Associated Press Opts Out of Smearing Conservatives as ‘Homophobic’

From National Review Online’s Charles Cooke I learn that the Associated Press will no longer use the term “homophobia”:

Homophobia especially — it’s just off the mark. It’s ascribing a mental disability to someone . . . .

Abortion Methods Explained

 

Well-spent Journey has put together a concise, matter-of-fact overview of the most common methods of abortion and how they are performed:

 

“Abortion Methods: An Overview”

Most people hold strong opinions on the issue of abortion…yet in my experience, there is a widespread lack of understanding surrounding the actual procedure.

For Top Liberals, Reality Still Optional

Larry Kudlow discusses the current “negotiations” in Congress about raising taxes and/or cutting spending:

Even the Washington Post is criticizing Obama for failing to deliver a specific plan regarding entitlement and non-entitlement spending cuts.

(Links added.)

(Don’t take my word for it—follow the links and read all about it!)

Update (November 29th, 2012):  Jim Geraghty also gets a good line in:

. . . I’m not sure Obama really understands negotiating.

Communist News Site Relays Onion Piece as Straight News

Via Facebook friends, National Review Online, and everyone else,

The People’s Daily Online, the mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party, has fallen for a satirical article in the Onion proclaiming North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un the “Sexiest Man Alive for 2012.” The report credulously quotes the Onion’s endorsement . . . .

The People’s Daily piece has since been taken down.  Oops!  How embarrassing.

Also covered by the Blaze.

Cleaning House

I’ve been re-organizing the blog a little bit.  I moved some stuff and deleted some stuff.  I am sorry for any inconvenience or broken links.

How to Argue: ‘Play the ball, not the man’

I encourage you to share your thoughts or arguments in the comment section under each blog entry.

As St. Eutychus says, “Play the ball. Not the man.”  (I think a lot of the rest of his comment policy is good advice, too.)  Seriously, I think you should stick to talking about substantive ideas, even if only for totally selfish reasons—if you start insulting people and taking everything personally, it makes you look bad, and makes your arguments sound less reasonable.

RIGHT:

Mr. A:  I don’t think pre-emptive war is ever justified.  How would we like it if Iraq invaded our country?

‘Coming of Age’

At National Review Online, one Betsy Woodruff has an interesting discussion of two authors of the current popular culture, Judd Apatow and Lena Dunham.

Apatow and Dunham have a lot in common . . . .

But there’s an important difference between Apatow’s work and Dunham’s, and that is that Apatow tells and re-tells stories of growing up, while Dunham shows a group of women who stubbornly refuse to do so. Apatow shows characters learning the importance of responsibility and morality, while Dunham’s characters are largely devoid of the former and uninterested in the latter.

Arts & Letters Saturday: Snow White and the Huntsman

This week’s art work is the movie Snow White and the Huntsman (director Rupert Sanders, Kristen Stewart as Snow White, Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman, Charlize Theron as the evil queen), released last summer (official site, IMDB page, Youtube channel, Wikipedia article)—not to be confused with Mirror, Mirror (Julia Roberts, Nathan Lane), another Snow White movie that also came out in 2012.

Statue of Mary Survives Flood, Fire

In Queens, there’s a remarkable survivor from Hurricane Sandy, and even the New York Times is talking about it:

Truer than You Realize

Recent post from a Facebook friend:

Well, yes, President Obama is great at being a “Celebrity”, as McCain’s campaign ad (of surprising continuing relevance) put it in 2008:

Arts & Letters Saturday: mewithoutYou

As many have discussed, culture is deeper and more important than politics.  Certainly government policy can, to some extent, change a culture, but to a much greater extent, (democratic) governments are whatever kind of government the underlying culture produces.  As Rush Limbaugh remarked before the election, America could survive four more years of President Obama’s policies; the worst wouldn’t be the policies—the worst would be that we would have become the kind of country that would re-elect such a president.

From now on, I’ll try to post something about arts and culture—about a movie, a book, any art form—every Saturday.  It may be self-consciously Christian or conservative art, or it may not.  It will be something that I liked at least one aspect of; it may or may not be something you would like as well.  Let me know what you think.

Race Tied, Candidate’s Wife Would Have Been Deciding Vote

Next time anyone tells you your vote doesn’t matter, remember Robert McDonald.  In a city-council race in northern Kentucky last week, he and another candidate tied for the sixth seat:

Each candidate captured 669 votes, but one ballot McDonald is sure would have gone his way was never cast. His wife, Katie, who works nights as a patient care assistant at Christ Hospital and is finishing nurse’s training at Gateway Community and Technical College, didn’t make it to the polls yesterday.

‘Reality can get 2% of the vote, and it will still trump everything else.’

“Every time Obama does something, the economy cries!”

Others’ Thoughts on the Election Results

Many agree with what Mark Steyn and others have said before:  The culture is deeper than politics, and our politics are a result of our culture much more than the other way around.  Unfortunately, our culture has been degenerating in this direction for some time.

• Michael Knox Beran

At the same time, conservatives ought to recognize that our deeper problems . . . are cultural, not political, and are therefore not susceptible of a political solution.

• Michael Knox Beran, longer discussion

Edmund Burke questioned whether the state can even distribute alms without doing more harm than good. . . .

Some Thoughts on the Election Results

Odd thought:  Part of me is glad that we lost, because we’re taking it a lot better than liberals would have.

If this turns out to have been the point of no return for America, I will miss her, but she was never going to last forever; it was always only a matter of time, if you think about it.

All of the Above

NPR this morning:

Republicans in the House, Democrats in the Senate, and President Obama in the White House for four more years: “a Brave New World, or more government dysfunction?”

Um, Yes?

Tea Party/Conservative Voter Guide for Ohio, 2012

Ohio Tea Party and conservative groups like the Ohio Liberty Coalition, the Portage County Tea Party, the Lake County Tea Party, the Geauga County Tea Party (candidates, issues), the Mansfield North Central Ohio Tea Party Association (about), and COAST, as well as the national Tea Party Express, have endorsed some or all of the following candidates and positions on the issues:

• Mitt Romney for president

• Josh Mandel for Senate

Romney Landslide Possible? Plus: Obama Recommends ‘Revenge’; Steyn Recommends Getting Serious

The Heritage Foundation’s Michael Franc offers an encouraging word in “Parsing the Polls: If Gallup is right, Tuesday will be a long night for the Democratic party.”  (On the main page, National Review Online subtitles it “If Gallup’s right, Obama’s toast.”)

2012, Ohio: Vote No on Issue 2

Every ten years, after the Census measures shifts in population, states redraw their legislative districts

Ads: America Less Safe under Obama, Sherrod Brown Responsible for Obamacare and Unemployment

Here are some ads you may or may not have heard recently.  I heard this on the radio today: