Liberty Tree News Blog

Obama’s Global Tax Proposal Up for Senate Vote

2008-02-14T14:27:00.001-08:00

A nice-sounding bill called the "Global Poverty Act," sponsored by Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Barack Obama, is up for a Senate vote on Thursday and could result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States. The bill, which has the support of many liberal religious groups, makes levels of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the United Nations. — aim.org

We're #5! We're #5! We're #5!

2008-02-13T16:44:00.002-08:00

In the WSJ, Mary Anastasia O'Grady replicates the 14th edition of the Index of Economic Freedom (researched and produced by the WSJ and the Heritage Foundation)-- and discusses the connection between economic freedom, productivity and prosperity...

Are the world's impoverished masses destined to live lives of permanent misery unless rich countries transfer wealth for spending on education and infrastructure?

You might think so if your gurus on development economics earn their bread and butter "lending" at the World Bank. Education and infrastructure "investment" are two of the Bank's favorite development themes.

Yet the evidence is piling up that neither government nor multilateral spending on education and infrastructure are key to development. To move out of poverty, countries instead need fast growth; and to get that they need to unleash the animal spirits of entrepreneurs.

Empirical support for this view is presented again this year in The Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom, released today. In its 14th edition, the annual survey grades countries on a combination of factors including property rights protection, tax rates, government intervention in the economy, monetary, fiscal and trade policy, and business freedom.

The nearby table shows the 2008 rankings but doesn't tell the whole story. The Index also reports that the freest 20% of the world's economies have twice the per capita income of those in the second quintile and five times that of the least-free 20%. In other words, freedom and prosperity are highly correlated.

The 2008 Index finds that while global economic liberty did not expand this year, it also did not contract. The average freedom score for the 157 countries ranked is nearly the same as last year, which was the second highest since the Index's inception. This is somewhat of an achievement considering the rising protectionist and anti-immigration sentiment in the U.S., the uncertainty created by spiking global energy prices, Al Gore's highly effective fear mongering about global warming, and the continuing threat of the Islamic jihad....

Although overall global economic liberty did not expand, there were a few stars. Egypt was the most improved economy in the world, implementing major changes to its tax policies and business regulation environment and jumping to number 85 from 127th place last year. Mauritius was the second-best performer, moving into the top 20 from No. 34 last year. Trade liberalization and improved fiscal policies, including a flat tax, made Mongolia the third-best performer, and put it in the category of "moderately free" economies....

protectionism and bullying

2008-02-13T16:44:00.001-08:00

Steven Landsburg on free trade and protectionism in the New York Times (hat tips: Melanie Hughes and Linda Christiansen)...

Landsburg is the author of two popular-press books I use in my Econ courses: The Armchair Economist and Fair Play-- provocative books on the "economic way of thinking"...

In the days before Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary in Michigan, Mitt Romney and John McCain battled over what the government owes to workers who lose their jobs because of the foreign competition unleashed by free trade. Their rhetoric differed — Mr. Romney said he would “fight for every single job,” while Mr. McCain said some jobs “are not coming back” — but their proposed policies were remarkably similar: educate and retrain the workers for new jobs.

All economists know that when American jobs are outsourced, Americans as a group are net winners. What we lose through lower wages is more than offset by what we gain through lower prices. In other words, the winners can more than afford to compensate the losers. Does that mean they ought to? Does it create a moral mandate for the taxpayer-subsidized retraining programs proposed by Mr. McCain and Mr. Romney?

Um, no. Even if you’ve just lost your job, there’s something fundamentally churlish about blaming the very phenomenon that’s elevated you above the subsistence level since the day you were born. If the world owes you compensation for enduring the downside of trade, what do you owe the world for enjoying the upside?

I doubt there’s a human being on earth who hasn’t benefited from the opportunity to trade freely with his neighbors. Imagine what your life would be like if you had to grow your own food, make your own clothes and rely on your grandmother’s home remedies for health care. Access to a trained physician might reduce the demand for grandma’s home remedies, but — especially at her age — she’s still got plenty of reason to be thankful for having a doctor.

Some people suggest, however, that it makes sense to isolate the moral effects of a single new trading opportunity or free trade agreement. Surely we have fellow citizens who are hurt by those agreements, at least in the limited sense that they’d be better off in a world where trade flourishes, except in this one instance. What do we owe those fellow citizens?

One way to think about that is to ask what your moral instincts tell you in analogous situations. Suppose, after years of buying shampoo at your local pharmacy, you discover you can order the same shampoo for less money on the Web. Do you have an obligation to compensate your pharmacist? If you move to a cheaper apartment, should you compensate your landlord? When you eat at McDonald’s, should you compensate the owners of the diner next door? Public policy should not be designed to advance moral instincts that we all reject every day of our lives.

In what morally relevant way, then, might displaced workers differ from displaced pharmacists or displaced landlords? You might argue that pharmacists and landlords have always faced cutthroat competition and therefore knew what they were getting into, while decades of tariffs and quotas have led manufacturing workers to expect a modicum of protection. That expectation led them to develop certain skills, and now it’s unfair to pull the rug out from under them.

Once again, that argument does not mesh with our everyday instincts. For many decades, schoolyard bullying has been a profitable occupation. All across America, bullies have built up skills so they can take advantage of that opportunity. If we toughen the rules to make bullying unprofitable, must we compensate the bullies?

Bullying and protectionism have a lot in common. They both use force (either directly or through the power of the law) to enrich someone else at your involuntary expense. If you’re forced to pay $20 an hour to an American for goods you could have bought from a Mexican for $5 an hour, you’re being extorted. When a free trade agreement allows you to buy from the Mexican after all, rejoice in your liberation — even if Mr. McCain, Mr. Romney and the rest of the presidential candidates don’t want you to.

trade, trade, go away-- come again, some other day?

2008-02-13T16:43:00.000-08:00

John Harwood in the WSJ on diminishing support for "free trade" among Republican voters...

That's not good...

By a nearly two-to-one margin, Republican voters believe free trade is bad for the U.S. economy, a shift in opinion that mirrors Democratic views and suggests trade deals could face high hurdles under a new president....

Six in 10 Republicans in the poll agreed with a statement that free trade has been bad for the U.S. and said they would agree with a Republican candidate who favored tougher regulations to limit foreign imports. That represents a challenge for Republican candidates who generally echo Mr. Bush's calls for continued trade expansion, and reflects a substantial shift in sentiment from eight years ago....

The new poll asked a broader but similar question. It posed two statements to voters. The first was, "Foreign trade has been good for the U.S. economy, because demand for U.S. products abroad has resulted in economic growth and jobs for Americans here at home and provided more choices for consumers."

The second was, "Foreign trade has been bad for the U.S. economy, because imports from abroad have reduced demand for American-made goods, cost jobs here at home, and produced potentially unsafe products."

Asked which statement came closer to their own view, 59% of Republicans named the second statement, while 32% pointed to the first....

With numbers like that-- among Republicans-- is it time for a Ross Perot/Pat Buchanan redux?

what does God think about work and entrepreneurship?

2008-02-13T16:41:00.000-08:00

Scripture gives us a strong indication. Genesis 2 is most famous for its description of marriage. But what preceded that? Work. We learn that work without relationship is not fulfilling, but that our Kingdom work precedes even marriage. In Genesis 1, we’re told that we’re made in the image of a Creator God—and thus, we are built to work, to create, to be “entrepreneurial”, and so on.

Unfortunately, society and some within the Church are neutral or even hostile toward those who are productive, those who operate businesses, and those who take risks within the economy.

On Saturday February 23^rd at 8:15 AM, following the Saturday Morning Men’s Bible Study at Southeast Christian Church, I’m going to host a showing of the Acton Institute’s movie “The Call of the Entrepreneur” in the Fireside Room—a movie about a farmer, a banker, and a Chinese businessman. After the 58-minute movie, we’ll have a panel discussion about work, wealth, and entrepreneurship within a Christian worldview—with Doug Cobb, Bill Heinz, and me.

The movie has a light Christian touch—and so it’s ideal for people who might have mild to significant allergies toward the Church. We hope to see you there—and hope that you know people who would benefit from the movie and our discussion.

You can view the movie’s trailer at: http://www.calloftheentrepreneur.com/trailer/.

AFAI launches radio campaign; promotes SJR7

2008-02-08T17:08:00.000-08:00

From Micah Clark:

(Indianapolis) - The American Family Association of Indiana PAC has launched a groundbreaking radio ad campaign urging Hoosiers to contact their legislators in support of traditional marriage. The ad titled "Confused Children" features children questioning the implications of same-sex marriage in Indiana.

These powerful new 60-second spots are, have or will air on radio stations in the following cities across Indiana:

Anderson
Booneville
Elkhart
Evansville
Franklin / Greenwood
Greenfield
Fort Wayne
Indianapolis
Michigan City
South Bend

The ads are appearing on talk, country and Christian formats on both AM and FM bands.
More ►

Mike Pence: Democrat rewrite will destroy successful HIV/AIDS program

2008-02-06T19:29:00.001-08:00

Members of Congress and community leaders will hold a press conference 90 minutes before the House Foreign Affairs Committee mark-up of legislation to reauthorize the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The conference will underscore the importance and success of the current PEPFAR policy programs and highlight provisions in the Democrat rewrite that threaten to destroy the popular, successful HIV/AIDS program.

Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ)
Representative Joe Pitts (R-PA)
Representative Mike Pence (R-IN)
Republican Study Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)
Represenative Don Manzullo (R-IL)
Representative Steve Chabot (R-OH)
Representative Marilyn Musgrave
Rick Warren, Senior Pastor, Saddleback Church
Chuck Colson, Founder, Prison Fellowship
Bishop Harry Jackson, Chairman, High Impact Leadership Coalition (HILC)
Wendy Wright, President, Concerned Women for America
Dr. Ezra Suruma, Minister of Finance, Uganda
Dr. Obi Ideh, OB/GYN, Lagos, Nigeria
Day Gardner, President, National Black Pro-Life Union

Thousands sign marriage protection petitions

2008-02-06T19:27:00.001-08:00

Micah Clark of the American Family Association of Indiana says nearly 8,000 Hoosiers have signed petitions asking Scott Pelath (D - Michigan City) to allow a committee hearing, a vote and to support SJR 7: the Marriage Protection Amendment.

“Rep. Pelath is the one person now standing in the way of allowing Hoosiers to have a voice on the issue of same-sex marriage in Indiana. Rep. Pelath’s decision to allow SJR 7 to go to the full House floor, or to block the measure will determine if two million Hoosier voters, or a lone unelected judge, will decide the future of marriage in Indiana,” said Micah Clark, Executive Director of AFA of Indiana.

Same-sex marriage advocates want to use the courts to force society, including schools and churches, to embrace homosexual or polygamous relationships as the moral and legal equivalent of a married husband and wife.
Currently, Iowa, a state where its House passed an amendment in 2005 but the Senate refused, is embroiled in a legal battle after a judge overturned Iowa’s 1998 DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) in favor of same-sex marriage.
Around a dozen states have had legal challenges to their marriage statutes from homosexual activists seeking to redefine marriage. Thirty states have protected their marriage laws from similar lawsuits with constitutional amendments. — AFAI

Senate looks to extend bogus stimulus package

2008-02-05T18:16:00.001-08:00

From the C-J, an update from Julie Davis on the Senate's version of the stimulus plan (a topic I have addressed quite a bit elsewhere)...

In a blatant attempt to buy our votes with our own money-- or more properly, the next generation's money-- the Senate is now looking to pass a $200+ million stimulus package.

The House proposal now looks like it was put together by cheapskates. Usually, the Senate is more circumspect, but here they're even more profligate.

An economic aid plan to send rebates of $600-$1,200 to most taxpayers passed a key test Monday in the Senate, where Democrats are pushing to add more than $40 billion in help for seniors, disabled veterans and the unemployed.

Democrats were ratcheting up pressure on Republicans to support the add-ons, part of a proposal to pump $204 billion into the economy over the next two years. The House passed its $161 billion economic stimulus package last week with overwhelming backing from both parties.

The Senate voted 80-4 Monday evening to advance that package, setting the stage for a test-vote as early as Wednesday on Democrats' much larger proposal.

The Senate measure would send $500-$1,000 rebates to a wider group of people than the House measure covers, add $14.5 billion in jobless benefits and include $5.6 billion in renewable energy tax breaks over the next 10 years. The rebates would extend to 20 million senior citizens and 250,000 disabled veterans left out of the House bill because they don't earn enough to qualify....

"All Americans should know that their rebate checks will not be delayed a single minute as a result of our debate," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV said.

This pandering is going to make me violently ill...

Drew Carey on the "struggling" middle class...

2008-02-05T18:15:00.001-08:00

There are certainly policies which do unnecessary economic damage to the middle class, the lower-middle class, and the working poor-- most notably, our government's insistence on monopoly provision of educational services, Social Security, and payroll taxes.

But Drew makes a wonderful set of points in this ReasonTV production-- with quite a bit of help from Michael Cox-- with research from his book with Richard Alm, Myths of Rich and Poor.

enjoy!

if I hear one more person say...

2008-02-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

This or that candidate knows how to "run the economy"...

It's most often said of supporters of Romney who has the strongest business background, but I've heard it debated among those in the Romney, McCain and Huckabee camps. (No one in the Paul camp would make such an error!)

This is not a centrally-planned economy. So, the President will not run the economy. In fact, he (or she) probably won't influence the day-to-day economy all that much-- other than, perhaps, trying to run it into the ground.

Is having a business background preferable? Perhaps. But keep in mind that being "pro-business" is not the same thing as being "pro-market". Often, business leaders seek anti-market measures in trying to enrich themselves at the expense of the general public.

Walker honors Stewart

2008-02-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

State Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus) joined others, Monday, in presenting a resolution he co-authored honoring Tony Stewart during a ring ceremony on the floor of the Indiana House of Representatives. Stewart received his 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard champion’s ring from Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Tony George after the resolution was read.

Thanks, Kevin

2008-02-01T04:35:00.001-08:00

WCSI News Director, Kevin Keith, is moving up and out of his current position at the Columbus-based radio station.

Kevin has been a genuine champion of fair-and-balanced news reporting.

During his tenure he has interviewed a number Indiana Libertarian candidates along side Republicans and Democrats. Dr. Eric Schansberg, Mike Kole, myself and others have been honored to sit at the microphone at WCSI's studios — thanks to Kevin Keith.

Kevin's last day will be Friday, February 1st.

He will be missed!

Rights vs Liberties

2008-02-01T04:34:00.001-08:00

Question for Indiana Libertarians and conservatives:

One year in jail + $10,000 fine for speaking one's mind.

Is this "social tolerance"?

Watch 2-minute video, then answer.

HB 1076 would provide a greater penalty for insulting a homosexual outside a gay nightclub than punching an elderly grandmother outside a hospital (unless the grandmother happened to be a lesbian).

By specifying specially protected persons against bias (such as national origin) it excludes others (such as state origin) by default. Calling someone a dumb Mexican will be constituted a hate crime. Calling someone a dumb New Mexican will not be constituted a hate crime.

While Libertarians are to be praised for their support of human rights, they should object when those "rights" replace liberties.

Noonan on talk radio and presidential politics

2008-01-31T18:27:00.000-08:00

The second half of Peggy Noonan's essay in the Wall Street Journal-- this time focusing on the Republican race and the connections to talk radio...

As for the Republicans, their slow civil war continues. The primary race itself is winnowing down and clarifying: It is John McCain versus Mitt Romney, period. At the same time the conservative journalistic world is convulsed by recrimination and attack....

The rage is due to many things. A world is ending, the old world of conservative meaning, and ascendancy. Loss leads to resentment. (See Clinton, Bill.) Different pundits back different candidates. Some opportunistically discover new virtues in candidates who appear at the moment to be winning. Some feel they cannot be fully frank about causes and effects.

