Without Comment

The ineffable lightness of Newt

This just in from the Gingrich front in the Republican bid for regaining the White House:

Newt Gingrich fired up the crowd in this blue state with the promise that President Obama is so bad that he's made it possible for the Republicans to win over the African American vote in 2012.

This was right after he told reporters "that his campaign was still going strong."

Where do we find people like this?

Jon Stewart must have the easiest job in the world.

Historical Revisionism

Check this out.

This one's for the Confederate Nut in the family. The one that fell a little too far to the right of the family tree.

historical note: the original Mr Fett was a mercenary fighting against the rebels.Oh well.

Handwriting skills

Apparently not all children have been taught handwriting, particularly cursive writing (though Maeraed seems to be doing fine in that department). Many people seem to think that typing is the skill you need - otherwise, how are they going to text? Or blog? Or twitter? On the other hand, there are good reasons for requiring good old handwriting.

New research shows writing things out by hand not only increases brain activity, but also helps develop fine motor skills and can even predict how well a student will do in school, the Chicago Tribune reports.

So everyone should write something by hand this week.

preferably with a fountain pen.

Conservative education policy?

Not sure that anyone on the Right agrees with Josiah Friberg in his letter on education to our local paper but he makes some points that are echoes of points made by at least a few Republicans and "Conservatives" lately. Here it is, in its entirety:

I recently got one of those irritating self-aggrandizing news blasts from Gov. Bev Perdue which described her “Education Works Tour” with her cabinet secretaries.

Regardless of her attempt to project herself as the educational governor, education is simply not the top priority in North Carolina, and it’s not the governor’s job to“fight” to save teacher’s pay checks. Doing that is just a confirming sign that education in this state is simply a huge jobs and public works scheme. It’s all about the money.

What’s the typical cry? “Give us more money, and we’ll do a better job. Don’t lay anyone off; it will hurt the kids.” I’m sorry, but it just isn’t so. More money, better salaries, better benefits, have nothing to do with the kids or improving education in North Carolina schools; instead, they have everything to do with making the lives of the teachers and administrators more comfortable and perpetuating a failing monopolized system.

The day that the whole government-controlled education system comes to an end, the better it will be for the children of this state and for education in general.

Josiah Friberg, Moravian Falls, NC

"Government-controlled education system" --- that would be, I assume, the public education system controlled by locally elected school boards?

At least it is consistent with our Republican county commisioner who doesn't want to spend taxpayers' money on libraries because "only deadbeats use the library."

I so hope we get an education system controlled by a big corporation.

More on Rand v Christ

Andrew Sullivan has a piece by Joe Carter:

"

[T]o be a follower of both Rand and Christ is not possible. The original Objectivist was a type of self-professed anti-Christ who hated Christianity and the self-sacrificial love of its founder. She recognized that those Christians who claimed to share her views didn’t seem to understand what she was saying.

Many conservatives admire Rand because she was anti-collectivist. But that is like admiring Stalin because he opposed Nazism. Stalin was against the Nazis because he wanted to make the world safe for Communism. Likewise, Rand stands against collectivism because she wants the freedom to abolish Judeo-Christian morality. Conservative Christians who embrace her as the “enemy-of-my-enemy” seem to forget that she considered us the enemy," - Joe Carter.

Sullivan's quote of the day

From Andrew Sullivan:

1. Quote For The Day

   "If Rick Santorum had a boring twin brother, he would be Tim Pawlenty," - RadioFreeBabylon.

It is funny.

Without Comment

What took them so long?

That would be Christians to figure out just how distasteful it should be for a Christian that Paul Ryan is a big Ayn Rand fan, especially of Atlas Shrugged. Of all modern thinkers I can't think of another who is more diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ, and that includes Marx.

Seems at least one person has figured it out (from TPM):

Paul Ryan was chased by a protester waving a giant Bible and decrying libertarian author Ayn Rand on his way out of the Faith and Freedom Conference, a social conservative gathering in DC where he delivered a speech on his budget.

"Why did you choose to model your budget on the extreme ideology of Ayn Rand rather than the faith of economic justice in the Bible?" the blond, 20-something male asked.

But I am not 100% sure that was a real Christian or someone simply making a point.

but it is a good point. Atlas Shrugged is disgusting. From a Christian point of view.

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