http://theblogprof.blogspot.com/2009/12/news-co2-levels-in-atmosphere-havent.html
Some more damning evidence that not only are the man made CO2 emissions data cooked up, but our human emissions are a tiny fraction of the overall CO2 cycle.
Now, does evidence have any effect on the Globablists who are straining to set up a one world government funded by a "carbon tax" (which would bypass national governments and be payable to der Furher to be spent on whatever he wanted.) Maybe Obama has put in for that position. Of course not! The goal is not climate control - that is just the latest excuse to spook the sheep into whatever direction the globalists want them to stampeded. No, the goal is total control - Limited Government be damned.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Grateful to be Alive
I reveived a number of calls and emails and cards and FB comments as a result of a heart attack on Christmas Eve. Big surprise. The following was something I wrote in response to someone who knows Christ as his Savior and Friend, as I do. Perhaps the thoughts will cause you to pause and consider, as these events did for me.
Hi Brother,
I got your email just a few minutes ago. I can check my business email from anywhere, but I just have not felt like doing much. I am real tired because I am not sleeping well. Lots of reasons, but mostly a combination of new meds, altered cardio-pulmonary function, and a sense that things must change in my lifestyle (eating, exercise, physical priorities, etc.) Things with my recovery seem to be getting better incrementally every day.
It was a profound surprise to have to leave out of my bedroom at 9:45 pm Thursday Christmas Eve, after self-diagnosing a heart attack, and then walk back in on Monday evening, seeing what I had left behind. My last view may have been my last view. I suppose that many things that I (and all of us, for that matter) thought were real important now look a bit tawdry and silly when viewed in the light of eternity.
“I know whom I have believed and am fully-persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day”, so I was not frightened of dying, believe it or not; it was not so much on my mind as we went in a rush to the emergency room, but had a sense of peace that whatever happened I was in His hands.
It was sobering though, as I thought about it on the operating table, that I could leave behind a wife who would really, really miss me and need me, however inept a husband and friend I may have been to her. I was not praying for life, but I was just trusting Him to have His will.
I have been given a great gift - a second chance to remove from the many nooks and crannies of my life things that were not totally given over to Him. It is not that failing to remove these things would invalidate my salvation - not that at all - but that I would squander another series of opportunities to show Him how much I love Him; another opportunity to cast self to the wind and do as the sinner-woman did in the house of Simon the Pharisee, weeping and washing Jesus' feet with her tears, wiping them with the hairs of her head (humbling her glory for His glory); anointing his head with oil, and not saying a word or clamoring for anything. She was already forgiven. She came to give, not get.
She didn't need to be there, if one thinks that the only reason to come to Jesus is to get something from Him. She already had it. (Jesus makes that abundantly clear as He proceeds to explain the facts of life to Simon). Why was she there? Why was she weeping, then? The answer is obvious. She was forgiven much, therefore she loved Him much. She took possibly her only opportunity to personally express that love to Him and bewail her former sins and lifestyle that now grieved her. She had been "frankly" forgiven a debt she could never pay; and she loved the One who not only could but did forgive her.
I want to emulate that woman.
I know that I have not exerted myself enough to show Him how grateful I am for His forgiveness and grace to me. Perhaps there is no "enough" that we can ever attain in that regard, but I sincerely want this to be a new beginning in my expression of personal devotion to Him, and availability of my life to Him. Really, I think that is the whole point of what it means to be a child of God. Everything else is a side show.
Thanks for your prayers. I gratefully acknowledge and appreciate the prayers of many, many friends all over the country. God took them and used them to not just heal me but to change me. That is a wonderful miracle.
Hi Brother,
I got your email just a few minutes ago. I can check my business email from anywhere, but I just have not felt like doing much. I am real tired because I am not sleeping well. Lots of reasons, but mostly a combination of new meds, altered cardio-pulmonary function, and a sense that things must change in my lifestyle (eating, exercise, physical priorities, etc.) Things with my recovery seem to be getting better incrementally every day.
It was a profound surprise to have to leave out of my bedroom at 9:45 pm Thursday Christmas Eve, after self-diagnosing a heart attack, and then walk back in on Monday evening, seeing what I had left behind. My last view may have been my last view. I suppose that many things that I (and all of us, for that matter) thought were real important now look a bit tawdry and silly when viewed in the light of eternity.
“I know whom I have believed and am fully-persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day”, so I was not frightened of dying, believe it or not; it was not so much on my mind as we went in a rush to the emergency room, but had a sense of peace that whatever happened I was in His hands.
It was sobering though, as I thought about it on the operating table, that I could leave behind a wife who would really, really miss me and need me, however inept a husband and friend I may have been to her. I was not praying for life, but I was just trusting Him to have His will.
I have been given a great gift - a second chance to remove from the many nooks and crannies of my life things that were not totally given over to Him. It is not that failing to remove these things would invalidate my salvation - not that at all - but that I would squander another series of opportunities to show Him how much I love Him; another opportunity to cast self to the wind and do as the sinner-woman did in the house of Simon the Pharisee, weeping and washing Jesus' feet with her tears, wiping them with the hairs of her head (humbling her glory for His glory); anointing his head with oil, and not saying a word or clamoring for anything. She was already forgiven. She came to give, not get.
She didn't need to be there, if one thinks that the only reason to come to Jesus is to get something from Him. She already had it. (Jesus makes that abundantly clear as He proceeds to explain the facts of life to Simon). Why was she there? Why was she weeping, then? The answer is obvious. She was forgiven much, therefore she loved Him much. She took possibly her only opportunity to personally express that love to Him and bewail her former sins and lifestyle that now grieved her. She had been "frankly" forgiven a debt she could never pay; and she loved the One who not only could but did forgive her.
I want to emulate that woman.
I know that I have not exerted myself enough to show Him how grateful I am for His forgiveness and grace to me. Perhaps there is no "enough" that we can ever attain in that regard, but I sincerely want this to be a new beginning in my expression of personal devotion to Him, and availability of my life to Him. Really, I think that is the whole point of what it means to be a child of God. Everything else is a side show.
Thanks for your prayers. I gratefully acknowledge and appreciate the prayers of many, many friends all over the country. God took them and used them to not just heal me but to change me. That is a wonderful miracle.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
What Would it Take?
In view of Joe Lieberman's and Ben Nelson's capitulation to Harry Reid on the Senate Healthcare bill - and in view of the overarching necessity to defeat this odious bill, what would it take for someone in the Democratic Party to stand up and oppose it? Are there no principled Senate Democrats left in the entire Party?
I would like to believe that there are a number of them, but they are afraid to break ranks. Maybe, when the chips are down, they might take some courage from a certain Joseph, hailing from Aramathea in Israel, who finally threw caution to the winds and went into the hall of Pontius Pilate the Roman governor and begged the body of Jesus, to thwart the intent of the Jewish leaders (of which group he was a member). They intended for Jesus' body to be thrown into the garbage pit in the valley of Hinnon and consumed by the dogs. He knew that he would be publically exposed as a disciple of Jesus - a very risky exposure for one in his position - if he took action on behalf of Jesus. But history records that he finally gathered up his courage and broke away from his fears and took the body down and donated the use of his own newly-hewn tomb for the burial. He was not exactly keeping a safe distance from the political and religious wrath of the Sanhedren in doing what he did.
Perhaps there are a few uncomfortable "Joseph's" in the body of the Senate Democrats who are wondering what to do as the scheduled vote is nearing at 1:00 am Monday 12/21/09 - just a few hours from the time this blog is being written.
What will it take to stir them to do the right thing?
I pray to the God of Battles that He grant them the courage of their convictions. Otherwise, the old American Republic is at an end.
I would like to believe that there are a number of them, but they are afraid to break ranks. Maybe, when the chips are down, they might take some courage from a certain Joseph, hailing from Aramathea in Israel, who finally threw caution to the winds and went into the hall of Pontius Pilate the Roman governor and begged the body of Jesus, to thwart the intent of the Jewish leaders (of which group he was a member). They intended for Jesus' body to be thrown into the garbage pit in the valley of Hinnon and consumed by the dogs. He knew that he would be publically exposed as a disciple of Jesus - a very risky exposure for one in his position - if he took action on behalf of Jesus. But history records that he finally gathered up his courage and broke away from his fears and took the body down and donated the use of his own newly-hewn tomb for the burial. He was not exactly keeping a safe distance from the political and religious wrath of the Sanhedren in doing what he did.
Perhaps there are a few uncomfortable "Joseph's" in the body of the Senate Democrats who are wondering what to do as the scheduled vote is nearing at 1:00 am Monday 12/21/09 - just a few hours from the time this blog is being written.
What will it take to stir them to do the right thing?
I pray to the God of Battles that He grant them the courage of their convictions. Otherwise, the old American Republic is at an end.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Health Care Letter to my Democrat Senator
My wife and I are constituents of yours in Florida and are nearing retirement age. We are both 63. We are well-informed about government issues, and vote in every election.
We want you to know that we are unalterably opposed to the healthcare legislation being debated in Congress. We don't want any of it.
Does the US have a healthcare crisis? Yes, of course. It was created by Congress, and is being made even worse by Congress and the President. There is nothing the Congress or the President can do to “solve” this crisis except to back off and stop trying to control everything.
You might not pay any attention to this communication, but it would not only be wise for you to do so as an incumbent, but as a citizen of a country that values personal liberty as a fundamental right. What is at stake is far more than making healthcare available to a larger pool of people, or controlling costs - it is about a power grab of a big part of the entire economy, and a huge stab in the back to personal Liberty for all of us.
We urge you in the strongest terms possible to vote NO to any health care bill this session. This is not the time to expand the Federal Government's role in healthcare - it is a time to reduce it to almost nothing.
The country is already bankrupt and in a Depression rivaling that of the 1930’s. Heaping further debt, taxes, controls and restrictions on our economy will make things far worse and precipitate a collapse. There are some who have said that this is the secret agenda of the President and many of his Chicago associates. We don’t know this to be true, but we are wondering how much more damage is going to be done to our economy before you in Congress say “enough.” We, and a majority of the voting population have already said it.
You were not elected to be a “yes” man for any party or any president. You represent US, not them. Check for your self to see just how much opposition there is to a government takeover of healthcare. The people don’t want it. Listen to them.
Perhaps that is not what your caucus is telling you to do, but please vote what is right and not what is expedient. Future generations will appreciate you for it. So will we.
We want you to know that we are unalterably opposed to the healthcare legislation being debated in Congress. We don't want any of it.
Does the US have a healthcare crisis? Yes, of course. It was created by Congress, and is being made even worse by Congress and the President. There is nothing the Congress or the President can do to “solve” this crisis except to back off and stop trying to control everything.
You might not pay any attention to this communication, but it would not only be wise for you to do so as an incumbent, but as a citizen of a country that values personal liberty as a fundamental right. What is at stake is far more than making healthcare available to a larger pool of people, or controlling costs - it is about a power grab of a big part of the entire economy, and a huge stab in the back to personal Liberty for all of us.
We urge you in the strongest terms possible to vote NO to any health care bill this session. This is not the time to expand the Federal Government's role in healthcare - it is a time to reduce it to almost nothing.
The country is already bankrupt and in a Depression rivaling that of the 1930’s. Heaping further debt, taxes, controls and restrictions on our economy will make things far worse and precipitate a collapse. There are some who have said that this is the secret agenda of the President and many of his Chicago associates. We don’t know this to be true, but we are wondering how much more damage is going to be done to our economy before you in Congress say “enough.” We, and a majority of the voting population have already said it.
You were not elected to be a “yes” man for any party or any president. You represent US, not them. Check for your self to see just how much opposition there is to a government takeover of healthcare. The people don’t want it. Listen to them.
Perhaps that is not what your caucus is telling you to do, but please vote what is right and not what is expedient. Future generations will appreciate you for it. So will we.
Health Care Reform - John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Marketplace
This article by the CEO of Whole Foods hits on almost every important point that would help solve a major portion of the healthcare problem in this country. It would certainly get the free market back into operation, which would automatically lower the cost of healthcare significantly.
But, one thing he did not mention is the necessity for a gradual phaseout of Medicare and Medicaid, socialist programs which are not only actuarily unsound but also are off-loading costs into the rest of the healthcare system. Healthcare reform in this country will not work properly or be complete until we also deal with these huge socialist programs. They tilt the scales too much otherwise.
One other subject that he highlighted - and I appreciate his analysis of this point - is the erroneous notion that we have a presumptive and intrinsic right to healthcare - "to universal and equal access to doctors, medicines, and hospitals. " He cogently points out that even in countries like Great Britain and Canada, such a right does not exist. He says: "A careful reading of both The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter, because there isn’t any. This “right” has never existed in America."
Finally, he brings the healthcare issue back to each of us by reminding the reader that we are responsible for our own health first. We have an obligation to take care of our bodies and not abuse them with junk food, and lack of exercise; and with obesity.
Mr. Mackey has done us a service in publishing his eight points and the example that Whole Foods sets for their own employees.
But, one thing he did not mention is the necessity for a gradual phaseout of Medicare and Medicaid, socialist programs which are not only actuarily unsound but also are off-loading costs into the rest of the healthcare system. Healthcare reform in this country will not work properly or be complete until we also deal with these huge socialist programs. They tilt the scales too much otherwise.
One other subject that he highlighted - and I appreciate his analysis of this point - is the erroneous notion that we have a presumptive and intrinsic right to healthcare - "to universal and equal access to doctors, medicines, and hospitals. " He cogently points out that even in countries like Great Britain and Canada, such a right does not exist. He says: "A careful reading of both The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter, because there isn’t any. This “right” has never existed in America."
Finally, he brings the healthcare issue back to each of us by reminding the reader that we are responsible for our own health first. We have an obligation to take care of our bodies and not abuse them with junk food, and lack of exercise; and with obesity.
Mr. Mackey has done us a service in publishing his eight points and the example that Whole Foods sets for their own employees.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
The United States and the Roman Empire - Larry Reed
As precient as it might appear, this article is even more impressive when you consider that it was written in 1990, almost twenty years ago. It is even more up to date today, except that the debt figures are about ten times worse.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Republican Party first, last, and always?
In response to a FB thread comment: “I have no room on my list for third party candidates. I am only accepting those who are members and supporters of the Republican Party. Reagan was a member of the Republican Party, not the Conservative Party.”
My friend, you are entitled to feel that way, but if the Republican party does not cleanse itself of RINOs (like Reagan urged, btw), then the Conservative wing may well secede and join with many Conservative Independents and Democrats to form a new Party. I’ll be right there with them.
Frankly, I am a constitutional conservative first and a Republican second (or third). Our loyalty must be to the principles, not to a party anyway. The Republican Party has shown itself incapable of principled conservative constitutional leadership over the years since Reagan. Having seen huge wins at state and national levels, and nevertheless seen our ideals denied or frittered away or stabbed in the back, I am no longer going to trust party first.
The recent debacle in upstate New York demonstrates just how corrupt and unprincipled the Northeastern Republican party has become. The candidate put forth by the Republican Party was more liberal than the Democratic candidate. These things ought not so to be. Thank God that Hoffman stood up and announced that he would run as a Conservative Party member. (NY has a Conservative Party, unlike many states.) Had the "Republican" candidate not stabbed the Republican Party - her endorsing party by the way - in the back by turning around and endorsing the Democrat, then maybe we would have Hoffman - a genuine conservative constitutionalist - in Congress right now. We would have a dependable principled voter in Hoffman. What would we have had with the RINO?
The Democrat win was not the fault of the Hoffman people "splitting the vote" - it was a sin to be laid plainly at the door of the hapless Republican local and state committees, who themselves need to be jettisoned because they are so far steeped in anti-Republican principles that they could even think about putting forth such a rancid candidate.