On the pundit civil wars, Rush Limbaugh declared on the radio this week, "I'm here to tell you, if either of these two guys [Mr. McCain or Mike Huckabee] get the nomination, it's going to destroy the Republican Party. It's going to change it forever, be the end of it!"

This is absurd. George W. Bush destroyed the Republican Party, by which I mean he sundered it, broke its constituent pieces apart and set them against each other. He did this on spending, the size of government, war, the ability to prosecute war, immigration and other issues....

And this needs saying, because if you don't know what broke the elephant you can't put it together again. The party cannot re-find itself if it can't trace back the moment at which it became lost. It cannot heal an illness whose origin is kept obscure....

And now, her assessment of Romney vs. McCain-- and the perception thereof...

Mr. McCain is in the middle of a shift. Previous strategy: I'm John McCain and you know me, we've traveled through history together. New strategy: I'm the old vet who fought on the front lines of the Reagan-era front, and I am about to take on the mantle of the essentials of conservatism—lower spending, smaller government, strong in the world. He is going to strike the great Reagan gong, not in a way that is new but in a way that is new for him.

In this he is repositioning himself back to where he started 30 years ago: as a Southwestern American conservative veteran of the armed forces. That is, inherently if not showily, anti-establishment. That is, I am the best of the past.

Mr. Romney, on the other hand, is running as I Am Today. I am new and fresh, in fact I'm tomorrow, I know all about the international flow of money and the flatness of the world, I know what China is, I can see you through the turbulence just as I saw Bain to success.

It will all come down to: Whom do Republicans believe? Mr. Romney in spite of his past and now-disavowed liberal positions? Or Mr. McCain in spite of his forays, the past 10 years, into a kind of establishment mindset that has suggested that The Establishment Knows Best?

Do conservatives take inspiration from Mr. Romney's newness? Or do they take comfort and security from Mr. McCain's rugged ability to endure, and to remind?

It is along those lines the big decision will be made.

GOP and fiscal conservatism don't mix

2008-01-31T18:26:00.000-08:00

From Robert Novak at TownHall.com-- further evidence that fiscal conservatives continue to be marginalized within the GOP. Apparently, if you want fiscal conservatism, you're going to have to look elsewhere.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell completely shut down any negative talk about earmarks during the closed-door Senate GOP retreat Wednesday at the Library of Congress, rejecting demands by anti-earmark reformers.

Sen. Ted Stevens, the senior Republican senator and former Appropriations Committee chairman who is under federal criminal investigation, delivered a pro-earmark lecture. He was seconded by two other appropriators, Robert Bennett and Kit Bond.

A footnote: The House Republican retreat at the Greenbrier resort, starting Thursday, scheduled a full-scale debate on earmarks. There was little chance, however, for the GOP congressmen to pass a quarantine on Republican members requesting earmarks this year.

Are liberals open minded?

2008-01-30T14:01:00.000-08:00

When I was in high school a teacher challenged me to be more open-minded -- like her.
As a flaming liberal her view was that conservatives -- like me -- had closed our minds to her way of thinking. The thought that liberals -- like her -- never considered conservative views never entered her "open" mind. (Perhaps the door was open; but her thinking was so cluttered there was room for reason.

In his more recent column, Larry Elder points us to "a biennial survey conducted by the University of Michigan's American National Election Studies uses a scale from 0 to 100 — 0 meaning shoot-the-person-on-sight hatred, and 100 meaning find-a-place-for-him-on-Mount-Rushmore adoration. The 2004 survey then asked 1,200 adults to define themselves politically."

"Sixty percent of these extreme liberals gave Messrs. Bush and Cheney a 0. In other words, six out of ten Americans on the far left found that no evil, heinous person in the world could be worthy of more hatred than Bush and Cheney."

[more]

we're all Keynesians-- again?!

2008-01-22T20:30:00.000-08:00

From the editorialists at the WSJ, more on the Bush/Congress rumblings about "economic stimuli"-- and Bernanke's fumble in front of Congress-- a topic of recent blogging activity with more to come: not a good sign...

So famously declared Richard Nixon back in 1971, in what we thought was a different economic era. But after yesterday, we're not sure what decade we're in. With Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and President Bush both endorsing temporary tax cuts and more federal spending as "fiscal stimulus," an inflation-adjusted version of Jimmy Carter's $50 rebate can't be far behind.

Appearing before Congress, Mr. Bernanke told Democrats what he thought they wanted to hear. The former academic economist blessed a "fiscal stimulus package," as long as it is "explicitly temporary." How new federal spending can be "temporary," he didn't say, as if a dollar collected in taxes or borrowed and then spent can be recalled.

The "temporary" line was thus a dagger aimed directly at the heart of Mr. Bush's desire to make his tax cuts permanent. The Fed chief did aver that, "Again, I'm not taking a view one way or the other on the desirability of those long-term tax cuts being made permanent." But of course refusing to endorse something is itself a point of view -- a point Democrats were already joyfully repeating yesterday.

Instead, Mr. Bernanke embraced the explicit Keynesian notion that the government should write checks to "low and moderate income people," who will spend it quickly and thus lift consumer demand. In the academic literature, this is called having a higher "marginal propensity to consume" than the more affluent, who tend to save more.

We're all for putting more money in the hands of the poor and moderate earners, especially via stronger economic growth that will give them better paying jobs. But the $250 or $500 one-time rebate check they may now receive has to come from somewhere. The feds will pay for it either by taxing or borrowing from someone else, and those people will have that much less to spend or invest themselves. We are thus supposed to believe it is "stimulating" to take money from one pocket and hand it to another....

No wonder stocks sold off yesterday after Mr. Bernanke endorsed this 1970s' economic show.

A fiscal stimulus that really stimulates would change incentives, and do so permanently so workers and investors can know what to expect and take risks accordingly. One problem with the increasingly "temporary" nature of the Bush tax cuts is that they are beginning to introduce new political risk into economic decisions. Though they expire in 2010, everyone understands that a new President and Congress could act to raise taxes as soon as next year. Mr. Bernanke could have educated the public about this business expectations problem, but then Democrats would have been upset....

Mr. Bernanke can expect to get pressure no matter what he does, and perhaps he figured the way to get more monetary running room was to give Congress what it wants on spending. If so, it doesn't inspire much trust in us that he can hold fast on monetary policy either. And speaking of the 1970s, what markets may really fear is that we are entering another period of "stagflation," slower growth with rising prices, and without political or economic leaders who understand what to do about it.

One truth that Mr. Bernanke did speak yesterday is that it is a mistake to rely on monetary policy alone to spur economic growth. It's a shame, then, that his testimony makes it that much less likely that we'll get any genuine "stimulus" from fiscal policy.

payback for Pence?

2008-01-22T20:29:00.002-08:00

Apparently, Planned Parenthood has decided to get (much) more aggressive in opposing pro-lifers and supporting pro-choicers in Congress. For years, Democrats and then Republicans in control of Congress were perfectly willing to send federal taxpayer monies to Planned Parenthood. But in the most recent Congress-- after the Republicans had lost their majority-- Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) proposed a bill that would prohibit any federal funding to abortion providers.

Either PP is finally getting its political act together-- or the Pence proposal has finally awakened both the Republicans in Congress and the PP politicos.

From Brody Mullins in today's WSJ (hat tip: Linda Christiansen)...

For the first time, abortion-rights advocate Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. is launching a major effort to elect pro-abortion-rights candidates to Congress and the White House in November.

The nation's largest reproductive-health-care provider plans to spend $10 million in hopes of persuading one million people to vote for abortion-rights candidates in the 2008 election. Planned Parenthood will roll out its election plans today to mark the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that made abortion legal.

With its "One Million Strong" campaign, Planned Parenthood becomes the latest Washington interest group to launch an independent effort to elect candidates who back its priorities. Since Congress enacted a campaign-finance-reform law banning large financial contributions to the Republican and Democratic parties, a growing number of individuals, labor unions, corporations and other interest groups have started or boosted their own campaigns to elect like-minded candidates....

In all, Emily's List hopes to exceed the $46 million it raised for the 2006 election. Another abortion-rights organization, Naral Pro-Choice America, plans to spend $10 million on the general election.

Together, the efforts by the three abortion-rights groups are the most aggressive attempt by abortion-rights advocates to elect like-minded candidates -- most of whom are likely to be Democrats....

Until recently, Planned Parenthood hadn't played a role in elections. In 2004, the organization endorsed Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry for president, marking the first time it had endorsed a presidential candidate in its 90-year history. In 2006, Planned Parenthood lent its backing to a handful of Democratic candidates for governor.

Officials at Planned Parenthood say they decided to move into the campaign arena because they say reproductive rights are under assault by Republicans....

are Bush and the Congress causing the stock market plunge?

2008-01-22T20:29:00.001-08:00

Two scenarios are possible here:

They may be bringing unnecessary attention to a soft economy, causing people to think things are worse than they are. Interestingly, falling consumer confidence can become a self-fulfilling prophecy to some extent.

In dealing with a soft economy, the proposals for short-term band-aids are perceived as so bad or meaningless that the market is responding negatively.

Today's news

2008-01-22T07:13:00.000-08:00

Dungy Staying in Indianapolis — WCSI News
The Indianapolis Colts held a press conference this afternoon to announce that Tony Dungy will remain as head coach for the Colts for the 2008-2009 season.

Downtown Luncheon to Address Education in Global Economy — WCSI News
Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus is taking reservations for "Maintaining America’s Competitiveness in the 21st Century Global Economy: The Role of P-16 in Education."

Local Man Dies — WCSI News
A former Democrat Party activist and Cummins executive has passed away. Richard better known as “Dick” Stoner died Saturday.

Man Kills Woman Before Committing Suicide — WCSI News
Indiana State Police are calling the deaths of two people in Decatur County a murder-suicide.

Cemetery Fraud — WCSI News
In what state officials called a raid of 22 million in trust fund money has the owner of a cemetery and funeral home on State Road 135 and his wife facing multiple criminal charges.

Family Court Project gets $10,000 grant — WCSI News
The Four-County Family Court Project in Bartholomew, Brown, Jackson and Lawrence counties will receive a $10,000 grant from the Indiana Supreme Court’s Division of State Court Administration.

Sheriffs Department Sex Offender Registry — WCSI News
Beginning January 28th, the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office will be conducting state mandated annual registration of convicted sex and violent offenders, who reside or work within Bartholomew County.

Renewable Energy Bill Considered In House Committee — WCSI News
An Indiana House committee is expected to vote this week on a bill that requires most electricity suppliers in the state to increase renewable energy resources.

Governor's Property Tax Bill Advances To Indiana House — WCSI News
A committee vote has sent the property tax plan proposed by Governor Mitch Daniels to the full Indiana House of Representatives.

Pro-choice?

2008-01-22T07:10:00.001-08:00

Here are the options...

Yes, I know it's against the law to carry a pistol on the trail, but which
would you prefer – breaking a bureaucratic rule or getting your brains knocked
out and then being decapitated?

That question was raised by Charley Reese while commenting on the woman recently murdered while hiking the Apalachian Trail. She "might be alive today if she had tucked a pistol into her backpack or fanny pack." [source]

Libertarianism for 1st graders

2008-01-21T20:57:00.000-08:00

from Joshua Katz on LewRockwell.com...

I remember only one event from first grade. It happened on the first day of school...The school had a milk program, where parents could pay each week for their children to receive a pint of milk at snack-time. My parents had paid, and so I was to receive milk at snack.

As the school day began, the teacher settled down the class and taught us the basic rules for the classroom. Some were familiar...However, one was new and unusual – if you have something to say, raise your hand, don’t just shout or jump out of your seat....

Nonetheless, this rule immediately struck me as wise and worth obeying. I was quite clear that any reasonable person would choose to follow this rule, given that the consequence would be that all others would follow it too. Even lacking universal assent, it would work unilaterally too – those who choose to follow it can simply ignore anyone jumping around and screaming to get his point across. I resolved to follow it immediately and flawlessly.

Such was my state of mind when snack time came around, and the teacher asked, "Who has a milk account?" I responded the way I considered proper – by raising my hand. My fellow milk-drinkers, though, immediately began to jump out of their seats and shout. Having just learned of the alternative to such behavior, I considered their actions atrocious and quite unsuited for polite society. I kept my own counsel, and kept my hand raised.

You can probably figure out where this all led – I didn’t get any milk that day....

Libertarians often find themselves in a similar position. We support principles that we know everyone else has learned, and it seems that most people in polite society believed in them at some point. We were taught as children about not hitting other people, and we still believe it. Sure, we have more developed philosophies now, stronger arguments for why we ought not to hit people, but the basic principle remains. There are basic rules, like not hitting people, without respect for which no human society can function.

Even the rules regarding self-defense find themselves expressed in elementary school terms. The only viable defense, when caught hitting another child, is "he started it." Any just teacher will recognize that, even if the response was not quite proportional, the child who hit the other first deserves at least more blame. So, libertarians grow up understanding, along with everyone else, that the only time it might ever be acceptable to use force is in response to an aggressive attack. Then we find our neighbors advocating all kinds of force – wars of aggression, taxation, imprisonment for non-violent crimes. It seems as unfathomable to us that people would promote such things as it did to me that the only way to get milk was to break the hand-raising rule. No parent allows their children to take toys away from other children, but rather they encourage their children to share their own toys. Yet the children grow up to think that they can take away people’s property to give it to others, and to not share their own wealth.

As a result, we libertarians often find ourselves tongue-tied in debate. We can address all the economic issues, and point out the utilitarian benefits of liberty, but that’s not what we really want to do. We want to point out the morality of freedom, the evil of coercion – but we are unable, precisely because it is so obvious to us. We cannot effectively answer those who say "We must imprison drug users because it’s the government’s job to protect people from themselves," because it is so unbelievable to us that anyone would think it acceptable, nay, obligatory, to hit someone who has not hit someone else himself. I am often reduced to looking at such a person with a mix of horror and incredulity, and wondering how someone can think such a thing.

We make what seem to us completely obvious points – that we ought to follow our basic moral codes, and the necessary rules for civilization. We think that this ought to work, just like I expected raising my hand to work. We are puzzled by those who proudly and arrogantly proclaim that they are above the rules for civilization, just as I was puzzled by the fact that the children who broke the rules got their milk.

Consider the masses who laugh at libertarianism. Ask them just what, exactly, they oppose. Is it the idea of private property? Is it opposition to theft, or to murder? These are the fundamentals of our position, are they not? Or do they challenge the application of the position to specifics? Would they maintain that it is something other than theft to take away money from Peter to give it to Paul? What word is more applicable?

You’ll quickly find that most don’t oppose anything specific at all. They just think libertarians are weird, kooky – and to a certain extent, we are. While the diversity of the movement continues to grow by leaps and bounds, we remain a somewhat eclectic bunch. How could it be otherwise in a world with a public education system, where "normal" folks are taught never to look behind the curtain? Yet, this is no argument against our positions. In an insane world, only those who appear out of step with the rest will be sane. I appeared weird to my classmates, too, when I sat quietly, following the rules, and raising my hand. When breaking important rules is profitable, why not join those who break them? Look around you – success is in the government sector! Why not join in? Why not indeed. How about – because it is wrong to hit people?...

Most people will not spontaneously become libertarians when they become aware of the contradictions, but if libertarian ideas are in view when they are made aware of it, then they are likely to be persuaded. This is how our movement will grow. So, our goal must be outreach and education. We must remember, though, never to beat anyone over the head with our message – we need only to put it out there, to present it well, and they will come, just as supporters from all communities have flocked to Ron Paul....

Our message, although dressed up and more cogently argued, really is nothing more than the kindergarten creed. But adults cannot embrace what they learned in kindergarten, they fear they will look foolish. So we must argue for it through economics and through philosophy, but the message is still the same – don’t hit people. Go forth and spread the word.

