Monday, November 16, 2009

ABCNews Exclusive: Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist

Exclusive: Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist
Recovery.gov Lists Millions Spent and Hundreds of Jobs Created in Districts Not on Map
By JONATHAN KARL, ABC News
Nov. 16, 2009

Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 9th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.

There's one problem, though: There is no 9th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight congressional districts.

There's no 86th congressional district in Arizona either, but the government's recovery.gov Web site says $34 million in stimulus money has been spent there.
In fact, Recovery.gov lists hundreds of millions spent and hundreds of jobs created in congressional districts that don't exist.

In Oklahoma, for example, the site lists more than $19 million in spending -- and 15 jobs created -- in congressional districts that don't exist. In Iowa, it shows $10.6 million spent – and 39 jobs created -- in non-existent districts.

In Connecticut's 42nd district (which also does not exist), the Web site claims 25 jobs created with zero stimulus dollars.

The list of spending and job creation in fictional congressional districts extends to U.S. territories as well.

$68.3 million spent and 72.2 million spent in the 1st congressional district of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
$8.4 million spent and 40.3 jobs created in the 99th congressional district of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
$1.5 million spent and .3 jobs created in the 69th district and $35 million for 142 jobs in the 99th district of the Northern Mariana Islands.
$47.7 million spent and 291 jobs created in Puerto Rico's 99th congressional district.

Interesting facts and figures, but none of these districts exist.

The recovery.gov Web site was established as part of the stimulus bill "to foster greater accountability and transparency" in the use of the money spent through the stimulus program. The site is a well-funded enterprise; the General Services Administration updated it earlier this year with an $18 million grant.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Affordable Health Care???

10/30/09

Three things to know about the 'Affordable Health Care for America Act'

By Bryan Riley

Although Nancy Pelosi’s health care bill is over 1,900 pages long, there are only three things Members of Congress need to understand before they vote on it:

1. Americans would no longer be able to choose their own health insurance:

The bill would create a “Health Benefits Advisory Commission” to help the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) determine an “essential benefits package.” (Page 105.) Families would no longer be able to choose their own insurance benefits. Instead, they would be stuck with whatever the HHS Secretary decided to offer them.

2. The proposed tax subsidy for the federal “public option” would eliminate private health insurance options.

The bill would create a “public health insurance option” run by the government to compete with private insurance companies. (Page 211.) Unlike the public plan, private insurance companies pay corporate income taxes, which according to the Tax Foundation, average 39.1 percent. There is no way private companies could compete in this environment, and the only health insurance “option” remaining would be the one run by the federal government.

3. At least 86 percent of businesses would no longer have any reason to offer health insurance to their employees.

Businesses with payrolls below $500,000 would not be required to offer health insurance. (Page 276.) As a result, the logical business decision would be for these firms to quit offering health insurance and instead allow their employees to get coverage through the new federal Health Insurance Exchange. According to the bill’s proponents, 86 percent of businesses would not be required to offer health insurance or contribute to employee premiums.

The proposed legislation would empower the federal government at the expense of American families. A legitimate solution to our country’s health care problems would do the opposite.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

"ANITA"

“Anita” by Scott from South Cackalacky
To the tune of “Elvira” by the Oak Ridge Boys.
(Dedicated to my favorite Maoist, White House Communications Director, Anita Dunn)



Anita, Anita
Mao starts her fire up, Anita

Lies about a red herring of a news channel during prime time
That girl can sure enough make waves with a little whine
She looks to Mao Tse Tung for pointers most of the time
'Cause Mao sure makes her liberal heart just shine

So I'm singin'
Anita, Anita
Mao starts her fire up, Anita
Fire her up - Ooh Lala Ooh Chairman Mao Mao
Fire her up - Ooh Lala Ooh Chairman Mao Mao
Like Obama, Yay, Yay!

She likes Mao and Mother Theresa, and she knows they’re no quite the same
And boy it sure did make her point seem lame
She may fake a wiggle and squirm 'cause she got caught lovin’ that worm
I’m glad I get my news from that fair and balanced team!

So I'm singin'
Anita, Anita
Mao starts her fire up, Anita
Fire her up - Ooh Lala Ooh Chairman Mao Mao
Fire her up - Ooh Lala Ooh Chairman Mao Mao
Like Obama, Yay, Yay!
Like Obama, Yay, Yay!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Christianity and Religion Have Caused More Deaths Than Anything Else in History

Christianity and Religion Have Caused More Deaths Than Anything Else in History

Whenever I am evangelizing to non-Christians, one objection comes up that seems to be a barrier for them to hearing the Gospel. They seem to think that it’s hypocritical for Christians to talk about the love of Christ when Christians have done so much killing. Some of them even think that Christians are the most murderous of the religions. I figured I should do some research to actually have an answer in apologetics.

Yes, man has used religion for political gain. Nazi Germany had "God with us" engraved in German on the belts of Nazi soldiers. Americans have said, "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."

Jesus even tells us in John 16:2-3 that there will be some who, in their error, commit atrocities and murder in the name of God: "the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God." However, He informs us that these are not true believers: "And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me."

Jesus did tell His followers to love their enemies. So if a man kills another man in the name of Christianity (or any other religion), something obviously isn’t right. If WE can detect it, don’t you think that God can? Don’t forget that He will deal with that on Judgment Day.

So, we can all agree that killing in the name of religion isn’t a good thing. And now the obligatory, “Exactly, and Christians have killed more than any other religion.”

Au Contraire!

The main argument blaming those murderous Christians is based on the deaths of those in the Crusades and the Inquisition. I actually added another situation that can be used as well.

Deaths Caused by Christians:

1562-1598 – French Wars of Religion – France – 4 million
1095-1291 – Crusades to the Holy Land – Middle East, Spain, Africa – 1.5 million (This does include all sides of the conflict)
1184-c. 1860 – Various Christian Inquisitions – Europe – 17,500

We’ll round this up (for the sake of liberals) and say 6 million deaths caused by Christians. And that IS a bunch! 6 million is way too many!

Now, here is something that even shocked me! I had assumed that the tolls were fairly even.

Deaths caused by non-Christians:

184-205 – Yellow Scarves Rebellion (Taoists) – China – 7 million
1300s-1521 – Human Sacrifices (Aztecs) – Mexico – 1 million
1855-1877 – Panthay Rebellion (Muslims) – China – 12 million
1932-1933 – Holodomor (communist atheists) – Ukraine – 10 million
1941-1945 – Nazi Genocides (statist atheists) – Germany – 11 million
1959-1962 – Great Leap Forward famine (communist atheists) – China – 43 million
1971 – Bangladesh Atrocities (Islamists) – East Pakistan – 3 million
1975-1979 – Khmer Rouge Repression (communist atheists) – Cambodia – 3 million
September 11, 2007 – Terrorist attacks (Muslim Jihadists) – USA – 5,000

The deaths caused by non-Christians – approximately 90 MILLION! And this is actually a conservative number.

In other words, even if you could attribute deaths to Christians, which we established at the beginning of this piece is not really the case, they are only responsible for 1/15 the deaths as non-Christians.

