Saturday, August 9, 2008

Mission Trip To Costa Rica

I'll be off line for the next week on a mission trip to Costa Rica. Building in the mornings, vacation bible school in the afternoons. For those of you so inclined, prayers would be appreciated.
I'll start posting again when I return and hopefully have a few pictures.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

What's a "windfall" profit?

Interesting article in the WSJ on just what that magical "windfall" profit is that Obama keeps talking about. I know the word "interesting" seems out of place in such a conversation but it really is good and even I could understand it...
...Take Exxon Mobil, which on Thursday reported the highest quarterly profit ever and is the main target of any "windfall" tax surcharge. Yet if its profits are at record highs, its tax bills are already at record highs too. Between 2003 and 2007, Exxon paid $64.7 billion in U.S. taxes, exceeding its after-tax U.S. earnings by more than $19 billion. That sounds like a government windfall to us, but perhaps we're missing some Obama-Durbin business subtlety.
Maybe they have in mind profit margins as a percentage of sales. Yet by that standard Exxon's profits don't seem so large. Exxon's profit margin stood at 10% for 2007, which is hardly out of line with the oil and gas industry average of 8.3%, or the 8.9% for U.S. manufacturing (excluding the sputtering auto makers).
If that's what constitutes windfall profits, most of corporate America would qualify. Take aerospace or machinery -- both 8.2% in 2007. Chemicals had an average margin of 12.7%. Computers: 13.7%. Electronics and appliances: 14.5%. Pharmaceuticals (18.4%) and beverages and tobacco (19.1%) round out the Census Bureau's industry rankings. The latter two double the returns of Big Oil, though of course government has already became a tacit shareholder in Big Tobacco through the various legal settlements that guarantee a revenue stream for years to come
...(more)

Tyson Plant Drops Labor Day for muslim Holiday

The loss of our American culture and heritage coninues to picl up steam as outlined and commented on over at doctorbulldog:
More Than Half Of Tyson Plant’s Workforce Muslim2 Aug, 2008, WSMV News, SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. — Some workers at a local plant will no longer to be able to take their Labor Day holiday because of religious reasons.
Workers at the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day but will instead be granted the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Foremost UK Gay Activist Admits there is No Gay Gene

The honesty is refreshing. Now if the media would try being this honest...From LifeSite
Peter Tatchell, an Australian-born British homosexual activist who founded the "direct action" group OutRage! that specialises in media stunts such as disrupting Christian religious services, wrote on Spiked Online that he agrees with the scientific consensus that there is no such thing as a "gay gene."
Contrary to the findings of some researchers who have tried to posit a purely genetic origin for same-sex attractions, Tatchell wrote, "Genes and hormones may predispose a person to one sexuality rather than another. But that's all.
Predisposition and determination are two different things."
Homosexual activists have adopted the "gay gene" theory to bolster their assertion that any objection on moral grounds to homosexual activity is akin to objecting to left-handedness or skin colour. It has supported the accusation that Christians and others who object to the homosexual movement are racists and bigots.
Tatchell even went as far as to acknowledge the existence of some who have changed their "sexual orientation." "If heterosexuality and homosexuality are, indeed, genetically predetermined... how do we explain bisexuality or people who, suddenly in mid-life, switch from heterosexuality to homosexuality (or vice versa)? We can't."

(more)

Vague but sinister

From the Economist:
Russia’s new foreign policy concept
AS LAUNCHES go, it was more an ominous fizzle than a big bang. At a briefing in Brussels on July 28th, Russia’s ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, answered most questions about the Kremlin’s plans for European security with a mixture of “don’t know” and “wait and see”. But the outlines are clear—and not particularly comforting.....


This was kinda funny though
...A third element may be to promote the “Finlandisation” of Europe, by diminishing American influence (but probably not removing it: Russia likes having some Americans around in Europe in case the Germans start getting uppity)....

