Signs and Wonders 02.27

Santorum's theological speeches. There's been a decidedly theological flavor to the speeches of Rick Santorum. A case in point: the former senator from Pennsylvania got seven standing ovations during a campaign stop at Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma with a speech that was strong on social values and religious language. Recent polls show Santorum neck-and-neck with rival Mitt Romney in Michigan, a state Romney had expected to win easily. Romney's father, George, served as Michigan's governor in the 1960s.

Violence against Christians in Nigeria. Two suicide bombers from the Boko Haram Islamist sect drove a car laden with bombs into the worship service of a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) congregation on Monday, killing at least one Christian girl and injuring dozens of other church members, according to Compass News Service. A man claiming to be a spokesman for Boko Haram reportedly claimed responsibility for the blast. At least 38 people were injured. Boko Haram, whose name translates loosely as "Western education is forbidden," seeks to impose a strict version of Sharia on Nigeria.

A narrow escape. When Kathleen Sebelius was governor of Kansas, potentially incriminating documents regarding Planned Parenthood were destroyed by the state. For lack of these documents, felony charges against Planned Parenthood were dropped. Last Friday, Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor said he would not file charges against Sebelius. The documents would have lent weight to charges that Planned Parenthood failed to report cases of child rape on children on whom Planned Parenthood did abortions, that it failed to test whether an unborn child was viable (as required by state law) before doing a late-term abortion, and that it manipulated records it submitted to the state to cover up those crimes. Forgive me for a bit of editorializing, but this whole situation reeks of scandal and wrong-doing, and it's now unlikely that Sebelius, Planned Parenthood, nor anyone associated with this scandal will ever be held accountable this side of eternity.

What, me worry? Japanese and Hong Kong shares are at a six-month high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit the psychologically important 13,000-mark last week. The Wilshire 5000, an index that reflects the combined value of all publicly traded stocks in the United States, taking dividends into account, is now near its all-time high set on Oct. 9, 2007. This index is much broader view of the market, and its rise means that the worst bear market since the 1930s is on the verge of being completely erased in just three years' time. Ron Paul and the gold bugs say we're headed for financial calamity-and I'm not saying they're wrong. But all of the leading indicators are trying to get us to believe otherwise.