"A Little Intellectual Elite"

What is Christianity?

What Scientologists Believe

What Mormons Believe

Denial...

Back by popular demand... another bumper sticker!

Almighty Father, who dost give

Almighty Father, who dost give

the gift of life to all who live,

look down on all earth's sin and strife

and lift us to a nobler life.

Lift up our hearts, O King of kings,

to brighter hopes and kindlier things,

to visions of a larger good,

and holier dreams of brotherhood.

The world is weary of its pain,

of selfish greed and fruitless gain,

of tarnished honor, falsely strong,

and all its ancient deeds of wrong.

Hear thou the prayer thy servants pray

uprising from all lands today.

And, o'er the vanquished powers of sin,

O bring thy great salvation in!

Words: John Howard Bertram Masterman, 1922

Music: Finnart, Pater Omnipotens

How Great Thou Art!

Whitney Houston a few days ago, now Elvis Presley. There is a special emotion that emanates from people who know they have fallen, but still love God.

Kingdom Quotes - Oswald Chambers - Called Of God

If a man or woman is called of God, it does not matter how untoward circumstances are, every force that has been at work will tell for God's purpose in the end. If you agree with God's purpose He will bring not only your conscious life, but all the deeper regions of your life which you cannot get at, into harmony. 

- Oswald Chambers from My Utmost For His Highest

Advice for parents of boys

The following was written by Cassandra of D.C.
"When I was young, masculinity was a one-size-fits-all affair: Men defended the weak, brought home the bacon, and kept the world running smoothly –while maintaining a stiff upper lip and a heroic reserve. Women had their own carefully prescribed role to play. We were caretakers, teachers, tenders of home and hearth. If men built the world, women connected it. As volunteers, bakers of cupcakes and holiday feasts, keepers of time-honored rituals and faithful recorders of birthdays, anniversaries, and the names of maiden aunties; women bound families and communities together. Our world offered fewer choices than the world of men, but in some ways it was indescribably richer.

The days of rigid gender roles are gone, but so (for the most part) are the restraining influences of morality, social convention, and taste. Today’s world has little use and even less respect for manly strength and character. Too often we confuse manliness with maleness, defining masculinity down to an uninspiring collection of barely controlled biological urges. This is a grave mistake, for a world with diminishing standards and few enforceable rules needs men more than ever.

What is the essence of masculinity? How can we cultivate and honor it in our sons? Harvey Mansfield once defined manliness as “a quality that causes individuals to stand for something”. If men have a salient quality, surely it is strength of body, mind, spirit, and character.

Is it still possible to raise strong, adaptable sons in a society that views manhood as a debased currency? The good news is this: with a bit of tweaking, the old standards still work.

1. Challenge your son to find and develop his own strengths. In an era of expanding choices, masculinity should not be a straitjacket. Not all boys love to fight, make noise, or play football—they need freedom to discover their abilities, and the discipline to develop them. Confidence flows from achievement, not empty praise. Whether your son excels on the baseball field or in the computer lab, challenge him to become good at something.

2. Don’t make excuses for bad behavior. Being male is not a handicap. Boys shouldn’t be expected to behave like girls, but they should be expected to behave.

3. Teach responsibility by delegating responsibility. Children whose parents do everything for them rarely develop the habits and discipline needed for independence and success. Masculine forcefulness is an admirable quality. Channel your son’s natural urge to take command of situations and people by putting him in charge of small jobs he can master with reasonable effort.

4. Sometimes, reality is the best teacher. Boys are usually far more impressed by actions than words. If you find yourself repeating the same warnings, stop talking and let him experience the consequences of his decisions. You can’t protect him from every danger. Let him take a few risks – that’s how boys learn.

5. Give him unconditional love, but not unconditional approval. Boys need love, but they also need firm limits. Insist that he treat others with respect and consideration.

6. Boys need heroes. Books are full of them. Teach him to love great books, and they will inspire him to be a better person.

7. Speaking of heroes, give him time alone with his father. As boys mature, it’s normal for them to pull away from their mothers a bit. Wanting time with Dad is a sign that your son is beginning to see himself as a man.

8. Teach him how to love. A mother’s relationship with her son prepares him for the relationship he’ll one day have with his wife. Older boys may need less mothering, but you can help him in other ways. Teach him how to talk to (and more importantly, handle conflict with) women as people.

9. Respect the father of your children. A boy raised in a home where men are honored is more likely to become a man worth honoring.

10. Look beneath the surface. Despite outward appearances, boys can be infuriatingly indirect. Many can’t – or won’t - admit that they need attention or want to talk. One of my sons loved to provoke me when something was on his mind. Years later, his wife tells me he still does that. Now that’s a smart woman.

11. Teach him to believe in something, defend something, serve something. Don’t neglect his moral education. The noblest expression of manhood occurs when strength and courage serve some larger purpose.

12. Hold on… but loosely. No matter how old he gets, your son will always need caring, engaged parents. But he also needs space to take risks, make mistakes and, most importantly, chart his own course.

If men are driven to stand for something, it follows that the world will be a better or worse place depending on what they strive for. Help your sons find worthy goals—then step back and watch them move mountains."



Cassandra of D.C.
A mysterious figure on the corner of the milblogging community, Cassandra reports on matters that pertain to war strategy, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Marine Corps, male-female relations, dogs, and what it takes to raise boys to be red-blooded men. She is the owner/operator of the blog VILLAINOUS COMPANY.

from RIGHTNETWORK

Is your soul brave enough?

