What's Your Tribe?

David French in National Review has a very interesting article about whether the post-Christian America that we are seeing is what secularists had hoped for and answers with a resounding "No!"  He opens with this:

"If I had to pick one of the most under-appreciated and under-reported stories of 2017, it would be that a post-Christian America is a more vicious America, and that the triumph of secularists is rendering America more polarized, not less."

Amen. We are becoming a land of tribes. He goes on to question if this country can survive if its very fabric continues to be sundered and he is not optimistic. French gives the "why."

"American Christian culture is being replaced by a separate, feel-good faith called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism — a vague belief that while God exists, he’s not particularly involved in human affairs and mainly wants people to be nice and happy. It’s a common moral code that applies to the conduct of one’s personal affairs; it is utterly inadequate, however, when it comes to addressing real human conflict and substantial cultural clashes. It provides no systematic moral worldview, and it ultimately leaves judgment of right and wrong to the individual conscience."

It has always been up to the individual to decide between right and wrong but what is "right" was an objective standard, divinely and eternally set, with which the individual was challenged to align. If right is merely what I subjectively say it is, then there can be little doubt where the vast majority of people will land since they themselves are the ultimate good and being happy is paramount. Duty, honor, country - I don't think so. And without those, a nation has already crumbled inside and is waiting for the next strong wind to finish the job. Hotel Rwanda may be in our future as we see which tribe will "win." 

www.nationalreview.com/article/454971/post-christian-america-polarized-america?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Monday%20through%20Friday%202017-12-27&utm_term=NR5PM%20Actives

Merry Christmas

Congress Sends a Christmas Present

Tax reform passed, let the celebrations begin! Wait - Democrats are saying bah-humbug. Are they being the Grinch?  Let's check for any results thus far. 

Let's see - AT&T is giving each and every one of its employees a minimum $1,000 Christmas bonus and announced plans for $1B in capital spending. Boeing is giving $300M to employees and to charity. Delta and Southwest have announced that they are looking at large new airplane orders. Nope, definitely no stimulative effect so far. 

A Christmas Story

She stood in line quietly crying, holding onto a metal sign to steady herself.

I’d just arrived at the airport gate, ready to catch my flight back to Billings. As I waited for my zone to be called, I noticed her wiping the tears from her cheeks.

She was a complete stranger, so I hesitated to approach her. Looking around, I hoped to spot a traveling companion, someone who was already returning to comfort her.

That’s when I noticed that many other people were watching her as well. Although she was not crying loudly, her soft sniffling and flowing tears caught the attention of anyone who glanced in her direction.

I waited a few moments more, hoping that one of the women sitting within a few feet of her would come to her aid. But no one moved. They were all paralyzed by the same hesitancy that was holding me back.

“I don’t even know her.” “What will I say?” “Will she be offended by my intruding?”

I finally overcame my doubts and took a step toward her, but I was too late. Another man who had noticed her grief approached her first. I thank God I was close enough to hear parts of their conversation.

“Are you OK?”

A quick glance to catch his eyes, to read his heart. “No, I just found out my mother died. I was on my way to see her, but now I’m too late. I wanted so much to tell her once more how much I love her.”

He had the courage to touch a stranger; to place a gentle hand on her arm, to show, not just say, “I care. I’m sorry.”

“When did you last talk with her?”

“Yesterday.”

“Did you tell her that you loved her?”

“Yes, of course, but I wanted to do it in person, one more time.”

“If you told her yesterday, then your words were still echoing in her heart. Mothers always hold such words tightly. They are more precious than diamonds.”

The woman’s face brightened. Hope came into her eyes. “Thank you, thank you so very much.”

As the ticket agent called the next zone, the two of them moved toward the gate, still talking.

I regretted that I had hesitated too long to comfort her, but I was glad that God had made another man so other-aware and other-engaging that he would step forward with just the right words. Words that perfectly illustrated an age-old saying,

 “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.”

This timeless insight is especially true at Christmas, when people long to be close to family and friends and feel the pain of loneliness and broken relationships more keenly than ever.

You can do something about this.

Open your eyes and your ears to the people around you, and ask God to give you a heightened sensitivity to people who are struggling with some kind of battle, whether relationally, financially or with their health or job.

It could be spouse or a child, a parent or sister, a familiar clerk in the store or bank, or a complete stranger. If God has put that person in front of you, it’s probably because he wants you to be a channel of his grace.

So boldly ask him for the same kindness, courage and simple words that enabled the man in the airport to approach a stranger who was hurting.

Remember this: just as the pain of loneliness and loss is magnified at this time of year, so is the comfort of a few kind words, which God can use not only to console others but also to draw them to the source of all comfort, the Lord Jesus Christ.

