Education or Indoctrination

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

There is a public school opening in New York City that "will integrate intensive Arabic language instruction and the study of Middle Eastern history and historical figures," including the life and teachings of the prophet Muhammad. WND also explains that field trips will include destinations in the Middle East and that "teacher materials will be adapted from publications supplied by the Council on Islamic Education."

New York City school officials have tried to assure the public that the school will be "non-religious" and will not promote a political or religious ideology, but skepticism abounds.

Are they out of their minds? Apparently. This is a public school, not private. Publicly funded.

Can you imagine the response of New York City educrats to school organizers who would have the temerity to advocate public funding of a school that would focus on the life and teachings of Jesus, promote the virtues of Western Civilization, and offer field trips to the holy city of Jerusalem (complete with side trips to Bethlehem and the Sea of Galilee)? Why, those "constitutional Neanderthals" would be thrown out on their ear! Their proposal wouldn't even pass the laugh test at the NYC DOE. Before you could say "ACLU," there would be a federal lawsuit to enjoin public funding of the proposed "inherently religious" enterprise. Not so, however, with Kahlil Gibran International Academy. In post-modern New York City, all religions may be equal, but some are more equal than others.

Second, it is duplicitous to suggest that one can separate Arabic culture from the religion of Islam. That's like trying to square a circle. It can't be done. In Islam, there is no separation of church and state. Islamic fundamentalists do not draw a distinction between religion, culture and politics. The three are united under Sharia law. These religious zealots see the state as a primary vehicle for advancing Islam. Indeed, the coercive power of the state is essential to spreading the teachings of the Koran. The words, "religious liberty," are not in the lexicon of these fundamentalists. "Convert or die!" is their mantra.

I've read articles about this school off and on for a few months now, I can't believe this even got past the idea stage. They will get away with what we let them get away with, they will take every inch and push for more. You have to learn to say no or they will take everything you have. If we set proper boundaries and don't compromise them, we will all get along much better. They don't respect us because we don't respect ourselves. The same can be said of the Mexican 'illegals' invasion. Boundaries are good. It doesn't mean you hate what is outside the boundary, many times it frees you to love them more.

Brain Dead?

Burt Prlutsky has a question and I've never been able to figure this one out either.

For instance, a question that constantly plagues me is: why are there still people who long to see Communism prevail? Even back in the 1930s, when America was suffering through the Great Depression, very few American leftists packed their bags and moved to the Soviet Union. They certainly paid lip service to the so-called worker’s paradise, the Communist Eden, trying to peddle it to the masses, but they, themselves, Stalin’s “useful idiots,” chose to remain here, in Chicago and New York, Philadelphia and Detroit. A few of them went over there, but they didn’t stay long. All in all, they seemed to think it was a nice place to visit, but they didn’t want to die there. So why do so many people continue to promote the vile system?

Perhaps way back in the old days when Marx and Engels were kicking ideas around, people could be excused for seeing something nice in their theories. But ever since then, wherever societies have attempted to turn theory into reality, the earth has been bathed in blood, whether it was in Russia, China, East Germany, Cambodia, Cuba, Venezuela, Hungary or North Korea; brutal tyrannies, each and every one. In none of those countries, not too surprisingly, has art, literature or science, flourished. Aside from various forms of torture, these regimes have contributed absolutely nothing to mankind, and yet the yahoos of the Left continue their incessant cheerleading.

Such extremely successful capitalists as Oliver Stone, Steven Spielberg and Michael Moore, pay court to Fidel Castro, in spite of the fact that Castro censors the Cuban press, persecutes homosexuals, imprisons AIDS victims, and executes his political foes. But, then, what else would you expect in a world in which Che Guevara posters continue to sell in the millions?

Speaking of millions, even I was shocked to read that, according to Forbes, Cuba’s dictator is richer than England’s queen. I knew it was good to be king, but apparently it’s even better being a left-wing tyrant.

Truer Words Never Were

Charlene's Story by Greg Laurie

There's another story of a woman who was a lot like my mother, or perhaps I should say that my mother was a lot like her. We know her as the "woman at the well," an empty person who thought romance and sex would fill the void in her life. She went from husband to husband, hoping to find her prince. But after five husbands, she simply gave up. She was disillusioned, scorned, and ignored. That is, until Jesus came along.

