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Westboro’s European Vacation

Feb 18th, 2009
by Dan.
2 comments

John H reports that the Westboro Baptist Church is threatening to hold anti-gay rallies in Great Britian. One commenter, Scott L, has this to say:

I live in the same city where Rev. Phelps’ “church” is located. Our congregation is on their regular protest rounds because, even though we are opposed to homosexuality as a church body (LC-MS), we won’t join them.

Unfortunately, they live for publicity, so anything you do in terms of “counter protest” will just egg them on. Don’t confront them, don’t argue with them. I hope and pray if you do something, you are able to make an effective witness of the love of God for homosexuals, and all sinners, while not condoning the sin. Their entire theology is based on the Law; they have no place in their worldview for the Gospel, since, according to them, we are all predestined to end up wherever we are going. About the only thing that works is to ignore them.

I agree with John that the rally is anti-Christian and stands to cause more people to reject the Word of God. This is sounding a little familiar:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you— but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others.” — Matthew 23:1-5(a)

So how should this topic be approached? The same way we approach all sins and sinners. All of us deserve to be in Hell. All of us need to repent and believe the Gospel.

Lent is coming, and there is no better time to take the log out of our eyes before seeing clearly to take the speck out of our brother’s. Acknowledge your sin and allow yourself to feel remorse for it. Confess it to your pastor, and he will announce that God has forgiven it. Continue on, informed of what is right and wrong, trying to do better, and return to your church and pastor to repent again. Despair is a tool of Satan.

“Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ…willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.” Luther, Thesis No. 1.

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Diesel Taxes and Weak Dollar Keep 65 MPG Car Out of US

Sep 8th, 2008
by Dan.
2 comments

HT: Starfox

BusinessWeek reports that Ford will sell a 65mpg car called the ECOnetic.

In Europe.

Yet while half of all cars sold in Europe last year ran on diesel, the U.S. market remains relatively unfriendly to the fuel. Taxes aimed at commercial trucks mean diesel costs anywhere from 40 cents to $1 more per gallon than gasoline.

…First of all, the engines are built in Britain, so labor costs are high. Plus the pound remains stronger than the greenback. At prevailing exchange rates, the Fiesta ECOnetic would sell for about $25,700 in the U.S. By contrast, the Prius typically goes for about $24,000. A $1,300 tax deduction available to buyers of new diesel cars could bring the price of the Fiesta to around $24,400. But Ford doesn’t believe it could charge enough to make money on an imported ECOnetic.

I wouldn’t advocate a tax deduction to bring more diesel cars into the States, but we can see where artificially expensive fuel and poor national fiscal discipline prevent us from bringing together profitability and sustainability.

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Mexican Government Imposes Food Price Controls

Jun 18th, 2008
by Dan.
Comments are off for this post

No es bueno. This is the center-right in Mexico?

The Mexican government has frozen the prices of over 150 basic food items in reaction to natural price increases, according to the Financial Times.

”There were serious risks of further food price rises over the coming months and this announcement has all but eliminated those risks,” he said.

(skipping)

In the longer term, however, there is more scepticism about the price freezes. For example, Mr Flores pointed out that such measures generally only served to postpone problems, and often made them worse in the long run. “In purely economic terms, price controls are bad news because they just accumulate inflationary pressures, which can explode with worse effects further down the line.”

Sure, they froze the prices, but they’ve put shortages on the horizon. Demand has risen, and it will be more expensive for growers to produce more. With frozen prices, who would willingly boost their production in order to take a loss?

On the bright side, they have temporarily suspended import tariffs. That ought to make U.S. growers happy.

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Saudi Gov.-Funded School on Fairfax County Land Teaches Murder

Jun 12th, 2008
by Dan.
Comments are off for this post

The Associated Press reports:

McLEAN, Va. – Textbooks at a private Islamic school in northern Virginia teach students that it is permissible for Muslims to kill adulterers and converts from Islam, according to a federal investigation released Wednesday.

Other passages in the school’s textbooks state that “the Jews conspired against Islam and its people” and that Muslims are permitted to take the lives and property of those deemed “polytheists.”

“Polytheists” include Christians, in their mindset. “According to the panel, the strict Saudi interpretation of polytheism includes Shiite and Sufi Muslims as well as Christians, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists.”

The school is being operated on land leased from Fairfax County, VA. The county needs to pull their lease and kick them off. This isn’t a free speech issue: this is public land, and people are being taught to commit illegal acts.

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Poland is Privatizing

May 18th, 2008
by Dan.
1 comment

In these times where two out of three American Presidential candidates want to nationalize whole industries, it is a relief to see nations like Poland divesting companies and getting out of the way of human progress.

FT.com reports that Poland is planning to sell off 740 companies within four years, in industries such as tourism, shipbuilding, publishing, and construction. Also, check this out: they are removing the cap on executive pay.

How do you say growth in Polish?

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British Police Cameras Have Little Effect

May 7th, 2008
by Dan.
Comments are off for this post

The UK Guardian reports that only 3% of London street robberies were solved with closed-circuit TV.

Use of CCTV images for court evidence has so far been very poor, according to Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville, the officer in charge of the Metropolitan police unit. “CCTV was originally seen as a preventative measure,” Neville told the Security Document World Conference in London. “Billions of pounds has been spent on kit, but no thought has gone into how the police are going to use the images and how they will be used in court. It’s been an utter fiasco: only 3% of crimes were solved by CCTV. There’s no fear of CCTV. Why don’t people fear it? [They think] the cameras are not working.”

Invader surveillance
photo credit: internets_dairy

The police is collecting a lot of information, but the cameras aren’t good enough to give good pictures in low light. This sounded similar to my jacket fiasco. I bet a pretty penny (pence?) has been spent on simply trying to coax good images out of bad data.

The charity Victim’s Voice, which supports relatives of those who have been murdered, said it supported more effective use of CCTV systems. “Our view is that anything that helps get criminals off the street and prevents crime is good,”

We need to watch that “anything that” phrase. The return on investment and opportunity costs must be considered. If more police result in a higher apprehension and conviction rate per unit of currency than CCTV, then CCTV results in waste of the public treasury.

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