Monday, July 16, 2007
Socialized Medicine?
Whenever anyone suggests that the answer to healthcare problems in this nation is socialized medicine should be required to go spend a day at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Any government run program is bound to be so bloated with bureaucracy that it cannot run efficiently. Add to that the lack of competition and you end up with what we have now. I want to make it clear that I didn't have a problem with the people that were working there. They were courteous and were working at a good pace. They were simply overwhelmed by the number of people and stuck with the system with which they have to work.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Do Liberals Really Hold the Moral High Ground?
For many years liberals have claimed to hold the moral high ground in today's society. They claim almost exclusive interest in women's rights, minority rights, and help for the plight of the poor. They claim that conservatives in general, and Christians in particular are uninterested in these issues and actually are the reason the problems exist.
For those of us that actually research these issues, we realize that their claims are hollow, and are actually used to keep the very people they purport to help in the same situation they currently live. Some examples follow.
Recently the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the U.S. toured some middle-eastern nations, including the terrorist-supporting nations of Iran and Syria. Most everyone has seen the picture of her wearing a scarf over her head when meeting with the leaders of these nations. This was done "out of respect" of their customs. The problem with this is she is supporting a culture that degrades women. It was recently reported in the news that a young girl in Egypt died after a doctor performed a genital mutilation operation on her. This operation is performed on anywhere between 50% and 94% of the young girls in the country, depending on who you ask. Why would a leader of a free nation, that supposedly is fighting for the rights of women, openly support a culture that mulilates their women is this fashion? I could go on and on about how the "women's rights" advocates turned a blind eye to our previous President's indescretions time and time again. It appears that they're only interested in talking about supporting women's rights, rather than actually supporting them.
Where they really fall down is in their support of minority rights. Giving a lifetime government handout does not help anyone, regardless of their race or color. I have no problem with helping out someone who is down and out, but that help should only be to get them back on their feet and allow them to support themselves. It would seem that their only desire is to keep these people dependent on the government so they can continue to justify their existence. While I deplore all the horrible things that were done to minorities in this country, the fact is there is so much opportunity today that it no longer needs to be a barrier. I'm not so naive to think that barriers still don't exist, but we should be working on tearing those down rather than subsidizing as a way to avoid the tough work. The Supreme Court recently ruled that race cannot be used as a criteria for where people should go to school. They realize that we are now close to the "color-blind" society that Dr. Martin Luther King had hoped for. This does not take us back as many liberals are saying, but rather forward where we need to go (while always being vigilent to watch for race-based discrimintation).
As we know, many Christians (and others) are pro-life because of what we believe our faith teaches. We are also against abortion, euthanasia and other practices that devalue life. Many have warned that this devaluing of life will eventually have consequences. There is a recent event at a convenience store that I believe supports their claims. A woman was dying on the floor inside the store after a confrontation with a man. Video evidence shows five people STEPPING OVER her to continue on with their shopping without giving any aid to the dying woman. One lady even stopped to take a picture with her cell phone! I believe we've all become desensitized to these things by how our society values human life.
As members of a responsible society, it is important that we do the hard work of evaluating what our leaders say and do. It's not enough just to watch the sound bites and move on. We need to find out what's really going on underneath. Research their claims. Look to people to see if their actions really support their words, or if they are just trying to pander to a certain segment of society.
Don't mistake my position here for believing that conservatives have all the answers. Even though many would like us to believe that politicians have the answers to life's problems, it has been my experience that they contribute more to the problem than they solve. The three main differences however that I see between liberals and conservatives are these:
1. Conservatives believe that oppressive societies should be called what they are, and not placated for political expediency without regard to those who are suffering because of the oppression.
2. Conservatives believe opportunities should be available to all americans without regard to gender, race and/or color and without guaranteeing success for anyone. Liberals believe they can guarantee equality through legislation and control.
3. Conservatives value all human life. Liberals value personal "choice", regardless of the consequences.
For those of us that actually research these issues, we realize that their claims are hollow, and are actually used to keep the very people they purport to help in the same situation they currently live. Some examples follow.
Recently the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the U.S. toured some middle-eastern nations, including the terrorist-supporting nations of Iran and Syria. Most everyone has seen the picture of her wearing a scarf over her head when meeting with the leaders of these nations. This was done "out of respect" of their customs. The problem with this is she is supporting a culture that degrades women. It was recently reported in the news that a young girl in Egypt died after a doctor performed a genital mutilation operation on her. This operation is performed on anywhere between 50% and 94% of the young girls in the country, depending on who you ask. Why would a leader of a free nation, that supposedly is fighting for the rights of women, openly support a culture that mulilates their women is this fashion? I could go on and on about how the "women's rights" advocates turned a blind eye to our previous President's indescretions time and time again. It appears that they're only interested in talking about supporting women's rights, rather than actually supporting them.
Where they really fall down is in their support of minority rights. Giving a lifetime government handout does not help anyone, regardless of their race or color. I have no problem with helping out someone who is down and out, but that help should only be to get them back on their feet and allow them to support themselves. It would seem that their only desire is to keep these people dependent on the government so they can continue to justify their existence. While I deplore all the horrible things that were done to minorities in this country, the fact is there is so much opportunity today that it no longer needs to be a barrier. I'm not so naive to think that barriers still don't exist, but we should be working on tearing those down rather than subsidizing as a way to avoid the tough work. The Supreme Court recently ruled that race cannot be used as a criteria for where people should go to school. They realize that we are now close to the "color-blind" society that Dr. Martin Luther King had hoped for. This does not take us back as many liberals are saying, but rather forward where we need to go (while always being vigilent to watch for race-based discrimintation).
As we know, many Christians (and others) are pro-life because of what we believe our faith teaches. We are also against abortion, euthanasia and other practices that devalue life. Many have warned that this devaluing of life will eventually have consequences. There is a recent event at a convenience store that I believe supports their claims. A woman was dying on the floor inside the store after a confrontation with a man. Video evidence shows five people STEPPING OVER her to continue on with their shopping without giving any aid to the dying woman. One lady even stopped to take a picture with her cell phone! I believe we've all become desensitized to these things by how our society values human life.
As members of a responsible society, it is important that we do the hard work of evaluating what our leaders say and do. It's not enough just to watch the sound bites and move on. We need to find out what's really going on underneath. Research their claims. Look to people to see if their actions really support their words, or if they are just trying to pander to a certain segment of society.
Don't mistake my position here for believing that conservatives have all the answers. Even though many would like us to believe that politicians have the answers to life's problems, it has been my experience that they contribute more to the problem than they solve. The three main differences however that I see between liberals and conservatives are these:
1. Conservatives believe that oppressive societies should be called what they are, and not placated for political expediency without regard to those who are suffering because of the oppression.
2. Conservatives believe opportunities should be available to all americans without regard to gender, race and/or color and without guaranteeing success for anyone. Liberals believe they can guarantee equality through legislation and control.
3. Conservatives value all human life. Liberals value personal "choice", regardless of the consequences.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
What is Night Twister?
Night Twister was my "CB handle" back in the last '70s. I got the name from the father of a girl I talked with from time to time. It's the name of a homemade airplane that her father built, and he suggested that I use that name. There's no other significance to the name, though I'm sure folks can come up with all sorts of ideas as to where it came from.
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