The Wall Fell

I’ve been thinking a lot about freedom lately, but not for the reasons you might think.  Today is November 9, 2009, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In the summer of 1989, I was 16.  I watched with great interest the massacre of Tianamen Square.  All those people wanted was freedom; and I prayed for that man that stood defiantly in front of the column of tanks.  In Europe thousands of East Germans, under the hope of Perestroika and Glasnost began to flood in to the West German embassies in Hungary and Czechoslovakia with the hope of gaining admission to West Germany, and their freedom.  It was an eventful summer; I wondered what would be the eventual outcome.  I prayed for all of those people.  I prayed that somehow they would be free. Continue reading

Remembering Paul Harvey

I still remember the first time I heard Paul Harvey. I was working as a board operator at a local AM radio station in Provo, Utah.

There was something about his voice and the way he delivered the afternoon news and commentary. And I couldn’t resist the radio mystery of The Rest of the Story. The morning program was like an Agatha Christie murder mystery novel, but on the radio–always intriguing and exciting…a real who done it!

When the local ABC affiliate in Phoenix dropped Paul Harvey from their program schedule, I felt a sense of loss for that of an old friend. I missed hearing his voice on the radio, that folksy charm and his professions of undying love for his wife, Lynne, who he lovingly called “Angel”; the seamless transition from content to commercial–the man could pitch most any product convincingly.

Today, I again feel a sense of loss as I say again say goodbye to Paul Harvey, who died February 28, 2009 at the age of 90.

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“Whoever Wins, Chill A Bit”

Whoever Wins, Chill A Bit. 

Best election advice ever.  This paragraph is particularly important:

I’m not an Obama fan, particularly, but a lot of people I like and respect are. To treat Obama as something evil or subhuman would not only be disrespectful toward Obama, but toward them. Instead, I hope that if Obama is elected, their assessment of his strengths will turn out to be right, and mine will turn out to be wrong. Likewise, those who don’t like John McCain or Sarah Palin might reflect that by treating Palin and McCain as obviously evil and stupid, they’re disrespecting tens of millions of their fellow Americans who feel otherwise.

 That’s truth right there.  One reason I (mostly) stay away from political posts is the disrespect – the assumption that those who disagree are total dupes or willingly participating in evil.

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All I ask is that the candidates court me until the bitter end.

 [My first political post in a long, long while.  This is my one statement on the current campaign.  Other than here, I’m going to stay away from political posts because I abhor the lack of charity that permeates them.  The basic idea behind this was borrowed from Ann Althouse].

Yes, I’m conservative (mostly).  Yes, I’m an Alaskan (despite being in Texas at the moment).  If you think you know how I’m going to vote, you’re probably wrong.

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