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Home Archives for My Life

6/3/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Continuing the Tiller & Long Discussion

Update, 6/4: Thanks to a comment left by Politically Correct Death author Francis Beckwith, I refer you to his newer and more relevant book Defending Life. I'll have to check it out myself very soon. Update, 9:30 PM: My final thought (for now) on the matter, from Doug Wilson: "The question is whether you would be willing to reduce a society to anarchy for the sake of saving that kid, when you (should) know that the anarchy you introduce is going to be responsible for the deaths of far more children than you managed to save." And for further edification, I will commend the thoughts of Dr. Albert Mohler as being squarely right on the matter. Thanks to one of the more thoughtful liberals I know, David Thielen, a link to this morning's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Christianity and Faith, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, Labor, liberty, My Life, World Events

6/2/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

‘Noble Pride’ Lives On: A Principled Lesson for the ‘Hillsdale of the East’

Unbelievably, a few weeks ago I passed the 10th anniversary of my graduation from Hillsdale College with a bachelors degree. But the spirit of school pride lives on, and my heart smiled when today I read William McGurn's Wall Street Journal column "How Hillsdale Beats Harvard". After explaining how Hillsdale's principled stand of not accepting any federal funds fits right in with the school's warm welcome of military recruiters on campus, McGurn concludes:If Harvard believes that our Armed Forces are inconsistent with its values, surely the honest thing to do is to stand on principle and accept the funding consequences. The folks at Hillsdale would be glad to show the way. Back in the good old college days, there was a running quip … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, Education, General, liberty, My Life, PPC Tagged With: accepting, alma mater, Armed Forces, bachelors degree, campus, column, consequences, East, federal funds, graduation, Harvard, heart, Hillsdale College, honest thing, inconsistent, lives on, Midwest, military recruiters, noble pride, principled stand, quip, right reasons, running, school pride, smiles, spirit, values, Wall Street Journal, warm welcome, William McGurn

6/2/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

One Year Without a Wristwatch

Today is a perfect occasion to show off my predilection for recalling and recounting trivial information. Today is the first anniversary of giving up my wristwatch. Or more appropriately, of my last watch giving up the ghost. From age 7 to age 31 I wore some kind of wristwatch on my left arm. When the last one broke, I decided to see what it would be like to give up the instant time-telling habit cold turkey. The good news is I have gone a whole year without a timepiece on my arm. Of course, having a cell phone that keeps track of time sure helps. But I never would have thought it would be so easy to live life wristwatch-free. Now back to your regularly scheduled broadcasting of truly important news and commentary. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, My Life, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: arm, broadcasting, cell phone helps, cold turkey, commentary, first anniversary, ghost, giving up, good news, habit, important, information, instant, left arm, life, news, occasion, perfect, regularly scheduled, time-telling, today, trivial, truly, wristwatch, wristwatch-free

6/1/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

The World is Changing: GM Pontiac Plant Closing Strikes Close to Home

This report from the Detroit News strikes close to home:Oakland County is taking a major hit in General Motors Corp.'s restructuring in bankruptcy, with an estimated 6,600 of the 8,900 factory jobs lost in Michigan based in the affluent county north of Detroit. But one of the plants to be idled, in Orion Township, is in the running to build a small car in the future, said GM spokesman Chris Lee. The Orion site currently assembles the mid-size Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6. "It's a real sad day," said UAW Local 549 President Doug Bowman in Pontiac. Workers at Pontiac Assembly, which makes the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, were told by plant officials at 8:15 a.m. the 3.4 million-square-foot plant will close in October … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, General, Labor, My Life, National Politics, PPC

5/27/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Carroll: Sonia Sotomayor “Expression of Bigotry” Calls for Full Repudiation

Great piece by Vince Carroll in today's Denver Post on Barack Obama's Supreme Court appointment:If racial and gender bigotry truly have no place in American public life today, then Judge Sonia Sotomayor, during her confirmation hearing for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, needs to utterly repudiate her 2001 assertion that "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Putting that statement "in context" or explaining what she "really meant" will not do. Nor can Judge Sotomayor credibly argue that her assertion was an ill-considered mistake, since it was part of a prepared speech at the Berkeley school of law. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cultural Conservatism, General, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC, property rights, Second Amendment Tagged With: absurd, affirmative action, American, analysis, appointment, assertion, Barack Obama, Berkeley, better, bigoted remark, biological, blind justice, city council, conclusion, cultural, Damon Root, Declaration of Independence, Denver Post, determinism, early roundup, elected, experiences, expression, groupthink, gun rights, ill-considered, individual liberty, Joshua Sharf, judge, Left, limited government, loco, mistake, nomination, personal responsibility, political correctness, positions, principles, pronouncement, public life, Q and O, racial identity politics, reaction, Reason Online, Republican, repudiate, repudiation, response, richness, rule of law, school board, school of law, Sonia Sotomayor, speech, supreme court, undergirded, Vince Carroll, weighing in, white male, wise Latina woman

