Monthly Archives: January 2012

“Music Monday”:Coldplay’s best songs of all time (Part 17)

January 2, 2012 – 12:10 pm
Coldplay

This is “Music Monday” and I always look at a band with some of their best music. I am currently looking at Coldplay’s best songs. Here are a few followed by another person’s preference:

My son Hunter Hatcher’s 4th favorite song is    “Fix You”
“This came out right before my senior year of high school. Takes me back and the bridge is the best coldplay bridge of all of their songs hands down.”

The Best Coldplay Songs

 

By Andrea Malji
Coldplay is a British alternative band that has been around since 1998. The band has produced five albums and sold around 50 million albums. The socially active band whose lead singer Chris Martin is married to actress Gwyenth Paltrow has produced some extremely popular songs, but many of the less popular songs deserve high praise as well. This below compilation is my view of the top 10 songs by Coldplay.

 

1. Yellow-This 2000 song released as a single from the album Parachutes was inspired by the beautiful stars in the sky that the band saw one night during a break from recording. The song begins saying “Look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do”. Stars have always seemed to inspire poetic beauty and this would especially be a perfect song to serenade your love. After writing the song Martin felt that there was some word missing. While searching for inspiration within the recording studio Martin saw a Yellow Pages book, and the word ‘Yellow’ filled the missing void. ‘Yellow’ helped surge Coldplay into mainstream popularity and set the stage for future hits.

 

2. In my place- This 2002 song from Coldplay’s second album “A Rush of Blood To the Head” won best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal at the 45thGrammys. The song features a beautiful soothing melody while Martin sings about a man’s unreciprocated love for a woman. ‘In my place’ that is where he will be waiting for his love to come to him if she changes her mind. If ‘Yellow’ is the song you want to serenade your love with, then ‘In my place’ is the song you listen to after a breakup

 

3. The Scientist- “The Scientist” was another single the band released in 2002 (in the UK) and 2003 in the US from the album “A Rush of Blood to the Head”. The scientist referred to in the rather odd title is not really mentioned in the song but instead it alludes to science “Questions of science, Science and progress, Do not speak as loud as my heart.” This piano ballad shows off Martin’s beautiful voice and nice falsetto. This emotional song also has a very interesting music video implementing reverse narrative and Martin actually had to learn to sing the song backwards. The Scientist won a few MTV VMA awards and received a 2004 Grammy nomination.

 

4. Clocks- This 2003 song also off the album “A Rush of Blood To The Head” won the 2004 Grammy for Record of the year. However, originally the song was not intended for this album since 10 songs were already on “A Rush of Blood To the Head” and Clocks was left to be included on Album #3. This song, like others from the band, sings about a dysfunctional relationship asking about “Am I a part of the cure/Or am I part of the disease?” But where exactly does the title Clocks come from? In poetry and song clocks have always been associated with time, change, and even death. The lyrics seem to suggest that time is running out with few options “Confusion never stops, Closing walls and ticking clocks”. While the lyrics are great, my favorite part of the song is the piano melody especially at the beginning and when Martin again hits a falsetto for the long “yooooooooooooo ohhhhhh Yoooooooooooo ohhhhhh” that nearly sends chills down your spine

 

5. Speed of sound-This song released in 2005 is off the album X&Y and won an award for Best British single in 2006. The piano based melody and the beauty of Chris Martin’s voice make this song very soothing and almost hypnotic. Martin stated the lyrics of this song were inspired by a feeling of awe and wonder after the birth of his daughter Apple. The lyrics also allude to faith in what cannot be seen “If you could see it then you’d understand/ah when you see it then you’ll understand.”

 

6. Viva la Vida- This is one of the more recent song on the list was released in 2008 and reached number 1 on Billboard Hot 100. Viva la Vida which means ‘live the life’ in Spanish also won the Grammy for Song of the Year in 2009. The musical composition of the song is somewhat different because it is more upbeat and implements strings and percussion as opposed to the typical Coldplay songs that use piano or guitar. The rhythm is very catchy and the lyrics are some of the most interesting I have recently heard. I never could actually figure out half of the things that were being said in the song until I researched the lyrics. Basically the song is about a King who once was on top of everything but now ‘sweeps the streets he used to own’. It also includes religious undertones saying “I know St. Peter won’t call my name”. In an interview with Q magazine Martin said the idea of your life being judged once you’re dead was always fascinating to him and it’s a common theme in all religions. Since St. Peter won’t call his name, apparently the King was not so good possibly because he never had as he says ‘an honest word’.

 

7. Fix you-This song from the X&Y album wasn’t as popular as other Coldplay songs but has some of the most beautiful lyrics. The song was supposedly written for Martin’s wife Paltrow after her father died, but the song is can be very comforting in times of tragedy, hardship or a broken heart. The song uses an organ at the beginning that had been given to Martin by Paltrow’s father, but he didn’t discover how beautiful a sound it made until he played it after his death. However, despite whatever hardship whoever listening may have, there are words of encouragement “Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you.”

