I once read that science is the canvas upon which God paints the world. I thought it beautiful and true.
I don't get into the evolution/intelligent design debate usually, simply because I believe in both in their essence. There is no doubt that the earth and man has evolved. Science tells us this, and it does not disprove God or his creation in the least, unless you think of God as some magician that waved a wand and created all the glories of the earth. I can only disagree with fellow believers that are asked to believe that the Old Testament is to be taken literally. Not to offend those that believe that, but it only makes people of faith seem silly when we claim to believe something that science has shown us to be untrue, such as the age of the earth. The age of our earth is written in it's stones.
As Catholics, there is no problem believing in the evolutionary process, and at the same time knowing that God's hand formed this process. We know what it looks like when a star is born in the sky. Scientists can claim a big bang theory, but they can never find that one beginning. How it all came from....nothing. That is where faith steps in and tells us that as sure as there are souls in our earthly bodies, there was God creating us, the universe, the planets, and everything in it. In science we discover how he did it, and all his mysteries that we are forever discovering.
A U.S. professor, Robert J. Russell, founder and director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley, Calif., spoke at a Vatican conference yesterday.
"Evolution is not the problem. The problem is scientism; it's people like (Richard) Dawkins who use evolution as an argument for atheism," he told Catholic News Service March 5. Russell was one of dozens of experts in science, theology and philosophy invited to speak at an international conference in Rome to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of "The Origin of Species," in which Charles Darwin put forth his theory on evolution.
Russel went on to say:
"If you claim evolution makes you an atheist or legitimates atheism or is the route to atheism, then you're really moving beyond the constraints of science," Russell said. While people of faith are right to criticize scientism, proponents of creationism or intelligent design are wrong to attack science, he said. He said if people want to "attack evolution they should do it in Proponents of intelligent design and creationism offer "a kind of fool's gold" claiming they are the only ones who can keep God's role in explaining the origins of life since "those nasty atheists have co-opted it" with the theory of evolution, he said. "Well, they should attack the atheists. You don't attack the victim," which in this case has been the scientific theory of evolution, he added. an intelligent way, not in an embarrassing way" by putting forth arguments that the scientific community addressed years ago.
Darwin's scientific theories have been co-opted for decades by unscrupulous people who use them to put forth and justify "absolutely horrendous social policies," he said, such as Nazi Germany's eugenics program. But Russell said it is wrong to blame Darwin or his theory of evolution for their being manipulated by others.
No one ever seems to address that truth. That people have used Darwin's theory, not to advance science, but to disprove God. This should never be the measure of science.
Darwin's desire to disprove an image of God involved a tragedy that not many people know about. It was the death of his 11 yr old daughter. Along with that and his studies, Darwin abandoned his faith in God.
I have held fossils in my hand that are 100 million years old. I have experienced miracles that only God could have placed before me.
No one could ever convince me that either one isn't true and astounding.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
The Story of Us
Friday, March 06, 2009
Speaking of Biden...
Good grief!
We are getting used to these colossal gaffes from the likes of VP Joe Biden, but "always on point" Hillary???
from AP:
US gesture lost in Russian translationGENEVA (AP) — Call it a goodwill gesture lost in translation.With smiles all around, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gathered with aides Friday for talks on a range of issues, including the fight against terrorism, Iran's nuclear ambitions, missile defense and other topics.With a media gaggle looking on, Clinton handed Lavrov a green box tied with a green bow. He opened it to reveal a "reset button," a reminder of Vice President Joe Biden's recent remark that the Obama administration hopes to reset U.S. relations with Moscow.Trouble was, the Russian-language label the Americans put on the button had the wrong word. Before she realized the mistake, Clinton assured Lavrov, "We worked hard to get it right.""You got it wrong," Lavrov responded with a smile. He said the word the Americans chose — "peregruzka" — meant "overloaded" or "overcharged" rather than "reset."
via NRO
Update: Video: Hillary: "Never waste a good crisis."
