"Downright Offensive"

After rereading Mark Steyn's America Alone, I have a dream. That dream is that if Republicans regain the White House in 2012, whomever we elect will have the good sense to make Mark Steyn the right hand man of the president. Secretary of Defense would not be bad, either...or, Secretary of State.

By the way, did you hear that Hillary Clinton has reported Arizona to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights? The State Department sent to the U.N. a report on America's record on human rights, and noted that the federal government has taken legal action against Arizona. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has demanded that Clinton remove the reference to the Arizona anti-illegal immigration law, calling its inclusion "downright offensive."

Anyway, back to Mark Steyn. I don't know anyone who is as knowledgeable about the state of the world as it is, and, more importantly, has the courage to write and speak about it. Mostly, he writes in this book about the threat of Islam, but he also does a lot of writing about the fall of Europe (which he refers to as Eurabia), and the weakening of America (our increasing dependence on entitlements and our loss of individual responsibility and self-reliance).

Some thoughts to ponder

After reading Christopher Buckley's Supreme Courtship, I wanted more of Mr. Buckley's wonderful insights. I spent a little time with his Washington Schlepped Here, a wonderful walking tour of our nation's capital. Then I picked up Florence of Arabia, which is chock full of delicious ideas about how America could really make a difference in the Middle East. Now I am reading his wonderful memoir Losing Mom and Pup, which is about the lives and deaths of his two famous parents, both of whom died in the same year recently.

Here are some quotes that were meaningful to me as I began reading the last book. "Industry is the enemy of melancholy," a phrase penned by Oscar Wilde, is a thought most meaningful to me right now as I am in the midst of a major loss.

"The most beautiful words in the language are "I'm Sorry." Christopher Buckley.

Medical malpractice suits are declining, because doctors are learning how to say, "I'm sorry." (an article in the New York Times)

"Demons slipping their leash" a phrase used by Buckley in the book.

"I've searched all my life for the perfect Christian...and I've found him: a non-observant Jew!" (I can't remember whom that quote is from).

In today's Denver Post there are these tips for staying positive at work from Sonia Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness, A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want." Each of these points are expanded upon in her book, but here is the list:
Embrace gratitude
Commit random acts of kindness
Be optimistic
Reach out to others
Refuse to ruminate.

The Post article includes three more tips:
Plant something and nurture it.
Give yourself a treat every day, and take the time to really enjoy it.
Have a good laugh at least once a day (I need many more than one per day).

How Great is our God?

from the Washington Rebel blog

Is it all about Obama?

Recently certain pundits of the left leaning variety have been saying that the next election is not really about Obama, but about people's frustration with things as they are today, like the economy, etc. While I tend to agree with them about the general level of frustration among the people, I do think that there must be an acceptance that most of the frustration is focused on a leadership devoid of a basic level of competence. In other words, "Heck yeah, it's about Obama!"
Why? Well, lets see, there's that whole he-can't-seem-to-keep-his-mouth-shut thing. What does a leader of the United States need to speak about a local building project, the supposed Ground Zero mosque? He never spoke up about the Orthodox church that was actually leveled on 9/11 and had it's plans to rebuild put off for ten years. No outrage there, I guess.
And yet again there is the timing of speaking in front of muslims at  a Ramadan dinner, when he won't go near Christians who ask to peacefully pray for him and his government at a national prayer day, two years in a row. And we're supposed to think he's a Christian. which is the other funny thing going around the table talks these days.
You have seen on this site and others Obama's open derision and lack of respect for Christians and the Christian scriptures. He publicly mocked the idea of Christian moral influence in the public square on more than one occasion. If Obama is a Christian, he is a conflicted and confused, which goes just great with the rest of his beliefs and stances.
So, let's see, is it possible that those of us who are Christians, who seriously follow Jesus, and consider the Bible sacred, would see a problem with a President of the United States preferring a religion that has caused much death and destruction in the last twenty five years, and is the belief system of a group of killers bent on our nation's destruction?

So what do you think, is this next election all about Obama? No doubt.

Dow Dips Below 10000 as Gloom Persists

The Dow dropped below the psychologically-important 10000 level and hit fresh seven-week lows on Thursday as new data revealing the first drop in weekly jobless claims in a month failed to puncture the cloud of economic gloom hovering over Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.25 points, or 0.74%, to 9985.81, the S&P 500 lost 8.11 points, or 0.77%, to 1047.22 and the Nasdaq Composite sank 22.85 points, or 1.07%, to 2118.69. The FOX 50 dropped 5.55 points, or 0.72%, to 760.27

Wall Street opened solidly higher in the wake of the better-than-expected labor data, but those gains proved to be fleeting as the markets' economic jitters persisted, leaving the benchmark index in four-digit territory for the first time since July 6. The markets were also bracing for a key speech on Friday from Fed chief Ben Bernanke amid worries the U.S. economy could succumb to a double-dip recession.
(read more at foxbusiness)

KARL ROVE: Obama's Disastrous 'Summer of Recovery'

In what will rank as one of the all-time presidential P.R. disasters, we're now well over half way through what the White House called "the summer of recovery." And what a recovery it's been.

Earlier this month, first-time claims for unemployment hit a nine-month high. The unemployment rate remains at 9.5% and 18.4% of workers are out of a job, can only get part-time work, or have given up looking for a job altogether. Sales of existing homes dropped 27% from June to July, hitting the lowest point since data were first collected in 1999. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell to 50.4 in July, continuing a slide that started in February. And the stock market is down 11% from its peak in April.

All of this has helped shatter public confidence in the president. In early May, Mr. Obama's approval on the economy in the YouGov/Polimetrix poll was 42%. By mid-August, it was 35%—a frightening number for Democrats less than 70 days from a midterm election. According to this week's Reuters poll, 72% are "very" worried about jobs and 67% "very concerned" about government spending.

Mr. Obama's credibility is crumbling, and for good reason: He and his people are saying things people don't believe. At the start of his summer of recovery road show, the president flatly asserted that last year's massive stimulus package had "worked." Vice President Joe Biden, not to be outdone, promised monthly job gains of up to 500,000 and insisted that the recovery's pace "continues to increase, not decrease" as stimulus spending was "moving into its highest gear."

It's slightly surreal. "Who are you going to believe," as Groucho Marx once said, "me or your own eyes?"

The administration's claims have collided with reality in other instances as well. Mr. Obama's Council of Economic Advisers Chair Christina Romer—speaking before the 2009 stimulus was approved—said unemployment would top out at 8% by the third quarter of 2009 and decline to less than 7% by the end of 2010. Even the White House now admits that the unemployment rate will stay at or above 9% through 2011.

