The Bigger View

It's not Democracy, It's Federalism

2006-09-19T14:39:00.000-05:00

Last week's news that Tony Blair will step down from Prime minister give evidence to that fact that America's brand of democracy is better than the worlds. In america we have federalism, a system that involves power in both the state and national governments, and checks and balances between the three different branches of government. As in Enlgland and most of the world a parlament controls the prime minister and the courts, because a parlaments laws have the force of a constitutuion. This system can give a party enormous power. Such as the power to remove an elected official from primeminister any time it wants to, as did the labor party in Great Britain. In America such power does not exist, and this prevents tyranny and the kind of politcal stability that very few countries enjoy.
Iraq is perfect example of why federalism is needed. In Iraq the current constitution does not provide a federalist constitution. In Iraq 60% of the people are Shiite, 20% are Sunnis and 20% are Kurds. Since the national government has all the power in Iraq and since the Shiites have the majority they will control the entire nation. If Iraq were a federalist nation the Kurds and Sunnis would have an amount of self government. Also Iraq is a country that has had a history of tyranny. Iraq will be at risk of tryanny again for a long time because of this history and because it is in the Middle East. If Iraq were a federalist nation with all its competing but yet not dominating powers it would be lawfully safe from tryanny.

Sam Brownback is the Dark Horse for Republican Ticket

2006-09-12T13:28:00.000-05:00

In the lead for the Republican Ticket for presidency in 2008 there are many canidates who fit into the same mold of liberal on social values and conservative on economic policy. These include Mitt Romney, George Pataki, Rudy Giuliani, Jon McCain, and Condoleezza Rice. The frontrunners for the nomination are all pretty much offer the same thing. Many republicans will want something different. That’s why they could vote for Sam Brownback. He is conservative on social values unlike the current front runners, which gives voters another option to vote. Most people know very little about Sam Brownback, so he will get to paint his own picture of himself instead of the media or the opposing party. Name recognition won't be a problem. Christian Conservative leaders have already offered their support to Senator Brownback. At a time of his choosing he could accept their support and make himself very well known. Only a few other candidates would even be able to challenge him among Christian. The only major challenge would come from Bill Frist who has lost a lot of popularity lately because of his actions on stem cell research and Terry Schiavo. Sam Brownback certainly is the Dark Horse to win the Republican primary.

Lieberman Good Bet for President

2006-08-21T15:14:00.000-05:00

With the latest news coming out of Connecticut, Lieberman now has the best chance of anyone to become President of The United States in 2008.The current voting patterns show that the number of independents has been growing for many years. With current amount of opposite party hate going around Lieberman is the big name independent that fed up independents and moderates would vote for. The big name is important. Most people don't support independents because they have no chancel, but Lieberman’s reputation will give him a chance right away, he will need no silver bullet or huge controversy to get a chance. Money will be a problem for any independent, but Lieberman’s name recognition helps here as well, also he won't need as much money because he will not have to pay to run a primary campaign. One other underrated advantage that Lieberman has is that he has run for president before. He ran in 2000 for vice president with Al Gore. That experience is a good advantage to have when running for president.

Al-Qaeda Reveals Its Incompetence

2006-08-10T19:08:00.000-05:00

The terrorist plot that was foiled today confirms one thing that we have always suspected about Al-Qaeda. We knew that they are evil cowards, but now we know that they are also very stupid. Osama Bin Laden does not seam to have the intelligence to realize that he can't keep targeting the same things every time. We all know that there many unprotected areas in America that Al-Qaeda could target. Instead the terrorist organization just keeps going after airplanes. Its just a like a football coach that calls the same play the entire game. We know exactly what Al-Qaeda is going to try to do. They are trying to blow our planes up. They always have and they always will. If we were to destroy all the airplanes in America and England Al-Qaeda would still be making plans to blow up our planes. Not only can we easily protect a single target, but also Al-Qaeda’s consistency completely undermines the whole point of being a terrorist organization. No American is afraid of Terrorist in their day-to-day life. We only even consider terrorism when we are on a plane. The next time we pray, we should thank God that Al-Qaeda is so stupid.

Lebanon Israel Conflict Outcomes Vary

2006-07-15T11:52:00.000-05:00

On the surface the current conflict in the Middle East is very discomforting. If the conflict spread it could involve Syria and Iran. Many people could be killed and hatreds would be reignited. If America were to back Israel in such a conflict it could enflame the people of Iraq against America.
The flipside is that the conflict could have a very great outcome. The current reports say that Lebanese opinion is turning against Hezbollah. This could allow the Lebanon government to take control of their country and expel Hezbollah. Then to smooth things over Israel and the US could pay to rebuild the damage done by Israeli air strikes. For the US such money would be hardly anything, but to Lebanon this money will show the regret of Israel having to bomb the Lebanon country. Lebanon could become friends within the region, much like the US and Germany after WWII. This scenario would severely limit the amount of Influence that Syria and Iran can have to threaten Israel. This would help make Isreal and stabilize the region.