8. Violet Hill- This song also from the 2008 album X&Y and can be viewed as an anti-war song. The song is from a soldier’s point of view essentially about politics, war, and religious hypocrisy. The soldiers don’t want to be used for a cause that they don’t believe in “I don’t want to be a soldier/ with the captain of some sinking ship.” Violet Hill not only borrows rhythms from The Beatles but the road Violet Hill is actually near Abbey Road. I especially like the decrescendo at the end with only the piano and Martin softly singing. I also suggest everyone see the dancing politician’s version to this song on youtube. Overall though, Beautiful melody, beautiful lyrics…What’s not to love?

 

9. Gravity- This song was written by Martin and performed live by Coldplay in 2002 but ultimately the song was given to the band Embrace. Coldplay re-recorded this song in 2005 and it makes one wonder why the song was not always kept with them. This song is simple, with mainly the piano and Martin singing for the first five minutes and some drums and background singers added in after that, but the simplicity remains. This song is peaceful and soothing and could definitely put you to sleep, but not out of boredom.

 

10. Trouble- This 2000 song from the “Parachutes” album was written as a result of Martin’s reflection about his own bad behavior. Once again, the song begins with Martin singing and playing the piano. There is something very magical about his voice in this song, almost haunting. If someone asked for an apology through writing and performing this song, how could you not forgive them?

 

Most Coldplay fans will be familiar with all of these songs. However, for those of you who are just casual listeners of the band, you should definitely add these songs to your Ipod and you may change from a casual to avid fan.

Related Posts:

“Music Monday”:Coldplay’s best songs of all time (Part 4)

Dave Hogan/ Getty Images This is “Music Monday” and I always look at a band with some of their best music. I am currently looking at Coldplay’s best songs. Here are a few followed by another person’s preference: For the 17th best Coldplay song of all-time, Hunter picks “42.” He notes, “You thought you might […]

Documentary on Coldplay (Part 2)

The best band in the world. Below I have linked some articles I have earlier about the search for meaning in life the band seems to involved in. Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion formed Coldplay in 1996 while going to University in London. The young band quickly established themselves in the […]

Review of New Coldplay song with video clip

I am presently involved in the counting down of the best Coldplay songs of all time, but I am also in a series here reviewing the upcoming songs on Coldplay’s new cd that will be released soon. Here is a review from Rolling Stone: Coldplay Debut new song ‘Charlie Brown’ June 6, 2011 Coldplay debuted […]

Documentary on Coldplay (Part 1, the song “Yellow” featured)

Great documentary on Coldplay. I have written a lot on Coldplay the last few years and I see something spiritually happening with the group as they continue to search for a deeping meaning in life. Coldplay Max Masters – Part 1 of 7 Uploaded by thepostbox on May 6, 2009 The ASTRA Award winning music documentary […]

“Woody Wednesday” Will Allen and Martin follow same path as Kansas to Christ?

Several members of the 70′s band Kansas became committed Christians after they realized that the world had nothing but meaningless to offer. It seems through the writings of both Woody Allen and Chris Martin of Coldplay that they both are wrestling with the issue of death and what meaning does life bring. Kansas went through […]

“Music Monday”:Coldplay’s best songs of all time (Part 3)

 This is “Music Monday” and I always look at a band with some of their best music. I am currently looking at Coldplay’s best songs. Here are a few followed by another person’s preference:   Hunter has chosen the song “Viva La Vida” as his number 18 pick. Hunter noted, “The violin synth is a […]

Review of New Coldplay songs (video clip too)

Coldplay – Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall Published on Jun 28, 2011 by ColdplayVEVO The new single, taken from Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall EP (featuring two more new tracks). Download it from http://cldp.ly/itunescp Music video by Coldplay performing Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall. (P) 2011 The copyright in this audiovisual recording is owned by […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

Why is Ron Paul surging? (Part 1)

January 2, 2012 – 11:29 am

Why is Ron Paul surging? (Part 1)

The liberals have been successful at getting government to spend over 25 percent of our total GDP, but the problem is that money is running out. Actually it ran out a long time ago. In 2011 we spent 3.8 trillion and took in a little over half that amount. At that rate we will be going bankrupt a few years after Greece.

I think the future looks bright for politicans like Ron Paul. There are several reasons why Ron Paul has surged in the polls. Let me list some of the reasons this has happened. These reasons are taken from the article by Edward Crane, “Why Ron Paul Matters,” Wall Street Journal, Dec 31, 2011:
• Tax and spending. If ever there were sound and fury signifying nothing, it has to be the recent “debate” over the budget. Covered by the media as though it was negotiations on the Treaty of Versailles, the wrestling match between Republicans and Democrats centered on the nearly trivial question of whether the $12 trillion increase in the national debt over the next decade should be reduced by 3% or 2%.

Mr. Paul would cut the federal budget by $1 trillion immediately. He can’t do it, of course, but voters sense he really wants to. As Milton Friedman once explained, the true tax on the American people is the level of spending — the resources taken from the private sector and employed in the public sector. Whether financed from direct taxation, inflation or borrowing, spending is the burden.

