A book I read more than once

If any of you are into reading as I am I highly recommend "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. C.S. Lewis once said that someone who is truly interested in gleaning what they can from literature will not just have read many books, but will have books that they have read many times.

I have read this book no less than three times, and each time I have taken something else from it. It has done much to shape my worldview as it pertains to what "justice" is.

Dostoyevsky knew that justice and more importantly injustice were. He was sent to Siberia for a number of years due to his refusal to toe the line on soviet politics in his writings, the result of which is this and other beautifully written treatises, that we all can learn from.

I highly recommend this and other books (such as "Anna Karenina" and "The Brothers Karamazov") by this author. You will be a better person for having read them.

Would God allow Time travel?

Would God ever allow time travel. This is an interesting question. In order to answer it we have to try and look at time from God's perspective which is not an easy thing to do.
In 2 Peter 3:8 it says "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (KJV)
Time means nothing to God. He is outside of time. Try to picture the entire history of the world from beginning to end as a drawn time-line. It starts with Gods creation of the world, and ends with Gods destruction of the world. You can see Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses and all the rest. You can see what they did...or didn't do. Our limitation is that we can only see what is past and of that not much. Pretend you can see everything that has already happened. God is the beginning and the end "the Alpha and Omega". He has already seen all of Human history, so he can "look back" in this same way and see what to us is unknown future.
Now let's come back to the original question, would God ever allow time travel. No, because he alone can view the entire span of human existence. He alone can see the future as if it were past. That is part of what makes him God. He will not allow a human to mess with the space-time continuum for the same reason I won't let my kids touch the stove...all we would do is screw it up and hurt ourselves.
Now that we are aware of how God sees time, lets take that a step further...
Ephesians 1:4-6 "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved" (KJV)
God knew from the beginning of the world everything that would happen and has already guided it to it's conclusion.
What is the implication? There is no such thing as "time". "Time" is an artificial construct to describe the situation humans find themselves in vis-a-vis our physical world. To God, who is not retarded by the artificial construct of time, the future has already happened...which means there is also no such thing as change. Think about that for a moment. There is no such thing as "change".
I don't know about you, but I find comfort in the fact that God is "timeless" and "changeless", and if something in History needs fixing, I'll leave the time travel to him anyway.

I thought this was funny

there are 2 headlines today on the network news site for my Job.

the first one is..."Democrat congresswoman says Iraq stragey isn't working"

The second one is "Scores of insurgents killed"

Does anyone else see the irony?

I thought this was good.

I know we have all gotten this one in an email at one time or another. It's funny, but at the same time. to a certain extent it's true.

The Plan for Peace:

1) The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past and present. You know Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Milosevic, Noriega, Hussein, and the rest of those "good 'ol boys", we will never"interfere" again.

2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea, The Middle East, and the Philippines. They don't want us there. In fact we won't send our troops anywhere unless we are attacked first. This includes places like Darfur. We will instead station the troops at our borders. No one is allowed to sneak through the holes fence anymore.

3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and head home. We'll pay for the trip. After 90 days any illegal alien found will be forcefully removed from the country. Any resistance to this will be met with deadly force regardless of who they are or where they are from. They're illegal They can go to France.

4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in at all, if you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum will never be available to anyone ever, We have enough Cab drivers and 7-11 clerks.

5) No foreign "students" over the age of 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes or they get a "D" or below, they are on a plane home.

6) The US will make a strong effort to become self sufficient energy-wise. This will include development of nonpolluting sources of energy in the long term; but will also require some drilling in ANWR in the short term. The caribou will have to cope for a bit.

7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other Oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their Oil. If they don't like it we'll go elsewhere. they can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week or so of the loss of sales to the US should do it.)

8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world we will not "interfere". They can pray to allah or whoever for seeds, rain, cement, or whatever else they want. Besides even when we send em stuff, the army steals it. The people who actually need it never get anything.

9) Ship the UN Headquarters to France or some deserted island. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides the UN building would make a good place to lock up illegal aliens. we could even torture some of them for fun.

10) All Americans must attend charm and beauty school. that way no one can call us "ugly Americans".

11) We speak ENGLISH. Learn it or leave.

"The statue of Liberty is no longer saying give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses longing to breath free. She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling "YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?"

On a Heavier Note....

Original Article Here

Apparently Famine in Kenya is not all due to war and the evils of western Civilization.....or is it?

Apparently the "mother nature idiots" are being outsourced to the third world to cause problems over there.

According to the above article. A village in Kenya has had to have famine goods shipped in to feed them because they have been overrun with "vervet monkeys". These monkeys apparently come in and destroy the crops and have even killed livestock.

Here's the kicker "The town has been warned by the Kenya Wildlife Service not to harm or kill any of the monkeys, as it is a criminal offence"...

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THEY'RE M-O-N-K-E-Y-S!!! Human beings are starving to death because they are not allowed to hurt the monkeys! So instead we ship more food into the village, which the monkeys promptly destroy.

I have a solution to the problem......SHOOT THEM! THEY'RE A BUNCH OF DAMN MONKEYS!

In fact, for $5,000 (plus expenses) I will go shoot them myself, it sounds like fun.

"OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNMENT OF KENYA"

To Whom it may concern:

For $5,000.00 in American currency (half up front, half on completion) plus expenses, I will be more than happy to utilize my skill with a firearm to personally mitigate the current monkey crisis, provided no questions are asked. You may reach at [deleted]. I eagerly await your reply.

The Dude

Citizens in Action

Original Article Here

This is great! These guys went camping and caught a guy hanging around the womens latrine trying to "peep" at the women. One of the guys tackled him and then they tied him to a tree until the cops came.

BEAUTIFUL!!!

The next Prez

I gotta be honest. I have no idea who I am going to vote for in the next election. There has been so much jockeying for position and we're still more than a year out. I cannot vote for Hillary...not because she's a woman. I have no problem with a female president, I think John Edwards should have just as much a chance as everyone else. My issue is that she endorses Socialized medicine and if you have been reading my blog at any length, you can see how that would conflict seriously with my view on economics. Not to mention that they have it in Canada and the UK, and it has been a disaster in both places.

On the other hand I don't really see any republicans I'd vote for either

.....I wonder if we could bring back Ross Perot?

Let the countdown begin.

Well, here we go. In a few months I'll be headed for Iraq. I think it'll be a good trip. If nothing else it'll be something to tell the grandkids about.



Since I received the news I've had a lot of time to think about it and after some soul searching, I've realized that under my bravado and patriotism, I really do believe in what we are trying to do over there. And here's the part that you won't get on the news...it's working.



Volumes have been spoken on this "surge" and whether or not it's going to work. I have to be honest; it is, and it is for obvoius reasons. When we went in the first time, the troops counts were determined based on the number of troops it would take to take an area. No thought was given to holding the ground. So we would clear out an area and move on, and as soon as we moved on the enemy wouold reoccupy the ground.



