Tough Dealing on Financial Fix

Efforts in DC to come up with a deal to avert a potential collapse of financial markets have entered a tough negotiating phase going into the night. As President Bush explained last night, this is a very serious situation where some kind of government action is necessary and probably inevitable.

However, demands for immediate action to avert a crisis do not mean we have to forgo thinking about what is a good solution and what would make a bad situation worse. Reportedly, from evening news and talk shows, Republican House members are holding out to move the package toward a more free market and responsibility compatible solution. Senator John McCain is reportedly playing a major leadership role. Of course almost anything could possibly happen, so let's pray for the best.

Largely overlooked this week is an apparent Republican victory in the fight to enable access to offshore and shale oil resources.

Safer Stem Cells

Safer for patients and for embryos: induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) have passed a major hurdle toward being safely used in medical therapies, according to Wesley Smith and this Washington Post article.

Going for Stem Cell Results

Leading stem cell researcher James Thomson of Wisconsin is shifting his research focus to the new developments in non-embryonic stem cell research, according to this article on ProLife Blogs.

Barack Obama, Gianna Jessen and the Lives of Infant Abortion Survivors

Gianna Jessen, a 31 year old survivor of a failed abortion attempt in the late seventies appeared in an ad produced by BornAliveTruth.org, an independent 527 organization, taking Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to task for his multiple votes against legislation to protect infant survivors of abortion.



Here is the ad that Obama's campaign put up in response to the Gianna Jessen ad.



Notice how the Obama ad includes a very small and brief video clip (no audio) of Jessen while attempting to blame his Republican opponent John McCain for a supposedly misleading and 'sleazy' ad. But that description more aptly describes Obama's ad on several counts. First, John McCain's campaign did not produce the original ad. An independent 527 organization did. Second, the Jessen ad is not misleading. Obama did vote several times to oppose the protective legislation and did not vote for it. Finally, Obama's ad is trying to have it both ways. By fleetingly using Gianna Jessen's video image, it is trying to vaguely remind viewers of the original ad without reminding them of the details or even of Jessen's identity.

This last point is significant, because Gianna Jessen's very existence is a threat to Obama's position and abysmal record on protecting infant abortion survivors. This issue touches on the deepest meaning of where our society stands on protecting innocent human life and Barack Obama is playing with fire by attempting this kind of deception to divert attention from the truth.

A Day of Food, Drink, Music and Merriment...

...at the Maryland Renaissance Festival today.

At the Gateway to Space

Last Friday I participated in a 'systems hardware walkdown' to view the flight hardware for the upcoming STS-125 Hubble Servicing Mission at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. While there, I also got to take some interesting pictures of the KSC/Cape Canaveral facilities and Cocoa Beach.


Shuttle Atlantis on Pad 39A awaiting launch to the Hubble Space Telescope. The top of the Shuttle's orange External Tank is visible while the rest of the vehicle is obscured by the pad's Rotating Service Structure.



Atlas V Launch Complex 41 on the left, Falcon 9 Launch Complex 40 on the right. The sets of four spindly towers at each launch site serve to protect the rockets and launch facilities from lightning strikes.



The view from in front of my room at the Holiday Inn, Cocoa Beach.

The launch to Hubble is currently scheduled for October 10. Meanwhile, our friends and colleagues at Johnson Space Center remain in our thoughts and prayers as they deal with recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

Politics Gone Criminal

Personal e-mails of Sarah Palin and her family were hacked and published on the Internet. The political mud-slinging has gone lower while fast-and-furious, but this latest development is not only the most outrageous but also a criminal offense and an offense against privacy that must be of concern to all Americans.

Ike Strikes the Houston Area and Others

NOAA

Hurricane Ike surged ashore at Galveston, TX early this morning, leaving millions without power and making it difficult to move around the area. Authorities are still trying to account for those who did not evacuate the most endangered areas.

NASA's Johnson Space Center suffered some damage though major functions appear to remain intact., while space station operations were supported by a temporary site at a hotel in Austin.

Do keep all those affected by this storm in your thoughts and prayers.

In Remembrance of September 11, 2001

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Michael W. Pendergrass

Seven years ago tomorrow morning, I overheard a coworker down the hall from my office telling someone else about planes hitting the World Trade Center. I checked in on the Internet and on news radio for reports on what would develop into the the modern era's day of infamy. We know of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but there was also the attack that did not occur because of the heroic actions of the passengers on United Flight 93.

Seven years of daily living, along with increasing domestic rancor, may have dimmed the feelings of shock, horror, and outrage and the response of prayer, compassion, and resolve that united the people of America and most of the world. However, terrorist activity around the world should serve to remind us that the threat is still real.

This audio/visual Internet presentation developed by a New Yorker shortly after the attacks recaptures all of those experiences. The sequence is ~15 minutes long and some of the images and sounds are quite disturbing, others are inspirational. (I've also added the link to this video to my sidebar.)

