Orthodox Editors

American Socialism & Chinese Capitalism

American Thinker | Raymond Richman & Howard Richman | Sep. 7, 2009

Why is GM, a capitalist firm, so successful in Communist China and a failure in Capitalist USA? Apparently, the Chinese learned from the economic failures of socialism while the US Congress learned nothing and actively intervenes in the decision-making of American capitalist firms, imposing environmental restrictions few of which would pass the economic test that benefits should be equal to or greater than cost. It subsidizes energy-saving activities like insulating buildings, buying energy-saving autos and even light bulbs, none of which would survive the light of day as producers of net benefits. It orders banks to make bad loans, e.g., the Community Reinvestment Act. Through the EPA, it regulates factory emissions. It proposes a socialist solution to health care. It has declared its policy to replace fossil fuels with renewable alternative fuels. It pays a large portion of the costs of wind turbines and solar panels. The list goes on an on. [Read more…]

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ObamaCare and Catholic Social Teaching

American Thinker | Mark Wauk | Sep. 6, 2009

The 9/2/09 issue of the Wall Street Journal, in its Notable and Quotable feature, calls attention to an important article that Roman Catholic Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City, Iowa, published in his diocesan newspaper on the subject of health care and health care reform. The article is important for two reasons: first, because there has been and continues to be a certain amount of confusion regarding Catholic social teaching as it affects health care; second, because Bishop Nickless goes to great lengths to base his discussion on principles, and not merely on tactical considerations. [Read more…]

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The Bigger the Government, the Smaller the Citizen

Townhall | Dennis Prager | Sep. 1, 2009

Those of us who oppose a massive increase in the role the national government plays in health care (“ObamaCare”) do so because we fear the immense and unsustainable national debt it would incur and because we are certain that medical care in America would deteriorate. But there is a bigger reason most of us oppose it: We believe that the bigger the government becomes, the smaller the individual citizen becomes. [Read more…]

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Radical, Moderate God

BreakPoint | Stephen Reed | Aug. 25, 2009

So often in Christian teaching, we learn that God, oftentimes a radical in His dealings with human beings, is also essentially a “moderate” when it comes to figuring out His will. By that, I mean that His procedure is moderate, even while His approach may be radical. Few can doubt Jesus’ radical love, proven in His dealings with His disciples or perfect strangers in the gospel accounts.

But many times you will hear learned Christian teachers stress in their lessons on theology that the path of a Christian lies not in being a total libertine, nor as a complete ascetic. Instead, as Jesus said so eloquently, we are to be both “in the world, yet not of the world.” Or when it comes to our mindset here on earth, Jesus tells us to be “as innocent as doves but as wise as serpents.” [Read more…]

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Forget ‘Peak Oil’ – Drill, BP, Drill

Investor’s Business Daily | Sep. 3, 2009

Ignoring peak-oil Cassandras, BP has made another giant oil find in the Gulf of Mexico. We’re not running out of oil. Our government just doesn’t want us to look for it.

The world is running out of oil and good riddance. That’s the environmentalists’ mantra. But since the first well was drilled near Titusville, Pa., 150 years ago, the prophecy has gone unfulfilled. Trouble is, those darn greedy oil companies keep finding the stuff. [Read more…]

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Bi-Polar Liberals?

American Thinker | Jim Yardley | Aug. 29, 2009

I have to ask myself, are the Liberal/Progressive/Democrats, or LPDs, among us, aware of how crazy they sound? I’m sure a lot of them are kind to children and puppies, and very few are hard-core crazy but they certainly sound like there is a serious wiring problem in their heads.

For example, they talk incessantly about “choice”, as in a woman’s right to choose. Or “choosing a life style”, which is code for appeals to the gay and lesbian community. But even though the LPDs preach “tolerance” and “diversity” in terms of certain other “choices” they are utterly intolerant. School choice comes to mind. As does any healthcare choice other than the so-called public option for health care insurance.

So, are they for or against the concept of individual choice? [Read more…]

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The Appendix: Useful and in Fact Promising

Yet another issue that Darwin was wrong about. Darwin considered the appendix as a “vestige of evolution” and used it to support his speculative theories about man’s “evolution.”

LiveScience | Charles Q. Choi | Aug. 24, 2009
The body’s appendix has long been thought of as nothing more than a worthless evolutionary artifact, good for nothing save a potentially lethal case of inflammation.

Now researchers suggest the appendix is a lot more than a useless remnant. Not only was it recently proposed to actually possess a critical function, but scientists now find it appears in nature a lot more often than before thought. And it’s possible some of this organ’s ancient uses could be recruited by physicians to help the human body fight disease more effectively. [Read more…]

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The U.N.’s Shocking Sexuality Guidelines

American Thinker | Janice Shaw Crouse | Aug. 30, 2009

During the summer slump, two United Nations agencies — United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) — issued highly controversial new guidelines for sexuality education of children around the world. These groups have a long history of pushing “reproductive health care,” and the new report, International Guidelines on Sexuality Education, builds on an earlier report released by the International Planned Parenthood Federation to promote the “need and entitlement” for sexuality education for children beginning at age five. [Read more…]

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