Empathizing with Alan Greenspan
From a Newsweek interview via MSNBC: Interviewer: Who would you like to win next year? Greenspan: Is one of the choices leaving the office open? Yeah, me too.
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Like Us or Die
Here’s another case: Leader offers $100,000 for cartoonist’s death. The head of an al-Qaida-led group in Iraq offered $100,000 for the killing of Swedish cartoonist [tag]Lars Vilks[/tag] over his drawing depicting the Prophet Mohammad. I’ll say again what I have said before. Blasphemy should not be illegal. I believe in [tag]free speech[/tag] when it’s engaged…
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Prison Book Censorship
This program, as reported in the New York Times concerns me, not so much because I think the [tag]prison[/tag] officials are biased in their selections, but because the approach appears to be overkill–a massive and sweeping solution to a very small problem. I would hope the prison officials would reconsider and go instead to a…
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Arecibo Observatory
MSNBC reports that funding may be cut off for the Arecibo Observatory. But among astronomers, Arecibo is an icon of hard science. Its instruments have netted a decades-long string of discoveries about the structure and evolution of the universe. Its high-powered radar has mapped in exquisite detail the surfaces and interiors of neighboring planets. ….
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Christian Politics
I appreciated this post from Monastic Mumblings. (HT: The Moderate Christian Blogroll [RSS]) I would like two add just a couple of notes. First, I think we begin to depend on politics when we cease to depend on the gospel. If we truly believe that Jesus can change lives, then we also must believe that…
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Corrupt Politicians and Shrill Partisans
OK, I’m shocked and amazed. Well, not so much. This time it’s Democrats, as the FBI arrests officials in New Jersey. This story just reminded me that people who have power will be tempted, and some of them will turn out to be corrupt. The question is what we’ll do about it. In this case,…
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As Long as They’re Not Saying Anything
. . . why should I listen? This story from MSNBC discusses how Fred Thompson upstaged the Republican debate. Since I’m an independent, these debates are generally of limited interest to me, though I do like to follow the candidates so as to have prior knowledge about the nominees. What surprised me here was that…
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Larry Craig, Family Values, and Hypocrisy
I generally try to avoid scandal stories about celebrities, though I’m much more often tempted to read, listen, and comment when they involve political figures. Listening to the arrest interview tape of Senator Larry Craig was an interesting experience. I was immediately struck by how naive I am at age 50. None of the conversation…
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Education as a Priority and Teacher Quality
Way back in the pre-blog days for me (April, 2005), I wrote an essay for my Energion.com web site titled Make Education a Priority. You can type that rather uncreative title into a search engine and you’ll find that many dozens of politicians are using it as a slogan, but I don’t see that priority…
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Jena, LA: A Town in Turmoil
Newsweek story here. I wish I was surprised at such racism, but I’m not. In many places it’s just below the surface. (HT: Pursuing Holiness.)