Dem Con Game

Interesting analysis of Dr. Dean, what he is saying and what he isn’t saying.

Fallujah as turning point

Good analysis of the political fallout of the Afghanistan and Iraq elections.  Michael Ledeen’s thesis is that we need to strike while the timing is right.  But, the next strike may be political not military.

Lenten Post Day 8

Wednesday, February 16

 

Deuteronomy 9:13-21, Hebrews 3:12-19, John 2:23-3:15

Q. 17. Into what estate did the Fall bring mankind?

A. The Fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.

Q. 18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?

A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell consists in: the guilt of Adam’s first sin,* the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin;* together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

Q.19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?

A. All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.

Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

A. God, having out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.

Prayer: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.  (Psalm 51:10-13)

Reflection: We all have sin.  We are born with the stain of original sin from Adam.  Only through the death and resurrection of Jesus will God grant through grace eternal salvation. 

Ref: Westminster Shorter Catechism  (255k).

ACC to use instant replay in '05 pigskin season

The ACC unanimously approved use of the instant replay for league games for the upcoming 2005 football season.  The rules will be modeled after the Big 10 rules of this past year.

Sunnis Fairly Represented in Iraq

The naysers on Iraq have gotten it wrong at every step. Most recently, they are saying the outcome of the vote is non-representative because the Sunnis didn’t vote. Well folks, that simply is not a true statement.

Based on their demographic strength, the Arab Sunnis should have 42 seats in the 275-seat transitional National Assembly. The final results show that the new assembly will have 49 Arab Sunnis sitting in it. Of these 40 were elected on the Shia-led and the Kurdish lists, plus the list headed by Iyad Allawi, the interim Prime Minister. Five were elected on a list led by Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawer, the Arab Sunni interim President, while four more won within smaller alliances. If we add the Kurds, who are also Sunni Muslims, at least 110 members of the assembly are Sunnis.

Statistically this makes the Sunnis represented proportional to their overall presence in the general population. The larger theme of the story in the London Time's is that their are a lot of Arab dictators looking over their shoulder.

The Arab despots and their friends in the West make a meal of the cliché that democracy cannot be imposed by force. But what happened in Iraq was not imposing democracy by force. The US-led alliance used force to remove impediments to democracy. The people of Iraq became the co-liberators of their country, first by not opposing the US-led coalition and then by risking their lives to set their nation on a new path in the face of vicious terrorism.

Let freedom ring.

California Gas,er... Mileage tax

These folks are amazing.  They insist on going to high fuel mileage vehicles.  Guess what, as Americans buy hybrids, the revenue from gas taxes decline.  No mind, the denizens of the nanny state bureaucracy have a solution…tax by the mile.  Oh, just to keep everyone honest, they are going to GPS your car and keep tabs on you.

These guys are beyond idiots.  Hopefully the Terminator can terminate this one.

The Case for Democracy

Excellent review of the reasons why democracy is such a stabilizing influence.  Victor Davis Hanson provides his usual insightful analysis drawing on history as a good teacher.

It is widely said that democracies rarely attack other democracies. Thus the more that exist in the world — and at no time in history have there been more such governments than today — the less likely is war itself.

Lenten Post Day 7

Tuesday, February 15

 

Deuteronomy 9:(1-3) 4-12, Hebrews 3:1-11, John 2:13-22

Q. 14. What is sin?

A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.

Q. 15. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?

A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was their eating the forbidden fruit.

Q. 16. Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?

A. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity, all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression.

Prayer: Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. (Psalm 25:4-5)

Reflection:  Do not put God to any test.  Also, do not defile the temple or church with worldy things.  The church is for the worship of God.    

Ref: Westminster Shorter Catechism  (255k).

AARP Hypocrisy

You can’t have it both ways guys.  And, the truth about Chile and their social security personal account program, despite what the NYT says, it’s working.  I guess you voted for private investment accounts before you voted against it.

Even Parking Goes High Tech

Check out this new parking meter.  Pay by cellphone to keep the meter maid away.

More MSM Spin on Missle Defense

Look how USAToday writes the headline.  There was a system malfunction unrelated to the interceptor itself.  However, they headline it as if this were a total failure of the system.  For the average person, they would assume that this interceptor does not work.  In fact the AF is doing its level best to insure a good,safe test insuring personnel safety and minimizing costs.  But, then again, Libs would rather tax us more so the nanny state can spend more.

Lenten Post Day 6

Monday, February 14

Deuteronomy 8:1-20, Hebrews 2:11-18, John 2:1-12

Q. 11. What are God’s works of providence?

A. God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

Q. 12. What special act of providence did God exercise towards man, in the estate wherein he was created?

A. When God created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.

Q. 13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?

A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.

