The Third Rail

Letter to an unbeliever

2012-01-17T16:29:00.001-06:00

As a newly regenerated Christian I feel compelled to addressthe remarks made by this writer of “Please wake up” who lectures us to reject thewisdom of the Bible and, instead, lookinward for our strength, replace our religious faith with the pursuit of ideas,and discover our own truths about the world.

This is an essentially a pagan approach to morality andreligion, as it does nothing more than encourage us to look to ourselves orother human beings for answers. Not onlydoes it infer that God and morality are relative, but also that we are thehighest intelligence available and that we, in fact, should worship ourselves andour ideas above no other. Perhaps I should forgive the writer for this, becausehe or she was taught in school that we were not created by a Creator but, inessence, by ourselves, as a microcosm of an autonomous self-regenerating,self-organizing, self-contained, reincarnating entity called Nature thatsomehow – somewhere - started with a bigbang (quantum fluctuation inpre-nothingness, or whatever.)

Forgive me if in fact I am being too harsh: Perhaps youbelieve that science is really not to be worshipped as fact (because if you didand had lived a mere 400 years ago, youmight still believe that the sun revolves around the earth.) Perhaps, unlike your idol Richard Dawkins, youconsider yourself to be a “spiritual” person and do believe in somethingoutside yourself or other humans that you can commune with. If so, pleaseenlighten me as to who or what that might be? Because I fear that, withoutJesus Christ, all you will discover are idols or deities that are no more than emanationsof your own self - or “Nature” - with no cause, rhyme or reason to exist. May God have mercy on your soul.

Conservatives' Last Stand

2011-12-21T10:15:00.015-06:00

At this writing, the corrupt Washington Political Establishment is poised to keep themselves in power for another four years. It appears that we are helpless to defeat them unless we beat them at their own game, which I fear we are too honest and decent to attempt (see Sun Tzu's Art of War excerpt below.)

In an nutshell, here is what we must do: The conservative candidates left standing, together with those who have dropped out or chosen not to run, need to form themselves into a single electoral unit (President, VP, key West Wing postions and cabinet spots.) If egos get in the way think practical; think patriotism.

It is becoming clear that Romney cannot debate his way out of a paper bag, and I suspect, or hope anyway, that the Republican voters are beginning to figure that out. So, not only would he get hammered in any kind of debate or confrontation with Obama, he would also get skewered by falsehoods (and truths) about what Mormons really believe. That would knock off the evangelical vote. Then, to be sure any one who has been educated in the public school system for the past two generations (where they have been taught to despise capitalist pigs), Mitt will be relentlessly protrayed as the quintessential capitalist he is - and it will be all over but the shouting. Along with our freedom, and our nation.

Paul Revere, where are you when we need you??

...from Sun Tzu's Art of War

18. All warfare is based on deception.
19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
20. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
21. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.
22. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
23. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.
24. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
25. These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.

Invasion of the Party Snatchers

2011-12-20T16:48:00.001-06:00

Every morning, I mean every morning, I DVR the first commercial-free 20 minutes of Morning Joe. As a staunch Tea Partier why would I bother to do that? I’ll tell you why. That show represents the Main Stream Media which like it or not, controls the thinking of the majority of the electorate. They have the money, and they have the coverage to do that. We need to admit that to ourselves. Especially now. Especially in this most crucial Republican primary in the history of our troubled nation. We know this; they know this. With the rise of more conservative media outlets we could normally be much more confident in our ability to prevail over the airwaves and the print and internet.

But the problem is that they have pre-empted, they have invaded, and they have metastasized into our own ranks. The enemy is now within, knocking down our own candidates like dominos and elevating theirs in what we considered our own media. We didn’t see this coming, and I fear it is now too late. The reason I pay this attention to MSNBC is because they are not the least bashful in laying out their plan for all to see. Like a quarterback laying back for a long pass to the end zone, only to be stuffed by a tackle from behind. Sure up to 800,000 of us protested in the Washington Mall, more than any political gathering the other side has ever managed. And, although you never heard it from them, they were impressed. Mightily.

And that’s why they are doing exactly what they are doing now. Plan B. We never saw it coming. I heard them say this morning that a $2 million ad blitz in New Hampshire produced 1200 hits of one negative message on one of our hapless candidates. What do you think Obama is going to do with $1 BILLION??? The death of Kim Jong-il has given us a recent glimpse of us how one person can brainwash a nation. There are several other examples from history of course (Castro and Hitler come to mind.) And the more these tyrants impoverish us with their reckless spending of our cash, the more desperate and dependent we become on them to save us.

Is it too late? Probably. If Obama earns re-election, definitely. They intend to splinter us every way but Sunday, not just with our favorite candidates, but with despair, so that we will give up and, worse, stay home on Election Day. They are seizing our most powerful weapons one by one, but, if all we have left is a stick, we had better grab that and fight, as a nation, to our last breath.

If you need reasons to believe in God...

2011-05-17T11:03:00.000-05:00

...or further solidify your faith in His Word, this will be the post for you. I am currently engaging in a colloquy with a fellow church-goer about this scientist/Christian gentleman who is the one of the latest in the line of believers desiring to bridge the gap between the scientific evidence supporting a evolved earth millions of millenniums old and God's version in Genesis in which He claims He got 'er done in a matter of thousands of seconds. The fur continues to fly big time on both sides of this debate. This post will attempt to demonstrate the futility of this controversy; indeed, we are going to establish that both theories are correct and that all of us can find God together as He truly desires us to know Him: Ready Go

Oh ye of little faith

2011-05-06T10:44:00.000-05:00

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

As my relationship with Christ continues to blossom, and in fact bear fruit, I have become more and more convinced that faith is the key. Faith, - not questioning faith. Faith - with no conditions attached.

Here's a little test: When you can believe, when you can know that the earth was really created in six days, you can walk in faith and know that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose...
Rom 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be the First-born among many brothers.
Rom 8:30 But whom He predestinated, these He also called; and whom He called, those He also justified. And whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Rom 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"

This should help you along:
Gen 1:2 והארץ776 היתה1961 תהו8414 ובהו922 וחשׁך2822 על5921 פני6440 תהום8415 ורוח7307 אלהים430 מרחפת7363 על5921 פני6440 המים׃4325
Gen 1:3 ויאמר559 אלהים430 יהי1961 אור216 ויהי1961 אור׃216
Gen 1:4 וירא7200 אלהים430 את853 האור216 כי3588 טוב2896 ויבדל914 אלהים430 בין996 האור216 ובין996 החשׁך׃2822
Gen 1:5 ויקרא7121 אלהים430 לאור216 יום3117 ולחשׁך2822 קרא7121 לילה3915 ויהי1961 ערב6153 ויהי1961
בקר1242 יום3117 אחד׃1259

יום
yôm
yome
From an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literally from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next. - Strong's Commentaries

The days of this creation are natural days of twenty-four hours each. We may not depart from the ordinary meaning of the word without a sufficient warrant either in the text of Scripture or in the law of nature. But we have not yet found any such warrant. Only necessity can force us to such an expedient. Scripture, on the other hand, warrants us in retaining the common meaning by yielding no hint of another, and by introducing "evening, night, morning, day," as its ordinary divisions. Nature favors the same interpretation. All geological changes are of course subsequent to the great event recorded in the first verse, which is the beginning of things. All such changes, except the one recorded in the six days’ creation, are with equal certainty antecedent to the state of things described in the second verse. Hence, no lengthened period is required for this last creative interposition. - Barnes' commentaries

Alas, our poor country (world?) remains a long, long ways away from this level of scholarship and devotion.

Here is a counter-argument to this controversy for your consideration:

Old Earth Creation Science
Word Study: Yom
By Greg Neyman
© 2007, Answers In Creation
Published 16 March 2005
(This article can be freely copied and distributed, as long as it is unaltered and a link back to the original article appears on the page)

The Hebrew word for “day” is the word “Yom.” Young earth creationists have always argued that the word used for the days of creation can only mean a 24-hour day. In this article, we will examine the uses of Yom in the Old Testament, and show that it can mean a wide variety of time periods.
First, one must understand that the Hebrew language is not nearly as diverse as our English language. Whereas our vocabulary is around half a million, the Hebrew language has only 8,700 words. The French language, one of the poorest modern languages in vocabulary and the language of choice for diplomats, has just about 40,000 words or over 4 times the amount of words that Ancient Hebrew has.
Many of the Hebrew words could be considered duplicates with only slight differences. Thus, words which contain multiple meanings are common. Such is the case with the word Yom.

Hebrew Dictionaries

Let’s start with the possible meanings of Yom;

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (1980, Moody Press)
"It can denote: 1. the period of light (as contrasted with the period of darkness), 2. the period of twenty-four hours, 3. a general vague "time," 4. a point of time, 5. a year (in the plural; I Sam 27:7; Ex 13:10, etc.)."
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (symbols omitted)
from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figuratively (a space of time defined by an associated term), [often used adv.]:--age, + always, + chronicles, continually (-ance), daily, ([birth-], each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), + elder, end, evening, (for)ever(lasting), ever(more), full, life, as long as (...live), even now, old, outlived, perpetually, presently, remaineth, required, season, since, space, then, (process of) time, as at other times, in trouble, weather (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), whole (age), (full) year (-ly), youngerAs you can see, Hebrew dictionaries attest to the fact that the word Yom is used for anywhere from 12 hours up to a year, and even a vague "time period" of unspecified length.

Other Uses of Yom

Day is not the only translation for the word Yom. Here are some other uses.

Time

It is interesting to note that in 67 verses in the Old Testament, the word Yom is translated into the English word "time." For instance, in Genesis 4:3, it says "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." In this instance, Yom refers to a growing season, probably several months. Again, in Deuteronomy 10:10, it refers to a "time" equal to forty days. In I Kings 11:42, it says "And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years." In this case, Yom translated as the word "time" is equivalent to a 40 year period.
In Isaiah 30:8, it says "Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever." In this case, Yom is equal to "forever." How long is forever? An infinite number of years...billions upon billions upon billons of years. If Yom can equal trillions of years here, then why not billions of years in Genesis?

Year

Four times in the Old Testament Yom is translated "year." In I Kings 1:1, "David was old and stricken in years..." In 2 Chronicles 21:19, "after the end of two years" and in the very next verse "Thirty and two years old." Finally, in Amos 4:4, "...and your tithes after three years." In each case, Yom represents years, not days.

Age

Eight times in the Old Testament Yom is translated "age." These range from sentences like "stricken in age," meaning old age (Genesis 18:11 and 24:1; Joshua 23:1 and 23:2), and other times it says "old age" (Genesis 21:2, Genesis 21:7). Genesis 47:28 refers to "the whole age of Jacob," therefore yom here refers to an entire lifetime. In Zechariah 8:4, it says old men and women will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, "each with cane in hand because of his age."

Ago

One time Yom is translated "ago." 1 Samuel 9:20 says "As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, ..."

Always

Four times yom is translated as "always," in Deuteronomy 5:29, 6:24, 14:23, and in 2 Chronicles 18:7. Always here can be interpreted as a lifetime...for instance, we are to keep the commandments of the Lord always (Deut. 5:29).

Season

Three times yom is translated "season." In Genesis 40:4, "...and they continued a season in ward." Again, in Joshua 24:7, "dwelt in the wilderness a long season," and in 2 Chronicles 15:3, "...a long season Israel hath been...". In each case yom represents a multi-month period.

Chronicles

When used in conjunction with the word dâbâr, yom is translated "chronicles" (27 times).

Continually

When used in conjunction with kôwl, yom is translated as "continually" (11 times). Once, in Psalm 139:16, it is translated continuance (without the kôwl).

Ever

Ever is used to represent a long period of time, such as in Deuteronomy 19:9, "to walk ever in his ways." Nineteen times Yom is translated "ever." The old testament uses "for ever" instead of the word forever. In sixteen cases of use of the word ever, for is placed before it, indicating a infinite period of time. I will not list them all (consult Strong's Concordance for a full listing) but here is an example. In Psalm 23:6, it says "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." Here Yom is translated as the final word of this verse, ever. Thus, Yom in this verse, and 16 others, represents eternity.

Evermore

In one instance, when yom is used in conjunction with kôwl, Yom is translated "evermore." Deuteronomy 28:29, "...and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore;" thus representing either a lifetime or eternity.

Word Usage in the Old Testament

As you can see, Yom is used in a wide variety of situations related to the concept of time. Yom is not just for days...it is for time in general. How it is translated depends on the context of its use with other words.
Yom in the Creation Account
Even within the creation account, Yom is used to represent four different time periods.
Genesis 1:5 "And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night." Here, Moses uses Yom to indicate a 12-hour period
Genesis 1:14 "And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years." Here, Moses uses Yom to indicate 24-hour days
Genesis 2:4 "...in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." Here, Moses uses Yom to indicate the entire creative week.
The fourth usage of Yom in the creation account is in the summary for each of the six creation days, "and there was morning and evening the first day". Yom is used to represent a finite, long period of time, usually either millions or billions of years. To show support for this, consider the uses of Yom by Moses.
Moses Other Uses of Yom
Moses, the author of the first five books of the Bible, and of Psalm 90, used Yom in many different ways.
Genesis 4:3 "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." In this instance, Yom refers to a growing season, probably several months.
Genesis 43:9 "...then let me bear the blame for ever." Here, Moses uses Yom to represent eternity
Genesis 44:32 "...then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever." Again, Moses uses Yom to represent eternity
Deuteronomy 4:40 "...that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth the, for ever." Here Yom represents a physical lifetime
Deuteronomy 10:10, "Now I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time,..." Here, Yom is a "time" equal to forty days.
Deuteronomy 18:5 "...to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever." Again, Yom is translated as eternity
Deuteronomy 19:9 "...to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in His ways..." Here, Yom represents a lifetime. As long as we live we are to walk in his ways

As you can see, Moses used the word Yom to represent 12-hours, 24 hours, the creative week, forty days, several months, a lifetime, and eternity.

Common Young Earth Arguments

To get around the obvious conclusion that Yom in Genesis 1 can mean millions of years, young earth theorists have come up with several arguments, none of which is supported by common Hebrew grammatical rules according to Hebrew experts (such as Dr. Walter Kaiser). These rules were created by Hebrew language experts who are young earth creationists to begin with, thus their viewpoint is obviously biased. They have a specific agenda they are trying to prove, and thus cannot be objective.

Ordinals/Cardinals

Young earth creationists say that whenever Yom is used with an ordinal or cardinal number (1st, 2nd, 1,2, etc) that it always represents a 24 hour day. However, this is not true. In Zechariah 14:7-9, the "one day" refers to a period of time when the Lord shall be king over the earth. In other places, some say that Isaiah and Hosea have numbers with the word day which are figurative (External Link).
Some young earth theorists, including Jonathan Sarfati in his book Refuting Compromise, have addressed this verse in Zechariah an Hosea. Although his argument sounds impressive, you have to recognize it for what it is...he is arguing for his young earth agenda, thus any rules that he espouses must be examined by true Hebrew scholars who are impartial. Hebrew scholars do not recognize this fabricated rule.1
What Sarfati thinks is not important...what is important, as Dr. Walter Kaiser points out, is the intentions of the author. We should not create rules that support our own agendas, but should strive to understand the author's intended meaning outside of rules.

Evening/Morning Construction

In Genesis 1 Moses says "and there was evening and morning the xx day". Does the use of evening and morning indicate a sunrise and sunset for each creative day? First, let's look at what evening and morning are not. They are not actual evening and mornings, as this requires a sunrise and sunset. According to young earth theory, the Sun was not created until Day Four, thus there could be no sunrise or sunset for the first three days of creation. However, God uses the terms evening and morning for those first three days. Therefore, they cannot be actual evenings and mornings.
We are left with only one option. The words for Evening and Morning can only represent the beginning and ending of the creative period, and not actual sunrise and sunsets. Scripture itself sets this pattern for us. Morning and evening are used figuratively in Psalm 30:5, Psalm 49:14,15, Psalm 90:6. Thus, the evening and morning of creation can mean the start and end of the creative process that is attributed to that creation period.
Young earth advocates counter that traditionally, church fathers have always held that sunrise and sunsets do not constitute a day, and they accepted the sun creation on Day Four with no hint of the first three days being anything other than 24-hour days. For instance, Sarfati in Refuting Compromise mentions Luther and Calvin (page 84-86). However, Luther and Calvin did not have the means of modern science at their disposal. At the time, geocentricity was still accepted! Don't fall into the trap of following the teachings of our church fathers. For more, read Church Fathers.

Literal/Figurative Argument

This argument says that you cannot use a word figuratively until after you have used it literally (see this Answers in Genesis article). The author gives two examples, which appear to be correct and follow this rule. However, is this rule valid? I see no reason to suppose that it is. You have to be careful with young earth claims about biblical interpretation methods. Again, they will invent rules that support their cause, when there is no basis for their rule in Hebrew.
In this case, it makes no difference which order the word Yom appears in, i.e. literal before figurative or vice versa. Yes, these are the first words of the Bible, but they are not the first words of mankind. All the time from Adam to Moses, men were speaking in their own languages, thus the literal interpretation via spoken language would already have been established. There was no need to suppose a literal/figurative structure.

If God's Creation Was Billions of Years Old...

If God's creation was billions of years old, how would He have written the creation account in Genesis? One thing is certain...God is good at telling us exactly what we need to know.
When God refers to a large number, He uses picture stories, such as Abraham's descendants being as numerous as the sand. Why does He do this? If God had said, "You will have millions of descendants," Abraham would have asked, "What is a million?"
When considering the creation, if we broke it down into days, that would be 5,000,500,000,000 days, or roughly 13.7 billion years. Do we need an account for each day of creation...of course not. God in His infinite wisdom, saw fit to tell us the creation story by breaking it down into creative segments, each of which was attributed to a specific creative act or acts. We need to give the early Hebrews of Genesis a break...they didn't have calculators like we do!
One must also consider that time with God has no meaning. To Him, 10 billion years is like a day. Thus, it is no problem for God to put billions of years into one of His days. Dr. Hugh Ross puts it best in his determination that the frame of reference for creation is the surface of the earth. Genesis 1:2 puts the witness of creation on the surface. But who is witnessing these events? It is God himself. During the first 5.99 days of creation, God is the only one present. Thus, human time does not matter...no humans were there to witness the passage of time. What matters is how God sees time! Thus, a billion year day is only a passing moment in God's eyes.
The creation account is written in such a manner for all people to understand it. The issue is not how long creation took...the issue is that God did it, and that's all that matters in the end.

Conclusion

With such a wide usage of the word Yom for many different time periods, it cannot be claimed that Yom in the Old Testament only represents a 24-hour period. During the creation account alone, Yom represents four different time periods. Rules of Hebrew, created by young earth Hebrew scholars, are invalid. Because of their biased position, they are trying to prove their own agenda.
Since humans did not witness creation, our own concept of a 24-hour day does not apply. The only thing that matters is God's concept of time. Thus, the only evidence we have to accurately assess the age of creation is the creation itself. Since the rocks and stars say we are billions of years old, that must be the truth. This fits perfectly with a literal interpretation of Genesis, and an inerrant Bible, and does not impact any other Biblical doctrines.
1 Television Show and Transcript, "Are the Genesis Creation Days 24 Hours or Long Periods of Time," The John Ankerberg Show, 2005.

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Did you know that you can be a Christian, and believe that the earth is billions of years old? You can even believe in evolution and be a Christian. There is no conflict between science and the Bible...all one needs is a proper understanding how to merge science and the Bible. To learn more about old earth creationism, see Old Earth Belief, or check out the article Can You Be A Christian and Believe in an Old Earth? Feel free to check out more of this website. Our goal is to provide rebuttals to the bad science behind young earth creationism, and honor God by properly presenting His creation.

