This is merely a place where I can express myself. I will post news articles, points of faith, stories, fellow blogger posts (with due credit of course), and generally anything I feel is worthwhile.
Just when we all were getting confused as to whether or not Barak Hussein Obama is a Christian or not, something else gets thrown into the mix.
Does Obama practice Hinduism?
Apparently he carries a small Lord Hanuman good-luck charm with him wherever he goes. Why?
The monkey symbolism of Lord Hanuman is related to the notion that a human being's mind is ever active and never restful, hence the depiction of a human being with the face of a monkey.
But, why does Obama practice idolatry (Ooh, the I-word) by carrying something around for good luck?
I guess it really doesn’t matter. There are Hindu who believe he is Hindu. "The idol is being presented to Obama as he is reported to be a Lord Hanuman devotee and carries with him a locket of the monkey god along with other good luck charms," reported the Times of India.
A devotee? I guess as long as it gets him votes, he’ll be anything to anyone. The next thing you know, he dress up like Princess Leia in the gold bikini from Return of the Jedi, to get the sci-fi fan vote. Or maybe he’ll carry some broccoli around with him to get that green vegetable vote. The options are endless.
Really it is consistent with Obama’s professed belief that Jesus Christ isn’t the only way to heaven. Even though Christ Himself, said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6
Come on, Barry boy! Make up your mind and stick to one faith for yourself, please.
Presbyterian (U.S.A.) Assembly votes to drop homosexual clergy ban.
The denomination's General Assembly, meeting in San Jose, Calif., voted 54 percent to 46 percent Friday to drop the requirement that would-be ministers, deacons and elders live in "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness."
And this stands inconsistent with another vote Friday signaled the church was not eager to change another institution. The assembly voted 77 percent to 33 percent to preserve the church's definition of marriage as a covenant between "a man and a woman," rather than changing it to "two people."
And this signals the problem with man having control over religion. It becomes about us rather than our Creator. And thus we practice idolatry by serving our wants rather than surrendering in obedience to God with fear and trembling.
I still don’t understand how people who claim to follow Christ and read the bible don’t get that homosexuality is a sin.
The bible, God’s Holy Word, equates homosexuality with those who worship things above or in addition to God, those who betray their marital relationship, those who steal, those who stay drunk, and those who do nothing but speak with cruelty and hate.
Once again, I have no problem with people being “gay.” What people do in the privacy of their own home is their business. But when a group of people interpret the laws of God to suit their own agenda, they place themselves as more important than God. If they want to do that, fine. But don’t get upset when people who do place God first in their lives follow what He says rather than what you want.
Furthermore, ANY church that gives in to what man wants rather than what God says, is a blasphemous church, and its members should reconsider their membership. As long as the Presbyterian U.S.A. church flirts with making God’s word about what man wants, their mission and ministry will be defiled. I will pray for them.
Lastly, I will, without doubt or hesitation, leave my church should God’s Word be interpreted to suit man instead of glorify Him.
My grandmother is probably not resting in peace anymore. This was a die hard Southern Democrat woman who drank FDR flavored Kool-Aid her entire life. She unswervingly believed that Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his party saved the country from the Great Depression and the Axis Powers and consistently voted democrat for primarily that reason.
However, I just read something in the news that may have changed her vote. At the DNC’s convention in Denver, fried foods are banned in a move that has been called “the new patriotism.” No fried chicken, French fries, fried fish, etc.
Mama Helen, as we called her, was one of the greatest Southern cooks there was. And although she made some of the best vegetable (which came from her own garden) casseroles and other dishes, she usually served fried chicken, or country fried steak at least once a day. There were exceptions, but we usually took exception to her exceptions. Not that they tasted bad, but her fried steaks were the tops!
Now I cannot imagine her ever serving up a conversation about the great Democrats of the past without a fried chicken leg. Please understand that most of her family had converted to conservatism long ago. My mom and her sister both have been consistent GOP supporters for many years. But the main reason we grandkids tolerated the adults’ debate over the FDR Kool-Aid was that it came with a great southern meal of fried chicken or steak, green beans mashed potatoes or rice, corn from the cob, fried okra, greens with chili hot relish, sliced garden tomatoes, cucumbers and onions, and corn bread and/or biscuits and some refreshing sweet tea and some sort of sweet treat afterwards.
I remember visiting her during the summers and going with her to her local democratic events and yep, she along with pretty much everyone else would contribute to a potluck Southern smorgasbord of savory sensations. So, I can imagine Mama Helen is probably doing summersaults in her grave because the DNC has banned fried foods.
The Democratic guidelines for food at this year’s convention say every meal should be nutritious and include "at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, purple/blue and white."
With those colors as a guideline, here is what comes to mind:
And this is all consistent with Obama’s speech about restricting Americans in what they drive, eat, cool, or heat.
I am just waiting for the libs to introduce legislation that bans fried foods for everyone in all circumstances and proclaims it a harmful and dangerous item such as illegal drugs.
Getting back to the convention… one of the greatest quotes was at the end of the article regarding the menu:
“But having lost all but three of the last 10 presidential elections — and almost disappearing from the South as a presidential party — you would think the Democrats would have bigger fish to fr ... uh, make that — bake.”
NOTE WHERE THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AREA IS… (It’s in the “ANWR Coastal Plain”)
THIS IS WHAT THE DEMOCRATS, LIBERALS AND “GREENS” SHOW YOU WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT ANWR …and they are right… these ARE photographs of ANWR
ISN’T ANWR BEAUTIFUL? WHY SHOULD WE DRILL HERE (AND DESTROY) THIS BEAUTIFUL PLACE?
WELL… THAT’S NOT EXACTLY THE TRUTH
Do you remember the map? The map showed that the proposed drilling area is in the ANWR Coastal Plain. Do those photographs look like a coastal plain to you?
WHAT’S GOING ON IS SIMPLE…
THAT IS NOT WHERE THEY ARE WANTING TO DRILL!
THIS IS WHAT THE PROPOSED EXPLORATION AREA ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE WINTER:
AND THIS IS WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE SUMMER:
HERE ARE A COUPLE SCREEN SHOTS FROM GOOGLE EARTH
AS YOU CAN SEE, THE AREA WHERE THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT DRILLING IS A BARREN WASTELAND.
OH… AND THEY SAY THAT THEY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE EFFECT ON THE LOCAL WILDLIFE…
HERE IS A PHOTO (SHOT DURING THE SUMMER) OF THE “DEPLETED WILDLIFE” SITUATION CREATED BY DRILLING AROUND PRUDHOE BAY… DON’T YOU THINK THAT THE CARIBOU REALLY HATE THAT DRILLING?
HERE’S THAT SAME SPOT DURING THE WINTER.
HEY, THIS BEAR SEEMS TO REALLY HATE THE PIPELINE NEAR PRUDHOE BAY…
*The Prudhoe Bay area accounts for 17% of U.S. domestic oil production
NOW, WHY DO YOU THINK THAT THE DEMOCRATS ARE LYING ABOUT ANWR?
REMEMBER WHEN AL GORE SAID THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD WORK TO ARTIFICIALLY RAISE GAS PRICES TO $5.00 A GALLON? WELL… AL GORE AND HIS FELLOW DEMOCRATS HAVE ALMOST REACHED THEIR GOAL!
NOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT THE GREEN LIBS BEEN LYING, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
Look, folks. The point of this is to inform. We have more than enough petroleum resources in this country to meet our demand for supply at a much lower cost than we pay OPEC nations. And don’t buy into the argument that if will take 8-10 years for us to access the oil. That is a high exaggeration. We may not be able to meet the impatient demands of our “instant gratification” society tomorrow. But it will be soon enough for us to reap the benefits within a short time. And even if it took 10 years, doesn’t it seem logical that we need to start right away?