How do we fix this problem without having a military presence in Iraq for the next 30 years? Simple. We do what we have been doing since the beginning of the surge.

1) Allocate enough troops to take the ground.

2) Allocate the required number of troops to provide area security for ground already taken.

3) Allocate specialized troops to train the Iraqis (the good ones) to be able to take over

security so we can eventually move on.

4) Require the current Iraqi government to provide us with competent troops to train in defending their pwn country.





This will accomplish our stated objectives.



1) Eradication of the terrorist threat in Iraq.

2) Installation of a strong central government friendly to the free world that will not provide a

power vaccuum for terrorists to make a play for.

3) A way to end this conflict without a specific timeline.

Think carefully to yourself, whether you like Bush or not, if I am a terrorist, and the US announces that on such-and-such a date we will pull out and go home, what do I do?

The obvious answer is sit back and relax and wait for them to leave so that we can continue our operations. I have never understood how this is not obvious to everyone who wants to get out now.

Hello All

To all 2 of my readers :)

I've had some stuff going on in the past few weeks that precluded me from posting. I found out I am going to be going to Iraq as a US Combatant among other things.

Rest assured I will be posting again in the future

The Declaration of Independence

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor

This is long but it's good. The original can be found here




"Our Lives, Our Fortunes, Our Sacred Honor"

It was a glorious morning. The sun was shining and the wind was from the southeast. Up especially early, a tall bony, redheaded young Virginian found time to buy a new thermometer, for which he paid three pounds, fifteen shillings. He also bought gloves for Martha, his wife, who was ill at home.Thomas Jefferson arrived early at the statehouse. The temperature was 72.5 degrees and the horseflies weren't nearly so bad at that hour. It was a lovely room, very large, with gleaming white walls. The chairs were comfortable. Facing the single door were two brass fireplaces, but they would not be used today.The moment the door was shut, and it was always kept locked, the room became an oven. The tall windows were shut, so that loud quarreling voices could not be heard by passersby. Small openings atop the windows allowed a slight stir of air, and also a large number of horseflies. Jefferson records that "the horseflies were dexterous in finding necks, and the silk of stockings was nothing to them." All discussing was punctuated by the slap of hands on necks.On the wall at the back, facing the president's desk, was a panoply -- consisting of a drum, swords, and banners seized from Fort Ticonderoga the previous year. Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had captured the place, shouting that they were taking it "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"Now Congress got to work, promptly taking up an emergency measure about which there was discussion but no dissension. "Resolved: That an application be made to the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania for a supply of flints for the troops at New York."Then Congress transformed itself into a committee of the whole. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud once more, and debate resumed. Though Jefferson was the best writer of all of them, he had been somewhat verbose. Congress hacked the excess away. They did a good job, as a side-by-side comparison of the rough draft and the final text shows. They cut the phrase "by a self-assumed power." "Climb" was replaced by "must read," then "must" was eliminated, then the whole sentence, and soon the whole paragraph was cut. Jefferson groaned as they continued what he later called "their depredations." "Inherent and inalienable rights" came out "certain unalienable rights," and to this day no one knows who suggested the elegant change.A total of 86 alterations were made. Almost 500 words were eliminated, leaving 1,337. At last, after three days of wrangling, the document was put to a vote.Here in this hall Patrick Henry had once thundered: "I am no longer a Virginian, sir, but an American." But today the loud, sometimes bitter argument stilled, and without fanfare the vote was taken from north to south by colonies, as was the custom. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.There were no trumpets blown. No one stood on his chair and cheered. The afternoon was waning and Congress had no thought of delaying the full calendar of routine business on its hands. For several hours they worked on many other problems before adjourning for the day.


Much To Lose
What kind of men were the 56 signers who adopted the Declaration of Independence and who, by their signing, committed an act of treason against the crown? To each of you, the names Franklin, Adams, Hancock and Jefferson are almost as familiar as household words. Most of us, however, know nothing of the other signers. Who were they? What happened to them? I imagine that many of you are somewhat surprised at the names not there: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry. All were elsewhere. Ben Franklin was the only really old man. Eighteen were under 40; three were in their 20s. Of the 56 almost half - 24 - were judges and lawyers. Eleven were merchants, nine were landowners and farmers, and the remaining 12 were doctors, ministers, and politicians. With only a few exceptions, such as Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, these were men of substantial property. All but two had families. The vast majority were men of education and standing in their communities. They had economic security as few men had in the 18th Century. Each had more to lose from revolution than he had to gain by it. John Hancock, one of the richest men in America, already had a price of 500 pounds on his head. He signed in enormous letters so that his Majesty could now read his name without glasses and could now double the reward. Ben Franklin wryly noted: "Indeed we must all hang together, otherwise we shall most assuredly hang separately."Fat Benjamin Harrison of Virginia told tiny Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts: "With me it will all be over in a minute, but you, you will be dancing on air an hour after I am gone." These men knew what they risked. The penalty for treason was death by hanging. And remember, a great British fleet was already at anchor in New York Harbor.

They were sober men. There were no dreamy-eyed intellectuals or draft card burners here. They were far from hot-eyed fanatics yammering for an explosion. They simply asked for the status quo. It was change they resisted. It was equality with the mother country they desired. It was taxation with representation they sought. They were all conservatives, yet they rebelled. It was principle, not property, that had brought these men to Philadelphia. Two of them became presidents of the United States. Seven of them became state governors. One died in office as vice president of the United States. Several would go on to be U.S. Senators. One, the richest man in America, in 1828 founded the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. One, a delegate from Philadelphia, was the only real poet, musician and philosopher of the signers. (It was he, Francis Hopkinson not Betsy Ross who designed the United States flag.) Richard Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia, had introduced the resolution to adopt the Declaration of Independence in June of 1776. He was prophetic in his concluding remarks: "Why then sir, why do we longer delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day give birth to an American Republic. Let her arise not to devastate and to conquer but to reestablish the reign of peace and law. "The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever-increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repost. "If we are not this day wanting in our duty, the names of the American Legislatures of 1776 will be placed by posterity at the side of all of those whose memory has been and ever will be dear to virtuous men and good citizens." Though the resolution was formally adopted July 4, it was not until July 8 that two of the states authorized their delegates to sign, and it was not until August 2 that the signers met at Philadelphia to actually put their names to the Declaration. William Ellery, delegate from Rhode Island, was curious to see the signers' faces as they committed this supreme act of personal courage. He saw some men sign quickly, "but in no face was he able to discern real fear." Stephan Hopkins, Ellery's colleague from Rhode Island, was a man past 60. As he signed with a shaking pen, he declared: "My hand trembles, but my heart does not."