Kinda reminds me of the joke about the 200,000 Germans yelling screaming in the street for Obama. When France heard there were 200,000 Germans in the street, they surrendered just in case..
I love the Germans and my neighbor is a great friend and from France. But it's a funny joke.

A Christian Response to Vandals

As I understand it, the founder of Chick-fil-A is Christian...
From FoxNews:
Chick-fil-A Founder: No TV, Video Games for Home Vandals
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — Chick-fil-A restaurant founder S. Truett Cathy has decided two girls accused of causing $30,000 in damage to his home should be punished with a writing assignment instead of charges.(more)

The Weather Apparently Doesn’t Like Black People

Another race card played. I guess they (the climate change hysteria bunch) are grasping at any straw they can to push this down our throats. From La Shawn Barber's Corner:
Have you heard about this? In a 59-page report titled, A Climate of Change: African Americans, Global Warming, and a Just Climate Policy in the U.S. (PDF), the left-leaning Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies tries to make the case that global warming disproportionately impacts black people.

Atheists fail to cough up for London bus ad

Hope for British culture after all..from the Telegraph:
A campaign to put an atheist advert on the side of a London bus looks to be dead after the organisers failed to raise enough cash.
Campaigners hoped to raise the raise the £23,400 necessary to buy a prominent two-week slot on a “bendy bus” by collecting £5 pledges from atheists online.

They even made a mock-up photo of a bus carrying their chosen message: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and get on with your life."
The project attracted huge attention on atheist message boards and was even featured on the website of scientist and promiment atheist Richard Dawkins, but it appears that too few non-believers actually put their hands in their pockets.
A specially-created website had attracted only 877 pledges when its deadline passed on Thursday, far short of the 4,678 people needed.
(more)

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

MIT-TRAINED QAEDA GAL TRIED TO KILL OFFICERS: FEDS

From the NYPost:
Prosecutors said authorities caught Siddiqui, a mother of three, lurking outside the Ghazni governor's compound July 17 with a teenage boy.
A search of her purse turned up documents that included instructions on making explosives and chemical and biological weapons - and descriptions of various landmarks around the United States and in New York.
The bag also contained "numerous chemical substances in gel and liquid form that were sealed in bottles and glass jars," a criminal complaint states.
(more)

Ahoy Alarmists!!

The ship logs of Lord Nelson, Captain Cook, and other British sailors are casting more doubt on the theory that global warming is man-made. Go here for the rest of the story.

Obsessive focus on "reproductive rights" in UN population report

"UNFPA--because everyone counts." unless....
From CWNews:
The UNFPA recently released its annual report for 2007, touting principally the organization’s work in the field of “sexual and reproductive health”

July Job Losses Lighter than Expected

Despite an increase in unemployment in the 17-24 year old range caused by the minimum wage hike..From the Heritage:
This is not a jobs report that would be expected if the economy is in a recession. Job losses are relatively light and contained in a few sectors of the economy or to teenagers. While job losses are always painful, the labor market has not declined to the extent that would be expected if the economy really were in a recession. Congress can prevent future losses of entry level jobs by not implementing the next scheduled increase in the minimum wage. (more)

D. C. To Increase Restrictions on Home Schooling

Kinda makes you wonder what they are afraid of..
Regular review by the government to determine if your kids are getting "regular, thorough instruction." Hmm, who's giving the reviews on the government (public school) education?
WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The State Board of Education in the District of Columbia has approved the State Superintendent of Education's final draft of home education regulations that significantly increase restrictions on homeschooling families.
The proposed regulations have been a controversial topic since January, when the State Superintendent's Office created a first draft of new rules that sought to heighten restrictions and regulations on parents who choose to homeschool their children. The first draft included regulating the subjects parents must teach their children and a requirement that parents must permit home visits by D.C. school officials.
The Home School Legal Defense Association, spearheaded by HSLDA Staff Attorney Mike Donnelly and Senior Counsel Chris Klicka, launched a nation-wide campaign requesting homeschoolers across the country contact the D.C. State Board of Education (SBOE) and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE).
According to an HSLDA communiqué, thousands of families responded with calls and emails to the mayor, SBOE, and OSSE.
After three public sessions held to discuss the regulations, which resulted in some of the stricter proposals being removed by the OSSE, the Board passed the new regulations.
Among other things, the new regulations require annual notification of a parent's intent to homeschool on a form to be developed by the OSSE, maintenance of a portfolio of schoolwork, and up to two annual portfolio reviews by the OSSE to determine whether a homeschool program, in OSSE's opinion, is providing "regular, thorough instruction" in the required subjects
.(more)

