the house, where Washington had both dances and planned war strategy at various times. I remember seeing the replica of the key to the Bastille ( the original was on a historical tour across the country) that Marquis de Lafayette sent to his old friend George Washington during the French Revolution.
I also recall the dove weather vane Washington had custom-made for Mt Vernon after the American Revolution (if I remember correctly, the original was in the nearby museum, not the replica currently on top of the mansion). On one hand it might seem ironic that a man who fought in the French and Indian War, and led the American Revolution, would choose the symbol of peace to fly over his estate. But I believe it shows that even as wise warriors are prepared for and sometimes fight wars, they more than anyone appreciate peace.
George Washington was undoubtedly a Christian, though revisionists would rather cover that up, these days. David Barton's Wallbuilders has some great information about Washington's faith. Also, while touring Mt Vernon I noted this verse on his tomb:.JPG)
Why would anyone other than a committed Christian have such a quote from Jesus Christ on his tomb?
Consider also his Thanksgiving proclamation, rendering honor and thanks to God, and his farewell address when leaving the presidency.
It is fitting that the man who gave so much and fought so hard to win our independence, and then served this nation honorably with two terms as president (passing up a kingship) should grace Mount Rushmore.
I hope you enjoy the slideshow. Our history is important; let us cherish it.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Notes from History
Today was Lesson 6 of the Truth Project entitled "History: Whose Story?" at South Canyon Baptist Church in Rapid City.
Here are a few of my notes from the lesson:
The lesson begins by examining history as God's story:
Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do. - isaiah 46:9-11
The lesson examines history from the perspective that it is a narrative of God's work, and his plan of redemption to save his creation which was damaged in The Fall.
The lesson uses a series of numbers to illustrate that the individual numbers, and combinations of those numbers (such as 8:59 being a time, 1859 being a year, 1 being a number, 11 being not just two ones, 911 being either nine hundred eleven or nine-one-one or nine-eleven, etc), have different meanings based on what we've been taught and our experiences--in other words, our present perceptions and concepts are shaped by history.
And if someone can "rewrite" history, they can "rewrite" our perceptions, concepts and opinions of the present and the future.
An example provided by the Truth Project leader, Dr. Del Tackett, was the book "I Rigoberta Menchu," written by a Guatemalan woman who received a Nobel prize for it's Marxist accusations...which later turned out to be fraudlent.
However, that didn't stop Marxist promoters like Marjorie Agosin, who plans to keep using it to "teach our students about the brutality of the Guatemalan military and the U.S. financing of it." Whether the book is true or not: ""Whether her book is true or not, I don't care." Apparently truth will not be allowed to get in the way of the Leftist agenda.
Want to see a brazen, in-your-face example of historical revisionism? Here is the text of the 1620 Mayflower Compact from Yale Law School's Avalon Project:
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.
Now see how some of those "icky Christian" parts have been "revised" out of the text in various modern places such as How to Become a U.S. Citizen by Debra R. Shpigler
Or The Susan Constant and the Mayflower by Minnie G. Cook at JSTOR:
Or at your taxpayer-funded ostensibly objective PBS:
"Having undertaken … a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts … [we] covenant … ourselves together … to enact … laws … for the general good of the Colony; unto which, we promise all due submission and obedience
Even the audio clip embedded in this PBS piece "revises" out any reference to God or the Christian religion (click here to listen).
America is not a Christian nation, and has no Christian heritage, we hear some say today. No wonder, with revisionism like this at work!
Why would revisionists want to "revise" our Christian heritage out of history? It robs God of the credit he's due, for one thing. It also removes a reminder, a foundation, a cornerstone that we as a people might look to for guidance about where we should be going. If we never WERE a Christian nation, why should we be worried about whether we're one NOW? And if we WERE one at one point, but we're not NOW, and we have problems NOW that we didn't have THEN, then maybe we should look back or go back to that Christian period for answers? If you're an atheist or secularist who despises America's Christian heritage and doesn't want to live under the slightest influence of Christianity, does this sound like a good reason to rewrite history?
The Truth Project lesson points out that historical revisionism has been going on against God's truth since nearly the beginning. After all, what was the first thing Satan said to humans: "Did God really say...?"
