Daddypundit

Advice to Dads of Daughters

2011-09-16T18:33:00.000-04:00

Here is a list of fifty rules for dads of daughters. It's a terrific list. I only wish I had thought of it.

Hat tip: Joe Carter

Rules for Dating

2011-09-15T21:30:00.000-04:00

This has been around for a while but still makes me laugh and I find particularly appropriate as a father of two daughters: Ten Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter.

Of course there is another simple way to handle it by following this rule.

9/11 Ten Years Later

2011-09-09T23:17:00.002-04:00

I remember it like it was yesterday.

Never forget.

Of Mice and Men

2011-06-30T23:05:00.000-04:00

One of the more charming things about living in a rural area is the occasional visitation by the odd field mouse. We've had one roaming around the house for some time now. Our cat thought it was a toy to be played with rather than a rodent to be killed. Makes me wonder why we have a cat in the first place.

Anyway, it finally got to the point where we had to call in an exterminator. No sooner had he laid the traps under the kitchen sink did we catch a mouse. Whether it was the same one we had seen before is debatable. It's also not clear whether he is the only invader of our home. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

For some strange reason this all has me thinking of a Robert Burns poem.

Depravity and Young Adult Fiction

2011-06-09T20:38:00.000-04:00

As a father of two teenage girls, I am very concerned about what books they read. Thankfully, neither of them like to read what's currently being offered in "young adult fiction" and for good reason. Look no further than Meghan Cox Gurdon's excellent essay in the Wall Street Journal:

How dark is contemporary fiction for teens? Darker than when you were a child, my dear: So dark that kidnapping and pederasty and incest and brutal beatings are now just part of the run of things in novels directed, broadly speaking, at children from the ages of 12 to 18.

Pathologies that went undescribed in print 40 years ago, that were still only sparingly outlined a generation ago, are now spelled out in stomach-clenching detail. Profanity that would get a song or movie branded with a parental warning is, in young-adult novels, so commonplace that most reviewers do not even remark upon it.

If books show us the world, teen fiction can be like a hall of fun-house mirrors, constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrayals of what life is. There are of course exceptions, but a careless young reader—or one who seeks out depravity—will find himself surrounded by images not of joy or beauty but of damage, brutality and losses of the most horrendous kinds.

Ms. Cox Gurdon bravely exposes the dark underbelly that is young adult fiction and goes further to show that this recent advent in publishing has been an increasingly detrimental trend. Take time to read this excellent essay.

Saying Goodbye to Facebook

2011-06-08T18:32:00.000-04:00

This morning I did something I had been thinking about for quite a while. For many in our internet-connected culture it will seem a little counter-cultural and probably would leave some scratching their heads. I deactivated by Facebook account.

This was a decision brought on (in part) by recent events in the news involving a congressman's online extracurricular activities. But it was also something I had been thinking about because I was never really comfortable allowing others to connect to me.

Granted, while I was on Facebook I did connect to college friends as well as members of my extended family. I managed to reconnect with folks I hadn't spoken to in many years.

I rarely received an unwanted message and can count on one hand the number of times I received an invitation to be friends with someone I didn't know.

It was convenient to have the news feed from a lot of different blogs and websites I follow in one central place. But there are other applications that allow that function without connecting with strangers.

I only signed up in the beginning because my girls were curious about having their own account. I signed up because I wasn't familiar with it at the time and needed to see what it was all about before allowing my girls to get on it. Ultimately I decided they didn't need an account and they both agreed with my decision.

But I still couldn't help shake the nagging feeling that this was not a good thing to have. I've never been interested in having a Twitter account and don't bother following anyone. While I enjoyed being on Facebook, increasingly I didn't have time to keep up with it or find things to share.

My mind kept coming back to a book I read several years ago by Jerry Jenkins entitled Hedges: Loving Your Marriage Enough to Protect It. It talks very frankly about sexual sin and how it can subtly enter into your marriage. In order to protect our marriages, we need to build "hedges" which are ground rules for interacting with the opposite sex that protect us from falling into the trap that sexual sin can put us in.

Increasingly what I realized was that with my Facebook account I was tearing a huge hole in the hedges that I had been placing around my marriage. Although I never had any issues while I was on Facebook I felt it was better to get out before a problem arose.

Social media can be a wonderful thing. But it also provides a wealth of danger. Recent news stories have shown that Facebook contributes to divorce. The bottom line is while it may seem innocent to reconnect with old friends it can present danger.

I know plenty of people that are on Facebook and have not run into any issues. I think whether to be involved in social media or not is a personal choice that each individual has to make. As I said before, I didn't have any problems with being on Facebook. But when I weigh everything together, it's better for me personally to not be out there allowing myself to be set up as a target for temptation. I don't want to do anything that puts my marriage and my family at risk. For me, the risks involved with being on Facebook outweigh the rewards.

It Could Be Worse.....

2011-06-04T21:32:00.000-04:00

I always tell my kids they are fortunate I don't do things that embarrass them (at least, not normally). I could have been like this guy.

At least his kid was a good sport about the whole thing.

A Great Quote on Writing A Book

2011-06-01T22:12:00.001-04:00

I saw this quote today and thought of both my daughters who are both aspiring writers (thanks to this course):

"Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with it is a toy, then an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then it becomes a tyrant and, in the last stage, just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public."

—Winston Churchill, Grosvenor House, London, November 2, 1949. From Churchill By Himself, edited by Richard Langworth, p. 49.

Favorite Eats: Provence Breads and Cafe

2011-05-27T20:18:00.000-04:00

Last week I made my annual jaunt to Nashville which is always a fun trip. My favorite part of visiting Nashville is that it's like visiting New York except on a much smaller (and more manageable scale). Nashville has so many things to offer including an abundance of great places to eat.

One of those places is Provence Breads and Cafe which is one of the best bakeries I've ever visited. I have a great weakness for breads and pastries. This place is a must visit when in the Music City. There are six locations throughout the city (including one at the airport for those passing through). The location I've visited is downtown at the Nashville Public Library at 601 Church Street. It's not everyday that you find a bakery at a library but it's a really cool spot to stop in.

My mission was to go and get a variety of their pastries for breakfast on our day of departure. However, I didn't arrive until around 10:00 and was reminded that it pays to come early (they open at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday through Friday) as the selection was pretty limited by the time I got there. Still, I was able to find plenty of goodies to take with me and we all had a wonderful breakfast before heading home.

The breads are also absolutely fabulous and they have a terrific selection of sandwiches they put together with their artisan breads. Imagine the bread at Panera Bread (one of the few chain restaurants I visit when I travel) only a little better. They also do fresh salads and have plenty of both available for those that need a quick lunch to go.

If you ever get the chance to visit Nashville, make a point to stop by a Provence Breads and Cafe. You won't be disappointed.

Moms and Politics

2011-05-08T20:09:00.000-04:00

One of the more interesting trends of late has been the increase in the number of mothers who are involved in politics. Dana Loesch has an excellent post on what motivates mothers to jump into the political fray. It's well worth the time to read.

This post also brought to mind Jamie Radtke who is running for the U. S. Senate here in Virginia. Jamie is a friend of mine and, more importantly, mother of three. I also think she would make a great senator. She told me not long ago that her kids were a big motivator in running for Senate.

Moms have a lot of important things to say. We would be wise to listen to them.

Happy Mother's Day to moms everywhere.

Favorite Eats: Blue Collar Joe's

2011-04-22T22:10:00.000-04:00

If it wasn't for Food Network, I would have never discovered Blue Collar Joe's.

While my family and I were hanging out in our hotel in Richmond a couple of weeks ago we stumbled across an episode of Food Network Challenge featuring store owner Daniel Knight. The fact that his store was located in Daleville, Virginia just a couple of hours from our home was really exciting to us. Plus, it's just a stone's thrown down the road from one of my favorite barbecue joints so we had to stop on our way home.

Blue Collar Joe's speciality is its doughnuts (or donuts as they spell it on the menu). But their doughnuts are anything but typical. Featuring flavors such as the Botetourt Bog (a triple chocolate doughnut), Boston Creme Pie, Caramel Apple Pie, and German Chocolate Cake, they are anything but typcial doughnuts. Most of the flavors are cake doughnuts but unlike any I've ever had. I grew up on a steady diet of Krispy Kreme's yeast doughnuts but Blue Collar Joe's doughnuts are the lightest and tastiest cake doughnuts I've ever had.

They also serve wraps and hot dogs during the day and are known for terrific coffee. But the doughnuts are the real draw.

If you're travelling along Interstate 81 through Virginia make it a point to head down U. S. 220 just a couple of miles to the some of the best donuts you'll find anywhere.

End of an Era

2011-04-21T20:34:00.000-04:00

As a kid growing up in North Carolina, I fell in love with the University of North Carolina through its football and basketball teams. My father is a Carolina grad (class of '58) and I graduated from Chapel Hill thirty years later. In addition to my father, the one other person that helped nurture my love for Tar Heel blue was Woody Durham.

I grew up at a time when sports was not all over television as it is now. The idea of college sports being televised was still a rather novel idea. Fans connected with their teams through radio announcers much in the same way that baseball fans of years ago connected with their teams. What set these men apart is they didn't just announce the games. They had a unique connection with the teams and often served as the school's lead cheerleader.

Woody Durham just such an announcer. If you mention his name anywhere in North Carolina folks will immediately know who he is even if they don't follow Carolina sports. His voice also was featured in countless commercials across the state. In addition to his radio duties he hosted weekly television shows with the football and basketball coaches.

Fans connected to Woody in such a way that when Carolina games finally started being televised across the region it became tradition to "turn down the sound" on the television and listen to Woody's call of the game on the radio. On a side note, even during my years at Carolina I frequently watched games with friends on TV and the sound was turned down. I also frequently took a radio with me to the football games I attended. It was that important to hear what Woody had to say.

Another sign of Woody's connection to the fans: at games it was common practice at a football game for someone to start a chant of "Wood-y, Wood-y". The crowd would keep cheering until Woody would lean out of the press box and wave to the crowd.

During my last couple of years at Carolina I had the privilege to work with Woody. In 1987, I went to work at WCHL (the flagship station for the Tar Heel Sports Network - a collection of radio stations in North Carolina and along the eastern seaboard that carried the games - a network that existed primarily because of Woody) to help cover the U. S. Olympic Festival to be held that summer in the Triangle area. That job led to a even better position later that fall as a locker room reporter during home basketball games. For the entire season, I was able to sit in the press box with Woody and watch him work. At the time, I was seriously considering becoming a broadcaster because of Woody.
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I will never forget the commitment he had to every broadcast in getting every detail just right even down to the pronunciation of the players names. His recall of facts and figures was simply amazing. Most of all, he carried an enthusiasm for Carolina sports that was unrivaled among other announcers.

But all good things come to an end. After 40 years as "The Voice of the Tar Heels", Woody is calling it a career. He's leaving on his own terms which is just the way it should be. Of course Carolina sports will never be the same.

Thanks for the memories, Woody. It was an honor to know you and to be able to work alongside you even if it was for all too brief a time.

Why We Should Read Austen

2011-04-06T20:43:00.001-04:00

My wife and daughters are big Jane Austen fans. We watch just about every adaptation of her novels that comes along (although the 1995 Pride and Prejudice (Restored Edition) is our favorite) and the books are frequently read in our house. I must admit I've acquired an admiration for Austen's works over the years myself.