Monday, August 4, 2008

Having faith isn’t enough

That's a headline that will grab your attention..
From STR:
The Bible: Fact, Fiction, or Fable?Josh McDowell
Having faith isn’t enough. Other religions can say that, too.
One of the biggest “heresies” taught today is salvation by faith. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ. We are saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus. The value of faith isn’t in the one believing, but the one believed.
Christianity isn’t true because we have faith. It’s true because it’s historical. The question isn’t how valid is your faith, but how valid is the object of your faith. Is Christ who He claimed to be?
“It’s true.” That’s the reason to be a Christian.
Is what we have written down accurate? We analyze the bibliographical evidence for the Bible. The closer in time the copy is to the original, the less chance of error and discrepancy. The fewer time span means fewer copies made, the less chance of human error in copying. The New Testament has the best bibliographical evidence of any other ancient document. The oldest copies (fragments) are within 50 years of the originals. And Josh suggested that new manuscripts that have been found being studied now, we could reduce that gap by 10-15 years. (
more here)

In veep search, McCain asks Cantor for records

Who's Cantor? Read on and see...
From Yahoo/Ap:
RICHMOND, Va. - John McCain's campaign has asked Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor for personal documents as the Republican presidential candidate steps up his search for a running mate, The Associated Press has learned.
Cantor, 45, the chief deputy minority whip in the House, has been mentioned among several Republicans as a possible running mate for McCain. A Republican familiar with the conversations between Cantor and the McCain campaign said Cantor has been asked to turn over documents, but did not know specifically what records were sought
. (more)

Minnesota biologist accused of defamation

You remember this "thoughtful" pseudo prof from the 3rd tier university who gets his kicks from desecrating the sacred? The University decided what he did was just fine by them. Luckily, some won't let this issue go away..From OneNews Now
It is unusual, according to Cass, for an educated person such as Myers to communicate feelings in such a fashion. "This certainly is not an issue of academic freedom. There is no academic point to be made here," Cass contends. "Even if you're a [completely] godless person and you have no faith whatsoever, this does not prove that." (more)

Exporting Death

I hope she succeeds.
KAMPALA, Uganda, August 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At the premiere of the soon-to-be-released documentary "Miss HIV" in Kampala, the wife of Uganda's president, Janet Museveni, lamented the rise in dangerous sexual behaviour in the country and the resultant rise in HIV-AIDS rates.
According to New Vision, Musevini said that Ugandans are abandoning behavior-based solutions to HIV-AIDS in favour of methods, imported from the West, that only serve to perpetuate the disease.
"It is not too late to reverse the trend," she said. "We can adopt our own indigenous solutions, which are less expensive and are 100% sure of preventing the spread of this deadly disease. I find it very baffling how we could throw away what worked, and embrace ideas from elsewhere. Then we watched as rates of infection soared again to claim lives."
Musevini's words echoed those of anti-AIDS crusader Sam Ruteikara, who wrote in the Washington Post several weeks ago that Western methods of combating AIDS, which strive to protect casual sex at all costs, are being imported into Uganda and are resulting in a rise in risky sexual behaviour and the overall HIV-AIDS rate
. (more)

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Al Qaeda Posting Confirms Death of Weapons Expert

Bit by bit...
WSJ
KABUL, Afghanistan -- In a blow to al Qaeda in Pakistan, the terrorist group confirmed Sunday that one of its top weapons researchers, Abu Khabab al-Masri, was killed, apparently in a U.S. missile strike.

