Truth Be Told

There… isn’t that clearer?

Posted on October 3, 2008 by Kirk

The “fundamental difference” between the vice-presidential candidates is not their view of the problems facing Americans, but how they see we should address the issues which are most critical to the people. Just in case you are not up to speed, here is a list of issues I think are most important and how the candidates stand on them… for now anyway.

Economy: The elephant in the room has started stomping around and knocking things over. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle have been too busy taking advantage of earmarks and other perks provided by lobbyists to do their job protecting the folks from corporate greed. Sub-prime mortgages, price gouging, CEO’s running their companies into the ground and walking away with a golden parachute have collectively put the economy in worse shape than it has been in almost 70 years. To me, Biden made the most profound statement of his beliefs when he described middle class America as sitting around the kitchen table wanting “help.” Obama/Biden promote bigger government (more programs) which means more taxes. They claim that taxes will not go up, but the programs they propose increasing will cost money and it has to come from somewhere. McCain/Palin plan to lower taxes. Neither plan works if the government doesn’t stop earmarks and protect the folks from greedy CEO’s.

Iraq: The government’s primary job is to protect the people. Most people agree that mistakes have been made in the war in Iraq. People are still divided on how and whether we should have gone in at all, but looking back at that question does us no good. The question is how and when do we get out? McCain/Palin say we finish the job and then leave a stable Iraqi government. Obama/Biden want to leave now, and claim that McCain’s plan has no end. However, everyone, including those who oppose the war, conceed that the surge is working and it can now be said that we are winning in Iraq. The war on terror continues, however, and how we handle Afghanistan and continue to persue Bin Ladin, as well as how we deal with Iran and North Korea (not to mention Russia) will be dictated by the next administration.

Moral issues: This may be the clearest topic of discussion. McCain opposes partial birth abortion and favors required parental consnt for abortions for minors. Obama supports unfettered abortion for all ages as a right of privacy. Marriage has been defined as a union between a man and woman since before recorded history. Obama would change that and supports homosexuality being taught in elementary schools and adoption by homosexual parents. Obama would allow gun control. McCain would not.

Truth be told, it’s really not that difficult to pick a side when the choices are so clear. One more thing – change is coming either way.

Posted in Election 08 | 3 Comments

It’s Only Money… We Can Print More

Posted on September 20, 2008 by Kirk

The Democrats are blaming Bush, the Republicans point to the Democratic Congress, the lenders are blaming the consumer and the borrowers ask the banks why they were given a loan they couldn’t afford. So whose fault is this big mess?

The media is calling this the biggest economic crisis since 1929. It really started with Enron, although I don’t know if that led to everything else, the greed of Enron was not isolated to that company. Greedy lending institutions awarded mortgages to people who could not afford to make the payments when rates adjusted. They (both the lenders and the consumers) assumed homes would continue to increase in value, but they obviously didn’t. Dropping home values and rising mortgage rates combined with salaries that did not rise as expected (“I’ll be making more money by the time our mortgage adjusts”) to force thousands into foreclosure. Mortgage companies suddenly found themselves owning homes they could not sell for what was owed on them and the mortgage companies began folding like a house of cards. Investment bankers, who had invested in mortgage companies were in trouble. Stocks dropped sending the investment banks further into the red. This week, Lehman Brothers folded and took with them AIG, who was their insurer. The chain of events started with greed. False home values, unwise lenders and consumers, selfish politicians with ear marks and pork to benefit themselves and their cronies all contributed to what may be the closes we have been to total economic collapse in 80 years.

The big surprise to me is how the stock market has experienced its largest two day increase in over six years after the federal government pledged to bail out all these failing companies. Seriously?! What, in our nations history, has instilled such confidence in our government’s ability to handle money? Maybe it’s the record deficit. Maybe the money we just borrowed from China has encouraged investors to trust our government’s economic decision making process. Maybe Obama will get elected and raise our taxes enough to pay for it all. Maybe McCain will win the war on terror and Iraq will pay us back. Maybe not.

California is not any better off. The budget was 81 days late and no one in the legislature cares. They laugh in the face of the Governor when he threatens consequences. The Governor now wants to spend millions we don’t have on a special election to borrow money from the lottery. Isn’t that money supposed to go to education? Hasn’t Schwarzenegger raped the pubic schools enough? He also wants to create an emergency fund (with what?) to help prevent future financial emergencies.

Last year I opened a special account to save for a new TV. I hoped to siphon off a little each month and buy the big screen I have been waiting for. Now, I have to tell you, I am much better at managing my money that the State of California, and I can tell you that you can have as many accounts as you want; they do no good if you don’t have any money in them… I still don’t have a big screen TV.