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The Birther thing escalates... despite Democrat demonization

2011-05-05T14:32:00.000-05:00

from: poetopoet April 17th, 2010 - 7:07 am - www.breitbart.tv
Here are 33 reasons to impeach and imprison Obama, the love child of a hippie seventeen year old girl from Hawaii with a Kenyan native, called Barack Hessian(sic) Obama, also Barry Soetoro of Indonesia, born somewhere in Canada, United States or Kenya?
1, Obama’s original vault copy (from anywhere) of a long form (legal) birth certificate, if one exists, has never been released, officially. The Hawaiian news paper’s announcement of Obama’s birth announcement gave a birth address that does not exist, for it was easily phoned in and believed at that time by his grand parents or anybody in fact, and that not one local High School student, friend, doctor, nurse, hospital has ever admitted or acknowledged Obama’s birth in Hawaii.
2, Obama’s short form certificate of live birth (COLB), a proven forgery and the only official proof released of Obama’s citizenship.(forgery) http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/12932.htm(forgery) http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=105347(forgery)
3. http://www.westernjournalism.com/?page id=26973
Simple in 1961, no computers to photo-shop, edit or could produce Obama’s officially submitted fraudulent Hawaiian COLB document, in fact the font (type) is computer created typewriter had that capability in 1961.
4, You can view of Obama’s Kenyan Birth Certificate dated Aug. 4, 1961, in question, at this site and not denied. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=105764
5, Stanley Anne Dunham and Obama Sr. marriage license, never released.
6, Stanley Anne Dunham and Lulu Soetoro marriage license never released.
7, Barry Soetoro aka Barack Obama adoption records never released.
8, Barack Obama as Barry Soetoro’s Besuki School Indonesian application obtained! In order to attend school in Indonesia you have to be a citizen of Indonesia, no dual citizenship allowed there. (This document is proven and not a forgery.) http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/13056.htm
9, Barack Obama’s also known as Barry Soetoro’s Indonesian Punahou School records, not released.
10, Obama’s Selective Service Registration, a proven forgery released and was a criminal act. (forgery) http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/004431print.html.
11, Obama’s Occidental College records released as Barry Soetoro, he was a foreign exchange student!
12, Obama aka Barry Soetoro passport as a citizen of Indonesia, that is mandatory to attend school in Indonesia, not released.
13, Obama’s U.S. Passport if one exists? Never released or is known of.
14, Barack Obama also known as Barry Soetoro entered Pakistan illegally on what countries passport?
15, Obama’s Columbia University records, as a foreign exchange student as Barry Soetoro, not released.
16, Obama as Barry Soetoro Columbia University thesis if one exists, not released.
17, Not one name of any student is known who saw Obama attend Columbia released or known of.
18, Obama’s Harvard Law School records as a foreign exchange student Barry Soetoro, not released.
19, Obama as Barry Soetoro Harvard Law Review articles, if any exist, not released.
20, Barack Obama’s Baptism Certificate, if one exists, none released, because Muslims do not have one?
21, Obama’s Medical records, not released, but a one-page statement, Obama is healthy.
22, Obama’s Illinois State Senate records, not released.
23, Obama’s Illinois State Senate schedule, not released, alleged to have been lost.
24, Obama’s Law practices client list and billing records, not released.(Remember White Water, Clintons)
26, Obama’s University of Chicago scholarly articles, none released or exist?
27, The reason Obama lost his license to practice law in Illinois, for perjury, not released.
28, Obama’s campaign certification in 2008, not his donor list, vetted and submitted by the unpardonable fraud of Nancy Pelosi, and a private club the DNC. By submitting Obama’s name to be qualified to the Electoral College in order to place Obama’s name on the ballot knew it to be a fraud and immune, they the DNC from The Freedom of Information Act, never released and later denied they did.
29, Obama’s list of campaign workers who may have been lobbyists, never released.
30, Obama or Barry Soetoro, the countries he visited outside the United States before 2008, never released.
31, Obama, never repatriated to the U.S. from his Indonesia citizenship, if documented never released, because only citizens there can attend school in Indonesia.
32, The U.S. Constitution states you CAN NOT be a U.S. president if you change your U.S. citizenship. “104 FIRST CONGRESS. SESS. II. Cn. 4. 1790.” States “That the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers of citizens or have never been resident in the United States.” Obama’s father was a native of Kenya, a British colony at the time of his birth in 1961.
33, On January 21, 2009, his first day in office, Barack Obama implemented and signedinto law Executive Order 13489, denying any release of anything about him.
Kenya’s Minister of Lands. James Orengo plainly said on the floor ofKenya’s National Assembly, “If America was living in a situation where they feared ethnicity and did not see itself as a multiparty state or nation, how could a young man born here in Kenya, who is not even a Native American, become the President of America?”
Obama’s African paternal grandmother affirmed she “was in the delivery room in Kenya when he was born Aug. 4, 1961.”
This is just a sample of a traitor’s failed open and transparent policy and campaign lies, Obama promised and gave America.

Rebuttal arguments solicited.

Hey you geezers - get yourselves shovel ready!!

2011-05-04T16:03:00.000-05:00

Timeline of Major Provisions in the Democrats’ Health Care Package

(Don't believe me?? Click here )

THIS YEAR (2010)
•2‐year tax credit (total cap of $1B) for new chronic disease therapy investments
•Medicare cuts to hospitals begin (long‐term care (7/1/09) and inpatient and
rehabilitation facilities (FY10) 2009
•States and Federal officials review premium increases
•FDA authorized to approve "follow‐on" biologics
•Increase brand name pharmaceutical Medicaid rebate (from 15.1% to 23.1%)
•Medicare payments to physicians in primarily rural areas increase (2 years)
•Deny "black liquor" eligibility for cellulosic biofuel producers credit
•Tax credits provided to certain small employers for health care‐related expenses (Ed. note: This one is real interesting: Something like tax disincentives for businesses over 40 employees paying higher than a $40,000 avg. wage to all personnel - check it out.)
•Increase adoption tax incentives for 2 years
•Codify economic substance doctrine and impose penalties for underpayments
(transactions on/after 3/23/10)
•Provide income exclusion for specified Indian tribe health benefits provided after
3/23/10
•Temporary high‐risk pool and high‐cost union retiree reinsurance ($5 B each for 3.5
years) (6/23/10)
•Impose 10% tax on indoor UV tanning (7/1/10)
•Medicare cuts to inpatient psych hospitals (7/1/10)
•Prohibits lifetime and annual benefit spending limits (plan years beginning 9/23/10)
•Prohibits non‐group plans from canceling coverage (rescissions) (plan years
beginning 9/23/10)
•Requires plans to cover, at no charge, most preventive care (plan years beginning
9/23/10)
•Allows dependents to stay on parents’ policies through age 26 (plan years
beginning 9/23/10)
•Provides limited protections to children with pre‐existing conditions (plan years
beginning 9/23/10)

And, in 2011:
•Hospitals in "Frontier States" (ND, MT, WY, SD, UT ) receive higher Medicare
payments (FY11)
•Hospitals in “low‐cost” areas receive higher Medicare payments for 2 yrs ($400
million, FY11)
•Medicare Advantage cuts begin
•No longer allowed to use FSA, HSA, HRA, Archer MSA distributions for over‐thecounter
medicines
•Medicare cuts to home health begin
•Wealthier seniors ($85k/$170k) begin paying higher Part D premiums (not indexed
for inflation in Parts B/D)
•Medicare reimbursement cuts when seniors use diagnostic imaging like MRIs, CT
scans, etc.
•Medicare cuts begin to ambulance services, ASCs, diagnostic labs, and durable
medical equipment
•Impose new annual tax on brand name pharmaceutical companies
•Americans begin paying premiums for federal long‐term care insurance (CLASS Act)
•Health plans required to spend a minimum of 80% of premiums on medical claims
•Physicians in "Frontier States" (ND, MT, WY, SD, UT ) receive higher Medicare
payments
•Prohibition on Medicare payments to new physician‐owned hospitals
•Penalties for non‐qualified HSA and Archer MSA distributions double (to 20%)
•Seniors prohibited from purchasing power wheelchairs unless they first rent for 13
months
•Brand name drug companies begin providing 50% discount in the Part D “donut
hole”
•10% Medicare bonus payment for primary care and general surgery (5 years)
•Employers required to report value of health benefits on W‐2
•Steps towards health insurance administrative simplification (reduced paperwork,
etc) begins (5 yr process)
•Additional funding for community health centers (5 years)
•Seniors who hit Part D “donut hole "in 2010 receive $250 check (3/15/11)
•New Medicare cuts to long‐term care hospitals begin (7/1/11)

And in 2012:
•Additional Medicare cuts to hospitals and cuts to nursing homes and inpatient
rehab facilities begin (FY12)
•New tax on all private health insurance policies to pay for comp. eff. research (plan
years beginning FY12)
•Medicare cuts to dialysis treatment begins
•Require information reporting on payments to corporations
•Medicare to reduce spending by using an HMO‐like coordinated care model
(Accountable Care Organizations)
•Medicare Advantage plans with a 4 or 5 star rating receive a quality bonus payment
•New Medicare cuts to inpatient psych hospitals (7/1/12)

2013
•Hospital pay‐for‐quality program begins (FY13)
•Medicare cuts to hospitals with high readmission rates begin (FY13)
•Medicare cuts to hospice begin (FY13)
•Impose $2,500 annual cap on FSA contributions (indexed to CPI)
•Increase Medicare wage tax by 0.9% and impose a new 3.8% tax on unearned , nonactive
business income for those earning over $200k/$250k (not indexed to inflation)
•Generally increases (7.5% to 10%) threshold at which medical expenses, as a % of
income, can be deductible
•Eliminate deduction for Part D retiree drug subsidy employers receive
•Impose 2.3% excise tax on medical devices
•Medicare cuts to hospitals who treat low‐income seniors begin
•Post‐acute pay for quality reporting begins
•CO‐OP Program: Secretary awards loans and grants for establishing nonprofit health
insurers
•$500,000 deduction cap on compensation paid to insurance company employees and
officers>

•Part D “donut hole” reduction begins, reaching a 25% reduction by 2020

2014
•Individuals without gov't‐approved coverage are subject to a tax of the greater of
$695 or 2.5% of income
•Employers who fail to offer "affordable" coverage would pay a $3,000 penalty for
every employee that receives a subsidy through the Exchange
•Employers who do not offer insurance must pay a tax penalty of $2,000 for every fulltime
employee
•More Medicare cuts to home health begin
•States must have established Exchanges
•Employers with more than 200 employees can auto‐enroll employees in health
coverage, with opt‐out
•All non‐grandfathered and Exchange health plans required to meet federally mandated
levels of coverage
•States must cover parents /childless adults up to 138% of poverty on Medicaid,
receive increased FMAP

2015
•Tax credits available for Exchange‐based coverage, amount varies by income up to
400% of poverty
•Insurers cannot impose any coverage restrictions on pre‐existing conditions
(guaranteed issue/renewability)
•Modified community rating: individual or family coverage; geography; 3:1 ratio for
age; 1.5 :1 for smoking
•Insurers must offer coverage to anyone wanting a policy and every policy has to be
renewed
•Limits out‐of‐pocket cost‐sharing (tied to limits in HSAs, currently $5,950/$11,900
indexed to COLA)
•Insurance plans must include government‐defined "essential benefits " and coverage
levels
•OPM must offer at least two multi‐state plans in every state
•Employers can offer some employees free choice vouchers for health insurance in the
Exchange
•Government board (IPAB) begins submitting proposals to cut Medicare
•Impose tax on nearly all private health insurance plans
•Medicare payment cuts for hospital‐acquired infections begin (FY15)
More Medicare cuts to home health begin

2016
•States can form interstate insurance compacts if the coverage with HHS approval (2016)
•Physician pay‐for‐quality program begins for all physicians

2017
•States may allow large employers and multi‐employer health plans to purchase coverage
in the Exchange.
•States may apply to the Secretary for a limited waiver from certain federal requirements.

2018
•Impose "Cadillac tax on “high cost” plans, 40% tax on the benefit value above a certain
threshold: ($10,200 individual coverage, $27,500 family or self‐only union multi-employer coverage.)

Really don't believe me?? Click here again. This is the straight poop (how I wish it were not so.)

July 4, 1776: INDEPENDENCE DAY
December 7, 1941: The First Day that will live in infamy
September 11, 2001: The Second Day that will live in infamy
March 21, 2010: DEPENDENCE DAY

How to save Grandma - Health insurance for EVERYBODY

2009-09-30T22:26:00.005-05:00

At this writing (Fall 2009) health insurance reform has run up on the rocks – (DON'T I WISH!! - March 21,2010) this time for three very good reasons:

1) It follows hard on the heels of other unprecedented and exorbitant spending programs – in a recession no less.

2) Its success or failure is so hopelessly entangled with the retaining or regaining of Congressional seats in 2010 that now neitherside trusts anything the other says or does. To make matters even worse, the private sector and public sector folks are at a complete stalemate, with neither side trusting the other to do the right thing.

3) It is believed to be a right - not a responsibility - by 80% of Americans who feel that when they're sick somebody else needs to pay for it. How I wish this principle would apply to our cars when they break down, to our homes when they burn down, to ourselves when we retire, or to our loved-ones when we die!

Let's get real, folks, can we really expect to get something for nothing? We pay premiums to insure our cars, our homes, our retirement and our lives to private companies with little public complaint or outcry. But are our health premiums too high? Definitely. What can we do about it? Nothing any more because this whole hue and cry has now poisoned the well for everybody.

What if we could start over with something all voters can agree on? What if we could start over with something that would address costs, politics, and the question of who should be responsible to fix it? Well, if our elected representatives would consider allowing all of us to have the same the insurance plan they are on, who would possibly object to re-starting this debate with that plan on the table?

Hey, this may not turn out in the end to be the best approach. But the only way we are going to pass anything is to serve the same sauce on the goose as we serve on the gander. I call on the media to start informing us on the details of this current government employees’ plan. I call on our elected representatives to explain to us why we constituents cannot be included. And I call on everybody to sit down together and produce something we can all live with - and live on - as long as, God willing, modern medicine can keep us on this earth.

Our duties as Christians

2009-09-06T22:06:00.003-05:00

IS OBAMA REALLY the PROBLEM?? ARE WE BEING DISTRACTED From THE REAL FIGHT? -by Andrew Strom.

Like a lot of you, every day I get bombarded with the latest emails against Obama - and what he is up to...[But} is "Politics" the arena that Christians are supposed to be putting so much time and energy into fighting? ... Aren't we supposed to be more passionate about prayer and the gospel than we are about pulling the "liberals" down?...
Couldn't this be a total distraction from our real mission?...
Do you spend as much time spreading the pure gospel as you spend spreading stuff about Obama? Why not?...
Is your mind and your energy and your passion more focused on getting the true gospel out - or defeating Obama and the liberals in politics?
God bless you all.
Andrew Strom.

Respectfully, I feel Obama really is the problem; specifically the people he is fronting for. They are evil incarnate and clearly aim to destroy us and our way of life. This may be God's plan, the end times, or God's wrath poured out on us for being bad boys and girls as the Israelis continually were and are in biblical and modern history.

So I figure, whether it is God's wrath or just the result of our libertine and sinful ways, at some point or other, it is going to make God wrathful and rightly so. Therefore I think He would want us to do all we can now to turn people away from all this or at least wake them up to what they are doing to themselves and the rest of us before it is too late. And I for one don't want to be consigned to wandering in the desert for 400 years because even though I think I'm a genuine born-again Christian I have no crystal ball about being part of the remnant that will somehow escape the consequences.

So, is my mind and energy and passion more focused on getting the true gospel out - or defeating Obama and the liberals in politics? For me it is the latter, for the time being anyway, or there will be no one left to listen to the Gospel much less anyone to even preach it if these scoundrels have their way. Our choices right now are quite limited. Because...

Number one: They will have total control over us if they pass any kind of health care bill, with or without a public health care option because the government option will be rolled out if after a few years anyway (since you know and I know that Obama and Company will set the private insurers up to fail and will quietly insert the gov't option at some point anyway after all the hoopla has died down. God help they should allow us to partake in the health plan offered to the 53 million government employees now which is a choice of seventeen different health plans all covered by private insurers. And God help they would even think of reducing the two most significant costs of health care today by introducing tort reform and allowing the insurance companies to operate across state lines.)

Number Two: If they are totally shot down on the health care thing (and we all think we've got this thing beat while visions of sugar-plums dance in our heads as we look forward to throwing all the bums out of office in fourteen short months) I fear that we got another think coming. These guys are serious. They lulled us into thinking they had gone underground in 1988 when the Soviet Union suddenly and mysteriously collapsed (gimme a break!!) and we rolled in with our bucks and restored their economies for them. That was brilliant! They haven't stopped plotting and planning to bring us under one world totalitarian government since Roosevelt (either Roosevelt) and what scares the pants off me now is not only the speed they are trying to accomplish this over the past ten months, but the transparency and brazenness with which they are doing it. This is now nothing nobody cannot see with their own eyes even if they are blind and they don't even care because they got all the kids and half of our generation fooled into thinking this is all the fault of the greedy capitalists (have you checked out what your kids are being taught in school and college now??)

No, this Evil will not be defeated with any total health care bill victory. All they will need is another huge crisis or emergency to whip us back into line. And this is going to happen before the 2010 elections whether by a phone call from Obama to his Muslim friends to start firing off dirty bombs or by rolling out a swine flu pandemic. Then it will be martial law, with only martial music on the AM band, no public access to the Internet, and, quite possibly, millions dead. David Wilkerson is seeing this and I'm afraid that I am too. In no less than fourteen months.

So, spread the Gospel we must, in God we must trust, but the Evil One we must bust. First and forever.

Thank you for listening. Boy do I hope I am wrong.

John Trainer

My testimony

2009-03-21T15:38:00.007-05:00

When I came down in September of '04 to participate in the For My Life program at the Pleasant Valley Church I had been recently diagnosed with Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Like the doctors, I have no idea what caused it. An accupuncturist I had been visiting had remarked for the past year or so that my heart was quite weak. Indeed, she had to struggle to hear anything at all through the stethoscope; myself, I could never hear a thing through it. I figured, as some registered nurse friends had observed, that I had an athlete’s heart, a benign condition where, like any other muscle, it becomes mildly and uniformly enlarged (throughout all four chambers) with vigorous exercise.

So I didn’t do anything about it. Indeed I continued with my competitive swimming and training. I participated in two National Masters’ Competitions, winning three gold medals in May ’03 in the 65-69 age group and, the following spring (’04) even bettering the times that I won with the previous year. I was at the top of my game.

After returning from a celebratory trip to France following the ’04 Nationals and getting back into the pool, I noticed an unfamiliar type of congestion in my lungs. I went to my primary care physician who ordered a thallium stress test. I flunked. A cardiac cath test was ordered to determine the whereabouts of the suspected blockage. I was told to prepare myself for an additional procedure, anything from a stent to angioplasty to open heart. But they found no blockages.

My initial reaction was hurray, until my wife remarked that she wished they had. Because that really meant that there was nothing they could do for me. Nothing they could do to fix it. The damage done by the virus, or whatever it was, was too serious to resolve even if the virus or other cause went away. So, lots of long faces all around. I was prescribed ACE Inhibitors, told not to lift anything over 25 pounds, and, the most bitter pill of all, to give up competitive sports, at the risk of incurring a fatal MI. My ejection fraction (the amount of blood pumped out of the heart during each beat) was only 35%-45% - in the Heart Failure range (normal is between 50-65%).

That was July of 2004.

I went down to Pleasant Valley, as I mentioned, in September of ‘04, at the suggestion of a good friend who recommended Pastor Henry Wright’s book “A More Excellent Way – Spiritual Roots of Disease” where I learned that God was still healing folks. I met some of them in the flesh at Pleasant Valley.

They were telling the truth. I eagerly devoured the research set down in the book (and elaborated on in greater detail at Pleasant Valley) on what spiritual deficits contributed to which diseases. I was told that my dilated cardiomyopathy had its roots in fear, anxiety, stress, anger, rage, resentment, self-bitterness, self-rejection, self-hatred and guilt. Scriptural references were supplied for all of those, which I copied down to the best of my ability (I found it extremely difficult to keep awake during the sessions: very perplexing to me since the least thing I felt was boredom.They warned us that the devil would do his utmost to keep us from paying attention.)

I was not a Christian. I’ve been almost everything else. I sermonized as an atheist at college, I’ve worn Buddhist robes, I’ve dragged myself out of bed at 3:00 am (in the still dark and warm summer nights) at Thomas Merton’s Monastery at Gethsemani to participate in Vigils, I was once booked onto a charter flight to Mecca to participate in Ramadan until a neighbor who had lived over there warned me I would surely be killed, etc., etc.

The first thing I noticed in the course workbook at Pleasant Valley was the material on occultism. I would have to give up most of my cherished beliefs. And trash most of my extensive library of books. Like, no way.

And you can imagine how someone with my background responded to the spirit-filled, Pentecostal style of worship that was intertwined with the course work.

But, I was on a mission. Medical science had given me no hope. Here, at Pleasant Valley, good decent, intelligent folks who had been far sicker than me, and far less believing in many cases, were now well. And at peace.
Space does not permit my mind-wrenching and, later, gut wrenching experiences during this course. At one point, I went to Bruce, like me a mental health counselor and admitted fellow-reprobate in his previous life, and pleaded for guidance – “what do I do now??”
His answer marked my turning point: “God will meet you where you are.”
* * * * * * * * * *
In July of '05 I went back for another stress test and a cardiac MRI. They sent me the printout. I went over it with one of the very finest cardiologists in Nashville (and I’m told the country.) Findings: Stress test – “no significant change from baseline.” All four heart chambers and valves – “normal wall thickness and contractibility, fully mobile,” no evidence of any damage anywhere, “mild four (4) chamber enlargement” totally consistent with an athlete’s presentation (as opposed to the singular left ventricle enlargement reported the previous year) and, now hear this, an ejection fraction of 50%.

The cardiologist summed it up by remarking that all systems were indeed within normal limits, with my ejection fraction knocking at the door. I was astounded to hear that no medications were indicated, that I could lift anything I wanted to, that I could swim as fast as I wanted to – in fact, he said there were no holds barred on any activity (perhaps almost reckless advice given the potential for malpractice). The ejection fraction remains the key indicator of my progress and I quote his parting remarks to me at my latest office visit on September 7th of '05: "Your ejection fraction is excellent, and if it stays where it is now, you have nothing to worry about."

Thank you Pastor Wright. Thank you Pleasant Valley.

Thank you God.

April '07 update: Each year since this diagnosis I have had a cardiac MRI - a total of three (3) now, which I will be glad to email or fax anyone who is interested in the hard nose data of my condition. To summarize: The ejection fraction remains at 50%, they have statistically chronicled decreasing measurements in the size of my heart and, finally, have removed that pesky insurance-driven Cardiomyopathy diagnosis from the Impression section.

June '07 update: OK - no gold medals in the Senior Olympics this year (I was still in the same age group as I was four years ago when I won three golds in the backstroke before contracting Dilated Cardiomyopathy). But when I did get sick and was told I could not swim competitively again, I kept telling myself "Louisville in 2007," "Louisville in 2007!" That is where the Senior Olympics were held this year. No, I didn't win any gold medals, but the silver I won was worth more than the three golds combined: My 50 yard backstroke was less than two-tenths of a second slower than my winning time of four years ago. Combine a bout with heart disease with four years of natural aging: Folks, the kid is BACK!!!

July 25, '07: Well, not without a serious scare: Last week as I was training for the Tennessee State Olympics swimming races, I suddenly incurred sharp upper left chest pain and upper left arm pain. My first thought, truthfully, was "My gosh, this is going to be a real let-down for my readers and friends who have believed that I've been cured."
Anyway, I gutted out the rest of the workout, went back home, and visited my chiropractor and cardiologist.
Diagnosis: Pulled rib muscle.
End of story: Took another quarter second off my 50 yard freestyle time and kept most of my other races at the times I had been swimming eight (8) years ago.
Moral of the story (you're going to hate me for this:) Diet and exercise. Diet and exercise....

OK: And FAITH. I wear a button that reads: "Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark."

