Santorum coming up from behind,
Gingrich choking,
Romney stumbling, but remains the great white hope,
well unless tea bagging is where your at, then perhaps it’s Santorum,
but Gingrich has the money.
Oh my.
So what’s your bet?
I’m still fantasizing about the dream team of Santorum & Bachmann leading the Republican party to an ass whopping.
Put your money down folks. . .
By Lesley Clark
McClatchy Newspapers
Feb. 3, 2012
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/03/4235782/religious-values-underpin-his.html
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, who rarely speaks of his faith, defended some of his administration’s policies Thursday by saying they reflect his religious convictions.
Speaking at the annual National Prayer Breakfast . . . Obama, who has proposed a tax on the richest Americans to pay for a payroll tax break for the middle class, suggested religious underpinnings to his call for “shared responsibility,” saying that asking those who have been “extraordinarily blessed” to give up some tax breaks makes economic sense.
But, he added, “For me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’ teaching that ‘For unto whom much is given, much shall be required.’ It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.” . . .
Obama offered a glimpse of his spiritual life Thursday, telling the crowd that he says a brief prayer upon waking each morning and spends time “in Scripture and devotion.” He said he prayed “from time to time” in the Oval Office or by phone with several pastors who were present.
He alluded to his own religious upbringing, noting that he grew up in a household “that wasn’t particularly religious” and found Christ “when I wasn’t even looking for him.”
He recounted visiting the Rev. Billy Graham while on a family vacation in Asheville, N.C., calling it “one of the great honors of my life.
“I have fallen on my knees with great regularity since that moment, asking God for guidance not just in my personal life and my Christian walk, but in the life of this nation and in the values that hold us together and keep us strong.”
In the US churches are granted 501c3 tax-exempt status. Unlike other tax exemptions granted to other non-profit organizations, such as the ACLU, there is no enforced system of checks and balances to ensure they are not abusing this priviledge. There should be no organization that is above questioning or regulation and yet the churches seem to think they are owed this special treatment.
This is an article I recently wrote which highlights not only how and why they were granted this status but also highlights the many ways that this unregulated system is abused. It is definitly worth checking out. I think it is high time we demand transparency from the Churches and enforce the laws that are already in place. The tax exempt status of the churches needs to be investigates and reformed
]]>First and foremost, herd mentality involves doing something because someone else is doing it.
I thought about the Reason Rally that is coming up next month. Is my attendance due to herd mentality? No. How do I know this? Because I’m not going to the rally because someone else is going. I am going because it is a rally that pronounces some of my stronger beliefs: politics should be secular, theists of all types around the world elevate hate in order to gain power, and people need to respect and behave compassionately toward others.
So, assuming that others are attending because they individually share my feelings, this is not a herd. It is a group of like-minded individuals. Much different, I believe, from a herd.
]]>Politics, religion, football…doesn’t matter. I said it before and I’ll say it again: culture is the result of people’s nature. Not the other way around. BTW, don’t compare it to the football disasters in the U.K. where most people died either because of stadium collapses or a suffocation due to a massive chain-reaction of panicking people.
]]>An enlightening interview, John Stewart with Johnathan Macey a Yale Corparate Law professor, on how the private equity business is advantageous to the wealthy as opposed to others, and is probably sometimes manipulative and damaging. One of Bain Capital’s dealings was highlighted, in which Bain profited hundreds of millions, and the company then went bankrupt for hundreds of millions 2 years later.
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