Don’t let this issue be one that keeps you from the salvation offered through Jesus Christ. Because the actual number of murderers in this world today comes closer to the whole population of 6 BILLION when you understand that God’s standard of murder is much, much higher!

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. – Matthew 5:21-22 Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. – 1 John 3:15

It’s not just the physical act of taking someone’s life that is murder. It’s the actions based on what is in the heart that God sees.

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur...” – Revelation 21:8

The justice we all deserve is hell. But God provided a way for us to not go to hell. Jesus, God as man in the flesh, lived a perfect life and was punished, tortured and hung on a cross for crimes He did not commit. He took the punishment upon Himself and paid the price for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to.

If you have not done so, repent (turn away from) your sins, ask forgiveness of God for those sins and be specific. Receive the gift that God gave through Christ on the Cross and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

Saturday, October 10, 2009

ENDOWED BY OUR CREATOR… WITH A DUTY TO PROCLAIM IT

ENDOWED BY OUR CREATOR… WITH A DUTY TO PROCLAIM IT

[The majority of the following information comes from David Barton’s American Heritage Series.


Early in American history, Americans were very open, almost naked, about their faith. Even the Founding Fathers didn’t keep religious proclamations, prayer meetings and prayer sittings private. They were done publicly.

Over the last fifty years, Americans have been taught to compartmentalize many aspects about their life – especially faith. Starting in the 1960s, the US Supreme Court made a few decisions that proclaimed how important the First Amendment was to America and that the freedom of religion was something to be cherished. But then they stated that it was something that should be done at home or church and not to be seen in public. If Americans wanted to pray, it was more appropriate to do it at home or church and before and after school. But prayer was not to be included with education or the extra-curricular activities involved with it. Even the Ten Commandments were seen as very important to Americans… as long as they were posted at home. The court system didn’t need them posted there. And Nativity Scenes were beautiful, as long as they were at home or church. Parks or public places didn’t need them anymore. So, for the last fifty years, we’ve been told that faith IS important, but only in a private arena.

Compare that to the times of our Founding Fathers.

God was SO IMPORTANT to our Founding Fathers, that when they met in Congress for the first time in September of 1774, the very first thing they did was open with prayer. It wasn’t just a little run of the mill, routine prayer like we might hear at a public meeting today. According to those who were there, that time of prayer in Congress was momentous as well as extended. John Adams recalls that not only did they pray, but the delegates covered FOUR chapters of the bible in Congress that first day.

That particular bible study was so memorable and had such an enormous effect, that John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, “I never saw a greater effect on an audience. It seemed as if Heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on the morning… I must beg you to read that Psalm… [R]ead this letter and the 35th Psalm to [your friends]. Read it to your father.”

Psalm 35 shows how the faithful should pray when they know that malicious people are seeking to harm them. The prayer recounts the evil schemes of the persecutors and asks God to fight on behalf of His faithful ones. By the way, Abigail Adams’ father was William Smith, the pastor of the local church. Silas Deane, another delegate, said that this time of prayer and scripture reading in Congress was SO powerful that “[E]ven the Quakers shed tears.”

Now let’s consider John Hancock. After serving as President of Congress during the Revolution, he was elected Governor of Massachusetts where he issued several proclamations calling the state to prayer and Thanksgiving.

In one proclamation dated October 15, 1791, he wrote, "And pray especially that universal happiness can be established in the world and that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ and that the whole Earth may be filled with his glory." This one proclamation of many is evident of Hancock’s evangelistic nature and is reflective of his own Christian beliefs.

Another Founding Patriot, Samuel Adams, participated as a leader in the Boston Tea Party and as one of the Sons of Liberty. He has been titled the “Father of the American Revolution.” After the Revolution, Adams remained active in politics. He was even one who was actively advocating and then involved in composing the Bill of Rights. He eventually ended up as Governor of Massachusetts where he issued a 1795 proclamation for prayer, fasting and thanksgiving. Throughout the proclamation is very strong evangelical tones: “...That the Peaceful and Glorious Reign of our Divine Redeemer may be known and enjoyed throughout the whole Family of Mankind." He even repeated these evangelical sentiments in a 1797 Proclamation: “…speedily bringing on the Holy and Happy Period when the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all the people willingly bow to the scepter of Him who is the Prince of Peace.”

The Declaration of Independence itself proclaimed to the world they had a “firm reliance on Divine Providence.” In fact, during the Revolution, the Continental Congress issued at least 15 proclamations of national prayer. They were from different committees, by various founders, all with strong Biblical language.

There is NO doubt that America has been a successful nation with a stable and successful government BECAUSE OF the Foundation on which it was built; a Foundation unlike any other nation in the world – a Biblical Foundation.

George Washington, in his famous farewell address in 1796, reminded us why our government and its policies were so successful. He declared, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable support.”

In Washington’s first FEDERAL Proclamation of Prayer in 1789, he wrote, ”WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness." This proclamation was delivered directly after the First Amendment was written. Washington, along with his fellow Founders knew that they had to stop and give thanks to God for guiding them in the creation of that First Amendment.

A famous prayer proclamation that John Adams wrote in 1789 stated, “AS the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and blessing of Almighty God; and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him, but a duty whose natural influence is favorable to the promotion of that morality and piety, without which social happiness cannot exist, nor the blessings of a free government be enjoyed.” The Founders believed that it is our DUTY, a NATIONAL DUTY, to acknowledge and worship God.

These are just two of the 1,500 OFFICIAL proclamations for prayer issued in America between 1622 and 1815. Of those, 300 are issued by churches and 1,200 are issued by the government. After 1815, there are thousands more issued by the federal government. Again, these proclamations announced a NATIONAL DUTY, not a private one as we are directed to do today.

Thomas Jefferson seemed to be even more poignant on the matter. In the very first book that he ever wrote in 1781, “Notes on the State of Virginia,” he wrote, “God is who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we remove their only firm basis? A conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God, and that they are not to be violated but with His wrath. Indeed, I tremble for my country when a reflectant God is just and His justice won’t sleep.” In other words, we cannot have NATIONAL liberties if there is no conviction in our minds that these liberties are the gift of God. If we lose sight of this, then we also lose those liberties.

In Benjamin Franklin’s most famous speech, dated Thursday, June 28, 1787 at the Constitutional Convention, he reminded the delegates that they needed God to be America’s friend and ally, and to keep God’s “concurrent aid.” He also warned, “If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without [H]is notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without [H]is aid? We’ve been assured in the sacred writing that, ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.’” Franklin called for regular, daily prayer to make sure that they kept God in the midst of what they were doing in the nation.

Many of the Founding Fathers who were a part of writing the US Constitution were also instrumental in writing the constitutions of their respective states. Samuel Adams and John Adams helped write the Massachusetts constitution; Benjamin Rush and James Wilson helped write Pennsylvania’s constitution; George Read and Thomas McKean helped write Delaware’s constitution; the same was true in other States as well. In fact, the Supreme Court used to point to these State constitutions as precedents in their rulings to demonstrate the Founders’ intent.