"Most Glorious Service"
Even before the list was published, the British marked down every member of Congress suspected of having put his name to treason. All of them became the objects of vicious manhunts. Some were taken. Some, like Jefferson, had narrow escapes. All who had property or families near British strongholds suffered. · Francis Lewis, New York delegate saw his home plundered -- and his estates in what is now Harlem -- completely destroyed by British Soldiers. Mrs. Lewis was captured and treated with great brutality. Though she was later exchanged for two British prisoners through the efforts of Congress, she died from the effects of her abuse. · William Floyd, another New York delegate, was able to escape with his wife and children across Long Island Sound to Connecticut, where they lived as refugees without income for seven years. When they came home they found a devastated ruin. · Philips Livingstone had all his great holdings in New York confiscated and his family driven out of their home. Livingstone died in 1778 still working in Congress for the cause. · Louis Morris, the fourth New York delegate, saw all his timber, crops, and livestock taken. For seven years he was barred from his home and family. · John Hart of Trenton, New Jersey, risked his life to return home to see his dying wife. Hessian soldiers rode after him, and he escaped in the woods. While his wife lay on her deathbed, the soldiers ruined his farm and wrecked his homestead. Hart, 65, slept in caves and woods as he was hunted across the countryside. When at long last, emaciated by hardship, he was able to sneak home, he found his wife had already been buried, and his 13 children taken away. He never saw them again. He died a broken man in 1779, without ever finding his family. · Dr. John Witherspoon, signer, was president of the College of New Jersey, later called Princeton. The British occupied the town of Princeton, and billeted troops in the college. They trampled and burned the finest college library in the country.

· Judge Richard Stockton, another New Jersey delegate signer, had rushed back to his estate in an effort to evacuate his wife and children. The family found refuge with friends, but a Tory sympathizer betrayed them. Judge Stockton was pulled from bed in the night and brutally beaten by the arresting soldiers. Thrown into a common jail, he was deliberately starved. Congress finally arranged for Stockton's parole, but his health was ruined. The judge was released as an invalid, when he could no longer harm the British cause. He returned home to find his estate looted and did not live to see the triumph of the Revolution. His family was forced to live off charity. · Robert Morris, merchant prince of Philadelphia, delegate and signer, met Washington's appeals and pleas for money year after year. He made and raised arms and provisions which made it possible for Washington to cross the Delaware at Trenton. In the process he lost 150 ships at sea, bleeding his own fortune and credit almost dry. · George Clymer, Pennsylvania signer, escaped with his family from their home, but their property was completely destroyed by the British in the Germantown and Brandywine campaigns. · Dr. Benjamin Rush, also from Pennsylvania, was forced to flee to Maryland. As a heroic surgeon with the army, Rush had several narrow escapes. · John Martin, a Tory in his views previous to the debate, lived in a strongly loyalist area of Pennsylvania. When he came out for independence, most of his neighbors and even some of his relatives ostracized him. He was a sensitive and troubled man, and many believed this action killed him. When he died in 1777, his last words to his tormentors were: "Tell them that they will live to see the hour when they shall acknowledge it [the signing] to have been the most glorious service that I have ever rendered to my country." · William Ellery, Rhode Island delegate, saw his property and home burned to the ground.

· Thomas Lynch, Jr., South Carolina delegate, had his health broken from privation and exposures while serving as a company commander in the military. His doctors ordered him to seek a cure in the West Indies and on the voyage, he and his young bride were drowned at sea. · Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton, and Thomas Heyward, Jr., the other three South Carolina signers, were taken by the British in the siege of Charleston. They were carried as prisoners of war to St. Augustine, Florida, where they were singled out for indignities. They were exchanged at the end of the war, the British in the meantime having completely devastated their large landholdings and estates. · Thomas Nelson, signer of Virginia, was at the front in command of the Virginia military forces. With British General Charles Cornwallis in Yorktown, fire from 70 heavy American guns began to destroy Yorktown piece by piece. Lord Cornwallis and his staff moved their headquarters into Nelson's palatial home. While American cannonballs were making a shambles of the town, the house of Governor Nelson remained untouched. Nelson turned in rage to the American gunners and asked, "Why do you spare my home?" They replied, "Sir, out of respect to you." Nelson cried, "Give me the cannon!" and fired on his magnificent home himself, smashing it to bits. But Nelson's sacrifice was not quite over. He had raised $2 million for the Revolutionary cause by pledging his own estates. When the loans came due, a newer peacetime Congress refused to honor them, and Nelson's property was forfeited. He was never reimbursed. He died, impoverished, a few years later at the age of 50.


Lives, Fortunes, Honor
Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his 13 children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create is still intact. And, finally, there is the New Jersey signer, Abraham Clark. He gave two sons to the officer corps in the Revolutionary Army. They were captured and sent to that infamous British prison hulk afloat in New York Harbor known as the hell ship Jersey, where 11,000 American captives were to die. The younger Clarks were treated with a special brutality because of their father. One was put in solitary and given no food. With the end almost in sight, with the war almost won, no one could have blamed Abraham Clark for acceding to the British request when they offered him his sons' lives if he would recant and come out for the King and Parliament. The utter despair in this man's heart, the anguish in his very soul, must reach out to each one of us down through 200 years with his answer: "No." The 56 signers of the Declaration Of Independence proved by their every deed that they made no idle boast when they composed the most magnificent curtain line in history. "And for the support of this Declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

My friends, I know you have a copy of the Declaration of Independence somewhere around the house - in an old history book (newer ones may well omit it), an encyclopedia, or one of those artificially aged "parchments" we all got in school years ago. I suggest that each of you take the time this month to read through the text of the Declaration, one of the most noble and beautiful political documents in human history. There is no more profound sentence than this: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness..." These are far more than mere poetic words. The underlying ideas that infuse every sentence of this treatise have sustained this nation for more than two centuries. They were forged in the crucible of great sacrifice. They are living words that spring from and satisfy the deepest cries for liberty in the human spirit. "Sacred honor" isn't a phrase we use much these days, but every American life is touched by the bounty of this, the Founders' legacy. It is freedom, tested by blood, and watered with tears. - Rush Limbaugh III

Oliver Stone and the Terrorists

Original Story



Apparently Oliver Stone wanted to make a movie about Terrorist Sympathiser/Castro wannabe Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. No doubt he wanted to show the world how this courageous man has led his people in a daring fight against the Evil Imperialist Empire of America. It would have been a beautiful saga of his sad childhood, and his fight to survive in the mean streets, along with his eventual rise to the governorship of the very same Tehran where he used to beg in the streets to make money so he could buy food for his ailing mother. And now he uses those street smarts and that uncanny intellect to show the world that Iran will not be a puppet of the EIEofA like the Isrealis, no matter how many Iraqi children he has to blow apart. *sniff* it's beautiful. What a surprise that a liberal Hollywood schmuk would think that this enemy of America is excellent fodder to make a movie about.