• Foreign policy and military spending. As the only candidate other than Jon Huntsman who says it is past time to bring the troops home from Afghanistan, Mr. Paul has tapped into a stirring recognition by limited-government Republicans and independents that an overreaching military presence around the world is inconsistent with small, constitutional government at home.

The massive cost of these interventions, in treasure and blood, highlights what a mistake they are, as sensible people on the left and right recognized from the beginning. Of course we want a strong military capable of defending the United States, but our current expenditures equal what the rest of the world spends, which makes little sense. It is futile to try to be the world’s policeman — to try to create an American Empire as so many neoconservatives promote. And we can’t afford it.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Republican Primary Schedule 2012

January 2, 2012 – 11:16 am

The 2012 GOP primary/caucus schedule is nearly set in stone. The calendar dates below are believed to be accurate unless last minute changes occur to the schedule. Always check with your local board of elections to verify election dates, times and locations ahead of time. Note that “Super Tuesday” in 2012 falls on March 6th, however, it is a little less “super” than it has been in years past.

State Quick Find

Select Your StateAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

Full Primary/Caucus Calendar

January 3, 2012 Iowa (caucus)
January 10, 2012 New Hampshire (primary)
January 21, 2012 South Carolina (primary)
January 31, 2012 Florida (primary)
February 4, 2012 Nevada (caucus)
February 4–11, 2012 Maine (caucus)
February 7, 2012 Colorado (caucus)
Minnesota (caucus)
Missouri (primary) – *See note below on Missouri
February 28, 2012 Arizona (primary)
Michigan (primary)
March 3, 2012 Washington (caucus)
March 6, 2012
(Super Tuesday)		 Alaska (caucus)
Georgia (primary)
Idaho (caucus)
Massachusetts (primary)
North Dakota (caucus)
Ohio (primary)
Oklahoma (primary)
Tennessee (primary)
Vermont (primary)
Virginia (primary)
March 6-10, 2012 Wyoming (caucus)
March 10, 2012 Kansas (caucus)
U.S. Virgin Islands (caucus)
March 13, 2012 Alabama (primary)
Hawaii (caucus)
Mississippi (primary)
March 17, 2012 Missouri (GOP caucus) – *See note below on Missouri
March 20, 2012 Illinois (primary)
March 24, 2012 Louisiana (primary)
April 3, 2012 District of Columbia (primary)
Maryland (primary)
Wisconsin (primary)
Texas (primary)
April 24, 2012 Connecticut (primary)
Delaware (primary)
New York (primary)
Pennsylvania (primary)
Rhode Island (primary)
May 8, 2012 Indiana (primary)
North Carolina (primary)
West Virginia (primary)
May 15, 2012 Nebraska (primary)
Oregon (primary)
May 22, 2012 Arkansas (primary)
Kentucky (primary)
June 5, 2012 California (primary)
Montana (primary)
New Jersey (primary)
New Mexico (primary)
South Dakota (primary)
June 26, 2012 Utah (primary)

*Missouri: Missouri will hold a primary on February 7th, 2012, which will not count for delegates toward the 2012 GOP convention. The Missouri Republican Party will hold a caucus on March 17th, 2012, which will determine the delegates sent to the 2012 GOP convention – See report from CNN

Please contact us if you find an error in the primary schedule.

Page Last Updated: 11/15/2011

Related posts:

 

Spending cuts proposed by Republican presidential candidates

I have talked a lot about spending cuts on this blog. Here is a great article on this very subject: A Guide to the Presidential Candidates’ Proposals to Cut Spending Posted by Tad DeHaven Over at Downsizing the Federal Government, Chris Edwards and I have regularly complained that most policymakers have been insufficiently specific when it comes […]

Ron Paul on Jay Leno (part 1)

I saw Ron Paul on Jay Leno last night: As President, Ron Paul will lead the way out of this crisis by: * Vetoing any unbalanced budget Congress sends to his desk. * Refusing to further raise the debt ceiling so politicians can no longer spend recklessly. * Fighting to fully audit (and then end) […]

If elected what would Ron Paul do as President?

It appears that Ron Paul may win in Iowa according to Mike Huckabee (Arkansas Times Blog). Ron Paul was right in my view when he noted that Obama is beating himself and ANY OF THE REPUBLICANS WOULD BEAT HIM IN NOVEMBER. In the clip above you will see comments from Ron Paul from the latest […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in Arkansas Times | Edit | Comments (0)

Ron Paul answers Sean Hannity concerning racist charges

Is Ron Paul racist? Judge for yourself by reading this article in Reason Magazine that goes over the 2001 Texas Monthly article that Ron Paul refers to often. Related Posts: Immigration views of Ron Paul and Milton Friedman December 23, 2011 – 1:59 pm Two very wise men below: Milton Friedman – Illegal Immigration – PT […]