The White House also frequently asserts that "between 2.3 million and 2.8 million jobs were either saved or created" by the $620 billion in stimulus money spent by June. Set aside the absurdity of the administration inventing the "saved" category and then pretending it can ascertain, with scientific precision, the number of jobs that have been "saved." Since the stimulus passed, 2.6 million Americans have lost their jobs and 1.2 million people have given up even looking for work.

Mr. Obama and his people also mischaracterize where most stimulus dollars go. Their constant prattle about "shovel ready projects" is an attempt to leave the impression that most goes to bricks and mortar. Not true: Only 3.3% of the $814 billion stimulus went to the Federal Highway Administration for highway and bridge projects.

The administration's misleading statements and obfuscations aren't limited to the economy. On health care, for example, Mr. Obama continues saying that (a) health-care reform will reduce costs and the deficit, (b) no one who wants to keep existing coverage will lose it, and (c) the law's cuts in Medicare won't threaten any senior's health care. These assertions are laughable.

The president's habit of exaggeration and misstatement has infected other Democrats. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for example, routinely talks about how the recently passed "Stimulus II" spending bill protected the jobs of police and firemen.

But it didn't.

Stimulus II consisted of two parts: $10 billion for education and $16 billion for Medicaid. States can't spend Medicaid money for anything but Medicaid, and they can only spend the education money on education, i.e., they can't shuffle state funds around. Language allowing Stimulus II dollars to pay for police and firemen didn't make it out of the Senate. Yet Democratic leaders persist in saying that their latest stimulus has helped keep police and firefighters on the job. The claim is flatly untrue.

By overselling the stimulus before its passage in 2009 and exaggerating its benefits with layer upon layer of slippery half-truths in 2010, Mr. Obama has made voters angrier. This is not America's summer of recovery; it is a summer of economic discontent that will ensure that Democrats take a pounding in the midterm elections.

Mr. Rove, the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, is the author of "Courage and Consequence" (Threshold Editions, 2010).




(from Wall Street Journal)

Highly Recommended Recent Reads

I just finished The Supreme Courtship by Christoper Buckley. It offers hilarious insight into our American culture. A good-guy President of the United States vetoes every spending bill sent to him by Congress. Congress gets back at him by refusing to confirm first one stellar nominee to the Supreme court, then another who is equally well-qualified to serve. One night, while lying in bed with his faithful dog, the president is channel-surfing and comes across one of the most popular American television shows, featuring a beautiful, witty judge. Voila! He has got the answer to his dillema! He offers Congress the nomination of Pepper Cartwright. What follows is one hilarious scene after another. The son of William F. Buckley is an amazingly witty writer. I had read only one other book by him, entitled Thank You For Smoking, about the hypocritical cigarrette company executives. That one was made into a movie, which I have not seen. I want to read every book this man writes (or has written).

Now I am re-reading Mark Steyn's brilliant book America Alone. As Saul Alinsky was fond of saying, "Do you want to live in the world as it is, or the world as you would like it to be?" Steyn should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the world as it is.

Australian election ends in possible hung parliament

Sydney, Australia (CNN) -- With no clear winner emerging from a cliff-hanger national election, Australian political leaders jostled for support from a handful of independent lawmakers Sunday.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she was speaking with independents in an effort to build a minority government. Opposition leader Tony Abbott also told reporters he had spoken with independent lawmakers.

Results were still being tallied by Australian elections officials Sunday. Analysts have predicted both parties will fall short of securing the 76 seats needed to win, meaning Australia could end up with its first hung parliament since 1940.

The tight election results mean a handful of independent lawmakers will likely play a key role in shaping the country's government.

Gillard, the head of the country's Labor Party, stressed that her discussions with independent and Greens Party lawmakers were preliminary.

"It's my intention to negotiate in good faith an effective agreement to form government," she said.

But Abbott told reporters Sunday that a Labor government would be dysfunctional.

"I think that the public expects a change of government as a result of yesterday's result," he said.

With 78 percent of the votes counted, Labor was leading slightly with 50.6 percent of the vote, while Abbott's Liberal-National coalition had 49.3 percent, according to results posted online by the Australian Electoral Commission.

Abbott leads the Liberal Party, which is nevertheless conservative and forms a center-right coalition with The Nationals. A fourth party, The Greens, is much smaller and has strong environmental ethos.

The two main parties have no massive ideological differences. Instead, many saw the election as a chance for voters to pass judgment on Labor's ouster of Kevin Rudd, who once enjoyed some of the highest popularity ratings of any Australian leader.

Rudd's poll numbers took a hit after he placed his proposed carbon emissions trading plan on the back burner and introduced a 40 percent tax on the country's powerful and wealthy mining industry.

That prompted many in his party to doubt whether he could lead the party to victory in the election, so Rudd stepped aside in June.

CNN's Kylie Grey and Dan Rivers contributed to this report.
_______________________________________________________

Seems like we have a trend in political elections this year, which is no clear majorities leading to difficult and unlikely partnerships. The one major difference between this election and the British hung parliament is that the likely coalition will be between conservatives and the break-off third party which is basically all former conservatives, which would lend to a little easier going for setting up a coalition than in Britain. I'll say it again. Are we in the U.S. headed for a similar fate? I think that by the end of the year we will have our own version of the hung parliament here in the states, but that it will provide a new impetus for discussion and vision casting. Are we living in interesting times? Maybe so. - Cliff

The Obama Boom: Join the Movement!

Yes, it's true, folks! I have found the great boom of commerce and entrepreneurial hope the Obama administration is looking for. It is in Anti Obama sales of t-shirts, posters and bumper stickers. Just Google the term "anti Obama" and you will be inundated with over 76, 700, 000 individual site locations with help, advice, suggestions, and products to express your particular anti-Obama sentiment.

There are even sites that will allow you to create your own personal memorabilia item of anti-Obama-ness, in all the colors of the rainbow.

If it is your "hope" to find something in the arena of jewelry or even Christmas ornaments, it's all there for you, at an affordable price, of course.

Or if you "change" your mind and want to teach all of those smug pro-Obama folks a lesson you can get that pithy saying that says just how disappointed you are in them. There is no limit to the ways and means by which you can express your outrage.

You can put up an inspiring quote from a founding father, or just go straight to the point with an "Obama sucks" t-shirt.

So, go ahead America, indulge yourself in a little part of the history of this great nation, and express your anti-Obama frustration with as much class, flare, and panache, or lack thereof, as you can stand. Here are my particular favorites:

Where the wild thoughts are...

