I’m sure Ben Bernanke is a nice man and all, but why is he being touted as the “Person of the Year”?
Back in the olden days, back before I became at least somewhat politically astute and hip to the ways of the world, I used to read TIME Magazine. Yes, I confess it, and I have repented of that folly. In fact, I stopped reading TIME years ago because its editors and writers seemed to be pathologically incapable of presenting commentary on the news in a balanced and objectively honest way. Not only are the stories and editorials imbued with liberal cant, the selection of stories is perpetually reflective of a distorted leftist weltanschauung that perceives everything only in shades of gray, pink, and rainbow.
Which brings me to this blog piece from the PIME Missionaries (a congregation of Catholic priests who minister primarily in India and Asia), who comments,“As the world waits for hyperinflation and a world government, Bernanke becomes ‘Person of the Year.'”
The piece includes a number of good observations about why Ben Bernanke is an odd choice for this honor, including this one: “What better achievement to put in the resume of an otherwise average economics professor from Princeton, without much theoretical work or publications to his name.”
This audio clip is from a recent show in which a caller wanted (I think) to publicly put me on the spot over why I “de-friended” him on Facebook. As you’ll hear, the reason was because of some things he said to some of the women there about their having had an abortion.
The problem was that he branded such women as “murderers” because 1) abortion is murder and 2) they had aborted one or more of their children. His logic is correct, at least in a sense, because abortion is murder. But the way he put that logic into practice was, in my view, wrong-headed and counterproductive, and in this audio clip, I explain why. Take a listen . . .
What do you think?
Also, for any woman reading this blog post who may be struggling with feelings of grief, self-hatred, and remorse (to name a few common emotional reactions women feel after having had an abortion), I would like to encourage you to get in touch with the following welcoming and very helpful organizations:
On my “Open Line” radio show last week (Thursdays from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. ET), I took a call from Ryan in Baton Rouge. He asked for some advice on resources for studying Scripture in a systematic way. Here’s what I told him.Take a listen . . .
In view of the widespread orgy of gloating among those who were delighted by the Christmas-Eve attack on the Pope at the start of midnight Mass in Saint Peters, I offer up to the Lord this scriptural prayer of encouragement for the Holy Father, that He would continue to protect and strengthen him in the face of his enemies:
May God “deliver you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech,who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil; men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways” (Proverbs 2:12-15).
Conservative columnist Theodore Kettle comments on the shameful display of glee in some circles about the attack on the pope:
It was only minutes after Pope Benedict XVI was violently attacked on Christmas Eve by a woman described by authorities as mentally deranged, but leftist blogs lit up with joy over the assault.
The Daily Kos’s “Late Afternoon/Early Evening Open Thread,” for example, featured this posting at 8:10 PM Eastern Time: “Having just about enough of this male dominance bull—t, one bold Italian woman ran up and knocked down the Pope and a Cardinal!”
The woman, Susanna Maiolo, 25, was actually Swiss-Italian, and while the Pontiff himself came out of the episode unhurt and able to complete his celebration of Midnight Mass, 87-year-old French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray was left with broken bones requiring hip replacement surgery.The comments that soon appeared on blogs known to be critical of the social teachings of the Catholic Church were so harsh that even fellow bloggers of similar ideological bent were outraged.In a Dec. 26 a Daily Kos article entitled “Anti-Catholicism,” a “former Republican” Catholic woman and “forester/biologist” from the Deep South wrote, “I logged onto HuffingtonPost.com and read about the Pope getting knocked over by a mentally disturbed woman.While several people pointed out the Pope’s age and how this could have easily resulted in a broken hip, many more rejoiced in the event.” One blogger’s “attack on Catholicism and Catholics was met with near universal approval within the HuffingtonPost community.”
She added, “I have read numerous, nearly identical comments and posts at Daily Kos.”
A number of HuffPost bloggers were also amazed at the venom of some of the responses, like one woman who observed, “This incident with the Pope has brought lots of Christmas cheer to the HP community. Wow.” . . . (continue reading)
Here is one of the first photos of former British university student, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, being arrested on Northwest Airlines 253 after allegedly trying to blow up the Airbus A330 filled with 11 crew members and 278 passengers, as it was on its final landing approach to Detroit Metro Airport. (Photo CNN.)
This unfolding story of the man who attempted (nearly successfully) yesterday to blow up Northwest Airlines 253 in mid-air is nerve wracking on several levels. Yes, he’s a Muslim and, apparently, a self-proclaimed “jihadist,” which does fit the prevailing “airline terrorist” profile. But that’s not what concerns me here. The fact that he is black — black African — is something, at least ethnically, that has not been part of the standard Muslim terrorist paradigm.
Until now.
Consider a few points. First, this “leg-bomber” and/or his accomplic(es) managed to smuggle liquid and powder bomb components onto this trans-Atlantic flight, assemble them in flight, and ignite the mixture is cause for grave consternation for every law enforcement agency with any role to play in preventing this kind of thing. If this jihad-addled yahoo got this close to killing 289 innocent people, my hunch is that there are other such yahoos out there all ginned up and ready to go on similar airline slay rides.
Second, as someone who does a lot of airline travel each year myself, foreign and domestic, I know that the man who is being credited with foiling the terrorist in the act of igniting the explosive device (or whatever it was that he had strapped to his leg), was very possibly the only thing that prevented the attack from being successful.
