Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Rational Voting
In his newsletter today, Jeff Myers excerpts a USA Today article from a couple years quoting students and their reasons for not voting:
Preston, University of North Carolina: "It's not rational for me to spend my time voting. It's not going to make a difference."
Mike, University of Michigan: "I'm busy. I'm a college student; I don't have the time. One day I'll do my own research and be knowledgeable enough."
Cheryl, New York University: "I guess I didn't want to go to my elementary school to vote. I don't know, it sounded kind of intimidating--going into a booth and pressing buttons. I don't even know when I can vote. Is it the first week of September?"
Albert, New York University: "I don't care enough to care about why I don't care."
Michael, Former voter registration coordinator: "It's not that I don't care. It's just that I've got more things to worry about, like myself."
I, for one, will not be among the non-voters next week!
Tim
10,740 days
Preston, University of North Carolina: "It's not rational for me to spend my time voting. It's not going to make a difference."
Mike, University of Michigan: "I'm busy. I'm a college student; I don't have the time. One day I'll do my own research and be knowledgeable enough."
Cheryl, New York University: "I guess I didn't want to go to my elementary school to vote. I don't know, it sounded kind of intimidating--going into a booth and pressing buttons. I don't even know when I can vote. Is it the first week of September?"
Albert, New York University: "I don't care enough to care about why I don't care."
Michael, Former voter registration coordinator: "It's not that I don't care. It's just that I've got more things to worry about, like myself."
I, for one, will not be among the non-voters next week!
Tim
10,740 days
Stupid Iraq
"You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, and if you don’t you get stuck in Iraq."
--John Kerry, October 30, 2006
--John Kerry, October 30, 2006
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Friday, October 27, 2006
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Friday, October 13, 2006
Criminal Misapplication
Crime in the United States dropped during the 1990s.
Instead of giving glory to God for his mercy, some decided to give credit to abortion which started approximately 18 years before the drop in crime.
Now, that drop is crime is suddenly vanishing. ABC News is reporting:
Startling New Stats Show Cross-Country Crime Spike
'Can't Arrest Our Way Out of This,' Cincinnati Police Chief Says
What happened to the great abortion solution? It's not as if abortion suddenly stopped 18 years ago to cause this spike.
The LORD hates ... hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6).
Instead of giving glory to God for his mercy, some decided to give credit to abortion which started approximately 18 years before the drop in crime.
Now, that drop is crime is suddenly vanishing. ABC News is reporting:
Startling New Stats Show Cross-Country Crime Spike
'Can't Arrest Our Way Out of This,' Cincinnati Police Chief Says
What happened to the great abortion solution? It's not as if abortion suddenly stopped 18 years ago to cause this spike.
The LORD hates ... hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6).
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
A special comment about lying
YouTube - Olbermann's Special Comment on All The President's Lies
MSNBC: Transcript (including original video), original Audio
Monday, October 9, 2006
Adding hours to your day
From How to Have a 36 Hour Day:
I know where I need to make some changes. How about you?
Tim
10,718 days
- Sleep. Get up on time.
- Eat. Not eat less, but get your body to spend less time on eating, digesting and eliminating.
- Multi-Task. Exercise while you read email and Bloglines!
- Organize. Stop spinning your wheels in circles. (Ha! How's that for a double entendre from mixing metaphors?)
- Type fast.
- Read fast. I'm not sure I agree with reading fast as much as read the less important stuff faster, or just read less of the less important stuff.
- Read less, listen more. Audio books have their place. (Although, I think that makes it harder to take notes, capture ideas, blog paragraphs, etc.)
- Delegate more to machines. Be lazy. If you can teach a computer to do it, why should you be doing it? (This, however, both can have a high learning curve for some things, and require never-ending maintenance that can actually take hours away from your day. In all things moderation.)
- Delegate less to the TV. You only get so much from TV, and usually less than is deserved by the time that you give it. In other words, turn it off! (The same is probably true of where you spend time reading and watching online.)
- Delegate more to people. It's ok if you don't have the authority, and it's ok if they're not getting paid. It's called asking for help. Yes, this make take (gasp!) humility, but it can be done.
I know where I need to make some changes. How about you?
Tim
10,718 days
Friday, October 6, 2006
Stand Up Next to God
In the course of battle, a commander would give careful instructions to the officers responsible for commanding the troops.
After laying out the battle plan, he would ask them two questions:
"Do you understand the order of the battle?" and,
"Do you commit yourself as a responsible lieutenant commander?"
If the answer was affirmative on both counts, the lieutenant saluted and said, "Yes, sir!"