Should we stop complaining now?

Evangelists Say Muslims Coming to Christ at Historic Rate

Christians ministering quietly in the Middle East say Muslims are coming to Christ at an unprecedented pace despite intense persecution of those who leave Islam.

"Probably in the last 10 years, more Muslims have come to faith in Christ than in the last 15 centuries of Islam," said Tom Doyle, Middle East-Central Asia director for e3 Partners, a Texas-based missions agency.

A former pastor, Doyle has been to the Middle East around 80 times and last week returned to the U.S. from a trip to Jerusalem, where he said both Muslims and Jews are turning to Christianity.

Earlier this month, more than 200 former Muslims were baptized during a training conference in Europe led by Iran-born evangelist Lazarus Yeghnazar. Brenda Ajamian, a former missionary to the Middle East who partners with Yeghnazar's 222 Ministries International, said the event was unlike anything she'd seen during her years ministering in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.

"That many Muslims who converted to Christ in one place boggled my mind because missionaries have worked in the Arab world and Muslim world generally for years and without much fruit," Ajamian said. "God is at work among Muslims." 

Ajamian said she was told at the conference that drug addiction and depression run rampant in many nations, particularly in Iran, where the cleric-led government has attempted to squash pro-democracy movements. "People are so fed up with the kinds of lives they lead. ... They're turning to Christ even in spite of the very real possibility of persecution and death and imprisonment,"she said.

Desperation is also a big factor in bringing many Jews to Christ, Doyle said. "In the last 20 years more Jews [also] have become followers of Jesus than in the last 2,000 years of Christianity," he said.

Radio, television and Internet-based Christian programming have been key in evangelizing Muslim nations. Yeghnazar claims more than 3,000 Iranians are converted each month through his Farsi-language television and Internet broadcasts.

And Doyle said Father Zakaria Botross, a born-again Coptic priest, reaches about 60 million people through his television programs broadcast across the Middle East. "The apostle Paul to the Muslims is no question Father Zakaria," Doyle said.

But many Muslim-background believers have said they came to Christ after having dreams and visions of Jesus.

"I can't tell you how many Muslims I've met who say: ‘I was content. I was a Muslim, and all of a sudden I get this dream about Jesus and He loved me and said come follow Me," Doyle said.

Doyle notes that the supernatural is an important part of the Islamic faith. Through the course of his life, Mohammed claimed to have had visions and encounters, particularly of the angel Gabriel.

"God is going into their context," said Doyle. But instead of finding guidance from Allah, Muslims are finding Jesus.

Haytham Abi Haydar, pastor of the Arabic Fellowship Alliance Church in Dearborn, Mich., a heavily Islamic Detroit suburb, said dreams and the supernatural are important to Muslims. "They're so powerful and real. They do consider that as a channel to speak to God and see something important," said Abi Haydar, who's also heard of Jesus coming to Muslims in dreams. 

Ajamian said churches of Muslim-background believers are growing "like wildfire" both in the Middle East and in Europe, which has seen a boom in immigration from Muslim nations.

"The Muslims that are saved ... it's like they can't tell the story fast enough," Ajamian said.

Doyle said though the harvest is ripe in Middle Eastern nations, the spiritual warfare also has ramped up. "People feel it. It just feels more intense," he said.

The stress, he said, is particularly high right now during Ramadan, the time Muslims fast and pray in commemoration of the time they believe Mohammed divinely received the first verses of the Quran. He said people are getting sick and even having nightmares.

"When Ramadan comes, you really sense the war in the heavenlies," he said.

Christians in many Muslim nations can be imprisoned or killed for converting from Islam. But Ajamian said the persecution is a sign that God is answering prayers for the Muslim world. "

There's a move of God," she said. "...The devil doesn't like it, but there is a huge move.

(from Charisma Magazine)

The best photography on the web: Motel Zero

Later this evening, surfing the web, I learned that someone else was thinking about Ronald Reagan's famous quote: "Trust me. I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." The best photograpy on the web is found at Motel Zero, and now he has added pithy prose to go along with the wonderful photographic works of art.

Should we "tolerate an ideology that would end our ability to tolerate?"

Perhaps the hottest topic of the day is the mosque two blocks from Ground Zero. Greg Gutfeld has some very spot-on observations on the subject.

"So when the chips are down, Barack Obama is less a President than a lawyer, carefully parsing out manicured statements, designed to straddle fences."

"The fear of appearing insensitive is driving our government's behavior, which scares the crap out of me. Funny how we are asked to tolerate an ideology that would end our ability to tolerate, period."

"the progressive word of the decade: tolerance. They are demanding that we tolerate a doctrine that enforces intolerance. And if you don't tolerate intolerance, then you, in fact, are intolerant. You are a bigot, for rejecting bigotry."

A concommitant debate is also taking place on whether or not Barack Obama is a Muslim. It seems to be a choice of either a Christian believer in Black Liberation Theology ala his minister for twenty years, Reverend Wright, or his earlier training in the Muslim faith. C. Edmund Wright notes in the American Thinker that "we were required to have enough suspension of belief to count Black Liberation Theology as Christian in the first place. Right. Never mind Jeremiah Wright's relationship with and support of Louis Farrakhan."


I would just like to see Obama stand up for America. Please? Just once?

Reagan was right...and oh, so prescient

(found at the Washington Rebel blog)

"Reload," Dr. Laura

Liberals are elated that Dr. Laura plans to end her radio program at the end of the year. Below, thanks to Town Hall, is the unabridged conversation Dr. Laura had with a woman from Colorado Springs, who, I believe, may well have set up Dr. Laura. Notice how the woman asks, "How about the "n" word?" Yep, definitely a set up. Now the woman is on national t.v., the new darling of the left. You think that is an accident? No way.

Dr. Laura has been an important voice. Why do I say that? Primarily because she does not allow callers to whine. She realizes that going down the "poor me" path is wrong, unhealthy, toxic for each and every one of us every single time we allow ourselves to go down that Satan-influenced path.

I am with Sarah Palin, who advised Dr. Laura to "reload."

Grover Norquist: A U-Turn on the Road to Serfdom

How to celebrate Cost of Government Day.

Every year, Americans for Tax Reform calculates Cost of Government Day — exactly how many days of the year Americans work to pay the total cost of government. This includes all government spending by federal, state, and local government. It also includes the costs forced into every product and service we buy in the private sector by state and federal regulations. Some regulations are silly and destructive. Others are important and useful. But none are free.