– Ken Sande

Christmas Kindness

A man was standing at a Chick-fil-A in Kentucky in shoes held together by duct tape and falling apart. In walks a stranger and without further ado takes off his good pair of boots and hands them to the man and walks off to order his food. Nice. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. 

www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2017/12/14/chick-fil-hero-gives-needy-man-shoes-off-his-own-feet.html

Let's Pay More!

Oregon ranks #4 in the U.S. in per capita state spending. What an honor! And we keep hearing that Oregon doesn't tax us enough. Right. And of course we get what we pay for. Right. Secretary of State Richardson said that the state threw away almost $100M it can't account for. Sounds to me like the state has plenty of money. 

Consider also that Oregon has consistently ranked in the bottom 5 states for high school graduation rates. And our roads are in great shape. Right. The traffic app Waze just released the worst states to drive in and Portland led our state as the 5th worst in the entire United States. 

Oregon is still growing - #11 in the country - for now. One wonders, though, how much longer that will continue as the bloom continues to leach off the rose. 

www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/per-capita-state-spending/?activeTab=map&currentTimeframe=0&selectedDistributions=per-capita-state-spending&selectedRows=%7B%22states%22:%7B%22all%22:%7B%7D%7D,%22wrapups%22:%7B%22united-states%22:%7B%7D%7D%7D&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Per%20Capita%20State%20Spending%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D

www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2017/01/oregons_graduation_rate_among.html
www.oregonlive.com/trending/2017/12/portland_is_the_5th_worst_plac.html

It's Time to Worry

When the Rand Corporation says it's time to worry about our military's ability, it's time to worry. The folks at Rand have always been number crunchers and not particularly conservative, but a new report released by them says this:

" ... assessments in this report will show that U.S. forces could, under plausible assumptions, lose the next war they are called upon to fight, despite the United States outspending China on military forces by a ratio of 2.7 to 1 and Russia by 6 to 1,” the report said. “The nation needs to do better than this.” (Emphasis added)

The report continued:

" ... the Defense Department’s current approach to force planning has “placed too little emphasis on modernizing the capabilities, posture, and operating concepts of U.S. forces for power projection.”

“The result — a force that is insufficiently robust to face the challenges posed by the most capable adversaries — poses growing risks to the viability of the United States’ most-important security relationships,” 

Part of this is the Pentagon buying gold-plated weapon systems that are so expensive only a nominal number can be bought or, worse yet, they simply don't work, so the program is canceled. But there is also the fact that politicians have rested on the laurels of the military as it was in the 1990s but allowed those forces to substantially degrade for political reasons (Democrats) and budgetary reasons (Republican deficit-hawks), and degrade they have. 

For example, in 1991 the Air Force had 110 fighter squadrons compared to 55 now. Furthermore, for the most part they are still flying the same type of fighters they had in the 1990s while Russia and China have been rapidly rolling out newer models in quantity, especially the Chinese.The Army during this time dropped from 780,000 active duty troops to 476,000. The Navy went from 529 ships in 1991 to 275 in 2016, the lowest since WW I. That's right "One."The fact that we have been constantly fighting somewhere in the world since 2003 also means that much of this hardware is old and tired and needs replacement badly. 

Then there is the loss of experienced personnel. Obama purged the high level officer ranks of many of the warriors to pursue social experiments with the military. The Air Force is short several thousand pilots and the Navy has lost a boatload of senior Chiefs and other NCOs who really make things run. 

Bottom line - Rand is right and we are in trouble. While this country is entranced with all kinds of sideshows of little or no consequence when it comes to our survival, the ability to protect ourselves in what is becoming a very tough neighborhood is rapidly disappearing. We may wake up some morning and find that our way of life is all gone. 

www.wnd.com/2017/12/u-s-military-at-risk-of-losing-next-war/?cat_orig=world

Karma

On September 28 I posted on how Boeing was overreaching asking the U.S. to impose tariffs on the Bombardier C-100 jetliner of which Delta had just ordered 100. Boeing didn't have a plane in that size or even on the drawing board, nevertheless the Feds granted its request, making the plane uneconomic. Point/Counterpoint: Delta just ordered 100 Airbus A-321s at a cool $12.7B and took an option for 100 more, rather than the competing Boeing 737 Max. What goes around comes around. Remember that next time, Boeing. 

No Dumping Allowed

Talk about getting caught with your pants down ! A man in Northern New Jersey was sitting on a railroad bridge casually taking a dump when - you guessed it - a train showed up. Blowing its horn and braking furiously the train slid toward this unfortunate but was unsuccessful in stopping in time. The man decided that a dip in the frigid Passaic River was preferable to becoming road kill, so over the side he went. Firemen fished him out, embarassed and wet but otherwise unharmed. A new meaning to, "Keep your shirt - or pants in this case - on!" At least on railroad bridges. 

trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/12/14-defecating-man-falls-off-bridge-as-train-approaches

You're Outta Here!

