Shamelessly pinched from here, along with this text: Animals that were formerly self-sufficient are now showing signs of belonging to the Democrat Party... as they have apparently learned to just sit and wait for the government to step in and provide for their care and sustenance.She's got it all wrong, though. That's a Canadian woman awaiting her free treatment for hirsutism.
I know it’s not PC to defend George Bush, but now that I think of it, he probably showed more original thought and action with his faith-based initiative that gave unprecedented support to some of the most active and vocal supporters of self-reliance and social responsibility in black communities, the churches. That and his historic appointment of accomplished black Americans to key positions of influence and power utterly unrelated to race.Photo Credit
In recovery from a long road trip and needing to escape my telephone, I took the Weedlets to the latest HP yesterday. I love the books but am not a fan of the flicks, as I've said before.Eldest Weed: Cool special effects in the opening scenes, but worst movie I've ever seen in my life, exceeding Prince Caspian in awfulness.I don't know whether we can call this artistic judgment, however. EW is a purist, unwilling to forgive the slightest deviation from the text. Plus there was (mild) snogging, which always offends him. He was further put out by Malfoy's emotionalism during his confrontation with Dumbledore, but as this is utterly true to the book, it probably says more about him. He's not ready to deal with tears or kissing yet. Which suits me fine.
Girl Weed: It was alright. I liked it, but it wasn't very satisfying. Plus, I was disappointed they didn't play the theme music more.If you remember being a kid and seeing The Empire Strikes Back, that's precisely the experience of this flick, I think. Though I think there's no story arc to this film --it's more like a series of vignettes from the book-- the real problem is perhaps unavoidable: everything ends unresolved, sort of like not being allowed to see the final act of a play.
8-yr-old Weed: Cool special effects, but it was only okay.(Three times I covered the two littlest guys' eyes briefly.)
5-yr-old Weed: It was fine. I didn't like it that there were so many scenes I couldn't see.
Several folks carried this a few days ago, but I find I can't resist publishing it again. Behold the Thomas "I have a gut feeling drastic measures are needed to reduce our carbon footprints" Friedman burg. This Thomas L. Friedman.Sec. of State Clinton: "The United States respects Russia as a great power."
Government programs alone won't get our children to the Promised Land. We need a new mind set, a new set of attitudes -- because one of the most durable and destructive legacies of discrimination is the way we've internalized a sense of limitation; how so many in our community have come to expect so little from the world and from themselves.
We've got to say to our children, yes, if you're African American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that somebody in a wealthy suburb does not have to face. But that's not a reason to get bad grades -- (applause) -- that's not a reason to cut class -- (applause) -- that's not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school. (Applause.) No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands -- you cannot forget that. That's what we have to teach all of our children. No excuses. (Applause.) No excuses.
You get that education, all those hardships will just make you stronger, better able to compete. Yes we can. (Applause.)
To parents -- to parents, we can't tell our kids to do well in school and then fail to support them when they get home. (Applause.) You can't just contract out parenting. For our kids to excel, we have to accept our responsibility to help them learn. That means putting away the Xbox -- (applause) -- putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour. (Applause.) It means attending those parent-teacher conferences and reading to our children and helping them with their homework. (Applause.)
And by the way, it means we need to be there for our neighbor's sons and daughters. (Applause.) We need to go back to the time, back to the day when we parents saw somebody, saw some kid fooling around and -- it wasn't your child, but they'll whup you anyway. (Laughter and applause.) Or at least they'll tell your parents -- the parents will. You know. (Laughter.) That's the meaning of community. That's how we can reclaim the strength and the determination and the hopefulness that helped us come so far; helped us make a way out of no way.
It also means pushing our children to set their sights a little bit higher. They might think they've got a pretty good jump shot or a pretty good flow, but our kids can't all aspire to be LeBron or Lil Wayne. (Applause.) I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers -- (applause) -- doctors and teachers -- (applause) -- not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court Justice. (Applause.) I want them aspiring to be the President of the United States of America. (Applause.)
I want their horizons to be limitless. I don't -- don't tell them they can't do something. Don't feed our children with a sense of -- that somehow because of their race that they cannot achieve.
Yes, government must be a force for opportunity. Yes, government must be a force for equality. But ultimately, if we are to be true to our past, then we also have to seize our own future, each and every day.
It's not only that she dodges every important question, but that after she's finished (and in fact while she's giving) her long stumbling bloodless and (supposedly, we're to think) academic answers.... I have no idea what she said! I commented to a friend that it's sort of like listening to someone with aphasia. A barrage of random words.
That the Senators then nod as tho they've been given an answer is a wonder in itself. Somehow Al Franken makes the vaudeville routine complete.
The terms, Culture, Values and Ideology, are inconsistent with and subversive of free republican government. Free society is not any old culture but one which is in accordance with human nature. Liberty is not merely a value but the right of every human being. And the political philosophy of the Declaration is not an ideology but based on “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.”
If we would perpetuate our precious heritage, we need to watch our language. Academic weasel words won’t cut it.
RTWT to understand why, and I can add an additional argument. Those words in current usage deeply irritate me, and we can't have that.