I am unwilling to continue to support a Party that is either too inarticulate to defend conservatism with force and conviction against the stupidity of the Liberals, or is shot through and through with the same career politician types as the Democrats who don’t know or don’t care about the constitution or our liberty.
And you can take the “big tent” and put it where the sun does not shine. If the Republican Party becomes an “also ran” for Abortion and sodomy, then what reason does it have to exist?
There are more important and fundamental things than Party and Power. There is the simple notion of being able to go to bed each night with a good conscience and reliance on God. That ought to be enough for anyone of good intentions.
My friend, you are entitled to feel that way, but if the Republican party does not cleanse itself of RINOs (like Reagan urged, btw), then the Conservative wing may well secede and join with many Conservative Independents and Democrats to form a new Party. I’ll be right there with them.
Frankly, I am a constitutional conservative first and a Republican second (or third). Our loyalty must be to the principles, not to a party anyway. The Republican Party has shown itself incapable of principled conservative constitutional leadership over the years since Reagan. Having seen huge wins at state and national levels, and nevertheless seen our ideals denied or frittered away or stabbed in the back, I am no longer going to trust party first.
The recent debacle in upstate New York demonstrates just how corrupt and unprincipled the Northeastern Republican party has become. The candidate put forth by the Republican Party was more liberal than the Democratic candidate. These things ought not so to be. Thank God that Hoffman stood up and announced that he would run as a Conservative Party member. (NY has a Conservative Party, unlike many states.) Had the "Republican" candidate not stabbed the Republican Party - her endorsing party by the way - in the back by turning around and endorsing the Democrat, then maybe we would have Hoffman - a genuine conservative constitutionalist - in Congress right now. We would have a dependable principled voter in Hoffman. What would we have had with the RINO?
The Democrat win was not the fault of the Hoffman people "splitting the vote" - it was a sin to be laid plainly at the door of the hapless Republican local and state committees, who themselves need to be jettisoned because they are so far steeped in anti-Republican principles that they could even think about putting forth such a rancid candidate.
I am unwilling to continue to support a Party that is either too inarticulate to defend conservatism with force and conviction against the stupidity of the Liberals, or is shot through and through with the same career politician types as the Democrats who don’t know or don’t care about the constitution or our liberty.
And you can take the “big tent” and put it where the sun does not shine. If the Republican Party becomes an “also ran” for Abortion and sodomy, then what reason does it have to exist?
There are more important and fundamental things than Party and Power. There is the simple notion of being able to go to bed each night with a good conscience and reliance on God. That ought to be enough for anyone of good intentions.
How to Capture Wild Hogs
This is the message my friend Larry Reed delivered to a group of Conservatives - Republicans mostly - in South Florida last week.
It describes the destruction of the Roman Republic by making clients of the people of Rome by giving them grain for free. Somebody had to pay for it, and the percentage of public "welfare" recipients grew and grew until the entire Roman state was consumed, along with the public morals, work ethic, military readiness and wealth. Larry pointed out that Roman history is marked by two great epochs: the Republic and the Empire. Each lasted roughly 500 years.
We are witnessing the destruction of the Republic of the United States before our very eyes. We have had a little more than 200 years of the Republic; yet with the speed of the electronic age we may see the total loss of our Republic, along with our liberties and wealth before the end of this Obamanation administration. I think that if the Roman model plays out again, the empire phase will be a One World Government as described in Daniel.
Daniel 7:7 "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns." And ...
Dan 7:19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
Dan 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
I am not suggesting that Obama is the anti-Christ. Actually, I don't think he fits the scriptural qualifications, but the coming world government is going to be brutal and especially hard on the Saints of the Most High.
The Hog Capture is just about complete.
It describes the destruction of the Roman Republic by making clients of the people of Rome by giving them grain for free. Somebody had to pay for it, and the percentage of public "welfare" recipients grew and grew until the entire Roman state was consumed, along with the public morals, work ethic, military readiness and wealth. Larry pointed out that Roman history is marked by two great epochs: the Republic and the Empire. Each lasted roughly 500 years.
We are witnessing the destruction of the Republic of the United States before our very eyes. We have had a little more than 200 years of the Republic; yet with the speed of the electronic age we may see the total loss of our Republic, along with our liberties and wealth before the end of this Obamanation administration. I think that if the Roman model plays out again, the empire phase will be a One World Government as described in Daniel.
Daniel 7:7 "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns." And ...
Dan 7:19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
Dan 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
I am not suggesting that Obama is the anti-Christ. Actually, I don't think he fits the scriptural qualifications, but the coming world government is going to be brutal and especially hard on the Saints of the Most High.
The Hog Capture is just about complete.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
All the President's Climategate deniers - Michelle Malkin
More grist for the mill.
How long will the stonewall continue?
How long will the stonewall continue?
More Comments on fixing health care
A dialog on healthcare reform with someone who wants a universal system so they will be "covered."
Yeah, we need healthcare reform all right: get the government out of our pockets and out of our lives. I don't have insurance, and I have medical issues - but there is absolutely no way I would authorize the government to come to your house and take your money to pay for my medical care. And you should not support the immorality of authorizing government thugs to come to my house and beat the crap out of me until I give up money to pay for yours. Both of us are losers when government transfers money from one citizen to another and then dictates every aspect of our lives. That is where this is going.
The strait jacket of Socialized healthcare is a one-way street - a dead end, not only for our healthcare industry, but for our entire system of Liberty under Law, and free enterprise.
I did my homework and I can plainly see where this is going. I am utterly oppposed to it. It is not about heathcare; it is a power grab.
But to your point:
"Everybody needs to be covered so that they access to treatment" - that is a pipe dream! Who is going to pay for it? where are the additional doctors going to come from? how can the system we have now be able to take on millions of additional people who want a hammock instead of being responsible for themselves? There is no such thing as universal access without rationing, higher and higher costs, lower and lower service, and eventual bankrupcy of the system, and oh, by the way, loss of Liberty.
Aesop's fables tells of a hog rooting acorns at the base of the tree which produced the acorns. When confronted with the fact that he was killing the tree by digging up the roots of the tree, he replied: "I don't care as long as I have acorns."
No one has any claim on me or what I earn to fulfill some "need" they have. Sorry, Karl Marx might approve, but a much higher authority decreed that charity is voluntary not mandatory. And I opt out. No I am not wealthy. In fact I do have affordable catastrophic insurance for some "biggies" - but if the bill runs to the hundreds of thousands, I am out of money. Despite that fact, I still don't think I have a presumptive claim on you to pay for my exorbitant medical bills either.
This becomes emotional because of the high cost of medical care. Why is it so high? It is driven by government. Socialist Medicare and Medicaid have already done a number on us, bribing the elderly (and many younger folk) with the idea that they have a "right" to unlimited medical care - far beyond any contributions they might have made.
This is so sad. Millions of people look first and in some cases, only to the government (nanny state) to "fix" their need for medical care. It is sad because we once had a genuine free enterprise medical system, but we have mostly given it away in the name of subsidized medical care - we are more than fifty percent there now, and many folks don't even realize it, but feel that what we have now is free enterprise.
Somehow, in those "bad old days" when I was a young married man and had my first child, the bill was about $450, all in; hospital stay and all. 1967. Inflation aside, you can't have a baby today for less than, I would guess $10,000. What has changed?
Everyone got in on dipping into the vast river of federal subsidy dollars, and the lawyers' guild got in on the liability lawsuit game (assisted by lots of low-ethics people who wanted to get independently wealthy through frivolous lawsuits), and the insurance companies (yes, they are guilty too) got in on the "let's be regulated" game (it is safer that way, you know!) - and private companies were encouraged by the government to offer (tax deductable to the companies) medical plans to their employees as a perk (thus training them that other people were going to pay for their medical care), and governments at all levels got in on the insurance game for their employees - best in the West!!! No reductions in those plans, no matter whether the government is going bust or not! (n.b. see California)
So here we are with structural rigidities – and unrealistic expectations - built into our system and in many people’s minds, with the main fault being the stimulus starting at the Fed level. Now they want to take over the whole system to “fix” it. But they are the main culprits!
The solution is to dismantle the socialist state, not expend it.
While eating the nuts under the tree, you ought to look up and wonder what is happening to that once-flourishing tree. It is beginning to look kind of sickly. The nuts will run out very suddenly. What will you do then?
Yeah, we need healthcare reform all right: get the government out of our pockets and out of our lives. I don't have insurance, and I have medical issues - but there is absolutely no way I would authorize the government to come to your house and take your money to pay for my medical care. And you should not support the immorality of authorizing government thugs to come to my house and beat the crap out of me until I give up money to pay for yours. Both of us are losers when government transfers money from one citizen to another and then dictates every aspect of our lives. That is where this is going.
The strait jacket of Socialized healthcare is a one-way street - a dead end, not only for our healthcare industry, but for our entire system of Liberty under Law, and free enterprise.
I did my homework and I can plainly see where this is going. I am utterly oppposed to it. It is not about heathcare; it is a power grab.
But to your point:
"Everybody needs to be covered so that they access to treatment" - that is a pipe dream! Who is going to pay for it? where are the additional doctors going to come from? how can the system we have now be able to take on millions of additional people who want a hammock instead of being responsible for themselves? There is no such thing as universal access without rationing, higher and higher costs, lower and lower service, and eventual bankrupcy of the system, and oh, by the way, loss of Liberty.
Aesop's fables tells of a hog rooting acorns at the base of the tree which produced the acorns. When confronted with the fact that he was killing the tree by digging up the roots of the tree, he replied: "I don't care as long as I have acorns."
No one has any claim on me or what I earn to fulfill some "need" they have. Sorry, Karl Marx might approve, but a much higher authority decreed that charity is voluntary not mandatory. And I opt out. No I am not wealthy. In fact I do have affordable catastrophic insurance for some "biggies" - but if the bill runs to the hundreds of thousands, I am out of money. Despite that fact, I still don't think I have a presumptive claim on you to pay for my exorbitant medical bills either.
This becomes emotional because of the high cost of medical care. Why is it so high? It is driven by government. Socialist Medicare and Medicaid have already done a number on us, bribing the elderly (and many younger folk) with the idea that they have a "right" to unlimited medical care - far beyond any contributions they might have made.
This is so sad. Millions of people look first and in some cases, only to the government (nanny state) to "fix" their need for medical care. It is sad because we once had a genuine free enterprise medical system, but we have mostly given it away in the name of subsidized medical care - we are more than fifty percent there now, and many folks don't even realize it, but feel that what we have now is free enterprise.
Somehow, in those "bad old days" when I was a young married man and had my first child, the bill was about $450, all in; hospital stay and all. 1967. Inflation aside, you can't have a baby today for less than, I would guess $10,000. What has changed?
Everyone got in on dipping into the vast river of federal subsidy dollars, and the lawyers' guild got in on the liability lawsuit game (assisted by lots of low-ethics people who wanted to get independently wealthy through frivolous lawsuits), and the insurance companies (yes, they are guilty too) got in on the "let's be regulated" game (it is safer that way, you know!) - and private companies were encouraged by the government to offer (tax deductable to the companies) medical plans to their employees as a perk (thus training them that other people were going to pay for their medical care), and governments at all levels got in on the insurance game for their employees - best in the West!!! No reductions in those plans, no matter whether the government is going bust or not! (n.b. see California)
So here we are with structural rigidities – and unrealistic expectations - built into our system and in many people’s minds, with the main fault being the stimulus starting at the Fed level. Now they want to take over the whole system to “fix” it. But they are the main culprits!
The solution is to dismantle the socialist state, not expend it.
While eating the nuts under the tree, you ought to look up and wonder what is happening to that once-flourishing tree. It is beginning to look kind of sickly. The nuts will run out very suddenly. What will you do then?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Free Internet Tool Paints Picture of Stealthy Attacks
http://www.darkreading.com/vulnerability_management/security/intrusion-prevention/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221901483&cid=nl_DR_DAILY_2009-12-01_h
I gotta say, one of the most baffling aspects of the various kinds of vicious attacks against our computers is the hidden nature of what is going on behind the scenes. For many years, it has been obvious that when your computer has been, or is being hacked, data is flowing in and out of your internet IP connection, but it seems impossible to catch the suckers in the act. Only after you suffer damage and know for sure that your are the subject of their tender ministrations will you take action to wipe them out - if you can.
This tool answers that need.
It allows a view of the various amounts and kinds of IP traffic in and out of your computer and by clever viewing of the logs of activity, it can give you insight into what is happening, and who - at least the attacker's IP address/domain - is the offending party.
I read the pdf file that comes with the article, and I must admit that I still am over my head as to most of the aspects of what and how it does its magic. So using this tool, which is a major advance in diagnostic software for IP traffic tracking, will still require some user training and education into the working of the IP system itself to be of much use. IE: you have to learn something.
But the payoff seems to be enormous. You can find out if anyone is hacking your system - even if it is some very subtle worm that only sends info once in a while, or receives info from multiple sources. A clever analysis of the types of transmissions to and from your computer can reveal a stealth culprit - even of the "storm worm" variety.
Unless a virus or worm disables the logging features or attacks this software itself, then the bad guys won't be able to remain hidden because they are forced to use the IP system to do their dirty work after they have gotten into your system. If they disable the software, that is kind of a "duh!" clue that someone with evil intent has been busy in your computer.
You may have a problem keeping them out, but using this tool, you ought to be able to catch them at work. Knowing they are there and active is 90% of the battle.
Kudos to the developers! Kudos also to them for making it available, even in its prototype form, to the public for free! Thanks also to the darkreading.com site that keeps an eye out for such developments and clues us in.
This tool is going to be one that I will be following from now on. It is something that could be automated and sold as a simple package for novices to gain some insight into what is happening to their computers, even if they lack the sophistication to get subtle with their queries.
Maybe for a while, we can get a handle on the noxious vermin that have made life miserable and expensive for many innocent users of the internet.
I gotta say, one of the most baffling aspects of the various kinds of vicious attacks against our computers is the hidden nature of what is going on behind the scenes. For many years, it has been obvious that when your computer has been, or is being hacked, data is flowing in and out of your internet IP connection, but it seems impossible to catch the suckers in the act. Only after you suffer damage and know for sure that your are the subject of their tender ministrations will you take action to wipe them out - if you can.
This tool answers that need.
It allows a view of the various amounts and kinds of IP traffic in and out of your computer and by clever viewing of the logs of activity, it can give you insight into what is happening, and who - at least the attacker's IP address/domain - is the offending party.
I read the pdf file that comes with the article, and I must admit that I still am over my head as to most of the aspects of what and how it does its magic. So using this tool, which is a major advance in diagnostic software for IP traffic tracking, will still require some user training and education into the working of the IP system itself to be of much use. IE: you have to learn something.
But the payoff seems to be enormous. You can find out if anyone is hacking your system - even if it is some very subtle worm that only sends info once in a while, or receives info from multiple sources. A clever analysis of the types of transmissions to and from your computer can reveal a stealth culprit - even of the "storm worm" variety.
Unless a virus or worm disables the logging features or attacks this software itself, then the bad guys won't be able to remain hidden because they are forced to use the IP system to do their dirty work after they have gotten into your system. If they disable the software, that is kind of a "duh!" clue that someone with evil intent has been busy in your computer.
You may have a problem keeping them out, but using this tool, you ought to be able to catch them at work. Knowing they are there and active is 90% of the battle.
Kudos to the developers! Kudos also to them for making it available, even in its prototype form, to the public for free! Thanks also to the darkreading.com site that keeps an eye out for such developments and clues us in.