Well if that don't beat all - a Bangladeshi "chain" immigrant attempting an ISIS-inspired suicide attack on New Yorkers at the morning rush hour because the U.S. is "bombing his country." We're bombing Bangladesh? A country of mostly mud flats that floods every year and displaces millions? Don't think so. But little details like this rarely bother these guys. Then there's his family, which is why this idiot got into the U.S. in the first place. 

The Dailywire reports that:

"In a statement provided via Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-New York, Ullah's family said they were "outraged by the behavior of law enforcement officials during this investigation."

Outraged by law enforcement officials? Amazing. Your idiot son tries (and thankfully fails) to blow himself up and take lots of Americans with him for a non-existent bombing of "his" country and it's law enforcement's fault? Tell you what - it's time to go back to "your" country, you're outta here. Who is letting these people in and what do they possibly have to offer the U.S. that is positive?

www.dailywire.com/news/24575/migrant-family-nyc-terror-suspect-trash-police-amanda-prestigiacomo

It's a Miracle!

It's the Christmas Season and I'm sitting here with waves of thankfulness washing over me as I read the Statesman-Journal front page headline, "Medical Pot Loses Its Foothold to Recreational." How wonderful that so many have been healed of their infirmities and no longer need medical pot!

Glass House Redux

On October 27 I posted a piece about moral preening, specifically as regards President Trump. Apparently karma is now on the turbo setting as the sexual hi-jinks accusations  have now moved beyond Hollywood to DC, where Democratic pols seem to be getting skewered with considerable frequency. Can you hear me now, Al Franken? 

Never Forget!

Happy Thanksgiving

UFO Oregon Style

Cue the weird music because on October 25 during daylight hours a UFO cruised northbound up the west spine of the Cascades over Oregon at commercial airliner flight levels and speeds with no transponder to show Air Traffic Control (ATC) its speed, direction and altitude and with only intermittent and broken primary radar coverage. The object was tracked by several commercial flights who had "eyes on" so Seattle ATC Center, which handles flights en route in the Pacific NW, had a general idea of where it was and the direction and speed. Center warned several commercial flights to keep a lookout giving reported positions. I listened to the 40 minute ATC Seattle Center audio tape and there was definitely something out there. Eventually two F-15s were scrambled from PDX to intercept but they never connected. So what was this UFO?

My best guess is that the military was having guidance problems with one of its drones (current or X-series) used on intercontinental missions. There are several bases in the California desert and Nevada (Edwards, Nellis, Area 51, China Lake) that routinely send these out on missions around the world. On a trans-Pacific routing they fly across Oregon on a Great Circle route to Asia. I saw what I believe was an inbound drone heading to one of the above bases on a crossing course high over an inbound trans-Pacific airliner for San Francisco. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that although NORAD (responsible for defending North America) confirmed the incident initially, later the commander of the PDX fighter base called the FAA's Seattle Center and dropped the cone of silence on the whole affair. The Air Force would certainly be more than a little red-faced to admit that one of its drones was "lost" and plowing through  commercial airliner flight space. 

Perhaps there is more to the story that will still come out. It is troubling that the F-15s could not lock up this target since both Russia and China now have similar drones. It looks like we will still have to wait, though, for a close encounter of the third kind. 

www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/16079/airliners-and-f-15s-involved-in-bizzare-encounter-with-mystery-aircraft-over-oregon

(Tip o' the hat to Jenny Samples)

Whatcha Doin?

Amazing! Pope Francis just issued a statement urging Catholic faithful - even bishops and priests - to put away their darned cell phones during Mass. Talk about an addiction - these things are worse than opioids. His Eminence commented:

“At a certain point in the Mass the priest says, ‘Lift up your hearts,’ He does not say, ‘Lift up your cell phones to take some pictures.’ No, that’s terrible!”

Amen and amen.
www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/11/09/pope-francis-tells-priests-bishops-to-put-away-cell-phones-during-mass/

London More Dangerous Than NYC?