The Economy is Something to be Proud About

2006-04-13T20:04:00.000-05:00

One thing you won't hear Democrats attacking Bush over any time soon will be the economy. Earlier this year I predicted that the unemployment rate would reach a 4.9 percent low. I was wrong; the current rate is 4.7 percent. People are more confident about their job security and are now spending more. Companies are also more confident and are investing more money into business

Senate Fails on Immigration

2006-04-09T18:49:00.000-05:00

If a wide receiver caught a ball and was heading to the end zone with no one threatening to tackle him, you will never see him stop turn around, and throw the ball into the crowd, but that is exactly what the Senate did last week with immigration. They had a widely supported bipartisan bill that would have made nearly everyone happy. Unfortunately a few republican senators threw a fit and were able to get amendments on the bill that killed it. The majority of my fellow republicans who supported the bill should have showed no loyalty to these Senators, and should have passed the bill. Everyone in the Senate just made themselves look inept and incompetent. They should realize that the incumbency re election rate in the Senate for their failure. I suggest to the Republicans who allowed these amendments to look back at what they lost and see what this bill could have done. They should then come back after the recess and pass this bill with out the amendments.

Immigration Controversy is Coming

2006-03-31T13:53:00.000-06:00

The Senate is debating a bill on immigration this week that would make every illegal immigrant and anyone who assists them a felon. Immigration is a divisive issue in that it divides each party. It will probably take a presedential election where both canidates agree to find a consensus on the issue. I find this bill awful because there are many charities that help immigrants once they get into America. These charities would now become a bunch of felons. The way I see it is if you have to take your family to America so that you can feed them, then the government shouldn’t stop you. We could use more border control, but we should also let in all Mexicans that want to live in America. If we let them come in legally we can control border security. We should better secure our borders, as long as it doesn’t cost too much money. I have included links to several different views on immigration.

Mexican View
http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/3/30/103635.shtml?s=ic

Conservative View
http://conservativecogitation.blogspot.com/2006/03/problem-with-problem-of-illegal.html

Liberal View
http://angrybear.blogspot.com/2006/03/immigration-and-politics-of-left.html

Jill Carrol Freed

2006-03-30T07:02:00.000-06:00

Christian Science Monitor journalist Jill Carroll was freed today by her captors known as Brigades of Vengeance. She had been a hostage since January 7. This is great news. This has been the secon hostag release this month. It seams that terrorists will have to back away from taking hostages now because they have failed with this tactic twice in the past few weeks.

George Bush Could Be A Little More Like Clinton

2006-03-25T10:20:00.000-06:00

This week President Bush has made several appearances this week culminating in a press conference. This seems to be working for President Bush, he made a similar week long campaign in late November and early December of last year, and his approval ratings went way up. This was the constant style of the Clinton Presidency. President Clinton was always campaigning even when election was not approaching. His Presidency was marked by a constant appeal to the public to support his programs. I believe that this has redefined how the office of the president works with the media. Having these week long campaigns would work well for Bush if he did this about every other week. This would especially help with the public’s view of the Iraq war. The most important way we judge Bush in Iraq is on whether or not he has a plan to win the war. If he is constantly talking to the public about the war we have the sense that that he has a plan. From FDR's fireside chats we can learn that in wartime every president should heighten their communication with the public. There is always doubt in war and the president needs to alive those doubts.

Hostages Rescued

2006-03-23T08:42:00.000-06:00

Three Christian aid workers hostages were rescued in Iraq today. There are many good details in the story. British and American troops were both used in the operation, showing that our troops are working well together. Iraqi forces were used in the operation, showing that we can trust them in such an important operation. With the rescue of the hostages terrorists will hopefully think twice before taking more hostages.

Atheism Should Be Treated As a Religion

2006-03-13T19:53:00.000-06:00

One issue that America is always striving with is religion. Many times we try to protect the freedom of religion, but yet we destroy that freedom. One problem is that people think the only way to protect the freedom of religion is the government endorsement of Atheism. Atheism, however, is a belief about god, and so it is a religion. Treating Atheism just like any other religion would protect the freedom of religion in the U.S. If we are in a setting where we do not see using a religion as appropriate, we should not use atheism.

