Israel has approved a Muslim as a cabinet minister. (Daily Kos)

Muslims need the Lord, just like the rest of us. But it's always heartening to see some sense and sanity in politics, an arena that could really use a little ecumenism.

Baghdad: Mortar explodes at girl's school; five dead.

It seems the extremists have been targeting the education system in a mindless slaughter of the innocents. Lord, how long?

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is throwing his hat in the presidential ring. The more the merrier I guess. (Daily Kos)

UPDATE: You guessed it: Charlie Rose interview.

I was somewhat disturbed the other day to see The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins, ranking #25 on Amazon. Currently, it's at #16; apparently it peaked at #2. This is an unsettling measure of society's collective fist in God's face.

MercatorNet has posted an excellent article about the book, with lots of sagacious commentary, along with a comprehensive roundup of links and resources for further analysis.

I'm not counting my chickens just yet, but it seems I've found a workable RSS solution, at least for the short term, or until I get a Mac. I'm using Bloglines, which isn't bad, although there are a few things I would change.

I'm using this post to test the notifier.


UPDATE: Bloglines checks... once an HOUR? You've got to be kidding me! That is soooo 20th century!

Hmmmm.

A lot of my work on the web relies on my ability to efficiently monitor RSS feeds. The last couple of days my computer has been crashing (yes, it's a PC) and clearing my feed lists. If you have a reliable solution that has worked well for you I'm all ears.

VOM, Ethiopia:

On January 8, the homes of three Christian families were burned by Muslims in the village of Begge. Even though the family belongings were burnt, no one was injured in the attack. At last report, the police had not yet investigated the incident or taken any action to bring the arsonists to justice. In the same area, 10 Christian youths have been living in a church building in Begge three months after fleeing from their homes. They were chased from their homes after their families threatened to execute them for converting from Islam. In a separate incident, a Christian man was killed by an unknown person in the town of Kofele. The father of five was hit on the head with a metal iron rod. His family believes he was killed by Muslims, since the Kofele area is dominated by Muslims. Pray God will comfort this brother's family in their grief. Ask God to encourage the Christian families who are homeless, so they can have deep assurance of God's love in the midst of tough times.

Keeping a finger on the Caedmon's pulse. "There's a stirring..."

I love political satire: LVMI just posted this livid-libertarian gem that is actually written very entertainingly.

AU is criticizing Bush's proposal for school vouchers:

Republicans leaped to their feet at the mention of “school choice” for parents across the country, while Democrats applauded politely, clearly bristling at the thought of diverting desperately needed funds away from public schools.

Supporters of church-state separation have reason to bristle, too. Vouchers are not just a way to get kids out of failing schools, as advocates claim; they effectively force taxpayers to finance religious indoctrination and discrimination. ....

For example, approximately 1,800 D.C. students currently receive up to $7,500 to attend the private or charter school of their choice. Two participating schools are the Blessed Sacrament School and the Islamic Saudi Academy. A quick glance at these schools’ Web sites shows how much their curricula are infused with religion.

AU is totally missing the point. The government is not specifically endorsing religious education: it is merely equalizing the subsidization it has already introduced; namely, that state-funded education be accessible to the entire population. To allow parents and students to choose their own preferred educational establishment does not endanger the separation of church and state.

Education Vouchers are an idea that Milton Friedman continuously advocated as a means to give students and parents more leverage in the education market. They seem to make complete libertarian sense.

Whether government-sponsored education is a good idea in the first place is an entirely separate discussion.

Garrett has revamped his blog pretty drastically: check it out.

As is often the case, the world is quicker to point out the travesties of evangelicalism than Christians. Here's AU on TV evangelist Benny Hinn; Wikipedia largely substantiates the criticism.

The Northern Gleaner on leadership.

Years ago when I was leading a fellowship one of the men who was a key part of that Church said, "If you want to know if you are a leader, look and see if anyone is following you, If they're not you are just taking a walk"....

I say, that's not leadership, that's domination and intimidation. Leadership is finding the right people, preparing them and if they will do what they must, giving them a hand to help them become everything they were created to be.