Mark Mitchell, writing at Front Porch Republic, has a great article on why we need to read Austen and how both ladies and gentlemen can benefit from diving into her novels. For example, here's what he has to say about how Austen can help guys to learn to be gentlemen:

Austen’s gentlemen (I’m thinking especially of Darcy here) understand the call of duty; they are committed to family, reputation, propriety, and self-control. To be sure, Darcy takes himself quite seriously, but aren’t these pursuits serious by nature? To neglect one’s duty, to be careless of one’s family and reputation, to ignore the bounds of propriety and to indulge the appetites without restraint are not the actions of a gentleman. They represent, conversely, the behavior of a boor. Or, perhaps equally fitting, they are the actions of a male who has no sense of what it means to be a man. Such characters may be Guys or Peter Pans but they are not men and surely not gentlemen.

Be sure to read the whole thing.

Hat tip: Joe Carter

Answers to Questions About Homeschooling

2011-03-31T23:54:00.000-04:00

Homeschoolers get questioned all the time about why they homeschool and tons of inane questions about homeschooling. Thanks to Deborah Markus at Secular Homeschooling, here is a list of answers to those pesky questions.

Hat tip: Joe Carter

Challenges of Raising Girls

2011-03-27T17:37:00.001-04:00

It's tough to be a parent of daughters these days when the culture is doing everything it can to undermine fundamental values that parents are trying to instill in their kids. Consider two recent examples:

A recent Tide commercial involved a teenage girl getting ready to go out on a date and wanting to wear a skirt that Dad thinks is immodest. Dad wipes his dirty hands on the skirt in the hopes of sabotaging her wardrobe choices for the evening. But Mom comes to the rescue washing the skirt in Tide so that the daughter can wear it out on the date. As Kathryn Jean Lopez points out, it's time for parents to step up to protect their kids. The main problem with this commercial is that Dad really knew best but Mom decided to undermine him and let her daughter go out in the inappropriate outfit.

Another story comes from Abercrombie and Fitch. Their latest marketing ploy is to offer push up bras for grade school girls. (Hat tip to Ed Morrissey) It's no great surprise that Ambercrombie and Fitch would be behind something like this since they have been selling inappropriate clothing and invoking soft porn in their catalogs and advertisements.

The question is, of course, why any parent with any sense would buy their kids clothes from that store at all.

It's tough these days in our over-sexualized culture to protect our daughters and help them make smart choices not just about the clothes they wear but many other things too. It's our job as dads to protect our daughters even if that means protecting them from themselves.

One final thought: when my daughters were younger (they are both teenagers now) we employed what we called the "touchdown test" to determine whether a top was appropriate. I would have them raise their arms above their heads (the referee's touchdown signal) to see whether a top was long enough to cover the belly. They now are able to make those decisions themselves and will often tell me before I have to tell them that a top is too small.

Origins of Sweet Tea

2011-03-21T20:53:00.000-04:00

While we were in Charleston, SC last week, we took our daughters on a carriage tour of the historic downtown area. If you go, be sure to check out Palmetto Carriage Works as they provide terrific tours.

Anyway, our guide Eric (who was fantastic) pointed out that Charleston was where tea originated in the United States. Turns out that he was right on this point: botanist Andre Michaux was responsible for developing the first tea plantation in the United States. They also can claim their own tea party in 1774 (Boston wasn't the only city to host one).

But the most interesting tidbit he offered (and I haven't been able to confirm this for certain) was that Charleston was the origin of that Southern elixir known as sweet tea. According to what Eric told us, residents found the local water was still too brackish tasting even after brewing tea. So their solution was to add a whole lot of sugar. Consequently, they developed sweet tea.

As I said, I don't know whether there is any truth to this but it sure makes for a good story.

By the way, here is a recipe for how to make perfect sweet iced tea. Enjoy!

Baseball Blogging At Eephus League

2011-03-20T19:27:00.000-04:00

I've been blogging about baseball for a long time but am pleased to announce that I've just joined the Eephus League of Baseball Minutiae as a contributor. Stop by there to check out all the great baseball blogging and be sure to check out my articles that will appear there periodically. Here's my first post for them.

Reviving the Lost Art of Scorekeeping

2011-03-15T07:43:00.000-04:00

Baseball, unlike any other sport, is not only to be watched but it is meant to be observed closely. Those who pay close attention to the game are rewarded by the rich treasure to be found in its minutiae.

One way to get in touch with the pace and feel of the game is to keep score. Again, unlike other sports, the scorecard unlocks the hidden secrets of the game. But most fans don't bother to keep score in part because they don't know how.

But thanks to an enterprising young woman, scorekeeping is destined to make a comeback this season. Bethany Heck, proprietor of the Eephus League of Baseball Minutiae has developed a terrific scorebook that is the perfect accompaniment to the game. She's been raising funds through Kickstart and already has raised twice her goal.

The beauty of keeping score is that it also is a perfect way for dads to introduce the game to their kids. I'm planning to teach both my daughters the joy of keeping score this season and Bethany's scorebook will be just the thing for the job.

If you've never tried to keep score, give it a whirl. I guarantee that once you get started you'll want to do it at every game. And you'll never watch a baseball game the same way again.

Rules of the Road

2011-03-14T06:33:00.001-04:00

Our family travels a lot mostly because my business travel usually takes me someplace I can drive to in a day. Since we homeschool we can take trips together which is, of course, a whole lot more fun. Along the way we've developed some guidelines to make our trips more enjoyable.

First, we usually take audiobooks with us on our trips. Most of our trips involve five to six hours in the car each way so it's a good way to pass the time (if we're not listening to satellite radio or just talking). Here is a brief list of some our favorite books.

Another thing we try to do from time to time is get off the interstate. Interstate highways may usually provide the most direct route from place to place but they are not always the most interesting. Sure, it takes longer to get some place if you get off the interstate but I guarantee it's a lot more interesting.

We also try not to rush getting anywhere. That way if we run across something interesting along the way we can stop and take a look.

If we're visiting someplace new we always try to do our homework first. It's always a good idea to figure out what your destination has to offer you that will be of interest. If you don't you'll end up wasting a lot of valuable time figuring out what to do.

Finally, we always try to eat at local dining establishments. The main problem I have with chain restaurants are that they are always the same. Some of our most interesting adventures involved finding good local joints to eat at. Over time, we've developed our favorites so that when we're in a certain place again and again we can go back to our favorite haunts.

Family travel is not as daunting as it may seem if you just plan ahead a little and make it an enjoyable experience for everyone.

The God Who Comforts

2011-03-12T18:42:00.000-05:00

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

- 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

An Observation On Work Ethic

2011-03-11T06:04:00.007-05:00

Chicago Cubs beat writer Carrie Muskat offered up this interesting observation on her blog the other day (hat tip: Bleed Cubbie Blue):

Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters in his career. Just 310 of them saw a 3-0 count. That's roughly one every three starts. Thanks to MLB Trade Rumors for the research.

So in other words, 1.5% of the batters Maddux faced over his career saw him go to a 3-0 count (meaning that he had very little control). Such performance does not happen by accident and is a testimony to the tremendous work ethic he brought to the game daily. How much better off would be as a nation if each one of us put that kind of dedication into our jobs? One can only wonder.

Dentists

2011-03-10T18:04:00.000-05:00

I spent a couple of hours at the dentist's office this afternoon getting several fillings in my molars. My dentist was drilling for an interminably long time. I thought he would never finish. In fact, I kept thinking back to this scene from Marathon Man:

Then I tried to think of something more cheery. So my mind drifted to this bit from Bill Cosby:

At least that thought made the afternoon more bearable.

Time For A Change

2011-03-09T22:31:00.000-05:00

When I started this blog back in 2004, I was very interested in following politics and writing a lot about what was happening in the election. It didn't hurt any that a friend of mine was running for Congress in our district, either. I had picked the name Daddypundit because I wanted it to represent that I was both a dad and a pundit (or at least an aspiring one).

But now I'm facing a blog identity crisis. True, I could write a lot about politics but many other fine (and far more talented bloggers) already do that. I could post each day offering links to other things that folks had written that I found interesting. Again, there are many others who already do that.

I've been thinking for some time that maybe it's time to start focusing on the "daddy" portion of my screen name and write more about things I'm experiencing as a father. I'm also thinking that maybe I'll talk more about things that my family enjoys or experiences together. In other words, I'll turn my focus away from writing about politics and culture and more about things that are more family and parenting oriented. From time to time I may still comment on a news story but for the most part I'm thinking this will be a little more personal blog.

My hope is to come back to an original purpose of this blog which is to share my experiences as a dad first and foremost. I'll still have other forums to write about politics and culture such as Stones Cry Out but this will be a little different here from now on.

So I hope you will join me on this journey as I turn my attention more towards my experiences as a dad. And I hope that you will enjoy this journey with me.

Reexamining Warren Harding

2011-03-05T09:15:00.001-05:00

Most historians rate Warren Harding as the worst president of all time. But perhaps he's gotten a bad rap. As Ryan Cole and Amity Shlaes point out, an examination of Harding's policies might have some merit and provide some encouragement for us today.

Chivalry Is (Mostly) Dead

2011-03-04T22:34:00.001-05:00

First there was the case of Joel Northrup, the kid that refused to wrestle a girl and was roundly lambasted in the press as a result. Then a middle school student is suspended for opening a door for a woman. At first blush the two stories may not seem related. But there is a connection. In both cases, young men are punished for demonstrating respect towards women.

As a father of two girls, I have trained them to expect men to treat them with respect (including but not limited to opening doors or having the decency not to wrestle them).

Rather than punishing these young men for showing respect towards women we should applaud them. Frankly we'd all be better off if young men would demonstrate respect to women - even if they don't ask for it.

Liberal Columnist Calls for Defunding of Planned Parenthood

2011-03-04T20:20:00.000-05:00

It's not every day that I will link to an article by Kirsten Powers but this one is worth reading in its entirety:

During the recent debate over whether to cut off government funding to Planned Parenthood, the organization claimed that its contraceptive services prevent a half-million abortions a year. Without their services, the group’s officials insist, more women will get abortions.

I’ll admit I bought the argument—it makes intuitive sense—and initially opposed cutting off funding for precisely that reason.

Then I did a little research.

Turns out, a 2009 study by the journal Contraception found, in a 10-year study of women in Spain, that as overall contraceptive use increased from around 49 percent to 80 percent, the elective abortion rate more than doubled. This doesn’t mean that access to contraception causes more abortion—though some believe that—but that it doesn’t necessarily reduce it.

In the U.S., the story isn’t much different. A January 2011 fact sheet by the pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute listed all the reasons that women who have had an abortion give for their unexpected pregnancy, and not one of them is lack of access to contraception. In fact, 54 percent of women who had abortions had used a contraceptive method, if incorrectly, in the month they got pregnant. For the 46 percent who had not used contraception, 33 percent had perceived themselves to be at low risk for pregnancy; 32 percent had had concerns about contraceptive methods; 26 percent had had unexpected sex, and 1 percent had been forced to have sex. Not one fraction of 1 percent said they got pregnant because they lacked access to contraception. Some described having unexpected sex, but all that can be said about them is that they are irresponsible, not that they felt they lacked access to contraception.

Ms. Powers goes on to torpedo one of Planned Parenthood's claims that their services help reduce the number of abortions in the United States. However, the numbers over the past ten years tell a different story:

Over this time period, the U.S. government has funneled billions of dollars to Planned Parenthood, in large part because the organization claims to provide services to avoid unplanned pregnancies – a laudable goal. Yet despite a robust budget—Planned Parenthood reported a total annual revenue of $1.1 billion in its last financial filing—the organization has done absolutely nothing to change the fundamental dynamics of the United States’ abortion rate.