Dubai Company To Hand Over US Ports

2006-03-09T17:24:00.000-06:00

Today I am a little disappointed with America. Dubai Ports World has decided to hand over operations to a US firm. This decision was of course based on all the grief that congress has given the president about the ports deal. This grief was solely based on racism. The only reason that people questioned this deal was because the company is from a Muslim country. It is racist to think Muslim means terrorist, which is what people have been assuming. Some people cite terrorists in the United Arab Emirates, but England, the country of the former owner of the ports, has more confirmed terrorists than the UAE.

The Long War

2006-03-09T08:17:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I came across a new term that could be very important in the coming years. This term is to describe the strategy to win the war on terrorism. The defense department has decided that the war on terror and extremist Muslims will last over the next 10 to 20 years, hence it have named the conflict The Long War. The Long War Strategy also says that there will be short unexpected conflicts and crisis that will require quick response. The DOD does not predict where these conflicts will happen, just that they will.
This means several things. First the department of defense will invest more in things such as cruise missiles from submarines, close to shore naval capabilities, and more unmanned aircraft. It also calls for making partnerships with foreign governments because they will be more capable in many situations because of their knowledge of the area of a crisis. The strategy also calls for more covert action.

Anti-gay Anti-American Activists Disgrace Soldier's Funerals

2006-03-07T08:27:00.000-06:00

I was appalled by what I read on cnn today. I can't really explain to you why they are doing this because I don't understand it, but anti-gay activists are holding protests at fallen soldier's funerals. These hate filled people are evil, and are a disgrace and discredit to our country and everything we stand for. They're form of bullying should be stopped. They have already held protests at dozens of funerals.

Why the Nuclear Deal With India?

2006-03-04T16:55:00.000-06:00

It seems that over the past few weeks that the media has done a bad job of covering some very important stories. They neglected why the port deal is happening, which I wrote about in my previous post, and now they have neglected why President Bush singed a deal giving India Nuclear technology. At the heart of the deal the reason was not to bring India into the nuclear community and have inspections of some of their nuclear plants. What good does it do that we inspect just some of their plants, and leave the rest to do whatever the Indian government wants? The real reason the president signed such a deal is environmental. India has such a fast growing population that will surpass China, for the world’s larges population, within 50 years. The Indian economy is growing just as fast. All this growth means that India will need a lot of energy to fuel its economy. The US would be severely hurt if they had to compete with India for nonrenewable energy sources. So instead we can now get India to use Nuclear energy, meaning more oil and coal for the US.

The Story Behind The Port Deal

2006-03-02T07:02:00.000-06:00

I have been surprised that with all the controversey about the Dubai Port deal no one has brought this up. The sale of Eastern US Ports to The United Arab Emirates is affected by Iran policy. If we wanted to bomb nuclear facilities or nuclear weapons in Iran, the United Arab Emirates would have an air base that we would need to be able to reach Iran. If we don't have the use of that air base, Iran would ahve very little stopping it from making nuclear weapons. For this reason we can not afford to drastically hurt our relationship with the UAE.

Senator Approval

2006-02-27T15:47:00.000-06:00

Today I found a poll of US Senator approval ratings. Go check out what the approval ratings for your senators are.

2006-02-26T19:29:00.000-06:00

Today was the Miami County Republican Convention. 481 delegates voted on whom Miami county Republicans would endorse in statewide primaries in May. As I walked into the gymnasium there was a gauntlet of candidates and supporters showering me with campaign material. One of the first things I received was a bag that I put everything in. I called it my bag of things I'm not going to read. Mrs. DeWine even gave me a cookbook from he DeWine Campaign and I told her that I would put it in my bag of things I wasn't going to read. Before everything began people went from person to person greeting whom they know, or greeting one of the candidates or their supporters.
The actual business of the convention went slowly. The keynote speaker was new House Majority Leader John Boehner. One notable endorsement was that the convention voted to endorse Tim Grendell over Betty Montgomery, a woman who just a month ago was running for governor. Also Mike DeWine had four opponents. Two of them picked up a handful of votes but David Smith had 118 votes. The convention endorsed Tim Grendell for Attorney General, Greg Hartman for Secretary of State, Jannette Bradley for Treasurer, Mary Taylor for Auditor, John Boehner, Mike DeWine for Senator, Dianna Fessler for 79th House District, and Kenneth Blackwell for Governor.

2006-02-25T21:37:00.000-06:00

Usually this blog covers politics, but today I will post about a different kind of news. If you haven't heard the incredible story of Jason McElwain, go read it. It is a great story showing the greatness of the world around us in a story not even Hollywood could make up.

