Today's News | Christian Views
| Home | Community | WorldMagBlog | Commentary | Previous Posts | Podcasts | Contact Us | Subscribe |
On our turf
Experts say the threat of domestic terrorism is growing
FULL STORY
An 'urgency': Sensing threats to institutions of society, church leaders make declaration
Bitter pill: GOP senators swallow hard as judicial nominee David Hamilton is confirmed
Just friends: Obama’s Asia agenda steered clear of any tough talk on human rights abuses 
Good morning!
Today’s quote is from a Charles Dickens novel: ”I don’t profess to be profound, but I do lay claim to common sense.”
All original content Copyright © 2009 WORLDmag.com and may not be reproduced without permission
Learn it! Speak it! Live it!
Bring Christmas to a child in need!
Click to Print
Include Comments
back to top54 Comments to “Whirled Views 4.7”
David Copperfield?
Report comment to moderator
The press has been mostly silent about the pilot who stole a Cessna 172 in Canada, was chased by F-16s and landed on Highway 60 in Missouri.
The pilot’s name is Yavuz Burke a naturalized citizen from Turkey. He had left a suicide note for his girl friend.
America’s southern border is essentially non-existent and the northern border is wide open.
Report comment to moderator
Charles Dickens.
C’mon, somebody had to say it.
Report comment to moderator
Xion: The press has been mostly silent about the pilot who stole a Cessna 172 in Canada, was chased by F-16s and landed on Highway 60 in Missouri.
The “mostly silent” press:
CNN
ABC
Associated Press
BBC
Chicago Tribune
New York Times
Toronto Star
Reuters
There are 858 more hits using the man’s name and Google’s news search, which limits it to recognized media outlets.
Report comment to moderator
Ok. Here’s a tip for all y’all that have been worried about whether you’re infected with the recently hyped conficker worm.
If you want to know if your PC is infected just click on this link. If you see all six icons on the top of the page you’re probably alright. If you don’t see all six,
then read down the page to see what’s going on.
I saw this short article this morning and figured I was probably not the only one who had questions…
Report comment to moderator
… or… get a Mac.
Report comment to moderator
NJLawyer,
I am even more concerned about this story about a foiled attempt to run money for nuclear weapons material bound to Iran, through NY banks.
Report comment to moderator
MIM, this sentence intrigued me: “The New York banks were completely unaware,” the source said.
They seem to have been unaware of a lot of things, don’t you think? I mean, these clowns were so busy doing stupid stuff to bring down the economy, it’s no wonder they missed this, too. It makes you wonder what their compliance officer was doing.
Report comment to moderator
Duncan,
Ha ha.
Bang.
Report comment to moderator
#7 Completely unaware banks? Now that does scare me. I thought after 9/11 banks were under far more scrutiny for money-laundering activities of terrorists.
And about the Canadian plane theft and subsequent chase down.. how far south into our borders would any such aircraft be permitted to venture?
I hope to read and learn more. Was the pilot a jihadi? Yes, Turkey is muslim but lotsa Turks are Euro-secularized. Still we are fortunate it wasn’t loaded up with a volatile, dispersing hazmat liquid
Report comment to moderator
Newt Gingrich: “Gimme that old time religion”
I know Newt will be a dedicated son of the church on the magnitude of the Kennedy boys.
Report comment to moderator
Now, Sawgunner! I taped an interview with Gingrich the other day, and I concluded that he was trying to rehabilitate himself for a run for the presidency in a few years. He says he’s been a good Catholic lo this past decade, and it isn’t ours to judge…. He is getting older, so perhaps he has mended his ways.
Report comment to moderator
Make It Man;
I’m sensing some bitterness there, am I?
Report comment to moderator
I could embrace Newt so long as he doesnt morph into the standard Catholic politician of the “Although I personally opppose..” variety.
I was intrigued at Newt’s suggestion that the USA detonate an electromagnetic pulse bomb over the North Korean missile launch pad. (It would one assumes “fry” the electrical circuitry of the missile.. assuming further the NK dont rely on vacuum tube technology as the old USSR did) Talk about stirring up a quiet fire ant bed!!
