A Conservative Summer Reading List
To tell the truth, I’ll never get to any of these books. I have 50 new books at my bedside unread, and over 200 on my amazon wishlist. But for those of you that have the time and inclination, these books look great. Note that none of the reviews are mine, but were taken from amazon.
NASA Administrator: global warming heretic
I’m sure he’ll have his credentials questioned, but NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told NPR that he was not sure global warming is a problem. He also said that NASA was not “an agency chartered to quote ‘battle climate change.’”
Should we execute pedophiles?
Though I am pro death penalty, I would like it very judiciously applied, basically only to first degree murderers. But according to Proposals to execute pedophiles make headway in US, a growing movement is afoot to execute pedophiles. Arguments abound on whether or not the punishment fits the crime, but the growing impatience with soft sentences and high recidivism among sex offenders is driving this legislative push.
Various versions of the "Jessica Law" sprang up all over in the
country, imposing in most cases a minimum 25 year jail sentence and the
wearing of an ankle bracelet for life for raping a child aged 12 or
younger. But in some states, elected officials amended their versions of the
"Jessica Law" by adding the possibility of condemning a pedophile to
death.
Please write GW Bush to support his immigration policy
I don’t mean to speak for all three authors on this site, but I want to take a stand on the issue of immigration. Univision, the top Latino tv network, is supporting a letter writing campaign (Spanish) to let Bush know that people support the current immigration bill. I think this bill represents a rare chance to push our broken immigration law in the right direction.
If you agree, you can download the PDF version of the letter, and mail it out. Thanks.
GW Bush is my hero when it comes to immigration
GWB has enraged conservatives by calling them on their fear tactics and the abuse of the word "amnesty" when referring to the current bill, and even went so far as to imply that if you are against the current bill, you are against America. And I want to be the first conservative to say that Bush is right! While this bill is not perfect, it’s a huge step in the right direction. It’s comprehensive in that it covers security, immigration process, the need for temporary workers, and the plight of existing illegals here in the US.
As I mentioned in An Open Letter to Michelle Malkin, the conservative opposition to providing a path to citizenship for honest Mexicans who have been working and living here for years (and many have paid income taxes the entire time) is inhuman, impractical, and laced with the criminalization of people who are merely trying to provide a life for their families.
As a side note, I wonder how liberals will try to attack Bush’s motives for this stand he is taking against his party. I’m sure they won’t give him credit for thinking for himself – maybe big business is in his pocket telling him what to say on this issue?
Evolutionary Doubts – theism or design?
Why is it, despite the advances of science and secularist education, so many Americans still doubt evolution? While many blame theism, a pair of Yale psychologists are suggesting another factor – that our minds are hard-wired from birth to see design in the world around us. In "Promiscuous Teleology" — Is This Why So Many Reject Evolution? Al Mohler discusses this idea:
Bloom and Weisberg believe that the minds of children are, in
effect, hard-wired to see design in nature and the world around them.
The "intuitive psychology" they describe means that children infer a
design in the world they experience. They assume an intelligence
behind what they observe, and assume that a creative intelligence is a
necessary part of any explanation of why things are as they are.
This, they argue, leads to a basic resistance to science.
Evolution for everyone – and everything
In An Idiot’s Guide to Evolution, First Things author Stephen Webb discusses David Sloan Wilson’s new book Evolution for Everyone
The dirty Darwinian secret is now out of the closet: If evolution is true, then it must be true about everything.
Creationists have long argued that Darwinists use their scientific theory as a cosmology, or “worldview,” which they deny to the hilt, while all the time using it that way. But I think that they do so just to distance themselves from social Darwinism. But Wilson’s book ends the farce, and admits that evolution is a way of thinking about everything that matters. Blech.
Read more
Satan, Islam, and 666
This kid is a little sophomoric, but he is stirring up crap. I like him.
Who is Ron Paul?
I still haven’t figured out which of the Republican candidates I like for president, but this guy makes some sense. Maybe too liberal, but maybe not.
2007 CT Book Awards
Christianity today just announced it’s 2007 book award winners, and some will find a place on my amazon wishlist.
My Two Cents #96 – Humor
The Fubar – Stanley Tools comes out with the multi-purpose Functional Utility Bar. No kidding.- Real Jackelopes? Check out these pics for a possible explanation of the jackelope myth.