Immigration views of Ron Paul and Milton Friedman

Two very wise men below: Milton Friedman – Illegal Immigration – PT 1 (1 of 2) Professor Friedman looks at the dynamics of illegal immigration. See part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfU9Fqah-f4 http://Libertypen.com _______________________________________ Back in 1980 I read the book “Free to Choose” by Milton and Rose Friedman. I noticed that Milton made it clear both in […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (1)

Christopher Hitchens discusses Ron Paul in 3-2-11 inteview

Max Brantley in the Arkansas Times Blog reports that Ron Paul is leading in Iowa. Maybe it is time to take a closer look at his views. In the above clip you will see Chistopher Hitchens discuss Ron Paul’s views. In the clip below you will find Ron Paul’s latest commercial. Below is a short […]

Should conservatives support Ron Paul? (part 3)

Below is a portion of an article I read concerning Ron Paul’s social views. Ron Paul (Cheryl Senter/AP) Saint Paul: Inside Ron Paul’s effort to convince Christian conservatives that he’s their man By Chris MoodyPolitical Reporter By Chris Moody | The Ticket – Fri, Dec 9, 2011   ‘Does it take some explanation? Yes. Can it be […]

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Republican mainstream candidate Romney slips behind Gingrich and Paul

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich appears at a news conference before a tea party rally in New York Saturday. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) Who would have thought that the mainstream candidate Mitt Romney would fall to third in the polls in Iowa behind Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul? I am not too happy with Newt because […]

I love Ron Paul’s latest commercial

DES MOINES, IOWA– Ron Paul’s presidential campaign released a comparitvely edgy new ad Monday that will air on local and cable networks across Iowa and New Hampshire. The spot touts Paul’s call to cut a trillion dollars from federal budget in his first year in office. Played over a rock track, a man’s voice in the […]

Herman Cain: Another good man brought down by sex outside of marriage?

    Herman Cain’s campaign was at the highest point a few weeks ago when it seemed that he would fly right into the  Republican nomination and probably defeat Obama for the right to be President of the United States. However, things went south when it was revealed that he had given money to Ginger […]

Thomas Sowell:Romney not conservative enough

I have loved reading Thomas Sowell’s articles for many years. I remember when Milton Friedman brought him into the discussion in his film series “Free to Choose.” I have put some links below to some of those episodes. Many papers across the country carried this story below from Sowell. Basically he points out in the […]

All candidates respond to last question in Republican debate of October 11, 2011 (with video clip)

You can get a good comparison of the candidates from this clip above. Below is a very good summary of the candidates from early this summer. The 2012 Contenders and the Debt Ceiling by Michael D. Tanner Michael Tanner is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and coauthor of Leviathan on the Right: How […]

Herman Cain’s recent visit to Arkansas

Uploaded by JasonTcpa on Oct 28, 2011 Herman Cain on Foreign Policy “The Cain Philosophy” _________________________________ Jason Tolbert had a fine report on Cain’s recent speech in Northwest Arkansas: Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain spoke Thursday evening to a record northwest Arkansas crowd, which he brought to their feet with several standing ovations during his […]

Video clip of Michele Bachmann in interview after October 11, 2011 Republican debate

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Cato Institute grades Perry’s flat tax

I really like to read Dan Mitchell’s opinions. Grading Perry’s Flat Tax: Some Missing Homework, but a Solid B+ Posted by Daniel J. Mitchell Governor Rick Perry of Texas has announced a plan, which he outlines in the Wall Street Journal, to replace the corrupt and inefficient internal revenue code with a flat tax. Let’s […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

Governments know what they are doing these days?

January 2, 2012 – 10:59 am

 I really enjoyed this article below:

The Year of Governments Living Dangerously

The Fed’s low-interest policy is doing little to help banks and doing a lot to put public pension funds in jeopardy.

By GEORGE MELLOAN

What words could best describe the most baleful influence on the global economy in the year 2011? How about “governmental dysfunction?”

The European banking crisis that has threatened global finance is about nothing more or less than the failure of the governments of Greece, Italy, Portugal, et al., to control their budgets, raising doubts about the value of their bonds. Rather than trim their bloated public sectors, they have preferred to beg for bailouts.

The U.S. government has run deficits exceeding a trillion dollars for the last three fiscal years, forcing it to borrow heavily from the Federal Reserve, China and Japan. Despite warning signals from credit-rating agencies, Washington is doing no better than the Europeans in bringing spending under control.

Private banks in the U.S., Asia and Japan have been enlisted to help finance massive public deficits. As a Christmas present to beleaguered governments, the European Central Bank on Dec. 21 pumped $640 billion into European banks. French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested pointedly that they use it to buy sovereign debt. So much for the ECB’s one-time resolve to hold the line on sovereign-debt bailouts.

