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Evil eyes

September 20, 2011 By Gene Veith

As you will have noticed, I am interested in language, idioms, figures of speech, and imagery. Our pastor’s sermon, which is worth reading in its entirety, looked at a Biblical expression that is usually translated away. Rev. Douthwaite was preaching on Matthew 20:1-16, the parable about how the laborers were all getting paid the same, even though some worked longer than others, and told the Master that he was being unfair: Am I not allowed to do what I choose… Read more

Taxes & government manipulation

September 20, 2011 By Gene Veith

126 Comments

The Washington Post has a big story about tax breaks. As President Obama and congressional Republicans argue over how to rewrite the U.S. tax code, the debate has revolved around “loopholes” for corporate jets and ending “carve-outs” for well-heeled special interests. But if the goal is debt reduction, that’s not where the money is. Broad tax breaks granted to millions of families at all income levels dwarf the corporate giveaways. Over the past two years, largely because of these popular… Read more

Liberals and their language

September 20, 2011 By Gene Veith

14 Comments

George Will, picking up on some themes we have blogged about here, notes not only the ineffectualness of liberal solutions to our economic woes, but how they are running away from their own language: In societies governed by persuasion, politics is mostly talk, so liberals’ impoverishment of their vocabulary matters. Having damaged liberalism’s reputation, they call themselves progressives. Having made the federal government’s pretensions absurd, they have resurrected a supposed synonym for the government, the “federal family.” Having made federal… Read more

Divorce on grounds of Alzheimer’s

September 19, 2011 By Gene Veith

194 Comments

So what all is disturbing about this? Pat Robertson advised a viewer of yesterday’s 700 Club to avoid putting a “guilt trip” on those who want to divorce a spouse with Alzheimer’s. During the show’s advice segment, a viewer asked Robertson how she should address a friend who was dating another woman “because his wife as he knows her is gone.” Robertson said he would not fault anyone for doing this. He then went further by saying it would be… Read more

A Palestinian state

September 19, 2011 By Gene Veith

48 Comments

Have you noticed that the Republican presidential candidates are saying almost nothing about foreign policy, despite the huge problems overseas and the current administration’s bungling of so many of them? And now the Palestinians have gone to the UN on Friday, seeking that body’s ratification of a Palestinian state: The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, says he will go ahead with a request to the United Nations Security Council to recognise what amounts to a unilateral declaration of independence, despite warnings… Read more

College football reshuffling

September 19, 2011 By Gene Veith

16 Comments

Well, my team, the Oklahoma Sooners, ranked #1, beat the highest rated team on their schedule, #5 Florida State, making me think they are for real. OU has had a habit of losing games like this–early in the season, on the road, pre-mature hype–but this time, though it was a very hard-fought and exciting game, there was no choking, no appearance of disorganized panic when things got hard, just relentless football that ground out a 10 point victory. But now… Read more

“See how dumb I am” moments

September 16, 2011 By Gene Veith

108 Comments

Jennifer Rubin is a conservative. But she is sick and tired of Republican candidates and office holders who flaunt their ignorance and celebrate unintelligence: Republicans have sometimes mistaken anti-elitism with anti-smarts. Put differently, Republicans should not have contempt for the voters or for ideas, lest they be judged unworthy of serving in office. It’s one thing to heap scorn on liberal elites who parrot unsupportable leftist dogma or who show contempt for ordinary Americans’ values; it’s quite another to celebrate… Read more

Kamikaze update

September 16, 2011 By Gene Veith

76 Comments

You know that recent post about Heather Penney, the female pilot who was ordered to take down Flight 93 on 9/11 by ramming into it in a suicide attack? Well, it gets even worse. As far as she knew, her FATHER, a United pilot working out of the east coast, might have been flying that plane! See F-16 pilot was ready to down plane her father piloted on 9/11 – The Washington Post. I asked what was disturbing about all… Read more

China as economic savior?

September 16, 2011 By Gene Veith

42 Comments

Europe is in even worse economic shape than we are, with first Greece and now Italy being so indebted that they are threatening to pull down the whole Euro-zone house of cards. And even Germany, still an economic powerhouse, may not have enough money or the will to bail everyone out. Fareed Zakaria calls on the only country with the financial wherewithal to bail out Europe: China The time has come for China to adopt a broader concept of its… Read more