Creative Minority Report: Join The Non Nobis Network

An invitation from Patrick Archibold

Excerpt:
In a way that seemed almost impossible, the entire battle has turned. I need not go into detail here, you all know the story. We understand that the war on life is far from over, but today, at least for a while, by the grace of God, we have avoided institutionalized and tax-payer funded abortion. There will be other battles and perhaps they will be very soon, but it is incumbent upon all of us to acknowledge the great miracle that we have witnessed and to thank God for delivering us from this evil.So what I propose is that we Catholic, Christian, and pro-life bloggers everywhere give thanks to God by way publishing the Non Nobis in gratitude for this wondrous day.
Non nobis, non nobis, DomineSed nomini tuo da gloriam.Not to us, not to us, o Lord,But to your name give glory.I ask that any blogger interested in showing their gratitude for this victory, print the Non Nobis. I will also encourage you to also link or show your favorite version of the Non nobis. Mine is the scene from Henry V after the battle of Agincourt.

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Creative Minority Report: Join The Non Nobis Network

Light a candle series*: Privatize mass transit.

Why don’t we privatize sections of mass transit that make sense. There can be more buses and more routes. There can be mini-buses faring on shorter circuits. This will encourage people to take mass transit and reduce the cars on the road. With more buses, the wait time is less. It contributes to national security by reducing dependence on foreign oil. It promotes health and preserves the environment by reducing carbon emissions. It creates jobs for drivers, conductors, mechanics, supervisors and support personnel. It’s been done abroad and it works.  
* It is better to like a candle than to curse the darkness.

Don't cry for me America. It's not about me; it's about you.

Stunned by the upset victory of Senator Brown in MA, the Democrats led by President Obama started to reaffirm their position as champions and servants of the people.  They reactivate their propaganda machinery to avert a similar backlash this Nov.  President Obama himself takes the road with the message, "It's not about me;  it's about you."

Then, he side steps to redirect the cross-hairs of popular anger to the bankers and their bonuses.  "They're the cause of your misery and why the economy failed."  Like Juan and Evita Peron of Argentina, he poses on the side of the poor and yells, "Give us justice."  It's the same script of every dictator who grabs power by justifying it as fighting for the oppressed.

But who is the real champion of the poor and who uses them for his advantage?  It is not he who kills the goose the lays the golden eggs by over-regulating the financial industry to the point that capital investment dries up and wilts the source of a dignified livelihood.  It is not he who oppresses the rich in the name of justice for justice is not brought about by injustice.

For as the Lord Jesus states, "The poor will always be around."  And people like Judas will continue to feign concern to help themselves instead.  The test on whether a person is truly concerned to help the poor is through the integrity of his character.  It he has lied to the people before, then the chances of him lying now is quite likely.

As stimulating as crack. The US journey from an economic descent to a spiritual ascent.

Did Ben Benanke’s tactics avert the recurrence of a debilitating depression or did he simply delay it’s onslaught? This video suggests imply that the economic stimulus had the same effect as a shot of morphine that numbed the pain without healing the cause.  Worse, it has turned us into a junkie needing fixes until we OD or hit rock bottom. 

Perhaps there is a quick rehab and will get us back on our feet sooner – like a new mix of fiscal and monetary policies or a new global approach that makes markets more efficient than ever. Until that’s found, the only way out is the old fashioned cold-turkey and pick-ourselves-up-by-the-boot-straps approach.

It starts with the humbling acceptance of the truth that we messed up followed by embracing those old school values and boring life styles that values temperance over excess, patience over instant gratification, thrift over living large, saving over borrowing and discipline over letting go.

To go beyond the mundane, this renewed way of living is the classic spirituality of sacrifice, the way of the cross. The virtue of humility disposes us to be patient and put up with doing without or with less. It makes us temperate in living within or even beneath our means. Discipline is fortitude or the strength to say no or go, without fear of hardship and deprivation. This is the old school of asceticism; this is why people voluntarily take the vow of poverty. And after being mortified and purified, one enters into mysticism where sacrifice is no longer an uncomfortable state. Rather, it becomes transforming as a seed dies to sprout into a plant that will produce fruit. Or we join the Lord Jesus in His “kenosis” where He suffered and died to bring us eternal life.

