All Things Supercinski

Peter Schiff …

HT Bill @ The Thinklings

These are some links for October 27th.

• Touchstone Archives: Baby Pew Sitters -
  “Worship is not simply a rational, intellectual exercise appealing to the hearing and understanding of adults. Nor is it a postmodern, emotional, narrative experience that, well, also appeals to adults.It is an encounter with the Triune God, which does not depend upon our own mental faculties (or lack thereof) or upon our emotional backgrounds, baggage, or preferences. The Word of God works, despite our sin, despite our cognitive ability, despite our age and experience.”
• One-Issue Politics, One-Issue Marriage, and the Humane Society :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library -
  “No endorsement of any single issue qualifies a person to hold public office. Being pro-life does not make a person a good governor, mayor, or president. But there are numerous single issues that disqualify a person from public office. For example, any candidate who endorsed bribery as a form of government efficiency would be disqualified, no matter what his party or platform was. Or a person who endorsed corporate fraud (say under $50 million) would be disqualified no matter what else he endorsed. Or a person who said that no black people could hold office—on that single issue alone he would be unfit for office. Or a person who said that rape is only a misdemeanor—that single issue would end his political career. These examples could go on and on. Everybody knows a single issue that for them would disqualify a candidate for office.”
• Touchstone Archives: Tired of Life? -
  “There has been a steady campaign by some Christians who regard themselves as orthodox and conservative to persuade the rank and file of their Christian brothers and sisters to rethink their predictable support for political candidates who are pro-life. They bring other issues to the fore—war, torture, taxes, education, health care, and poverty—in an attempt to undermine the claim that conscientious Christians must always support pro-life candidates. They imply that such “single-issue” pro-life voting is unsophisticated, often in lockstep with the mostly uneducated “religious right,” and perhaps not even very moral in the long view.”
• The Corner on National Review Online -
  “The question is whether enough Americans understand what’s at stake in this election and, if they do, whether they care. Is the allure of a charismatic demagogue so strong that the usually sober American people are willing to risk an Obama presidency? After all, it ensnared Adelman, Kmiec, Powell, Fried, and numerous others. And while America will certainly survive, it will do so, in many respects, as a different place.”

• Commentary: Bailouts will lead to rough economic ride – CNN.com – “I am afraid that policymakers today have not learned the lesson that prices must adjust to economic reality. The bailout of Fannie and Freddie, the purchase of AIG, and the latest multi-hundred billion dollar Treasury scheme all have one thing in common: They seek to prevent the liquidation of bad debt and worthless assets at market prices, and instead try to prop up those markets and keep those assets trading at prices far in excess of what any buyer would be willing to pay. “
• Ron Paul: This Bailout Won’t Be the Last – The Home Front (usnews.com) – “Before the Depression, [the government] generally allowed these kinds of problems to unwind. They were very severe. They would last six months or a year—a lot of liquidation of debt would be wiped off the books. And then it would go back to work again. What we’ve been doing now—especially since 1971—is preventing the real liquidation of the malinvestment and the excess of debt… If this process continues, we’re going to own General Motors and Ford, then we will have to own the airlines. We are socializing our country without even a vote by the Congress. It’s a horrible situation.”
• Senator Bunning Declares The Free Market Dead – “My great grandchildren will be saddled with the estimated $1 trillion debt left in the wake of this proposal. We have gotten to this point because nobody has been minding the store. Both Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke should be held accountable for their inaction – and now because of that inaction – the American taxpayer is left with bill.”

These are some links for July 10th through July 18th. Enjoy!

• 10 Things You Can Like About $4 Gas – 10 Things You Can Like About $4 Gas – TIME –
• Shareholders turn to sharecropping – International Herald Tribune – Decentralized food production and delivery is an answer to the insecure and unsafe, centralized and in many instances irresponsible production practices of the US.
• SciGuy: Is “black hole” a racially insensitive term? –
• Obama’s frequent regrets may make us sorry | ajc.com –

Al Mohler: Parental Rights in Education — Constant Vigilance Needed

Thus in a little over 100 years, the Democratic Party – and much of the Republican Party – has been transformed from a champion of “parental rights and rights of conscience in the education of children” to a party whose leaders believe that parents “don’t get to impose” their views and values on what their kids are taught in school. Do American parents see anything wrong with that? Apparently not: The majority of them dutifully enroll their children in government-operated schools, where the only views and values permitted are the ones prescribed by the state.

Homeschoolers’ setback sends shock waves through state

A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare,” the judge wrote, quoting from a 1961 case on a similar issue.

TED | Talks | Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

A process driven by 30-second commercials prepared by the candidates themselves, and so-called debates that ask candidates to explain in 60 seconds how they would bring about world peace or national prosperity, does not help. Nor does media coverage that focuses on whose commercials are moving polling points and who performed well in the last inane debate.

