I'm not a big fan of the term "hate crime" because the definition of one is vague and nebulous at best, obfuscating and confusing at worst. The term "hate crime" suggests that certain crimes should be judged and punished more harshly depending on the motive of the perpetrator. Jussie Smollett Theoretically, the criminal act is considered worse if racism, homophobia, or some other prejudice is the primary motive. But is that really true? Even if it is true, why should it matter? Let's say person "A" murders person "B" in some heinous manner, let's say by nailing them to a tree--is the crime really worse if the perpetrator and victim are of different races or have different sexual preferences? Personally, I wouldn't really care too much one way or the other even if the perpetrator and victim were different species. I'd care that a living creature had been nailed to a tree for no justifiable reason. In my opinion, there is something seriously wrong with a human being who would torture an animal or a person and take pleasure from watching them suffer. Someone that evil shouldn't be allowed to live. Jussie Smollett hates President Donald Trump so much that he paid two black men $3,500 (unfortunately for him paid by check, leaving a paper trail) to "attack" him with bleach, claiming they were Trump supporters shouting "Make America Great Again" and racist, homophobic slurs. His t-shirt says it all, doesn't it? Smollett caused the city of Chicago to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars paying the police to waste hundreds of man-hours investigating a … [Read more...]
A Universe from Nothing
Not long ago I was having a conversation with an atheist acquaintance on social media about the origin of the universe and my friend suggested "nobody" believes there was ever a time when literally nothing existed. Naturally, my response was something along the lines of "Oh, really?" and I posted the Amazon link to physicist Lawrence Krauss' book A Universe From Nothing, the title of which would seem to refute his claim. photo by REUTERS/Leah Millis Curiously, he asked if I'd read the book (as if I'm in the habit of recommending books I didn't write nor haven't read). I didn't bother explaining that I'd first read the book approximately six years ago and had written a review published as the Atlanta Creationism Examiner for the now-defunct Examiner.com website. I briefly entertained the idea of simply republishing the original article here at my website, but that review seemed dated, so I decided not to re-post it. Then, out of the blue, another atheist acquaintance in yet another "discussion" forum posted the link to another six-year-old review of Krauss' book by David Albert, returning it to the forefront of my mind. Which brings us here. Technically speaking, my atheist friend's argument had been correct in the sense that physicists and cosmologists have explained prior to the creation of our universe, time did not exist because it had no means to measure it, given that our measurements for time are exclusively defined by the universe. Thomas Aquinas famously suggested that our universe began with time, not in time. God created the universe literally ex … [Read more...]
Iran’s influence on a global scale
I don't normally provide opportunities for other writers to post material at my blog for a number of reasons. There is the quality control issue--the guest writer must have a talent for writing as well as something to say worth reading. Not to mention (except I am) it takes a bit of effort on my part to screen, edit, format, and publish the work of someone else and I'm a bit lazy by nature. Also, I would be spending time that could be devoted to my own writing or editing, versus to the work of a total stranger, so I don't normally invite or encourage guest bloggers to submit articles for review. On the other hand, when I make an exception and post a guest blog such as this one, I'm giving that writer's effort my endorsement by publishing their work and strongly recommending you read it. About the Author: Avi Kumar grew up in Sri Lanka. As a member of the Tamil minority, he has a unique perspective when it comes to growing up in a war zone. From an early age in order to survive, he learned to remain silent about controversial issues when it wasn't safe to speak about them. Avi has lived in five different countries and speaks ten different languages. Fortunately, one of his ten languages is English, or I wouldn't have had the slightest idea what I was reading. Avi loves wildlife photography and writing about religious and political issues with his unique conservative perspective. Iran’s global influence and threat level keep growing, While Iran may not be an economic powerhouse like Saudi Arabia, Israel or the … [Read more...]
The end of the world as we know it
My favorite bumper sticker during the 2016 presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was this one reflective of my reluctance embrace of either candidate: Prior to his election, I wasn't the biggest fan of Donald Trump. On the other hand, I couldn't think of a worse choice to oppose him in the general election than Hillary--even socialist, never-had-a-real-job-in-his-life Bernie Sanders stood a better chance. Thank God the fix was in, and Clinton became the nominee. To my pleasant surprise, Trump has turned out to be a much better president than I could have imagined. He began conversations with North Korea, lowered taxes, and created an economic boom after eight years of malaise under Obama. As a result of his success, I've grown to appreciate the accomplishments of President Trump. Just imagine what he could get done if virtually everybody in Washington wasn't actively opposing his efforts. Under normal circumstances, I would have expected a period of happiness and economic prosperity to follow. Unfortunately, we do not live under normal circumstances anymore. We live in a world where special prosecutor Robert Mueller has been given carte blanche to ruin the lives, finances, and reputations of American citizens like General Michael Flynn and Roger Stone for the crime of supporting President Trump. The infamous "Steele dossier" used to create this sham investigation/witch hunt was a political hit job that any competent FBI director would have recognized for what it was--a bogus, political hit piece. The federal government under the … [Read more...]
Nathan Phillips, publicity whore
Nathan Phillips If you're just waking up from a deep coma, you might not have heard of Nathan Phillips or Covington Catholic High School. You're definitely in the minority, because pretty much everybody else with access to a television knows who they are. If you've only listened to Hollyweird liberals and the mainstream media, you may not even be aware of the role the Black Hebrew Israelites played in the controversial encounter. Naturally, the media portrayed a group of teens attending a March for Life (anti-abortion) rally as a mob of racist, Trump-supporting white hoodlums surrounding and taunting a poor Native American simply trying to lead a prayer vigil because it so conveniently fit their narrative, which is to depict Trump supporters (and especially pro-life demonstrators) as a bunch of intolerant Neanderthals with the stated goal of taking away a woman's right to choose to abort her child, and often for the sake of convenience. Fortunately for the kids from Covington Catholic, other people who weren't trying to deliberately false narrative about what really happened were also at the Lincoln Memorial and had their cameras. The real story was a far cry from the original narrative peddled to the media by Mr. Phillips. The students from Covington had gathered at the Lincoln Memorial as instructed by their chaperones in advance of their return trip home when a small, militant group of black men calling themselves Black Hebrew Israelites approached them and began shouting racist and homophobic epithets at the teenagers. At that point the only offense committed … [Read more...]
