The latest newsletter from Newt has some very interesting insights on the economic situation and the "bailout" mentality and why it may not be in America's best interest.
The Economy Can't Wait, Change Friday's Debate: Candidates Should Focus on Economic Priorities
By Newt Gingrich
Now to the Paulson Disaster
Read the rest of the newsletter: Newt Gingrich
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
John McCain: Veteran Faith
John McCain may not always seem like a Christian (but then who among us can truthfully say that that does not apply to us also?), but he does have some compelling eyewitnesses to a faith "under fire". This is written by Mark Alexander, founder and publisher of the PatriotPost.
John McCain: Veteran Faith
Mark AlexanderFrom Patriot Post Vol. 08 No. 38; Published 19 September 2008
"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." (John 8:32)
"For I have learned the truth: There are greater pursuits than self-seeking. Glory is not a conceit. It is not a decoration for valor. It is not a prize for being the most clever, the strongest, or the boldest. Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself. No misfortune, no injury, no humiliation can destroy it. This is the faith that my commanders affirmed, that my brothers-in-arms encouraged my allegiance to. It was the faith I had unknowingly embraced at the Naval Academy. It was my father's and grandfather's faith. A filthy, crippled, broken man, all I had left of my dignity was the faith of my fathers. It was enough." --John McCain in Faith of my Fathers, his 1999 book on military tradition, his family, and his faith.
John McCain is a man of strong faith -- a faith tested by torturous hardship few men have faced. It is a faith that wholly informs his character, his integrity, his purpose, his mission, his worldview.
Those who know John McCain well -- his family, friends, pastor, political colleagues, and those Patriot veterans who suffered beside him as Prisoners of War -- describe many facets of his personality. Their descriptions are of a man who is complicated and diverse, but to a person, they recognize him as a man of deep and abiding faith.
McCain, however, is a man who says little about his spiritual convictions, perhaps in constancy with the counsel of 12th-century Friar Saint Francis of Assisi: "Go forth and preach the Gospel; if necessary use words."
As was the case with most of our Founders, who did not endeavor to make America a "Christian Nation" (though many of them worked tirelessly to forge a "Nation of Christians"), McCain does not make public declarations of his faith when campaigning for political office.
While he does not use his faith as a political platform, he certainly does not subscribe to the errant "Separation of Church and State" doctrine, nor does he hesitate to identify himself as a Christian when asked.
Rick Warren, pastor of California's Saddleback Church, interviewed Senators McCain and Obama in August, asking them what it meant to be a Christian. John McCain required no teleprompter for his answer, stating flatly: "It means I'm saved and forgiven."
McCain attends North Phoenix Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation, though his "quiet faith" is surely more in keeping with his upbringing in the historic but now troubled Episcopal Church.
His Baptist pastor, Dan Yeary, says of McCain, "It is a privilege and an honor to be this close to a man I've learned to love, who has the potential to be a great president for our country. I certainly am in favor of God's endorsement on his life."
Biographer Paul Alexander writes that McCain's quiet faith is also the result of military tradition: "He's a very spiritual person but ... in his core, he's a military man. They don't feel comfortable talking about religion."
Perhaps not in uniform, anyway.
In Faith of my Fathers, McCain says his father, a full admiral and son of a full admiral, was also a man of quiet faith, who knelt twice daily for devotions with a prayer book frayed from use.
For his part, McCain wrote that he really came into account with his Creator when he was a POW.
A long-time McCain friend, Col. Bud Day, a Medal of Honor recipient and fighter pilot who, like McCain, was shot down over Vietnam, met McCain when they became roommates at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton." Col. Day was a senior officer among the POWs and, recognizing McCain's faith, appointed him a chaplain to their fellow prisoners.
Day says that McCain "remembered the Episcopal liturgy, and sounded like a bona fide preacher."
Though McCain initially treated the assignment lightly, it was a turning point for him: "I'll never forget that first Christmas when I ... read from the Nativity story.... And I looked in that room around and there were guys who had already been there for seven years and tears were streaming down their face, not out of sorrow, but out of joy that for the first time in all that captivity, we could celebrate the birth of Christ together. It was more sacred to me than any service I had attended in the past, or any service I have attended since."
Of faith tried and tested, McCain writes, "Our senior officers always stressed to us the three essential keys to resistance, which we were to keep uppermost in our mind, especially in moments when we were isolated or otherwise deprived of their guidance and the counsel of other prisoners. They were faith in God, faith in country, and faith in your fellow prisoners. ... Without faith, we would lose our dignity, and live among our enemies as animals lived among their human masters."
"POWs often regard their prison experience as comparable to the trials of Job. Indeed, for my fellow prisoners who suffered more than I, the comparison is appropriate. Hungry, beaten, hurt, scared, and alone, human beings can begin to feel that they are removed from God's love, a vast distance separating them from their Creator. The anguish can lead to resentment, to the awful despair that God has forsaken you. To guard against such despair, in our most dire moments, POWs would make supreme efforts to grasp our faith tightly, to profess it alone, in the dark, and hasten its revival."
"Once I was thrown into another cell after a long and difficult interrogation. I discovered scratched into one of the cell's walls the creed 'I believe in God, the Father Almighty.' There, standing witness to God's presence in a remote, concealed place, recalled to my faith by a stronger, better man, I felt God's love and care more vividly than I would have felt it had I been safe among a pious congregation in the most magnificent cathedral."
Anyone who has been through life-changing trauma will understand these words John McCain wrote about prayer: "There were many times I didn't pray for another day and I didn't pray for another hour -- I prayed for another minute to keep going."
Of McCain's courage and fortitude, Col. Day says with certainty, "He wasn't corruptible then, he's not corruptible today."