Digging a little deeper, Ms. Powers finally discovers the true agenda behind Planned Parenthood and why taxpayer funding should end:

To preserve its federal subsidy, Planned Parenthood continues to claim that without its contraception services the abortion rate will go up. This deception smacks of a fleecing of taxpayers in an effort to promote an ideological agenda, rather than a sincere effort to help women plan families.

What is that ideology, exactly? To find out, you have to dig through Planned Parenthood’s tax forms because the group certainly isn’t going to tell you. According to its most recent tax filing, the purpose of Planned Parenthood Federation of America is to provide leadership in “[a]chieving, through informed individual choice, a U.S. population of stable size in an optimum environment; in stimulating and sponsoring relevant biomedical, socio-economic, and demographic research.”

So it is, in reality, a population-control organization. Funny, this was never mentioned in the gauzy $200,000 advertising campaign launched last week. It also doesn’t make it into the “About Us” section of the group’s website, which repeatedly claims its mission is to protect women’s health, when in fact the real mission is to keep the birth rate at whatever level the leaders believe it should be.

To hear Planned Parenthood and their supporters, they exist only to provide Pap smears or breast exams or prenatal services. In fact, President Cecile Richards has gone so far as to erroneously imply that they provide mammograms. (A spokesperson for the group confirmed to me that this is untrue.)

Planned Parenthood officials are allowed to believe whatever they want and to pursue whatever goals they choose. But their dishonesty in how they present their organization to the public, along with ignoring basic statistics about their area of expertise, makes you wonder what else they are hiding. It’s also hard to deny that they are at core a blindly ideological organization, not a run-of-the-mill charitable nonprofit.

Whatever you think of abortion rights, this is not the kind of organization that taxpayers should be funding.

Hats off to Ms. Powers for being willing to do a little homework and discover the truth. If more liberals were willing to set aside the preconceived notions about abortion and examine the facts behind the claims of Planned Parenthood cutting off taxpayer funding would be a no-brainer.

So Long, Duke

2011-02-27T19:37:00.001-05:00

One of the great legends of the game, Duke Snider, has died.

Duke Snider, the Hall of Fame center fielder for the charmed "Boys of Summer" who helped the Dodgers bring their elusive and only World Series crown to Brooklyn, died Sunday. He was 84.
Snider died at the Valle Vista Convalescent Hospital in Escondido, Calif., said the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, which announced the death on behalf of the family. Snider had been ill for months. His family said he died of natural causes.

"The Duke of Flatbush" hit .295 with 407 career home runs, played in the World Series six times and won two titles. But the eight-time All-Star was defined by much more than his stats -- he was, after all, part of the love affair between the borough of Brooklyn and "Dem Bums" who lived in the local neighborhoods.

Ebbets Field was filled with stars such as Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and Gil Hodges during that 1955 championship season. Yet it is Snider's name that refrains in the ballpark favorite "Talkin' Baseball."

"Willie, Mickey, and the Duke," goes the popular song, which marks its 30th anniversary this year.

Snider wore No. 4 in Dodger blue and was often regarded as the third-best center fielder in New York -- behind Willie Mays of the Giants and Mickey Mantle of the Yankees -- during what many fans considered the city's golden era of baseball.

Snider was a key figure in Roger Kahn's classic The Boys of Summer as well as Terry Cashman's anthem Talkin' Baseball. He was a favorite among the Brooklyn faithful and will truly be missed.

Virginia Senate Votes To Regulate Abortion Clinics

2011-02-24T17:51:00.002-05:00

Today's vote by the Virginia Senate makes me proud to be a Virginian:

With the backing of two Democrats and a tie-breaking vote cast by Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, Republicans in the Virginia Senate today won approval of an amended health bill that would require the state's abortion clinics to be regulated like hospitals.

The 20-20 vote on Senate Bill 924, which now heads to Gov. Bob McDonnell, represents a significant victory for anti-abortion activists, who have been trying for years to restrict access to abortion in Virginia, only to have bills killed in the Democrat-controlled Senate Education and Health Committee. McDonnell has indicated he would sign the legislation.

Democratic lawmakers and women's rights advocates decried legislation, which was altered on the floor of the House earlier in the week through an amendment tacked onto an unrelated bill by Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell and came to the Senate without being debated or discussed in committee.
They said it would effectively restrict a woman's access to abortion services by forcing the state's 21 clinics to meet standards set by the Board of Health regulating hospitals -- standards that include things like expanded hallways, parking lots and elevators that most clinics could not afford.
Currently, first-trimester abortions are considered medical procedures that can be performed in physicians' offices, similar to medical procedures such as colonoscopies, vision correction surgery, cosmetic surgeryand dental surgery. Abortions in the second trimester or later must be performed in a hospital setting.
The amended legislation would require that any medical office performing more than five first-trimester abortions per month be classified as a hospital and subject to regulations devised by the State Board of Health -- a body that is appointed by the governor.

This is sensible legislation and reasonable in light of recent stories such as the massacre in Philadelphia last month. Hats off to the Senators who had the courage to stand up and do the right thing and protect the cause of life.

UPDATE: The Associated Press claims this is a tactic to force abortion clinics to close:

Virginia took a big step Thursday toward eliminating most of the state's 21 abortion clinics, approving a bill that would likely make rules so strict the medical centers would be forced to close, Democrats and abortion rights supporters said.

Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican and Catholic, supports the measure and when he signs it into law, Virginia will become the first state to require clinics that provide first-trimester abortions to meet the same standards as hospitals. The requirements could include anything from expensive structural changes like widening hallways to increased training and mandatory equipment the clinics currently don't have.

While abortion providers must be licensed in Virginia, the clinics resemble dentists' offices and are considered physicians offices, similar to those that provide plastic and corrective eye surgeries, colonoscopies and a host of other medical procedures.

Democrats and abortion rights supporters said the change would put an estimated 17 of the state's 21 clinics out of business. Most of the clinics also provide birth control, cancer screenings and other women's health services.

"This is not about safety for women. This is about ideology, and this is about politics," said Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia. "The women of the commonwealth are going to be the ones left to suffer."

Abortion rights supporters warned of legal challenges while supporters heralded it as a way to make the procedures safer.

"It is not about banning abortions," said Sen. Jill Vogel, R-Winchester. "It is simply caring for women who are about to have an invasive surgical procedure and creating an environment for them where they have the opportunity to do that in a place that is safe."

No other state requires clinics that provide early abortions to meet hospital standards.

For years, abortion advocates have claimed that they want to make abortions safe. But as opponents of this bill have revealed what they really want is for abortion to be available on demand at any time. Their concern for the health of the woman ends when reasonable regulations to insure a woman's health are introduced. Once again the hypocrisy of abortion advocates is in plain view for all to see.

Albert Pujols A Cub? Is That Even Possible?

2011-02-19T12:39:00.001-05:00

Michael Wilbon makes a compelling case for the possibility that Albert Pujols could, in fact, be in a Cub uniform next season.

I think it's a safe bet that since the Cardinals didn't sign him in the offseason that they are not likely going to be able to afford to offer him the $30-35 million a year over 7 or 8 years it's going to take to keep him in Cardinal uniform.

"Wait 'Til Next Year" could be a hopeful refrain after all.

Why Spring Training Matters

2011-02-17T07:24:00.000-05:00

To the uninitiated, the phrase "pitchers and catchers report" makes very little sense. Even for a casual sports fan the start of spring training seems like a quaint idea. But here's a great explanation of why spring training matters.

The Danger of the Individual Mandate

2011-02-16T19:41:00.004-05:00

Georgetown University Law Professor Randy Barnett provides a succinct explanation of what's wrong with the Obamacare individual mandate:

Here's a thought experiment. Imagine that I tell you 100 things that you may not do tomorrow. For example, you cannot run on a treadmill, eat broccoli, buy a car, and 97 other things. While your liberty would be restricted, there would still be an infinite number of things you may still do.

Now suppose I tell you 100 things that you must do tomorrow. You must run on a treadmill, eat broccoli, buy a car, and 97 other things. These 100 mandates could potentially occupy all your time and consume all your financial resources.
You can see why economic mandates such as the individual mandate in Obamacare are so much more onerous than either economic regulations or prohibitions, and why so dangerous an unwritten congressional power should not be implied.

Be sure to read the whole thing.

The Lost Art of the Triple and Other Thoughts

2011-02-13T22:18:00.003-05:00

Only 45 days until Opening Day and pitchers and catchers report to camps today. Optimism abounds, even for me.

I ran across this piece that makes a very interesting point: the triple is a lost art. With all the focus in the past few decades on home runs it's no surprise that triples are becoming a rarer feat. It makes for interesting reading.

As I write this, the Cardinals haven't signed Albert Pujols to a contract extension. I think Tom Verducci is exactly right: Pujols' age is going to be a big hinderance in giving him the 10 year contract he's looking for. If the Cardinals can't get him to agree to a five or seven year deal then he's likely going to be a free agent at the end of the year. Then it will be interesting to see who would be willing to commit the kind of money and number of years he's looking for.

Finally, this book should make for some interesting reading as we get ready for the season.

Let's play ball.

A Super Tribute to Ronald Reagan

2011-02-06T08:06:00.000-05:00

Today is the Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. But more importantly, it's the 100th anniversary of the birth of our 40th President, Ronald Reagan. Prior to the game today, this wonderful tribute will be shown in Cowboys Stadium.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President.

Hat tip: Elisabeth Meinicke

Does Andy Petitte Belong in the Hall of Fame?

2011-02-05T14:09:00.002-05:00

It's inevitable that anytime a really good baseball player retires there is an immediate discussion of whether he will be enshrined in Cooperstown. This is true for New York Yankees starter Andy Petitte who this week made it official he was calling it a career.

Although Petitte was a very good pitcher throughout his 16 year career, the numbers do not indicate an automatic trip to the Hall. The strongest case to be made in his favor is a record 19 postseason wins (all but one with the Yankees).

The strongest case against enshrinement: only 240 regular season wins, only 2 seasons of 20+ wins and no Cy Young Awards.

Sure, the postseason record is pretty amazing but consider he was also on some great Yankee teams. To me, that's as much an argument against as in favor of enshrinement.

I think it will be a close call once he's eligible for the Hall. A case can be made for enshrinement but I'm not sure his career matches up with those already in the Hall. If he had been able to pitch a couple of more years and rack up another 20-30 victories it would be more of a lock. In the end, I think Andy Petitte will be remembered as one of the best Yankee pitchers ever and a very good pitcher during his time. But I don't think he will be considered a great pitcher and just barely miss enshrinement into Cooperstown.

Remembering the Challenger: 25 Years Later

2011-01-29T14:22:00.004-05:00

Yesterday marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. For those who remember the day we were shocked by the disaster. Americans had erroneously believed that spaceflight had become almost routine. Challenger would remind us just how dangerous the business of space flight really was. It's surprising then, in retrospect, to realize that CNN still covered the launch live.

It's a national tragedy such as this that brings out the best and worst in a nation's leaders. President Ronald Reagan rose to the occasion. He was supposed to give the annual State of the Union address that evening. However, in light of the tragedy it seemed far more appropriate to pay tribute to the fallen seven astronauts.

It would be the first time America lost a crew in space. Unfortunately, it would not be the last. But they understood the risks they were taking and for that they are properly remembered as heroes.

President Reagan appropriately borrowed his closing line from the poem High Flight which is a mantra for pilots: "And slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."

