Islamo-Fashionism

So, this is what the supporters of the so-called "war on terror" have been reduced to. I think some people really need to get a worthwhile hobby.

Build a House, Butcher a Child

Truly a match made in hell:

The nation's largest Christian ministry dedicated to housing the poor has drawn criticism from pro-life groups recently over its joint partnership with the nation's largest provider of surgical abortions.

In an agreement with Planned Parenthood, Habitat for Humanity is allowing the group to bypass zoning regulations in Sarasota, Fla., that restrict the opening of abortion facilities "without the presence of a multifamily liner building."

According to a statement released earlier this month by the Sarasota City Commission, Habitat for Humanity will reportedly facilitate the opening of Planned Parenthood in the area through a $10 real estate purchase from the group.

"We are excited to have Habitat be a part of the Planned Parenthood team," a Planned Parenthood representative reportedly said after the agreement.

What's the deal, Jimmy?

A Glimpse of Things to Come

If you want a glimpse of what health care will be like if we continue on our current path, look no further than Canada:

Mark Degasperis was furious his mother spent five days on a stretcher at Toronto Western Hospital waiting for a room with 25 patients ahead of her -- until the Toronto Sun made a call and she was suddenly moved to a room yesterday.

"They were giving us the same old song and dance why she was in the emergency department with only a sheet draped around her. I couldn't even call her because she didn't have a phone," Degasperis of Georgetown said.

Heather Degasperis, 60, has a dangerous bacterial condition and was sent by her doctor to Toronto Western because it has the experts for her condition.

"She is not well and wasn't able to sleep and she wasn't getting any better. She needed peace and quiet to sleep.

"This is a terrible environment. I suggested taking her to another hospital, but we were told there are long waits across the region and the doctors we need are here. So there was nothing we could do," Degasperis said yesterday.

Clinton, Obama, and McCain offer no hope of improvement. The best health care advice anyone can give you is to stay healthy and pray you never need a doctor.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

If you haven't already done so, check out Michael S. Rozeff's essay entitled "On Dissolving the United States of America." It cuts through all the tired, stale political rhetoric and gets right down to the essential discussion we should be having right now as a nation of states:

If those individuals who favor retaining the national government think that it is such a good idea, then let them debate it. Let them show why the Union should be our form of government. Let them show how wonderful the Union has been for us. Let them go toe-to-toe with those of us who think the opposite. Of course, they do not want to debate this matter at such a basic level. To concede that the Union could even have serious and uncorrectable flaws would be to yield too much ground. It would grant the possibility that the Union is a detriment to the American people. Merely entertaining this possibility in public might make too many people stop and think. It might make them question the existing system, and such doubts might threaten the power, wealth, privilege, and position of those who benefit from the Union.

Rather than debate Union, the supporters of the national government have a better strategy. It goes way beyond stonewalling, which is not even on the horizon. It is to build support for the Union incessantly, to hammer the need for more and more laws passed within the Union's ambit, and to pass these laws by constantly appealing to the fears of Americans. Rocking the boat, even if that boat is sinking, even if we are all swallowing sea water, is damned as a course that we all must avoid as a risk to our very lives and well-being. Almost any action of government, however ridiculous, stupid, or counter-productive, is painted as enhancing our security, even when it is obvious that the opposite is the case. The security theme is implicit in the notion of unity. We are always asked to obey the laws, pull together after votes are taken, end our dissent, be as one, and be as one nation. We are always asked to accept the laws, for fear that if we do not, we will be attacked, or not have medical care, or not have gasoline, or not have income in our old age. Unity and security are objectives interlarded with the element of fear. Even in the Federalist papers, written in support of the national Union, the appeals for unity were frequently based on heightening fears of European countries attacking the defenseless states and of states fighting with one another.