In the secularist’s mind, there is no soul to applaud. Even in brutality and sorrow, beauty often shines brightest in the soul brave enough to deny evil a foothold. It is the theme of redemption, the symphony of resurrection. And we are blessed to be able to sense it and doubly blessed to see it and appreciate it.
Seen at Jaded Haven

Where are we on this cycle?

seen at The Burning Platform

Tom Wood's Nullification inteview with Jim Puplava

From Jim Puplava's website, here is the link to the MP3 interview between Jim Puplava who is one of the best interviewers I have ever heard and Tom Woods, senior fellow at the Mises Institute. A good investment of your time.

In his book, Tom Woods argues that the Founding Fathers believed that nullification was the "moderate middle ground" to protect people from an overreaching federal government. He argues why the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution gives the states the power to nullify unconstitutional laws. And why states - not the Supreme Court - should arbitrate disputes between the states and the federal government over the constitutionality of the federal government's actions.

As Thomas Jefferson said, there is a "rightful remedy" to the federal government's uncontrollable quest for power - it's called nullifation.

http://thomasewoods.com

In case you forgot who Daniel Hannan is...

What's the difference today for us here in the U.S.? We have a devalued president of a devalued presidency. Change the words only a little bit and there is still no difference. While I do not believe the GOP or the Tea Party people will make much of a difference, at least we can possibly metastasize or cauterize our wounds here in the U.S. Where is our Daniel Hannan?  Who will stand up to both corrupt major parties and put the people first and politics second? "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

Interview with a Zombie

I heard an interview Jim Puplava did with Tom Woods the author of the book "Nullification". He mentioned a well known you tube interview he did stating his point of view with a zombie. It is funny and to the point. With "Nullification" Tom Woods states that this term was brought about by Thomas Jefferson to speak to the American people about what to do when the central government becomes too strong and begins to make decisions that are contrary to the US Constitution. One arguement is that the federal government was set up the States. The States have the power and obligation to "nullify" laws by a corrupt, illegal federal government by refusing to obey the law and cites numerous historical examples of this that might surprise you.

Yet Even Another Anti-Obama Bumper Sticker

Daniel Hannan's Warning For America

Bumper Stickers continue on!

Everyone's mum about source of worm attack in Iran. Hmmm...

"There's a purpose for the gift that lies in you."

Suggestion: After they finish singing Holy, Holy, Holy, stay with them all the way to the end.

Joy

Do you experience joy? Where does it come from? Inside you? Yes, but what if you are a Christian? What part does God play?

Do you recognize thoughts and behaviors that lead you in the opposite direction from joy? Where do those thoughts and resultant behaviors come from? Could it be Satan?

What are your traps; the thoughts you entertain that lead you away from joy, away from God? Mine emanate from self pity. Lately I have experienced some heartbreak and sadness. If I catch myself becoming flooded with those emotions and thoughts, I bring them to God. I ask for His Holy Spirit to lead me away from the temptations those thoughts invite. Guess what? He does!

Block out Satan. Don't even let him get near you. He's bad news!

Because of our sinful natures, the whole process begins again the next hour, day, week, or month, depending on the nature and frequencies of the temptations, and our willingness to trust God. I am finding that the more willing I am to trust Him, the more I see that He really will lead and guide me, and the less likely I am to get snagged in the temptations.

Pain Relief

I saw a man yesterday wearing a tee shirt that proclaimed:
BULL RIDERS EXPECT PAIN
BULL RIDERS ENDURE PAIN
BULL RIDERS DON'T COMPLAIN.

How about the rest of us? Do we expect some pain to come into our lives? Are we prepared to endure it? Do we complain? If so, where does our complaining lead us? Yep, to more pain.

I think that if we truly want to become stronger, the One we need to turn to is God. He is the One we cannot fool. We don't have to waste time convincing Him of the pain we are enduring; He already knows! With God, through His Holy Spirit, we can learn to trust Him to lead us away from the pain. After a while the trusting becomes easier, as we realize He is here for those of us who believe in Him, repent of our sins, and ask for His guidance.

Kingdom Quotes - Erwin McManus - becoming un-domesticated

  "If you are a follower of Christ and you have allowed yourself to become domesticated, you have lost the power of who you are and who God intends for you to be. You were not created to be normal. God's desire for you is not compliance and conformity. You have been baptized by the Spirit and fire. Asleep within you is a barbarian, a savage to all who love the prim and proper. You must go to the primal place and enter the presence of the Most High God, for there you will be changed by His presence. Let Him unleash the untamed faith within you."
 - Erwin Raphael McManus from The Barbarian Way

His truth...

Which Flag?

Via Theo Sparks

How They Found and Killed the Bloodiest Narcoterrorist In the World

This Thursday, Mono Jojoy was killed in his secret jungle base. He was the military boss of narcoterrorist group FARC, responsible for the deaths and kidnappings of thousands of people in Colombia. Caught and killed thanks to a boot.

Víctor Julio Suárez aka Jorge Briceño Suárez aka Mono Jojoy, born in 1953, was the big boss of the military organization of FARC, the so called Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The objective of this Marxist-Leninist 11,000-man-strong guerrilla is to overthrown the government through terrorist acts, financing themselves with drug traffic, kidnaps and extortion of all kinds of innocent people.