Good for presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, who will put aside their serious differences for a day and stand together in observance of this solemn anniversary.

It is important that we remember, not only to honor those who died and those who acted heroically that day, but to remain constantly aware of the ongoing dangers, of the presence of real evil in the hearts of some men, and to maintain constant vigilance and a determination to defeat this evil. Finally, we must always remember to trust in God and his mercy during trying times.

Down-Ballot Shift?

The Dem/Left/Media/Cultural Establishment melt-down over Sarah Palin and the shift in the polls has been coming too fast to have time to cover it all. One interesting trend is that the shift in the polls may not be limited to the presidential race. The Real Clear Politics Generic Congressional Vote polling data shows a narrowing of the generic preference for Democrats for Congress. The average of recent polls is down to a 5.4% margin for Democrats. Only a couple of weeks ago this margin was over 10%. Notice that the most recent poll, taken by USA Today/Gallup on 09/05 - 09/07 shows a 5% Republican advantage. Scroll down through the polling history that shows no other poll with a Republican advantage in the past two years.

Now one should be careful about putting too much stock in any one poll or even a short term trend, but if the trend continues, it will be a dramatic change in the atmosphere surrounding the congressional contests. The cause is apparently the coattails of the 'Palin effect' along with the possibility that the Republican initiative for comprehensive energy development, including drilling for our domestic oil resources, may be starting to break through.

Hanna Comin'

Tomorrow will be a day of heavy rain and strong winds here as Tropical Storm Hanna blows through the Mid-Atlantic region.

On the Pad

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The Space Shuttle Atlantis was moved out to the launch pad on Thursday for its launch to service the Hubble Space Telescope, now rescheduled for October 10.

Politics is Getting to Be Fun Again

Well, the week that began with predictions that the Republican National Convention would be drowned by Hurricane Gustav ended with a re-energized party and conservative movement. Sarah Palin's blockbuster speech Wednesday night (which I watched with a large group of fired-up supporters in Gaithersburg) and John McCain's solid leadership address last night have leveled the playing field for the coming election.

The pile-on by media and cultural establishment types against Gov. Palin only guaranteed her a bigger audience for her to reach the American people with her winsome way the other night. Her selection by Sen. McCain may have not only recast the presidential race but but could help mitigate what has been predicted as a looming disaster for GOP congressional candidates. (Hat Tip to Mark Whittington)

While we don't want to turn Sarah Palin into another messianic figure (one is too many this election cycle), Michael Reagan has given permission to consider her the Second Coming of the Gipper.

Now that each party has had its energizing convention, the campaign will turn on how each party's candidates persuade the voters on how they will lead, particularly on the nation's economic challenges. I feel McCain/Palin got off to a good start, particularly on energy development, but need to steadily press their position and continue to develop further their economic message.

With both sides now energized, the public is likely to become more engaged and turn out in higher numbers. That is definitely good for the country.

Gustav Roars Ashore

Hurricane Gustav came ashore along the Gulf Coast near New Orleans today. The devastation appears so far to have been less severe than during Katrina three years ago, although there is still concern and some action to fortify some of the levies. The definite good news is that all levels of government performed far better than during Katrina and the residents themselves also took the advanced warnings more seriously this time resulting in a more complete evacuation. Thank God a major catastrophe has apparently been averted and pray for those who are affected by the severity of the storm.

It's Sarah!!!!

John McCain has selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. I'll have more this evening. This is going to be a fun campaign!

UPDATE Friday Evening: Yes, John McCain took a fix on the North Star in choosing his VP running mate. This seemed to stun many in the Media and the political punditry who were not familiar with Sarah Palin. I had heard of her as a possible running mate over the past couple of months through several web sites including this one and was kind of hoping McCain would pick her, but it seemed a long shot until this morning.

McCain's pick is rallying the conservative base while attracting positive interest from independents. Democratic spokespersons and some in the Media have attacked her for her lack of experience in foreign policy. A valid critique up to a point, since she has about as much foreign policy experience as, well, Barack Obama.

Palin is known as being a strong conservative, while successfully taking on corrupt politicians in her own party.

Most of all, Sarah Palin's rise to national prominence will blow the roof and doors off the conventional wisdom on social issues, particularly on life. Endorsed by the Susan B. Anthony List during her run for Governor and a member of Feminists for Life, Palin walks the talk on being prolife by welcoming and loving her youngest child who happens to have Downs Syndrome. (Note: A majority of babies diagnosed with with Downs Syndrome in utero are killed by abortion.) There sure must be some knotted stomachs among the usual suspects at Planned Parenthood and NARAL.

Like I said, this is going to be a real fun campaign.

Conventional Wisdom

The 2008 election campaign is revving into high gear with the Dem Convention this week and the GOP Convention next week. As I'm typing, Al Gore is waxing apocalyptic. Presidential nominee Barack Obama will speak from the temple later this evening. John McCain's campaign suggests that participants should come appropriately dressed for the world's largest toga party. Meanwhile Senator McCain has issued a positive ad congratulating Senator Obama on his historic nomination.

