Louis Bouyer on the Reformation

On this Reformation Day, I bring to your attention one of my favorite essays, penned by the president of Ignatius Press, Mark Brumley. Entitled, “Why Only Catholicism Can Make Protestantism Work: Louis Bouyer on the Reformation,” Brumley writes:

Interpreting the Reformation is complicated business. But like many complicated things, it can be simplified sufficiently well that even non-experts can get the gist of it. Here’s what seems a fairly accurate but simplified summary ofSource: Southern Appeal RSS Feed

Scozzafava Quits NY Race For Hoffman

From the Associated Press:

Republican in NY House race suspends campaign

ALBANY, N.Y. — Republican Dierdre Scozzafava has suspended her campaign for the New York House and is encouraging supporters to embrace Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman.

Campaign spokesman Matt Burns says she thinks dropping out of the 23rd Congressional District race is in the best interests of the party.

The announcement comes after a Siena College poll found she was in thirdSource: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

Another Education Road Sign Screaming “Stop!”

This morning the National Center for Education Statistics released a new report, Mapping State Proficiency Standards Onto NAEP Scores: 2005-2007.  What the results make clear (for about the billionth time) is that government control of education has put us on a road straight to failure. Still, many of those who insist on living in denial about constant government failure in education will yet again refuse to acknowledge reality, and will actually point to this report as a reason toSource: Cato-at-liberty RSS Feed

Obama Continues to Put Off Afghanistan Decision

The Washington Post reports:

President Obama has asked senior officials for a province-by-province analysis of Afghanistan to determine which regions are being managed effectively by local leaders and which require international help, information that his advisers say will guide his decision on how many additional U.S. troops to send to the battle.

Obama made the request in a meeting Monday with Vice President Biden and a small group of senior advisers helping him decideSource: PoliGazette RSS Feed

The GOP brand

MSNBC's First Read:

the GOP’s brand is still a mess. According to the poll, just 25% have a positive opinion of the party (compared with 42% for the Dem Party), which ties the GOP's low-water mark in the survey and which is a worse score than it ever had during the Bush presidency. (Honest question: Can the party still blame Bush for their problems if their numbers have gotten lower since he left the scene?) In addition, only 23% approve of the way in which congressional Republicans Source: Daily Kos RSS Feed

Oops! Stimulus jobs overstated by White House

I'm still trying to figure out the difference between a "saved" or "created " job. But AP finds out that the White House can't count very well. If the stimulus is really "Putting America to Work," then it's not doing it at the level the Obama administration claims.
An early progress report on President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan overstates by thousands the number of jobs created or saved through the stimulus program, a mistake that White House officials promise will beSource: Marathon Pundit RSS Feed

Airing Live On AM1100: The Say Anything Show “Does Obama Hate Girls?” Edition

If you miss the live broadcast you can catch a re-broadcast of the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night shows on URLRadio.net from 11:00am - 12:00pm central time. Or you can always download past shows via the podcast.

The Say Anything Show - Fullscreen

ON TONIGHT’S SHOW: Feminists are complaining that Obama isn’t playing with enough girls. Seriously. Is there anything liberals do that doesn’t have to meet some collectively-set standard for political correctness andSource: Say Anything RSS Feed

Harry Reid Announces Plan For Public Option With Opt-Out Provision

The public option has probably received more attention than any other aspect of health care reform even though it will only affect a minority of people who are eligible to select it. Harry Reid announced today the Senate bill will include a public option with an opt-out provision for states.

The public option would be a government-run health insurance plan similar to the Medicare program except that it would be paid out of premiums from those who choose the plan. Different proposalsSource: Liberal Values RSS Feed

Southern White Teams Just Didn’t Play Black Ones, but One Game Ended All That

Members of the 1969 Florida A & M football team gathered in Tallahassee over the weekend.
By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN
NYT
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — On a Saturday night 40 football seasons ago, just before kickoff of the penultimate game in his career, Coach Jake Gaither of Florida A&M strode toward midfield of Tampa Stadium. There he extended his hand to the opposing coach, Fran Curci of the University of Tampa, and they strained to speak above the din of a capacity crowd.Source: Vox Verax RSS Feed

Odes to a bicycle bell

you only exist
as sound
Thanks to local Pittsburgh artists, Eric "Erok” Boerer and Teresa Foley, you can now have a bike bell ringtone. It's free and according to Erok, I’ve noticed that bike bells tend to bring smiles to people’s faces. No matter what happens, when you ring that bell, people get a kick out of it. It's also the most popular ringtone - 300 downloads and counting - on Foley's new website, Locally Toned. With a $1,000 grant from the Fine Foundation as well asSource: Bicycle Diaries RSS Feed