Last Thursday, Mono Jojoy was at his secret headquarters in La Macarena, an area deep into the Colombian jungle. It was a normal day at the 984-foot long base. Nobody expected what was about to happen, which is probably the reason why they didn't use the escape tunnels that go out of the military bunker, at the heart of the base.

Bad Feet

After all, they all were sure that nobody knew where this base was, hidden from US spy satellites by the thick foliage. And in any case, they probably thought that neither the Colombian nor the US intelligence could ever learn where Mono Jojoy was located at any given time.

Mono Jojoy was probably doing whatever it is that bloody terrorists do when they are not planning how to screw the lives of people who don't give a damn about their revolution.

And taking care of his poor feet.

He suffered from diabetes which, combined with the rigors of the life in the jungle, had caused painful injuries on his feet. That was the reason why he had to order a new pair of special boots. And that was when Operation Sodoma started and his death begun.

The guerrilla command sent a message asking for these special boots, which was caught by Colombian intelligence. The Colombians were able to intercept the boots and rig one of them with GPS circuitry. When Mono got them, his fate was sealed.

Air attack

The Colombians made sure that he got the boots and started to track the GPS signal. They knew exactly where he was, and that's when they decided to launch the attack against the base.

57 aircraft, jetfighter and helicopters, attacked the complex with fifty bombs, preparing the way for the Colombian ground troops, who took over the camp with little opposition. In fact, only one of their explosives-sniffing dog died in the attack.

Soon after arriving to the camp, the Colombian commandos found Mono Jojoy's body (in the image), along with other members of the FARC's elite.

All because of bad feet and a rigged boot.

(from Gizmodo)

No. 2 FARC Leader Killed In Colombia

Colombia's military killed the field marshal and No. 2 leader of the country's main leftist rebel group in bombing raids and combat at a major guerrilla encampment at the edge of the country's eastern plains, authorities announced Thursday.

The death of Jorge Briceno, 57, is a huge setback for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which has been reeling from a decade of pressure by the U.S.-backed military.

It was not immediately clear whether Briceno was killed by bombs or bullets.

President Juan Manuel Santos called his death "the most crushing blow against the FARC in its entire history" — more important than the March 2008 bombing raid across the border with Ecuador that killed FARC foreign minister Raul Reyes or the bloodless rescue that July that freed former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. contractors without firing a shot.

Santos was defense minister during both operations.

He told a news conference at the United Nations in New York that at least 20 rebels were killed, including other senior insurgents, in operations that began with bombing raids Monday night involving at least 30 warplanes and 27 helicopters and ended with ground combat on Wednesday.

But the key to success was long-percolating human intelligence, said a senior government official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the subject's sensitivity.

(AP via NPR)

The daily anti-Obama sticker

Can they get more rude than this?

Rude catcalls aimed at Harry Reid's opponent. You don't suppose they were paid to ridicule her do you?

Football in the road

Our sandy country road rarely is visited by vehicles. Therefore, it is a nearly perfect place to throw around a football. When Sara joins in the action, I root for her to hold her own with those two older brothers, who are prone to unnecessary roughness when she is the ball carrier. I encourage her to return the favor when one of them thinks they are on the way to a touchdown. Believe me, she would love nothing more than to throw one of those guys for a loss.

Hangin' out with the kids

Because of the loss of some money we had come to depend on (five hundred dollars in child support money for Colleen's children from her first marriage) we find ourselves pinching our pennies until the first of next month. And, wouldn't you know it, I got a day off today! I had wanted to take ten and nine-year-old sons Jon and Greg to a ballgame (the Colorado Rockies are playing today, and so are the Denver Broncos). Instead, we decided still to make the one hour trek to downtown Denver before the starts of the two ballgames and do free or almost free stuff, and we had a great time.

First we went to the Wynkoop Brewery and Restaurant. They have a large area on the second floor with many pool tables, a shuffleboard area, and a darts area. We did all three for a grand total of $7.00, including tip! Then, we treated ourselves to three burgers and some wild fries at Good Times for $11.00. Everything else we did was free! That includes playing in a park made of different sizes of rectangles to climb high on, riding a free bus up and down the 16th Street Mall, talking to all kinds of people, and walking through Octoberfest, where we watched dancers and accordion players doing their thing. Oh, and I should not forget one of the "funnest" things we did. We went into the Westin Hotel and rode the escalators! Of course, the boys did not just stand still while the escalators were moving. Need I say more?

Our journalistic (blogger?) endeavor was to stop people and ask them if they knew why steam was pouring out of the streets. Jon had excitedly pointed out the steam to me. The best answer we got was that the buildings around there are heated by steam heat that flows underground to the buildings. Yes, people are probably turning on their heat during these 45 degree nights. Periodically, every few blocks, they purposely let the steam out into the street so it won't combust in the pipes or boilers in the buildings ("blowing off steam?")

Speaking of "blocks," my "country" boys did not know what I was talking about when I said gleefully, "we actually got a free parking spot only two blocks away from the Wynkoop!" I explained to them what a "block" is, and then said, "It's a good thing you learned this before you become teenagers and get teased for not knowing it." They did not believe anyone would tease them for not knowing something like that.