Yes, we should continue to find alternatives that are better for everything all around, but shouldn’t we at least use the resources that we do have. I am sick to death of depending on other countries for resources when WE HAVE THEM!!!!! It seems that the democrats and liberals WANT us to be enslaved to the various world markets so it will bolster the continued need for a more powerful world government.
This is current Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, a Republican. Fortunately, not only is she strikingly beautiful, but her most important attributes are her political positions and strong moral convictions. AND it is rumored that she is one of the potential candidates for Vice President.
By the way, I linked the photo above to the FLICKR site I got it from and send due credit and appreciation for its use.
A Massachusetts politician and defense attorney has touched off a firestorm with his shocking public vow to torment and "rip apart" child rape victims who take the witness stand if the state legislature passed stiff mandatory sentences for child sex offenders.
Rep. James Fagan, a Democrat, made the comments during debate last month on the state House floor.
"I'm gonna rip them apart," Fagan said of young victims during his testimony on the bill. "I'm going to make sure that the rest of their life is ruined, that when they’re 8 years old, they throw up; when they’re 12 years old, they won’t sleep; when they’re 19 years old, they’ll have nightmares and they’ll never have a relationship with anybody.”
Fagan said as a defense attorney it would be his duty to do that in order to keep his clients free from a "mandatory sentence of those draconian proportions."
Fagan did not respond to repeated requests for comment from FOXNews.com.
His remarks drew the ire of local activists as well as colleagues.
“I thought his comments were over the top and unnecessary,” Massachusetts House Minority Leader Bradley Jones told FOXNews.com on Wednesday.
“I appreciate that he’s a defense attorney, and felt he had a point to make, but I think it was unnecessary,” said Jones, who supported an original version of the bill. “It was excessive.”
The father of the Florida girl for whom Jessica's Law is named also blasted Fagan after hearing the comments.
Mark Lunsford, whose 9-year-old daughter was abducted and buried alive in a trash bag by a sex offender in 2005, told the Boston Herald on Tuesday that Fagan should take the rights of victimized children seriously.
“Why doesn’t he figure out a way to defend that child and put these kind of people away instead of trying to figure ways for defense attorneys to get around Jessica’s Law?” Lunsford told the paper. “These are very serious crimes that nobody wants to take serious. What about the rights of these children?”
The bill that he opposed eventually passed the House and set mandatory minimum sentences of between 10 and 15 years for a set of different offenses against children ranging from assault to sexual crimes. A version is still pending in the state Senate.
From a legal perspective, law professor Phyllis Goldfarb said Fagan was probably expressing a basic courtroom truth – that it is a defense attorney’s job to test the prosecution’s case, especially when mandatory penalties are on the line.
“It is fundamentally true … if the proof is coming almost exclusively through a child witness you may have to find a way to test it. That’s the attorney-client obligation there,” Goldfarb told FOXNews.com.
Goldfarb, who used to direct the Criminal Justice Clinic at Boston College Law School, said Fagan used some over-the-top language, but that he probably didn't relish the idea of cross-examining a child. She said it's just his job.
“You do have to challenge a witness,” she said. “Some people find ways of doing that that are loyal to their role as defense attorneys -- testing the proof (in ways) that aren’t abusive to a witness, but it's very hard.
“And I think being put in that hard position is what he seems to be railing against here, using language that’s probably a little bit hyperbolic.”
Lunsford will be in Massachusetts on Wednesday to push the state Senate to include mandatory prison time in the state's final version of Jessica's Law, according to the Herald.
Reader Information: State Rep. James Fagan is a Democrat representing the Third Bristol District, which includes the city of Taunton. Fagan, a 1973 graduate of Suffolk Law School, has been representing the district since 1993, and serves as chair of the House ethics committee. He can be reached by e-mailing or calling:
State House: 617-722-2040 District office: 508-824-7000 E-mail: Rep.JamesFagan@hou.state.ma.us
From 57 states to a clearer definition of one of the Heinz 57 varieties, the left is at it again. This time it’s the international left
An advertisement run on British television for the company's New York Deli Mayo featured a man who children called "mum," a kiss between two men and the closing words – from one man to another – “Love ya! Straight home from work, sweet cheeks."
After receiving a reported 200 complaints about the commercial, Heinz pulled the ad from the airwaves, less than a week into its expected five-week run.
Nigel Dickie, the Heinz UK director of corporate affairs, told the London Times that the ad "was intended to be humorous and we apologize to anyone who felt offended,"
WorldNetDaily reported, “Whether the advertisement was meant to depict a homosexual household, or simply the company's implication that using the product is like having a New York deli man in your kitchen, remains a water cooler mystery.” However, the kiss wasn’t necessary to convey what could have been a very humorous, tongue-in-cheek commercial. This is one of those things that is being done to put homosexual activity in a light that makes it overlooked because of the humorous way it was portrayed.
And in one of the most ridiculous twists, complaints were registered that the commercial was unsuitable for children to view. However, the ad would have been banned from running during children's television programming because of UK laws that restrict commercials for products high in fat, salt and sugar.
So, as long as it was and ad about celery or lettuce, kids would have seen it. The UK’s nanny state is really getting it’s girdle twisted.
Again, what people do in the privacy of their own homes is their business, but don’t EVER claim a New York deli man would ever kiss anything besides a beautifully robust wife. Besides, I have never heard “FUHGITA BOUT IT” spoken with a lisp.
I have minimized this article but you can read it all at the link above.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis recently told staff members at St. Joan of Arc Church they could not hold their annual gay pride prayer service planned for Wednesday. Instead, the archdiocese suggested a "peace" service with no mention of rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
"The reason is quite simply because it was a LGBT pride prayer service, and that is really inimical to the teachings of the Catholic Church."
Officials with the Minneapolis-based Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities, a grass-roots coalition promoting acceptance of gays in the Catholic Church, see the action as an attack by Archbishop John Nienstedt, who took the helm of the archdiocese in May.
In an e-mail to supporters, committee co-founder David McCaffrey called the move "yet another volley of dehumanizing spiritual violence directed at LGBT persons and their families under Archbishop Nienstedt's reign of homophobic hatred."
Michael Bayly, executive director of the pastoral committee, said he saw signs of an ongoing "chilling effect." Usually, gay-friendly parishes advertise in the "pride guide" in advance of the Twin Cities Pride festival; this year, none did. The 2008 festival is this weekend.
McGrath said "the church welcomes people with same-sex attractions among its worshippers. The distinction is people who fully adapt to the GLBT lifestyle are not permitted to receive the sacraments or be the subject of a prayer service that endorses that lifestyle."
Nienstedt has said homosexuality is a disorder, and he is a leader in the campaign to persuade the Legislature to prohibit same-sex unions.
"Those who actively encourage or promote homosexual acts or such activity within a homosexual lifestyle formally cooperate in a grave evil and, if they do so knowingly and willingly, are guilty of mortal sin," he wrote in a November article in the archdiocese's paper, the Catholic Spirit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am not a Catholic but I agree with the churches position. And I see language from the other side that seems to have the sanction and tone of PC police.
The church’s position is called an “ATTACK.” The church took a stand based on its doctrines. There was no violent or hostile action or words. The church simply reasserted a position which has been known for over 3,000 years.
The real kicker is this phrase from McCaffrey, who called it "yet another volley of dehumanizing spiritual violence directed at LGBT persons and their families under Archbishop Nienstedt's reign of homophobic hatred."
Dehumanizing spiritual violence? Reign of homophobic hatred? When terms like this are used, of course they will draw sympathy and encourage derision against the church.
The position was also referred to and part of a “chilling effect” against LGBT worshippers.
This is the mantra of which the extreme left takes and it is fascist. Christianity has had consistent laws and doctrine regarding homosexuality. The various denominations may have differing attitudes, but the bible is VERY specific:
“But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.” – Genesis 13:13. In the context of the verse, homosexual sex between men was declared as exceedingly wicked and sinful. The name of the city of Sodom is where the term sodomy comes from. If you don’t know what sodomy is, look it up.