(By the way I made most of that up, he was born in Tehran and managed to run that city until being elected to run Iran, but other than that it was all "Dramatic License" as ol' Ollie would say.)



Here's the kicker!! Ahmadinejad turns him down! "We have already seen his documentaries - even though Stone is considered a member of the opposition group in the US, it is still part of the Great Satan," he said. (quote from original post) And the reason? "We believe American cinema is void of real art and culture and largely used as a mouthpiece,". At this point I'm about to blow a gasket! OH CRAP! I AGREE WITH AHMEDINEJAD! It is a mouthpiece for liberal lunacy, and apparently me and moudie are the ones who have noticed it. (He must have seen the preview for "Bareback Mountain" too). Well maybe he's not a total schmuk. Still, anyone who advocates wiping Irael off the face of the earth, probably shouldn't be allowed to have the tools to actually do that. That's sort of like your mom not letting you have a flame-thrower in the house, no good came come of it.

In all seriousness, though, the only reason we are allowed to continue is because we are friends of Israel, the minute we turn our backs on God's chosen people, au revoir, hasta la bye-bye. N'avec pas Mon Dieu la toute c'est perdu.

Paris Hilton

Everybody gets so mad when you talk about Paris Hilton. The general consensus is "Why is she famous anyway? She's just independently wealthy and all she does is go clubbing. She doesn't even do anything". Well you answered your own question. Paris Hilton is famous because she is everthing that Americans want to be. Rich enough to never have to do anything at all...ever; and she got that way by being born. That is the new American Dream. It used to be that anyone could be rich, all you had to do was work hard and you could, now everyone just wants it handed to them. What does that say about our society.

Incidentally I think that that is why everybody hates the fact that she's famous. Because deep down they realize the reason and they hate that about themselves.

What do you think?

Inspiring

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

These words were written by Horatio Spafford in 1873, while he was crossing the Atlantic ocean by ship. He was on his way to retrieve his wife, who was in Wales at the time. Earlier, he and his wife and four daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta had planned to go to Europe from the US on vacation. At the last minute, Horatio had to stay behind in Chicago on some business. On the way to Europe the boat that his wife and daughters were on was hit by a British ship and it sank. Only his wife suvived, all four daughters drowned within minutes. His wife Anna was saved by a passing ship and brought to Wales where she sent a telegram to her husband. "Saved alone. What shall I do". Horatio was on his way to get her, when the captain of the ship he was on informed him that they were passing over the very spot where all four of his daughters had drowned. It was then that he sat down and penned these words.

Now read them again:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Media Bias Part II

If you are lost please read the original blog post here

We have to be very careful how we go about it from here. We have members of Congress discussing a return of the "Fairness Doctrine". You can be sure that something Congress calls a "fairness Doctrine" will be anything but. Basically the idea is that if a point of view is presented, then the station airing the points of view must allow for equal amounts of time for rebuttal from the opposing point of view.

2 problems:
1) this is an infringement on free speech in that the government is, in effect, dictating what can and cannot be said on the public airwaves.
2) The airwaves, while being very useful for knowledge dissemination are still an economic proposition, and therefore must be treated as such. The people running talk radio, and for that matter TV, have invested their money on the airwaves and they rightfully expect a return on their investment. The way they do that is by selling ad time. (I'm sure this is nothing new but follow me here). The more people listen to a particular channel, or a particular show, the more the station can charge for the commercial time slot. (Again people are willing to pay more for a slot where more people will hear their commercial). How to they attract listeners? By putting programming on that those listeners want to hear (or in the case of TV what they want to see). If equal programming time must be given to all opposing points of view, then 2 things are happening, 1) the government is dictating what can and cannot be said or played on the radio or TV. (HELLO CHAVEZ?!!?) and 2) the station is being forced to air programming that is not in it's self interest and it's ad sales will drop.

Now if we follow this to it's logical economic conclusion, the station can do 1 of 2 things. It can air the programming it wants, giving equal time to opposing points of view costing them much more money, in terms of commercial airtime sales, lawyers to fight the time battles, etc. eventually going out of business. Or it can just air programming that is offensive to no one. I don't know if anyone listened to AM radio when the fairness doctrine was in effect before, but it was boring as heck. As a result....do you know anyone who listened to talk radio during the late 70's early 80's?

Now take a look at Congress; who is in favour of the "Fairness Doctrine"? The answer is, the people who have been negatively effected by Conservative talk radio. Liberal Democrats. (This is not a rant, it's just me stating my view of the facts) Now, why would the very same people who will carry the "1st Amendment" Banner to the front lines for a student who holds a sign saying "Bong Hits for Jesus" be in favour of the government dictating what can and cannot be said on the airwaves? Because it's politically expedient. Because the Television Media is slanted to the left (No one is arguing this), so if they can get Conservative views off the radio, what's left? Their agenda on CNN. (And boring oldies on AM radio).

Mathematical Proof that Women are Evil

GIVEN: Women = Time x Money
GIVEN: Time IS Money
GIVEN: Money is the root of all evil.

IF W= women
T= time
M= money
E= evil

THEN: W = T x M OR W=T(M)
since IF a=b then b=a AND Time IS Money

THEN: W=M2 (Squared)
Since Money is the root of all evil OR M=sqrt(E)

THEN W=(sqrt(E))2 (squareroot of E squared)

OR W=E

THEREFORE Women = Evil.....

INCONTROVERTIBLE MATHEMATICAL PROOF!!!!!!!

Thank You

Here's to a real Hero

Original Story

Charles W Lindbergh died today at the age of 86. Most people probably don't know who he is. During the Battle for Iwo Jima in WWII, there was a poignant moment, when the first American flag was raised on Japanese soil. Charles Lindbergh was one of the ones who raised it. Most people don't know this man's name because another flag was raised a few hours later (the 2nd one was bigger) the photo of which has been seen by most Americans, and the men who raised it became celebrities...well the three that survived the battle anyway.

Lindbergh then went back down the mountain and continued to fight. He was shot in the arm, earning him a purple heart to go with his silver star, and sent home. While there was much fanfare about the 6 men who raised the second flag (Including the book and movie "Flags of Our Fathers") Charles Lindbergh went home and nobody knew his name, or the names of the other four Marines, who really fought up the hill and valiantly planted the American flag for the first time on enemy soil. Heroes like this ensure that people like me and you have the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (and free government handouts). Semper Fi Mr. Lindbergh, Godspeed.

The Finer Points of Murder

Original Story

Breaking news in Cuyahoga County Ohio. The body of Jessie Davis has been found, and her boyfriend Bobby Cutts has been charged with 2 counts of murder....wait a minute 2 counts? Yes, 2. It seems that Ms. Davis was pregnant with Mr. Cutts' child. My heart goes out to Jessie's family, especially her young son, who according to some accounts seems to have witnessed the murder. I cannot even contemplate the depravity of that situation.