Though I wanted to take our adopted daughter, six-year-old Sara, with us, the boys begged me not to, since Sara almost always "acts crazy when out in public," for prolonged periods, and Colleen concurred with the boys' assessment. Sara's biological mother had been diagnosed with many psychiatric disorders. Sara starts getting silly, then laughs loudly and unceasingly, then starts screaming.

How do you think Colleen and I respond to willful, loud crazy behavior, given that we both have advanced degrees in the mental health fields? We tell her to stop acting crazy! We do not tolerate it. Of course, we couple those admonishments with lots of nurturing and encouragement, but bottom line is, our family is crazy enough, thank you very much, so we cannot afford to tolerate willful craziness. We dole out consequences to match the outrageousness of the behavior (usually missing out on something she wants to do). Does this parenting model work? Yes, Sara is making wonderful progress. And, almost all of the time she is included in all family endeavors. When I read her her bedtime stories, I quiz her afterwords to see how well she comprehended what we read, and her comprehension is excellent.

Nine-year-old Greg is going through a stage where he usually has a very hard time owning up to his behaviors. If confronted by Jon or Sara, he usually gets aggressive with them. If confronted by a parent, he often argues and denies culpability, thereby earning himself a closely supervised timeout, then a discussion led by a parent to assess the degree to which the timeout helped accomplish the goal of him accepting responsibility for his actions. Luckily, Colleen and I have always seen eye-to-eye on parenting issues, so they cannot play one of us against the other.

Both Jon and Greg, especially Jon, feel free to ask me questions on any subject. I try to give them clear, comprehensive answers. I am really enjoying them at their present ages.

Is parenting easy? No. Would I trade it for not parenting? No way!

Funniest video, but I couldn't get it to imbed!

Aggressive turtle is after you!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/aggressive-turtle-is-after-you/turtle_chases_cat_video
The site is a little skeezy, so just watch the turtle and get outta there!

Georgia Bishop Eddie Long Vows To Fight Allegations

In the interest of keeping things fair, here is the Bishop's statement of denial of any wrongdoing.

Another stickery bumper thingy!

All right, Barack, that is a good beginning!

Okay now, President Obama has, according to today's Denver Post, called Ahmadinejad's comments "offensive," "hateful," and "inexcusable." Sounds like a good beginning to me.
Victor Davis Hansen, though, writing at National Review's The Corner, reminds us of the similarities between Obama's presidency and that of Jimmy Carter.

I hope we can avoid digging ourselves into our ideological prison camps, though, and support the President for his condemnation of Ahmadinejad's U.N. comments.

Kingdom Quotes - Erwin McManus - civilized or barbarian?

  "The civilized build shelters and invite God to stay with them; barbarians move with God wherever He chooses to go. The civilized Christian has a routine; the barbarian disciple has a mission. The civilized believer knows the letter of the law; the barbarian disciple lives the spirit of the law. The religiously civilized love tradition; the barbarian spirit loves challenges. The civilized are satisfied with ritual; barbarians live and thrive in the mystical. For the civilized disciple, religion provides stability and certainty; for the barbarian, a life in God is one of risk and mystery." 
- Erwin Raphael McManus from The Barbarian Way

Another bumper sticker? You bet!

South of Broad

Speaking of American novelists, as I did yesterday, is there a better novelist in America than Charleston's very own Pat Conroy? I am rereading his South of Broad. Wow!

Kissin' Cousins

My stepson Erik will graduate from high school this school year. He is also enrolled in a technical school, taking college level classes in diesel mechanics. He has always gone to the beat of his own drummer, or, in his case, his own guitar, on which he has learned to play beautifully classical guitar pieces. As the photo below, taken by his sister, indicates, he and she also have pretty wild senses of humor. He plans to use this for his senior photo in the school yearbook.

Your New Health Care System Chart

This is a page from the GOP Pledge To America, page 29.

Uh oh, here we go...again!

What's the deal with Atlanta and pastors in sexual scandals? Yesterday it was announced that Eddie Long, pastor/leader/bishop of the 25k member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church is accused of a pattern of taking young men on trips and giving them cars and employment and then engaging in inappropriate sexual relationships with them.

"Three lawsuits were filed this week alleging Long used cars, money and trips to coerce three young men into having sexual relationships with him when they were teenage members of his church. The allegations have been widely reported on CNN and Good Morning America, and Long was among the top 10 trending topics on Twitter Thursday." (Charisma Magazine)



Here is the pattern: 
1) Everyone is appalled and shocked and defends the "Reverend/Bishop/Pastor/Apostle."
2) Victims are blamed for being bitter and wanting revenge, etc.
3) More people come forward eventually to corroborate the story of the victims. In some cases this can take years. 
4) Either a back room deal is cut, and every one just suddenly shuts up, or, 
5) "Reverend/Bishop/Pastor/Apostle" feels a call to retire or, "pass on the mantle" to the next generation, etc. This is code for "part of the back room deal was I retire and jump out of the plane with my golden parachute." 
6) The media in the area find the real goods and report it regularly for years to come, if it takes that long. 
7) "Reverend/Bishop/Pastor/Apostle" declares his/her proper level of penance and restoration , on his/her own terms and either takes over their former position, or starts up a new "work" somewhere else, usually in Hollywood. Honestly, have we ever heard of one of these "anointed men and women of God" ever choosing to go serve in a poor area of America or a mission in another country? 
8) People still keep financially supporting these charlatans to their dying day, despite overwhelming evidence that they are crooks, thieves, and wolves in sheep's clothing. 
9) Unbelievers and skeptics have another name to throw in the face of every true believer struggling through this life doing small things with great love and trying to bring the light and truth of the real Gospel of the Kingdom. 