Right About Rush
Remember a few posts back when I said the silver lining of the Rush controversery was that more people would tune into Rush and listen? I said that they would actually see for themselves how the media and the Obama clan distort what Rush says. I asked how many of us how heard former liberals or apathetic political novices call Rush and thank him for changing their minds. Remember that? Yeah. Well, I was right.
By one measure, Rush Limbaugh is a clear winner this week: His ratings have nearly doubled since his feud with the White House burst into the media limelight.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Comforting
Nice to know a mob boss visits the White House once a week.
Did I say mob boss? I meant the AFL-CIO President.
My bad.
Sometimes Karma's a B*tch
Did CNN fire D.L. Hughley for baiting RNC chair Michael Steele and referring to Republicans as "Nazis?"
Nah.......... but it's still sweet he was bounced, isn't it?
By the way, are you following me on twitter?
Rahm The Ballerina
I almost fell off my chair laughing this morning when I saw this picture of Rahm Emanuel as a ballerina over at Rush's site. Sometimes the transcript from Rush's show is more than worth the read. This is one of those times. Oh my gosh, he just excoriates Rahm and deservedly so. He also challenges Obama to a debate (leader to leader, right?). Oh, and without a teleprompter.
Is this border violence bothering anyone else?
I have a post up at my Texas Magazine blog with the recent news, and it's quite disturbing.
Boehner comes out swinging
I told you how impressed I was with Congressman John Boehner at CPAC. Today in the WaPo he shows he is fired up and ready to fight against creeping socialism: (emphasis mine)
In the first two months of 2009, the Democratic Congress and the White House have spent more money than the combined cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the response to Hurricane Katrina. After they doled out taxpayer dollars at such a blistering pace, the instinct of many inside the Beltway is to do what's most convenient: desperately try to change the subject by creating straw men -- called "the party of no" -- to rally against.
I do want to be "the party of no." I want to say no to excessive ridiculous spending at a time of economic crisis. I want to say no to a radical left agenda on abortion. I want to say no to an overreaching government that interferes with our lives and the free market. I want to say no to punishing the successful. Your damn right I want to say no.
And in a carefully calculated campaign, operatives and allies of the Obama administration are seeking to divert attention toward radio host Rush Limbaugh, and away from a debate about our alternative solutions on the economy and the irresponsible spending binge they are presiding over.
Surely many of you have wondered why in the world the President of the United States would talk about a radio talk show host. This is why my friends. While Obama talks of bi-partisanship and coming together, he is involved in a calculated effort to divide us. It's cheap political theatre at it's finest.
The president apparently plans to sign the $410 billion "omnibus" spending bill, even though it is loaded with some 9,000 unscrutinized earmarks and the largest increase in discretionary spending -- save for a brief increase after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- since the Carter administration. And the Obama administration has proposed a budget blueprint that increases taxes on every American, to the total tune of $1.4 trillion. Each of these policy proposals is meant to lay the groundwork for a new era of big government -- and neither Main Street nor Wall Street likes what it is seeing.
This really is about replacing free market ideas with big government. It's as simple and as scary as that.
Update: Sen. John Cornyn is tag teaming with Boehner on calling out Obama on spending, hypocrisy, and diversion:
...this coordinated strategy began with “conversations and email exchanges” taking place “in and out of the White House” between former Clinton political operative James Carville, the political team at the Democrat National Committee, and White House staff. The article goes on to note that “a senior White House aide has been tasked with helping to guide the Limbaugh strategy.”This is an outrage. It appears the Obama Administration has forgotten that the salaries of White House staff are paid for by you the taxpayer. To say nothing of the fact that this story reeks of hypocrisy coming from a President who campaigned against these very cynical political tactics last fall.
Has Obama figured out yet that he won? He doesn't have to campaign and do the dirty spin anymore.
So much for "change" in Washington.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Just 11% of Republicans say Limbaugh Is Their Party Leader.
And since 11% of Democrats think Obama is immortal, I think we get a full picture (ok, just kidding about Obama).