What interests me about this is that Bobby Cutts has been charged with murder for not only Jessie, but her unborn fetus as well. That seems to me to be a remarkable double standard in a country where abortion is legal. Basically the law says that if Jessie had wanted to kill her unborn fetus then that's all well and good. But if anyone else kills it, it's murder. Fair is fair, either it's ok to kill a fetus or it's not, you can't have it both ways. If abortion is ok, then Bobby Cutts should be charged with one murder. If abortion is not ok, then he should be charged with two. I'm not saying whether I agree or disagree with it, but currently in America, abortion is legal, so according to the law, Mr. Cutts should be charged with only one murder.

Media Bias

Story on MSNBC

List of Media Political Donors

Well here it is, proof of what we all already knew. Media is biased. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, after all the media is run by humans and humans are biased. What is notable about this report is that of the 144 donors on the list 7 did not give to the Democratic party. that means that 95.1% of media donors gave to the democratic party or their affiliates (moveon.org etc). Maybe the conservative talk radio hosts have a point...the major media outlets are biased to a liberal point of view. Which is why it's not a shock to find that Hillary Clinton and Barbera Boxer want a "Legislative Fix" to the "talk radio problem".

One of the most important reforms Hilter put in place in his rise to the leadership of the National Socialist party was control of the media. The reasons are fairly obvious; control of the media is control of information and the addage is true "knowledge is power". Always beware of those who seek to destroy all opposing ideas; their own ideas won't hold water.

New Abstinence Story

You can't make this stuff up!!!

Link to the article

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Police on Wednesday were investigating how a naked couple fell 50 feet from the roof of a downtown office building to their deaths

The bodies were found on the road by a passing cabdriver around 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Clothing was discovered on the roof, leading authorities to suspect the man and woman, in their early 20s, may have been having sex. Their identities were not released.

"It's too early to rule out anything," Columbia police Sgt. Florence McCants said, but McCants said a preliminary investigation didn't show any sign of foul play.

Some Good News

Gallup Poll Findings

I gallup poll released today found that "Just 14% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress". The good news is that of the same people polled: "69% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the military, which tops the list."

Apparently I was right. Americans are not stupid, nor are they led by the nose to believe all the crap the media has been serving up about the war in Iraq. While the American people do not believe a word their politicians are saying, they do believe in the military. As a current member of the military, this is a breath of fresh air, after all those morons in Washington have been saying for the past few years that we are at best stupid. (See John Kerry's failed "joke"), and at worst baby-murdering, innocent civilian raping, homophobic, torture-fiends. (Thank you John Murtha, you useless piece of crap).

Thoughts on The Stem Cell Debate

Bush to Veto Stem Cell Bill on Wednesday

This is a very sticky subject but I hope to put a different light on it than has been discussed. I am not adverse to stem cell research...(anti abortion people hold your breath). I am against abortion as a rule, however the embryos that are being used for stem cell research are already dead so to speak.
First an explanation of where these stem cells are coming from. When a couple that cannot naturally have children want to do so anyway, they go to a lab. Depending on whether it is the man's problem or the woman's problem, they can have their sperm or eggs harvested. If one or both of them do not have the necessary equipment, they can buy sperm or eggs from a "bank". Anyone who has watched "Friends" religiously knows that they implant up to five or six fertilized eggs at a time, because there is only a 20% or so chance that one will attach to the uterine lining. What all this means for research is that there are thousands of fertilized eggs that are discarded every day. What the embryonic stem cell research program does is use these discarded embryos for their stem cells to do research that may or may not give results.

My issue with this is not a moral one. It is one of Economics. Drug companies pay for research into various fields because if they can develop a usable drug to cure something, they can then sell that drug to make money. This falls in line with supply and demand. Let's say for example that there are 50 million people who have the flu. The drug companies sink 50 million dollars into researching and creating a drug that will cure the flu. They then sell the drug they created for $1.25. The result for the drug company is $62,500,000. Subtract the 50mil that they spent in development and production and they have a profit of $12.5 million. (For the amateur economists out there, this is a very stripped down example, obviously there are other market forces in play).
My point here is that if these stem cells from these embryos are showing any kind of promise in being able to cure sicknesses, there will be investors lining up down the block to sink money into the venture looking for a return. This is basic economics.
This is a very important distinction in this issue. This bill in Congress has nothing to do with the legality of stem cell research. It is a bill to provide federal funding for stem cell research. The governments involvement in this is not only unnecessary, it is dangerous because it sets a precedent for government involvement in private market research. What will happen is that the drug companies will be using the governments money (your money) to develop a drug that they will then sell to you at a massive profit and they will not have to give one dime back to the government. Stay with me here. THEY WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY, DEVELOP A PRODUCT AND THEN SELL IT TO YOU FOR MORE OF YOUR MONEY. Do you see the problem I have?

For those of you who are opposed to embryonic stem cell research on moral grounds I have this to say: I understand why and I cannot fault you for thinking the way you do; however fear not, if this embryonic stem cell research showed any promise at all there would be private investors waiting in line with cash in hand to invest, if not there will be no investors and the program will die. The free market economy will do for you what the government refuses to do.

My Global Warming Tirade

What is the deal with the whole global warming thing anyway? Everybody is worried that carbon dioxide is causing the earth to warm up. So we are all going to cut down on creating it. So on the count of three....everybody hold your breath for three minutes (30 seconds for all you smokers). I seem to remember from elementary school that trees breathe carbon dioxide...remember? We breath in oxygen and out carbon dioxide, trees and other plants breath in carbon dioxide and out oxygen. (This is the stripped down version, obviously trees and plants don't literally breathe in the way that we do). So the big question is....if we are so worried about the plant like on the planet....why would we want to cut down on the amount of air they have to breathe? I don't rememeber anyone ever saying that too much oxygem would be a bad thing, but if we were running out there would be quite the hue and cry!

Maybe the planet is getting hotter, hell, according to scientists the earth was frozen a few thousand years ago...maybe it just hasn't reached it's temperature peak before it heads back down. I think it's arrogant folly to presume that man's power to control the earth is even close to being able to accidentally cook it. Of course there are other equally reputable scientists who seem to think we're heading in the opposite direction. Click Here for Story.

I think the main point here is that we don't really know for sure what the planet's temperature should be, we don't know why it's rising, in fact we aren't even sure that it's rising. So creating international laws to prohibit the economy from making everyone's lives better, so that we can somehow, maybe, possibly do something to maybe help the earth from either getting too hot, or maybe, possibly getting to cold...we're not sure. REALIZE THAT IT'S ALL POLITICS, WE NEED DO NOTHING!