SEPTEMBER 2009 UPDATE: Had another echo and my ejection fraction is now 53.5!!! And I would have won the 50 yard back at the Senior Olympics this year had I been able to take the time off from work to go. Hooray for God!

A week at the Kentucky monastery of Gethsemani

2009-03-21T15:21:00.000-05:00

This time, the panic was short-lived. Last week at the Senior Olympics it was a different kind of fear, where I was called on to give a different type of "all" to the three days of competition just an hour down the road from where, today, I was about to embark on a week with absolutely nothing on the agenda. Nothing. Just a week of silence, reflection, meditation.

No distractions.

No activity.

No escape.

For those of you familiar with Thomas Merton , this was his monastery. His spirit still permeates the place. His oft-quoted prayer can really stir stuff up inside you:

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I don't see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me. And you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Well, OK. Actually I lied. There is activity at the monastery. Prayer. 8, count 'em, 8 services a day. Vigils go at 3:15 am, in the dark of the night, so early that the heat of the previous day is still in the air. This goes on for almost an hour, in the abbey refrectory, sometimes in total darkness.
Following that, there is a period of reading, reflection, study, till LAUDS at 5:45 - a shorter service, mainly psalm chanting (Gregorian style), which feeds right in to "Milkers Mass," at 6:15, early enough for the local farmers and other members of the community. The Eucharist is included in this (Catholics only please - but a very nice blessing for the rest of us.) The officiants are in full regalia, and this carries you right up to Breakfast at 7am, followed by TERCE, another short psalm service, at 7:30. At 12:15, there is another short prayer service, called SEXT (the ancient clock must've been six hours behind or something), then NONE at 2:30. VESPERS goes at 5:30, with a light supper (vegetarian as always) at six. There is a Rosary service in the chapel at seven; finally, COMPLINE at 7:30 ends the day. This service is the most hauntingly beautiful of all.
Well, I guess I am thankful that Vigils isn't scheduled for 10:30pm (and runs for a couple hours)as it does in other orders around the world, a kind of spiritual fire-watch (those of you in the military know what I'm talking about.)

The monks, let's say, "strongly encourage" retreatants to attend all of these "prayers," as they call them. When I was talking with Br. Christian one time about our common interest in photography and I mentioned that I had gotten some dawn pictures which he well knew could only have been obtained during Lauds and Mass, he looked sharply at me and said "God'll get you." Then after a pause he added, "If He hasn't already." He wasn't smiling.

Prayer. And, yes, work. The monastery is self-sustaining, so everyday, between Terce and Sext (8 and noon)they all go about their assigned tasks. These might include food preparation, planting, harvesting, tailoring, or making cheese, bourbon fudge, or fruitcake (for which they have a gigantic mail-order business.) Retreatants, however, are off the hook for this aspect. Afternoons are rigorously devoted, where possible, to more reading and studying and praying.

Silence. Yeah, you noticed, didn't you, that I snuck in a conversation with one of the monks. OK. So it's not total.

For instance, you have a choice of three dining rooms. The one here requires silence but lunch is accompanied by taped lectures (you'll hear more about these later). There is also a talking dining room, as well as a third where total silence (active and passive - if you will) is observed. I plunked down in the first.

Actually there is a wonderful freedom, especially for shy and introspective types, in not having to make conversation while you eat. At other, times, admittedly, you hunger to talk and share things with another human being. While conversations are typically limited to pass-the-salt or how-do-you-get-to-the-church type of stuff, you can approach certain of the monks with deeper questions. And, then, there are the talks.

(to be continued... In the meantime you can check out the pictures I took there by clicking on MY PICTURE GALLERY over on the right of this page. And, if you're interested in more journaling of this retreat, it might be easier to just BOOKMARK this page)

The three socially unacceptable topics

2009-03-20T15:41:00.000-05:00

The Third Rail is committed to provocative talk, as you can see in my bio to the right, on the three unmentionable-in-polite-company topics: Religion, politics, and sex.

Heck, this site is loaded with plenty on the first two of these. Now it's time to round it out a bit...

One night, after the couple had retired for the night, the woman became aware that her husband was touching her in a most unusual manner. He started by running his hand across her shoulders and the small of her back. He ran his hand over her breasts, touching them very lightly. Then, he proceeded to run his hand gently down her side, sliding his hand over her stomach, and then down the other side to a point below her waist. He continued on, gently feeling her hips, first one side and then the other. His hand ran further down the outside of her thighs. His gentle probing then started up the inside of her left thigh, stopped and the returned to do the same to her right thigh. By this time the woman was becoming aroused and she squirmed a little to better position herself. The man stopped abruptly and rolled over to his side of the bed. " Why are you stopping, darling?" she whispered. He whispered back, " I found the remote!"

Render unto Caesar the things that be Caesar's

2009-03-20T00:03:00.000-05:00

In this annual season of tax preparation and decisions of what to report and what not to report, committed Christians are reminded of Jesus' and his apostle Paul's behests to "pay taxes to whom taxes are owed [and] revenue to whom revenue is owed... for the authorities are ministers of God" (Romans 13:6-7.)

However, noted theologian R.C. Sproul (in his "Gospel of God") reveals to us that there was no such thing as an income tax in Paul's day. There was, interestingly, a head tax (meaning an equal amount from each citizen, regardless of their means) on property and merchandise. Well, maybe that's not so different from now, but listen to this:

Our income tax has become a very controversial matter in our day... due to the extent to which it has risen and [its] structure.... The complaint of the wealthy class is that they are victims of injustice because they have to pay a graduated percentage of their income so [that] not everyone in the society pays the same amount....

In contrast, the principle of the head tax in the ancient world was that every human being pays the same amount. The rationale behind this was that every individual has an equal responsibility to pay taxes to support the public service of government. Everybody benefits [equally] from the promotion of safety and the promotion of justice in a society.

Today there are political and economic rationale in using a head tax in certain nations. The idea is that if every human being is required to pay the same amount of taxes, then that is a tremendous restraint against governments growing to such an enormous size that they can become oppressive to the people. For example, if the
government decides to raise taxes and they do it on the head tax basis, then such an increase in taxation is equal for everyone. So that when a government decides to raise taxes, it risks the wrath or the entire population.

On the other hand, if there is a tax increase that is differential, the rulers can set one group of the community over against another one, and diffuse any massive popular revolt against excessive taxation. You do this by giving one set of taxes to a minority and give a break to the majority. In most cases, the majority who vote on the basis of enlightened self-interest will go along with it and won't revolt.

From Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible:

Rom 13:6 -
For this cause pay ye tribute also - Because civil government is an order of God, and the ministers of state must be at considerable expense in providing for the safety and defense of the community, it is necessary that those in whose behalf these expenses are incurred should defray that expense; and hence nothing can be more reasonable than an impartial and moderate taxation, by which the expenses of the state may be defrayed, and the various officers, whether civil or military, who are employed for the service of the public, be adequately remunerated. All this is just and right, but there is no insinuation in the apostle’s words in behalf of an extravagant and oppressive taxation, for the support of unprincipled and unnecessary wars; or the pensioning of corrupt or useless men. The taxes are to be paid for the support of those who are God’s ministers - the necessary civil officers, from the king downwards, who are attending Continually on this very thing. And let the reader observe, that by God’s ministers are not meant here the ministers of religion, but the civil officers in all departments of the state.

How would you ever have guessed that I am the great grand-nephew (to the seventeenth power) of Lady Godiva? (true!)

Here is the Flat Tax case

My Picture Gallery

2009-03-19T20:05:00.000-05:00

Here are some of my latest pics. I am preparing a culled down version of the Norway and Spitsbergen pics which is a job because I took 4500 of them, so bear with me on that one, enjoy the Niagara Falls ones and the others in the meantime and, more importantly, stay tuned!

Stress reduction: How Christians do it

2009-03-19T16:58:00.000-05:00

1. Pray
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places. 9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.
12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
14 K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.
16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19. Get organized so everything has its place.
20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.
24. Make friends with Godly people.
25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good "Thank you Jesus."
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
32. Sit on your ego.
33. Talk less; listen more.
34. Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
36 . Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grat eful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)

Headlines in the year 2029

2009-03-18T09:01:00.000-05:00

Year 2029

Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, Mexifornia, formerly known as California White minorities still trying to have English recognized as Mexifornia's third language.

Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops and livestock.

Baby conceived naturally. Scientists stumped.

Couple petitions court to reinstate heterosexual marriage.

Last remaining Fundamentalist Muslim dies in the American Territory of the Middle East (formerly known as Iraq , Afghanistan , Syria and Lebanon ).

Iran still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least 10 more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.

France pleads for global help after being taken over by Jamaica .

Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.

George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2036.

Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only.

85-year $75.8 billion study: Diet and Exercise is the key to weight loss.

Average weight of Americans drops to 250 lbs.

Japanese scientists have created a camera with such a fast shutter speed, they now can photograph a woman with her mouth shut.

Massachusetts executes last remaining conservative.

Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.

Average height of NBA players is now nine feet, seven inches.

New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2036.

Congress authorizes direct deposit of formerly illegal political contributions to campaign accounts.

IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75 percent.

Florida voters still having trouble with voting machines.

Hell hath no fury...

2009-03-18T04:36:00.000-05:00

She spent the first day packing her belongings into boxes, crates, and suitcases.
On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things.

On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their beautiful dining room table by candlelight, put on some soft background music, and feasted on a pound
of shrimp, a jar of caviar, and a bottle of Chardonnay.

When she had finished, she went into each and every room and stuffed half-eaten shrimp shells dipped in caviar into the hollow of all of the curtain rods. She
then cleaned up the kitchen and left.

When the husband returned with his new girlfriend, it was all bliss for the first few days. Then, slowly, the house began to smell.

They tried everything, cleaning, mopping, and airing the place out.

Vents were checked for dead rodents, carpets were steam cleaned, and air fresheners were hung everywhere! Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters, during which they had to move out for a few days, and in the end they even paid to replace the expensive wool carpeting.

Nothing worked. People stopped coming over to visit. Repairmen refused to work in the house.

The maid quit.

Finally, they could not take the stench any longer and decided to move.

A month later, even though they had cut their price in half, they could not find a buyer for their stinky house.

Word got out, and, eventually, even the local Realtors refused to return their calls. Finally, they had to borrow a huge sum of money from the bank to purchase a new place.

The ex-wife called the man and asked how things were going. He told her the saga of the rotting house. She listened politely and said that she missed her old home terribly and would be willing to reduce her divorce settlement in exchange for getting the house back.

Knowing his ex-wife had no idea how bad the smell was, he agreed on a price that was about 1/10th of what the house had been worth, but only if she were to sign the
papers that very day. She agreed, and, within the hour, his lawyers delivered the paperwork .

A week later, the man and his girlfriend stood smiling as they watched the moving company pack everything to take to their new home, including the curtain rods.

Maximum shelf life for a democracy

2009-03-17T21:37:00.000-05:00

HOW LONG DO WE HAVE?

This is the most interesting thing I've read in a long time. The sad
thing about it, you can see it coming.

I have always heard about this democracy countdown. It is interesting
to see it in print. God help us, not that we deserve it.

How Long Do We Have? About the time our original thirteen states
adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish
history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say
about the fall of the Athenian (Greek) Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as
a permanent form of government." "A democracy will continue to exist
up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves
generous gifts from the public treasury."

"From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who
promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result
that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal
policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the
beginning of history, has been about 200 years"

"During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the
following sequence:

1. from bondage to spiritual faith;

2. from spiritual faith to great courage;

3. from courage to liberty;

4. from liberty to abundance;

5. from abundance to complacency;

6. from complacency to apathy;

7. from apathy to dependence;

8. From dependence back into bondage"

Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St.
Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the
2000 Presidential election:

Number of States won by:

Gore: 19

Bush: 29

Square miles of land won by:

Gore: 580,000

Bush: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by:

Gore: 127 million

Bush: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:

Gore: 13.2

Bush: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush
won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great
country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in
government-owned tenements and living off var ious forms of
government welfare..." Olson believes the United States is now
somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor
Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the
nation's population already having reached the "governmental
dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal
invaders called illegal's and they vote, then we can say goodbye to
the USA in fewer than five years.

Inch Beach

2009-03-17T20:39:00.000-05:00

Taken 33 years after Ryan's Daughter was filmed here in Ireland. Click on My Picture Gallery to the right as more travel photos and Photo Club assignments are posted (on a regular basis.)

Judgment Day I: If I were the devil

2009-03-17T11:42:00.000-05:00

An interesting post from Glenn Kimball (www.ancientmanuscripts.com)kinda puts this modern Scopes Trial in perspective, with continuing dialogue on the subject:
1- Many of you are concerned that reading extra-biblical material will cause you problems with the leaders of your church or cost you your faith. If I were the Devil that would make me laugh. He is the one who would want you to be ignorant in the first place. In John 21: 25 he said, "And many things Jesus did, I suppose if they were are written the world itself could not contain all the books that SHOULD be written". There are no perfect books. No one is pretending that there are. However, the emergence of discoveries in our day will vindicate the traditions of our parents if we have the wisdom to listen. That is why Jesus constantly mentioned that we need eyes to see and ears to hear.

2- We expect our religions to be perfect or we refuse to believe. If I were the devil I wouldn't organize a campaign to denounce all religion. I would organize a campaign suggesting that religion needs to be perfect. We don't expect our governments to be perfect. We don't expect our schools to be perfect. We don't expect our mates or our children to be perfect. We know our friends aren't perfect. We don't even expect ourselves to be perfect. Why should be think that our religions need perfection before we are willing to have a little faith? The devil must find that to be hilarious.

3- We all say our prayers in the hopes that God will inspire us with the answers. Somewhere deep inside we want God to speak to us and tell us the truth. However, when that still small voice of a conscience speaks to us we think it is our own voice. We are adamant about owning all the things that happen inside our heads, in our dreams and the thoughts that surge through our minds during the day. Those who have had "regressed memories" go so far as to think that these experiences are evidence of reincarnation. The devil must think that to be hilarious. I have long called this phenomenon the "Voice of the Great Other" inside our heads. It isn't our voice. It tells us things we could not have known on our own. It shows us the images of the experiences of others through their own eyes and the feelings in their hearts. Why would we presume that this belongs to us? We share this life with each other in a way we are almost unwilling to understand. The Bible says that we can not be saved alone. We need to understand the good and evil in our own life and the lives of everyone else as well. We don't need to own all the experiences in order to learn and appreciate the lessons. With a little practice we can learn to distinguish the events that occur in our minds from the ones that are our original thoughts and those from without. Those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will understand that listening and seeing involves more than ourselves. We can even learn to distinguish the voice of the evil one inside our heads. That voice isn't ours either, though we blame ourselves for evil thoughts and feelings.

4- If I were the devil I wouldn't tell you that you were stupid. I would tell you that you are brilliant and have the right to know all things better than anyone else. I would tell you to reject every other voice buy your own. I would teach you to be afraid of everyone and suspicious of all organizations that you don't control personally. Fear, mistrust, anger and blame are not the gospel of Jesus or the will of God. The most mature people I know have learned to depend on other people. The brightest minds in the world build on the work of others. The most spiritual people who have ever lived have depended on the work of others. The wisdom of the voice of God in our hearts is enough to distinguish the difference between what is good and what is evil.

5- If I were the devil I would tell the world not to go to church because there are people within those churches who don't know everything. I would tell you that you know better than all the clergy you have ever met. I would tell you that you are your best pastor and that you don't need another. That must be completely hilarious to the devil.

6- If I were the devil I would tell you that you have the right to be the judge and jury for everyone. I would begin blaming everything that causes suffering on those who preach peace and cause war and not on the real bad guys. In our day we think of the world of Islam as the world of terrorism. We forget how many Jews and Christians were terrorists in their own right. Lumping all of Islam into terrorism is like blaming Christianity for the activities of the Ku Klux Klan. Pitting one race and religion against another must truly amuse the devil. He doesn't need enemies of God to do his work when he can get the faithful to do it for him.

7- If I were the devil I would tell you that you need to prove the existence of God before you can believe. Based on that logic there would be no science, business, friendships, governments or collective assistence for the needy. Nobody has ever proven that their company would be a success before they began. Nobody requires their mates to prove perfection before we marry. Nobody would allow the laboratories and scientists of the world to approve of our actions and feelings before we could do anything. That must be the grandest joke the devil ever told. The proof of God comes in the same way all other proof is generated; by experience. You can't have an experience until you willing to have an experience. That must be so simple to the devil that it makes him roll in the isles when we ignore that advice. Who would differ to a scientist for all their choices? That isn't just evil, it is madness.

8- If I were the devil I would require god to put up or shut up. Nobody gets paid until they do the work first. All rewards are based on performance first. If we wait for someone like Ed Mc Mann to come and give us the check before we are willing to perform, we will die poor, ignorant, angry, and hostile and will doubt everything like the Great Randy. Isn't it amazing that he never contributes anything but a rotten attitude? Third parties are always negative because third parties never pay the price. They never get the reward either. Critique is the easiest job on the earth. All you have to do is to appear on television and assert that absolutely no proof exists. Then you don't have to do any homework. You can ignore everything you see and hear. You never see a critic get an Academy Award. You never see a critic be the head of a company. You never see a critic heal the sick. You never see a critic stick his neck out in hopes that he might be able to do something wonderful. The devil must love critics. They must be his personal staff of writers.

9- The devil wants you to believe that you should be paid for everything you do. That may sound right on the surface but there have never been successful people who only perform when they are paid. The most successful people have paid the price for success many times over before they get their reward. The best of the best loose themselves in a cause and forget the rewards at the end. It is the same with love. If you wait for someone to love you before you are willing to love you will never find it. Love is the by-product of your actions and caring, not the object of them. If you want to know God but require him to reward you with the knowledge to begin with you will never know Him. The ones who are closest to God loose their concern about heaven's rewards or personal security. They don't worry if they will be martyred, abused or condemned by others.

10- The devil wants you to be able to assign blame to every evil on the planet. One might think that a devil would try and tell us that evil is good. He doesn't work that way. He wants to you find all the evil and blame it on someone. He doesn't care if you blame it all on yourself. Blame is the most worthless emotion on the planet. It is the cancer for the souls of men. You would be a million times better off finding someone to reward than to blame.

In summary the devil couldn't care less about proving that there is no God. He merely wants to prove that he doesn't exist. The demise of God is eminent if there is no devil.

I guarantee you will enjoy this next Q&A on this topic. And this illustrated version of the Paul Harvey broadcast "If I were the devil."

Yes, Virginia, there is a God

2009-03-17T09:30:00.000-05:00

My Stanford-educated son, currently Down Under writes:

"Gillette has just come out with the Gillette Fusion Power Phantom. According to the ad copy - "Gillette Fusion Power is so advanced, you'll barely feel the blades. The micro-pulses help reduce friction and increase razor glide - for a shave so good, the ladies will never even see you coming."

It's astounding that New Zealand can be left in the silky smooth wake of a country where 48% of the folk don't even believe in evolution, according to the latest Newsweek poll. In fact, about the same percentage of Americans take creationism as fact, and believe the earth was created 10,000 years ago in its present form. That's as crazy as saying that six blades came before four! Or why not try to just "come up" with an idea like micro-pulses without having something like a moisture lube-strip first? It's probably easy enough for Americans to believe in things like creationism when they're plopped in front of a television for an average of more than 4 hours a day (when do they have the time to shave?). So while they're catching up on televangelism, CSI, and Fox News, New Zealanders are out swimming (or shaving?)"

My reply:

I'm still trying to pry apart your logic in these comments, but, if the gist of it is that only boob tubers own exclusive rights to creationism, please do yourself a favor, flex your well-oiled kiwi muscles and prepare to grapple with this intellectual heavyweight (click on Does God Exist?) before you take a strop to serious thinkers outside your particular brand of ontology

Why liberals love defeat

2009-03-17T09:20:00.002-05:00

"The United States is deserving of defeat, and through some sort of mental gymnastics, that defeat is honorable, because it smacked of hubris to ever have fought in the first place..." Read more of this Wall St. Journal opinion piece

“I'm right, you're wrong, go to hell”

2009-03-17T09:20:00.000-05:00

A Princeton Near Eastern Studies professor sounds off:

'I'M RIGHT, YOU'RE WRONG, GO TO HELL.'

The events of September 11 and after have made us aware of another perception of a religion subdivided into nations rather than a nation subdivided into religions and this has induced some of us to think of ourselves and of our relations with others in ways that had become unfamiliar. The confrontation with a force that defines itself as Islam has given a new reliance indeed, urgency to the theme of the “clash of civilizations....

Taking the relativist approach to religion (in effect, “I have my god, you have your god, and others have theirs”), there may be specific political or economic reasons for objecting to someone else's beliefs, but in principle there is no theological problem. For those taking the triumphalist approach (classically summed up in the formula “I'm right, you're wrong, go to hell”), tolerance is a problem. Because the triumphalist's is the only true and complete religion, all other religions are at best incomplete and more probably false and evil; and since he is the privileged recipient of God's final message to humankind, it is surely his duty to bring it to others rather than keep it selfishly for himself. Read the entire article.

Why is God letting all this happen??

2009-03-17T09:10:00.000-05:00

Reading this article in absolute horror, the following commentary by Ben Stein seemed particularly appropriate:

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?

I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife. Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.

If this is what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.

Next confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don' t feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this Happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about and we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the LOrd, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58

And a Christian scholar refutes him

2009-03-17T09:03:00.000-05:00

I wanted to say a word about the article you forwarded last time, the one by Bernard Lewis. Actually, I thought it was pretty well-written. Of course, it was written from a sociological rather than a theological perspective, so it's not very useful in terms of spiritual understanding. Professor Lewis obviously views religion merely as a social force, and if he were correct, then his assessment of the "I'm right, you're wrong..." attitude would be fully on the mark. Indeed, if all religions were man-made social devices as he contends, none of us would have any right to say that anyone else's religion was "wrong". On what basis other than our own feelings of superiority could we possibly make such a claim?