This woman had searched for, but never found, her heart's desire. What she (and people like my mom) did not understand is that she was trying to fill a void in her life that was created by God. That void is loneliness for God. Jesus told this woman, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again." In fact, this statement could be written over all the wells of life:

* Over the well of success: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.

* Over the well of pleasure: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.

* Over the well of materialism: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.

No matter how much we have, if we don't have Christ, we will always be thirsty. But when Jesus quenches that thirst, we will be satisfied.

Jesus cut to the core of her pain. He told her there was nothing the world had to offer that would quench her spiritual thirst. "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13–14).

If you don't get it now, one day you will. It might be at the end of a long road. Like these guys, it's never enough, no matter what it is, you're never really satisfied until you're drinking from the right well.

Dean Hit Jamaica As Cat 4

Hurricane Dean Pummels Jamaica As Category 4 Storm

It didn't quite make cat 5 status before hitting Jamaica, and that's a good thing. Still, cat 4 is not fun. I hope loss of life is minimal. I really hope it's zero but I doubt it.

Pre-Hurricane Delusions

Jamaica braces for Dean

"I'm not worried at all right now. I just don't think it's going to hit us, I can't believe right now it's going to hit us at all," said 26-year-old Althea Smikle,

"I'm not that worried because the homes are all very well constructed in Kingston," added 31-year-old elementary school teacher Jason Simmons, who lives in the Crossroads section of Kingston. "I am a little bit concerned for my parents' place though because of the flooding in their neighborhood, but you just put everything up on tables and chairs if it starts flooding in the house.

"We haven't really planned, just bought some food and batteries. I don't know that anybody is really that concerned. The people we talk to all seem fairly non-chelant, though I've heard of some fights breaking out in grocery stores. But so far that's just stories going around."

Well, good luck with that cat 5 hurricane, perhaps we'll get back to you Monday and see what you think then.

Speaking of Eating

How about fish that live on dead skin cells. Yes, the latest in spa treatments. Get one today.

Secret Weapon

Mammals Attack the Middle East

Iran's news service recently announced that security forces... how do I say this... "captured" 14 squirrels on the suspicion that they were spying on behalf of a Western power (read: the Great Satan).

They will go on trial as spies and the beheadings start at sunset after the trial. President Bush issued a statement saying if they are not released in 3 days he will send Jimmy Carter to talk their ears off.

It was only a couple weeks ago that residents of Basra, Iraq, complained that British troops had released man-eating badgers to terrorize the city, which was already coping with militias that kill—if not eat—people.

You thought Green Berets were tough? No, no, no, watch out for those man-eating militias. I believe they trained Bear Grylls. He'll eat anything.

Move Over Hummer!

There's a new enemy in town: The new public enemy Number 1: bottled water

"Arctic Ocean Getting Warm; Seals Vanish and Icebergs Melt."

In light of the NASA's newly republished figures of yearly temperature readings ...

The hottest year since 1880 becomes 1934 instead of 1998, which is now just second; 1921 is third.

Four of the 10 hottest years were in the 1930s, only three in the past decade. Claiming that man-made carbon dioxide has caused the natural disasters of recent years makes as much sense as claiming fossil-fuel burning caused the Great Depression.

The 15 hottest years since 1880 are spread over seven decades. Eight occurred before atmospheric carbon dioxide began its recent rise; seven occurred afterwards.

In other words, there is no discernible trend, no obvious warming of late.

... this headline from the Nov. 2, 1922 edition of The Washington Post is very, well, enlightening:

D.C. resident John Lockwood was conducting research at the Library of Congress and came across an intriguing Page 2 headline in the Nov. 2, 1922 edition of The Washington Post: "Arctic Ocean Getting Warm; Seals Vanish and Icebergs Melt."

The 1922 article, obtained by Inside the Beltway, goes on to mention "great masses of ice have now been replaced by moraines of earth and stones," and "at many points well-known glaciers have entirely disappeared."

"This was one of several such articles I have found at the Library of Congress for the 1920s and 1930s," says Mr. Lockwood. "I had read of the just-released NASA estimates, that four of the 10 hottest years in the U.S. were actually in the 1930s, with 1934 the hottest of all."

All Time Best Frivilous Lawsuit

Hands down, this is the winner.