Prayer: O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror. My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O Lord—how long? Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love. (Psalm 6:1-4)

Reflection: God gave man life with the understanding that man would obey God. Man ate from the tree of knowledge and was given the sentence of death. God continued to deliver man against man’s own sins and indiscretions. Finally, God sent Jesus to take on all of man’s sins so that man could be raised up again. But, the only way back to God is through Jesus, who gave His life so that we may have eternal life with God.

Ref: Westminster Shorter Catechism (255k).

State Wrecks Tech

NCSU 53 – GaTech 51

Although, it doesn’t appear it was a very pretty win.

It was an ugly game. North Carolina State won despite committing 17 turnovers and shooting just 41 percent from the field. The Wolfpack were content to run the shot clock down on nearly every possession, limiting Georgia Tech to only six fast-break points.

First Round of the Season

42 – 42 for an 84 on Legends.  Not too bad.  Missed a few putts, but made some too.  A couple of missed drives.  Other than that, pretty satisfied to start 2005 with a decent round.

Fixing the MSM Corrections Game

Patrick Frey has an excellent piece up in the LA Times today talking about how the current MSM print media do a lousy job of corrections.  He talks about it further on his Blog Patterico’s Pontifications.

Enlisting technology to support comments and trackbacks would allow a more thorough vetting of the news and move a long way toward eliminating bias – perceived or real.

Lenten Post Day 5

Sunday, February 13

Jeremiah 9:23-24, I Corinthians 1:18-31, Mark 2:18-22

Q. 9. What is the work of creation?

A. The work of creation is God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.

Q. 10. How did God create man?

A. God created man male, and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness,  and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.

Prayer: Lord, let all who are faithful offer prayer to you. For you are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. (Psalm 32:6-7)

Reflection: These passages highlight that those of us that accumulate wealth, power and wisdom only to show off or boast about it miss the point of God’s love and purpose.  He did not put these things here for our enjoyment.  He put them here and gave us the ability, and as we see from Genesis, power over them, so that we might glorify God.  We are to use these resources wisely and to good purpose.

Ref: Westminster Shorter Catechism  (255k).

What Blogs Have Done To Political Discourse

Michael Barone has a quick and accurate summary of what this new Internet phenomenon is doing to Politics in this country.

So what hath the blogosphere wrought? The left blogosphere has moved the Democrats off to the left, and the right blogosphere has undermined the credibility of the Republicans' adversaries in Old Media. Both changes help Bush and the Republicans.

The Judge Smails Award

You just can’t help but laugh at this one.  Anyone who saw Caddyshack loved to hate this pompous buffoon.  Nevertheless, thanks Anklebiting Pundits for bringing some levity to the blogosphere.

Oh yeah, Eason Jordan as your first award,

Geez, this guy should send a resume to the "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il. He's got all the right experience.

I can’t think of better pomp and circumstance for the military-challenged.

CEO Tenure Tenuous

The recent crack downs on corporate America are having a deleterious effect on CEO’s job tenure.  More and more, CEO’s are being held to account to boards and shareholders.  The recent dismissal of Carly Fiorina is just one more in a long line of CEO turn-over recently.

Indeed, the executive turmoil at HP shows that corporate boards, in a post-Enron world, are becoming more active overseers. This means close scrutiny of the wheeling and dealing, the acquisitions, the corporate culture, even the pay package.

The survey reported in this article also showed some interesting other trends.

• The rate of CEO dismissals increased by 170 percent from 1995 to 2003. The rate of involuntary turnover eased in 2003, however.

• As CEO turnover rises, companies are often feel forced to turn to outsiders. The track records suggest they'd be better off cultivating qualified insiders.

• Prior experience at the company they are leading is a better indicator of CEOs' success than whether they have been a chief executive before.

Lenten Post Day 4

Saturday, February 12

Deuteronomy 7:17-26, Titus 3:1-15, John 1:43-51

Q. 7. What are the decrees of God?

A. The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.

Q. 8. How doth God execute his decrees?

A. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

Prayer: In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me. Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me. You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, take me out of the net that is

hidden for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. (Psalm 31:1-5)

Reflection: We are not to revel in our own righteousness because we are not.  We can only aspire toward that end.  We should never look down on others because they do not follow God.  We should evangelize not once but twice.  If they still argue, then let it go.  We are not to judge them.  God will judge them.  Our aim is to focus on God and glorify Him.

I see some of the excesses that can come from over-evangalizing.  Our job is not to convert people.  Only God can do that with each person.  Our responsibility is to spread the news and let people judge for themselves.

Ref: Westminster Shorter Catechism  (255k).