Palin Hatred and Modern Feminism

2011-01-20T07:01:00.001-05:00

James Taranto has a great column on the Left's hatred of Sarah Palin that serves to perhaps explain why so much vitriol has been lobbed at her in the past few weeks. But he goes further in explaining how feminism and liberalism are hopelessly intertwined and exposes the hypocrisy of those who are theoretically in favor of a "women's right to choose":

An important strand of contemporary liberalism is feminism. As a label, "feminist" is passé; outside the academic fever swamps, you will find few women below Social Security age who embrace it.
That is because what used to be called feminism--the proposition that women deserve equality before the law and protection from discrimination--is almost universally accepted today. Politically speaking, a woman is the equal of a man. No woman in public life better symbolizes this than Sarah Palin--especially not Hillary Clinton, the left's favorite icon. No one can deny Mrs. Clinton's accomplishments, but neither can one escape crediting them in substantial part to her role as the wife of a powerful man.
But there is more to feminism than political and legal equality. Men and women are intrinsically unequal in ways that are ultimately beyond the power of government to remediate. That is because nature is unfair. Sexual reproduction is far more demanding, both physically and temporally, for women than for men. Men simply do not face the sort of children-or-career conundrums that vex women in an era of workplace equality.
Except for the small minority of women with no interest in having children, this is an inescapable problem, one that cannot be obviated by political means. Aspects of it can, however, be ameliorated by technology--most notably contraception, which at least gives women considerable control over the timing of reproduction.
As a political matter, contraception is essentially uncontroversial today, which is to say that any suggestion that adult women be legally prevented from using birth control is outside the realm of serious debate. The same cannot be said of abortion, and that is at the root of Palinoia.
To the extent that "feminism" remains controversial, it is because of the position it takes on abortion: not just that a woman should have the "right to choose," but that this is a matter over which reasonable people cannot disagree--that to favor any limitations on the right to abortion, or even to acknowledge that abortion is morally problematic, is to deny the basic dignity of women.
To a woman who has internalized this point of view, Sarah Palin's opposition to abortion rights is a personal affront, and a deep one. It doesn't help that Palin lives by her beliefs. To the contrary, it intensifies the offense.
It used to be a trope for liberal interviewers to try to unmask hypocrisy by asking antiabortion politicians--male ones, of course--what they would do if their single teen daughters got pregnant. It's a rude question, but Palin, whose 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy coincided with Mom's introduction to the nation, answered it in real life.
Recently we were at a party where a woman in her 60s, a self-described feminist, called Palin a "moron" for having encouraged her daughter to carry her child to term and "to marry the sperm donor." Even apart from the gross language, this was a completely irrational thing to say. First, that Palin's values are different in no way reflects on her intelligence.
More important, why is Bristol Palin's decision to carry her child to term any of this lady's business? Those who claim to be champions of privacy and choice need to do some serious soul-searching if they have so much trouble tolerating the private choices of others. (emphasis added)

It's Best to Leave This to the Professionals

2011-01-19T21:42:00.003-05:00

All I can say after reading this story is that I have to wonder how this guy made it through law school.

Conservatives and Chuck

2011-01-17T23:35:00.003-05:00

Ray Keating explains why conservatives should love Chuck.

I couldn't agree more.

Thinking About Tuscon

2011-01-12T18:03:00.001-05:00

Like a lot of folks, I've been watching a lot of news coverage of this past weekend's shooting in Tuscon. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

A couple of thoughts about the tragedy and its aftermath:

1. I never fail to be surprised at the lengths people will go to score political points from such a tragedy. I think most voters see such politicians for what they really are and they'll get their just desserts the next time an election rolls around.

2. A Predictable Tragedy in Tuscon in today's Wall Street Journal is a worthwhile read. And no, it doesn't have anything to do with political speech. Instead, it focuses on one of the most underreported aspects of the story: the fact that the shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, had untreated mental illnesses. As long as we continue to ignore the problem of how we as a society deal with treatment of the mentally ill we'll see these type of events continue to occur. All you have to do is look back at similar events and see how many of the perpetrators had a history of mental illness.

3. A related point to #2 above: Tuscon police missed the warning signs about Loughner's behavior?

4. Another question that is begging to be asked and answered: why weren't the police at Congresswoman Giffords' event? If the political rhetoric is as dangerous as Sheriff Dupnik says then why didn't he have any deputies there to provide security?

5. A natural response in the aftermath of a tragedy such as this is to talk about passing tougher gun control laws. But consider this quote:

Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." --Cesare Beccaria, On Crimes and Punishment, quoted by Thomas Jefferson in Commonplace Book

6. Leave it to Michael Ramirez to provide astute media analysis.

Fun Website For Gifts

2010-12-18T14:07:00.003-05:00

I just ran across this web site that offers really cool t-shirts for women and kids. It's a company run by three moms who design great t-shirts with beautiful designs and scriptures on each shirt. Check them out here at Wild Olive Tees or click the button below.

Give Thanks For Men Like These

2010-11-25T12:20:00.002-05:00

I'm constantly amazed at the men and women who are willing to sacrifice everything to serve this country. But this story about Dr. Bill Krissoff is one of my favorites. He gave up a thriving orthopedic practice to enlist in the Navy to care for wounded sailors and Marines. Take time to read the whole piece and give thanks that we have folks like these still willing to serve.

A Tribute to "The Man"

2010-11-22T22:07:00.002-05:00

These days you don't hear much about one of the greatest hitters of all time, Stan Musial. Yesterday was his 90th birthday and the St. Louis Post Dispatch assembled this terrific list of 90 things to love about The Man. A sampling:

3 • A lovely man, with lovely symmetry. Musial stroked two hits in his first game in the majors Sept. 17, 1941. He ended his career with two hits in his final game Sept. 29, 1963, in St. Louis. And with those last two hits, Musial finished with 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 on the road. As the writer George Will once wrote, "baseball's rich in wonderful statistics, but it's hard to find one more beautiful than Stan Musial's hitting record. He didn't care where he was, he just hit."

11 • Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax: "In my rookie year, I got my first chance to face Stan Musial. I also gave up my first home run. The two events are not unrelated."

17 • While Ted Williams and other esteemed hitters of the day pontificated about their approach to hitting, Musial kept it refreshingly simple. "You wait for a strike, then you knock the tar out of it," Musial said.

41 • When Albert Pujols made his major-league debut on April 5, 2001 at Coors Field in Colorado, Musial unexpectedly showed up and threw out the ceremonial first pitch. It was almost as if he knew he had to be there to symbolically transfer his greatness to the young Pujols.

48 • Pitcher Don Newcombe: "I could have rolled the ball up there to Musial, and he would have pulled out a golf club and hit it out."

50 • Musial may have invented - or at least first popularized - the so-called "fist bump." Stan came up with it as an option to shaking hands. Musial was convinced that he was catching too many colds by picking up germs while shaking thousands of hands each year, so he adopted the fist bump as a friendly alternative.

82 • Joe Garagiola: "He could have hit .300 with a fountain pen."

89 • Bob Costas: "All Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being."

Hat tip: Powerline

Another Legend is Gone

2010-11-05T12:54:00.003-04:00

He was one of the best managers ever being the first to win a World Series title in both leagues. George "Sparky" Anderson passed away yesterday at age 76. He was sixth all-time in wins (although when he suddenly retired he had been third behind only Connie Mack and John McGraw having since been passed by Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre).

He was truly one of the game's greats and his retirement as well as his passing have come all too soon. Not long ago I had read Mark Frost's excellent book Game Six about the 1975 World Series and gained a new found appreciation for the genius and character of Sparky Anderson.

So long, Sparky. You will be missed.

A Matter Of Honor

2010-11-01T20:02:00.001-04:00

I disagreed with many of the policy decisions of President George W. Bush particularly on domestic issues. But there has never been a question of his outstanding character or integrity. Last night at Game 4 of the World Series at Texas Stadium, the former president also showed that he hadn't lost his ability to throw a pitch:

Yes, I do miss him.

Hat tip: Powerline

Article V Convention: Is It A Good Idea?

2010-10-13T19:05:00.003-04:00

As citizens struggle to figure out how to rein in a runaway federal government, some Constitutional scholars are taking a closer look at the pros and cons of an Article V Convention as a way to pass amendments that will help limit the size of government:

In August, Missouri became the latest state to rebel against the new national health care law when 71 percent of voters supported a ballot initiative rejecting the legislation's requirement that individuals purchase government-approved insurance. Several other states will consider similar measures on the ballot this November.
However satisfying this backlash against ObamaCare may be to opponents of the law, these state-based efforts could all be for naught if the U.S. Supreme Court sides with Congress and rules that the legislation's individual mandate is constitutional.
Such a decision would have far-reaching consequences, giving broad new power to the federal government over individuals and states. It would mean that the interstate Commerce Clause would have been interpreted so broadly as to allow the federal government to regulate the activities of people who choose not to engage in commerce, and within a health insurance market where businesses aren't even allowed to sell their products across state lines. It would represent the culmination of decades in erosion of the concept of the separation of powers between federal and state governments, and the boldest example of congressional over-reach in the age of Obama.
In that scenario, short of repeal, the only remaining way to fight the law would be to amend the Constitution. Given how polarized the modern U.S. Senate is, it's highly unlikely that a proposed amendment would garner the necessary 67 votes needed to amend the Constitution in the traditional manner. Yet the Founding Fathers left the states one last check on federal power.
Under Article V of the Constitution, "Congress… on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which… shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States."
The Constitution has never been amended through a convention of the states, and this route remains controversial, with many conservatives fearing that the meeting would turn into a circus in the modern media age, and open the door to a wholesale rewriting of the nation's founding document. Yet a new body of research suggests that these fears are unwarranted, and that there are enough checks built into the system to prevent what scholars refer to as a "runaway convention." With state legislators and grassroots activists searching for ways to limit the abuses of Congress, the possibility has begun to generate more chatter.

The article is lengthy but well worth reading as it closely examines the pros and cons of executing this Constitutional option.

Hat tip: The Volokh Conspiracy

Buyer's Remorse

2010-10-09T22:36:00.002-04:00

One of the clear trends in this year's election is the number of voters who supported President Obama in 2008 are now disappointed with the results. But nowhere have I seen this sense captured better than in this post:

Have you ever bought a product after seeing an infomercial where that product looks so amazingly impressive that you simply must have it? It’s OK, you can admit it– that desire to buy something you see in an infomercial happens to all of us at some point in our life. Whether it is a beauty product, juicer, set of knives, a unique multi-faceted tool, or a cleaning product; sometimes the effusive salespeople and infomercial advertisers make the product look so completely indispensable that you simply know you cannot pass it up. So, as you pick up the phone, you know buying the product will enhance your life and you are certain will be delighted by the results.

The excitement of the purchase continues as you await the package landing on your doorstep. You open it up. Use the product. And that, is when the disappointment sets in. The product either doesn’t work or it doesn’t work the way it did on TV. The excitement turns to disappointment and then despair as you realize: you were hoodwinked. And, then you get mad.

This is a natural feeling when you feel that you were sold something that turned out to not be what you thought it would be. That is where many of the Obama voters are at today and why Democrat politicians across this great nation are fearful of taking the brunt of the anger over the product that people were sold and did not like. Democrats on the ballot are fearful that it is they, not Obama, who will be dealing with returns on the product that they partnered with President Obama to sell to Americans.

Read the whole thing.

