Friday, August 12, 2011

Hither and thither 8/12/11

Well folks, I have a pretty passel of punditry and peculiarities for you. Let's launch!
  • We begin with a shout-out to dog-lovers. We love our cats but acknowledge: no cat would do this:
  • ...however, cats are endlessly helpful... in their own special way.

  • Also, cats usually don't explode. Which is nice.
  • Chuck Bridgland sees this free-hand line painter as a possible illustration of Proverbs 22:29, and I see his point.
  • What would you pick as the best sci-fi or fantasy book, ever? I should have picked before looking; you can find out the top ten chosen by 60,000 respondents. I probably agree with their first choice. Or, if you're really really interested, you can see the top 100 over at NPR.
  • Gamers! Do you have the latest thing? UMove! (Thanks Dawn Lewis.)
  • Goodness, and I thought some CA teens were dim:
  • American Thinker (not the name) asks and answers the question, How Stupid Is Obama? Conclusion, in part: "It has become obvious, in a sense that cannot be denied, that Obama is a fundamentally stupid man."
  • Painfully true:
  • Wellsir, Texas governor Rick Perry is reportedly going to become GOP Presidential Candidate #47. What do you think of him? I know he seems to be both loved and hated by conservatives. The perfectionist subset at FreeRepublic hates him and calls his names; something to do with the reported fact that Perry "signed a law making Texas the first state to offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrants and blasted a proposed border fence as 'idiocy.'" That does sound pretty wretched. (See, if you want, the discussion in this thread to see the two sides bouncing off of each other.)
  • As to who and what (Eagle Scout) Rick Perry is, there's a glowing profile in National Review online.
  • Then there's Sarah Palin. Just sayin'.
  • I'll also say that, with the possible exception of Mitt Romney, any one of the GOP candidates would make a better president than the current occupant of the White House.
  • They share that feature in common with any one of our five cats, by the way. And most of our appliances. Except the vacuum cleaner... you don't need me to tell you why.
  • Last night's debate: The Washington Examiner pulls what it considers the top five video moments. Bachmann's response to a tough question is classy, if indirect. Gingrich is prickly, and no Ronald Reagan.
  • Which Presidential candidate most scares liberals?
  • Some of the best good political news of the week, of course, was the failure of unions to resume their ruination of Wisconsin. Read this analysis: unions spent many times what a Presidential campaign usually spends in Wisconsin, and failed. That's good for America.
  • Of course it's been good for Wisconsin, too. But all my readers could have predicted that.
  • From the Things that Make You Say "Hmm" File:
  • We looked previously at the fruit durians. Our spy Susan got us a picture of some fresh 'uns:
  • Going through my picture album in search of non-frightening photos of myself to send at Kregel's request, I realized I have scads of really gorgeous pictures. Of the Sierra, of course; not of me. So if you're very nice, and talk about more than one thing each Friday, maybe I'll feed some through to you each week. For instance, here's my favorite wildflower, Indian Paintbrush, by McGee Creek, on a cloudy day:
  • And here's what looks a bit like a glimpse of a far country, near Pine Creek.
  • All right, beauty break's over. Now we turn, with regrets, from creation's beauty to man's ugliness.
  • Word from Britain on the UK riotsYears of liberal dogma have spawned a generation of amoral, uneducated, welfare dependent, brutalised youngsters. Of the rioters, Max Hastings says, "They respond only to instinctive animal impulses — to eat and drink, have sex, seize or destroy the accessible property of others."
  • Further, "The depressing truth is that at the bottom of our society is a layer of young people with no skills, education, values or aspirations. They do not have what most of us would call ‘lives’: they simply exist."