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” - Leviticus 18:22; “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” - Leviticus 20:13. Again, in the context of these verses, homosexual sex is the reference.
In the New Testament, the standards for homosexuality was more clearly defined in Romans. “…God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts… and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” – Romans 1:26-27, 32. These verses and those around them are about Homosexual sex and all that it encompasses.
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Homosexuality is finally mentioned by name as an act that will PREVENT one from going to Heaven. It is mentioned as equal to idolatry, adultery, thievery, and covetousness. Those have their own specific commandments in Exodus 20. That mean that homosexuality is absolutely a sin against God.
Now that we have this defined, let’s look at the reality of it in today’s church.
Because homosexuality is a sin, it is no different to God than murder, thievery, blasphemy, and dishonesty. They are ALL equally filthy to God and when we commit those wretched acts, we deserve eternal punishment. However, with the cleansing blog of Christ, we are forgiven by grace alone. Jesus paid the price for all sin, past, present and future and when we make Him our Lord and Savior, we are redeemed to God who accepts us into His kingdom. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16.
So, in essence then, churches who do not let homosexuals worship are going against God. LGBTs should be in church to hear God’s word. The issue is this: the church should not and cannot endorse or sanction activities, groups or individuals that proclaim homosexuality as their open choice. To do so would be to openly disagree with what God calls and abomination.
And yes, sin is sin. But there are not any activities, groups or individuals who claim to be liars, murderers, thieves, blasphemers, or idolaters as a part of a lifestyle choice. You probably won’t see a “murderers pride parade” any time soon. And you won’t hear people deriding others who are anti-murder as attackers or dehumanizing.
Finally, I wish to bring up what happened to our good friend Douglas V. Gibbs.
The inexcusable actions of those who ATTACKED Mr. Gibbs are a direct and extreme example of the PC left wishing to stifle the rights of others. Like Doug, I have no ill will toward anyone, not LGBTs or those who support them. I don’t anything bad to happen to them. I don’t want to force anything upon them. What people do in the privacy of their own homes is their business and as long as it doesn’t affect me or the ones I love, I am fine with it. For the most part, I am understanding as to LGBTs wanting the benefits of a marital relationship. However, because God is the one who created and defined marriage, LGBTs should not be allowed to marry. I am still not exactly sure where I stand on civil unions, but it seems like a workable compromise.
Please know that those of us who are Christians who oppose the homosexual lifestyle would never attack anyone like Douglas was attacked. And before you start in on Christians killing abortionists and gays and all that, those were not true Christians who followed the example of Jesus.
I truly pray that this has educated some of you and that you are better informed because of it.
A woman from the governing party in Ecuador has proposed that a woman's right to enjoy sexual happiness should be enshrined in the country's law.
Her suggestion has provoked a lively debate in conservative Ecuador.
Maria Soledad Vela, who is helping to rewrite the constitution, says women have traditionally been seen as mere sexual objects or child bearers.
Now, she says, women should have the right to make free, responsible and informed decisions about sex lives.
'Orgasm by law'
Ms Soledad Vela is a member of the governing party on the Constituent Assembly that is rewriting the country's constitution. Its aim, among other things, is to ensure a better distribution of wealth and rights for indigenous communities and the poor. Women, she believes, should not be left off that list.
But her comments have provoked a lively response - mostly, unsurprisingly, from men. Opposition assembly member, Leonardo Viteri, accused her of trying to decree orgasm by law. Another called the proposal "ridiculous" and said that such an intimate topic should stay intimate and not be enshrined in law.
Ms Soledad Vela responded to the criticism, saying she had never requested the right to an orgasm - merely the right to enjoy sex in a free, fair and more open society. She explained that sex was a difficult subject to discuss in Ecuador and that what she wanted were clearer laws covering life, health and sexual education.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, this is Ecuador in South America. And to be honest I really don’t know enough about the country or its culture to comment on it. I never did a project on Ecuador for school. The main thing I remember is that the Galapagos Islands are off it’s coast in the Pacific Ocean. But I am really concerned about the amendment that guarantees toe curling for women. I am not sure I agree or object and I really don’t know why. But is this really a political issue? I would tend to say no. And yet, hasn’t sex enshrined itself into politics these days? I really just don’t get it.
Chapin, SC - Police have arrested a former USC student in connection with inappropriate text messages sent to teenaged girls. They fear charges for more serious crimes could come soon.
Online, a MySpace.com message from a friend of a friend seemed harmless to a 13-year-old Chapin Middle School student, who asked to have her identity concealed for her safety. She said the writer, 21-year-old David Poplin, just wanted to be her friend, but she realized that wasn't true once she gave him her cell phone number.
-DAVID POPLIN
"He started texting me and then a few weeks ago he drove me and one of my friends to the mall and then a few days after that he tried bribing me," she explained. "He said, 'I'll take you on a shopping spree if you give me 10 minutes in your bed'...I was kinda freaked out." Before she came clean to her parents about the type of talking that had transpired, the girl learned that Poplin was arrested Monday and that he may have managed to do much more to her friend. "She told me that he forced her into [having sex with him] it and that she was scared to tell her parents," the girl said.
Chapin Police Chief Dave Rodgers said, though, that the girl wouldn't admit that to investigators, but the former USC student was willing to share some other surprising details.
"He admitted to me that he had a problem with little girls and young girls having sex with them," the chief said, adding that he saw proof in the form of over 50 photos of nude girls on Poplin's cell phone. "And I somehow convinced him to point out to me the ones that were underage and he did, however, he said they weren't from Chapin...He will go on forever until he's stopped." So, he and the 13-year-old are getting the message out that MySpace is no place for adults and minors to mix. "Next thing you know, we could have an Amber Alert and never see one of these girls again," Chief Rodgers said.
"I don't want him back out in the world," the girl added.
Poplin's phone is now at SLED so that investigators can find out who he had been in contact with. He is currently out on bond.
Chief Rodgers is now asking you to talk to your kids to find out if they've had similar experiences. If so, please call Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the tail end of this news report were comments that varied in timbre but basically threw out accusations at everyone involved. Blame was placed on the parents, the kids, the clothing, etc. Let’s stop all the judgment and look at facts. Yes, these parents needed to be more aware of what their girls are doing. And yes, girls these days act and dress older than they actually are. But that doesn’t explain or excuse the circumstances of David Poplin pursuing, harassing and assaulting young teen girls. I don’t care if they are begging for sex, a 21 year old is inexcusably guilty in the worst degree, if he interacts with young teens in an explicit way. This situation should not be seen as a way to place blame on anyone other than David Poplin and other child predators like him. After that, a lesson should be learned so that parents can help their kids prevent stuff like this from happening again. I am a father of a 15 year old who, along with my wife, does everything I can to monitor our child and prevent things like this from happening. However, there are some variables a parent has no control over. Kids have so many modern luxuries and conveniences that facilitate the risks of situations like this. Plus when young and impressionable kids meet someone who is a few years older and seems “cool,” they tell their friends about it – unknowingly putting each other in danger. The best thing we did aside from the computer software, the curfews, knowing friends, a GPS tracker on the cell phone, etc. was to communicate with our child and learn and provide as much information as possible so that proper and responsible decisions, along with their consequences, would be available to make. Again, I say to stop the blame game here; blame Poplin, and other predators like him, if you are going to blame anyone. Kids, learn the lesson of this and avoid people who barely know you and yet promise you something. Parents, you need to do your job better, and be accountable for your children, so that the police don’t have to do theirs regarding your kids.
…is that Tigger may be our National Security advisor If Obama gets elected!!!
I am serious.
"Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security," said Richard Danzig, potential national security adviser for an Obama presidency and Bill Clinton's former Navy secretary.
He also suggested U.S. soldiers, spies and anti-terror experts should learn that insurgents wish to be like superheroes such as Luke Skywalker. "We have been raised on a theory of superheroes," Danzig said a terrorist told him. "We all want to be like Luke Skywalker."
