In the interests of fairness…
An update from the American Family Association:
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A Child is Born
No, not that child, but my second son, Noah William, was born on 11/21 at 12:15am. He and Mother are doing well, and we’re all enjoying some time at home as we adjust to a new life in house. Andrew is quite excited about his little brother, and rightly so, for he truly is a gift from the Lord…
A Good Question
A Vote for Change, a Vote for Disaster
With the mid-term elections behind us, I’ve heard several people they voted for “change.” Tired, and rightly so, of the GOP’s loss of any historical sense of what it means to be a Republican, many flocked to the poles to vote for “change.” While there does exist the slim possibility that many voted for third party candidates, for most, that was either not an option, as it wasn’t here in Oklahoma, or just wasn’t a realistic option (who wants to “throw away” his vote?). Assuming that’s true, which I think is a pretty safe assumption, given the election results, that means that many people voted Democrat for the first time. But are they going to get the change they were hoping for? What kinds of change can we expect?
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For all you abortion supporters
This morning, I ran across an article in my RSS feeds from BPNews. The article was Baby’s ‘angelic’ face haunts former abortion nurse. It recounts the testimony of a formerly “pro-choice” nurse who witnessed her first partial birth abortion. Before you read it, I must warn that is fairly graphic, so please don’t read it if you have a weak stomach. I fail to see how anyone can still support this barbaric procedure (or any abortion, for that matter) after reading this piece. (Note: To insure that it remains available, I’m going to duplicate the text below.)
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At war with the Left, Wal-Mart veers sharply left
For many on the left, Wal-Mart embodies what’s wrong with America. They’re big buildings are ugly. They’re
not environmentally friendly. They underpay their workers. They hire slave labor overseas. They
discriminate against blacks and women. The list goes on and on. Despite the vociferous attacks on these
issues, recent decisions by Wal-Mart should help build bridges, if you’ll excuse the unintended Clinton reference, to
common ground with the left.
For reasons that are not immediately apparent to me, Wal-Mart has suddenly and seriously embraced the gay rights
movement. The American Family Association has an astonishing list of gay-friendly bullet points about Wal-Mart
on their
website. As if those weren’t bad enough, read this latest
notice from AFA:
November 9, 2006
Please help us get this
information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire email list
of family and friends.
Wal-Mart Contributes 5% Of Online Sales To
Homosexual Group
Sign the pledge not to shop at Wal-Mart or
Sam’s Club on the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving. Time is short. Act today!
Help recruit 1,000,000 families who will agree not
to shop at Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club (owned by Wal-Mart) on the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving.
Here’s why:
In a show of support to help homosexuals legalize same-sex marriage, Wal-Mart has agreed
to automatically donate 5% of online sales directly to the Washington DC Community Center for Gay,
Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender People. The cash donation will come from online purchases made at
Wal-Mart through the homosexual group’s Web site. This move follows Wal-Mart’s joining the National
Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and agreeing to give generous financial help to that organization
also.
Every purchase made online for books, music, videos, clothing and accessories, children’s
clothing and toys, and electronics at the site will automatically send 5% of the sales to the
CCBLBT People. The agreement is an indication that Wal-Mart is totally committed to supporting the
homosexual movement.
Wal-Mart also gave a generous cash donation to the Northwest Arkansas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,
Transgender Community Center, helping to provide a place where homosexuals can come together to
“socialize.”
Many observers feel it would have been a wise business decision for Wal-Mart to remain neutral in
the cultural battle over homosexual marriage. But this was an ideological decision by Wal-Mart –
not a business decision.
Take Action
|
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1. Sign the petition to 2. VERY IMPORTANT! Millions of Americans are not aware of 3. Print out and distribute the Wal-Mart Pass Along Sheet by clicking here. For past Wal-Mart Action Alerts, plus answers to your questions (where to |
Click
|
I find the last line there interesting. Wal-Mart could have remained neutral and just gone about their
business. Many companies employee gay workers — mine even might; I don’t know. Wal-Mart though has
taken deliberate and unmistakable steps to
actively support a lifestyle that, based on the defense of marriage
amendments passing nationwide, a large swath of their customer base opposes.
What might have caused this sudden shift? It’s hard to say, but my money is on
Patricia A. Curran:
Patricia A. Curran
Executive Vice President, Store Operations, Wal-Mart Stores Division
Pat has responsibility for the operations of the retailer’s more than 3,800 Discount, Supercenter, and
Neighborhood Market stores in the United States.
She was promoted to her current position in 2005.
Pat has a distinguished background with Wal-Mart, beginning her career in 1983 as an hourly associate in the
pets department and then moving on to Department Manager, Assistant Manager, Co-Manager and Store Manager. Pat
has also worked as a Regional Personnel Manager, District Manager, Operations Coordinator, Regional Vice
President, and Divisional Merchandise Manager. In 2003, she was promoted to Senior Vice President of Wal-Mart
store operations for the division that included Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia,
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Delaware, and Ohio.