God have mercy on us all.

"Eleven!"

I saw this on my daily trip to the Washington Rebel blog

"Trapped in an intellectual cul de sac"

David Brooks nails it in his September 20 New York Times column about the writing of Jonathan Franzen. Franzen was recently featured on the cover of Time Magazine, which christened him "Novelist of the Decade." That piqued my curiosity, and I picked up his autobiography. I soon returned it to the library, because after only a few moments into the book I realized this was just one more leftist, albeit one who could write better than most.

Franzen has a new book, "Freedom," which Brooks reviewed in his column. Are Americans unhappy and spiritually stunted? Are we overobsessed with personal freedom? Brooks believes Franzen is really writing about America's literary culture.

Brooks writes: "If you judged by American literature, there are no happy people in the suburbs, and certainly no fulfilled ones."

Bingo! Brooks continues:

"writers have become trapped in the confines of this orthodoxy. So even a writer as talented as Franzen has apt descriptions of neighborhood cattiness and self-medicating housewives, but ignores anything that might complicate the Quiet Desperation dogma. There’s almost no religion. There’s very little about the world of work and enterprise. There’s an absence of ethnic heritage, military service, technical innovation, scientific research or anything else potentially lofty and ennobling."

Broooks' final paragraph:

"Social critics from Thoreau to Allan Bloom to the S.D.S. authors of The Port Huron Statement also made critiques about the flatness of bourgeois life, but at least they tried to induce their readers to long for serious things. “Freedom” is a brilliantly written book that is nonetheless trapped in an intellectual cul de sac — overly gimlet-eyed about American life and lacking an alternative vision of higher ground."

Signs of recovery?

Was watching the Red Eye yesterday and caught the commercial for Lasting Memory Paw. A memorial for pets to be placed in your yard, or inside, even on a wall. The commercial was so funny I laughed myself to tears and coughing spells. In this day, if people are dropping a twenty dollar bill on a cheap plastic paw print plaque to memorialize their pet, perhaps we are in an economic recovery.  Cheesy sentimentality rocks!

"Our hearts still ache with sadness

and secret tears still flow.

What it meant to lose you,

no one will ever know."

The only sad part for me was that they didn't have a "But wait...there's more!" tag in the commercial.

All I've got to say is, "God bless America."

Here's another one...sticker, that is.

Best Idea Ever!

So, there you are, you and the other leaders of the Democratic party. You're trying to figure out how to survive this next election and go forward with a half-watt bulb leader and no real vision to speak of. People are not responding to your calls to see your "record of success" in the last year or two, and poll after poll shows nothing but negative, falling numbers. Heck, even Jimmy Carter says his administration was better than this one! "Hmmm...let's see...I've got it! We need a new logo! That old one we had (that nobody remembers) really was lame. Those young people will see this new logo and sacrifice another chunk of their lives to go out on the road and once again spread the good news of Obamunism."

Here it is, America! Behold:

What the heck? Oh yeah, that's the ticket! Bwahahahahahaha! A blue circle with a capital D in the middle. Brilliant! Isn't that United-Nations-we're-here-to-apologize-some-more-so-you'll-like-us-Blue in the D in the middle there? Doesn't that color just put you in the mood to surrender? I haven't seen a better logo since the square peg going through the round hole in Office Space! 

I think I can interpret the "Change That Matters" motto. You see, if you read in between the words here it really says: 

Change 

(you don't believe in) 

That 

(we have forced on you without even a fair vote, 

because we still have the majority, 

and nothing you can say about it) 

Matters

O, The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus

When you are overwhelmed and just don't get what's goin' on, you just have to worship your way through. In the Bible they call it the "sacrifice of praise." It's the kind of worship that David did when he and his band got home and saw that raiders had kidnapped their families and burned their homes. It's the worship David sang after having to feign madness before an evil warlord to save his own skin. Jeremiah worshipped this way as he saw God fulfill his words to the letter as Jerusalem was burning and the people were being taken captive. And, yes, it's the worship of a lonely Son in a garden, waiting to be taken to His death for all of us. Yes, feel your pain, but then share it with the only one who knows you truly and can come near in this time with full understanding.
(O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus performed by Joana Hogg, lead singer of the band Iona)

Yep, here's another one...

What? Another Anti-Obama Sticker?

Buck wins Colorado Senate election

The Denver Post reports that Michelle Obama is coming to Colorado to campaign for Senator Michael Bennet in mid-October. GOP Senate candidate Ken Buck must be elated. Now Buck needs to play it close to the vest, not say anything stupid. The election is his to claim.

"We're just going to have to be mature about mass murder"

Ace details the appeasement meme of the left and their spokesperson, Barack Obama:

September 21, 2010
Barack Obama To Bob Woodward This Past July: "We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever . . . we absorbed it and we are stronger."
—Ace

From Woodward's new book, quoted in the Washington Post.


A little context here. The Obama and the leftist media will attempt to spin this as merely descriptive, and as a tribute to America's resiliency. After all -- we did survive 9/11, didn't we? (Well, actually, 2996 of us did not survive 9/11, but apart from them, we survived.)

This is merely Obama talking up America's capacity to endure, they will say.