Of course, the "elephant in the living room" which Professor Lewis overlooks is that if Christianity is right about God, then Islam is wrong about God, and vice versa. The same goes for a myriad of other religions as well, of course. Read more

At least get your facts straight, sir.

2009-03-16T21:34:00.000-05:00

Bishop Gene Robinson, a graduate of the University of the South, is the first openly gay bishop in the U.S. Episcopal Church. More than 20 churches have split from the Episcopal Church in protest over his consecration in New Hampshire, and worldwide leaders of the Anglican church have issued a stern call to the U.S. church to fall back to a more conservative stand on homosexuality and gay marriage. (Listen to a podcast of his address at Vanderbilt today.)

Robinson said that he "agrees that in some ways this is about the Bible. It's not about the authority of the Bible. We all acknowledge the authority of the Bible. What we disagree about is the interpretation of the Bible.

"The question of homosexuality is a modern concept — a little over 100 years old (sic). Back when the Scripture was written, it was not remotely conceived of . . . that a faithful, committed monogamous, lifelong relationship between people of the same sex (would be possible)," he said. "You can't take a modern understanding of sexual orientation and reach back to an ancient text for which that was not remotely conceived of." Read entire article

Well, sir, you might reflect on these passages, for starters:

Gen 19:4 Before Lot and his guests could go to bed, every man in Sodom, young and old, came and stood outside his house
Gen 19:5 and started shouting, "Where are your visitors? Send them out, so we can have sex with them!"
Gen 19:6 Lot went outside and shut the door behind him.
Gen 19:7 Then he said, "Friends, please don't do such a terrible thing!
Gen 19:8 I have two daughters who have never been married. I'll bring them out, and you can do what you want with them. But don't harm these men. They are guests in my home."
Gen 19:9 "Don't get in our way," the crowd answered. "You're an outsider. What right do you have to order us around? We'll do worse things to you than we're going to do to them." The crowd kept arguing with Lot. Finally, they rushed toward the door to break it down.
Gen 19:10 But the two angels in the house reached out and pulled Lot safely inside.

Leviticus 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Romans 1:26-27 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their woman did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And like wise the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another: men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

Or have these passages been omitted from your Modern Understanding Version???

(Of course, the ancient Greeks knew nothing about homosexuality, did they? This is just a 20th-century phenomenon)

Couple discovers less-traveled side of France

2009-03-16T19:42:00.000-05:00

Appearing in the Nashville Tennessean 9/30/07:
A southern region of France known as Perigord Noir, or Black Perigord for the dark color of the region's live oaks, is much less well-known to American tourists than the usual hot spots of France — Paris, Normandy, the Loire Valley, the Alps, Provence and the Riviera.

However, this Hundred Years War region, as we discovered, is every bit as scenic and worth visiting as these other areas.

Charming medieval villages and ancient castles, prehistoric caves and cliff dwellings and imposing chateaus abound at every turn of the river and highway. If you go to this region, rather than glance at it on a whirlwind tour, plan to stay awhile at a place such as this.

The cuisine of this region, specializing in duck and geese recipes (yes, this is the home of foie gras) is equal to or superior to any other French region.

It's worth the modest travel time to Carcassonne and the Languedoc region, the Pyrenees, or even to Andorra, Lourdes, Northern Spain and the Basque Country — all of which we did on our three-week trip this past summer. We flew into Paris, got a fantastic price on a luxurious rental car and, after visiting the City of Light, Versailles and Chartres, made the leisurely drive to this unforgettable and unbelievably beautiful area. — JOHN TRAINER, NASHVILLE

*In the photograph Tony Debidour, owner of Le Moulin de L'Enea in the Dordogne River Valley in Southern France, talks with Charlotte Trainer of Nashville, who visited here for a week in May with her husband, John (for additional photographs, visit MY PICTURE GALLERY ).

A Unitarian Sermon

2009-03-16T19:00:00.000-05:00

“We Are the Evolving One”

Last year, in my annual attempt to articulate the evolution of my faith, I dwelled on the seventh UU principle “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” I suggested a modification: less tepid, more scientific and more spiritual: “Awareness of the Oneness of which we are part.” (REPEAT)

This principle suggests that the forces which move the cosmos are the same as those which move the human soul and the environment in which we live. That is certainly not a new idea.

Philosophical and spiritual traditions going back thousands of years have been articulating the essential oneness of matter and spirit.

2,500 years ago, for example, Confucius constructed an entire social and political system around the concept of the human being as an integral part of the Earth and the (not yet known) universe beyond.

Shamans from various cultures have thrived on living between the third and fourth dimensions.

Zen Buddhists empty the mind to lay bare the soul and thus connect to what some would call the divine, which is within them. Quakers do much the same.

Mary Oliver and Chief Seattle, in our readings today, illuminate our covenant with the land and the universe.

For me, however, Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best:

“Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space – all mean egoism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me. I am part or parcel of God.”

Of course, not all the traditions share this belief. The monotheist religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam – for example, separates the human world from the non-human world from the world we live in after our bodies die. Many of us feel this view is destructive both to the human spirit and the natural environment in which we live. Is the nonhuman world around us merely a set of objects for us to use for own purposes? Why should our lives be controlled by a power that instills fear or at least demands to be worshipped - in exchange for the illusion of a happy after life?

Science is now showing us out of these seductive traps.

Last year, at a UU regional meeting in New Hampshire, there was a memorable presentation entitled “The Universe Story.” (HOLD UP TAPE) The lecture nicely packaged modern scientific theory and new evidence about the formation and operation of the universe. It describes the continual and irreversible biological and chemical transformations beginning with the initial cell - formed out of a vacuum – carried forward over 15 billion years to present day Man on Earth and the 100 billion galaxies which constitute our known universe.

It shows the universe as a unity, an interacting and genetically related community of beings bound together in an inseparable relationship in space and time….

In the language of cosmology, it shows that every living particle has been, and still, is connected to every other living particle in a continually evolving universe.

In short, we humans are connected to every living thing that was, is and will be.

Thomas Berry and his colleagues have been taking this expanded perspective of evolution beyond the story of a mechanistic…universe to the story of a universe that from its beginning has had a mysterious self-organizing power. They tell a story of human activities as a continuation of the creativity that brought about the emergent galactic systems and shaped the elements; that brought the planet Earth into existence within the solar system; that brought forth life in the fantastic variety of its manifestations; that awakened consciousness in the human order; and that enabled a great cultural sequence to take place….”

This is not a saga that suppresses the other stories/myths/legends/religions that have energized and guided the human venture. It is rather a narrative that provides a context that gives these earlier Great Stories a deeper meaning. It gives us scientific insights into what has been called God or the Spirit or whatever term people have used to connect to what has not been known or understood.

For me, it validates the legends, the myths and mystical spiritual traditions. It merges the Great Stories with Science.

Last winter, our minister, Carol Strecker, took up this analysis in a Sunday service. Last spring I had a dream that took it into the very depths of my being.

Actually, I had the same dream on two different nights, identical in every detail and continuing after interruptions of waking - to ensure I got the point.

Leslie and I were at home. It was known to both of us that at 7 o’clock that evening I would lie down on the bed, drink a potion and die. What was I doing that afternoon and how did I feel? No special preparations, no fear, no wondering, no mystery, no big thoughts or feelings at all. I was puttering about the house as I often do. The clear message was that it was an ordinary day. That evening I would simply move on into the cosmos.

No big deal in my dream, but momentous to my awakened mind: when my body dies I will remain part and parcel of the complex and evolving interconnectedness of all energy.

That dream last spring confirmed for me the “Universe Story.” That dream last spring illuminated my forty year journey though the myths and the religions to find their commonalities and their purpose, to discover their unity.
That dream also wedded me to my modified UU Seventh Principle: “Awareness of the oneness of which we are part”.

Thomas Berry in his final publication, said it beautifully: “Each…life-form has its own historical appearance, a moment when it must assert its identity, fulfill its role, and then give way to other (life forms) in the ever-renewing processes of the phenomenal world….” (REPEAT)

That comes perilously close to a UU faith….

Peace be upon you. - Ted Trainer to the UU CHurch Kennebunk ME 08-05-07

Is there a God??

2009-03-16T07:28:00.000-05:00

So, half the people in this country are uncertain that God exists...

Now I didn't write this, but a good friend, who's a lot smarter than me, did. Check it out:

There are basically five approaches, as far as I've ever observed, to theology (the knowledge of God). I would classify them as follows:

1. Atheism: There is no god, so don't bother.
2. Agnosticism: There is no way to know about god.
3. Natural Theology: We can learn about god through a study of nature.
4. Mystic Theology: We can learn about god through dreams, visions, tea leaves, etc.
5. Scriptural Theology: We can learn about God from His direct revelation.

The problem with the first is obvious, for there IS a God. (whoops!)

The second is essentially a cop-out, although many people adapt it because they can't bring themselves to say that one religion is "right" and the others are "wrong". (In other words, they think they're being "fair".) I personally include in this category those who simply make things up about God, mostly because when I've challenged such people in the past, their defense usually reveals an underlying agnostic attitude (i.e., "you can't say I'm wrong, because nobody knows the truth... my beliefs are as good as any.")

The third is fruitless for two reasons: first, God never intended to reveal Himself completely in nature, and second, nature as we observe it today is ruined and no longer demonstrates God's original purposes. (A superb example of this is carnivory, or animals tearing each other apart for food; God designed all animals to be vegetarian in the beginning. If you observe carnivory without knowing this fact and then attempt to define God in terms of "nature red in tooth in claw", you wind up with a bloody, wasteful god indeed.)

The fourth approach at least acknowledges that we need to have a revelation in order to have knowledge of God (i.e. we can't figure Him out for ourselves), but it then fails because it leaves the discernment of what is a "good" source of information entirely up to man. In other words, one person may "feel" that her dreams reveal God to her, while another person may "feel" that a really good drug-induced hallucination "breaks down the barrier between man and God" and allows him to know things about God. Obviously, this approach will lead to faulty information any time a faulty SOURCE of information is selected as being "good" (which happens roughly 100% of the time, I would say). Not only is mankind just as ruined by the Curse as nature is (see #3 above), but there is an army of demons actively seeking to deceive humanity about God! That doesn't leave much hope that your Ouija board will come through for you, does it?

Even the fifth approach has a basic risk associated with it: choose the wrong "holy book", and you'll get wrong information about God. In order to have correct information about God, then, two conditions must be met:

1. God must make the information known (since everything in existence EXCEPT God is corrupt), and
2. We must receive this particular revelation, not a false (man-made or demonic) one.

As you have probably guessed, I believe (for a number of reasons) that the Bible is that accurate revelation, and the knowledge of God which I gain from studying it is therefore accurate. What's more, and this is vitally important, I START with the Bible and then work outward from there when I study nature, human philosophy, etc. This is absolutely critical, because the Bible is flawless, but MY MIND is flawed. Therefore, if I START with something conceived in my mind (or the mind of another flawed person), and then run it through the "filter" of God's perfect Word, I still won't have a pure product when I'm done. Even if God's Word is 100% flawless, if I begin with a flawed idea, it will remain flawed no matter how many Scripture passages I cross-reference. (This is called "eisegesis," or "reading into"; placing ideas and theories INTO the Bible.) On the other hand, if I START with the Bible, presupposing it to be accurate, and THEN I go and observe man's ideas or nature, I have a rock-solid foundation of truth at the outset. Subsequent observations made by my own fallible mind either supplement what God's Word declares or, if they contradict it, are discarded. This way, the Bible goes from being a holy "filter" of truth to being a holy SOURCE of truth. I begin my search for God with His own revelation of Himself, not elsewhere.

Now this is horribly narrow-minded of me, but it is logical: if what I have said is true, then any OTHER way of seeking knowledge of God (i.e. any method which begins with fallen man or fallen nature) MUST yield faulty knowledge -- bad theology. This is easily checked by cross-referencing the theological statements in question with the Bible.

Now allow me to apply all of this mumbling to the article fragment you sent me. On that page, the author sympathetically explains a bit of Charles Darwin's own theology: (By "sympathetically," of course, I mean that the author seems to agree with Darwin's conclusion.)

"To suggest that the deity was unable to effect its purposes through natural causes, Darwin declared, would be an act of profanity."

To paraphrase: the suggestion that God COULD NOT have used a process like evolution to create life would be blasphemy, because it would underestimate God's power. Note the unspoken assumption in play, however: that prior to Darwin's theories, we DID NOT know how God created life! In other words, this sentence ASSUMES that the Bible's account of the history of life is FALSE. On the one hand, I would agree that any statement that God COULD NOT do a thing is tantamount to blasphemy; on the other hand, I ALSO believe that any statement that call's God's Word into question is ALSO blasphemy. In the case of the origin of living things, the question is not "COULD God do it this way or that way"... rather, the question is "what did God SAY He did?" To say that God LIED about His creative works is a greater blasphemy by far than to deny that He could have done it some other way. To impugn His holy character is just as bad, if not worse, as to impugn His great power.

Now, if one is not a Christian, then I suppose one does not necessarily accept the Bible as being a revelation from God that is without error, but if one does profess Christianity, then one must accept it, because Christ did. Since Darwin and our author both seem to completely ignore what the Bible has to say about creation, we can assume that they are both either agnostics or natural theologians; as such, they are both in error, "knowing not the Scriptures or the power of God" (Matthew 22:29). At least, that was Jesus' verdict regarding those who come to their own conclusions about God.

There is one more quote that I'd like to address with the limited time I have, and this one is on a more scientific level:

"Once the origin of variation became explicable through genetic mutation, Darwin was surely vindicated. This means, of course, that he would have something to say to proponents of intelligent design in its recent manifestations."

Actually, the discovery of the specific mechanism by which organisms change (genetic mutation) was discovered, it completely destroyed Darwin's theory, although few people realize it. Before the discovery of DNA and the nature of mutation, it was well-known that organisms change. (Natural selection was discovered by a creationist BEFORE Darwin wrote about it.) However, it was NOT known by what limits that change was constrained. Therefore, Darwin reasoned that a fish could change gradually into a mammal, because he could see that fish could change in small degrees. Given enough time, he reasoned, those small changes could "add up". Once the mechanism of mutation was understood, however, it became a scientific fact that biological change has very strict limits--limits which are imposed by the ORIGINAL genetic information contained in the organism. Pigs can grow in various sizes, and farmers tend to breed them as large as possible for best profit, but no pig will ever be the size of a football stadium. The reason they cannot is that their genetic information will not allow it.

That is the great failure of the theory of evolution, at least in terms of REAL, observable science: there is no way that a mutation can generate new useful information. The theory says that new information would be preserved by selection if it was beneficial to the organism, and indeed it would... IF there were a mechanism for generating it. However, there has never been ONE SINGLE OBSERVATION, either in the laboratory or in the field, of a mutation which introduced new, useful information upon which natural selection could act. In other words, the theory of biological evolution is still waiting for the very first empirical observation which would confirm it in the real world. Natural selection happens all the time, but actual evolution has yet to be observed.

Darwin was brilliant for an agnostic, but since he refused to acknowledge Scripture, he had no wisdom. Likewise, his theory sounds great on paper, but since it was devised without knowledge of the facts of molecular biology, it is now known to be impossible (despite the number of people who believe it).

Anyway, I know I sound like a broken record when I talk about evolution, but the facts are the facts! There was one more thing I meant to mention; remember I defined the word "eisegesis" or "reading into" as meaning that man's ideas are forced into the Bible? I meant to give you the antonym as well: "exegesis" is the process of starting FROM the Scriptures and reasoning outward. I described the process, but I failed to give you the term. These are helpful terms to know any time you read a particular commentary on the Bible (especially Genesis), because many commentators fall into the eisegesis trap. Hugh Ross comes to mind: "this is what I believe about earth history because of my secular education; now let's go to the Bible and see how we can make it fit." This is a drastically different approach from the exegetical one, which
says something more along the lines of, "okay, now that I know the outline of earth history from God's Word, let me examine the secular research and see what agrees with the Scriptures." Obviously, you will walk away with two drastically different viewpoints starting from these
two different foundations. Contrary to what so may academic luminaries think, it is NOT foolish to begin with a child-like trust in the plain reading of God's Word. He CAN be trusted. He was there when the universe was created, after all, which is more than Sagan or Hawking can say.

Well then--thank you again for your prayers. God is good! For a great faith booster, go here.

May He bless you,
David

The Gay Marriage thing

2009-03-16T07:04:00.000-05:00

Noting these two recent headlines (it's coming up in Tennessee too!) here are some thoughts from a good friend and biblical scholar on the topic. It is guaged toward non-believers as well as those wanting the definitive (Scriptural) Word on the subject. Enjoy:

"I'm sorry it has taken me this long to get to this letter. As I've said, I'm really looking forward to writing it. Your brother's question (What did Jesus say or do about gays? Jesus was a radical social reformer among other things, always championing the rejected. I know there are pieces in the Old Testament about gays etc, and I know some people interpret some of Paul’s writings to be anti-gay, but what about Jesus, the centerfold of Christianity?) is really not at all flippant- actually - despite his later admission to "baiting" you with it. The fact is, there are many homosexuals around the world, and even many who profess to be Christians. While homosexuality is not completely understood from a scientific perspective, we as Christians maintain that it is wrong. On what authority do we stand when we make this claim? To be honest, your brother's question is reasonable, and I believe it can be answered. (Whether or not he, or any other "gay rights" supporter, accepts these arguments is another matter entirely...)

PREFACE

It's easy enough to establish the fact that the Bible refers to homosexual behavior (NOT homosexual tendencies or urges) as sinful. Well-worn passages from Leviticus and 1 Corinthians make that abundantly clear. Your brother's challenge, however, is to demonstrate that Jesus Christ PERSONALLY condemned the practice. Since there are so many people who claim to be followers of Jesus, some of whom are openly homosexual, this is an important question, and it deserves a careful and thorough response.

Your brother has imposed some unfair criteria on the question, though. For one, he has ruled out the apostle Paul's writings, dismissing him as (1) a bigot, and (2) a product of his times. Paul was neither of these. He was the one who said that absolutely any human being, regardless of sex, social status, or ethnic background, was welcome in the family of God (see Galatians 3:28). Furthermore, it was Paul who exhorted first-century Christians NOT to allow their thinking to be influenced by the society in which they lived (Romans 12:2). Paul's own writings refute the portrait your brother has painted of him. Instead, he was an "apostle of Jesus Christ" - a man uniquely chosen by God and inspired by the Holy Spirit to communicate God's vital truths to mankind. Simon Peter even referred to Paul's writings as "Scripture" long before the New Testament was officially organized into 27 books, of which Paul wrote 13. In fact, Peter even warned that "distorting" Paul's writings was something done by "ignorant and unstable" people, leading to their "destruction"! (See 2 Peter 3:15-16) For the sake of the argument, however, we shall respect your brother's unfair criterion and leave Paul's inspired comments out of it. We believe Paul spoke for God; obviously, your brother does not. Therefore, it would not serve any purpose to try and force him to do so. That's between him and God. (For the record, though, Jesus promised to send "prophets and wise men and teachers" who would be "pursued from town to town" according to Matthew 23:34... surely Paul fit these criteria!)

Secondly, your brother only wants to admit quotations from Jesus during His incarnation. In other words, while Jesus is fully God, we cannot use God's words from any point in time prior to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, nor is he likely to accept quotations from the glorified Christ after He was raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of the Father (i.e., quotations from the book of Revelations or from His exchange with Paul on the Damascus road). Essentially, your brother wants to pretend that Jesus was simply a "good teacher", i.e., only a man. Why we SHOULD listen to Jesus' teachings in this case is beyond me, but we'll do our best to humor the request.

It is worth noting here, however, that your brother's portrayal of Jesus as a "rebel" is completely inaccurate and unfounded. Jesus took a hard-line stand for the Law of God, stating explicitly that Scripture was to be honored and obeyed. If Jesus was "rebelling" against anything, it was the religious hypocrisy - the SIN - of the Jewish religious leaders. He opposed them not because they were upright and moral teachers, but because they were NOT upright and moral. He didn't stand up to them because they were keeping God's laws; He opposed them because they had made a mockery of those laws with their self-indulgent customs and prejudices. Anyone who sees Jesus as a "groovy anti-authoritarian hippie" has never actually read the Gospels. Jesus didn't espouse any kind of "if it feels good, do it" mentality, either; He frequently spoke of repentance from sin. For that matter, He spoke of the eternal punishment of hell more than anyone else in Scripture! (Consider Matthew 13:41-42 or Mark 9:43-44, for example.)

I'm digressing from our topic, however. After much thought, I've decided to attack this issue using your brother's rules. This is not because I agree with him about Paul's lack of divine inspiration or Jesus' lack of deity; it is simply because your brother - like all men - desperately needs to know the truth. I myself was a supporter of "gay rights" (and many other sins, such as cursing, drunkenness, and pornography) before I learned the truth of God's Word and was saved by God's grace through faith in Christ. I wish that every human being could know this incredible salvation, but each must first make one painful admission before salvation is possible: Read more here

Time to tell it like it is

2009-03-16T05:08:00.000-05:00

Our Sunday paper's three-star lead letter (maybe you should copy this to your own paper - or school board)...

Why pour money into public schools?

TO THE EDITOR:

Gov. Phil Bredesen wants to spend even more of our money on education. Fine, but it seems that parents have already taken the situation into their own hands.

Thirty-five years ago, 99 percent of our kids went to two types of schools — public and private. Today, they are spread out eight ways — into elite private, faith-based private, comprehensive public, alternative, magnets, charters, home schools and, yes, out-of-county schools (along with their defecting parents).

Putting aside why this all happened, there is only one way we can ever hope to start putting the genie back in the bottle and be fair to the county's maxed-out property taxpayers at the same time: Take all this money the governor is levying from us and reimburse each child in the county an equal amount.

And you might want to consider placing the public schools within the Department of Corrections.