In 2008, Americans worked 197 days, until July 16 — in other words, more than half the year — to pay for the total cost of government. As a result of the bailouts, stimulus, and increased discretionary spending in the federal budget and new taxes for health care, Americans this year have worked until August 19, fully 231 days.

In two years, the American people have lost over a month of wages to the higher cost of government. Of the total, approximately 104 days are for federal spending, 52 days for state and local spending, 48 days for federal regulations, and 26 days for state and local regulations.

We know the problem. How do we do a U-turn on the road to serfdom?

Step one is to stop digging the hole deeper. The TARP bailout should be ended, all unspent funds used to pay down debt. Any money not yet spent on the stimulus should be left unspent. And the trillion-dollar spending hike over the next decade that Congress passed in 2009 should be repealed. Two years of that trillion have been spent. The rest can be saved now by refusing to spend it.

At the federal level, recent studies have shown that federal workers are paid — in wages, benefits, and salary — an average of $123,000. Private-sector workers are paid $61,000. That means taxpayers in the real economy are paying $62,000 more than they earn themselves to each of their “civil servants.” Pay fairness would save taxpayers $175 billion each year and $2 trillion over the next decade. State and local government workers earn an average of $80,000 compared with $61,000 for the private sector — this includes pay, benefits, and pensions. Since there are 19 million state and local employees, we simply multiply the $19,000 per worker overpayment times 19 million and find that state and local taxpayers are overpaying by $361 billion every year, or $4 trillion over a decade. Pay equity for taxpayers would save 33 percent of all state and local taxes.

Three good ideas have bubbled up about changing the way Washington spends money that would result in large, if difficult-to-quantify, savings for taxpayers.

First, every piece of legislation that spends money should be required to be put online so every American can read it for five working days before either the House or the Senate can vote on the bill. And if a single word is changed by amendments, the five-day waiting period begins again so that the final product stands naked to the world for five full days. No more surprises. No more thousand-page bills hiding untold corruptions and payoffs for lobbyists.

Second, Congress should bring back the Joint Committee on Reduction of Nonessential Federal Expenditures, formerly known as the “Byrd Committee.” This committee, created in 1942, actually proposed and won $38 billion in spending cuts measured in today’s dollars. It is the committee that proposed ending the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Work Projects Administration. Imagine the power of an Anti-Appropriations Committee that would send out subpoenas demanding accountability from the federal bureaucracy as it spends our money and the power to write laws that defund failed programs.

Third, the Appropriations Committee itself, the source of bridges to nowhere and tens of thousands of earmarks, needs to be reformed. Membership on the powerful and tempting-to-corruption committee should be limited to six years for any member. Then no member of Congress would spend his or her career in Washington as a professional spender of other people’s money.

And last, transparency of all government spending and contracts should be the law of the land at the federal, state, and local levels. In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry got the ball rolling by putting every check written by the state, and every contract, online so every American can see it. Missouri followed, as did 29 other states. Utah and Florida went further and mandated that all local-government spending and contracts be put online. When Americans can see how their money is spent, they will become more informed and competent defenders of their rights.

Federal, state, and local spending is growing too fast. It has gotten much worse in the past two years. But we can change the future. We can make a U-turn on the road to serfdom.

— Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform. The Cost of Government Day study can be viewed at CostOfGovernment.com.
(from: National Review Online)

Movie Trailer: I Want Your Money

Highlight: Ronald Reagan's statement that the government spends like drunken sailors, but that at least drunken sailors are spending their own money!

Decision Not to Rebuild Church Destroyed on 9/11 Surprises Greek Orthodox Leaders

Greek Orthodox leaders trying to rebuild the only church destroyed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks expressed shock this week after learning, via Fox News, that government officials had killed a deal to relocate the church.

The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, once a tiny, four-story building in the shadows of lower Manhattan, was destroyed in 2001 by one of the falling World Trade Center towers. Nobody from the church was hurt in the attack, but the congregation has, for the past eight years, been trying to rebuild its house of worship.

Though talks between the church and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey stalled last year, church leaders say they've been trying to kick-start discussions ever since. But amid debate over whether a proposed Islamic community center should go forward near Ground Zero, government officials threw cold water on the prospect of any deal with the church -- telling Fox News the deal is off the table.

Confronted with the Port Authority's verdict, Father Mark Arey, of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, said it's the first he's heard that.

"Negotiations did break off last year. We were expecting to hear from their lawyers -- we never did. We're still expecting to hear from them," he told Fox News. "We're disappointed. ... 130 Liberty Street was promised to us."

Arey was referring to the address, about 100 yards away from the original site, where the government earlier proposed relocating the church. The Port Authority and the church announced a deal in July 2008 under which the Port Authority would grant land and up to $20 million to help rebuild the church -- in addition, the authority was willing to pay up to $40 million to construct a bomb-proof platform underneath.

Within a year, the deal fell through and talks ended -- apparently for good, according to the Port Authority.

The archdiocese and Port Authority now offer sharply conflicting accounts of where things went wrong. The Port Authority has previously claimed the church was making additional demands -- like wanting the $20 million up front and wanting to review plans for the surrounding area. They say the church can still proceed on its own if it wishes.

"The church continues to have the right to rebuild at their original site, and we will pay fair market value for the underground space beneath that building," a spokesperson with the Port Authority told Fox News.

But Arey said the original site is no good. Archdiocese officials disputed the Port Authority's claims, saying the church has complied with all conditions.

"It's not about money," Arey said. He expressed hope that the project can still be salvaged.

"This little church deserves to be rebuilt. It's symbolic, not just for Orthodox Christians, not just for Christians, but for all Americans," Arey said, calling the mosque debate "helpful" to the church's cause. "I believe that people around the country are asking themselves the question -- why all this talk about a mosque being built near Ground Zero? What about a little church that was destroyed on 9/11? ... This is basically a bureaucratic impasse. This will dissolve in the face of the American public consciousness."

Former New York Gov. George Pataki, who worked with the church as governor, told Fox News on Tuesday that the church should be rebuilt.

George Demos, a Republican candidate for New York's 1st Congressional District, also has drawn attention to the negotiations. He released an open letter to President Obama Tuesday urging him to, as he did with the mosque debate, weigh in on the church discussions.

"While we may disagree on the appropriateness of the mosque, we can surely agree that it is an issue of national importance that the only house of worship actually destroyed on September 11, 2001, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, be rebuilt," Demos wrote. "Mr. President, please stand up and defend our Judeo-Christian values, express your public and unwavering support for St. Nicholas Church, and ensure that it is rebuilt."

Father Alex Karloutsos, assistant to the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, Archbishop Demetrios, told FoxNews.com that the Port Authority "simply forgot about the church" at Ground Zero.

