Looking at the Republican Presidential Candidates

In an earlier post I opined that the Democrat's choice for their 2008 Presidential Candidate would, obviously, be Hillary Clinton .
Predicting who the Republican will be isn't quite as easy.
The conventional wisdom is that the only Republican capable of defeating Clinton is Rudy Giuliani. The conventional wisdom also says that Giuliani's pro-choice views will not sit well with the Evangelicals who may choose a Third Party candidate thereby giving Clinton the election.
But, now it looks as though former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is leading in Iowa where the first caucus will be held in January.
Romney seems to be someone pro-lifers can support. Should he become the Republican candidate, he's sure to get the support of the Giuliani faction and the "anyone but Hillary" crowd.
As I said in the earlier entry, a Republican candidate need only appear more likable than Mrs. Clinton. I don't really know much about Romney but he could probably manage that.
The photo isn't an endorsement of Mitt. I just thought the use of a coffee cup by a Mormon candidate a bit funny.

St. Francis in the Desert

Oct. 4. Feast day of St. Francis of Assisi.

First AdSense Check

I finally received my first check from Google for the AdSense ads placed on my blogs and website.
$101.38.
The account was set up around December....about two months after I started the Dumaguete website.
The check came just in time. It's time to renew the account with the site's host.That cost $95.40.It does cover the cost of keeping the website going but I'm certainly not making anything.

I will not chant in class....

Being human,we all get a bit lazy at times and take little shortcuts.This is true in our relationships with other folks as well.We'll pigeon-hole people that we don't really know so well because it makes our life easier.Some secularists I know like to do this with those of us who have strong religious convictions.

A case in point: A co-worker of mine recently sent an email to me with a link to a story which, I'm sure, he thought would send me off into a rant on the evils of modern American society.The link he sent can be found here and the story on video can be found here.

The Reader's Digest version of the story is that another public school is considering eliminating traditional holidays from the school system....or at least, changing the names of Christmas and Halloween to Fall and Winter Festival so as to keep the peace between the Christians and Muslims in the school.

Honestly, I don't have a problem with this. Celebrating Christmas in a private Christian school is fine, but religion has no place in the public schools.Christmas celebrations in public school would only be a secular Santa Claus Xmas anyway. Certainly, not my idea of how the Holiday should be celebrated.

Needless to say, I wouldn't want any government employee leading any sort of school prayer either.It is the responsibility of the parent to instruct his children in religious study. My wife and I will teach our son how to pray....thank you very much.

Keep all government agencies-local, state and federal- out of this.

Hillary Clinton's Attempt to Buy Votes

In a blatant attempt to buy votes,presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Friday that every child born in the United States should get a $5,000 "baby bond" from the government to help pay for future costs of college or buying a home.

After coming across the story, I googled $5,000 baby bond program. and have a boat-load of references.

The stories make mention of the fact that nearly 4 million babies are born in the U.S. every year. Do the math. The cost would be close to $20 billion a year. Where would the money come from? Oh yeah, I guess I forgot about The Magic Money Tree growing behind the White House.

Something that isn't mentioned in any of these stories is that, by law, any child born in the United States is an American citizen regardless of the legal status of his or her parents. Should this plan see the light of day, babies born here to illegal immigrants would be entitled to the baby bond.

Of course, even if Clinton is elected, the scheme would have very little chance of passing in Congress. Passage of the legislation isn't her primary motivation in bringing this up, however. Even if the bill fails, her idea-even if unsuccessful-would show that she "cares". The blame will be shifted to someone else. It would be those evil, mean spirited Republicans who stopped her from helping the children.