What’s interesting in the news today?
1. So the DoJ thinks it’s racist to ask for ID to vote, but when they ask for it here it’s not? 🙄
What about all those poor disenfranchised masses without ID? How racist. 🙂
From BizPacReview “After Ferguson, Mo., issued a press release promoting five town hall meetings to address concerns of the community, the Department of Justice informed the city that no media or non-residents would be allowed to attend.
“This was not and never was a decision made by the City and it will be up to DOJ to enforce it if that is their policy,” Ferguson spokesman Devin James wrote in an email to the St. Louis Post Dispatch. “The City simply wants to do what’s in the best interest of residents so they can have the opportunity to have meaningful dialogue.”
The meetings are being conducted by the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service, which generally handles conflict resolution, but it is “required by law to conduct its activities in confidence and without publicity.””
_______________________________________________
2. Weeks of strikes and little progress.
From TheNYTimes “After six weeks of American airstrikes, the Iraqi government’s forces have scarcely budged the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State from their hold on more than a quarter of the country, in part because many critical Sunni tribes remain on the sidelines.
Although the airstrikes appear to have stopped the extremists’ march toward Baghdad, the Islamic State is still dealing humiliating blows to the Iraqi Army. On Monday, the government acknowledged that it had lost control of the small town of Sichar and lost contact with several hundred of its soldiers who had been besieged for nearly a week at a camp north of the Islamic State stronghold of Falluja, in Anbar Province.
By midday, there were reports that hundreds of soldiers had been killed there in battle or mass executions. Ali Bedairi, a lawmaker from the governing alliance, said more than 300 soldiers had died after the loss of the base, Camp Saqlawiya. The prime minister ordered the arrest of the responsible officers, although a military spokesman put the death toll at just 40 and said 68 were missing.”
_______________________________________________
3. Darn those evil Republicans trying to buy elections. Oh wait…….
From Politico “Democrats love to cast Republicans as the party of big money, beholden to the out-of-touch billionaires bankrolling their campaigns.
But new numbers tell a very different story — one in which Democrats are actually raising more big money than their adversaries.
Among the groups reporting the biggest political ad spending, the 15 top Democrat-aligned committees have outraised the 15 top Republican ones $453 million to $289 million in the 2014 cycle, according to a POLITICO analysis of the most recent Federal Election Commission reports, including those filed over the weekend — which cover through the end of last month.
The analysis shows the fundraising edge widening in August, when the Democratic groups pulled in more than twice as much as their GOP counterparts — $51 million to $21 million. That’s thanks to a spike in massive checks from increasingly energized labor unions and liberal billionaires like Tom Steyer and Fred Eychaner.”
So back in August while Harry Reid was ranting daily about the Koch brothers from the Senate floor. Told ya, Harry’s the King of Projecting.
_______________________________________________
4. In case you missed it, there was a huge “Climate March” this week in NY. As you can imagine, the liberals/anarchists in attendance had some interesting ideas.
With a CONTENT WARNING!!!!! because they’re a foul-mouthed bunch.
_______________________________________________
Wandering Views 
California has just gone from socialist dystopia to full blown communism:
http://dailycaller.com/2014/09/18/ninth-circuit-affirms-that-its-illegal-to-wear-american-flag-shirts-on-cinco-de-mayo/
LikeLike
I’m OK with #1.
LikeLike
Linda,
I am too. I think it should be required to vote as well. I just couldn’t resist poking fun at the hypocrisy from Holder and company.
The DoJ requires ID to enter their DC offices as well. Again, just shows they’re hypocrites.
For something as unimportant as this and to enter their building they demand it. But for something important like voting and preventing vote fraud, they don’t care because it benefits Democrats.
LikeLike
Re – the discussion on Christians and politics from yesterday: It was suggested that capitalism was favored by most Christians because it tended to the most freedom. This morning, I came across the article in World: http://www.worldmag.com/2014/09/money_and_politics.
“Freedom of speech takes money, if you want your message to be heard.
The “Democracy for All Amendment” is pitched as a means of getting the money out of politics. I have a news flash: There is no way to get the money out of politics. Money and politics go together like gasoline and automobiles—always have, always will. Money is the fuel of democracy…”
I find that troubling from a Christian perspective, especially in the light of the words of James, the Lord’s brother:
‘My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.’ James 2:1-9 [ESV]
LikeLike
roscuro, I don’t know all the background of the capitalism/Christianity discussion (I’m too lazy to check yesterday’s thread), but is an argument being made that capitalism is *inherently* bad or incompatible with Christianity? I could see how partiality is *inherent* to other economic systems, e.g., socialist redistribution of wealth necessarily–by way of deliberate policy–is partial to one or another group. But that component isn’t inherent to capitalism. If partiality is shown in such a system, it wouldn’t be *because* it was capitalist. Or would it? Are there anti-Christian aspects of capitalism I may not have thought of?
LikeLike
“Freedom of speech takes money, if you want your message to be heard.”