So can the Democrats drop this tired talking point?
via HotAir
Photographing The War Dead
NBC nightly news ran a story on Feb. 24th regarding lifting the 18 year ban on photographing coffins of the war dead. The story reports that critics say the ban was put in place to "hide the human cost of war." Sen. Frank Lautenberg says,"It was designed to conceal the pain that goes with the war." But the truth is found, in a bit they did report, of why the ban was put into place to begin with. In 1989 the news displayed a split screen showing the first Pres. Bush bantering with the press, as coffins of Americans killed in Panama arrived in the U.S.
The reporter goes on to say that hiding the human cost of war included "the nearly 5000 American killed in Iraq and Afghanistan." Might it have helped to report the obvious? That the ban simply prevented the media from trying to embarrass the President as they did with the first Pres. Bush? Do any of us doubt they would have used the same split screen with Pres. George W. Bush during the height of the Iraq war? And does anyone doubt that now that they have access to photographing the war dead, that they will not use it to embarrass Pres. Obama?
In defense of Michael Steele
Republicans are angry over RNC chair Michael Steele's reaction to CNN host D.L. Hughley saying that the National Republican Convention looked like Nazi Germany. Newsbusters has the full description here.
Hughley should have simply said there are too many white faces and not enough of color at the RNC, instead of describing it as "Nazi Germany," but a while back I inferred that the Obama followers reminded me of Nazi Germany because of the adulation and swooning of Hitler, and the spooky Nazi symbol everywhere. Check out the pics here.
Now, I didn't mean that Obama followers were like the Nazis in thought or practice, just in how they swooned over one man. Hughley (I hope) didn't mean that the Republican National Convention had the beliefs of Nazis. What he meant is that we were a sea of white faces.
And he was right.
And Michael Steel knew he was right. Maybe instead of getting angry with Michael Steele, we should be angry at ourselves for not reaching out to minorities and sending the message to minority communities that they are welcome here.
I talked about this in my conversation with Sen. John Cornyn, and we both agreed that we need to stop being the party that says "Look at us, we are family values, free market, low taxes, pro-business" and just expect minorities to come to us.
It's time for us to come to them. And not just at election time. We need to be a part of their communities and their concerns. We need to show up and speak at their Churches, their festivals, and their local community meetings.
The Hispanic community is the largest minority in our country and it's growing. They are a natural fit for the Republican party. They are pro-family, pro-life, and entrepreneurial. We completely alienated them in the recent election cycle allowing the immigration debate rhetoric to become anti-Hispanic.
We alienate blacks by never showing a concern for the problems many of them face in the inner city and by never showing up to speak to them.
Could Steele have handled it better? Of course. He should have said "We are hardly Nazi Germany and I find that insulting, but we do need to expand our party with miniorities."
Republicans getting angry at Steele is about the most counter productive thing we can possibly do. We finally have a strong face of color leading our party, and an opportunity to bring in people of color into our party, and we decide to get angry with him because he acknowledges the obvious of our over abundance of whiteness??
No. We need to face it and do something about it. Starting now.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
What Obama has brought us
Tea Parties
I was very disappointed that I couldn't attend the first series of tea parties in Houston (and across the nation). The next date for tea parties is April 15th. I wanted to share these videos from Houston. I WILL be at the next one. My favorite radio talk show host, Claver T. Kamau-Imani from "The Truth in Black and Right" radio every morning on KCHNradio.com, is in both videos above speaking the truth of what this really is we are experiencing with the pork fests and bailouts in Congress.....soft tyranny.
There were tea parties across the nation put together in less than a week. Here is the D.C. one.
Keep checking for details of the tea party in your city on April 15th!
h/t Lorie
Obama's support for the culture of death
I don't think anyone in recent history has been more of an advocate for abortion than Pres. Obama.
Let's review.
In his 2nd day in office he allowed taxpayer money to be used to fund abortion overseas by overturning the Mexico City policy.