And Danzig claims that one of the best books on terrorism he has read isn’t even about terrorism! "It's Bill Buford's book, 'Among the Thugs,' which is a description of soccer violence in Britain."
Now, I really have to wonder if the Joint Chiefs will be comprised of the Power Puff Girls, Deputy Dawg will be the Attorney General, and Yogi Bear will be the Secretary of the Interior. After all, there are probably related national issues that can be explained in any cartoon text. And we already know that Obama will turn the secret service over to the Nation of Islam.
And I still really fear that no matter how hard Obama’s team sucks on his colon, the morons who want to vote for “change” will still elect him in November. Personally, I think the DNC needs to change its diapers and stop looking to children’s entertainment for political substance.
In the 2006 short film El Uno De Mayo, filmmaker Stuart Browning casts a light on the left-wing totalitarian groups behind the May Day marches ostensibly aimed at defending the rights of illegal aliens in the US.
El Uno De Mayo points out that if extremist right-wing groups organized anti-immigration marches, we would not expect the media to stay silent about their involvement. However, when the Stalinist androids of groups like International ANSWER are the organizers, the mainstream media is curiously uninterested.
Gee, who else do we know who was mentored by Marxists? He is running for President and has never been a POW.
Last week I received an email from our church’s minister of music who asked me to play a solo on my sax this Sunday. The song is called "The Heart of Worship." It’s one of the most well known Christian Praise and Worship songs, yet I wasn’t really thrilled about it because it is such a basic melody and I was concerned that I really couldn’t do anything melodic to make the song glorious to God without lyrics. Then I read the lyrics again.
when the music fades all is stripped away and I simply come longing just to bring something that's of worth that will bless your heart
I bring you more than a song for a song in itself is not what you have required you search much deeper within through the way things appear you're looking into my heart
I'm coming back to the heart of worship and it's all about you It's all about you, Jesus I'm sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it when it's all about you it's all about you, Jesus
King of endless worth no one could express how much you deserve though I’m weak and poor all I have is yours every single breath
WOW! After reading them, I realized how selfish I was in MY desires about the solo. I therefore repented of those desires and determined to let God have total control of my planning, practicing and performance. I had to make it about God’s heart and not mine. My new desire is that my worship strives to give honor and glory to God’s heart. My prayer is that I perform first to God and then to the congregation.
God’s heart of worship for himself is simply allowing his children to praise him. That’s why his word says "Make a joyful noise to the Lord" – Psalm 98
Like most Christian musicians, I tend to want to put to much emphasis on getting everything done just right when it comes to performing. The song, the performance, the emotional tone....and that’s okay, because we want to give God our very best. However, like most Christian musicians, I usually have to remind myself of who the Worship is for. It’s not me, you, or anyone else. It is all about the worship of God.
Think about this. What if a worshipper can’t speak? He can worship with his hands. What about those that don’t have the use of hands? God desires worship with their feet. What of those who can’t use feet? Then it comes down to the heart. At the very least, they can worship with their heart. The heart is mentioned first in the “Greatest Commandment” after all.
To emphasize the message of the song, my prayer is that when the music fades, all will be stripped away and I simply am longing just to bring something that's of worth to You. I'm so sorry for the thing I've made this, Father, when it's all about Your glory. Though I'm weak and poor, all I have is yours. I’m bringing You more than just this song, for a song in itself is not what You require. You know me much deeper within and it’s my heart that needs You.
Silicon Valley is experimenting with bacteria that have been genetically altered to provide 'renewable petroleum' -Chris Ayres
-Some diesel fuel produced by genetically modified bugs
“Ten years ago I could never have imagined I’d be doing this,” says Greg Pal, 33, a former software executive, as he squints into the late afternoon Californian sun. “I mean, this is essentially agriculture, right? But the people I talk to – especially the ones coming out of business school – this is the one hot area everyone wants to get into.”
He means bugs. To be more precise: the genetic alteration of bugs – very, very small ones – so that when they feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw, they do something extraordinary. They excrete crude oil.
Unbelievably, this is not science fiction. Mr Pal holds up a small beaker of bug excretion that could, theoretically, be poured into the tank of the giant Lexus SUV next to us. Not that Mr Pal is willing to risk it just yet. He gives it a month before the first vehicle is filled up on what he calls “renewable petroleum”. After that, he grins, “it’s a brave new world”.
Mr. Pal is a senior director of LS9, one of several companies in or near Silicon Valley that have spurned traditional high-tech activities such as software and networking and embarked instead on an extraordinary race to make $140-a-barrel oil (£70) from Saudi Arabia obsolete. “All of us here – everyone in this company and in this industry, are aware of the urgency,” Mr Pal says.
What is most remarkable about what they are doing is that instead of trying to reengineer the global economy – as is required, for example, for the use of hydrogen fuel – they are trying to make a product that is interchangeable with oil. The company claims that this “Oil 2.0” will not only be renewable but also carbon negative – meaning that the carbon it emits will be less than that sucked from the atmosphere by the raw materials from which it is made.
LS9 has already convinced one oil industry veteran of its plan: Bob Walsh, 50, who now serves as the firm’s president after a 26-year career at Shell, most recently running European supply operations in London. “How many times in your life do you get the opportunity to grow a multi-billion-dollar company?” he asks. It is a bold statement from a man who works in a glorified cubicle in a San Francisco industrial estate for a company that describes itself as being “prerevenue”.
Inside LS9’s cluttered laboratory – funded by $20 million of start-up capital from investors including Vinod Khosla, the Indian-American entrepreneur who co-founded Sun Micro-systems – Mr Pal explains that LS9’s bugs are single-cell organisms, each a fraction of a billionth the size of an ant. They start out as industrial yeast or nonpathogenic strains of E. coli, but LS9 modifies them by custom-de-signing their DNA. “Five to seven years ago, that process would have taken months and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he says. “Now it can take weeks and cost maybe $20,000.” Because crude oil (which can be refined into other products, such as petroleum or jet fuel) is only a few molecular stages removed from the fatty acids normally excreted by yeast or E. coli during fermentation, it does not take much fiddling to get the desired result.
For fermentation to take place you need raw material, or feedstock, as it is known in the biofuels industry. Anything will do as long as it can be broken down into sugars, with the byproduct ideally burnt to produce electricity to run the plant.
The company is not interested in using corn as feedstock, given the much-publicised problems created by using food crops for fuel, such as the tortilla inflation that recently caused food riots in Mexico City. Instead, different types of agricultural waste will be used according to whatever makes sense for the local climate and economy: wheat straw in California, for example, or woodchips in the South.
Using genetically modified bugs for fermentation is essentially the same as using natural bacteria to produce ethanol, although the energy-intensive final process of distillation is virtually eliminated because the bugs excrete a substance that is almost pump-ready.
The closest that LS9 has come to mass production is a 1,000-litre fermenting machine, which looks like a large stainless-steel jar, next to a wardrobe-sized computer connected by a tangle of cables and tubes. It has not yet been plugged in. The machine produces the equivalent of one barrel a week and takes up 40 sq ft of floor space.
However, to substitute America’s weekly oil consumption of 143 million barrels, you would need a facility that covered about 205 square miles, an area roughly the size of Chicago.
That is the main problem: although LS9 can produce its bug fuel in laboratory beakers, it has no idea whether it will be able produce the same results on a nationwide or even global scale.
“Our plan is to have a demonstration-scale plant operational by 2010 and, in parallel, we’ll be working on the design and construction of a commercial-scale facility to open in 2011,” says Mr Pal, adding that if LS9 used Brazilian sugar cane as its feedstock, its fuel would probably cost about $50 a barrel.
Are Americans ready to be putting genetically modified bug excretion in their cars? “It’s not the same as with food,” Mr Pal says. “We’re putting these bacteria in a very isolated container: their entire universe is in that tank. When we’re done with them, they’re destroyed.”