U.S. and Japanese banks, whose main business once was lending to the private sector, also are responding to various inducements to load up on government-issued paper. In simple terms, governments are increasingly plundering the private sector to raise cash. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s low-interest-rate monetary policy is doing little to help the banks and doing a lot to put public pension funds in jeopardy. Teachers, policemen, firemen and the like won’t be able to count on the benefits defined in their contracts if the funds continue to have extreme difficulty in getting a decent return on investments.

[melloan]Corbis

The Republican House and its budget chairman, Paul Ryan, have at least put the budget problem on the agenda. But hopes for big achievements have been disappointed. Congress finally passed the fiscal-year 2011 budget last April—six months late—but with only a minuscule cut in discretionary spending. Unsurprisingly, Congress once again missed its Sept. 30 deadline for passing a new budget.

The fiscal-year 2012 appropriation bills offer no hope of reform. According to a Heritage Foundation analysis, the drafts now moving through Congress spend more than the House Budget Resolution last spring—a resolution that called for only a $30 billion reduction from FY 2011 discretionary spending of $1.0498 trillion. Obsolete or ineffectual departments like Agriculture, Commerce, Labor and Education will still receive their accustomed share of taxpayer billions.

Budgetary stasis is unhappily only part of the problem of dysfunctional government. Federal regulatory agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency in particular, have gone out of control. Washington is still laboring under the hallucination that it can change the climate of the planet (they assume it needs to be changed) by writing rules and regulations. The latest EPA brainstorm will force the shutdown of enough coal-fired power plants to put the nation in danger of serious power shortages. Scare tactics, like posing a nonexistent threat of mercury poisoning, is part of the game.

And then there is Dodd-Frank, that massive law passed in 2010 to punish “Wall Street” for a 2008 financial meltdown that was mostly the fault of the bill’s two authors, Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank. They were the two main defenders in Congress of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored enterprises mainly responsible for poisoning the world securities market with toxic mortgage-backed securities.

Dodd-Frank left it to regulators to write the detailed rules for how banks and securities houses will henceforth run their businesses. And boy, do those guys know how to write rules. The proposed guideline for just one of the many strictures in Dodd-Frank runs 288 pages. It deals with the so-called “Volcker rule,” which will prohibit banks from trading securities for their own account. Former FDIC chairwoman Sheila Bair, writing in Fortune, describes it as a “Rube Goldberg contraption of regulation,” noting that the Glass-Steagall Act, which applied something similar to the Volcker rule from 1933 until it was repealed in 1999, ran to only 32 pages.

The Pelosi-Reid Congresses from 2007 through 2010 were responsible for such effusions. There’s also ObamaCare, yet another massive bill that turns over the vital details to the federal bureaucracy. Businesses, doctors and hospital administrators can only await with fear what confusions and delusions the bureaucrats produce out of their efforts to mastermind the many millions of decisions that must be made daily in a vital and complex industry.

Judging from opinion polls showing increasing public contempt for what goes on in Washington, voters are frustrated by their seeming inability to get the attention of the beast. The ups and downs in the polls of the Republican presidential candidates reflect an anxiety over whether any of them are up to the job.

Of course, there is a president now, Barack Obama. But he resigned from active duty last summer, preferring to spend most of his time giving speeches in his campaign for re-election. Like the Republicans, he too is running against the government. That’s a curious position to take, given that what he is running against is very much his creation.

Mr. Melloan, a former columnist and deputy editor of the Journal editorial page, is author of “The Great Money Binge: Spending Our Way to Socialism” (Simon & Schuster, 2009).

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events, spending out of control | Comments (0)

Max Brantley and Ark Times bloggers poke fun at Tebow after 3rd straight loss

January 2, 2012 – 10:28 am

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Arkansas Times Blogger who goes by the name “Elwood” remarked (The New Year line | Arkansas Blog ):

I tuned in late to the KC v Denver Bronco game, just the last few minutes to see CBS giving adequate coverage to Tebow on his knees at his team’s bench in deep prayer. He seemed so isolated. Other players were watching the game intently or engaged with a coach. Tebow, head bowed, moving lips indicated he was talking to Jesus, just detached and removed as he could be from the game at hand. His last plays looked like that too. I agree, Jesus musta been busy with Iowa calls.

report8 of 9 people like this.   like  dislike
Posted by eLwood on January 1, 2012 at 8:08 PM
_______________________
This was in response to Max Brantley’s comment (The New Year line | Arkansas Blog ), ” I see God skipped the Broncos game again today. Lot of people on the horn from Iowa, I guess.” Continue reading →
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

Ron Paul on Mike Huckabee show

January 2, 2012 – 7:54 am

Ron Paul is pro-life:

AN EXPERIENCED PHYSICIAN

As an OB/GYN who delivered over 4,000 babies, Ron Paul knows firsthand how precious, fragile, and in need of protection life is.

Dr. Paul’s experience in science and medicine only reinforced his belief that life begins at conception, and he believes it would be inconsistent for him to champion personal liberty and a free society if he didn’t also advocate respecting the God-given right to life—for those born and unborn.

After being forced to witness an abortion being performed during his time in medical school, he knew from that moment on that his practice would focus on protecting life.  And during his years in medicine, never once did he find an abortion necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman.