Cap and Trade a Career Killer

2010-10-08T16:42:00.003-04:00

So not only will proposed cap and trade legislation dramatically hike your utility rates, it's also becoming something of a political career killer just like Obamacare:

Even as Speaker Nancy Pelosi twisted arms for the final votes to pass her climate bill in June 2009, Democrats feared they might be "BTU'd." Many of them recalled how Al Gore had forced the House to vote in 1993 for an energy tax, a vote Democrats later blamed for helping their 1994 defeat.
The politics isn't the same this time around. This time, it's much, much worse.
Ask Rick Boucher, the coal-country Democrat who for nearly 30 years has represented southwest Virginia's ninth district. The 64-year-old is among the most powerful House Democrats, an incumbent who hasn't been seriously challenged since the early 1980s. Mr. Boucher has nonetheless worked himself onto this year's list of vulnerable Democrats. He managed it with one vote: support for cap and trade.
Anger over the BTU tax was spread across the country in 1994; the tax hit everything, even nuclear and hydropower. And the anger was wrapped into general unhappiness with Clinton initiatives. Some Democrats who voted for BTU but otherwise distanced themselves from the White House were spared. Mr. Boucher, for instance.
Cap and trade is different. The bill is designed to crush certain industries, namely coal. As coal-state voters have realized this, the vote has become a jobs issue, and one that is explosive. It is no accident that Democrats face particularly tough terrain in such key electoral states as Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as Kentucky, West Virginia and Indiana. They are being laser-targeted for their votes to kill home-state industries.

As the article goes on to point out, Mr. Boucher's position on cap and trade (including his authorship of the legislation) may prove to be his undoing:

Mr. Boucher sensed danger earlier this year and has run right: He voted against ObamaCare and has a newfound love for Bush tax cuts. But he's in a defensive crouch on the main issue, reduced to excuses for his cap-and-trade vote. A top one is the old chestnut that he got involved to make the bill better. He points to money he had inserted for "clean coal," and has somehow spun his work into an ad claiming he "took on his own party" to "protect coal jobs" in the, ahem, "energy" bill.

Yet as the race has tightened, the Boucher campaign has looked more desperate. It nitpicked the Americans for Job Security ad and demanded TV stations pull it. The union bosses for United Mine Workers of America had to step up, inviting Mr. Boucher to keynote a picnic to try to shore up coal workers. He's newly passionate about reining in an anti-coal EPA.

Mr. Boucher appears to still lead, but with a GOP wave building, no Democrat with an anti-job vote against his own constituents is safe. Virginia's ninth has already delivered one of the lessons of 2010: Cap-and-trade policy is terrible. Cap-and-trade politics is deadly.

Hat tip: Powerline

Kind of a Nice Birthday Present (In A Way)

2010-10-07T19:01:00.003-04:00

It's not everyday that I get calls from the DCCC and get to tell them I'm voting for a Republican. Glad I could help them spend their money.

Welcome to the Playoffs

2010-10-06T21:48:00.003-04:00

As a Cubs fan, making the playoffs is really only a dream at best and a World Series appearance is unlikely to happen in my lifetime. But that doesn't mean I ignore the playoffs. On the contrary, I follow all the postseason series and for good reason. Anything can happen in October.

Just ask Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halliday.

Halliday came to the Phillies last offseason and immediately upgraded the pitching staff. On May 29, he made his mark hurling the season's second perfect game.

But tonight, he went one better. In the opening game of the Division Series, Halladay went out and threw a no-hitter which is only the second time it's happen in the postseason. Not too shabby for his postseason debut.

By the way, Halladay also made another bit of history. Only five other pitchers had thrown a no-hitter in the postseason or two no-hitters in a calendar year. Halladay became the first tonight to do both.

It's not too much of an overstatement to say that the Phillies are the best team in baseball this year. Roy Halladay has proven tonight that he may be the best hurler in the game.

Taking the Pledge

2010-09-14T07:18:00.000-04:00

Now this is a novel idea, a Constitution pledge for presidential candidates. The idea of a potential president having to submit a handwritten copy of the Constitution at their inauguration seems to me to be a great idea and one worth considering.

In my experience, I've always retained things better that I have written down. Maybe if we made our leaders do the same with the Constitution they would be more likely to adhere to it more often.

Overcoming Fear in Homeschooling

2010-09-13T06:39:00.000-04:00

Any homeschool parent will tell you that there was a moment early on in their experience as a home educator when they were totally paralyzed by fear. In fact, most homeschool parents have faced many such moments. It's the feeling of waking up and wondering "what have I got myself into with this homeschool thing?" or something along that line.

For us, it was the moment we were standing in the curriculum sale hall at the Virginia homeschool convention. We had just decided to start homeschooling our oldest daughter Annie. We knew a few other homeschool families and were at least jumping into it with some measure of support. But we had no idea what we needed to buy or where to begin. Then we stumbled upon a booth that was being manned by none other than Susan Wise Bauer (though at the time we had no idea who she was). We explained to her that we were just getting started and didn't know where to begin. She gave us the names of a couple of books (ironically that were not sold in the curriculum hall!) and put us on the right track. We also got to meet her mom (and co-author) and had a marvelous chat. God used that divine appointment to encourage us at a time when we might have thought twice about homeschooling.

Fear is normal. Homeschooling can be a scary proposition for the uninitiated. However, it continues to grow in numbers year after year. For those willing to take the plunge, he rewards are endless.

9/11 - A Personal Reflection

2010-09-11T05:23:00.000-04:00

On the five year anniversary of 9/11, I wrote the following post recounting our family's experiences on that horrible day. For us, 9/11 will always be a day that we will remember. Perhaps it's more meaningful for us as we were caught up like so many others in the middle of the chaos of that day. Let us never forget what happened that day.

I will never forget 9/11. No matter how hard I try, I can't block out the memories of that day. They will be forever burned in my memory.

I was supposed to be attending a meeting in Bala Cynwyd (just outside of Philadelphia) on 9/11. My wife and two daughters (ages 4 and 5) went up a few days early to explore the Amish country as well as downtown Philadelphia. We had had a great time visiting an area that we had never visited before. But that Tuesday morning everything would change - in ways far greater than we could have ever imagined.

The day started normally enough. My meeting was supposed to start at 9:00 so I headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant early to eat breakfast. My wife and daughters were a little later getting ready.

Our meeting started on time and was underway for about an hour before taking our first break of the morning. Many of the folks in this meeting were from New York. While we were on the break, several guys tried to call the office but couldn't get through. One of them finally decided to call the operator and see what was wrong with the telephone lines. He would be the first one to share the news with us: the World Trade Center had been hit. Another person came in and said it was the Pentagon. It would be a few minutes before we realized that it was both.

By the time we managed to get a TV brought into the conference room we were able to see the replay of the South tower being hit. Moments later it collapsed. It took all of us only a split second to decide we needed to go home. The fourth airliner, United flight 93, would crash in Western Pennsylvania within the next few minutes.

My wife had taken the kids next door to Denny's to eat breakfast. A waitress told her that the Pentagon had been hit. Her sister's husband often worked at the Pentagon. Was he there? Frantically, she was calling her unable to get through. It would be much, much later before we found out he wasn't there and was completely safe.

My wife came back to the hotel not knowing how to find me. At the time, I didn't carry a cellphone (I have ever since). She was in the lobby trying to call her sister when I finally came upstairs. I looked at her and said "We're going home".

At the time we lived in Richmond, VA, almost directly due south along Interstate 95 from Philadelphia. Under normal circumstances, it would have taken about five hours to drive home. But Washington, DC is directly on Interstate 95. Due to the attack at the Pentagon, Washington was completely locked down. Our only choice was to head west and then south in a long circle along interstates through Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virgina. It was a long drive home.

As we were leaving the hotel we turned on the local news on our radio. The mayor of Philadelphia was holding a press conference announcing the evacuation of the city. Everyone was being ordered home since at that time we didn't know where the hijackers intended to fly United 93. It was reasonable to assume that Philadelphia was a target.

One thing was clear: we were at war. We weren't sure yet who was responsible but we knew we had been attacked. The peaceful setting of Lancaster County was strangely appealing. Surely whoever this was wouldn't attack the Amish. We would be safe there, wouldn't we?

As we drove on there was this eerie feeling of not knowing what to expect next. Would there be further attacks? Who was responsible? Why had they attacked us?

Our daughters tahnkfully were oblivious to what was happening. At least until the announcement was made that Walt Disney World had closed (we had made our first visit as a family the previous year). Then it registered with them that something was wrong.

Everywhere we stopped along the way home people seemed to be trying to carry on with life as normal even though they all knew that life would never be normal again. Everything had changed.

By late afternoon we had made it to Harrisonburg, VA (about 3 1/2 hours from home). At first we thought we would just find a hotel room and spend the night but there were none to be found. Greyhound had ordered all their buses to stop wherever they were and as a result people had to find hotel rooms. Everything was closing down: restaurants, stores, shopping malls were all closed. We managed to find a gas station that was still open. When I went in to pay there was the extra edition of the local paper with the photo of the burning towers above the fold. This was not just a bad dream. This was real.

As we left Harrisonburg and headed towards home I can remember the eerie sight of a single jet plane crossing the sky. I knew it was a military plane since all civilian aircraft had been grounded much earlier in the day. This is what it felt like to be at war.

We eventually made it home safely that evening. But we knew that everything had changed. A couple days later we got another grim reminder of just how serious things were.

Where we lived, we never saw military traffic. But around 9:00 one evening just a few days after the attacks we were buzzed twice in the span of a couple of minutes by a pair of F-14 fighter jets. It was yet another reminder that we were truly at war.

There would be other reminders, as well. I went to Las Vegas for a meeting a couple of months later (a meeting that was originally supposed to take place the week after 9/11). The sight of armed soldiers patrolling the airport was a clear sign that things had changed.

While I was in Las Vegas I stayed at the New York, New York Hotel and Casino. As the name suggests, the hotel is supposed to remind one of the New York skyline. Even three months after 9/11, there was a memorial of flowers, posters, and messages of support for the police, firefighters, and people of New York City. I couldn't help but be struck by the sight.

Driving by the Pentagon several months after 9/11 and getting to see firsthand the devastation caused by the terrorists would be yet another grim reminder of the war we had been dragged into by our attackers.

I can't forget no matter how hard I try. We should never forget for this is why we fight.

Is College Worth It?

2010-09-10T21:23:00.002-04:00

This is not simply a rhetorical question on my part as I have a child who will be ready to go to college in just a few short years. But more and more, I've been thinking about whether it's really worth it to send my kids to college.

Both my wife and I have college degrees and we were blessed with a fine education. But if I had it to do all over again, I don't know whether it would financially be worth it. I'm not alone as there are many other people, according to this article in the Washington Post, that have been deliberating over that same decision.

No doubt part of this is driven by economics and specifically the cost involved of sending a child to college. It may well be that we are seeing a higher education bubble about to burst.

"Accidental" Genius

2010-09-04T17:03:00.002-04:00

Thomas Edison once said "Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless." That would certainly apply to this list of the ten best accidental inventions of all time. I have only one qualm with this list. How is it that Post-It Notes were omitted?

Conservatives and Baseball

2010-09-02T18:50:00.001-04:00

The Daily Caller attempts to answer the question as to why conservatives love baseball so much. For what it's worth, in my opinion it's the pace of the game, the grind of the 162 game season, and the fact that guys can make the most difficult feats look effortless that make baseball a truly great game.

"Should I Homeschool?"