Capt. Tom Moe, who also got to know the real John McCain while they were imprisoned together, says that one of his strongest recollections of McCain was one day when McCain's captors were returning him to his cell after torturous interrogations. Moe looked through a pinhole in his door as McCain looked back in the direction of his cell and gave him a smile and thumbs up: "I look back and that vision of him looking over at me and going 'we're going to pull through this' under terrible, terrible conditions is a great memory for me."
Another of McCain's fellow POWs, and one of my personal heroes, Col. Roger Ingvalson, told me this week, "I spent two years with John McCain in some of the worst circumstances imaginable. I have spent time with John under much better circumstances in the years since. John McCain has the highest integrity of any political leader I have ever had the privilege of knowing, and I have known plenty."
In this political season, many political stump speeches end with the words, "God Bless America." But rest assured, when John McCain uses those words, they are much more than an obligatory footnote.
Quote of the week
"I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me ... and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God. I'm going to fight for my cause every day as your president. I'm going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I'm an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight for what's right for our country. Fight for the ideals and character of a free people. Fight for our children's future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all. Stand up to defend our country from its enemies. Stand up for each other, for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America. Stand up and fight. We're Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history. Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America." --John McCain, concluding his nomination acceptance speech
John McCain: Veteran Faith
Mark AlexanderFrom Patriot Post Vol. 08 No. 38; Published 19 September 2008
"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." (John 8:32)
"For I have learned the truth: There are greater pursuits than self-seeking. Glory is not a conceit. It is not a decoration for valor. It is not a prize for being the most clever, the strongest, or the boldest. Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself. No misfortune, no injury, no humiliation can destroy it. This is the faith that my commanders affirmed, that my brothers-in-arms encouraged my allegiance to. It was the faith I had unknowingly embraced at the Naval Academy. It was my father's and grandfather's faith. A filthy, crippled, broken man, all I had left of my dignity was the faith of my fathers. It was enough." --John McCain in Faith of my Fathers, his 1999 book on military tradition, his family, and his faith.
John McCain is a man of strong faith -- a faith tested by torturous hardship few men have faced. It is a faith that wholly informs his character, his integrity, his purpose, his mission, his worldview.
Those who know John McCain well -- his family, friends, pastor, political colleagues, and those Patriot veterans who suffered beside him as Prisoners of War -- describe many facets of his personality. Their descriptions are of a man who is complicated and diverse, but to a person, they recognize him as a man of deep and abiding faith.
McCain, however, is a man who says little about his spiritual convictions, perhaps in constancy with the counsel of 12th-century Friar Saint Francis of Assisi: "Go forth and preach the Gospel; if necessary use words."
As was the case with most of our Founders, who did not endeavor to make America a "Christian Nation" (though many of them worked tirelessly to forge a "Nation of Christians"), McCain does not make public declarations of his faith when campaigning for political office.
While he does not use his faith as a political platform, he certainly does not subscribe to the errant "Separation of Church and State" doctrine, nor does he hesitate to identify himself as a Christian when asked.
Rick Warren, pastor of California's Saddleback Church, interviewed Senators McCain and Obama in August, asking them what it meant to be a Christian. John McCain required no teleprompter for his answer, stating flatly: "It means I'm saved and forgiven."
McCain attends North Phoenix Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation, though his "quiet faith" is surely more in keeping with his upbringing in the historic but now troubled Episcopal Church.
His Baptist pastor, Dan Yeary, says of McCain, "It is a privilege and an honor to be this close to a man I've learned to love, who has the potential to be a great president for our country. I certainly am in favor of God's endorsement on his life."
Biographer Paul Alexander writes that McCain's quiet faith is also the result of military tradition: "He's a very spiritual person but ... in his core, he's a military man. They don't feel comfortable talking about religion."
Perhaps not in uniform, anyway.
In Faith of my Fathers, McCain says his father, a full admiral and son of a full admiral, was also a man of quiet faith, who knelt twice daily for devotions with a prayer book frayed from use.
For his part, McCain wrote that he really came into account with his Creator when he was a POW.
A long-time McCain friend, Col. Bud Day, a Medal of Honor recipient and fighter pilot who, like McCain, was shot down over Vietnam, met McCain when they became roommates at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton." Col. Day was a senior officer among the POWs and, recognizing McCain's faith, appointed him a chaplain to their fellow prisoners.
Day says that McCain "remembered the Episcopal liturgy, and sounded like a bona fide preacher."
Though McCain initially treated the assignment lightly, it was a turning point for him: "I'll never forget that first Christmas when I ... read from the Nativity story.... And I looked in that room around and there were guys who had already been there for seven years and tears were streaming down their face, not out of sorrow, but out of joy that for the first time in all that captivity, we could celebrate the birth of Christ together. It was more sacred to me than any service I had attended in the past, or any service I have attended since."
Of faith tried and tested, McCain writes, "Our senior officers always stressed to us the three essential keys to resistance, which we were to keep uppermost in our mind, especially in moments when we were isolated or otherwise deprived of their guidance and the counsel of other prisoners. They were faith in God, faith in country, and faith in your fellow prisoners. ... Without faith, we would lose our dignity, and live among our enemies as animals lived among their human masters."
"POWs often regard their prison experience as comparable to the trials of Job. Indeed, for my fellow prisoners who suffered more than I, the comparison is appropriate. Hungry, beaten, hurt, scared, and alone, human beings can begin to feel that they are removed from God's love, a vast distance separating them from their Creator. The anguish can lead to resentment, to the awful despair that God has forsaken you. To guard against such despair, in our most dire moments, POWs would make supreme efforts to grasp our faith tightly, to profess it alone, in the dark, and hasten its revival."