That, my Minister readers is what Ephesians 4 is all about. Not creating followers, creating leaders.

Sting operation targeting So. Cal. illegals results in over 450 deportees. (PJM)

This is sort of what I was hoping wouldn't happen.

SOTU roundup from WORLD.

Wesley Autrey, a New York construction worker who heroically rescued a seizure victim from a subway train and was mentioned in Bush's SOTU address, already has his own Wikipedia article. And you can't afford to miss this fantastic interview on the David Letterman Show.

Great guy, great story!

The Christian Mind on materialism and medical ethics.

President Bush will deliver his State of the Union address tonight, beginning in about 45 minutes. C-span will be streaming the speech.

UPDATE: Wow. Let me add some quick takes - I'm skipping over education and national security.

Federalism:
Economy is going strong; let's keep it that way: not with more government, but with private enterprise. Right on. Proposes to introduce a plan to eliminate the Federal Deficit in 5 years. Yikes. Without raising taxes. Sounds difficult.

With all the talk of budget-cutting, Bush plays the federal spending card a surprising number of times during the speech, asking congress to approve funding for health care, education, alternative energy, immigration reform, and, of course, national security. Going to be tough to tie these two ends together.

Health Care:
By and large, health care remains privatized. Tax reforms are proposed to enable lower income households to afford insurance.

Immigration:
Double the border patrol, and increase funding in order to improve the infrastructure. Create a temporary worker's program to take the pressure off and allow the patrol to concentrate on "the drug smugglers and criminals." This is key. Things on the line have got to loosen up.

Deal with resident illegals, but handle them carefully: "without animosity, and without amnesty." Good. Maintain America's legacy as a "melting pot." This is important: there is altogether too much prejudice and snobbery, racial and otherwise, in the country today.

Environmentalism:
Decrease gasoline consumption by 20% within 10 years. This would allow us to cut our dependence on Middle Eastern oil by 75%. Bush acknowledged global warming, and expressed specific interest in Ethanol, hybrid vehicles, and new electricity-generation strategies.

Toward the end, Bush spent some time congratulating the American character. Some of it may have been a bit overdone, but his commendation of Wesley Autrey was thoroughly appropriate and rather moving.

It disturbs me that the President currently commands so little respect. Let's debate the issues - absolutely - while not forgetting our duty to honor. It will be disappointing if all that Americans think about for the next two years is who the next executive will be.

UPDATE: Wikipedia summary, and video/transcript.

Issues like global warming beg the question: just how politicized has science become? Science has no special immunity to ethical erosion: at least no more than economics, or religion. You can do anything with statistics, and it is becoming harder to know what to believe. Snarls like the Korean clone scandal aren't helping matters.

We must work to bridge this gap from both sides: the layman, by paying attention and asking the right questions, and the scientists, by refusing to succumb to biased partisan agendas or peddle inflated or otherwise distorted facts. Here's one article I read that tackles - or begins to tackle - the problem. (Hat Tip: Pajamas Media)

The delights of scam-busting, with David St. Lawrence.

Some stunning photography from a Russian Pilot. (PJM)

MercatorNet reflects on 34 years of Roe. There are the passionate pro-lifer's, fighting more urgently than ever; the equally passionate pro-choicer's, stubbornly defensive; and a few of us in the middle who feel the whole question largely misses the point.

WSJ interview with Milton Friedman, 4 months before his death.

We who defend Christianity find ourselves constantly opposed not by the irreligion of our hearers but by their real religion. Speak about beauty, truth, and goodness, or about a God who is simply the indwelling principle of these three, speak about a great spiritual force pervading all things, a common mind of which we are all parts, a pool of generalized spirituality to which we can all flow, and you will command friendly interest. But the temperature drops as soon as you mention a God who has purposes and performs particular actions, who does one thing and not another, a concrete choosing, commanding, prohibiting God with a determinate character. People become embarrassed or angry. Such a conception seems to them primitive and crude and even irreverent. The popular 'religion' excludes miracles because it excludes the 'living God' of Christianity and believes instead in a kind of God who obviously would not do miracles, or indeed anything else.