America's 2nd Muslim Congressman will be from Indiana

2008-01-20T12:52:00.000-08:00

INDIANA — Andre Carson, grandson of the late Congresswoman Julia Carson, is favored to win the March 11 congressional election. The special election was called after the elder Carson's untimely death. The younger Carson would be the second Muslim to serve in the US Congress. [source]

Carson told journalist Ruth Holladay that he frequently attends the Nur-Allah Islamic Center in Indianapolis and was influenced as a teen by Malcom X and Nation of Islam (NOI) members. While he claims he is not a member of the Nation of Islam, the group's leader, Louis Farrakhan, spoke at the elder Carson's funeral in December.

Acceptable racism

From it's racialist perspective, the National of Islam can be understood as the black counterpart to the white Christian Identity Movement (CIM). Both embrace nationalist racial fervor and harbor intolerant views of other races. Both favor racial separation and anti-semitism is a common theme in both groups.

The difference is that the NOI is typically accepted as a valued alternative cultural component while the CIM is universally condemned. An example is David Shaheed of Marion Superior Court (Indianapolis). He is not only a practicing Muslim, but serves as an Imam. The racialist views of Shaheed's religion are seldom questioned. Imagine, however, the furor that would arise if a Superior Court judge were a minister of the Christian Identity Movement. Or image the media frenzy if a Christian Identity Movement minister were a welcomed speaker at a white congressional leader's funeral. Shaheed, by the way, is Carson's father-in-law.

What are the chances?

Carson's victory on March 11 can best be described as "inevitable."

Carson's district, Indiana's 7th, has been drawn to isolate Democrats in their own political ghetto. It encompasses much of Indianapolis. Outer areas of the city are attached to surrounding Republican strongholds. The district has been written off by Republicans who dutifully run token candidates. The GOP's sacrificial lamb for this election is State Rep. Jon Elrod. Note Elrod's views on Medicaid and Social Security by clicking on his site below.

Carson currently serves as a councilman on the Indianapolis City-County Council.

View Carson's Web site here ►
View Elrod's Web site here ►
View Christian Identity Web site here ►
View Nation of Islam Web site here ►

Happy 80th Birch Bayh

2008-01-19T12:35:00.000-08:00

Birch Bayh turns 80 years old January 22.

Also turning 80 this year are:

Fats Domino
Eddie Fisher
Orson Bean
Joyce Brothers
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Rosemary Clooney (d 29-Jun-2002)
James Coburn (d 18-Nov-2002)
Tony Franciosa
James Garner
Che Guevara (d 9-Oct-1967)
Robert Indiana
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Roddy McDowall (d 3-Oct-1998)
Walter Mondale
Roger Mudd
John Nash
Fred Rogers (d 27-Feb-2003)
Marion Ross
Vidal Sassoon
Shirley Temple
Dick Van Patten
Andy Warhol (d 22-Feb-1987)
James Watson
Adam West
Ruth Westheimer

Burton, Ellsworth win CMF Gold Mouse Awards

2008-01-19T12:12:00.000-08:00

Congressmen Brad Ellsworth and Dan Burton recently received "Golden Mouse" awards for their Web sites.

The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) considers accessability of 618 congressional sites, including Senate and House Members, committees, and leadership.

View lists of award winners ►

No Nukes? Go Nukes!

2008-01-18T19:50:00.001-08:00

Two in a row on this topic-- this entry inspired by excerpts from Spencer Reiss' review of Gwyneth Craven's Power to Save the World in the Wall Street Journal...

"Power to Save the World" is a picaresque, flat-out love song to the bad boy of the great American energy debate -- as good a book as we're likely to get on a subject mired in political incorrectness, general unfathomability and essentially limitless gut fears. It's also the latest plot point for one of the few unassailably positive byproducts of global-warming mania: the quiet emergence of pro-nuke greens, led by such impeccable apostates as Whole Earth founder Stewart Brand and James Lovelock, the British chemist best known for his Earth-is-a-living-organism "Gaia hypothesis."...

The book's subtitle -- "The Truth About Nuclear Energy" -- could come straight off some forlorn industry-group handout. That's not meant as criticism.

In fact, it's hard not to read Ms. Cravens's book as a 400-page indictment of the nuclear power industry's tragic-comic inability to tell its own story. Going all the way back to Three Mile Island (1979) and Chernobyl (1986) -- disasters that look a lot less disastrous in retrospect, as Ms. Cravens discovers -- the industry has swapped missionary zeal for a hair shirt and a defensive crouch....

...half the fuel in America's nuclear reactors -- in other words, the source of 10% of the country's electricity, far higher in (shock, horror) super-nuclear Vermont -- comes from dismantled Soviet bombs. A Coke can will handily contain all the uranium needed for a legendarily high-powered U.S. lifetime of electricity. (The coal equivalent is 68 tons.) Here's a fun fact: Walking through Grand Central Terminal's granite corridors hits you with more radiation than a similar stroll through a nuclear power plant. Special for paranoids: Depending on where you live, a third or more of your daily dose of radiation comes from your own body's isotopes. Cheers!...

Of course, nuclear power's funnest fact is: zero carbon....

Toward the close of "Power to Save the World," Mr. Anderson lets Ms. Cravens in on a wry engineering (and science-fiction) term for magical fixes: unobtanium. In today's energy discourse, unobtanium includes hydrogen, biomass, cellulosic ethanol, negawatts, Jimmy Carter's cardigans and any other dream technology that someone can come up with to avoid focusing on the epic problem of keeping an ever-brighter planet's lights burning.

Another cute bit of knowing jargon pops up in Richard Rhodes's introduction to "Power to Save the World." It neatly encapsulates 98% of public discourse about nuclear power: "secondhand ignorance." Ms. Craven's firsthand portrait of the devil we know won't fix that by itself, but it is -- appropriately -- illuminating.

oh no, another sub-optimal tax cut from Bush?

2008-01-18T19:49:00.001-08:00

Among income tax cuts, economists distinguish between those that
a.) simply send money to people; and
b.) those that cut marginal tax rates on income.

Bush's two modest tax cuts, early in his administration, were one of each. And most of what I'm hearing about contemporary proposals is cutting more checks for people.

Unfortunately, economists are not nearly as excited about A as they are about B. Both types of tax cut can put the same amount of money in people's pockets-- and thus, both increase consumption and investment. But only B gives people a greater incentive to engage in productive behavior (since they get to keep more of the fruits of their labor).

Connecting this to economic theory, A is a Keynesian tax cut and B is a "Supply-side" tax cut (since it directly changes the incentives for product and labor supply). Bush's tax antics are making it easier for me to teach Macro. But it's a sub-optimal policy choice.

The other problem with A is that it does not increase productive behavior. So, it is merely moving resources from one area to another-- or here, from the future to the current. We would finance such tax cuts with more debt. Thus, future taxpayers will pay a greater tab while current taxpayers catch a break.

Unfortunately, a crucial point like this will probably be relegated to the sidelines, trampled by the political excitement of sending and receiving a big check from the government. The argument will get some play, but probably not enough to influence policy-- when most of our leaders don't understand basic concepts in economics.

WRESTLING OUR SCHOOL BOARDS AWAY FROM THE TEACHERS UNION

2008-01-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

News from the statehouse is Senate Bill #2 SCHOOLBOARD ELECTIONS AT GENERAL ELECTION TIME passed out of committee, 6-4, YESTERDAY!!! The bill still has a long ways to go, but it's a start. Republicans voted for, and democrats against, this very important piece of legislation that would take school boards out from under the thumb of the teachers union, and their wasteful spending on fancy school buildings and needless travelling to fabulous vacation destinations to learn how to deliver "social justice" to students who desperately need to learn how to read, write, compute, and think. Legislators have tried to pass this twice before. Let's pray we get lucky, and the third time is charms! It's time we had a school board that represented this COMMUNITY and PARENTS instead of the homosexuals, illegal immigrants, school architects, and liberal dingbat educational consultantants out of IU, California and Vermont.

Billie Whitted

Defending free speech means defeating HB 1076

2008-01-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

Indiana House Bill 1076 adds hate crime provisions to Indiana's legal system.

Specifically HB 1076, "Requires law enforcement officers to receive training in identifying, responding to, and reporting bias crimes." Requiring Indiana's police to be subjected to the subjective philosophy of multiculturalism should be, in itself, reason to defeat the bill."

HB 1076 also "Allows an individual who suffers a personal injury or property damage caused by a criminal offense to bring a civil action to recover damages, including punitive damages, if the person who committed the offense knowingly or intentionally selected the victim because of specified" racial or behavioral peculiarity.

In other words, if a black guy mutters "cracker" while robbing a white guy, the white guy can bring civil action against the black guy. However, if the white guy calls the black guy "cracker" during a hold up, the black guy has no cause for civil action since "cracker" is not deemed a racial slur when passing from white to black.

Some worry that the speech, alone, will constitute a crime. Because the legislation includes the behavior characteristics of sexual orientation and gender identity, it is suspected that the law would be used by gays to sue critics who cause them emotional discomfort.

Classes of persons identified by HB 1076 are victim's actual or perceived:

• color
• creed
• disability
• national origin
• race
• religion
• sexual orientation
• gender identity
• sex
• homelessness

Not covered are:

• hair color
(Assaulting a blond while telling a blond joke will bear no addition risk of liability.)

• state origin
(Hating someone from Mexico is wrong; hating someone from New Mexico is ok.)

• age
(Mugging the elderly will still be illegal, but uttering slurs such as "geester" and "curmudgeon" will not lead to civil action.)

• attractiveness (Robbing people because you think they are ugly will carry no additional liability. You may even say, "you're ugly" while you snatch the victim's MasterCard.)

• intelligence
(Saying "dumb blond" during a purse snatching will also be perfectly OK.)

• atheism
(While faith-based muggings are included, attacking someone for not being religious bears no additional consequence. Or is believing nothing a creed?)

• home style
(Homeless victims may seek punitive damages if targeted specifically because of their homelessness. Residents of YMCAs, flop houses, rescue missions and card board boxes, however, will be exempt from the law's provisions.)

Read the bill here ►

Indiana's 3-step tax plan scam to raise taxes

2008-01-17T06:43:00.001-08:00

1 - Raise property taxes in 2007
2 - Promise to lower property taxes by increasing sales tax in 2008.
3 - Lower property taxes to their pre-2007 rate.*

Net result: Property taxes remain the same but we feel good about increased sales tax.

*In reality, property taxes will be lowered, but not as low as pre-2007 rates.

Opinion: How diversity and multiculturalism promote racism

2008-01-17T05:44:00.001-08:00

by Kenn Gividen

The 2008 Mindy Lewis Above and Beyond Diversity Awards were presented Monday night. The recipients and Ms. Lewis are to praised for their efforts to advance a harmonious culture.

Good intentions, however, do no always produce the desired outcome. The awards should remind us that efforts of multiculturalists often result in more discrimination, more racism and more resentment among people groups.

Michael S. Berliner, Ph.D., and Gary Hull, Ph.D. are among those who point to the adverse effects of multicultural programs. Racism, they note, is the notion that one's race determines one's identity. By emphasizing ethnic diversity multiculturalism promotes racism.

Properly our focus should be on individual achievement.

"The diversity movement claims that its goal is to extinguish racism and build tolerance of differences," say Berliner and Hall. Collective identity, however, defies individualism. Acknowledging the worth of individuals, regardless of race, is the valid alternative.

Humans are not viewed by multiculturalists as individuals, but as mere racial components. "To the multiculturalist, race is what counts—for values, for thinking, for human identity in general," they add.

Diversity proponents further the notion of celebrating differences. That requires emphasis on racial distincitves; those attriubes that make us different. It "means we're being urged to glorify race...we're being asked to institutionalize separatism."

In short, multiculturalism fails to build bridges between races. Rather, it cuts deep chasms of separation by over-emphasis of racial distinctives and identity.

Read the complete article by Berliner and Hall here ►

a tax increase is a tax decrease?

2008-01-16T18:31:00.001-08:00

This was an odd thing for the C-J to use to supplement their description of Governor Daniels' "State of the State" address and his property tax plan.

Gov. Mitch Daniels has asked for a tax increase in each of his four State of the State addresses:

2005: Daniels asked for a temporary 1-percentage-point increase in the state's 3.4 percent income tax for individuals and joint filers earning more than $100,000, with the money to be used to balance the state budget. Lawmakers never considered the proposal.

2006: Daniels asked for a 25-cent-per-pack increase in the state's cigarette tax to encourage smokers to quit. The proposal died in a House committee.

2007: Daniels again asked for a cigarette-tax increase, this time to fund a health-insurance program for low-income adults. Lawmakers approved a 44-cent-per-pack increase that will provide health insurance to up to 130,000 Hoosiers.

2008: Daniels asked for a 1-percentage-point sales-tax increase to 7 percent. He proposes to use the money to cut property-tax bills. The House Ways and Means Committee is considering the idea.

Perhaps it was just convenient to note that there is a tax increase within his property tax reform proposal (as in other years)-- or maybe the C-J is trying to influence/tilt the debate.

In any case, on net, the governor's proposal reduces taxes-- at least, at the state level-- by about $700 million. True, local governments would still be able to increase local option income taxes to make up for lost property tax revenue. But at most, Daniels' proposal is revenue-neutral, not a net tax increase.

Baron, Mike and me on politics and family

2008-01-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

From Sunday's Jeff/NA News-Tribune, three essays from Sodrel, Hill, and me-- on politics and family...

Baron's essay emphasizes political activity, but also calls people to pay attention to local issues and encourages policy debate. Mike's essay reads like a primer on U.S. Civics-- emphasizing knowledge and the purpose and processes of politics over political activity per se.

My essay is more similar to Mike's in focusing on knowing what we're doing in politics more than activity for its own sake. Here's part of what I wrote:

Over and above politics, my wife Tonia and I want to teach our kids to have a coherent Christian worldview of government: When is it appropriate to use government as a means to various ends? In what context is it okay for the government to take money from some people in order to give it to others? (When one child takes a toy from another, I often half-joke with them that they can't do that since “you're not the government”.) When should we get the government to prevent people from doing something - or to force them to do something else? Under what conditions should our country attack another country?...

The most poignant moment in the campaign was when one of my sons asked if I would win. I said probably not. He asked if I would finish second. Again, I said probably not - that I'd probably lose by a lot. I could see the puzzled look on his face, because he usually sees me being “successful”. It was a great opportunity for me to convey the crucial idea that you have to do the right thing, even if you don't think that you'll win.

The new AIDS: S.F. gay community an epicenter for new strain of virulent staph

2008-01-15T08:07:00.001-08:00

For sounding the alarm on gay-related health risks I've been saddled with the slur, "homophobe," and consigned to piñata status by militant gay-extremist hate groups.

But the new strain of highly resilient staph bacteria may be difficult for even the most obstinate of militants to deny.

Below is the report from the San Francisco Chronicle:

A new variety of staph bacteria, highly resistant to antibiotics and possibly transmitted by sexual contact, is spreading among gay men in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles, researchers reported Monday.

The study released online by the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found the highest concentrations of infection by the drug-resistant bug in and around San Francisco's Castro district and among patients who visit health clinics that treat HIV infections in gay men in San Francisco and Boston.

The culprit is a form of MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a bug that was once confined to hospitalized patients but, since the late 1990s, has been circulating outside medical settings, afflicting anyone from injection-drug users to elementary school students. A strain called USA300 has been a leading cause of MRSA infection in this decade, and an exceptionally drug-resistant variant of it is now on the loose, researchers say.

The study estimated that 1 in 588 residents living within the Castro neighborhood 94114 ZIP code area is infected with that variant, which is resistant to six types of commonly used antibiotics. The risk of contracting this difficult-to-treat bug is 13 times greater for gay men than for the rest of the city's population, researchers found.

