August 23, 2011

Libya - Gadhafi going down

Libyan rebels have declared that they have seized Gaddafi's compound, and of course, the embattled leader is nowhere to be found.   This marks yet another milestone on the rebels' advance to gain control of the capital city of Tripoli.

Election Day in Montgomery

Polls are open until 7 tonight, as voters in the city of Montgomery are participating in municipal elections.  The mayor's office, as well as 7 contested City Council seats are on the ballot.   Mayor Todd Strange is seeking his first full term after serving former Mayor Bobby Bright's remaining term after being elected to Congress.   2 City Councilmen, Jon Dow and Arch Lee, are attempting to gain election for a full term after being elected to serve out the remaining terms of Willie Cook and Martha Roby, respectively. 

Irene - Category 2 now, taking aim at Carolinas


Hurricane Irene is tracking toward the Bahamas, after leaving downed trees and power lines in Puerto Rico, and could strengthen to a Category 3 by tomorrow.   Projections are showing that it could make landfall somewhere in the Carolinas Friday night, and then move up the Northeast U.S. coast. 

5.9 magnitude earthquake shakes DC

About 1:50pm Eastern time this afternoon, an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale struck about 90 miles southwest of Washington, DC.   Tremors could be felt as far north as Toronto and as far south as parts of North Georgia.   Buildings shook in the nation's capital, New York City, and up and down the Eastern Seaboard.  No loss of life and limited damage is reported.

Chaplains calling for Congressional protection

A group of veteran service members--primarily chaplains--whose faith groups represent thousands of currently-serving military chaplains and several million Americans, sent a letter to the U.S. Congress last week asking key officials to protect military religious liberty from the dangers created by the government’s decision to force open homosexual behavior on the U.S. armed forces through the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” next month.


Noting the robust history of religious liberty in the military, the nearly two-dozen veteran service member signatories request in the letter that Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ensure that there is “a clear, unmistakable perimeter around religious liberty.”

The letter says: “Chaplains and service members have told us they are very concerned they will be marginalized and even punished for being faithful to their religious beliefs in the wake of the repeal. We share those concerns...In fact, some chaplains have already personally experienced the punitive atmosphere this repeal has generated.”

Several of the signatories are members of the newly formed group Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, which states that it is working to ensure that all chaplains, and those whom they serve, are able to freely exercise their God-given and constitutionally protected religious liberties without fear of reprisal.



American Idol - producer pans rival's call for gay declarations

Adam Levine, one of the celebrity judges on the NBC reality show, "The Voice", has basically called out "American Idol", charging that gay contestants are essentially treated unfairly because they are not allowed the declare their sexuality - never mind that an openly gay judge appeared on the program for one season, the lowest rated season in the show's history.

I thought Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe's response to Entertainment Weekly was refreshing, and fairly "non-Hollywood":

You probably saw NBC’s The Voice judge Adam Levine saying Idol should show openly gay contestants. What do you think of that and could that change next season?
To be frank, I didn’t understand why we’re talking about contestants being gay or not gay. I don’t go into my dentist and say, “Are you gay?” I don’t say to contestants on So You Think You Can Dance, “Are you gay?” What does it got to do with me? What does it got to do with anybody? When does privacy stop in this country? If somebody wants to say they’re gay, it’s up to them. You don’t expect us to turn around and say, “Are you gay?” Why would we do that? — “By the way, he’s a Catholic and he supports Obama and here’s his sexuality” — what does that have anything to do with singing talent? Maybe it does for Adam Levine, but not for me.

So the reason nobody has been openly gay on Idol is that it’s up to the contestant.
Did [season eight Idol contestant] Adam Lambert come out?

Afterwards, I believe so.
He must have come out before being on Idol, he just didn’t talk about it on Idol. And why should he? Is every actor going on television going to say, “I’m only playing the part of a straight man, I’m really gay”? There’s no reason that I would see why anybody that goes on television should start coming out with who they are, what they are, what they’re sexuality is, who they’re going to vote for or what their religion is.