Let the discussion commence among the various states. As Rozeff concludes, "Dissolving the U.S.A. is becoming more and more an urgent and visible matter. Let us do a favor for ourselves and for our children and grandchildren. Let us place dissolving the U.S.A. at the top of our political agenda."

Borg Obama

Barack Obama still wants to control your life. This time, he's beginning to lay out his plan to get you working for the government:

Filling in for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and tying himself to the family's legacy, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama urged college graduates Sunday to "make us believe again" by dedicating themselves to public service.

"We may disagree as Americans on certain issues and positions, but I believe we can be unified in service to a greater good. I intend to make it a cause of my presidency, and I believe with all my heart that this generation is ready and eager and up to the challenge," Obama told Wesleyan University's Class of 2008.

Translation: "You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

Actually, now that I think about it, Obama does have ties to the Borg.

Meet John McCain's Spiritual Guide

Even if John McCain didn't make a mockery of the Constitution and virtually every other principle of liberty upon which this nation was founded, the fact that he has cozied up to this state-worshiping, warmongering pastor would be enough to convince me not to vote for the guy:

Rod Parsley's state-based theology is every bit as dangerous as Jeremiah Wright's race-based theology.

We're Looking for a Few Good Moles

In preparation for the 2008 GOP convention in St. Paul, the FBI is trying to get people with a certain look and social network to infiltrate local protest groups as paid informants for the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. Well, what else did you expect in a post-9/11 police state?

This kind of thing has happened before. In fact, these moles have even been known to encourage violence on the part of protesters so that police actually have people to arrest.

But that seems too complicated, doesn't it? Why not just use a simple show of force like the Chinese did at Tiananmen Square?

Thanks, but no tanks. We Americans like to quell political dissent with good, old fashioned subterfuge. Besides, we really don't need any more bad press these days.

The Conspiracy Against Ron Paul

Writes Doug Wead:

So, if the Ron Paul Movement has struck a chord, then why did he not do better in the race for the GOP nomination?

1.) Well, because it is a movement that has just started and it takes some a little bit longer to catch on than others.

2.) Because some already had a favorite going into the debates and were not listening to any of the others anyway.

3.) Because most didn't watch the debates at all.

4.) And finally, ah hem, because there is an establishment conspiracy to keep Ron Paul's campaign from embarrassing the Republican Party.

Oh yeah, I know, conspiracy theories are not allowed and conspiracies do not actually exist. Although, if that were true the word itself would not exist and you would not know what I am talking about. In fact we all conspire and have conspired since the first grade and some of the conspiracies become known, like the tobacco industry fudging its figures on cancer or the recent expose of the KGB planting false scientific information in the west about a so called "nuclear winter."

No, I am not suggesting that a bunch of 80 year old Knights of Malta met at a secret location in Manhattan and voted to bring down Ron Paul to fulfill some 1500 year old promise to a French King. Or even that the Masons did it. Or even that the GOP drafted a secret memo. What I am saying is that he has been the subject of numerous meetings of GOP establishment figures and they have exchanged ideas and techniques for keeping him and his minions at bay. I know because I was accidentally and spontaneously in the middle of just such a conversation.

Read his full post here.

Three Peas in a Pod

Chuck Baldwin on the three presidential front runners:

Can conservatives, Christians, and constitutionalists really go to the polls this November and vote for someone such as John McCain? Do they really not see what John McCain would do to this country? Do they really believe that Clinton or Obama would be any worse? If they do, they are living in a fantasy world.

McCain, Clinton, and Obama. Perhaps a more accurate description would be "three nuts in a shell." Or "three jesters in a court." Or "three tools in a shed." You get the idea.

Global Warming: No Consensus? No Kidding

As governments continue to cave to the regressive, socialist, tyrannical agenda of environmentalists, Lawrence Solomon, in a column for the Financial Post, wonders if 32,000 dissenting scientists is enough to convince people that there is hardly a consensus on the science surrounding global warming.