Apparently. In raw numbers, rapes are up +22%, knife attacks +26% and gun crime +27%. Comparing the numbers to New York, which has a roughly equivalent sized police force, there are 3 times more rapes reported in London, you are 6 times more likely to be burglarized, and 1.5 times more likely to be robbed in London, the former bastion of civility. Singapore anyone?

www.breitbart.com/london/2017/10/21/london-falling-uk-capital-now-dangerous-nyc-rape-robbery-violence/

Congress to Oversee All Traffic Lights

Well, not really, but Walter Williams makes an excellent point when he analogizes Congress doing this and the ensuing problems to the infinitely more complex task of it trying to manage all U.S. healthcare. Dr. Williams lays out the scenario:

According to some estimates, there are roughly 100 million traffic signals in the U.S. How many of us would like the U.S. Congress, in the name of public health and safety, to be in charge of their actual operation? Congress or a committee it authorizes would determine the length of time traffic lights stay red, yellow and green and what hours of the day and at what intersections lights flash red or yellow. One can only imagine the mess Congress would create in the 40,000 cities, towns and other incorporated places in the U.S. But managing traffic lights and getting good results is a far less complex task than managing the nation's health care system and getting good results, which Congress tries to do.

Quoting fellow economist the late Nobel laureate Friedrich August von Hayek, Williams makes his central point, "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design."  Precisely. We don't yet know what we don't know and what you don't know can kill you. A little more humility and caution in public policy would be a good thing. 

townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2017/11/08/ignorance-versus-stupidity-n2405433

California Pegs Out My Meter

California has just asked for $7.4B in Federal aid to rebuild from the disastrous fires in Northern California. This follows a February requests for the Feds to send dollars for the Oroville Dam near-disaster. I am glad to give it to them but, under the heading of "Cake and Eat it Too", I have to say that all the continuing talk about California seceding from the Union and going it alone, blah, blah, blah is wearisome, especially in light of these requests. Get it together CA!

www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/article182559211.html

Bopping the Gopher

Trump's time of testing may well be nigh. Yemen's Houthi rebels just shot a short-range ballistic missile (like the infamous Scud of Desert Storm notoriety) at Saudi Arabia's international airport. The Saudis shot it down with an American Patriot missile system. They have also bought the newer U.S. THAAD anti-missile system, though it has not yet been delivered. 

We can reasonably assume that these ragtag rebels do not possess the native know-how or facilities to build ballistic missiles. Accordingly, they had to come from their Iranian patrons who have supplied them with pretty much everything else. A definite upping of the ante but potentially connected to events in Korea.

The Norks have been quietly working with the Iranians to develop long range ballistic missiles as well as nuclear warheads. We have seen the missiles and there is now informed speculation that the North Koreans may have even developed a hydrogen bomb. President Trump is presumably aware of this and has much better information than the rest of us and has been making some fairly aggressive gestures toward the Norks. Look for the Iranians to try to distract the U.S. by heating things up in the Middle East and away from the Korean penninsula - sort of a "bop the gopher" strategy but with deadly stakes. We will see if the President and his team can guess accurately where this nasty "gopher" will pop up next. Whacking these guys hard but behind the scenes would be instructive to all sides.

www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/11/04/saudi-arabia-intercepts-missile-targeting-main-airport/

Glass Houses, Stones, etc.

Harvey and the boys seem to have been having quite a time in Hollywood. Too bad it was doing things that no woman should ever have to put up with. And it certainly didn't stop them from moral preening vis a' vis Trump and pretty much any and all conservatives. Those who live in glass houses ... Jerks. 

Making Sense of Las Vegas

I watched the heart-breaking aftermath of the tragedy in Las Vegas as the families of the dead and wounded cried bitter tears while asking "Why?" Andrew Klavan has written a reflective column on this and he makes several insightful points that are worth pondering. 

Klavan correctly identifies what happened as evil, pure and unadulterated. It is something that "... each of us is in a constant daily battle against a dark and insinuating force of wickedness that is not only above us but all around us and within us as well." And that day it destroyed a large number of lives, not just the ones who died.

He then turns to the political reactions which took the predictable lines of gun control/no gun control and first says regarding categorizing oponents as evil:

"I hate when people use the word evil when discussing normal American politics. I never used it to describe Barack Obama, whose policies I detested. I won't use it to describe Donald Trump, whose behavior I sometimes deplore. Misused to describe flawed but striving men like these, the word evil is merely a means of demonizing those you disagree with, of shutting down civil debate. It frees you from the responsibility of democratic discourse."
"Understood rightly though, the concept of evil should increase our compassion even for our opponents. It allows us to understand that they are in the same struggle we're in, prone to the same failures, subject to the same defeats. Deep down, our political opponents are painfully aware of the fragility of their own decency, terrified that others will see the blackness of their hearts, and constantly signaling their virtue as a way to mitigate their own self-disgust and fear. Just like you. Just like me."

He then quotes Mollie Hemingway on Fox News with a correct analysis of the political responses of the Left and Right when she said:

"We're pretending we're having a debate about gun control but we're really having a debate about the nature of evil and whether a big enough government can contain it."

