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!