Truth be told, we have poor leadership (that may be the most non-partisan group of all politicians), making selfish decisions. We have greedy corporations gouging the public with virtually no oversight. We are overtaxed and underpaid. We are under-insured. The government isn’t doing its job serving the people because it is too busy trying serve itself. We need good leadership, without more taxes. We need people to step up and do what is best for the folks rather than what seems best to themselves. I still say “fire em all!”

Posted in economy, Election 08, Politics | 1 Comment

Let me explain…

Posted on September 7, 2008 by Kirk

There was actually a lot of thought put into this new layout.

The painting on the right is of the disciples on the Sea of Galilee. I don’t know if it is the time when Jesus was sleeping on the boat or when He walked to them on the water, but either way, Jesus calmed the storm. Life is like that. We get tossed around by life. Often it seems we can only react to it, but Jesus can calm the storms. He walks across them as if the are not there, because to Him, they are not. Not that God thinks our problems are unimportant, I think He understand what they are to us. So the painting of the disciples reminds me that God calms the storms in my life.

The painting on the left is from Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan and Sin and Death. The three truest enemies of mankind together and, perhaps, preparing to attack us. Each of these we try to face on our own, each of us does, but we all lose. Death will eventually overcome us all. No one has lived a perfect life and we all sin. Sin destroys us and we cannot be in God’s presence because of it. Satan oversees it all. He is stronger than we are on our own and underestimating him will also destroy us. The battle is constant and one we cannot win, but Christ can and has.

The middle picture is a piece of the Sistine Chapel, where God touches man. This is where miracles occur. When we allow God to get close to us, miracles happen, lives change. The trick is to remove ourselves from the distractions and the mess that daily surrounds us and clear the way for God to get as close to us as He wants to be.

Not many of us have the time to take a vacation for a week. Very few can go on a retreat or escape the distractions of life for an extended period of time. However, taking 15 to 20 minutes every day and spending it with God can go a long way to clearing the garbage so that we can let Him closer. God wants to change lives. He wants to perform miracles. He wants His children to notice.

Take a minute, or 20, and let Him talk to you. Truth be told, He wants to tell you that He loves you, listen… it can change your life.

Posted in Truth | 1 Comment

New Look, New Direction… sort of

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Kirk

It’s funny, I didn’t really intend to write a political blog. My plan was to be more philosophical… you know, the search for Truth. However, I find myself repeatedly, no, constantly annoyed with the distortion, repression, and ignorance of the truth that reappears daily in politics and in the coverage of such by our esteemed 4th Estate.

I will admit to being a social and financial conservative, but not so far right as many with whom I end up being grouped. Unfortunately, anyone near the center is painted as a right wing nut by the main stream media (especially NBC and affiliates) and attacked by the loons occupying the majority of Hollywood and the entertainment industry in general. I can only guess as to why entertainers (for the most part) get so fervently behind those promoting a socialistic environment which would most likely prohibit them form being so vocal as they are… seems an oxymoronic situation to me… but I digress.

My point is that those pushing a far left agenda and pretending they are honestly portraying the facts often accuse and attack those who are attempting to be balanced as pushing a far right agenda. Seems a situation of “me thinks he doth protest to much.”

I think it is interesting to look closely at the protesters at the two conventions. The first thing I notice is that there are a lot more people protesting in support of far left ideology than far right, not that extremist on both ends don’t get loud. However, the violence from those on the left is disturbing. It was a few years ago that far right protesters were bombing abortion clinics, but now it seems to be a vast majority of protesters are far left. Why, I have to ask, do anti-war protesters in Minnesota feel the need to throw things through store front windows? Is the thinking: “the military did not find WMD’s so I’ll break out the display window of Macy’s?” How does that work? Why do people think 9-11 was an inside job? Did President Bush stand to gain anything from that? Why is Bush blamed for levee’s failing in New Orleans three years ago when Clinton chose not to fix them? Will Bush get credit for the levees holding this week, or will he some how be blamed for the 12 foot storm surge that topped some of those new levees.

It seems to me that we ought to place blame where it belongs, or maybe not at all. Sometimes stuff happens. Those who get paid the big bucks to make the tough decisions do the best they can with the information they have at the time. Just because people disagree loudly does not make them right.

Regardless, my intended refocus here is to find and illuminate real truth. We are not finding it in the media for the most part.

The truth is out there…

Posted in press and media | Comments Off

These too… two… three are useless

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Kirk

Sometimes something seems like a great idea at the time, and it might be, but after it runs its course, served its purpose, it’s time to let it go. Here are some examples of things that should go the way of the Dodo bird.

