Conservative Musings

What is a Christian?

....It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians. Acts 11:26 New International Version.

Here's the first time that word was used....Christian.  But what exactly is one?  Back in the days that Luke wrote this, they used the Greek word Christianos (Χριστιανός), or follower of Christ.

This coming Wednesday evening at 10pm is the first of two shows that CNN's Anderson Cooper will be investigating what a Christian is.

So, what is a Christian?  What's your definition?  Would you know one if it bit you?  In the end, whose definition of a Christian really matters?

It will be interesting to see what Mr. Cooper's final answer is.

(HT: World Magazine Blog)

-Colonel Steve

Rosie Debunked by Popular Mechanics

Last night, Lady Colonel and I heard replays on the radio of Rosie O'Donnell's rants about the collapse of WTC7.  We were both amazed at the zaniness of the tirade.  You'd think by her comments she thought she graduated from an engineering school.  Obviously far from it.

Popular Mechanics responds with a point by point debunking of her comments.

In one part of her tirade, she promised to bring in physicists from Harvard and Yale to prove her theories.  Yeah, right.  Later, either her or someone else on the show commented that Yale physicists couldn't be too good due to President Bush graduating from there.  Don't forget, Rosie, so did John Kerry.  And his cumulative GPA were slightly worse.

(HT: Ian at Hot Air)

Dobson and Thompson

James Dobson of Focus on the Family tried to throw some cold water on the as yet undeclared presidential candidacy of former Senator Fred Thompson.  He said that he doesn't think that Thompson is a Christian and that would make it difficult for him to get the Christian base of the GOP on board.

Now, I don't know much about Fred Thompson other than he's at least moderately conservative and he's got a pretty good stage presence.  I don't know if I'll vote for him, but he certainly has some advantages:

• As far as I know he doesn't have a history of adultery like Giuliani and Gingrich, although he is divorced.
• He seems to be fairly consistent on his conservative positions, unlike Romney and McCain.
• He would make Hillary look like a shrew (doesn't take much).
• He would make Obama look like a high schooler (lots of gravitas!).
• Edwards?  Well, he'll look like the Breck girl no matter who he's up against!

I certainly wouldn't count Thompson out because one person says he is not a Christian.    Would I prefer an evangelical Christian with a firm moral foundation and a history of supporting conservative principles?  Sure, I would.  But there's not one running, so a Fred Thompson candidacy is intriguing.

--Red

P.S.  I kind of like the idea of a Fred Thompson/Rick Santorum ticket!

Golden Retriever Saves Owner's Life

We've been training a couple of Golden Retrievers the past 2 years to become assistance dogs.  I can't say we've ever trained them for this:

CALVERT, Md. (AP) -- Toby, a 2-year-old golden retriever, saw his owner choking on a piece of fruit and began jumping up and down on the woman's chest. The dog's owner believes the dog was trying to perform the Heimlich maneuver and saved her life.

I'm always amazed at the stories of man's best friend becoming man's life saver.

-Colonel Steve

Final Four Picks

Did your pre-tournament bracket picks include those now actually in the Final Four?  Surprisingly, you're not alone.

Last year at this time, of the 3.1 million entries in ESPN.com’s bracket pool, only four chose the correct Final Four teams. This year, 161,869 of 3.3 million entries have the Gators, the Buckeyes, the  Bruins and the Hoyas still alive.

This is also the first time since 1993 that all four teams left are seeded No. 2 or higher.  Those four teams were Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, and Kansas, with North Carolina winning it all.

(HT: Outside the Beltway)

-Colonel Steve

Al Gore Not Considered an Expert

According to a recent Rasmussen Poll, only 24% of Americans think Al Gore is an expert on global warming.  Another 47% think Al is no expert at all.

Wonder what they'll do with the results of this poll?

-Colonel Steve

End of 'Life' (Again)

Time, Inc. is calling it quits, for the third time, with Life magazine.

Originally launched in 1936 as a weekly, Life was suspended from regular publication in 1972 and brought back as a monthly in 1978. It was suspended again in 2000, then brought back as a newspaper supplement in 2004.

Now they'll be an online version only.  It's neat to see the MSM finally come to the realization that the future is the 'net. 

My generation remembers the old Life's hanging around the parent's and grandparent's houses (and in a few yard sales).  The next generation will probably be remembering the old computers we looked at pictures on.

-Colonel Steve

Traitors?

I am struggling to find the words to describe how I feel about the Democrats' latest success in leading our great nation to humiliation and defeat.  How can a thinking individual support telling the enemy his own country's battle plan?  I think at one time that used to be called traitorous.  Of course, it would be politically incorrect to call them traitors, wouldn't it?  They say they're doing it for the good of the country.  But then, that wouldn't be the first time a traitor used that excuse, would it?

--Red

Open Minded Democrats

So, the democrats are interested in finding the truth, eh?  During Algore's visit last week to a House hearing, all the democrats were in attendance.  When the opposition came to speak, every democrat save one left the committee hearing.

There was an opposing viewpoint expressed during the hearing, but if you relied on the coverage in the mainstream media, you saw very little of it. Danish skeptic Bjorn Lomborg told Congress during the House hearing that governments should focus on fighting disease and hunger instead of following Al's advice.

The thing was, during Lomborg's testimony, all the Democrats left the chambers except for the chairman of the committee. The Republicans noted this, commenting on the fact that the Democrats had no interest in hearing an opposing view, they only wanted to applaud Gore and then leave.

Wow, what truth-seekers!

(HT: Carol Platt Liebau)

-Colonel Steve

Wise Beyond Their Years

A class of sixth graders at Trail Ridge Middle School in Longmont, Colorado held a mock trail on Global Warming.  Their conclusion?  "Humans aren't to blame."

Had these sixth graders been in Congress last week, maybe Algore might have had a different reception.

(HT: HotAir)

-Colonel Steve