Thoughts for Sunday

I come from a religious tradition (Baptist Christian) that holds to the total depravity of man. This doesn’t mean that everyone is base and evil. We believe that man (humanity) was made in God’s image, and as a creation of a good God, was meant to be good. However, sin (acting against God’s will) contaminates every last one of us to the point where all of humanity stands condemned, willingly, either refusing to believe in this condemnation or refusing to care. This provides the basis for one’s approach to Jesus Christ, who was sent to deliver us from sin and death - not by anything we can do, but by simple virtue of believing Him that He has in fact paid for our sins and rendered us blameless before God for our sin.

As a result, it is my (our) desire to see as many as possible come to understand this and be given the choice to accept the gift of Jesus, or not. It also calls me to believe that man can ultimately be good. That we can overcome the selfish life we lead, that we can really love each other, with God’s help.

It is funny that this belief of mine is often viewed by modern liberals as “hateful”. How dare I accuse and condemn people? I should just accept people - real love is not contingent, they say. I should be able to look past people’s frailties and vanities and just love them. Of course, the truth is, I do. The truth is that loving someone means wanting the best for them. It means encouraging them to better. It is an act of apathy, the real opposite of love, to leave someone trapped in their own destructive patterns.

In contrast, modern liberal thought would say that men are basically good. They we all really mean well, and if given the choice, most people will make the right one. However, circumstances beyond our control have affected each and every one of us. If only we can somehow improve those circumstances, or create the right conditions, everyone will be good.

I also find it funny that these same people, who contend that man is basically good and will act good if we just “give them a chance” are the same people who believe that individually, people cannot be expected to act morally, and any attempt to do so is doomed to fail. If we do not force people to do what is best for them, they will doom themselves.

Lastly, I find it funny that even though some think that I “hate” people, I have more respect for the individual’s will and freedom as a result, while those who believe we are all “good” feel they must enforce “goodness” on individuals.

Keith Brownsey: Cabinet Making for Dummies

Keith Brownsey tut tuts Stelmach’s new cabinet:

“I think Mr. Stelmach hasn’t read the basic textbooks on how to put a cabinet together.”

Brownsey is of course speaking of his own book, “Cabinet Making for Dummies,” 3rd edition..

Like Brownsey’s other books, this one is written specifically for dummies.

Premier Stelmach - A Cabinet of Potential Disappointments

Much will be made of today’s announcement regarding Premier Stelmach’s cabinet. Bloggers and political pundits province-wide will pore over the appointments and will likely spend many hours debating about whether Ed’s choices were wise. The only problem is, the average Albertan won’t notice - or likely even care.

The apathy of Albertans is well documented, and one thing is certain, many Albertans would have difficulty even naming one of the previous cabinet ministers.

This voter apathy likely stems from 14 years of rule under “King Ralph” and the relative lack of anything particularly inspiring coming from either Ralph or his subservient cabinet of ministers. It could also have something to do with the fact that many of the current Ministers, and likely most of the incoming cabinet, were completely silent or complicit in many of King Ralph’s antics over the years.

Between getting drunk and throwing money at homeless people, or picking fights with the Federal government (only to back down when the heat was turned up), Ralph’s Team’s, and now likely Ed’s Team will continue to be uninspiring and devoid of any real leaders.

Name your Poison: Faithfulness or PAIN!

So, they figure that taking off the hoodie can halve your chances of catching AIDS eh?

I’ve got a brilliant idea.  Why don’t all the papers publicize that not boinking everyone under the sun can GUARANTEE you won’t catch AIDS?

Let’s put it to the man on the street.

“Excuse me sir, what would you prefer: having the tip of your willy hacked off, and knock your chances down of catching AIDS, or simply restricting your sexual partners to one, and COMPLETELY ELIMINATING your chance of catching AIDS, along with every other STD in existence?”

“Hmm… I’ll get back to you on that.”

Gotcha Journalism Against Gotcha Journalists

Recently our very own kaqchikel played gotcha journalism against an obnoxious blowhard who writes for the Calgary Sun. It was a great moment for the blogosphere. Details here and here.

Via SDA, the Black Rod reports on a video tape of a Winnipeg Free Press columnist making an ass of himself in a liquor store. Apparently he thought his public persona obliges him to special treatment.