Labor unions. There was a time when saying this could get me killed, or at least unemployed. Labor unions did some great things for the American worker. They created child labor laws, they stopped unsafe work environments and stabilized wages for similar jobs. However, what they mostly do now is force the work force to surrender a portion of their wages for the sake of “negotiations” and line the pockets of union leaders who spend union money to promote their own political agenda. The Teachers’ Unions are prime examples of this. They get kick-backs for promoting “benefits” for teachers that are no benefits at all. I am constantly receiving union sponsored mailings for car and home insurance at discount rates for teachers. The problem is that the offerings are significantly more expensive than other sources of the same service, but the CTA takes donations in exchange for promoting these companies. The biggest problem I have with unions is that they spend way too much time and money promoting a political agenda that usually has little or nothing to do with labor or the specific part of the labor force they supposedly represent. Union leaders get very wealthy from mandatory union dues. When they negotiate a contract they may force their laborers to strike while they, the leaders, continue to collect their salary. The unions no longer ensure that good workers receive fair treatment, they, more often, protect the jobs and wages of all workers, whether they are effective at their jobs or not. Unions no longer do what they were designed to do. They have left the arena of their purpose and expertise and become a negative influence on the work force.

Lobbyists. With apologies to my nephew, the entire lobbyist industry needs to disappear. At its inception the industry gave people a direct line of communication to law makers. However, once certain wealthy parties discovered that they could purchase influence they began perverting the system into what it has become. Now special interest with substantial funds persuade (bribe) law makers to create/support/sponsor laws that will benefit their own interests. Lobbying firms prostitute themselves to the highest bidder and law makers receive campaign contributions, conferences (read vacations), and other donations in return for their favor. Lobbyists do not represent the people any more than the electoral college (let’s get rid of that too).

Pork Barreling. Come on! How did this ever get this far? I understand the concept. Law makers negotiate for certain concessions so that they will support a law that benefits another law maker’s constituents in exchange for that law maker’s support of a law that benefits their own. However, now the majority of law makers tack on pork barrel riders to benefit themselves. If it keeps regressing the way it is, I’ll be writing about why we should eliminate Congress. Elected by the people for the people? No, more like elected by special interest money to benefit the highest bidder and the elected official. The vast majority of Congress is no longer running to help the people of their constituency, but to see what they can get out of it.

Truth be told, if you or I did the things that union leaders, lobbyists, and congressmen do every day, we would be in jail. If we don’t do something about it, we will be watching the complete disintegration of our country and we will have no one to blame but ourselves for our silence.

Posted in economy, Election 08 | 2 Comments

Religion vs Belief

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Kirk

According to a recent comprehensive study, most Americans believe in God, but also believe that other religions than their own can provide a path to Heaven. It seems that the individual beliefs of most Americans contradicts the traditional teachings of their churches. I can accept that the god of the majority of monotheistic religions can be the same God that I worship. I can accept that my Father in Heaven is the same God as that of those who believe in One True God who is the Creator of Heaven and Earth, but have a different Name for Him in their own language. I am not even debating that right now. I have two different concerns.

First, the media would actually have us believe that truth is determined by popular opinion. Aren’t we, as a people, more intelligent than that? Do we really think that if enough people believe something that it becomes true? I understand and embrace freedom of religious beliefs. Somewhere along the line, however, it has become not enough to let people believe what they want, it has become necessary for us to accept their beliefs as equally correct as our own. I teach high school math. I have students who struggle with arithmetic. If enough of them believe that 2+2=7 does it cease to be 4? Imagine you are riding home on a bus and you are tired of riding on the bus so you pull the bell, the driver stops and you get off. Are you home now because you got off the bus? I am 45 years old. If I convince enough people that I am 37 do I cease to be 45 and become 37? I think the freedom of religion implies that we all can believe what we feel is right, not necessarily that we must accept as right all other beliefs. Honestly, why have any beliefs at all if any one is just as good as another?I don’t get that! Isn’t truth truth? I can accept that others do not believe that what I believe is true and I pray that one day we will have an opportunity to find out the truth. I understand that we are all seeking truth and that people are passionate about what they believe. Them believing it however, does not make it true. So how do we know? How do we find the truth in this life? Truth is truth and no one can change that, no matter how many people believe.