Report comment to moderator
I am continuing from the last half dozen or so messages of yesterday’s Whirled Views, involving messages by Yeah, NJL, llama, and myself. Only Victoria was missing.
I’ll start with a follow-up to my question about credit unions. One of the features of worldmagblog I find intensely silly is the the constant theme of liberal vs. conservative, Republican vs. Democrat, etc.
The silliness is so intense, reaching its culmination in dozens of daily messages by llama, that it is difficult to find a few words to characterize it.
Report comment to moderator
1/7. The frequent use of words such as of “liberals,” “lefties,” “socialists,” and so on, is very reminiscent of the rhetoric of racism.
I tried to find a compendium of racist words on the web. It’s surprisingly difficult to do. Who would have thought that the world wide web would be so politically correct? You will have to dig a bit, but you can find a pretty good list if you follow this link and then dig a bit…
http://archive.thehumorlist.com/Site0/Txt/9506040.txt
Anyway, the general tone of messages on wmb is that conservatives are good and liberals are bad.
Report comment to moderator
2. I wrote a similar message a while back and llama wrote a response so that was so silly and irrelevant to what I said that I was struck speechless. That is amazing. llama deserves lots of credit and admiration.
I will try again. There are countries where elections are reasonably fair and reliable, such as the United States and Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Others may also qualify, such as India, South Korea, and Japan, parts of the liberated Eastern Europe, parts of South and Central America, and so on. I am not sure.
In any case, all of these countries have parties that can be described as conservative and liberal. If one side (liberal or conservative) were significantly more intelligent, reliable, morally superior, energetic, and so on, then over the long haul this ideology would prevail. As an analogy, in the world of business, where competition operates more or less unfettered, certain companies tend to prevail over long hauls, such as IBM, General Motors, General Electric…hmmm.
Anyway elections in countries with reasonably free elections (I emphasize this qualification as llama apparently can’t read), parties in party swing back and forth between liberal and conservative parties. Neither prevails in the long run
Report comment to moderator
3. Just to be precise and pedantic: I am aware that the words “conservative” and “liberal” have different meanings in different areas. However, I maintain that the general meaning of these words maintains enough consistency over these different areas to be meaningful.
Report comment to moderator
Duncan,
I am tired of Mac owners presupposing superiority of Macs, and suggesting that they are the solution to the malware problem. For one thing, switching all users over to Macs is not really a solution in the market place. Secondly, the only reason that Macs are seemingly immune (they are not) to malware is that they are such a small minority, and not worth targeting. Believe me, that’s the only reason they don’t get much malware. They’re just don’t have much market share.
Face it. Apple blew it a long time ago, and you Mac owners just won’t face up to that fact.
Report comment to moderator
4. Another possible objection would be that liberals are elected by losers who overwhelm the more virtuous conservatives over and over again. I will refer again to what I said about psuedo racist rhetoric. I will also point out that both ideologies when carried to their extremes carry into objectionable perversions. Liberalism carried to far turns into socialism and then at the very extreme, turns into Communism. Conservatism when carried too far turns into conservative authoritarianism and then at the very extreme into fascism.
Report comment to moderator
5. The thinking I have described in the previous messages leads into simple-minded black and white cartoon strips. llama’s messages embody this in its purest form. Whenever I read llama’s messages I expect to see POW!!! WHAM!!! BANG!!! and square-jawed virtuous paragons contemptuously knocking aside evil people with funny skin colors and funny shaped eyes.
Report comment to moderator
I have just finished reading “The Devil We Know” by Robert Baer. It’s an interesting and disturbing book. It’s easy to read on one sense, but in another, it contains many non-western names that are hard to remember from chapter to chapter.
Baer’s premise is that Iran will be the Middle East superpower and there’s nothing we can do about it. They have already used proxies to established themselves as practical rulers of Hezbollah (Army of God), Lebanon, Iraq’s Sunni Kurdistan, 30% of Afghanistan, Bahrain, and Turkey’s Kurds. They are already powerful enough to challenge control of the Persian Gulf and control 55% of the world oil supply. ( If the United States refused to explore and develop our own oil resources, we will be completely dependent on Iran. – my comment, but that’s where we’re headed.) Baer contends that Iraq and Pakistan are not countries, but armies. With the armies out of the way, they are subject to inroads which Iran has already made throughout the Gulf region.