"Once I was thrown into another cell after a long and difficult interrogation. I discovered scratched into one of the cell's walls the creed 'I believe in God, the Father Almighty.' There, standing witness to God's presence in a remote, concealed place, recalled to my faith by a stronger, better man, I felt God's love and care more vividly than I would have felt it had I been safe among a pious congregation in the most magnificent cathedral."
Anyone who has been through life-changing trauma will understand these words John McCain wrote about prayer: "There were many times I didn't pray for another day and I didn't pray for another hour -- I prayed for another minute to keep going."
Of McCain's courage and fortitude, Col. Day says with certainty, "He wasn't corruptible then, he's not corruptible today."
Capt. Tom Moe, who also got to know the real John McCain while they were imprisoned together, says that one of his strongest recollections of McCain was one day when McCain's captors were returning him to his cell after torturous interrogations. Moe looked through a pinhole in his door as McCain looked back in the direction of his cell and gave him a smile and thumbs up: "I look back and that vision of him looking over at me and going 'we're going to pull through this' under terrible, terrible conditions is a great memory for me."
Another of McCain's fellow POWs, and one of my personal heroes, Col. Roger Ingvalson, told me this week, "I spent two years with John McCain in some of the worst circumstances imaginable. I have spent time with John under much better circumstances in the years since. John McCain has the highest integrity of any political leader I have ever had the privilege of knowing, and I have known plenty."
In this political season, many political stump speeches end with the words, "God Bless America." But rest assured, when John McCain uses those words, they are much more than an obligatory footnote.
Quote of the week
"I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me ... and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God. I'm going to fight for my cause every day as your president. I'm going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I'm an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight for what's right for our country. Fight for the ideals and character of a free people. Fight for our children's future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all. Stand up to defend our country from its enemies. Stand up for each other, for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America. Stand up and fight. We're Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history. Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America." --John McCain, concluding his nomination acceptance speech
House Attempt to Fool Everyone on Drilling and Other Subjects from The PatriotPost
22 September 2008 Patriot Vol. 08 No. 39
FOR THE RECORD
“[T]he House of Representatives approved a bill to allow offshore oil drilling, but nearly all the Republicans voted against it... It isn’t a drilling bill, it’s an anti-drilling bill. If it becomes law, nearly all the oil and gas in the Outer Continental Shelf would be off-limits forever... This bill permanently bans all drilling within 50 miles of the US coast, which just happens to be where most of the recoverable oil and gas reserves are. It permits drilling between 50 and 100 miles out only if the adjoining states agree - which they won’t, since the bill denies them any share in the royalties the oil companies would have to pay, thereby eliminating any financial incentive for a state to say yes. Virtually all the oil off the California coast and beneath the Eastern Gulf of Mexico would be locked up for good. Don’t be fooled: The only offshore drilling this bill really opens the door to would have to be 100 miles or more out to sea, where the oil companies have no infrastructure... According to the Interior Department, the offshore areas where drilling is restricted contain more than 19 billion barrels—that’s equal to 30 years of current imports from Saudi Arabia. The bill would deny Americans access to as much as nine-tenths of that oil. A good deal? I don’t think so.” —Jeff Jacoby
LIBERTY
“The configuration of the financial hurricane will become clear soon enough. The sad thing is that the free market will likely get a disproportionate share of the blame, finding its wrists more tightly shackled if the bloodthirsty critics of free enterprise gain enough power in Washington. Whenever markets mess up, control freaks blame it on too much freedom, on undue latitude for plungers and gamblers and similar riff-raff, when the blame properly rests with the gambling instinct itself, which is a part of human nature. If it weren’t, and thanks goodness it is, the first man to peek outside the cave and see the possibilities of a home on the hillside would never have tried it. ‘Too much risk!’ he would have muttered (in caveman-ese). Nothing ever gets done without risk. Risk entails the possibility of failure, but also of growth and gain. If you don’t want growth, you shun risk. Fortunately, capitalists and entrepreneurs constantly seek growth. They gamble. They stick out their necks, sometimes fatally.” —William Murchison
GOVERNMENT
“With freedom comes responsibility. Those who would have self-government must, by definition, govern themselves. Self-government only works when people act responsibly and fulfill their obligations. When people abuse these freedoms to enrich themselves at the expense of others, then the public will demand the government to step in. That is how government grows, and how freedom is diminished. The prospect of government intervention should be terrifying to corporate leaders. For too long many of them viewed it as a safety net. ...[A]fter the recent federal bailouts, some corporate officers are likely considering seeking the same bailout. As my grandmother was fond of saying, if you reward bad behavior all you are going to get is more bad behavior. Reckless and irresponsible individuals like those at the companies mentioned above give decent corporate managers a bad name. When financial meltdowns occur, the public’s outrage drives government to take over part of the private sector. When the government does so, it replaces irresponsible executives with unaccountable bureaucrats. That takes us out of the frying pan and into the fire.” —Ken Blackwell
Monday, September 22, 2008
Money Behind the Liberal Left
The following are some of the money machines behind the liberal left. The first is a jewish man. It is does not, however seem to be stuck on one demographic, but spans the entire spectrum of society. Yes, there are gays and there are long time married couples as well.
These people use their wealth to force their philosophies on the rest of America. The direction they are trying to drive us in will mean that liberty will no longer be available. Equality for everyone (else, of course) is the goal and our Constitution is a stumbling block. Their success can be measured by the decisions coming from activist judges that are overthrowing the will of the people.