"We probably had it here first, and now it is spreading elsewhere," said Binh An Diep, a researcher at San Francisco General Hospital and lead author of the report. "This is a national problem, and San Francisco is at the epicenter."

The germ typically causes boils and other skin and soft-tissue infections and, despite its resistance to some drugs, is still treatable by surgical drainage and several classes of antibiotics. What is unusual in this case is the high percentage of infections - up to 40 percent - occurring in the buttocks and genitalia.

Although researchers have stopped short of declaring this form of staph a sexually transmitted disease, the infections are found where skin-to-skin contact occurs during sexual activity.

Most of the infections are limited to the skin surface, but the bacteria can invade deeper tissues or disseminate through the bloodstream. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, various forms of MRSA are causing 95,000 of these more costly and potentially life-threatening infections - and 19,000 deaths - annually in the United States.

Until last year, staph infections had never been linked to sexual activity. Early last year, New York City physicians traced three instances of staph infection apparently spread by sexual contact. Their report was published in February in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

A month later, doctors from the Albany Medical Center in New York reported in the Journal of Urology three cases of multi-drug-resistant staph in the groins of three patients - one of whom developed a form of rapid-tissue destruction popularly known as "flesh-eating bacteria" disease. The patients recovered after treatments with surgery and antibiotics.

San Francisco General Hospital physicians have been battling an aggressive strain of MRSA, called USA300, since 2001. The most recent study estimates that this strain alone is infecting about 2,000 city residents a year.

But the latest problem is being caused by a new variant of USA300 that was first detected in a San Francisco patient in 2003. Among the six antibiotics it is resistant to are three that are normally considered for treatment of suspected MRSA. The study estimated that 200 cases of this highly drug-resistant variant are turning up in San Francisco each year, mostly among gay men.

"We are nowhere near the peak," Diep said. "The peak will occur when it spreads into the general population."

Diep said there is reason to believe that the more drug-resistant strain will make that leap because it is just a slight variant of USA300, which became one of the most common strains of MRSA in the United States only a few years after it was first detected.

The latest study focuses on the spread of the more drug-resistant strain in San Francisco and Boston, but reports of the bug are turning up in New York and Los Angeles.

Just why the new, more drug-resistant variety is concentrated among gay men is not yet known. Patients infected with HIV appear to run a higher risk of infection, but the study suggests that gay men are being infected with the staph germ regardless of whether they are HIV-positive.

One factor that could be in play is a medical history of heavy use of antibiotics, which creates conditions for breeding drug-resistant strains. Any patient, HIV-positive or not, who has had high previous exposure to antibiotics might be more susceptible.

The good news is that, once the public is aware of the risk, there are ways to prevent the spread of drug-resistant staph. It can be as simple as soap and water.

"Taking a shower after sexual contact may minimize contamination," said Dr. Chip Chambers, director of infectious diseases at San Francisco General, a co-author of the study. "Ordinary soap will do. It dilutes the concentration of bacteria. You don't need antibacterial soap."

Chambers stressed that some people, no matter how fastidious, could be more prone than others to staph infections. They could have unknown genetic traits or a history of antibiotic use that raises the risk.

"Despite one's best efforts, it is still possible, of course, to get a staph infection," he said. "This is why if one has a cut or open wound that it is important to clean it out and keep it clean."

The new variant of USA300 is resistant to the antibiotics erythromycin, clindamycin, tetracycline, Cipro-like antibiotics and drugs in the penicillin family. It also does not respond to mupirocin - a gel that is often used to kill MRSA growing in people's noses.

That still leaves a variety of antibiotics that will kill the new USA300 strain, but they tend to be more expensive and require intravenous drips. One common oral antibiotic, Bactrim, is still effective against it.

Chambers also pointed out that researchers at San Francisco General have shown that many skin sores and boils caused even by these drug-resistant strains of staph often can be treated without any antibiotics, just by surgical drainage of pus.

One of the paradoxes of bacterial infections is that using antibiotics to treat them is one of the quickest ways to promote antibiotic resistance. Although the drugs sometimes are essential, overuse is weakening their effectiveness worldwide. [source]

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

News for January 15, 2008

2008-01-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

East to offer C4 Biomed Classes
WCSI News
Columbus East High School will begin a new biomedical sciences program when school starts in August. Bartholomew Consolidated School Board voted unanimously Monday to join a number of schools nationwide piloting the Project Lead the Way four-course sequence in the district’s C4 advanced Health Careers curriculum. BCSC offers a PLTW Engineering sequence. The biomedical program, supported by four years’ state funding, will begin with the Principles of Biomedical Sciences course. If successful, the course will be joined by one new course, open to all students in C4-participating schools, each fall for the next three years.

Mindy Lewis Diversity
WCSI News
BCSC school board awarded the 2008 Mindy Lewis Above and Beyond Diversity Awards Monday night. The awards went to Jay Cherry, Nancy Conner, Peggy Myers, Mary Ellen Nelson, and Dana Nyffeler. BCSC is very excited about the interest being generated for the Columbus Signature Academy. Director of secondary education Bill Jensen says there are already over 500 applicants for the 480 spots in K-9.

Indiana Legislature
WCSI News
The Indiana General Assembly is discussing Property Taxes in some form just about every day. State Representative Milo Smith says he had a chance to speak with Governor Mitch Daniels last week and says just yesterday, there was some good news on the House Floor where democrats and republicans on both sides of the isle said they would like to work together to see the Governors plan for property tax relief implemented. His plan would increase the state sales tax to 7 cents on the dollar, shift child welfare and some school costs to the state, limit local government spending to a rolling six-year average personal income growth, require referendums for major building projects and eliminate township assessors.

Flat Rock FD Fundraiser
WCSI News
The Flat Rock Volunteer Fire Department is going to have a fundraiser this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the fire department on State Road 252. Doyle Swanson says the fundraiser is for a new tanker. Cost for the meal is $6.95 for all you can eat, but the fire department will also take any other donations that you are willing to give.

Commissioners Pass Zoning Ordinance
WCSI NewsThe Bartholomew County Commissioners passed a comprehensive replacement zoning ordinance on the first reading for the county on Monday. The plan will now go to city council Wednesday night for approval and be read and voted on a second time at the commissioners meeting on January 28th. Bartholomew County Commissioner Carl Lienhop said the plan needed to be updated. The commissioners passed the ordinance after changes were made to the including an increase in the number of very small animals allowed on a particular property and changing telecommunications towers to conditional use from permitted use.

Delinquent Taxes to Come From Rebates
WCSI News
The Bartholomew County Commissioners passed an ordinance Monday that may leave some people without a Homestead Credit rebate. The ordinance allows for the 2007 additional Homestead Credit to be applied to delinquent property tax bills. Commissioner Carl Lienhop said the law was passed by the state to help counties. The commission also appointed Dennis Crider to the city plan commission to complete the term vacated by Joan Tupin Krietz.

Agreement Makes Meijer Founding Partner Of Colts' Stadium
WCSI NewsThe Indianapolis Colts have made retailing giant Meijer a Founding Partner of the team's new Lucas Oil Stadium. Meijer will have a themed area at the stadium, and also receive signage and advertising opportunities. Lucas Oil Stadium will be complete in time for the 2008 football season. The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based company operates 24 stores in Indiana. Meijer's Indianapolis Market Director Mike Frattini calls it a "very logical step" to broaden the company's relationship with the Colts. A statement from the team did not indicate a financial arrangement.

Study Finds Nursing As Biggest Job To Fill In Indiana
WCSI News
Registered nurses are in greater demand across Indiana than any other profession, according to a new study. The Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University has found that the number of nursing jobs will grow 30-percent by 2014. Rachel Justis with the IBRC says the need for registered nurses ranks first in seven of the state's 11 economic regions. A majority of the nursing expansion is expected in the southern half of Indiana. The average nurse's salary in the state for 2006 was well over 51-thousand-dollars. Accountants, auditors, elementary school teachers, and medical and health services managers are other Indiana "hot jobs," according to Justis.

Commission Approves Capital Projects

2008-01-11T14:42:00.000-08:00

The following Capital Projects were recommended for approval during Friday’s meeting of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education:

Fort Wayne—New Construction and Renovation Project at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana

Logansport—New Construction and Renovation Project at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana

Greencastle—New Construction and Renovation Project at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana

Senator Vaneta Becker votes against pro-life bill

2008-01-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

Senator Vaneta Becker yesterday became the only Republican on the senate health committee to vote against Senate Bill 3, a bill that would protect Indiana pharmacists from being forced to dispense drugs that would be used for abortion, euthanasia, assisted-suicide or mercy killing.

The senator joined four of the most strident Democratic abortion supporters in the senate in opposing the bill, including Sen. Sue Errrington, a long-time Planned Parenthood employee and lobbyist, and Sen. Vi Simpson from Bloomington. Senator Becker's vote against the bill came in spite of hearing testimony from Karen Brauer, an Indiana pharmacist fired by K-mart in 1996 after refusing to dispense abortion-causing drugs in violation of her personal conscience.

more ►

Is Ron Paul an anti-gay racist?

2008-01-11T02:59:00.001-08:00

Noting Ron Paul's association with the Mises Institute and libertarian Lew Rockwell, James Kirchick offers his musings in The New Republic that bear the title Angry White Man. The subtitle is more poignant: The bigoted past of Ron Paul

Kirchick points to past newsletters published by Paul that bear such phrases as "opinion polls consistently show only about 5% of blacks have sensible political opinions," "if you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be," and that black representative Barbara Jordan is "the archetypical half-educated victimologist" whose "race and sex protect her from criticism."

We then learn that libertarians are divided into two camps: The "urbane" CATO institute variety and the "neo-Confederates." We are left with the impression that Paul's views more accurately mesh with the like of Samuel T. Francis than Milton Friedman.

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News for January 11, 2008

2008-01-11T01:20:00.000-08:00

Cummins President Receives Award
WCSI News
Joe Loughrey has been named Global Business Person of the Year by the World Trade Club of Indiana. The award recognizes outstanding contribution to furthering Indiana’s international commerce. Loughrey was honored because of Cummins’ global success and because of his work in a statewide initiative to advance manufacturing and logistics. Loughrey will accept the award Jan. 29 at the Omni hotel in Indianapolis.

Another Meeting Scheduled
WCSI News
Due to a big turnout at Thursday’s informational meeting for Signature Academy students and their parents, BCSC school officials will conduct two more sessions at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Columbus Learning Center lecture hall and Lincoln Elementary School. School staff will be split between both locations. The upcoming deadline to enroll is Tuesday.

Phone Scam Reported in Seymour
WCSI News
Seymour Police Department is asking people not to respond to a telephone scam that hit the area Thursday. Seymour Police Chief Bill Abbot said they had three calls on Thursday. Initial investigations show that a person is calling local residents and saying that if they will meet the caller with $1,800 in cash they will receive a check for $25,000 or $30,000. None of those people reporting calls met with the caller or callers, Abbott said, but he said the public needs to know not to give any personal information to anyone over the telephone.

Arts Council Seeks Help with Tree Sweaters
WCSI News
The Columbus Area Arts Council is still seeking people who knit and crochet to help out with a public art project. Warren Baumgart, Executive Director for the arts council, says the project is knitting tree cozies for downtown. To get yourself or your group involved contact the arts council at 376-2539. Monday is the deadline to sign-up.

Worton Sworn in as Columbus Police Chief
WCSI News
James Worton was sworn in by Columbus Mayor Fred Armstrong as Chief of the Columbus Police Department Thursday. Worton said he was grateful for attendance of his friends and family and that he was looking forward to the challenge of his new position.

Floyd Police Seek Suspect in Marijuana Operation
WCSI News
Floyd County police have charged a 38-year-old man with cultivating marijuana after investigators discovered nearly 600 fully grown pot plants and a pot-growing operation at the man’s residence. Police have asked Florida authorities for help in locating Thomas Hoffman, the owner of the home. He’s wanted on a felony warrant and was last believed to be in Florida. The plants were discovered after a neighbor of Hoffman contacted police about a suspected burglary in progress.

Walker: Eliminate Property Taxes on Homes

2008-01-10T07:32:00.001-08:00

(STATEHOUSE) –Republican state senators say they are “intrigued and interested” by a new plan unveiled at the Statehouse today. Senate Joint Resolution 8 (SJR-8) would completely and permanently eliminate property taxes on owner-occupied homes statewide.

“I support the permanent removal of levies from dependence on property taxes,” Sen. Greg Walker said. “I also realistically acknowledge that the legislation may not unwind all the complexity in one general assembly session. Yet, we must start the process of constitutional protections now.”

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News for January 10, 2008

2008-01-10T07:28:00.000-08:00

Floyd Police Seek Suspect in Marijuana Operation
— WSCI NEWS
Floyd County police have charged a 38-year-old man with cultivating marijuana after investigators discovered nearly 600 fully grown pot plants and a pot-growing operation at the man’s residence. Police have asked Florida authorities for help in locating Thomas Hoffman, the owner of the home. He’s wanted on a felony warrant and was last believed to be in Florida. The plants were discovered after a neighbor of Hoffman contacted police about a suspected burglary in progress.

Nashville Boil Order
— WSCI NEWS
The town of Nashville has issues a boil order for State Road 46 West residents between the addresses of 2596 State Road 46 West to 4726 State Road 46 West, including Hickory Hills Drive, Somerset Lake, Cardinal Drive, Mockingbird Lane, Yellowwood Lake Road and Bambi Lane. Residents are asked to boil their driving and cooking water until Wednesday, January 16th until 3:00 PM.

Shelby Judge to Seek Re-Election
— WSCI NEWS
A Shelby County judge has announced his intention to seek re-election on Tuesday. Judge Jack Tandy has served as a judge in Shelby County since 1985. He began his judicial career in Shelby County Court, which became Shelby Superior Court No. 2 in 1989. Tandy successfully ran for the judgeship of Superior Court No. 1 in 1990 and is currently serving in that capacity. Superior Court No. 1 handles criminal felony and civil cases such as divorces and personal- injury matters and all the juvenile cases filed in the county. Juvenile cases include delinquency, paternity and child-welfare cases.

ISP Celebrating 75 Years
— WSCI NEWS
As the New Year of 2008 begins, the Indiana State Police are celebrating their 75th year of dedicated service to the citizens of Indiana . To celebrate this milestone, special anniversary cars have been commissioned. The anniversary cars are a throwback to the original black 1933 Chevrolet, complete with a bright INDOT yellow stripe. The Superintendent and all district Public Information Officer’s are receiving the new design, which will give Hoosiers across the state a chance to view this special car.

Bartholomew County Democratic Chair Steps Down
— WSCI NEWS
The Bartholomew County Democratic Party Chairman has announced his intent to step down. Scott Andrews says in a press release serving Bartholomew County has been a true “pleasure”. Andrews cited family and work as deciding factors in his decision to step down. Further, Jeff Schroer, who has been the committee treasurer for the past seven years, and who has served with Andrews at his request, has also indicated he will resign. The resignation will be effective February 1, 2008, or at such time as a new chairman has been elected pursuant to party rules. A caucus has been called for January 28, 2008 in order for a new chairman, treasurer, and secretary to be elected to the Central Committee.

Washington County Memorial Hospital
— WSCI NEWS
Washington County Memorial Hospital ’s EMS Department was named the recipient of a grant from the Department of Homeland Security to house a new Disaster Response truck and trailer for District 8 in Indiana . The grant, totaling over $174,000 provides a Ford F-350 truck and a 28 foot trailer that contains medical supplies to be used to treat patients in the event of a declared federal disaster or large-scale emergency situation. The truck and trailer contain enough medical supplies to provide care to approximately 300 people before needing to be restocked.