Pres. Obama has now begun the process of repealing the regulations that enforce pre-existing federal law that protects healthcare workers' right to conscientiously refuse implementation of or involvement in abortions, including dispensation of the abortifacient morning-after pill.
In other words, you can't say, as a healthcare worker, that you refuse to participate in an abortion.
He has appointed as Health and Human Services Secretary Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the most pro-abortion Governor in the country. She has never met a pro-abortion legislation she didn't like, and who has dined, as Governor, with the infamous abortionist, George Tiller, who has performed late term abortions for years.
He promised Planned Parenthood that he would sign FOCA as a top priority, which would wipe out all restrictions on abortion including parental notification of a minor having an abortion, a 24 hour waiting period, and informed consent.
My God, and he has only been President for little over a month.
I may start referring to him as the President of abortion.
The Silver Lining of the Controversy of Rush and Steele
We all know that Rahm Emanuel and the rest of his buddies are repeating the talking point of "Rush wants Obama to fail" and "Rush is the leader of the Republican party" so that Republicans can be painted with the same false brush of "hate speech" and such that the msm likes to unfairly accuse Rush of. Rahm wants those 8-20% in the middle that actually and unfortunately decide elections to get that impression.
But it occurred to me today that this may backfire on them. I was thinking that if I was one of those in the "mushy middle" hearing all this about Rush, that I would want to see what this was all about and actually tune into Rush and actually listen.
How many hundreds of times over the years have you heard someone call into Rush and tell him how they used to be a liberal, but he opened their eyes? How they now understood what this country was founded upon; liberty, freedom, self responsibility, and limited government. How they understood how destructive liberalism has been to the family and to the country.
More people tuning into Rush will open more eyes and more minds and that is only good for us.
I want to add one more thing about Rush. Over at my Houston Chron blog I have dozens of liberal commenters who take great glee in Rush's addiction to prescription meds. These people of the "party of tolerance" love to bash the fallen, don't they?
Millions and millions of Americans struggle with addiction every day, but these people on the left have no "compassion" for them. They ridicule Rush every chance they get. It doesn't matter to them that Rush didn't use meds to get high. He became addicted after back surgery. But no matter, He is a "drug addict" to them. Rush's message has always been to overcome the obstacles in your life and succeed. Having a family member who struggles with addiction I know how difficult and really amazing it is that Rush overcame his addiction.
That kind of will should be applauded, not ridiculed. But that is what liberals do.
Let's just trust them
From NRO:
Obama has allegedly offered to skuttle the European missile shield in exchange for "help" with Iran:
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama suggested to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that the United States would back off plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe in exchange for help stopping Iran from developing long-range weapons, The New York Times reported Tuesday.Obama made the proposal in a secret letter that was hand-delivered to Medvedev three weeks ago, the Times reported, citing anonymous U.S. sources.Russia has vigorously opposed the missile shield, which would include sites in the Czech Republic and Poland, since it was proposed by the Bush administration. The stated aim of the shield is to deter Iran from launching nuclear-tipped missiles at U.S. allies in Europe.According to the Times, Obama's letter said the U.S. would not need to build the missile defense system if Iran's efforts to build a nuclear weapon were halted.
Let me get this straight. We are going to trust Russia to make sure that they trust Iran not to build a nuclear weapon.
God help us all.
I've been worrying if my children will be able to pay off this huge debt that Obama is giving them, now I'm worried if they will be here at all to pay for anything.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Your kids aren't good enough for Obama's children's school
From The Liberty Papers:
"The Washington Post takes the Democrats to task for playing political games with the District of Columbia’s school voucher program:
REP. DAVID R. Obey (Wis.) and other congressional Democrats should spare us their phony concern about the children participating in the District’s school voucher program. If they cared for the future of these students, they wouldn’t be so quick as to try to kill the program that affords low-income, minority children a chance at a better education. Their refusal to even give the program a fair hearing makes it critical that D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) seek help from voucher supporters in the Senate and, if need be, President Obama.