  • Hastings provides a lot more apparently direct-hit analysis. What is his proposed solution? In brief, stricter laws, stricter enforcement, education.  Briefer: more law. In his own words: "Only education — together with politicians, judges, policemen and teachers with the courage to force feral humans to obey rules the rest of us have accepted all our lives — can provide a way forward and a way out for these people. ...Unless or until those who run Britain introduce incentives for decency and impose penalties for bestiality which are today entirely lacking, there will never be a shortage of young rioters and looters such as those of the past four nights, for whom their monstrous excesses were ‘a great fire, man.’"
  • My response: Hastings' analysis is good as far as it goes, but his solution is no solution. Liberalism is both the cause and the effect. It perpetuates a cycle born of sinful human nature. What is stopping the "yobs" from behaving correctly now, if they wanted to? They do what they do because they are what they are; and only the saving, transforming — one might even say "world-tilting" — power of Christ in the Gospel can do what is needed.
  • Recall Proverbs 29:8 — "Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath." Remember: a scoffer is the last degree of folly in Proverbs. He is the fool who has gone beyond reclamation in his mockery and rejection of the things and truths of God. And such are the intelligentsia of Great Britain, as far as this distant Yank can see it.
  • Therefore, the very ones who lament the flames of the rioters while at the same time mocking and dismissing the Gospel are themselves stoking and fanning those flames.
  • In other words, by its rejection of the Gospel, the United Kingdom has done this to itself. And America is hastening rapidly in the exact same direction, and for the exact same reason.
  • Of course, they could always send Richard Dawkins out to give them a lecture. Perhaps read from some Christopher Hitchens about how God is not great. I'm sure that'd sort them out right quick.
  • QED.
  • From America, J. Christian Adams weighs in on the riots also, grouping them with recent black-on-white violence in America, and the fecklessly indifferent, racially-obsessed, corrupt Obama justice department. Adams gets close to hinting at a fuller analysis and answer, but still comes down to law and order and a big stick.
  • That point is not without truth, it just isn't all truth. In the absence of a converted populace, law must rule to restrain ungodliness and reward virtue (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 2:13-14), and to do it swiftly (Eccl. 8:11).
  • Stratfor offers some tactical counsel for folks in riot situations. (thx Joel Griffith)
  • Now, to the issues in Philadelphia. On the one hand: Rich Lowry is right — this speech by Philadelphia's mayor Michael Nutter is pretty darned good. He says some tough things that need to be said, and says them bluntly and well.
  • On the other hand: it's just talk. Nutter doesn't mean a word of it. How do I know? Simple: he's a Democrat, and a supporter of Bill Clinton's wife and Hillary Clinton's boss. That means that he feeds and props up the exact kind of thinking and legislating and judging that is dead-set against personal responsibility, against the rule of law, against Constitutionalism, and against the sanctity of marriage and of the family, and against the sanctity of life itself — for starters. It's just words, that's all. Nutter is reaping his own beloved party's thinking's harvest, and he doesn't like it. But Nutter won't change, and Nutter's hearers won't change.
  • Same thing as the late Senator Moynihan, who's famous for inveighing against "Defining deviancy down," but propped up the party that champions that very thing, and defended the president who embodied it. Words, not a thing but words.
  • Hey, be mad if you want to. But you never wonder what I really think about something, and why, do you?
  • OK: change of tone, in three... two... one...
  • I've been called many things; but never, that I recall...
  • A tasing, a stabbing — just another Sunday at New Welcome Baptist Church? (thx Joel Griffith)
  • Not feeling they've fouled enough in our society, homosexual activists are petitioning to force Bert and Ernie to "marry" each other on Sesame Street. (various suggesters)
  • Sesame Street has responded: "Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation." There y'go.
  • (Predicted obsessives' response: "Yeah, but are they gay puppets?")
  • Did Robert Sakovich find the Perfect Food for this week? Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburgers.