He says that America’s two allies in the Middle East are failing states. “Pakistan is held together by an army that gives every sign of cracking. Saudi Arabia is led by a flamboyantly corrupt, greedy royal family, taken seriously by no one save the United States.”
“As more and more Muslims accept Iran as a protective power, Iran will become a truly serious threat to Israel, with or without a nuclear bomb. “
Baer has his own agenda, but he makes excellent points. i.e. Iran virtually has control of the Middle East and most of the world’s oil. Unless we are willing to commit large resources and a long, costly war, we must contend with Iranian domination of the area. Robert Baer spent 25 years working for the CIA in that area. (“See No Evil” is an account of his experience there, an excellent book, better reading than this one.)
Baer disagrees, in principle, with Robert Spencer’s “Stealth Jihad”. He says the Muslims in the middle East only want two things: To destroy Israel and to be left alone. ( From our standpoint, neither can happen. That makes “Stealth Jihad” relevant because Islam is here. They do not intend to adapt to our ways, rather make us submit to theirs. But that’s another book. As a Sunni Muslim in Britain said. “I am a Muslim, not a British Muslim.)
It’s a complicated book with too many facets to review briefly. If anyone is interested in developments in the world, it’s an essential read. If you don’t have time to read the book, go to the library and read the epilogue, it’s worth your time.
Report comment to moderator
6/7. I used the example of credit unions because a credit union is an example of an organization that is neither purely “socialist” or purely “free enterprise” but has traits and characteristic of both. Liberals and conservatives can organize and use credit unions. I have used both banks and credit unions. Over the last 35 years or so I have done all my retail banking with credit unions because I find their service and responsiveness superior to banks. However, I am not a fanatic on the subject. My wife and I have owned two dwellings over the last ten years or so. They have all been financed and refinanced by banks. At times the banks irritated me a little bit, but there were no big problems. Kim posted a message about how she had worked for banks and used banks. That was a perfectly reasonable comment and reason.
Report comment to moderator
7. My main point is that as human beings organized into societies we have challenges and problems to solve. There are various solutions to these problems and these solutions do not easily fall into simple-minded solutions labeled “liberal” and “conservative.”
Report comment to moderator
Friends,
Check out the post of my friend and co-blogger Tom Van Dyke at American Creation. He has so meticulously followed my research that he has become somewhat of an expert in the Founding & Religion himself.
Like many of you he has a strong distate for present day Unitarian-Universalism. So he wants to explore what Founding era Unitarianism (so important to many leading light FFs) was all about.
http://tinyurl.com/d6jg8b
A taste:
[L]et’s consult Samuel Barrett [August 16, 1795-June 24, 1866], first pastor of the first formally Unitarian church in Boston, a historic hotbed if not breeding ground of unitarianism:
“Unitarian Christians believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and the Saviour of men. They believe in the divinity of his mission and in the divinity of his doctrines. They believe that the Gospel which he proclaimed came from God; that the knowledge it imparts, the morality it enjoins, the spirit it breathes, the acceptance it provides, the promises it makes, the prospects it exhibits, the rewards it proposes, the punishments it threatens, all proceed from the Great Jehovah. But they do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Supreme God. They believe that, though exalted far above all other created intelligences, he is a being distinct from, inferior to, and dependent upon, the Father Almighty. For this belief they urge, among other reasons, the following arguments from the Scriptures.”
Report comment to moderator
Make It Man;
The choice to be offended by my post was yours. Offense was not intended.
As for Apple’s market share, this link provides some interesting stats.
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/01/02/apple-market-share-tops-10-windows-share-lowest-since-tracking/
Granted 10% isn’t huge, but it is growing. Macs are certainly not immune, but the last big virus for a Mac was 1998. As for not facing up to facts, it is something that some of us on this thread have been accused of by you and others.
Have a pleasant day.