Fox News' David Lee Miller and Kathleen Foster and FoxNews.com's Judson Berger contributed to this report.

Best Buy Takes on Priest for Copyright Violation Over 'God Squad' Mobile

It's God versus the Geeks.

A major electronics retailer is threatening legal action against a Wisconsin priest over his "God Squad" vehicle, claiming the logo on the clergyman's Volkswagen Beetle is identical to its own "Geek Squad" design.

Rev. Luke Strand, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Fond du Lac, Wis., is no longer using the logo after Best Buy served him a cease-and-desist order, arguing that his religious vehicle is a copyright violation of its famous "Geek Squad" mobile.

The trademark of "Geek Squad" -- a Best Buy subsidiary that offers computer-related services to customers -- is a black Volkswagen Beetle with a catchy sticker logo on its front door. Strand's vehicle, also a black Volkswagen Beetle, has a black and white circular logo on its door that reads "God Squad." Rosary beads hang from the car’s rearview mirror and the license plate says "Godlvya."

"They feel that the shape and the font of the logo and the fact that it's on the Volkswagen bugcauses confusion with their Geek Squad," Rhea Behlke, a spokeswoman for the church, told FoxNews.com.

Behlke said Strand, who was not available for comment Tuesday, has agreed to no longer use the logo. She said he was initially surprised by the letter threatening legal action but understands the company’s argument.

"They really have a responsibility to protect their trademark," she said. "There’s absolutely no animosity. He understands their position -- legally they have to do that."

"He's very aware that every company has to protect its trademark and that 'Geek Squad' is a protected trademark," Strand’s fellow clergyman, Rev. Bob Stiefvater, said in an interview with WLUK-TV.

Behlke said Strand has driven the "God Squad" around Fond du Lac for a "number of years" as a "creative way to bring God to the streets."

"It's just another tool to make the church open and accessible to people who may not otherwise feel comfortable approaching a priest. That is the purpose of the car and that will continue to be the purpose of the car," Behlke said, adding that the "God Squad" vehicle "will continue in some form."

A representative for Best Buy was not immediately available when contacted Tuesday by FoxNews.com. The company reportedly struggled with its decision to order Strand to give up his logo.

"At the end of the day it’s bad precedent to let some groups violate our trademark while pursuing others,” Paula Baldwin, a spokeswoman for Best Buy, said in a statement.

Click here to read more on this story from Fox11Online.com

FoxNews.com's Cristina Corbin contributed to this report

Glenn Beck: The Hindenburg Omen, The Perfect Storm, and God

Glenn Beck explains why winning the next election is historically insignificant. 

Ezekiel 9:4 "and the LORD said to angel, “Go through the midst of the city, ...and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”


John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

What's this about a Hindenburg Omen?

It’s hard to say whether those are storm clouds gathering over the stock markets, or whether that’s just the fog that’s lifting after two long years of dizzying volatility. But what about the Hindenburg Omen?

It’s been written about, blogged about and debated over the last few days. Rick Ackerman, a trader who blogs about his investment ideas, says in a post Monday that it’s not something to ignore, but perhaps not something to completely embrace. “Sometimes, though, the canny contrarian has to allow for the possibility that ‘everyone’– i.e., the multitudes who are expecting an autumn crash — will be right for a change.”

Invented in the mid-1990s by a blind mathematician named James Miekka, the Hindenburg Omen is an indicator of a market crash. Every market crash since 1987 has been signaled by the Omen, which was named by a friend of Miekka’s after the airship that exploded over New Jersey in 1937 without warning. (They were going to use “Titanic” but someone beat them to it.) That said, the Omen has also signaled declines when no such decline occurred.

The indicator was triggered by two important statistical events in the last week or so. One, NYSE highs and lows both exceeded 2.5% — stocks reaching 52-week highs were 2.9% of stocks traded at the Big Board, while stocks hitting 52-week lows were 2.6%. And a second, there was a rising 10-week moving average for the NYSE compared to a negative indicator that shows market fluctuations (the McClellan Oscillator).

The Omen is pointing to September for the next market crash, supposedly, though that’s pretty much when most markets go into a nosedive if they’re so inclined.

What if the Omen comes true? It has been a quiet, relatively boring summer of trading compared to the swoon of late 2008 followed by the see-sawing in 2009 and earlier this year. The May 6 “flash crash” during which the Dow Jones industrial average lost and then regained 500 or so points in a matter of minutes, had everyone in a panic about the flawed equity market structure in the United States, but even that wasn’t enough to force regulators into swift action.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has a number of proposals out, but hasn’t even formally banned the controversial practice of flash-orders, as it has been suggesting it would for about a year. Single stock circuit breakers are now in a pilot phase, but there have been glitches. The SEC still has to deal with all sorts of other issues, mostly to do with high frequency trading and its effects on the markets, along with all the issues it has to tackle with financial reform. Perhaps another severe correction could push regulators to act more quickly.

(from: forbes blogs)

The "Private Sector Recession"

This graph found at the First Things blog illustrates how the recession should be called a "private sector recession." because it sure has not hit the public sector. And the graph does not even show the federal jobs, which have increased dramatically since the election of Barack Obama. There has been a half-page ad running every Sunday in the "Jobs" section in the Denver Post announcing job openings at the IRS for bilingual (fluency in both Spanish and English) agents. Hmm, I wonder why they need to be bilingual? By the way, that "Jobs" section is really tiny, except for the IRS ad. The term "private sector recession" was coined by Maetenloch at Ace of Spades.

65 years ago Japan surrendered

VJ Day, Honolulu Hawaii, August 14, 1945 from Richard Sullivan on Vimeo.

Via Ace

Quid pro quo

Scott Ott (Scrappleface} gives us this "fairly unbalanced" report on the bailout bill just passed by the House.

"Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, who called the House back into session this week to pass a $26 billion bailout bill to help cash-strapped states pay for 140,000 teachers, said the legislation’s price tag “may sound like a lot of money, but the value of having all of those union members on our Democrat campaign team makes it well worth the investment.”

“Most people don’t understand all of the good that these union members do,” said Rep. Pelosi. “These people make the phone calls, give the money, do the door-to-door work because they have a personal financial stake in the reelection of Democrats. You can’t get that kind of commitment out of mere volunteers. Without them, Democrats might lose their majority in Congress, as well as in many state legislatures.”

The Speaker said that once the American people understand the return they get for their investment in big public-sector unions like the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, “the only complaint they’ll have is ‘Why didn’t you give them $52 billion?’”

