tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56807692011-04-21T14:41:23.209-05:00BlogulatorComment and analysis, faith and wisdom, news review from an Australian-American perspective.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comBlogger321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-54880610718526942992008-03-10T11:31:00.002-05:002008-03-10T11:34:20.354-05:00Thinking about Easter ComingIn all the excitement that accompanies an election year, and even acknowledging the potential importance of the decision to be made in November, there are more important things for America. And the most important is to turn to God as a nation, and as individuals, seeking his forgiveness, and offering submission and trust. And this is made possible through of the John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-41709546043435711962008-03-10T11:20:00.004-05:002008-03-10T11:33:52.123-05:00Blogulator Returns! Well, I have been busy.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1108789640572390862005-02-18T23:07:00.000-06:002005-02-18T23:25:19.706-06:00There Must be a Moral There ... SomewhereAccording to Jim Wallis, Howard Dean has to be authentic when it comes to his religious faith."'Dean talks about community and that's a value,' Wallis says to reassure the crowd that the new Democratic leader can hold his own. 'So let's hope for the best with Howard Dean'."So Dean's mention of something called 'community' makes him authentic, and proves John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1108749837893341422005-02-18T12:03:00.000-06:002005-02-18T23:09:37.550-06:00The Madness of King BillHBO TV host Bill Maher claims that "Christians and others who are religious suffer from a neurological disorder that 'stops people from thinking'."John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1108749218508947902005-02-18T11:53:00.000-06:002005-02-18T23:10:11.993-06:00Taxing Garage SalesIn Oakland, "officials are considering several regulations, including limiting garage sales to two a year, requiring application and permit fees and restricting the placement of garage sale signs."Some people have no shame.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1108704150139973202005-02-17T23:22:00.000-06:002005-02-18T23:11:25.446-06:00Public Relations (is) OffensiveSo Kofi Annan a few days ago kicked off a "major public relations offensive" in response to increasing criticism of the UN, and has hired Mr Mark Malloch Brown as chief of staff, to help with the publicity. It's so typical of the man that his response to criticism is to beef up the publicity department.Now we find out that, doing its part to fight corruption and John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1108681506745129092005-02-17T17:05:00.000-06:002005-02-18T23:11:51.620-06:00Alternative US Government Started in SeattleThe president (and the senate) may have rejected the Kyoto treaty but Seattle mayor Greg Nickels is planning to lead a nationwide "effort to implement" its provisions.Meanwhile Andrew Bolt exposes the irrational arguments used by The Age newspaper to panic its readers about global warming.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1107223676223557022005-01-31T20:07:00.000-06:002005-02-18T23:12:19.323-06:00Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia..."A retired brigadier general from Bisha set a perfect example :when he demanded as little as SR1,000 as dowry for four of his daughters, Okaz daily reported. The father did not want prospective grooms to face difficulties by seeking heavy dowries as is the practice in Saudi society. He said he will do the same when it come to the marriage of his five other daughters. John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1107221962404574302005-01-31T19:39:00.000-06:002005-02-18T23:12:51.483-06:00Concern for Truth?The front page of The Age suggests that John Howard ought to withdraw troops from Iraq because of the death of an Australian: "The prime minister says there's no sense in timetabling the withdrawal of Australian troops from Iraq, despite concern following the death of an Australian." The story itself contains no reference at all or any evidence for such "concern", at least as itJohn Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1106973977202324102005-01-28T22:46:00.000-06:002005-02-18T23:13:23.283-06:00Oh CuisineBack on Jan 5th, as noted by Diplomadic, the "number one concern" of the UN in Aceh, "even before phones, fax and copy machines? Arranging for the hotel to provide 24hr catering service." By comparison, the Aussie soldiers working there have just had their first hot meal after three weeks. It was worth the wait:"Fantastic," said Lieutenant Michael Eyb, 30, of Wattlegrove, before he John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1076676798944911132004-02-13T06:53:00.000-06:002004-02-13T06:58:51.513-06:00How Would You Know?
Germaine Greer has promised never to return to live in Australia. How sad. It is apparently just too suburban for someone so enlightened - oh and she makes more money in England. She claims, from 10,000 miles away, to know that "most Australians don't know their next-door neighbours or care what becomes of them.".John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1075734552457136542004-02-02T09:09:00.001-06:002004-02-02T09:13:31.950-06:00Put up or Shut up
Apparently, according to the Observer, "some of the BBC's biggest names are considering quitting in protest at the attitude of its acting chairman and the greatest-ever threat to their journalistic independence." Is that a threat or a promise?John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1062154179020250382003-08-29T05:49:00.000-05:002003-08-29T05:51:43.086-05:00Further on fathers and family: see this.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1062153850218695102003-08-29T05:44:00.000-05:002003-08-29T05:44:10.220-05:00Kids Hate Divorce
Experts have "discovered" that kids need both parents and are distressed by separation from either one.
Perhaps we should have more emphasis on saving marriages than on easy divorce.
