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Talk about The Road to Serfdom.
Category Archives: News
Does Obama want to snuggle with theocratic Iranian mullahs?
The problem with progressives is that they never met an evil that they didn’t want to appease. Consider the fact that in Iran, you can be imprisoned for blogging. And do you know what happens in Iranian prisons? If you answered “you die”, give yourself a gold star! First, consider this story from Celestial Junk (H/T Free Canuckistan!) which links to this Beitbart article.
Excerpt:
A young Iranian blogger jailed in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for insulting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has died, his lawyer told AFP on Thursday.
…The blogger, aged around 25, was sentenced in February to 30 months in jail for insulting Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic.
Sayafi was first arrested in April last year and released on bail after 41 days before being detained again this year.
Iran has launched a crackdown on bloggers and Internet users deemed to be hostile to the authorities and their Islamic values.
The Jerusalem Post notes that Freedom House is promising to launch an investigation.
“Omidreza Mirsayafi’s death illustrates the dangerously inhospitable environment in which bloggers operate in Iran,” said Jennifer Windsor, Freedom House executive director. “Mirsayafi should never have been subjected in the first place to the cruel conditions found in Iran’s most notorious prison. At a time when President Obama is attempting to engage Iran, it is essential that the United States see Iran’s regime beginning to demonstrate a greater respect for human rights.”
But here’s President Teleprompter reaching out to Iran:
Excerpt: (Stop the ACLU has the transcript)
My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community. This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.
Remember how progressives think: good is evil and evil is good. Everyone is morally equivalent. Just imagine, (they say), if everyone were the same then there would be no more wars! If we just appease the good Iran and unilaterally disarm the evil USA, then the world will be at peace.
George W. Bush knew the difference between good and evil, and was not afraid to act to defend liberty abroad. And 2 wars only cost us about 500 billion dollars. Meanwhile, Obama is going to spend several trillion dollars over the next few years driving us into a socialist depression. Bush spends a little money and liberty increases. Obama spends tons of money and liberty decreases.
Then again, maybe Obama isn’t as much of a naive dove as I think he is. His unilateral trade war with the entire world is going great! Look, John Lott is reporting progress in the trade war against Mexico. Yeehaw! Cowboy communism!
UPDATE: In my RSS reader, I spied this IBD podcast and here’s the transcript of it.
William Lane Craig vs Richard Carrier debate audio
Full audio of the debate at Northwest Missouri State University is here at Apologetics 315, (where else?).
Here’s a little blurb about the debate:
Two well-known American philosophers, Dr. Richard Carrier and Dr. William Lane Craig, will debate the question “Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, at Northwest’s Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts (formerly the Performing Arts Center).
The debate is being hosted by the Philosophy Club, a student organization that serves as the local chapter of Phi Sigma Tau, a national honor society whose mission is to promote academic excellence in philosophical study.
Admission to the debate is free, and the event is open to the public.
Carrier is a historian and author best known for his Internet writings on “The Secular Web,” which he edited for several years. A noted advocate of metaphysical naturalism, he has published articles on elements of naturalist and atheist philosophy and frequently writes and speaks in defense of naturalism as a world view. Carrier was featured in the documentary film, “The God Who Wasn’t There,” in which he questions the historicity of Jesus.
Craig, who maintains the “Reasonable Faith” Web site, is a theologian, New Testament historian and Christian apologist. He writes and lectures widely on issues related to the philosophy of religion, the historical Jesus, the coherence of the Christian world view and natural theology. The author of more than 30 books, Craig has served as a research professor of philosophy at the Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, Calif., since 1994.
The debate will be moderated by Dr. Janice Brandon-Falcone, professor of history at Northwest, and should last about two hours. Each scholar will make a 20-minute opening statement to be followed 12-minute rebuttals, eight-minute counter-rebuttals and five-minute closing statements. Afterward, both speakers will take questions from the audience.
UPDATE: Richard Carrier’s reflections on the debate are here. I have to tell you, I was telling my one of non-Christian co-workers about this debate and I was really worried about what Carrier was going to do to Craig. My friends and I watched Carrier in the Carrier-Licona debate, and Carrier either won or tied. But this time, as Carrier admits, Craig got the better of him – due to sound preparation. As a sponsor of Bill Craig, and also of his web site, Reasonable Faith, let me just say: We dodged a bullet here. The audience was of typical size for Craig debate, at about 1000 people.
WINTERY KNIGHT 