John Trainer

Published comments on this letter

Intelligent design... it just doesn't quit

2009-03-15T21:15:00.000-05:00

Watch out, humanists, it's fruitful and multiplying
AMES, Iowa -- With a magician's flourish, Thomas Ingebritsen pulled six mousetraps from a shopping bag and handed them out to students in his "God and Science" seminar. At his instruction, they removed one component -- either the spring, hammer or holding bar -- from each mousetrap. They then tested the traps, which all failed to snap.
"Is the mousetrap irreducibly complex?" the Iowa State University molecular biologist asked the class.
"Yes, definitely," said Jason Mueller, a junior biochemistry major wearing a cross around his neck.
That's the answer Mr. Ingebritsen was looking for. He was using the mousetrap to support the antievolution doctrine known as intelligent design. Like a mousetrap, the associate professor suggested, living cells are "irreducibly complex" -- they can't fulfill their functions without all of their parts. Hence, they could not have evolved bit by bit through natural selection but must have been devised by a creator.

"This is the closest to a science class on campus where anybody's going to talk about intelligent design," the fatherly looking associate professor told his class. "At least for now." Unless you personally are hungry or curious for more.
And, if you loved that one (sample) take a gander at this!
Here's a great article to glance over with some good statistics on the effect of ID being taught in the schools. And here's a frightening look at what happens when it isn't.
Finally, a very recent indication that, while all is not lost at the college level, there is still a long way to go in the objectivity department.
And, before you go, please check this one out. It is fair and balanced, promise!

The Koran revisited

2009-03-15T21:06:00.000-05:00

KORAN [3.28] Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends rather than believers; and whoever does this, he shall have nothing of (the guardianship of) Allah, but you should guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully; and Allah makes you cautious of (retribution from) Himself; and to Allah is the eventual coming.

KORAN [4.34] Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.

KORAN [4.89] They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.

KORAN [9.29] Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.

KORAN [9.30] And the Jews say: Uzair [Ezra] is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!

HADITH Sahih Bukhari [4:52:176] Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:
Allah's Apostle said, "You (i.e. Muslims) will fight with the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, 'O 'Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him.' "

HADITH Sahih Bukhari [4:52:177] Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him."

HADITH Sahih Bukhari [4:56:791] Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:
I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The Jews will fight with you, and you will be given victory over them so that a stone will say, 'O Muslim! There is a Jew behind me; kill him!' "

HADITH Sahih Muslim [41:6981] Ibn 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:
You will fight against the Jews and you will kill them until even a stone would say: Come here, Muslim, there is a Jew (hiding himself behind me); kill him.

HADITH Sahih Muslim [41:6982] Ubaidullah has reported this hadith with this chain of transmitters (and the Words are):
"There is a Jew behind me."

HADITH Sahih Muslim [41:6983] Abdullah b. 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:
You and the Jews would fight against one another until a stone would say: Muslim, here is a Jew behind me; come and kill him.

HADITH Sahih Muslim [41:6984] Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said:
The Jews will fight against you and you will gain victory over them until the stone would say: Muslim, here is a Jew behind me; kill him.

HADITH Sahih Muslim [41:6985] Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:
The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.

HADITH Sahih Bukhari [4:52:283] Narrated Abu Juhaifa:
I asked Ali, "Do you have the knowledge of any Divine Inspiration besides what is in Allah's Book?" 'Ali replied, "No, by Him Who splits the grain of corn and creates the soul. I don't think we have such knowledge, but we have the ability of understanding which Allah may endow a person with, so that he may understand the Qur'an, and we have what is written in this paper as well." I asked, "What is written in this paper?" He replied, "(The regulations of) blood-money, the freeing of captives, and the judgment that no Muslim should be killed for killing an infidel."

HADITH Sunan Abu Dawud [14:2526] Narrated Anas ibn Malik:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Three things are the roots of faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters, "There is no god but Allah" and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits, and not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any action; and jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet until the day the last member of my community will fight with the Dajjal (Antichrist). The tyranny of any tyrant and the justice of any just (ruler) will not invalidate it. One must have faith in Divine decree.

KORAN: http://www.hti.umich.edu/k/koran/
HADITH: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/reference/searchhadith.html

The five oldest and most trusted Islamic sources don't portray Muhammad as a great and godly man. They confirm that he was a thief, liar, assassin, mass murderer, terrorist, warmonger, and an unrestrained sexual pervert engaged in pedophilia, incest, and rape. He authorized deception, assassinations, torture, slavery, and genocide. He was a pirate, not a prophet. According to the Hadith and the Qur'an, Muhammad and his henchmen plundered their way to power and prosperity........

The Holy Bible condensed into fifty (50) words

2009-03-15T16:24:00.000-05:00

...well, 52:

God made; Adam bit

Noah arked; Abraham split

Joseph ruled; Jacob fooled

Bush talked; Moses balked

Pharaoh plagued; People walked

Sea divided; Tablets guided

Commandments handed; Promise landed!

Saul freaked; David peeked

Prophets warned; Jesus born

God Walked; Love talked

Anger crucified; Hope died

Love rose; Spirit flamed

Word spread; God remained.

The metastasizing spread of humanism

2009-03-15T08:54:00.000-05:00

The founders of Harvard, which was established as a true divinity school (unlike the faux divinity schools of modern times) would certainly be turning over in their graves (or their tears would be drenching us from heaven) if they were cognizant of this turn of events, and of who is responsible for what is left of the spiritual nurturing of these hapless students:

(from the WSJ): Are atheists--as alleged--out to eradicate faith? And if so, in what manner?
The Reverend Greg Epstein, a "humanist chaplain" at Harvard University, sounding very much like a New Age shaman, insists that "Humanism is not about erasing religion. It's an embracing philosophy." That's a warm and fuzzy sentiment, but the fact is many atheists do long to see religion go the way of the coach-and-four--much like early Christians had no desire to embrace pagan religions--though most favor bringing future generations around not by the sword, but rather by reason, logic and scientific evidence. Read entire article

The latest diet

2009-03-14T12:29:00.000-05:00

Believe it! You can do it the hard way, or the easy way.

Or my way.

To my Democratic friends

2009-03-13T12:51:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the things you may wish to consider in burnishing the image of your candidate:

1. Obama has now been vetted. He NEVER WAS in 2008.
2.Gas prices have gone from $1.93 to 4.36 on his watch.
3. Obamacare.
4. Waivers for Obamacare.
5. His Wisconsin friends—demonstrating and creating chaos when some of them belonged in school or other institutions.
6. Pigford settlement—a fraud.
7. Letting the Black Panthers off the hook from the Philadelphia show in 2008.
8. Canceling and “playing politics” with oil permits.
9. The U.S. has now lost its AAA rating.
10. The value of the dollar has declined.
11. Food stamps 1 in 7.
12. Unemployment now at 9% (Bloomberg 5/6/11) (remember Biden promised 200,000-500,000 new jobs per month!! back in 2010)
13. Inflation in many sectors including food; famously expressed by someone at a FederalReserve show and tell, “I can’t eat an I-Pad.”
14. Cash for Clunkers.
15. The phony “stimulus”—failed $850 billion
16. How many times has Trumka visited the White House?
17. Contempt of court for the oil permits in the Gulf and Obamacare.
18. The seizure of GM and Chrysler, transferring bondholder wealth to unions—otherwise known as seizure of private property
19. The shutdown of Shell’s Arctic oil exploration by EPA (a regulatory KGB)
20. Dodd-Frank.
21. Hostility toward Israel.
22. His push for unconstitutional restrictions on free speech via the FCC.
23. The NLRB’s fight against Boeing.
24. the Czars.
25. Failure to resume full water deliveries to California’s central valley because of the DELTA SMELT. Can we shout that out each time the unemployment numbers come up? What has this alone done to unemployment in California?
26. Attempts to try the terrorists in Civil New York City trials.
27. Takeover of the student loan program.
28. Attack on Arizona for exercising state’s exercise of legislative authority on citizen identification rules.
29. Failure to secure the southern border (Al Queda now has a group located there)
30. The war on Libya.
31. His latest attack on free speech via the regulation to disclose contributions with government contractors. Even Mitch McConnell has called this “Gangster Politics” (see Strassel WSJ 5/6/11)
32. His general loathing of Americans - with thanks to Hugh Hewitt and "Agent Rose," who put this list together.

AND HERE'S SOME MORE
After two years of Obama ... Here's your change...

lst number = January 2009
2nd number = TODAY
3rd line = % change

Avg.. Retail price/gallon gas in U.S.
$1.83 to
$3.44
84% higher

Crude oil, European Brent (barrel)
$43.48 to
$99.02
127.7% higher

Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel)
$38.74 then
$91.38 now
135.9% higher

Gold: London (per troy oz.)
$853.25 then
$1,369.50 now
60.5% higher

Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL
$3.56 to
$6.33
78.1% higher

Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL
$9.66 then
$13.75 now =
42.3% higher

Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. Fob
$13.37 then
$35.39 now
164.7% higher

Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall
7.6% to...
9.4%
23.7% increase

Unemployment rate, blacks
12.6% to...
15.8%
25.4% increase

Number of unemployed
11,616,000 to...
14,485,000
24.7% increase

Number of fed. Employees
2,779,000 then
2,840,000 now
2.2% higher

Real median household income
$50,112 Bush
$49,777 Obama
-0.7% lower

Number of food stamp recipients
31,983,716 to...
43,200,878
35.1% higher

Number of unemployment benefit recipients
7,526,598 then
9,193,838 now
22.2% more

Number of long-term unemployed
2,600,000 Bush
6,400,000 Obama
146.2% more

Poverty rate, individuals
13.2% Bush
14.3% Obama
8.3% increase

People in poverty in U.S.
39,800,000 to...
43,600,000
9.5% more

U.S. Rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings
#5 Bush era
#9 Obama regime

Present Situation Index
29.9 then
23.5 now
-21.4% down

Failed banks
140 then
164 now
17.1% more

U.S.. Dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate
89.76 then
82.03 now
-8.6% decrease

U.S.. Money supply, M1, in billions
1,575.1 '09
1,865.7 '11
18.4% increase

U.S.. Money supply, M2, in billions
8,310.9 1/09
8,852.3 6/11
6.5% increase

National debt, in trillions
$10,627 then
$14,052 now
32.2% higher**
Sources:
(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. Of Labor;
(7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC;
(13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury

**Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history.
Over 27 times as fast. Metaphorically speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets past you in the left lane.
27 times faster, it would be doing 7,555 MPH! (And where do you think he is going to end up??)

A third party emerges - Middle-of-the-Roaders - which it isn't

2009-03-13T08:48:00.000-05:00

Take a gander at this Comment I saw in the WASHPOST this AM. Seems like the Back Room Boys are at it again:
"The first to tip his hand was Karl Rove- now Barbara Bush. They are fairly early indicators that the anti-Palin front is bipartisan. The Wall Street- Harvard- Washington axis (the academic liberals and financial industry conservatives) have, behind the scenes, joined forces to stop Palin before crisis events further raise her stock. The view that Obama may- MAY- not be electable in 2012 is shared by Democratic and Republican professionals. If Obama is rendered unelectable by deepening domestic crisis, Palin will gain much more credibility therefore than Romney. Influential Republicans and Democrats are preparing a turnkey campaign for Mayor Bloomberg should a second Obama term become untenable. I personally think the economy will improve and Obama will win against Romney. But, if it does not improve, Bloomberg will be ready to head off a Palin run for the presidency, probably as a Republican nominee with some icon like Colin Powell joining his ticket. If Obama completely fails, he will bring about the bipartisanship he has fruitlessly sought in his first two years- in the form of a stop Palin effort."
Posted by: semicolonpowell November 26, 2010 6:26 AM

How Hillary will win - Part III

2008-06-13T20:18:00.004-05:00

The Clintons' enemies list continues to grow, as the mainstream press suddenly switched horses in midstream and unashamedly threw their support behind Hillary's primary rival for the Democratic Presidential nomination, first-time Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.

Tim Russert - NBC News' Washington bureau chief and the tremendously influential host of Meet the Press, died suddenly at age 58 of an apparent heart attack on Friday the 13th of June, 2008 in Washington, D.C. He had just passed a recent physical exam, according to his internist. His death occured about a month after he was the very first to declare "we now know who is the nominee," referring to Obama's increasing lead over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary race. Back on October 30, 2007, Mr. Russert and NBC anchor Brian Williams piled on Sen. Clinton unmercifully in one of the Democratic candidate debates. The most damaging was Mr. Russert's question "Why does it make a lot of sense to give an illegal immigrant a driver's license?" This continued to the extent that one supporter remarked that “the questions … were designed to incite a brawl,” and that Russert’s and Brian Williams’s moderating was “an abdication of journalistic responsibility.” Another said Russert “should be shot.”

When her husband ran for office...

1 - James McDougal - Clinton’s convicted Whitewater partner died of an apparent heart attack, while in solitary confinement. He was a key witness in Ken Starr’s investigation.

2 - Mary Mahoney - A former White House intern was murdered July 1997 at a Starbucks Coffee Shop in Georgetown. The murder happened just after she was to go public with her story of sexual harassment in the White House.

3 - Vince Foster - Former white House councilor, and colleague of Hillary Clinton at Little Rock’s Rose Law firm. Died of a gunshot wound to the head, ruled a suicide.

4 - Ron Brown - Secretary of Commerce and former DNC Chairman. Reported to have died by impact in a plane crash. A pathologist close to the investigation reported that there was a hole in the top of Brown’s skull resembling a gunshot wound. At the time of his death Brown was being investigated, and spoke publicly of his willingness to cut a deal with prosecutors.

5 - C. Victor Raiser II and Montgomery Raiser, Major players in the Clinton fund raising organization died in a private plane crash in July 1992.

6 - Paul Tulley - Democratic National Committee Political Director found dead in a hotel room in Little Rock, September 1992… Described by Clinton as a “Dear friend and trusted advisor.”

7- Ed Willey - Clinton fund raiser, found dead November 1993 deep in the woods in VA of a gunshot wound to the head. Ruled a suicide. Ed Willey died on the same day his wife Kathleen Willey claimed Bill Clinton groped her in the oval office in the White House. Ed Willey was involved in several Clinton fund raising events.

8 - Jerry Parks - Head of Clinton’s gubernatorial security team in Little Rock. Gunned down in his car at a deserted intersection outside Little Rock. Park’s son said his father was building a dossier on Clinton. He allegedly threatened to reveal this information. After he died the files were mysteriously removed from his house.

9 - James Bunch - Died from a gunshot suicide. It was reported that he had a “Black Book” of people which contained names of influential people who visited prostitutes in Texas and Arkansas.

10 - James Wilson - Was found dead in May 1993 from an apparent hanging suicide. He was reported to have ties to Whitewater.

11- Kathy Ferguson, ex-wife of Arkansas Trooper Danny Ferguson, was found dead in May 1994, in her living room with a gunshot to her head. It was ruled a suicide even though there were several packed suitcases, as if she were going somewhere. Danny Ferguson was a co-defendant along with Bill Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit. Kathy Ferguson was a possible corroborating witness for Paula Jones.

12 - Bill Shelton - Arkansas State Trooper and fiancee of Kathy Ferguson. Critical of the suicide ruling of his fiancee, he was found dead in June, 1994 of a gunshot wound also ruled a suicide at the grave site of his fiancee.

13 - Gandy Baugh - Attorney for Clinton’s friend Dan Lassater, died by jumping out a window of a tall building January, 1994. His client was a convicted drug distributor.

14 - Florence Martin - Accountant & sub-contractor for the CIA, was related to the Barry Seal Mena Airport drug smuggling case. He died of three gunshot wounds.

15 - Suzanne Coleman - Reportedly had an affair with Clinton when he was Arkansas Attorney General. Died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head, ruled a suicide. Was pregnant at the time of her death.

16 - Paula Grober - Clinton’s speech interpreter for the deaf from 1978 until her death December 9, 1992. She died in a one car accident.

17 - Danny Casolaro - Investigative reporter. Investigating Mena Airport and Arkansas Development Finance Authority. He slit his wrists, apparently, in the middle of his investigation.

18 - Paul Wilcher - Attorney investigating corruption at Mena Airport with Casolaro and the 1980 “October Surprise” was found dead on a toilet June 22, 1993 in his Washington DC apartment. Had delivered a report to Janet Reno three weeks before his death

19 - Jon Parnell Walker - Whitewater investigator for Resolution Trust Corp. Jumped to his death from his Arlington, Virginia apartment balcony August15, 1993. He was investigating the Morgan Guarantee scandal.

20 - Barbara Wise - Commerce Department staffer. Worked closely with Ron Brown and John Huang. Cause of death unknown. Died November 29, 1996. Her bruised, nude body was found locked in her office at the Department of Commerce.

21- Charles Meissner - Assistant Secretary of Commerce who gave John Huang special security clearance, died shortly thereafter in a small plane crash.

22 - Dr. Stanley Heard - Chairman of the National Chiropractic Health Care Advisory Committee, died with his attorney Steve Dickson in a small plane crash. Dr. Heard, in addition to serving on Clinton’s advisory council personally treated Clinton’s mother, stepfather and brother.

23 - Barry Seal - Drug running pilot out of Mena, Arkansas, death was no accident.

24 - Johnny Lawhorn Jr. - Mechanic, found a check made out to Bill Clinton in the trunk of a car left at his repair shop. He was found dead after his car had hit a utility pole.

25 - Stanley Huggins - Investigated Madison Guarantee. His death was a purported suicide and his report was never released.

26- Hershell Friday - Attorney and Clinton fund raiser died March 1, 1994 when his plane exploded.

27 - Kevin Ives and Don Henry - Known as “The boys on the track” case. Reports say the boys may have stumbled upon the Mena Arkansas airport drug operation. A controversial case, the initial report of death said, due to falling asleep on railroad tracks. Later reports claim the two boys had been slain before being placed on the tracks. Many linked to the case died before their testimony could come before a Grand Jury.

THE FOLLOWING PERSONS HAD INFORMATION ON THE IVES/HENRY CASE:

28 - Keith Coney - Died when his motorcycle slammed into the back of a truck, July 1988.

29 - Keith McMaskle - Died stabbed 113 times, Nov, 1988

30 - Gregory Collins - Died from a gunshot wound January 1989.

31 - Jeff Rhodes - He was shot, mutilated and found burned in a trash dump in April 1989.

33 - James Milan - Found decapitated. However, the Coroner ruled his death was due to “natural causes.”

34 - Jordan Kettleson - Was found shot to death in the front seat of his pickup truck in June 1990.

35 - Richard Winters - A suspect in the Ives / Henry deaths. He was killed in a set-up robbery July 1989.

THE FOLLOWING CLINTON BODYGUARDS ARE DEAD: 36 - Major William S. Barkley Jr. 37 - Captain Scott J. Reynolds 38 - Sgt. Brian Hanley 39 - Sgt. Tim Sabel 40 - Major General William Robertson 41 - Col. William Densberger 42 - Col. Robert Kelly 43 - Spec. Gary Rhodes 44 - Steve Willis 45 - Robert Williams 46 - Conway LeBleu 47 - Todd McKeehan

May they rest in peace.

America - A Nation Abandoned by God

2008-05-25T13:45:00.007-05:00

by James McArthur

...To the sons of Israel earlier in the book of Judges in chapter 10, God said this, "You have forsaken me, you have served other gods, therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen. Let them deliver you in the time of your distress." This was God saying to Israel, "I'm done with you, abandoned by God...

Now I'm going to say something, you're going to have to hold on to your seat a little bit. I'm convinced beyond doubt that in this same sense, God has abandoned America. I know that's a strong thing to say and I'm going to show you why I believe you can see that clearly in Scripture...

Romans I starts with very familiar words. Verse 18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven." [Now] I don't believe we're waiting for God's wrath in this society. We haven't had a massive calamity such as the destruction of an entire city, we certainly don't want that to happen, pray that does not happen, but it could happen and God would be just in any calamity that He brought upon us...

But this massive concept of the wrath of abandonment I'm convinced is now at work in our society. God [has given] us over to a depraved mind to do the things that are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, envy, full of...or evil full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, haters of God, insolent arrogant boastful inventors of evil, disobedient to parents without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, and not only do them, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them..."

As the historian Schiller(?) said, years ago, "The history of the world is the judgment of the world." There comes a time in a nation when God has had enough and He literally lets go and turns them over to the sentence that they have passed upon themselves by their incessant sinful choices. To see it another way, they are deprived of restraining grace...

And so we see what happens in a society when God turns them over and we see why He turns them over... So we look at our nation, our hearts are broken, the mind is depraved, they think they're smart, they're morons. They can't get to the truth, the mind is completely gone. They invent bizarre religions. They become religious. And today they like to talk about being spiritual, right? I'm very religious, I'm very spiritual...

What in the world does that mean? What does that mean? As if you can invent your own worship and your own religion. That's man at his lowest. That's all the way at the bottom, total complete rejection of the true God and the true faith. That's where we are...

Read entire unexcerpted article at http://www.gty.org/Resources/Transcripts/GTY109

How Hillary will win - Part II

2008-02-16T19:41:00.006-06:00

Two more ways: 1)By being blessed to run against this guy...
2) more illegal immigration as described below (courtesy Manitoba Herald):
The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration.
The actions of President Bush are prompting the exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray, and agree with Rush Limbaugh.
Canadian border farmers say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night.
"I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota.
"The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left. Didn't even get a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?"
In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. So he tried installing speakers that blare Rush Limbaugh across the fields. "Not real effective," he said. "The liberals still got through, and Rush annoyed the cows so much they wouldn't give milk."
Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons, drive them across the border and leave them to fend for themselves.
"A lot of these people are not prepared for rugged conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I found one carload without a drop of drinking water. They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though."
When liberals are caught, they're sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about the Bush administration establishing re-education camps in which liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and watch NASCAR races.
In recent days, liberals have turned to sometimes-ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have taken to posing as senior citizens on bus trips to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans disguised in powdered wigs, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior-citizen passengers on Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney hits to prove they were alive in the '50s.
"If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we get suspicious about their age," an official said.
Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and renting all the good Susan Sarandon movies.
"I feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can't support them," an Ottawa resident said. "How many art-history majors [and politicians from Wellesley and Harvard] does one country need?" See comment thread below:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident" - NOT!