This leads me to my second point. If we consider only the monotheistic religions of the world, we can divide them into two groups: those who accept Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of the world (Christians) and those who do not. There is much more debate, even among Christians, as to how we best follow Him, but we will leave that for now. Many of those who do not follow Christ believe He was a great teacher or prophet, yet I can understand how some may equate Buddha or Mohammad with Jesus. Again, there is much room for debate here and that is not what concerns me about the recent study. In the US a huge majority of people claim to be Christians. Also, the study reveals that a majority of people believe that there is more than one way to heaven. The quote that got me was a Christian who said; “I can’t believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.” WOW! I was blown away. Are Christians not reading or not believing the Bible? Jesus said; “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one gets to the Father except through me.” Seems pretty clear to me. Jesus is the ONLY WAY to get to Heaven. OK, some people do not believe He is the way to Heaven. Some people do not believe in Jesus, OK. We have freedom to believe (or not) in what we choose. It is alright for people to not believe in Him. What is not OK is for people to believe IN Him, but not BELIEVE Him. Why would Jesus, the Son of God, come to earth and sacrifice himself and teach us that HE is the only way, if it were not true?

Truth be told, either He was telling the truth or He was just a lunatic and should be completely ignored. My blog is about seeking truth. It may not always be obvious in my writing, but I believe all truth comes from God, through Christ. He is the way, THE TRUTH, and the life. We can (and must) accept that people will reject Him, some out of ignorance and some in rebellion, that does not make His teachings any less true. We can (and should) understand that others do not see Jesus as the Way to Heaven. We can share with them the truth we know. We can accept that they may not choose to follow Him, but for Christians to say that there could be another way to Heaven is for them to not understand Jesus at all. We must believe in Him, and we must believe Him as well.

Posted in morality, Truth | Comments Off

Running Mates

Posted on June 8, 2008 by Kirk

In the search for a running mate the presidential nominee seeks a partner, one who stands for the same ideals and has the same basic goals for the nation; one who will compliment the candidate’s strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. At the same time, the candidate tries to choose one who will bring with them a significant number of votes and supporters who might otherwise not support the ticket.

Many Democrats think Obama should put Hillary on the ticket. Here are three reasons why that is a bad idea. Reason one: it looks weak. As several analysts have mentioned, choosing Hillary as his running mate indicates weakness on Obama’s part. Even if it isn’t true, it will look as if he was bullied, or at least manipulated, into the decision. The Clintons come as a package. Even if Obama is the strongest personality (which I do not believe he would be), the Clintons outnumber him two to one.

Reason two: she wouldn’t bring the support it might appear she would. Although they like to think the opposite of themselves, neither Obama nor Clinton (either of them) are unifying personalities. In fact, they are both quite divisive. The Democratic Party has never been more divided. Although Hillary and Obama seem close on several key issues, they are completely different in their approach. More importantly, Clinton supporters will not vote for Obama because he is too far left. I don’t think a significant number of Clinton supporters would vote for Obama even with her on the ticket. Some Obama supporters may leave his camp with Hillary on the ticket because they oppose her so strongly.

Reason three: if he were to win with Hillary Clinton as Vice-President, Obama’s life would be in danger. Seriously, I don’t think Hillary would directly suggest that he be assassinated, but she has already suggested it indirectly when she “mentioned” (twice) the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. I believe Hillary Clinton’s desire to be President outweighs everything else for her, but more dangerous for Obama are the Clinton supporters who would take her comments as an invitation, or even a request, to clear the way for her to get to the Oval Office.

Obama should choose a running mate who agrees with his key positions and can bring some of the groups that supported Clinton n the primary.

On the other hand, here are three reasons that John McCain should choose Joe Lieberman as his running mate. I know that suggestion may surprise some of my readers, and it kind of surprises me to think of it, but hear me out.

McCain won the nomination because of his moderate leaning policies and his willingness to cross party lines. Lieberman is already estranged from the Democratic Party, but has the support of many other democrats who are disgruntled with the direction the party is going. Reason one: Lieberman brings left leaning moderates without making McCain a “traitor” to the GOP.

Reason Two: no matter who he picks, the GOP ticket will be far more conservative than the Obama ticket. Obama is so extremely left that many democrats question the direction he would take the country. His claims of wanting to unite the country do not match his brief voting record nor his John Kerry-like “global approval system? for our thermostats and SUV’s. The majority of the country seems to want to move left of where we are, but not that far. The Right, on the other hand, will vote for the candidate closest to them, so McCain could choose a running mate to bring more of the middle to him without losing those on the right.

Finally, reason three is that Lieberman’s position on issues that move him right of his ex-party are very similar to McCain’s positions on those same issues. It is these very issues that many conservatives feel McCain is too liberal on, but he is far more conservative on these issues than Obama.

Truth be told, the Presidency will be decided by the middle 5 -10 % of the voters. The candidate who is best able to woo those voters will be our next president.