Look at the DEFINITIVE LANGUAGE in the following excerpts from those respective constitutions:

DELAWARE: Every person, who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust…shall…make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: “I do profess faith in God the father, and in Jesus Christ, his only son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed forever more, and I do acknowledge the Holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.”

PENNSYLVANIA: And each member [of his legislature], before he takes his seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration, viz: “I do believe in one God, the Creator and Governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and the punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration.”

MASSACHUSETTS: [All persons elected must] make and subscribe the following declaration, viz. “I do declare that I believe the Christian religion and have firm persuasion of its truth.”

NORTH CAROLINA: No person, who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the [Christian] religion, or the divine authority either of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, shall be capable of holding any office, or place of trust or profit in the civil department, within this State.

These were not merely suggestions but constitutional REQUIREMENTS from the respective states about the role of God IN THE STATE. One had to believe that God’s principles applied to civil government. If not, he or she couldn’t be in any public office. At that time, it was seen as a DUTY, but compared to today, teachers, judges, government officials, etc. are NOT allowed to proclaim there faith openly. They wouldn’t be allowed to hold that position if they did.

As stated above, Americans have been taught to compartmentalize their faith in the last 50 years. We have learned to place faith in one corner separate from education, business, and government in other separate corners of our lives. And it has been the court system that has had a major part in this – even to the point of inflicting penalties for public displays of faith. Our modern media is very discriminating in that it shows several aspects of what the courts do, and yet very little of the courts involvement with matters of faith – unless it goes against faith.

We have had public education in America since 1647. We have had prayer in schools since 1647. Suddenly, after more than 300 years, the courts tell us that we have to pray at home or church and not in schools or even at a graduation commencements. There are still many, many schools in this nation where the students and faculty WANT to have prayer in school.

In a Texas based federal court ruling, dealing with one of those schools, the federal judge decides to let the school have prayer, but HE gets to tell them how to pray. He says, “This court will allow prayer if it’s a typical non-denominational prayer. The prayer can refer to God or the Almighty, but the prayer must not refer to Jesus. And make no mistake. This court is going to have a United State Marshall in attendance at graduation. If any student offends this court [and mentions Jesus in the prayer], that student will be summarily arrested and face 6 months incarceration in the Galveston County Jail.”

The courts have determined to tell the American people what religion means, and this is what they have gotten into with the First Amendment – “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Rather than allowing it to say the words that are written, in the context of which they were written, the courts base their rulings on a phrase that is no where in the Constitution – Separation of Church and State.

Logically, the words of the First Amendment mean that Congress cannot make a law, not that children cannot pray. So, how did “Congress” come to mean “children” and how did “law” come to mean “pray?” Unfortunately, it’s because the courts said it did. This reasoning is based on an unconstitutional philosophy that was introduced into the courts by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes that said “We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is.” That philosophy lives on in the courts today!

The Founding Fathers did not intend for any branch of the federal government to behave in this manner. The 90 or so Founders who were involved in the debate over the First Amendment made it clear that they did not want a national, federal denomination. They did not want the federal government to tell the citizens that they had to be a certain denomination and practice their religion based on the doctrines of that specific denomination. There was NOTHING about separating God from government or public life. That is why freedom of religion is partnered with freedom of speech and also to the right to peaceably assemble anywhere in public. Therefore when it comes to practicing our faith, Congress can’t stop it AND we can practice it WHEREVER we want to.

We have been given unalienable rights…. And it is out DUTY proclaim them for the Glory of God!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Kanye on the Nobel


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794

WHY?

Barack Hussein Obama is “humbled” for being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Why?

I know, I know. It’s because he may be America’s first internationally born president. Nope. That just hasn’t been proven yet.

I know, I know. It’s because he was educated abroad. No, no, other people have done that.

I know, I know. It’s because he was a community organizer in Chicago. Uh, uh. That could really only get him to the American Presidency.

I know, I know. It’s because he served 143 days of 4 years in the US Senate. Can’t be, many more people have done that and much more. Besides, he spent a lot those four years campaigning for US President.

I know, I know. It’s because he has utilized environmental and labor standards in trade agreements. Not yet.

I know, I know. It’s because he created a protective international tax haven watch list. Nada.

I know, I know. It’s because he has created a way to allow imported prescription drugs in the US. Hadn’t happened.

I know, I know. It’s because he worked to provide $50 billion by 2013 for the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Hasn’t done anything on this yet.

I know, I know. It’s because he has recognized the Armenian Genocide. Nothing on this yet.

I know, I know. It’s because he has closed the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center. Couldn’t get this done yet.

I know, I know. It’s because he doubled the size of the Peace Corps. Not so far.

I know, I know. It’s because he invested in foreign language training for the military and other human intelligence personnel. Nyet.

I know, I know. It’s because he has worked with Russia to move nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert. Nope. In fact, more countries are getting closer to being ON a hair-trigger stance.

I know, I know. It’s because he has worked to end NATO restrictions on forces in Afghanistan. Nothing done on this yet. He hasn’t even ended restrictions on US forces… Even though his top general in the area needs more troops.

I know, I know. It’s because he repelled invasion forces into US allies. Not THIS president.

I know, I know. It’s because he will get the rest of the world too follow US standards on “green” living. Ain’t gonna happen.

I know, I know. It’s because he has overthrown a military dictator and promoted liberty in that newly free nation. Not this president.

I know, I know. It’s because he brought the Olympics to the US. Not this time.

I know, I know. And I think this may actually be it. It has to be that greatly successful ‘Beer Summit,” at the White House.

Even though Barack Hussein Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," I can’t find a solidly good reason what he has done to be awarded the prize.

So I decided to look up the qualifications.

“The candidates eligible for the Nobel Peace Prize are those nominated by qualified individuals. See Qualified Nominators. No one can nominate him- or herself.” Okay, since Obama isn’t a “Qualified Nominator,” he couldn’t nominate himself. Good.

It starts in September when Invitation letters are sent out by The Nobel Committee to individuals qualified to nominate. At this point, Obama is a member of the US Senate and a candidate for the US Presidency.

In February is the deadline for submission. The Committee bases its assessment on nominations that must be postmarked no later than February 1st. A two-week presidency at this point.

Next in February-March the Committee assesses the candidates' work and prepares a short list.
From March through August the short list is reviewed by permanent advisers and advisers specially recruited for their knowledge of specific candidates.

At the beginning of October, the Nobel Committee chooses the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates through a majority vote. The decision is final and without appeal. The names of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates are then announced.

On December 10th, Nobel Laureates receive their prize at The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway, where the Nobel Laureates receive their Nobel Prize, which consists of a Nobel Medal and Diploma, and a document confirming the prize amount.

But these really aren’t qualifications. So, let’s look at the people who do the nominating – the so-called “Qualified Nominators.”

