The Republican National Committee had their own elections for Chairman earlier today, and the winner is former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele. From what I've heard and read about him, Mr. Steele sounds like a refreshing choice for the Republican Party.
What the party needs is a return to conservative principles and a backbone when dealing with the Democrats; something that Mr. Steele's election is a first step towards. Congratulations, Mr. Steele and good luck. Hopefully, we'll see this Grand Old Party once again become the great party it once was.
Friday, January 30, 2009
From the NRA-ILA (1/30)
Another Grassroots Minute from the NRA (this one taking four and a half minutes):
An uninteresting tidbit of recent news
Yesterday, the Illinois Senate unanimously voted to remove the impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich from office. Can't say I'm surprised by the news, although I am a bit surprised he is the sixth Governor in the state's history to be charged with criminal actions (as well as the eighth Governor of any state to be booted from office). His legal troubles are far from over, of course, as he still has federal charges to answer to. Well, that's it.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Marching For Life
Once again, I have been lagging in my posting about things of importance to me, so hopefully, you guys will forgive me for writing of "old news".
Anyway, this past Saturday, Fort Wayne saw its annual March For Life take place. As usual, the event began with a rally at the Scottish Rite Auditorium. Among the people I saw there included Congressman Mark Souder, several State Representatives and Senators (including my own representatives, Dick Dodge & Dennis Kruse), several members of the clergy and for this year's keynote speaker, Shawn Carney, of 40 Days For Life.
After the rally, we began assembling for the march, which was scheduled for 1 P.M.
Hundreds attended the march; here are some of them.
The infamous building on Webster Street which used to house Fort Wayne's abortion clinic until 2006, and is now the home of the ArchAngel Institute (there's more about the Institute here).
The march concluded with the testimony of several women who had abortions, as well as also a man who was affected by abortion, thanks to the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. It is always a sobering thing to hear of the effect a deed as barbarous as abortion can have on not just the mother and father, but also the grandparents, the aunts and uncles, the cousins, everybody.
Even with the weather being as bitterly cold as it was, I had to listen to the words of these people; it was that important to me. Others ultimately (and understandably so) left early because of the weather.
After the march, the ArchAngel Institute held an open house which I attended and was introduced to the facilities and the people running it. It is a wonderful thing to know that the exact opposite of what was happening in that building on Webster Street for nearly thirty years is taking place right now.
With what is going on now that Barack Obama is our President, we have a lot of work to do. It's going to be a long year (maybe even a long four years) for the pro-life movement, but as Congressman Souder said, as long as just one child is aborted, we will never rest.
Anyway, this past Saturday, Fort Wayne saw its annual March For Life take place. As usual, the event began with a rally at the Scottish Rite Auditorium. Among the people I saw there included Congressman Mark Souder, several State Representatives and Senators (including my own representatives, Dick Dodge & Dennis Kruse), several members of the clergy and for this year's keynote speaker, Shawn Carney, of 40 Days For Life.
After the rally, we began assembling for the march, which was scheduled for 1 P.M.
Hundreds attended the march; here are some of them.
The infamous building on Webster Street which used to house Fort Wayne's abortion clinic until 2006, and is now the home of the ArchAngel Institute (there's more about the Institute here).
The march concluded with the testimony of several women who had abortions, as well as also a man who was affected by abortion, thanks to the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. It is always a sobering thing to hear of the effect a deed as barbarous as abortion can have on not just the mother and father, but also the grandparents, the aunts and uncles, the cousins, everybody.Even with the weather being as bitterly cold as it was, I had to listen to the words of these people; it was that important to me. Others ultimately (and understandably so) left early because of the weather.
After the march, the ArchAngel Institute held an open house which I attended and was introduced to the facilities and the people running it. It is a wonderful thing to know that the exact opposite of what was happening in that building on Webster Street for nearly thirty years is taking place right now.
With what is going on now that Barack Obama is our President, we have a lot of work to do. It's going to be a long year (maybe even a long four years) for the pro-life movement, but as Congressman Souder said, as long as just one child is aborted, we will never rest.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Three good black men
With the observance of Martin Luther King Day yesterday, I began to wonder just how many black people in America today remember that of three good men who were also black, men whose contributions in life did more for the betterment of black people and the whole of America than they themselves may have ever realized. Here are the three men I write of:
Jackie Robinson- One of the ten greatest players in the history of baseball (in my opinion), Robinson was an all-around superb athlete as his days in college proved. When he signed on to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers, he endured perhaps the worst racial attacks, epithets and threats any person could be subjected to, but thanks to a Dodgers executive, Branch Rickey, Robinson handled all of it with a quiet resolve and persevered. As a result, he would win over the team, its fans and all of baseball.
