The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry.
William F. Buckley, Jr.In the face of Big Government usurpation of the civil liberties and responsibilities of citizens, silence and acquiescence are not options. Thank heaven for the assertive voice of blogs, podcasts and talk radio that did not give the Bush Administration any slack and will not give the Obama Administration any slack either. The mainstream media has become a propaganda tool for the "powers t… Continue
The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.
John F. KennedySkeptics and cynics have their place in human society and endeavors. Such thinkers help us to articulate and fully perceive our problems but as JFK pointed out their "horizons are limited by the obvious realities". Genuine problem solvers are men and women who dare to dream, be optimistic and… Continue
Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Freedom and the right to choose, within the boundary of harming no one, is the most precious of gifts given to us by God. The Founding Fathers, through the Bill Of Rights and the Declaration Of Independence, sought to protect our civil liberties, rights and fre… Continue
I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life.
Ronald ReaganOne of the things I liked about Ronald Reagan was his seeming optimism and confidence, even in his assassination attempt when he quipped to his wife, "I forgot to duck". Though Reagan never openly spoke about racial issues, he wasn't a racist. Whether you agreed with his political ideology or not, President Reagan made Americans fe… Continue
Saying Bernard Madoff enjoys a "gilded penthouse incarceration," civil rights activist Al Sharpton led a rally outside the accused swindler's Manhattan home on Saturday urging equal justice for the rich and poor.
Sharpton and about 30 other demonstrators protested that Madoff was being allowed to remain free pending trial while poor people with no access to top legal representation la… Continue
President Barack Obama chose an Arabic satellite TV network for his first formal television interview as president, part of a concerted effort to repair relations with the Muslim world that were damaged under the previous administration.
Obama cited his Muslim background and relatives, practically a taboo issue during the U.S. presidential campaign, and said in the interview, w… Continue
President Obama's inaugural call for Americans to participate in a "new era of responsibility" rings true. He's right that government alone cannot remake the country. Individuals must also take steps that, collectively, lead to a national change in thinking and behavior. But what steps?
The new president didn't say in any great detail. Rather, he pointed out that every American must re… Continue
‘Praise Song For The Day’
A poem for Barack Obama's presidential inauguration.
Each day we go about our business,
walking past each other, catching each other's
eyes or not, about to speak or speaking.
All about us is noise. All about us is
noise and bramble, thorn and din, each
one of our ancestors on our tongues.
Someone is stitching up a hem, darning
a hole in a uniform, patching a tire,
repairing the things in need of repair.
S… Continue
The focus of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 wasn't what had been accomplished — but rather his view of what still needed to be done.
More than four decades later, King scholars say he would take the same approach at this historic moment — the inauguration of the first black president at a time when the nation is facing its greatest economic crisis since t… Continue
Phil Jackson sure had plenty to say during a speech to the University of North Dakota as part of the convocation in which he received an honorary degree. Of the course of an hour, P-Jax criticized his school's nickname, told funny stories about Shaq swimming, and picked Dennis Rodman as the greatest athlete he ever coached.Greatness, like… Continue
Days before the first black president takes office, the Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider overturning a key feature of the main federal law that ensures access to the polls by minorities.
The justices said they will review a lower court ruling upholding a provision of the Voting Rights Act that requires all or parts of 16 states with a history of racial discrimination… Continue
Baltimore Mayor Sheila A. Dixon was charged today with 12 counts of felony theft, perjury, fraud and misconduct in office, becoming the city's first sitting mayor to be criminally indicted.The investigation has hung over Dixon, a Democrat, even as she became the city's first female mayor and oversaw a significant decrease in the city's homicide rate, reducing killings to a 20-year low. Vi… Continue
Roland Burris has erected a grand mausoleum for himself, carved with the words "TRAIL BLAZER" and a long list of his achievements, with a space left for his more recent accomplishments. That gap could soon be filled in with "U.S. senator."
The tomb is a monument to the ambition — some say egotism — that led him to accept what many regard as a tainted prize: an appointment to the Senate from scandal-ridden Gov. Rod Bla… Continue
Democratic senators emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee criticized business and individual tax cuts in Obama's stimulus plan.
They were especially critical of a proposed $3,000 tax credit for companies that hire or retrain workers.
"If I'm a business person, it's unlikely if you give me a several-thousand-dollar credit that I'm going to hire people if I can't sell the products they're… Continue
The college-level course includes instruction in Christian worldview and the nuts and bolts of backpack journalism for convergent media. This is a capstone course in news writing and reporting, des...