  • But these are something:









44 comments:

Robert said...

I agree that we in America aren't far behind the UK as far as the state of our youth. In fact, I think they will find a way to perfect this type of criminal activity based upon what I've read of the flash mob attacks that some cities are having problems with. It is quite a disturbing trend and clearly shows that the Gospel is both not being preached enough and is being rejected/ignored when it is preached.

Barbara said...

Y'know, it's interesting that the idea of puppets being gay was ridiculous when Jerry Falwell said it. I agree - it was ridiculous then, and it's ridiculous now. I'm glad PBS had the sense to smack down the ones who want to sexualize every close relationship. Good on 'em.

DJP said...

Barbara, how often do we get to say "PBS" and "good on 'em" in the same sentence and with the same referent?

Cherish the moment.

lee n. field said...

NPR's top 100 SF books is heavy with schlock. IMHO, YMMV.

DJP said...

Your picks, then?

Mizz Harpy said...

I read somewhere that the effect Wesley's and Whitefield's preaching averted the social/political catastrophe seen in France. The preaching of Spurgeon and William Booth plus the preaching of other wonderful godly men probably averted the crises seen in Europe during the early part of the twentieth century. Where are such men of God today? The Wesleys, Whitefield and Booths faced mobs of angry people but they kept preaching.

CR said...

I am hopeful for the Perry candidacy. With respect to his signing tuition for illegal immigrants, he does live in Texas with one of the most largest, if not, the largest immigrant population.

Also, look for people to call him out on that he was a democrat and Al Gore's TX campaign manager. The democrat party back then was more conservative than half of the Republican party nationwide and probably everyone was a democrat back then in Texas and Gore wasn't always as liberal as he was in 1988.

DJP said...

I can conceive of no argument that can persuade me that confiscating the money of law-abiding, working citizens and giving it to lawless fence-jumpers, or spending it on them beyond apprehension and deportation, is justified.

Casey said...

I work in a temporary shelter for runaway/homeless youth, and next door there is a less structured shelter for 18-24 year old "street kids," essentially. The Hastings article on UK youth describes that population with stunning accuracy. So your statement that America is "hastening rapidly in the exact same direction," while true, is probably even overly generous. I see absolutely no difference between what he describes and what I see on a nightly basis. It's frightening

CR said...

The in-state tuition is offered to children of immigrants who have been here for at least three years, graduated from high school and are in the process of getting citizenship. I don't necessarily agree with it because it's unfair that non-Texas US residents have to pay more to go to college there, but Perry believes it serves a good purpose.

I don't think Bachman can win the Republican nomination or beat Obama. Sarah Palin has given no indication she is going to run (I don't think she can beat Obama either) and I think the only candidate that has a chance to beat Romney is Perry.

Chris H said...

Didn't like LotR. Yes, I know what that makes me.

Wheel of Time, however, should have been higher on this list than it was; higher than Dune, certainly. I've read this series about a dozen times, and it never gets old.

The rest, I suppose, is understandable. I didn't have a problem with it other than Wheel of Time being so low.

Also, glad to see they separated Ender's Game from the rest of that series. It goes downhill from there pretty quickly, imho.

Anonymous said...

The Hobbit was not in the Top 100? Oh, well. It was from NPR.

Should Romney (Pawlenty or Huntsman) be the Republican nomination, the McCullars household will be voting third party (if for president at all) next year.

As for the rioting cherubs at home and abroad, I suspect my Glock .45 auto would instill a boatload of common sense into their noggins.

Scot said...

I liked the top 10 scifi/fantasty list. I've read most of them, though I wonder why George Macdonald or CS Lewis didn't make the top 100 list.

I had a London riot article I wanted to submit, but the two linked are way better. If the London riots can't convince someone that giving someone no incentive to work, rewarding someone for indulging their sin, and painting their lawlessness as "victimization" then that person is beyond reason.

The Bert and Ernie article just made me snicker. Everything needs to be rewritten to magnfiy one thing: a particular sexual perversion. Yup.

Thanks for a good roundup this week Dan.

mikeb said...

Perry has both good and bad in this Texans opinion. 2 notable cases: the HPV vaccine law farce and the flip-flop on the TSA no-groping bill.

Regarding the top 10 and top 100 NPR list, it is difficult to find anything that touches LOTR. Maybe someone should do a "Christian" review for us of George Martin's series or Wheel of Time series?

hobo soup said...

Absolutely agree with you regarding the solution to the riots. I have been hearing form some around me that its a revolution and that the young are angry due to lack of opportunities and the lack of perceived respect the government gives them. What has become apparent from those arrested so far is that many have had good educations and many hold down descent jobs? So why were they stealing? and why were they rioting?. Education is good but it does not change the heart. The riots in my mind are a reflection of the decay within, Christ is the only solution.

Mark Patton said...

Thanks for the Vlach articles ( I think the link for Lk. 21:31 sent me to the pyro article, or maybe I'm a bad clicker).

If your movement has moved to gaining the puppet vote, you probably don't have a valid platform.

Bacon Cheeseburgers? YES
KK Donuts? ABSOLUTELY YES
Together? NO

Last thing a mouse sees is a cool video and the largets % of the green light graffic happened to me just last week.

Good stuff. Thanks for helping Fridays more awesomer.

DJP said...

Link fixed, thanks.

As a rule, please email corrections, if you don't mind.

Mark Patton said...