Now I would LOVE to see this meme go around the blogosphere: post accounts of MSM figures making total jerks of themselves, just as they love to catch everyone else making jerks of themselves. Of course, video or audio clips are the best. Perhaps YouTube.com could devote a whole section to this new genre.

Here’s another great example, this time an exchange between Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and a reporter who thinks too highly of himself.

Dion: Change Taxes for Oil and Set Up Impossible Environmental Standards

Stephane Dion seems ready to destroy the Alberta economy if he were to become PM:

Dion says he wants Canada to fulfill its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which calls for deep cuts in the country’s spiraling emissions.

Green activists and the leftist New Democrats want the government to end what they call massive tax breaks to the oil and gas industry, particularly in the energy-rich western province of Alberta.

“We will revisit the oil and gas tax regime to be sure it will be fair and competitive and also effective for greenhouse gas reductions and for the competitiveness of the economy,” Dion told a news conference.

In particular, he said he wanted to look at a rule which allows the oil sands industry to write off investment costs at an accelerated pace. The rule was brought in by the previous Liberal government to help the industry in its early days.

“I’m saying that we will revisit it completely and if they (the companies in the oil sands) want to have it back … they will need to come with zero-emission projects and (plans) to use three times less water, let’s say,” he said.

His vague promise to review investment rules isn’t so bad. The Alberta government will be reviewing the royalty scheme for the oilsands. They were originally set up to make it easy for companies to recoup costs and to attract investment. They were also established with a per barrel price of oil in the teens.

However, it’s unclear what Dion thinks a “zero emissions” oilsands industry would look like. To me it sounds like he’s promising impossibly high environmental standards as a way of appeasing the environmentalists. If he’s serious, “zero emissions” would destroy the oilsands as well as the rest of the Alberta economy. If he’s not serious, then he’ll have to explain why he broke his promise to the environmentalists.

UPDATE: Don’t forget, Dion’s already promised to jail Western farmers.

Mainstream Media 101: How to Slander

1. Pick your enemy.
2. Think of something that they might do that people would hate.
3. Attend said enemy’s press conference.
4. Accuse a representative of said enemy of your idea of something they would do.
5. Report on them denying their insidious plans.

For example, a political party you don’t like.  People generally want to clean up the environment.  So you go to a press conference and say, “Do you have secret plans to cut billions from the environment?”  They say “No.”  You write, “Conservatives Party X deny plans to cut billions from the environment.”

See?  Instant slander!

Or is it?  Let’s personalize it.

Say you are a local news reporter. You have someone in the public realm you don’t like.  Say you don’t like the Mayor.  You co go his press conference and you ask him, “Do you have plans to close all the retirement homes in the city?”  Of course, he says, “no, we have no such plans.”  You write a little story in the paper the next day, “Mayor denies plans to close all retirement homes in the city.”

Say you are a private citizen.  Say you don’t like a certain lawyer in your town.  You pop in and ask him if he has beaten his wife lately.  Of course, he says no… then you tell everyone you know that he denies beating his wife… and so on… and so on…

A Liberal Defense of Unelected Senators

Jason Cherniak provides a stirring defense of unelected senators:

Another problem is that there are some people who we should have in Ottawa as politicians who are not cut out for electoral politics.

No kidding.

Why not have a body of unelected but useful people who can give an opinion?

We already have those people. They’re called “bureaucrats”. If you’re a Liberal, they’re called “consultants” or, more specifically, “Quebec-based communications consulting firms”.

Stephane Dion on Senate Reform

I have nothing to add to Aaron Lee Wudrick’s assessment:

2) When did this sudden and genuine Liberal concern about neglected Western provinces arise? This morning?

3) What precisely did the Liberal Party do about senate reform in the 12 years that they had the opportunity to do so?

Naturally, no one in the media thought to ask Dion these questions, especially the last one.

I am trying to think of a Liberal campaign slogan on senate reform for the next election. “Vote Dion and he will take positive steps to properly reform the Senate sometime within the twelve years that we had last time.”

Related.

The Moral Bankruptcy of the Liberal Party

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Jean Chrétien. In the two years since he left the political scene, the admiration for the former prime minister has only grown - to the point where the fervour seemed almost Trudeau-esque when he arrived in Montreal. Given another couple of years out of sight, he might grow to Messiah-like stature, the faithful pleading for his return.

Perhaps the party should also consider erecting statues of Alfonso Gagliano and Jacques Corriveau in front of their party headquarters?

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