Iraq Tensions Controlable

2006-02-24T18:23:00.000-06:00

I find the news coming out of Iraq much more promising since Wednesday. The violence from reprisals has not grown. Instead they have slowed down, showing the situation will become much less of an issue with each passing day, and the country is not headed to civil war. The Iraqi government has shown wisdom by being able to quickly and decisevely control the violence. I find it promising that if the country can get through this, they will get through everything else that is less critical.

Golden Mosque Bombed, Iraq Holds Its Breath

2006-02-22T19:21:00.000-06:00

Today grave news has come out of Iraq. The Shi'ite Golden Mosque was bombed. Shi'ites have blamed Sunnis for the bombing, and Shi'ite mobs have attacked Sunnis, especially their mosques and religious leaders. The military had to be tapped to stop the violence by shutting down the whole nation. This will cause great hatred between the two groups and now has Iraq close to civil war. It seems to me that these attacks could have been prevented by Shi’ite. For some time now, rogue parts of the Shi'ite controlled government have been mistreating, torturing, and abusing Sunni inmates, many of who were unjustly arrested. This deadly corruption would be the fuel to the hate that was necessary for today's attack

2006-02-21T06:39:00.000-06:00

In ten months Ohio will elect for itself a new governor. I am proud to announce that I endorse Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. He has an abundance of experience serving the public that goes beyond what is needed to be governor. He has been elected as secretary of state, mayor of Cincinnati and state treasurer, as well as serving on several federal commissions, and as an undersecretary of housing and urban development. Kenneth Blackwell is also the only candidate to support the state amendment banning gay marriage. He is also the only Republican candidate not affected by the coingate scandal. It is this blend of ideology, integrity and experience that makes Kenneth Blackwell the best man for Ohio governor.

McCain and Rice Not Right for GOP

2006-02-19T13:16:00.000-06:00

In the last issue of Time Magazine I read an article about how John McCain was attracting big donors for a presidential run in 08. The other name I hear a lot of Condoleezza Rice. Neither of these people are suitable candidates for president. Both are too liberal in domestic, economic, and social issues. These candidates would lose in the primaries, and only soak up the money of donors for presidential candidates. What Republicans need is some one who is the heart of the party, a true conservative but not an extreme one either.

School Funding Needs to Be Changed

2006-02-18T15:55:00.000-06:00

In Ohio our school funding system is broken. Many other states use the same method. We currently have a system where each school district raises money by taxing residents based on their real estate. This system means that rich districts get more money they need and poor districts, especially those with minority populations and urban areas, give their students a second rate education. Farmers as well are over taxed, because they own large tracks of land. What needs to be don is that states with this system of school funding should switch to a system of income tax that fully funds all schools in the state.

Whittington Released, Now its Cartoonist Turn To Be Shot

2006-02-17T12:13:00.000-06:00

Today when I explored the blogosphere I found two wonderful things. First Harry Whittington, the man who was shot by Dick Cheney, was realeased. Now it’s the cartoonists turn to be shot, according to http://thetension.blogspot.com/. The cartoonists now have quite a price on their heads.

Dick Cheney is the New UFO

2006-02-16T06:30:00.000-06:00

After a freak shooting accident by the vice president the blogospshere is filled with conspiracy theories about the shooting. These conspiracy theories are much like ones about UFOs and aliens. Every conspiracy is a little different then the others, and each one is based on little fact or evidence. These theories should either be ignored or laughed at.

2006-02-15T17:13:00.000-06:00

When we vote for president and congressmen we vote based on many criteria. Some people vote by party, ideology, issues, experience, record, or charisma. One thing that we would do well to look at more is politeness.
The partisan politics of this century have brought many benefits to being a rude to the other party. Making sweeping demagogic accusations of the other party can put you on television and make you seem like a party leader, but it makes it very hard for the two parties to work together for the good of the nation.
It is also unpatriotic to say that half of our government is corrupt, evil, or a bunch of liars. It is much easier to compromise when both parties understand that their counterparts are just trying to do what they think is best for the nation.
We have to many people that will say controversial things just for the publicity. Anne Coulter and Michael Moore are good examples, but look at our politicians. I’m going to go out an a limb and say that Tom Delay calling the Democratic Party evil in a recent speech, and Hillary Clinton saying that the Republican party runs congress like a plantation on Martin Luther King day, are not good for the political atmosphere in our country, and therefore not good for out country.
It is politeness that these politicians need. They need to voice their opinions in a sensible and constructive way. It would be beneficial to politicians to be polite and make friends across the aisle because having powerful friend mean that they themselves are more powerful. Being respected by all of congress caries over to being respected by the people politicians represent.
Members of opposing parties need to understand that both parties are largely well meaning and have integrity. We have different views, but we all want what is best for America. We want what is best for America so badly that we are willing to go to great means to get what it best. We just need to make sure that our means do not outweigh the positive end we campaign for.

