Talking about the "things that matter most" on Sept. 10
4:00 – New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy
With the incredible popularity of recent books championing agnosticism or atheism, many people might never know that such books almost completely ignore the considerable evidence for theism uncovered in both physics and philosophy over the past four decades. Fr. Robert Spitzer responds to these glaring omissions. From universal space-time asymmetry to cosmic coincidences to the intelligibility of reality, Fr. Spitzer tackles a wealth of evidence. He considers string theory, quantum cosmology, mathematical thoughts on infinity, and much more. This fascinating and stunning collection of evidence provides solid grounding for reasonable and responsible belief in a super-intelligent, transcendent, creative power standing at the origins of our universe.
4:40 – “The Lord’s Prayer”
Fr. Robert Barron of Word on Fire Ministries and the Catholicism Project is here for his bi-monthly segment. Today he addresses the “Lord’s Prayer.”
5:00 – Finance Friday Part 1 of 10:
Architects of Ruin: How big government liberals wrecked the global economy
Today we begin an estimated 10-part series intended to fully explore the practical, political, moral and philosophical underpinnings of the financial meltdown of 2008. Our guide will be Dr. Max Torres and each “Financial Friday” we will be using as a base of discussion, one book written on an aspect of the financial crisis. Today, we being with Peter Schweitzer’s Architects of Ruin.
Re: The Max Torres Interview
ReplyDeleteA few things:
1. GSE stands for government-sponsored enterprise. (Al had it right.)
2. Fannie Mae was created in 1938 under FDR; Freddie Mac was created in 1970 under Nixon. (I once heard conservative talk show host Bill Cunningham say that both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created under Jimmy Carter. The talk radio business is the only business I know that actually thrives with shoddy workmanship.)
3. Watch out for Peter Schweizer. Don't automatically accept what he says at face value. He's on a partisan mission to convince us that Ronald Reagan is a demigod and Democrats are more evil than Satan. Note the words used during the interview: Carter Administration, CRA (think Jimmy Carter), community organizations (think Barack Obama), social engineering, ACORN, Saul Alinsky (think Barack Obama) ... you get the idea. (Schweizer likes to use the logical fallacy "post hoc ergo propter hoc," which seems to have become an addiction for him.)
Al, you downplayed the notion that banks would violate their economic self interest by denying loans to minorities. Libertarians frequently use this argument of economic self interest to "prove" that the public accommodations part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act is not necessary.
Of course, we know that businesses did indeed work against their own economic self interest (restaurants and motels most visibly) -- especially in the South. In fact, after the 1964 Civil Rights Act passed, the Heart of Atlanta Motel in Atlanta, Georgia challenged the public accommodations provision. I bet some businesses in the South did not want to violate their economic self interest, but they did so because they feared what white racists would do to them if they did serve blacks.
It's kind of like the smoking bans in bars and restaurants. Every bar I'm familiar with here in Colorado used to allow smoking. Most of the customers didn't smoke, but no bar wanted to be the first to ban smoking lest they lose their smoking customers. The universal smoking ban eliminated the problem of who goes first. Every bar manager and worker I've asked love the smoking ban -- even if they themselves smoke! Now, I'm a libertarian. So I oppose forced public accommodations and smoking bans on principle. But there's no doubt; these government mandates have had a practical benefit.