This tool is going to be one that I will be following from now on. It is something that could be automated and sold as a simple package for novices to gain some insight into what is happening to their computers, even if they lack the sophistication to get subtle with their queries.
Maybe for a while, we can get a handle on the noxious vermin that have made life miserable and expensive for many innocent users of the internet.
Monday, November 30, 2009
The Mathematics of Global Warming
The Mathematics of Global Warming
This just gets better and better. Aside from the fact that we now know that the climatologists have cooked the books to obtain results that they wanted to use, we find this interesting paper on the pure impossibility of predicting the weather with computers.
This paper on the mathematics of global warming should not have had to be written because it is an exercise in pure hubris for human beings to believe they possess such insight into the gargantuan dataset that is the global weather system, that they can actually make realistic and accurate predictions of the climate.
What is worse, the globalists have converted millions of disciples to this "faith", who are not about to be dissuaded by pure evidence of deceit. Some are calling for massive globall wealth redistribution (read: higher taxes on US citizens), regardless of the facts about the global warming hoax. Like many believers in a false religion, it takes more than facts to daunt them. Of course, the prospect of getting your hand into Uncle Sam's trouser pockets to steal some cash might have something to do with their continued insistance that this Copenhagen treaty is really all about equity and fairness for the dowtrodden poor of the world. Hey! if facts won't work, maybe a sob story will.
It is also clear that the Globalists are attempting to ignore the email firestorm - acting like it didn't happen, and planning on going ahead with the Copenhagen meetings - talking like there is still a consensus on Global warming when it is melting like an icecube on a summer sidewalk.
These people are like the emporer refusing to believe that everyone is still willing to act like he has clothes on - when instead everyone is laughing at him to his face.
Now we also are finding out that much of the data on which global warming computer models was based has been thrown out. That cat is not going back into the bag without an enormous fight. Whoever tries to capture him and stuff him back in the bag will suffer mightily for their efforts. We demand truth, not cooked-up political junk science spooned out to the masses through compliant media lapdogs who have forgotten how to bark.
This just gets better and better. Aside from the fact that we now know that the climatologists have cooked the books to obtain results that they wanted to use, we find this interesting paper on the pure impossibility of predicting the weather with computers.
This paper on the mathematics of global warming should not have had to be written because it is an exercise in pure hubris for human beings to believe they possess such insight into the gargantuan dataset that is the global weather system, that they can actually make realistic and accurate predictions of the climate.
What is worse, the globalists have converted millions of disciples to this "faith", who are not about to be dissuaded by pure evidence of deceit. Some are calling for massive globall wealth redistribution (read: higher taxes on US citizens), regardless of the facts about the global warming hoax. Like many believers in a false religion, it takes more than facts to daunt them. Of course, the prospect of getting your hand into Uncle Sam's trouser pockets to steal some cash might have something to do with their continued insistance that this Copenhagen treaty is really all about equity and fairness for the dowtrodden poor of the world. Hey! if facts won't work, maybe a sob story will.
It is also clear that the Globalists are attempting to ignore the email firestorm - acting like it didn't happen, and planning on going ahead with the Copenhagen meetings - talking like there is still a consensus on Global warming when it is melting like an icecube on a summer sidewalk.
These people are like the emporer refusing to believe that everyone is still willing to act like he has clothes on - when instead everyone is laughing at him to his face.
Now we also are finding out that much of the data on which global warming computer models was based has been thrown out. That cat is not going back into the bag without an enormous fight. Whoever tries to capture him and stuff him back in the bag will suffer mightily for their efforts. We demand truth, not cooked-up political junk science spooned out to the masses through compliant media lapdogs who have forgotten how to bark.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Economic Prosperity - A Step of Faith.
Economic Prosperity - a Step of Faith
An interesting observation about Muslim states which are economically stagnant - versus the results in countries which have robust religious liberties.
Actually, as a Biblically-literate Christian, my reaction is "DUH!!" Of course there is a very strong correlation! I thought it was obvious.
What is even more telling, in this US of A we are busily dismantling religious liberty in the wildly perverse notion that Socialist Political Correctness can improve on it.
An interesting observation about Muslim states which are economically stagnant - versus the results in countries which have robust religious liberties.
Actually, as a Biblically-literate Christian, my reaction is "DUH!!" Of course there is a very strong correlation! I thought it was obvious.
What is even more telling, in this US of A we are busily dismantling religious liberty in the wildly perverse notion that Socialist Political Correctness can improve on it.
Limited Utility - What happens when populist politicians try to micromanage public utilities?
One of my favorite themes - what happens when the people who manage utilities for the masses get it wrong for the wrong reasons. See my blog entry "When OPE meets NIMBY" for a similar theme.
Help Wanted, No Private Sector Experience Required
Help Wanted, No Private Sector Experience Required
My Friend George Blumel posted this via an email. I am reproducing his comments also.
If you’ve read any of the www.PosterChildrenForTermLimits.com profiles you’ll note that the “worst of a bad lot” in Congress have never worked at a real job in the free market. Most are trained as lawyers who have spent their whole lives in politics, not helping people solve problems or providing them with products of services. Historian Paul Johnson has called professional politicians the “scourge of the twentieth century.” And now in the 21st century that scourge has reached its nadir. We need to vote them out and start over –or, our children will be so indebted and so restricted by FedGov they’ll never know the freedom and prosperity that we have in previous generations.
Here is an indication that we are at a new low with this Obama administration filled with those same types who only know government with all its hubris, arrogance, inefficiencies and incompetence and POWER. –Geo.
My Friend George Blumel posted this via an email. I am reproducing his comments also.
If you’ve read any of the www.PosterChildrenForTermLimits.com profiles you’ll note that the “worst of a bad lot” in Congress have never worked at a real job in the free market. Most are trained as lawyers who have spent their whole lives in politics, not helping people solve problems or providing them with products of services. Historian Paul Johnson has called professional politicians the “scourge of the twentieth century.” And now in the 21st century that scourge has reached its nadir. We need to vote them out and start over –or, our children will be so indebted and so restricted by FedGov they’ll never know the freedom and prosperity that we have in previous generations.
Here is an indication that we are at a new low with this Obama administration filled with those same types who only know government with all its hubris, arrogance, inefficiencies and incompetence and POWER. –Geo.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Teaching plan: America 'an oppressive hellhole'
Teaching plan: America 'an oppressive hellhole'
Here is a Worldnetdaily article by Bob Unruh, that is one of the clearest examples of forced indoctrination of students - and even screening of applicants to Universities that I have seen. These are not private schools, but public-funded Universities. Not only should such programs themselves be stopped, but the perpetrators and admistrators who sponsored them must be publicly fired and tracked to see where they turn up next. (Reminds me of the "wack a mole" game._
Who knows? We might find them popping up as one of Obama's new Czars. Frankly, it would be part of the same pattern we have seen with him for years, going back to his Acorn agitation days.
Here is a Worldnetdaily article by Bob Unruh, that is one of the clearest examples of forced indoctrination of students - and even screening of applicants to Universities that I have seen. These are not private schools, but public-funded Universities. Not only should such programs themselves be stopped, but the perpetrators and admistrators who sponsored them must be publicly fired and tracked to see where they turn up next. (Reminds me of the "wack a mole" game._
Who knows? We might find them popping up as one of Obama's new Czars. Frankly, it would be part of the same pattern we have seen with him for years, going back to his Acorn agitation days.
Be still My Soul
A meditation:
Monday, November 30, 2009, the healthcare debacle will be "debated" again by uninformed career politicians who have no real care for the hapless sheep they think they rule (and herd and push around) and from whom they plan to harvest more fleece and meat. Those who do care are out-voted, ignored or shouted down, and are in the minority, seemingly powerless.
It is hard to discern where all this is going to go. Perhaps it will be stopped; perhaps they will pull it off. Either way, I am set for the defense of the Gospel, come what may. For that pure motive, I am partially beholden to the prevaricator in chief - Obama, who has galvanized me among so many others to think through the issues to their logical and spiritual conclusion.
That was no small task, considering the sad spiritual state of the church in America. Who would have thought that a sleeping nation might be awakened in its final hours?
Today, I awoke with a strange determination in my breast that whichever way it goes, I am not giving up, even though the mountains be carried into the midst of the seas, and all the waves and billows may seem to be overflowing me. Our God reigneth, and He laughs in the heavens at the efforts of those who hate Him. The Lord shall have them in derision and vex them in His sore displeasure.
The Lyrics of this song have long been my heart's favorite, especially when I consider our times.
"Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below."
Every generation has its challenge; we are in the very midst of ours. The reach of the God-haters toward world domination and the destruction of the people of God is proceeding apace; yet none of this has escaped the notice or control of He that sitteth in the Heavens. The waves of the sea - the heathen - may churn and boil, but they still know the voice of Him who ruled them while He dwelt below. Precious! One little word shall fell them.
I have great hope: the stand of only a few, even one man who refuses to bow to the world's golden image may still prove to change the king’s word. It may take "yielding our bodies." The result may well be stupendous in the eyes of a watching world. Either way, bring it on!
I pray this would be the result: Dan 3:28 “Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.“
Let's do our part, giving the glory to God; and let God do His work, His strange work; His strange Act, in the hearts of Men. To Him be the Glory.
Monday, November 30, 2009, the healthcare debacle will be "debated" again by uninformed career politicians who have no real care for the hapless sheep they think they rule (and herd and push around) and from whom they plan to harvest more fleece and meat. Those who do care are out-voted, ignored or shouted down, and are in the minority, seemingly powerless.
It is hard to discern where all this is going to go. Perhaps it will be stopped; perhaps they will pull it off. Either way, I am set for the defense of the Gospel, come what may. For that pure motive, I am partially beholden to the prevaricator in chief - Obama, who has galvanized me among so many others to think through the issues to their logical and spiritual conclusion.
That was no small task, considering the sad spiritual state of the church in America. Who would have thought that a sleeping nation might be awakened in its final hours?
Today, I awoke with a strange determination in my breast that whichever way it goes, I am not giving up, even though the mountains be carried into the midst of the seas, and all the waves and billows may seem to be overflowing me. Our God reigneth, and He laughs in the heavens at the efforts of those who hate Him. The Lord shall have them in derision and vex them in His sore displeasure.
The Lyrics of this song have long been my heart's favorite, especially when I consider our times.
"Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below."
Every generation has its challenge; we are in the very midst of ours. The reach of the God-haters toward world domination and the destruction of the people of God is proceeding apace; yet none of this has escaped the notice or control of He that sitteth in the Heavens. The waves of the sea - the heathen - may churn and boil, but they still know the voice of Him who ruled them while He dwelt below. Precious! One little word shall fell them.
I have great hope: the stand of only a few, even one man who refuses to bow to the world's golden image may still prove to change the king’s word. It may take "yielding our bodies." The result may well be stupendous in the eyes of a watching world. Either way, bring it on!
I pray this would be the result: Dan 3:28 “Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.“
Let's do our part, giving the glory to God; and let God do His work, His strange work; His strange Act, in the hearts of Men. To Him be the Glory.
Friday, November 27, 2009
George Washington's First Thanksgiving Proclamation
Well, it is the day after Thanksgiving, 2009, and this proclamation is SO politically-incorrect that I just had to post it. It shows how far the God-hating revisionists have gone in perverting our present culture and in distorting and just plain lying about our Christian past.
We should refuse to participate in political correctness, and armed with facts, push the liars out of their positions of influence and replace them with well, maybe YOU. Run for office, even if it is for local school board. Recapturing our culture begins at the grass roots - not the "astro-turf" that so accurately characterizes the lying Liberal public staged events. We need the real thing again. This Liberal crap is turning my stomach.
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.
President George Washington
We should refuse to participate in political correctness, and armed with facts, push the liars out of their positions of influence and replace them with well, maybe YOU. Run for office, even if it is for local school board. Recapturing our culture begins at the grass roots - not the "astro-turf" that so accurately characterizes the lying Liberal public staged events. We need the real thing again. This Liberal crap is turning my stomach.
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"The First Thanksgiving Proclamation by President George Washington
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.
President George Washington
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Global Warming = Hoax
Well stated in less than a minute. True too. So what is Obama going to Copenhagen for? To sign on to Global taxation at a level that is totally out of reach of us peons who thought that government was supposed to be responsive to us, and not the other way around. Any way you slice this turkey, it comes out tasting like Tyranny.
Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation
Well worth reading, if only for the politically-incorrect tone of it. It gives the lie to Liberal and God-hater's notions of the US as being founded as an entrirely secular nation. They would have us believe that the Founders were a bunch of hyporcitical deists - barely even believing in God, much less the ignorant notions of Biblical Christianity.
These latter day revisionists of American History actually read back into our history their own corrupt heart's attitudes. They are the ones who are rotten, not the Founders. Here is what is wrong with the modern day politically-correct critics: "Tit 1:15-16 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work."
This proclamation was issued in the mid-1850's, and the Christian bloom was far from being off the rose of Americal Christian public testimony at that time. It's tone is unmistakable and sincere. That did not totally fade from public view until the late 1980's.
May our faith see a resurgence again; that Jesus Christ may be publicly praised in every place in this nation founded upon a dedication to Him.
These latter day revisionists of American History actually read back into our history their own corrupt heart's attitudes. They are the ones who are rotten, not the Founders. Here is what is wrong with the modern day politically-correct critics: "Tit 1:15-16 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work."
This proclamation was issued in the mid-1850's, and the Christian bloom was far from being off the rose of Americal Christian public testimony at that time. It's tone is unmistakable and sincere. That did not totally fade from public view until the late 1980's.
May our faith see a resurgence again; that Jesus Christ may be publicly praised in every place in this nation founded upon a dedication to Him.
An Appropriate Thanksgiving
Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power,
and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty:
for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine;
thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all;
and in thine hand is power and might;
and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
1Ch 29:13-13
and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty:
for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine;
thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all;
and in thine hand is power and might;
and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
1Ch 29:13-13
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thanks and no Thanks
Just scripture, and some contrasts between thankfulness and unthankfulness.
Happy Thanksgiving, 2009.
Happy Thanksgiving, 2009.
Those Global Warming emails
Here is a raucious interview on FoxNews concerning Global Warming and the recent unearthing of a treasure trove of emails between the "peers" of the Global Warming scientific establishment. Mr. Begley, who is being interviewed, goes ape when challenged about the emails. His reaction is that of a religious cultist whose pet belief has been debunked before his very eyes.
Begley's insistence on "peer review" is an attempt to keep the "scholars union" in charge of the debate. Like the Catholic Church during the time of the Inquisition, only "approved facts" are allowed to be doled out to the masses by those who are the anointed gatekeepers of information.
Read this story which contains one email that pretty well lets the cat out of the bag.
If you watched the video with Begley insisting on "peer review" as the basic standard of truth, you cannot help but notice that in the link cite above, the email sender explicitly states that he will "change the peer review" to eliminate a critic. In case you missed it, here is the quote:
"From Phil Jones To: Michael Mann (Pennsylvania State University). July 8, 2004
“I can’t see either of these [global warming-denying] papers being in the next IPCC report. Kevin and I will keep them out somehow — even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!”
What we really find from the leaked emails is that the "peers" are just a bunch of scammers with a globalist political agenda who are not going to let anyone - or any facts - get in their way of promoting their pet myth of global warming. Perhaps they are trying to maintain cushy jobs, spending someone else's money in bogus research. Hey, it's all for the faith, isn't it? Their methods of keeping the lid on are plain to see from their emails. Just remember: "No lie is of the Truth."
Their computer models predict just what they want them to predict – global warming. And when they don't predict what they want to prove, then they suppress the data - or manufacture data and jettison the real data - and persecute those who want an open debate about the meaning of the facts. Unfortunately for them, the Earth’s climate does not cooperate.