Oh yes, to piggy back my thanks for the Vlach articles, if I were to right an open letter, I would right one to you and humbly ask that your next best seller be that book on dispensationalism you been longing for. As one who has made wonderful journeys in spiritual growth over the last few years, you have helped me not throw that baby out with other things that needed to go. Anyway, that's my two cents.

PS. And yes, if I did post that open letter the first few comments would be about me simply being a fan (which I am ) or adding XOXOXO (so here is my XOXOXO).

DJP said...

LOL

Yes, well, the phrase "next best seller" does assume facts not yet even nearly in evidence. So let's pray (and work!) about A, and then we'll see about B.

MitchKill said...

Concerning Mayor Nutter's comments, I respect all that he's done through the years, but I feel that he hasn't really spent the time necessary to understand my generation. I just really don't appreciate the tone he's using. He doesn't once speak of all the positive contributions that we've made. Tattoos, clothes, speech--all he's talking about are external things, and he's really inhibiting the freedom that I have to express myself. He just doesn't get me!

Now let me copy, paste, and change names, and I've got my response to Dr. MacArthur's series to the YRR guys! Saves a bunch of time this way.

Chris H said...

Mikeb:

I'd love to, and will work on that. While this dances perilously close to a pet peeve of Dan's, I'll risk it: you can check my blog in a couple of days, and I should have put some stuff up there.

Sorry, DJP. Honestly, I am.

Anonymous said...

I did not know about Governor Perry's intended government intrusion into young girls' underwear.

He's permanently off the list of candidates I would consider.

That said, I would love to see the government try to force a vaccine on a child of mine. Wouldn't be pretty.

Paula Bolyard said...

That slide about stupid Florida teens probably has some truth to it, sadly. DH was in Haiti earlier this year and one of the biggest problems the medical team found was that women were douching with bleach (?!?!?!?) With so many immigrants from destitute countries like Haiti and Cuba, it's conceivable that a lot of Florida teens believe such myths.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought Newt's performance wasn't stellar. I made the same comment about him not being Reagan (though I suspect Gingrich thought he was channeling Reagan's "I paid for this microphone" moment when he lectured the moderators).

I also think the moderators made a point of pitting T-Paw and Bachmann against each other while mostly giving Romney a pass. Why didn't they let Bachmann and Romney go back and forth about Romneycare and the 10th amendment? They let it drop after one response from each of them, squelching any real debate.

They also gave Huntsman, who is not even a factor in this primary softball questions like "Do you consider Chinese cyberhacking a form of terrorism?" No follow-up about what should be done about it.

It's clear they'd prefer an establishment candidate like Huntsman or Romney.

Best performance of the night goes to Santorum, who unfortunately, has not gained traction and at best, can perhaps hope for a VP spot at this point. After Ron Paul pretty much said Iran is justified in having nukes, Santorum held up his hands, interrupted the moderator and practically shouted, "Iran is not Iceland, RON!" and explained why we cannot just sit back and allow a terrorist regime to acquire/develop nuclear weapons. And his defense of a ban on abortion in the case of rape (we don't even impose the death penalty on rapists - why should we impose it on an innocent child?) was stellar!

Silly Old Mom said...

I clicked on that owl video, and apparently one of the last things a mouse sees includes an encouragement to "Flirt Now!" dangling within the predator's claws.

WV: mensar. Wow, thanks for the compliment!

Paula Bolyard said...

@ Stan....in the end, the TX legislature overruled Perry's Gardisil mandate and he didn't fight it (probably realizing it was a stupid move).

That said, we all (not directed at Stan) have to recognize that there will be no perfect candidate. There will be no candidate that we agree with on everything. We are all going to have issues of conscience that are deal breakers - for me it's abortion and the marriage issue (although with some nuances to the later). I could, at this point, in good conscience vote for Bachman, Santorum, Pawlenty and Perry. Palin with some reservations.

Conservative legend Morton Blackwell famously said, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." If Christians wait to vote for the perfect, we will end up with Obama again.

Not saying we should sit back and settle for Romney (McCain with better hair and a cult) - I will do everything in my power to convince people to vote against him - but I think we should be careful not to become like the Freepers who don't like anyone. Except maybe the loons and potheads over there who like Ron Paul and cover their ears and hum when you try to explain reality to them.

Josh Morrison said...

