Baldwin: THE IMPOTENT CHURCH AND ROMANS 13
There are over 300,000 evangelical Christian churches in America. That equates to tens of millions of professing Christians and hundreds of thousands of Christian ministers. Think of the church sanctuaries, educational facilities, schools, camps, radio broadcasts, television programs, colleges, seminaries, preschools, youth retreats, etc., that grace America. In some communities there is a church building on just about every corner. In spite of this massive exposure to the modern Church, however, the nation has been left virtually unaffected, uninfluenced, and unimpressed.
A pervading sense of awe seems to be engulfing Arab societies everywhere. What is underway in the Arab world is greater than simply revolution in a political or economic sense– it is, in fact, shifting the very self-definition of what it means to be Arab, both individually and collectively. 
“What”, you say? You aren’t going to bow down to anybody! Really. We hate to be the one to inform you, but you are too late! You already have bowed down and you have been showing your posterior to the government every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month and every year, for more than a century. You just don’t know that you are doing it. That is because you don’t know the “blueprint for freedom” and you also don’t know that the government has been savaging that blueprint since the ink was barely dry on the Constitution. 
1. Government officials have NO OBLIGATION (absolutely zero obligation) to deliver anything they give away to public sector labor unions in the bargaining process, including but not limited to: wages, benefits, working conditions, hours of work, overtime, seniority rights, job descriptions, representation, special memorandums of agreement, incentives, waivers, pension plans, perks, special privileges, retirement benefits, management’s rights, etc. etc. Instead, 100% of the obligation to deliver what government officials give away to public sector (government) unions falls on the shoulders of American taxpayers, even though taxpayers are not present during negotiations, they have no knowledge of what is transpiring and have no say or input into the bargaining process. There is no difference between union-government bargaining and a scenario where two hungry vultures (one union business agent, plus one government bargaining representative) and a hamster (uninformed taxpayer) are voting on what to have for dinner. 
“At this point, it’s almost certainly too late to manage a transition to sustainability on a global or national scale, even if the political will to attempt it existed, which it clearly does not. Our civilization is in the early stages of the same curve of decline and fall as so many others have followed before it. What likely lies in wait for us is a long, uneven decline into a new Dark Age from which, centuries from now, the civilizations of the future will gradually emerge.” 
We attended a meeting of property rights folks last night, where a discussion ensued about why property owners facing land use code violations, can’t get a jury trial. Three land use attorneys had been invited to the meeting to give their perspective on the issue. It was a lively meeting where debates went back on forth about the meaning of a “jury of your peers”, state law, federal law, criminal versus civil violations, etc., etc., etc. They talked about changing the law in certain areas to help landowners get a fairer shake in the legal process. 
Skyrocketing oil prices are creating new political risks for President Obama, who is considering tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to relieve drivers suffering at the pump.
Churchville, VA — Forty thousand researchers and clinicians have just written to the journal Science —through their professional societies—asking for broader and quicker testing of “new chemicals in our environment.” Eight societies, including the geneticists, endocrinologists, developmental biologists and others say that 12,000 new substances are being registered with the America Chemical Society every day. They admit that not many of these “new substances” will ever make it into the environment. 
I just can’t believe it. After all the lecturing I’ve done on the subject, I still hear people refer to our system of government as a democracy. Folks, for one last time, we are not a democracy, we are a republic. There is a difference, and it is rather substantial.