“It’s a quid pro quo arrangement,” Rep. Pelosi explained. “The public-sector unions make sure we get elected, and we make sure they get ever-increasing salaries, and sweet guaranteed pension deals for life, no matter what the economy does. It’s a classic win-win situation.”

The California lawmaker added that “the genius of our Founding Fathers was to establish this relationship whereby we the people of the Democrat Party are sovereign, and we negotiate mutually-beneficial collective bargaining agreements with our union supporters. It’s a system of checks and balances that protects us all from the tyranny of the public.”

This Oughta Teach Him!

From the New York Post:

In a move of stunning hypocrisy, the United Federation of Teachers axed one of its longtime employees -- for trying to unionize the powerful labor organization's own workers, it was charged yesterday.

Jim Callaghan, a veteran writer for the teachers union, told The Post he was booted from his $100,000-a-year job just two months after he informed UFT President Michael Mulgrew that he was trying to unionize some of his coworkers.

"I was fired for trying to start a union at the UFT," said a dumbfounded Callaghan, who worked for the union's newsletter and as a speechwriter for union leaders for the past 13 years.

Callaghan said he personally told Mulgrew on June 9 about his intention to try to organize nonunionized workers at UFT headquarters.

"I told him I have the same rights that teachers have," said Callaghan, 63, of Staten Island. "He told me he didn't want that, that he wanted to be able to fire whoever he wanted to.".....

You gotta love Unions whose own offices are non union and whose bosses want to fire whoever they want to. Good old American hypocrisy.

High Stakes, Tough Choices!

Michael Anton gives us more information about Iranian nuclear capabilities, and discusses the difficult choices facing Israel and the rest of the free world.

Hopefully not forever

I like Neil's version of this better than Johnny Cash's. I can't handle Johnny's sadness in his voice. Neil sings it with some hope that perhaps he will not remain solitary forever.

Obama Visits the Gulf Coast

So. Friggin'. What.

He even swims! In the water! EXCEPT...he goes swimming in a bay that was NOT affected by the oil spill. And the part of the Gulf just outside Alligator Point is OUTSIDE the fishing ban that still exists.

If you wanted to prove your point, Mr. Obama, go just a bit further west, near the Alabama/Florida border. Where there is still a ban on fishing...are you going to eat the fish there? Or the shrimp? The local delicacy is mullet...my family had many a fish fry with that delicious gift from the sea. But we can't now because the mullet is a bottom-feeder...and all the oil that ISN'T floating on the surface is on the sea-floor.

Or keep heading further west still, Mr. Obama. To the Louisiana coast, where the marshes are STILL affected by the oil. To the oyster beds that were coated with dispersed oil.

So swim away, Mr. Obama. Far away. Far away from the areas that were really affected. Just as you are ideologically far away from the common folk to whom you promised such great things.

I pray for you: Psalm 109:8. Amen.

Old lessons for a new time

Sometimes it helps to look at other times to learn the lessons for today. In my daily readings I came across the book of 1st and 2nd Kings, which tell of the wars and transitions of leadership of Israel and Judah. I found a story which seems to parallel our times. It is the story of a transition from one great leader to another, and the turmoil surrounding it.  


We are in an Elijah-Elisha shift of leadership. And just as when the fifty prophets insisted to look about for the lost Elijah after he had been taken up by the Lord, now is the season of many rising and claiming to be Elijah, giving people what they want in the form of old promises re-worked and old forms  and strategies, while Elisha has clearly been seen by the fifty prophets as the next leader in line. 

But since he looks different, and brings different messages and giftings, people prefer to run off to see if they can find Elijah because of the weakness of preferring familiarity. 

2Kings 2:14 Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the LORD God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over. 

2Kings 2:15 ¶ Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him. 

2Kings 2:16 Then they said to him, “Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” ¶ And he said, “You shall not send anyone.” 

2Kings 2:17 ¶ But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, “Send them!” Therefore they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find him.

2Kings 2:18 And when they came back to him, for he had stayed in Jericho, he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

“Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

The fifty prophets sought for three days for Elijah until they came to the realization that they needed to go back to Elisha, who they saw clearly receive the mantle of Elijah.

Elisha is the fulfillment of Elijah. The problem with Elisha is that everyone remembers when he was just a servant of Elijah. We remember that he was just the guy you walked by to get to the prophet Elijah, but now he is the prophet. Elijah just showed up one day out of nowhere, seemingly, but Elisha was a guy that everybody knew growing up. Think Moses and Joshua, or even John the Baptist and Jesus, or possibly Barnabas and Paul.  

There is new opportunity and possibility in seeking the simpler ways of leadership. A return to basic teachings is required to rid the entire system of plans and promises based on opinion and faulty logic; thinking that had the appearance of being powerful, prophetic or timely, but were mixed blessings at best. 

Could it be that the Lord himself  is requiring the leaders he is raising up now to be more wise in the ways of the world than their predecessors? They are to instruct people to seek the Word rather than "words" for their own sake. When you draw near to the Lord, He draws near to you, and how could He not speak to His children? 

After God had set in motion the changes from Elijah to Elisha as spokesman for the Lord, a new government was instituted and new leaders came to prominence. Jehu, a commander and general was made king in Israel, and dealt with the evil Ahab and Jezebel, and reversed their evil acts and made sure that the victims of their cruelty were compensated and proper restitution employed.  

As those with insight, what part are we to play in this transition? I really believe times of prayer, though seemingly weak, humble, and ineffective, are the true power of our day to make this transition happen. Asking the King of Heaven to give us wise and kingly leadership, and to restore the character and core strength of our nation, which is faith. 

"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2Chronicles 7:14 

We must understand how Obama operates

The Washington Rebel blog once again knocks one way out of the park with a post entitled Death of a Strawman. I reprint it here in its entirety,because it is just so relevant and important for us all to understand how Obama operates.

08/13/2010
Death of a Strawman

You know you’re making a difference when Obama views you as enough of a threat to start launching his Alinskyite smear tactics on you, by name.

I am one who can appreciate the art of the debate. It is in my nature to turn a thing backwards and forewards trying to find the crack in an argument that will let me win. This comes up many times in writing and quite often in business negotiations. It is all a matter of keeping one's head in an argument, of creating an image of right and wrong. I don't have to explain this to the contributors of this page, but it does strike me odd that the president is unable to argue without killing a fair amount of strawmen. This is something I detest about his style of debate. So, for a moment I'd like to deconstruct one of his latest speeches and point out his technique.

"And they don't have to say who exactly the Americans for Prosperity are."