Beware of any calls for “peer review.” In the best of times it helps to debunk bad thinking and poor methodology in scientific inquiry, but in these "politically correct" times climate change has fallen under the control of political cranks and just plain Liberal Ideologues. The Truth has been dumped in a trash can in the back alley. Only PC allowed here, sir!
Don’t hand your conscience or good sense over to some stuffed shirt with a PhD who claims to “know all.” Submit their pompous claims to the “sniff test.” If it stinks of totalitarianism, it fails. If it calls for big government – over which you will no longer have any control at all – a big government to come into your life and start ordering you around, or taxing your choices of food, drink, cars, jobs – health care – then be rightly suspicious of their motives. Nothing is more addictive to a Liberal with a guilty conscience than giving him power over other people to tell them how to live.
And that is what this is all about – power.
In an attempt to deflect the uproar over the hacked emails, the author Aaron Weiner published a summary of the horror stories supposedly happening under our noses. "The Best Reason to Ignore ‘Climategate’: The Climate Really Is Changing." I perceive that his "data" is essentially a rehash of Global Warming conventional wisdom, presented to promote hysteria. Whatever might be happening to the ice caps, the seal level, etc. has been reversed in the past few years with a re-cooling of the earth; that is, what is happening is not global warming, rather it is global cooling. How's that for a really good computer model? Shouldn't we be a few feet under water by now?
Dr. Larry Vardiman, of the Creation Research Institute, an organization I know and trust, published several fascinating articles which point to some evidences of a climate change, but one that is not driven by carbon dioxide, but by fluctuations in the Sun's magnetic field. There are two articles: Does Carbon Dioxide Drive Global Warming? and "A New Theory of Climate Change."
A more recent article on the proposed "cap and trade" legislation helps to put the whole carbon-myth into perspecive. Energy Bill Won't Solve Global Warming, by Brian Thomas, M.S.
Clearly, it is not carbon dioxide that is the culprit - in fact rather than leading it, the CO2 curve lags behind the fluctuations in cosmic ray influx. Therefore CO2 is not the driving element. So much for having a justification to forcibly control all CO2 emissions of mankind. So much for Cap and Trade. So much for Copenhagen. So much for the "need" for Global Governance. So much for the hysteria that is driving the whole agenda of the Globalists.
Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.
Begley's insistence on "peer review" is an attempt to keep the "scholars union" in charge of the debate. Like the Catholic Church during the time of the Inquisition, only "approved facts" are allowed to be doled out to the masses by those who are the anointed gatekeepers of information.
Read this story which contains one email that pretty well lets the cat out of the bag.
If you watched the video with Begley insisting on "peer review" as the basic standard of truth, you cannot help but notice that in the link cite above, the email sender explicitly states that he will "change the peer review" to eliminate a critic. In case you missed it, here is the quote:
"From Phil Jones To: Michael Mann (Pennsylvania State University). July 8, 2004
“I can’t see either of these [global warming-denying] papers being in the next IPCC report. Kevin and I will keep them out somehow — even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!”
What we really find from the leaked emails is that the "peers" are just a bunch of scammers with a globalist political agenda who are not going to let anyone - or any facts - get in their way of promoting their pet myth of global warming. Perhaps they are trying to maintain cushy jobs, spending someone else's money in bogus research. Hey, it's all for the faith, isn't it? Their methods of keeping the lid on are plain to see from their emails. Just remember: "No lie is of the Truth."
Their computer models predict just what they want them to predict – global warming. And when they don't predict what they want to prove, then they suppress the data - or manufacture data and jettison the real data - and persecute those who want an open debate about the meaning of the facts. Unfortunately for them, the Earth’s climate does not cooperate.
Beware of any calls for “peer review.” In the best of times it helps to debunk bad thinking and poor methodology in scientific inquiry, but in these "politically correct" times climate change has fallen under the control of political cranks and just plain Liberal Ideologues. The Truth has been dumped in a trash can in the back alley. Only PC allowed here, sir!
Don’t hand your conscience or good sense over to some stuffed shirt with a PhD who claims to “know all.” Submit their pompous claims to the “sniff test.” If it stinks of totalitarianism, it fails. If it calls for big government – over which you will no longer have any control at all – a big government to come into your life and start ordering you around, or taxing your choices of food, drink, cars, jobs – health care – then be rightly suspicious of their motives. Nothing is more addictive to a Liberal with a guilty conscience than giving him power over other people to tell them how to live.
And that is what this is all about – power.
In an attempt to deflect the uproar over the hacked emails, the author Aaron Weiner published a summary of the horror stories supposedly happening under our noses. "The Best Reason to Ignore ‘Climategate’: The Climate Really Is Changing." I perceive that his "data" is essentially a rehash of Global Warming conventional wisdom, presented to promote hysteria. Whatever might be happening to the ice caps, the seal level, etc. has been reversed in the past few years with a re-cooling of the earth; that is, what is happening is not global warming, rather it is global cooling. How's that for a really good computer model? Shouldn't we be a few feet under water by now?
Dr. Larry Vardiman, of the Creation Research Institute, an organization I know and trust, published several fascinating articles which point to some evidences of a climate change, but one that is not driven by carbon dioxide, but by fluctuations in the Sun's magnetic field. There are two articles: Does Carbon Dioxide Drive Global Warming? and "A New Theory of Climate Change."
A more recent article on the proposed "cap and trade" legislation helps to put the whole carbon-myth into perspecive. Energy Bill Won't Solve Global Warming, by Brian Thomas, M.S.
Clearly, it is not carbon dioxide that is the culprit - in fact rather than leading it, the CO2 curve lags behind the fluctuations in cosmic ray influx. Therefore CO2 is not the driving element. So much for having a justification to forcibly control all CO2 emissions of mankind. So much for Cap and Trade. So much for Copenhagen. So much for the "need" for Global Governance. So much for the hysteria that is driving the whole agenda of the Globalists.
Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Christian Leaders issue Declaration of Principles
This Declaration is arguably the most important stand taken for the faith since Luther issued his "95 Theses" in 1519.
From the close:
"Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar's. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God's. "
We ought to nail this Declaration on the doors of the Hall of Congress.
From the close:
"Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar's. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God's. "
We ought to nail this Declaration on the doors of the Hall of Congress.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
A Time to Do Exploits
The jaws are closing on a trap. Even while I write this, the Senate is "debating" the Reid Healthcare bill. I am going to pray about it, but it is very obvious that the leaders of the Senate are not listening and really don't care about the majority will of the people.
They are going to cram this thing through no matter what. Even in the face of a Democrat rout in 2010 they are willing to vote it in.
That willingness to throw themselves on their swords is by itself an extremely suspicious fact. What could stiffen the resolve of career politicians like many of the Senate Democrats? A guaranteed "safety net" when they are kicked out of office. Do I hear "stimulus money"? Do I hear "bribery"?
Perhaps this generation of Senate Democrats is being "taken care of " despite the inevitable backlash, so that a future, and much more entrenched gang can be slid in there in four or six years, after the Democrats have solidified their stranglehold on the American electoral process via the Social Welfare State they are putting the finishing touches on right now.
Nothing about this gang of career criminals would suprise me.
This article is a suggestion to those of us who know their God, and is intended as an encouragement in the midst of a seeming disaster.
They are going to cram this thing through no matter what. Even in the face of a Democrat rout in 2010 they are willing to vote it in.
That willingness to throw themselves on their swords is by itself an extremely suspicious fact. What could stiffen the resolve of career politicians like many of the Senate Democrats? A guaranteed "safety net" when they are kicked out of office. Do I hear "stimulus money"? Do I hear "bribery"?
Perhaps this generation of Senate Democrats is being "taken care of " despite the inevitable backlash, so that a future, and much more entrenched gang can be slid in there in four or six years, after the Democrats have solidified their stranglehold on the American electoral process via the Social Welfare State they are putting the finishing touches on right now.
Nothing about this gang of career criminals would suprise me.
This article is a suggestion to those of us who know their God, and is intended as an encouragement in the midst of a seeming disaster.
Suburban Denver billboard links Obama with jihadists -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Suburban Denver billboard links Obama with jihadists -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
We need more "free speech" like this. It brings an issue to our minds that most people don’t even want to think about because of the thunderous implications: the possible ineligibility of Obama to be president due to his being born in Kenya, not the US. The billboard cheers some and chills others. It is "offensive" and some want to have it removed, but what good is free speech if it can only be used to cheer on the "administration du jour"?
Of the many uses of free speech, the First Amendment was crafted first of all to protect political speech, which had been targeted by the British as they oppressed the American colonies. Newspapers were seized, editors imprisoned, and publications destroyed. The British were attempting to keep the lid on a boiling pot of public sentiment. It is the “same old, same old” today.
It is noteworthy that the Obama administration is stealthily tightening the noose of free speech by instituting new FCC rules for broadcast media, with the ostensible intention of making broadcast speech "more balanced" - forcing a version of the "fairness doctrine" onto stations. It is not intended to do that; it is planned to shut out the Rush Limbaughs of the world, to cut off the Hannitys, to force conservative talk radio and TV into oblivion. But the people want to hear them; otherwise they would have been starved out of existence by the lack of listenership. Liberal radio and TV operates at a loss all the time. Does that tell you anything? Liberal National Public Radio (NPR) would never survive if they had to compete on a level playing field with commercial broadcasting. They have to be subsidized so their Liberal point of view - shows like "Fresh Air" (what a misnomer!) - could be heard.
The rise of the Alternate Media - specifically Cable and Internet - has effectively broken the stranglehold that the Old Media (TV Networks and Major Newspapers) had on the promulgation and formation of people's opinions about events. It can be honestly said that we lost the Vietnam War because of the impact that the TV network reporting that turned the people against the War. It even influenced President Johnson. There was no counterbalancing opinion allowed on the air, so we only heard one side.
That Media has been increasingly eclipsed by the Alternates. In fact, the Alternates have been so successful that they have earned the undying enmity of the ruling elites who have observed their control being threatened by the free opinions and investigative reporting that incessantly exposes them. Witness the Acorn debacle that exploded when two individuals secretly filmed Acorn employees advising them how to break the law. This bold journalism exposed the bankruptcy and complicity of the Main Stream Media (MSM) for not only not following up on incessant charges that Acorn was not only engaging in illegal activity, but also using tax dollars to serve the exclusive interests of the Democrat Party, but for participating in a coverup themselves. The MSM and the ones they serve – the Elites - have not had to endure such scrutiny for almost seventy five years and they plan to strike back.
The alternative media, especially the Internet, are in for a shakeup. Google is now in bed with Obama (perhaps literally) after practicing with the Chinese in controlling the internet. They are honing their skills by practicing on politically-incorrect websites. Google and Microsoft and a host of other major players in the internet industry have enthusiastically endorsed the concept of "net neutrality" enforced by US government regulation.
I cannot imagine a more scurrilous concept than the US Government - with all the ill intentions in the world toward shutting down free speech - getting involved in "regulating" the net with the “help” of Google and Microsoft and other big players. Guess what will be "regulated" out of existence? You guessed it - free speech that threatens the Elites' agenda.
This Obama administration is built on lies, so they have every reason to prevent the free interchange of ideas. Are errors and foolish, even hurtful things published on the internet? Of course, but we cannot allow the baby to be thrown out with the bathwater.
Consider: one really good exposure has the possibility of bringing it all down in one swoop - if the truth can be gotten convincingly into enough people's hands. Pray God that he will "sweep away the refuge of lies." Is 28:17
That's why we need free speech, not censorship.
We need more "free speech" like this. It brings an issue to our minds that most people don’t even want to think about because of the thunderous implications: the possible ineligibility of Obama to be president due to his being born in Kenya, not the US. The billboard cheers some and chills others. It is "offensive" and some want to have it removed, but what good is free speech if it can only be used to cheer on the "administration du jour"?
Of the many uses of free speech, the First Amendment was crafted first of all to protect political speech, which had been targeted by the British as they oppressed the American colonies. Newspapers were seized, editors imprisoned, and publications destroyed. The British were attempting to keep the lid on a boiling pot of public sentiment. It is the “same old, same old” today.
It is noteworthy that the Obama administration is stealthily tightening the noose of free speech by instituting new FCC rules for broadcast media, with the ostensible intention of making broadcast speech "more balanced" - forcing a version of the "fairness doctrine" onto stations. It is not intended to do that; it is planned to shut out the Rush Limbaughs of the world, to cut off the Hannitys, to force conservative talk radio and TV into oblivion. But the people want to hear them; otherwise they would have been starved out of existence by the lack of listenership. Liberal radio and TV operates at a loss all the time. Does that tell you anything? Liberal National Public Radio (NPR) would never survive if they had to compete on a level playing field with commercial broadcasting. They have to be subsidized so their Liberal point of view - shows like "Fresh Air" (what a misnomer!) - could be heard.
The rise of the Alternate Media - specifically Cable and Internet - has effectively broken the stranglehold that the Old Media (TV Networks and Major Newspapers) had on the promulgation and formation of people's opinions about events. It can be honestly said that we lost the Vietnam War because of the impact that the TV network reporting that turned the people against the War. It even influenced President Johnson. There was no counterbalancing opinion allowed on the air, so we only heard one side.
That Media has been increasingly eclipsed by the Alternates. In fact, the Alternates have been so successful that they have earned the undying enmity of the ruling elites who have observed their control being threatened by the free opinions and investigative reporting that incessantly exposes them. Witness the Acorn debacle that exploded when two individuals secretly filmed Acorn employees advising them how to break the law. This bold journalism exposed the bankruptcy and complicity of the Main Stream Media (MSM) for not only not following up on incessant charges that Acorn was not only engaging in illegal activity, but also using tax dollars to serve the exclusive interests of the Democrat Party, but for participating in a coverup themselves. The MSM and the ones they serve – the Elites - have not had to endure such scrutiny for almost seventy five years and they plan to strike back.
The alternative media, especially the Internet, are in for a shakeup. Google is now in bed with Obama (perhaps literally) after practicing with the Chinese in controlling the internet. They are honing their skills by practicing on politically-incorrect websites. Google and Microsoft and a host of other major players in the internet industry have enthusiastically endorsed the concept of "net neutrality" enforced by US government regulation.
I cannot imagine a more scurrilous concept than the US Government - with all the ill intentions in the world toward shutting down free speech - getting involved in "regulating" the net with the “help” of Google and Microsoft and other big players. Guess what will be "regulated" out of existence? You guessed it - free speech that threatens the Elites' agenda.
This Obama administration is built on lies, so they have every reason to prevent the free interchange of ideas. Are errors and foolish, even hurtful things published on the internet? Of course, but we cannot allow the baby to be thrown out with the bathwater.
Consider: one really good exposure has the possibility of bringing it all down in one swoop - if the truth can be gotten convincingly into enough people's hands. Pray God that he will "sweep away the refuge of lies." Is 28:17
That's why we need free speech, not censorship.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Conservative Christians issue declaration, warning (OneNewsNow.com)
Conservative Christians issue declaration, warning (OneNewsNow.com)
What's next? Civil disobedience?
Undoubtedly.
They don't have enough jails to hold everyone who refuses to let them get away with this.
Their only alternative might be to kill large numbers of people who refuse to cooperate.
that'll tear it.
Sabotage the system, if they think they can ram it down our throats.
What's next? Civil disobedience?
Undoubtedly.
They don't have enough jails to hold everyone who refuses to let them get away with this.
Their only alternative might be to kill large numbers of people who refuse to cooperate.
that'll tear it.
Sabotage the system, if they think they can ram it down our throats.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The US Unemployment picture - A Time-Lapse Depiction.