So, Lythgoe is saying that his TV show is not a platform to further the gay agenda - what does sexuality matter in a singing competition?  And, I would say, when you consider TV shows such as Glee, with 5 homosexual characters, or Modern Family, or any of the other shows that go out of their way to accommodate gay characters and normalize gay behavior, why should scriptwriters go out of their way to write in characters that practice a lifestyle that is only embraced by 2-4% of the population?   There is a distinct agenda - and while I'm not 100% behind all of Lythgoe's comments, it seems that perhaps Idol has doubled down and is resisting the showbiz temptation to embrace wholeheartedly the gay agenda.   Now, let's clean up Steven Tyler's language...

Speaking of television, here are some words of warning from the Culture and Media Institute about the new fall season...

A number of pro-family organizations, including the Parents Television Council and Morality in Media have called attention to NBC's new show, "The Playboy Club"...

Set to air on September 19, 2011, "The Playboy Club" "centers on the Bunnies and patrons of the original Playboy Club in 1960's Chicago," according to the Internet Movie Database page for the show.

But the show has already stirred up controversy as critics like the Parents Television Council called it a "blatant attempt to obliterate any remaining standards of broadcast decency." Morality in Media created an online petition to discourage viewers to from watching the show. Even famous liberal feminist Gloria Steinem has echoed the calls for a boycott. The real Playboy Club, she said, was "the tackiest place on earth."

Other shows with objectionable content include NBC's "Whitney", Fox's "New Girl", and shows that have been known to push the envelope, such as "Glee" and "Gossip Girl".   According to CMI...

Ben Shapiro examined the liberal assault on traditional values in Hollywood in his book "Primetime Propaganda" and in his chapter "Making The Right Cry: How Television Drama Glorifies Liberalism," he observed that, "comedies are anti-morality crusades; dramas are morality tales." Both are intentionally designed to invert traditional ideas of morality. The veteran producers and writers Shapiro interviewed admitted as much.

Fairness Doctrine in the rear-view mirror...

Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission announced that the Fairness Doctrine had been removed from its Code of Federal Regulations.    National Religious Broadcasters hailed the announcement, but President Frank Wright urged caution:

"... for the last eight years, NRB has been actively warning Congress that the Fairness Doctrine was not dead because it was still ‘on the books.’ We are delighted that FCC Chairman Genachowski has followed-through on his promise to fully eliminate this pernicious rule, which enabled the FCC to compel broadcasters to air opposing viewpoints on controversial issues that the government decided to be of public importance.

“On this day of genuine celebration,” continued Dr. Wright, “NRB will remain vigilant regarding the concepts embodied in the Fairness Doctrine. While the letter of the law is now dead, we want to ensure that the spirit of this particular law also remains dead. There are many voices calling for increased scrutiny of broadcast programming under the guise of ‘localism,’ and we see such proposals as a Fairness Doctrine in different garb. Therefore, NRB will continue to advocate for the most generous application of First Amendment principles both at the federal level and on the local level, knowing that Americans’ religious liberties are most secure when they are kept out of the hands of government bureaucracies.”

Well said by Dr. Wright, who is wise to not completely buy in to the announcements.   Seton Motley of "Less Government", a contributer to the Big Government web site reminded us of how a high-ranking FCC official has rendered the Fairness Doctrine obsolete, yet supports other means of restricting certain speech.   An FCC commissioner, quoted by Fox News said:

Commissioner Robert McDowell told Chris Stirewalt on Monday's Power Play Live that localism, a proposal that gives the federal government the ability to make sure broadcasters serve their communities, could also be used to wedge in principles of the fairness doctrine.

"The government would be compiling data as to what kind of content you were airing and whether the government thought that was appropriate content," McDowell said. "It could be political speech, it could be shows on baking or gardening. But we don't know where the government is headed."