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September 1st, 2010: Building the Ground Zero Mosque
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I consider myself a Republican, a conservative. Yet I disagree with nearly all my Republican friends who are making the argument that we ought not to allow a mosque to be built 4 blocks from where the World Trade Center site. Most will begrudgingly admit that by the letter of the law they are permitted to build such a structure, but then they point out that by the letter of the law they are allowed to make it a living hell for them in order to do so.
So the first thing I want to get off the table is this. If you oppose the building of the mosque, SAY SO. Its like saying that whites in the Jim Crow era were in favor of blacks voting yet they were also in favor of poll taxes. Making someone jump through hoops means you oppose their action. Just because you not going directly against the 1st amendment, that does not mean you are in favor of it.
I, unlike most of my Republican friends, am FOR building the mosque. I want the government to make sure it’s not any harder for the group to build that mosque than it would be for 1st Baptist of Anytown, USA to build their local church in the heart of the Bible belt.
Let me be very clear. I am against Islam. I think it is a religion that follows a false god and leads people into hell. As a Christian, I believe the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ the savior of the world. Yet, I am in total support of Muslims here. It is their right via the US Constitution that they are free to exercise their religion in this country. As long as what they are doing is practicing religion and not things that harm the United States, should be allowed to do it.
A friend of mine, where I have heard line of thinking on talk radio says this is a “Victory Mosque.” It very well may be (though I don’t think it is), but never the less if it is a mosque which is sole purpose is to rally the faithful jihad in the Middle East, I say it still ought to be built. I believe the mosque is not very different from the church I go to, they will try to reach out to the community in hopes of converting people to their religion.
When we start limiting religious freedom, we are approaching a very slippery slope. Right now you might say it’s ok to stop a mosque from built in the shadow of the biggest horror in my lifetime committed by people of the faith, however perverted or not radical Islam is from a “correct” reading of the Quran is. My church is against Gay Marriage, if we try to build a new church in Dupont Circle, a part of DC heavily populated by homosexuals, should they be allowed to make it a living hell to build because we have values that run counter to their lifestyle? Point is, once you start limiting freedom of religion, where do you stop?
I don’t know how this became a partisan issue anyway. It’s not a partisan thing anyway. As a conservative, I want to conserve the constitutional value of Freedom of Religion, even if it is a religion that runs counter to mine that I believe helps send people to hell and some followers of used the banner of in order to kill thousands of Americans on the horrible day in 2001. It is freedoms such that makes us better than our counterparts, let us not fight down to their level. |
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January 17th, 2010: Domino’s New Pizza
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When I order Pizza, it’s from Domino’s. Why? Well because its cheap and its at the end of my block. Plus, the domino’s near my place runs all kinds of local specials, such as a 1 topping large for $5.99, which just ended. The thing I get most often is the 3 medium 1 topping for $5.55 each, which they have all the time when a friend is over.
I used to tell pizza while the pizza is good, it’s not great. I don’t expect great, because I pay under $6 for a stinking pizza. Frankly, I think Papa John’s pizza stinks and it cost a lot more. Other places around here though have better pizzas for over $10, but its that, over $10.
Well Domino’s Pizza is still cheap, and now its great. They put this amazing topping over the crust, and it’s some of the best pizza I have ever had. It’s like going to McDonalds and getting a Sit-Down restaurant quality burger. So for my cheap fellow 20 something’s, go to Domino’s, its cheap and amazing. For you higher end pizza buys, get the new domino’s pizza, you will be surprised, a great pizza for well under $10. |
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January 15th, 2010: Rush and Robinson
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First off, I want to say that my heart goes out to the people of Haiti and I pray for the those who are close to death even now, the friends and family of those who have died, for restoration to even what horrible lifestyle Haitians had before the Earthquake and lastly I pray that good comes from this and lives will be won over for Christ.
Rush Limbaugh out to be ashamed for suggesting to people not to send aid to Haiti via the White House because all it will do is make Obama look good and the money won’t get to the Haitians but rather stay in the coffers of the White House. This accusation is baseless, mean-spirited and in horribly poor taste in the midst of this tragedy.
It is well within ones right to suggest the government ought not to be spending money on foreign aid, even in a situation as dire as this. I don’t agree, I think Obama is doing the obvious right thing here and I approve of it. Still, its not un-American to take a position such as this, which is the feeling I get many in the mainstream press are trying to guilt the American people into.
This is not the position Rush was taking. He was saying not to give your private money. Rush, who I heard many times as a listener back in the day say that Americans are the most compassionate people on the planet, suggested that people ought not give because the Obama administration will benefit. Hopefully Rush clarifies his remarks at least, but his raking over the coals here is well deserved.
Pat Robinson has been being raked over the coals because he said the Haitian people are cursed because they formed a pact with the devil in order to free themselves from the French. All Robinson did was make a point that is often made when Christians do to Haiti on missions. I was told about this Haitian pack with the Devil and their Voodoo culture back when my campus minister want me to come on a short term missions trip to Haiti.
She wanted to go to Haiti more than any other country because of the poverty. I ended up not going but a team was slated to go back in 2004 but had to move the trip to Guatemala due to a coup d’état that happened shortly before their planned trip.
