2008-06-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

So I heard and saw this today: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91360618
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25078420/
(I tried to find an article at Fox News just to be fair but I couldn't find one; if anyone can, please do)

I must say, never before have I been so certain that the Republican party (and surely a number of Democrats as well) are totally in the pocket of oil companies. And I say this not so much because of the lack of implementing a windfall tax, but because of the piece at the very end; that the same congress refused to renew (yes, they are already in place!) already existing breaks to "green" companies, even though they give breaks to oil companies. Frankly, this just infuriates me.
About the windfall tax: it is not as though every oil company would receive said tax. In fact, every oil company out there could very easily not pay this tax at all. All they would have to do is invest a certain percentage (I confess I do not know what the percentage is) into research into green energy sources. Is that too much to ask for? Even if one does not believe in global warming, one must confess that the earth is running out of oil, and the most extreme estimate I have heard puts it at having only 100 years of oil left; most researches say about 60 - 40 (that includes ANWR and the oil shale reserves in Montana and the Dakotas). What is to be done after the oil is out? Should we just wait until then to see? Or should we devote resources NOW to finding an energy supply for the future? Humans have shown our resourcefulness over the years could surely find an alternative within a short time line if they had to. But no; people would rather go on being lazy and continue beating a dead horse.

An intro

2008-06-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

I've got so many things to say I don't even know where to begin. I suppose I'll just state that the topics I'll be writing about will be mostly how my faith and political views interact, as well as commentary on news and current events. With that said, I do believe the United States is a secular nation, and should never be allowed to restrict or constrict any particular religion, as per the writing of James Madison: "I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together".1 And for that matter, many of the founding fathers were deists anyway (a nominal form of agnosticism) . I tend to consider my political leaning center-left, and I am a moderate having voted for both democrats and republicans and would love to vote for a third party if one ever stood a chance to win in a general election. However, I used to be extremely conservative.
Further, something which may ruffle some feathers: I consider my allegiance to Christ to come before my allegiance to any nation or flag. Therefore, often when I mention America or Americans, I do so in the third person. Yes, I am an American in that I was born here and I am a US Citizen; however, my chosen identity is as a servant of Christ and it is His interests that I strive to serve first.
So, that's that. This will all be enumerated later.

Alexander Bruce

1.Letter to Edward Livingston, July 10, 1822 (Madison, 1865, III, page 265) from http://www.jmu.edu/madison/center/main_pages/madison_archives/quotes/great/rights.htm

A Glass Can Only Spill What it Contains

An intro