South Carolina Inmate hits Michael Vick with '$63,000,000,000 Billion Dollar' Lawsuit alleging Al Qaeda ties.

Riches alleges that Vick stole two white mixed pit bull dogs from his home in Holiday, Fla., and used them for dogfighting operations in Richmond, Va. The complaint goes on to allege that Vick sold the dogs on eBay and “used the proceeds to purchase missiles from the Iran government.”

The complaint also alleges that Vick would need those missiles because he pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda in February of this year.

“Michael Vick has to stop physically hurting my feelings and dashing my hopes,” Riches writes in the complaint.

Blind Treating the Blind

I was going to post this video on Aug 2nd but never got back to writing something to go with it. It is true that doctors don't know what causes most mental illness and the medications that are used are largely prescribed on a trial and error basis.

When I read this article by David Kupelian I had to post it with this video. My opinion is he gets it right.

But let's pause, putting aside for a moment the dogma of all the "experts," and consider carefully and deeply what we're really looking at.

We are talking about human beings who have somehow developed a secret inner life dominated by exceedingly dark thoughts and compulsions. Wild mood swings. Horrible, consuming resentment teetering on the edge of violent frenzy. Paranoid delusions fueled by intense emotion. Satanic visitations and inner voices that torment people mercilessly, sometimes for years, commanding them to commit murder or suicide – or both.

Does this really sound to you like a physiological problem in need of drugs? Sound like a disease? A biochemical imbalance in the brain? Neurotransmitter activity that's too sluggish?

Or does it possibly sound like something much more mental-emotional, even spiritual, in origin?

The truth is, if we think we can solve problems like these with pills, we might be just as delusional as the people we're trying to help.

Before we go on, let's state the obvious: There are genuine, organic brain diseases that may benefit from drug therapy – but these are relatively rare. And there are also instances where an individual is so psychotic as to pose a direct danger to him/herself and others, where sedation might be appropriate. But what I'm writing about here is the overwhelming majority of cases where psychiatric drugs are unwisely relied on to fix Americans' mental-emotional-spiritual problems.

Got $400,000 Burning a Hole in Your Pocket?

Buy a new Lamborghini and celebrate by getting drunk and crashing it within hours of taking it home.

Everyone's impressed.

This Is News?

East German Border Guards Had 'Shoot-to-Kill' Orders to Stop Defections to West

That was pretty much common knowledge at the time, especially among those who tried to escape.

What Is NASA Thinking?

NASA: Gash Penetrated Entire Width of Heat Tiles

A close-up laser inspection by Endeavour's astronauts Sunday revealed that a 31/2-inch-long gouge penetrates all the way through thermal tiles on the shuttle's belly, and had NASA urgently calculating whether risky spacewalk repairs are needed.

They're calculating whether to repair it? The gouge goes all the way through the tile "exposing the felt material sandwiched between the tiles and the shuttle's aluminum frame." You don't take the chance, you fix the tiles. Can you imagine the uproar if they don't fix it and the shuttle burns up on re-entry? What about the crew, NASA is willing to risk them?

This is a no-brainer, stop calculating and repair the damage.

Over $4.00 a Gallon Here

No, not gas, milk! Milk prices rise to record highs

It was $2.40 to 2.80 not so long ago, now about $4.17. I've seen it at $4.35.

With Her Bare Hands

It wasn't so long ago a guy here in Florida killed a rabid bobcat by strangling it after it attacked him.

Not to be outdone, a woman in Connecticut strangled a rabid raccoon with her bare hands after it attacked a 5 year old she was with.

How Do They Know This Stuff?

I got a call this morning from my credit card company checking to make sure some recent purchases weren't fraudulent. Actually it was only two purchases, each less than $35.00. I appreciate them checking but I wonder what caused the red flag? Walmart?

So anyway, they asked me some security questions to make sure it was really me. One was how tall does my drivers license say I am and the other was what color was my old Firebird that I sold? They must have gotten this information from the government because I sure don't remember ever giving it to them, I sure didn't tell them I sold it. If you know where to look, the information is out there. And apparently, they are looking.

