Of Orcas and Regimes - Playing Nice In The Middle East

You've no doubt seen the tragic reports of Tilikum, the orca, and the heartbreaking death of his trainer, Dawn Brancheau. While it is a horrific tragedy, it is not even remotely shocking. This was the third time Tilikum had been involved in the death of a person. It was the second time in two months that a trainer had been killed by an orca. Neither is it the first time a wild animal has killed or maimed someone who supposedly knew how to interact with them. Timothy Treadwell, author of "Among Grizzlies: Living With Wild Bears in Alaska," was killed, along with his girlfriend, by a bear. Steve Irwin, "The Crocodile Hunter," was killed by a stingray. Roy Horn, of Siegfried and Horn was attacked by a tiger he had worked with for almost seven years. Why? Referring to the orca attack Dr. Naomi Rose, a marine mammal biologist, of The Humane Society sums it up thus:

"Simply put, these are wild animals. Taming them is only an illusion; their natural behaviors will always pose a threat to the people foolish enough to interact with them."

Simply put, wild animals are wild animals. Also simply put: the Middle East is the Middle East. The Obama Administration tried playing nice in the Middle East. They tried Western diplomacy. Critics of the Obama Administration's diplomacy have characterized the current state of negotiations as weak, stalled, and failed. Analysts of the Obama Administration's negotiations in the Middle East have labeled their strategies as odd, illogical, and just plain bizarre. Obama's own explanation for the lack of progress for peace in the Middle East? "This is just really hard." Yeah, it's hard, it's been hard since Cain and Abel and it's not going to get easier. Particularly if the Obama Administration continues to approach the Middle East as if they will respond as a Western country. They won't; they're the Middle East.

The latest case in point? Syria. Attempts by Secretary of State Clinton to convince Syria to back away from Iran have resulted in Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Assad reaffirming and strengthening their unity. Why did the Syrian strategy backfire? Because the Middle East is the Middle East. They are the ultimate dysfunctional family. They may fight amongst themselves, but try to divide them and it will only serve to unify them. As Assad stated:

''We hope others will not [try to] give us lessons when it comes to our [own] region and history...We can decide how things will proceed, and we know our own interests... [though] we do thank them for their advice.''

Assad went on to mock Clinton saying:

"We must have understood Clinton wrong because of bad translation or our limited understanding, so we signed the agreement."

One more time: the Middle East is the Middle East. Expecting the Middle East not to act like the Middle East is as naive as expecting an orca not to act like an orca or a bear not to act like a bear. Now, more than ever, the Obama Administration needs to wake up to that fact. With increasing reports of a nuclear Iran, naiveté is a luxury the world can't afford. As Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Friday in a speech in Washington:

"Iran is not just a challenge for Israel. I believe it is a challenge for the whole world. I can hardly think of a stable world order with a nuclear Iran."

Today, to a crowd of 2,200 spectators SeaWorld resumed their orca performances. Let's pray that the Obama Administration shows more wisdom.

Of Orcas and Regimes - Playing Nice In The Middle East

Barbara Boxer Is Defeatable! Part 1: Jobs

Rasmussen Reports declare Senator Barbara Boxer as vulnerable in her bid for re-election. The Wall Street Journal says she has a "fight on her hands." Political odds makers say she could "bite the dust." I say she's flat out defeatable. Why? Jobs. A four letter word.

Governor Schwarzenegger is proclaiming that the worst is over for California's economy. Others aren't quite ready to do the happy dance. With a 20 billion dollar deficit, job cuts still loom and California mayors are meeting to discuss solutions. Sound like the worst is over? It isn't, and Californians are going to take their economic woes to the polls, you can bet every penny of that $20 billion deficit. Californians are also dealing with 12.4% unemployment. The fifth highest in the nation. Forefront in their minds when Californians vote is going to be every job that has been lost and every job that has not been created.

Boxer claims she knows creating jobs is paramount. That means she knows job creation is of chief importance; supreme in rank. In fact, she says she's "doing everything I can to create jobs." So what has she been doing to create jobs? She, along with Senator John Kerry, introduced an energy and climate bill that stalled in the Senate partly because it would kill jobs. She has sung the praises of a stimulus package that even proponents admit has done little to create jobs or slow unemployment. She has refused to support legislation to turn on the pumps for Central Valley farmers and save 60,000 California jobs. Most recently, she supported Reid's "jobs" bill, which quite frankly is not a jobs bill. It extends jobs already in place and offers a tax credit for new hires. Business owners don't hire people because they get a tax credit. They hire people because their businesses are growing. California has regulated businesses to the point that business growth is virtually impossible. Reid's job bill will do diddley squat for Californians.