No break for granny

"This happenned yesterday in Boro park this 80 year old begged this traffic cop not to ticket her for being 1 minute late.... but the ruthless senseless cop did what all the traffic agents do: act inhuman and unfair.
Vote for Bloomberg and it will get only worse!
Pass it on! show the true picture of Bloomberg!" - smiling dreidel

Source: Queens Crap RSS Feed

AP/NATO Give Obama Cover On Troops

From a short term memory deficient Associated Press:

Participants of the Informal Meeting of NATO Defense Ministers pose for a photo after its last session in Bratislava October 23, 2009. NATO members: no more troops to Afghanistan now

By SLOBODAN LEKIC and VANESSA GERA (AP)

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — NATO members the Netherlands and Denmark said Friday they will not send more troops to Afghanistan unless its Nov. 7 presidential runoff creates a legitimate government andSource: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

Watchdog Excoriates Execution of TARP

It’s unusual that I use a headline from a source but this is about right.

A Treasury Department watchdog is warning that a key $700 billion bailout program has damaged the government’s credibility, won’t earn taxpayers all their money back and has done little to change a culture of recklessness on Wall Street.

“The American people’s belief that the funds went into a black hole, or that there was a transfer of wealth from taxpayers to Wall Street, is one of the worstSource: Say Anything RSS Feed

Hidden Costs For Seniors In Senate Bill

Discreetly tucked away in the New York Times Prescriptions Blog:

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., left, holds up the gavel he used as speaker pro tempore when Medicare passed in 1965, during a news conference on seniors and health care reform with Speaker of the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington. For Seniors, Hidden Costs in a Senate Bill

By Milt Freudenheim

October 20, 2009

The Senate Finance CommitteeSource: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

Tell America to Stop Backing Terrorist Attacks on Iran: The Frontier Post, Pakistan

Could it be that the United States is somehow behind or involved with the suicide attack on a meeting that included senior members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard?

According to this editorial from Pakistan’s Frontier Post, which is published right along the Afghan-Pakistan border, there is every reason to believe that the attack, claimed by the Sunni group Jundallah which is fighting for an independent Balochistan, was launched from Pakistani territory with the full knowledge of theSource: The Moderate Voice RSS Feed

Airing Live On AM1100: The Say Anything Show “Is It Time To Legalize Pot?” Edition

If you miss the live broadcast you can catch a re-broadcast of the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night shows on URLRadio.net from 11:00am - 12:00pm central time. Or you can always download past shows via the podcast.

The Say Anything Show - Fullscreen

ON TONIGHT’S SHOW: Obama is promising not to target those using marijuana in accordance with state laws with federal law enforcement measures. Is that good or bad? I’ll be debating the issue with Rep. Dan Ruby, andSource: Say Anything RSS Feed

Afghan Watcher

Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. William GreesonAn Afghan girl watches as Afghan National Army soldiers and U.S. Marines with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment conduct a civil affairs group patrol in the Nawa District of Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The Marines are deployed to support NATO's International Security Assistance Force and will participate in counterinsurgency operations. They will train and mentor Afghan National Security Forces to improve security and stability in the country. ClickSource: U.S. Torture and Atrocities RSS Feed

Bloomberg vows to fire commissioners - if re-elected

From the NY Post:
If he wins a third term, Mayor Bloomberg says he's going to fire about a half-dozen underperforming commissioners.
Okay, so if they've been underperforming for a while now, then why do they still have their jobs? For example, Nazli's been throwing gutterballs for years now, so why does she still make 6 figures?
Photo from the Public Art Network

Source: Queens Crap RSS Feed

A fortnight goes by with no change from ComRes

CON 40%(nc) LAB 28%(nc) LD 19%(nc)

But voters would “think better of Brown if he stood down“

The first of what are likely to be two polls tonight is just out - ComRes for the Independent on Sunday - has just been published and shpws no change whatsoever compared with the firm’s last survey just a fortnight ago. That was taken between the Labour and Tory conferences.

I’m not convinced by the John Rentoul’s suggestion that this is a post conference poll.Source: Political Betting RSS Feed

Man Builds Full-Scale Working Replica of Noah's Ark

Isn't it amazing what a person can do if he sets his mind to it? A man in The Netherlands has built a full-scale working replica of Noah's Ark.