In his later years, he was in the thick of the fighting for civil rights as much as Martin Luther King, and he fought with the same coolness and grace as when he was in professional baseball.
George Washington Carver- One of the few Americans who could truly be called a Renaissance man, he was a man of many talents as a scientist, educator, botanist, inventor and artist. Yet it was his work in the agricultural South and the products he developed from three specific plants that would leave his greatest impact on agriculture, science and life all over the world to this day.
Because by the early 20th century, Southern farmers grew almost nothing but cotton, which depleted the soil, and the arrival of boil weevils nearly left the entire South on the verge of economic disaster, Dr. Carver's promotion of the planting of sweet potatoes and legumes as well as cotton in a process of crop rotation worked to replenish the soil and save Southern farmers from economic ruin. And because of his lifelong work in sweet potatoes, peanuts and soybeans, there were developed literally hundreds of products, most of which are still used today.
Booker T. Washington- A man who through hard work and education became a noted orator, educator and author, Booker T. Washington was born a slave, became free, worked his way through school and college and became a teacher. When he became the head of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1881, he turned the school into one of the leading institutions of education for black people, where future generations would owe everything they were and everything they learned to him.
Through his work at the Tuskegee Institute where he also brought many talented educators to teach (including George Washington Carver), Washington became one of the leading orators in the country as well as a leading figure in the black community, and he would write several books, including his most famous work Up From Slavery (should be required reading, in my opinion).
I hope nobody reading this who is black is offended by what I, a white man, has suggested here. Whenever I hear of black heroes or role models black children follow, I don't hear much of Jackie Robinson or George Washington Carver or Booker T. Washington. I hope I'm wrong and that these three men are well remembered by the black community, and that black children look up to these men as role models and heroes. They lived lives and left examples for which all people, black, white, whatever, can (and should) follow and adopt. May they and their achievements never be forgotten.
(By the way, I hope what I have written about these three men does justice to their memories. They deserve nothing less.)
Jackie Robinson- One of the ten greatest players in the history of baseball (in my opinion), Robinson was an all-around superb athlete as his days in college proved. When he signed on to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers, he endured perhaps the worst racial attacks, epithets and threats any person could be subjected to, but thanks to a Dodgers executive, Branch Rickey, Robinson handled all of it with a quiet resolve and persevered. As a result, he would win over the team, its fans and all of baseball.
In his later years, he was in the thick of the fighting for civil rights as much as Martin Luther King, and he fought with the same coolness and grace as when he was in professional baseball.
George Washington Carver- One of the few Americans who could truly be called a Renaissance man, he was a man of many talents as a scientist, educator, botanist, inventor and artist. Yet it was his work in the agricultural South and the products he developed from three specific plants that would leave his greatest impact on agriculture, science and life all over the world to this day.
Because by the early 20th century, Southern farmers grew almost nothing but cotton, which depleted the soil, and the arrival of boil weevils nearly left the entire South on the verge of economic disaster, Dr. Carver's promotion of the planting of sweet potatoes and legumes as well as cotton in a process of crop rotation worked to replenish the soil and save Southern farmers from economic ruin. And because of his lifelong work in sweet potatoes, peanuts and soybeans, there were developed literally hundreds of products, most of which are still used today.
Booker T. Washington- A man who through hard work and education became a noted orator, educator and author, Booker T. Washington was born a slave, became free, worked his way through school and college and became a teacher. When he became the head of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1881, he turned the school into one of the leading institutions of education for black people, where future generations would owe everything they were and everything they learned to him.
Through his work at the Tuskegee Institute where he also brought many talented educators to teach (including George Washington Carver), Washington became one of the leading orators in the country as well as a leading figure in the black community, and he would write several books, including his most famous work Up From Slavery (should be required reading, in my opinion).
I hope nobody reading this who is black is offended by what I, a white man, has suggested here. Whenever I hear of black heroes or role models black children follow, I don't hear much of Jackie Robinson or George Washington Carver or Booker T. Washington. I hope I'm wrong and that these three men are well remembered by the black community, and that black children look up to these men as role models and heroes. They lived lives and left examples for which all people, black, white, whatever, can (and should) follow and adopt. May they and their achievements never be forgotten.
(By the way, I hope what I have written about these three men does justice to their memories. They deserve nothing less.)