But it's not. This is a meme that has been circulating on the left for quite a while, usually secretly and among themselves only, but sometimes, ill-advisedly, being pushed out into public as a trial balloon.

The idea, of course, is that America overreacted to 9/11, and 50,000 people die every year in car crashes, and we don't freak out about that, do we? No, we accept these as acceptable losses in the bigger picture (that is, we want to drive places) and we take the exchange. We drive, some of us will die. Sound bargain.

That's the killer notion here -- the idea of bargain. Of what is being exchanged for these deaths. In the case of automobile collisions, well, sure, we have mobility and freedom. That's something.

But the left is pushing this idea that we can safely "absorb" many new 9/11's with an eye towards getting us to "accept" the greater bargain they fatuously offer -- peace, and a general wind-down of post-9/11 security "overreactions" like the FBI tracking Muslims suspected of terrorist ties. If only we didn't overreact to the occasional mass-murder, we could go about our business without war, without increased security measures, without "Islamophobia," without the rest of it.

The problem, you see, is primarily within us, those being targeted for murder. If only we understood that this was a good bargain in exchange for living in a multicultural country and global economy, then we could be good citizens of the world and not lash out so terribly and uselessly when some of the more aggressive proponents of multiculturalism blow up a few of our buildings.

They will spin this, but this is what Obama is getting at, what the left is constantly saying, but which leftist politicians are careful never to say publicly: for the good of relations with the Muslim world we're just going to have to be mature about mass murder

Poor Jimmy

Did you see the interview with Jimmy Carter on the news yesterday? It seems that former worst President ever Carter was shocked and slightly hurt when the reporter asked him if he thought much about the comparisons between the current administration and his tenure in the office. Honestly, the level of denial in the man's brain was actually somewhat pitiful. He practically became incensed and quickly retorted that his presidency was very effective and successful. Jimmy Carter was actually hurt by being compared to Barack  Obama. Is that a hoot, or what? Poor Jimmy, he is about to lose his place in history as the worst leader the U.S. has ever had.

Hey look, it's another one of those bumper sticker things...

Let's give it a try!

Do you believe God loves you? Then, why do allow yourself to get stressed out? That is the question I am asking myself this morning. If we believe God loves us, then we should also believe that God is available to help us conquer any problem we are facing. I believe God wants us to be joyous, grateful, positive contributors. Through the Holy Spirit He is here to help, and all we have to do is turn to Him throughout our days and nights, especially when we feel stress, anxiety, or loss. Let's give it a try!

Quotes that have meaning to me

Here are some quotes I have recently read. Most of them I cannot remember who said them. They just have meaning to me at this moment in my life.

"If you are going through Hell, keep going." (Winston Churchill)

"When a woman is done, she is well and truly done." (I saw this at the Washington Rebel blog.)

"Some friendships are formed as an alliance against a common enemy." David Sedaris, in his book Dress Your Family in Cordoroy and Denim

"What is the most beautiful sound in the world? Hearing the footsteps of the one you love approaching outside your door." (from William F. Buckley's book The Reagan I Knew"

"What is it like to live in the vortex of an impossible yearning?"

"It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and erase all doubt."

Chasing The Perfect Cup Of Coffee - With Science!

Gizmodo has an article about a new tech gizmo that can tell you with scientific certainty and precision whether the coffee you make at home stinks on ice or not. It's full of actual scientific data and charts, and it's about coffee! Put some 50's cool jazz in the background and I end up in some kind of geeky-jazzy-coffee ecstasy. Oh, pardon me, my French Press is calling...Ah, yes, the perfect 19!

Bumper Stickers continue

Yet another Obama Sticker for your bumper

We ARE all in this together

Lost Decade for Family Income

By CONOR DOUGHERTY And SARA MURRAY

The downturn that some have dubbed the "Great Recession" has trimmed the typical household's income significantly, new Census data show, following years of stagnant wage growth that made the past decade the worst for American families in at least half a century.

The bureau's annual snapshot of American living standards also found that the fraction of Americans living in poverty rose sharply to 14.3% from 13.2% in 2008—the highest since 1994. Some 43.6 million Americans were living below the official poverty threshold, but the measure doesn't fully capture the panoply of government antipoverty measures.

The inflation-adjusted income of the median household—smack in the middle of the populace—fell 4.8% between 2000 and 2009, even worse than the 1970s, when median income rose 1.9% despite high unemployment and inflation. Between 2007 and 2009, incomes fell 4.2%.

"It's going to be a long, hard slog back to what most Americans think of as normalcy or prosperous times," said Nicholas Eberstadt, a political economist at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

(more at wsj.com)

Kingdom Quotes - Erwin McManus - God's will

God's will for us is less about our comfort than it is about our contribution. God would never choose for us safety at the cost of significance. God created you so that your life would count, 

not that you could count the days of your life.

 - Erwin McManus from The Barbarian Way

Can The GOP Win Graciously?