Posted in Election 08 | Comments Off

Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right…

Posted on May 15, 2008 by Kirk

As a conservative educator, I frequently find myself in the minority, politically, at the workplace. On the other hand, I hear from my conservative friends that “the public school system is failing” and that teachers should have “merit-based pay” while parents should receive vouchers to be able to transfer their children to private schools rather than suffer the atrocities of the public system. Dick Morris (with whom I agree about 90% of the time) writes in his book, Outrage, (an excellent read by the way, except for the chapter on education) support for merit based pay and compares the public education system to the military. He writes that the schools are rated according to dollars spent per student and compares that to rating the military by dollars spent per soldier rather than by success on the battle field.

In order to understand the flaws in this argument you have to understand what is required for a student to be successful and the many factors that effect test scores and grades and learning in general. Educators spend countless hours creating lessons and activities to form a learning environment that will maximize the experience for the students during the six hour school day. However, students are away from their teachers for the other 18 hours of the day and teachers cannot be held responsible for what happens during that time. The majority of real learning takes place during homework time. Teachers give information and demonstrate how to process information, but the student has to practice on their own if they want to be good at something. Unfortunately, students are often left to their own to do their homework and, frankly, just do not have the wisdom to make good choices without guidance. We have become a culture of double incomes and single parents. By necessity, parents need to find different ways to motivate their children to do well in school. Often, however, the result is an expectation that the school take a larger role in the raising of the children.

To continue with Dick Morris’ comparison to the military, the armed forces have extensive training at the onset of a soldier’s military experience. What happens to those soldier hopefuls who don’t make it through boot camp? They are kicked out, expelled, removed from the military. We don’t have public school boot camp. Some schools do. They are called private schools. They have entrance requirements. If the students don’t meet the requirements, they are not allowed in… they go back to public school. I guarantee the students do not get a better education from better educators in a private school.

Truth be told, if you let me kick all the students out of school who refuse to try, who won’t do homework, who won’t take notes or show up on test days or make up missing work, you let me eliminate those students from my class and I’ll raise my average test scores. Until then, don’t talk to me about merit based pay for teachers.

Posted in Education | 1 Comment

Happy Mother’s Day

Posted on May 10, 2008 by Kirk

Mothers have always made great sacrifices. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, prayed and wept for years that the Lord would give her a son. When He finally did, she immediately gave him to the Lord to spend his entire life in the service of God.

Mothers teach us those things that are truly important. One of the most successful disciples of the New Testement, Paul’s protégé, Timothy, reminded Paul of the faith of both his grandmother and mother who taught Timothy to love and serve the Lord so that Paul, speaking to Timothy, says that he is sure that their sincere faith “now dwells in you.”

Among Jesus’ last wishes was that his best friend, John, take responsibility for His mother. Jesus said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son” and to John, “Behold your mother.” From that time Mary lived with John and he cared for her.

My mother played football with me. I still remember her breaking her ankle playing quarterback. She also taught me to cook. More importantly, she taught me to respect women. She taught me to stand up for myself. She made sure I did my homework and was always there to check it (and me). She always expected me to do my best, but always gave me the support I needed when I fell short.

My father instilled in me a desire to provide for my family, but my mother showed me how that support is received. Most importantly, my mother taught me to love God. My Father taught me faith in God’s power, but it is a mother that teaches us to love and, especially, to love God.

And so, on Mother’s Day at least, we honor our mothers. The sacrifices, the lessons, and, most of all, the love that only a mother can give.

Posted in Family, morality | Comments Off

Missing the point!

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Kirk

Two years ago, in the mid-term elections, voters sent a loud and resounding message by ousting congressional incumbents in alarming proportions. Democrats in general and liberals more specifically took that as acceptance of their agenda and carte blanch to proceed with higher spending and increased taxes. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are basing their campaign on “change.” Whether they are actually providing a change is up for debate, but let’s suppose they are. What change are they promising and is it what the people want?

The democratic candidates are promising more… more taxes, more government programs and government control in our lives. In essence, they promise socialism from government sponsored health care to open border policies and a “world approval” method of foreign policy. The problem is this isn’t what the voters were upset about. Congress is corrupt beyond belief. Most of our elected officials work half the year or less. They consistently vote themselves pay increases and dip into all types of money sources to provide themselves with travel and entertainment and, let’s not forget, to get themselves re-elected. They represent, not those who elect them, but those companies whose lobbyists best provide for their needs (or wants).

I think I know what the majority of Americans want: safety from terrorists, economic security, and a government comprised of leaders with integrity. Truth be told, with no incumbent running for president, the change that needs to be made is still in congress. Check your local senator’s or representative’s voting record, attendance record, and spending record and then… oust another incumbent!

Posted in Election 08, morality | 1 Comment