The "Gang of Four" outlined below, have had a considerable amount of success in changing Colorado into a liberal state that is not in keeping with the will of the majority of the people. It stresses the need for all of us to get involved.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke 12 January 1729-9 July 1797
1. George Soros - Jewish billionaire who started the Open Society Institute and MoveOn.org
The bio on the Open Society Institute sounds like what we'd all like with the exception of what is not said....for example, there is no mention of any moral foundational principles nor is the unstated reality that there is no tolerance for any opposing opinions. His website says: "A global financier and philanthropist, George Soros is the founder and chairman of a network of foundations that promote, among other things, the creation of open, democratic societies based upon the rule of law, market economies, transparent and accountable governance, freedom of the press, and respect for human rights."
And his philosophy is: "At the London School of Economics, Soros became acquainted with the work of the philosopher Karl Popper, whose ideas on open society had a profound influence on his intellectual development. Specifically, Soros's experience of Nazi and Communist rule attracted him to Popper’s critique of totalitarianism, The Open Society and Its Enemies, in which he maintained that societies can only flourish when they allow democratic governance, freedom of expression, a diverse range of opinion, and respect for individual rights.
2. Peter Lewis - Peter B. Lewis (born 1933) is the Cleveland, Ohio-area based chairman of Progressive Insurance Companies. Lewis currently resides in Coconut Grove, Florida.
3. Tim Gill - Started Quark, a page layout software company which made him a multimillionaire.
4. Pat Stryker - Heiress to her Dad's medical equipment company
5. Jared Polis - is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and politician from the state of Colorado. A former chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education, he is the Democratic nominee for the United States House of Representatives in Colorado's 2nd congressional district; the seat being vacated by Mark Udall (D–Eldorado Springs). After winning the primary on 2008-08-12, he is favored to become the first openly gay man elected to the House as a freshman.[2]
6. Rutt Bridges - Rutt Bridges is an American geophysicist and politician from Colorado and a member of the Democratic Party.
7. Peter & Marion Sandler - Herb Sandler, together with his wife Marion Sandler, purchased Golden West Savings and Loan, from the founder Mr.Jacoby in Oakland, California, and created Golden West Financial Corp, the parent company of World Savings Bank, one of the US's largest savings and loans with assets of almost $80 billion, deposits of $46 billion and 9,300 employees as of November 30, 2003. Under the Sandler's management, Golden West generated a 20 percent average annual compound growth over a 35-year period. This prompted Jason Jennings, author of "Less is More" to describe their company as "one of the most efficient and productive money machines on the planet".[1]
Gang of Four
Pat Stryker, Jared Polis, Tim Gill, and Rutt Bridges are known in Colorado political circles as the "Gang of Four". Significant political contributions from the four to favored Democratic candidates has played a role in electing a Democratic majority in Colorado's house and senate.
These people use their wealth to force their philosophies on the rest of America. The direction they are trying to drive us in will mean that liberty will no longer be available. Equality for everyone (else, of course) is the goal and our Constitution is a stumbling block. Their success can be measured by the decisions coming from activist judges that are overthrowing the will of the people.
The "Gang of Four" outlined below, have had a considerable amount of success in changing Colorado into a liberal state that is not in keeping with the will of the majority of the people. It stresses the need for all of us to get involved.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke 12 January 1729-9 July 1797
1. George Soros - Jewish billionaire who started the Open Society Institute and MoveOn.org
The bio on the Open Society Institute sounds like what we'd all like with the exception of what is not said....for example, there is no mention of any moral foundational principles nor is the unstated reality that there is no tolerance for any opposing opinions. His website says: "A global financier and philanthropist, George Soros is the founder and chairman of a network of foundations that promote, among other things, the creation of open, democratic societies based upon the rule of law, market economies, transparent and accountable governance, freedom of the press, and respect for human rights."
And his philosophy is: "At the London School of Economics, Soros became acquainted with the work of the philosopher Karl Popper, whose ideas on open society had a profound influence on his intellectual development. Specifically, Soros's experience of Nazi and Communist rule attracted him to Popper’s critique of totalitarianism, The Open Society and Its Enemies, in which he maintained that societies can only flourish when they allow democratic governance, freedom of expression, a diverse range of opinion, and respect for individual rights.
2. Peter Lewis - Peter B. Lewis (born 1933) is the Cleveland, Ohio-area based chairman of Progressive Insurance Companies. Lewis currently resides in Coconut Grove, Florida.
3. Tim Gill - Started Quark, a page layout software company which made him a multimillionaire.
4. Pat Stryker - Heiress to her Dad's medical equipment company
5. Jared Polis - is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and politician from the state of Colorado. A former chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education, he is the Democratic nominee for the United States House of Representatives in Colorado's 2nd congressional district; the seat being vacated by Mark Udall (D–Eldorado Springs). After winning the primary on 2008-08-12, he is favored to become the first openly gay man elected to the House as a freshman.[2]
6. Rutt Bridges - Rutt Bridges is an American geophysicist and politician from Colorado and a member of the Democratic Party.
7. Peter & Marion Sandler - Herb Sandler, together with his wife Marion Sandler, purchased Golden West Savings and Loan, from the founder Mr.Jacoby in Oakland, California, and created Golden West Financial Corp, the parent company of World Savings Bank, one of the US's largest savings and loans with assets of almost $80 billion, deposits of $46 billion and 9,300 employees as of November 30, 2003. Under the Sandler's management, Golden West generated a 20 percent average annual compound growth over a 35-year period. This prompted Jason Jennings, author of "Less is More" to describe their company as "one of the most efficient and productive money machines on the planet".[1]
Gang of Four
Pat Stryker, Jared Polis, Tim Gill, and Rutt Bridges are known in Colorado political circles as the "Gang of Four". Significant political contributions from the four to favored Democratic candidates has played a role in electing a Democratic majority in Colorado's house and senate.
