tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55927525042063304422011-07-30T17:10:54.945-07:00Aspasian AspirationsKelli Renkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09427793027840410808noreply@blogger.comBlogger61100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592752504206330442.post-29416316449709806912010-07-07T08:45:00.001-07:002010-07-07T08:48:05.345-07:00The Worth of a GardenAs I drove home from the garden this morning, I thought I’d write about the different ways gardening benefits me. I’m not sure if my garden has yet been financially profitable, and I guess it hasn’t mattered enough to me to bother keeping track. There are so many ways to profit. Here are a few, in no particular order.The Harvest: This morning I brought home a bunch of carrots, a bunch of Kelli Renkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09427793027840410808noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592752504206330442.post-23824850301582387732010-01-04T05:27:00.000-08:002010-01-04T06:25:02.844-08:00Why I Haven't Bought Into the Global Warming TheorySometimes I joke about global warming, especially on frigid days like today. And I'm sure my friends who agree that the earth is warming find my jokes to be uneducated and insincere. In a sense, they are right about my arguments being uneducated, and that is at the heart of my objection to the theory.About the time I was first hearing about global warming, Al Gore was saying that the debate wasKelli Renkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09427793027840410808noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592752504206330442.post-52971186253270923332009-10-09T05:32:00.001-07:002009-10-09T06:14:58.948-07:00Wishes are HorsesWishes are horses. All you have to do is give a few speeches saying you want peace, and you will ride like a king. You don't actually have to do anything to win the Nobel Peace Prize. And when you actually do something to bring about peace--you know, like Ronald Reagan negotiating peace with the Soviet Union at Reykjavik--there is no prize. Thank God Reagan knew that the real prize was Kelli Renkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09427793027840410808noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592752504206330442.post-55061057849811535172009-09-06T11:57:00.000-07:002009-09-06T18:33:55.545-07:00Lessons from the Van Jones ResignationIt strikes me that we all have something to learn from the events that led to Van Jones' resignation. In the heat of our passions, we must exercise great discretion in the words we choose. Our words, for better or worse, will come back to haunt us.It wasn't that long ago that it made rhetorical sense to tailor speeches to specific audiences. Van Jones was speaking to sympathetic audiences whenKelli Renkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09427793027840410808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592752504206330442.post-59760887975913430772009-08-26T06:29:00.000-07:002009-09-03T10:02:19.763-07:00Straw Men Are Easy to BurnI'd like to start a running post of straw man arguments and other fallacies made by the proponents of universal health care. If you catch any, please send them along. I'll add them to the list and credit you. If you think I've misidentified a fallacy, let me know that as well. For those of you who aren't familiar with the straw man fallacy, here is a quick definition: The Straw Man fallacy Kelli Renkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09427793027840410808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592752504206330442.post-178874521654798042009-08-23T14:32:00.000-07:002009-08-23T15:02:32.427-07:00R-E-S-P-E-C-TWhy are pundits and politicians still debating the reasons for the President’s failure to sell his healthcare plan? They have all sorts of opinions: he misjudged the people’s estimation of the current healthcare system; he wrongfully construed his popularity as a mandate for a massive overhaul of the system; the Republican party is organizing to destroy the President. But no one is stating theKelli Renkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09427793027840410808noreply@blogger.com0