It’s possible that Abdulmutallab, the wannabe bomber, is simply an inept bumbler, though if his claim that he was dispatched on this mission by Al Quaeda or some derivative group plays out as true, then perhaps that means that, thanks to the relentless campaign against them by the U.S. and Britain, they have been reduced to conning bumblers into doing their dirty work. But regardless, thank God that heroic passenger had the awareness and the fight in him to lunge at the bomber and, with his bare hands,rip the already burning bomb off his leg so it could be squelched before it could explode. God bless that man!
Other passengers on this flight helped subdue the attacker (God bless them, too), once they became aware of the danger, only moments later, but the Dutch man who got to him first is very likely the one who prevented the plane from disintegrating in a fiery explosion, somewhere over Detroit, as the plane made its landing approach. I know from experience, traveling fairly often on long, trans-oceanic flights that, because the clear and present danger of in-flight terrorism has not abated one whit since 9-11 (remember, the conventional wisdom, with which I wholeheartedly concur, is “if, not when”), it can be nerve wracking for those passengers who are alert to the danger while in the air. I know this not only from my own experiences, but also as
a result of conversations about this very issues, while flying, with flight attendants, dead-heading pilots, and other aware, concerned passengers.
Within a few hours of this story breaking on the Drudge Report and other major news sites, a close friend of mine who travels on business frequently between Detroit and Amsterdam’s “Schiphol Airport, texted me: “I take that same flight all the time — it’s my primary one. I’ll be on it in a month, twice. Unbelievable!” I can readily understand my friend’s unease over this. I feel his pain.
True story: A few years ago, I was seated in business class on a flight on a major US airline from Chicago to New Delhi, India. The 777 was configured in that class as 2-4-2, and I was seated on the left-hand aisle of the middle section. About 9 or 10 hours into the flight (it’s a 14-hour haul) I watched in shock as a man dressed in atraditional Pakistani outfitliterally ran up the right-hand aisle toward first class. The cabin was dark, most everyone was asleep, and a flight attendant who was alert enough to this guy stepped out from the galley into the aisle and physically blocked his way from moving past her toward the front of the plane.
She barked loudly and firmly, “Sir! You cannot come into this cabin!” a few passengers seated nearby stirred, sat up, and looked around to see what was happening. The guy seemed to hesitate for a moment or two and then said he was trying to get to the bathroom. The flight attendant pointed to the back of the plane and told him firmly and audibly enough to be heard by everyone in business class, “I’m sorry, sir, but you can only use the lavatories in that part of the plane. You cannot come into this part of the plane.” And with that, he turned and walked casually toward the back. I didn’t see him again during the remainder of the flight, but I admit that my thoughts revolved around the previously publicized theory that Muslim terrorist engage periodically in “testing” the reactions of airline crews during flights as a way to determine what methods of attack will and won’t work during a real attack.
A few minutes after that unsettling altercation took place, I made my way to the galley and told the flight attendant that I had watched the whole thing and asked what she thought it meant. She seemed tense and kind of nervous and she said she had already alerted the captain and the rest of the flight crew about it. About all I could do was let her know that I’d be awake and watching, if she needed any help. How I prayed that nothing would happen that would bring things to that stage. Nothing did, obviously, thank God. But that incident branded on my mind and took up residence in the “what-if” section of my imagination.
What if that guy, or several, had tried to do something bad on that flight? What would I have done? Anything? Nothing? It’s impossible to say. All I know is that I tell myself I would act, if the situation ever required it (thank God it never has). Who knows what any of us would actually do if faced with mortal danger in mid-f
light. Thank God that the Dutch passenger on yesterday’s Northwest’s flight sprang into action when he did. I shudder to imagine what would have happened if the attacker had succeeded.
And finally, third, it’s being reported — and the pictures that are starting to come out indicate — that the terrorist did not fit the racial stereotype of what we have come to assume in-flight attackers would look like. He is not an Arab, he’s Nigerian. He speaks presumably excellent English with a British accent. Unlike the “shoe bomber,” Richard Reid, He doesn’t look “the part.”
Racial profiling? Ha. This incident is a game-changer. This changes everything. Wait and see.
The north-central Irish Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise has suffered the tragic loss of its 150-year old cathedral yesterday morning in what may have been an act of arson. Just a few hours after the bishop celebrated Midnight Mass, the fire broke out. By the time it was extinguished the beautiful interior was completely gutted. Of course, it’s too soon to know yet what caused the fire, but given the turmoil still at a fever pitch of shock and anger in Ireland over the recently revealed devastating report of clergy sexual abuse (with a number of bishops resigning in disgrace over it) the possibility of arson is certainly plausible. I pray for my Irish Catholic brethren as they are hit by this new and unexpected blow.
UPDATE: The origin of this fire is being actively investigated, according tothis U.K. source, and the possibility that it was caused by arson (perhaps in retaliation against the Catholic Church in Ireland because of the recent sex-scandal report)
The Pew Forum has come out with a new study showing the relative levels of religious activity based on four measurements: “the importance of religion in people’s lives, frequency of attendance at worship services, frequency of prayer and absolute certainty of belief in God.”
Not surprisingly, the ten most religious states are in the South, the heart of the Bible belt. I salute them. Also, not surprisingly, about half of the dozen least religious are the heavily “Catholic” states of Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, California, and Connecticut. Sad. Very sad.