Oh, So THAT'S What He Means by "Change"

Barack Obama wants to control your life:

Pitching his message to Oregon's environmentally-conscious voters, Obama called on the United States to "lead by example" on global warming, and develop new technologies at home which could be exported to developing countries.

"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said.

"That's not leadership. That's not going to happen," he added.

Just another snippet from Obama's playbook...

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When a Candidate Has No Core Principles...

...even he has no idea what he believes.

Courage Under Fire

This is the story of a soldier by the name of Matthis Chiroux:

"I was from a poor, white family from the south, and I did badly in school," the now 24-year-old told AFP.

"I was 'filet mignon' for recruiters. They started phoning me when I was in 10th grade," or around 16 years old, he added.

Chiroux joined the US army straight out of high school nearly six years ago, and worked his way up from private to sergeant.

He served in Afghanistan, Germany, Japan, and the Philippines and was due to be deployed next month in Iraq.

On Thursday, he refused to go, saying he considers Iraq an illegal war.

"I stand before you today with the strength and clarity and resolve to declare to the military, my government and the world that this soldier will not be deploying to Iraq," Chiroux said in the sun-filled rotunda of a congressional building in Washington.

"My decision is based on my desire to no longer continue violating my core values to support an illegal and unconstitutional occupation. ... I refuse to participate in the Iraq occupation," he said, as a dozen veterans of the five-year-old Iraq war looked on.

Despite his pledge to remain in the country and face "whatever charges the army levels at me," Chiroux has been branded a coward by the usual suspects. They know that if more and more soldiers decide to honor their oath to "defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" and "bear true faith and allegiance to the same," the fewer there will be to ship off to kill and die in illegal wars.

But what's most noteworthy about Chiroux is his view of a soldier's personal responsibility in the matter: "I cannot deploy to Iraq, carry a weapon and not be part of the problem." Now, I realize that there are soldiers in Iraq who honestly believe they are fighting for their country and keeping their loved ones safe at home. Others may disagree with the war, but take the "I'm only doing my job" position to justify their participation. My hope is that more members of the military will decide that their first allegiance as soldiers is to the Constitution, not the whim of a warmongering commander in chief, and make the decision not to participate.

Still, Americans have this romantic image of fighting men (and now women) in uniform. Those who take up arms for the government are viewed as courageous, and those who lose their lives in the process are memorialized for making the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. Courage, however, is defined not by killing and dying, but by doing what's right regardless of the consequences.

Gun Rights vs. Property Rights

The National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), is praising the enactment of Georgia House Bill 89. Governor Sonny Perdue (R) signed the bill into law yesterday.

Among its provisions is one that allows "concealed carry permit holders to carry in restaurants." That should make constitutionalists like me happy, right? Wrong.

Now, if I were a restaurant owner, I would have absolutely no problem welcoming customers who happened to be carrying a weapon. In fact, I would feel much safer. The chances of me being robbed would drop dramatically.

But not everyone feels the way I do about a well-armed citizenry. Some people feel squeamish about guns and just don't want them around. Why shouldn't they have the right to ban them from their own property?

Sure, this law will have all the gun advocates cheering, but it is at the expense of property ownership. The irony is that the right to keep and bear arms used to be thought of as necessary for the protection of private property rights. Go figure.

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later...or Not at All

Early Sunday morning, police in Inglewood, California, gunned down two unarmed men, killing one and wounding the other in the leg. According to reports, two officers heard gunshots while on patrol and responded. They saw a man run from the scene, get into a car, and drive toward them. They claim to have heard more shots and felt something hit their patrol car. That's when they fired on the approaching vehicle.

During the subsequent press conference, Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks mustered up as much compassion as anyone could expect from an agent of the state: "I am very sorry. My condolences go out to the family. ... If it turns out that the Inglewood Police Department could do something better, you can rest assured we would." A little late for that, isn't it?

The officers, of course, escaped without injury. That's understandable, since the patrol car in which they were riding showed no signs of being struck by gunfire.