Last week my fourteen-year-old grandson had a science test that was very important to his overall grade, one might say it was paramount. The night before the test I asked him if he was studying. He answered, "yes, ma'am." I didn't correct him; I happen to think that ma'am is a term of respect. I also went to check on that studying. (I am the grandmother of a fourteen year old; I am not an idiot.) His science book was open, on the table behind him. On his computer screen was Fable: The Lost Chapters. He got his test back this week; he did not do well. That's pretty much Boxer's story. Her greatest effort towards job creation has been to tack jobs onto the fable of climate change, stimulus, and tax credits as incentive to hire and she lost the chance to actually create jobs. As far as genuine jobs created; she did not do well.

Barbara Boxer is defeatable. She's defeatable as long as conservatives keep up efforts to keep her record in the forefront of Californian's minds. She's defeatable as long as Californians vote for economic recovery. She's defeatable as long as conservatives promote the belief that she is defeatable. How defeatable? Flat out defeatable.

Barbara Boxer Is Defeatable! Part 1: Jobs

Reasons to Celebrate Global Warming Woes!

As the tipping, toppling, and spiraling of the global warming world causes global warming critics everywhere to chuckle with glee, let's consider five reasons to celebrate the demise of global warming.

Reason Number One: No more brain-freezing conclusions. So, you're reading a news article. You know you're smart enough to understand it. The article is written clearly enough to understand it. But something about the conclusions drawn causes neurons to disconnect in wild, wacky ways and you just can't understand it. Let's look back at some of those madcap moments.

Here are some of the things blamed on global warming: the decline of circumcisions in Africa; the collapse of gingerbread houses in Sweden; staff shortages in brothels in Bulgaria; the melting of the Hollywood sign in California; people being eaten by tigers in Sunderbans forest; and the collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis. Not to be out done, here are some of the predictions: the Green Bay Packers will lose their edge over warm weather teams; alligators will sun on the English coast; the Olympic Games will be ending in 2016; beer will get better; beer will get worse; giant pythons will colonize 1/3 of the United States; mass cannibalism; and our brains will get smaller. If you have the time check out a longer list at warmlist.

Now, the research results that really whipped your brain around called for multiple changes in directions. Late 70s: we have to get CFCs out of aerosols because of the damage they do to the ozone layer. Flip forward to the bad news of 2000: global warming is slowing down ozone layer repair. But wait, in 2006 we learn that pollutant aerosols can cool the atmosphere and slow global warming. But what about that pesky ozone layer? Fabulous news in 2010, the ozone hole above the Antarctic is actually protecting the Antarctic from the effects of global warming! Kind of like playing crack the whip, isn't it?

Reason Number Two: We should see less cases of depression caused by global warming. In 2008, a 17-year-old boy was admitted to an Australian hospital because he hadn't been drinking water. Apparently, he was upset that global warming would cause drought and thought if he drank water, millions would die. The doctors involved diagnosed the trouble as "climate change delusion." (I'm not making this up, click on the link.) There have been so many cases of global warming depression that it has spawned a new field of therapy: eco-therapy or ecopsychology. According to the International Community of Ecopsychology's website:

At its core, ecopsychology suggests that there is a synergistic relation between planetary and personal well being; that the needs of the one are relevant to the other.

So, if the planet isn't well, the people inhabiting it aren't well. Before you jump to the conclusion that Ecopsychologists only care about those people who believe in global warming let me assure you, that is not the case. At a conference of ecopsychologists at the University of the West of England in March of 2009, there was serious discussion that climate change denial should be classified as a mental disorder.

Now, I'm not making fun of depression. I understand that depression, especially chronic depression, can be horrifying. Neither am I making fun of people who care about their planet. My father was a farmer; I was raised to respect the earth. What I am saying is that as the research surrounding global warming continues to crumble, there should be less need for people to be depressed. That's a good thing. But don't worry about those ecopsychologists losing their $100 an hour fee. They're sure to pick up some clients that are angry or embarrassed about being duped. The good news for ecopsychologists in picking up these new clients is that if they already have "climate change delusion" printed on their business cards as an area of expertise, they won't need new cards.

Reason Number Three: We don't have to worry about losing our California wines. In July, 2006 the San Francisco Gates issued the warning: Now's the time to cellar wine! A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences predicted that by the end of the century California's premier wine regions would all but cease to be, namely: Sonoma, Napa, and Santa Barbara. Dr. Noah Diffenbaugh, one of the authors of the study, was interviewed on NPR and predicted an 81% decline in the California wine industry. In fact, in March 2008 the food editor for NBC's Today show, Phil Lempert, declared Napa Valley wines already passe because of global warming and suggested looking to North Carolina for fine wines. But the study at the center of this hullabaloo was a computer generated prediction based on data that assumed an increase in global warming. Since Phil Jones has now admitted that there has been no global warming since 1995 that shoots a pretty big hole in the study. So, sorry, North Carolina. We, here in California, can relax. Those of you in Austrailia, you can relax, too. All you French chefs, sommeliers and chateaux running around in a dither because you think you're going to have to switch to wines from Scotland. Keep dithering. I get a kick out of the mental picture.