Report comment to moderator
Last night at our monthly PCC meeting, they shared the sobering statistic that 75% of the women seen in our medical clinic have chlamydia. (It’s not a large clinic, we don’t see more than 8-10 a week, but that’s a high percentage).
In all the conversations about sexuality on this blog, I rarely see any mention of STDs, and yet that is the one subject that will grab the attention of the young women I speak with on the phone. A pregnancy is over with an abortion or nine months; an STD can kill you at worst (AIDS), make you infertile (pick your bacteria), or cause other probems.
Chlamydia is a “silent” STD, you have to be tested to know you’re infected. Some of the young women I speak with tell me their boyfriends, “had the test,” so they know they’re safe.
“When were they tested for an STD?” I always ask.
“I don’t know. He said he got tested. It’s fine.”
Me: “Has he had sex with anyone else since he got tested?”
Her, often irritated: “I don’t know.”
“Then you can’t be sure.” And then I talk about the impact of an STD a little more.
I was surprised at how sexual England was–perhaps France was as well and I just couldn’t read the signs as easily. All sorts of sexuality-related ads appeared on the underground and the UK Ministry of Health was considering running commercials for abortions on television.
But I never saw anything about STDs–perhaps there’s another acronym in the UK. I’m also having a hard time imagining a TV commercial for an abortion . . .
Oh, and if anyone is interested, the cost of RU486–the pill combination which induces an abortion in the convenience of your own home prior to 10 weeks into the pregnancy, but better at six– is $600. Cash or credit card only.
Report comment to moderator
“The choice to be offended by my post was yours. Offense was not intended.”
My bad. I’m dealing with what looks like the worm this morning, and my mood is not good. I’ve tried telling some co-workers not to download binaries, or worse, use file sharing programs, but will they listen? Heck no….
Perhaps I should buy a Mac and tell everyone else they are on their own?
Report comment to moderator
Make It Man;
Apology accepted, and you have my sympathies and best of luck in dealing with the worm. It’s amazing how many people just don’t think when they are surfing the web, and will happily click on links in emails from dubious sources. Just one of those examples of not being able to legislate intelligence.
Happy worm hunting.
Report comment to moderator
Good news from Human Events. Everyone knows that Camp Bucca in Iraq is being closed. Whereas it once contained 26,000 prisoners, it now only has 9,600. And will be entirely closed this summer. Many detainees were innocent, Most were not. Whereas A Washington Post reported an estimated 90% of detainees returned to jihad, the police chief for Fallujah, Col. Adour Hammoud says only about 60% have returned to Jihad.
This is good news, indeed.
Report comment to moderator
Hehehe. I came across this when I was reading about the guy that flew the plane across the border.
It’s the history of the world if portrayed on twitter. (warning, some graphic language). It’s pretty funny though.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2009/04/06/f-twitter-great-moments-in-history.html
Report comment to moderator
The Vermont House voted 100-49 to override Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of the marriage bill.
Vermont has just become a marriage equality state.
Report comment to moderator
SAWGUNNER,
‘I could embrace Newt so long as he doesn’t morph into the standard Catholic politician’
LOLOLOLOL
The standard Catholic politician is a lefty who helps mothers murder their own children adn think Obama is the second coming of Christ.
Report comment to moderator
‘conservatives are good and liberals are bad.’
Finally the truth comes out of a lefty’s mouth. He must have died afterwords or possibly gone gay
Report comment to moderator
‘The Vermont House voted 100-49 to override Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of the marriage bill.
Vermont has just become a marriage equality state.’
This is what happens when insane, whack jobs control anything.
Report comment to moderator
CB and Mynock, thanks for both of your responses yesterday on the Koh thread, which I found helpful. I commented a little bit further there if you’re interested.
Report comment to moderator
I understand that they have a very good livestock control program as well.
Report comment to moderator
I have a MAC.
We went back after many years using PCs.
It ALSO runs as a PC with the press of two buttons.
(Admittedly, in order to run the advanced PC games — which I don’t do — my husband and son, who also have MACs, have to reboot into a more advanced PC mode. My virtual machine does everything but that, and I don’t play those games.)