2007-11-02T18:00:00.000-05:00

So, we've established that Barack Hussein Obama is now a professed Unitarian. Like my own brother. David Owen helps us understand the implications:

Wow, yeah... "stalemate" is where you will always wind up with someone who doesn't believe in objective truth. Your brother (and, in fact, my own brother) is one of those people willing to end any conversation with the words, "that is what you believe, and that's fine with me." Implied is: "That is fine for you, but not fine for me, and no one can say we're not both correct in our own universes."In other words, "There is no such thing as truth."The problem with saying "there is no such thing as truth" is, well.... throw yourself off a cliff and you'll figure out pretty quickly what the problem is. Gravity doesn't give a rip what your personal philosophy is. If you have mass, and you're in a gravity well, and nothing is supporting you, you will fall... whether you jolly well like it or not. You don't have to believe in gravity, because gravity believes in you.Likewise with God and with the Gospel of Christ. You don't have to believe that lost sinners end up in hell to end up in hell. You only have to be a lost sinner when you die. After that, it really doesn't matter what you believed or how many people shared your beliefs. You didn't go to hell because of your religious views, or lack of them; you went to hell because you sinned against the only God that has ever existed. The people who DIDN'T go to hell didn't sin any less (necessarily)... they simply accepted the one way of escape that the one God made for every human being. (Nothing could be more "universal" than the salvation offered freely through Jesus Christ.)I've said it before, but it bears repeating now, I suppose: the reason there is only one way for man to be reconciled to God is because it is God's way, not man's way. If man could reach God, there would be a thousand or more ways to reach God. Every religious notion would be equally valid. This is not the case, because man is not able to reach God, because man is broken. Since man cannot reach God, God had to reach down to man. And since there is only one God, then logically, there is only one way. This is really quite simple.The reason your brother doesn't believe this is not because your brother is stupid or particularly obstinate... he is simply lost, just as we all were. He won't believe the truth until God reveals it to him, and God won't reveal it to him as long as he refuses to even consider it. On the one hand, then, I suppose there is some point to having these discussions with him, even when they're frustrating. Just remember to be LOVING and not smug or conceited when you speak to him... remember that Jacob fell down on his face before his ungodly brother Esau, and Jesus got down on the dirty floor and washed Peter's feet. We know that we have the truth, but we're not to use it as a club!On the other hand, no amount of debate will ever actually change your brother's mind. Only the Spirit of God can possibly do that. Keeping that in mind may make it easier to stomach his "stalemate" answers! In other words, don't feel as if you've failed, for in reality, there is NOTHING you could have said that would have swayed him at all. Leave that part to God.As for his thinking that he knows what's going to happen to him after he dies, that's frightening. The obvious question is, "HOW do you know? Who TOLD you?" In the end, all he can say is that he just sort of came to a conclusion on his own, which means he won't be able to know whether or not his guess was correct until he dies! Then, of course, it will be too late. No one should ever have to guess at the next life, because God Himself has told us all we need to know. You and I are not trusting a religion or a philosophy; that's what your brother doesn't quite understand. We are trusting a PERSON who has BEEN to Heaven and who knows the way there, and who has promised to take us there. What's more, this holy Person whom we're trusting is totally incapable of lying. We have 100% confidence, not in ourselves or in some religious teaching, but in HIM. For your brother to miss Heaven, your brother would have to be wrong about it. For me to miss Heaven, Jesus would have to be wrong about it. I fancy my odds better.That's the big difference, I guess. I'm not trusting myself at all. I'm only trusting Jesus. I can be wrong, but He can't.But you know all this already, so what good is my rambling going to do anyone?As to his comments about "different gender lifestyles" and so forth: calling a sin a sin is not bigotry. Is it bigotry to say that murder is wrong? What about rape? Am I a bigot if I don't approve of rape? What about stealing?Some people need to face the big question of morality. Why does it exist? Frankly, if it's not from a higher authority than mankind, then it doesn't really matter. I can murder someone if I want to, as long as I feel like it's okay. Is that right? Of course not. But WHY not? Because I am not the one who decides what is right and what is wrong. Does "society" decide? If so, then it's still not valid, because "society" is just a bunch of people like me, no better and no worse. If they can dictate morality to me, then logically, I can dictate it right back to them.The same God who said that stealing and murder are sins also said that homosexuality is a sin. To "pick and choose" which morals you will uphold is simply illogical. If homosexuality is right because one person says it is, then murder is also right if someone says it is. The bottom line is that it's not up to us. God, who created the universe, is the only one who gets to decide what is right and what is wrong.Are we then bigots for believing Him? Of course not. Calling God a liar is not an act of enlightenment, but rather of the purest foolishness. If we did NOT say that homosexuality is wrong, then we would be fools, because we'd be arguing with the God who made our species. How could we possibly be right and Him wrong? How could the created beings dictate moral law to their own creator? It's absurd.Having said all that, we also have no excuse for being unkind to people with "different gender lifestyles." We have no excuse for being cruel or hateful toward anyone. We are sinners as well, no better in any way, even if we've never had the slightest urge toward any similar perversion. I cannot look down my nose at a homosexual, or a bank robber, or even a mass murderer. Such people are no more lost than I was before I came to Christ, nor am I any more saved than they would be if they were to come to Him. The ground is perfectly level on both sides of the cross.When such people refuse the Gospel and then criticize us for being "bigots" because we believe what Jesus taught (and Jesus taught that the Scriptures were God's very words, so He certainly DID teach about homosexuality), we will undoubtedly feel hurt, but we must not feel personally rejected. They are not rejecting us; they are rejecting our Master whom we merely follow. If they hate us because we were cruel toward them, on the other hand, then we deserve every drop of their ire, and no blessing awaits us. When we suffer for believing and following Christ, however, we are told to "rejoice exceedingly, for so persecuted they the prophets before you" and Christ Himself.

Candidate profiles II

2007-11-02T12:59:00.000-05:00

Barack Hussein Obama
Report courtesy Biography Channel

Barack Hussein Obama's father, grandfather and stepfather were Muslims. He attended Muslim schools.Obama is supposed to be a Christian convert, but he's also then a Muslim apostate [not really: The United Church of Christ is not Christian, but rather a Unitarian front for seekers and believers in all faiths - ed.]

"Whoever changes his religion, kill him." Al Bukhari Vol. 9:57 .

Why no threats against him? Once a Muslim, always a Muslim by Koran laws.

What if Obama is engaged in pious fraud? This is a Muslim practice (Al Takeyya) of pretending not to be Muslim to further the cause of Islam or to "defend the faith".

Quran 3:118 Don't be friends with Non-Muslims because they hate you and want to ruin you.

Quran 4:52 Those (Christians and Jews) are they whom Allah hath cursed.

Quran 9:33 Islam will prevail over all religions. "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant.

The Koran ... should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth. Everything we need to know is in the Koran. We don't need to look somewhere else." Omar M. Ahmad, chairman of CAIR, the mainsteam Muslim advocacy group.

Hillary sez...

2007-11-02T12:40:00.000-05:00

"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
"We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society.”
"It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, for the few, and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity."
"We can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people.""
"We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own turf in order to create this common ground."
"I certainly think the free market has failed."
"I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector [oil] in the entire economy, that they are being watched."
"What I want to do is take those profits and apply them to alternative energy."
"I have a million ideas. The country can't afford them all."
Karl Marx or Frederick Engels said none of these things; Hillary Clinton said them all. - courtesy rllngrk33 in the Free Republic

And something tells me this guy has a future as a speechwriter for Hillary with his qualified views on free speech...
I hope you rot with your friends Bush and Cheney. Get out of San Francisco you do not belong here you fascist. Your "conservative"voice will hopefully be classified as hate speech in a new America that will be ushered in with a Democratic president and veto proof Democrat congress in 2008. They will appoint the judges to the supreme court that will redefine free speech. Your time is coming. Free speech will remain protected but conservative positions such as your amount to hate speech that WILL BE OUTLAWED. I hope to help ensure you end up in jail to be reeducated with your friends Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. Leave San Francisco now or you will be rounded up with your filthy hater conservative friends. Go to hell monster - courtesy Cinnamon Stillwell, proud member of the Pajamas Media who writes from San Francisco. You can bet that Tim Russert will be on the wrong side of the barbed wire too!

If you have not yet seen the movie "The Lives of Others," check your cable listings or Netflix catalog and watch it NOW, if you don't think this can't happen here.

More stale pipe dreams: It's Thompson/Hunter vs. Clinton/Richardson...

2007-10-01T10:35:00.001-05:00

RASMUSSEN National Poll: Thompson 22% Giuliani 23% - 10/08/07

...Count on it. Rudy will eventually skewer himself by maintaining his "Sanctuary City"stance on amnesty (see below*) and for the poor judgment he has exercised by answering cell phone calls from his wife during televised speeches. However, he could still gain the nomination if ole Fred can't stand the heat of the campaign. Hillary's machine is too huge and too feared to beat. Richardson will bring in the Hispanic vote.

From Rudy himself:
Illegal immigration: "Illegal immigration is not a crime." --- on the Glenn Beck show
Abortion: Pro-choice; no ban on partial-birth abortions.
Gun Control: "All gun owners should pass written test." ---- March, 2000

The above-linked American Thinker article by J. Peter Mulhern gives us an extremely convincing scenario for Fred's victory in '08:

Conventional wisdom is hardening around the proposition that Fred Dalton Thompson is too lazy, ill-prepared, tired, old, lackluster, inexperienced, inconsistent and bald to make a successful run for President. Of course, conventional wisdom rarely gets anything right. When it does, it's only by accident.
In this case conventional wisdom is not just wrong but comically so. Thompson will win the Republican nomination for two reasons. First, he's a very impressive candidate. Second, there's no realistic alternative. He will win the general election for the same two reasons. Read more

Hari kari

2007-09-30T22:19:00.000-05:00

Remember, I told you this would happen - right here.

Do not, I repeat, do NOT underestimate Hillary. And do not think for one minute that she is not behind this movement.

Divide and conquer.

N.B. Here is yet another group she is actively behind.

All patients are equal but some are more equal than others

2007-09-19T08:42:00.000-05:00

Walter Shapiro, in Salon, informs us that the Clinton and Edwards plans (along with a more narrowly drawn proposal advanced by Barack Obama) would be largely financed by rolling back the Bush era tax cuts for those earning more than $250,000.

T.K., a reader, comments, all too prophetically, that "Yes, as in some other countries, individuals could pay for private care, but it would have to be funneled through free basic levels of care."

Having personally lived in foreign countries for several years, trust me in observing that this is Animal Farm all over again - "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS:"

Hillary is proposing that we tax the rich to pay for the poor. But, in these foreign countries, it is exactly the rich who subsidize the doctors by going to their private clinics for immediate treatment in the afternoon after their physicians toil in the free clinics most of the day where patients have been waiting a week or more, sometimes months for non-elective procedures.

Rob Peter to pay Paul, if you want, one more time. And you'll get exactly what you (don't) pay for.

See Comment 3 below from Canada if you don't believe me!

Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran...

2007-09-19T08:21:00.000-05:00

Or, appease them? This article concludes that Bush will appease them.

Or, as this author calls it, "strategic readjustment."

Nashville's own JFK

2007-09-19T07:29:00.000-05:00

From Liz Garrigan, in the Nashville Scene: To try to capture the mayor’s office, Bob Clement cobbled together a coalition of courthouse hacks, old folks, right-wingers and country bumpkins. At one time, that might have been a winning formula in Nashville. Not anymore. Tuesday, voters again showed their inclination to elect the candidate who they think best fits their image of Twang Town as a progressive city with a bright future. In rejecting Clement, the age-old pol with the hillbilly drawl running in his umpteenth campaign, 52 percent of Nashville voters chose the newcomer Karl Dean, another mayor in the mold of Bill Purcell and Phil Bredesen—a cosmopolitan, Northeastern transplant [read: carpetbagger - for real this time: read in the Comments below who he married!] who speaks without a trace of Southern accent.

My published response, in the Nashville Tennessean:
Based on the electoral map in your Sept. 13 issue, Nashville seems to have divided itself into red precincts and blue precincts, very similar to the national red state-blue state dichotomy. This is obviously an extremely disturbing and unhealthy trend.

Though some would paint this partitioning as workers vs. welfare-recipients, or haves vs. have-nots, a more accurate description might be everyone who works hard for a living vs. those who have made so much money that they forgot how they came by it.

For instance, what they're saying north of the river is hold on to your pocketbook and watch for Karl Dean to cut a huge marina into the Cumberland River so that all of the Belle Meade/Green Hills folks can sail their yachts right up to the Titans stadium on Sundays. And, trust me, they don't buy Mr. Dean's education initiatives for one New York minute. They remain convinced that any more money taken from their pockets will simply be more money poured down a rat hole. And they remain convinced that pledges to keep taxes constant differ hugely from intentions and promises not to do so. Or worse, pawning it off on the voters.

To gain the trust and support of the red-precincters, Mr. Dean is going to have prove to them that, in fact, he is not bought and paid for by the blue-precincters and special interests, and, at the very least make noises like he has the interests of the working classes at heart. - John Trainer, Nashville 37215

Some hard truths to ponder

2007-09-14T15:47:00.000-05:00

This from a reader of Lucianne

Bush is a globalist that is selling out the USA sovereignty for his globalist buddies. This is why he doesn't enforce immigration, or close the borders after 9/11. It is why we are waffling on Taiwan, after we promised to defend them.

If we elect another globalist that is going to sell us out, then this country will not make it another 10 years. Yesterday, the Euro was at a record high against the dollar. Trade deficits are at record paces. Oil hit $80 a barrel and we are importing more than ever. Why? Because of Bush's globalism.

Ask yourself this: If Bill Clinton were proposing a North American Union with the Amero as the central currency, would you be defending him? Or screaming from the highest mountain?

Bush is selling us out and I haven't a clue as to why. Posted by: sepcodale, 9/14/2007 3:19:46 PM

Well, heck, why put this off any longer??

The demise of higher education...

2007-09-05T08:50:00.000-05:00

...as mighty Harvard leads the way downward:

At universities and colleges throughout the land, undergraduates and their parents pay large sums of money for -- and federal and state governments contribute sizeable tax exemptions to support -- "liberal" education. This despite administrators and faculty lacking, or failing to honor, a coherent concept of what constitutes an educated human being....

Harvard's general education reform will allow students to graduate without ever having read the same book or studied the same material. Students may take away much of interest, but it is the little in common they learn that will be of lasting significance. For they will absorb the implicit teaching of the new college curriculum -- same as the old one -- that there is nothing in particular that an educated person need know....

Citizens today are called on to analyze a formidable array of hard questions concerning war and peace, liberty and security, markets and morals, marriage and family, science and technology, poverty and public responsibility, and much more. No citizen can be expected to master all the issues. But liberal democracies count on more than a small minority acquiring the ability to reason responsibly about the many sides of these many-sided questions. For this reason, we must teach our universities to appreciate the aims of a liberal education. And we must impress upon our universities their obligation to pursue them responsibly. - Peter Berkowitz, a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, teaches at George Mason University School of Law. This excerpted commentary draws from an essay that previously appeared in Policy Review reported in WSJ 9/05/07

You joined the wrong party, you fool!

2007-09-03T09:31:00.000-05:00

Jerry Studds, Barney Frank.... their reigns continue.

Even those who do leave (Gov. McGreevey) are forgiven.

Just where is the ACLU this time around, huh?

They really are cracking down on hiring illegal aliens. Maybe his visa expired?

2007-08-27T12:45:00.000-05:00

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned this morning, long after he had become a persistent embarrassment to President Bush.

The acting attorney general will be Solicitor General Paul Clement, who can stay in the job for months, administration officials said.

"There is speculation that with his faltering campaign, that Fred Thompson is being considered to fill the Attorney General vacancy. This part would be more within the actors range in reprising his role as Arthur Branch." - adds Bored with Fred Aug. 27, 2007 - 10:45 AM EST

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who's going green? Uh oh...

2007-08-20T17:41:00.000-05:00

A Tale of Two Houses
Here's some interesting information...
House #1 A 20 room mansion ( not including 8 bathrooms ) heated by
natural gas. Add on a pool ( and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area. It's in the South.