We are called to live responsibly in an unstable world. It became unstable the moment that man chose disobedience to God. As we grow in the Christian life, our responsibility grows. If we ever had a call to personal responsibility, we have it in this imperative:
The Imperative of Self-Control
After laying out the battle plan, he would ask them two questions:
"Do you understand the order of the battle?" and,
"Do you commit yourself as a responsible lieutenant commander?"
If the answer was affirmative on both counts, the lieutenant saluted and said, "Yes, sir!"
We are called to live responsibly in an unstable world. It became unstable the moment that man chose disobedience to God. As we grow in the Christian life, our responsibility grows. If we ever had a call to personal responsibility, we have it in this imperative:
The Imperative of Self-Control
Is North Dakota Pro-Life?
Of all the 50 states in the Union today, only one has the ignominious distinction of having two senators who wish to appear voting pro-life, but in the end vote against enacting pro-life laws.
The legislation in question here is the Child Custody Protection Act (S. 403), also known as the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (H.R. 748).
If anyone other than a parent were transporting a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion in circumvention of state abortion restrictions, this federal legislation would require an abortionist to notify the parents of that minor child of the impending abortion.
This is not a consent requirement--just notification.
So, even if the parents objected to their minor daughter getting an abortion out-of-state, they have no legal means to stop it. This is legislation that 80% of the public supports.
The original bill in the Senate only made transporting a minor across state lines a crime, and did not have the notification requirement. The vote was 65-34. When the notification requirement was added in the House of Representatives (264-153), Sen. Durbin (D-IL) blocked the bill in the Senate.
About this, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) wrote to one of his constituents, "I supported the bill because it is vitally important that parents be involved in the decision to have an abortion." He continued, "Having supported the Child Custody Protection Act, I am disappointed to hear about this objection and hopeful that it will be lifted so that the bill can move forward (emphasis added)" (Letter PDF).
Sen. Frist (R-TN) forced a vote on the issue with a cloture petition, but that requires 60 votes for passage. You would think with the original bill garnering 65 votes this wouldn't be a problem. Not so. The cloture motion failed by 3 votes, going down 57-42. This was the Senate's final vote of the year before the election.
Eight Senators switched their votes from Yea to Nay with the parental notification requirement added. Both Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) voted for the bill, and then against allowing it to "move forward."
Doesn't the state of North Dakota deserve to have at least one Senator who truly supports legislation with 80% support of the population?
Dwight Grotberg is running against Kent Conrad in the upcoming elections. He said, "The Child Custody Protection Act was an important bill that would have protected our children from being exploited by others and helped safe-guard a parent's ability to guide a daughter facing important, life-impacting decisions regarding pregnancy and abortion. As a parent, I would have given this bill my unwavering support.
"I believe North Dakotans would have been much better served by a vote in favor of the Child Custody Protection Act as it would have helped improve the effectiveness of our own two-parent notification state abortion law and brought a higher level of accountability to the abortion industry nationwide."
The people of North Dakota will have a chance to put a real pro-life vote in the Senate in 32 days.
The legislation in question here is the Child Custody Protection Act (S. 403), also known as the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (H.R. 748).
If anyone other than a parent were transporting a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion in circumvention of state abortion restrictions, this federal legislation would require an abortionist to notify the parents of that minor child of the impending abortion.
This is not a consent requirement--just notification.
So, even if the parents objected to their minor daughter getting an abortion out-of-state, they have no legal means to stop it. This is legislation that 80% of the public supports.
The original bill in the Senate only made transporting a minor across state lines a crime, and did not have the notification requirement. The vote was 65-34. When the notification requirement was added in the House of Representatives (264-153), Sen. Durbin (D-IL) blocked the bill in the Senate.
About this, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) wrote to one of his constituents, "I supported the bill because it is vitally important that parents be involved in the decision to have an abortion." He continued, "Having supported the Child Custody Protection Act, I am disappointed to hear about this objection and hopeful that it will be lifted so that the bill can move forward (emphasis added)" (Letter PDF).
Sen. Frist (R-TN) forced a vote on the issue with a cloture petition, but that requires 60 votes for passage. You would think with the original bill garnering 65 votes this wouldn't be a problem. Not so. The cloture motion failed by 3 votes, going down 57-42. This was the Senate's final vote of the year before the election.
Eight Senators switched their votes from Yea to Nay with the parental notification requirement added. Both Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) voted for the bill, and then against allowing it to "move forward."
Doesn't the state of North Dakota deserve to have at least one Senator who truly supports legislation with 80% support of the population?
