Ed Morrissey of Captains Quarters - one of the premier blogs out there, for the uninitiated - is organizing a January 12 World Relief Day to help aid the victims of the South Asia tsunami. (Ed was on Hugh's show earlier to promote the effort.) How much of your take-home pay on January 12 can you donate to World Vision? - to make a real difference while also showing that this nation is not "stingy" like many European critics have falsely claimed. On a totally random different note... As we were walking into the office building this morning, Mrs. MountVirtus and I ran into Bob The Daily Blogster and his wife, who had come in to give blood. (The Bonfils Blood Center is on the 3rd floor of our building - The Independence Institute … [Read more...]
Where’s the Outrage?
A guest column in today's Fort Collins Coloradoan brings up an excellent point: why can't we blame the state's budget crisis on the ill-devised Amendment 23? Especially when we see where some of that taxpayer money is going... Writer Paul Marrick explains the problem with his local Poudre School District: Our school board, in its infinite wisdom, decided many years ago to pay the majority of the union president's salary. That's right, folks, we as taxpayers funded almost $60,000 of a $70,000 salary last year so the local union representative could, among other things, campaign for our newly elected state Sen. Bob Bacon. Mary Lynn Jones, Poudre Education Association president, spent a great deal of time working on a political … [Read more...]
Welcome to 2005 – Note to Readers
Welcome to 2005. Thanks to my dozens of faithful readers for hanging on throughout the transition. With the New Year comes a desire to tweak the focus of this blog. While political and current events will still be on the radar screen, there will be more musings on Scripture & faith, history, literature, et al. - as well as more accounts from my own life. The political / current events that this blog will stay tuned to will almost exclusively be those on the Colorado state level, since that's where the greatest connection and greatest potential impact will be. As always, stay tuned to the Rocky Mountain Alliance. A note to commenters on this blog: thank you so much for your feedback. It really helps to make this endeavor more … [Read more...]
Are Democrats Getting It?
As the year 2004 winds down, it's fair to continue asking the question: what did the opposition party learn from its national electoral defeat? Those hopeful that the Democrats are willing to listen, stand up, and take "Red State" America seriously have at least three "wise men" on their side to cheer their hopes, the Washington Times editorializes today. Most notable is former Congressman Tim Roemer of Indiana, a possible candidate for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship. According to the Times, Roemer "had a strong pro-life voting record in the House" and has garnered support both from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid AND House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Interesting. How this sort of thing would go over with the … [Read more...]
Blog Flog Deluxe
High Chamberlain Hugh Hewitt continues to lead the campaign against the crumbling old media citadel with this powerful broadside in the Weekly Standard. His Theory of Asymmetrical Tolerance attempts to explain "how the old media went left into a deep ditch of agenda journalism, forfeiting the trust of a large portion of their audience and, in the process, opening the door to Rush Limbaugh, the second generation of radio talkers, Fox News, and, of course, the blogs." Hugh has been at the forefront of promoting the power of blogs to completely obliterate the old media's monopolized grasp on controlling the flow of information. On his radio show of late, he has been continually touting figures showing the blogosphere's ranks surpassing 5 … [Read more...]
Linking to the Origins Debate
Though it is not always the case, the debate between Darwinian evolutionary biologists and advocates of Intelligent Design can be very rich and insightful. Rand Simberg and John Mark Reynolds have started an exchange. We can only hope the dialogue continues. Reynolds has a lot of thoughtful and eloquent things to say - here's just a snippet to whet the appetite: I once was a theistic evolutionist. My faith did not demand I abandon Darwin, but my best reason did. Plato had more to do with changing my mind than Genesis. Still, if Genesis had motivated me, I see no reason to apologize for it. It is a book of great genius (see the previous post) and persons who dismiss it lightly are likely merely engaging in chronological snobbery, … [Read more...]
Not Just Horn-Tooting
Can't think of a reason to read about the Independence Institute's public service message to Colorado teachers? Maybe if you know the author... I wrote about the same topic for the Colorado Springs Gazette (sadly, no link available). Are you a public school teacher? Is a loved one, family member or friend? Point them to II's teacher resource page. … [Read more...]
Christmas, The Incarnation, and First Advent
Meditations on the meaning of Christmas - the Incarnation of Christ and His First Advent upon earth. Most marvelous and incomprehensible, and it's just the beginning of the story! All quotes taken from the New American Standard Bible … [Read more...]
MSM Echoes Center-Right Blogger Sentiments
Three cheers to New Hampshire's Manchester Union-Leader for today's editorial titled "Suing for Jesus: Christians Fight Back to Defend Christmas." The conclusion of the essay is right on, showing that common sense has not completely escaped America's newsrooms: Rather than accept their exile, [Christians] are demanding the rights they have as taxpayers and citizens, ironically using the same methods the secular left used to remove them from public view in the first place. Defending the rights of a minority being ill-treated by the government would be a natural step for the ACLU if it were still the American Civil Liberties Union and not the Anti-Christian Libertines Union. But it is conspicuously absent in this fight. Christians … [Read more...]
If It’s Not Close, They Can’t Cheat – Washington State
I don't know how many of you have been following the ongoing saga of the gubernatorial race recount in Washington state, but it makes for fascinating insights into what lengths the Democratic party will go to win an election... after it's over. I couldn't possibly summarize all the developments that have taken place there. I've been checking articles from the Seattle papers on an almost daily basis. The latest article reports that the state Democratic party is prematurely declaring victory. After several counts, Republican candidate Dino Rossi has been in the lead every time, though Democrats in King County keep magically finding new votes to trim the lead smaller and smaller. Now that they may have manufactured a scenario giving … [Read more...]