Dr Paul Allen

When Barack Obama took office as president in 2009 he converted the White House tennis court into a basketball court for private pick-up games, to de-stress and stay fit. Games were strict “invitation only.” Instantly, this became the most sought-after invitation in Washington. Congressmen, senators, legislators, celebrities, donors, dignitaries, and diplomats of all stripes would contact the White House, the chief-of-staff, the press secretary, the communications director, and any other highly placed official to try beg, bribe, or bargain their way into a game with the President. None of these requests succeeded. What the powerless power brokers didn’t know was that there was only one person that arranged players for these games. There was only one man who could get you into the inner circle, and that person was a 20-something intern named Reggie Love, the President’s body man. “Body man” is jargon for “special assistant and personal aide to the President.” His job is to get whatever

The issue of Islam is never far from our headlines. Early in his administration, President Barack Obama put the issue of Islam front and center on the international stage. His visits to Islamic-dominated lands and his public statements to the Muslim world have raised a host of questions at home and abroad. In a speech to the Turkish parliament , President Obama declared: “The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam.” He went on to say that “our partnership with the Muslim world is critical not just in rolling back the violent ideologies that people of all faiths reject, but also to strengthen opportunity for all its people.” But the President also spoke of his “deep appreciation for the Islamic faith .” Here is the statement in context: I also want to be clear that America’s relationship with the Muslim community, the Muslim world, cannot, and will not, just be based upon opposition to terrorism. We seek broader engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respe

Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, 2008 US presidential candidate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The election is over, and I sense there's something of a gloomy spirit in many conservative corners of the country this morning. Analysts and pundits, and even the candidates themselves, billed this year's contest as a crossroads of great consequence.  They were right. As many Christians who see the confluence of our faith and the many issues of culture, we poured our hearts and souls into this year's election. We donated our time and gave of our treasure. We made phone calls. We helped to register and educate new voters . We prayed. And how could we not? The stakes were sky high. In casting a vote for President Obama or his challenger, Governor Mitt Romney , Americans were either affirming or rejecting a very specific governing philosophy. Of equal importance, we were also passing judgment on the respective candidate's ideology concerning some of the criti

Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Who does President Barack Obama think he is that he can change the wording of the Declaration of Independence ? Again and again he presumes to quote the great Declaration while making a significant change: he omits the word “Creator.” Americans know that the Declaration of Independence proclaims as a matter of fact that they “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights .” But when Obama recites this line, he omits the word “Creator.” Listen  carefully to how Obama censors that famous line. Here are his own words: “all men are created equal, that each of us are endowed with certain inalienable rights.” He doesn’t say who endowed us. Obama has done this so often that it can’t be a slip of the tongue or a glitch of the teleprompter. Changing the words of the Declaration of Independence is part of Obama’s determination t

Image via Wikipedia A sign flashed at the Occupy Wall Street protest reads "People Before Profits." It is an effective sign. Who could support Profits Before People? Some Wall Street employees have apparently responded sympathetically to the protestors, trying to understand their demands. But part of the power of the protest lies in its ambiguity. Americans are angry about many issues today. In such a climate it may be more strategic to focus on the common anger than on specificities. The protests are centered on Wall Street because they target political corruption in the finance industry. But the world of finance is very complex. Part of the problem is that it became too complex, so complex that even the financiers themselves couldn't understand the implications or robustness of the financial derivatives they were trading, or even how to properly price them. (They seemed to be particularly challenged with pricing derivatives of sub-prime mortgages.) The problems with