Random Thoughts 12/29/05

• 5500 hits! Thanks for reading my blog. God bless you in the new year.
• Guess who is running for governor next year in Pennsylvania? Lynn Swann, former Pittsburgh Steeler and NFL Hall-of-Famer. His website is www.lynnswannteam88.com and his formal announcement is coming up next week. I've heard Mr. Swann give political speeches and commentary and I've never been anything but impressed. I really hope he wins. Read a brief bio of him here.
• There may have been a brief attack of common sense. According to a recent poll, 64% of Americans believe the NSA should be able to use wiretaps to listen to phone calls. When you're talking about hostile operatives who are trying to harm Americans… uh, yeah, go ahead and wiretap them. It's not like you're talking about Watergate (which is completely unacceptable), this is war. And the President has the Constitutional right (and responsibility) to do this. Most people understand this.
• I'm finishing up the Chronicles of Narnia (I'm just about to start the seventh and final book). I'll post some thoughts about it next month.
• FOX News has been doing several reports this last week about the decline of Christianity in Europe. Churches are empty and being sold. Europeans are militantly secular, openly jeering anything religious. Muslims, mostly non-integrated to European society, are increasing at alarming rates. But it's not just the decline of Christianity, it's the decline of Europe. Consider the low birth rates and the legalization (and promotion) of abortion, euthanasia, and suicide pills, and we may see the eclipse of white, Christian Europeans in our lifetime. Some European countries have such low birthrates that they are rapidly shrinking (mighty Russia may shrink to less than 25 million people in 100 years -- about equal to the population of the New York Metropolitan Area). Nearly all Eurpean nations are below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman (that means they're not replacing themselves). In the U.S., New England has a low, European-like replacement birthrate, but the rest of the country is well above what's necessary (I'm doing my part) and we have significant immigration to boot. While Europe shrinks, America grows.