The incident is far from being resolved. Call me cynical, but I'm waiting for the official report to claim that the officers opened fire because they believed the "suspects" were trying to run them down.

Mother's Day Insult

Oh, the irony.

If I Were in Charge...

"The piecemeal engineer will, accordingly, adopt the method of searching for, and fighting against, the greatest and most urgent evils of society, rather than searching for, and fighting for, its greatest ultimate good. This difference is far from being merely verbal. In fact, it is most important. It is the difference between a reasonable method of improving the lot of man, and a method which, if really tried, may easily lead to an intolerable increase in human suffering."

-Karl Popper

Life isn't easy. Let's face it. We are either too busy or too lazy to think for ourselves. That's why we have politicians. It's much more convenient to let someone else -- preferably someone who thinks they are smarter than we are -- do our thinking for us. And it seems to work because we keep electing these people to office.

But what motivates these self-appointed saviors of humanity? I think most politicians get their start because they are easily irritated. They see something they don't like and decide to change it. What better way to shape the world into what you want than to rise to a position of power that allows you to force your desires on everyone else? Such is the nature of "social engineering."

We see this kind of thing all the time. For example, someone who was late for work one morning after getting stuck behind a driver who couldn't maintain the speed limit because he was talking to his buddy on his cell phone decides enough is enough. Between putting on her makeup in the rearview mirror and scanning the songs on her iPod, all while steering with one knee and balancing a large coffee on the other, she has an epiphany: Why not make the roads safer by outlawing the use of cell phones in cars? Upon getting elected to the city council, she proceeds to do just that.

An ex-smoker who is struggling with tremendous guilt over the knowledge that he may have killed upwards of 250,000 people over the years with his secondhand smoke decides to turn over a new leaf. He runs a strong campaign and gets elected to the state legislature. Recalling how difficult it was for him to quit smoking for the umpteenth time, he decides to give others a helping hand by pushing for a law that bans smoking in restaurants and bars. He reasons that non-smokers should never be put in the uncomfortable position of having to decide where to eat or drink based on the smoking habits of others, property rights and freedom of association be damned.

And so it goes. People who are unhappy with their own lives go into politics in an effort to make everyone else as miserable as they are.

Then I started thinking: What if I were in charge? What pet peeves do I have that I would like to see outlawed so that my life could be made just a little more tolerable?

For starters, I would pass a law requiring people to wash their hands after using the bathroom. Short of that, I would at least require automatic bathroom doors to be installed in all businesses and public buildings so that the rest of us don't have to touch the same handles used by the unwashed masses. I would also see to it that anyone failing to wash who then proceeds to shake someone else's hand can be charged with second-degree assault.

I would devote all education funding to making sure people learned how to pronounce words correctly. There is no excuse for saying "reeluhtor" instead of "realtor" or "supposably" instead of "supposedly." And don't even get me started on the use of non-existent words like "irregardless." If you're gonna talk, then I'm gonna learn you to talk good.

Under my control, it would be illegal for restaurants to automatically include a gratuity when serving groups of eight or more. I tip what I want, when I want. Period. If you want an extra seven percent, you'll have to earn it.

Let's see. What else?

Coffee shops will only be allowed to sell coffee. None of this decaf soy latte nonsense.

Cable companies could only provide me with the channels I like. I don't want to pay for what I don't watch. While we're on the subject, I would ban all "reality" TV shows.

Pepsi products? Gone. Under my regime, Coke would be the official soft drink. But only regular Coke. No diet sodas allowed. They're just so...stupid.

I like things as simple as possible. Until someone starts minting a nine-tenths-of-a-cent coin, gasoline will be priced like everything else.

It would be against the law for restaurant supply trucks to block the drive-thru lane when unloading -- especially when I'm hungry and in a hurry. And if I discover after driving away that I was given fewer than two napkins and four packets of ketchup, someone is going to face a hefty fine.