According to the official website:

The right to submit proposals for the Nobel Peace Prize shall, by statute, be enjoyed by:
1. Members of national assemblies and governments of states;
2. Members of international courts;
3. University rectors; professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology; directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes;
4. Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
5. Board members of organizations who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
6. Active and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
7. Former advisers appointed by the Norwegian Nobel Institute.
.
My responses to each:
1. The majority of these being, at the very least, quasi-socialistic.
2. Where Sharia Law has penetrated.
3. Like the “Marxist Professors” he sought out in college and those international organizations funded by George Soros.
4. Hmm… Jimmy Carter and Al Gore.
5-7. Okay, I really don’t know anything about these folks, other than their association with those listed in 1-4.

But WHAT are the qualifications?

These days, it doesn’t matter. Barack Hussein Obama wasn’t awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for anything he has done. In the most shiny-happy, feel-good liberalistic fashion, Obama was awarded what used to be considered one of the most prestigious international awards for what he has YET TO DO!

Doesn’t this mean that we are all eligible for the Nobel Peace Prize?

No thanks, at my age, I’d rather have a talking frog!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Taxing EVERYTHING, YAY!!!!!!

Most of the folks who voted for Pelosi, don't watch Charlie "Snoozer" Rose on late night PBS... especially when they have such ludicrous lefties like letterman to laugh at. But, in case you missed it, here is the Nana Po herself on Rose's show, talking about a VAT (Value Added Tax).



For those of you who think that what she said sounds reasonable, what she is talking about is taxing EVERYTHING available for purchase. BUT it's not just that simple.

Let's say you wanted to purchase a new dining room set, for example. The retailer of that table has to pay a tax on everything it uses to market that table. And the manufacturer of the table will have to pay taxes on the following: the wood, the hardware, the stain and/varnish, etc.

Now apply that same standard to a medical provider who has to buy an x-ray machine and all the taxes along the line being paid to market and manufacturer.

With all the extra taxes being paid, should we really believe that the cost of those taxes will not show up in the final price of the product or service? Of course it will.

Be smarter than our government gives you credit for. Contact your Representative and let him or her know that you do NOT want the Value Added Tax!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

'The Providence Effect': Astonishing Educational Achievement, 'The Way It Should Be Done'

'The Providence Effect': Astonishing Educational Achievement, 'The Way It Should Be Done'
By Donald Douglas at AMERICAN POWER


I took my oldest son to Santa Monica last night to see The Providence Effect. The movie is playing this week at Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex (the next block down from the 3rd Street Promenade). Kenneth Turan's review is here. And note this:



- The person behind this heartening achievement is the school's president, Paul Adams III, a formidably charismatic individual who is determined to change the culture of American education, to break the cycle of poverty and give poor children the same opportunities as wealthy ones.

- A veteran of the civil rights movement, Adams started at Providence St. Mel as a guidance counselor.

- When the Chicago Archdiocese threatened to close the institution, he began a fundraising movement that enabled him to buy the building, take the school private, and run it so successfully that President Reagan came to visit. Twice.

- Adams says he runs the school the old-fashioned way. Discipline is key for him; he and his staff enforce zero tolerance for drugs. Without discipline, he says, you can't get a student's attention.

- Once that attention is assured, Adams counts on his inspired faculty to excite the kids about learning, and judging by the interviews with current and former students and glimpses inside selected classrooms, the method seems to work.

President Reagan's at 1:45 at the trailer above. He praises the students with open arms, exhorting them in triumph, "This is the way it should be done." To see him there, speaking to that school -- an all black school during the 1980s when the social welfare state had reached epic proportion, and when crime poverty and crime had destroyed the inner-cities -- is incredibly uplifting.

And what struck me, from the perspective of a teacher, was the no BS approach to instruction. There's no sign of progressive education throughout the entire film (and thus no mind-crushing leftist indocrtination). It's straight learning, with in-your-face instructors and administrators that spend time with the kids and in the classroom. Things go so well it seemed almost antiseptic. But as the early minutes of the film show, Chicago had been overrun by gang violence and much of the Westside had been razed in a far-from-finished scheme of urban redevelopment. Interviews with graduates -- kids who grew up to be doctors and bankers, etc. -- illustrated that the school was truly a life-saving institution, and education became the central focus of the child and the child's family.

The Providence Effect website is here. The Providence St. Mel school website is here. The school boasts a 100 percent college entrance acceptance rate, and the homepage states that "The School That Refused to Die - Now a Model for Urban Education."

And I was thinking exactly that after learning of the death of Derrion Albert in Chicago this week. The Los Angeles Times has a report, "Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan Attend Chicago Teen's Funeral." And from the Chicago Tribune, "Derrion Albert Funeral: There Is No Simple Fix For Problems, Pastor Says; Parents Urged to Reclaim Their Children, City Urged to Educate Kids Closer to Home"



- In death, the 16-year-old became the latest high-profile name on the long list of young Chicagoans who have died violently. The teen's brutal beating with two-by-fours was recorded Sept. 24. The attack captured the nation's attention and elicited a response from the White House.

- President Barack Obama is sending Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to Chicago this week in the wake of the fatal beating. Obama's spokesman has indicated the administration is preparing an initiative to address the national issues of youth crime and violence.

It's almost tragic that the president's not spending time on these issues -- the crisis in American education -- rather than the year-long ObamaCare fiasco. This is the modern equivalent of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. And while I'm tempted to say something like "I can't see how the president has ignored these issues," that's not true. I know exactly how. The corrupt Cook County Democratic Party machine, thoroughly infiltrated with crooked cronies, all the way down to union hacks, progressive education activists, and community organizing thugs, has consigned to city's poor to perpetual poverty. Michelle Malkin's book, CULTURE OF CORRUPTION, discusses how Michelle Obama milked her connections to lucrative jobs while crying racism all the way to the top. These people are a joke, and the Democratic political establishment is the last entity that's going to solve the crisis of the city's -- and America's -- urban poor.

That's why seeing Reagan in the film was so riveting for me last night. President Reagan was excoriated by the black community in the 1980s for cutting welfare programs, but it's going to be conservatives with the vision to match Reagan's who will lift the hope for America's youth again. And it's going to be the traditional educational methods found at Providence St. Mel that will be the vehicle for greater advancement for those now held back by institutional malfeasance and progressive political corruption.

See also, WitnessLA "The Providence Effect: A Murder & An Answer." There's an interview there with Paul Allen, and this part illustrates my point:

- WLA: With all your success, you must have a lot of people coming to you from the Chicago Public School system wanting advice as to how what you’ve done can be replicated in a public school setting.
- PA: Actually no one has come
- WLA: What do you mean no one? Like not one person from the Chicago School District has come to visit St. Mel’s?
- PA: Never. Not one.
- WLA: You’re kidding. I’m sorry to press this, but not one as in zero people?
- PA: Zero.
- WLA: Wow. That is completely nuts.
- PA: I think so.

See what I mean?

Sesame Street Wisdom???

Friday, October 2, 2009

New Obama Song

With Chicago getting pwned by Rio... AND THE OTHER CITIES IN THE RUNNING... in the bid for the 2016 Olympics, A new theme song has been written in honor of the impotent diplomat Obama.