There is no government big enough to contain evil - just restrain it as much as reasonably possible. 
And where does that leave us as individuals? The antidote for evil is the individual responses of people in Las Vegas, and in Boston during the bombing there, and in New York on 9/11 when men and women looked evil in the face and ran toward danger, not away. He lists a few of the heroes in Las Vegas:

"My novelist heart was touched to hear that one of the great heroes of the Las Vegas massacre was a man named Jonathan Smith. I mean, really. John Smith — the ultimate everyman moniker — I wouldn't have dared to make that up. The 30-year-old copy machine repairman is said to have helped thirty people escape the kill zone before taking a bullet in the neck — and then another hero, an off-duty cop named Tom McGrath, saved him."

In so doing:

" ... we see the only real response to darkness humans have ever had: individual courage, sacrifice and nobility. In fact, individuals win victories against evil every day — when they tell the hard truth rather than the easy lie or speak words of kindness when they'd rather lash out. And in those moments when evil rises rampant, their victories sometimes become spectacular as they rush into the teeth of death to help both strangers and friends."

Agreed. There is no greater love (John 15:13) and in the end, the very end, such love by the One who is good will finally banish evil and He will not forget those who lived out His message when it counted. 

pjmedia.com/andrewklavan/2017/10/08/american-heroes-universal-evil/

They're Here to Help Us - Part V

Today's Statesman Journal had a front page article that the Oregon prison population should go down by 11% because of new discretionary sentencing guidelines directed primarily at property and drug offenders. That's a nice way to say burglars, thieves, meth heads, etc. and it's deja vu.

Perhaps a little more discretion is warranted but give an inch and they will take a mile. The last time it was finally the voters who put an end to the monkey business by requiring mandatory sentences for a host of crimes. Not surprisingly, crime went down. Now the politicians again want more money to buy votes and are taking it from prisons but they are cloaking it under the "compassionate" mantle of "treatment and transitional care." Does anyone remember "community mental health" and how well that worked? The state threw all but the most dangerous mentally ill out on the street and let them fend for themselves. Compassionate indeed. Bull.

And the rest of us? Let's see - the Great Karnak has looked into his crystal ball and sees property crime rates going up about 11% in the next couple of years. It's probably a good time to buy a home security system.

It's Not That Bad

You will no doubt be interested to learn that California has pased a new law going into effect on January 1 that drops intentionally infecting someone with HIV from a felony to a misdemeanor. This includes not only sex partners but donating blood. 

The Breitbart article reports that the ACLU co-sponsored the new measure describing it as “modernizing” California HIV laws while praising Governor Jerry Brown for reforming “outdated laws that unfairly criminalized and stigmatized people living with HIV.”
Lovely. Coming soon to a blue state near you?

www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/10/09/intentionally-infecting-others-with-hiv-no-longer-a-felony-in-california/

Righteous War?

Nope. UK Prime Minister Teresa May has threatened a trade war over a punitive tariff requested by Boeing against a plane produced in Northern Ireland by Bombardier. Boeing accused Bombardier of "dumping" by accepting state support for its C-series jetliners. Boeing doth protesteth too loudly.

The C-series is a 100-passenger aircraft and this is a market in which Boeing has no models and furthermore has no plans to produce any. In fact, the last time it manufactured an aircraft of this size was 2006. The real gripe: it lost a Delta order for the bigger 737 when Delta instead went with 75 of the C-series. United also reversed a 737 order and may order the C-series as well. Not if Boeing can help it. 

And "state support?" Seriously? Who foots the bill via monstrous defense contracts for the R&D on new aviation materials and applications that are then used in the civilian sector? And for years the U.S. Export-Import Bank guaranteed loans for jets - Boeing jets. Surely that could not be U.S. taxpayers! 

There are certainly cases of trade dumping that occur and the U.S. has to respond with a more muscular trade policy including tariffs, but this is not one of them. Make nice, Mr. President and acknowledge the Right Honorable Lady from Britain has a point. Let's help make Brexit work. 

www.ft.com/content/bfdb3f24-a379-11e7-9e4f-7f5e6a7c98a2?mhq5j=e7

It's Time

Tom Brady and his wife, Gisele Bundchen, are apparently not of the same mind when it comes to him continuing in the NFL. He thinks he's got more tread left on the tires. After last year, I think he's probably right. He is certainly one of the best, if not the best, quarterback who has ever played the game. But with all the information coming out about brain injuries to NFL players, and he's had several concussions in his career, maybe it's time to go out on top and enjoy life in good health. 

Amazing Stories!