Why We Blog

2006-02-14T08:17:00.000-06:00

As I have researched blogging to learn how to better this blog, I have heard many different reasons why blogging is so popular. Blogging gives you a voice that can be easily heard, it gives an alternative to a centrist media, and many other observations people have made. For political bloggers like me the reason is much like our capitalist society. In capitalism everyone shares the dream of getting rich. Blogging offers a similar opportunity; there are a handful of big blogs that many people read. I and many other people aspire of reaching that level of audience. These bloggers had no idea when they started that they would become such great hits. So we see that everyone who is good enough at blogging has a chance.

The Republican Game Plan

2006-02-13T16:40:00.000-06:00

This November it will be a lot tougher for Republicans to gain seats in congress. There are several issues they should push to boost their cause. First the GOP should vigorously defend the issue of wire tapping as a way of defending Americans. Second the GOP should start pushing for making President Bush's tax cut permanent. Voters love to get money.

A Game Plan For Democrats

2006-02-11T18:54:00.000-06:00

In my last post I wrote about how the Democrats currents attack on the wire tapping was not a politically smart move. What Democrats need to do to win seats in congress this year are two things. First they need to attack Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq. This summer this is mainly what the party did, and they pushed the president's approval rating to record lows. One good way to do this is to start dialogue in congress about troop withdraws. Although, I question the ethics of such a move, troop withdraws tugs at voter's heart strings and puts the President in a situation where he can make little political gain. The other thing Democrats should do is to go on the offensive about Jack Abramoff and challenge the integrity of Republican lawmakers.

Wire Tappings Could be Critical Political Issue

2006-02-09T08:05:00.000-06:00

One of the latest Political issues has been the wire tapping of suspected Al-Qaeda members in the US. The Democrats are risking losing seats in congress over this issue. This issue can easily be counter attacked by painting the Democratic Party as being weak on defending America. Most Americans believe that the president is only wire tapping Al-Qaeda suspects. The make up of the voters and there what they think of this issue should make wire tapping critics think twice. The people who believe that the wire tappings are illegitimate are very partisan Democrats whose vote can already be counted on for November. While most moderates and independents don't believe in the least bit that the wire tapping was used on every day Americans. Democrats should have learned from the election four years ago that the best way for a presidents party to gain seats in congress in non presidential election years, is to highlight issues of foreign policy and defense.

Danish Muhammad Cartoons

2006-02-07T08:14:00.000-06:00

Last September a Danish newspaper published a page of cartoons making depicting Muhammad, a sin to Muslims. Just publishing such a page that attacks a religion is condemnable, but so is the reaction. Muslims have attacked and burned many Danish and Norwegian embassies across the Middle East. By this violence the Muslims perpetuate the very stereotype that these cartoons make fun of. These protest along with the riots in France have cause myself to lose some respect for the Muslim people and their religion. You can see the cartoons at ttp://weblog.theviewfromthecore.com/2006_02/ind_005226.html

One Thought on How to Stop Rogue Countries With Nukes

2006-01-31T16:50:00.000-06:00

One thing that has been in the news for a few years is the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea. In the Cold War we saw how both the US and USSR both having nuclear weapons might have avoided all out war because of mutual destruction. What if we used a similar situation to stop Iran and North Korea? We could send in inspection to see what weapons they have and tell these countries they are free to have as many weapons as they want. However, for every weapon Iran makes, we give Israel the equivalent, and for every weapon North Korea makes, we give South Korea that weapon. The countries would see that first; firing missiles at these countries would mean full retaliation, as these countries would have little to lose after being nuked. Second the invention of new weapons would not give the rogue countries a leg up on the countries they want to conquer or destroy.

The use of the state of the Union

2006-01-31T08:07:00.000-06:00

Tonight is the State of the Union address. I hope that the president uses the speech wisely. The best use would be to use the address to go on the offensive and attack Democrats as weak on security for criticizing the bypassing of courts to wire tap terrorists. This is the best bet for gaining seats in congress this election. I would also like to see no response Zawahiri's video tape tomorrow. This would snub him and really annoy the terrorists.