We The People Part IV

Establish Justice.

Essentially Freedom is the right of all human beings, no matter how socially insignificant, have equal access to Justice. Look around you, this is a radical notion. Do you personally feel as though you would receive Justice if you were wronged in any way? Government is in essence a referee; a referee between each individual citizen, and a referee between the brotherhood of American citizens and the rest of the world. I envision a day when someone mentions the government as “big brother” and it’s a good thing. Let me explain that statement before someone has an aneurism. I see The United states of America as a family. “We the People” are brothers and Sisters by right of our citizenship in this great experiment called America; Republican, Democrat…Other, whatever other title you may give to yourself, the title of American binds us together with a fraternal tie that is greater than the rest. To that end, when I see American officials making disparaging remarks about the Commander in Chief to foreign nations I am sickened to the core. Jimmy Carter is a disgrace, not because every one of his policies was a disastrous failure, but because this spineless jellyfish doesn't have the cajones to air his differences with the sitting president face to face. No this useless twit just makes speeches to foreign nations about how horrible America is. We may quarrel among ourselves (that’s the beauty of being a family) but by god we keep it in the family! We do not air our dirty laundry on the neighbor’s porch! American citizenship is the most precious thing we have here, because it means you’re in the club. To put it in the vernacular, if you’re an American the rest of us “got your back”. It’s kind of like saying I can pick on my little brother, but don’t you say anything bad about him ‘cuz I’ll bust your nose! I will not get into the illegal alien question because given my previous arguments you can pretty well guess where I stand on that one.

Muslim terrorists

Woman in Burqa
Terrorist piece of excrement

Does anybody else see the humour in the fact that as long as a muslim male is not committing terrorist acts he may look like a man, with a good strong beard, but as soon as he decides to become a terrorist, he becomes a spineless piece of shit and starts dressing like a woman?

I have discovered the truth!

Original Text

April 13, 2007
Wishful Theorists
So they're going to dig up Harry Houdini. They want to see if he was poisoned by a powerful league of spiritualists for exposing their phony seances. The doctor who'll examine the remains also exhumed Jesse James's coffin a few years ago -- to see if the outlaw outwitted authorities by having another man buried in his place.
People love a good conspiracy theory, which may be one of the reasons that actor Charlie Sheen is going to narrate a documentary about how the World Trade Towers were brought down by the U.S. government. About the same time, Rosie O'Donnell added her credibility to the project.
It was an interesting coincidence that their announcements hit the news just as the military released Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession regarding his role in planning the 9/11 attacks -- and a lot more. Of course, we didn't really need his confession, because his career has been so well documented.
But sure enough, the terrorist's admissions instantly drew sneers, and not just from the tin-foil hat crowd. Well-placed people acted like Mohammed's smug confessions meant nothing.
A lot of people have at least a little in common with Sheen and O'Donnell. They just don't like to think about how much our enemies actually hate us. It's easier to escape down a rabbit hole to a land where our own government is tricking us into thinking the world is a dangerous place.
This would be the same government that can't even keep our most secret surveillance programs out of the newspapers.
And by the way, in Jesse James's coffin -- Jesse James.

::Back::
posted by Fred Dalton Thompson on 4/13/2007 2:30:49 PM

I have uncovered the truth and it will shock you.....9/11 was actually planned and carried out by militant muslims, bent on destroying "the great satan" and allied with Al Qaeda. It was planned and carried out under the guidance of Osama Bin Laden, and completely without the Bush White House having any knowledge of it before hand. I know! I know! it sounds crazy, but it's true!! But wait there's more. Saudi Arabia offered Bin Laden to president Clinton on a silver platter back in the nineties, but he refused because he wasn't a threat(?!). But it doesn't stop there! no! In spite of the US Economy taking a direct hit from 4 fully loaded Boeing 747's, the reckless "Bush Tax Cuts" have created the strongest, most stable economy in US History. (An economy that Clinton nearly ruined, by the way). I know this all seems crazy, but if you look closely, the facts will bear it out.

Do you really think this woman has a clue how to run anything? I'm not a big fan of overmedicating, but somebody needs to get her something for the chemical imbalance!

We The People Part III

In order to Form a More Perfect Union

More perfect than what we should start by asking? In simple terms, more perfect than the one that was already in place; The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, signed and ratified by the thirteen original colonies on November 15, 1777[1]. So then we must ask ourselves: why is this new Constitution more perfect than the Articles which preceded it? The single biggest reason is taxation; the articles did not give that government the power to levy them. Taxation is a necessary evil for any government. The government cannot run without money, and that money must come from the very people who allow that government to exist. “Taxation without representation” is a well-known phrase that was touted by those who wished to secede from the British government to form this country and the very same people held that adage dear when they created this system. In order for people to be taxed by government they must have a say in what that government does with the proceeds of that tax. Somewhere along the lines this concept has been lost. Yes those who are taxed do still have “representation” in government, but do those representatives still “represent” the American Taxpayer? There were ideas and concepts that were kept from the Articles to the Constitution, most glaringly is that the central government’s main role was to regulate foreign affairs. “The United states in Congress assembled” were given the sole right of declaring war and building the army necessary for such a declaration. This is still true; however, under the Constitution a more perfect way was devised that allowed for the President to be the “Commander in Chief” of those forces. The Articles did not provide for any Executive head, for fear of consolidation of power; merely a sort of president who could not serve for longer than one year in any given three. Therefore, in essence (and this is important) the “More Perfect Union” was a body that existed in perpetuity as a meeting of the heads of each state so that all the unite States could have a say in foreign policy and representation and work together towards that end. It was not to be a “governing body” for the individual people. The Governing bodies for the various states were to perform that duty. I envision a day when each individual State has the right to enact its own laws that cannot be trampled on by the Federal; where the federal government is merely in place to convene the ideas of the various States. Washington DC would be a place where The United States would be “in Congress assembled” where “in congress” would be an adverb, not a noun.

[1] As evidenced in the document itself. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.

Thoughts on World Hunger

Matthew 4:1-4
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’.