I could go on, but I thought I would share just some of the things I would do if I were in charge. So, if you know what's good for you, don't ever vote for me.

On the other hand, if you don't know what's good for you, I'd be more than happy to tell you. Based on your choice of politicians up to this point, I assume you like being told what to do.

Republicans Are As Bad for the Economy As Democrats

Is there even a single person left in this country who hasn't seen through the conservative facade of the Republican Party? The GOP is devoted to growing government and stifling the economy every bit as much as the Democrats.

The latest example comes from none other than the presumed Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, who was busy over Mother's Day weekend campaigning against global warming. His non-free market solution to this mythical threat includes implementing a cap-and-trade program on carbon-fuel emissions and forcing businesses to adhere to strict emission limits. In other words, more government control over the nation's economy.

OK, show of hands. Who is surprised by this?

Chuck Baldwin in a Nutshell

Get to know a little more about the Constitution Party's 2008 presidential candidate.

Another Drug War Casualty

A vague, no-knock warrant served by soldier-wannabe cops who break down the door of a house, shoot and severely injure the resident, arrest him on bogus charges, and then try to cover up their mistake. Radley Balko reports on one of the latest tragedies in the so-called "war" on drugs.

The State of Pennsylvania Will Not Be Mocked

Mark Nolt was finally apprehended by state troopers in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, on April 25, 2008. The arrest ended a nearly 20-month-long crime spree.

Was he wanted for rape? Child abuse? Murder? No. Mr. Nolt, a Mennonite dairy farmer, was guilty of something much more heinous: selling raw milk without a permit.

Nolt's permit expired in August of 2006, but that didn't stop this maniac from trying to kill off the population of Pennsylvania with creamy, organic, wholesome goodness. Fortunately, he was found guilty yesterday on four counts and fined $1,000 for each violation.

Almost as impressive as the arrest and conviction of a dangerous fugitive and the confiscation of $20-25,000 worth of equipment and contraband was the show of force at the trial, where a half-dozen state troopers were in attendance along with agents from the FDA. There was even an arrest. One man who showed up to protest on Nolt's behalf was taken into custody for standing too close to the road that runs in front of the courthouse. Yes, it's always encouraging to see justice prevail.

The lesson to be learned here is that it just doesn't pay to mock the State. Consider the big dairy producers. They continue to enjoy government protection because they play by the rules. Like the rest of us, they long for the day when every American can enjoy a glass of low-quality milk from growth hormone-enhanced, genetically modified corn-fed cows in comfort and safety, free from the fear of predatory bio-terrorists like Mark Nolt.

The "C" Word

You know, it's getting harder and harder not to be a conspiracy theorist in this country. Consider the case of the D.C. Madame, Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Here we had a woman running an escort service for D.C.'s elite and it was only when she decided to get out of the business that the government went after her. She threatened to name names and, lo and behold, she "commits suicide." And guess what? Not one mainstream media outlet has questioned the official report. No, that's the stuff of Internet conspiracy sites.

So, when you read stories like the one on PrisonPlanet.com, or listen to Palfrey say in an interview last July that she would not kill herself, that she was planning to fight the government in open court, it won't get noticed because the source of those reports is a site run by a well-known "conspiracy nut." Sure, Alex Jones sounds paranoid, but does that mean everything he says is bunk?

As another blogger noted, the feds find conspiracies all the time. They level conspiracy charges against mobsters and anti-abortion activists. (Does RICO ring a bell?) They accuse big corporations of conspiring to hide the dangers of smoking. (Do you recall all those tobacco lawsuits?) They even use conspiracies as justification for war. (Remember the supposed Iraq-al Qaeda link?)

Ah, but those were real conspiracies. If, however, you dare to suggest that there might be a conspiracy or cover-up in the death of a woman who had the potential to destroy the careers and reputations of high-level members of the most powerful government in the world...well, you're just a kook.