Search Warrant Sends 3 to Jail
— WSCI NEWS
Columbus Police Department narcotic officers served a search warrant at a Taylorsville Motel Saturday night, which resulted in the recovery of a substantial amount of crack cocaine. 30 year old Camille Mitchell of Indianapolis was arrested for dealing cocaine, possession of marijuana, and visiting a common nuisance. 37 year old Robert Driscoll and 40 year old Michael Whites, both of Edinburgh , were charged with felony possession of crack cocaine. An undercover Columbus Police Department Officer stated that the investigation remains ongoing and future recoveries and arrests highly probable.

Despite public meeting, landowners feel REX is imminent
GreensburgDailyNews.com

Groups hope to snuff changes to smoking ordinance
GreensburgDailyNews.com

Council gets its feet wet
GreensburgDailyNews.com

Unknown factors leave fire’s cause undetermined
GreensburgDailyNews.com

Smoke fills council chambers once again: New council vows to exclude private clubs from ban
GreensburgDailyNews.com

Marion Township Volunteer Fire Department gets new clothes
GreensburgDailyNews.com

Leading the way
GreensburgDailyNews.com

The bridge is out
GreensburgDailyNews.com

Clearing a road for retirement
GreensburgDailyNews.com

A life of dedication
GreensburgDailyNews.com

Advance America Releases Property Tax Repeal Study

2008-01-09T07:33:00.000-08:00

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Full
Report

Click here

[Indianapolis, IN] Eric Miller, Founder of Advance America today released the results of a professional study of their Property Tax Repeal Plan conducted by a respected professor at Indiana University, Dr. Craig L. Johnson.

Miller was joined by the following Legislators who support the Constitutional Amendment to Repeal Property Taxes: Senator Phil Boots, Senator Dennis Kruse, Senator Brent Steele, Sen. Greg Walker, Senator John Waterman, Rep. Jim Buck, Rep. Woody Burton, Rep. Eric Koch, Rep. Cindy Noe, and Rep. Jackie Walorski. Also in attendance were individuals representing numerous taxpayer groups around the state and Attorney John Price who is the Chairman of the Indiana Property Tax Repeal Alliance, Inc.

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Walker co-authors spending limits bill

2008-01-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

(STATEHOUSE) –Legislation to control and manage local debt was approved today by the Senate State Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. Senate Bill 18 is co-authored by Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus).

“Approximately 24 percent of the net property tax levee is used for debt service, and the average annual increase of school and local debt was about 9.5 percent per year from 2000 to 2006,” Walker said. “If we want to control property taxes, we must control government spending. This bill encourages local government to pay off debt rather than extend it.”

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Supreme Court to hear Indiana voter registration case today

2008-01-09T00:09:00.000-08:00

Indiana's strickest-in-the-nation voter registration law — one that requires requires anyone voting in person to present a current government photo ID — will be challenged in the United States Supreme Court today.

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Wed., Jan. 9, 2008 — U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Indiana Democratic
Party v. Todd Rokita and William Crawford v. Marion County Election Board
cases.

America’s Exhibit Number One: an article in the Washington Times which
begins, "voter turnout among Democrats improved slightly last year in Indiana,
despite a new law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls
..." It goes on to describe a University of Missouri report that found Indiana's
voter turnout increased about two percentage points, with the highest percentage
of Democrats. — Photo ID law didn't hurt turnout in Indiana By Stephen Dinan, November 27, 2007

Indiana Bar Assoc to host "Talk to Lawyer"

2008-01-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

The Indiana Bar Association will honor civil right leader Martin Luther King by providing free legal service on Monday, January 21.

Residents in Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings counties can utilize a hotline by calling 1.877.378.0358 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The program is an opportunity for attorneys statewide to offer free legal consultations to members of the general public who might not otherwise be able to afford the counsel of an attorney.

"As lawyers, we are the key-holders and the gatekeepers within our judicial system," said ISBA President Douglas D. Church. "We must accept a reasonable degree of the responsibility that society owes to the underserved and as lawyers, we must provide the assistance that only lawyers can."

Daniels leads Schellinger, Thompson in gubernatorial survey

2008-01-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

Gubernatorial candidate Jim Schellinger issued a news release today boasting of $2.4 million raised in 2007 for his campaign. The release mentioned a poll from November showing the Democrat with a modest 4 point lead over incumbent Mitch Daniels.

Ignored by Schellinger was a more recent survey sponsored by the Republican Governors Association. In that poll Daniel's outdisanced Schellinger by a substantial 15 points. The poll also indicated that Jill Long Thompson had a better chance of unseating Daniels. Thompson trailed the governor by 13 points.

http://frugalhoosiers.typepad.com/frugal_hoosiers/2007/12/post.html

Ben Stein rages against evolution in new movie

2008-01-07T00:44:00.000-08:00

Comedian-slash-Republican speech writer Ben Stein has a web site promoting his pro-creationist movie, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

Stein associates Darwinism with racial imperialism and claims that, eventually, it will suffer the same fate.

Maybe Darwinism will be different. Maybe it will last. But it’s difficult to believe it will. Theories that presume to explain everything without much evidence rarely do. Theories that outlive their era of conception and cannot be verified rarely last unless they are faith based. And Darwinism has been such a painful, bloody chapter in the history of ideologies, maybe we would be better off without it as a dominant force.

The movie is planned to be released later this year.

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Bio-chips to be used for immigration control

2008-01-07T00:21:00.001-08:00

Well, I've always said that something akin to Verachips would be used to control immigration. Now it's about to actually happen.

Here's the news clip...

Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) has said it will introduce electronic registration for foreigners entering the country through the southern border to curb illegal immigration.

In a communique, the INM Thursday said Biochip implants would be used to control the entry of workers and visitors from Belize and Guatemala from March 2008, Spanish news agency EFE reported Friday.

The implant will replace the currently used local pass, which can be easily modified. Source ►

Gay marriage bans lead to economic boosts

2008-01-06T14:03:00.000-08:00

So much for the theories of the "creative class."

Our friends at www.VeritasRex.com published an interesting post indicating that the gay marriage ban SJR-7 would be a boost to Indiana's state economy. That prompted me to research the eleven states that banned gay marriage in 2004.

Below are links to charts that indicate the eleven states (Michigan being the lone exception) experienced an economy upturn following 2004 as measured by increased employment.

Let's have a look at the hard numbers of states that banned gay marriage in 2004.

Note the increase/decrease of both employment and unemployment in these states. (Click on the state name to view employment data.)

Arkansas
Georgia
Kentucky
Michigan
Mississippi
Montana
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Ohio
Utah
Oregon

With the exception of Michigan, the eleven states that banned gay marriage in 2004 experienced an upsurge in their economies as measured by employment vs unemployment.

The charts indicate a dramatic upward movement beginning in 2004.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/30/politics/main646662.shtml

Unhappy New Year for Poor Al

2008-01-05T10:04:00.000-08:00

Since the New Year has started, the usual pastime is to re-evaluate where your life priorities are going. Things are looking up for me and mine because, finally, the science is catching up with the rhetoric and the hysteria surrounding global warming. Before I continue, I should disclose that I hold a bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech in Forestry and Wildlife Management. The gist and training involved in this discipline is maintaining a healthy and contributing natural environment, managing all of the forests' assets and maintaining their productivity for the foreseeable future, ususally planning for the next one hundred years. Sensible stweardship and conservation of renewable natural resources is the goal.

I could go on but I refer you to a link on the FOX News webpage, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,318686,00.html. I can tell you from my own humble experience that my little corner of the world is warmed by the sun. We all know sunspots have an effect on our weather. Why wouldn't we look to the sun for any changes in its surface activity when things change here? Real scientific research is reported, repeatable, and not filled with rhetoric or feelings. Just the way we like it.

I sincerely hope none of you are falling for the carbon offset scams that are going around the country. Sit down and think about just what these people are saying to you. They are trying to tell you that by buying a carbon offset that can't be shown to exist, you can feel better about your very existence which, of course, is contributing to global warming. They will show you all kinds of "data". Have you seen Al Gore's travelling maps? The ones that have hundreds of years of data showing no great changes in surface temperature and that end up with a wide spread of a few years so that it looks like the temperatures have sky-rocketed? Don't buy into this! All you'll get out of is is a wise-up lesson in not wasting your money.

It is true that we live on the blue planet, the only living planet in our solar system. Of course there will be changes on its surface. There are changes in its "undersurface" layers too. That's where tsunamis and tidal waves come from, isn't it?

Sleep well this year. You didn't cause global warming. None of us did.

Rep. Koch Announces ICJI Grants for Bartholomew County

2008-01-05T07:26:00.000-08:00

(STATEHOUSE) Jan. 4, 2008 — State Rep. Eric Koch (R-Bedford) has announced the award of several grants to the Bartholomew County community from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI). Rep. Koch is a member of the Board of Trustees of ICJI.

The grants that have been awarded by the ICJI include:

A grant amount of $2,614 for the Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp., with the funds being utilized for emergency response equipment.

A grant amount of $807 for the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., with the funds being utilized for the ESL Lighthouse before and after school program.

Rep. Koch serves House District 65, which includes parts of Bartholomew, Brown, Jackson and Lawrence counties. He can be reached at www.in.gov/h65.

Property Tax Repeal Hearing January 8, 2008!

2008-01-04T04:37:00.000-08:00

Senate Joint Resolution 8 is the Constitutional Amendment to Repeal Property Taxes. The author is Senator Brent Waltz. Senator Mike Young is the second author.

January 8 Hearing Set:

On Tuesday, January 8, the Senate Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee will hear SJR 8. The hearing will take place in Room 431 of the State House, located at 200 W. Washington Street. The hearing will take place "upon adjournment" of the State Senate, which could be around 2:00 pm. This is a public hearing which means citizens can speak in favor of SJR 8. — Advance America

Gay activists taken over Eureka Springs Columbus

2008-01-04T04:25:00.000-08:00

Residents of the small Arkansas town of Eureka Springs noticed the homosexual community was growing. But they felt no threat. They went about their business as usual. Then, one day, they woke up to discover that their beloved Eureka Springs, a community which was known far and wide as a center for Christian entertainment--had changed. The City Council had been taken over by a small group of homosexual activists. — AFA Journal

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Indiana GA prayer service scheduled

2007-12-30T13:03:00.000-08:00

Indiana Family Institute (Dr. James Dobson) is planning a prayer service January 9th at the Indiana State House.

From the IFI blog:

Please join us for a brief prayer service
for the Indiana General Assembly at Christ's Church on the Circle in downtown
Indianapolis on Wednesday, January 9, at 6 p.m.

This will be the third time we've gathered with legislators and members of
our Board of Directors along with IFI prayer network members and other friends
of the Institute.

More than 22,600 New Jobs Coming to Indiana

2007-12-30T10:32:00.000-08:00

INDIANAPOLIS -- More than 150 companies from across the state, the country and around the world committed to create more than 22,600 new jobs in the Hoosier state this year, breaking the state's previous job commitment record set just a year ago.

250,000 teachers quit

2007-12-30T00:05:00.000-08:00

Class room discipline in the once civil British Isles has prompted 250,000 teachers to seek work elsewhere. Some say lax immigration policy is to blame.

Such statistics pose problems for liberals who advocate open-border immigration as humane while seeking more funding for government schools.

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The power of greasy chicken

2007-12-29T18:18:00.002-08:00

Supposing you have a formula — a secret recipe — for great tasting chicken.

The problem is your recipe requires your chicken be deep fried in vats of shortening (or grease). The process saturates the meat making it unbelievably messy.

Try to eat a leg and the grease rolls down your arm. Take a bite into a thigh and hot shortening squirts at the guy across the table; maybe across the room. One meal requires a dozens of napkins.

How do you market greasy chicken?

Colonel Sanders turned the negative to a positive. Rather than boasting of greasy chicken he claimed his product was "finger lickin' good."

A mistake marketers often make is what I call "overselling by silence." That is, marketers often don't alert prospective buyers to the product's flaws. (It's akin to overselling by overstating.) By ignoring negatives marketers often miss opportunities to turn negatives into positives.

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Technology Company to Nearly Triple Its Columbus Workforce

2007-12-28T19:15:00.001-08:00

INDIANAPOLIS (Dec. 28, 2007) – Executives from software developer LHP Inc. joined Governor Mitch Daniels here today to announce the company’s plans to grow its Columbus operations, creating more than 320 new high-tech jobs by 2011.

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Kroger is launching a Perishable Donations Partnership

2007-12-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – December 27th – Kroger is launching a Perishable Donations Partnership (PDP) as a company-wide project to increase thenumber of stores that donate safe, perishable food to America’s SecondHarvest food banks across the country.

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Benefits vs. costs of govt activism (revisited)

2007-12-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

Another unsatisfying effort from the C-J this morning (the link goes to a related article; I can't find today's update on their website) on the costs and benefits of government activism...

My blog entry on this is too to post here, but here's the link, followed by a summary of my conclusion...

Let's look at the numbers presented in the article-- sadly, just the benefits-- and then try to match it to the relevant costs....

OK, now to the unanswered and unquestioned costs of this government spending-- and its impact on Louisville and Kentucky....

From the details presented, it's difficult to tell whether (or how) Louisville and Kentucky got a good return on their "investment". At the least, it should be explained how $1,850 in costs per person is beneficial to Louisvillians when they only receive $71 in benefits per person.

And of course, all of this misses the crucial constitutional, philosophical and practical issues of "federalism"-- why is the federal government involved in financing "economic development projects across Kentucky" or "new sewers in Shively"?

In any case, as I wrote yesterday, one would hope that the media would do a better job in objectively and comprehensively covering the costs and benefits of government. Although it's difficult to answer such a question, it's at least interesting to consider when such failures are a function of ignorance, laziness, or a statist bias that prefers not to talk about the costs of government.

Coulter blows up Huckabee (again)

2007-12-27T05:23:00.003-08:00

He presents a target-rich environment-- so she obliges...

Apparently he responded to her column last week-- not a good idea when you have a weak hand to play...

Excerpts from today's effort at TownHall.com...

Huckabee is a "compassionate conservative" only in the sense that calling him a conservative is being compassionate.

Huckabee opposes school choice, earning him the coveted endorsement of the National Education Association of New Hampshire, which is like the sheriff being endorsed by the local whorehouse.

He is, however, in favor of school choice for kids in Mexico: They have the choice of going to school there or here. Huckabee promoted giving in-state tuition in Arkansas to illegal immigrants from Mexico -- but not to U.S. citizens from Ohio. "I don't believe you punish the children," he said, "for the crime and sins of the parents."

Since when is not offering someone lavish taxpayer-funded benefits a form of punishment? That's almost as crazy as a governor pardoning a known sex offender so he can go out and rape and kill.

PETA gets away with murder...of animals?!

2007-12-27T05:23:00.001-08:00

An email from TownHall.com made me aware of PETAKillsAnimals.com...

From PETA's interactions with the Virginia state government...

Our damning documents come courtesy of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), which requires “humane societies” to annually report their euthanasia rates. PETA filed the required “Animal Record” reports from 1998 to 2005. These records show that during those years, PETA killed over 14,400 dogs, cats, and other shelter pets at its Norfolk headquarters.

PETA’s solution to what could generously be termed an ongoing “credibility problem” is brilliant in its simplicity: Just ignore the law.

PETA is no longer complying with VDACS’ legal reporting requirement.

If you're interested in the details, the website continues by documenting the delay tactics used by PETA to avoid reporting. The homepage reports on a variety of other, related stories...

The economic lessons of Bethlehem

2007-12-27T05:22:00.001-08:00

Six years after it was written, Rockwell's classic...

At the heart of the Christmas story rests some important lessons concerning free enterprise, government, and the role of wealth in society.

Let’s begin with one of the most famous phrases: "There’s no room at the inn." This phrase is often invoked as if it were a cruel and heartless dismissal of the tired travelers Joseph and Mary. Many renditions of the story conjure up images of the couple going from inn to inn only to have the owner barking at them to go away and slamming the door.