5/25/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Memorial Day Reflections: Audie Murphy & A Moment for Silent Reflection

On this Memorial Day, I can't think to do any better than point you back to last year's remembrance:O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, And every gain divine. Today, pay your respects to a fallen soldier, sailor, airman, Marine - and to their loved ones still with us. And don’t forget to thank the troops you meet for their service to us all. Happy Memorial Day! Otherwise, I defer to this Saturday Wall Street Journal column by Peggy Noonan (H/T Steve Meyer) on the need to renew American fascination with the military hero. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, General, History, liberty, My Life, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: airman, Alvin York, America, America the Beautiful, Arlington Cemetery, Audie Murphy, audience, blogger, Business Executives for National Security, Chuck Boyd, column, defer, ephemera, fallen, fascination, father, government, grave, high schooler, last year, life, loved ones, lovely, Marine, Memorial Day, military hero, Mrs. Virtus, nation's capital, Oh, Peggy Noonan, plain GI headstone, podium, POW, psyche, public library, reflection, remembrance, renew, respectful, sailor, service, silence, soldier, thank, troops, veteran, Vietnam, Wall Street Journal, warriors, Washington DC, World War Two

5/23/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

FTS Weekend Edition: Listen to Me Talk Teacher Sick-Out, Contract Impasses

For the handful of you out there who aren't tired of hearing me talk about teachers unions, contract impasses, and sick-outs this week, you can listen to a new interview with Brad Jones on the most recent Face The State weekend edition (Segment 3). You also can hear an interview with U.S. Senate candidate Cleve Tidwell and discussions on some of Face The State's big Colorado stories from the week that just passed. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, General, Labor, My Life, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Brad Jones, candidate, Cleve Tidwell, Colorado, contract impasses, discussions, Face the State, interview, just passed, listen, sick-outs, stories, teachers unions, U.S. Senate, week, weekend edition

5/22/2009 By Ben 4 Comments

Not Exactly the 1984 Detroit Tigers, But Well Ahead of the Cleveland Indians

It's been a couple weeks since my last update on the baseball season for Civil Sense. A great piece in yesterday's Detroit News recounts the amazing feat of the 1984 Tigers' 35-5 start. A quarter century later, this year's Detroit squad is nowhere near the caliber of dominance of the franchise's last world champions. But the Tigers -- winners of six straight -- are like their 1984 predecessors in that they are in first place at the 40-game mark of the season. In this case, 8.5 games ahead of the Cleveland Indians. Happy Friday! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: My Life, Random and Miscellaneous, Sports and Leisure Tagged With: 1984, 40-game mark, ahead of, baseball season, caliber, Civil Sense, Cleveland Indians, Detroit News, Detroit Tigers, dominance, first place, franchise, predecessors, season, squad, world champions

5/19/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Talking to Mike Rosen about the Boulder Teacher “Sickout” & Other Labor Issues

Feeling ill because of the teacher sickout in Boulder Valley School District? Another 269 teachers came down with the phantom cough today. Few things can drive people as crazy as trying to figure out the ins-and-outs of Colorado labor laws and policies, and how they apply to teachers and possible teacher strikes. So Mike Rosen had me on his show this morning (check May 19, 9 AM hour ... I come on during the second half of the hour) to give the lowdown and shed some more light on the goings-on in Boulder. If you're bored, or maybe sick at home with the blue flu, please take time to listen and let me know what you think. Thanks also to Complete Colorado for the kind link. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, My Life, PPC Tagged With: blue flu, Boulder Valley School District, Colorado, Complete Colorado, crazy, ill, kind, labor laws, link, listen, Mike Rosen, phantom cough, show, sickout, teacher, teacher strikes, this morning

5/14/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

“Principled”, “Solutions-Driven” US Senate Candidate Ryan Frazier Speaks Out

(Co-authored by El Presidente and Ben DeGrow) We were privileged with the opportunity last Saturday to sit down and conduct an exclusive half-hour two-on-one interview with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ryan Frazier (Frazier's two GOP primary contenders are Weld County district attorney Ken Buck and businessman Cleve Tidwell). The conversation was wide-ranging and informative. We left with a clearer picture of the candidate's vision and the campaign's direction. We began by bringing up a recent article in The Hill that portrayed Frazier as part of a "band of centrists", and asked him what he thought of the characterization. He responded: "I'm Ryan Frazier, and I do what I believe to be right. I've never been much for labels.... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, My Life, National Politics

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

  • AI-Enhanced Cyberbullying: The Dark Side of Teen Innovation
  • My Baker’s Dozen of Top 2023 Reads
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