01.30.08
Posted in Today at 2:16 pm by artistry
Monday – 6:00 PM – it’s raining?!
Monday – Midnight – it’s 36°F – feels like a heat wave 
Tuesday – 8:00 AM- it’s cold, temperature is dropping rapidly
Tuesday – 6:00 PM – it’s -16° F and winds are blowing at about 35 MPH (wind chills are -54°F)
That’s right … a 50° swing in 24 hours. It’s still really cold today. Looking at it positively, after where we were last night almost anything would be an improvement. Feels like the arctic circle … heh, Minnesota in January. I should be glad I am not in northern MN … They were 20° colder than us.
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01.26.08
Posted in Politics, Today at 11:54 am by artistry
I should have known it was too good to be true. After being able to watch the political see-saw from a distance, suddenly political ads are popping up on local television and radio. 
The only good news is that it will all go away on February 5th. I can *perhaps* tolerate it that long. And can anyone tell me why most of the candidates think they have to shout when they give a speech?
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Posted in Today at 11:46 am by artistry
- I would like to be warm.
- I would like to be wearing only one layer.
- I would like to not feel a cold zone near the outside walls of my house.
- I would like it if the windows did not radiate the cold.
- I would like a southerly wind.
- I would like it to be August.
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01.20.08
Posted in Technobabel, Today at 7:22 pm by artistry
I’m trying to decide which one would be the most useful. I think it would have to do with the ability to control spam. Maybe I would like the ability to fry the spammers system? Or maybe I would like to visit on the spammer all the effects of the evil in their emails?
Does the Golden Rule apply to spammers?
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01.14.08
Posted in Faith, Politics, Today, Worldview at 8:34 am by artistry
The latest to weigh in (albeit unknowingly) is no less that Dr. Andreas Kostenberger: Jesus and Politics: An Election Primer.
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01.13.08
Posted in Today, Worldview at 4:17 pm by artistry
I was reading in the Acts of the Apostles today. My study Bible has little blurbs throughout on various people. In this case the information was on Luke, the author of the book of Acts. The sentence that stuck me was this: “The words we leave behind will be a lasting picture of who we are.”
Think about that one.
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Posted in Politics, Today at 4:15 pm by artistry
Here’s the question no one is talking about: What about Social Security?
The WW2 babies are beginning to draw Social Security now. This year the first wave of the post-war baby boomers will begin drawing Social Security. Every year from now on will see huge demands on the broken Social Security system. With the exception of Ron Paul’s diatribes against entitlements, no one is talking about Social Security. It’s about time someone did.
Firstly, let me state that calling Social Security an entitlement is disingenuous. Let’s call it what it is … a government mandated retirement program to which we are forced to contribute. Moreover, it is a bad retirement program. Unlike a private program, we don’t really benefit from the amounts that are paid in on our behalf. The same amounts paid into a private program would yield vastly more at retirement. That’s a good argument for privatization, but doesn’t work for people currently in the system.
The people who are beginning to collect now have paid into the program for their entire working lives. To suggest now that they should not get an adequate return from the system, or that they should continue working through age 70 is ludicrous. Politicians are asking retirees to pay for the government’s mismanagement of their pension funds. If a union or corporation raided pension funds the way the government has raided the Social Security Trust, they would be hauled into court.
Let’s recognize the elephant in the room and propose some realistic solutions.
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01.12.08
Posted in Today, Worldview at 12:07 pm by artistry
I was cleaning out some old files and happened on a series of documents traded a while back with a friend who was trying to figure out my stance on issues. Basically, my friend had decided from things I posted that I was no longer a feminist. The exchange was useful, in that it made me rethink what I believe morally and politically.
I think everyone comes at some point to a line in the sand over which they just cannot cross. For me, that line was the feminist stance on abortion and the labeling of that stance as “choice”. I had to think about that long and hard. I accept that there will be instances where a pregnancy cannot be carried to term and medical intervention might be necessary. In such instances, I would want a woman to have the best possible medical care. BUT irresponsibility is not one of those instances. Convenience is not one of those instances. I think a woman definitely has a choice as to whether or not she will become pregnant. But I reject the notion of abortion as a form of birth control. I have a lot of trouble with that concept and the feminist rhetoric on the issue became the line I could not cross.
I am old enough that I was part of the early feminist movement. I personally experienced the kind of discrimination that gave birth to the movement. I believe in many of the issues feminism espoused, such as equal pay for equal work and protection from economic discrimination. But as the movement aged, it morphed into something I could not support. In demanding recognition of our intrinsic worth, we devalued men. We lumped all men into a bucket and called them bad. We were guilty of the very things we protested. We became “them”. The more I examine the legacy of the feminist movement, the more I think it has done more than anything else in society to damage the family unit. By devaluing the male/female relationship, we devalued the family. And that may be the lasting legacy of feminism. Sad, don’t you think?