Last week, the Democrat-controlled House passed a spending bill that spells the end, after the 2009-10 school year, of the federally funded program that enables poor students to attend private schools with scholarships of up to $7,500. A statement signed by Mr. Obey as Appropriations Committee chairman that accompanied the $410 billion spending package directs D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee to “promptly take steps to minimize potential disruption and ensure smooth transition” for students forced back into the public schools.
We would like Mr. Obey and his colleagues to talk about possible “disruption” with Deborah Parker, mother of two children who attend Sidwell Friends School because of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. “The mere thought of returning to public school frightens me,” Ms. Parker told us as she related the opportunities — such as a trip to China for her son — made possible by the program. Tell her, as critics claim, that vouchers don’t work, and she’ll list her children’s improved test scores, feeling of safety and improved motivation.
Sidwell Friends, of course, is the school that President Obama’s daughters Sasha and Malia attend. It’s also the school that Chelsea Clinton attended while her father was President.
Apparently, it’s good enough for the children of Presidents, but too good for the children of inner-city Washington, D.C."
A Taste of My Interview With Sen. John Cornyn
Ok, here is just a bit of my interview. Now remember, this is an interview for a written piece for Texas Magazine. I have my recorder on. This video was filmed by my daughter just for me to use. In other words, I don't want you thinking this was suppose to be a professional videotaped interview. The sound is terrible because we are in the cloak room off the floor, with people coming in and out and all kinds of noise. Enjoy the first part where I am describing where I am and Sen. Cornyn comes up and surprises me.
In case you can't hear at all, the first question was about up and coming Republican candidates for 2010. He names a few and where our expectations are. The second question was about running Republicans against Specter, Snowe, and Collins because of the anger out here from Republicans. The answer simply is we can't afford to lose Senate seats at this point. Maybe that is not what many of us want to hear, but there is truth there. If a liberal Democrat wins their seat then we get 0% voting with us.
I'll say this about my impression of Sen. Cornyn. Anderson Cooper has nothing on Cornyn's blue eyes. Very intense. Very focused. He believes in conservatism and will fight for it, but he won't fight Republicans. His experience of being a judge and an attorney general comes through. He is thoughtful and pragmatic. Remember, this is a guy who put McCain in his place when McCain was running for President.
Big Bad John indeed.
Keep your eyes on this guy. Five years in the Senate and he is head of the NRSC. Bigger things are yet to come.
Update: This bit of news might change things for Sen. Specter in Penn. Pat Toomey says running against Specter is "back on the table."
The Kiss of the Culture of Death
The most pro-abortion President selects the most pro abortion governor as Health Secretary. This administration just keeps getting worse.
Update: And....it gets unbelievably worse.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Final thoughts on CPAC
I will try and get some of my interview with Cornyn uploaded tonight. But you will get my full interview in a Texas Magazine edition coming out soon.
I know that Rush has taken over all the coverage on CPAC. Rham Emanual has seen to that. And that's too bad.
Look, Rush is an entertainer. He is the first to admit that. He is also highly intelligent. He speaks the truth, even if it's hard to hear. The rhetoric that he speaks hate couldn't be farther from the truth, and anyone who really listens to him knows that. On a personal level, he is far from perfect and he would also be the first to tell you that. Rush's gift is being able to put in simple terms how destructive liberalism is and how powerful and empowering conservatism is. That's the bottom line.
But it's too bad that the media focuses on the entertainer (Ann Coulter is an entertainer as well, highly intelligent also), because the REAL leaders of our party did speak at CPAC and had incredible things to say. When I get back from Church I will link the texts of John Cornyn, John Boehner, Michael Pence, and Jim DeMint. They are the ones who really inspired me. They are not entertainers my friends, they are LEADERS. Everyone should listen to what they have to say. Impressive doesn't even begin to describe it.
I know that Newt Gingrich is brilliant with brilliant ideas, but to be honest with you, I cannot get over the fact that he cheated on his wife at the same time Clinton was cheating on Hillary. Hypocrite is too mild of a word. I can't get past it. So I didn't even try to see him speak while there.