I was reading this passage just after reading a post by “Abandon Image” http://tialynnlecorchick.blogspot.com/ on the aWAKE project (Tony Campolo and Bono) and I thought to myself that it seems that Jesus could have created enough food to feed everybody on earth if he had wanted to. So why didn’t he? The quick and easy answer is that that was not why he came, nor what he came to do. But that would not completely solve the riddle. It is interesting that Jesus did not answer by saying “I do not live by bread alone”, he said “Man does not live by bread alone”. I will attend to Africa in a minute but first let me set the stage.
This existence that we see as the world is only a dress rehearsal for the main event and it is on that premise that the Christian must view the world. What are we commanded by Christ to do as his followers? The answer is found in Mark’s gospel chapter 16: verse 15. “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” The most important thing to do is preach the gospel to everyone on earth. By and large, Christians have accomplished this mission fairly well; however, there are millions who still have not heard. Did Jesus attend to hunger while he was on earth? Everyone knows the answer to this is “yes”. There are few stories that are found in all four gospels, one of them is the “Feeding of the five thousand” (Matthew 14, Mark6, Luke 9 and John 6 respectively). So let’s take a look at how he did it. Obviously it was a miracle how he actually created the food which we are incapable, as humans, of reproducing. However, the circumstances we can follow. The circumstances are that he was preaching, and the people he fed were the ones gathered to hear him preach. In other words the circumstances were that he was attending to their spiritual well-being, and as a product of that, he attended to their physical needs as well.
With all of that said, we also have a situation from scripture where Jesus was asked to feed the poor without attending to their spiritual well-being. If we look at Mark 14: 3-7. “And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she broke the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.” Jesus’ point here is that selling the spikenard and giving the money to the poor which is, in and of itself a good deed, would do the poor that were receiving the money no permanent good. We as Christians need to have in the forefront of our minds the spiritual well-being of the human race first, before all else. Those who are hungry here and who have not heard the gospel are destined to be hungry here for a few years and lost for eternity. If their spiritual needs are met, they will enjoy heaven for eternity, then all we need as Christians need to attend to at that point is their immediate need for food, clothing, or whatever else they need.
I think at by this point it should be fairly obvious where I am going with this, so I will sum up. The situation in places like Darfur, Mogadishu etc. is dire. These people need food, clothing, medical supplies and other resources and we as Christians are indeed called upon to do what we can to provide these things, Jeremiah 22:16 “He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD.” But we must never forget that the most important need is to hear the gospel and to have the opportunity to respond. Nothing would be sadder than for these same people to die of old age, well dressed and with their bellies full and to then be lost for all eternity. Would not these same people curse their benefactors from the grave? It gives new meaning to “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags”.

We The People Part II

Of the United States

Not of the Federal Government; but of the United States. The principle government of this great country is the States in which we live. (As of the time of this writing there are 50 states, which are united to form this great country.) Indeed the Founding Fathers of this great country specifically alluded to this fact when debating the Bill of Rights. “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”[1] The worst fears of those who framed our very way of life in this venerable document have, as of late, been realized. The central government has become too big. One of the things that worried the original delegates was that the power of the Centralized Government of the “United States” would overshadow the power of the individual States. Therefore they enumerated in the Constitution itself exactly what the powers of the central government were and explicitly stated that all other powers were reserved for the States. After all, this is the united STATES of America. I cannot stress it enough that we live in a country of States that are united, not a centralized government that has broken it’s constituency down into manageable bites called states. “We the People” cannot allow the central government to eclipse the power of our States.
[1] Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

We the People Part I

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

We the People.

This is who we are as Americans, as of this writing “We the People” total over 300 million souls. It is not “I the Person” who drafted this declaration; there is no person in America that is more important than another, from the 3.5 million people who are currently homeless[1] to the President of the United States. It is a well known adage that the “Golden Rule” is no longer “Do unto others…” but is now “He who has the Gold makes the Rules”, well “We the People” indicated a total income of over $26,535,673,694 for the year 2004[2] . I’d say that entitles “We the People” to make the rules. The other side of this is that it does not say “We the Government”. Here in America we have a unique way of approaching government, which had its birth in the very document I am quoting. “We are a nation that has a government--not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our Government has no power except that granted it by the people.”[3] We live in a land where the rule of law begins and ends with “We the People”. The American People are not stupid, are not sheep, to be led; and we are most certainly not “the masses”, that nomenclature is reserved for those suffering under communism. We live under the curious predisposition that the citizens are in charge of the government, and that that government exists only because we allow it. Where else can one find such a place? I firmly believe that because of the Liberty “endowed upon us by our creator”, there is nothing in this world that can stand against the might of “We the People”.
[1] Based on figures recorded on http://www.washprofile.org/en/node/2295 as of 2-10-2007.
[2] http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/indtaxstats/article/0,,id=133521,00.html as of 2-10-2007
[3] Ronald Reagan First Inaugural Address. Tuesday, January 20th, 1981.

The result of socialized medicine.

Sometimes we as Americans have to accept the reality of life. Medicine, as with all other aspects of life, is subject to the laws of supply and demand. When government interferes, that balance is thrown off, and what we are left with is a healthcare system that, while free, is lacking in almost every aspect. Realize this, IF SOMETHING IS FREE, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR.

The following is from a news article located at the link below. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=459909&in_page_id=1774