Dwight Grotberg is running against Kent Conrad in the upcoming elections. He said, "The Child Custody Protection Act was an important bill that would have protected our children from being exploited by others and helped safe-guard a parent's ability to guide a daughter facing important, life-impacting decisions regarding pregnancy and abortion. As a parent, I would have given this bill my unwavering support.
"I believe North Dakotans would have been much better served by a vote in favor of the Child Custody Protection Act as it would have helped improve the effectiveness of our own two-parent notification state abortion law and brought a higher level of accountability to the abortion industry nationwide."
The people of North Dakota will have a chance to put a real pro-life vote in the Senate in 32 days.
Thursday, October 5, 2006
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
Pre-election session wrap-up
Do you know who Tola is?
He was a judge in Israel who barely garners a mention in the book of Judges. Here's the whole story: "Now after Abimelech died, Tola ('Worm') the son of Puah ('Splendid'), the son of Dodo ('His Beloved'), a man of Issachar ('There is Recompense'), arose to save Israel ('God prevails'); and he lived in Shamir ('Thorn') in the hill country of Ephraim ('double ash-heap: I shall be doubly fruitful'). He judged Israel 23 years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir" (Judges 10:1-2).
The elections are in 34 days. Please pray that the people of America would elect humble leaders similarly low on drama and high on faithfulness.
My latest Legislative Update is available:
He was a judge in Israel who barely garners a mention in the book of Judges. Here's the whole story: "Now after Abimelech died, Tola ('Worm') the son of Puah ('Splendid'), the son of Dodo ('His Beloved'), a man of Issachar ('There is Recompense'), arose to save Israel ('God prevails'); and he lived in Shamir ('Thorn') in the hill country of Ephraim ('double ash-heap: I shall be doubly fruitful'). He judged Israel 23 years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir" (Judges 10:1-2).
The elections are in 34 days. Please pray that the people of America would elect humble leaders similarly low on drama and high on faithfulness.
My latest Legislative Update is available:
- Last week was a whirlwind of activity on Capitol Hill--probably one of the busiest and most productive in years. The Washington Post reports the House of Representatives alone passed 165 bills. The dust is still settling on all the legislation pushed through the system, and we hope to unpack some of that for you here.
Congress has officially adjourned to go home and get itself re-elected in 34 days (33 Senate races, House races) and plans a lame duck session for the week following the election, and for two weeks in December.
- Defense Authorization - Military Chaplains
- Port Security - Internet Gambling
- Border Security - Embracing America
- Child Custody Protection Act - Passage vs. Cloture
- Recent Votes
- Possible Lame Duck Session Votes
Monday, October 2, 2006
Freedom Over Stability
"We are now in the early hours of this struggle between tyranny and freedom.
"Amid the violence, some question whether the people of the Middle East want their freedom, and whether the forces of moderation can prevail. For 60 years, these doubts guided our policies in the Middle East. And then, on a bright September morning, it became clear that the calm we saw in the Middle East was only a mirage.
"Years of pursuing stability to promote peace had left us with neither.
"So we changed our policies, and committed America's influence in the world to advancing freedom and democracy as the great alternatives to repression and radicalism."
--George W. Bush, September 11, 2006
19 and 20 days after The Path to 9/11 aired on ABC, I watched the whole program. Putting aside the controversy and defensiveness of those in our government now and before, one message came through loud and clear: We are at war.
I watched this right after reading the news about Christian Coalition's new president, my Florida pastor, Joel Hunter.
In some ways, it felt like two different worlds: the culture war with America, and the culture war within America. Both are a struggle for life that voters would do well to remember in November. Yet, both seem worlds apart.
We should not forget either one.
Tim
10,711 days
"Amid the violence, some question whether the people of the Middle East want their freedom, and whether the forces of moderation can prevail. For 60 years, these doubts guided our policies in the Middle East. And then, on a bright September morning, it became clear that the calm we saw in the Middle East was only a mirage.
"Years of pursuing stability to promote peace had left us with neither.
"So we changed our policies, and committed America's influence in the world to advancing freedom and democracy as the great alternatives to repression and radicalism."
--George W. Bush, September 11, 2006
19 and 20 days after The Path to 9/11 aired on ABC, I watched the whole program. Putting aside the controversy and defensiveness of those in our government now and before, one message came through loud and clear: We are at war.
I watched this right after reading the news about Christian Coalition's new president, my Florida pastor, Joel Hunter.
In some ways, it felt like two different worlds: the culture war with America, and the culture war within America. Both are a struggle for life that voters would do well to remember in November. Yet, both seem worlds apart.
We should not forget either one.
Tim
10,711 days
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