Gesundheit

It's Laughable

Walking to the shops ‘damages planet more than going by car’

I'm all for treading as lightly as possible on the planet and "do no harm" is a great motto to go by when you can but the whole global warming/environmental movement thing is way out of hand. Talk about worshiping the created rather than the Creator. Now in their circular thinking they are beginning to turn it all around so normal human behavior like walking is worse for the planet than driving.

Walking does more than driving to cause global warming, a leading environmentalist has calculated.

The only problem with ignoring the lunatics is they begin to take over.

We already have human sacrifice abortion, they are working hard on legalizing euthanasia, but they kind of cut around the death penalty for being a cold blooded killer/menace to society thing - for some reason that's not OK.

They are against global warming, even though they say that would solve the problem of too many people, I guess because then they wouldn't be in control. Must maintain control.

Any perceived control over the earth by humans is an illusion anyway, easily wiped out with one storm, one tornado, one earthquake, one volcano, or one wave. Take your pick.

YouTube Still Down

After I posted the Bathroom Etiquette video, YouTube goes down. Although that article says it came up after 6 hours, it is not working right now. They are still having problems.

I can't say I'm addicted to YouTube, but I sure do miss it.

It's working now.

Better Living Through Bathroom Etiquette

Huh?

China tells living Buddhas to obtain permission before they reincarnate

Tibet’s living Buddhas have been banned from reincarnation without permission from China’s atheist leaders. The ban is included in new rules intended to assert Beijing’s authority over Tibet’s restive and deeply Buddhist people.

“The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid,” according to the order, which comes into effect on September 1.

What? Isn't that kind of like saying you can't go to heaven when you die?

For the first time China has given the Government the power to ensure that no new living Buddha can be identified, sounding a possible death knell to a mystical system that dates back at least as far as the 12th century.

I guess what they are trying to do is keep people from saying they are the reincarnation of (whatever, I don't know) and developing a following.

The U.N. should pass a law saying no one can have 72 virgins when they die. Nah, Everyone would ignore it anyway.

Not Panic Mode, But ...

Bridge collapse no freak accident

"The nation is failing to even maintain the substandard conditions we currently have," said the report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers, "a dangerous trend that is affecting highway safety, as well as the health of the economy."

"Ignoring bad infrastructure and hoping it will do no harm is not an option anymore," says Rooney. "Places that take care of their infrastructure are safer, healthier and more prosperous."

The "ME" generation strikes again.

Busted

Surveillance Camera Captures 'Slip-N-Fall' Scam

They got the whole thing on video.

Kiss the Bricks

Are you kidding me? The NASCAR "tradition" is about 10 years old but this is the first I've seen pictures of it. I saw it on ESPN first and couldn't believe it.

Here are some pictures.

I'm sorry, but there's something wrong with that.

Islama Dama Ding Dong

Why 'Islamophobia' is a brilliant term

The fact remains that the term "Islamophobia" has one purpose – to suppress any criticism, legitimate or not, of Islam. And given the cowardice of the Western media, and the collusion of the left in banning any such criticism (while piling it on Christianity and Christians), it is working.

Latest proof: This past week a man in New York was charged with two felonies for what is being labeled the hate crime of putting a Quran in a toilet at Pace College. Not misdemeanors, mind you, felonies. Meanwhile, the man who put a crucifix in a jar of urine continues to have his artwork – "Pi-- Christ" – displayed at galleries and museums. A Quran in a toilet is a hate crime; a crucifix in pee is a work of art. Thanks in part to that brilliant term "Islamophobia."

Vegetarianism

It is so completely a religion it's not even funny. There are people in every religion who act and think the same way. The only difference is what they worship. Yes, global warming, too.

Tom Snyder

"Tom Snyder, who pioneered the late-late network TV talk show with a personal yet abrasive style and his robust, trademark laugh, has died from complications associated with leukemia. He was 71."

I liked watching Tom Snyder, he was down-to-earth, loved to laugh, and was not a pushover. My favorite interviews were with Robert Blake. He was on the show a lot although I was unable to find any at YouTube. Robert Blake was very candid with Tom about the many things that went on in his life, I think because they were friends.

Here's a Tom Snyder "greatest hits" montage:



He's had his share of difficult guests, here's Johnny "Rotten" Lydon:



Rest in peace, Tom.

T-Shirt Folding

Some people do it the easy way:


And some people have to complicate it:


I've been somewhere in between, but I'm leaning towards that easy way now. That's fast once you got the moves right.