Hackett needs to leave politics

2006-01-26T08:10:00.000-06:00

I will begin with a favorite quote that Paul Hackett has been using at campaign stops as he runs for Senator.

"The republican party has been hijacked by religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren't a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of other religious nuts around the world,"

As a conservative Christian you will have to excuse me as I drop some bombs on this senator wannabe's campaign. We elect politicians based mainly on character, personality, party, and issues, but one thing we also need to look at is how polite the politician is. How could are government work if everyone kept saying things like Hackett's quote above? Also does Hackett think he's going to win a election insulting everyone with a religion. No, he just sealed his fate of losing his campaign. He should stop drawing attention to himself so that he does not embarrass the Democratic Party.

Israel Loses Much With Sharon

2006-01-14T10:36:00.000-06:00

One story that I find unsettling is the stroke of Ariel Sharon. Sharon was a strong leader who had the influence and courage to withdraw from Palestinian territory. No other leader in Israel has the power and courage to do such a drastic move. The loss of Sharon will set the peace process in Israel back years, if not decades, and cause the death of many more people in the conflict between Jews and Palestinians.

Back From London

2006-01-12T20:28:00.000-06:00

I am now back from London and have my life in order so regular posting will start again. One of the main things I noticed in England was the age of all the housing there. Most people would say that this is because England is much older than the US. What the age of the houses really means is that Great Britain's population is not growing. This is an important part of what is leading to the eventual Muslim majority Europe, the failure of the population to grow.

At London

2005-12-26T13:11:00.000-06:00

For the next week I will be on a trip to London, so there may be a lull in the posting on this site. If anything happens noteworthy in the country I will probably post though.

Bring On the Bull

2005-12-18T20:47:00.000-06:00

2006 will be a return to bull markets in the US, and a strong economy. Unemployment has been creeping down all year, and will probably level off at 4.9% which is where it was before the hurricanes this summer. The new jobs aren't lesser paying ones that some people have said they are. The average hourly wage has gone up 3.2% this year. Higher pay, coupled with gas prices around $2.20 a gallon have fueled consumer and industrial spending that is expected to keep its pace through out the year.

Speech On Iraq

2005-12-18T20:20:00.000-06:00

Tonight President Bush gave a speech to the nation from the oval office. I found this speech to be very open, revealing the emotions of our president and admitting to making mistakes. One point that should have specific consideration is that we should have the military in Iraq made the decisions of troop withdraws and not politicians in congress. When it comes to our protection we should trust the people whose job it is to protect us, and not people who are trying to get elected.

Religion and Hollywood

2005-12-09T09:26:00.000-06:00

Today I watched a movie critic talk about the new Narnia movie. He talked about how Hollywood has tried to underplay and ignore the Christians. The same critic said that four times as many people go to church each week than watch a movie. As The Passion Of Christ has shown us, and Narnia probably will also, those movie companies that don't ignore Christians make a lot of money. This is very interesting because most of Hollywood is sacrificing a lot of money.

The Attack On Christmas

2005-12-08T07:41:00.000-06:00

Has our president joined the bandwagon?

Its Not Race, Its Money

2005-12-08T07:29:00.000-06:00

Since Katrina there has been many allegations that the government has mistreated victims because of their race. Although racism still happens in America today, much of the perceived racism in our country is not really race, but treatment based on economic status. Lets say you are driving y0ur car through a bad part of town. When you stop at a stop sign a black guy crosses the street. Do you lock your doors? What if it was a white guy? Now let’s give you four options. What if the Black guy was wearing a suit? What if the White guy was wearing a suit? What if both these men were dressed like stereo typical gangsters? You would lock the doors for the men dressed like gangsters, and leave the doors unlocked for the men in suits. Now the issue is not color of the men’s skin, but the economic status of the men represented by how he dresses.

Patriotism and Parties

2005-12-03T09:55:00.000-06:00

I am proud to be an American. I am proud to help take part in the political process. I am proud to be a republican as well, but I am also proud to have the democratic Party in our country. No other nation in the world has political parties that have so much integrity. I know each party has its faults, but none are across the entire party, and none these faults are to the degree or amount of political parties in other nations. The past few years are full of examples of parties in other countries lacking integrity. Look at the money laundering scandal in Canada, or how badly France reacted to the riots. This would not happen in America because of the wisdom and integrity of our parties. Our two political parties are much stronger than political parties in other nations. In another country if political party suffered something like Watergate it would fall apart, but not in America. Our two parties are a source of political stability. In other countries the parties would rig elections, do coup d'etat, or just fall apart under such circumstances. That would never happen in America. Both political parties in America need to respect each other much more. The other side could be worse, much worse.