Drafting Guys over 60
This actually makes sense.
Drafting Guys over 60----this is so funny & obviously written by a former soldier.
New Direction for the war on terrorists.
Send to Service Vets over 60
I am over 60 and the Armed Forces thinks I'm too old to track down terrorists.. You can't be older than 42 to join the military. They've got the whole thing bassackwards. Instead of sending 18-year olds off to fight, they ought to take us old guys. You shouldn't be able to join a military unit until you're at least 35.
For starters:
Researchers say 18-year-olds think about sex every 10 seconds. Old guys only think about sex a couple of times a day, leaving us more than 28,000 additional seconds per day to concentrate on the enemy.
Young guys haven't lived long enough to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a dangerous soldier. 'My back hurts! I can't sleep , I'm tired and hungry.' We are impatient and maybe letting us kill some jerk that desperately deserves it will make us feel better and shut us up for a while.
An 18-year-old doesn't even like to get up before 10 a.m. Old guys always get up early to pee so what the heck. Besides, like I said, 'I'm tired and can't sleep and since I'm already up, I may as well be up killing some fanatical son-of-a-gun.
If captured we couldn't spill the beans because we'd forget where we put them. In fact, name, rank, and serial number would be a real brainteaser.
Boot camp would be easier for old guys. We're used to getting screamed and yelled at, and we're used to soft food. We've also developed an appreciation for guns. We've been using them for years as an excuse to get out of the house, away from the screaming and yelling.
They could lighten up on the obstacle course, however. I've been in combat and didn't see a single 20-foot wall with rope hanging over the side, nor did I ever do any pushups after completing basic training. I can hear the Drill Sgt. in the 'New army' now, 'Get down and give me .. ER ... one.'
Actually, the running part is kind of a waste of energy, too. I've never seen anyone outrun a bullet.
An 18-year-old has the whole world ahead of him. He's still learning to shave, to start up a conversation with a pretty girl. He still hasn't figured out that a baseball cap has a brim to shade his eyes, not the back of his head.
These are all great reasons to keep our kids at home to learn a little more about life before sending them off into harm's way.
Let us old guys track down those dirty rotten coward terrorists. The last thing an enemy would want to see right now is a couple of million ticked-off old guys with 'attitude' and automatic weapons who know that their best years are already behind them.
If nothing else, put us on border patrol.....we will have it secured the first night!
Share this with your senior friends. It's purposely in big type so they can read it.
Drafting Guys over 60----this is so funny & obviously written by a former soldier.
New Direction for the war on terrorists.
Send to Service Vets over 60
I am over 60 and the Armed Forces thinks I'm too old to track down terrorists.. You can't be older than 42 to join the military. They've got the whole thing bassackwards. Instead of sending 18-year olds off to fight, they ought to take us old guys. You shouldn't be able to join a military unit until you're at least 35.
For starters:
Researchers say 18-year-olds think about sex every 10 seconds. Old guys only think about sex a couple of times a day, leaving us more than 28,000 additional seconds per day to concentrate on the enemy.
Young guys haven't lived long enough to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a dangerous soldier. 'My back hurts! I can't sleep , I'm tired and hungry.' We are impatient and maybe letting us kill some jerk that desperately deserves it will make us feel better and shut us up for a while.
An 18-year-old doesn't even like to get up before 10 a.m. Old guys always get up early to pee so what the heck. Besides, like I said, 'I'm tired and can't sleep and since I'm already up, I may as well be up killing some fanatical son-of-a-gun.
If captured we couldn't spill the beans because we'd forget where we put them. In fact, name, rank, and serial number would be a real brainteaser.
Boot camp would be easier for old guys. We're used to getting screamed and yelled at, and we're used to soft food. We've also developed an appreciation for guns. We've been using them for years as an excuse to get out of the house, away from the screaming and yelling.
They could lighten up on the obstacle course, however. I've been in combat and didn't see a single 20-foot wall with rope hanging over the side, nor did I ever do any pushups after completing basic training. I can hear the Drill Sgt. in the 'New army' now, 'Get down and give me .. ER ... one.'
Actually, the running part is kind of a waste of energy, too. I've never seen anyone outrun a bullet.
An 18-year-old has the whole world ahead of him. He's still learning to shave, to start up a conversation with a pretty girl. He still hasn't figured out that a baseball cap has a brim to shade his eyes, not the back of his head.
These are all great reasons to keep our kids at home to learn a little more about life before sending them off into harm's way.
Let us old guys track down those dirty rotten coward terrorists. The last thing an enemy would want to see right now is a couple of million ticked-off old guys with 'attitude' and automatic weapons who know that their best years are already behind them.
If nothing else, put us on border patrol.....we will have it secured the first night!
Share this with your senior friends. It's purposely in big type so they can read it.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Archbishop Chales J. Chaput's Rebuke Of Senator Biden
Public Servants and Moral Reasoning:
A notice to the Catholic community in northern Colorado
To Catholics of the Archdiocese of Denver:
When Catholics serve on the national stage, their actions and words impact the faith of Catholics around the country. As a result, they open themselves to legitimate scrutiny by local Catholics and local bishops on matters of Catholic belief. In 2008, although NBC probably didn't intend it, Meet the Press has become a national window on the flawed moral reasoning of some Catholic public servants.
On August 24, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, describing herself as an ardent, practicing Catholic, misrepresented the overwhelming body of Catholic teaching against abortion to the show's nationwide audience, while defending her "pro-choice" abortion views. On September 7, Sen. Joseph Biden compounded the problem to the same Meet the Press audience.