Reason Number Four: We will see a return to responsible journalism. In 2006, the Huffington Post reported that a decrease in maple syrup production in Ohio was the result of global warming. A field office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, United States Department of Agriculture, reported in New England Agricultural Statistics that US maple syrup production in 2009 was the highest it had been since 1944. If you look at the chart for Ohio they have shown an increase as well, with their best year in 2008, but darned good yields in 2009. So whatever caused the decline in 2006, it wasn't global warming. The ever-diligent Huffington Post issued a retraction... Oh, wait a minute, my mistake. No retraction, no correction.

Let's give them another chance. In 2009 The Huffington Post featured the too cute headline: Baaad News: Global Warming Shrinks Sheep. Apparently, sheep on Scotland's Island of Hirta are 5% smaller than they were in 1985. Less than a week later Science News issued a critique of the study that provided the baaad news. The researchers forgot to include an important factor in their study: insular dwarfism, which primarily affects mammals and causes a reduction in size when they are confined to a small area, particularly islands. The reduction in size was not caused by global warming. So, this time... Oh, wait, my mistake again. No retraction, no correction.

Ok, I'm not kidding anyone here. I don't expect anything to change at the Huffington Post. I expect it will continue to provide a soapbox for Al Gore, Barbara Boxer, John Kerry, etc., etc., etc. Just so we're clear: I was not making fun of people who suffer from depression. I am making fun of the Huffington Post.

Reason Number Five: Aliens won't be mad at us anymore. Luchezar Filipov of the Bulgarian National Space Research Institute claims that based on his study of crop circles, aliens are sending us messages that they disapprove of man-made global warming.  (Ladies, take note, Filipov says the aliens also disapprove of the use of cosmetics, so when they're around I suggest a subtle application so as not to offend.) In 2008, in the United Kingdom there were increased sightings of UFOs. Malcolm Robinson, founder of Strange Phenomena Investigations states, "some experts believe it could be linked to global warming and craft from outer space are appearing because they are concerned about what man is doing to this planet." A down note to this: we won't see the results of the efforts of the Honorable Paul Hellyer, former Canadian Minister for National Defense, who wanted all nations to release all collected information on extraterrestrials because alien technology might provide the answer to combating global warming. That might have been interesting.

Seriously, global warming proponents have taken some hard knocks recently. But there is too much time, effort, money, and ego invested for them to bow out graciously. The debate isn't over, the battle isn't done. My recommendation: pour yourself a glass of California wine and toast those aliens. When it's all said and done, it's really rather sweet that they're concerned about us.

Reasons to Celebrate Global Warming Woes!

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Writing My Valentine's Day Blog

Originally, my Valentine's Day blog was going to be about using the day to share God's love. And it still is. But what started out as a sweet little piece filled with cute ideas about sharing Jesus with neighbors, co-workers, and friends took a sharp turn. While searching for fun facts and statistics about Valentine's Day I found Jamie Glazov's article Hating Valentine's. I expected another bitter rant from someone who didn't have a date or objected to the commercialism of the holiday. I was wrong.

Dr. Glazov is the author of United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny and Terror and co-editor of The Hate America Left. Here are some highlights from Hating Valentine's: In Saudi Arabia "the Kingdom and its religious 'morality' police officially issued a stern warning that anyone caught even thinking about Valentine’s Day will suffer some of the most painful penalties of Sharia Law." In Iran, the "morality" police have ordered shopkeepers to "to remove heart-and-flower decorations and images of couples embracing on this day..." In Pakistan, "the student wing of the fundamentalist Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami has called for a complete ban on Valentine’s Day celebrations." In the Philippines, Christian workers are cautioned not to greet anyone by saying "Happy Valentine's Day."

I started a new search. Instead of hunting for fun facts and statistics I looked at Islam and Valentine's Day. I found more sources than I would have thought possible. Basically, in the Islamic world Valentine's Day is regarded as a Christian holiday that leads to promiscuity. But Islam is not alone. Last year in India, members of Shiv Sena, a Hindu group, were arrested for cutting the hair of overtly romantic couples. In past years, there have been reports of violent demonstrations and beatings by Shiv Sena, Shri Ram Sena, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Bajrang Dal, all groups which consider themselves responsible for protecting Indian culture from Western influences. This year is no different. These groups have issued warnings that those who celebrate Valentine's Day can expect backlash.