2010-08-16T01:19:00.002-04:00

Most families that homeschool at one time or another will get a question from a non-homeschooling family about whether they should educate their own children at home. My normal response is that I don't know whether it's the right thing for them to do. It's worked for our children for quite a while and I wouldn't dream of sending them off to school. But just because it has worked out for our family does not necessarily mean that it will work for someone else. Every family is different and each couple has to decide whether they are both willing and able to undertake the homeschooling journey.

An op-ed in the Denver Post by an expectant father raises some good questions about homeschooling. Since I am always happy to share our experiences with someone who is curious about homeschooling, I thought I would take this opportunity to address some of the author's concerns.

He starts out by saying that he's pretty sure that he and his wife couldn't homeschool. I don't know either one of them personally but I'm willing to bet their probably selling themselves short. To the uninitiated, the idea of homeschooling a child may seem a bit staggering. Many of the succesful homeschool families we know (ourselves included) wrestle with feelings of inadequacy. This is a perfectly normal feeling to have and by itself shouldn't be an inhibitor to considering homeschooling your children.

Another common fallacy among non-homeschoolers is that in order to be successful you have to operate your homeschool on the same type of schedule that public schools operate on. By this I mean that a lot of families think they need to devote six or seven or more hours of classroom time a day to get all of the work done. My wife was a schoolteacher when we first met and she has told me many times that there is much time wasted in a typical public school day. While everyone's experiences are different, we've found that we can usually accomplish what needs to be done in about four hours a day and sometimes less time than that. The reason for this is simple: with fewer students (we only have two daughters) it's easier to focus on their needs and maximize the instruction time with them.

The author also brings up the typical concern about socialization. Our kids are involved in a lot of stuff that dovetails into their school experience that gives them an opportunity to meet other kids and learn to deal with relating to them. Sure, it is a concern, but most homeschool parents will tell you that their kids don't lack for opportunities to socialize with other kids.

Homeschooling does take sacrifice. There are extra costs involved that you wouldn't have to pay if you send your kids to public school. It requires a lot of time and a lot of work. By choosing to homeschool you are potentially setting yourself up for ridicule by neighbors, friends and parents who don't understand why you're doing this to your children.

But let me offer some other things to be considered. The rewards of homeschooling (at least in our experience) far outweigh those costs. Remember, too, that homeschooling is not for everyone.

First, before you decide to take the plunge and homeschool, talk with other families that are currently homeschooling. You'll find a wide range of experiences from these families and each can give you their own unique reasons for deciding to homeschool.

Second, don't feel like you have to make a lifetime commitment. Homeschooling is best taken one year at a time. When we started, we were only signing on for a year. In fact, we started because our oldest daughter had missed the cutoff for public school by one day. At five years old, however, she was already starting to read on her own. We figured we had nothing to lose by homeschooling her that first year since she couldn't go to public school until after she turned six. We haven't looked back since. However, we've known several families that have homeschooled for a few years and then returned their kids to public school. Every family's choice will be different. You need to not be afraid to make the choice that will work best for you.

Third, remember that you are never alone. It's important to seek out support from other homeschooling families (likely the same families you talked to when you were deliberating about whether to start). Other families and co-op groups can help fill in the gaps especially in the high school years as subjects become increasingly complex. You also will need to have people around you that you can discuss your frustrations with when you've had a particularly tough day (and it's inevitable you'll have some of those along the way).

Fourth, flexibility is your friend. If something isn't working you can change it. This is especially true when it comes to selecting curriculum as there are numerous options out there and no one program will fit every child's needs. You will also discover that learning is not only confined to the classroom or to your school time. Instead, life becomes your classroom and opportunities to learn will present themselves at every turn.

Finally, homeschooling will offer your child the opportunity to learn far more than he or she can in a public school setting. The reason that homeschool students typically perform better on those standardized tests is that they are getting a broader education that is more tailored to their needs and their learning style than a public school ever can be.

There's no doubt that homeschooling is more difficult than sending your child to public school. But in our experience it is a far more rewarding choice.

If you'd like to discuss homeschooling further or have questions about our homeschooling journey, please feel free to e-mail me at tomshelley at comcast dot net.

Things I Wish I Knew When I Was In College

2010-08-15T11:36:00.002-04:00

Like most of my fellow students, I was totally unprepared for my college years. Looking back there are plenty of things that I wish that I knew then. I think they would have made me a better student and I probably would have gotten more out of those four years than I did. Paul Spears has a great list of things that he wishes he knew. It's a great list to pass on to anyone about to go into college.

Hat tip: Joe Carter

Monks Under Fire

2010-08-13T22:25:00.003-04:00

As if we need any more examples of the government trampling on individual liberty, here's a real winner: monks that are facing jail time and fines for the high crime of building caskets. Yep, you read that correctly. Read the whole story and be outraged.

It's Just as Well That This Is Over

2010-08-13T07:26:00.000-04:00

I'm forever giving advice to my daughters on things to look for in a potential mate. Now I can add this to the list: if the guy won't sacrifice himself to protect you from a foul ball then he's not worth having. Case in point:

Now the girl would like us to believe that their relationship didn't end because of the foul ball. But I think we all know better.

Hat tip: Powerline

Some Thoughts On Homeschooling

2010-08-12T23:08:00.002-04:00

One of the questions I often get from folks when I tell them that we homeschool our girls is about socialization. I've seen lots of other homeschoolers who have faced the same question. Here's one mom's answer to that perennial question and a really good one at that.

More Advice for Guys

2010-08-01T09:08:00.003-04:00

Consider this a counterpoint to the other list I linked to earlier that compiled things every guy should be able to do. Joe Carter returns with a list of things guys should never do. I especially like #6 and #28 but it's all really sound advice.

Some Advice for Guys

2010-07-28T21:03:00.001-04:00

Pay attention, guys. Here's a list of 50 things that every man needs to know how to do. Looking over the list it looks like I have my work cut out for me.

So Long, Lou

2010-07-20T21:44:00.002-04:00

Chicago Cubs manager Lou Pinella has announced he will retire at the end of the season:

After managing 23 seasons, winning one World Series and three Manager of the Year Awards, Lou Piniella has decided to retire after finishing the season with the Cubs.
Piniella, who turns 67 on Aug. 28, issued a statement on Tuesday, saying he wanted to enter a new phase in his life.
"I couldn't be more appreciative of the Cubs organization for providing me the opportunity to manage this ballclub," Piniella said in his statement. "I've had four wonderful years here that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.
"I've grown to love the city and the fans, but at my age, it will be time to enter a new phase in my life," he said. "It will enable me to spend more valuable time with my family -- my wife, my kids and my grandchildren. God has blessed me to have been able to work this many years in the game that I love."

Pinella's contract was due to expire at the end of the season and there had been extensive speculation swirling around the Cubs whether he would stay on after this year. No doubt the team's lack of success this year had to be a factor.

Two questions: First, who will be his successor? Ryne Sandberg is the sentimental favorite but if Joe Torre decides not to re-sign with the Dodgers at the end of the season he could be the top candidate. Second, will Lou Pinella be elected to the Hall of Fame? I think the answer is yes, eventually, he will get in but with Bobby Cox retiring this year and Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa both shoe-ins for the Hall as soon as they retire he may be waiting a little while for the call from Cooperstown.

Thanks for the memories, Lou. It's been a great ride.

Quick Takes 7-2-10

2010-07-02T20:31:00.002-04:00

A few random links of interest for the Independence Day weekend:

Reflecting on the results of Jefferson's efforts.

What Congress took out of the Declaration of Independence.

Independence Forever!

The Federalist Society now has a blog.

50 reasons why America isn't what it used to be.

Examining Bonhoeffer.

Have a great weekend

Poirot Murder on the Orient Express 2009

2010-07-01T21:06:00.000-04:00

One of Agatha Christie's most famous novels has to be "Murder on the Orient Express". David Suchet's version of the film appears here in the US on July 11th and it promises to be absolutely fantastic. Click on the video below to watch the trailer.

Leadership

2010-06-17T21:43:00.004-04:00

In a time of crisis, the public expects its leader to be able to step up and, well, lead. A lot has been written on President Obama's failure to lead during the Gulf Oil Spill crisis and much of that criticism is well-founded. But the first step in leading during a crisis is to recognize that you have a crisis to begin with. This got me thinking about a scene from one of my favorite movies, Apollo 13, in which flight director Gene Kranz (played perfectly by Ed Harris) sets the tone for management of the crisis right from the outset:

Kranz would several times throughout the rescue effort have to focus his people on the fundamental problems facing them. He was the one who coined the phrase "Failure is not an option" and made that his team's slogan. He also focused his team on the goal which was getting the astronauts home and didn't get caught up in assigning blame for the accident. He knew there would plenty of time to sort that out later on.

President Obama could learn a thing or to from Gene Kranz. Perhaps if he had handled the oil spill the same way Kranz handled the explosion aboard Apollo 13 there would be a lot less oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.

Put Me In, Coach

2010-05-26T21:03:00.004-04:00

In 1984, John Fogerty was trying to make a musical comeback with his album, Centerfield. He didn't know at the time the album would end up being a huge hit. The title track was his love song to baseball. He didn't think that would get much airplay. He was wrong. It was an immediate sensation and was played at ballparks everywhere. More importantly, it's been the opening song played at the National Baseball Hall of Fame's induction ceremony for the past 10 years. On July 25, the Hall of Fame will honor the song during this year's induction ceremony. If baseball didn't already have an anthem in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" then "Centerfield" would certainly be it.

Baseball's Anthem

2010-05-19T19:33:00.003-04:00

It's over 100 years old and one of the most popular songs ranking only behind "Happy Birthday" and "The Star Spangled Banner" in how many times it is sung. It was written by a guy who had never even seen a baseball game (at least up to that point). It wasn't sung in ballparks until about thirty years after it was written yet it was a huge hit at the time of its initial release. It is of course, Take Me Out to the Ballgame. The Baseball Hall of Fame has the entire fascinating history of the song.

On my very first trip to Wrigley Field, I got to join in with the crowd and the king of the anthem, Harry Caray in singing the song during the 7th inning stretch. Caray more than anyone else helped popularize the song.

So Long, Ernie

2010-05-04T23:09:00.003-04:00

One of the all-time great baseball broadcasters is gone. Ernie Harwell, long time voice of the Detroit Tigers, has died.

Tiger fans had as close a connection to Harwell as any fans have had to an announcer. In one of the most knuckleheaded moves ever, the management of the Tigers' flagship station WJR allowed Harwell's contract to expire at the end of the 1991 season. The outrage from fans was so great that the station brought him back in 1993 and he would broadcast until he retired in 2002.
He's also probably the only announcer to ever be traded for a catcher. That's how he started his major league career in 1948 when the Brooklyn Dodgers acquired him from the minor league Atlanta Crackers. It seems the Crackers needed a catcher and one of the oddest trades ever was born.

When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, he closed out his acceptance speech with his own definition of baseball. (Audio) He got it exactly right:

Baseball is the President tossing out the first ball of the season and a scrubby schoolboy playing catch with his dad on a Mississippi farm. A tall, thin old man waving a scorecard from the corner of his dugout. That’s baseball. And so is the big, fat guy with a bulbous nose running home one of his (Babe Ruth’s) 714 home runs.

There’s a man in Mobile who remembers that Honus Wagner hit a triple in Pittsburgh forty-six years ago. That’s baseball. So is the scout reporting that a sixteen year old pitcher in Cheyenne is a coming Walter Johnson. Baseball is a spirited race of man against man, reflex against reflex. A game of inches. Every skill is measured. Every heroic, every failing is seen and cheered, or booed. And then becomes a statistic.

In baseball democracy shines its clearest. The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rulebook. Color merely something to distinguish one team’s uniform from another. Baseball is a rookie. His experience no bigger than the lump in his throat as he begins fulfillment of his dream. It’s a veteran too, a tired old man of
thirty-five hoping that those aching muscles can pull him through another sweltering August and September. Nicknames are baseball, names like Zeke and Pie and Kiki and Home Run and Cracker and Dizzy and Dazzy.

Baseball is the cool, clear eyes of Rogers Hornsby. The flashing spikes of Ty Cobb, and an over-aged pixie named Rabbit Maranville.
Baseball just a came as simple as a ball and bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolizes. A sport, a business and sometimes almost even a religion.

Why the fairy tale of Willie Mays making a brilliant World’s Series catch. And then dashing off to play stick ball in the street with his teenage pals. That’s baseball. So is the husky voice of a doomed Lou Gehrig saying, “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.”
Baseball is cigar smoke, hot roasted peanuts, The Sporting News, ladies day, “Down in Front”, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and the Star Spangled Banner.

Baseball is a tongue tied kid from Georgia growing up to be an announcer and praising the Lord for showing him the way to Cooperstown. This is a game for America. Still a game for America, this baseball! Thank you.

So long, Ernie. We'll miss you.

The Health Insurance Mandate and the Constitution

2010-04-29T19:12:00.004-04:00

One of the more controversial provisions of the recently-enacted health insurance reform bill is the mandate for all individuals to purchase health insurance. But as Randy Barnett points out in a op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today, the mandate isn't likely to pass constitutional muster:

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) includes what it calls an "individual responsibility requirement" that all persons buy health insurance from a private company. Congress justified this mandate under its power to regulate commerce among the several states: "The individual responsibility requirement provided for in this section," the law says, ". . . is commercial and economic in nature, and substantially affects interstate commerce, as a result of the effects described in paragraph (2)." Paragraph (2) then begins: "The requirement regulates activity that is commercial and economic in nature: economic and financial decisions about how and when health care is paid for, and when health insurance is purchased."

In this way, the statute speciously tries to convert inactivity into the "activity" of making a "decision." By this reasoning, your "decision" not to take a job, not to sell your house, or not to buy a Chevrolet is an "activity that is commercial and economic in nature" that can be mandated by Congress.
It is true that the Supreme Court has interpreted the Commerce Clause broadly enough to reach wholly intrastate economic "activity" that substantially affects interstate commerce. But the Court has never upheld a requirement that
individuals who are doing nothing must engage in economic activity by entering
into a contractual relationship with a private company. Such a claim of power is
literally unprecedented.

Professor Barnett also co-authored a more detail analysis of the individual mandate found here. He also wrote an excellent analysis on the constitutionality of the legislation here.

ObamaCare was passed with little regard for the constitutionality of its provisions. Although there is a popular move to repeal the bill the more likely dismantling of the law will come through the courts. With Justice Stevens retiring, the President's Supreme Court nominee takes on a new importance.

NARAL Chief: "They Are So Young!"

2010-04-29T11:28:00.004-04:00

According to LifeSiteNews, NARAL president Nancy Keenan has grudgingly admitted what many in the pro-life movement have seen: young women are flocking to the defense of the unborn (Hat tip: James Taranto):

The pro-life movement in America is growing in leaps and bounds, attracting young, zealous women to defend the unborn in droves - a fact that even the president of NARAL has now admitted.

NARAL's Nancy Keenan told Newsweek last week that she considers herself a member of the "postmenopausal militia" – a phrase that captures the situation of pro-abortion leaders who are aging across the board, including the leadership of Planned Parenthood, and the National Organization for Women. Newsweek's Sarah Kliff notes that "these leaders will retire in a decade or so."

Keenan also remarked on the enormity of this year's March for Life in Washington, D.C., and, according to Newsweek, is troubled that such passion has faded among the youth on her side of the movement.
"I just thought, my gosh, they are so young," Keenan said about stumbling on this year’s March for Life in Washington. "There are so many of them, and they are so young."

While March for Life estimates it drew 400,000 pro-lifers to Washington for this year's March, Planned Parenthood's "Stop Stupak" rally in December only
drew about 1,300 attendees.

In addition, Newsweek revealed that NARAL's own research on American youth shows more reason for Keenan to worry: a survey conducted by the group found that, while 51 percent of pro-life voters under 30 considered abortion a "very important" voting issue, only 26 percent of abortion supporters in the same demographic felt similarly.

James Taranto attributes this "enthusiasm gap" among abortion activists to what he terms "the Roe Effect". In simple terms, the theory is that pro-abortion women are not having babies and therefore are not raising children to carry on their pro-abortion beliefs. While it may still take a while to play out politically, perhaps we are finally starting to see signs that America is becoming a more pro-life nation at last.

Miracle on Ice

2010-02-12T00:17:00.002-05:00

It's been thirty years since the Miracle on Ice and this video still gives me chills to watch:

DVD Review: Emma

2010-02-07T19:25:00.002-05:00

My review of Emma has been posted at Blogcritics. Please check it out and let me know what you think. Also, if you've seen the series, I would love to know what you thought of it.

It seems inevitable with any new adaptation of a Jane Austen novel there are comparisons to previous versions. I think this one was as good as the previous version with Gwyneth Paltrow. It doesn't have the same amount of humor but the relationships seem to be better developed due to the fact there was more time taken to tell the story.

DVD Review: Return to Cranford

2010-02-05T19:55:00.001-05:00

My review of Return to Cranford is now available at Blogcritics. Be sure to go check it out.

After we finished watching it the first time we then watched the first series and then the second series back to back. The second was very good but still not quite as charming as the first. I think that mostly has to do with the fact that both Michael Gambon and Eileen Atkins had wonderful roles in the first series (but both characters die during the course of the first series) and they really stood out from everyone else.

It really says something to me when my girls (12 and 14) are asking me to watch these series (or whatever other British period drama) we're in the middle of instead of other things.

Jon Miller To Be Honored By Hall Of Fame

2010-02-03T07:29:00.002-05:00

Frankly, this honor is long overdue:

Jon Miller grew up doting on some of baseball's legendary broadcasters, and has spent the last 36 years working with -- and on occasion memorably impersonating -- new generations of verbal artists.
Monday, Miller joined the legends of the booth as the 2010 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award.
Well into his fourth decade behind the mic and currently the vibrant voice of the San Francisco Giants, Miller was announced as the latest honoree of the award presented annually since 1978 in recognition of contributions to baseball broadcasting.
Ford C. Frick Award winners have their own wing in Cooperstown's Hall of Fame, and announcement of Miller's selection by a specially-selected 20-member electorate was made by Jeff Idelson, the president of the Hall of Fame who called the 36-year veteran of local and national broadcasts "one of baseball's most recognizable voices."

Miller is currently play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants as well as the voice of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. If Jon Miller is calling the game it doesn't matter as much to me who is playing. I know it will be a great game to listen to knowing he's behind the microphone. Congratulations on this long overdue recognition by the Hall.

Pro-Choice Columnist Calls Out Intolerant Left

2010-02-02T19:11:00.003-05:00

Few things have caused as much controversy in recent days as Tim Tebow's upcoming pro-life Super Bowl Ad. Abortion advocates have been critical of Tebow and of CBS' decision to air the spot during the upcoming game.

But the most remarkable thing I've seen yet is this column from Washington Post writer Sally Jenkins. Ms. Jenkins takes the abortion advocates to task for their criticism of the young football star:

I'm pro-choice, and Tebow clearly is not. But based on what I've heard in the past week, I'll take his side against the group-think, elitism and condescension of the "National Organization of Fewer and Fewer Women All The Time." For one thing, Tebow seems smarter than they do.
Tebow's 30-second ad hasn't even run yet, but it already has provoked "The National Organization for Women Who Only Think Like Us" to reveal something
important about themselves: They aren't actually "pro-choice" so much as they are pro-abortion. Pam Tebow has a genuine pro-choice story to tell. She got pregnant in 1987, post-Roe v. Wade, and while on a Christian mission in the Philippines, she contracted a tropical ailment. Doctors advised her the pregnancy could be dangerous, but she exercised her freedom of choice and now, 20-some years later, the outcome of that choice is her beauteous Heisman Trophy winner son, a chaste, proselytizing evangelical.

Pam Tebow and her son feel good enough about that choice to want to tell people about it. Only, NOW says they shouldn't be allowed to. Apparently NOW feels this commercial is an inappropriate message for America to see for 30 seconds, but women in bikinis selling beer is the right one. I would like to meet the genius at NOW who made that decision. On second thought, no, I wouldn't.

There's not enough space in the sports pages for the serious weighing of values that constitutes this debate, but surely everyone in both camps, pro-choice or pro-life, wishes the "need" for abortions wasn't so great. Which is precisely why NOW is so wrong to take aim at Tebow's ad.

Be sure to read the whole thing. Hats off to Ms. Jenkins for calling out the intolerant critics on the Left who wish to demonize the Tebows. Though we may not agree on whether abortion is wrong we can at least agree that we can respectfully disagree with each other.

Friday Fun: Nat King Cole

2010-01-29T06:04:00.000-05:00

It was one of his first really big hits and a lot of fun as well. Here he is performing "Straighten Up and Fly Right". Enjoy!

Friday Fun: Hugh Laurie Sings!

2010-01-22T08:09:00.000-05:00

I've posted this before but it's worth a repeat because it's just such plain fun. First up, Hugh Laurie (as Bertie Wooster in Jeeves and Wooster), regales us with his rendition of Minnie the Moocher. Then there's this performance from Inside the Actor's Studio on Bravo where he delights the crowd with "Mystery".

Enjoy!

Want to Publish A Book?

2010-01-21T19:36:00.001-05:00

Are you a Christian author looking for someone to publish your book? Then read on.

Attention Christian Authors!

Deep River books is currently accepting unsolicited manuscripts from Christian Authors. Unlike vanity publishers, Deep River carefully reviews each manuscript before accepting any author for print. There is also a limited amount of space available for this opportunity to publish your manuscript. Their Partnership Publishing program is used by a wide variety of authors around the world such as Coach Bill McCartney, the Founder of Promise Keepers (and many more). Check it out for yourself and see if Deep River is right for you. You can learn how to submit your manuscript at www.deepriverbooks.com

Taylor the Latte Boy

2010-01-19T22:44:00.001-05:00

My girls showed me this video which I thought was just a wonderful bit of fun. Enjoy.

Looking Back on 2009

2009-12-28T19:06:00.001-05:00

It's fitting to look back on the year that was 2009 with Dave Barry's annual year in review column. Enjoy.

Christmas Eve 1968

2009-12-24T22:36:00.001-05:00

It's a timeless message that was first shared by the crew of Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve 1968:

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Major League Baseball to Ban DH?

2009-12-16T22:54:00.002-05:00

I certainly hope it happens. At least this is a step in the right direction.

Homeowners Association Caves: Veteran Allowed to Fly Flag

2009-12-08T22:16:00.004-05:00

Follow up on an item I previously noted and a very happy ending. A 90 year old Medal of Honor winner won his battle with his homeowner's association with an assist from both of Virginia U. S. Senators (hat tip: Hot Air):

RICHMOND, Va. — A 90-year-old Medal of Honor recipient can keep his 21-foot flagpole in his front yard after a homeowner's association dropped its request to remove it, a spokesman for Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Tuesday.
The Sussex Square homeowners' association likewise has agreed to drop threats to take legal action against retired Army Col. Van T. Barfoot, Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said.