But we voters can still do a respectable job in the CEO selection process. Obviously ideology and our visceral reactions to the candidates matter, since they are also part of job performance. There are, however, three other questions about a candidate’s character that are likely to shed some light on whether that candidate will do well in the on-the-job training school of the Oval Office. These questions have nothing to do with party or ideology.

Read the full article – OpinionJournal – What We Want in a President

… Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions – everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses

Thomas is out of town and tonight we will spend our second night apart since I was 3 months pregnant with Bud. It’s been interesting spending a weekend without him. Props to the single moms out there doing this every day. Bud definitely senses that something is amiss, especially around bedtime. He’s in his crib now banging his pacifiers around, but it’s okay, we have an extra hour hanging around.

Anyway, all that to say that I’ve been surfing the web a bit more than usual and I stumbled across a wonderful article about childbirth. We had a wonderful birth experience and went to lengths to avoid much medical intervention, and thankfully we didn’t need it. This article in The New Yorker lengthily discusses how birth has evolved through the years with the invention of forcepts, Caesarean sections and the transition from home births to completely drugged hospital births. It is subtitled, “How Childbirth Went Industrial.”

His discussion of the extremely high rates of C-section deliveries was interesting. He writes:

And yet there’s something disquieting about the fact that childbirth is becoming so readily surgical. Some hospitals are already doing Cesarean sections in more than half of child deliveries. It is not mere nostalgia to find this disturbing. We are losing our connection to yet another natural process of life. And we are seeing the waning of the art of childbirth. The skill required to bring a child in trouble safely through a vaginal delivery, however unevenly distributed, has been nurtured over centuries. In the medical mainstream, it will soon be lost.

Skeptics have noted that Cesarean delivery is suspiciously convenient for obstetricians’ schedules and, hour for hour, is paid more handsomely than vaginal birth. Obstetricians say that fear of malpractice suits pushes them to do C-sections more frequently than even they consider necessary. Putting so many mothers through surgery is hardly cause for celebration. But our deep-seated desire to limit risk to babies is the biggest force behind its prevalence; it is the price exacted by the reliability we aspire to.

I am thankful for medical marvels like the C-section; without them, I might have lost a few dear friends in childbirth. However, it is noteworthy that our national C-section rate is almost 30%. I know that 50 years ago, before it was so common, we didn’t lose even close to 30 percent of infants or mothers in childbirth. That many women elect to have them out of fear of childbirth or wanting to schedule it is even more alarming.

Something that I discovered during pregnancy is how little we all know about birth, making it shrouded with fear. What I appreciated most about our childbirth prep classes was that we watched a video of birth almost every week (including a C-section). This helped remove the unknown and fear surrounding it, and by the time our due date approached, I was truly excited to experience birth. Back in the home-birth-midwife era, women didn’t need videos to be comfortable with birth. They “tended” one another during labor and birth and were all familiar with the nitty gritty of it. I guess all that was to say that if you are expecting, become comfortable with your body and the amazing things God made it to do. Educate yourself and perhaps it will help alleviate your fears as you learn more about your Creator’s creativity. And stay tuned, if there is ever a BabySuper2, perhaps we’ll live-blog it so you can all participate–ha!

NPR: Ivory Coast Tragedy Exposes Toxic Flow to Poor

In case you’ve completely missed the news this week, the Pope has gotten some heat for remarks he made about Islam. He wasn’t giving personal opinion, but quoted from a text recounting a conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and an educated Persian on the truths of Christianity and Islam. “The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war,” the pope said. “He said, I quote, ’Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”’

Muslims around the world have reacted to this statement in anger, causing the burnings of both Catholic and Protestant churches. Some examples:

“Earlier Sunday in the West Bank, two churches were set on fire as anger over the pope’s comments grew throughout the Palestinian territories.”

“In the town of Tulkarem, a 170-year-old stone church was torched before dawn and its interior was destroyed, Christian officials said. In the village of Tubas, a small church was attacked with firebombs and partially burned, Christians said. Neither church is Catholic, the officials said.”

“Palestinian Muslims hurled firebombs and opened fire at five churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Saturday to protest the Pope’s comments, sparking concerns of a rift between Palestinian Muslims and Christians.”

“Further, an Iraqi insurgent group threatened the Vatican with a suicide attack over the pope’s remarks on Islam. In a message posted on the web it said, “We swear to God to send you people who adore death as much as you adore life,” said the message posted in the name of the Mujahedeen Army on a Web site frequently used by militant groups. The message’s authenticity could not be independently verified. The statement was addressed to “you dog of Rome” and threatens to “shake your thrones and break your crosses in your home.””
See here for the full news article.

It seems to me that they are proving his point. Hello!