Personally, I don't think of Valentine's Day as a Christian holiday. Yes, it's rooted in the legends of Saint Valentine. But, I don't see it as a Christian holiday in the same way that I view Christmas and Easter as Christian holidays. Neither do I see it as a holiday of promiscuity. Yes, I expect acknowledgement of the day from my husband along with expressions of his affection. He can attest to the consequences the first year we were married when he missed Valentine's Day because he thought it was "just for when you're dating." He has been corrected on that matter and has not repeated the error. But, Valentine's Day is also about schoolchildren exchanging Valentines and making hearts from construction paper and doilies for their mothers. Fathers giving stuffed animals to their children. It's about love, not just romantic love. And what greater example of love is there than God?

And that brings me back to what this blog was originally going to be about: using Valentine's Day to spread God's love. Share His love with neighbors, co-workers, and friends. But take a moment to consider and pray for the precious people who daily risk persecution in regions of Islam, India, and all over the world in order to share the love of Jesus. At the website for The Voice For The Martyr you can read about Christians in Iran, Laos, Pakistan, China, Iraq, Nigeria (the list goes on and on) who are arrested, beaten, and killed for their witness for Jesus. At Secret Believers you can learn about Brother Andrew's efforts to bring the Christian message to people of the Muslim world and what happens when Muslims believe. Pray for these people, pray for all those who need to hear God's word. And that will be a Happy Valentine's Day.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Writing My Valentine's Day Blog

Super Bowl Sunday Highlights Need To Turn On The Pumps

Did you have guacamole last Sunday? Do you know where it came from? Super Bowl Sunday accounts for 3% of our nation's avocado consumption. According to the California Avocado Commission, 80 million pounds of avocados were scooped on to chips during the Big Game. How much guacamole is that? If spread out across a football field, it would measure 11.8 feet deep.  Not bad for a tradition that dates back about a quarter century, when the California Avocado Commission began promoting guacamole as a Super Bowl staple, turning it into an All American Favorite as Super Bowl Fare. But not this year.

This past week usually would have been the week California avocados hit the market. But because avocado growers can't get the water they need from the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta, most avocados didn't mature in time.  So, where did the avocados in the supermarket come from? 16 million pounds did come from California growers. But last month 42 million pounds were imported from Chile and another whopping 65 million pounds from Mexico. You do the math. Your All American Favorite probably wasn't All that American.

You don't have to be an economics major to figure out that in our struggling economy the above numbers aren't good. And that's just avocados. Stop to consider this: 90% of canned tomatoes, almonds and pistachios consumed in the United States are produced in the San Joaquin Valley. Continuing policy that values fish over farmers and families will have devastating effects on food prices. But wait, there's more. UC Davis economists estimate that as many as 60,000 California Central Valley jobs could be lost this year. Farming communities like Mendota are already experiencing summer unemployment of 40%. Congress might like to address that in their new jobs bill. 

But, really, they don't have to. They already have an alternative. Rep. Devin Nunes has introduced a "Turn On The Pumps Act", (H.R. 3105). It is patterned after legislation passed in 2003 when New Mexico was experiencing water shortages because of the Endangered Species Act. All they have to do is pass it. From The Nunes Blog:

Over the past several years, we have witnessed the hypocrisy of Congressional leaders, including the Speaker, California’s senators and other senior Democrats, who supported the 2003 New Mexico language but refuse to do the same for their own constituents. The discharge petition I am circulating will highlight our supporters and expose our opponents. It will clearly show who in the House favors fish over families.

To see Nunes' entire blog click here. In a follow-up blog that is well worth reading Nunes reports that Democratic leadership is still neglecting their constituents and the economic well-being of the nation. But smelt in the delta can take heart. Pelosi and her minions are planning to make it possible to use stimulus money for fish screens. (I had to read that several times to make sure I got it right.)

It takes an estimated 222,792 football fields worth of farmland to produce the corn, potatoes, and avocados required for the 8 million pounds of popcorn, 28 million pounds of potato chips and 80 million pounds of guacamole consumed Super Bowl Sunday. If the pumps aren't turned on 500,000 acres of farmland won't be used for production or will have diminished yields. If that's the case many All American foods won't be All American anymore.

Super Bowl Sunday Highlights Need To Turn On The Pumps

Still evolving at Conservative Christian!

I'm still adding and organizing Conservative Christian, so if you visit expect changes. I'm currently setting up topics under "Pages" to make it easier for you to find what you're looking for.

Still evolving at Conservative Christian!

What's Happening at Conservative Christian

This is a new site still in development.

What's Happening at Conservative Christian