An open letter to President Barack H. Obama
Mr. President,
Congratulations, you are now the 44th President of the United States, and I must say two years ago if someone had told me you would be President today, I'd have thought that person was crazy. Needless to say, you have been full of surprises.
Your victory over Senator McCain last November left me unhappy for the obvious reason that I believed Senator McCain was the better man for the job than yourself, but since then I have accepted the defeat and now accept you as my President.
When you ran as a Democratic hopeful and later the Democratic nominee, you made many promises and claimed you would bring change to America. I personally don't believe your promises, but agree change will probably come to America; it's just not the change I want to see. I believe on virtually every issue, those of major importance and minor importance alike, we are on polar opposites, which is why I fear America will not be better off in the next four years. I sincerely hope they will get better, but I fear they will not.
In spite of this certainty, however, I will support you when support is warranted. When you do something I know goes against my beliefs and principles, I will oppose you. I wish you well in your term in office, and hope you will not put my beloved country on a downward spiral.
Congratulations, you are now the 44th President of the United States, and I must say two years ago if someone had told me you would be President today, I'd have thought that person was crazy. Needless to say, you have been full of surprises.
Your victory over Senator McCain last November left me unhappy for the obvious reason that I believed Senator McCain was the better man for the job than yourself, but since then I have accepted the defeat and now accept you as my President.
When you ran as a Democratic hopeful and later the Democratic nominee, you made many promises and claimed you would bring change to America. I personally don't believe your promises, but agree change will probably come to America; it's just not the change I want to see. I believe on virtually every issue, those of major importance and minor importance alike, we are on polar opposites, which is why I fear America will not be better off in the next four years. I sincerely hope they will get better, but I fear they will not.
In spite of this certainty, however, I will support you when support is warranted. When you do something I know goes against my beliefs and principles, I will oppose you. I wish you well in your term in office, and hope you will not put my beloved country on a downward spiral.
An open letter to former President George W. Bush
Mr. President,
In the eight years you served in office, you have had to lead our nation through much. Not eight months into your first term, we were subjected to the worst combined attacks on American soil we had ever seen, and in the days and weeks after those heinous attacks, you led our nation through our time of shock, anger and recovery.
You knew what the attacks were, and you knew what needed to be done, and you knew how long it would likely take to get the job done and you never faltered in the course you took. It is because of this and this alone that you will always have my gratitude and thanks.
Unfortunately, there were also times when your actions and, in some cases, your policies on issues that left me disappointed. Most notedly, your policies and actions in regard to illegal immigration and border security disappointed me the most. You believed, sir, your actions were enough to sufficiently defend our borders, particularly our southern borders with Mexico; I, on the other hand, saw them as being only half-hearted attempts. You believed a general amnesty for all illegal immigrants already here was the right thing to do; I believed it would have simply incurred a greater influx of illegal immigrants, something which had been proven by history to be the case twice.
To your credit, your decision to commute the prison sentences of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean went a long way to atone for the egregious actions of those in the legal system in their overzealous and largely unwarranted prosecution of these men.
In the end, you have said that history will judge you correctly; naturally, it hasn't stopped many people from passing judgment on your record, but I must say I believe history will judge you more favorably than unfavorably, and in no small part because of your actions after 9/11 and through the nearly eight years this War on Terror has been waged. On the whole, I am glad you served as my President from 2001-2009, and I wish you and your family all the best.
In the eight years you served in office, you have had to lead our nation through much. Not eight months into your first term, we were subjected to the worst combined attacks on American soil we had ever seen, and in the days and weeks after those heinous attacks, you led our nation through our time of shock, anger and recovery.
You knew what the attacks were, and you knew what needed to be done, and you knew how long it would likely take to get the job done and you never faltered in the course you took. It is because of this and this alone that you will always have my gratitude and thanks.
Unfortunately, there were also times when your actions and, in some cases, your policies on issues that left me disappointed. Most notedly, your policies and actions in regard to illegal immigration and border security disappointed me the most. You believed, sir, your actions were enough to sufficiently defend our borders, particularly our southern borders with Mexico; I, on the other hand, saw them as being only half-hearted attempts. You believed a general amnesty for all illegal immigrants already here was the right thing to do; I believed it would have simply incurred a greater influx of illegal immigrants, something which had been proven by history to be the case twice.
To your credit, your decision to commute the prison sentences of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean went a long way to atone for the egregious actions of those in the legal system in their overzealous and largely unwarranted prosecution of these men.