Why must Science Fiction and Fantasy be lumped together into the same lists so often? Personally, I think the two genres are different enough and strong enough to stand on their own. You don't see lists ranking the greatest romance and mystery novels together. Rant over.

As I prefer science fiction over fantasy, I'll have to leave the fantasy out of it. I do think that the Lord of the Rings is one of the best series written in any genre of fiction, I have more experience with science fiction. As far as the top ten list goes (excluding the fantasy selections), I can't help but think that the undue adulation given to "Hitchhiker's" is partly due to Adams having died somewhat recently and also to the fact that it seems to be a favorite of the atheist science fiction reader. There is no way that "Hitchhiker's" is better than "Ender's Game". Both "1984" and "Brave New World" are excellent novels, but I think their inclusion in this list is due to the fact that every highschooler has to read them. The number of people that have read "1984" and "Animal Farm" but have never read any other work by Orwell is astounding. I agree with "Dune" being that high on the list.

As for the rest of the rankings, what kind of list ranks "The Forever War" lower than "A Clockwork Orange". Most people will rave about "Clockwork" because of Stanley Kubrik's incomplete film adaptation. Few people have actually read the novel (Interesting sidenote, when "A Clockwork Orange" was first printed in the US, the final chapter wasn't included in the book so it would match the film version). I think most of the people that participated in this poll watched some movies and didn't actually read the books. Enough complaining, here's my top ten science fiction novels:

#1. Dune
#2. Hyperion (you have to include "Fall of Hyperion" since they are essentially one book)
#3. Foundation Series
#4. Forever War
#5. The Time Machine
#6. Ender's Game
#7. Slaughter House Five
#8. Watchmen
#9. Starship Troopers
#10. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Maybe not in that order, it just depends on my mood that day.

lee n. field said...

"Your picks, then?"

Out of the top 100 list, strike out anything with a dragon on the cover, or a mighty thewed hero, and most things labeled "series" (except Lewis' Silent Planet and sequels).

Replace "Fire Upon The Deep" with "Deepness In The Sky".

Strike "The Stand", replace with George R. Stewart's "Earth Abides".

Include Olaf Stapledon, "Last and First Men" and "Star Maker". The man was a fountain of ideas that ten lesser writers could mine for a lifetime without exhausting.

Include Cordwainer Smith, "Norstrilia" and the omnibus volume of his short work.

Strike "Rendesvous with Rama". I never could see what people saw in it. Typical Clarkeian didactic travelogue through the Rational Socialist Paradise of the Future(r). Ditto for "Space Odyssey". Leave "Childhood's End".

"Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep" is only there because they made a cult movie out of it. Replace with "Man in a High Castle".

I'm just getting started.

Anonymous said...

Paula,
To life and marriage I would add to the list of deal breakers forcing children to receive "vaccinations" to help them theoretically have "safer sex" for the rest of their lives.

I certainly don't fit in with the loons and potheads (well, I could be a loon) but I strongly support Ron Paul and think he has more respect for the Constitution than any other candidate running.

And yes, I think Iran has the right to have nuclear weapons. They are a sovereign nation and we should stop thinking we rule the world. We wouldn't think much of Russia telling us to unilaterally disarm. We should treat Iran like we would like to be treated.

Having said that, should Iran threaten us or Israel I wouldn't have a problem nuking their little country into oblivion. But I'm just a redneck.

CR said...

Paula: Conservative legend Morton Blackwell famously said, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." If Christians wait to vote for the perfect, we will end up with Obama again.

Excellent point!

Pierre Saikaley said...

"Of course, they could always send Richard Dawkins out to give them a lecture. Perhaps read from some Christopher Hitchens about how God is not great. I'm sure that'd sort them out right quick. "


Dawkins would probably say that all that pent up rage is from years of "child abuse"-y'know-labelling children as Christian, or Muslim or Jewish, or any other religion by their parents.

Then he might reason that since they were raised from a "non-rational" religious worldview,the outcome is that they're confused and socially unadjusted.

So if they had just heeded his message that there "probably" is no God, they can stop worrying and just enjoy life.

After all:why worry about stealing from a riot victim you pretend to help or assaulting police, and burning another's property, or killing another person? Why worry-just enjoy venting your rage-there is no God....er..probably.

Away From The Brink said...

Somebody with PhotoShop skills needs to mash up that Michelle Bachmann Newsweak cover picture with his one: http://goo.gl/uYqMa

Aaron said...