Abu Khabab al-Masri
For more than a decade, Mr. Masri moved in the top echelons of al Qaeda as a bomb maker and innovator of the group's mostly feckless attempts to build viable chemical and biological weapons. While his expertise is replaceable, Mr. Masri's death further degrades the old guard who were trusted by al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahri. (
more)

Creative Minority Report: ABC News: Tiniest, Most Fragile of Patients - A Catholic Blog: Religion, Politics, Current Events, Humor, and more.

"The science is on our side and now it appears that a major news program has even noticed."
good news from over at Creative Minority Report:

Creative Minority Report: ABC News: Tiniest, Most Fragile of Patients -

Son of top Hamas leader converts to Christianity

'I hope my father and family open their eyes to Jesus and the Kingdom of God'
Posted: July 31, 20081:35 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein© 2008
WorldNetDaily
Sheik Hassan Yousef (
Passia.org)JERUSALEM – The son of one of the most popular leaders in the Hamas terrorist organization has moved to the U.S. and converted to Christianity, it has emerged. (more)
Wow! Pray for him because his life is now in danger. (As evidenced by this story) And pray that others might have a similar experience

Pelosi: Save the Planet, Let Someone Else Drill

From the Washington Post/Charles Krauthammer:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposes lifting the moratorium on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and on the Outer Continental Shelf. She won't even allow it to come to a vote. With $4 gas having massively shifted public opinion in favor of domestic production, she wants to protect her Democratic members from having to cast an anti-drilling election-year vote. Moreover, given the public mood, she might even lose. This cannot be permitted. Why? Because, as she explained to Politico: "I'm trying to save the planet; I'm trying to save the planet."

A lovely sentiment. But has Pelosi actually thought through the moratorium's effects on the planet? (more)

Family and Faith: The Roots of Prosperity, Stability and Freedom

The sumer of love has caused alot of pain and grief as the article here outlines in part. The chart to the left shows the results of a culture without restraint and without boundaries. Abstinence programs are bashed in the media in this country because they supposedly have no effect. A questionable claim considering the short time they have been implemented. But no one likes to talk about the obvious and devastating results of the alternative.
From Heritage:
To understand why I call this the Culture of Rejection and Alienation in America, let’s look at Chart 1, which shows the stunning increase in the numbers of children entering broken families after 1950. Children enter a broken home in two ways—by out-of-wedlock births or by their parents’ divorce. To understand the extent of this increasing ratio of rejection, consider:
In 1950, for every 100 children born, 12 entered a broken family—four born out of wedlock and eight from their parents’ divorce.
By the mid-1990s, 58 out of every 100 children born in the United States entered a broken home. (
more at the Heritage link above)

48% of the overseas members of the military who requested absentee ballots for the 2006 election had their ballots counted

The real voter fraud?That the American military are being kept from voting.
From Heritage:
Sens. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), along with Reps. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are engaging in legislative combat for the rights of our military to vote in the 2008 election. (more)

Reality Says Cohabitation a Disaster for Marriage but Poll Shows Public Believes Otherwise

From Lifesite
Living together before marriage has skyrocketed since the 1960s, when Western cultures began to cast off traditional sexual mores; but the same period has seen a correlating upsurge of divorce.
The evidence has prompted a number of studies that have indicated that by trying to avoid divorce by cohabitation, unwed couples seriously compromise their marital success. A 2006 report published in the journal Demography indicated one-half of all cohabiting unions collapse within a year and 90 percent within five years.
"The common view of cohabitation as a steppingstone to marriage needs to be seriously questioned," commented Daniel Lichter a professor of policy analysis at Cornell University and the study's lead researcher. "Instead, serial cohabitation may be an emerging norm as cohabiting unions form and break up," he said. "If marriage promotion programs hope to target poor cohabiting women, our results seemingly suggest that the likelihood of success is not assured."
(more)