A Mexican "coyote" who smuggles illegals into the U.S. said that where new, secure border walls have been built it has made his job job infinitely - wait for it - harder. Well golly - who knew! Behind all the posturing on building a wall is the fact that the Dems want new voters to put them in power and establishment Republicans, on behalf of their patrons (Big Business), want a continuing flow of cheap labor. Neither of these are good for the average American. Build the wall. We can talk later about how to deal fairly with those already here. 

www.dailywire.com/news/21413/shocker-mexican-smugglers-admit-border-walls-work-ryan-saavedra

How's the War on Drugs Going?

"Federal authorities seized enough lethal doses of fentanyl to kill 32 million Americans during a single sting operation in New York City last month."

BTW, New York only has a population of 8.5M. The Mexican cartels can only exist when there is such massive demand and there is a massive demand because of a cancer in the soul of this country. 

www.wnd.com/2017/09/feds-seize-enough-fentanyl-to-kill-32-million-people/?cat_orig=us

Pay Day!

Did you ever play the game Pay Day as a kid? Well apparently President Obama did because he's knocking down BIG pay days speaking to Wall Street firms and their clients at $400,000 or so a pop. Not bad for a community organizer who has always just had the People's interest at heart. 

www.washingtonexaminer.com/obama-hits-pay-dirt-with-paid-speeches-to-wall-street/article/2634735

In Christ There is No East or West

Nabeel Qureshi is probably a name that you haven't heard but you should. Qureshi, author of the book Looking for Allah; Finding Jesus, just died at 34 from cancer after having a more impactful life than many of us who live twice as long. 

Born a Muslim, his father was an officer in the U.S. Navy. As he got older, Nabeel began to recognize a growing dissonance between the public face of Islam and its historical and present practices. He began to sincerely look for Allah to deepen his faith but, as the title of his book says, found Jesus instead. The book is excellent and details his journey. 

Qureshi got his undergraduate degree from Biola University and Master's degrees from Duke and Oxford. He was working on his doctorate at Oxford at the time of his death. Nabeel became part of the Ravi Zacharias ministry and quickly became known as a brilliant preacher, which is noteworthy because his mentor, Ravi Zacharias, is perhaps the finest Christian apologist in the world today. In his commencement address to Biola graduates he left them this final charge:

"... I charge you as if you were my son or my daughter to not live this life thinking that you are just a person. You are an adopted heir. A son of God, a daughter of God … sent to combat for the kingdom in this world of darkness."

Amen. You fought the good fight and conquered in Christ. You sought and you found and now you know His peace. God does not forget His own. 

www.wnd.com/2017/09/ex-muslim-author-evangelist-nabeel-qureshi-dead-at-34/

Back to the Future

They're back! Hybrid dirigible/blimps are coming soon from Lockheed Martin to haul heavy cargo and passengers to and from roadless places at 70 mph. A 1/3 scale test model is already flying and the first 300 foot production model will be delivered in 2020. The company anticipates a 1000 foot version in the future. It will be interesting if we begin to see these behemoths crossing our skies in the next few years. Be sure to look at the video to see what that might look like. 

www.circa.com/story/2017/09/18/science/lockheed-martins-hybrid-airship-is-taking-off-next-year-we-got-a-sneak-peak

News You Can Use

The Aspen Police Department has helpfully issued this public service announcement - Don't take selfies with bears. Frankly, anyone who would do that deserves to be eaten. And don't forget to enter them in the Darwin Awards. 

www.wnd.com/2017/09/police-warn-dont-take-selfies-with-bears/?cat_orig=us

Never Forget!

Let Them Eat Column Inches

The Venezuelan government spent $200K with the New York Times to run a full-page ad denouncing President Trump supposedly fabricating a crisis in that country. It's pretty clear that the U.S. has bigger things on its plate at the moment. It's immoral that the Venezuelan government is spending this money on a phony attempt to divert attention from its ineptitude instead of feeding its own people. Mauduro, El Jefe', doesn't look like he's missed too many meals. It's immoral for the Times to take the money knowing the dire situation in Venezuela. And it's a perfect illustration of the morality of the Left. 

www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2017/09/07/new-york-times-runs-200k-ad-from-venezuelan-dictatorship-torturing-its-own-people/

Dispatches from a Socialist Paradise

Reports coming out of Venezuela now indicate that food stocks are so scarce that people are killing and eating dogs and zoo animals. There is a video in the article if you care to watch it. I had no stomach for it, no pun intended. Just another day in Paradise!

www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/09/05/venezuelans-eating-dogs-zoo-animals/

Process is Important

We are not (yet anyway) governed by a king, which is why I very much support what President Trump has done with the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. It is critical to first understand that DACA was enacted by an executive order and not a statute passed by Congress. In fact, what Obama did was decide that he wasn't going to enforce immigration law that had been passed by Congress and just allow 800,000 children of illegals to stay in this country. We are a government of laws and not kingly decrees but when you are by decree affecting the lives of 800,000 people and who knows how many U.S. citizens through welfare benefits paid, etc. it clearly falls into the category of kingly decree that flouts the law. 

