Columns

Glenn Beck’s ‘Great Awakening’

September 3, 2010

Cox’s Corner by Jerry Cox I watched Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” speech. I was struck by the similarities of Beck’s evangelical movement to previous religious revivals in America’s history, known as the Great Awakenings. A review of the history books revealed the following about the Great Awakenings and America’s religiosity. The First Great Awakening was a religious revitalization movement that swept through the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching. The Great Awakening made religion intensely personal to the average person by fostering a deep sense of...

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Washington Merry-Go-Round

September 3, 2010

by Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift WASHINGTON – Justice in America is no longer blind. Examples abound. A single federal judge has ruled that President Obama’s 2009 executive order expanding embryonic stem cell research violates a law that prohibits using federal money to destroy embryos. The last three administrations have interpreted the 1996 law to allow the research if private money funded the destruction of unwanted embryos retrieved from fertility clinics after couples discard them. The judge, Royce C. Lamberth, was appointed to the bench in 1987 by President Reagan. Nightlight Christian Adoptions, which advocates adopting surplus embryos from...

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The View From Hewett Flats

September 3, 2010

by Jim Pruette A surah is a chapter of the Qur’an.There are 114 surah in the Qur’an. The shortest surah (Al-Kawthar) has only three ayah (verses) while the longest (Al-Baqara) contains 286 ayah. Sura 5.51: O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people. 9.5: So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them...

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Children to be proud of

August 27, 2010

The View From Hewett Flats: by Jim Pruette I have spent the last three Friday nights with local kids ranging in age from 12 to 17. The American Legion Post 272, to which I belong, has hosted “Teen Night” there from 6:00 – 11:00 p.m. I have learned some things. I learned quickly that I am old. I can’t stand most of the “music” to which I was subjected for seemingly unending hours. I learned that I certainly don’t have the energy that I once did. I learned that the children of Calhoun and Liberty counties are fortunate in...

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Late Night LAUGHS A recap of recent observations by late night television hosts

August 27, 2010

After three weeks of jury deliberations, Rod Blagojevich was convicted on only one of the 24 counts against him. The one count he was convicted for? Transporting illegally silky hair across state lines. — JIMMY KIMMEL The economy is so bad, the Obamas are thinking about taking their next vacation in the United States. — JAY LENO President Obama was in Hollywood for a star-studded fundraiser. They raised a million dollars and converted him to Scientology. — JIMMY KIMMEL The president’s security left traffic in Los Angeles paralyzed. It took some people two hours to get home from work,...

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Paranoid Americans believe anything

August 27, 2010

Cox’s Corner : By Jerry Cox The fear mongering and paranoia that has taken hold in America reminds me of the adage: Americans will believe anything. Facts are immaterial. As I watch and read the news, I have the feeling that the inmates are taking over the asylum. “Is America Islamophobic?” is the lead story in the August 30 edition of Time magazine. In addition to highlighting the current fear of Muslims, the article chronicles some of America’s previous fear mongers. Fear mongering is not a new event. Historically, it is a tried and true method of demonizing people...

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The man behind the curtain

August 20, 2010

The View From Hewett Flats by Jim Pruette “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, it must be a duck.” President Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying once, “If you call a lamb’s tail a leg, how many legs would it have? Four. Because no matter what you call it, a tail is still a tail.” King Hussein (aka President Obama) has bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia. Obama has prayed with Muslims yet refused to observe or participate in any way in our National Day of Prayer. Obama has...

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Late Night Late Night Laughs recap of recent observations by late night television hosts

August 20, 2010

Levi Johnston is running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. Ironically, many of the babies he’ll kiss on the campaign trail will be his own. — JAY LENO Everyone is talking about Steven Slater, the flight attendant who cursed at a passenger, grabbed two beers, and slid down the escape slide, in what may be the best resignation ever. In fact he’s so good at quitting, they’re thinking about making him the next governor of Alaska. — JIMMY KIMMEL The New Orleans Saints visited the White House. They presented President Obama with a Saints jersey with the number 44, in...

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America’s economic conundrum

August 20, 2010

Cox’s Corner by Jerry Cox As I watch the current political scene and the antics of politicians and fringe groups from both sides of the aisle, I’m reminded of the Laurel and Hardy comedy films of days past. Stan Laurel, the skinny one, and Oliver Hardy, the portly one with the moustache, were regular film features in Saturday matinees when I was a kid. The plot was simple. Ollie would hatch up some elaborate scheme that was doomed from the start, and when the “train wreck” occurred and the smoke cleared, Ollie would say to a long-suffering, hapless Stan,...

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Fight racism by becoming a ‘mentally active’ person

August 13, 2010

The View from Hewett Flats by Jim Pruette The “Race Card.” I don’t believe there has ever been a word or phrase in the English language that as come to disgust me as much as this one. The main reason for my disgust is that when this ploy is used it is untrue 99.9% of the time. May I offer some definitions so that we can talk “on the same page”? Racism is not the same thing as prejudice. They can appear to be the same. Racism is a belief that each race has distinct and intrinsic attributes; the...

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