The old addage, " a picture is worth a 1,000 words" should be changed to "an interactive depiction is worth a 1,000,000 words" !!!!
I wonder what such a depiction would look like for the rest of the world...
I wonder what such a depiction would look like for the rest of the world...
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The Broken Bank - the US and China and the Debt
Colson says: "if the Chinese decide not to continue financing our debt, the dollar could drop through the floor. America could have a huge financial crisis."
Excuse me? We are already in a huge financial crisis. When the Chinese are calling the shots on what is arguably American Domestic policy - what's next? Our Iran policy? (Oh excuse me, they already torpedoed our attempt to rein in Iran's nuclear program. They get 20% of their oil from Iran. Sorry! I forgot!). How about Taiwan?
Recognizing the fact that, as the Bible says: "The borrower is a slave to the lender," that means our crisis is a lot more fundamental than just financial. We have practically sold ourselves to the Chinese and others (who don't love us, btw).
We have not even begun to pay the Chinese in the coin they will demand.
And the truly sad thing is that we are suffering from self-inflicted wounds.
Here are a few charts to show what is happening to the dollar, and how long it has been happening. This debt is not something that jumped up over night.
Do you notice anything unsettling about this curve? It seems to be getting higher and higher, faster and faster. Does that maybe hint that it is going bust sometime soon? Any signs of letup, or is it getting worse?
Our crisis is moral. And only a moral renewal will fix our situation.
Excuse me? We are already in a huge financial crisis. When the Chinese are calling the shots on what is arguably American Domestic policy - what's next? Our Iran policy? (Oh excuse me, they already torpedoed our attempt to rein in Iran's nuclear program. They get 20% of their oil from Iran. Sorry! I forgot!). How about Taiwan?
Recognizing the fact that, as the Bible says: "The borrower is a slave to the lender," that means our crisis is a lot more fundamental than just financial. We have practically sold ourselves to the Chinese and others (who don't love us, btw).
We have not even begun to pay the Chinese in the coin they will demand.
And the truly sad thing is that we are suffering from self-inflicted wounds.
Here are a few charts to show what is happening to the dollar, and how long it has been happening. This debt is not something that jumped up over night.
Do you see where most of the money is going? Not one cent of that largest category is being spent according to the US Constitution. A good deal of the "Other" category would probably not stand the constitutional light of day either. Just think what our country would look like after the unconstitutional "air" were to be let out of this balloon.
What could you do with all the money left in your pocket? (Assuming you are one of those actually earning a living, versus those who are on the "dole", taking what is not theirs? Those folks better plan on working for a living again.)
Oh, by the way, our tax receipts fall short of funding this huge ball of spending. Look at the chart below to see where that deficit spenging is taking us.
Do you notice anything unsettling about this curve? It seems to be getting higher and higher, faster and faster. Does that maybe hint that it is going bust sometime soon? Any signs of letup, or is it getting worse?
Our crisis is moral. And only a moral renewal will fix our situation.
Jeffrey LaPorte on the Birther Issue - video.
I am pleased to post this video by Jeffrey LaPorte. He evidently has been creating a lot of videos and commentary on conservative, constitutional issues. Forthright, cogent, well-spoken - and best of all - young and conservative, this young man deserves some more attention.
Support Jeffrey on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/q29qru
Follow me on Twitter http://tinyurl.com/lrxrnk
http://www.JeffreyLaPorte.com .
Free Use Song Provided By: http://www.danosongs.com The Time isnt Right . ...
Support Jeffrey on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/q29qru
Follow me on Twitter http://tinyurl.com/lrxrnk
http://www.JeffreyLaPorte.com .
Free Use Song Provided By: http://www.danosongs.com The Time isnt Right . ...
Monday, November 16, 2009
U.S. troops battle both Taliban and their own rules - Washington Times
U.S. troops battle both Taliban and their own rules - Washington Times
Without sufficient troops to engage the Taliban up close and personal - and without a relaxation of these stupid rules, our efforts are doomed. Obama and his communist gang will have won the withdrawal of our troops by refusing to give them what they need to win. We won in Iraq because we were able to create places where life could return to normal. In Afghanistan, that cannot happen because we have too few resources. This is deliberate.
Instead of calling for our troops to come home, let's impeach Obama and put someone in charge who is an American and identifies with us.
Without sufficient troops to engage the Taliban up close and personal - and without a relaxation of these stupid rules, our efforts are doomed. Obama and his communist gang will have won the withdrawal of our troops by refusing to give them what they need to win. We won in Iraq because we were able to create places where life could return to normal. In Afghanistan, that cannot happen because we have too few resources. This is deliberate.
Instead of calling for our troops to come home, let's impeach Obama and put someone in charge who is an American and identifies with us.
Monday, November 9, 2009
When OPE meets NIMBY
This article is a bit late to publication, but it is timely nevertheless.
It describes an almost iconic real-world event that perfectly illustrates what happens when government slips out of the reach of the people and so rigidizes even the construction of essential public utilities that major dislocations in public services begin to appear everywhere, wreaking havoc and huge costs.
With the steam engine of forced Socialization of our society getting ready to run over us all - not just "healthcare" mind you, but a crushing regulatory burden to make captives of us all - perhaps we could use a reminder from 2003 when the largest electric power outage in history occurred in California, for what proved to be totally avoidable reasons. The problems that led up to the outage were clear to everyone for years before it happened, but nobody seemed to be able to do anything to prevent the inevitable. It's a kind of "Titanic"story, without the love interest. Here was a "ship" that everyone knew was doomed, but nobody could or would do anything to stop it.
That is where we are headed now, unless we can derail this train.
It describes an almost iconic real-world event that perfectly illustrates what happens when government slips out of the reach of the people and so rigidizes even the construction of essential public utilities that major dislocations in public services begin to appear everywhere, wreaking havoc and huge costs.
With the steam engine of forced Socialization of our society getting ready to run over us all - not just "healthcare" mind you, but a crushing regulatory burden to make captives of us all - perhaps we could use a reminder from 2003 when the largest electric power outage in history occurred in California, for what proved to be totally avoidable reasons. The problems that led up to the outage were clear to everyone for years before it happened, but nobody seemed to be able to do anything to prevent the inevitable. It's a kind of "Titanic"story, without the love interest. Here was a "ship" that everyone knew was doomed, but nobody could or would do anything to stop it.
That is where we are headed now, unless we can derail this train.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The "Birther" Issue from my perspective
On the birther issue - none of the claims of the Obamites to have produced a valid birth certificate are true. There is an easy way to resolve the issue, but the opponents of disclosure (of which there are many in the media) seem unable to grapple with the real issue, and instead resort to mockery or dismissive jibes. What are they afraid of? Why not just get together and demand that he release the original birth certificate? What is so hard about that?
The behavior of the opponents of disclosure fits the pattern of those who are guilty of what they are accused of. The solution is so simple, and yet they will not even address the question of releasing the original document. The "Birthers" are subjected to lies, misdirection, stonewalling, scorn and mockery, legal obfuscation, threats, even fines - anything, but a straightforward response to the request for disclosure.
Recall that Lou Dobbs got in serious trouble with his network for daring to even suggest that the Birther's have a point. Clearly, the Obama administration is extremely touchy about the issue, employing an expensive law firm to deflect the legal challenges. The bill to the taxpayers exceeds $1.5 million, and is still rising.
The most accurate information available to the interested party is to be found at http://www.wnd.com/
Appeals to the Liberal http://www.snopes.com/ are useless because they merely regurgitate the "company line" without having really answered the objections of the Birther's to the misleading information that has been put forth by the Obamites as "proof" that he was born in Hawaii. It is true that there is a kind of paper trail concerning the baby Obama in Hawaii. What is missing is the original long-form birth certificate. What has been made public is not that document.
"Birthers" would have to colossally stupid and obstinate to continue to object - if the document that has been released by Hawaii answers basic questions concerning where he was born, the attending physician, hospital, date and time, etc. Would not an official document - the original or certified copy thereof be acceptable as proof of where he was born? Don't we normally find such information on a birth certificate? Wouldn't that info, if supplied on the published document, have stopped the mouths of the objectors? One would think so! But no such information exists on that published document. It fails to answer questions that anyone wanting to verify citizenship and place of birth would require to be satisfied.
Any fair minded person who reviews the arguments and evidences put forth by both sides, and thoughtfully considers the points and counter points would have to conclude that the Birther's have good cause to be calling for the original birth certificate to be released.
So much of the integrity our constitutional system rides on the question of whether we have a deliberate usurper in the White House, and commanding our Armed Forces. What if he is not legitimately the President? Does that not matter? I have to believe that it strikes at the heart of our system of government. Can he order the troops into battle? Can he sign bills passed by Congress? Does he have authority to issue executive orders? Does he have the right to speak to the world as the chief executive officer and representative of our government? I think the answers to these questions are very important. And that is why it is important to clear up the questions about his eligibiity to serve as president.
It has been said that "even a child is know by his doings." By that measure, we may identify certain behaviors in this man that cause us to doubt that he is honestly portraying himself as a natural born citizen of the United States. For instance. If he loved this country and respected the office, would he continue to obfuscate through his legal team over a question that could very easily be put to rest by a simple release of the original document? Would not someone in his position want people to know the details?
But consider the lengths that the Obamites have gone to deflect this issue. For a matter that could be put to rest so easily, the amount of smoke and mirrors operating in the Obama camp to shut this down is highly suggestive that they really have something momentus to hide.
If you were Obama, and really were a usurper, what would you do if you were determined to hang onto power? Exactly what he is doing now.
Some seem to have a hard time getting a feel for this issue, so I created a kind of word-picture.
As an illustration: If you suddenly showed up at my door and pushed your way into my house and started to move your stuff in, claiming you owned the house - I would demand you produce a legal title to my house. Of course you could not. But you might hand me some typed up document that purports to be a title, or resort to name-calling, and even insisting that since you were already in the house, "possession is nine-tenths of the law" and other cutie phrases.
I call the cops, but when they show up, they note who you are, and suddenly wash their hands of it, saying that I will need to get a legal writ to have you put out. They ask for a lease or some evidence that you have a right to be there, and you show them the fake Title. They seem more than willing to accept that even though it is not a certified original and it does not have all the proper information indicating when you bought it, how much was paid, and where the original document can be found in the Court records. Mostly though they just don't want to get involved. They act kind of scared of going against you.
Then you press them, and one of them threatens to have me arrested for disturbing the peace because I got a little loud over this usurpation of my property. You gloatingly smile and tell the police that you have been trying to get me to move out, but I am very stubborn and refuse to "face facts." Later that day I get a summons to appear before a magistrate for attempting a "false arrest", and am fined $25,000. I am outraged, but more determined than ever to get you out of my house and to clear my name.
If and when we get to court you will have to produce the certified Title from the courthouse. Of course I know you will not be able to do that. So perhaps it would be understandable that you would hire lawyers to try to avoid the court date, throwing up all kinds of manufactured legal objections to my demand for you to produce the Title.
I discover that somehow you have gotten into my bank account and are able to take my money to fight me with. That is working well for you now.
Yet I persist, and finally, once pinned down in court, you are shown to be a very bold and audacious liar and con man. I find out later that you have been mentored by some of the most virulent criminals in the world, the Chicago Radical Crime Syndicate. Thier mantra: "If you are going to tell a lie, tell a whopper."
I then press charges against you for your actions against me and recover damages. They are huge. You spend the rest of your life in prison, with no hope of parole.
Again I repeat: Where is the Birth Certificate? No valid birth certificate has been released. The supervisor of public records in Hawaii has sealed the document – sealed it to the public. That is a certifiable fact. If the real document, as some of deluded people have asserted, has already been released, then what document remains that is sealed? Interestingly, the Supervisor, contrary to the rules for disclosure, at one point publicly indicated that she has "seen and handled" the document, and that "it shows that Obama was born in Hawaii." This is enough for some people, but wait a minute. The document still has not been produced. Should we believe her? Suppose she is part of the Obama cover up? Why should we take her word, especially when the laws of Hawaii don't permit such disclosures? Would you take the word of the Clerk of the Court that Obama has a good title to your house? Wouldn't you insist on seeing it produced and verified as an actual, certified title? Any reasonable person would. This all smacks of cover-up. "Give them anything, but don't give them the original long-form birth certificate."
This guy was born in Kenya. The Kenyans celebrate that fact, and are expecting lots of money from their countryman who has managed to get into the US presidency. At least some people are willing to acknowledge - even to celebrate his Kenyan birth. See the post on this blog.
You would think the American Media would be interested in truth, but they have run away from this story. Even O'Reilly, who bills himself a "no-spin" artist, openly mocked the "birthers" as nut-jobs. I have to believe that an enormous amount of pressure has been weilded behind the scenes to dissuade people from pursuing the matter.
I am not a nut-job; not by a long stretch of the imagination; nor am I a fool. There is way too much evidence circulating about this guy for none of it to be true. Why wasn't he vetted? Why are there two certified copies of his certificate of Nomination to run for the Democratic condidate for president - one certifying that he "meets all the constitutional requirements for President" and the other merely affirming that he is the "Democratic Party candidate for the presidency in 2009". Both are signed by Nancy Pelosi, but the first one was withdrawn and the second one posted. Why? Did Nancy Pelosi not want to put her neck further in a noose by swearing to something she knew, or at least suspected, was not true about Obama?
We'll see.
The behavior of the opponents of disclosure fits the pattern of those who are guilty of what they are accused of. The solution is so simple, and yet they will not even address the question of releasing the original document. The "Birthers" are subjected to lies, misdirection, stonewalling, scorn and mockery, legal obfuscation, threats, even fines - anything, but a straightforward response to the request for disclosure.
Recall that Lou Dobbs got in serious trouble with his network for daring to even suggest that the Birther's have a point. Clearly, the Obama administration is extremely touchy about the issue, employing an expensive law firm to deflect the legal challenges. The bill to the taxpayers exceeds $1.5 million, and is still rising.
The most accurate information available to the interested party is to be found at http://www.wnd.com/
Appeals to the Liberal http://www.snopes.com/ are useless because they merely regurgitate the "company line" without having really answered the objections of the Birther's to the misleading information that has been put forth by the Obamites as "proof" that he was born in Hawaii. It is true that there is a kind of paper trail concerning the baby Obama in Hawaii. What is missing is the original long-form birth certificate. What has been made public is not that document.
"Birthers" would have to colossally stupid and obstinate to continue to object - if the document that has been released by Hawaii answers basic questions concerning where he was born, the attending physician, hospital, date and time, etc. Would not an official document - the original or certified copy thereof be acceptable as proof of where he was born? Don't we normally find such information on a birth certificate? Wouldn't that info, if supplied on the published document, have stopped the mouths of the objectors? One would think so! But no such information exists on that published document. It fails to answer questions that anyone wanting to verify citizenship and place of birth would require to be satisfied.
Any fair minded person who reviews the arguments and evidences put forth by both sides, and thoughtfully considers the points and counter points would have to conclude that the Birther's have good cause to be calling for the original birth certificate to be released.
So much of the integrity our constitutional system rides on the question of whether we have a deliberate usurper in the White House, and commanding our Armed Forces. What if he is not legitimately the President? Does that not matter? I have to believe that it strikes at the heart of our system of government. Can he order the troops into battle? Can he sign bills passed by Congress? Does he have authority to issue executive orders? Does he have the right to speak to the world as the chief executive officer and representative of our government? I think the answers to these questions are very important. And that is why it is important to clear up the questions about his eligibiity to serve as president.