In fact, the inns were full to overflowing in the entire Holy Land because of the Roman emperor’s decree that everyone be counted and taxed. Inns are private businesses, and customers are their lifeblood. There would have been no reason to turn away this man of aristocratic lineage and his beautiful, expecting bride.

In any case, the second chapter of St. Luke doesn’t say that they were continually rejected at place after place. It tells of the charity of a single inn owner, perhaps the first person they encountered, who, after all, was a businessman. His inn was full, but he offered them what he had: the stable. There is no mention that the innkeeper charged the couple even one copper coin, though given his rights as a property owner, he certainly could have.

It’s remarkable, then, to think that when the Word was made flesh with the birth of Jesus, it was through the intercessory work of a private businessman. Without his assistance, the story would have been very different indeed. People complain about the "commercialization" of Christmas, but clearly commerce was there from the beginning, playing an essential and laudable role.

And yet we don’t even know the innkeeper’s name. In two thousand years of celebrating Christmas, tributes today to the owner of the inn are absent. Such is the fate of the merchant throughout all history: doing well, doing good, and forgotten for his service to humanity.

Clearly, if there was a room shortage, it was an unusual event and brought about through some sort of market distortion. After all, if there had been frequent shortages of rooms in Bethlehem, entrepreneurs would have noticed that there were profits to be made by addressing this systematic problem, and built more inns.

It was because of a government decree that Mary and Joseph, and so many others like them, were traveling in the first place. They had to be uprooted for fear of the emperor’s census workers and tax collectors. And consider the costs of slogging all the way "from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David," not to speak of the opportunity costs Joseph endured having to leave his own business. Thus we have another lesson: government’s use of coercive dictates distorts the market.

Moving on in the story, we come to Three Kings, also called Wise Men. Talk about a historical anomaly for both to go together! Most Kings behaved like the Roman Emperor's local enforcer, Herod. Not only did he order people to leave their homes and foot the bill for travel so that they could be taxed. Herod was also a liar: he told the Wise Men that he wanted to find Jesus so that he could "come and adore Him." In fact, Herod wanted to kill Him. Hence, another lesson: you can’t trust a political hack to tell the truth.

Once having found the Holy Family, what gifts did the Wise Men bring? Not soup and sandwiches, but "gold, frankincense, and myrrh." These were the most rare items obtainable in that world in those times, and they must have commanded a very high market price.

Far from rejecting them as extravagant, the Holy Family accepted them as gifts worthy of the Divine Messiah. Neither is there a record that suggests that the Holy Family paid any capital gains tax on them, though such gifts vastly increased their net wealth. Hence, another lesson: there is nothing immoral about wealth; wealth is something to be valued, owned privately, given and exchanged.

When the Wise Men and the Holy Family got word of Herod’s plans to kill the newborn Son of God, did they submit? Not at all. The Wise Men, being wise, snubbed Herod and "went back another way" – taking their lives in their hands (Herod conducted a furious search for them later). As for Mary and Joseph, an angel advised Joseph to "take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt." In short, they resisted. Lesson number four: the angels are on the side of those who resist government.

In the Gospel narratives, the role of private enterprise, and the evil of government power, only begin there. Jesus used commercial examples in his parables (e.g., laborers in the vineyard, the parable of the talents) and made it clear that he had come to save even such reviled sinners as tax collectors.

And just as His birth was facilitated by the owner of an "inn," the same Greek word "kataluma" is employed to describe the location of the Last Supper before Jesus was crucified by the government. Thus, private enterprise was there from birth, through life, and to death, providing a refuge of safety and productivity, just as it has in ours.

Central planning ignores the free market reality

2007-12-26T21:11:00.000-08:00

When will they learn?

The curmudgeonesk city planners who are determined to revitalize Columbus' downtown fail to recognize what is obvious to the rest of us: Downtown moved to the suburbs.

Common sense has never played a role in central planners. No wonder, considering they have your tax dollars at their disposal.

The ramblings of Richard Florida, for example, have been heeded by the cultural architects who drive city planning in Columbus. The notion is that attracting the "Creative Class" (a term for gay professionals) will boost a community's economy.

Normal people can see through the spoof. We're no more impressed than with the clothes-free goddess Eos plopped in the midst of Fifth St. greeting visitors to Columbus and, not coincidentally, the Cummins World Headquarters.

San Francisco, long the epicenter of the "creative class," proves their folly: According to the Wall Street Journal, "San Francisco [had] a whopping domestic outflow of 10%...." The time frame compared 2006 to 2000.

In other words, folks are abandoning the hub of the creative class.

So when will they learn?

Turn to the Liberty Tree News for a hint.

Frank Jerome has an article in the upcoming edition in which he wonders why the city can afford a new parking garage catacorner from Cummins World Headquarters. Cummins couldn't afford it, he notes. Apparently taxpayers will flip the bill.

The sum of it all is that central planning seldom works — except for the power brokers who could benefit from a new parking garage. And hotel.

Two architectural marvels — the Commons Mall and the majestic Post Office — both have dates with the wrecking ball. (Apparently the goddess is annoyed with the 18-wheelers rumbling in and out of the Bulk Mail Unit's parking lot; also across the street from Cummins.) And both were central to central planning of the not-too-distant past.

The city fathers (and mums) labeled their current wreck-and-build-(slash)-tax-and-spend efforts "Vision 2020" or "2020Vision" or something akin to the year 2020. Those of us with 20/20 vision can see it all too clearly: The epi-center of the effort to revitalize downtown Columbus with gay bars, nekid godesses and mall-with-a-street-down-the-middle is the squashy Cummins World Headquarters.

It's a point lost on the pointy-headed ones; those who know all too well what's best for the rest of us (financed with tax dollars, of course). What they fail to realize is that downtown is as vital as it ever was. It just moved to the suburbs. There you will find Walmart and the new Coldstones Creamery that opened Saturday without central planning or tax dollars.

It's an odd thing that Columbus, the world's most celebrated architectural community, ignores the two fundamentals of architectural planning: First, form follows function (note the 18-wheelers trying to maneuver in the grandiose Post Office parking lot) and wait until the grass is worn to build sidewalks.

While the central planners at city hall continue to fund the downtown revitalization project, the free market is luring real people to Walmart and all their tax-funded projects won't change that.

There is a reason why fast-food, motels and mattress shops are building along Jonathan Moore Parkway and not Third and Washington.

When will they learn? Apparently never.

My guess is that — 100 years from now when commerce is done online — some curmudgeon city planners will be plotting a Vision 2120 strategy to revitalize Walmart.

Benefits of the population explosion

2007-12-24T22:29:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I began work on my second book titled, The Late Great United States. Eventually I had to stop, realizing I didn't actually believe much of what I was writing. However, there a few snippets worth retrieving. The following is one example.

Consider this: The world population in 1 AD was about 200 million. By 1000 AD it had grown by less than forty percent to 275 million. In 1750 the population had grown another 154 percent to 700 million. That’s when it happened.

The world’s inhabitants began to multiply exponentially. By 1900 there were 1.6 billion people and that grew to 6.1 billion in the year 2000. Of those, 800 million were added to our planet between 1990 and 2000. The ten-year growth alone was more than the entire world population of 1750.

I find it significant that the beginning of the population explosion preceded the industrial revolution of the 1800s. There is a direct correlation. The more people on the planet, the more advanced we become. The parallel is undeniable.

So how does the increase in population drive the updraft in technology? The answer is simple. Not only are there more people; there are more smart people. When the population doubles, the number of intelligent people also doubles.

In 2005 there were 128 million geniuses (people with IQs in the top 2 percentile.) That’s the equivalent of 64 percent of the entire world population in 1 AD. We live in a world of geniuses. (The rest of us are along for the ride.)

The population explosion produced a swell of intelligence that, in turn, engendered technological advances. The knowledge explosion was predicted by Daniel as one of two characteristics that would signal the era of the latter day Antiochus. “Many shall run to and fro,” he wrote “and knowledge shall be increased.”

Eric Schansberg's well researched article on eugenics is an excellent resource.
Read it here ►

Ten Days Before Iowa (a la Night Before Christmas)

2007-12-24T14:11:00.000-08:00

By Ernest Istook

Note: The Iowa Caucuses will occur only ten days after Christmas. So, with apologies to "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement Moore":

'Twas ten days before Iowa, as they sought the White House.
Every pollster was stirring, even polling each mouse;
The airwaves were filled with the candidates’ flairs,
In hopes nomination soon would be theirs.

The voters were nestled all snug in their beds,
While politics-free visions danced in their heads.
Iowa was due first, New Hampshire on tap
But for now they just wanted a Christmas Eve nap,

When there on the TV arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
The Internet was humming; talk radio was brash.
Mainstream media was spewing its usual trash.

I ignored for the moment the new-fallen snow
Since campaign advertising was a flashier show.
Then what to my tired eyes and ears did appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight candidates sincere.

All chasing the driver, so mired in the muck
I knew in a moment they were hounding the lame duck.
More eager than buzzards the candidates they came,
Pursued by reporters who called them by name:
"Now, Clinton! Now, Thompson!
Now, Obama and Huckabee!
On, Giuliani! On, Edwards! On McCain! And on Romney!”
To the top of the polls, then the bottom they’d fall!
Now bash away! Bash away! Bash away all!

Dumb questions were asked at a hurricane pace,
To be met with one-liners, and attacks face-to-face.
So up to the house-top the wild mob they flew,
With the sleigh full of promises, and whispering campaigns, too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The comebacks and charges, till I’d had quite enough.
As I reached out my hand to turn off the sound,
Down the chimney the whole circus came with a bound.

They were all dressed in mud, from each head to each foot,
Reputations were tarnished with ashes and soot;
Old slogans and charges each flung in attacks
And they looked like some peddlers or maybe some hacks.

Their eyes—oh, how beady! Yet their dimples how merry!
Their cheeks were like roses; their smiles, they were scary.
They smelled like new plastic; they were made up with flair.
And one of them boasted four-hundred-dollar hair.

The stump of a lead one watched fall from his grip,
Another wore a halo, which started to slip.
One looked like a lawyer, as played on the telly.
One shook when she laughed, and denied she was smelly.

Two were movie star handsome, like they came off a shelf.
One was white-haired and somber, a non-jolly old elf.
The other kept saying he’d bring change to all
And each claimed that we should just ignore Ron Paul.

They spoke endless words, and they spun in their work:
Promised to fill every stocking; denied being a jerk.
Many voters decided that they’d just hold their nose
As to who’d get the nod. Then up the chimney all rose.
They sprang to private jets, ignoring Al Gore’s epistle.
They flew off to New Hampshire, showing toughness and gristle.
But I heard them exclaim, ere they flew out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all, please vote right!"

Ernest Istook is a former U.S. Congressman from Oklahoma, now a Distinguished Fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a talk show host. Reprinted from Redstate.com

The Gospel of Paul

2007-12-21T12:01:00.001-08:00

The title of Kimberly Strassel's recent WSJ piece on Ron Paul...

Ron Paul is no compassionate conservative. His supporters love him for it.

If there's been a phenomenon in this Republican presidential race, it's been the strength of a fiery doctor from Texas and his message of limited government. As the GOP front-runners address crowds of dispirited primary voters, Mr. Paul has been tearing across the country, leaving a trail of passionate devotees in his wake...

Mr. Paul isn't going to be president. He trails in national polls, in no small part because his lack of a proactive foreign policy makes him an unserious candidate in today's terror world. But his success still holds lessons for the leading Republican candidates, as well as those pundits falling for the argument that the future of the GOP rests in a "heroic conservatism" that embraces big government. Mr. Paul shows that the way to many Republican voters' hearts is still through a spirited belief in lower taxes and smaller government, with more state and individual rights...

In contrast, we have President Bush and much of the Republican representation in Congress...

"Compassionate conservatism" was a smart move on George W. Bush's part, maybe even necessary to win. The GOP was dogged by a reputation as the heartless party, amplified by the 1995 government shutdown and the clunky Dole campaign. And it had learned from the success of welfare reform that message matters. Many Republican voters believed Mr. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" was just that: a way of selling conservative reforms. Tax cuts would help the working poor. Vouchers would help minority kids. Charities would fare better getting people off drugs than government bureaucrats. Mr. Bush got his tax cuts, but voters found out too late that he was no small-government believer....

Strassel's wrap-up...

If Mr. Paul has shown anything, it's that many conservative voters continue to doubt there's anything "heroic" or "compassionate" in a ballooning government that sucks up their dollars to aid a dysfunctional state. When Mr. Paul gracefully exits this race, his followers will be looking for an alternative to take up that cause. Any takers?

tidbits on politics from Harpers

2007-12-21T11:59:00.001-08:00

The Harpers Index is a limited but interesting monthly pile of data. From December's list...

On contributions to 2008 presidential campaigns:
-from the oil & gas industries: $1,727,000

-from the education industry: $6,406,000

-rank of Ron Paul among Republican candidates receiving the most money from U.S. service members: #1

Other stuff:
-% of Democrats who think Hillary is proposing to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq within a year: 76%

Romney misses op on vouchers

2007-12-21T11:58:00.002-08:00

From Carrie Lukas in the Heartland Institute's School Reform News (a longer version appeared in National Review Online)...

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) had an opportunity to help deliver a victory at the ballot box in Utah in November, when voters decided whether to repeal the state’s universal school voucher program....

[Statewide] Vouchers have a poor track record at the ballot box....

Romney was uniquely positioned to lend a helping hand: His popularity in a state where more than 60 percent of citizens share his religion is obvious. While on the campaign trail, Romney has stated he supports school choice and vouchers. Skeptics might note that as governor, vouchers were not a priority for Romney.

The Utah initiative gave Romney the opportunity to prove his bona fides as a strong school voucher supporter at a critical time. By urging his supporters to give this program a chance, he could ensure that more parents control where their kids go to school and help Utah become a national model for universal school choice.

Hey, maybe Romney should have received the NEA's endorsement instead of Huckabee!

Mike Huckabee and Kenneth Copeland

2007-12-21T11:58:00.001-08:00

From World...

POLITICS: Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is sticking by his "dear friend," charismatic TV "prosperity gospel" preacher Kenneth Copeland of suburban Fort Worth. Copeland, who will turn 72 this week, has supported Huckabee, and Huckabee was a guest on Copeland's five-day TV special last week. A former Baptist pastor and two-term Arkansas governor, Huckabee told Time that Copeland operated his ministry with the utmost integrity "as far as I know." Copeland and his wife, Gloria, are leaders of one of six prominent television ministries asked by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, to provide information on their finances to the Senate Finance Committee by December 6.

And Mike has questions about Mitt Romney's religious beliefs?

The (New/Tax) War Between the States

2007-12-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

And this time, the South (and the West) are winning...

From the WSJ, an op-ed piece by Arthur Laffer (of Laffer Curve fame) and Stephen Moore (from Club for Growth)...

A record eight million Americans moved from one state to another last year. Where is everyone going, and why? The answer has little to do with climate: California has arguably the nicest climate of any state in the nation -- yet in this decade more Americans have left the Golden State than entered it.

Migration patterns instead reveal which states have the most dynamic and desirable economies, and which are "has-been" states. The winners in this contest for the most valuable resource on the globe -- human capital -- are generally the states with the lowest tax, spending and regulatory burdens. The biggest losers are almost all congregated in the Northeast and Midwest. Liberals contend that tax rates, regulations, forced union laws and runaway government spending don't matter when it comes to creating jobs, high incomes and a higher quality of life. People tell us otherwise by voting with their feet.

Liberals generally claim to embrace logic, reason, and evidence. One would hope they'd do the same here...

