I'm A Skeptic of Government Fixes to Healthcare

To be honest, I believe that the federal government is not a good option when it comes to fixing most any problem.  It seems to be the best option for national security and a few other items.  However, as Ben Parker shared with Peter Parker, "with great power comes great responsibility."  Part of that great responsibility is to resist the inherent corruption that comes with power.  With little effort, one can uncover an overwhelming amount of evidence to demonstrate that our federal officials have not resisted this temptation.\

So, I share this blog highlighting some perceived logical fallacies of the ACA.

Responsibilities and the Constitution

So, my fourth-grade son is learning about the branches of government.  In the notes he brought home last week, the key information recorded was that

• the Congress creates the laws
• the Supreme Court verifies the laws
• the President enforces the laws.

The oath of office a president swears is to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States".  Accordingly, the president is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws.

Recently, we have observed several situations where the president has chosen to disregard certain laws, indicating that the office of the president will not enforce them.  Clearly, this is a choice to disregard an oath.  Given that this is politics, it may be redundant to point out that it is unethical.

However, I'm curious how we understand the constitutional nature of this behavior.  If the enforcer of the laws does not enforce the laws and disregards the constitution, who is to hold the enforcer responsible for not enforcing?

A few of the specific examples are

• Defense of Marriage (DOMA) early in his presidency.
• Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obama Care) in indicating that certain requirements would not be enforced in the timing indicated in the law
• Affirmative Action, specifically in college admissions.

The last is the most startling to me.  President Obama has directed colleges to ignore the Supreme Court ruling, directing colleges to continue enforcing affirmative actions despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled to the contrary. 

We pride ourselves on abiding by the rule of law.  Certainly this is tenuous when the primary rulers and purveyors of Law disregard the guidelines of the Constitution.

The ever-changing story

One of the things that baffles me about the theory of evolution is the seemingly simple solution it has employed time-and-again to solve conundrums and complex problems.  When something no longer measures up, add a million years.

To this end, I found the article by Answers In Genesis quite interesting. The author presents a synopsis of the history of the Big Bang Theory, documenting some of the changes that occurred when problems arose.

A few years ago I watched a debate and one interesting point struck me.  One participant argued that Creationsist are unsettled when there appear to be 'holes' in their theory while scientists welcome 'holes' in their theory as part of the process of science.  I'm not sure I agree with this statement as it applies to historical science, but it may apply to operational science.  Certainly Creationists look to the Bible as permanent truth and expect that the data will continue to reveal the truth of scripture more and more as the evidence is available.  They are not welcome to revisions of the creation history.

When did we begin wanting to know of the sexual behaviors of athletes?

I don't know when we began reporting on the sexual habits of athletes, but it isn't a good sign that we tolerate such information.  When I watch someone in golf, soccer, football, basketball, hockey, etc., I am pleased simply to enjoy the exhibition of their talents in that arena.  I do not want to know how they fold their underware nor do I want to know about their sex life.

In the brohaha following Jason Collins' revelation that he in how living a homosexual lifestyle, this letter by Mike Adams to reveal how he would respond if he were president calls us back to responsibility and sensibility.

Leadership - tough decisions

My sister sent this article to me quite a long time ago. I may have read it then but just re-read it and was impressed with the author's analysis. As I consider the past year I am able to see quite a few "sentimentalized" decisions made near and far. Kudos to the author for noting the effect in the military.

Beware the doghouse

Beware the doghouse

Are we anti-children

Reactions to "large" families seem to be more overt and more common these days. The irony is that there is mounting evidence that Europe is on a irreversible path to becoming Muslim due to low birth rates. Canada and the US are not far behind.

Consider the comments hared by the author of this article in the Washington Post.

Formula for raising a juvenile delinquent

Myron Bennet’s formula for raising a juvenile delinquent:

1. Begin with infancy to give the child everything he wants. In this way, he’ll grow up to believe the world owes him a living.
2. When he picks up bad words – just laugh – he’ll think it’s cute.
3. Never give him spiritual training –wait until he’s 21 and let him “decide for himself.”
4. Avoid the use of the word “wrong” –or he may develop a guilt complex. This will condition him to believe later when he is arrested for stealing a car that society is against him and he is being persecuted.
5. Pick up everything he leaves around – books, shoes, and clothing. Do everything for him so that he will be experienced in throwing responsibility onto others.
6. Let him read any printed material he can get. Be careful that the silverware and drinking glasses are sterilized, but let his mind feast on garbage.
7. Quarrel frequently in the presence of your children and this way they will not be too shocked when your home is broken up later.
8. Give your child all the spending money he wants, never let him earn his own. Why should he have things as tough as you had them?
9. Satisfy his every craving for food, drink and comfort – see that his every sensual desire is gratified – denial may lead to harmful frustration.
10. Take his part against neighbors, teachers, and policemen. They are all prejudiced against your child.
11. When he gets into trouble apologize by saying, “I could never do anything with him.”

Finally, prepare for a life of grief – you’re definitely going to have one.

Becoming a Leader of No Reputation

In Christianity Today, R. Scott Rodin offers a convicting and compelling article on leadership.

Becoming a Leader of No Reputation

Spiritual leadership in the family

One of the challenging aspects of parenting is training our children spiritually. There are so many perspectives out there: strong and direct vs not pushy or overt. What should our approach be?

I just received an email from Focus on the Family. It contained a notice of a training event approaching soon in Minneapolis. I did not realize that Focus has begun a special focus on supporting churches in the ministry of training parents to train their children as God directs in Deuteronomy. I intend to follow their website and look for opportunities to gain wisdom from their instruction and ideas.

http://church.family.org/fmp/

LaTeX in PHP

Because MathML is a low-level XML and everyone wants to see attractive math symbols and graphics, help for placing LaTeX in PHP is provided by Samson Georgiy

LaTeX extension for Firefox

If you wish to view LaTeX on the web in an attractive format, Neergmas has posted a link and instructions on an extension available in Firefox.

Watch "Historical Discus Throws" on Google Video

Your friend, jbundt@gmail.com, has sent you the following video from Google Video and included this message:

Check out these throws.

Historical Discus Throws

30 min 44 sec - May 1, 2006
Average rating:   (2 ratings)
Description: A compilation of discus throws from the 70's and 80's. macthrowvideo.com

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Go to video.google.com/

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Add it at video.google.com/videouploadform

If you're having trouble watching the video, try copying the following URL into your browser:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6165851820986724612&q=discus&pr=goog-sl

Starting Out

As this is the first day of attempting a blog, I have no idea how this will turn out. I may end up using this to a profitable end, yet I may also find that this is not of value and allow it to fade into a distant memory.

I am eager for our weekend training rapidly approaching. As Rev. Mouser prepares materials for our Bible study on prayer and worship, I am eager to discover what God desires to change in my life. I pray that we may grow in godliness. Brochure