“Obama Failed It After All”
To the tune of the Mary Tyler Moore Show Theme
("Love is All Around" by Paul Williams)

Who just can’t charm the world with his smile?
Who wasted another day, trying to make it all seem worthwhile?
It’s Obama, and you should know it
With each speech and every apology he shows it

Crises all around, no need to waste them
He can try to lead, but he just fakes it
Obama failed it after all
Obama failed it after all

How will he try to save his skin?
This world is awfully big, and you can’t seem to win
So it's time you started leading
Unemployment’s up and America is pleading

Crises all around, no need to waste them
He can try to lead, but he just fakes it
Obama failed it after all
Obama failed it after all

Chi-Town Got Turned Down!

I say that not to gloat or rub it in, but that I think it is the best thing for America at this time.

I stayed up to watch the Americans' presentation to the I.O.C., including Obama's speech. I'll have to admit that he gave one heck of an oratory.

The only negative I found was that the president wasn't representing the nation as much as he was gushing about Chi-town. I realize that that was the point, but Obama doted over Chicago and threw the rest of us under the bus.

How?

For the first time, Barack Hussein Obama actually spoke with pride about Chicago AND America. He didn't apologize and he didn't kowtow to the other leaders there.

The problem is that it was too little, too late.

When you spend your time abroad criticizing your nation and apologizing, the world isn't going to take you as seriously.

I actually thought that his involvement would have guaranteed that Chicago would get it.

I guess the world is starting to see through his transparent facade.

To the IOC, I say this: THANK YOU FOR SAVING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE A TON OF MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!

The List of 45: REVISITED

This is revised based on The List of 45: Something You Should Consider As You Choose Your Elected Officials by ~Snooper~ (From 1/9/08)

Thanks, Snooper! This one's for you!

This is still an important detail of information that people just aren’t taking seriously. WAKE UP AMERICA!

The List of 45: REVISITED

Years ago, a brave soul or two tried to bring to the attention of the American People that the Communist take over of America was well under way. They were chattered down and pretty much ignored through space and time. Much like today. Yet, we see every day or, at least which are tuned into reality, our political machinations stripping away at our freedoms time and time again.

"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." - Norman Thomas, U.S. Socialist Party presidential candidate 1940, 1944 and 1948


Below is a revisited “List of 45” with new links.

The communist goals were entered into the Congressional record by Albert Herlong, Jr. (a Floridian who served in Congress from 1949-69).

1) US acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2) US willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3) Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the US would be a demonstration of "moral strength."




4) Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5) Extension of long term loans to Russia and Soviet Satellites.

6) Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination. (It’s called the United Nations)



7) Grant recognition of Red China, and admission of Red China to the UN. On September 30, 2009, The Empire State Building celebrated that anniversary of Red China's 60th year by lighting the building with red and yellow light.

8) Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the Germany question by free elections under supervision of the UN.

9) Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the US has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress. (A standard liberal practice)

10) Allow all Soviet Satellites individual representation in the UN. (Even though there is no USSR, the allowance is still happening in the UN today)

11) Promote the UN as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one world government with its own independent armed forces. (The UN has been placed in an almost ideological ex post facto dictatorial role by so many nations)

12) Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. (Free Speech really answers this one.)

13) Do away with loyalty oaths. (It’s happening more and more)

14) Continue giving Russia access to the US Patent Office.

15) Capture one or both of the political parties in the US. (With one of Barack Obama’s former “Czars” is a known self professed Communist…”

16) Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions, by claiming their activities violate civil rights. (ACLU)

17) Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for Socialism, and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers associations. Put the party line in text books. (This happened because of a national education department)

18) Gain control of all student newspapers. (There are practically no unbiased or conservative papers at any major American college)

19) Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack. (Bill Ayers comes to mind)

20) Infiltrate the press. Get control of book review assignments, editorial writing, policy-making positions. (Notice how most major media outlets critique things from a decidedly left hue)

21) Gain control of key positions in radio, TV & motion pictures. (The main stream media comes to mind)

22) Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all form of artistic expression. (An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings" and substitute shapeless, awkward, and meaningless forms.

23) Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24) Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press. (Notice all the cursing getting by the censors on the main networks?)

25) Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography, and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and TV.

26) Present homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as "normal, natural, and healthy."

27) Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch."

28) Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29) Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30) Discredit the American founding fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man".

31) Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of "the big picture": Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32) Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture - - education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. (Look at the Federal Departments and Czars of the Executive Branch.)

33) Eliminate all laws or procedures, which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34) Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. (Done in 1975)

35) Discredit and eventually dismantle the F.B.I. (or usurp the FBI’s administration as the liberals have done. Also look at Nancy Pelosi’s controversy with statements about the C.I.A., she probably feels the same way about the F.B.I.)

36) Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.




37) Infiltrate and gain control of big business.




38) Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand or treat.

39) Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40) Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. (With the teen pregnancy rate up and people wanting to marry anyone and anything… and be able to divorce as easily as a breath…)

41) Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. (“It Takes a Village” comes to mind)

42) Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special interest groups should rise up and make a "united force" to solve economic, political, or social problems. (Student protests starting getting violent in the 60s)

43) Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government. (look at the socialist regimes in third world countries)

44) Internationalize the Panama Canal. (Carter completed that in 1977)

45) Repeal the Connally Reservation so the US can not prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike. (Continuously happening to this day)

The goals that he read were taken from "The Naked Communist" by Cleon Skousen, which can be purchased from AMAZON.COM.


Listed below are 10 key "laws" which have become part of the every day life of the American populace. "The American people have truly been 'buried in Communism'" and they do not even know it or not aware of it. Not one "main stream" political party is to blame. Both Democrat and Republican parties are to blame with the majority of socialistic yearning members being in the DNC and a great number in the GOP...we call them RINOs and I now dub the socialist Democrats DINOs.

Each of the Ten Planks is noted below with annotations of laws passed in the US Legislative Processes. Be afraid and wake up.

1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rent to public purpose.
The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (1868), and various zoning, school & property taxes. Also the Bureau of Land Management.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
Misapplication of the 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, 1913, The Social Security Act of 1936.; Joint House Resolution 192 of 1933; and various State "income" taxes. We call it "paying your fair share".

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
We call it Federal & State estate Tax (1916); or reformed Probate Laws, and limited inheritance via arbitrary inheritance tax statutes.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
We call in government seizures, tax liens, Public "law" 99-570 (1986); Executive Order 11490, sections 1205, 2002 which gives private land to the Department of Urban Development; the imprisonment of "terrorists" and those who speak out or write against the "government" (1997 Crime/Terrorist Bill); or the IRS confiscation of property without due process.

5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
We call it the Federal Reserve which is a credit/debt system nationally organized by the Federal Reserve act of 1913. All local banks are members of the Fed system, and are regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transportation in the hands of the State.
We call it the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Department of Transportation (DOT) mandated through the ICC act of 1887, the Commissions Act of 1934, The Interstate Commerce Commission established in 1938, The Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission, and Executive Orders 11490, 10999, as well as State mandated driver's licenses and Department of Transportation regulations.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
We call it corporate capacity, The Desert Entry Act and The Department of Agriculture. As well as the Department of Commerce and Labor, Department of Interior, the Evironmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Mines, National Park Service, and the IRS control of business through corporate regulations.