The American Legislative Exchange Council has just released a study we've done that presents a 2007 Economic Competitiveness Rating of the 50 states, based on 16 economic policy variables, including taxes, regulation, right to work, the legal system, educational freedom and government debt. Over the past decade, the 10 states with the highest taxes and spending, and the most intrusive regulations, have half the population and job growth, and one-third slower growth in incomes, than the 10 most economically free states....

Of all the policy variables we examined, two stand out as perhaps the most important in attracting jobs and capital. The first is the income tax rate. States with the highest income tax rates -- California and New York, for example -- are significantly outperformed by the nine states with no income tax, such as Texas and Florida. As a study from the Atlanta Federal Reserve Board put it: "Relative marginal tax rates have a statistically significant negative relationship with relative state growth."

The other factor for attracting jobs and capital is right-to-work laws. States that permit workers to be compelled to join unions have much lower rates of employment growth than states that don't. Many companies say they will not even consider locating a factory in a state that does not have a right-to-work law.

Our study also finds that states with antigrowth tax and spending policies don't just lose people. Noncompetitive states like New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois and New Jersey are plagued by falling housing values, a shrinking tax base, business outmigration, capital flight and high unemployment rates, and less money for schools, roads and aging infrastructure. These factors of decline hurt the poor the most.

Liberals often claim that their policies help the working poor and those in the middle class. That's rarely the case, in practice-- as evidenced (again) here...

Finally, Laffer and Moore's punchlines...

Auto and other manufacturing jobs are still being created in America -- but in Alabama, North Carolina and even Mississippi. It has to be infuriating to Northeasterners to learn that people and businesses are "trading up" by moving out of their region to the likes of Georgia and Alabama. But they are.

The states losing population are in effect suffering from a slow-motion version of the economic sclerosis that paralyzed much of Europe in the 1980s and '90s, particularly France and Germany with their massive welfare systems. At least the European socialist nations are finally starting to change their taxing and spending ways to win back jobs.

No such luck in this country. Five of the states near the bottom of our competitiveness ratings -- Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey and Wisconsin -- have enacted major tax increases in the last two years. Maryland and Michigan just raised business and income taxes on upper-income earners, while arguing that raising the cost of doing business will attract more businesses. More likely it will induce companies to stay away, and people to move out.

Democrats as slow and hypocritical tax-cutters

2007-12-20T21:05:00.001-08:00

What an odd combo...

The Democratic House voted to reduce income taxes on some in the middle- and upper-middle income classes-- by freezing the growth of the Alternative Minimum Tax. (GOOD) But they did it so slowly that it messes up the IRS timetable for producing its forms. (BAD) And it did so by dismissing its campaign promises to observe "paygo" rules-- matching tax cuts with tax increases elsewhere. (UGLY...sort of)

Click here for a newspaper article and a WSJ editorial along with my commentary...

Okie Attorney General Bans Christmas. Seriously.

2007-12-20T17:07:00.000-08:00

From Erick Erickson of Redstate.com

Drew Edmondson is the out of control Oklahoma Attorney General. Recently he rounded up conservative activists and threw them in jail for circulating petitions to get conservatives on the ballot.

Now, however, Drew Edmondson has done something even nuttier. He has issued an advisory opinion from the Attorney General's Office directing universities in Oklahoma to refrain from using the word "Christmas."

Mark Tapscott with the Washington Examiner has the details. Mark notes, "Edmondson's issued an advisory opinion to officials at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford advising them that the word "Christmas" should not be spoken by any employee of the state school, not written in any official holiday decorations."

Attorney General Edmondson can be reached at 405-521-3921. Call and wish him a Merry Christmas and ask why he banned the word.

http://www.redstate.com/stories/state_politics/okie_attorney_general_bans_christmas_seriously

Billie Whitted on WCSI

2007-12-18T19:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to Billie's radio interview on WCSI

http://wcsi.whiterivernews.com/audio/Billie%20Whitted%20int.mp3

Hoosier Eugenics: A Horrible Centennial

2007-12-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

I posted an essay on eugenics on SchansBlog.com.

I'm really proud of it. The history is very interesting; the philosophical and religious links are provocative; and the contemporary applications are important and wide-ranging.

I hoped the longer version would find a home at a larger newspaper, but there haven't been any takers yet-- not surprising given its length (1800 words). The longer version as well as a shorter version was released to newspapers state-wide today.

Enjoy! eric

Activist 'banned for life' from criticizing homosexuality

2007-12-17T03:41:00.000-08:00

A lifetime ban on public criticism of homosexuality was upheld against a Catholic activist in Canada by his province's superior court.

Bill Whatcott was fined 17,500 Canadian dollars by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission in a complaint by four homosexuals who charged he "injured" their "feelings" and "self respect" in pamphlets denouncing the "gay lifestyle" as immoral and dangerous, Lifesite News reported. — WorldNetDaily.com

[source]

Read more on the serious health risks associated with the gay life style here ►

Mom threatened with jail for teaching kids at home

2007-12-17T03:38:00.000-08:00

A homeschooling mom in Utah has been ordered by a judge to enroll her children in a public school district within 24 hours, and have them in class tomorrow, all because of a paperwork glitch that very well could be the fault of the district.

The mother, Denise Mafi, told WND that she already has enrolled her children in the district, under the threat from Judge Scott Johansen, who serves in the juvenile division of the state's 7th Judicial District, that he would order her children taken away from her. — WorldNetDaily.com

[source]

100 most influential conservatives

2007-12-15T21:29:00.000-08:00

Here's a list of the 100 most influential American conservatives as assessed by Britain's Daily Telegraph. (Note Rudi is number one.)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/exclusions/uselection/nosplit/uscons1-20.xml

Here's a link to the 100 most influential liberals.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=JUIBNWTZRG2ENQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/exclusions/uselection/nosplit/liberals1-20.xml

Romney, Huckabee, religion, politics and voting...

2007-12-15T20:44:00.002-08:00

When do the religious beliefs of a political candidate matter? (Cross-posted at SchansBlog.com-- with comments.)

Or to be more specific:
1.) At what point do those beliefs become fodder for other candidates?
2.) At what point should those beliefs matter to voters?

In the past week, there has been much analysis and some gnashing of teeth about Romney's "Kennedy-like" speech on his religious beliefs and its connection to politics, Huckabee's awkward comments on Mormonism, and a common (misguided) understanding of "separation of church and state".

My answers to the questions above:
1.) Rarely if ever. Candidates should speak to the implications of those beliefs-- through particular policy positions. At best, it's bad form.
2.) Quite a bit-- although the extent to which this should occur falls along a spectrum.

Three thoughts here:
-If religious beliefs explicitly connect to policy positions, then the underlying religious beliefs are quite relevant. For example, people were concerned (improperly, I think) that the theology and eschatology of Reagan and Bush would influence policy toward Israel and nuclear war.

-One's policy positions are connected to one's values-- overtly religious or subtly religious, pseudo-religious, or otherwise. So, to say that one can ignore religious beliefs is at least somewhat incoherent.

-At some level, it matters in that religious beliefs can connect to general competence. For example, what if a candidate was a Scientologist? Or what if they have strange super-natural beliefs about horoscopes or the "luckiness" of the number 13? I would find it difficult, with good reason, to vote for someone like that!

unions "less important than we think"?

2007-12-15T20:44:00.001-08:00

From Morton Marcus (hat tip: News-Tribune)...

I think he means that unions cause less damage than is commonly thought. Assuming competitive markets, the flip side of that is that they don't yield as much benefit as their proponents believe either. (This is similar to policies like the minimum wage: if the wage floor increases wages significantly above equilibrium, it will yield benefits and costs for the affected population; if not, it won't!)

Uncle Uriah Marcus visited us on Thanksgiving. It took over a week to recover. He blames "the @#%$# unions" for most of our state's woes. Uncle Uriah asserts "them big unions scares businesses away from Indiannie."

A sample of his views:

High property taxes: It's the teachers' union fault because they keep pushing up their earnings and reducing their responsibility.

Well, it does contribute somewhat. We know that 1/4 of the recent 24% increase in property taxes connects to increased local spending-- and much of that is on schools, and some part of that is connected to that interest group. States with prevailing wage laws have it worse-- unions support laws that reduce their competition, increase their effective wages, and increase taxes.

From there, Marcus points to a litany of other (at most) minor issues-- before pointing to the political impact of public sector unions.

Government: Union members vote as they are told to, as a block, and thus can destroy or make any candidate in any election, anywhere in the state.

Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. But beyond that, there is some/much truth to the claim: it is politically risky to run counter to the desires of a potent special interest group! Depending on the state/region-- and especially within local politics where fire and police interests are so strong-- this can be anything from a modest to an overwhelming issue.

What do unions bring with them? One thing is a questionable certainty: union members earn more than their non-unionized comrades. In 2006, the premium earned by union members was 30 percent over those not in unions. But that may not be comparing comparable jobs.

It may be that the specific industry is more important than the presence or absence of unions in determining wages. For a fair comparison, we'd have to have data for union and non-union workers doing the same jobs, in the same places. Rather than unions scaring businesses from Indiana, may be the firms already here which pay high wages discourage new entrants.

It should be noted that Marcus is careful here with data that are often abused.

What's the bottom line?

Unions-- as labor market cartels-- are good for those who supply labor (workers) in those markets. But as with other cartels-- especially when they have a legislative agenda to benefit themselves at the expense of others-- there are significant social/economic costs for consumers, taxpayers, and other workers. In particular, at the end of the day, unions are pro-union not pro-worker per se.

Are unions a primary explanation for economic growth or its absence? No. But how can artificially higher wages and taxes be a good thing for an economy? The larger issue is that pro-union legislation is typically correlated with other policies which are harmful to an economy. (I'll blog on this, based on a recent WSJ article, shortly.)

Democrats, PAYGO, and "fiscal conservatism"

2007-12-15T20:43:00.003-08:00

An op-ed in Monday's WSJ...

The Paygo Farce
Democrats admit it was all a big confidence game.

"Democrats are committed to ending years of irresponsible budget policies that have produced historic deficits. Instead of compiling trillions of dollars of debt onto our children and grandchildren, we will restore pay-as-you-go budget discipline."--Speaker Nancy Pelosi, December 12, 2006

Well, as Emily Litella, the half-witted Gilda Radner character on Saturday Night Live, would have put it: "Never mind." Last week Congressional Democrats formally renounced their ballyhooed budget pledge to offset any new tax cuts with other tax increases or spending cuts. We're delighted to see this false promise go, but there's a larger lesson in this failure for the tax and spending battles of 2008.

Senate Democrats gave up on "paygo," as it's called, when they realized they lacked the votes to offset the $50.6 billion cost of protecting more than 20 million middle-class taxpayers from getting whacked by the Alternative Minimum Tax this year. They've spent the year floating all kinds of tax increases to make up the difference. But in the end they passed an AMT relief bill without a penny to pay for it. Paygo is now pay gone.

C-ya...

We should stress that this is the right decision for the economy and the federal budget. The AMT was never supposed to hit the middle class, and it only does so now because the Democrats who designed it failed to index it for inflation and raised AMT rates under Bill Clinton in 1993....

Politicians aren't typically good about seeing the long-term consequences of their actions, indexing things to inflation, and so on.

But paygo shouldn't be allowed to expire without everyone kicking sand on its grave. That's because it has been nothing but a confidence game from the very start. Paygo doesn't apply to domestic discretionary spending, and it doesn't restrain spending increases under current law in entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid. Its main goals are to make tax cutting all but impossible, while letting Democrats pretend to favor "fiscal discipline," a la Ms. Pelosi's boast above.

Boom!

In fact, the paygo farce has been unfolding all year. Since the day they took the gavel, Democrats have been using gimmick after gimmick to evade it. The Schip bill for health care, for example, includes a spending "cliff" that disguises its actual cost. It assumes spending would rise to $14 billion in 2012, but then pretends the costs would fall to less than half that level in 2013--which just so happens to fall outside the five-year budget scoring window. Some $60 billion in spending over the next 10 years were hidden through this ploy.

Gimmicks? Congress? Fiscal conservatives?

Then there is the House farm bill awaiting action in the Senate. That spending marathon includes between $5 billion and $10 billion in fictitious paygo savings by shifting the date of farm aid payments from one year to another. If a Fortune 500 CEO did that sort of thing, he'd be indicted.

Maybe that's why they like Social Security too. In addition to being a brutal "investment" for the working poor, it's actuarially unsound.

House Democrats realize how humiliating this all is, so they're still vowing to make paygo work. Especially embarrassed are the so-called Blue Dog Democrats for whom "fiscal discipline" is a coat of political protection. John Tanner of Tennessee is so upset he says the Senate paygo abdication "is bordering on criminal," and about 30 Blue Dogs are threatening to vote against AMT repeal without offsetting tax increases. They'd have more credibility if they also opposed the various fiscal gimmicks in the Schip and farm bills, not to mention the 2008 Congressional budget outline that exceeded President Bush's budget request by $22 billion....

Blah, blah, blah...It'll be interesting to see how the "Blue Dogs" spin this.

The larger relevance of this episode concerns the 2008 campaign. Hillary Clinton in particular has made paygo a major campaign theme because it makes her sound like a fiscal conservative while helping to justify tax increases. But, lo, guess who was missing on Thursday when the Senate voted 88-5 to ignore paygo on the AMT? None other than the candidate herself, along with Chris Dodd, Joe Biden and Barack Obama. To quote another Saturday Night Live character, "How convenient."

Good stuff...

an irony of biblical proportions

2007-12-15T20:43:00.001-08:00

From FoxNews.com, excerpting a longer story from the London Times...

Chinese Factory Set to Become World's Largest Bible Producer

The only authorized Christian publisher in China is celebrating a milestone on Saturday as the 50 millionth Bible rolls off the presses, according to a report in the Times of London.

Demand for the Bible is soaring in officially-atheist China, at a time when meteoric economic growth is testing the country's allegiance to Communist doctrine, the Times of London reports. Now, the demand in China for Bibles is such that Amity Printing, a joint venture between Chinese Christian charity and the United Bible Societies, a Protestant organization, can barely keep pace.

Early next year it will move into a new, much larger factory on the edge of the eastern city of Nanjing to become the world's single-biggest producer of Bibles.

"This platform has been built as a blessing to the nation. It will print Bibles for China for as long as it takes to do it," said New Zealander Peter Dean, of the United Bible Societies.

In careful adherence to China's laws that prohibit evangelizing, the Bible is not on sale in mainstream Chinese bookshops but through a distribution system managed by the official church, such as stalls set up for people attending morning service, according to the Times of London report.

Additional details in the article from the Times-- on the numbers, the rampant growth of Christianity presumably among younger people in China (and the implications for one's eschatological views), and the religious baggage of the "Cultural Revolution"...

Of the 50 million Bibles Amity has printed, 41 million were for the faithful in Chinese and eight minority languages. The rest have been for export to Russia and Africa. Sales surged from 505,000 in 1988 to a high of 6.5 million in 2005. Output last year was 3.5 million and is expected to rise in 2007.

One of Mr Dean’s bestsellers is a pocket Bible, a version not suitable for the older generation to read and which may indicate a rapid expansion in the number of new, younger believers. He cited a surge in demand during the Sars crisis in 2003, but refrained from commenting. The enterprise has clearly flourished through its discretion and careful adherence to China’s laws that prohibit evangelising...

A country where the Communist ideology has lost much credibility is seeing an upsurge in conversions to Christianity. Li Baiguang, a prominent lawyer and Christian activist who was received by President Bush at the White House last year, said: “Rising wealth means that more and more people have been able to meet their material needs, the need for food and clothing.

“Then they are finding that they need to satisfy their spiritual needs, to look for happiness for the soul. In addition, they are seeing a breakdown in the moral order as money takes over. Thus, more and more people are turning to Christianity.”