Spirit Daily has more including a whole page filled with some amazing photographs!

Genesis 5:29 -- And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.”

The man built the ark to inspire the people of The Netherlands toSource: Why Mommy is a Republican RSS Feed

A Believer in Heroism, to Jews’ Lasting Gratitude

Dr. Tina Strobos in her Westchester apartment.
By JOSEPH BERGER
NYT
RYE, N.Y.
The walls of Dr. Tina Strobos’s light-filled apartment here are dappled not only with paintings but also with the many plaques she has received from Jewish organizations, even though she is not Jewish.
Dr. Strobos, a sturdy 89, is honored every so often for the quietly valiant things she did almost 70 years ago as a medical student during the German occupation of the Netherlands:Source: Vox Verax RSS Feed

Driven to distraction

hands free hazard
Part II
Slate has more on the Feds' refusal to pursue research on the cellphone use of cagers. It goes one step further by exploring possible ways federal agencies have suggested to prevent driving and dialing. They range from the obvious - Stop the vehicle in a safe location that is off the road, well away from traffic, before they receive or place their calls - to the doubtful - Allow a passenger to receive or place calls. How many cagers actually haveSource: Bicycle Diaries RSS Feed

riots rattled ancient french town

Washington Post | Under a bright autumn sun, the narrow lanes of ancient Poitiers teemed with families enjoying a lighthearted celebration of street theater. Suddenly, a knot of black-clad youths emerged from the crowd. They donned plastic masks, pulled up their hoods and started destroying everything in sight.
In what police described as an organized attack, the band shattered store windows, damaged the facades of several banks and spray-painted anarchist slogans on governmentSource: subrealism RSS Feed

Teabaggers Go On Safari

Mistakes happen. It really can't be helped. Do anything long enough and you're going to screw something up. Glass half-full types will tell you that we make mistakes to learn from them, that each time we get everything all balled up, we wind up coming out better and wiser in the end. These people have apparently never met a rightwinger.
For the right, the only mistake is in working outside a rigid ideological fence. As long as you stay within this fence -- no matter how badly thisSource: Griper Blade RSS Feed

AP Howler: Snowe, Not Palin, Is 'Real GOP Maverick'

Yesterday afternoon, Laurie Kellman of the Apparatchik Press -- er, the Associated Press -- opened a supposedly straight news report with the following:

Forget Sarah Palin. The female maverick of the Republican Party is Sen. Olympia Snowe.

Kellman's opening is revealing on a number of levels. To bring Palin into this at all exposes the establishment press's obsession with dissing her at every conceivable opportunity. It also classically employs the "sudden respect" technique theSource: NewsBusters RSS Feed

89th House candidate bio raises questions

The Virginian-Pilot profiled the candidates in the 89th House district race Friday. Incumbent Democrat Kenny Alexander faces the challenge of independent candidate Anthony J. Triplin. The Pilot raised some issues of judgments  being rendered against Triplin, who is making his first run for office. But it appears that there are other issues as well.

I’ve previously mentioned the lack of expenditures on Triplin’s campaign reports. The last two, in fact, showed noSource: Vivian J. Paige RSS Feed

The Blackhawks set a record- and remind their fans why they hope

Anyone who wonders why we long-suffering fans of the Chicago Blackhawks are so hopeful about this team need not go back to last year's impressive regular season or amazing playoff run. All such a person needs to do is to look at tonight's game.
Calgary opened the game by scoring five unanswered goals. Cristobel Huet was pulled after allowing three goals in the Flames' first five shots . Backup Antti Niemi didn't look much better. Things didn't look good after the first period.
Source: watersblogged! RSS Feed

District 18 Team Holds Town Hall

By Delegate Jeff Waldstreicher (D-18).
Last week, the District 18 Democratic Team—Senator Rich Madaleno and Delegates Al Carr, Ana Sol Gutierrez, and I — held a town hall meeting in Silver Spring. These forums are a wonderful way for us to keep in touch with the constituents we are privileged to serve.