8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of Industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
We call it the Social Security Administration and The Department of Labor. The National debt and inflation caused by the communal bank has caused the need for a two "income" family. Woman in the workplace since the 1920's, the 19th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, assorted Socialist Unions, affirmative action, the Federal Public Works Program and of course Executive Order 11000.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the population over the country. We call it the Planning Reorganization act of 1949 , zoning (Title 17 1910-1990) and Super Corporate Farms, as well as Executive orders 11647, 11731 (ten regions) and Public "law" 89-136.

10. Free education for all children in government schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc. etc.
People are being taxed to support what we call 'public' schools, which train the young to work for the communal debt system. We also call it the Department of Education, the NEA and Outcome Based "Education".

Not only are we in a war; a Global War On Terror, we are in a war right here in the Continental United States.

What are your freedoms worth?

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Church of Obama???

Even the biggest Clinton or Bush koolaid drinkers weren't like this, folks! This is terrifying! However, Since they seem to be praying to Obama, wouldn't that be like a church? And if it is, wouldn't President Obama, as the spiritual leader of this church be in conflict with that so-called separation of church and state? Hmm....

Friday, September 25, 2009

The United States of America Is NOT a Democracy

The United States of America is NOT a democracy.

The republican form of government is a characteristic of a Christian nation. Now please understand that this has NOTHING TO DO with the REPUBLICAN PARTY. This is talking about a fundamental form of government.

“Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.” - Exodus 18:21

That verse shows how the one or the few were just as important as the many – A REPRESENTATIVE OR REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT.

A little history…

During the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s-1600s, The Catholic Church had gained a great deal of political power and was promoting and allowing things countrary to biblical teaching. One of those was the concept of “Divine Right” which is the foundation of Monarchism. Monarchism allowed kings in Europe to maintain bloodline and totalitarian power as given by God. Yes, in Romans 13, the bible addresses the responsibility of Christians to governing authorities. They are to “be subject to” – which generally means to obey – the government because it has been ordained by God. Paul is speaking here of the general principle of submission to government. There are several other passages that show that God approves of Christians DISOBEYING government, but ONLY WHEN OBEDIENCE TO GOVERNMENT WOULD MEAN DISOBEYING GOD (Exodus 1:17- 21; 1 Kings 18:4–16; Ester 4:16; Daniel 3:12–18 & 6:10; Matthew 2:12; Acts 5:29; Hebrews 11:23). There were even times when God raised up leaders to REBEL against the government and deliver his people from evil rulers (Exodus 1–14; Judges 2:16; Hebrews 11:32–34). However, once biblical understanding became prominent over obedience to church, it was the Reformation movement that came up with the concept of an authentic separation of church and state that still honored God. This is not the modern anti-religious argument being debated today, but a fundamental understanding of how God expects us to govern ourselves.

It was also the Reformation the promulgated the concept of Freedom of Conscience. In general, this is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. This was very revolutionary to the church because subjects were supposed to hold the same viewpoint as the church and in most cases, the king. To have your own ideas or thoughts, no matter how benign they were, was actually illegal and even seen as heretical in some cases.

And now to the new world…

The concepts of a separation of church & state and freedom of conscience were integral to the pilgrims that first settled in the new world. Biblical understanding and obedience to God above obedience to the church was their motivation for setting out on their own to truly experience religious freedom.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” – Matthew 5:14.

The pilgrims saw themselves as disciples and Matthew 5:14 is speaking to Jesus' disciples who have the kingdom life within them as a living testimony to those in the world who do not yet have the light of Christ in their lives. The civilization they wanted to build in the new world was going to be a shining “city set on a hill.” They wanted their new lives to glorify God first and foremost.

This perpetuated through the generations until the Monarchy in England usurped the role of God in determining the rights of man. That is why Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence, wrote about man being “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights.” The Reformation had not been forgotten. God was the Creator and Divine Providence of the new nation, NOT the king.

Now that the foundations of the ideology of the US government were established, a type of government was needed to govern over the nation. The Founding Fathers had an opportunity to establish a democracy and chose not to. We were not and never to become a democracy. A democracy is majority rule, or as a friend coins it – two wolves and a sheep deciding on dinner.

AND MANY OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS UNDERSTOOD THAT:

“A democracy is a volcano which conceals the fiery materials of its own destruction. These will produce an eruption and carry desolation in their way” - Fisher Ames

“A simple democracy is the devil’s own government” - Benjamin Rush

“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” - John Adams

The first government set up, under the Articles of Confederation, was actually as close to right-wing anarchy as it could be and still be an effective national government. It didn’t work.

The framers met to create a document that allows for the best form of government consistent with the attributes exemplified in the one true authoritative document in existence – the bible. And in the Constitution, a REPUBLICAN form of government was guaranteed. To see just how Godly our Constitution is, CLICK HERE.

Article IV, Section 4 of Constitution prevents a democracy. “The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government.” Again, don’t think of the political party, but representative government.

Once ratified, the Constitution, and the government, was challenged again and again. The Constitution won.

So, why do we even have democratic politics these days?

It was during the Election of 1828 that the Republicans split to form the National Republicans and the DEMOCRATIC Republicans. This is the birth of the Democratic Party. For years before, a democracy was feared, but at the time this election, the word didn’t seem to bother people, whose generation had been displaced from that of the time of the Constitution, as much. Andrew Jackson campaigned as a champion of the common man and then, once elected, used his high-handed military command style to transform the Executive Branch to have as much power as the Legislative Branch. He usurped powers that weren’t necessarily his to take. In essence he really was the FIRST DEMOCRAT.

What is the true difference between a democracy and a republic?

“[O]ur citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles in the Bible, particularly the New Testament, or the Christian religion.” - Noah Webster

The difference between a democracy and a republic is the source of its authority.

In a democracy, whatever the people desire is what becomes policy. If the people decide that murder is no longer illegal, then that will be the law.

In a true republic, the authority rests on the authority of God and the Christian principles promulgated in the bible. Because God proclaims murder to be a crime, it will always be a crime in our republic. The rights and wrongs revealed in the Bible have been the guidelines for the laws of our nation.

The reason America has a constitution is because God does not direct us to have a theocracy, because those are too corruptible by man. The reason to avoid the theocracy was because it is different to obey God’s commands voluntarily, giving glory to God, than to force people to obey them because they are the federal laws. The obedience would go to the government rather than to God. And therefore the state gets the worship rather than God.

As far as the concept of separation of church and state, America has a “free market” approach to religions. It welcomes pretty much any kind of worship by anyone who wants to worship. It also allows those who wish not to practice religion or worship anything to do just that. This is consistent with the concept of freedom of conscience as well. The point of this is not to deny or remove the Christian God from government, but to show that only a real and almighty God could allow a voluntary freedom of religion by His people.

Democracy allows for progressivism and eventual socialism where THE STATE is worshiped. That would also change the source of the government.

