FaithWalkers
The FaithWalker’s Daily is a quick review of key news stories of the day from the perspective of a conservative Christ-follower living in, but not of, the world.
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Tarantino Claims West too Sensitive about Public Shootings
The Basics —
Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, know for his ultra-violent films such as Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds claims we overreact as a culture to public shootings. Meanwhile Fox cancels Christmas specials that feature school children and Discovery cancels the American Guns series as gun sales soar.
Dig Deeper:
- Via The Independent (UK), : Tarantino says blame for violence should remain squarely with the perpetrators while Fox cancels Christmas specials that featured schoolchildren for fear of offending.
- Via Hollywood Reporter: Latest violent Tom Cruise movie opening delayed –and altered. Not cancelled, just delayed.
- Via CBS Denver: Gun sales overwhelm the Colorado approval system the day after the Newtown tragedy.
- Via BuzzFeed: 9 things the media got wrong about Sandy Hook.
- Ben Stein has some of the best commentary on the tragedy. Key graph: “[T]he smartest comment about the whole subject came from John R. Coyne, Jr. ‘There is evil in the world. It’s beyond mental illness, beyond gun control. It is evil.’
- Meghan McArdle at The Daily Beast: “Not every problem has a policy solution.”
A Few Thoughts…
I’m not sure I can say it better than Ben Stein here:
“The killer got his weapons from his mother, who apparently had bought them legally and registered them. That tells us something about what anti-gun laws would do, although maybe the mother should not have had them either. In this world, a killer devil can kill his mother and steal her guns to kill six-year-olds. That’s what some humans are and I am not sure what laws will stop them.”
I never thought I would agree with Quentin Tarantino on anything, yet in our rush to share blame and ram through fear-based legislation, we must not somehow think that any of it will solve the problem of evil in each of us.
There is away to stop evil. That’s what the Christmas message is all about.
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Boehner and Obama Edge Closer to Fiscal Cliff Deal
The Basics —
Reports indicate that Speaker Boehner and President Obama are edging closer to a deal that would include $1.2 trillion in tax increases, including raising the rates on higher income in exchange for approximately $900K decrease in the rate of spending increases. Massive budget deficits would continue.
Dig Deeper:
- Via the Washington Post: Thorough reporting on the mechanics of a possible deal. All you need to know about Washington can be summed up in this graph: “Boehner’s latest offer calls for $2 trillion in savings over the next decade, half from higher taxes and half from cuts to the fast-growing health and retirement programs that are the federal government’s largest expense. All told, Obama’s latest offer calls for about $2.15 trillion in savings.” Only in Washington can spending more money be called savings.
- Via the NY Times: More detail on the proposed deal that would keep the Bush tax rates in place for all incomes below $400,000. Obama asking to raise debt ceiling for two more years.
- Via Hot Air: AllahPundit can’t make sense of Boehner’s moves on this either.
A Few Thoughts…
Obama campaigned on raising taxes by $800K and Boehner is compromising at $1.2 trillion? No wonder so many conservatives have no confidence in the Republican leadership. The bottom line is this: we’re borrowing more, spending more, doing nothing of any substance about the entitlement nightmare – and calling it a success. Ya, that’s about right for Washington. Divine wisdom says owe no man anything. The borrower is servant to the lender. If you make a vow, do not neglect to pay it. Elections have consequences. Very real ones.
People in debt are not free people.
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McDonald’s May Open for Business on Christmas Day
The Basics —
McDonald’s is urging it’s franchisees to serve some hot apple pies on Christmas Day in a bid for holiday dollars after a lucrative Thanksgiving Day experiment.
Dig Deeper:
- Via CBS Chicago: An internal McDonald’s memo claims average sales of $5,500 for the handful of locations open last year on Christmas Day.
- Key quote from memo: “[W]e capitalized on the opportunity to be open while our customers were on the road — and those customers rewarded us.”
A Few Thoughts…
What’s the price for the Golden arches — that icon of American culture — to stay open on Christmas Day? $5,500 in sales, apparently. The issue here is two-fold. First, I’m guessing there are a lot of people who would stop to eat at McDonald’s if it were open. Maybe they don’t care that much about the meaning of Christmas, maybe they’re traveling and hungry. I don’t question whether or not McDonald’s would make money. It’s a commentary on our culture that they would choose to do what even a decade ago would have been unthinkable. The second issue is that by opening, they would require employees to work who may, in fact, have objections based on their faith but feel pressured to work or lose their jobs. It’s about what kind of organization McDonald’s will be. Somehow I doubt Ray Kroc would vote to be open on Christmas Day. See Chik-Fila for a good example.
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