In the ultra-leftist Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976, Bibles were burnt as tomes of superstition. Much has altered since the 1980s when government policy required tourists and visitors not to bring in Bibles “in excess of personal use”. Many faithful took to smuggling the book into China to meet demand....

It is such a sensitive issue that Chinese officials denied rumours recently that China would ban international athletes from bringing in Bibles to the Olympics in Beijing next August. However, the official Olympic website states: “Each traveller is recommended to take no more than one Bible into China.”

Drew Carey on govt vs. private provision of roads

2007-12-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

From ReasonTV.com, Drew Carey on Gridlock: Hell on Wheels...
(please excuse Drew's "french" at the end)

An earlier post of mine on the potential privatization of roads...

Feds donate $300,000 of your tax dollars to Columbus church

2007-12-11T13:20:00.000-08:00

Don't get me wrong. The good folks at North Christian Church have given much to our community — and for that we are grateful.

But...

"Non-profit" just took on a new meaning.

A news release sent by Sen. Evan Bayh says the federal government plans to dole out $300,000 for repairs to the Columbus church.

North Christian Church is no historical monument. It was constructed in 1964.

It's a part of the The National Parks Service's Save America’s Treasures give-away grants.

North Christian is no national park. Don't believe me? Try setting up a camper in its parking lot next Sunday or go fishing in the baptistery.

North Christian is no needy organization. The church is known locally as the "oil can." It's also well known for its wealthy members; many of whom could easily fork over $300,000. I suspect its membership role would reflect much of Bayh's contribution list from Columbus.

To date, no liberals are screaming about tax dollars being diverted from children who have no health insurance. Nor is anyone complaining about church-state issues.

Birth statistics for 2006 released Dec. 5, 2007

2007-12-11T00:16:00.000-08:00

Births: Preliminary Data for 2006 from National Center for Health Statistics:

% of illigitimate births

Ethnicity	1990	2004	2005	2006
All Races	28.0%	35.8%	36.9%	38.5%
Whites	16.9%	24.5%	25.3%	26.6%
Hispanics	36.7%	46.4%	48.0%	49.9%
Blacks	66.5%	69.3%	69.9%	70.7%

Oprah's campaigning points to flaw in BCRA

2007-12-09T14:35:00.001-08:00

It was supposed to prevent wealthy people from tipping the political scales in their favor. BCRA (Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act) capped the amount candidates for federal office can receive in donations.

Enter Oprah.

Her campaigning for hardline leftist Barack Obama could be valued in millions of dollars. Oprah's in-kind donation bipasses BCRA, violates its intended purpose, and underscores a basic principle: Government efforts to balance the scales seldom work.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316223,00.html

Daniels reform proposal and local spending

2007-12-08T20:26:00.001-08:00

From Jeff Abbott, an adjunct scholar with the Indiana Policy Review Foundation-- in the Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette (hat tip: Jeff/NA News-Tribune, although it's not on their website)...

Abbott makes an important point: changing the process, without changing the actors, the incentives, or the information is unlikely to result in markedly different (or better) outcomes.

Indiana has a petition-remonstrance process that allows local taxpayers a say in whether a proposed bond issue will be allowed to proceed. Less than one-half of such remonstrances, however, are won by protesting taxpayers. Gov. Mitch Daniels has proposed replacing this with a referendum process whereby voters would decide proposed school bond issues up or down. But will it be any better?

The answer depends on the data used in whatever process is adopted.

Both sides of a proposed bond issue typically play to emotions. The school boards piously proclaim “it’s for the kids” and that the future of the community rests upon the approval of the proposed project. The remonstrators might just as loudly proclaim that businesses will leave and many retirees, poor people and even middle-class residents will lose their homes to foreclosure because they won’t be able to pay the higher property taxes.

School bond issue campaigns in Indiana are always long on rhetoric and short on facts. What is needed is just the opposite. The referendum process as proposed by the governor may be just as doomed as the current petition-remonstrance process. That is because it doesn’t matter which process is used.

Substantial changes in data collecting, data analyzing and data dissemination need to occur. Data need to speak directly to the question: Can a particular community afford the school bond issue before it?

The criteria and guidelines used by the state and local school boards are inadequate to answer that question....

Three indexes have been constructed to help a community address those questions: 1) a school-district affordability index; 2) a community-affordability index; and 3) an individual and family affordability index. These indexes incorporate 54 possible quantitative measurements as criteria for determining affordability.

Without the use of such quantitative data, regardless of whether the governor’s reform is approved, Indiana school bond campaigns will continue to be long on rhetoric and short on facts-- to the detriment of Indiana citizens who must ultimately make decisions on school-construction issues.

The longer version-- a "white paper"-- is available here-- through the IPR's website.

educational spending and results in Clark County

2007-12-08T20:25:00.001-08:00

A little bit of arithmetic...

There are about 11,000 public school students in the GCC district. (Another website said there were 10,000, but we'll go with the larger number.)

According to an article in the C-J this morning, the GCC public school budget is nearly $75 million.

At present, we're spending about $6,800 per public school student-- $170,000 for a classroom of 25 students.

GCC's ISTEP results are below-average for Indiana-- in reading and math, in every grade level.

6 ways to love gays

2007-12-06T02:31:00.000-08:00

by Kenn Gividen

1. Be honest: A lying tongue hates those it hurts... — Proverbs 26:28

An overwhelming body of scholarly research corroborates the reality that the gay lifestyle endangers lives. According to Dr. Robert S. Hogg, "In a major Canadian centre, life expectancy at age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8 to 20 years less than for all men. If the same pattern of mortality were to continue, we estimate that nearly half of gay and bisexual men currently aged 20 years will not reach their 65th birthday."

Still, we persist, answering their lies with truth, their hate with love and their ridicule with reason.

When we concede to the gay myth that their lifestyle is a healthy, wholesome alternative to heterosexuality, we are contributing to their demise.

Read scholarly research on the gay health risks here ►

2. Don't be a mental sponge

The truth is often hidden behind myths advanced by the mainstream media. How can we know the truth if all we hear is liberal lies?

3. Don't be lazy

All you need do is turn on the TV (or read the latest edition of the daily newspaper) to absorb the latest myths regarding homosexuality. Discovering the truth clouded by the liberal media takes effort.

4. Know the truth ...and the truth shall set you free. — John 8:32

The best antidote for lies is... the truth!

http://www.missionamerica.com/homosexual.php?articlenum=16

5. Don't be hateful

Frustration -- and the constant flow of myths perpetuated by militant gay extremists can be frustrating -- often turns to anger. While abhorring lies that destroy others is a valid response, hating those who perpetuate the lies will accomplish nothing.

6. Don't be intimidated

80 years after the DC Stephenson's KKK collapsed in a flury of self-distruction, hate groups continue to flourish. As the Klan hated those with differing skin color, militant gay organizations hate those with different opinions.

There are those within the homosexual community who live in denial of the serious health risk associated with their lifestyle. They hate those who tell the truth, returning love with vindictive accusations. Still, we persist, answering their lies with truth, their hate with love and their ridicule with reason.

Below are a few more links...

• Does God hate homosexuals?
• What is the gay agenda?
• Resources that tell the truth
• Research web sites
• Exit counseling

Wal-Mart is so Cheap!

2007-12-05T18:06:00.000-08:00

They think they are doing troops a favor. They think they are acting "green." In my opinion...all they are doing is showing how cheap they really are!

Come on!!!

If you are going to give something Wal-Mart, then go back into your own sewing section and pull brand new cloth to make those lap blankets for our Wounded Warriors!!!

Corporate America is turning into the biggest bunch of green weenies I have ever seen.

http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/fiction/2007/12/reuse_recycle_rewelcome.html

Ron Paul on the View

2007-12-05T17:51:00.000-08:00

This is great stuff...follow the link and read how Ron Paul got his two co-hostesses all tied up in knots:

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/justin-mccarthy/2007/12/04/joy-whoopi-grill-ron-paul-over-abortion

December edition is in news stands

2007-12-04T19:30:00.001-08:00

The Liberty Tree News December edition is now available in news stands throughout southcentral Indiana.

View the pdf version here:

http://www.angelfire.com/indie/aaahome/LTN_0712_final2.pdf

White suburbanite riot?

2007-12-04T19:24:00.001-08:00

Bet you've never seen this before...

A huge crowd of white suburbanites chasing Black Panthers out of their neighborhood. Bits of this encounter were shown on national news networks, but the link below contains raw footage; about ten minutes long.

The Panthers were protesting the death of a (alleged) home-invading robber. White folk apparently had enough.

http://www.breitbart.tv/html/8973.html

Wave Of Illegals Turns Into Tsunami

2007-12-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

"A new study suggests that the wave of illegal aliens is having a more serious impact — particularly on welfare spending — than commonly believed. Is anyone in Washington listening?" — IBD Editorial

The hypocrisy of the liberal mindset is appalling.

Barry Wright underscored that reality in the December edition of Liberty Tree News where he skillfully draws the tragic comparison between open-armed attitude toward illegal aliens and cold-hearted rejection of innocent babies.

Likewise, the op-ed in the conservative Investors Business Daily caught my attention. Liberals are whining (understatement?) about the health insurance crisis. Meanwhile, they advocate open borders (boarders?) and amnesty for millions of uninsured illegal aliens.

"Of America’s 39 million immigrants, representing 12.6% of our total population, at least 12 million are illegal. Most, but not all, come from Mexico and Central America. What exactly do the numbers mean? Well, for one thing, they mean we’re importing a lot of poverty—and it’s skewing the debate over key public policy issues."

Read the entire op-ed here:
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=281232471584382

The Danger of Pluralism

2007-12-03T18:57:00.000-08:00

Chuck Colson recently spoke of the dangers involved in holding a pluralistic worldview. He was speaking those who hold the position that all paths lead to God.

The danger?

Look at Islam for example. Here we have a religion who worships a god that has no tolerance for teddy bears. Teddy bears cannot be named after their premier prophet, yet it is okay to place a crucifix in a jar of urine and call it art. They claim that their god and the Judeo-Christian God are one in the same.

Christians need to start speaking out against this very loudly and boldly, otherwise the politically-correct types of the atheistic and romantic persuasion are going to take America back to the pre-dawn days of France. You know, the time where religion was considered evil and created a vacuum and lead that country into the bloody days of the French Revolution.

Why do I equate this to civil war you ask? It is very simple. If one religion is labeled as murderous, intolerant, and evil, and then all religions are then looked upon as worshipping the same god, then all religions are going to be looked upon as being murderous, intolerant, and evil. The net result will be an attempt to link Christianity with violence and terrorism.

Some would say that Christianity has a checkered past regarding the Crusades, 30 Years War, etc. I argue that those who fought and killed in the name of Christ were not true Christians. In those cases, there is a clear pattern of self-serving pride and a lust for power that those rulers exhibited. No, they were not Christians, but were merely tyrants...despots. True Christians live in accordance to God's laws - love Him, love your neighbor. Does this mean Christians must display pacifistic tendencies all the time? No. Part of loving our neighbor includes defending them when they are attacked.

I digress though. This notion of multicultural tolerance being pounded into the heads of publicly schooled children is the result of a nation worshipping at the feet of the god of "felt needs." This worldview demands that everybody accepts everybody else so as to build up their self esteem. This includes not differentiating on the issue of religion. Otherwise a difference of opinion might hurt somebody's feelings.

Here is my theological interpretation of that thought - TTTHHHHPPPHHHTT!

Christians, stand up for your faith and deliever the truth in love while holding your ground firmly. Do not give in to the politically correct sissies who attempt to make themselves gods by creating their utopia here on earth.

It just ain't gonna happen.

Barry Wright

Electric Car Attacks Gasoline Pump

2007-12-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

On November 26th David Eads was making a left turn when the electric car he was driving spotted a gasoline pump. When the car was within range of the pump the car’s accelerator became stuck causing the drive to lose control ramming into and destroying the gas pump. Fortunately, the drive was not hurt although the car gave its own life in the battle to stop global warming.

For more details click here:
http://hneolive.therepublic.com/daily/Skins/therepublic/navigator.asp?skin=therepublic&BP=OK

Iowa Black & Brown Forum

2007-12-02T04:51:00.000-08:00

Talk about fired up...

I watched bits of the Democratic debate sponsored by black and brown people last night.

Themes were:

• Free health care insurance -- never mind that health care won't be available
• Minimum wage $9.50 -- never mind that jobs won't be available
• Soak rich folks with taxes -- never mind that taxing innovators will rob the nation of jobs

• Joe Biden said he opposed those who pit blacks and browns against each other (apparently feeling guilty about pitting Anita Hill against Clarence Thomas).

• John Edwards said some CEOs make more money in 10 minutes than those in the audience make in a year.

I got out my calculator.

The median income for black households was just under $32,000 (2005 or 2006).

$32,000 every ten minutes is $1,536,000 per 8-hour work day; $7,680,000 5-day work week; $399,360,000 per year.

The highest paid CEO in the nation was Yahoo's Terry Semel who earned $230.6 million. Most of that ($229,952,000) was in stock gains.

• Edwards also suggested there were more illegal Irish immigrants than Hispanic. If I remember correctly (I could be wrong) he used sixty percent as the number of Irish illegally in this country.

Let's figure.

A - The population of Ireland is 4,109,086.
B - CNN says there are 7 million illegal immigrants in the USA.
C - Therefore, the number of illegal Irish immigrants living in America, 4.2 million, exceeds the entire population of Ireland.

• These people may actually control the White House and Congress in the very near future.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/01/democrats-debate-at-the-i_n_74960.html

• And what about the lead question that challenged the inequity that compared black to white incarceration?

According to the Dept of Justice...

1 of 31.80 black males is incarcerated in a federal or state prison (3.15 percent)

1 of 80.39 Hispanic males is incarcerated in a federal or state prison (1.24 percent)

1 of 212.31 white males is incarcerated in a federal or state prison (0.47 percent)

Black males are 6.7 times more likely to be incarcerated in a federal or state prison than white males. (3.15 ÷ 0.47 = 6.7) [source]

Not mentioned is the universality of black and white crime rates. American statistics align with those of other nations in Europe, South America and Africa.

Blacks commit more violent crimes that whites who commit more crimes that East Asians who commit more crimes that Ashkenazi Jews.

Republicans enjoy better mental health than Democrats

2007-11-30T22:26:00.000-08:00

To say Democrats are deranged would risk offending those with legitimate mental disorders. Suffice it to say the liberal agenda of the likes of Hillary, Obama and Guliani (Oops! He's a Republican!) seem to be the rumblings of political insanity.

Data provided by a November Gallup poll reveals that Republicans view themselves as possessing a higher degree of mental health than the Democrats' self-perception.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/102943/Republicans-Report-Much-Better-Mental-Health-Than-Others.aspx

Yoo-Hoo!! Aren't we under attack?

2007-11-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

Hasn't anyone in more powerful circles than mine noticed that we are under attack and seem to be right in the crosshairs of China's sights? Do you really need an advanced degree in some international discipline or to work at a very high level in the Pentagon or at the State Department to see it?

The Chinese are insidious at best and down right in our faces otherwise. They have tried to poision our children and pets, and some healthcare products like toothpaste (terrorism) . You'd think that they'd change their methods of production at the first sign of problems. No, they are happy to continue on. They don't care because that is their plan.

What about the number of espionage cases involving the Chinese? Pretty high, probably higher than any other country's. Why? Because we have what they want and we have a ridiculous idea that anyone who is not American should be educated at our universities and given jobs before Americans. Thanks to our businesses going offshore, our national security could clearly be at stake, and thousands and thousands of jobs are now in China along with huge American investments in factories and infrastructure.

Now, US Navy ships have been denied a safe harbor out of dangerous storms at sea. I suppose that is just another misunderstanding? Nope, that's in our faces and just about as plain as it'll get with the Chinese until there is an overt attack.

Not very inscrutable if you ask me....