Report comment to moderator
This is Holy Week and for once I’m home to actually think about Jesus’ last week of ministry before the cross. On Sunday, the pastor made a couple comments about Palm Sunday which really struck me. Here you go:
We all know the Pharisees were challenged by Jesus’ spiritual authority and were concerned about losing their jobs. The Romans just wanted to keep things organized. Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey was reminiscent of David riding in on a stallion–representing a king coming to take control of the kingdom.
As such, and the fact the people were raising palm branches–the equivalent of waving US flags when the soldiers come home in triumph–Jesus represented a threat to order in the state.
What did the Romans know about this Jesus?
Some would have remembered he had just raised a man from the dead. (Which was part of the Pharisees’ problem, some of their rabbis were now following Jesus after the Lazarus incident). Some might have heard that he could create food out of nothing–or at least very little.
Can you see what a threat such a king would be? Think Lord of the Rings–Return of the King. Such a king could easily overthrow not just Jerusalem, but all of Rome. How could you defeat him? He’d just raise the soldiers back to life and feed everything else from the air.
And what did Jesus say when the authorities suggested controling the mob? “If you silence them, even the very stones would cry out.” See how easily that comment could have been misconstrued as a threat?
We so often forget we worship the creator of the Universe. He rode in the eastern gate on a donkey, capable of tearing the whole city–mobbed with people–to rubble with a word. Instead, he watched with loving eyes as the people greeted him in ecstasy–all the while knowing their fickle hearts would turn against him in a couple days. And yet he still went to the cross on their behalf–and mine, too.
Thanks be to God.
Report comment to moderator
#36 Light-hearted humor from llama.
The 68-ton Abrams battle tank rears up on its tippy toes and daintily whirls around and fires its squirt gun.
Report comment to moderator
Tiny dancing tank.
Report comment to moderator
Anyone else besides me digging Lynn’s sassy new gravatar pic?
Report comment to moderator
I hadn’t noticed, Travis. Definitely an improvement. She no longer looks like a hold over from the 70s. (Oops! Please don’t bonk me for that! it wasn’t meant as an insult or anything. Honest.)
Report comment to moderator
I’m a 70s guy, so I lament the loss of Lynn’s 70s-era gravatar. But the new look is so fine, so sassy. I think she’s using a new foundation. Her skin looks radiant, recession-proof.
Report comment to moderator
Why I’m a Republican
Report comment to moderator
Oops, the link doesn’t work.
Report comment to moderator
Yes! I noticed the picture. Nice. Much nicer. But it won’t tempt me: I’m stickin’ with Finnegan (that’s him on the Gravatar)
Report comment to moderator
That wisp of hair on Lynn’s picture is very “Sarah Palin-ish”. That’s a compliment btw.
Report comment to moderator
Let’s see if this works:
Why we need Republicans
Report comment to moderator
Macs rule.
Snazzy new photos for everyone. I’ve been swamped at work, kind of fun to sign on tonight and see everyone’s “new look.”
Report comment to moderator
Another Obama associate with tax problems.
Report comment to moderator
Michelle, thank you for that post.
Misten thinks she needs a new photo now too!
Report comment to moderator
Memo to you Obama supporters: U.S. President Barack Obama will ask Congress shortly to back rapid release of $448 million in aid for poorer countries including some in Africa and Latin America, he said on Thursday.
Are you kidding me… Nearly one half of a Billion Dollars for aid to other countries when we are in what Obama calls the worst economic crisis sine the Great Depression. This is getting ridiculous… That 448 Million Dollars is money our children and grandchildren will have to repay. When will this reckless spending stop? When will this President wake up and realize that our children can not finance any more of his pet projects.
Change we can believe in????
I will be attending the local “tea Party” on April 15th. Methinks you patriots on WMB should do also.
http://www.teapartyday.com
Report comment to moderator
Full disclosure:
I am as old as dirt, though not really old enough to make this wisecrack, but I will anyway.
I saw the real Boston tea party. You’re not tea party.
Report comment to moderator
back to topJoin The Conversation
You need to be a registered user of WORLDonTheWeb.com to "join the conversation."
If you are not a member yet, what are you waiting for? Register / Login Now!