  I'm seeing a disturbing trend, and maybe you've seen this as well. It seems that it is a forgone conclusion that the Republicans will "take back the House and Senate" this November. And already you can see the wheels turning in their minds as to how they are going to stick it to the Democrats. And I must admit, part of me wants to see the sharks come to the blood in the water. And so, for my part, I realize that there is that impulse for wanting some kind of reckoning and a clear victory that will force people to see things the way I do. Somewhere I read about the heart being so dark that no one can understand it. (Hmm, where was that?)
   And then there comes this still, small voice that says "Will this solve anything or get the country going in the right direction?" And then comes the answer, "Not necessarily." In fact, if things go the way they look like they will, we are looking at the most contentious and difficult two years in history. Think about this with me.
  The presidential election season will begin in earnest next year, and with it all the negative rhetoric and name calling that we Americans call debate. We'll also have a two year logger head situation in Congress that will frustrate the public and exasperate those in office. The forecast is cloudy, with a chance of storms of frustration. What to do? This all seems inevitable.
   I have an idea. How about on November 3rd, we have a humble assembly acknowledging that things are difficult, and that real people are really suffering in real ways because of the real hard times we are having. Think of this like receiving the most votes for your party on the eve of a great battle that you knew would not go well, something like Winston Churchill becoming PM in Britain in the shadow of WWII.
  Yes, the Republicans are going to do well in November. And now I ask the question rarely uttered: "To what end?" What strong, unifying vision do we offer the people? What actual plans do we have that will turn things around and bring strength and honor back to our civil life and public discourse. Can the GOP win graciously, and unify people behind them and help prepare them for the difficult times ahead? I hope so.

Yet Another Obama Bumper Sticker

Obama Bumper Stickers #2

Obama Bumper Stickers

As I had previously mentioned, there is a virtual plethora of wonderful Obama negative wear out there. And from about now until the November election, I  thought I'd share them with you. If you like 'em, go out there and purchase one for your bumper.

Religion of Peace Alert: FBI Advises ‘Draw Muhammad’ Cartoonist to Disappear

By Andy McCarthy (NRO)

Fox News reports that, at the urging of the FBI, Molly Norris, the “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” cartoonist from Seattle, has gone into hiding and changed her name after being threatened with death for insulting Islam. Maybe she can hide at Justice Breyer’s house.

As I mentioned in Tuesday’s column, the Obama administration last year co-sponsored a UN resolution to encourage countries to enact laws that would make it illegal to criticize Islam. The president was on the “Repeal the First Amendment” bandwagon before the justice hopped aboard. But if top levels of government are going to signal that Islam should get special immunity, and states like New Jersey are going to follow suit by firing people from state jobs for criticizing Islam, the FBI better be prepared to reassign a few thousand agents to the new “We Can’t Protect You” division.

I didn't know the U.S. co-sponsored the resolution with Egypt to "encourage" countries to enact laws to protect Islam. Did you? That just didn't come up last year in the mainstream media. What about protecting the artist from harm instead of telling her to disappear? It's official folks, the world has just gone plain nuts. -Cliff

Falling Smile, Inc.

Greg (9) and Jon (10) have formed a corporation. Well, not one sanctioned by the state, but they just like the sound of the word "incorporated." Jon actually asked me "What does incorporated mean?" I started to formulate an answer, but before I did, the conversation had already rushed on to other topics.

The name of their "corporation" is "Falling Smile, Inc." It is Jon's idea, so I asked him what it means. An impish smile appeared on his face, but he only offered this answer: "I just have this HUGE imagination." Both boys like to draw humorous pictures. This morning I could not find the one Jon did last night as I was tucking them in for the night. Greg drew this one. It is a pencil drawing of "Pumpkin Man," who is smiling while wearing a necktie and cowboy boots. In the upper right hand corner, purposely upside down, is the logo of Falling Smile, Inc.

Can she convince Barack?

A new book co-written by Carla Bruni quotes Michelle Obama as saying that being America's first lady is "Hell." "I can't stand it," Michelle tells Italian actress and wife of French President Sarcozy. Now, if she can just convince Barack that one term is enough...

Nancy Pelosi is the Wicked Witch of the West

Here you go, eveybody.  No "powers that be" at my house. Enjoy.

Would that be cheating?

Sara was getting her "Sisterlocks" done today, so Jon (10), Greg (9), and I went on a bike ride on the sandy country road. Greg's bike is perpetually under the weather, since he rides it like a cowboy riding a bull, so he took Sara's. First, though, Greg had to make a sign to cover the Barbie bike bag on Sara's bike. "NOT MY BIKE" read the sign.

When Sara (6) got home from getting her hair done, I read her some stories and tucked her in. When it came time for prayers, I ended with "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." "What about the Daughter? Sara yelled indignantly. I told her "I don't know." I suggested she ask God about that the next time she sees HIm. She immediately responded that God is with her all day long. He usually sits in Ian's chair, because Ian is usually absent. The only time God is not with Sara, she asserted, is when she is doing a spelling test. "That would be cheating, to ask God how to spell a word."

How much longer can he play this "poor me" game?

via Theo Spark

Tuesday Humor

Checking out Mike Rosen's humor page is always gratifying. For example, there is Doug Powers' column on what leftists wish were different about the Bible. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from that column:

Instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh, they should have brought hummus, incense and a representative from Child Protective Services.

And the thing about the Bible that drives the left the most crazy? People can find salvation without their assistance.

