Signs and Wonders 03.02
Big day for Romney. First of all, let’s admit that Tuesday was a good day for Mitt Romney, with a strong win in Arizona and a close victory in Michigan. But it’s important to note that Romney has only 168 delegates. His opponents combined total 139 so far. Nevada is the only state Romney has won with a clear majority of the popular vote, and that state is a special case: 25 percent of Republican caucus goers were Mormon, and they voted for Romney at a rate above 90 percent. Make no mistake; Romney remains the favorite to win the nomination. Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich are not even on the ballot in Virginia, and Romney is well organized and well funded in the “winner take all” states that have their primaries in April and beyond. But we are starting to hear more talk of a brokered GOP convention, and that would have been “crazy-talk” just eight weeks ago.
Not so family-friendly. Education choice advocates cried foul in early February when the Obama administration revealed its proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 — one that cancels all federal funding for a popular school choice program in the District of Columbia. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program has, since 2003, given low-income children in the District the opportunity to escape the failing public schools to which they’ve been assigned by ZIP code and instead attend the private school of their parents’ choice. The nation’s first federally funded school choice program, it boasts a 91 percent high school graduation rate, compared to only 70 percent citywide among children with similar backgrounds. The budget also eliminated abstinence education funding nationwide.
The high cost of gasoline. I’ve been to Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Nashville in the past two weeks, and I paid more than $4 per gallon for gas in Los Angeles. The nationwide average is now more than $3.60 a gallon, and that’s up 25 cents since Jan. 1. Experts say that prices could reach a record $4.25 a gallon by late April. Economists say a 25-cent jump in gasoline prices, if sustained over a year, would cost the economy about $35 billion. That’s only 0.2 percent of the total U.S. economy, but economists say it’s a meaningful amount, especially at a time when growth is only so-so.
Remembrances. A couple of interesting and instructive events took place on this week in history. On Feb. 26, 380, Emperor Theodosius I, with co-emperors Gratian and Vanentinian II, issued the Edict of Thessalonica, which declared their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Christianity. On Feb. 25, 1570, Pope Pius V excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England. The event is considered significant in the establishment of the Church of England. Also on Feb. 25, in 1919, Oregon instituted a one-cent tax on gasoline, becoming the first state in the nation to do so. On Feb. 26, 1802, Victor Hugo was born. Hugo wrote, in his masterwork Les Miserables, a line that pretty well describes the modern world: “God is behind everything, but everything hides God.”

















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back to top7 Comments to “Signs and Wonders 03.02”
Why would President Obama’s administration be against school choice?
I think we all know the answer – though is is unpleasant. Special interests.
We need a leader who truly puts the people of the nation before lobbyists and other special interests.
We all (conservative and liberal) have an interest in a quality education for all the nation’s children.
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It is wishful thinking that Romney won’t get the nomination. One way that he might not is if enough people would get solidly behind the only one who is substantively different.
Lest anyone forget, the 70% graduation rate comes from a government project (and one that is very well funded compared to the national average). The 90% rate comes from private institutions. The difference is not the money spent but the underlying worldview and the methodologies employed.
Thanks, Mr. Smith, for the little almanac of historical facts. I always enjoy little nuggets of learning.
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The effect of Obama’s budget is that only rich kids get a decent education in the District. Under the Scholarship progra, a few had a chance.
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which declared their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Christianity
And a few hundred years later, people by the thousands who didn’t “wish” to, died in excruciating pain at the sadistic hands of Christian Inquisitors. And 1,558 bloodsoaked years later the first of 7 million Jews died…
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When did Christians kill 7 million Jews?
BTW, lots less people died in the Inquisition than people think. Far less, for example, than died under any one of the secular despotic governments of the 20th century.
That doesn’t excuse the fact that it is wrong, but — if you’re going to use it as an example of “evil Christianity” then you’re going to have to deal with “evil” secular humanism and “evil” other religions too.
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Basically, humans have an evil streak and — when not truly redeemed — those same humans (calling themselves whatever they want) do some really nasty things to each other.
To pretend that it is just Christians (or people calling themselves Christians), or that Christians have been the worst, is simply nonsense.
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But, Tammy, according to Arcadia, Stalin was a devout Christian who killed people because of his sincere Christian beliefs.
[rolling eyes]
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