The number of questions asked about specific topics provides us with a window into the concerns of residents. With the national conversation dominated bySource: Maryland Politics Watch RSS Feed

Haha, Ezra Klein Does Have a Sense of Humor

Who, I ask you, who, would’ve thought? Ezra Klein – the man who takes himself way too seriously – does have a sense of humor:

I give David Brooks a hard time sometimes, but I really do wish the conservative movement would follow his example. “If I were in Congress, I’d figure there’s an 80 percent chance of something like [the Baucus bill] passing anyway,” he writes. “I might as well get engaged as a provisional supporter to fight to make it better, or at least toSource: PoliGazette RSS Feed

An Update in New Jersey (10/9/09)

I don't know that there is much to say here. The race for governor in New Jersey is very simply getting tighter. Jon Corzine found himself again on top of the race in a poll for the second time this week, doubling his total of polls led from (way) earlier in the year. Now, that isn't to say that Chris Christie has lost the advantage -- he hasn't here at FHQ or elsewhere -- but the momentum is squarely against the Republican at the moment. And the sudden jump of independent Chris Daggett inSource: 2008 Democratic Convention Watch RSS Feed

Is Pickles trying to hijack the Lib Dems “fair votes” rhetoric?

Will this muddy the waters in the electoral reform debate?

It’s surprising that with electoral reform being pushed up the election agenda by Labour, the comments by Tory chairman, Eric Pickles, in his conference speech don’t seemed to have attracted much attention.

For under the banner of the Lib Dem “fair votes” rhetoric Pickles is pressing for the Tory version of electors reform which involves cutting the numbers of seats and having fresh boundary reviews after eachSource: Political Betting RSS Feed

It’s almost no change with the YouGov tracker

CON 41% (+1) LAB 28% (+1) LD 18%(-2)

The latest figures, based on polling that mostly took place last night, are above. Tomorrow’s tracker will be the first indication of reaction to Osbornes plans and his pension gamble.

The moves today are not very big - all within the margin of error for all parties.

The Lib Dem share seemed to be the one that’s moving about most and there’s no real explanation.

Mike Smithson

Source: Political Betting RSS Feed

John Kerry: Killing the Economy is How We Reduce Emissions

By Steve Everley

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), who along with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) recently introduced the Senate version of the energy tax, let the cat out of the bag about what we have to do in order to meet the requirements of their devastating bill: prolong the recession. Kerry said:
"Let me emphasize something very strongly as we begin this discussion. The United States has already this year alone achieved a 6 percent reduction in emissions simply because of the downturn inSource: The Two Malcontents RSS Feed

Michael Moore Film Used Non-Union Labor

This tidbit from the New York Post almost slipped by us:

Filmmaker Michael Moore (2nd R) waits to speak at a news conference "to challenge President Obama and the Democrats to stand strong on healthcare reform that includes a public option," in Washington September 29, 2009. Union teaches Michael Moore a lesson

Michael Moore, champion of the working class, used non-union stagehands to film "Capitalism: A Love Story."

The porcine provocateur is promoting his anti-WallSource: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

Moore’s “Capitalism” Doing Horrible

Oh my, it seems that Michael Moore’s heydays as big shot documentary filmmaker are over:

Michael Moore’s purposefully controversial and politically polarizing documentary Capitalism: A Love Story was distributed by Overture Films and wound up in 7th place. It went wide into 962 theaters this weekend after opening on September 23rd in a limited release of 4 theaters. The pic about the financial crisis made $1.6M Friday and $2M Saturday (+33%) for a $4.8M weekend and $5.2M cume.Source: PoliGazette RSS Feed

Price of Politics: Film Tax Credit Report Monday

Number of comments: 0
(Photo courtesy: www.ing.com)
I checked with the spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Economic Development tonight. And she said, best she knows, the report will come out Monday on the state's film tax credit program. The interim director of the department, Fred Hubbell, also

Source: BlogNetNews.com/Iowa RSS Feed

Eating Candy As Kid Linked To Adult Crime

From the former news magazine, Time:

Eating Candy in Childhood Linked to Adult Crime

By Alice Park

What parent hasn’t used candy to pacify a cranky child or head off a brewing tantrum? When reasoning, threats and time-outs fail, a sugary treat often does the trick. But while that chocolate-covered balm may be highly effective in the short term, say British scientists, it may be setting youngsters up for problem behavior later. According to a new study, kids who eatSource: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

Credit Card Skimming Survey: What’s Your Magstripe Worth?

Ever wonder how much the data on the back of your credit card is worth to a corrupt food service worker? The answer, it turns out, depends on which restaurants you frequent in Florida.

For some reason, the Sunshine State is a hotbed of federal prosecutions for “skimming”, in which a retail or service worker with a criminal bent swipes your credit card through a pocket-sized magstripe reader when you’re not looking — capturing your name, card number, expiration date and otherSource: Threat Level RSS Feed