Then, there is this one on Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder:

Diagnosed with AAADD
Recently, I was Diagnosed with AAADD - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only 1 check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered. I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
1) The car isn't washed
2) The bills aren't paid
3) There is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter
4) The flowers don't have enough water,
5) There is still only 1 check in my check book,
6) I can't find the remote,
7) I can't find my glasses,
8) And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired. I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

The Wicked Witch of the West

Nancy Pelosi actually has someone who is running against her for the San Francisco seat in the House of Representatives...and, he has a sense of humor! How cool is that? His name is John Dennis. Go to You Tube and search for wicked witch Nancy Pelosi. Note the reference to the McCain-Feingold incumbent-protection-mandated-message at the end of the video. Surprisingly, (heh) the powers that be would not allow me to post the video here.

On Communism, Capitalism, and Christianity

via Theo Spark







The Wall Street Journal has a front page story today about the fact that Cuba is going to lay off half a million state workers between now and March, and try to encourage the development of free market capitalism! Interestingly, the Journal article says that the Catholic Church has been recommending this course of action to the Castro brothers for some time now. But, how will these laid-off workers be absorbed into the private economy, when there is not much of a private economy to absorb them? 85% of Cuba's workers belong to the state union, and work for the state. Unlike here in America, where public sector jobs pay more than private sector jobs, when all benefits are considered, in Cuba it is the opposite. The few private sector jobs they do have pay three times what the public sector jobs pay.

Capitalism is based on the simple principle of providing goods or services that people decide voluntarily to choose to buy in a competitive marketplace. Socialism, of course, is based on the principle of taking away from some people to distribute to others; the opposite of voluntary choice.

One of the companies that has succeeded in the free market is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart emphasizes the three A's. All cashiers are trained to Acknowledge the customer with a warm smile as soon as the customer gets within ten feet of the cashier. Then Wal-Mart expects the cashier to Act on behalf of the customer; providing excellent service to that customer. Finally, Wal-Mart expects their cashiers to Appreciate the customer; to let the customer know that their business is appreciated. One of the features of the Wal-Mart experience is that there is a greeter at the door to make sure you have a shopping cart and are greeted with a friendly hello when you enter the building and thanked when you leave. Simple, but basic. Wouldn't all of us be better off if we ran our families on those three basic principles?

Of course, there is much more to the Wal-Mart story. There is also the principle of providing people with the stuff they want at a price that is lower than anybody else's. Those cashiers I mentioned? They have to be willing to put into practice cheerfully and sincerely those three A's, while working for wages and benefits that are lower than the union-operated stores of Wal-Mart's competitors. To survive on the low wages, Wal-Mart employees have to be willing to go along with the Biblical injunction not to lay up for themselves treasures on this Earth; meaning that they have to live simply with not a lot of material possessions, and still be people who practice the golden rule established a couple of centuries ago by Jesus Christ.

Fed up with appeasement

Talk radio has a real lively issue today: the Florida pastor's desire to burn the Qu'ran tomorrow. Judging by the calls I have heard, there is widespread support for this idea. People are tired of what they perceive as our country's kowtowing to muslims. There can be no doubt that Obama is an appeaser, and that he is solidly supported in these endeavors by the dinosaur media, and that a large segment of Americans are fed up with it.

"Conservatism's Extreme Makeover"

In my daily trip to the Washington Rebel blog, I was referred to an excelllent piece in the American Thinker blog by J.R. Dunn entitled Conservatism's Extreme Makeover. Dunn examines the history of conservatism from William F. Buckley to today's Tea Party movement.

Here are a couple of excerpts, but I urge you to read the whole thing.

Conservatives wasted effort and energy on silly crusades against popular culture, style, and behavior that isolated them still further from average Americans. Nothing about American music, film, sport, or social life seemed to please the new center-right. This deepened their isolation along with earning them a reputation as humorless, over-intellectualized stuffed shirts.

His conclusion:

The year 2010 is likely to be a banner year for the conservative impulse in American life. The Tea Parties have already pushed aside several go-along-to-get-along Republican hacks (which in itself repudiates accusations of partisanship). The sweep of corrupt and ideologized Democrats promises to be an order of magnitude larger. But the 2010 election may well turn into no more than another good election season if we don't take advantage of the disarray in the left's messaging system. We need to look farther and deeper than a single election. We need to bury the calumnies against conservatism that have given the left the advantage for a half-century and longer. To remove the weapon of slander from leftist hands. Elite conservatives failed to attempt this for decade upon decade. The time has arrived to see that it gets done. We must move to change the culture, to establish once and for all the truth that conservatism is a core element of American life, that it is no oddity, no perversion, no dead end. That the modernist political debate is over, with the failure of leftist progressivism manifest and undeniable, and that the game must now be played on American terms.


We will have no better opportunity than this. That most American of political phenomena, the Tea Parties, has established once and for all that conservatism is American and that America is a conservative nation. If we can build upon this, our road will be a lot smoother than it has been.

Blood-sucking relationships

There are many things happening in today's world that I do not understand. Close to the top of the list is people's fascination with vampires. In times like this, when money is tight, to say the least, how is it that so many people spend their limited discretionary funds on books, movies, and cable t.v. shows that glorify blood-sucking relationships?

Who on Madison Avenue is behind this? How did so many people get this addiction? If any reader of this blog has any insight into this phenomena, I would really appreciate hearing from you. It is not just teenage girls; the phenomena has a solid grip on adults, too. It seems to be mainly females, though, who are caught up in this. Why?

Colleen thinks it is about risk containment. A woman knows that a relationship with a man involves risk, but she also believes she can change him, domesticate him.. By engaging in romantic love with that man, does she hope to contain the risk? Kinda like a romance novel with extra bite?