Besides, he says, there is greater good being served. “I have two children, and climate change is something that they are going to face. The energy crisis is something that they are going to face. We have a collective responsibility to do this.”
Don't believe everything you see hear or read from the news media.
You cannot claim to support the troops and object to what they do. It is the equivalent of claiming to support your local firemen and then object to them putting out fires.
The Indonesian media has been flooded with accounts of Obama's childhood Islamic studies, some even describing him as a religious muslim. Speaking to the country's Kaltim Post newspaper, the principal at one of Obama's Indonesian schools stated that she recalled him studying the Quran in Arabic.
- Malik holds a photo of Obama and him in Muslim dress, reportedly when the two first met in 1985
Obama’s own websites state that he has never been a practicing muslim and is a committed Christian.
Now, if Barack Hussein Obama IS a muslim, I have great concern about how a muslim president would deal with the muslim world…especially the Islamic states who sponsor and fund jihadists bent on the annihilation of Israel and the destruction of he USA. Islam is a theocratic religion and its practitioners are required to follow its tenets in their lives. If Obama is a muslim and gets elected, but doesn’t follow muslim doctrine, then he will be lost to Allah. Therefore, his motivation would be to rule as a muslim president.
Conversely, if Obama WAS a muslim and is now a “committed Christian,” why wouldn’t he admit it? Being a Christian means you throw off the old that you were… to be born again. Therefore, even if he WAS a muslim, it wouldn’t matter and he would be able to proclaim his Christian faith via his acknowledgement of the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ.
If Obama NEVER WAS a muslim, nor participated in its practices (this seems highly improbable), then he should still be able to proclaim Christ as his savior.
Barack Obama has ONLY stated that he NEVER WAS A MUSLIM and IS a COMMITTED CHRISTIAN. He has never publicly proclaimed why he is a Christian and not a muslim. And it seems that someone so adamant about it would be as specific as possible about it…..but then again we are talking about Barack Hussein Obama.
It seems that Obama could diffuse a lot of religion-related scrutiny by simply saying, “Yes, I was raised muslim and taught the Quran and Islamic doctrines. I have family and friends who are muslim. I attended a muslim school. But all of that no longer matters as I have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ and my Lord and Savior. I was born again and no longer believe or follow musllim tenets. I humbly attend a Christian church and serve God and a Christain.”
But Obama won’t do that. This religious and social idolater serves the god of opinion and practices the religion of political expediency. He knows that if he were to claim one religion or the other he would alienate one of the kool-aid drinking faction already in his pocket.
If I could give any advice to Barack Hussein Obama, it would be warning passage from the book of Revelation: “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”
As long as the US Supreme Court continues to rule like they did on Thursday, the talons will not only dull, but will fall off from lack of use.
It's time to sharpen those talons, folks! Let your congressional representatives know that it's time to stop the supreme court from usurping congres' power.
American history today has become a dreary academic subject. Yet, most who are bored by American history view Bible history quite differently: they love the stories of David and Goliath, Daniel and the lion's den, and Peter walking on the water. So it's not that people don't enjoy history, it's just that they don't respond favorably to the way American history is currently being taught.
One reason Bible history is interesting and American history is not is that the Bible (as well as American education during its first three centuries) utilizes biographical history - that is, it presents history through the eyes and life experiences of those involved (i.e., the biographies) rather than through the recitation of a string of dates and places. It is the difference between reading the stories in Guideposts and the numbers in a phone book.
Looking at history the way God presents it is exciting and informative; and in numerous verses, God even commends its study:
"Remember the former things of old: for I am God" (Isaiah 46:9) "Call to remembrance the former days" (Hebrews 10:32)
But why would God want us to know history? The Apostle Paul answers that question in 1 Corinthians 10:1: "All these things happened unto them for example; and they are written for our admonition" (see also Romans 15:4: "Those things written aforetime were written for our learning"). In short, we learn from history; and what we learn affects our behavior.
American leaders long understood this Biblical truth. For example, Thomas Jefferson noted: "History, by apprizing them [students] of the past, will enable them to judge of the future." And what can be learned by being "apprized of the past"? According to Benjamin Franklin: History will afford frequent opportunities of showing the necessity of a public religion from its usefulness to the public; the advantage of a religious character among private persons; the mischiefs of superstition; and the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern.
Franklin understood that history, when accurately presented, would demonstrate the need for Christianity because of both the societal and the individual benefits it produces. In fact, the presenting of an uncensored and unrevised history actually causes a recognition of the hand of God - for, in the words of the great statesman Daniel Webster: "History is God's providence in human affairs."
Today, however, history is presented in such an edited, revised, and politically-correct manner that God's hand is rarely visible - and even the historic role of famous Godly leaders in education, business, politics, and the military is now virtually unacknowledged.
An obvious example of the secularization of history occurs each year around the Fourth of July. Americans are taught that "taxation without representation" was the reason America separated from Great Britain; yet "taxation without representation" was only reason number seventeen out of the twenty-seven reasons given in the Declaration of Independence - it was not even in the top half, yet it's all that most ever hear. Never mentioned today are the numerous grievances condemning judicial activism - or those addressing moral or religious or other issues.
What religious issues? In 1762, the king vetoed the charter for America's first missionary society; he also suppressed other religious freedoms and even prevented Americans from printing an English language Bible. How did Americans respond? They took action; and almost unknown today is the fact that Declaration signers such as Samuel Adams and Charles Carroll cited religious freedom as the reason they became involved in the American Revolution. And significantly, even though Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin (two of the least religious signers) are typically the only signers studied today, almost half of the signers of the Declaration (24 of 56) held what today would be considered seminary or Bible school degrees. Clearly, for many Founders, religious issues were an important motivation behind their separation from Great Britain; but that motivation is largely ignored today.
Moral issues are accorded the same silence. The greatest moral issue of that day was slavery; and after several of the American colonies moved toward abolishing slavery in 1773, the King, in 1774, vetoed those anti-slavery laws and continued slavery in America. Soon-to-be signers of the Declaration Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush promptly founded America's first abolition society as a direct response against the king's order. The desire to end slavery in America was a significant motivation not only for Franklin and Rush but also for a number of others; but the end of slavery in America could be achieved only if they separated from Great Britain - which they were willing to do (and six of the thirteen colonies began abolishing slavery following the separation).
There were many other significant issues that led to our original Fourth of July; so why aren't Americans familiar with the rest? Because in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, a group of secular-minded writers (including Charles and Mary Beard, W. E. Woodward, Fairfax Downey, and others) began penning works on American history that introduced a new paradigm. For this group, economics was the only issue of importance, so they began to write texts accordingly (their approach is now described as "the economic view of American history" and since the 1960s has been widely embraced throughout the education community). Consequently, since "taxation without representation" was the economic grievance in the Declaration, it became the sole clause that Americans studied.
As a result, God is no longer visible in American history; and His absence is now construed as a mandate for secularism. Texts now forcefully assert that the American founding produced the first intentionally secular government in history - even though the Declaration officially acknowledges God in four separate clauses. (But who still teaches the Declaration - or even reads it?) Similarly, leaders such as John Hancock and John Adams receive credit as being the source of our independence, even though John Adams himself declared that the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mayhew and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper were two of the individuals "most conspicuous, the most ardent, and influential" in the "awakening and revival of American principles and feelings" that led to American independence. Regrettably, God (and His servants) have largely disappeared from the presentation of American history in general and America's founding in particular.
As a further example, consider the legendary Minutemen: even though they are still honored in many texts, their leader, the Rev. Jonas Clark, is no longer mentioned - nor the fact that many of the Minutemen were deacons in his church. And the Rev. James Caldwell is no longer acknowledged as a key leader of military forces in New Jersey - nor the Rev. John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg (who led 300 men from his church against the British) as one of Washington's most trusted generals.