In brief, Republicans have not captured the moral high ground in its battles, and now it is being routed by a hobbled woman who embodies much of the American Dream but who stands for much of the worst of the academic mind.He asks Sotomayor some bang-up questions, including this one, which I wish we could ask every nominee:
In his speech opposing the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision, Abraham Lincoln suggested means of opposing it, while not resisting it. Was Lincoln wrong in opposing a Supreme Court decision?Or how about this one:
Was the Emancipation Proclamation a constitutional use of Abraham Lincoln’s war powers? How so? Does his oath of office grant him powers?
Schism is not a Christian act.
Adding a sterilant to drinking water or staple foods is a suggestion that seems to horrify people more than most proposals for involuntary fertility control. Indeed, this would pose some very difficult political, legal, and social questions, to say nothing of the technical problems. No such sterilant exists today, nor does one appear to be under development. To be acceptable, such a substance would have to meet some rather stiff requirements: it must be uniformly effective, despite widely varying doses received by individuals, and despite varying degrees of fertility and sensitivity among individuals; it must be free of dangerous or unpleasant side effects; and it must have no effect on members of the opposite sex, children, old people, pets, or livestock.
history offers a clear verdict: governments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable and more successful than governments that do not.This is about more than holding elections — it's also about what happens between them. Repression takes many forms, and too many nations are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the port authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end.
In the 21st century, capable, reliable and transparent institutions are the key to success — strong parliaments and honest police forces; independent judges and journalists; a vibrant private sector and civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in peoples' lives.
As I read through, cheering, I found myself wishing Obama would give that speech before the House Democrats. Then I asked myself, why is the President speaking like this here when he talks this way nowhere else? Answer: because Bush and his policies are so wildly popular in Africa, it's safe to do so --or maybe he has no choice.
Further proof?
Building on the strong efforts of President Bush, we will carry forward the fight against HIV/AIDS.I'm fairly certain this is the first time Obama has voluntarily mentioned Bush's name in public since election night, and it's certainly the first time he's said anything good about him. (Remember how b----y his inaugural address was?)
RTWT, it really is worth cheering. Bravo, Mr. President --and Bravo, Mr. Bush for pointing the way --partnership, not patronage-- and creating facts on the ground in Africa that are inarguable.
(Dare I point out that Bush's Africa policy absolutely embodied the principles the new social encyclical sets forth regarding development?)
Curtsy: Vanderleun's Twitter feed. (He follows up w/ this: "Africa's easy. I'm waiting for the O speech on Afghanistan that begins "Building on the strong efforts of President Bush, we will...")
P.S. Cute story here on the Obamas' visit to a maternity hospital. However, this irked me:
The Obamas' reputation as high-fashion influences are well documented. In Ghana, they're even shaping casualwear.
Along streets in the country's capital, well-wishers sported clothing with the Obamas' likenesses. Students wore T-shirts stamped with Obama's image, vendors sold knit hats with Obama and his wife on them, and street merchants sold posters of the family.
Not that I mind observing that, but it's just what the Africans do when cool visitors come: Bush, Benedict XVI, etc. Where was the AP reporting the absolute adulation of Bush? Remember, Thank you, George Bush?
part of it is lifting up successful models....by traveling to Ghana, we hope to highlight the effective governance that they have in place.I don't think that we can expect that every country is going to undergo these transitions in the same way at the same time. But we have seen progress in democracy and transparency and rule of law, in the protection of property rights, in anti-corruption efforts. ...
I think that the new President, President Mills, has shown himself committed to the rule of law, to the kinds of democratic commitments that ensure stability in a country. And I think that there is a direct correlation between governance and prosperity. Countries that are governed well, that are stable, where the leadership recognizes that they are accountable to the people and that institutions are stronger than any one person have a track record of producing results for the people. And we want to highlight that.
we will work . . . to identify a global goal for substantially reducing global emissions by 2050.2050?! By Al Gore's calculations we'll all have been underwater three decades by then and that's when they hope to maybe, possibly, be within sight of a goal? This stunning achievement, however, was called a "victory lap for Obama" in yesterday's WaTi, apparently on the ground that he ran the meeting. You think I'm kidding, but read the story.
In the legend of Canute, the king, after failing to stop the rising tide, told the assembled crowd: "Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth and sea obey by eternal laws." If a medieval monarch could draw the right conclusion, how hard can it be for his sophisticated 21st-century successors?In other words, our age is more backwards and superstitious than the Middle Ages we're all so certain we've risen above. (Curtsy to Mr. W. for that link).
Jason Reed, Reuters
The Pope solves it all for us in his new social encyclical. Read it on-line here and trust no MSM source's characterization of it.You’ll also want to take care with your word choice; pregnant women tend to feel like they’re carrying someone, as opposed to something, even if she is just a month or so pregnant. You can’t just talk about having an abortion the same way you’d talk about having a cavity filled. Sensitivity is key. Toss words like “it” around too many times, and she’s going to start feeling like she needs to defend “it” from you.Treat her like a child.
She needs your emotional support or she could wind up feeling isolated to the point of despair -- and women in despair rarely make rational decisions.
