To become a 21st century media executive in Los Angeles or New York, you will rise higher and faster if you can signal the following modern virtues.
· A herd-mentality, with dependency on politically-correct comradeship
· A fear of being incorrect
· A confidence in the superiority of Hollywood’s political culture
· A cold intolerance to differing viewpoints
· A loathing of a consistent high moral standard
· A bitterness toward a traditional environment that has allegedly wronged them
· An aggrieved mentality
· An imaginary sympathy with all other victims of white, male, Euro-centric culture
· An emancipator mentality, with the aggressive urge to force therapy on the psychologically inferior
· A fervent faith in the science of behavioral psychology
· A quick willingness to endorse totalitarian means to change culture
· A pessimistic distrust of European Christendom
· A bold attraction to every liberating idea, especially sexual license
· A bold dedication to shred the envelope of on-screen decency
· A strong desire to alienate others from all things traditional
· A sophisticated affinity for leftist politics and a hatred of conservative ideas
· A cunning realization that the sting of vindictive criticism must be light enough that viewers accept it.
The narrow strait is the most important chokepoint for the world's oil supply. Some 21 million barrels — or $1.2 billion worth of oil — pass through the strait every day.
Will a closed Strait hurt Iran? In terms of international oil sales, yes, but in terms of daily life, no. Iran pumps 3.5 million barrels of crude oil per day. The situation at this hour:
Most people hear “Hormuz” and think gas prices.
That’s part of it. But it’s bigger. It’s a central artery for global trade, and we talked about how disruptions hit second-order systems fast, including inputs tied to food production (field work and fertilizers), trucking, and downstream shocks in everything from shipping insurance to medicine, medical supplies, medical treatments and regional stability.
This is why the “we’re energy independent so it doesn’t matter” line is naive. In a globally priced commodity world, you don’t get to opt out.
Former Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali comes to Christ and discovers the supernatural Christian heritage of West, and how worldly families destroyed it. She is now married and living in the US.
"I like Os Guinness’s analogy of the cut flower civilization. I find it very vivid in regard to non-Christian conservative parents. Conservative non-Christian families are cutting themselves off from our foundational roots.
Let’s think about what happens to a plant when the roots die. What happens when you pick flowers and put them in a vase? Obviously, the flowers wither. And if you cut conservative morals off from Christianity, they fade.
"This decline is exactly what we have seen in the West over the last century and a half. Some people say the decay dates back to the Enlightenment. It’s a gradual fading that goes on and on. My fear is that we have landed in a place of moral wilderness.
"For the West to restore itself, it has to rediscover and revive its biblical roots. I insist that the biblical...