Bottom line. Let the media go on and on over Rush. We have little control over the media. But here in the new media, we do have control and we should use to advance the conservative agenda that was laid out by our leaders that spoke at CPAC.
There was a lot of excitement and energy at CPAC. We need to use it for our good and the good of this nation and not let the msm confuse and define it on their terms. Here, it's on our terms. Let's use it wisely.
Ok, here is Cornyn's speech (text). John Boehner speech (youtube). Forgot to add Mitt Romney's speech as well here(text). Mike Pence's speech here (text) Ace has the Pence video here. Jim DeMint's speech is here (text), but you have to scroll through John Cornyn's to get to it. It's worth a scroll, I promise you.
I think I'll add some of my favorite highlights.
From Cornyn's speech:
So the message to the voters seems pretty clear to me. The American people will support us if we stick to our principles and they will abandon us if we don’t.
Now to reclaim our party’s identity, we must demonstrate our principles in respectful opposition. Principle opposition means supporting the idea of the stimulus bill, if it’s timely targeted and temporary, and opposing when it’s not.
Principle opposition means supporting the administration, when it calls for greater transparency and accountability in government, and exposing their hypocrisy when their rhetoric doesn’t match reality.
And principle opposition means reading the fine print on what the Democrats are actually doing and explaining the American people what they’re trying to get away with.
From DeMint's speech:
When we stand together for Americans to make their own choices about where their children go to school and their way to choose their own doctors and to own a health plan, a health plan that they can afford and keep from job to job; when we fight for them to have a choice to own their own social security account and to keep a larger share of what they earn in their paychecks; when American see us fighting, not just talking, but fighting for their rights and freedom, then we will earn their trust and their votes.
Most Americans don’t expect the government to give them the American dream. But they do expect their elected officials to make sure that they have the opportunity to work for it and to earn it. That dream begins with individuals, not the government.
John Boehner: (The last part is just over the top terrific)
But that’s freedom that we enjoyed, economic freedom is really under assault today. And I think the stimulus was the opening of salvo. It was supposed to be focused on jobs, jobs, jobs and it turned into nothing more than spending, spending, and more spending.
But when you put this in the hands of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed, it obviously became a gravy train for leftwing pork, and I knew something was wrong when I read the first version of the bill, and it had the word contraceptives in it, $230 million.
And I brought up to everyone’s attention and guess what they have finally decided to take it out, but...
Sitting in my desk right when this outline came out before -- long before they have resolved the bill, and I was looking at this outline eating my lunch, getting ready up to the press gallery and talk a little bit about it, and all I could think of was, “oh my god.”
When you look at all of the spending that was in there, for every leftwing idea there whatever it was, you began to realize that we were on the wrong path.
............................
All this is being done though on the backs of our kids and our grand kids, and all of these bills seek to replace our economic freedom of what their wins and mandates of politicians and bureaucrats.
Listen, I took to meet from liberals for my speech on the House floor opposing the stimulus.
They didn’t like it when I pointed out, but no member of the Congress had read the nearly 11,000 -- 1,100 pages in this bill.
And they didn’t really didn’t like it when I toss this bill on the floor of the House. They called it disrespectable.
Well, I tell you it was disrespectable, it’s taken a trillion dollars from our kids and grandkids and giving it out to people like A. Corman (ph) and other liberal groups at America.
Disrespectful is spending a trillion dollars of money that our kinds and grandkids going to have to pay for in the dark of night behind closed doors without even giving the Americans more -- less than a day to actually read the bill. Don’t talk to me about disrespectful.
Rush
I didn't get to see Rush and I wouldn't have even if I had stayed. The line to get into see him at CPAC started 4 hours before he was to speak. I can think of no person on earth I would stand in line for four hours for. I almost didn't get to see Mitt Romney for the same reason, but we managed to get in. Transcript of Romney's speech here (video link in the comments)
Hot Air has compiled video of Rush's entire speech on their website, and the full transcript can be read here.