It has been said that "even a child is know by his doings." By that measure, we may identify certain behaviors in this man that cause us to doubt that he is honestly portraying himself as a natural born citizen of the United States. For instance. If he loved this country and respected the office, would he continue to obfuscate through his legal team over a question that could very easily be put to rest by a simple release of the original document? Would not someone in his position want people to know the details?
But consider the lengths that the Obamites have gone to deflect this issue. For a matter that could be put to rest so easily, the amount of smoke and mirrors operating in the Obama camp to shut this down is highly suggestive that they really have something momentus to hide.
If you were Obama, and really were a usurper, what would you do if you were determined to hang onto power? Exactly what he is doing now.
Some seem to have a hard time getting a feel for this issue, so I created a kind of word-picture.
As an illustration: If you suddenly showed up at my door and pushed your way into my house and started to move your stuff in, claiming you owned the house - I would demand you produce a legal title to my house. Of course you could not. But you might hand me some typed up document that purports to be a title, or resort to name-calling, and even insisting that since you were already in the house, "possession is nine-tenths of the law" and other cutie phrases.
I call the cops, but when they show up, they note who you are, and suddenly wash their hands of it, saying that I will need to get a legal writ to have you put out. They ask for a lease or some evidence that you have a right to be there, and you show them the fake Title. They seem more than willing to accept that even though it is not a certified original and it does not have all the proper information indicating when you bought it, how much was paid, and where the original document can be found in the Court records. Mostly though they just don't want to get involved. They act kind of scared of going against you.
Then you press them, and one of them threatens to have me arrested for disturbing the peace because I got a little loud over this usurpation of my property. You gloatingly smile and tell the police that you have been trying to get me to move out, but I am very stubborn and refuse to "face facts." Later that day I get a summons to appear before a magistrate for attempting a "false arrest", and am fined $25,000. I am outraged, but more determined than ever to get you out of my house and to clear my name.
If and when we get to court you will have to produce the certified Title from the courthouse. Of course I know you will not be able to do that. So perhaps it would be understandable that you would hire lawyers to try to avoid the court date, throwing up all kinds of manufactured legal objections to my demand for you to produce the Title.
I discover that somehow you have gotten into my bank account and are able to take my money to fight me with. That is working well for you now.
Yet I persist, and finally, once pinned down in court, you are shown to be a very bold and audacious liar and con man. I find out later that you have been mentored by some of the most virulent criminals in the world, the Chicago Radical Crime Syndicate. Thier mantra: "If you are going to tell a lie, tell a whopper."
I then press charges against you for your actions against me and recover damages. They are huge. You spend the rest of your life in prison, with no hope of parole.
Again I repeat: Where is the Birth Certificate? No valid birth certificate has been released. The supervisor of public records in Hawaii has sealed the document – sealed it to the public. That is a certifiable fact. If the real document, as some of deluded people have asserted, has already been released, then what document remains that is sealed? Interestingly, the Supervisor, contrary to the rules for disclosure, at one point publicly indicated that she has "seen and handled" the document, and that "it shows that Obama was born in Hawaii." This is enough for some people, but wait a minute. The document still has not been produced. Should we believe her? Suppose she is part of the Obama cover up? Why should we take her word, especially when the laws of Hawaii don't permit such disclosures? Would you take the word of the Clerk of the Court that Obama has a good title to your house? Wouldn't you insist on seeing it produced and verified as an actual, certified title? Any reasonable person would. This all smacks of cover-up. "Give them anything, but don't give them the original long-form birth certificate."
This guy was born in Kenya. The Kenyans celebrate that fact, and are expecting lots of money from their countryman who has managed to get into the US presidency. At least some people are willing to acknowledge - even to celebrate his Kenyan birth. See the post on this blog.
You would think the American Media would be interested in truth, but they have run away from this story. Even O'Reilly, who bills himself a "no-spin" artist, openly mocked the "birthers" as nut-jobs. I have to believe that an enormous amount of pressure has been weilded behind the scenes to dissuade people from pursuing the matter.
I am not a nut-job; not by a long stretch of the imagination; nor am I a fool. There is way too much evidence circulating about this guy for none of it to be true. Why wasn't he vetted? Why are there two certified copies of his certificate of Nomination to run for the Democratic condidate for president - one certifying that he "meets all the constitutional requirements for President" and the other merely affirming that he is the "Democratic Party candidate for the presidency in 2009". Both are signed by Nancy Pelosi, but the first one was withdrawn and the second one posted. Why? Did Nancy Pelosi not want to put her neck further in a noose by swearing to something she knew, or at least suspected, was not true about Obama?
We'll see.
Archived articles surface, refer to Obama's Kenyan Origins
"Archived articles surface, refer to "Kenyan-born Obama"" - Patriot Update
Why would Obama refuse to let us see his original birth certificate? Because it will prove that he is born in Kenya, not Hawaii, and that is in ineligible to be president of the US because he is not "a natural - born" citizen.
This just keeps getting deeper and deeper.
Why would Obama refuse to let us see his original birth certificate? Because it will prove that he is born in Kenya, not Hawaii, and that is in ineligible to be president of the US because he is not "a natural - born" citizen.
This just keeps getting deeper and deeper.
Representative Paul Ryan in HealthCare Debate
Rep Paul Ryan is a dynamic speaker, a Republican from Wisconsin, and a supporter of some free-market ideas for reform of our national health care system. Unfortunately, he buys into continued Socialist concepts, such as the government paying for "insurance" for certain classes of the population. His plan is a mix of some free market ideas and socialism dressed up in compassionate garb. I am researching his positions for more detail, and I don’t want to unfairly or dishonestly characterize his stands, but at the present time, I am not going to support what he wants to do.
My position is that I feel that we need to pull back the throttles on our federal government Socialism - not crashing the plane with a too-sudden change in flight plan, but putting us on a glide-slope to a landing with the goal that the Federal Government has no part to play in medical care (or any redistributionist plan) for ANY citizen. That might take a decade, but it has to be the goal. Otherwise, we just perpetuate unconstitutional activities and never address the underlying moral issue: government redistribution of wealth for such reasons is fundamentally wrong and at variance with our principles at a people.
If anyone has any specific thoughts to add to this, post them on this blog. I am operating on a first look at his simplified health care proposal and have not delved into the details. Perhaps he has a "glide slope" concept built in. I would hate to set my self against a friend.
My position is that I feel that we need to pull back the throttles on our federal government Socialism - not crashing the plane with a too-sudden change in flight plan, but putting us on a glide-slope to a landing with the goal that the Federal Government has no part to play in medical care (or any redistributionist plan) for ANY citizen. That might take a decade, but it has to be the goal. Otherwise, we just perpetuate unconstitutional activities and never address the underlying moral issue: government redistribution of wealth for such reasons is fundamentally wrong and at variance with our principles at a people.
If anyone has any specific thoughts to add to this, post them on this blog. I am operating on a first look at his simplified health care proposal and have not delved into the details. Perhaps he has a "glide slope" concept built in. I would hate to set my self against a friend.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
To A Broken God - music video
A lovely, meditative song for those of us who are hurt or broken. What a comfort He is, for he endured the indignity of pain and suffering in this world the same as we.
"I never dreamed You could feel this way."
There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. No one ever cared for me like Jesus.
"I never dreamed You could feel this way."
There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. No one ever cared for me like Jesus.
Friday, November 6, 2009
The Establishment Clause and Homosexuality
Some have asserted that laws defining marriage as solely the union of one man and one woman violate the establisment clause of the Constitution; more specifically, the First Amendment, which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of Religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
Recent (late twentieth century) judicial opinions have skewed the meaning of the word "religion" to refer to any mention or acknowledgment of God, as if the Founders really wanted to exclude God from government. The buzz-phrase often used to characterize this interpretation is the oft-repeated mantra "Separation of Church and State," which is ripped without context from a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association. They had expressed concerns that the Federal Government would use the first amendment to persecute churches. He replied, intending to fully assure them that the Federal Government is prevented from doing so because the Consititution has erected a "wall of separation" between church and state. Since then his words have been taken wildly out of context, being used to promulgate the very opposite of what he meant. His letter actually affirms that the Federal Government cannot set up a National Church, nor can it oppress any of the sectarian churches. Taken out of context, and endlessly repeated, that phrase has been mis-used to ram all kinds of anti-religious bias down the throats of the American people. It has been used to ban God from public life, and now such attitudes are creeping into even the private domain. Are you familiar with "Christmas wars," or "creche wars" every Christmas Season? (There! I said it!)
If we want to be correct in our interpretation of the Constitution, we ought to let those who debated and voted for the Bill of Rights inform us of what they meant when they used the word "religion." The true meaning of the term comes out of that time, not today's.
Today's revisionist interpretation would banish God and all mention of Him from public life because the mention of "God" implies "religion" to some people today. Then it is but a short step to infer that the Founders meant to ban God.
But that is not at all what the founders meant by "religion" in the first Amendment. They were referring to a national established sectarian church, like England had. State church establishments were clearly OK with them, for even after the ratification of the Constitution, a number of state sectarian churches persisted for many years. Nobody questioned that or tried to overturn it as "unconstitutional" or as a violation of the "establishment clause." The reason? Because no one tried to set up a national church based on one of the Christian Sects. If you want to understand the word “religion” as they meant is, insert the word “Christian Sect” in place of it and you get the idea.
Today's interpretation is radically revisionist. It turns the establishment clause upside down and uses it as a bludgeon against present-day believers who are of the same mind and mold of those who founded this country. It tries, in effect, to banish us and our religious convictions into outer darkness, or to be confined within our heads but nowhere else.
People like us founded this country, and we will not let anyone playing a "shell game" with rhetoric or revisionism deprive us of a government set up to secure our religious liberty.
This country was founded by and for Christians who were fleeing religious oppression in England, and later Europe. Now, the oppressors are with us again, but this time they grew up in our midst, and are attempting to carry out the same oppression the earliest settlers came here to escape. The difference is that the latter-day oppressors are Humanist, not Deist. The result is the same.
The Founders made it clear in their writings that this government was not set up - or adequate - for an immoral and licentious people. Therefore, by any fair historical measure, Homosexuality and "gay" marriage are not included in the Bill of Rights.
Having said that, we recognize that such sins have been with us from very early in human history. Gen 9:24 may be the first record of a homosexual event in the scripture. Even then, the act brought about a huge judgment. One can only wonder what massive judgment awaits this country if we so flagrantly flout God's laws as come vocal minorities are attempting to do now.
None of us propose to jail or persecute such sins, since they are personal and usually private. We deplore them, but generally will leave it up to an individual’s choice. But we won’t countenance the attempt to change the rules so that what is immoral gets enthroned as "moral", and what we recognize to be moral to be made immoral or irrelevant. We will fight to the death to prevent a complete inversion of the moral landscape in our culture.
Recent (late twentieth century) judicial opinions have skewed the meaning of the word "religion" to refer to any mention or acknowledgment of God, as if the Founders really wanted to exclude God from government. The buzz-phrase often used to characterize this interpretation is the oft-repeated mantra "Separation of Church and State," which is ripped without context from a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association. They had expressed concerns that the Federal Government would use the first amendment to persecute churches. He replied, intending to fully assure them that the Federal Government is prevented from doing so because the Consititution has erected a "wall of separation" between church and state. Since then his words have been taken wildly out of context, being used to promulgate the very opposite of what he meant. His letter actually affirms that the Federal Government cannot set up a National Church, nor can it oppress any of the sectarian churches. Taken out of context, and endlessly repeated, that phrase has been mis-used to ram all kinds of anti-religious bias down the throats of the American people. It has been used to ban God from public life, and now such attitudes are creeping into even the private domain. Are you familiar with "Christmas wars," or "creche wars" every Christmas Season? (There! I said it!)
If we want to be correct in our interpretation of the Constitution, we ought to let those who debated and voted for the Bill of Rights inform us of what they meant when they used the word "religion." The true meaning of the term comes out of that time, not today's.
Today's revisionist interpretation would banish God and all mention of Him from public life because the mention of "God" implies "religion" to some people today. Then it is but a short step to infer that the Founders meant to ban God.
But that is not at all what the founders meant by "religion" in the first Amendment. They were referring to a national established sectarian church, like England had. State church establishments were clearly OK with them, for even after the ratification of the Constitution, a number of state sectarian churches persisted for many years. Nobody questioned that or tried to overturn it as "unconstitutional" or as a violation of the "establishment clause." The reason? Because no one tried to set up a national church based on one of the Christian Sects. If you want to understand the word “religion” as they meant is, insert the word “Christian Sect” in place of it and you get the idea.
Today's interpretation is radically revisionist. It turns the establishment clause upside down and uses it as a bludgeon against present-day believers who are of the same mind and mold of those who founded this country. It tries, in effect, to banish us and our religious convictions into outer darkness, or to be confined within our heads but nowhere else.
People like us founded this country, and we will not let anyone playing a "shell game" with rhetoric or revisionism deprive us of a government set up to secure our religious liberty.
This country was founded by and for Christians who were fleeing religious oppression in England, and later Europe. Now, the oppressors are with us again, but this time they grew up in our midst, and are attempting to carry out the same oppression the earliest settlers came here to escape. The difference is that the latter-day oppressors are Humanist, not Deist. The result is the same.
The Founders made it clear in their writings that this government was not set up - or adequate - for an immoral and licentious people. Therefore, by any fair historical measure, Homosexuality and "gay" marriage are not included in the Bill of Rights.
Having said that, we recognize that such sins have been with us from very early in human history. Gen 9:24 may be the first record of a homosexual event in the scripture. Even then, the act brought about a huge judgment. One can only wonder what massive judgment awaits this country if we so flagrantly flout God's laws as come vocal minorities are attempting to do now.
None of us propose to jail or persecute such sins, since they are personal and usually private. We deplore them, but generally will leave it up to an individual’s choice. But we won’t countenance the attempt to change the rules so that what is immoral gets enthroned as "moral", and what we recognize to be moral to be made immoral or irrelevant. We will fight to the death to prevent a complete inversion of the moral landscape in our culture.
On the Right to Throw off Tyranny
Do we have a right to throw off oppressive government? First read the Declaration of Independence to rehearse the arguments and logic put forth by the Founders for their break with the British Crown.
I have included a fairly long sermon delivered by Samuel West, a congregationalist minister, to the Massachusetts Council and House of Representatives in Boston, 1776. Familiar sounding year? Yes, the Declaration of Independence year. The sermon is well worth the effort to slog through it, since it refutes many serious theological interpretations of those who claim that we have an absolute duty to obey all rulers regardless of their governance. He establishes a right understanding of the scriptures on that point, and demolishes the incorrect interpretations that lead to more tyranny.
Genuine government is ordained By GOD for the purpose of rewarding those who do well and punishing those who do evil. Rom 13:3 “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good."
Unfortunately under this present government, it is increasingly true that if you do well you get screwed by the government, and all the fruit of your hard work is plundered to "transfer" it to someone else who is "more worthy" of your property and wealth than you are.
When rulers become a terror to good works they are no longer serving in their role as God's ministers and have become illegitimate. We have an obligation to tolerate even bad rulers, but not when they demonstrate a determination to subjugate us totally to themselves in total disregard to their ordained functions. When they act that way they then have forfeited any right of authority over us. That was the argument made in the Declaration of Independence. I regard it as theologically sound.
Our government is breaking into our lives in many of the same ways the British Crown was doing in the mid to late 1700's. It is convicting to read the list of particulars enumerated in the Declaration and to see how similar some of them are to the afronts to our Liberties. We appear to have come full circle, except this time it is not a foreign government that is oppressing us, but our own national government, which was supposed to be reined in by the Constitution.