House #2 Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. .This house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms ) and is nestled on a high prairie in the
American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F. ) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system us es no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

~~~~~
HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee; it is the abode of
the "environmentalist" Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford,
Texas; it is the residence the of the President of the United States,
George W. Bush (qv the post below: Reflections on character)

An "inconvenient truth" (courtesy Snopes.com under "The Story of Two Houses")

Reflections on Character

2007-08-16T13:22:00.000-05:00

I think one can make a good case for a man's or woman's character by how they live and act when they are out of the limelight:

Here are some samples (rated R):

"Where is the G-damn f***ing flag? I want the G-damn f***ing flag up every f***ing morning at f***ing sunrise."
(From the book "Inside The White House" by Ronald Kessler, p. 244 - Hillary to the staff at the Arkansas Governor's mansion on Labor Day, 1991)

"You sold out, you mother f***er! You sold out!" From the book "Inside" by Joseph Califano, p. 213 - Hillary yelling at Democrat lawyer.

"F**k off! It's enough that I have to see you shit-kickers every day, I'm not going to talk to you too!! Just do your G*damn job and keep your mouth shut."
(From the book "American Evita" by Christopher Anderson, p. 90 - Hillary to her State Trooper bodyguards after one of them greeted her with "Good Morning.")

"You f***ing idiot."
(From the book "Crossfire" p. 84 - Hillary to a State Trooper who was driving her to an event.)

"If you want to remain on this detail, get your f***ing ass over here and grab those bags!"
(From the book "The First Partner" p. 259 - Hillary to a Secret Service Agent who was reluctant to carry her luggage because he wanted to keep his hands free in case of an incident.)

"Get f***ed! Get the f**k out of my way!!! Get out of my face!!!"
(From the book "Hillary's Scheme" p. 89 - Hillary's various comments to her Secret Service detail agents.)

"Stay the f**k back, stay the f**k away from me! Don't come within ten yards of me, or else! Just f**king do as I say, Okay!!!?"
(From the book "Unlimited Access", by Clinton FBI Agent in Charge, Gary Aldrige, p. 139 - Hillary screaming at her Secret Service detail.)

"Where's the miserable c*ck sucker?"
(From the book "The Truth About Hillary" by Edward Klein, p. 5 - Hillary shouting at a Secret Service officer)

"Put this on the ground! I left my sunglasses in the limo. I need those sunglasses. We need to go back!"
(From the book "Derelicti on of Duty" p. 71-72 - Hillary to Marine One helicopter pilot to turn back while en route to Air Force One.)

"Oh my word!!! I had worked (as a massage therapist in 1992) on someone who had been on one of the guard details for the Clintons while they were on the campaign trail. That individual stated that NO ONE had wanted to guard HER! They didn't mind guarding Bill, but did NOT want to guard her. The individual didn't give many details, but said that she was extremely abusive!" (Charlotte Trainer)

"Son of a bitch."
(From the book "American Evita" by Christopher Anderson, p. 259 - Hillary's opinion of President George W. Bush when she found out he secretly visited Iraq just days before her highly publicized trip to Iraq)

"What are you doing inviting these people into my home? These people are our enemies! They are trying to destroy us!"
(From the book "The Survivor" by John Harris, p. 99 - Hillary screaming to an aide, when she found out that some Republicans had been invited to the Clinton White House)

"Come on Bill, put your dick up! You can't f**k her here!!"
(From the book "Inside The White House" by Ronald Kessler, p. 243 - Hillary to Gov. Clinton when she spots him talking with an attractive female at an Arkansas political rally)

You know, I'm going to start thanking the woman who cleans the restroom in the building I work in. I'm going to start thinking of her as a human being? - Hillary Clinton
(From the book "The Case Against Hillary Clinton" by Peggy Noonan, p. 55)

Contrast this, if you will, to this testimony:

KARL ROVE: Well, you know, the president is a... it sounds corny, but it's inspiring to work around him. He's got a wonderful spirit. He's got a great sense of humor. He treats people with the greatest respect and dignity, and that goes from the guy swabbing out the floors on the first floor of the White House to, you know, some foreign head of state. He treats everybody with respect and dignity, and he sets such a wonderful tone and serves as a wonderful model for people who work around him. I think one of the reasons why this White House staff consists of so many wonderful people is because they're around him and realize what a great experience it is to be around him.
Q: Does it frustrate you...? I know you said earlier just ignore the criticism. Does it frustrate you with all the attacks on him as brain dead or a frat boy, that you're the brain and this sort of thing, or do you shelve that and just go about your day?

KARL ROVE: Well, I shelve that, but I have to admit I'm amused by it because, you know, this is one of the best-read people I've ever met. This is a Harvard MBA. This is a Yale undergraduate whose major was history and whose passion is history. Many times the people I see criticizing him are, you know, sort of elite, effete snobs who can't hold a candle to this guy. What they don't like about him is that he is common sense, that he is Middle America.

Karl goes on, in this telephone interview, to observe that he thinks Hillary is a fatally flawed candidate. Well, yes and no, depending on how many people care about character in the first place and how many of those that do learn the truth about Hillary decide to crawl over broken glass to vote against her. This scenario is by no means a done deal because, bottom line, we are lazy. We believe health care and other entitlements are rights that are owed to us by the government. And, let's face it, the Democrats are totally invested in that belief even though any student of current events knows that a single payor program would soon erode both their health services and personal resources.

And lest we forget, we have John Edwards.

Which of these candidates really respects... us?

"We just can't trust the American people to make those types of choices.... Government has to make those choices for people" (Hillary to Rep. Dennis Hastert in 1993 discussing her expensive, disastrous taxpayer-funded health care plan - read this for a more realistic assessment of our health care woes)
"I am a fan of the social policies that you find in Europe" (Hillary in 1996" From the book "I've Always Been A Yankee Fan" by Thomas D. Kuiper, p. 76 - Hillary in 1996)
I mean, this ain't rocket science, folks. You don't get something for nothing.
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need..." So what is so difficult about that??

"Who gave us that social security check that
you cash every month, you ask?"
That money was taken at gunpoint.
Socialism does dick to help the so called working man. To the liars who run the democrat socialist party, the "working man" is someone who doesn't work. These scum would have you believe that poverty is the result of hard work while wealth is the product of a life of crime.
Scum. May they rot in hell." - Posted by ccoffer August 18, 2007 1:10 PM )

Vegan Militia provides us a truly quintessential example of an ad hominem liberal riposte:

"Wow, this place is just chock full of right-wing trolls isn't it?
I swear you folks would consider Pravda circa 1967 the 'liberal media.'
But then, if all you ever listen to is Rush, and all you ever watch is Faux News, what is to be expected? Bet you still think that Sadam was behind 9-11.
Tell me one thing though, how do you keep your knuckles from getting scraped up as they drag across the ground? What a bunch of Neanderthals.
I think I'll put on some Baby Einstein now, I need something intellectual after reading all your swill. "
Posted by: VeganMilitia Aug 17, 2007 8:56:52 PM

His knuckles must be raw meat. Oh for the days of the Lincoln-Douglas debates!

Oh, and here's one for the record books: A self-confessed liberal finally sees reality.

And, best of all, this clincher. Well.... this ertswhile Presidential nominee (and obviously as far from being a compassionate liberal-or-whatever than one could possibly get) really takes the cake with this one:

"We're not going to outspend the other guys," he said during an
interview in his modest office in the political science department at
Northeastern University, where he was the first to arrive (at 7:30 a.m.) on a
recent midsummer morning. "We're probably not going to outstrategize them. And
some crazy guy will blow up a building with three weeks to go, you know, and
then we'll be back in Bush-land again."

Michael Dukakis may be right (God help us all) but, well, we'll let his prognostications rest our case for the cast of characterless characters who have sought to lead the most proud and powerful nation in the world.

Wait a minute! Hold the phone!! Well, I shouldda known this was going to happen.... And it didn't take long:

"It's a horrible prospect to ask yourself, 'What if? What if?' But if certain
things happen between now and the election, particularly with respect to
terrorism, that will automatically give the Republicans an advantage again, no
matter how badly they have mishandled it, no matter how much more dangerous they
have made the world," Clinton told supporters in Concord.
"So I think I'm the best of the Democrats to deal with that," she added (quoted in Best of the Web Today - August 24, 2007 By JAMES TARANTO, WSJ )

Letter from Afghanistan

2007-08-15T21:25:00.000-05:00

This email from the son of a friend of mine:
Friends and Family,
Last week the fourth truck in our convoy was hit with a rather massive, triple stacked anti-tank mine, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on one of our routes of travel. The blast while leaving a crater 8 feet wide and 5 feet deep also destroyed the front half of the uparmored humvee. In it's aftermath it left one of my good friends Darryl Wallace without any legs and three
other friends with less serious injuries.
In truth none of them should have survived the explosion though. I saw one anti-tank mine kill three friends in Iraq, so the fact that they survived 3x the explosive power of that is nothing short of a miracle. Initially it knocked out our combat medic Doc Spaulding, who is a 19 year old boy fresh out of basic training. After he came to he found his leg pinned under one of the humvee's 600 lbs. doors, but was able to push it off. He then managed to crawl over to where Wallace's mangled body was laying. At this point his right leg was no where to be found and his left was dangling by tissue, both bleeding an unheard of amount of blood. Doc was able to put turnicates on both to slow it down. Aparently this wasn't enough to keep his pulse from completely stopping though.
From here I am not exactly sure what kind of instruments or medicine he found in his back pack sized Aid bag to bring him back to life, but he did it. What ever it was that he put in the IV expanded Darryl's blood enough to trick his heart into start beating again. By the time they got Wallace on the med evac bird and back here to the base hospital he had lost 12 pints of blood leaving only 1 or 2 left in his veins.
Every doctor that has seen him since has said, "He should have died." We have had little news on his condition since he was flown to Germany and then Walter Reid in D.C. But we know he is in stable condition and will be, what the Army says is "OK." I don't know if I consider the loss of both legs for a married man with a 2 year old daughter "OK" though. To me unless you translate that "OK" into a really shitty new reality I don't think it makes any sense. I mean, imagine waking up from days of sleep and haze brought on by morphine and heavy medications only to look down and see one leg from below the knee down gone and the other leg from above the knee gone. Shocking might be a slightly understated word.

Some thoughts that might come into one's head could be, "How did this happen? How will I support my family? Is the military going to take care of me the rest of my life? Will my troubled marriage survive all this? How can I sleep at night with out it all replaying in my dreams over and over again?" Hopefully there will be positive answers to these questions, unlike the ones that other men I know have gotten when in similar situations. And also I hope that his stay at Walter Reid will be better than many of our wounded veterans stays have been.
The other three guys that were in the truck whos names are Mark Anderson, Tyler Morgan, and Doc Spaulding are all still here. They are walking zombies for the most part drugged up on Ambien and Vicadens to help with their insomnia and pain. These things always leave other issues in their wake besides the obvious medical problems. The emotional and mental scars that come with it are huge.
My concerns and prayers are now that they are all able to overcome these scars. For the rest of us anxiety and anger are the two biggest emotions running through our heads. Our command isn't letting us back out on patrol for a while in concern that we will seek retribution for what has happen and leave to much destruction behind. This is probably wise, because we are all itching to get a hold on the guys who did this. There are plans in the work to respond to these recent IED attacks which I cannot talk about even in the slightest right now. I am directly involved in what they have planned so I will write about it when everything is said and done. Mean while I ask for prayers. For these four guys, their families, and the rest of us who consider them our brothers.
I am not going to write anything further because I think some of the things I would say would be upsetting and troubling to many of the people who are forwarded these emails. My distain for this war is growing greater everyday, especially when the work we are doing here seems so fruitless and our presence unnecessary. We are not doing the job we set out to do 6 years ago, but we are paying a greater cost in human lives than we were at the beginning of this war. The math just doesn't seem to add up to me.
I hope everyone is well back home. I miss you all and cannot wait to return to the states. Until then I will continue to do what is asked of me and try to find some good in this mess.
Love,
Jon

How some educated Iraqis feel about the progress of this Middle East war

Oh for the days of... real statesmen!

2007-08-13T15:52:00.000-05:00

Or, at least, leaders who can act presidential...

Edwards complete statement on the resignation of Karl Rove (from his blog http://johnedwards.com/:)

Aug 13, 2007 2:36 PM
Chapel Hill, North Carolina – John
Edwards today released the following statement in reaction to President Bush’s announcement that his senior advisor, Karl Rove, will resign at the end of the month. Here it is in its entirety
"Goodbye, good riddance."

You expect this kind of thing from reporters, however disgusting and disrespectful:

Monday, Aug 13
As Karl Rove embraced President Bush today following an
emotional farewell announcement on the South Lawn, the solemnity of the moment
was shattered by Bill Plante of CBS, who bellowed to Bush: "If he's so smart, how come you lost Congress?"

You gotta love those liberals (whose flower-children parents never dared to give them a good spanking when they darn well needed it)

The truth is bared about media bias

2007-08-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

In view of the recent revelations at a Seattle newspaper and at NBC this Sunday Times (UK) admission by Anthony Jay is a Must Read:

Confessions of a BBC liberal

The BBC has finally come clean about its bias, says a former editor, who wrote Yes, Minister (Anthony Jay.)In the past four weeks there have been two remarkable changes in the public attitude to the BBC. The first and most newsworthy one was precipitated by the faked trailer of the Queen walking out of a photographic portrait session with Annie Leibovitz

It was especially damaging because the licence fee is based on a public belief that the BBC offers a degree of integrity and impartiality which its commercial competitors cannot achieve.
But in the longer term I believe that the second change is even more significant. It started with the BBC’s own report on impartiality that effectively admitted to an institutional “liberal” bias among programme makers. Previously these accusations had been dismissed as a right-wing rant, but since the report was published even the BBC’s allies seem to accept it. Read more

Pretty Boy or die

2007-08-09T10:14:00.000-05:00

M. Jimison responds to an article in Salon Online Magazine
Only Edwards can win:
"Democrats should take over the White House in 2008, but they won't. That is because they are likely to nominate Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton will not only lose the general election, she will get crushed. Her husband, who is infinitely more popular than she is, never carried more than 50 percent of the popular vote. Furthermore, Hillary is so polarizing she starts off in the hole with over 50 percent of voters stating that they would not vote for her under any circumstances. People say, "she can win, she just has to carry the Kerry states plus Ohio." That assumes that only the states Bush carried are in play and not the states that Kerry carried. Not only will Hillary not carry Ohio, she will lose Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Hampshire, and most likely Minnesota, Wisconsin, and perhaps Oregon and Washington -- all states Kerry barely carried. Democrats should wake up and realize that this country will never elect Hillary as President. It's not that she's a woman, it's that she's Hillary.

As for Senator Obama, I just love him, and he will be President some day. It just will not be in 2008. I actually think a President Obama is just what this country needs right now, especially in repairing America's image in the eyes of the rest of the world. However, right now, in the eyes of American voters, he is simply too inexperienced for the voters to turn the keys of government over to him, especially this closely removed from 9-11. Senator Obama will lose the same states as Hillary. For all of his freshness and charisma, he just isn't that exciting on the campaign trial, and couple that with his inexperience, he doesn't stand a chance. It's doubtful he will be nominated, but if he is, he will lose.

The only true chance that the democrats have is to nominate Gore or Edwards. Since Gore is unlikely to get in the race, Edwards stands the best chance. Edwards will not only carry the states Kerry won, but he will pick off Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Virginia, Florida, New Mexico (okay Gov. Richardson could pick this one off too) and Louisiana, where he has built up good will in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and possibly North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas.

2008 should be the year of the democrats, but if they nominate a person half the country hates (Clinton), or a nominee that the country is unsure of (Obama), then the democrats will most certainly lose the White House in 2008. Although Sen. Edwards' campaign has been nit-picked to death on trivial matters, such trivialities will be overcome when it comes crunch time and the country has to pick a new leader. Despite his campaign's missteps, Edwards is still palpable to a majority of voters, his substantive ideas are driving the debate, at least in the democratic primary, he is a dynamic campaigner, has a compelling biography, and a terrific wife.

Edwards is a sure fire winner, and if you don't believe it, just pay attention to how much effort the republican party and the chattering class are expending to knock him around on silly, non-sensical issues. Their hit jobs are evidence enough of how scared republicans are of him.

Edwards, if nominated, would walk into the presidency. Sad thing is that we will never know this, and instead democrats will watch Romney or Thompson take the oath office in Jan. 09, and I'll be the guy who'll come up to you and say, I told you so." -- M. Jimison, responding to an article in Salon

James Taranto, of the Wall St. Journal adds this incisive commentary:

"Actually, when you think about it, it's amazing how similar the 2008 race is to the 2004 race. We have a formidable establishment candidate who originally backed the war, then changed his mind (John Kerry then, Hillary Clinton now); a challenger who has opposed the war all along, and who is clearly out of his depth (Howard Dean, Barack Obama); and a third guy who stands around looking pretty (John Edwards, John Edwards). The biggest difference is that Mike Gravel doesn't quite have the gravitas of a Carol Moseley Braun.

This year, of course, everyone seems to think the Democrats are very likely, even guaranteed, to win. That's because, unlike in 2004, George W. Bush is very, very unpopular. The biggest danger for the Dems, then, is that their nominee will figure out that Bush is not on the ballot and won't know what to do."

How we will end up with President Clinton II

2007-07-31T19:15:00.000-05:00

Simply by fronting a third party to siphon off 20% of the centrist voters. With Hillary's blessing, nay, at her direction, a group named Unity08, is already on this:

"Unity08's goal is not to win--it's to make sure the Republican Party doesn't win. Privately, the party's organizers say they don't want to create a third party, rather, they want to force both major parties to revamp themselves and become more issue-oriented. "What we are trying to do," Doug Bailey said, 'is create a forum for people who are in the middle who have been left out of politics.'
"Hillary Clinton knew that in 1992. The working class moderates in the middle--most of whom are registered Democrats--will vote Republican anytime a liberal head the Democratic ticket. They represent 20% of the voters. They are the swing voters who decide elections. They are the genuine independents because even though the unions they belong to push them to vote straight ticket, they seldom do. They elected Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984. They elected George H.W. Bush in 1988 and they elected George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. In 1992 and 1996 they were flimflammed into voting for Ross Perot, believing the pint-sized Texan in the ten gallon hat was actually trying to win an election. He was--but not for himself. Nor for the people who wasted their vote on the Reform Party. Pint-sized Perot was a kingsized flim-flammer. He signed on to win the the Election of 1992 for Bill and Hillary Clinton for the lion's share of the Hillary Clinton Health Security Act IT business--estimated at $85 billion. The swing voters who thought they were electing Ross Perot elected the co-presidency of Bill and Hillary Clinton." Read more

Conspiracy theory maybe? Fact?? Anyway, you heard it here first.
But, in any case, don't get suckered into this again. And remember, two can play the same game.

For a greater historical perspective on the necessity of fighting Hillary's election, please check this out!

TV Interview with an admittedly illegal immigrant

2007-07-22T17:13:00.000-05:00

Here is a REAL INTERVIEW with an illegal Mexican at a protest march in Texas.

Trying to reason with an Illegal Mexican!

This is good! Below is a good example of a discussion with a master of circular logic. Don't be logical, don't respect the truth or your adversary, just say what you think makes a new case when the previous case gets too difficult to defend. On the streets of downtown Houston, May 1, 2006.
Jim Moore reporting for a Houston TV station:

Jim: Juan, I see that you and thousands of other protesters are marching in the streets to demonstrate for your cause. Exactly what is your cause and what do you expect to accomplish by this protest?

Juan: We want our rights. We will show you how powerful we are. We will bring Houston to its knees!

Jim: What rights?

Juan: Our right to live here...legally. Our right to get all the benefits you get.

Jim: When did you come to the United States?

Juan: Six years ago. I crossed over the border at night with seven other friends.

Jim: Why did you come?

Juan: For work. I can earn as much in a month as I could in a year in Mexico. Besides, I get free health care, our Mexican children can go to school free, if I lose my job I will get Welfare, and someday I will have the Social Security. Nothing like that in Mexico!

Jim: Did you feel badly about breaking our immigration laws when you came?

Juan: No! Why should I feel bad? I have a right to be here. I have a right to amnesty. I paid lots of money for my Social Security and Green Cards.

Jim: How did you acquire those documents?

Juan: From a guy in Dallas. He charged me a lot of money too.

Jim: Did you know that those documents were forged?

Juan: It is of no matter. I have a right to be here and work.

Jim: What is the "right" you speak of?

Juan: The right of all Aliens. It is found in your Constitution. Read it!

Jim: I have read it, but I do not remember it saying anything about rights for Aliens.

Juan: It is in that part where it says that all men have Alien rights, like the right to pursue happiness. I wasn't happy in Mexico, so I came here.

Jim: I think you are referring to the declaration of Independence and that document speaks to unalienable rights .. Not Alien rights.

Juan: Whatever.

Jim: Since you are demanding to become an American citizen, why then are you carrying a Mexican Flag?

Juan: Because I am Mexican.

Jim: But you said you want to be given amnesty ... to become a US citizen.

Juan: No. This is not what we want. This is our country, a part of Mexico that you Gringos stole from us. We want it returned to its rightful owner.

Jim: Juan, you are standing in Texas. After wining the war with Mexico, Texas became a Republic, and later Texans voted to join the USA. It was not stolen from Mexico.

Juan: That is a Gringo lie. Texas was stolen. So was California, New Mexico and Arizona. It is just like all the other stuff you Gringos steal, like oil and babies. You are a country of thieves.

Jim: Babies? You think we steal babies?

Juan: Sure. Like from Korea and Vietnam and China. I see them all over the place. You let all these foreigners in, but try to keep us Mexicans out. How is this fair?

Jim: So, you really don't want to become an American citizen then.

Juan: I just want my rights! Everyone has a right to live, work, and speak their native language wherever and whenever they please. That's another thing we demand. All signs and official documents should be in Spanish . Teachers must teach in Spanish. Soon, more people here in Houston will speak Spanish than English. It is our right!

Jim: If I were to cross over the border into Mexico without proper documentation, what rights would I have there?

Juan: None. You would probably go to jail, but that's different.

Jim: How is it different? You said everyone has the right to live wherever they please.

Juan: You Gringos are a bunch of land grabbing thieves. Now you want Mexico too? Mexico has its rights. You Gringos have no rights in Mexico. Why would you want to go there anyway? There is no free medical service, schools, or welfare there for foreigners such as you. You cannot even own land in my country. Stay in the country of your birth.

Jim: I can see that there is no way that we can agree on this issue. Thank you for your comments.

Juan: Viva Mexico!

A warning to President Bush

2007-07-09T20:01:00.000-05:00

Bill Kristol writes:
The New York Times leads today with David Sanger's story, "In White House, Debate Is Rising On Iraq Pullback; Political Considerations; Not Waiting For Sept. 15, Aides Seek to Forestall G.O.P. Defections." The piece is tendentious, as one would expect--but THE WEEKLY STANDARD has confirmed that there are real discussions going on at the White House, with advocates of what is being called "The Grand Bargain" pushing hard for the president to move soon to announce plans to pull back in Iraq. So this week will not only be a week of (mostly silly) debate on the Hill; it will also be an important moment of truth for the president, who will have to decide whether to give Gen. Petraeus and the soldiers a chance, or to accept the counsel of some of his advisers and begin to throw in the towel on Iraq.

Let me be clear: The president ordered the "surge," which only recently came to full strength and whose major operation has been going on for less than a month. If he were not to give it a chance to work, he would properly be viewed as a feckless, irresolute president, incapable of seeing his own strategy through a couple of months of controversy before abandoning it. He will have asked our soldiers to go on the offensive, assuming greater risk of casualties--and then, even though the offensive is working better than expected, will have pulled the plug on their efforts.

Indeed, the White House is living in a fool's paradise if they imagine that "compromising" now and in this way buys them anything. Even the New York Times editorial page has abandoned the pretence that its preferred strategy will lead to anything other than catastrophe in Iraq, and in the very near term. If the president gives in now, he will not be credited with a statesmanlike compromise. He will be lambasted by the left for fighting a bad war, and by the right for fighting it badly, recommitting us to the fight, and then losing it. The remainder of his term will be mired in congressional investigations as the waters fill with blood and the sharks go in for the kill. The Democrats will be emboldened to press him on every front, especially since Iraq is virtually the only position he's actually been defending. Lame duck does not even begin to describe where President Bush will be if he does this.

What's more, the president will lose any ability to mitigate the effects of the withdrawal or control it. The pullout will become a wild hell-for-leather race for the exit, and the result will be a triumph for al Qaeda and Iran, and a moral and geopolitical disaster for the United States.

The best strategy for the president is to hold firm. There is every reason to believe that he can survive the current calamity-Janes of the Republican party (does anyone really imagine that a veto-proof majority will form in the Senate this week or next?). This nonsense will pass, Congress will go on recess, and Petraeus will have a chance to continue to produce results--and the president and his allies will have a chance to gain political ground here at home. Why on earth pull the plug now? Why give in to an insane, irrational panic that will destroy the Bush administration and most likely sweep the Republican party to ruin? The president still has a chance to emerge from this as a visionary who could see what the left could not--but not if he gives in to them. There is no safety in the position some in the Bush administration are running towards.

Here's what I gather is a basic lesson of tactics: When you find yourself in an ambush, attack into the ambush. Don't twist and turn in the kill zone, looking for a way to retreat. Especially when the ambush is not a powerful one, and the Democrats' position (to mix military metaphors) is way overextended. The Democrats are hoping the president will break and run. They will not allow him a dignified retreat or welcome him with compromise. They will spring to finish him off completely. It doesn't matter what the president's motives are. Some of his advisers are trying to persuade him that he needs to go for a grand bargain now so as to build bipartisan support for his policies when he's gone. But the only way to do that is to hold firm now--and to counterattack. Those who try to convince him otherwise offer nothing but defeat, for the troops, for the mission, and for the president.