Sen. Biden is a man of distinguished public service. That doesn't excuse poor logic or bad facts. Asked when life begins, Sen. Biden said that, "it's a personal and private issue." But in reality, modern biology knows exactly when human life begins: at the moment of conception. Religion has nothing to do with it. People might argue when human "personhood" begins - though that leads public policy in very dangerous directions - but no one can any longer claim that the beginning of life is a matter of religious opinion.
Sen. Biden also confused the nature of pluralism. Real pluralism thrives on healthy, non-violent disagreement; it requires an environment where people of conviction will struggle respectfully but vigorously to advance their beliefs. In his interview, the senator observed that other people with strong religious views disagree with the Catholic approach to abortion. It's certainly true that we need to acknowledge the views of other people and compromise whenever possible - but not at the expense of a developing child's right to life. Abortion is a foundational issue; it is not an issue like housing policy or the price of foreign oil. It always involves the intentional killing of an innocent life, and it is always, grievously wrong. If, as Sen. Biden said, "I'm prepared as a matter of faith [emphasis added] to accept that life begins at the moment of conception," then he is not merely wrong about the science of new life; he also fails to defend the innocent life he already knows is there.
As the senator said in his interview, he has opposed public funding for abortions. To his great credit, he also backed a successful ban on partial-birth abortions. But his strong support for the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade and the false "right" to abortion it enshrines, can't be excused by any serious Catholic. Support for Roe and the "right to choose" an abortion simply masks what abortion is, and what abortion does. Roe is bad law. As long as it stands, it prevents returning the abortion issue to the states where it belongs, so that the American people can decide its future through fair debate and legislation.
In his Meet the Press interview, Sen. Biden used a morally exhausted argument that American Catholics have been hearing for 40 years: i.e., that Catholics can't "impose" their religiously based views on the rest of the country. But resistance to abortion is a matter of human rights, not religious opinion. And the senator knows very well as a lawmaker that all law involves the imposition of some people's convictions on everyone else. That is the nature of the law. American Catholics have allowed themselves to be bullied into accepting the destruction of more than a million developing unborn children a year. Other people have imposed their "pro-choice" beliefs on American society without any remorse for decades.If we claim to be Catholic, then American Catholics, including public officials who describe themselvesas Catholic, need to act accordingly. We need to put an end to Roe and the industry of permissive abortion it enables. Otherwise all of us - from senators and members of Congress, to Catholic laypeople in the pews - fail not only as believers and disciples, but also as citizens.
Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Denver
James D. Conley
Auxiliary Bishop of Denver
A notice to the Catholic community in northern Colorado
To Catholics of the Archdiocese of Denver:
When Catholics serve on the national stage, their actions and words impact the faith of Catholics around the country. As a result, they open themselves to legitimate scrutiny by local Catholics and local bishops on matters of Catholic belief. In 2008, although NBC probably didn't intend it, Meet the Press has become a national window on the flawed moral reasoning of some Catholic public servants.
On August 24, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, describing herself as an ardent, practicing Catholic, misrepresented the overwhelming body of Catholic teaching against abortion to the show's nationwide audience, while defending her "pro-choice" abortion views. On September 7, Sen. Joseph Biden compounded the problem to the same Meet the Press audience.
Sen. Biden is a man of distinguished public service. That doesn't excuse poor logic or bad facts. Asked when life begins, Sen. Biden said that, "it's a personal and private issue." But in reality, modern biology knows exactly when human life begins: at the moment of conception. Religion has nothing to do with it. People might argue when human "personhood" begins - though that leads public policy in very dangerous directions - but no one can any longer claim that the beginning of life is a matter of religious opinion.
Sen. Biden also confused the nature of pluralism. Real pluralism thrives on healthy, non-violent disagreement; it requires an environment where people of conviction will struggle respectfully but vigorously to advance their beliefs. In his interview, the senator observed that other people with strong religious views disagree with the Catholic approach to abortion. It's certainly true that we need to acknowledge the views of other people and compromise whenever possible - but not at the expense of a developing child's right to life. Abortion is a foundational issue; it is not an issue like housing policy or the price of foreign oil. It always involves the intentional killing of an innocent life, and it is always, grievously wrong. If, as Sen. Biden said, "I'm prepared as a matter of faith [emphasis added] to accept that life begins at the moment of conception," then he is not merely wrong about the science of new life; he also fails to defend the innocent life he already knows is there.
As the senator said in his interview, he has opposed public funding for abortions. To his great credit, he also backed a successful ban on partial-birth abortions. But his strong support for the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade and the false "right" to abortion it enshrines, can't be excused by any serious Catholic. Support for Roe and the "right to choose" an abortion simply masks what abortion is, and what abortion does. Roe is bad law. As long as it stands, it prevents returning the abortion issue to the states where it belongs, so that the American people can decide its future through fair debate and legislation.
In his Meet the Press interview, Sen. Biden used a morally exhausted argument that American Catholics have been hearing for 40 years: i.e., that Catholics can't "impose" their religiously based views on the rest of the country. But resistance to abortion is a matter of human rights, not religious opinion. And the senator knows very well as a lawmaker that all law involves the imposition of some people's convictions on everyone else. That is the nature of the law. American Catholics have allowed themselves to be bullied into accepting the destruction of more than a million developing unborn children a year. Other people have imposed their "pro-choice" beliefs on American society without any remorse for decades.If we claim to be Catholic, then American Catholics, including public officials who describe themselvesas Catholic, need to act accordingly. We need to put an end to Roe and the industry of permissive abortion it enables. Otherwise all of us - from senators and members of Congress, to Catholic laypeople in the pews - fail not only as believers and disciples, but also as citizens.
Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Denver
James D. Conley
Auxiliary Bishop of Denver
When We Got My Mother a Computer.....
When we got my mother a computer, I think we created a surf monster. I don't know where she finds this stuff.
Everyone concentrates on the problems we're having in this country lately: illegal immigration, hurricane recovery, alligators attacking people in Florida.....
Not me. I concentrate on solutions for the problems. It's a win-win situation.
+ Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border.
+ Send the dirt to New Orleans to raise the level of the levies.
+ Put the Florida alligators in the moat along the Mexican border.
Any other problems you would like for me to solve today ? Yes!
Think about this one:
1. Cows
2. The Constitution
3. The Ten Commandments
COWS
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.
THE CONSTITUTION
They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq .... Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we're not using it anymore.
THE 10 COMMANDMENTS
The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this:
You cannot post 'Thou Shalt Not Steal,' 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery,' and 'Thou Shall Not Lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians...It creates a hostile work environment.
Everyone concentrates on the problems we're having in this country lately: illegal immigration, hurricane recovery, alligators attacking people in Florida.....
Not me. I concentrate on solutions for the problems. It's a win-win situation.
+ Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border.
+ Send the dirt to New Orleans to raise the level of the levies.
+ Put the Florida alligators in the moat along the Mexican border.
Any other problems you would like for me to solve today ? Yes!
Think about this one:
1. Cows
2. The Constitution
3. The Ten Commandments
COWS
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.
THE CONSTITUTION
They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq .... Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we're not using it anymore.
THE 10 COMMANDMENTS
The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this:
You cannot post 'Thou Shalt Not Steal,' 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery,' and 'Thou Shall Not Lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians...It creates a hostile work environment.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Russia and Georgia
If you want the truth about what happened, please read this article from a liberal writer who traveled to Georgia.
Michael J. Totten
Michael J. Totten
New to the Site
I've added two new links in the "Election Information" links:
Voter's Guide for Serious Christians
and
2008 Rebublican Party Platform
Please take a look at these and be informed voters.
Voter's Guide for Serious Christians
and
2008 Rebublican Party Platform
Please take a look at these and be informed voters.
ON THE SEPARATION OF SENSE AND STATE:
This was written in response to the out and out lies that Nancy Pelosi spewed forth in an interview with Tom Brokaw. Here is the transcript of that interview:
Nancy Pelosi “Meet the Press” transcript
August 24, 2008 ·
Earlier today I posted a brief synopsis of Nancy Pelosi’s appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press this morning. MSNBC now has the transcript of that interview available. I give you the exchange with Tom Brokaw about the beginning of life, human rights, and a woman’s right to have an abortion below. At the end, is the link to the entire transcript.
MR. BROKAW: Senator Obama saying the question of when life begins is above his pay grade, whether you’re looking at it scientifically or theologically. If he were to come to you and say, “Help me out here, Madame Speaker. When does life begin?” what would you tell him?
REP. PELOSI: I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. And Senator–St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose. Roe v. Wade talks about very clear definitions of when the child–first trimester, certain considerations; second trimester; not so third trimester. There’s very clear distinctions. This isn’t about abortion on demand, it’s about a careful, careful consideration of all factors and–to–that a woman has to make with her doctor and her god. And so I don’t think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins. As I say, the Catholic Church for centuries has been discussing this, and there are those who’ve decided…
MR. BROKAW: The Catholic Church at the moment feels very strongly that it…
REP. PELOSI: I understand that.
MR. BROKAW: …begins at the point of conception.
REP. PELOSI: I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy. But it is, it is also true that God has given us, each of us, a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And we want abortions to be safe, rare, and reduce the number of abortions. That’s why we have this fight in Congress over contraception. My Republican colleagues do not support contraception. If you want to reduce the number of abortions, and we all do, we must–it would behoove you to support family planning and, and contraception, you would think. But that is not the case. So we have to take–you know, we have to handle this as respectfully–this is sacred ground. We have to handle it very respectfully and not politicize it, as it has been–and I’m not saying Rick Warren did, because I don’t think he did, but others will try to.
MSNBC
Please note that this "Open Letter" from Archbishop Chaput is reprinted in it's entirety.
ON THE SEPARATION OF SENSE AND STATE:
A CLARIFICATION FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE CHURCH
IN NORTHERN COLORADO
Denver, CO - Monday, August 25, 2008
To Catholics of the Archdiocese of Denver:
Catholic public leaders inconvenienced by the abortion debate tend to take a hard line in talking about the "separation of Church and state." But their idea of separation often seems to work one way. In fact, some officials also seem comfortable in the role of theologian. And that warrants some interest, not as a "political" issue, but as a matter of accuracy and justice.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills. Regrettably, knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them.
Interviewed on Meet the Press August 24, Speaker Pelosi was asked when human life begins. She said the following:
"I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time.
And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. . . St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose."
Since Speaker Pelosi has, in her words, studied the issue "for a long time," she must know very well one of the premier works on the subject, Jesuit John Connery's Abortion:
The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective (Loyola, 1977). Here's how Connery concludes his study:
"The Christian tradition from the earliest days reveals a firm antiabortion attitude . . . The condemnation of abortion did not depend on and was not limited in any way by theories regarding the time of fetal animation. Even during the many centuries when Church penal and penitential practice was based on the theory of delayed animation, the condemnation of abortion was never affected by it. Whatever one would want to hold about the time of animation, or when the fetus became a human being in the strict sense of the term, abortion from the time of conception was considered wrong, and the time of animation was never looked on as a moral dividing line between permissible and impermissible abortion."