As a physician, Ron Paul consistently put his beliefs into practice and saved lives by helping women seek options other than abortion, including adoption.  And as President, Ron Paul will continue to fight for the same pro-life solutions he has upheld in Congress, including:

* Immediately saving lives by effectively repealing Roe v. Wade and preventing activist judges from interfering with state decisions on life by removing abortion from federal court jurisdiction through legislation modeled after his “We the People Act.”

* Defining life as beginning at conception by passing a “Sanctity of Life Act.”

Because he agrees with Thomas Jefferson that it is “sinful and tyrannical” to “compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors,” Ron Paul will also protect the American people’s freedom of conscience by working to prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for abortions, Planned Parenthood, or any other so-called “family planning” program.

The strength of love for liberty in our society can be judged by how we treat the most innocent among us.  It’s time to elect a President with the courage and conviction to stand up for every American’s right to life.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Mike Huckabee, Prolife | Comments (0)

Reasons why Mark Pryor will be defeated in 2014 (Part 11)

January 2, 2012 – 12:34 am

It is apparent from this statement below that Senator Mark Pryor is against the Balanced Budget Amendment. He has voted against it over and over like his father did and now I will give reasons in this series why Senator Pryor will be defeated in his re-election bid in 2014. However, first I wanted to quote the statement Senator Pryor gave on December 14, 2011. This information below is from the Arkansas Times Blog on 12-14-11 and Max Brantley:

THREE CHEERS FOR MARK PRYOR: Our senator voted not once, but twice, today against one of the hoariest (and whoriest) of Republican gimmicks, a balanced budget amendment. Let’s quote him:

As H.L. Mencken once said, “For every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, clean, and wrong.” This quote describes the balanced budget amendment. While a balanced budget amendment makes for an easy talking point, it is an empty solution. Moreover, it’s a reckless choice that handcuffs our ability to respond to an economic downturn or national emergencies without massive tax increases or throwing everyone off Medicare, Social Security, or veteran’s care.There is a more responsible alternative to balance the budget. President Clinton led the way in turning deficits into record surpluses. We have that same opportunity today, using the blueprint provided by the debt commission as a starting point. We need to responsibly cut spending, reform our tax code and create job growth. This course requires hard choices over a number of years. However, it offers a more balanced approach over jeopardizing safety net programs and opportunity for robust economic growth.

____________________

Mark Pryor will not be re-elected in 2014 in part because he voted for a 900 billion stimulus bill in 2009. SENATOR PRYOR DOES NOT WANT THE BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT BECAUSE IT WOULD MAKE FUTURE STIMULUS BILLS UNLIKELY. BASICALLY PRYOR BELIEVES THAT GOVERNMENT IS THE SOLUTION TO ALL OUR PROBLEMS. WHY ELSE DID HE VOTE FOR THE FAILED STIMULUS IN 2009?

I have included an article below that makes a very good point about the Balanced Budget Amendment and the stimulus:

Lee believes there are several key components to a balanced budget amendment which he outlines in his book, including making tax increases contingent on a two-thirds vote in Congress so that the option to increase taxes is not the default maneuver to balance a budget. He believes the amendment should require Congress spends no more than it takes in, and in fact should cap the spending at a fixed percent of GDP (the proposal submitted in the Senate caps it at 18 percent of GDP, just about the historical average). There would also be a supermajority vote required to raise the debt ceiling.

And for those who argue that stimulus packages wouldn’t have been possible under the amendment, Lee sees little difficulty responding.

“That’s exibit A for why we ought to have it,” Lee said of the Obama stimulus package.

That is a very good point in favor of having a balanced budget amendment in my view. I have been critical of Pryor for supporting the stimulus in the past.

Lee Makes His Case for a Balanced Budget Amendment

By Elisabeth Meinecke

7/18/2011

As Washington spends the summer arguing over its spending addiction, GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has a solution to help prevent the same crisis for future generations: a balanced budget amendment.

The House made news last week when, in the heat of negotiations over raising the debt ceiling, they announced a vote on a balanced budget amendment this Wednesday. Though the Senate GOP introduced a one earlier this year, President Obama has stated emphatically otherwise, telling Americans last week during a press conference that the country does not need a balanced budget amendment.

“Yes, we do,” Lee told Townhall when asked to respond to the president, adding later when talking about simultaneously raising the debt ceiling and cutting spending, “We can’t bind what a future Congress will do. We can pass laws that will affect this year, but there will be a new Congress that takes power in January of 2013, and then another new one that will take power in January 2015. And they will make their own spending decisions then — we can’t bind them unless we amend the Constitution to do so.”

Lee points out that the American people support the idea of a balanced budget – 65 percent, according to a Sachs/Mason Dixon poll from this year – but politicians have been reluctant to wade into the debate.

“The fact that we’re in this debate, the fact that we’re sort of deadlocked, or we’ve reached a point of gridlock in the discussions, is indicative of the problem that we have,” Lee said.