The association had threatened to take Barfoot to court if he failed to remove the pole from his suburban Richmond home by Friday. It had said the pole violated the neighborhood's aesthetic guidelines.

This was a no-win situation for the homeowners' association and they made the right decision. Hats off to Senator Mark Warner and Senator Jim Webb for standing up for Col. Barfoot. The homeowners' association also made the right decision by allowing this American hero to keep his flag.

Remembering Pearl Harbor's Last Hero

2009-12-07T20:33:00.003-05:00

The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor Naval Station on December 7, 1941 marked one of the darkest days in America history and prompted our entry into World War II. Fifteen servicemen were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on that day but only five survived the battle. Lt. John William Finn, who turned 100 years old this past summer is the only remaining survivor of those fifteen men. He reportedly was headed to Pearl Harbor today for commemoration ceremonies. Mary Katherine Ham has a wonderful profile of this genuine American hero that is well worth reading.

Ed Morrissey reminds us also of the enduring lesson of Pearl Harbor:

The lesson from that war is that appeasement and complacency doesn’t keep one from having to fight a war. It usually forces one to fight from an extreme disadvantage. That’s a lesson we have not remembered in dealing with expansionist powers in our own time, even after a second shock like 9/11 after years of complacency in dealing with al-Qaeda. We’re falling back to treating radical Islamist terrorism like a Law and Order episode, and allowing one of the main drivers of radical Islamist terror, Iran, to arm itself with nuclear weapons with no consequences whatsoever.

We must never forget Pearl Harbor.

Decorated Veteran Ordered to Remove Flagpole

2009-12-06T19:57:00.004-05:00

Click on the video to see the story and prepare to be outraged. 90 year-old Colonel Van D. Barfoot who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor this week was served with a notice from his homeowner's association to take down his flagpole because it violates the association's bylaws. This is nitpicking by the homeowner's association. I sincerely hope that they realize what a tremendous debt we owe to Colonel Barfoot and millions of others like him who have faithfully served their country. Perhaps his homeowner's association could find a way to exercise some grace and allow him to keep his flagpole.

Hat tip: Townhall

Sportsman of the Year - Derek Jeter

2009-12-05T13:49:00.002-05:00

I'm not much of a fan of the New York Yankees but admire their consistency. One of the keys to their success is Derek Jeter who this year garnered Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year award. After reading Tom Verducci's profile of Jeter in this week's magazine, I came away impressed with the man who could easily be called Mr. Yankee. Congratulations to Derek Jeter for an outstanding season and an impressive career so far.

Dispatches from the Heartland

2009-11-29T11:28:00.002-05:00

Why is it that people are standing up against government policies? Why have the tea parties taken off in popularity? And why is it that both parties, Democrats and Republicans alike, appear to be disconnected from their constituents? Perhaps it's because politicians don't understand what's going on in Middle America, the heartland where values and principles seem to be far different from those of the urban centers of both coasts. Salena Zito takes a look at one such town and finds an America quite different from what Washington thinks it ought to be. And that's not a bad thing at all.

Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T17:20:00.001-05:00

As we gather this week with our families to celebrate Thanksgiving, it's helpful to remember why we celebrate. This essay traces the history of this holiday and would be worthwhile to share with your family tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Friday Fun

2009-11-20T12:20:00.001-05:00

Few commercials will make me stop whatever I am doing and pay attention. But invariably I will pay attention to ESPN's "This is Sportscenter" spots because they are usually very funny. Here's a compilation of the 25 best with video of each.

Hat tip: Mary Katherine Ham

Digging My Grave

2009-11-19T17:04:00.005-05:00

This has to be one of the most clever anti-Obamacare ads I have seen yet:

Source

Goodbye, Freedom

2009-11-18T21:38:00.002-05:00

If government healthcare reform passes, then we can kiss our freedoms goodbye according to Judge Andrew Napolitano:

Congress recognizes no limits on its power. It doesn't care about the Constitution, it doesn't care about your inalienable rights. If this health care bill becomes law, America, life as you have known it, freedom as you have exercised it, and privacy as you have enjoyed it will cease to be.

Last week the House of Representatives voted on a 2,000 page bill to give the federal government the power to micromanage the health care of every single American. The bill will raise your taxes, steal your freedom, invade your privacy, and ration your health care. Even the Republicans have introduced their version of Obamacare Lite. It, too, if passed, will compel employers to provide coverage, bribe the states to change their court rules, and tell insurance companies whom to insure.

We do not have two political parties in this country, America. We have one party; called the Big Government Party. The Republican wing likes deficits, war, and assaults on civil liberties. The Democratic wing likes wealth transfer, taxes, and assaults on commercial liberties. Both parties like power; and neither is interested in your freedoms.
Think about it. Government is the negation of freedom. Freedom is your power and ability to follow your own free will and your own conscience. The government wants you to follow the will of some faceless bureaucrat.

Be sure to read the whole thing.

Oops

2009-11-17T15:05:00.000-05:00

Sometimes technology can be unreliable.

Obama's Home Teleprompter Malfunctions During Family Dinner

Hat tip: Allahpundit

Wandering In The Desert

2009-11-17T08:30:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I made our first visit ever to Scottsdale, Arizona. It's a little strange for us given that we live in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. A trip to the desert is a little startling at first. As we were landing in Phoenix, I couldn't help but be struck by the lack of green plants and grass. Instead, I saw a lot of dust and, of course, cacti.

While wandering around Scottsdale, though, I was struck by a couple of different sites. For one thing, there is actually something attractive about cacti. Here's one example that was outside our hotel:

There's also this:

But cacti were not the only plant life we saw. There were also some gorgeous flower arrangements such as this around town:

Just because we were in the desert doesn't mean that everything was flat. In fact, mountains sometimes we're popping up in the middle of town. Here was the view out our hotel room window:

That's Camelback Mountain in the background and it's one of the most famous mountains in Arizona.

Two different thoughts came to me while on this trip. First, the beauty of God's creation can be found anywhere even in the desert. Mountains such as Camelback pop up all over the place. And despite the lack of vegetation, the flowers there were quite beautiful.

The second thought struck me as we were driving back through the Shenandoah Valley when we returned to Virginia. I was awed by the mountain vista and the beauty it encompassed. I had driven that stretch of road more times that I could count. But this time, because I had been in the desert, I appreciated the view that much more. I think that's why God allows us to have times when we are in the desert and we feel distant from God. Once we return to the "mountaintop" we have a little more appreciation for the blessings He bestows upon us.

Taking A Bow

2009-11-16T19:04:00.002-05:00

President Obama caused quite a ruckus over the weekend while in Japan. When he met Emperor Akihito he bowed which is a major faux paus. Americans do not bow to royalty and especially not Presidents. But as this video shows, the President not only bowed once but several times:

But as this video shows, other world leaders know not to bow to the Emperor (hat tip: Ed Morrissey):

At least one expert on Japan says the President's critics on both the right and left are all wrong about why it was wrong but makes the point that the bow was still offensive in the eyes of the Japanese.

Two thoughts come to mind. First, there is no question that the President is very intelligent, having been educated at Harvard and Columbia. Either he's not listening to his protocol advisers or the State Department has some housecleaning to do.

Second, this whole incident reminds me of this toy for some reason:

How To Bake Great Artisan Bread At Home

2009-11-16T08:24:00.001-05:00

I love bread. My waistline will testify to this fact. When I travel, I usually eat at least one meal at either (a) a local bakery or (b) Panera Bread when I can't find a good local bakery. Little did I know that it's possible to make the same high quality artisan bread at home and the best part is that it's really, really easy.

Here's how you do it: first, go to a grocery store or warehouse club and buy a 5 quart tub of ice cream. Then eat the ice cream and save the container (this is what you will use to store your dough). Then go buy this book and follow the instructions:

It's that easy.

Celebrating Joy Out of Sorrow

2009-11-14T19:45:00.000-05:00

Mark Alexander has the heartwarming story in this week's essay at the Patriot Post. Be sure to read all the way to the end to discover how two patriots found joy in the midst of dealing with grief. It's a beautiful story and one well worth reading.

Two Different Views of Healthcare Reform

2009-11-06T12:00:00.000-05:00

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi insists that she is going to get a vote on healthcare reform over the weekend but one has to wonder what she thinks she is going to accomplish. According to the Wall Street Journal's John Fund, there are some Democrats who are questioning the wisdom in pushing ahead especially in light of Tuesday's election results:

It's one thing to be serene under fire, it's another to be delusional.

More than a few Democrats in Congress are perplexed and worried that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is insisting on ramming through a 1,900-page health care bill on Saturday, just days after her party took heavy losses in Tuesday's elections. "It reminds me of Major Nicholson, the obsessed British major in the film 'Bridge on the River Kwai,'" one Democrat told me. "She is fixated on finishing her health care bridge even as she's lost sight of where it's going and what damage it could cause to her own troops."

Indeed, the Speaker's take on Tuesday's off-year elections struck some of her own members as delusive "happy talk." "From our perspective, we won last night," a cheerful Ms. Pelosi told reporters, citing her party's pick-up of a single House seat in a New York special election and retention of another strongly Democratic seat in California.

That's not how many of her own troops see it. Democratic Rep. Parker Griffith of Alabama told Politico.com that members are "very, very sensitive" to the fact that the agenda being pushed by party leaders has "the potential to cost some of our front-line members their seats"

On health care, added New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell: "People who had weak knees before are going to have weaker knees now."

Meanwhile, Republicans have outlined their own common sense and no-cost reform proposals that actually reform the health insurance system rather than turning the whole thing into another gigantic government bureaucracy.

Speaker Pelosi might just get her wish and see her bill pass the House. Chances are that even if she succeeds to keep enough Democrats together to pass it the bill will undergo vast changes in the Senate. More importantly, passage of a massively complex healthcare bill may fufill Democrats' dreams of government healthcare but it will likely cause so many of their members to lose seats that they could be in the minority for many years to come. The key question will be how many Democrats are willing to risk political suicide for the sake of passing this bill. My guess is not many.

Flu Vaccine Shortages and Government Healthcare

2009-11-06T07:46:00.000-05:00

A new ad will begin to run nationally today that makes the case that the government has no business getting any further into running healthcare given how they've handled the H1N1 flu vaccine shortage (as well as sending vaccine to Gitmo detainees before American citizens) (hat tip: Michael Goldfarb):

It's a great ad and makes a very salient point. For all the talk about how widespread the H1N1 pandemic was supposed to be, the government sure seems to have been caught woefully unprepared in developing sufficient supplies of the vaccine. The ad reinforces what we already know: everything government does is going to be far less efficient and far more costly than they say it will be.

EP Debut: Wish That I Was by Annie Parsons

2009-11-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

Wikipedia says that a songwriter is "someone who writes the lyrics, as well as the musical composition or melody to songs. But a true songwriter is not someone who not only can write a song but can communicate feelings and thoughts through the music and lyrics, someone who reveals either part of themselves or through their music share things that any listener can identify with, themes that resonate with us.

Annie Parsons (not related to me) is a true songwriter.

I met Annie earlier this year on a trip to Nashville. I got to know her through my own daughter Annie.

Annie moved to Nashville a couple of years ago to pursue songwriting. This past summer, she made her debut at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville which is a big deal.

Now, Annie has just released her first EP entitled Wish That I Was. For a limited time, she has it available for sale. And she makes a compelling case why you should go buy this EP.

Please go and support Annie by buying her EP. She is a terrific writer and a wonderful singer as well. You will certainly enjoy her music.