Regrettably, we no longer know much about the indispensable role of pastors and Christian leaders in the founding of our civil government. Americans have been subjected to "revisionism" - defined by the dictionary as "the revision of an accepted, usually long-standing view; especially a revision of historical events and movements." Revisionism attempts to alter the way a people sees its history in order to cause a change in public policy.
Consider how successful this has been. Under the economic view of American history, Americans now believe that the early colonists came to America seeking land and gold rather than for the reason most cited by the colonists: evangelization. And most now accept that the colonies were founded for trade, fishing, and other economic enterprises, even though more than half were founded by Gospel ministers for religious purposes (e.g., Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Georgia, etc.). And if religion is discussed in a text, it will be to present the 21 deaths during the Salem Witch Trials rather than the Great Awakenings, the Civil War revivals, or the turn-of-the-century revivals that led to widespread urban renewal and the end of child labor.
Having now come to believe that economics is what created and made America great, it is not surprising that few Americans commented on the fact that, during the 2004 presidential debates, "jobs" and "economy" were mentioned hundreds of times but "marriage" less than a dozen. Nor is it surprising that over the past decade, 45 percent of evangelical Christians say that economic issues are more important than moral issues when it comes to voting.
There is so much of our wholesome, God-centered American history that we no longer know today. This is especially true when it comes to the average American's knowledge of African American history.
Consider, for example, African American achievements during the American Revolution. Few today know that almost 5,000 of the patriots in the fledgling Continental Army were African Americans - that, for example, a hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill was African American Peter Salem. His heroic actions saved the lives of scores of Americans, and he was honored before General Washington for his courage.
And Pastor Lemuel Haynes was involved in several major Revolutionary battles and became an ardent admirer of George Washington, regularly preaching sermons on Washington's birthday. This patriot preacher was the first African American to be ordained by a mainstream Christian denomination (the Congregationalists, in 1785), to pastor a white congregation (a congregation in Connecticut), and to be awarded an honorary Master's Degree (by Middlebury College, in 1804). Yet who today has heard of Lemuel Haynes?
Or who has heard of James Armistead, the courageous spy at Yorktown whose remarkable service considerably shortened the War? Or Oliver Cromwell and Prince Whipple (depicted in several famous Revolutionary War paintings) who served directly under General Washington and the general staff? Or Jordan Freeman, the gallant soldier to whom a monument was erected for his heroic service at the Battle of Groton Heights?
Then there is also African American church history - including the amazing story of the Rev. John Marrant, the first African American to evangelize successfully among American Indians; the Rev. Richard Allen, who gained his freedom from slavery, served in the American Revolution, became a preacher in a church of 2000 whites, and founded America's first black denomination; and the Rev. Harry Hoosier, who delivered the first recorded Methodist sermon by an African American and drew crowds larger than the great Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury.
And consider African American political history. Who today knows the story of the Rev. Hiram Rhodes Revels, the African American missionary who became the first black U. S. Senator? Or the Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, the first African American to deliver a sermon in Congress? Or Joseph Hayne Rainey, who overcame slavery to become the first African American elected to the U. S. Congress, even presiding over the U. S. House? (In the picture of the first seven African Americans elected to the federal Congress - all as Republicans - the Rev. Revels is the first from the left, and Rainey is second from the right.) Or who today has learned that nearly every southern Republican Party was started by African Americans - or that the first 190 African Americans elected to office in South Carolina (and the first 112 in Mississippi, the first 42 in Texas, the first 127 in Louisiana, etc.) were all Republicans, and many were ministers?
I have spent years collecting thousands of original and priceless documents from American history in general and black history in particular; God's fingerprints are evident throughout. I have been asked why I, as an Anglo, would spend so much time in the study of African American political history. The answer is simple: I am an American; and since the story of African American history is part of American history, it therefore is part of my own history. Furthermore, I am inspired by all stories of sacrifice, courage, and Godly character - regardless of skin color. The stories of African American heroes such as Phillis Wheatley, Francis Grimke, and John Roy Lynch are as thrilling to me as are the stories of Lewis & Clark, Helen Keller, and Alvin York.
The reintroduction of a truthful and complete telling of American history is long overdue. Daniel Webster was right: "History is God's providence in human affairs," and it is time for Americans once again to become aware of the remarkable hand of God throughout our history.
No, Reagan was not perfect. But he was consistently conservative and new the pulse of America. He knew how bring people together in compromise WITHOUT compromising convictions.
And then there is the following from the Goldwater campaign of 1964. The names and nationalities may be different, but the fight is the same. McCain is by no means my choice for the president this country needs. But I strongly believe that Ronald Wilson Reagan, in similar circumstances, would absolutely be saying the same thing at this year’s convention.
Don’t be fooled by the media telling you that Dems are defecting to vote for McCain over Obama. This Election is not about John McCain…it never has been. It’s about Barack Hussein Obama and the evil that will disseminate over this nation if he is elected.
Tory Bowen, a 24-year-old Lincoln, Nebraska, woman, has alleged that Pamir Safi, a 33-year-old Army reservist, raped her three years ago while she was a senior in College. Safi alleges that they actually had consensual sex.
-Pamir Safi-
The judge in the case seems to be in agreement, even before any testimony is given.
Lancaster County, Nebraska, District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront has banned certain words and phrases from the trial on the grounds that they could be prejudicial to the defendant. The words RAPE, ASSAILANT, VICTIM, SEXUAL ASSAULT, and SEXUAL ASSAULT KIT cannot be used during the trial. In other words, which they now have to be, this judge wants to make the defendant into the victim because his feelings might get hurt. The judge did not promulgate what words could be used by the prosecutor to make his case, however.
I do wonder how a VICTIM can allege in court that she was RAPED or SEXUALLY ASSAULTED by an ASSAILANT without actually using those particular words. The judge says the word SEX is to be substituted for the word RAPE. I guess that would make the VICTIM and ASSAILANT known as INTIMATE PARTNERS. I also wonder what the judge wants to call the SEXUAL ASSAULT KIT… Oh, I got it…INTIMATE RELATIONS QUANTITATIVE EXAMINATION COLLECTION!!!
I can just visualize this “trial:”
Prosecutor: Miss Bowen. Can you describe the events of the night in question?
Bowen: On that particular night, I was raped by the defendant…
Defense Attorney: OBJECTION!
Judge: Sustained.
Bowen: Uh, the assailant attacked me…
Defense Attorney: OBJECTION!
Judge: Sustained.
Bowen: Um…he sexually assaulted me…
Defense Attorney: OBJECTION!
Judge: Sustained. Miss Bowen, you cannot use those terms in this court. Now please describe what actually happened on the night in question.
Bowen: Uh, um, er, um….we had sexual relations?
Judge: if you had sexual relations with the defendant, then why is he being accused of something much worse. CASE DISMISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Miss Bowen is now planning on bringing the case before the US Supreme Court! Why should it have to get that far? A reasonable judge should have handled this properly by the evidence alone, with or without the use of certain words.
What a joke! This judge would be one of those pacifist freaks to take stemmed flowers into battle and put them in the barrels of enemy guns.
Where does right and wrong end and political correctness begin in our society? I am just not sure anymore… at least beyond myself and my family.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Apparently Barry Boy didn't get his waffles this morning.
Americans are searching for leadership in this election year and they have found it. Unfortunately, he is not an American politician. Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, who survived the communist system and now leads a country that emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet empire, is warning of a new form of communism threatening human freedom and progress.
Like former President Ronald Reagan, who developed his under-standing of the communist menace by fighting the communists in Hollywood, Klaus suffered under them during the communist era in Czechoslovakia. Because of this experience, however, he came to understand how Soviet-style communism, which collapsed as an empire and created the circumstances for the emergence of the Czech Republic as a free and independent nation, never really died as an ideology and that it has imitators in the West.