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Posted in Politics, Today, Worldview at 9:02 am by artistry
So I mentioned that I was considering going to the local caucus on February 5th to take part in the political process. I have been back and forth about it and not sure if it was the best thing I could be doing. My ESV feed threw me another “gotcha” today.
So, the question is … would participating in the caucus be to the glory of the Lord, or to the glory of the process? I have three weeks to ponder that.
Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16.3
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01.08.08
Posted in Politics, Today, Worldview at 9:36 am by artistry
It will be interesting to see what dynamics come into play in New Hampshire. One thing seems clear at this point … pandering to special groups will not work anymore. Running on the past or invoking images of the past will not work. Selling an image that has no reality in fact will not work. Or perhaps I should say it only works with a limited portion of the electorate. Thus we see something different happening.
Romney’s message is falling flat because what he says and what he does don’t match up. In this world of easy internet access, it is easy to check statements and respond quickly. I don’t know what the debate rules were, but it would have been nice if someones Blackberry had rung during the Fox Debate with the references to Romney’s statement on a timed withdrawal from Iraq. Because he claimed that the AP story was wrong … but shortly after the debate, videos of Romney on ABC news advocating a timed withdrawal appeared on the internet. That is what will hurt Romney in the end … not that he changes his position to fit the situation, but that he doesn’t think people are smart enough to check for themselves.
The other thing we are seeing is that politicians have to appeal to a broad base of voters. That means they can no longer depend on certain segments to carry the day. I think Hillary Clinton is being hard hit with this reality right now. The women’s vote is by no means a certain thing. Feminism as we knew it 20 years ago is dead and buried, for a lot of reasons. This is a lesson Barack Obama has to learn as well. His speeches are long on inspiration and short on substance and I am surprised that he has seemingly gotten away with it to date.
We will see if the returns from New Hampshire fit with my speculations. I have an idea how it will go, but am keeping it to myself for now … that way I can be right or not right in private. 
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01.04.08
Posted in Politics, Today, Worldview at 12:00 pm by artistry
<song> Lately, I’ve been thinking …</song> Like I said … danger.
With all the political news and abuse, you didn’t really think I could remain silent, did you? So I thought a lot about what I want in a candidate:
- Honesty – let’s face it … we have gotten so used to dishonesty on the part of our elected officials that we don’t even get all that upset about it. We often accept the half-truths because it is easier not to ask the hard questions.
- Integrity – you might think this is the same as the point above, but I define it differently. I want a candidate who has the integrity to stand or fall based on who he/she really is and what he/she really believes.
- Consistency – I want a candidate that doesn’t change his/her position based on the group being addressed. I want a candidate who is willing to take some flack for his/her belief.
- Values – I want a candidate I can believe in. I want a candidate to inspire me and make me feel that our best days are yet to come. I want a candidate who values all the people, not just those who have the deepest pockets or wield the most power.
- Faith – while I do not apply a religious litmus test to a candidate, I expect that a candidate who claims faith demonstrate that faith. I want to see more than lip service.
One disadvantage of being older than dirt is that I remember a time when politics was conducted much differently than today. I don’t think it is just nostalgia that makes me wish we could change the political atmosphere 180° to go back to campaigns where we supported candidates because of what they really stood for and not because of how successful they were in slandering their opponents. I assure you that there was a time like that, even though most of you will think I refer to ancient history from another century. Wait! That was another century. Oh, well!
I also think the earth moved in Iowa last night, but most political pundits are to enmeshed in their own ideology to understand it.
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01.03.08
Posted in Today at 7:49 am by artistry
I woke up really early today … for me anyway. There I was, wide awake and knowing I would be tired later but unable to fall back to sleep.
The first thing I discovered is that I had forgotten to buy coffee filters. ARGH! I knew there was something else I needed when I was at the store!
So I turned on television and surfed some of the morning shows, which I never do. Two things I learned …
- There’s a good reason why I don’t watch Today, The Early Show, et al. I don’t need to know the stuff they cover.
- I found out what channel Oprah and Dr. Phil are on. It’s heresy, I know, but I didn’t know and would have preferred to never learn. If there is anything more banal that Today, The Early Show, et al; it is the aforementioned Oprah and Dr. Phil.
Maybe I could go back to sleep and pretend it was all a bad dream? 
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