Do They Hear Voices? Or Squeaks?

Scientists breed world’s first mentally ill mouse

SCIENTISTS have created the world’s first schizophrenic mice in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the illness.

How can you tell if a mouse is schizophrenic? Do they wear little tin-foil hats to keep the mind-control beams away? Even if you can tell I don't think you could get a clear picture of what's going on in the mind of a mouse to study treatments. They don't even fully understand schizophrenia in humans.

No Consequences

Chief Frustrated After 11 Arrested Fugitives Get Quick Release

"The system is broke. We need to rework the system," Chief McCoy said Friday. "It's kinda like trying to mop your floor with a hole in the mop bucket. You are just going to keep making a bigger mess. We have got to put these people in jail and keep them there."

On average, the fugitives taken down in last week's sweep each have nine prior arrests. Jose Ortiz Concepcion has been arrested 14 times. Accused murderer Channing Madison has been arrested nine times. Nicole Partee was arrested for the 19th time Wednesday for allegedly helping a murderer dump his victim's body.

"There are no consequences. I am a big believer, if there were more consequences early on, they would not step it up to the next level," McCoy said./

Shoo Cat, Shoo!

If this cat settles in on your bed in the nursing home, it means you have less than 2 hours to live.

Watcha Gonna Do?

I knew a pug once. Or did I dream it?

Redefining Hate

This is hate speech in Canada:

“I can't figure out why the homosexuals I ran into are on the side of the Muslims,” Mr. Whatcott wrote on the Web site. “After all, Muslims who practice Sharia law tend to advocate beheading homosexuals.”

Can't you just feel the hatred dripping from those awful lies?

There is absolutely no hatred here however.

As a matter of fact, clicking a few of the "related" videos you will find a plethora of videos proclaiming their love of Americans and Jews and their 1st amendment rights to say it. A veritable non-hate fest.

There is also no hate behind this. Just business.

This Could Not Have Happened

Boxer is shot after asking drinkers not to smoke

Witnesses said Nigerian-born Mr Oyebola had politely stepped in to help staff who had asked the three men to observe the smoking ban. One said: 'He wasn't being aggressive. He pointed out that smoking was now against the law.

'He was just being a good citizen but the three saw it as a sign of disrespect. On their way out one pulled a gun and started firing at James.'

How do I know it couldn't have happened? Because everyone knows England has strict anti-gun laws - the police don't even carry guns. Anti-gun laws = No guns. Right? Law abiding citizens are safe from gun violence.

A Witch! A Witch!

"May we burn her?" --Monty Python, Holy Grail

No, it's not the lady in the red dress, but could it be the lady at the end of the video?



This is just too funny, people are so silly. I like how it's the most stereotypical Halloween witch possible. At least it's more amusing than the Mary apparitions.

Innocent?

Neal Boortz explained something today that really bothers me every time I hear someone say it. Innocent until proven guilty. People throw that around like someone is really completely innocent - don't dare say he committed a crime, you have to use "allegedly" every time you talk about it. The innocent part is in the eyes of the law, not "the truth." If you rob a bank, your guilty of robbing a bank the moment you do it. That's the truth. Maybe you didn't get caught, you are still guilty of the crime.

One day they catch up to you, are you suddenly innocent? No, but the government can't punish you for the crime until you are proven guilty in a court of law. If they can't prove it, you go free - doesn't mean you are innocent of the crime - just means the government can't prove it and can't punish you.

If you never committed a crime and you get framed, found guilty and put in jail, does that mean you really committed the crime? Of course not, you are innocent - in reality - but not in the eyes of the law. I hope you can get that straightened out.

There can be a huge difference between reality and "the eyes of the law." Too often there is.

There are way too many people in this country who can't wrap their minds around that. Pehaps they don't want to.

Anyway, this is what Neal said about it.

Americans Have Some Serious Anger Issues

Anyone who works with the public sees it on a regular basis.

Man ran over woman with shopping cart at Somers supermarket checkout

Road Work Rage Closes SoCal Highway

Man who attacked senior, 70, gets pummeled, arrested

Shays screams at Capitol Police officer, later apologies

How Long Are Your Going To Be?