Increasingly, the Constitution, where it comes up at all in the Halls of Congress, is used by our self-styled "rulers" as a bludgeon over the heads of the cititzens who try to exercise their Liberty, and totally ignored when some Liberal/Progressive "cause du jour" is in their sights.
We must change this government since it has become a denier of basic rights. Change must occur. Peacefully if possible, but change must come, no matter what. We are presently being oppressed by a tyranny, and it promises to get much worse.
By the way, "basic rights" do not include the right to housing, food, a job, someone else's paycheck, or free lifetime medical care, or to redefine marriage - or the right "not to be offended". Just read the UN Declaration of Human Rights if you want to see a prescription for tyranny. Who pays for all that stuff? You guessed it! Those who "do well."
I have included a fairly long sermon delivered by Samuel West, a congregationalist minister, to the Massachusetts Council and House of Representatives in Boston, 1776. Familiar sounding year? Yes, the Declaration of Independence year. The sermon is well worth the effort to slog through it, since it refutes many serious theological interpretations of those who claim that we have an absolute duty to obey all rulers regardless of their governance. He establishes a right understanding of the scriptures on that point, and demolishes the incorrect interpretations that lead to more tyranny.
Genuine government is ordained By GOD for the purpose of rewarding those who do well and punishing those who do evil. Rom 13:3 “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good."
Unfortunately under this present government, it is increasingly true that if you do well you get screwed by the government, and all the fruit of your hard work is plundered to "transfer" it to someone else who is "more worthy" of your property and wealth than you are.
When rulers become a terror to good works they are no longer serving in their role as God's ministers and have become illegitimate. We have an obligation to tolerate even bad rulers, but not when they demonstrate a determination to subjugate us totally to themselves in total disregard to their ordained functions. When they act that way they then have forfeited any right of authority over us. That was the argument made in the Declaration of Independence. I regard it as theologically sound.
Our government is breaking into our lives in many of the same ways the British Crown was doing in the mid to late 1700's. It is convicting to read the list of particulars enumerated in the Declaration and to see how similar some of them are to the afronts to our Liberties. We appear to have come full circle, except this time it is not a foreign government that is oppressing us, but our own national government, which was supposed to be reined in by the Constitution.
Increasingly, the Constitution, where it comes up at all in the Halls of Congress, is used by our self-styled "rulers" as a bludgeon over the heads of the cititzens who try to exercise their Liberty, and totally ignored when some Liberal/Progressive "cause du jour" is in their sights.
We must change this government since it has become a denier of basic rights. Change must occur. Peacefully if possible, but change must come, no matter what. We are presently being oppressed by a tyranny, and it promises to get much worse.
By the way, "basic rights" do not include the right to housing, food, a job, someone else's paycheck, or free lifetime medical care, or to redefine marriage - or the right "not to be offended". Just read the UN Declaration of Human Rights if you want to see a prescription for tyranny. Who pays for all that stuff? You guessed it! Those who "do well."
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Urge to Eden - Practical Faith in an Age of "Reform"
"A spring will cease to flow if its source be dried up; a tree will wither if its roots be destroyed. In its main features the Declaration of Independence is a great spiritual document. It is a declaration not of material but of spiritual conceptions. Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights of man - these are not elements which we can see and touch. They are ideals. They have their source and their roots in the religious convictions. They belong to the unseen world. Unless the faith of the American people in these religious convictions is to endure, the principles of our Declaration will perish. We cannot continue to enjoy the result if we neglect and abandon the cause. "
- From 'The Inspiration of the Declaration Speech at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Calvin Coolidge, July 5, 1926
We persist in falling into the error that the solution to our current problems lies in economic reforms, or adding more "fairness" to government, or even to more "democracy." But if we are basically a people who are rebellious and dismissive of the God who gave us our Liberties, then no matter how good our plans might be - whether Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Liberal or Libertarian - they will fail. Our liberty, as the Declaration so eloquently puts it, is an endowment given to us by our Creator. But endowments can be squandered and polluted, and ultimately lose their benefit.
I believe America is and has been in deep trouble because we, as Coolidge so aptly put it in the quote above, have "neglected and abandoned the cause." We don't have money problems; we have moral problems.
True reform and restoration of prosperity will not occur if we fail to recognize and return to first principles. Reliance on plans, programs, and parties - seeking to build a righteous society by our own works - will fail.
I am a conservative Christian. Frequently, I dust it up with Liberals, whose proposed solutions are almost diametrically opposite to those I espouse. The dialog sometimes devolves into diatribe. But that is not right to do that. Liberals and Conservatives are all people who, at heart, desire a world of fairness and love. We all desire to be regarded as persons of value. Our methodology is vastly different, but in one way or another, we are all striving for Eden. Karl Marx, while emphatically rejecting the God of the Bible (he was a Jew remember), tried to define a utopian society based upon the notion that economics drives human beings before all other considerations. While I strongly reject his thesis, I also recognize the urge to Eden in his writings. The same analysis can discover much the same goal in all reform movements, whether in government or religion. We have a heart-yearning for something that is missing in ourselves and in the world of men.
Remember the term "Compassionate Conservatism?" Why was it coined? Because those who adhered to principles of property rights, limited government, personal freedom - all good and proper things - were subject to the charge that they did not care about those in society who needed help. Conservatives were characterized as "heartless" and "cruel" because they did not sign on to the huge government welfare programs the Liberals were sponsoring to "help" the poor. Aside from the fact that the Liberals got it even more wrong in their proposed solution than the Conservatives, I think it is fair that we Conservatives may be most guilty in that we have forgotten that our "neighbor" is also our "brother."
We owe a debt of love to every man. We are not put on earth to just serve ourselves. We have obligations to one another. And the self-aggrandizing spirit that has grown out of the prosperity that has been afforded us in this blessed land has led many - many who ought to know better - to live primarily for one’s self and one's family, and thunderously neglect those around us - in whatever form that neglect might take. We have not loved our brothers. That failure has been laid at the feet of those of us who claim a Divine mission, but have so miserably failed to live up to its implications. Genuine Christianity ought to transform our Society as it transforms our hearts toward one another. It starts in the heart.
The story of the Good Samaritan told by Jesus is in answer to the question "Who is my neighbor." His reply is very convicting. Liberals have a point in charging people of faith with being hypocrites. Unfortunately, their own solutions, being bereft of even a hint of the wisdom of God, have results that are far, far worse than mere neglect. They invoke the "law of unintended consequences" in their "solutions" to the problems of inequity in this world. Socialism is the bringer of tyrrany.
It has been said that there are no perfect people, only perfect intentions. There is more than a little truth in that. But there is actual Truth and it is God's Truth alone. If we don't pursue that first, there is no hope for any solution that does more good than harm.
But, as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 10 "... I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." He puts his finger right on the problem: They are "going about to establish their own righteousness"; that is, what they think is best. But they are doing it in ignorance or outright defiance of what God has ordained. No good can come of that.
We live in a God-created world and there is nothing we can do about it, nor should we seek to escape from the implications of it. God is good, and we ought to submit to Him. But we have an in-born tendency to go our own way. Ps 2 describes the efforts of men who know God is there but furiously reject Him so that they might set themselves up as gods. He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh.
It all comes back to what Coolidge called the Unseen World. It may be unseen by the eye of man, but the God of the unseen world "ruleth over all." We need to start with rebuilding our personal and national relationship with the God of Creation who is also the God of Redemption of broken people. That's all of us. We cannot have a political revival if we don't first have a Moral - or more correctly, a Spiritual revival.
.
- From 'The Inspiration of the Declaration Speech at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Calvin Coolidge, July 5, 1926
We persist in falling into the error that the solution to our current problems lies in economic reforms, or adding more "fairness" to government, or even to more "democracy." But if we are basically a people who are rebellious and dismissive of the God who gave us our Liberties, then no matter how good our plans might be - whether Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Liberal or Libertarian - they will fail. Our liberty, as the Declaration so eloquently puts it, is an endowment given to us by our Creator. But endowments can be squandered and polluted, and ultimately lose their benefit.
I believe America is and has been in deep trouble because we, as Coolidge so aptly put it in the quote above, have "neglected and abandoned the cause." We don't have money problems; we have moral problems.
True reform and restoration of prosperity will not occur if we fail to recognize and return to first principles. Reliance on plans, programs, and parties - seeking to build a righteous society by our own works - will fail.
I am a conservative Christian. Frequently, I dust it up with Liberals, whose proposed solutions are almost diametrically opposite to those I espouse. The dialog sometimes devolves into diatribe. But that is not right to do that. Liberals and Conservatives are all people who, at heart, desire a world of fairness and love. We all desire to be regarded as persons of value. Our methodology is vastly different, but in one way or another, we are all striving for Eden. Karl Marx, while emphatically rejecting the God of the Bible (he was a Jew remember), tried to define a utopian society based upon the notion that economics drives human beings before all other considerations. While I strongly reject his thesis, I also recognize the urge to Eden in his writings. The same analysis can discover much the same goal in all reform movements, whether in government or religion. We have a heart-yearning for something that is missing in ourselves and in the world of men.
Remember the term "Compassionate Conservatism?" Why was it coined? Because those who adhered to principles of property rights, limited government, personal freedom - all good and proper things - were subject to the charge that they did not care about those in society who needed help. Conservatives were characterized as "heartless" and "cruel" because they did not sign on to the huge government welfare programs the Liberals were sponsoring to "help" the poor. Aside from the fact that the Liberals got it even more wrong in their proposed solution than the Conservatives, I think it is fair that we Conservatives may be most guilty in that we have forgotten that our "neighbor" is also our "brother."
We owe a debt of love to every man. We are not put on earth to just serve ourselves. We have obligations to one another. And the self-aggrandizing spirit that has grown out of the prosperity that has been afforded us in this blessed land has led many - many who ought to know better - to live primarily for one’s self and one's family, and thunderously neglect those around us - in whatever form that neglect might take. We have not loved our brothers. That failure has been laid at the feet of those of us who claim a Divine mission, but have so miserably failed to live up to its implications. Genuine Christianity ought to transform our Society as it transforms our hearts toward one another. It starts in the heart.
The story of the Good Samaritan told by Jesus is in answer to the question "Who is my neighbor." His reply is very convicting. Liberals have a point in charging people of faith with being hypocrites. Unfortunately, their own solutions, being bereft of even a hint of the wisdom of God, have results that are far, far worse than mere neglect. They invoke the "law of unintended consequences" in their "solutions" to the problems of inequity in this world. Socialism is the bringer of tyrrany.
It has been said that there are no perfect people, only perfect intentions. There is more than a little truth in that. But there is actual Truth and it is God's Truth alone. If we don't pursue that first, there is no hope for any solution that does more good than harm.
But, as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 10 "... I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." He puts his finger right on the problem: They are "going about to establish their own righteousness"; that is, what they think is best. But they are doing it in ignorance or outright defiance of what God has ordained. No good can come of that.
We live in a God-created world and there is nothing we can do about it, nor should we seek to escape from the implications of it. God is good, and we ought to submit to Him. But we have an in-born tendency to go our own way. Ps 2 describes the efforts of men who know God is there but furiously reject Him so that they might set themselves up as gods. He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh.
It all comes back to what Coolidge called the Unseen World. It may be unseen by the eye of man, but the God of the unseen world "ruleth over all." We need to start with rebuilding our personal and national relationship with the God of Creation who is also the God of Redemption of broken people. That's all of us. We cannot have a political revival if we don't first have a Moral - or more correctly, a Spiritual revival.
.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Lessons from the Great Depression - Lawrence Reed
If you want some real insight into the insidious effects of the controls that Obama and his Dems are all about, listen to this very informative speech. One of the products of the Great Depression was an increasing group of dependants on the Welfare state - call them loyal Democrat voters - and a "conventional wisdom" that government intervention helped "save" the country. The fact is, the depression was longer and much more severe precisely due to the government's influence and attempts to "fix" things. The false "lesson" of that period has been perpetuated in the public mind and, not suprisingly, the Democrat Party learned a huge lesson from it too. If they can keep people believing that government is the savior, then when hard times come more and more voters become clients of the Democrat party.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Unions, Lenin, and the American Way
The People's Cube - Unions, Lenin, and the American Way
Posted using ShareThis
This is a comprehensive look at how Communists (like Obama) use the union movement to take over a country and suppress dissent.
Posted using ShareThis
This is a comprehensive look at how Communists (like Obama) use the union movement to take over a country and suppress dissent.
Nationalized HealthCare: The Ultimate Political Weed
Discussing the Democrat's passion for passing HealthCare "reform" on several FB links, it has become obvious, to me at least, that they are not really suicidal. They are more like the "little engine that could", chugging away up a steep incline. All they have to do is get over the top, and it is a clear run without effort down the other side.
I think I know the reason why the Democrats are so single-minded and determined to get this "healthcare reform" bill rammed through.
Their zeal has little or nothing to do with "healthcare" per se: It has to do with installing a monolithic nationalized system that will make constituents out of a larger and larger group of citizens so they can be controlled by the Democrats or their Socialist successors. This is a power grab of monumental proportions that is intended to be one-way.
Where this has been done in other countries, it is virtually impossible to root it out. It is the ultimate political weed.
Daniel Hannon, MP from the south of England, has made numerous speeches in the US warning us of the perils of going down this path. He describes it as one-way also. It becomes "necessary" and therefore "unthinkable" to vote out because it employs such a huge percentage of the workforce. They simply won't vote themselves out of a job.
Note also the card-check legislation which is worming its way through Congress at this time. That is a tool to force the unionization of virtually all of American employment. That, plus the medical union which is sure to follow, will hand our entire economy and our personal lives over to union thugs who can reward or punish supporters or opposition as they see fit.
Can you imagine writing articles about the abuses of a socialized medical establishment, only to find out that your cancer operation is unaccountably postponed for the third time since it was discovered twelve months ago? Now, since there are no free-market medical facilities available anywhere else on the American continents (North and South), you are coming to resign yourself to the realization that you should have kept your mouth shut. You are in a trap and there is no escape.
Even though the looming mid-term elections seem to portend a disaster for the Democrats - they are determinedly pressing ahead anyway. Perhaps it is because a "Fix" is already in.
The Obama power brokers may have by now installed enough Socialist thugs as Czars, and upper and mid-level bureaucratic functionaries in our government, that they feel relatively impervious to future efforts to dislodge them by efforts of elected officials of whatever stripe. It would make good sense for them to deliberately over reach in the first year of Obama's administration so that even when there is a pushback, they will have won a huge step forward that cannot be undone. Bureaucrats, once installed, have a long influence. Never underestimate the staying power of the Bureaucracy. That was a major negative influence that acted as a "sheet anchor" against Ronald Reagan's reforms.
The answer, just in case it plays out this way, is to defund them at the Federal and State levels once we retake the government reins. Just radically defund all the unconstitutional agencies at once. The resulting confusion will be enormous, but by the end of a year or two, the rebound from stifling regulation and wealth confiscation will lead to the biggest, healthiest peacetime economic boom that this country has ever seen.
And, for good measure, vigorously pursue the trail of trillions of dollars that have passed through the hands of the Obamites. I predict that they have already siphoned off hundreds of billions into their pet projects, or just stashed it for future use.This gang of criminals must be held accountable.
The ultimate political weed cannot be allowed to contiue to grow in our political system or to spread catstrophically as it has begun to do. We need to encourage the ultimate political weed-killer - Liberty - to take root again. It once grew all over this great nation. May it do so again.
I think I know the reason why the Democrats are so single-minded and determined to get this "healthcare reform" bill rammed through.
Their zeal has little or nothing to do with "healthcare" per se: It has to do with installing a monolithic nationalized system that will make constituents out of a larger and larger group of citizens so they can be controlled by the Democrats or their Socialist successors. This is a power grab of monumental proportions that is intended to be one-way.
