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Written by Michael Faiella
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Tuesday, 19 August 2008 10:41 |
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Tyranny (again) stymied in California (for the moment)
Homeschooling is once again legal in California. The Court of Appeal has reversed its earlier decision and decided that California parents do after all have the right to teach their own children.
Lots of California politicians are probably breathing a sigh of relief. Some of them may even remember an episode in 1994 when another California politician stepped right into a homeschool hornets’ nest that sent the entire United States Congress scurrying for cover.
At that time Congressman George Miller introduced an amendment to a huge federal education bill. The amendment would have required “each local educational agency within the State to certify that each full time teacher in schools under the jurisdiction of the agency is certified to teach in the subject area to which he or she is assigned.” In other words, it would seem to have required that every parent who homeschooled a child or who taught in a private school be state certified in every subject taught. That is to say, homeschooling would be illegal everywhere in the U.S.
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Written by David Shephard
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Saturday, 16 August 2008 09:46 |
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Memo to Conservatives: Wasting 3 hours a day is a terrible thing.
Earlier this month Rush Limbaugh celebrated his 20th Anniversary on the air. The conservative radio host started his show in 1988 and in just a few years he became the dominate voice on AM. Many rightfully credit him with saving AM radio. His success launched the careers of many conservative imitators, including Sean "Three hours a day" Hannity. Today there are literally dozens and dozens of conservative radio hosts across the nation thanks to Limbaugh. As Limbaugh would say, imitation is the highest form of flattery.
We conservatives thought that talk radio could be the vehicle that would enable us to get our message out and combat the lies being told everyday by the mainstream liberal media. Indeed, we like to think that conservative talk radio has changed the American political landscape.
Limbaugh sycophants cite the 1994 elections where Republicans took control of Congress as proof that talk radio has an influence. The ‘94 elections were indeed a victory for the GOP, but was it a victory for conservatism?
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Written by Jordan
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Friday, 15 August 2008 12:47 |
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The Real 'Two Americas'
John Edwards, the now-disgraced former candidate for president, frequently spoke of “Two Americas” in his campaign for the White House. The first America, he claimed, is a wealthy and prosperous place, populated by upper-class, white suburbanites who have access to healthcare and a good education. The second America contains the masses of poor, disenfranchised individuals who are getting a raw deal. The point, of course, was that John Edwards was a man of the people, and if elected, everyone would become a part of the prosperous America.
John Edwards was right. There really are two Americas. But the divide is not between rich and poor, red state and blue state, or black and white. The divide is between those who are above the law, and those who are trampled by that same law.
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Written by Stephen Palmer
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Tuesday, 12 August 2008 12:54 |
Don't Be a Sell-Out
The term and concept of "sell-out" has been on my mind lately.
My definition of a sell-out is "one who forfeits, disregards, corrupts, or otherwise marginalizes their freedom, principles, talents, heritage, self-respect, relationships, and or virtue in the short-sighted pursuit of anything less, including money, power, fame, pleasure, and/or security."
The Bible provides a more succinct definition in the metaphor to "sell one's birthright for a mess of pottage."
Of course, it's easy to sit back in the position of stone-thrower and identify the low-hanging sell-out fruit in America -- raunchy entertainment, Hollywood/Las Vegas glitz, glib politicians, the Enrons of business, etc.
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Written by Tom Lizardo
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Saturday, 09 August 2008 14:13 |
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A Brief History of the Religious Right (Part I)
As somebody who worked for Pat Robertson’s Presidential bid in 1988 and supported Ron Paul’s candidacy after the Republican primary process that year, I’d like to share my observations regarding the lessons of the Robertson campaign and the current status of the Religious Right, as well as how these lessons might best be applied by the contemporary freedom movement.
Growing up in the 1970’s and 80’s, my observation of the Religious Right was that it made a good ally for those of us committed to limited government, as its members shared many of our instincts regarding government. First, it was concerned with globalism and internationalist/interventionist foreign policies. Conservative Christians were often steeped in a tradition that led them to believe world government was antithetical to biblical beliefs. Whether they saw internationalism as a precursor to the anti-Christ, or merely as a form of government that challenged the sovereignty of the Lord, they were committed to the notion that international organizations should be limited and, where possible, disbanded.
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Written by Brad Porter
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Friday, 08 August 2008 10:52 |
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The Pernicious Creep Of Perfidy: The Case of the Columbian Rescue
In case you weren’t aware, a few weeks ago Columbia staged a daring rescue of three American hostages and some native oppositional figures who were being held by the narco-terrorist organization FARC. If you haven’t read about it, the story of the rescue is a wild ride, full of daring, intrigue, and clever subterfuge. Essentially, Columbian agents who had infiltrated the organization organized a visit by a humanitarian organization---the FARC were led to believe it was the Red cross---and aided the FARC in transporting the hostages to said visit. When the FARC thugs got on the faux-Red-Cross helicopter, it was in fact manned by Columbian agents who threw off their disguises, arrested the FARC thugs, and whisked the hostages to safety. (It is worth noting that those three American hostages had been held for five years---the longest held American captives (that we know about) in the world, but the story of contracted American counter-narcotic workers operating in Latin America under the thin rubric of the War on Drugs is one for another day). In any event, the world applauded the success of the Columbian subterfuge, the hostages hit Larry King, and everyone rejoiced, myself included.
But, in the glory of getting the hostages back, one thing that had honestly not occurred to me at the time:
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Written by Ray Stone
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Thursday, 07 August 2008 14:35 |
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Death of Bling and the Rise of Personal Responsibility
Somewhere in America, a father is telling his son that he cannot purchase another pair of $110 sneakers like last time, he must make do with a $50 pair. Somewhere in the country, a young woman is discarding her dream of Prada bag ownership and buying an environmentally friendly cotton purse. She tells herself it's better to go green, anyway.
No one wanted it to happen like this. No one wanted citizens across the United States to be forced to spend the balance of their paycheck--the balance that was previously discretionary income--on the basics of food, shelter, interest payments, everyday necessities, and rising gasoline and heating and cooling prices.
What does this do for bling? The concept of outflashing your neighbor, unlimited consumerism, materialism, debt, keeping up with (actually trying to surpass) the Jones'?
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Written by Stephen Palmer
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Friday, 25 July 2008 23:00 |
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The Real Source of America's Woes (And Solutions)
As America speeds toward the proverbial cliff of imminent destruction, everyone is looking for someone to blame. But who is to blame for our travails? The true answer, found below, may surprise you and is too difficult for most Americans to accept. Yet until we do, our national train will continue hurtling down the same ruinous track. Our national debt is unfathomably burdensome; our tax system is becoming increasingly onerous; inflation -- the hidden tax-- is more threatening than ever; the recent lending market collapse is a deadly symptom of a poisonous currency system; our media is saturated with filth, violence, and lobotomy-inducing entertainment; our foreign policy has turned what used to be a "city on a hill" into a hypocritical bully with a gun; and since the 1973 Roe v. Wade court decision over fifty million children have been aborted in America. So who is to blame? |
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