In fact, Lee thinks a balanced budget amendment is so important to the future of the country that he’s written a book on it: The Freedom Agenda: Why a Balanced Budget Amendment Is Necessary to Restore Constitutional Government.

Lee even takes the argument a step beyond fiscal issues, saying a balanced budget amendment safeguards individual liberties.

““The more money it [Congress] has access to, whether it’s through borrowing or through taxation, either way, that’s going to fuel Congress’ expansion, and whenever government acts, it does so at the expanse of individual liberty,” Lee said. “We become less free every time government expands.”

Lee believes there are several key components to a balanced budget amendment which he outlines in his book, including making tax increases contingent on a two-thirds vote in Congress so that the option to increase taxes is not the default maneuver to balance a budget. He believes the amendment should require Congress spends no more than it takes in, and in fact should cap the spending at a fixed percent of GDP (the proposal submitted in the Senate caps it at 18 percent of GDP, just about the historical average). There would also be a supermajority vote required to raise the debt ceiling.

And for those who argue that stimulus packages wouldn’t have been possible under the amendment, Lee sees little difficulty responding.

“That’s exibit A for why we ought to have it,” Lee said of the Obama stimulus package.

Lee also pointed out that his balanced budget amendment includes an exception to the spending restriction in time of war – “not a blank check, but to the extent necessary.” Congress would also be able to supersede the amendment with a two-thirds vote.

“We wanted to make it difficult, but not impossible, for Congress to spend more than it had access to,” Lee said, citing as an example a massive or immediate crisis created by a national emergency or natural disaster. “What this is designed to do is to make it more difficult – to make it impossible – for Congress to just do this as a matter of course.”

Elisabeth Meinecke

Elisabeth Meinecke is Associate Editor with Townhall.com

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in spending out of control | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Cato Institute: The state of the economy under Obama

January 1, 2012 – 1:46 pm

The Cato Institute: The state of the economy under Obama

It is truly said how far to the left our country has gone.

Happy Fiscal New Year (with an Unhappy Obama Hangover)

Posted by Daniel J. Mitchell

Today, October 1, is the first day of the 2012 fiscal year.

And if you’re wondering why America’s economy seems to have a hangover (this cartoon is a perfect illustration), it’s because politicians had a huge party with our money in FY2011.

We don’t have final numbers for the fiscal year that just ended, but let’s look at the CBO Monthly Budget Report, the CBO Economic and Budget Update, and the OMB Historical Tables, and see whether there’s anything worth celebrating.

o The federal government spent about $3.6 trillion in FY2011, more money than any government has ever spent in a 12-month period in the history of the world.

o The FY2011 budget is nearly double the burden of federal spending just 10 years earlier, when federal outlays consumed “only” $1.86 trillion.

o The federal budget in FY2011 consumed about 24 percent of national output, up sharply compared to a spending burden in FY2001 of “just” 18.2 percent of GDP.

o Defense spending is too high, and has increased by about $400 billion since 2001, but the vast majority of the additional spending is for domestic spending programs.

o Federal tax revenue in FY2011 will be about $2.25 trillion, an increase of 7-8 percent over FY2010 levels.

o Economic stagnation has affected tax revenues, which are lower than the $2.6 trillion level from FY2007.

o Federal receipts amount to about 15.3 percent of GDP, below the long-run average of 18 percent of GDP.

o The Congressional Budget Office does predict that revenues will rise above the 18-percent average – without any tax increases – by the end of the decade.

o Record levels of government spending, combined with low revenues caused by a weak economy, will result in a $1.3 trillion deficit.

o This is the third consecutive deficit of more than $1 trillion.

o The publicly-held national debt (the amount borrowed from the private sector) is now more than $10 trillion.

With budget numbers like these, no wonder America has a fiscal hangover.

And let’s be blunt about assigning blame. Yes, Obama has been a reckless big spender, but he is merely continuing the irresponsible statist policies of his predecessor.

Fortunately, there is a solution. All we need to do is restrain the growth of federal spending, as explained in this video.

___________________

But we also know that it is difficult to convince politicians to do what’s right for the nation. And if they don’t change the course of fiscal policy, and we leave the federal government on autopilot, then America is doomed to become another Greece.

The combination of poorly designed entitlement programs (mostly Medicare and Medicaid) and an aging population will lead to America’s fiscal collapse.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute | Comments (0)

Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 9 “The Age of Personal Peace and Affluence” (Schaeffer Sundays)

January 1, 2012 – 12:51 am

E P I S O D E 9

A Christian Manifesto Francis Schaeffer

Published on Dec 18, 2012

A video important to today. The man was very wise in the ways of God. And of government. Hope you enjoy a good solis teaching from the past. The truth never gets old.