- Mission Failure: Looks like the company that sent the ashes of James Doohan – better known as Scotty from the original Star Trek – into space has
been forced to admit that the rocket they used has been lost. The ashes were supposed to be launched to space, then returned to earth so that relatives could have them. But the rocket got lost on descent, and is somewhere in the NM desert. - Pot 2.0 – Today’s weed is twice as strong as your grandpa’s, so watch out, dope heads.
- How do disarm an attacker – Pacifists, take note, someday you might need to disarm an attacker in love ;). My favorite part? "Keep gripping the gun and push your weight forward. Then, punch him in the face or the throat as hard as you can." Damn right.
Sympathy for the Beastialist
Looks like a new semi-documentary at the Cannes film festival entitled Zoo "depicts
the men [who have sex with horses] in a sympathetic light, one that
tries to push the viewers to understanding their sexual perversion." It has surprisingly good reviews from the MSM (56% at rotten tomatoes), but should I be surprised? No.
Now, I don’t blame gays for this slide down the slippery slope of public morality, but the same logic that says "how can
you judge gays?" gets applied here to bestialists. Why judge if the horses don’t
mind? The fact is, we can reason our way to the immorality of both,
because both are against our physical design, i.e. against nature.
Just because the doorknob turns me on doesn’t mean that’s normal and healthy. Really.
Note the sexy naked man in the eye of the horse. How romantic, maybe my wife and I should see this on date night for a little stimulation. As Jim Carey would say, "YUMmy"
It’s not my fault…
I’m conservative and it’s not your fault if your a liberal.
So Bush shouldn’t be blamed by the left for the war or the right for the immigration bill. He can’t help it – it’s the genes or maybe the jeans.
The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States
American Vision has just brought back into print another great book, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States. Originally published in 1864, it documents the Christian roots of our civil institutions in a way that would make modern secularists beg for mercy. Or as American Vision’s Gary DeMar says in their email marketing blurb:
I was debating an ACLU attorney at Christmas on an NPR station. I pulled out a Xerox copy of The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States and said to her: "Until you answer this book, the ACLU can’t make a case against America’s Christian founding." She was shocked when she saw it. She asked where I had gotten it. The only thing that gave her relief was the fact that the book was not in print. But now it is.
EU adopts resolution outlawing homophobia
Say goodbye to freedom of speech, and say hello to the decline of the west. In fact, liberal political correctness (not to be confused with conservative PC) and the curtailing of freedoms are going hand in hand in Europe. The EU has also ruled that doctors can not refuse to do abortions, and do not have the right to conscientiously object.
On April 25, the European Parliament (EP), the EU’s legislature,
adopted a resolution condemning “homophobia.” With 325 votes against
124 and 150 abstentions, the EP warned Poland that it will face
sanctions if it adopts a law barring the promotion of homosexuality in
schools. Churches, too, were reprimanded for “fermenting hatred and
violence [against homosexuals].”
All this and more is cogently described in the recent Washington Times article Europe’s Culture War.
The lying, unrepentant MSM, or, how Dobson and Beck became friends
In yesterday’s USA Today, an opinion piece entitled What is a ‘real’ Christian? made the accusation that
James Dobson, head of the very politically powerful evangelical ministry Focus on the Family, remarked that "former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson is “not Christian enough” to be president." Trouble is, Dobson says he NEVER said that, and that the reporter was spinning their interview to make him look foolish.
Then, conservative CNN talk show host Glen Beck picked up the story and repeated it, and along with repeating it, said some things about evangelicals being like the Taliban by demanding that everyone believe what they believe or not be considered Christian.
Jargon watch: Scare-Quoting
Scare-quoting - I came across this phrase today at the Gates of Vienna, and I’m not sure, but I think it might be defined as
The act of discrediting your opponents and raising negative public opinion by raising alarm at their potential dangerous, hateful, or racists ideas.
Often the accusations of "<topic>phobia" are raised (Islamophobia, homophobia, etc.) to immobilize one’s critics.
In extreme instances, scare-quoting can be used to force, through raising public disapproval or fears of protester violence, the cancellation of your opponents’ planned events, and in so doing, limiting their free speech and rights of assembly.
Usage Example: "In today’s political climate, the first step in discrediting something is to scare-quote the bejayzus out of it."
