January 19, 2020
“I think we’re f^@#*%, completely f^@#*%.” — Sir Patrick Stewart, in re the UK leaving the EU This post might seem at first blush to belong in my “Heroes and Aliens” blog. But, I felt it was too politically-charged, so here we are…. In a recent interview with Variety‘s Daniel Holloway, beloved actor Patrick Stewart […]
Tags: Boris Johnson, Brexit, Donald Trump, European Union, Patrick Stewart, political commentary in fiction, Star Trek series, Variety interview
Posted in Politics, S-F/F AA Entertainment |
January 13, 2020
“This strike [was] even more justifiable [than the mission that took out Osama bin Laden], since [Suleimani] was in a foreign country directing terrorist attacks against Americans. His death is a huge loss for Iran’s regime and its Iraqi proxies, and a major operational and psychological victory for the United States.” — James Carafano, vice […]
Tags: al-Muhandis, American drone strike, Charles Dunlap, deterrence, Executive Order 12333, imminent threat, Iran, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, James Carafano, Jeh Johnson, John Yoo, Kataib Hezbollah, Middle East tensions, Mike Pompeo, militia groups, Noah Rothman, not an assassination, policy of deterrence, President Trump, Quds Force, retaliation, Steve Sherman, Suleimani, terrorist commander
Posted in Politics |
January 5, 2020
“President Trump is taking action to ensure that the American military is equipped to protect our Nation and preserve our freedom to operate in, from, and to space.” — White House press release As you are likely aware, the current administration has been seeking to revitalize the American space program, taking its inspiration from JFK. […]
Tags: 2020 NDAA, armed services, Chief of Space Operations, General Jay Raymond, new branch of U.S. military, space policy directives, SPACECOM, SPOC, Trump administration, U.S. Space Command, United States Space Force, USSF, V.P. Mike Pence, Vandenberg AFB
Posted in Politics, Politics & Science, Science |
December 29, 2019
“Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne?” — “Auld Lang Syne”, English translation of first verse For this last post of the year, rather than doing my customary “Top 10”, I’m continuing with the musical theme from last week. One of the most […]
Tags: Auld Lang Syne, good times, New Year's Eve, old friends, Robert Burns, Scot, tradition
Posted in Uncategorized |
December 22, 2019
We all have our favorite Christmas/holiday songs, so I figured I’d do a Top 10 list of mine. Well, some of mine. These are just my choices among the hymns and “classic”, Bible-oriented carols. (Maybe I’ll do a non-hymns list another time.) I tried to get a variety of choirs represented. In alphabetical order… 1) […]
Tags: Advent, carol, choir, Christ-Child, Christmas, hymn, Jesus, Messiah, Noel
Posted in Religion |
December 16, 2019
“If anyone asserts the fabulous preexistence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema.” — ‘The Anathemas against Origen’, attached to the decrees of the Fifth Ecumenical Council, A.D. 545, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers This week we continue addressing the various claims of “Sane guy”. You […]
Tags: Christianity, confused facts, denial of truth, Emperor Justinian I, Fifth Ecumenical Council, God of Love, Hell, Islamic jihadists, Origen, orthodoxy, Pope, reincarnation, responding to skeptics, Roman Catholic Church, Second Council of Constantinople, Vigilius
Posted in Religion |
December 8, 2019
“Men are apt to mistake the strength of their feeling for the strength of their argument. The heated mind resents the chill touch and relentless scrutiny of logic.” — William Ewart Gladstone Part of my daily routine involves scanning through the many emails I receive on politics and cultural issues. When I follow a link […]
Tags: Benedict XVI, Christianity, confused facts, Francis, Hell, John Paul II, La Repubblica, orthodoxy, Pope, responding to skeptics, Roman Catholic Church, watered-down theology, yoga
Posted in Religion |
December 1, 2019
“If [these measures] were rolled out nationally, the United States would save $2.4 trillion per year across individuals, businesses, and the government.” — Sean Flynn Democratic presidential candidates are pushing things like “Medicare for All” and a “public option”, which will only increase costs and perpetuate the weaknesses in our current system. In his book, […]
Tags: alternative approach, deductible security, economist, healthcare reform, Indiana, Medicare for All, price tags, Sean Masaki Flynn, Singapore, skin in the game, The Cure That Works, trillions in savings, U.S. healthcare industry
Posted in Politics |
November 24, 2019
“The Thanksgiving story is an absolution of the Pilgrims, whose brutal quest for absolute power in the New World is made to seem both religiously motivated and eminently human…. It is unalloyed racist propaganda, a tale that endures because it served the purposes of a succession of the Pilgrims’ political heirs, in much the same […]
Tags: anti-America, anti-West, anti-White, civil body politic, consent of the governed, extermination, genocide, Glen Ford, indigenous peoples, Jarrett Stepman, Native Americans, Pilgrims, Plymouth Colony, Puritans, racism in America, smallpox in blankets, Thanksgiving, The Daily Signal, The Mayflower Compact, white supremacy
Posted in Politics, Politics & Religion, Religion |
November 17, 2019
I have a fun one for you this week…. There have been many parts of the Bible’s historical narratives that have become well-known Bible stories. (Whether or not one accepts them as actual history is another issue.) Certainly, people who have been followers of Jesus for a number of years are familiar with these stories, […]
Tags: Adam and Eve, apple, Ararat, blinded, Cain and Abel, folk theology, great fish, Jonah, King Nebuchadnezzar, Magi, Noah's Ark, Road to Damascus, Saul's conversion, Three Kings, Three Wise Men, turned into an animal, whale
Posted in Religion |