Tag Archives: responsibilities

Pope Francis, Communion, and Abortion

Posted on by
Reply

This is a subject into which I’m going to poke my Protestant nose, which may be a symptom of my own sin of arrogance, but there it is.

Pope Francis insists that communion is a gift to all of us, not a prize for the perfect. He also says,

What must the pastor do? Be a pastor; don’t go condemning. Be a pastor, because he is a pastor also for the excommunicated.

He’s right, too, as far as he goes.

He also emphasizes

Whoever has an abortion kills. It is a human life. This human life must be respected—this principle is so clear.

This is a preview of Pope Francis, Communion, and Abortion. Read the full post (311 words, estimated 1:15 mins reading time)

Tech in the Classroom

Posted on by
Reply

In a Wall Street Journal article centered on the classroom distractions provided by the smart watches students bring into their classrooms, Julie Jargon asked,

Which tech option makes more sense for students, smartwatches or phones?

I say neither of the above. Technology that jams the radio signals these devices depend on so that only 911 calls can get in or out is the option that’s needed. The kids need to stop being pupils and need, instead, to be students, and their parents need to step back and let them.

This is a preview of Tech in the Classroom. Read the full post (198 words, estimated 48 secs reading time)

The Correct Way

Posted on by
Reply

The People’s Republic of China demands that the Republic of China be referred to, exclusively, as Taiwan, Province of China.

A large number of institutions cravenly go along with that, solely for their personal political gain, including—especially shamefully—an American high school.

Colorado’s Regis Jesuit High School applied for credentials to attend the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

The purpose of attending was to give some students a taste of foreign affairs.

That’s when the PRC, a member of that commission, instructed the school to mend its ways. The PRC, through that commission, instructed the school to “fix” an obscure reference to the RoC on its Web site:

This is a preview of The Correct Way. Read the full post (461 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

A Couple Perspectives

Posted on by
Reply

The contrast between them illustrates on the one hand the artificial nature of the hysteria that surrounds the risk of the Wuhan Virus, including its Delta variant, and on the other hand the very real risk to our children in the lawlessness in our (Progressive-Democrat-run) cities.

Over the course of 2021, more minors have been shot in Chicago than have died of [Wuhan Virus] in all of the United States, according to data from police and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A total of 214 children 17 years old or younger have died of [Wuhan Virus] so far this year in the country. Comparatively, Chicago police told FOX 32 Chicago earlier this week that 261 children have been shot—41 of whom have died.

This is a preview of A Couple Perspectives. Read the full post (217 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)

Failure

Posted on by
Reply

A letter writer, in his 10 Sept Wall Street Journal Letter, quoted from former President George Bush the Younger’s Decision Points (scroll to the last letter).

Ultimately, the only way the Taliban and al Qaeda can retake Afghanistan is if America abandons the country. Allowing the extremists to reclaim power would force Afghan women back into subservience, remove girls from school, and betray all the gains of the past nine years. After the Cold War, the United States gave up on Afghanistan. The result was chaos, civil war, the Taliban takeover, sanctuary for al Qaeda, and the nightmare of 9/11. To forget that lesson would be a dreadful mistake.

This is a preview of Failure. Read the full post (183 words, estimated 44 secs reading time)

“A Retreat on Racial Preferences”

Posted on by
Reply

That’s the headline on a Tuesday editorial in The Wall Street Journal. The Editors opened with

The Biden Administration has been losing in court on its racially biased policies, and last week something remarkable happened. It gave up. Without explanation, the Justice Department declined to appeal a federal court injunction against a discriminatory loan-forgiveness program for farmers.

The decision not to defend appears to be widespread.

More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed challenging the USDA’s racial preferences, and three so far have resulted in preliminary injunctions by district courts in Florida, Wisconsin and Texas. Justice failed to appeal the Florida injunction before its 60-day deadline last week and hasn’t contested the others.

This is a preview of “A Retreat on Racial Preferences”. Read the full post (300 words, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

In Which the Supreme Court Gets One Right, So Far

Posted on by
Reply

Whole Woman’s Health et al v Austin Reeve Jackson, Judge, et al On Application for Injunctive Relief is a case brought to the Supreme Court by plaintiffs seeking injunction against a newly effective Texas law that bars abortions when a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat and assigns to the citizens of Texas sole authority to enforce the law, through civil court action.

By a 5-4 vote, the Court declined to enter the matter at this stage of litigation, thereby permitting Texas’ law to remain in effect.

I have some thoughts on the matter.

This is a preview of In Which the Supreme Court Gets One Right, So Far. Read the full post (579 words, estimated 2:19 mins reading time)

Debt Ceilings and Spend-Thriftiness

Posted on by
Reply

One hundred and three House Republicans have signed a letter committing themselves to never vote for a debt ceiling increase under any circumstances. Forty-six Senate Republicans have signed a substantially similar letter.  (Aside: the nine Republican Representatives and four Republican Senators should be asked why they’re not signing on.) The signatories

will not vote to increase the debt ceiling, whether that increase comes through a stand-alone bill, a continuing resolution, or any other vehicle.

Of course, Congressional Progressive-Democrats are in a snit over that. Their beef centers, amorally, on “You guys are spendthrifts, too!”

This is a preview of Debt Ceilings and Spend-Thriftiness. Read the full post (312 words, estimated 1:15 mins reading time)

An Example

Posted on by
Reply

…of what an honorable government does. This is the Republic of Korea.

From Laura Bicker, @BBCLBicker, via Lyman Stone @lymanstoneky:

@BBCLBicker
380 Afghans who worked for the Korean government in Afghanistan will arrive in South Korea tomorrow according to MOFA [Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs]. They will not be entering as refugees, but as people of merit to the country says the Foreign Ministry.
9:20 PM · Aug 24, 2021

@BBCLBicker
The 380 are currently at Kabul Airport and will arrive in Incheon tomorrow by military plane. These are Afghans who have worked for years at the Embassy, KOICA, Bagram Korean Hospital, Bagram Korean Vocational Training centre, Chairkar Korean Provincial Reconstruction Team.

This is a preview of An Example. Read the full post (216 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)

Two Congressmen Went on a Trip

Posted on by
Reply

Congressmen Seth Moulton (D, MA) and Peter Meijer (R, MI) went to Kabul, Afghanistan to see for themselves the situation there. They didn’t want to rely solely on President Joe Biden’s (D) word, or those of SecDef Lloyd Austin or JCS Chairman General Mark Milley. Even worse, they didn’t say, “Mother, may I” before heading off.

What’s really bad, though, is that Biden, et al., weren’t interested in what Moulton and Meijer learned on their trip—it was the fact of the trip itself and that the travelers bypassed the Wonders of the Potomac in the going. In fact, the Biden/Harris administration quite angry about the Congressmen’s impudence.

This is a preview of Two Congressmen Went on a Trip. Read the full post (344 words, estimated 1:23 mins reading time)