Or to put it in the blunter words of the great Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
"Destruction of the embryo in the mother's womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed on this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder."
Ardent, practicing Catholics will quickly learn from the historical record that from apostolic times, the Christian tradition overwhelmingly held that abortion was grievously evil. In the absence of modern medical knowledge, some of the Early Fathers held that abortion was homicide; others that it was tantamount to homicide; and various scholars theorized about when and how the unborn child might be animated or "ensouled." But none diminished the unique evil of abortion as an attack on life itself, and the early Church closely associated abortion with infanticide. In short, from the beginning, the believing Christian community held that abortion was always, gravely wrong.
Of course, we now know with biological certainty exactly when human life begins. Thus, today's religious alibis for abortion and a so-called "right to choose" are nothing more than that - alibis that break radically with historic Christian and Catholic belief.
Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it - whether they're famous or not - fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith.
The duty of the Church and other religious communities is moral witness. The duty of the state and its officials is to serve the common good, which is always rooted in moral truth. A proper understanding of the "separation of Church and state" does not imply a separation of faith from political life. But of course, it's always important to know what our faith actually teaches.
+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Denver
+James D. Conley
Auxiliary Bishop of Denver
###
Nancy Pelosi “Meet the Press” transcript
August 24, 2008 ·
Earlier today I posted a brief synopsis of Nancy Pelosi’s appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press this morning. MSNBC now has the transcript of that interview available. I give you the exchange with Tom Brokaw about the beginning of life, human rights, and a woman’s right to have an abortion below. At the end, is the link to the entire transcript.
MR. BROKAW: Senator Obama saying the question of when life begins is above his pay grade, whether you’re looking at it scientifically or theologically. If he were to come to you and say, “Help me out here, Madame Speaker. When does life begin?” what would you tell him?
REP. PELOSI: I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. And Senator–St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose. Roe v. Wade talks about very clear definitions of when the child–first trimester, certain considerations; second trimester; not so third trimester. There’s very clear distinctions. This isn’t about abortion on demand, it’s about a careful, careful consideration of all factors and–to–that a woman has to make with her doctor and her god. And so I don’t think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins. As I say, the Catholic Church for centuries has been discussing this, and there are those who’ve decided…
MR. BROKAW: The Catholic Church at the moment feels very strongly that it…
REP. PELOSI: I understand that.
MR. BROKAW: …begins at the point of conception.
REP. PELOSI: I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy. But it is, it is also true that God has given us, each of us, a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And we want abortions to be safe, rare, and reduce the number of abortions. That’s why we have this fight in Congress over contraception. My Republican colleagues do not support contraception. If you want to reduce the number of abortions, and we all do, we must–it would behoove you to support family planning and, and contraception, you would think. But that is not the case. So we have to take–you know, we have to handle this as respectfully–this is sacred ground. We have to handle it very respectfully and not politicize it, as it has been–and I’m not saying Rick Warren did, because I don’t think he did, but others will try to.
MSNBC
Please note that this "Open Letter" from Archbishop Chaput is reprinted in it's entirety.
ON THE SEPARATION OF SENSE AND STATE:
A CLARIFICATION FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE CHURCH
IN NORTHERN COLORADO
Denver, CO - Monday, August 25, 2008
To Catholics of the Archdiocese of Denver:
Catholic public leaders inconvenienced by the abortion debate tend to take a hard line in talking about the "separation of Church and state." But their idea of separation often seems to work one way. In fact, some officials also seem comfortable in the role of theologian. And that warrants some interest, not as a "political" issue, but as a matter of accuracy and justice.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills. Regrettably, knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them.
Interviewed on Meet the Press August 24, Speaker Pelosi was asked when human life begins. She said the following:
"I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time.
And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. . . St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose."
Since Speaker Pelosi has, in her words, studied the issue "for a long time," she must know very well one of the premier works on the subject, Jesuit John Connery's Abortion:
The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective (Loyola, 1977). Here's how Connery concludes his study:
"The Christian tradition from the earliest days reveals a firm antiabortion attitude . . . The condemnation of abortion did not depend on and was not limited in any way by theories regarding the time of fetal animation. Even during the many centuries when Church penal and penitential practice was based on the theory of delayed animation, the condemnation of abortion was never affected by it. Whatever one would want to hold about the time of animation, or when the fetus became a human being in the strict sense of the term, abortion from the time of conception was considered wrong, and the time of animation was never looked on as a moral dividing line between permissible and impermissible abortion."
Or to put it in the blunter words of the great Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
"Destruction of the embryo in the mother's womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed on this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder."
Ardent, practicing Catholics will quickly learn from the historical record that from apostolic times, the Christian tradition overwhelmingly held that abortion was grievously evil. In the absence of modern medical knowledge, some of the Early Fathers held that abortion was homicide; others that it was tantamount to homicide; and various scholars theorized about when and how the unborn child might be animated or "ensouled." But none diminished the unique evil of abortion as an attack on life itself, and the early Church closely associated abortion with infanticide. In short, from the beginning, the believing Christian community held that abortion was always, gravely wrong.
Of course, we now know with biological certainty exactly when human life begins. Thus, today's religious alibis for abortion and a so-called "right to choose" are nothing more than that - alibis that break radically with historic Christian and Catholic belief.
Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it - whether they're famous or not - fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith.
The duty of the Church and other religious communities is moral witness. The duty of the state and its officials is to serve the common good, which is always rooted in moral truth. A proper understanding of the "separation of Church and state" does not imply a separation of faith from political life. But of course, it's always important to know what our faith actually teaches.
+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Denver
+James D. Conley
Auxiliary Bishop of Denver
###
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