It seems that over the last 20 years, Our Constitution has been mangled, omitted, and bifurcated to meet the agenda of a certain entity. If the Constitution is, life the liberals and progressives say, a living document, it’s on its last breath. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, we have a republic, if we can keep it.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Another Elected Offcial...... MORON!

SC Mayor Stops Police Chases

Wellford, SC (WSPA) -The Mayor of Wellford is defending her policy which bans police officers in that city from chasing suspects. Sallie Peake says the policy also includes vehicle chases along with pursuits on foot.

A memo issued on September 2nd from Peake to all Wellford officers reads:

"As of this date, there are to be no more foot chases when a suspect runs. I do not want anyone chasing after any suspects whatsoever."

WSPA first reported the mandate on Wednesday after an anonymous citizen faxed a copy of the memo to our newsroom. Peake was out of town and unavailable for comment. On Friday, reporter Chris Cato caught up with her in her office and questioned her about the origin of the policy. Peake says she issued the mandate because several officers have been injured during chases, driving up insurance costs for the town.

"The officers are costing us more money on insurance than most citizens here in the city of Wellford are even earning," says Peake.

She says the city is paying out $20,000 annually in workers' compensation claims, much of it due to the police force. In July, two officers wrecked their cruisers while chasing suspects and had to go to the hospital for minor treatment. The police chief says three officers have been injured during foot chases in the last two years.

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright says the policy prevents police from upholding the law-a direct violation of their constitutional oath.

"If a bank robber or a drunk driver or a shoplifter or somebody with a warrant runs on foot, it's our obligation to do what we can do to bring them to justice," says Wright.

But when we asked Peake about her order impeding an officer from stopping a crime in progress, she became defensive and irate. The conversation went as follows:

Reporter: "Are you telling your officers if they witness a crime - they witness someone commit a crime on someone else and they're ten yards away - they can't go stop that person?"
Peake: "Is that in there?" (referring to policy)
Reporter: "It says no chases whatsoever."
Peake: "Well, that's what I said, no chases, didn't I? I didn't say nothing about a crime. If you see a crime, this that and the other -"
Reporter: "Well, that's what a chase is - "
Peake: "Well, I told them no chase on foot, and (the police chief) know exactly what I mean, so you're trying to twist what I -"
Reporter: "No, I'm not. You said no chases. No chases means no chases."
Peake: (claps hands) "You got you a story, thank God! You are so sweet! You got you a story on a woman in Wellford! Hallelujah! I'm so proud of you, Mr. Cato!"

Click here to see the entire interview.

Wellford Police Chief Chris Guy has told his officers to abide by the policy. He says they can still protect the public.

"Just because a suspect may run does not mean we can't identify them, sign warrants, and catch them later," says Guy.

But Sheriff Wright says when a suspect gets away, there is always the chance he could hurt someone before officers catch up with him.

Peake says that won't happen in Wellford.

Here's hoping the arm of the law really is long.

Click here for the VIDEO.

Kanye in North Georgia

Scientists try to map AMERICAN VICE

“Righteousness Exalts a Nation, but Sin Is a Reproach to any People” – Proverbs 14:34

I quote the above verse because I really do think these scientists truly understand what sin is. And y the maps below, Alaska and Hawai’I must be A-Okay!.

Greed is not based on what one makes compared to another.
Envy is not based on what you take.
Wrath is not a violent act.
Sloth is not leisure.
Gluttony is not eating fast-food.
Lust is not determined by what happens because of sex.
Pride is not all encompassing.

I suggest these scientists get to know Jesus… AND FAST!

American Vice: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins
By Kristina Shevory of WIRED - 08.24.09

We're gluttons for infographics, and a team at Kansas State just served up a feast: maps of sin created by plotting per-capita stats on things like theft (envy) and STDs (lust). Christian clergy, likely noting the Bible Belt's status as Wrath Central, question the "science." Valid point—or maybe it's just the pride talking.




Greed - Average income compared with number of people living below the poverty line


Envy - Total thefts (robbery, burglary, larceny, and grand theft auto) per capita.


Wrath - Number of violent crimes (murder, assault, and rape) per capita.


Sloth - Expenditures on art, entertainment, and recreation compared with employment.


Gluttony - Number of fast-food restaurants per capita.


Lust - Number of STD cases reported per capita.


Pride - Aggregate of the other six offenses—because pride is the root of all sin.

Obama on Letterman... funny, but in a bad way.

In a somewhat entertaining conversation with President Obama on The Late Show with David Letterman, this segment consisted of things like discussion over healthcare (There were even some “Canadians” in the audience who apparently LOVE their country’s healthcare system – Yeah, Riiiiiight!), foreign policy, slumber parties, and heart-shaped potatoes (did you notice how great the band sounded on “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off?” Yeah, that was really an impromptu moment). But what was striking was the conversation regarding Jimmy Carters accusations of American racism toward Obama.

Letterman opened up the topic talking about the “vitriol” at the various town hall metting and Carter “SPECULATING” that “PERHAPS” the “unease or poor decorum” was “rooted in racism.”

On an NBC News interview, Carter actually said, “I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity towards President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man – that he’s African American… And I think it’s bubbled up to the surface because of a belief of many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It’s an abominable circumstance…” That may have been his stated opinion, but the language did not come across as “speculation.”

To the President’s credit, I really think he started out well in response by responding (I removed all the “uhs” from Obama’s responses), “Well, first of all, think it’s important to realize that, I was actually black before the election. So, the… This is true, so… So the American people, I think, gave me this extraordinary honor and that tells you, I think, about where the country’s at.”

I though that was a great response to diffuse the argument and move on. Kudos to Obama for that!

It could have stopped there… BUT…

He had to keep going on…

“I actually think that what’s happened is that whenever a president tries to bring about significant changes, particularly in times of economic unease, then there is a certain segment of the population that gets very riled up”

It amazing me that he doesn’t remember that the policies and programs he supported and participated in ACTUALLY put us in “times of economic unease.”

“F.D.R. was called a socialist and a communist.”

Franklyn Delano Roosevelt WAS VERY socialistic in his policies and it was in spite of those programs that the United States survived the Great Depression and became prosperous again.

“J.F.K., there are all kinds of names hurled at him.”

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a conservative in just about every aspect where Obama is a radical leftist. The only derogatory fact you can apply to Kennedy was stated in the movie ‘Rat Pack.” – “He’s a bootlegger’s kid that likes to &^%$ `em two at a time.”

“Ronald Reagan, when he came into office, he was moving in a different direction, people were sure that he was bringing the country down.”

I can only imagine that he got this idea when he was in college and he didn’t want to be known as “a sellout” from those friends he chose carefully. “The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The MARXIST professors and structural FEMINISTS and punk-rock performance poets.” (Dreams of My Father, p. 100). Or was it from his mentor, Frank Marshall Davis? Nonetheless, comparing himself to Reagan proved nothing but non sequitor.

“One of the things you sign up for in politics is folks yell at you.”

Glad he is a realist here because, if he keeps on the track he is on, there will be a lot more yelling!