Two powerful quotes were provided to illustrate the importance of history, and the tremendous power revisionism can have over the present and future. One as from George Orwell, of the famous 1984 and Animal Farm: "He who controls the past, controls the future." And Karl Marx: "A people without a heritage are easily persuaded."
You don't get very much truth from Karl Marx, but he hit the nail on the head with this one. If a fiction writer and the atheistic father of communism can get it, why do so many conservatives and Christians seem so oblivious to this???
Even this morning I read a horrifying example of historical ignorance at the New York Times. The article is about Susan Jacoby and her new book The Age of American Unreason. I don't agree with everything this woman says (she is herself a victim of historical revision, since she believes Christians are hostile toward science), but some of the examples she cites as her motivation to write the book are illustrative of this ignorance. For instance, a woman on a national game show who thought Europe was a country, and didn't know "Hungry" was a country (she meant Hungary). And this discussion of Pearl Harbor:
Walking home to her Upper East Side apartment, she said, overwhelmed and confused, she stopped at a bar. As she sipped her bloody mary, she quietly listened to two men, neatly dressed in suits. For a second she thought they were going to compare that day’s horrifying attack to the Japanese bombing in 1941 that blew America into World War II:
“This is just like Pearl Harbor,” one of the men said.
The other asked, “What is Pearl Harbor?”
“That was when the Vietnamese dropped bombs in a harbor, and it started the Vietnam War,” the first man replied.
The Bible is filled from front to back with admonitions to remember things, to remember the past, to remember the truth, to remember what we have seen.
Here is one powerful example, one that speaks not only to ancient Israel:
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.
Does that sound like America? A nation founded by devout Christians, trusting God and reverencing him in all they did, from the founding of the first colonies, to the victory of the American Revolution...who then became fat and happy and came to believe we had done this all on our own, by the strength of our own hands, by the great wisdom and reason of our own minds? Those final verses scare the daylights out me as an American, to see the arrogant, self-centered nihilism of our people.
I don't think a week goes by (sometimes, for a spell, not a day goes by) that I don't argue with someone who seems to genuinely believe that America was not founded by Christians, that our government was not established on Christian principles, that ours was not (at least until recently) a nation that was Christian in character and flavor. Every bit of the mountain of evidence which speaks of America's Christian heritage is at first ignored, and if it is shoved in their faces, they make every attempt to reason away why the obvious cannot be what it seems.
Those same revisionists want to not only blot out the direct evidence of God's hand on America, but the indirect evidence as well. America is far from perfect, and has committed some terrible evils, including slavery of black people, and some of the despicable ways we've treated Native Americans, especially in the west. But they completely ignore the tremendous good that God has wrought through America, the tremendous freedoms, opportunity, comfort and affluence God has brought about through this country, the innocents and suffering we have rescued around the world.
We should certainly be able to acknowledge America's sins and imperfections in history without dwelling endlessly on those sins as if no good ever came from this nation. Yet that is what we hear from the "blame America first" crowd. They never have anything good to say about this country that provides them freedom, safety, and more comfort and opportunity than any people enjoys anywhere around the world throughout human history. From them, there is nothing worth mentioning about America except her sins.
Ultimately they want to blot out God's truth altogether. That's what the postmodernist moral relativism is: there is no truth. It (in their minds, at least) disarms the truth of God by saying, "Well that may be true for you, but not for me." In their minds, they believe that if they can simple "reject" that truth, then that truth has no power over them.
What a terrible surprise they will receive if they wake up in eternity having continued to believe that.
This lesson points out the important reason why we must take the time to be students of history. We must understand where it is we came from, both the sins and the triumphs in our heritage, to properly understand where we are today and where it is we're going.
There is a higher purpose for humanity, especially for the Christian. Don't miss out on it by letting a Leftist historical revisionist rob you of your heritage and your very history.
Hillary Clinton Thinks Michigan & Florida Votes Should Count?
I can't believe that people are still debating whether Michigan and Florida votes should count for the Democratic candidates. That little matter should have been settled long ago. If the citizens of those states wished to have their votes counted -- they should have thrown a fit and gotten the decision to exclude over-turned prior to the primary -- not try to change the rules after the fact!
Carrie Hutchens is a former law enforcement officer and a freelance writer who is active in fighting against the death culture movement and the injustices within the judicial and law enforcement systems.