President Trump's strategy is brilliant. Few Americans are of a mind to throw these kids out of this country when they have been here their whole lives through no choice of their own, so the President said he will wait for 6 months for Congress to pass a law - a real statute - that sets out the terms and conditions under which they can stay. All the moaning and wailing about President Trump being "heartless" and "evil" is nonsense. It's just political posturing. Republicans are spineless and want to duck the issue and Democrats want a monarchy of the elite and don't want to be bound by the Constitution. Let Congress instead do what it is Constitutionally supposed to do and pass a law for everyone to follow. Or not. Process is important - ours is a government of laws, not men. 

Imagine That!

H-2B visas let "guest" workers (e.g. - low paid) into the U.S. In some industries like agriculture it makes sense because fruit and vegetables must be picked at their peak. In a lot of other industries, however, they don't make any sense. 

Politico reports that President Trump cracking down on the number of visas issued has resulted in - sharp intake of breath - hiring Americans! Oh my! A seaside Maine beach resort  in Maine wanted 8 H-2Bers for the summer but got none. Instead it cut-and-pasted with existing staff, hired American students and foreign students here on cultural exchange visas and did fine. The inn did report its wages were up 10% but realize that's going to people who for the most part live in that community while the guests who are footing the bill come from Boston, New York, DC and other tony places and are well able to afford it. Think of it as an intra-country money transfer as opposed to remittances that flow out of this country to guest workers' countries of origin. All in all, a sound econimic strategy. 

www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/05/politico-donald-trumps-hire-american-policies-helped-americans-get-jobs/

Another Quiet American Hero

Here's another faith-restoring story of Houston volunteers making a huge difference. Willie Rios is a farmer in South Houston. When water began creeping into areas around his property where he had never seen it before, he grabbed his brother-in-law, cranked up his John Deere tractor, and began pulling people to safety. By the time they were done, and long after he had quit counting, over 200 men, women and children had literally ridden out of the storm on Willie's tractor. The video in the article is worth watching as Willie sits astride his trusty green John Deere. The tractor's transmission has become stuck apparently due to all the water. If I were John Deere I know what I would fix for free and use in my next ad campaign - "Nothing runs like a Deere!"

www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/09/03/watch-texas-farmer-rescues-200-harvey-floods/

Who's the Nazi Here?

Fascism: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

The Left labels anybody or anything that it doesn't like as "fascist" but it really is a self-diagnosis. Since this term is getting tossed around with reckless abandon, let's try a little intellectual discipline for a change and break down and apply the elements of the definition to current political alignments. 

First, regarding "nation," Center/Right Americans do tend to think that this country is exceptional. Infallible? No - one need only consider slavery, the internment of Japanese citizens in WWII, etc. as evidence. But comparatively speaking, yes. More people are fleeing their homelands than at any time in human history and a great many of them want to come here. That speaks volumes.

Ah, the "race" card is next. This is a favorite of the Left and it has devolved to ABW - Anything But White. One of the key differences between Center/Right and the Left is that the former agree with Martin Luther King that people should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. Not so the Left: white people are devils, much like the Jews were to Hitler and woe be to you if you are a Jew because in the Leftist world you are twice guilty for being white and oppressing the innocent Palestinian victims. 

Then there is centralized autocratic government. Such a government is anathema to the Center/Right. Folks to the right of center just want to get government off their backs. And the Left? There is never enough. Under President Obama, government couldn't grow fast enough. In one fell swoop 18% of the total economy was made subject to government whim with healthcare, yet any on the Left faulted Obama for his timidity. 

Severe economic and social regimentation. Healthcare was already mentioned above. As a historical reminder, Krups, Siemens, BMW, etc. did very well in Nazi Germany. It was a very cozy system where everyone scratched each other's backs and it's happening here too. Think crony capitalism - Goldman Sachs, GE, Boeing, Lockheed. Monopolies and near-monopolies are growing without much more than a ritual throat clearing from government. Look too at the "freedom" of thought on university campuses. You are free to have any opinion as long as it's theirs. Coming soon to your town!

Finally, forcible suppression of opposition. One word: Antifa. It isn't the Center/Right that is sending black-dressed thugs to Democratic meetings and shutting them down, but any significant meeting of the Center/Right that dares diverge from the Party Line gets a visit from the Antifa mob. Welcome to the new Brown Shirts! Their tactics are eerily similar to their predecessors in Germany and they intend to "possess the streets" which was the primary task of their German brethren. 

