2008-09-12

Palin and the Prochoice Problem

It seems that an OBGYN in Canada is concerned about ArchVillainess... I mean, Republican VP Candidate Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to give birth to Trig, her youngest who also happens to have an extra chromosome. His concern is not about her ability to do the job, or the impact on the family. It's not even about Sarah or Trig's health and well-being.

He's concerned that such a prominent role being given to a woman in this situation might reduce abortions.

You just can't make some stuff up.*

Thankfully, some Canadians actually think it's not so bad an idea to let children with Down Syndrome live. Now Trig has become, literally, their poster-child.

If you've known a person with Down Syndrome, you could probably attest to their near-angelic nature. While I can't say I've had extensive experiences, I will say that each encounter has led me to experience something more of the mysterious love that God has for me in Christ Jesus. Their utter openness, compassion for others, and gentleness....

It puts most Christians I know to shame. Since last Sunday's epistle was on letting your love be genuine, let's ask God how he might be giving us another chance to learn a lesson we desperately try to forget.

*p.s. It's still better than uber-moonbat Wendy Doniger is able to manage. I think her work on androgynes has confused her about what actually makes a woman. "Pretense of a woman", indeed!

Spare Change

Everybody is talking about Change these days.

Especially reverent tones regarding change are used when speaking of The One.



Well... at least this lady can count on some change.

Why? Because it turns out that Barack Hussein Obama only pays the ladies pennies on the dollar. That's right...

Barack Obama pays his women campaign staff less than he pays the men on his campaign staff.

2008-09-11

Palin Facts

Look at it this way. One VP candidate could protect you from zombies. The other... well, he looks like one.

Even Chuck Norris is running scared.


h/t PalinFacts

Help Hurricane Vicitims

Rev'd Bill Crawford at First Presbyterian of Thibodaux has set up a PayPal account where the church can process donations for immediate relief of hurricane victims.

Please help if you can.

2008-09-09

Imminent Domain

Does it bother anyone else that the government now holds close to 90% of all mortgages? I refer, of course, to the $200 billion dollar bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Before bailing out mortgage companies, the United States government had direct ownership of nearly 30% of its total territory. These federal lands are used as military bases or testing grounds, nature parks and reserves and indian reservations, or are leased to the private sector for commercial exploitation (e.g. forestry, mining, agriculture). They are managed by different administrations, such as the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the US Department of Defense, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Bureau of Reclamation or the Tennessee Valley Authority. This map details the percentage of state territory owned by the federal government.

The top 10 list of states with the highest percentage of federally owned land looks like this:
  1. Nevada 84.5%
  2. Alaska 69.1%
  3. Utah 57.4%
  4. Oregon 53.1%
  5. Idaho 50.2%
  6. Arizona 48.1%
  7. California 45.3%
  8. Wyoming 42.3%
  9. New Mexico 41.8%
  10. Colorado 36.6%

Notable is that all these states are in the West (except Alaska, which strictly speaking is also a western state, albeit northwestern). Also notable is the contrast between the highest and the lowest percentages of federal land ownership. The US government owns a whopping 84.5% of Nevada, but only a puny 0.4% of Rhode Island and Connecticut. The lowest-percentage states are mainly in the East, but some are also in the Midwest and in the South:

  1. Connecticut 0.4%
  2. Rhode Island 0.4%
  3. Iowa 0.8%
  4. New York 0.8%
  5. Maine 1.1%
  6. Kansas 1.2%
  7. Nebraska 1.4%
  8. Alabama 1.6%
  9. Ohio 1.7%
  10. Illinois 1.8%

Even the 10th place is still below the two percent mark.

Where's that right to private property when you need it, if the government can now exercise fiscal controls to get you out of your house WITHOUT having to go through eminent domain payments?

h/t StrangeMaps

2008-09-08

The Bullwinkle Stops Here



The Dennis Miller show was discussing Palin's acceptance speech. Miller asked a middle aged female caller "Are the Democrats scared?" She replied "They woke up with a moose head in their bed this morning!"