His book, Blue Planet in Green Shackles, published by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, charges that the movement to “save” the environment has been taken over by ideologues who favor total government control over our lives. He says it can be considered a form of communism, socialism or even fascism. Whatever you call it, the result will be the extinction of human freedom.
Fascist Roots
Indeed, Klaus’s book quotes the authoritative essay, “Fascist Ideology: The Green Wing of the Nazi Party and Its Historical Antecedents,” by Peter Staudenmaier, as providing the backdrop for understanding the mentality driving the media-led hysteria over “global warming” and the alleged necessity for immediate governmental action at the national and global levels.
Staudenmaier wrote that “the Nazi movement’s incorporation of environmentalist themes was a crucial factor in its rise to popularity and state power.” He explained, “Hitler and Himmler were both strict vegetarians and animal lovers, attracted to nature mysticism and homeopathic cures, and staunchly opposed to vivisection and cruelty to animals. Himmler even established experimental organic farms to grow herbs for SS medicinal purposes. And Hitler, at times, could sound like a veritable Green utopian, discussing authoritatively and in detail various renewable energy sources (including environmentally appropriate hydropower and producing natural gas from sludge) as alternatives to coal, and declaring ‘water, winds and tides’ as the energy path of the future.”
While the Nazi embrace of these alternative energy or health solutions does not discredit them, the historical facts should prompt us to consider the motivations of those promoting these causes in the current context. Are the attacks on “Big Oil” and the push for alternative energy technologies being used as a pretext for more government control over the economy? Are the demands for government action to curb global warming being used to undermine and subvert free enterprise capitalism and private property rights?
But while communism was an atheistic system, Klaus notes, modern environmentalism has assumed a religious dimension and has become a “green religion.”
Liberal Fascism
At the end of Klaus’s remarks on this subject at a Washington, D.C. dinner hosted and sponsored by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), master of ceremonies Jonah Goldberg remarked that he wished that we had a U.S. President who would make such a speech. Tragically, Bush and Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, have fallen into the camp, which includes Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and most of the Democratic Party, which wants to further erode individual freedom in the name of saving the environment. It is the modern version of the Marxist, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need,” except that the needs of the environment are now being placed above those of people.
It was noteworthy and appropriate that Goldberg, who praised Klaus’s remarks, has written the excellent book, Liberal Fascism, about the totalitarian tendencies of modern-day liberalism.
For his part, Klaus writes that “The environmentalists’ attitude toward nature is analogous to the Marxist approach to economics. The aim in both cases is to replace the free, spontaneous evolution of the world (and humankind) by the would-be optimal, central or—using today’s fashionable adjective—global planning of world development. Much as in the case of Communism, this approach is utopian and would lead to results completely different from the intended ones. Like other utopias, this one can never materialize, and efforts to make it materialize can only be carried out through restrictions of freedom, through the dictates of a small, elitist minority over the overwhelming majority.”
In short, we will not only lose our freedom but economic progress and human advancement will be stifled. And more people will inevitably die.
Klaus adds, “In the past 150 years (at least since Marx), the socialists have been very effectively destroying human freedom under humane and compassionate slogans, such as caring for man, ensuring social equality, and fostering social welfare. The environmentalists are doing the same under equally noble-minded slogans, expressing concern about nature more than about people (recall their radical motto ‘Earth first’). In both cases, the slogans have been (and still are) just a smokescreen. In both cases, the movements were (and are) completely about power, about the hegemony of the ‘chosen ones’ (as they see themselves) over the rest of us, about the imposition of the only correct worldview (their own), about the remodeling of the world.”
In an appendix, Klaus takes on directly the popular congressional push for a so-called “cap and trade” system, on a national and global basis, giving bureaucrats the power to decide the “carbon footprint” of people, companies and nations and limiting their carbon emissions and use of energy. He calls the proposal completely irrational and unscientific and suggests it is just another excuse for giving government more power.
The Forces Of Freedom
In the introduction to the Klaus book, Fred L. Smith Jr., president of CEI, warns about the attraction that the “intellectual class” continues to have for “statism” or “collectivism,” which are other names for the threats we face. Today, Smith says, we are witnessing “cultural warfare against economic liberty” that requires “pro-freedom voices” to prevent the slide into totalitarianism.
Klaus came to Washington, D.C. at the end of May to lead this effort. But he will return to the Czech Republic. Various American conservative political figures, including former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, are even trying to appear “green.” Gingrich, for example, appears in a commercial, financed by Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection, with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, warning about global warming. (The group Judicial Watch contends the commercial is a violation of federal election law and an illegal contribution to Pelosi’s campaign).
Gingrich has become an advocate of “green conservatism” and now proposes a Gore-like “Contract with the Earth.”
In his book, Klaus calls Gore a hypocrite for his “own wasteful consumption of electricity” and says the former vice president has no interest in facts or documentation for his sensational claims.
The “cultural warfare” Smith warns about can be seen in the almost total blackout that the liberal media gave to Klaus’s various appearances in Washington, D.C., including at the CEI dinner and the National Press Club. Rather than attempt to refute the arguments of a man who has a wealth of knowledge about economics and international economic relations, the liberal media tried their best to ignore him.
Front-Page Coverage
Fortunately, the Washington Times highlighted his warnings on page one. “Environmentalism, says Czech President Vaclav Klaus, is the new communism, a system of elite command-and-control that kills prosperity and should similarly be condemned to the ash heap of history,” the paper reported in a front-page story by David R. Sands.
“I understand that global warming is a religion conceived to suppress human freedom,” Klaus told editors and reporters at the paper.
In order to demonstrate the courageous nature of the stand that Klaus is taking internationally, the book includes a cartoon of someone resembling Klaus being burned at the stake as three people taunt him, saying, “So, do you believe in warming now?”
Where are the U.S. political leaders who will follow Klaus in taking a forthright stand in favor of human freedom?
FORMER ARKANSAS GUV PERFORMS HEIMLICH ON NC LT. GOV. CANDIDATE
The North Carolina State Republican Convention got quite exciting today — and it had nothing to do with politics.
During a pre-event hospitality breakfast, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who was in attendance as the convention’s keynote speaker, was sitting next to North Carolina Lt. Gov. candidate Robert Pittenger when the state senator began choking. Huckabee reportedly noticed Pittenger having difficulty breathing and immediately began performing the Heimlich maneuver.
“I’m glad that Mike was in the right place at the right time and continued to lead by example,” Former South Carolina Lt. Gov. candidate Mike Campbell told The Palmetto Scoop.
“We all know that [Huckabee] is pro-life, and once again he has lived up to it.”
Pittenger, whose company Bahakel Communications owns WOLO-TV in Columbia, apparently suffers from acid reflux, which likely caused the incident to occur.
Huckabee was trained as an EMT in college and has been in similar situations before, his daughter Sarah said, noting that he “instinctively reacted.”
Reports are that Pittenger is doing fine and is already back on the campaign trail.
I wrote about the appearance of religious references in our federal and state governments in a previous blog.
In my humble opinion, that showed proof that our states’ leaders knew to give God the honor and glory when recording the laws that governed their respective lands
In today society, there are so many people that want to prove that God had and has no place in our government. They even state that God is nowhere to be found in the United States Constitution. I say there is!
Look at just the preamble to start.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Let’s look at two key words in the preamble.
Justice – This word has its origins in the Latin word “justitia” which translates to righteousness and equity. The primary source to measure righteousness is the Holy Bible. “And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us." - Deuteronomy 6:25
Blessings or Bless – Bless comes from and Old English word “bletsian” which means to consecrate or make holy. The framers believed that the nation and its governing document needed God’s divine approval
In article five, we see our very first specific wording regarding religion.