My point in bringing this up is that people who believe the whole pact with the devil thing don’t bring it up because they don’t want to help the Haitians. Actually it’s the exact opposite, they bring it up because they want to help. My campus minister brought it up to me when trying to persuade me to go to Haiti back in 2003, and Pat Robinson brought it up to try to persuade Christians in 2009. No one is noting that Pat Robinson brought up a number to donate right after he said these supposed horrible words.
This is just another case of it being ok and even PC to be a Christian, but if you actually believe it affects life today you are deemed some kind of a kook. |
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July 2nd, 2009: How not to Use Fireworks
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Check out what you ought not do with fireworks:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy |
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February 25th, 2009: CPAC Tomorrow
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Sorry about the lack of updates over the past week. The next 3 days I will be at CPAC. Expect updates from the largest Conservative Conference in the Country
Blessings,
Nic |
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February 18th, 2009: Pro Life Student
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I ran across this video while reading a favorite blog of mine, Religion & Morality. This little girl makes a very good pitch for the pro-life position. Clearly the parnets helped, but a good presentation for sure. Watch Below
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February 2nd, 2009: Pittsburgh Still Sucks
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Despite Yesterday, Pittsburgh still sucks
Peace, Nic |
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January 12th, 2009: The 2008 Nicolas Shayko Awards
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I was not sure I was going to do Nicolas Shayko awards this year. Thus, I had no nominees over the year. I decided to keep them going as I just miss them too much, so I have just picked the winners. The major Year in Review post will come in the next few days. Here are the winners:
2008 Nicolas Shayko Awards
Year of: Politics
Person (Personal): Ian Talley (Friend and Accountability Partner)
Sports Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (Lost to Boston in 2nd round of Playoffs)
Hobby: Stock Trading
Event: The Iowa Caucus
Game: MLB Showdown
TV Show: Hardball
Person (Celeb): Mike Huckabee (Presidential Candidate)
Book: “Real Money” by Jim Cramer
Video Game: NCAA Football 2008
Song: “Here is Love”- Welsh Hymn
Sports Game: Ohio State 6 Penn State 13
Musician/Band: The Rolling Stones
Album: “Hot Rocks, 1964-1971” by The Rolling Stones
Embarrassing Moment: Expired
Registration
Movie: Juno
Club/Group: Capitol Hill Baptist Church
Website (Personal): RebeccaLee’s Weblog (http://rebeccalee.wordpress.com/)
Website (Popular): FiveThirtyEight (http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/)
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January 3rd, 2009: Good Riddance
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Sorry for the lack of updates here over the past few weeks. It harder to update when on the road. I am currently in Columbus, Ohio where both my brothers live and go to school. On Sunday I leave for Atlanta, Georgia. My Year in Review article that comes from a much more personal level will be coming out here in the next couple of week, but I wanted to quickly look back at the train wreck that was 2008. Well before the train wreck, lets look at what happened that was good.
First, we had this amazing Presidential election. We started the year with the Iowa Caucus, and most forget that both the Democratic and Republican Primaries were classic. Everyone focus on the best primary battle ever between Obama and Clinton, but the Republican side was a lot better than typical as well. Really, the Primaries were probably better that the general to watch from a strategic standpoint, but the general election was more historic. There biggest moments in the general were probably the Obama convention and the Sarah Palin VP pick. The time between the beginning on the DNC convention to the Palin VP acceptance speech was some of the best stuff ever. The whole election was a classic, one that will be studied for years to come and resulted in the first non white male President. Other than that though, the year sucked. The general presidential election was decided on the financial crisis, the biggest since the great depression. Also other business failures such as a failing auto industry and a bubble in the price of gas, along with just about every other commodity on the planet. The S&P 500 lost over 60%. Emerging markets in general were hit worse. Investment banks no longer exist, with Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers and Merill Lynch gone, with only Goldman Sachs around yet still lacking a business model that will work in this new age. The problems though are not only in financial. We ended our year with a governor trying to sell a vacant senate seat. We had the Mayor of Detroit thrown in Prison. Back in my hometown of Cleveland, Jimmy Dimora was pulled in one of the biggest pay to play schemes in the history of the city. Going back to money, a 50 Billion dollar ponzi was discovered. If we learned anything in 2008, it is that the powerful man is filled with sin. A small hope was in sports, as we had one of the best Super Bowls ever. Still, the World Series was drenched in rain (fitting) and to top it all off, we had the first win-less football team since the start of the 16 game season. Good Riddance to 2008, lets hope 2009 is a bit better. |
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December 15th, 2008: Liar's Poker
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I am working on an article about my opinions on the Detroit bailout. At the same time, I have been reading Liar's Poker, a book written by Michael Lewis about Wall Street in the 1980s. I t is amazing to see this culture and how little has changed. While I do support the Wall St. bailout, I now admit that I was too quick to hop on the Wall Street Panic of a market crash. Lewis wrote following in 1989, talking about how Wall St. firms Salamon brothers and Goldman Sachs were going to lose a ton of money on BP after a stock market crash. They were trying to get the British gov't to buy their stake in the company for pre-crash prices. |
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