Christian Statism: Killing for the Gospel?

(This was originally posted at The Contemporary Calvinist.)

"The War Prayer" is a short story that was written during the aftermath of the Philippine-American War by Mark Twain and published after his death. In 2007, Markos Kounalakis, the president of The Washington Monthly, adapted the text for this animated short film.

This could easily have been written in response to the current "war on terror." We really haven't changed all that much.

Consider how many churches display the American flag prominently in their pulpits. Is it any wonder why we seem to have such a hard time drawing a distinction between loyalty to Christ and loyalty to country?

A couple of months ago, I heard a comment that saddened me deeply. In the context of discussing how the brutality of bin Laden and other Muslim thugs may be turning people away from Islam, someone mentioned that it's good for Christianity to have the U.S. military involved in the Middle East, and that having Christian GIs in Iraq will help spread the gospel.

Oh. Is that why we invaded Iraq and killed hundreds of thousands of people? It was all part of furthering God's kingdom?

What we did was commit a naked act of aggression against a sovereign nation that neither attacked nor threatened us. Our "liberation" of Iraq has since given rise to terrorist groups that weren't there before and has resulted in a great amount of bloodshed. It has also displaced thousands of Christians who now face violent persecution from militant Muslims. Do American Christians now feel we must justify the actions of our government on the basis that it will help spread the gospel?

My friend Dave Black asks, "How is that we have allowed the Christian Right to be defined by delusional idealism and religious zeal? How is it that American evangelicals not only approved but actually glamorized the war as a form of Christian 'mission'?"

As a Christian and a Calvinist, I understand that God controls all things and does ordain evil for good (Genesis 50:20). But we as Christians should never equate the spreading of the gospel with the use of military force. We are fighting a spiritual war (Ephesians 6:12-13) and our weapon of choice is the "sword of the spirit" (Ephesians 6:17). We should be prepared to give our own lives for the sake of the gospel (Matthew 16:25, John 12:24-25), not to take the lives of others.

No, Seriously, This Isn't Cuba

You can imagine the shock Cuban immigrant Noel Llorente received when police and federal agents in Opa-Locka, Florida, kicked in the door of his home, threw him to the ground, and slapped on the handcuffs -- all because someone phoned in an anonymous tip that there was a hydroponics lab inside. There wasn't.

But the Llorente house was just one small mistake in a series of otherwise flawless raids. Dubbed "Operation D-Day" (yeah, I know, really original), the jack-booted thugs nabbed $7 million worth of marijuana plants. Surely that's worth damaging the property and reputation of one law-abiding immigrant.

This is the Land of the Free, after all. The Home of the Brave. The United Freakin' States of America. This is a safe haven for all those trying to get away from the kind of police state tactics that go on in Third World dictatorships (or Opa-Locka, Florida). Mr. Llorente must be the exception that proves the rule.

Dave Barry Explains the Tax Rebate

The latest essay from Gary North:

While I do my best to make economics clear, I am no match for America's most beloved retired humorist, Dave Barry. Breaking his book royalty-based silence, he has offered a stunningly brilliant insight into the likely economic effects of the 2008 tax rebate, which is called an Economic Stimulus Payment. I can do no better than to quote him verbatim.


Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.
Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.
Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. Only a smidgen.
Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.
Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China?
A. Shut up.


In presenting this analysis, he offered neither a graph nor an equation. He will therefore not receive the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economic Science and the $1.6 million economic stimulus payment it brings. But his analysis, I predict, will turn out to be far more relevant and unquestionably more coherent than any analysis ever offered by next year's prize winner.

If Chuck Baldwin Were President...

The pastor, columnist, talk show host, and now Constitution Party presidential candidate tells us what he would do as the nation's chief executive officer.

List of Ron Paul Candidates

There aren't as many as there should be, but here is a list of Ron Paul candidates seeking office this year.