"'Doctors said all I needed was rest - in fact cancer was slowly killing me' ,says Delta Goodremby. Only those closest to Delta Goodrem knew of the toll the debilitating treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma took on the singerA year after spotting the first symptoms of the cancer which left herfighting for her life, chart-topping singer and Neighbours actress DeltaGoodrem, then 18, stole hearts with an emotional appearance at Australia'sequivalent of the Brits.Her glowing appearance belied her failing health as she collected arecord-breaking seven awards at the ceremony in October 2003, showing off aglamorous off-the-shoulder pink dress and short, choppy hairstyle.It was no secret that she was battling Hodgkin's lymphoma, a blood cancerprevalent in the 15 to 34 age group.Elton John and the Australian Prime Minister John Howard were among thepeople who rang to offer their good wishes.But only those closest to her knew of the toll the debilitating treatment,which began in July 2003 and lasted a year - including nearly eight monthsof chemotherapy and two of radiotherapy."I lost my innocence to cancer," says Delta, now 22."The world became darker. The awards gave me something to look forward to,and I spent ages planning my dress."But after several months of chemotherapy, I only had little tufts of hairleft which were going grey. So I wore a wig and had my nurse backstage."Delta lives in London with boyfriend Brian McFadden.Delta glittered for the TV cameras that night, but, as her treatmentcontinued, she was shocked by what she saw in the mirror. "First I became skeletal and then, when I was put on steroids, became puffy and bulked out. "My skin became sallow, I had no eyelashes or eyebrows, and my teeth started moving so I had to wear a brace. "I felt very unattractive and wrote my 2004 album, Mistaken Identity, about that whole time. And yet I felt wise, as though I knew something other people didn't." Delta, who now lives in London with her boyfriend, former Westlife singer Brian McFadden, has an elegant beauty and quiet maturity. She hopes she has finally put cancer behind her, and is now raising awareness of Hodgkin's, which is diagnosed in 100,000 people a year in the UK, half of them under 50. She has worked tirelessly to help raise money to research the disease, and has become the face of a new fundraiser for Leukaemia Research - the Alternative Hair Show - a hairdressing and showbiz extravaganza to be staged in October at the Royal Albert Hall. Hodgkin's is a cancer of the lymphatic system that carries white blood cells throughout the body to fight infection. It usually affects groups of lymph nodes. The lymph nodes in the neck are the most common site of cancerous tumours in Hodgkin's, but they can also be found in the armpit, chest, groin and abdomen. The cancer can spread through the body via the lymphatic system and affect the bones and organs such as the liver, lungs and spleen. Delta had the tell-tale signs of the disease for nine months before she was diagnosed. These included a lump in her neck, which grew to the size of a large plum, night sweats, exhaustion and unexplained weight loss. Two GPs told her she merely needed to rest - she was filming Neighbours, as well as pursuing a pop career the rest of the time, often flying to London and back for TV appearances. In October 2002, she developed a rash on her face. "It looked like chicken pox and spread over my body," she recalls. A dermatologist prescribed cortisone, which failed to help. "It was the first sign that my immune system was breaking down," she says. Then, out of the blue, Delta began having night sweats. "I woke up drenched," she says. "I've always been tall and lean and I love my food, but although I was eating the same amount, the weight started to drop off. "I was also really tired, but I was used to being busy and the adrenaline kept me going. But at the gym one day, while doing a sit-up, I felt something pop just under my neck by my collarbone. "When I touched it, it was the size of a grape. I knew this wasn't right so I saw a doctor. "He said I was run down, that I'd had a cold and that was why the lymph gland was swollen. I don..'t drink, smoke or take drugs, so I just thought I probably wasn't getting enough sleep. "The lump got bigger, and two months later I went back to the doctor, who again said it was my lifestyle. He said there was only a one in ten chance I could have a serious disease, so I shouldn't worry. "But as I sat there, an alarm went off inside me and I thought: 'That one in ten is me. "Yet still I did nothing. Now I know you should listen to what your body is telling you. "I was No 1 in the charts that year. But I had this underlying fear something was going to happen. I was so tired that sometimes I could hardly stand up." One night, early in July 2003, Delta struggled home to her Melbourne apartment, swaying as she walked. She awoke from a nightmare after two hours sleep. "I was drenched in perspiration and couldn't move for fear. I thought I'd seen a dark figure trying to hand me a note. Now, it's obvious my subconscious was warning me to get help." The following night, after filming had finished-Delta left for Sydney to attend a hospital appointment her mother had made for her. "I knew I wouldn't be back," she recalls. Cells from the lump were tested and Delta underwent blood tests and an MRI. The following day, she was at the recording studio when her mother, Lea, and brother, Trent, arrived unexpectedly. Delta says: "Their faces looked serious. Mum said: ..'They think it's cancer. "I had to go straight to the hospital, where I was told they would operate the next day. "The doctors told me it was Hodgkin's lymphoma and that they were concerned the cancer had spread. I started shaking uncontrollably. I was so scared." The next day the tumour was removed. Then there were more tests. Hodgkin's can affect the whole body, so she was scanned from head to toe. It confirmed that the cancer had spread. The following week Delta began chemotherapy, having six drugs injected into her arm in a session which lasted for six hours, this was repeated every fortnight. "I would feel delirious as the drugs took effect. After the first cycle, I felt I'd been hit by a bus. I was just feeling well again when I had to begin the next cycle." Two months of radiotherapy, to blast away any remaining cells, followed. "I could smell burning and afterwards I was lethargic and slept a lot," she remembers. After 12 months of treatment, and with the cancer in remission, Delta returned to her music career and filmed scenes for Neighbours to explain her character's departure. Meanwhile, she set up her own cancer charity and publicised the symptoms of Hodgkin's. The long-term effects of her treatment and her depressed immune system have stayed with her. "My appendix has been painful and I've had several kidney infections requiring hospital treatment. If I get a cold, it lasts for a month. "Brian is very caring and makes sure I get myself checked regularly. I don..'t know if we will be able to have children because the treatment can make you infertile. At 18, I felt I was too young to think about having my eggs frozen." Right now, Delta is simply celebrating being alive and being free of cancer. "I feel healthy, alive and energetic," she says. "I used to get stressed out, but my cancer has put everything into perspective."

In this present crisis, Government is not the answer to our problems...Government is the problem" --Ronald Reagan.

Copy of a Speech I gave for Memorial Day

We are here today to honor members of the US Armed Services. The irony of this day is that the ones we are here to honor are the ones who cannot be here. This day has been set aside to remember those who have not returned. On November 19, 1863 in Gettysburg Pennsylvania, Abraham Lincoln gave a well known speech at the dedication of the battlefield about what it means to memorialize. "But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate; we can not consecrate; we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract… It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."
What cause is it that they have died for? In a word "freedom"! The LORD has blessed this great country beyond what we have the capacity to realize, and when our freedom is threatened these are the men we turn to. Why do they do it? What is their reward? Let me tell you something, if I was doing this for the money…I wouldn't be doing this. I can tell you this, though; a "thank you" from a stranger means more than all the money in the world. Next time you see one of the boys in uniform, realize that they have taken an oath to die if necessary to protect your right to show up on Sunday and remember the LORD, without having to worry about government harassment…and a thank you, will make their day.
Do not fool yourself into thing that the current war we are engaged in is a political one. The people we are fighting are the agents of Satan, who is alive and well in the middle-east. What you are seeing now is The Bible coming alive before your very eyes on Fox News. What they are doing to the captured troops over in the sandbox is right out of the pages of "Fox's Book of Martyrs". The enemy we fight right now is determined to eradicate all followers of Jesus Christ from the world (does that sound like something Satan would want? J). This fight will never be over while the world still stands, but we can take heart in knowing that our side wins. But we must be on our guard, because they have friends within our own borders—is it any surprise that those who wish to remove all vestiges of Christianity from our public life are sympathetic to those who wish to eradicate our way of life? This country is a great bastion of freedom in the world and the reason for that is that the only true freedom can be found in THE LORD. We are a Christian nation and the Radical Muslim Fundamentalists know this, which is why they attack us. Take a look at the imprint of freedom that America has had on the rest of the world and think to yourself…"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Matthew 5:13.
Right now at this very moment there are those, one of whom is running for president, who seek to change the meaning of this day to one of anti-war protests. As disgusted as I am, personally, with these people, I have only one thing to say to them. "Thank you, thank you for exercising your right to say what you choose to say and believe what you choose to believe. I and the rest of my brothers and sisters in the armed services believe in these rights so much that we have pledged to die in their defense if necessary, and by exercising them you honor our sacrifice, whether you mean to or not. BUT I would add…regardless of your political affiliation or your personal beliefs, remember this! YOU WOULD NOT HAVE THESE RIGHTS IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE ARMED SERVICES. "Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of free and undivided republic." -- General John Logan, General Order No. 11, 5 May 1868. Remember to honor the 1,210,737 troops, so far, who didn't come home, and thank the ones who do, they ask for nothing more, and they deserve nothing less.