Article. VI. The Senators and Representatives…, and the Members of the… State Legislatures, and… Officers, …of the United States and… the… [respective] States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification…
The framers knew that any religious test given by man would not reveal truth and character. A man’s character is determined by the way he lives and views his life in reverence to God. “…we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” - Romans 5:3-4
In the closing, the framers SPECIFICALLY mention the Divine Deity from whom they sought guidance and inspiration
Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
“In the Year of our Lord” or A.D. (for Anno Domini) is not just an after the fact reference. The framer placed It here as a very specific homage to the fact that they were living in a time of Christ. To merely put a date down would cover the requirement for time reference. But the framers knew to give glory to the reign of our Lord and Savior and sovereignty to God Almighty.
Now to the most misunderstood and misused of the amendments…the very first one. I could go on and on about the other points mentioned but my point here is to show the presence of and our desperate need for God in our Government.
Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…
Nowhere in these words does it say anything about church or state. It merely defines what the role of congress is regarding religion. It basically states that congress really can’t do anything. Neither does it put religion in government nor does it prohibit God from government.
The framers essentially stated that they didn’t want government to determine religion. In other words, it is just as dangerous for the government to tell you not to worship God and it is for them to tell you that you are required to.
May God bless our nation and its people ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Charters of Freedom
78 year old Angel Arce Torres is left in critical condition, paralyzed from the next down because people seemed to ignore the situation. There were calls in to 911 within minutes but I don’t see anyone trying to stop traffic, or checking on him or whatever. You can read the news story linked above and the video below shows the terrifying incident. It has been stated that The Hartford, Connecticut people are doing some soul searching. I certainly hope so.
Now I wonder, was this guy a Christian? His life could’ve been over in a split second… just like yours or mine.
If you were to have your life taken from you, do you know for a fact about where you will spend eternity? If you don’t, please consider the following:
Let me ask you a few questions.
Would you consider yourself to be a good person? Then read on to find out if you really are good. The following is a test of self-examination to see if you have upheld goodness by the only true standard as given by God – The Ten Commandments of Exodus 20 found in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Have you ever told a lie? What does that make you? The Ninth of the Ten Commandments is "You shall not lie." Telling even just one lie, even one little, white fib, according to God's standards, makes you a "liar." Revelation 21:8 says, "…all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone…”
Have you ever stolen anything, no matter how small or how long ago? What does that make you? The Eighth of the Ten Commandments is "You shall not steal." The value is irrelevant. Taking something that doesn’t belong to you makes you a “thief.” In 1 Corinthians 6:10, God says, ”[Neither] thieves… nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Have you ever committed adultery? Before you answer to this one, read on. The Seventh of the Ten Commandments is "You shall not commit adultery." One definition of adultery means marital infidelity. Another states: Lewdness or unchastity of thought as well as act. And another describes it as: Faithlessness in religion. In Mathew 5:27-28, Jesus says "You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks [with]…lust…has already committed adultery…in his [or her] heart.”
Have you ever murdered anyone? Again, read further before you give your final answer. The Sixth of the Ten Commandments is “You shall not kill." To kill is to murder. Murder is defined as willfully putting an end to life. Another definition means to mutilate or mangle. In Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother [has murdered and] shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother [has murdered and] shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' [has murdered and] shall be liable to the hell of fire.” 1 John 3:15 says that “Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life…”
Have you ever used any of the names of the One who gave you precious life in a manner that was anything but respectful or appreciative? If not, that is blasphemy. The Third of the Ten Commandments is "You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain." If you've ever used the name "God," "Jesus," or "Christ" as a curse word, what you've done is commit "blasphemy," and according to God's standards, you are a "blasphemer." Even the seemingly innocent “OMG” qualifies. In Luke 12:10, Jesus says, “…he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.”
Do you love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength? Do you let anything in life interfere with your worship of God? The First AND MOST IMPORTANT of the Ten Commandments is Exodus 20:3: "You shall have no other gods before me." That means that we should love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. Even our love for family and friends should seem like pure hatred in comparison (Matthew 10:37, Luke 14:26). And to put other things in life above God is a horrible sin.
In Psalm 14:2-3 The Bible tells us that no one has kept this commandment – “The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Therefore, even if we obey all of the nine other commandments, there is no one who is not guilty of this commandment.
Your deeds will NOT guarantee salvation: In Isaiah 64:6, the Bible says, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” Therefore, no matter what good you do in this world, you WILL NOT get into Heaven. Forget what good deeds you have done, as they don’t matter in front of a judge. Think about it. If a mass murderer were found guilty in a court of law, but pleaded for the judge to let him go free because he gave to charity and volunteered at a soup kitchen, the judge would pretty much laugh in his face and send him up the river anyway.
From the above, we have only covered six of the Ten Commandments and there is no way you could have answered “no” to all of them. It is pretty certain that you have pleaded guilty to all six and would have to plead guilty to the rest as well.
Therefore, by those standards, would you be innocent or guilty? Would you go to Heaven or Hell? Do you feel like you are in trouble? Does this have you thinking and concerned about your eternal fate?
And while it may seem that God's goodness will cause Him to overlook your sins in forgiveness, the opposite is actually true. The very thing you are counting on to save you on the Day of Judgment -- namely God's goodness -- is going to be the very thing that will see to it that justice is done. Because God is so good He will make sure that every murderer, rapist and thief receives justice... but He won't stop there. He will also make sure every liar, blasphemer, and adulterer is punished.
While this is something that is extremely tragic and far from God's ultimate, loving desire for any person, the Bible is clear that the place of punishment for those who do not turn from their sins is Hell. The Bible refers to the fate of the unsaved (HELL) with such fearful words as the following:
* “Shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2) * “Everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46) * “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:51) * “Fire unquenchable” (Luke 3:17) * “Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish” (Romans 2:8,9) * “Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 1:9) * “Eternal fire...the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 7,13) * “He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone...the smoke of their torment ascended up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day or night." (Revelation 14:10,11) But the most terrifying thing is that once you are in hell, it will be like God never existed to you and you to God. And there is no way you will ever be able to be redeemed.
Does the possibility of going to hell concern you? It should! Do you know what God did for you so that you wouldn't have to be punished for your sins and spend eternity in Hell?
The cliché is true: God does have a wonderful plan for your life. But because you are a sinful person and separated by your sins from God, you CANNOT know God’s love and plan for your life until you accept Jesus Christ as God's ONLY provision for your sin. Through BELIEVING in Jesus, and individually RECEIVING Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord; then you can BECOME a child of God and know and experience His love and plan for you life. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me."
God loves you so much that He sent His son for you so that He would pay the price for your sins and be punished in your place. All you have to do is confess and repent (forsake or turn away from) your sins and Trust in Jesus with Faith as your personal Lord and Savior. Make Him the master of your life and follow His standards for living your own.
John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
The life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are told in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John in the New Testament of the Bible. For an explanation of what Jesus suffered on the cross, go to: http://www.konnections.com/Kcundick/crucifix.html or watch “The Passion of the Christ,” to experience the last twelve hours of Christ’s life. Jesus life, punishment, death and resurrection were accurately prophesied in verses of the Old Testament, written from c. 1500-400B.C.! You can read them and their explanations as well as future prophesies of Jesus at http://www.bible.com/jesus/prophecies.html.
If concern over your eternal fate is weighing heavy on your heart, it is now time to repent and ask God to forgive you and accept His grace through the cleansing blood of Jesus.
You can pray something like this – "Dear God, I repent of all my sins, I have (name your sins) against you. I now and forever put my trust in Jesus Christ as Lord (to say Jesus is your Lord means you are now making Jesus the master over your life) and Savior (Proclaiming Jesus as your Savior means that you recognize that He is the only way to salvation). Forgive me and grant me your gift of everlasting life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen." (God knows your heart better than you, so please be honest with Him in praying)
I know this has been a long read and I truly thank you for staying until the end. Because I know that some of you may simply ignore this. But remember how I started this blog? All it takes is a split-second for someone else to put your life in jeopardy. And if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, it’s time you make that change in your life so that you can have an eternity in paradise with God.