Perry has been a real mixed bag. Some of it can be explained by the legislature.

I had just moved to Texas when he tried the HPV vaccine order. It was outrageous and conservatives here lambasted him for months. I'm waiting to hear my state senator's opinion. I think he has a pretty good shake on things and shares my values. I do know he'd be good for Texas. Obama has really tried to take it to us.

@Stan: yours was exactly the reaction conservatives in Texas had. The whole affair was quite unexplainable. Fortunately he backed down after conservatives were up in arms.

CR said...

It is my understanding that children were not forced into the taking the HPV vaccine. The Texas health department allowed for waivers for parents who didn't want to participate in the vaccination program.

Some criticized the Governor for this "mandate" because they believed this "mandate" for the HPV (a vaccine to prevent getting cervical cancer later in life) would validate teenage sex and take control away from parents. The former or the latter is not true.

Perry's social and fiscal conservative credentials from what I've seen and heard already, are impeccable. He'll be a formidable candidate.

Aaron said...

@CR:

There was zero conservatives in Texas that supported Perry's HPV mandate, which is why he got overruled by a legislature that only meets every other year.

I didn't like the mandate but I will say that I agree with you that getting the vaccine doesn't necessarily validate promiscuity. I have two daughters and will at least consider the vaccine.

ChosenClay said...

Here are 14 reasons not to vote for Perry.

SolaMommy said...

That owl is going to give me nightmares.

Paula Bolyard said...

If you have an owl on your hand and you bounce your hand up and down the head will stay in the same place while the body moves with your hand. That's kinda cool too. I used to work with owls at the zoo and that was always a crowd-pleaser : )

Anonymous said...

When we consider a politician's conservative credentials (to be) impeccable because said politician allowed for waivers for parents who didn't want their children to be assaulted, it seems to me that conservative has a meaning that excludes any notion of freedom.

I'm just sayin'...

Aaron said...

@Chosenclay:

The link is bad. However, I was able to view the cached page on google. Some of the 14 reasons are legitimate. A few of them are loaded with conspiracy nonsense. For example, one of the reasons is because Perry supposedly attended a Bilderberg meeting. As a Christian I reject the entire conspiracy nonsense. I absolutely do not believe that some elite power will come to rule through machiavellian schemes. Quite the contrary. Evil will come to power because the wicked populace will ask for it with their eyes wide open. Another example is about the safety concerns over the HPV vaccines. This is the same nonsense that keeps parents from getting their kids vaccines from other life threatening illnesses.

Texas debt is not an issue the governor controls directly. More than 85% of the debt is issued by local governments. Texas requires a balanced budget, has a "rainy day" fund, and its budget is largely schools and medical care.

While I agree with some of the complaints against Perry's wifle-waffling on immigration, he is the only governor to send state troopers to the border to fight the drug cartels.

@Paula: You used to work at the zoo? That's awesome.

Paula Bolyard said...

,@ Sir Aaron...I used to do educational programs with the zoos "Animal Ambassadors," which was an amazing opportunity....reptiles, parrots, hawks, owls, small mammals. The reptiles were my faves, partly because they didn't require much clean-up (except for the iguana, who always seemed to have an (retaliatory) explosion in the crate.

Back to Rick Perry - Someone has taken the time to answer the 14 reasons not to vote for Perry with 17 things that critics are saying about Rick Perry.

I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Paula Bolyard said...

Perry was asked about this in a Q & A today :

"“I signed an executive order that allowed for an opt-out, but the fact of the matter is I didn’t do my research well enough to understand that we needed to have a substantial conversation with our citizenry. I hate cancer. Let me tell you, as a son who has a mother and father who are both cancer survivors.”

Perry said he’d invested government resources in cancer cures, adding, “I hate cancer. And this HPV, we were seeing young ladies die at the early age. What we should have done was a program that frankly should have allowed them to opt in, or some type of program like that, but here’s what I learned — when you get too far out in front of the parade they will let you know. And that’s exactly what our legislature did...

Aaron said...

@Paula:

Having lived in Texas for the past 6 years, I have to say the article you linked is very balanced.

CR said...

Sir Aaron and Paula,

Thanks for your comments at the end.

Anonymous said...

Paula,
Thanks for Gov. Perry's comments regarding the vaccination. Very helpful.