Okay, let's start here. First of all, it doesn't take a heck of a lot of investigation to know who started this group. It probably wouldn't be hard to get a list of members, but that isn't the question for Mr. Obama, he wants to create an illusion of mystical, dangerous and perhaps criminal (foreign entities contributing to American campaigns is illegal) elements to this accusation, a bit of sophistry the media will allow him without challenge.

"You don't know if it's a foreign-controlled corporation."

No, the fact is, we do. The insinuation he wants is one of criminality. He likes that a lot, though he never comes out and makes that charge, because he knows it is false. Koch Corporation and it's founder run AFP and Barack Freaking Obama knows it. But, that wouldn't put the boogieman in the closet, would it?

You don't know if it's a big oil company or a big bank.

This relies on the ignorance and blindness of his intended audience. Even a supporter would have to reconcile the facts that Obama has had a big hand in both Big Oil and Big Banks since stepping into the shoes of the President. He took BP money during his campaign and to a degree greater than any other candidate, but when someone else takes the money, there is something implicitly wrong with it. He helped support AIG. The TARP program he alternately takes credit for and distances himself from, continues to fund AIG, now 21st Century, but you wouldn't know that from these accusations. With his rhetoric, he seems to be against these entities he has relied on for funding.

It's a constant strawman with this guy. "Some people don't like me, they think my name sounds funny." "Some people would like to go back to the policies of the past."

Well, let me just say to Mr. Obama: Some people would help fund a Mosque on the graves of American citizens killed by Islamist Jihadist. Some people would prefer to see grandma die a peaceful, morphine-laden death than to give her medical treatment. Some people would let the economy melt down rather than use supply-side economics.

Is Israel counting down?

Will Israel strike Iran's nuclear facility in the next eleven days? That is one conclusion that might be drawn from reading this Newsmax story quoting John Bolton.

News that Russia will load nuclear fuel rods into an Iranian reactor has touched off a countdown to a point of no return, a deadline by which Israel would have to launch an attack on Iran's Bushehr reactor before it becomes effectively "immune" to any assault, says former Bush administration U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton.

Once the fuel rods are loaded, Bolton told Fox News on Friday afternoon, "it makes it essentially immune from attack by Israel. Because once the rods are in the reactor an attack on the reactor risks spreading radiation in the air, and perhaps into the water of the Persian Gulf."

A redneck birthday party

Today is my birthday. Colleen asked me what I wanted to do. Then she asked what ELSE I wanted to do. I said I would like to go to a mountain stream. Because she had to pick up some farmer dude at the airport tonight, we decided to go someplace relatively close, to our old stomping grounds, the magnificently beautiful town of Golden. I just love Golden. It is surrounded on all sides by mountains. Coming down from the west is a roaring stream called Clear Creek. It really does run right through the Coors Brewery.

Golden has really changed in the three years we have been away. Yuppy college-age people throng to Clear Creek. These are the kids who would never think to volunteer to fight for our country. They will be running the corporations and government agencies that will employ the returning vets, and probably treat them badly.

The males ride down Clear Creek in inner tubes. Each time they go over a small water fall, dropping two feet at the most, they give themselves two-thumbs up. The females have no body fat whatsoever, and wear something called bikinis, which cover just enough of their bodies to prove my point about the lack of body fat.

Our redneck family also went to the Clear Creek. We fished for a while, and skipped rocks. But the family member who stole the show was Jon (Huck). Jon was standing on a rock right in the middle of the roaring stream, casting out his fishing line. Coming downstream behind him was a large Igloo cooler (minus a lid). We yelled at him to try to catch the cooler (our oldest two boys had confiscated our cooler earlier in the summer and kept it in their man-cave they live in in a Denver suburb called Wheat Ridge.} Jon snagged that cooler with one quick motion, and brought it safely to shore. About a half-hour later Jon came excitedly running up to us (he had wandered downstream). In one hand he had the lid to the cooler. In the other hand he had a four-foot-long snake! I persuaded him to let the (smelly) snake continue to live near Clear Creek, but that dang cooler no longer belongs to the college yuppies.

Jon and Greg spent the rest of the time diving into the roaring current and riding it downstream. No inner tubes needed thank you very much. Then we all went to the local pizza joint and pigged out.

Do you prefer wide open spaces? Colleen does. I like the protective quality of being surrounded by mountains. Durango, where I lived in southwestern Colorado in the 1980s, is like Golden, except it does not have Golden's proximity to a large city. Golden and Durango are two of my favorite places on earth.

My Healthcare has Obamaitis

The Obama healthcare plan has hit us much sooner than I thought it would. We have to make a choice about how we want to continue our healthcare...to the tune of several thousand dollars...on top of our insurance premiums.

How can this be, you say? Isn't Obamacare supposed to be affordable for everyone? Of course it is...if you choose to become one of the multitudes who will be among the thousands in line for your 'affordable' healthcare. Where the doctor is only allotted a limited amount of time for each patient. Which means 'cattle calls' for healthcare.

Our physician has told us he has pondered long and hard about his future practice. He is a very thorough doctor, and both my husband and I are very happy with him because of his attentiveness to all our concerns. But the good doctor faced the problem of having his practice turned into a 'drive-by' medical service, with huge numbers of patients being rushed in and out of the office (as deemed by Obamacare).

So the doctor has turned to an alternative that is allowed under Obamacare. His practice will be associated with a company that offers 'personalized healthcare'. For adults, there is a yearly cost of $1,500.00 and a full and complete physical (it's quite exhaustive). We get same or next-day appointments when we call, and get 24-hour physician availability by phone. Appointments are scheduled so that you have plenty of time to ask the questions you want. The number of his patients will go from 3,000 to 600. After he reaches 600, that's it...he takes no more 'adult' patients after that. He will see our children without the yearly fee...and hopefully our insurance will still be affiliated with him.

So...the choice is...do we stick with a doctor we trust but have to pay an extra several thousand dollars per year? Or do we leave it to chance and the cattle-round-up...and the costs go up next year, with health benefits becoming taxed and the Bush tax-cuts ending?

Because of Obama(un)care, how many people will take home even less...and start going without? How many families will go without adequate and affordable healthcare, without money to pay for housing and food and transportation... You think the economy has taken a downturn recently? Wait till next year...Obama's audacity of ego can quite possibly lead this country down an ever-spiraling path of economic destruction, making us vulnerable in ways recent generations could never have imagined.

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
Thomas Paine

Our basic rights are being eroded away, one intolerable 'feel-good' policy at a time. I hope (not Obama's self-aggrandizing kind of 'hope'), that this November's election will be a sign-post of change (not Obama's country-destroying 'change'). Our country doesn't deserve its president and Congress attempting to destroy it from within. We, the people, don't deserve to be raped and pillaged of our basic rights.