Pat is active in many organizations and boards. She is a member of the Center for Retailing Excellence at the
Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, the Network of Executive Women, Coca-Cola
Retailing Research Council, and the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Washington County. She also is the
executive sponsor of PRIDE, Wal-Mart’s gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender associate resource group, and the
executive sponsor of Speaking of Women’s Health, Wal-Mart’s educational initiative for women’s health.
So, what is a morality-loving shopper to do? That’s your call.
An M.D. responds to Michael J
In an essay titled The Unconscionable Claims of Michael J. Fox, Mary L. Davenport, an obstetrician and gynecologist, responds to the claims Michael J. Fox makes in his stumping for two Democratic candidates.
While her article is well done, I think, I feel I need to point this out: Pointing to the efficacy of adult stem cells, while effective in showing a more viable alternative to ebryonic stem cells, seems to infer that results are what matter, and that’s not the case. Those of us opposed to ESCR (embryonic stem cell research) do so on moral grounds: it is immoral to create a life, just to destroy it, even if it cured every disease known to man. Highlighting the successes in using adult stem cells is only done to show that stem cell research is viable, and that there are types of stem cell research (including umbilical cord sources) that actually are effective without having significant moral hurdles, unlike ESCR, which promises a lot, delivers nothing, and guarantees a moral morass. It is also important to note that I’m not claiming proponents of alternatives to ESCR are oblivious or indifferent to this distinction. Rather, I’m confident that most, if not all, would agree whole-heartedly with my statement above. I merely want to point out a distinction that usually gets little ink in this discussion.
Doc Hollywood on the Campaign Trail: What Michael J. Fox learned while on Spin City
Kathryn Jean Lopez has a great article about Michael J. Fox’s recent campaign commercials in Missouri and Maryland:
Political commercials are not known for their honesty or subtlety, but these Fox ads hit home in a particularly painful way; their blatant dishonesty does a terrible disservice to those whom they pretend to want to help and malignantly contribute to an already confusing and frustrating debate about basic issues of life and death.
Jim Caviezel, Kurt Warner, Patricia Heaton and others have helped with an ad that counters Fox’s ad. You can view it on YouTube (if you’re brave enough to go there).
Red River Rivalry
Well, that hurt.
The US Navy Says Goodbye to the Tomcat
Recently, Angela, Andrew and I took a “mini-vacation” to Tulsa — just a quick trip to get away before Noah is born. In Tulsa, we visited the Tulsa Air and Space Museum. Those that know me know my fascination with military aircraft. At one point, late in my adolescent years, I pondered (if ever so briefly) the possibly of joining the military for the purpose of flying one of those great war machines, but my imperfect vision killed that dream before it had a chance to talk hold.
At any rate, yesterday on a fairly popular geek new site, I saw this article, which reminded me of our visit to that museum in Tulsa. Sitting in the middle of the museum floor was a real F-14 Tomcat. Much to Angela’s amusement, I walked all around that aircraft (easily one of my favorites of the modern US military), peeking in the air intakes, investigating the landing gears, staring into the back of the engines. I got to run my hand down the plane, and even walk under it for a real close up inspection. The real highlight came when Andrew and I climbed the ladder to look into the cockpit. The museum volunteer told me something I though I’d never hear: I could sit in the cockpit if I wanted to. gasp! First, I let Andrew sit in the pilot’s seat. He played with the stick and pushed buttons, generally having the great time that any three year old boy would have when presented with lots of new buttons. I then lifted him from the pilot’s seat, and sat him in the back in the RIO’s seat, at which point I slid into the pilot’s seat. Extremely cool. All the gauges and buttons, knobs, switches and lights. For me, easily the best part of the trip in terms of sites visited.
What really struck me as odd, though (although it shouldn’t if I had stopped to think), was how gritty the interior was. With my only real exposure to the Tomcat “in action” being movies like Top Gun, I had always pictured this jet, and every other, I guess, as being pristine, shiny metal cylinders of military dominance. While they were certainly militarily dominant, they’re anything but pristine. The console looked a bit grimy (though it had been cleaned for the museum), and the fabric that covered the sides of the cockpit was old and torn, dangling in place as if tired from a long and hard commission, which I’m sure it had.
The movies also made it look quite spacious in the cockpit, with room to turn around and talk to the RIO. Nothing could be further from the truth. To sit in the pilot’s seat (and I’m sure the RIO seat was the same — I didn’t get a chance to sit in that one), you really have to wedge yourself in. And, sure, you can turn and talk to your RIO just like Maverick did to Goose, but my guess is that you’re really going to have to crank to get turned around.
So it was a very surreal and eye-opening experience for me. We even have pictures taken from the floor of me in the front and Andrew in the back. Very cool. While the experience did shatter some odd misconceptions I had about the physical state of the aircraft, the act of getting to touch it made my fascination with the plane grow that much deeper. And it is with a bit of nostalgic regret that I read that the Navy has offficially decommissioned such a great jet, but it has had a long and successful career, and those replacing it, like the F-18, F-22 and the Joint Strike Fighter, are at least as cool, and probably much more powerful, so my boyish fascination with flying war machines can live on in child-like wonder! 🙂