So, who knew that the financial collapse can bring about a stronger nation and better still one that will find God all over again.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZA0qNsf4m0 or click here

Blaming Freddie? ”Save the drama for your momma.”

These days, there’s a lot of talk on the hill questioning the mission and status of FreddieMac, Freddie, because of the bailout.  To me, all this is another soap opera because, Freddie has not been involved in any wrongdoing.  When their executives were taken to task on the hill, they came out squeaky clean.  

Freddie buys mortgages from lenders then bundles them into securities to sell back to huge investors.  This business makes the American dream of home ownership possible because, the lenders turn these debts around easily for a profit.  In countries where there is no Freddie, the mortgage rates are prohibitive.

One way Freddie makes money is by managing risk well.  They only buy good loans - from borrowers with good credit ratings and stable jobs.  And this is where the problem occurred because some big wigs from the hill called their execs and yelled at them for this.  “How will the banks lend to those who are not so well off if Freddie buys only the safe loans!”  And so for one year, the goal in Freddie was to “Buy More Loans”.

Do you think the government big wigs who twisted Freddie’s arm were Republicans?  Think again because Republicans are on the side of the investors.  This is where the hypocrisy occurs.  The Democrats who pushed Freddie into bankruptcy are making a lot of noise about his special status today.  And the show goes on for the those who don't know any better.  But now you do.  So, if you get a chance to talk to the clowns please tell them, ”Save the drama for your momma.”

The Scales Fell Off America's Eyes. Another Bursted Bubble.

Why was there a sudden reversal of support for the embodiment of hope?  It's because the people realized that he cannot deliver and his solution was taking the country from the frying pan to the fire.
Peter Wehner stated it best as “Obama cast himself as a figure uncorrupted and unco-opted by evil Washington,”. He “promised to be a unifier and not a polarizer; someone nondogmatic and uncontaminated by the special-interest cesspool that Washington had become.” Obama’s appeal was built on the rhetoric of hope and change, on his “freshness and sense of promise.” A cult of personality built up around Obama — not because of what he had achieved but because of what he seemed to embody." ... "That was what we were promised. What we got instead is a president who increased the divisions in our nation, the most partisan and polarizing figure in the history of polling, one who is dogmatic and has been as generous to special interests as any we have seen. The efforts to buy votes in pursuit of the Obama agenda has added sewage to the cesspool."  It was Hillary Clinton of all people who understood Obama best when she said during the campaign, “We have to make people understand that he’s not real.”
So it's curtains for him.  I don't know his end game but it would not be a grab for absolute power because there is no support - not even from his party and much less from the military.  If he's as smart as he's presented, perhaps he can still change course and redeem himself.  I don't like his politics but he is still the president.  So, I pray for his conversion.

POWs, spies & terrorists: an appropriate judicial and penal model

When I was 11, my uncle and I played chess a lot.   (I was pretty good that I can even beat our neighbor’s dad.)  During our games we talked about the war, WWII, a lot.  I lost my grandpa and a granduncle at that war.  I learned about the Geneva Convention protecting everyone’s troops.  It was a civilized war.  When captured, one can disclose his name, rank and serial number then be kept in the POW camps until a prisoner exchange or release can be arranged.

 But those rules were for soldiers who fought reasonably i.e. by going after military targets and not harming civilians.  I guess there was no other kind during that war.  The worst was when an enemy dons the uniform of your troops; that one gets to be executed immediately when caught.

I wonder what my uncle would have thought about terrorists who wore no uniforms and attacked civilians.  My guess is that these guys would be lower than maggots where a firing squad would be too dignified for them.  So, he would be perplexed  to know that they will be given civil rights protections and flown in civilian courts for a regular hearing.  These poor excuse for military personnel would be protected by a court appointed lawyers and be making plea deals to bring down their sentences.  They cannot even be interrogated.

Sometimes, I wonder if this country's leaders lack perspective and judgment.  Perhaps Harvard law needs to teach about wartime justice so that their graduates can use the appropriate paradigm and not usher the miscarriages of justice that make the land of freedom a joke in the world.