If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.
Thomas Paine

We, the people, need to now act to form a more perfect Union. Vote for real hope, vote for real change. Doc Utopia and his ilk are NOT the physicians we need.

Vision = Optimism

In my musings lately, I have been wondering if the current political situation could be termed in nothing but the word "bleak." I have read of those who imagine that the next election and the one after that will automatically set the clock back or magically make things better, but that is not so. Too much has happened that must be dealt with. Just removing one leader and replacing him with another will not tackle the serious problems we face. It seems that the "misery index" of the Carter era is back in full force and that the temptation to despair is almost irresistible. But, I remind you that it is just such times as these that cause a serious rethinking to occur, a kind of return to sanity, a repentance, if you will. And through the fog there begins to form a vision that is not just the way to win the next election or get on the Network News, but a true vision intended to be a way of life, a challenge to stay the course and do the hard things that must be done. This vision must include a prophetic picture of a preferable future that is strong and simple at the same time. Not devoid of details, it must point to a time of a future and a hope for our times. Mere finger wagging and smear tactics will not make this happen. Someone must lead, and lead well. My prayer is for that person, or persons to come to the task and do so quickly. Who will rise up and restore us to a place of optimism? The ones with a true vision.

Amazing!

Christian TV's All-Time Worst Fundraising Gimmicks - J. Lee Grady

Let's stop the hypnotism, the guilt manipulation and the high-pressure gimmicks. It's time to reclaim our lost credibility.

Normally I'd rather go to the dentist for a root canal than watch a telethon. But while channel surfing a few nights ago I tuned into PBS and discovered that Aretha Franklin, the legendary Queen of Soul, was hosting a fundraiser for the network. Seated at a piano, she was offering a 5-CD collection of classic rhythm and blues hits in exchange for a donation to public television.

It was simple. There were no gimmicks, no games and no strings attached in Aretha's offer. If you gave the suggested gift, she explained, PBS would mail you a big slice of American pop culture—including songs by Gladys Knight and the Pips, Smokey Robinson, the Four Tops, Al Green and Aretha herself, singing her classic "Respect."

My respect for PBS was still intact when the telethon ended, thanks to this low-key, no-pressure approach to fundraising. I can't say that for some Christian networks, which have shamelessly extorted money from viewers over the years using heavy-handed guilt manipulation, hypnotic control and bizarre Scripture-twisting.

During the PBS telethon I wondered why Christian networks couldn't simply offer music, books or other premiums instead of resorting to the typical arm-twisting and tear-jerking that we've come to expect. We need an overhaul in this area. Somebody needs to lead the way in pioneering a new style of on-air fundraising that doesn't treat people like brainless zombies.

Here are five of my least favorite fundraising tactics. I wish all of them could be banned from the airwaves.

Gimmick #1: The magic Bible verse. You know the drill. The evangelist quotes Psalm 37:37 and then announces that if you will send $37.37 ("No more, no less!") God will unleash all the blessings of King David upon you. (Hint: The phones seem to ring more frequently when the number seven is included in the Bible reference.)

Gimmick #2: The urgent, time-is-running-out plea. Before the preacher asks you to reach for your wallet, dramatic music is piped in. Then "Reverend Cheatem" talks about how the crippled man waited by the pool of Bethesda, hoping that the angel would trouble the waters so he could be healed. "God is troubling the waters right now, my dear friend," the preacher says with his eyes closed. "Go to the phones now, before it is too late. Only those who give in this holy, anointed moment will receive a supernatural blessing in return."

Gimmick #3: The memorialized gift. One popular evangelist announced on-air that she needed thousands of dollars to build a prayer room. She promised that those who funded this noble effort would receive recognition with special brass nameplates that would be mounted on the wall of the facility. The implication was that people could buy prayer coverage, sort of like a spiritual insurance policy. (I'm not surprised—since this woman offered her loyal followers the status of  "spiritual son" or "spiritual daughter" if they paid a $1,000 annual fee.)

Gimmick #4: The debt-breaking anointing. One preacher who specializes in telethons has raised millions by telling audiences that they are just one donation away from eliminating all red ink. All they have to do is give a sacrificial gift (usually four figures) to the TV network in the next few minutes. If they do this, God will wipe out their debts, no questions asked. No lifestyle changes necessary. (This technique was especially popular before the mortgage crisis.)

Gimmick #5: The Day of Atonement offering. This particularly odd strategy has been popular in the last couple of years, especially among gullible Christians who believe God blesses anything and everything that has the word "Israel" attached to it. The preacher announces that if you write a check to their network, and wave it in the air before you mail it (preferably while wearing a Jewish prayer shawl), God will forgive your sins, restore your health, bring back your wayward children, provide angelic protection and bless you with more than a dozen other special favors.

I still don't know what is more outrageous: That programmers allow such insanity on Christian television, or that gullible Christians fall for it year after year. Hopefully, emerging leaders in the religious broadcasting industry will restore our lost credibility by insisting on integrity, authenticity and good taste.

J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma and author of the new book The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale. Follow him on Twitter at leegrady.

(from charismamag.com)

How do you know you are shopping in Texas?

from the wonderful House of Zathras blog

Tornado footage

Via Powerline

Herding Cats

from Boinky at Finestkind Clinic and fish market

Fruits of the Journey

Every day I try to get in a bike ride or game of basketball (or both) with the kids. Today it was a bike ride. Sarah looked exasperated. "Dad, I can't believe you are stopping in the middle of a bike ride to cut flowers!" "Well, Sarah, I guess I just can't help myself. I love these sunflowers, especially in vase arrangements on our kitchen table."

Mary Carillo's Badmitton Rant

from Vanderleun

What are the intentions of those who propose to build a mosque at Ground Zero?

How do you feel about the Muslims' plan to build a thirteen story mosque and community center near Ground Zero? This blog post gives us an historical perspective that may shed light on the true intentions of those who are planning it.

In a related matter, have you ever heard of the term "oven-walkers?" I heard it said by one of the parents of a person who was killed by the Islamists on September 11. He was referring to Mayor Bloomberg's lack of interest in knowing the motives and financing behind the proposed mosque. It is a reference to those Jews who just could not believe that evil like Hitler and the Nazis could possibly exist, and to prove it, those who denied the existence or possibility of such evil allegedly willingly walked into the ovens.

Is it hard to believe that such evil exists? It better not be, because such evil does exist in our world today.