--William Kristol

A horrible, horrible tragedy

2007-04-18T09:17:00.000-05:00

And how it might've been prevented:

From the WSJ: "A better response than gun control would be to restore some of the cultural taboos that once served as restraints on antisocial behavior. These columns long ago noted the collapse of such social and moral restraints in a widely debated editorial called "No Guardrails." Instead, after Columbine, there was a rush to blame violent videogames. But videogames or other larger media influences don't inspire mass murder when there are countervailing restraints and values instilled by families, teachers, coaches and pastors. Two generations ago, colleges felt an obligation to act in loco parentis. Today, the concept is considered as archaic as the Latin--and would probably inspire a lawsuit." Read entire article

How Hillary will win

2007-04-17T06:45:00.003-05:00

Most recent updates on Hillary's chances here
From Rush: I'm going to tell you what the objective is out there.... This Democrat Party...or Clinton machine agenda's [purpose] is to suppress and kill conservative information, which it labels "misinformation." The conservative information by definition... is "misinformation..." because there's a template, and the template is conservatives are racist, and as such they have to be banned. Of course! In the culture, we can't put up with this. They've gotta be banned from cable. They've gotta be banned from Fox News. They've gotta be banned from radio. Conservatives are also liars. That's another template: conservatives are liars. They gotta be snuffed out --and this is the purpose of the Drive-By Media, the Democrat Party and the Clintons, who are funding with their supporters all these "watchdog" efforts. This is Stalinist, folks. This is an attack on certain kinds of information that is protected by a template which says, "All conservative information is misinformation. It is reported by liars and racists," and that's the foundation under which they all proceed, and they're all in on it.

That is what is happening. It's a general rule, they would love to do this. But we're gearing up for this election, and if you don't think that in the Drive-By Media and the Democrat Party, if you don't think 2008 is all about the Clintons getting back in the White House, you've got another thing coming. I'm going to tell you as we sit here today, there is an 80% chance that Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States, if you look at the way things are falling out right now. They're trying to take out Rudy Giuliani. Guess what? Rudy's a "draft dodger" now.... Well, Clinton was a draft dodger so they got Rudy.... Rudy is a philanderer. Whatever it is, they're doing everything they can to take Rudy out.

Everybody says, "What about Obama?" Folks. I know there are stories out there how the Clintons are worried about Obama and not just on this fundraising stuff, but his "godlike status to the godless" and so forth. If you're the Clinton machine, and your single competitor is somebody with less than two years experience in these foxholes, do you really think they are worried about Barack Obama? If you have fallen for the notion that the Clinton machine is sort of upside down and discombobulated and doesn't quite know what's going on here, you are falling for more myths from the media, which is designed to make it look like she has real competition so that she can overcome obstacles rather than be this candidate of inevitability -- which she is. So she's trying to make it look like she's got a serious challenge and she's up to it, and she can handle it.

But I'm telling you, I know the Clinton machine. If you think they are seriously worried about somebody with as little experience as Obama has in these kinds of things, then you're falling for it. You're being sucked in for all this. There is an 80% chance this woman is going to be next president, as things sit here today. In politics, everything can change, and it can change on a moment's notice. But all of these attacks and all of this budding attempt -- and it's not new; it's just intensifying now -- to discredit conservative information as misinformation reported by liars and racists, is about destroying the credibility of anybody who has anything in opposition, to save the Clintons and their quest to be re-ensconced in the White House. It's what all this is about. It's also about making sure that if Mrs. Clinton wins and so forth, that there won't be an alternative media. Hello, Fairness Doctrine. Hello, all of these things to just squelch it. They don't want to hear it. They want to go back to their monopoly days. That's what this is all about. Read entire article

Most recent updates on Hillary

Do you think God will cancel this winter weather if we cancel these Global Warming rallies?

2007-04-13T18:25:00.001-05:00

The I-Man is dead. Long Live the I-Man

2007-04-13T18:17:00.000-05:00

On his "Imus In The Morning" show Thursday, [host Don Imus] referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." He was talking to Sid Rosenberg with Sports Talk on the phone about the Women's NCAA Championship game.
Imus started out talking about the Rutgers team as, "some rough girls from Rutgers. They got tattoos," and then went on to call them "some nappy-headed hos." He compared them to the Tennessee team, saying "The girls from Tennessee -- they all looked cute." The conversation then went on to compare the game to "the jigaboos versus the wannabes." Media Matters reported that the show's executive producer, Bernard McGuirk, made that comment (to no one's apparent notice).

Now the I-Man is gone from the airwaves. And why??

From an anonymous emailer:
"There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Native Americans, etc. And then there are just Americans.
You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction.You Call me "White boy," "Cracker," "Honkey,""Whitey," "Caveman" .. And that's OK. But when I call you, Nigger, Kike, Towel head, Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink ... You call me a racist.
You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you, so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?
You have the United Negro College Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day.You have Black History Month. You have Cesar Chavez Day.You have Yom Hashoah. You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi. You have the NAACP.You have BET.
If we had WET (White Entertainment Television) We'd be racists. If we had a White Pride Day .. You would call us racists.If we had White History Month, we'd be racists. If we had any organization for only whites to "advance" OUR lives We'd be racists.
We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce. Wonder who pays for that? If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships ... You know we'd be racists. There are over 60 openly proclaimed black colleges in the US , yet if there were "white colleges" .. THAT would be a racist college.
In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists.
You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you're not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our white pride, you call us racists.You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug-dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society . You call him a racist.
I am proud. But, you call me a racist. Why is it that only whites can be racists?"

Because, Mr. Anonymous, the liberals control the debate in the media, and dare not be caught dead with their condescending pants down. Don Imus exposed their cowardly backsides.

The "Reverends" Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have attained their goal in knocking off the I-Man: The burning cross of racial hatred now flames even higher.

And they ain't through with us yet!

Oh wait! Who hit the MUTE button on the ACLU??

Do you ever park in a parking lot?

2007-04-12T13:05:00.000-05:00

From hard experience this week:

Valuable items should already be stored in the trunk (if a lookout notices you placing them there they will still punch through your car doors (per attached photo) and cut their way to the back.

The repair estimate on this pried out lock was already $1200; cutting back to the trunk $Who knows ?

When you arrive at the lot, get out immediately (if they notice you dallying they will assume you are packing away or hiding valuables.)

Pay particular attention to loiterers or folks that seem "out of place" and don't be afraid to report it immediately to Security.

If you patronize the lot regularly, inquire as to their Security precautions and when they are on duty.

Know that car alarms are no deterrent; they can decode them and even the police admit to routinely ignoring these calls.

Know that any lock is only for keeping honest people honest. Thieves can effortlessly decode your remote also.

Even if they are in a real hurry, they will always check out your console and glove box for cash, pistols, detachable car radio face plates (you do already have this type, hopefully.)

When you call the police for a report (don't ignore this!) be sure to request a fingerprint man. If something matches in their files you will have at least done the next victim a real favor.

Good luck and take care!

Time out

2007-04-10T08:50:00.000-05:00

for a little fun:

BABY IN A TREE
If you can't see the baby in the picture, don't give up.
It's really cool when it actually appears.
This is not a joke and ~ NO ~ Nothing is going to jump out at you!

You have to have an open mind.
Don't look for a Baby, and you will see the Baby! Once you see it you won't see anything else!!!

Some Moms give a Congressman a good spanking

2007-04-09T12:22:00.000-05:00

You've got to watch this one

Felonious assault...

2007-04-06T12:05:00.000-05:00

on our Constitution:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may well have committed a felony in traveling to Damascus this week, against the wishes of the president, to communicate on foreign-policy issues with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Maybe special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, whose aggressive prosecution of Lewis Libby establishes his independence from White House influence, should be called back. The Logan Act makes it a felony and provides for a prison sentence of up to three years for any American, "without authority of the United States," to communicate with a foreign government in an effort to influence that government's behavior on any "disputes or controversies with the United States." Some background on this statute helps to understand why Ms. Pelosi may be in serious trouble: Read more details

If you love Tokyo Rosie...

2007-04-04T10:16:00.000-05:00

Keep buying these products:

Clorox, PetMeds, Stainmaster carpet, Shedd's Country Crock, Nestle Good Start, Olay, French's mustard, Bush's beans, Windex, Slim Fast, Swanson, Pam, Curves, Angel Soft toilet tissue, Suave, Crest, Huggies and Electrasol.

And, email a complaint to the president of ABC robert.a.iger@disney.com

...NOW!

Republican wimps

2007-04-04T09:19:00.000-05:00

From Ann Coulter:

When will Republicans learn to stop apologizing? The Bush administration is embroiled in the most ridiculous non-scandal scandal in human history — set off when the administration stupidly apologized for firing its own employees.

U.S. attorneys are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president. The president may fire them for any reason at all. That includes not implementing the president's policy about criminal prosecutions. It also includes being in the way of someone else whom the president wants to appoint for patronage reasons.

Why wasn't a fuss made when Bush fired Donald Rumsfeld? He is every bit as much a political appointee as the U.S. attorneys are. Democrats have the breathtaking audacity to claim that Bush's replacing his own political appointees is "politicizing prosecutions." They say this as Sandy Berger walks free after stealing and destroying top-secret national security documents — but Lewis "Scooter" Libby faces decades in prison for )not outing a covert agent. (Let's hope he's learned his lesson!) They say this as Rep. William "The Refrigerator" Jefferson sits on the Homeland Security Committee while waiting for the $100,000 found in his freezer to thaw — but Tom DeLay remains under an indictment by some hick prosecutor in Texas for an alleged accounting violation. They say this as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid draws interest on the sale of a property he sold in a complicated land swindle — but American hero Randy "Duke" Cunningham rots in prison. They say this while Sen. Chuck Schumer pays no price whatsoever for his Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee having illegally obtained a copy of Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele's credit report, for which one employee, Lauren Weiner, pleaded guilty, but served no prison time. They say this while Sen. Teddy Kennedy is still at large (and getting larger).

Democrats have created a world in which a DNC card is a "get out of jail free" card, and "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt" means "no doubt the defendant is Republican." (If Democrats keep this up, they'll have to rethink their push to give inmates the right to vote.) Then they turn around and say Republicans are "politicizing prosecutions" by firing their own employees. And all Republicans can do is apologize. I refuse to parse the inane allegations the Democrats are making, to point out that Clinton's wholesale firing of Republican U.S. attorneys was worse, or to mention that some of these U.S. attorneys should have been fired a long time ago (Carol Lam).

Bush should say: "We did it, it was political, and there's nothing you can do about it." Then he should start holding hearings on Congress' obstruction of the war effort. Members of Congress should be asked to come before the administration's hearings and testify under oath about their commitment to victory. If they are not traitors, what do they have to hide? Surely they will be willing to state under oath that they are not undermining the war effort for partisan political gain. The hearings could be televised in prime time: "Traitor or No Traitor?" The president's investigatory power is better grounded than is Congress'. There is no "hearings and investigations" clause in Article I, describing Congress' powers, but the Recommendation Clause of Article II, Section 3 obligates the president to "from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union." If the State of the Union is that we have a treasonous majority in Congress that is affirmatively undermining American national security, the president is constitutionally obliged to give Congress information to that effect. How can he make that judgment without gathering the necessary data?

While he's at it, the Bush hearings should look into the Democrats' hiring and firing practices. Were the dedicated staffers who worked on various committees while the Republicans were in control retained by the incoming Democrats? Or were some of those staffers fired because of their (gasp!) partisan affiliation? Finally, just for the Democrats' mentioning Randy "Duke" Cunningham's name, Bush should pardon him immediately. Admittedly, in this one case, the Republican was actually guilty of something. Cunningham took bribes — he didn't kill a girl at Chappaquiddick. To put it another way, the only thing Duke Cunningham ever sank was his own career. And in one glorious afternoon over North Vietnam, Duke Cunningham did more for his county than the entire Democratic caucus will do in a lifetime. The president has absolute authority to fire U.S. attorneys, hold investigative hearings and grant pardons. What's he worried about? That the media will be hysterical and Democrats will call him names? Constantly apologizing doesn't seem to have worked out too well for him either. How about doing something for the Americans who elected him?

Ah, but I see he has! As we go to press, news comes across the transom that Bush has withdrawn the nomination of Sam Fox as ambassador to Belgium because Democrats are upset that Fox gave a donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Looks like the Rock is going down

2007-03-13T08:15:00.000-05:00

Opposition research continues at its heyday, not minding who gets mowed down or why:
Considering Rudy Giuliani's image as the hero of Sept. 11, 2001, and the nation's ultimate first responder, burnished yet again by the warm reception he received at a firehouse during a recent campaign swing through South Carolina, it might surprise many of his supporters to learn that the country's largest union of firefighters hates "America's mayor" with a passion. When Giuliani said scheduling conflicts would keep him from attending the forum, the letter leaked out. It blasted Giuliani for his "disgraceful" order of November 2001 that forced hundreds of New York firefighters to stop searching ground zero for the remains of their fallen brethren.

"Our disdain for him," said the letter, "is not about issues or a disputed contract. It is about a visceral, personal affront to the fallen, to our union and indeed, to every one of us who has ever risked our lives by going into a burning building to save lives and property." Read more.

The radical left mulls the entry of Senator Fred into the race

2007-03-12T18:30:00.000-05:00

From the blog Pandagon: "Seeing the weak and pretty compromised GOP field out there (flip-flop Romney, too-liberal and too-divorced Giuliani, a tanking McCain, and a second tier of politically impotent fundies and anti-immigrant prospects), Law & Order actor and the former Senator from Tennessee Fred Thompson could have a shot..."

25 Responses to “Sen. Chuck Hagel, former Sen. Fred Thompson mull prez bids:”

I want to know when Sam Waterston is running for office. First I’ll buy some TD Waterhouse funds, then vote for him. Christ, I love that man!

How weak is the GOP field? This post is the answer to that.
That is until now. Guiliani and McCain are running inept early campaigns & fundy leaders like Falwell are forgiving and blessing Gingrich. The Democrats - whom looked like a shoe-in 4 months ago for their Congressional wins - are falling apart and stabbing one another over the war. Read more

But it looks like the O.R.teams are wasting no time...

More fallout from abortion

2007-03-12T10:47:00.000-05:00

In addition to the sometimes severe psychological fallout resulting from abortions, here is a real eye-opener for you:
It hasn’t gotten widespread play yet, but former U.S. Sen. Zell Miller made a little news this week in Macon when he declared that abortion has contributed to the military’s manpower shortage, the Social Security crisis, and the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States. “How could this great land of plenty produce too few people in the last 30 years?" Miller said. Read more.

Published comments here

God save these United States II

2007-03-08T09:57:00.000-06:00

Whatever you may think of Ann, you better read this:
Libby is now a convicted felon for having a faulty memory of the person who first told him that Joe Wilson (news, bio, voting record) was a delusional boob who lied about his wife sending him to Niger.
This makes it official: It's illegal to be Republican.
Since Teddy Kennedy walked away from a dead girl with only a wrist slap (which was knocked down to a mild talking-to, plus time served: zero), Democrats have apparently become a protected class in America, immune from criminal prosecution no matter what they do. Read more.

Has this column been pulled from your paper, yet??

God save these United States

2007-02-26T23:18:00.000-06:00

This should make everyone think, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent: From a California school teacher...

"As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of: I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels. Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens , Huntington Park , etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools. Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight.

About 75% or more DO have cell phones. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America . (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less then 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas" whores and throwing things that the teachers were in tears. Free medical, free education, free food, day care etc., etc., etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled to not only be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements?

To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs. Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc, etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes. We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really th ink they will voluntarily leave and return? There are many hardworking Hispanic/American citizens that contribute to our country and many that I consider my true friends. We should encourage and accept those Hispanics who have done it the right and legal way. It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate, and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about "politically correct" that we don't have the will to do anything about it.

If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know. Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage Consumers don't want expensive produce Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs. But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth, a farce, and a lie. there is no such thing as "cheap labor." Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or $6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free. He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent He qualifies for food stamps &g t; He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health. If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare. All of this is at taxpayer's expense. He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance. Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material. He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits. Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills and his. The American taxpayer's also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up. Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT!"

The truth does not quit

2007-02-13T08:30:00.000-06:00

When will they ever learn??

Never doubt the Word of God!!!

It is written in the Bible (Galatians 6:7): " Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

Here are some men and women who mocked God:

JOHN LENNON:
Some years before during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:
"Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more famous than Him" (1966)".
Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.

TANCREDO NEVES:
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency. Sure he got the votes, but Read more

Best Super Bowl ad ever

2007-02-06T08:34:00.000-06:00

"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged."
~~ President Abraham Lincoln

"Experience proves that the man who obstructs a war in which his nation is engaged, no matter whether right or wrong, occupies no enviable place in life or history. Better for him, individually, to advocate 'war, pestilence, and famine' than to act as obstructionist to a war already begun.... The most favorable posthumous history the stay-at-home traitor can hope for is -- oblivion."
~~ Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs

click here for ad

The actual hanging (video)

2006-12-31T00:10:00.000-06:00

Long may he die!

TIME Magazine Person of the year: Me!!!!

2006-12-16T19:13:00.000-06:00

Yes, - Me - and all other bloggers who contributed to the explosive growth and influence of user-generated Internet content. All of us.

The enemedia knows when it's beaten.

A self-styled charter member of the Fourth Estate ostentatiously trashes this award.
These guys blindly cling to the delusion that only they possess the brains, education (with bloated vocabulary to prove it) to adequately analyze the news for the rest of us troglodytes... Gimme a break!
Read this mealy-mouthed, inconclusive solipsistic shibboleth for yourself.

Harvard decides religion is an American anachronism

2006-12-15T08:38:00.001-06:00

"As Harvard University goes, so goes American higher education," runs the old adage... [And] from Robert Orsi's evocative work in American religious history to Mary Jo Bane's research on faith and public policy, the university is home to some of the leading religion scholars in the world... In a world where faith shapes everything from international relations to presidential elections, it is hard to argue with the idea that everybody ought to know something about religion.

Yet that is exactly what Harvard's faculty did. At a meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, only religion scholar Diana Eck spoke out in favor of a proposal to add a required course in "Reason and Faith to the undergraduate core curriculum. In a stinging piece in the Harvard Crimson, the psychologist Steven Pinker argued that the persistence of religion is "an American anachronism . . . in an era in which the rest of the West is moving beyond it."

The late David Riesman once argued that America's elite universities are at the "head of a snake-like procession" of schools. The procession may be starting to take religion seriously as a subject of study, but Harvard won't be leading it. Read entire article.

Here's a real American anachronism for you!

United we Stand...

2006-12-08T07:03:00.000-06:00

Notwithstanding its 79 recommendations for "the way forward," the Iraq Study Group's primary purpose wasn't saving Iraq from catastrophe but saving the political system of the United States from catastrophe.

The commission's two chairs, Jim Baker and Lee Hamilton, make this explicit in the report's first pages. "U.S. foreign policy is doomed to failure . . . if it is not supported by a broad, sustained consensus." Leon Panetta, a Democrat in the House from 1977 to 1993, said at their news conference, "This country cannot be at war and be as divided as it is today."
....
"The biggest mistake, honestly, if you go back," said Mr. Zebari, "was not entrusting the Iraqis as partners, to empower them, to see them do their part, to fill the vacuum, to have a national unity government."
....
In short order, the Iraq story will enter 2008's presidential politics. To his credit, John McCain distanced himself from the report, which has turned into an unedifying pig-wallow for one swath of our political culture. The Washington Post yesterday reported that Democratic congressional aides say they'll make sure Mr. Bush still "owns" the Iraq war so he gets tagged if Baker-Hamilton fails.

Leon Panetta is already getting an answer to his belief that a divided nation cannot be at war. Oh yes it can--if defeating the enemy at home is more important than defeating the enemy abroad. - Daniel Henninger - WSJ Read entire article.

An important Christmas reminder

2006-12-06T09:31:00.000-06:00

I just received an email about a woman who was out Christmas shopping with
her two children. After many hours of looking at row after row of toys and
everything else imaginable, and after hours of hearing both her children asking
for everything they saw on those many shelves, she finally made it to the
elevator with her two kids.

She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday season time of the
year: overwhelming pressure to go to every party, every housewarming, taste all
the holiday food and treats, getting that perfect gift for every single person
on our shopping list, making sure we don't forget anyone on our card list, and
the pressure of making sure we respond to everyone who sent us a card.

Finally, the elevator doors opened and there was already a crowd in the car.
She pushed her way into the car and dragged her two kids in with her and all the bags of stuff. When the doors closed she couldn't take it anymore and stated,
"Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up and
shot."

From the back of the car everyone heard a quiet calm voice respond, "Don't
worry -- we've already crucified Him."

For the rest of the trip down, the elevator was so quiet you could have heard
a pin drop.

OK you Christers, abandon your faith! The Muslims and Jews don't trust us...

2006-11-29T09:56:00.000-06:00

...states David Lipscomb University theologian Lee Camp, as reported in the Nashville Tennessean newspaper Nov. 30.

"We need to forsake the Christendom model," Camp said. "The most basic Christian commitment … is that we say we believe in the Lordship of Jesus. But, if we claim that, how can a Muslim or Jew trust us, if we say Jesus is the Lord of all Lords?" Read more

Well, maybe the fight isn't worth it anyway:

"Once Iraq becomes, in the public mind, a civil war between opposing factions competing for political power -- and not a case of a terrorist insurgency aimed ultimately at Western civilization -- the sentiment for a hasty withdrawal grows." Read more

Or, should loving your neighbor have its limits??

Some great comments, (Lucianne.com) and Dr. Camp's response to this article. Also, I'm right, you're wrong, go to hell!

Conservatives, savaged by the Whigs (GOP) now retreating to the storm shelter

2006-11-17T10:19:00.000-06:00

Moderates have virtually taken over both parties in the House of Representatives.

The Senate's gone Democrat, our Supreme Court is split.

And as for our President, Peggy Noonan sums it up best:

"What is the first thing men do when they're drowning? They save themselves. With the waters rising on every side the president will attempt to re-enact his first and most personally satisfying political success when, as governor of Texas, he won plaudits and popularity for working hand in glove with Democrats. He accepted many Democratic assumptions--he shared them, it wasn't hard.

The White House's reaction to the recent election was, essentially, Now we can get our immigration bill through with the Democrats. That was a clue. I suspect the president will over the next two years do to Republicans what he did to Donald Rumsfeld: over the side, under the bus and off the sled.

He doesn't need them. They're not popular. They're not where the action is. He'll work closely with Democrats, gain in time new and admiring press--"Bush has grown," etc.

This is the path he will take to build his popularity and create a new legacy. If the Democrats let him. It would be in their interests, so I think maybe they will."

Fox in the Hen House

2006-11-17T09:14:00.000-06:00

This man may get to choose our judges:

Keith Ellison is one of four new lawmakers who will represent Minnesota next year. He'll be the first black lawmaker from Minnesota, and the first Muslim to ever serve in Congress..... While his fellow incoming freshman were attending a private White House reception with President Bush Monday night, Rep.-elect Keith Ellison had what he considered a more important appointment to keep. "I have exceedingly sharp differences with him on a policy level."
The House members are still awaiting their committee assignments.... Ellison said he's angling for spots on the Energy and Commerce; Education and the Workforce; and Judiciary committees.
And, get this:
Apparently the newly elected Keith Ellison will be sworn into Congress with his hand on a Koran — a document that many of his fellow Muslims interpret as calling for the annihilation of our civilization.

With a few exceptions, nobody seems very upset about it, even in light of his ties to Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam and to the Hamas-affiliated CAIR. As noted earlier, Ellison's supporters interrupted his acceptance speech with jihadist cries of "Allahu Akbar!"

I wonder if confirmed crook Alcee Hastings will find a place for Ellison on the Intelligence Committee.

More information

Free Love

2006-11-16T14:55:00.000-06:00

This should kick off (or top off) your day!