The Roots of the Emergent Church by Francis Schaeffer

Francis Shaeffer – The early church (part1)

Francis Shaeffer – The early church (part 2)

Francis Shaeffer – The early church (part 3)

Francis Shaeffer – The early church (part 4)

Francis Shaeffer – The early church (part 5)

How Should We then Live Episode 7 small (Age of Nonreason)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygzh713TQn8

#02 How Should We Then Live? (Promo Clip) Dr. Francis Schaeffer

10 Worldview and Truth
Two Minute Warning: How Then Should We Live?: Francis Schaeffer at 100

Francis Schaeffer Whatever Happened to the Human Race (Episode 1) ABORTION

Francis Schaeffer “BASIS FOR HUMAN DIGNITY” Whatever…HTTHR

________________

T h e Age of Personal Peace and Afflunce

I. By the Early 1960s People Were Bombarded From Every Side by Modern Man’s Humanistic Thought

II. Modern Form of Humanistic Thought Leads to Pessimism

Regarding a Meaning for Life and for Fixed Values

A. General acceptance of selfish values (personal peace and affluence) accompanied rejection of Christian consensus.

1. Personal peace means: I want to be left alone, and I don’t care what happens to the man across the street or across the world. I want my own life-style to be undisturbed regardless of what it will mean — even to my own children and grandchildren.

2. Affluence means things, things, things, always more things — and success is seen as an abundance of things.

B. Students wish to escape meaninglessness of much of adult society.

1. Watershed was Berkeley in 1964.

2. Drug Taking as an ideology: “turning on” the world.

3. Free Speech Movement on Sproul Plaza.

a) At first neither Left nor Right.

b) Soon became the New Left.

(1) Followed Marcuse.

(2) Paris riots.

4. Student analysis of problem was right, but solution wrong.

5. Woodstock, Altamont, and the end of innocence.

6. Drug taking survives the death of ideology but as an escape.

7. Demise of New Left: radical bombings.

8. Apathy supreme. The young accept values of the older generation: their own idea of personal peace and affluence, even though adopting a different life-style.

C. Marxism and Maoism as pseudo-ideals.

1. Vogue for idealistic communism which is another form of leap into the area of non-reason.

2. Solzhenitsyn: violence and expediency as norms of communism.

3. Communist repression in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

4. Communism has neither philosophic nor historic base for freedom. There is no base for “Communism with a human face.”

5. Utopian Marxism steals its talk of human dignity from Christianity.

6. But when it comes to power, the desire of majority has no meaning.

7. Two streams of communism.

a) Those who hold it as an idealistic leap.

b) Old-line communists who hold orthodox communist ideology and bureaucratic structure as it exists in Russia.

8. Many in West might accept communism if it seemed to give peace and affluence.

III. Legal and Political Results of Attempted Human Autonomy

A. Relativistic law.

1. Base for nonarbitrary law gone; only inertia allows a few principles to survive.

2. Holmes and sociological (variable) law.

3. Sociological law comes from failure of natural law (see evolution of existential from rationalistic theology).

4. Courts are now generating law.

5. Medical, legal, and historical arbitrariness of Supreme Court ruling on abortion and current abortion practice.

B. Sociological law opens door to racism, abrogation of freedoms,  euthanasia, and so on.

IV. Social Alternatives After Death of Christian Consensus

A. Hedonism? But might is right when pleasures conflict.

B. Without external absolute, majority vote is absolute. But this justifies a Hitler.

V. Conclusion

A. If there is no absolute by which to judge society, then society is absolute.

B. Humanist thinking—making the individual and mankind the center of all things (autonomous) — has led to death in our culture and in our political life.

Note: Social alternatives after the death of Christian consensus are continued in Episode Ten.

Questions

1. What was the basic cause of campus unrest in the sixties? What has happened to the campus scene since, and why?

2. What elements — in the life and thought of the communist and noncommunist world alike — suggest a possible base for world agreement?

3. “To prophesy doom about Western society is premature. We are, like all others who have lived in times of great change, too close to the details to see the broader picture. One thing we do know:

Society has always gone on, and the most wonderful epochs have followed the greatest depressions. To suggest that our day is the exception says more about our headache than it does about our head.” Debate.

4. As Dr. Schaeffer shows, many apparently isolated events and options gain new meaning when seen in the context of the whole. How far does your own involvement in business, law, financing, and so on reveal an acquiescence to current values?

Key Events and Persons

Oliver Wendell Holmes: 1841-1935

Herbert Marcuse: 1898-1979

Alexander Solzhenitsyn: 1917-

Hungarian Revolution: 1956

Free Speech Movement: 1964

Czechoslovakian repression: 1968

Woodstock and Altamont: 1969

Radical bombings: 1970

Supreme Court abortion ruling: 1973

Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago: 1973-74

Further Study

Keeping one’s eyes and ears open is the most useful study project: the prevalence of pornographic films and books, more and more suggestive advertising and TV shows, and signs of arbitrary absolutes.

The following books will repay careful reading, and Solzhenitsyn, though long and horrifying, should not be skipped.

Os Guinness, The Dust of Death (1973).

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago: Parts I-II (1973), Parts III-IV (1974).

R

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