One issue that won't go away is the one that Gore and others tonight euphemistically referred to as 'a woman's right to chose'. The abortion issue has reached a new level when Catholic politicians Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden don't just insist on ignoring Catholic teaching but insist on re-interpreting it, leading a number of leading bishops to want to send them back to catechism class. Sadly, I don't know if the pols are deliberately distorting the Church's strong teaching on human life or are so steeped in the secular liberal culture and misled by some dissenting Church teachers that they don't know when they're wrong.

Happy Feast Day!

Today is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven.

Father Clifford Stevens describes a historical account consistent with this belief in this article. (Hat tip to Kathryn Jean Lopez at The Corner)

That belief was ancient, dating back to the apostles themselves. What was clear from the beginning was that there were no relics of Mary to be venerated, and that an empty tomb stood on the edge of Jerusalem near the site of her death. That location also soon became a place of pilgrimage. (Today, the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition of Mary stands on the spot.)

At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when bishops from throughout the Mediterranean world gathered in Constantinople, Emperor Marcian asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople to be enshrined in the capitol. The patriarch explained to the emperor that there were no relics of Mary in Jerusalem, that "Mary had died in the presence of the apostles; but her tomb, when opened later . . . was found empty and so the apostles concluded that the body was taken up into heaven."

Father Stevens also notes the relatively recent elevation of this belief to formal Catholic doctrine.

In 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution , Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Assumption of Mary a dogma of the Catholic Church in these words: "The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven."

With that, an ancient belief became Catholic doctrine and the Assumption was declared a truth revealed by God.

Count Vlad's Rampage and 'Operation Vittles II'

Wow! Get behind in blogging for a few days and a new world crisis breaks out. The situation in Georgia is very serious and many people are suffering. While there is ambiguity on how this conflict started, it is clear that the Russian invasion has gone far beyond any possible justification regarding one breakaway province. The strong response of the US and some other nations is critical.

While direct US military intervention would be highly dangerous and probably not very practical, President Bush seems to have found a smart way to project a US presence in the region via a military airlift of humanitarian aid to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Interestingly, this move recalls, on a smaller scale, President Truman's initiating the massive Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles) of sixty years ago to thwart the Soviet blockade of that city. Like that operation, this one puts the Russians on the spot, for they would have to be the ones to initiate conflict in order to stop the airlift or attempt to occupy the Georgian capital. Let's pray this situation ends peacefully without awarding aggression that puts the world at future risk of war.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
The Revolution Will Be Twittered

The Republican Congressional members continue their presence on Capitol Hill despite Speaker Nancy Pelosi's turning off the C-SPAN cameras. This story involves politics, energy policy and the use of new communications tools to spread information rapidly. What happened these last few days and how a grassroots movement is changing the political climate using new tools is described in this article at The Next Right blog.

So what does this have to do with a movement? It's just a bunch of middle aged Republicans speechifying in the dark! It only started that way. Less than an hour after the Dems departed and the GOP got going, Eric Odom and Allen Fuller from Flat Creek put up a Twitter site, 'Don't Go!', so GOP members could get their message out along with any citizen or Social Media savvy activist. That site hit the blogs and it was off to the races. They had multiple Tweets per minute beginning mid session Friday evening and it has continued unabated to this very moment!

I'll have to admit I am only now really starting to learn about this Twitter thing. Here's the official site to become active on Twitter.

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

But even without setting up a Twitter account you can follow what's going on on Capitol Hill and the growing public demand for action on energy development through the '#dontgo' Twitter site and an associated supporting web site.

Meanwhile, what's Nancy Pelosi up to now that she has her recess? She's out on a book tour for her work titled Know Your Power. In her usual pithy way, Michelle Malkin assesses the Pelosi tome.

The Democratic Speaker of the House and a co-author hired to try to add flavor to bland Beltway establishment oatmeal have penned a self-help book for "America’s daughters" to help them Know Your Power. It’s a dreadfully pedestrian text ("As long as we recognize the power within us, we will continue to have choices, and we will continue to lead."), surpassed in its dreadfulness only by the timing of its publication.

With congressional approval ratings at an all-time low and the Democratic Congress under fire for taking a five-week vacation instead of working on energy policy, perhaps this wasn’t the best time to send Nancy Pelosi jetting from coast to coast to tell our daughters how to save the planet, manage our households and run our government.

Sorry, Nan. There aren’t enough carbon offsets to compensate for this tree-wasting dud and its accompanying gas-guzzling, hot air-emitting publicity tour.

With events spinning beyond her control on the Hill while she's away, San Fran Nan may come to know her power is fleeting.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, RIP

Author Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who bravely challenged the Soviet regime and exposed its infamous 'gulags' years before its collapse, has passed away at age 89.