You don’t have a right to be heard. You are are free to listen to who you want and they are free to listen to you. It is not the fault of Capitalism that Americans are too lazy to do their own research and instead fall for slick ads. The only difference socialism would make it that all the power would be in the hands of one group. The government. At least with Capitalism you are free to raise the resources to be heard.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Phos and HRW,
I was wondering what your opinion was of this. Any thoughts?
http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/09/17/isis-is-barack-obamas-mess-and-now-he-wants-canadas-help
“ISIS is Barack Obama’s mess.”
“He’s turned his back on allies such as Israel, having proven himself a bigger friend to the likes of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood than to the Jewish state.”
“Now Obama needs allies to battle ISIS and help him save face. So who is stepping up to the plate? The Iranians? The Saudis? Hardly.
Yes, when things get really bad, he calls on the same allies he’s spent his entire presidency snubbing.
The Canadians, the Brits, the Australians, etc.
Forgive me if I don’t exactly jump for joy at the prospect of helping this disastrous president ahead of midterm elections when his party is facing a well deserved drubbing.”
LikeLike
Tychicus, We must always look on the bright side. I believe the 9th Circuit case opens the door for Southern schools to send kids home for wearing the Yankee flag on Confederate Heroes Day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
SP: My argument was that Christians should be careful about identifying with and following any political/economic system too closely, as all such systems are man made and contradict the Bible in some way. I picked on conservatism and capitalism because most here already disagree with liberalism and socialism.
The Real: Well, it is an opinion column 😀 I notice it is the Calgary Sun, and Calgary is in Alberta – to draw an analogy, Alberta is to Canada what Texas is to the U.S. Our current prime minister is from Alberta – haven’t you noticed the bluntness of speech and the digging in of heels with him? Or perhaps, the American media does not report on the sayings of Canadian officials the way Canadian media does with world leaders. I notice, though, that he ended up in the right place – saying that we had to stick to our obligations as allies of the American people and the interest everyone had in defeating ISIS, no matter what we may think of the American leader. Not many Canadians have a high opinion of Obama – the conservatives point to him as an example of how disastrous a liberal leader can be, and the liberals attribute his failures to the fact that he operates too much like a conservative 😆
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ah, there was also a Barney salute!
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/09/the-decline-of-the-salute-196041.html#.VCLbenc6xtM.twitter
LikeLike
Tychicus,
“California has just gone from socialist dystopia to full blown communism:”
Just? That happened a long time ago.
I’m reading about yet another example now. Seems a Cali school now has their very own version of Goskomizdat. Only State approved information and propaganda is permitted here.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/09/23/school-accused-purging-christian-books/?
“It’s hard to imagine that any school would have a problem with a book about a Christian family that helped Jews escape the Holocaust.
But Springs Charter Schools in Temecula, Calif., not only had a problem with “The Hiding Place,” they also took issue with any other book that was written by a Christian author or included a Christian message.
“We do not purchase sectarian educational materials and do not allow sectarian materials on our state-authorized lending shelves,” Superintendent Kathleen Hermsmeyer wrote in a letter to attorneys at the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI).”
““She was told by one of the library attendants that the library has been instructed to remove all books with a Christian message, authored by Christians, or published by a Christian publishing company,” read a letter PJI sent to the public charter school. “The attendant advised that the library would no longer be carrying those books. Indeed, our client was told that the library was giving those books away, and she actually took some.”
““We are a public school, and as such, we are barred by law from purchasing sectarian curriculum materials with state funds,” she wrote. “We only keep on our shelves the books that we are authorized to purchase with public funds.”
Only authorized propaganda will be permitted.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Roscuro. I’d still be interested in hearing *how* capitalism contradicts the Bible in some way. Is there anything inherently immoral in capitalism, itself? I don’t mean with all its modern corruptions (which actually tend to be ANTI-capitalistic); I’m just talking about the system, itself.
LikeLike
2. Air power under specific circumstances may be effective, but its usually unreliable in producing the desired results esp without a real army on the ground. Unless they go all in and don’t mind collateral damage, but the US military and defense dept has sold the public on the idea of smart bombs and targeted air strikes.
3. I’m currently reading Matt Taibbi’s book, the Divide. In the first 50 pages he does critize the Obama administration’s record on corporate crime and esp Eric Holder. Taibbi is best known for his muckraking articles in Rolling Stone.
4. Red meat for the choir. Leftist sites are full of videos and pictures of the right being ignorant, rude or worse. Depending on your politics, you may cringe or be amused. Unfortunately it does reinforce stereotypes.
LikeLike
AJ. Phos is correct. Its the Sun and its Alberta. And Obama is viewed as too conservative by the leftist while the conservatives view him as similar to Trudeau, Jr, that is substance over style. And thus criticism of Obama is a means to also critize Trudeau. It doesn’t matter to me as I now live in what is probably the most left wing riding in the country, where the social democratics win a three or four way race by more than 50%.
LikeLike
In reference to your curriculum post, the left is all aghast that a suburban Colorado school board would like to make the history curriculum more patriotic, positive and less critical. Apparently the right is taking over the education system. Unlike your post and link which seems to indicate the opposite.
LikeLike
I just came back and note that I wrote substance over style for Obama and Trudeau. Obviously its the other way around.
I checked the election results, its over 60%, which in a three party system is quite the majority.
LikeLike