“But I think that what has been missing from the conversation is that an overwhelming majority of people, republican or democrat, I think they just want to see some common sense. They want to see some honesty and integrity in Washington.”

I guess when you watch MSNBC or read the New York Times, you miss the fact that all those people yelling at town halls and rallies around the nation are not hearing “common sense” or “honesty and integrity” from you, and your ilk in Washington. And yes, you weren’t the start of this mess, but you ARE president NOW.

“I think they’re turned off by the shouting and the yelling. And they expect more from the public elected officials.”

The reason why they are shouting and yelling is because they aren’t getting “more from the public elected officials.”

This exchange proved that he again missed the TOTUS (teleprompter) and forgot the memorized drivel he spewed out to the Sunday show goons this weekend.

The rest of the show was basically nothing but Obama trying to be charming about his positions and Letterman overtly displaying his man-crush on the president.

One last point. Why in the HELL is our president on Letterman? Enough with the superfluous campaigning and do the job you were elected to!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Law & Order: UK

Just saw the pilot episode and since I know there are fellow L&O fans out there, I thought I'd share!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The Myth of Tolerance

The Myth of Tolerance by Gregory Koukl

This article first appeared in the Practical Apologetics column of the Christian Research Journal, volume 24, number 4 (2002). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org.

One word can stop you in your tracks when you seek to “give an account for the hope that is in you” as an ambassador for Christ. That word is “tolerance.”

This idea is especially popular with postmodernists — that breed of radical skeptics whose ideas command unwarranted respect in the university today. Their rallying cry, “There is no truth,” is often followed by an appeal for tolerance.

The tolerant person allegedly occupies neutral ground, a place of complete impartiality where each individual is permitted to decide for him or herself. No judgments allowed. No “forcing” personal views. That all views are equally valid is one of the most entrenched assumptions of a society committed to relativism; but it’s a myth!

For all their confident bluster, the relativists’ appeal actually asserts two principles or “truths,” one rational and one moral. The first is the rational “truth” that there is no truth. The second is the moral “truth” that one ought to tolerate the viewpoints of others. Their stand, contradictory on at least two counts, serves as a warning that the modern notion of tolerance is seriously misguided.

The Tolerance Trick. As it turns out, by the modern definition of tolerance no one is tolerant, or ever can be. It’s what my friend Francis Beckwith calls the “passive-aggressive tolerance trick.” Returning to the classic understanding of tolerance is the only way to restore any useful meaning to the word. Allow me to give you a real-life example.

CONTINUE READING

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Faith-Based Double Standards

"Faith-Based Double Standards" by MOLLIE ZIEGLER HEMINGWAY at the Wall Street Journal

In 2001, President Bush issued his first executive order as president. He created a program to encourage religious organizations to receive taxpayer funds to perform social services. The Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, as it was called, infuriated many. Civil libertarians said it violated the separation of church and state, liberals suggested that the office was paying off political supporters, and even Christian conservatives worried about the tentacles of government regulation.

The Village Voice fretted over Mr. Bush's "plan to let churches run the government's welfare system" and his "march toward turning the U.S. into a religious state." Former Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal wrote an article on Salon.com about the faith-based efforts with the subtitle: "By pandering to Christian zealots, Bush has come close to establishing a national religious party."

Now that Mr. Bush is gone, however, no one seems particularly worried about the entanglement of the federal government with religious organizations. A recent study sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that President Obama's "faith-based initiative has so far generated little of the contentious press coverage associated with Bush's effort."

According to Pew, the media ran nearly seven times as much coverage of President Bush's faith-based initiative during his first six months in office as President Obama's. And the stories on Mr. Bush's initiative were almost 50% more likely to be on the front-page, emphasizing the controversial nature of the program. The stories on Mr. Obama's initiative were buried deeper in the paper and focused on procedure. Few, if any, stories questioned whether the current president would use his office to advance a religious agenda, a major theme of coverage during the Bush ­administration.

This scant media attention is all the more incredible given that, as Americans United for Separation of Church and State has noted, Mr. Obama has left "the entire architecture of the Bush Faith-Based Initiative intact—every rule, every regulation, every executive order." More controversially, the office has become a major hub of political outreach. In frequent conference calls, the administration informs faith-based leaders of its policy initiatives, as when it recently asked rabbis around the country to give sermons on health-care reform during the coming high holiday season. Representatives from politically important religious groups have been appointed to a 25-member religious advisory council. The office was also involved in drafting President Obama's June speech delivered from Cairo calling for alliances with ­Muslims.

Even The Nation magazine complains that Mr. Obama's faith-based office "is plagued by a lack of transparency and accountability and has seemingly already been exploited as a tool for rewarding religious constituencies with government jobs."

The political-outreach emphasis of Mr. Obama's office is particularly well-suited to the Rev. Josh Dubois, the 27-year-old campaign operative and Pentecostal minister who heads the show. Mara Vanderslice, who pioneered faith outreach for the Democrats following their 2004 losses and later launched a pro-Obama political action committee, runs the advisory council. By contrast, two of Mr. Bush's appointments to head the office, John DiIulio and Jay Hein, were steeped in social-science research and public policy, while another, Jim Towey, had worked as a lawyer for Mother Teresa.

There is some confusion about the purpose of the faith-based office. It does not distribute federal funds. Instead, the office works with the White House Office of Management and Budget to set goals and "best practices" for each federal agency that distributes grant money.

The legacy of Mr. Bush's effort was to "level the playing field" for religious groups. The Bush administration rewrote 16 federal rules to help faith-based organizations compete for federal grants, set aside $300 million to help small organizations apply for grants, trained more than 100,000 personnel at nonprofits about working with the federal government, and encouraged 36 states and more than 100 cities to create faith-based offices.

When President Obama campaigned for office, he promised a new name signifying a new mission. His Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships office would allegedly differ because it would train larger faith-based groups to mentor smaller religious groups and it would work with state and local governments. But "Taking Stock: The Bush Faith-Based Initiative and What Lies Ahead," a June report from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute, said that neither aim was new as "both were significant elements in the Bush administration's ­program."

If the claimed mission and structure of the office are the same, the pivotal difference between the two presidents' approaches was supposed to be hiring policy. President Bush advocated exempting religious organizations that accept taxpayer funding from regulations forbidding religious discrimination in hiring. President Obama said he would overturn that policy.

"If you get a federal grant, you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help, and you can't discriminate against them—or against the people you hire—on the basis of their religion," he said on the stump. But when he rolled out his office in February, he tabled that issue, sending it to the Justice Department for review. The Bush administration also asked Justice to handle the issue.

Barry Lynn, head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, was a vocal critic of Mr. Bush's faith-based office. Now, under Mr. Obama, he serves on the advisory council's task force to improve the functioning of the office. Explaining his turnaround, he said he doesn't view Mr. Obama's office as partisan—the way Mr. Bush's was. But acknowledging that there was no substantive difference between the offices yet, Mr. Lynn said: "We have a guarded optimism that when the advisory council, Justice and the White House act and get down to the nitty gritty, they will make this a constitutionally protected program. However, we have no proof of that and no guarantee."

Now that is the audacity of hope.