The Gulag Lives On – But Not in Our Culture

OrthodoxyToday | by Daniel Crandall | Nov. 17, 2009

The list of films using the Holocaust as a plot device is lengthy indeed. The list of films that use the gulag as a plot device can be counted on one hand, and perhaps still have a few fingers available to hold a cigarette (if you’re into that counter-cultural habit) or a cup of coffee. Why do so few filmmakers show an interest in the gulag 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall? [Read more…]

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Second Law of Thermodynamics


The Second Law of Thermodynamics is one of three Laws of Thermodynamics. The term “thermodynamics” comes from two root words: “thermo,” meaning heat, and “dynamic,” meaning power. Thus, the Laws of Thermodynamics are the Laws of “Heat Power.” As far as we can tell, these Laws are absolute. All things in the observable universe are affected by and obey the Laws of Thermodynamics. [Read more…]

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The Hidden Truth Behind ‘V’

Big Hollywood | by Leigh Scott | Nov. 13, 2009

Like many conservatives, I was intrigued and excited by the promos for ABC’s reboot of one of my favorite mini-series, “V.” Finally, we thought, one of us had infiltrated the system and slipped one by the hippies who run Hollywood. Even better, we hoped that ABC, in a brash display of “corporate greed” had decided to green-light a series that appeals to the many of us (the majority of the country actually) who are less than enthralled by the hopey changeiness of the current administration. [Read more…]

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Suicide Culture: The Netherlands Shows That It’s’ Never Enough

First Things | by Wesley J. Smith | Nov. 13, 2009

The Netherlands has the world’s most liberal euthanasia law, which is even more radical in practice. Its doctors assist the suicides of the depressed and the grieving, a practice long since approved by the country’s Supreme Court. Some “terminate” patients “without request or consent.” Babies born with serious disabilities are subjected to eugenic infanticide. Doctors whose patients may not qualify for euthanasia refer patients to an on line “auto euthanasia” how-to-commit suicide” site. Doctors who decide it is too difficult to kill patients directly, put them into terminal sedation so they don’t do the deed directly and in person. [Read more…]

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What’s Wrong With Socialism?

American Thinker | by Joe Herring | Nov. 12, 2009

I recall a conversation I had with a young coworker in the latter weeks of Obama’s campaign for president. Joe the plumber had just exposed the redistributionist bent of the candidate, and I expressed my assessment of Mr. Obama as a not-so-closeted socialist. My coworker then quite earnestly asked, “What’s so wrong with socialism?” [Read more…]

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What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says

Wall Street Journal | by Betsy McCaughey | Nov. 7, 2009
Here are some important passages in the 2,000 page legislation.

The health bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing to a vote (H.R. 3962) is 1,990 pages. Here are some of the details you need to know.

What the government will require you to do:
Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires you to enroll in a “qualified plan.” If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a “grace period” to switch you to a “qualified plan,” meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there’s no grace period. You’ll have to enroll in a qualified plan as soon as any term in your contract changes, such as the co-pay, deductible or benefit. [Read more…]

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Revisionism from the Religious Left

FrontPageMag | by Mark D. Tooley | Nov. 12, 2009

Leftist church elites are fondly remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall as though they could claim some credit for its fall. Conveniently, they forget their own complicity with the former tyrants of East Europe and the Soviet Union.

“Christian hope and perseverance contributed significantly to the fall of the Berlin Wall”, World Council of Churches (WCC) chief Samuel Kobia recently declared. True enough. Millions of Christians and other people of faith, despite persecution and martyrdom, endured for decades under communist rule. But their perseverance owed little to groups like the WCC and other leftist Western church groups, who cheerfully demanded appeasement of the old Soviet Bloc as the price for peaceful coexistence. These church leftists prioritized world “peace” over solidarity with oppressed fellow religionists behind the Iron Curtain, whose suffering was too inconvenient for ecumenical public attention. [Read more…]

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The Medium is Not the Message

OrthodoxyToday | by Chris Banescu | Nov. 12, 2009

As a fellow Orthodox Christian and an attorney I find Fr. George’s reflection quite eloquent but unfortunately lacking in the depth and moral clarity that our faith and profession both require. Fr. George’s central thesis is that “the nature of the medium, in this case the internet and blogosphere, is itself the message we get here even more than the content that people purport to communicate and consider.” I don’t believe that’s true, especially with regards to OCANews.org. The medium is only a neutral tool to be used or misused as we see fit. The truth of the message and the reliability of the information this medium conveys and the good it has done, in addition to the wisdom, character, and integrity of the messengers, are much more important and relevant. [Read more…]

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Planned Parenthood: Your Tax Dollars at Work

Center for a Just Society | by Ken Connor | Nov. 6, 2009
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The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.” -Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood

[Our goal is] to be ready as educators and parents to help young people obtain sex satisfaction before marriage.” -Dr. Lena Levine, colleague of Margaret Sanger and medical secretary of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in the 1930s

We are not going to be an organization promoting celibacy or chastity.” -Faye Wattleton, President of Planned Parenthood from 1978-1992

This summer, one of America’s largest community organization networks was “busted” thanks to the efforts of two college kids with nothing more than a video camera and a desire to expose the truth.[Read more…]

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