Where This is Going

2005-12-02T17:22:00.000-06:00

The description of the bigger view is "The Bigger View is a political blog meant to encourage discussion about new ideas." Discussion should not be hurtful in any way. I say this because I know that a large amount of traffic on this website is local, and many of these local visitors know each other. I ask that those people who know each other not to address by full name, do not even address the person by their name at all unless they reveal that in a comment. Also do not mention personal information about a person. One early commenter did so about me. I copied the comment with the personal information omitted. Also, even though this has not happened to any great degree please refrain from name calling, insults, being disrespectful and profanity. If I find any of this I will delete and then repost the comment omitting the error.

At saying that I would like to say a little about the goals of this blog. I love to get negative criticism. Feel free to disagree with me. If you just want to post a comment saying, "I agree" that is ok as well. On the right there is a poll that asks if you agree with the latest post. Feel free to vote on the poll every day. I would like to have a third of the people disagree with me, and the others to agree with me. This would tell me that we are discussing and debating ideas, but yet I am having some influence on opinion. I said earlier that a good deal of the traffic on this website is local. I plan on making this blog with national and even a little international following. I see this transition slowly taking place over the next year.

How to End Aids

2005-12-01T08:10:00.000-06:00

A UN Report said that 40 million people in the world now have AIDs. I have a come up with a three step plan to bring the epidemic under control.

1) Unmarried people stop having sex

2) People do not rape other people

3) People stop doing drugs

Its amazing what can be achieved when individuals take personal responsibility for their actions, and the effects of their actions. My plan will never work because people are not willing to take that responsibility.

About Christmas

2005-11-29T08:45:00.000-06:00

I found a great article in the Cyber News Service.
Here is a part from it.
The American Family Association said it gathered advertising inserts from 11 different companies that were placed in two southern newspapers (the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and Memphis Commercial Appeal) on Nov. 27. Combined, the inserts totaled 280 pages. Of the 11 companies, only one -- McRae's/Belks -- had a reference to "Christmas," AFA said. The other 10 companies did not mention "Christmas" a single time, but the term "holiday" was used by those 10 companies a total of 59 times.The companies that failed to mention Christmas a single time in their 260 pages of insert promotions were Target, Kroger, Office Max, Walgreens, Sears, Staples, Lowe's, J.C. Penney, Dell and Best Buy, AFA said.

50 Babies a Year Live Through Abortion

2005-11-29T06:37:00.000-06:00

Some 50 babies each year in England live through abortion. Read about it here. At the least this shows the need to be more humane in the procedure. I wonder if it is the same here in the US.

Christmas is Called Christmas

2005-11-28T09:29:00.000-06:00

It makes me wonder how anyone can actually be offended by the words merry Christmas. Ask yourself how anyone can actually be offended by the word Christmas. Really the people who have attacked Christmass are just nitpicking just to get at groups of people that they do not like. There have been many cities that will not have Christmas trees and instead they have "Holiday Trees." What about the stores that now have their empoyees say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. I would find it humurously ironic, and fitting if they were to get boycotted. There is some good news on the subject though. Merry Christmas and if your offended you deserve it.

A Step Towards Peace

2005-11-26T13:24:00.000-06:00

The Gaza Strip was opened up today so that Palestinians could cross the border over to Egypt. This is supposed help the economy in Gaza. This seems to be a step in the right direction. Sharon’s withdraw from Palestinian territory looks to be the best chance for peace in Israel. Some people think that Sharon has lacked integrity lately. Seeing as he has two sons in trouble with the law for campaign fraud and Sharon has abandoned his party.

Arguing the War

2005-11-23T07:30:00.000-06:00

This post is going to have a little different format from my usual ones. On my last post I got quite the reaction from an anonymous commenter. I'm going to post what that person said and then respond to their argument.