Where this has been done in other countries, it is virtually impossible to root it out. It is the ultimate political weed.
Daniel Hannon, MP from the south of England, has made numerous speeches in the US warning us of the perils of going down this path. He describes it as one-way also. It becomes "necessary" and therefore "unthinkable" to vote out because it employs such a huge percentage of the workforce. They simply won't vote themselves out of a job.
Note also the card-check legislation which is worming its way through Congress at this time. That is a tool to force the unionization of virtually all of American employment. That, plus the medical union which is sure to follow, will hand our entire economy and our personal lives over to union thugs who can reward or punish supporters or opposition as they see fit.
Can you imagine writing articles about the abuses of a socialized medical establishment, only to find out that your cancer operation is unaccountably postponed for the third time since it was discovered twelve months ago? Now, since there are no free-market medical facilities available anywhere else on the American continents (North and South), you are coming to resign yourself to the realization that you should have kept your mouth shut. You are in a trap and there is no escape.
Even though the looming mid-term elections seem to portend a disaster for the Democrats - they are determinedly pressing ahead anyway. Perhaps it is because a "Fix" is already in.
The Obama power brokers may have by now installed enough Socialist thugs as Czars, and upper and mid-level bureaucratic functionaries in our government, that they feel relatively impervious to future efforts to dislodge them by efforts of elected officials of whatever stripe. It would make good sense for them to deliberately over reach in the first year of Obama's administration so that even when there is a pushback, they will have won a huge step forward that cannot be undone. Bureaucrats, once installed, have a long influence. Never underestimate the staying power of the Bureaucracy. That was a major negative influence that acted as a "sheet anchor" against Ronald Reagan's reforms.
The answer, just in case it plays out this way, is to defund them at the Federal and State levels once we retake the government reins. Just radically defund all the unconstitutional agencies at once. The resulting confusion will be enormous, but by the end of a year or two, the rebound from stifling regulation and wealth confiscation will lead to the biggest, healthiest peacetime economic boom that this country has ever seen.
And, for good measure, vigorously pursue the trail of trillions of dollars that have passed through the hands of the Obamites. I predict that they have already siphoned off hundreds of billions into their pet projects, or just stashed it for future use.This gang of criminals must be held accountable.
The ultimate political weed cannot be allowed to contiue to grow in our political system or to spread catstrophically as it has begun to do. We need to encourage the ultimate political weed-killer - Liberty - to take root again. It once grew all over this great nation. May it do so again.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Polls and Pollsters
We had an interesting FB exchange today on the subject of Frank Lunz, pollster, and questions about his motives and honesty.
Someone had posted a video clip featuring Frank Lunz, framed as if he were being interviewed by FoxNews, which, it turns out, is only partially true. Careful editing makes the clip into a lie, but I am getting ahead of myself.
Frank Lunz is a pollster who is often featured on Fox News. The video clip embedded above in ---'s comment is a profane attack on all polling - especially Lunz, portraying him as an uber-liar. Actually they portray Lunz making the true statement that polling can be skewed to achieve the results that you want. He is not advocating doing that, but the way the video is assembled it seems to be catching Lunz in a candid admission that he is a criminal. Get Real! That is not what the interview was all about in the first place! He was explaining the intricacies of polling, and some enemy edited it to make it seem that he was "telling all" and admitting to some dark secret of poll manipulation. A candid viewing of the video turns up a number of clues that Lunz was not admitting to doctoring his polls.
It takes special skill to avoid getting the result that you simply "want" to portray, and instead to get to what the people polled really think about a particular subject. It is the difference between a scientific poll and propaganda; between honesty and a lie.
Don’t believe the lie that there is no such a thing as accurate polling. We just need to understand that it is a tough job to come up with accurate results. Lunz is a good guy. So is Rasmussen. I trust them. I don't trust the propagandizers who published the video. The point of the video clip is to "prove" that Lunz is in the tank for dollars or worse. I do not believe that is true.
The author of the clip is not Fox news (something that might fool you as you begin to watch it), but someone who hates conservatism in general. Draw your own conclusions.
I have not read Lunz’ book, but he is not the demon that the video clip portrays. He is trying to use polling to indentify general trends using scientific methods. I think we owe him a “vote” of thanks, not vilification for his efforts.
Someone had posted a video clip featuring Frank Lunz, framed as if he were being interviewed by FoxNews, which, it turns out, is only partially true. Careful editing makes the clip into a lie, but I am getting ahead of myself.
Frank Lunz is a pollster who is often featured on Fox News. The video clip embedded above in ---'s comment is a profane attack on all polling - especially Lunz, portraying him as an uber-liar. Actually they portray Lunz making the true statement that polling can be skewed to achieve the results that you want. He is not advocating doing that, but the way the video is assembled it seems to be catching Lunz in a candid admission that he is a criminal. Get Real! That is not what the interview was all about in the first place! He was explaining the intricacies of polling, and some enemy edited it to make it seem that he was "telling all" and admitting to some dark secret of poll manipulation. A candid viewing of the video turns up a number of clues that Lunz was not admitting to doctoring his polls.
It takes special skill to avoid getting the result that you simply "want" to portray, and instead to get to what the people polled really think about a particular subject. It is the difference between a scientific poll and propaganda; between honesty and a lie.
Don’t believe the lie that there is no such a thing as accurate polling. We just need to understand that it is a tough job to come up with accurate results. Lunz is a good guy. So is Rasmussen. I trust them. I don't trust the propagandizers who published the video. The point of the video clip is to "prove" that Lunz is in the tank for dollars or worse. I do not believe that is true.
The author of the clip is not Fox news (something that might fool you as you begin to watch it), but someone who hates conservatism in general. Draw your own conclusions.
I have not read Lunz’ book, but he is not the demon that the video clip portrays. He is trying to use polling to indentify general trends using scientific methods. I think we owe him a “vote” of thanks, not vilification for his efforts.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
They'll Do it Every Time
I just got word on Sunday night that Scozzafava in the NT-23 race, a liberal abortion-supporting, gay-marriage Republican in Name Only (RINO) not only dropped out of the race yesterday as the Republican candidate, but today has come out in support of the Democratic candidate against Hoffman, the Conservative candidate who blew her out of the race.
Something sounds eerily familiar about this. Didn't Arlen Specter stab the Republican Party in the back when he switched parties to bolster the Demorcat's Senate lead in 2008? Wasn't he a thorn in the side of the Republicans for years, voting with the Democrats more often than not? With "republicans" like him, who needs enemies?
I am glad he is gone, and I am glad she is too.
I think Scuzzi did us a favor. She "outed" herself as the kind of political figure that we knew her to be anyway - a Liberal Democrat. She was just hiding in the Republican apparatus like a mole. Had the sleeping voters given her the position, she would have given them a major case of heartburn.
To their deep shame, the witless Republicans of that district did not flush her out, or reject her: they supported her and endorsed her run for the Republican seat in Congress. They are the problem. Not only do we have the voters of that district to thank for supporting the conservative Hoffman, but we have a task for them - oust the local leadership and replace it with solid conservatives. I am sure there are quite a number lurking around the Tea Parties.
Politico today opined that the Republican party in NY is in total disarray, dissolving daily. True enough. But the champaign corks should be retired for the time being. While the Republicans might be stumbling, the Conservative party is alive and well, and I suspect is receiving the lively support of a lot of former Republicans who are busily abandonding a party that has become a Democrat also-ran. Who wants a wannabe Liberal posing as a Republican when you can have the real thing in a Democrat?
What Scozzi's endorsement of the Democrat candidate really signals is the deep ideological decay of the Republicans - a decay in the leadership down even to precinct levels, that has obviously disgusted and dismayed the rank and file. Clearly, there are a lot of registered Republicans who are not being represented by their party. And they are voting with their feet.
Perhaps the long-awaited split and realignment in the national parties is beginning. The conservative voters have been looking for a home, whether they have borne the Democrat or Republican or Independant label. Perhaps this season they will find it. It might not have a mature party apparatus, but it will have that most essential of all qualities - a gathering point around the essentials of a genuine conservative platform. The rest will follow.
Something sounds eerily familiar about this. Didn't Arlen Specter stab the Republican Party in the back when he switched parties to bolster the Demorcat's Senate lead in 2008? Wasn't he a thorn in the side of the Republicans for years, voting with the Democrats more often than not? With "republicans" like him, who needs enemies?
I am glad he is gone, and I am glad she is too.
I think Scuzzi did us a favor. She "outed" herself as the kind of political figure that we knew her to be anyway - a Liberal Democrat. She was just hiding in the Republican apparatus like a mole. Had the sleeping voters given her the position, she would have given them a major case of heartburn.
To their deep shame, the witless Republicans of that district did not flush her out, or reject her: they supported her and endorsed her run for the Republican seat in Congress. They are the problem. Not only do we have the voters of that district to thank for supporting the conservative Hoffman, but we have a task for them - oust the local leadership and replace it with solid conservatives. I am sure there are quite a number lurking around the Tea Parties.
Politico today opined that the Republican party in NY is in total disarray, dissolving daily. True enough. But the champaign corks should be retired for the time being. While the Republicans might be stumbling, the Conservative party is alive and well, and I suspect is receiving the lively support of a lot of former Republicans who are busily abandonding a party that has become a Democrat also-ran. Who wants a wannabe Liberal posing as a Republican when you can have the real thing in a Democrat?
What Scozzi's endorsement of the Democrat candidate really signals is the deep ideological decay of the Republicans - a decay in the leadership down even to precinct levels, that has obviously disgusted and dismayed the rank and file. Clearly, there are a lot of registered Republicans who are not being represented by their party. And they are voting with their feet.
Perhaps the long-awaited split and realignment in the national parties is beginning. The conservative voters have been looking for a home, whether they have borne the Democrat or Republican or Independant label. Perhaps this season they will find it. It might not have a mature party apparatus, but it will have that most essential of all qualities - a gathering point around the essentials of a genuine conservative platform. The rest will follow.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Contending for the Truth - the aborted Scozzofava Campaign
POLITICO: BREAKING: Scozzafava suspends NY 23 campaign - The Scorecard - BREAKING: Scozzafava suspends NY 23 campaign
Who should we support for political office? Those we think are likely to win? Or those of our own party? Or perhaps we should "let things take their course"? I think we have an obligation to support the Constitutionalist - Conservative candidates first and last. I am through with the "lesser of two evils". That is what got us into trouble in the first place.
But there is also an obligation on us to encourage like-minded candidates to step forth (as in Hoffman's case) instead of letting things stay in the hands of the existing Party establishment (of whatever stripe.) This NY-23 Scozzofava fizzle came out of a corrupt district Republican Party organization. After all, Hoffman was considered while they voted who to back - and they voted for her rather than him (he was the last choice!). So she was THEIR choice!!! Therefore, we must be leery of any of the existing local Republican organizations (and most certainly local Dem orgs.) I am not saying to abandon them, but rather become engaged and speak out and influence - and if necessary, run for office ourselves.
I think that Scozzofava actually resonates pretty well with many existing country-club RINO types in the Northeast. I say that because I am frequently distressed to dialog with many registered Republicans from an area that was once a bastion of Biblical Christian thought, but now has become nothing more than a Halloween caricature of an abandoned faith. How do you imagine that a major denomination can ordain open homosexuals as Bishops and not really have a major conflagration in the churches?
Again and again, it comes down to standing for the Truth, starting from a Biblical stand. If we fall for the lie we will not be able to resist the illogic of unbelief. That is why we have support for gay “marriage” and abortion among Republicans. It is the fruit of unbelief.
Our entire American Political “experiment” rests on a belief in the supernatural bestowment of rights. We are truly unique as a culture because of that. Abandon God, and you also – even without realizing it – abandon any claim to rights yourself. We won’t retain our Liberty if we neglect and abandon its Cause.
Nor will we win the “culture war” issues which are important, but secondary. We cannot successfully support the right to life of an unborn human if they are only one more animal among the many on earth.
Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so, giving an answer of the hope that lies within us. We must make the case for God's Truth. Did you know that the Opposition has no rational argument or reasoned defense against the Truth? (Rom 1:20 (the English word “excuse” is from the Greek word apologia. “A reasoned answer.”) It is like the Lord said: “their defense is departed from them.” Num 14:9 Believe it. If we fail in this, we fail in all. This is worthy of much serious consideration: no matter how daunting they might appear, they have no real answers. It is all an empty philosophy. To me, that is a very encouraging thought. We fight from a position of strength.
Our present political resurgence is encouraging, but it will come to naught if it is not properly founded. We need to really return to Biblical Truth, however unpalatable that might be to the recent generations who have been raised on intentionally-taught unbelief.
Our position is the only logical and liberating one. We need to make that case over and over and not shrink from the battle. I believe it is THE defining battle today – the battle for TRUTH. Everything else is a side show, a skirmish.
That is what I try to do. Forgive these long posts, but this is where my heart is.
Who should we support for political office? Those we think are likely to win? Or those of our own party? Or perhaps we should "let things take their course"? I think we have an obligation to support the Constitutionalist - Conservative candidates first and last. I am through with the "lesser of two evils". That is what got us into trouble in the first place.
But there is also an obligation on us to encourage like-minded candidates to step forth (as in Hoffman's case) instead of letting things stay in the hands of the existing Party establishment (of whatever stripe.) This NY-23 Scozzofava fizzle came out of a corrupt district Republican Party organization. After all, Hoffman was considered while they voted who to back - and they voted for her rather than him (he was the last choice!). So she was THEIR choice!!! Therefore, we must be leery of any of the existing local Republican organizations (and most certainly local Dem orgs.) I am not saying to abandon them, but rather become engaged and speak out and influence - and if necessary, run for office ourselves.
I think that Scozzofava actually resonates pretty well with many existing country-club RINO types in the Northeast. I say that because I am frequently distressed to dialog with many registered Republicans from an area that was once a bastion of Biblical Christian thought, but now has become nothing more than a Halloween caricature of an abandoned faith. How do you imagine that a major denomination can ordain open homosexuals as Bishops and not really have a major conflagration in the churches?
Again and again, it comes down to standing for the Truth, starting from a Biblical stand. If we fall for the lie we will not be able to resist the illogic of unbelief. That is why we have support for gay “marriage” and abortion among Republicans. It is the fruit of unbelief.
Our entire American Political “experiment” rests on a belief in the supernatural bestowment of rights. We are truly unique as a culture because of that. Abandon God, and you also – even without realizing it – abandon any claim to rights yourself. We won’t retain our Liberty if we neglect and abandon its Cause.
Nor will we win the “culture war” issues which are important, but secondary. We cannot successfully support the right to life of an unborn human if they are only one more animal among the many on earth.
Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so, giving an answer of the hope that lies within us. We must make the case for God's Truth. Did you know that the Opposition has no rational argument or reasoned defense against the Truth? (Rom 1:20 (the English word “excuse” is from the Greek word apologia. “A reasoned answer.”) It is like the Lord said: “their defense is departed from them.” Num 14:9 Believe it. If we fail in this, we fail in all. This is worthy of much serious consideration: no matter how daunting they might appear, they have no real answers. It is all an empty philosophy. To me, that is a very encouraging thought. We fight from a position of strength.
Our present political resurgence is encouraging, but it will come to naught if it is not properly founded. We need to really return to Biblical Truth, however unpalatable that might be to the recent generations who have been raised on intentionally-taught unbelief.
Our position is the only logical and liberating one. We need to make that case over and over and not shrink from the battle. I believe it is THE defining battle today – the battle for TRUTH. Everything else is a side show, a skirmish.
That is what I try to do. Forgive these long posts, but this is where my heart is.
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