You’ll probably want to provide for your child regardless, but if you’ve been clear about your intentions from the start, you are not obligated to contribute beyond what your conscience and the law expects of you. This was her decision, not yours, and the bulk of the responsibility is now hers.Ah, pro-choice Sisterhood. The dignity! The respect!
Prenatal pros: Take a moment to spell this out for her when she gives you the final decision; it may just sway her over to your side.
I was saddened to learn this week that a truly great actor had passed.
The only girl he really had eyes for, however, was his wife, Mona, whom he married in 1938 and who survives him.
with his daughter, Carla. He's survived by two daughters, his sons-in-law, three grandchildren and four great grandchildren. He was 97 years old.“When you call the reporter the night before you know damn well what they are going to ask to control you,” Thomas said.Had to smile at this, though:
“I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well--for the town halls, for the press conferences,” she said. “It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame.”
What the hell do they think we are, puppets?
I think that the only reason that my position may appear unclear is because it came in the wake of a last-minute, 11th-hour change in conscience clause provisions that were pushed forward by the previous administration that we chose to reverse,” said President Obama. “But my underlying position has always been consistent, which is I’m a believer in conscience clauses. I was a supporter of a robust conscience clause in Illinois for Catholic hospitals and health-care providers. I discussed with Cardinal George when he was here in the Oval Office, and I reiterated my support for an effective conscience clause in my speech at Notre Dame.”Allow me to translate. "President Bush watched the medical accrediting agencies encroaching on conscience protections and moved to reinforce them with a new regulation. Exactly as you fear and everyone who opposes the move has said, I am reversing that reinforcement and signaling to the accrediting agencies that they have carte blanche to refuse to certify pro-life doctors. Lest I be misunderstood, I am admitting this to you before your very ears.“I think there have been some who keep on anticipating the worst from us, and it’s not based on anything I’ve said or done, but is rather just a perception somehow that we have some hard-line agenda that we’re seeking to push,” he added.
“We will be coming out with ... more specific guidelines. But I can assure all of your readers that when this review is complete there will be a robust conscience clause in place. It may not meet the criteria of every possible critic of our approach, but it certainly will not be weaker than what existed before the changes were made.
I guess I would stand by my statement in Cairo that a position that dismisses religious belief and faith as intolerant without — in a knee-jerk fashion I think is — doesn’t understand the power and good that faith can serve in the world.”He acknowledged that there have been times “where religion has been used in the service of not such good stuff” and said that “it’s incumbent upon us to — at least in my own view — to engage in some deep reflection and entertain a willingness to question whether we are acting in a way that’s consistent with not just church teachings, but also what Jesus Christ Our Lord called on us to do: Treat others as we would treat ourselves. Be our brother’s keepers.”
Catholic press: He just called us bigots right to our faces! But he did it so politely! Swoon!
On another note: Not sure we should be angry with the President for not denouncing the Iranian election process; let him denounce the Minnesota election process first, being that it operated on similar principles.
The unfortunate lesson is that you don't need to win the vote on Election Day as long as your lawyers are creative enough to have enough new or disqualified ballots counted after the fact.On Cap-N-Trade, read the WSJ editorial, which rightly points out the thing is a 2000-page monument to bribery, with exceptions written for every company with a lobbyist --"the largest corporate welfare program ever."
If there are not pre-existing, intelligible ends toward which man is ordered by nature, every individual must invent, in an arbitrary and subjective manner, some ends by which to guide his actions and order his life. The way one lives then becomes a matter of "lifestyle." The elevation of the word "lifestyle" to its present prominence is an indication of the total loss of any serious meaning in one’s choice of how to live. What used to be man’s most profound ethical concern has been reduced to an element of fashion.The way we live is our "pursuit of happiness" --blessedness, as the Founders understood it. If we refuse to strive to be good, we can't be free, either.
The actual 4.6 billion-year old planet, survivor of multitudes of asteroid hits, Milankovitch cycle changes, magnetic pole reversals, solar and cosmic radiation, myriad volcanic caldera collapses, mantle plume eruptions, etc., etc. doesn’t give a rat’s ass about a few degrees Celsius.
I believe that God gave sex for humans to use in the pretext of marriage.Once I stopped laughing I had to cry, however, because in each case the problem is not poor theology but poor English. These kids can't communicate and you can't be certain what you are communicating to them because they don't know the meaning of the words they use and reach for cognates that may or may not bear any relationship to what they're trying to say. It's pidgin, and they'd be no better off on any other topic.
Justice Thomas, in particular, remained willing to front new theories on critical questions, often writing only for himself, as in NAMUDNO. No other member of the Court is so independent in his thinking. The irony of course is that there remains a public perception, rooted in ignorance, that he is the handmaiden of other conservative Justices, particularly Justice Scalia. I disagree profoundly with Justice Thomas's views on many questions, but if you believe that Supreme Court decisionmaking should be a contest of ideas rather than power, so that the measure of a Justice's greatness is his contribution of new and thoughtful perspectives that enlarge the debate, then Justice Thomas is now our greatest Justice.