Anonymous
The fact that you stated "if we leave now another Saddam Hussein would take power" baffles me. After watching months of reports, I have seen that everyday citizens of Iraq have expressed their distrust and hatred towards Saddam. So, if they really had such sentiment, why would they allow such a character to rise to power once again? You also say that "we would breed many new terrorists". Aren't we already doing that by being over there? Not only in Iraq, but in surrounding Islamic states? I saw the need to take Saddam out of power, but the way the government presented their case for entrance into Iraq was just down right ridiculous- the way the American people were misled was shameful. Finally, you say that "if we pull out of Iraq it will be our very lives at stake". Now, when you say "our", I am assuming that you mean the lives of the men and women sent across the world to fight. All I have say is that "our" lives are more at stake by being there, than pulling out. "Our" lives are being lost everyday from insurgents setting off roadside bombs- the insurgents, who are the minority in a country where the acceptance of the United States abounds. The focus in Washington seems to change daily, in avoidance of the war. If it were so right, why would our government avoid it? If it were so right, wouldn't people praise the government? When you're wrong or you make a mistake, don't you try to avoid being the focus or center of attention? - THAT is what the people in Washington are doing.
Just One Thought
First history tells us that when one evil leader leaves another one can easily take his place. After Russia lost the Czars they had several corrupt communist leaders. After France lost their absolute monarchs they had Napoleon. Fear and anger is how some one like Saddam takes power, and unless the Iraq government has enough checks in place, the most ruthless would take power. Right now the US is that check. You say we are breeding terrorists right now, but if we leave Iraq to fend for its self, the people who were counting on us will hate us, and so will the rest of the Muslim world. When I say our lives it means every American. Every American is at more risk of losing their life to terrorism if we make mistakes that will cause more of it.

Losing The War

2005-11-22T17:53:00.000-06:00

Although I can respect the argument that the war in Iraq is a mistake, the argument to withdraw from Iraq before the time is right is dangerous and unpatriotic. I have not felt the need to rebuttal such an argument before but it seems this week in congress has shown the need. We cannot leave Iraq soon. Iraq is not stable enough and politically and militarily developed enough to work on its own. The latest reports of torture chambers run by the interior department in Iraq are evidence of that. The U.S. is ensuring the integrity and legitimacy of the government. If we leave now another Saddam Hussein would take power. The Muslim world would never forgive us if we left Iraq as it is now. We would breed many new terrorists, and hatred for the U.S. This means that if we pull our of Iraq it will be our very lives at stake.

The politicians who support immediate withdraw are the hope of the enemy in Iraq. They can never make America leave. They can break our spirit. If we let them. The roadside bombs and ambushes in Iraq are meant to sway politicians to leave Iraq. If politicians, especially in congress, call for withdraw, they are telling the terrorists that they are winning. The congressmen tha

Jesse Jackson Saves The Day

2005-11-13T16:46:00.000-06:00

The Reverend Jesse Jackson shows off his amazing character, leadership and intelligence, this time in the NFL. I just wish he could do such great things more often, so I can have a laugh.

Riot Cover Up

2005-11-12T16:30:00.000-06:00

Is France trying to cover up the riots? According to the Brussels Journal they are. I think it is working too. When is the last time you saw the riots in the mainstream media. It has been a quite a few days for me.

Earthquake Ignored

2005-11-10T16:18:00.000-06:00

I saw a small section on the news this morning about the earthquake in Pakistan. I wondered why the media hasn’t covered this event more. The quake killed just as many people as the tsunami did. I guess the Tsunami had live videos to go with it and the quake does not. With the Tsunami the blogs served to focus attention on such a big event when the media got bored with the story and moved on. Now blogs are more interested in the Panther Cheerleaders. Here are a few good blogs that talk about what is going on in Pakistan
http://humanistnews.blogspot.com/2005/11/humanist-earthquake-relief.html
http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/Archive/2005/Nov/09-140041.html?chanlid=washfile
http://spaces.msn.com/members/pakistannews/Blog/cns!1pxUyWc3WNlEOT8PbWbnO25A!611.entry

Elections Go Well As Always

2005-11-09T08:29:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to Time Kaine and Jon Corzine on winning the governor elections it their states. After the past few elections I thought Democrats couldn't win elections, but I was wrong. In Ohio and California voters turned down several voting reforms, that if succeeded would have gone to other states as well. In Ohio issues 2, 3, 4, and 5 were turned down by margins I did not think were possible in state elections. This was an important vote because these amendments could have caused great harm to the integrity of elections. That is unless you judge integrity by whether John Kerry won your state or not.

Comments Now Open

2005-11-08T18:52:00.000-06:00

Anyone can now comment on posts so feel free to do so.

Rioting In France

2005-11-07T11:22:00.000-06:00

The rioting in France should be viewed as a signal of the changing trend in demographics in Europe. Studies have shown that around 2050 the Muslim population will be the majority in Europe. Although the rioting began with a slightly different group it now shows the impact of the Muslim population. What this means for the future I am not able to say. This event shows how important what we are doing in Iraq right now. When Europe become Muslim it will look to the Middle East for leadership for some while, and it is important that there is a good example set.
How will America prevent a hardline Muslim Europe and what will we do if it becomes Hardline in spite of Us?