The article does make one good point: that after divorce:
"The great irony is that as family law experts quibble over how much contact fathers should be allowed to have with their young John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061990909320770432003-08-27T08:28:00.000-05:002003-08-27T08:28:29.316-05:00No Laughing Matter
I see that the Canadian government has banned smiling on passport photos. Some attempt to force the government's grim style on everyone else, I suppose. Or is this a first step towards banning smiling altogether? After all, to allow some to smile surely discriminates against those who cannot smile because they are victims of oppression.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061758579839600712003-08-24T15:56:00.000-05:002003-08-27T08:33:03.343-05:00When the UN building in Iraq was blown up, everyone blamed the Americans for not providing more security. Turns out beefed-up security including armoured cars had been offered to the UN but refused.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061584034280676872003-08-22T15:27:00.000-05:002003-08-22T15:27:14.320-05:00More barely reported attacks on innocent civilians in Israel: here, and here. And here, Israel arrests Israelis suspected of attacking Palestinians. But elsewhere, blanket coverage continues of Israel's latest 'incursion' into Gaza.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061463643817824472003-08-21T06:00:00.000-05:002003-08-21T06:00:43.683-05:00Behind the Veil
A Saudi woman writer argues for respect and rights for women in the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, also in Saudi Arabia, residents fought a 'fully-fledged battle' to stop firefighters from entering their house to gain access to a neighbour's property that was on fire. The reason? There were women in the house.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061462843129715922003-08-21T05:47:00.000-05:002003-08-21T05:49:51.566-05:00Recall Fever
Expect to see more left-leaning political groups jump on the recall bandwagon in reaction to the California recall. This group, so-called 'Fair and Balanced PAC' (a rip-off of Fox News' slogan) wants to treat the next election as a 'recall'. But this is another tired old group with familiar mainly pro-abortion players. What I expect to see is more actual recall efforts to unseat John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061306989350445172003-08-19T10:29:00.000-05:002003-08-19T10:29:49.360-05:00After the grieving over the Baghdad blast the question the UN must ask is: "Why do they hate us?"John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061291822540076562003-08-19T06:17:00.000-05:002003-08-19T06:17:58.896-05:00Re: More Nuclear (See below)
There may be technological solutions to nuclear waste disposal problems.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061288057851433852003-08-19T05:14:00.000-05:002003-08-19T05:20:38.696-05:00Caring Community - by Order of the State
The Age gives a forum to Labour politician Mark Latham to advocate state-sponsored (read: 'imposed') village community in place of the dreaded globalization.
"I grieve for the paucity of social capital in Australia, particularly under the policy neglect of the Howard Government." "Policy neglect"? What he means is that the Howard government does not John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061216268361782152003-08-18T09:17:00.000-05:002003-08-19T05:18:55.556-05:00More Nuclear
No less a person than Sir Alec Broers, an Australian, the vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, and the president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, is calling for the building of more nuclear power stations. Right now 23 per cent of Britian's electricity comes from nuclear stations, but by 2020 only one nuclear plant will be still working. Will 'renewables' pick up the John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061197023634899182003-08-18T03:57:00.000-05:002003-08-18T03:58:27.743-05:00"I have an obligation to the 8 million people who went to the polls last November,” Gray Davis said during one stop last week. “They asked me to do a job in California. I’m going to do it every day they allow me."
We only wish he had being doing his job.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061064973920648902003-08-16T15:16:00.000-05:002003-08-18T09:38:39.916-05:00According to the Guardian, Iraqis are running out of patience with the deficiencies in their power supply. and other problems. In other news, Iraqis blow up their own oil pipelines. An Iraqi sociologist "blames the violence in his country on a multitude of sources and causes in which politics, ideology, culture, poverty and blunders by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)." Well that's John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1061064147719555262003-08-16T15:02:00.000-05:002003-08-16T15:02:27.740-05:00Travel warning: If you die while on vacation in Spain you may come back minus your internal organs.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1060947286764477272003-08-15T06:34:00.000-05:002003-08-15T06:39:09.520-05:00What the LA Times calls militants and the Hindustan Times calls terrorists have killed 34 people indiscriminately in North-East India. If this list, admittedly a couple of years old, can be trusted, there may be more to come.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1060945513605114642003-08-15T06:05:00.000-05:002003-08-15T06:17:53.300-05:00California teachers' union leaders are expecting their members to pressurize them for guidance on the Gray Davis recall ballot. Oh great leaders, give us guidance. More likely, California teachers are expecting their union leaders to pressurize them on how to vote and where to send their money.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1060944543992258422003-08-15T05:49:00.000-05:002003-08-15T05:53:46.970-05:00Now scientists have discovered that men and women are different.John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1060879122379995992003-08-14T11:38:00.000-05:002003-08-19T06:19:10.360-05:00Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, a woman is beaten unconscious by other women for taking their pictures with her cellphone. I guess some people really don't like having their picture taken.
John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1060877955383888522003-08-14T11:19:00.000-05:002003-08-14T11:50:10.316-05:00Turns out that cattle breath is a greenhouse gas. What about the rest of us?
John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680769.post-1060875846455424512003-08-14T10:44:00.000-05:002003-08-15T06:12:54.346-05:00So the only winner in the affair of the comedian who kissed the prince is the hairy comedian. According to the BBC, "the chief inspector in charge on the night has been moved to another post, and eight are under disciplinary investigation", but Aaron Barschak, who dressed up as Osama bin Laden and planted a kiss on Prince Willam's cheek at his 21st birthday party, "has been told he will not be John Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05654269742432799695noreply@blogger.com