In the end, you have said that history will judge you correctly; naturally, it hasn't stopped many people from passing judgment on your record, but I must say I believe history will judge you more favorably than unfavorably, and in no small part because of your actions after 9/11 and through the nearly eight years this War on Terror has been waged. On the whole, I am glad you served as my President from 2001-2009, and I wish you and your family all the best.
Monday, January 5, 2009
The best movies of 2008
This is something I should've done before the year ended, but because I wasn't able to see Valkyrie until this past Friday (instead of on New Year's Eve), I decided to wait until now to try and put up a list. Then I realized it wouldn't be much of a list, on account of the five categories I created last year, only four would have nominees, and of those four, all but one would go to just one film. Doesn't seem like much of a list, does it? Nevertheless, here are the 9 movies and 1 documentary I saw (including Valkyrie, and yes, it was not another big year) for 2008: Vantage Point, Expelled, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, Get Smart, The Dark Knight, Righteous Kill, Tropic Thunder, An American Carol & Valkyrie. And here's my choices for the best movies of the year:
Most Inspirational Film- None of the films I saw could possibly be considered inspirational, so I have no movies listed for this distinction.
Funniest Film- Get Smart
Again, I saw very few comedies in theaters, with this year being Get Smart, Tropic Thunder & An American Carol. All of them are funny, but to me, the choice for funniest film of these three is obvious. The film was well cast and nobody, least of all Steve Carell, tried to duplicate the humor of the TV series it was based on. Smart idea, in my opinion.
Best Sequel (or Prequel), Most Impressive Film & Best Film- The Dark Knight
This is the one film from 2008 that blew me away, and to not name it for any of these distinctions isn't right. Of the two sequels I saw (the other being Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), the three films which were impressively done (the other 2 being Iron Man & Vantage Point) and the four films I saw which I would've considered for best film (the other 3 being Expelled, Iron Man & Valkyrie), The Dark Knight was so well done and well acted that it dominated all the categories.
Because The Dark Knight was at the top of the list on these three categories and in effect ruling out some genuinely good films, this year I have an Honorable Mention list:
Honorable Mention: Vantage Point, Expelled, Iron Man, Valkyrie
All four of these films were engaging films that kept me on my seat in the theaters and certainly deserve notice for being the good films they are.
Hopefully, I'll be able to see many more films in 2009.
Most Inspirational Film- None of the films I saw could possibly be considered inspirational, so I have no movies listed for this distinction.
Funniest Film- Get Smart
Again, I saw very few comedies in theaters, with this year being Get Smart, Tropic Thunder & An American Carol. All of them are funny, but to me, the choice for funniest film of these three is obvious. The film was well cast and nobody, least of all Steve Carell, tried to duplicate the humor of the TV series it was based on. Smart idea, in my opinion.
Best Sequel (or Prequel), Most Impressive Film & Best Film- The Dark Knight
This is the one film from 2008 that blew me away, and to not name it for any of these distinctions isn't right. Of the two sequels I saw (the other being Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), the three films which were impressively done (the other 2 being Iron Man & Vantage Point) and the four films I saw which I would've considered for best film (the other 3 being Expelled, Iron Man & Valkyrie), The Dark Knight was so well done and well acted that it dominated all the categories.
Because The Dark Knight was at the top of the list on these three categories and in effect ruling out some genuinely good films, this year I have an Honorable Mention list:
Honorable Mention: Vantage Point, Expelled, Iron Man, Valkyrie
All four of these films were engaging films that kept me on my seat in the theaters and certainly deserve notice for being the good films they are.
Hopefully, I'll be able to see many more films in 2009.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
A Happy 2009
I hope everybody has been enjoying New Year's Day. A lot of things have happened in 2008, and there is the promise of major things happening in 2009. 2008 has been seen as a year full of surprises, but personally, I don't think it's all that different from other years we have had. There were ups, downs and plenty of surprises this past year; to elaborate on the topic will require much more time to think, and right now, I'm in a hurry.
As with any year, there is always the promise and potential of a good year. With how things are right now in America and the rest of the world, there's no telling what will happen in 2009. I hope things will be better for America in 2009, as well as for Israel, for Europe, for Christianity, my family and friends and for the causes I hold dear. And I wish you all a happy year ahead.
As with any year, there is always the promise and potential of a good year. With how things are right now in America and the rest of the world, there's no telling what will happen in 2009. I hope things will be better for America in 2009, as well as for Israel, for Europe, for Christianity, my family and friends and for the causes I hold dear. And I wish you all a happy year ahead.
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