So who are the real Nazis of today? The Left need only look in the mirror. 

Credit Where Credit is Due 2

Since I gave Nancy Pelosi credit the other day I thought I would try it again with a shout out to the many celebrities, sports stars, Houston pro teams and millions of Americans who are giving generously to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Sandra Bullock, Kevin Hart, Tyler Perry and yes, Miley Cyrus come to mind but there many others. Thank you all for your generosity!

The Republican Party

The DHS and FBI issued a joint intelligence assessment in 2016 under President Obama that Anitfa's so-called "political" activities were formally categorized as "domestic terrorist violence." Why is it so hard for politicians, especially Republicans, to say what is obvious? These guys are thugs and nihilists and don't care who they hurt. It's like the hooligans at British soccer matches who riot in drunken brawls after games declaring that they are a politcal movement. Puh-lease. To our Republican leaders - lead, follow, or get out of the way!

www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/01/report-fbi-labeled-antifa-domestic-terrorism-way-ryan-rubio-romney-declared-no-sides/

WAT??!!

The political equivalent of the sun rising in the west has happened - Nancy Pelosi has denounced the so-called antifa as thugs:

“The violent actions of people calling themselves antifa in Berkeley this weekend deserve unequivocal condemnation, and the perpetrators should be arrested and prosecuted.”
Mercy me! I never thought I would see the day I agreed with Nancy Pelosi, but credit is due where credit is due. And now for the comments from top Republican leaders:

www.wnd.com/2017/08/nancy-pelosi-denounces-leftist-antifa-calls-for-prosecution/

This is the Stuff We're Made Of

Salena Zito has a reminder in Townhall today of the sorts of people this country is really made of. It's not the zombie thugs dressed in black attacking and destroying at political rallies or the KKK morons, but the Texan who shows up in Houston and when asked by reporters what he's doing while unloading his boat simply says, "I am going to try to save some lives." It's the SWAT team guy carrying a mom and her child through the flood waters. Or the guy from New Orleans who said, "I will never forget how Houston opened its arms and welcomed my entire New Orleans. Stand by to return the love." This people aren't waiting for government direction or a government program to get started - they're just doing what has to be done to save fellow Americans. That's the stuff we're made of. 

townhall.com/columnists/salenazito/2017/08/29/we-are-our-better-angels-n2374285

President Chaos and the Keystone Kongress

I like Andrew Klavan - a lot. He is a writer and critic of books and movies, he is an astute and funny political observer, and despite all of this, he became a Christian as an adult, which for a Jewish guy is not an everyday occurrence. The title pf this piece is his but it accurately describes my feelings about the goat rodeo in D.C. Some excerpts from his article (please read) which is hilarious and spot on:

Wow, is this the most entertaining administration ever, or what? I mean, too bad about the republic and all, but at least there's never a dull moment!

What a week! After a health care bill nearly dies due to Capital malfeasance and White House neglect, Donald Trump finally discovers his inner president and bully pulpits the Keystone Kongress back to work. A (let's face it) dying Senator John McCain — a man who seems to love the image of himself on a white horse more than he likes actually winning stuff — gets on his white horse and rides to rescue the vote, then votes the wrong way because something something something.

Trump, meanwhile, after demonstrating that he actually does have the skilz to do his job, stops doing his job and surrenders to his gigantic inner demon. Rushing into the White House phone booth to turn into his alter ego, Max Chaos, he proceeds to humiliate one of his best appointments and staunchest allies, Jeff Sessions, then quickly turns to wrong-footing the Pentagon with some surprise tweets about guy soldiers who want to be girl soldiers. 

You know what's the funniest thing about all this? The funniest thing is that it's still better than having the Democrats in power! Like, a lot better. We now know the Obama administration was spying on just about everybody. The Hillary gang seem to have been the ones really colluding with Putin. The Senate minority leader has given up on capitalism. And the former head of the DNC has been doing God-knows-what with a Pakistani IT guy who just got arrested trying to blow the country!

So while the stupid party is reaching Ultimate Stupid, the evil party has been pushing the needle toward Satanic.

So why am I laughing? I'm laughing because, while no one knows the future, my genuine belief is that we'll be okay. Our institutions are strong. Our people are great. The Obama Trauma will pass. The Trump Reaction will end. Time and the usual crises of life will bring us back to ourselves in a new consensus.

Meanwhile, I root for Trump and the GOP to do whatever good they can. Please God they can do a whole helluva lot better than they did this sad and hilarious week.

Well said and Amen! This current chapter is not a lot of fun to live through and it's easy to become pessimistic but live through it we will. 

pjmedia.com/andrewklavan/2017/07/28/president-chaos-and-the-keystone-kongress/