Home Intruder Found Sitting On Toilet

When she got home, she noticed that the bathroom door was closed. She opened the door and the man was sitting there.

Bledsoe said the woman asked the man a couple of questions, including "How long are you going to be?" but didn't understand the man's response because it was in Spanish.

Why not offer him a magazine?

My first question would be, "What were you thinking?"

You Want These People In Charge Of Your Healthcare?

Home snatched over $1.63 has miraculous resolution

According to the paper, the saga began in 1996 when the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office mailed a $1.63 property tax bill for the Atwoods' home in Slidell, La., a suburb of New Orleans.

Though the couple had never moved, the bill was returned to the sheriff's office, because their official address had changed due to a postal system revision.

The Atwoods learned of the nightmare in 2000 when they discovered their four-bedroom, two-bath home – which they had owned mortgage-free since 1968 – had been sold behind their backs in 1997 through a tax sale for the $1.63 in unpaid taxes, plus 10 cents interest and $125 in costs associated with the sale.

"The sheriff's office could have easily found us," Dolores Atwood said. "We're in the phone book. We didn't go anywhere. ... And we never thought about telling the assessor's office about our address change because we've never had to pay property taxes before."

She says the house previously was exempt from property taxes under the state's homestead provision, meaning there had never been any tax bill. But a new assessment had pushed the value assigned to the home above the exemption level by $100.

The government workers involved in this should be in jail. They still never did the right thing, it took a private individual to step up.

Everybody Turned Her In

Police Say Mom Had Kids Steal Puppy From Store

The mother, Tami Loechner, was arrested Wednesday evening. Channel 9 viewers who saw the surveillance video on Eyewitness News at 5:00 called police and identified her. "It was amazing to me how many phone calls came in right away, and they all pointed straight to her," said Lt. Shalyn Somers with the St. Cloud Police Department.

I was driving by that store when the WFTV truck pulled in. I thought they were stopping for a slice of pizza or something, it didn't look like anything else was going on.

P.S. Bond Denied

Thanks To Who?

1 nation under Hindu gods?

It is particularly troubling to see the U.S. Senate disregard a long history of Christian prayers in favor of modern, pluralistic prayers to gods that have no relationship to this country or the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that we cherish. Mr. Zed certainly has the freedom to exercise his Hindu beliefs, but only because that is an unalienable right given by the God of creation and protected in this land. Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, etc., have freedom of conscience in this country that is not extended to Christians in other nations under other "gods." Our government should and indeed must affirm that Almighty God is the source of that right for it to continue.

But ... It's Still a Butterfly

Evolution Occurs in the Blink of an Eye

A population of butterflies has evolved in a flash on a South Pacific island to fend off a deadly parasite.

The proportion of male Blue Moon butterflies dropped to a precarious 1 percent as the parasite targeted males. Then, within the span of a mere 10 generations, the males evolved an immunity that allowed their population share to soar to nearly 40 percent—all in less than a year.

So, if we stop treating cancer, aids and other diseases, we would evolve an immunity to them and we wouldn't have to worry about them. Problem solved! Yea!

Baby Mammoth

Baby mammoth discovery unveiled

No, it's not alive, but it is very well preserved. Check the picture.

Welcome To Florida

We've been accepting applications at work and one of the applicants last worked as a construction worker in Miami. When filling out the "reason for leaving" part of the application he put, "Moved to Florida."

A little peek into the mindset.

Embarrasing Moments

Hey, Jim-Bob, how 'bout that time you tried robbin' a bank dressed like a tree.

Do You Surf The Web?

You should watch this video. The less tech savy you are the more you need to see it.



I've received a few of these emails and almost been fooled by them because I have been sent legitimate e-cards before. Be careful out there.

Wild Ride

As Bob Hannah has said, as long as you're holding on to the handlebars you're still in control.

Independance Day

On this 4th of July, have a listen to this program about American prophets, our country's founding Fathers. Yes, it's worth 30 minutes of your time.

When your finished, go grill up a hamburger or something. Have a wonderful 4th of July!

Can't Do The Time, Don't Do The Crime

A customer at a Subway restaurant in Plantation, Fl defended himself and others from 2 armed robbers by shooting them. (the robbers, not the customers)

Perfectly legal and above board. As they say on Gunsmoke, "It was a fair fight, Matt."

The dead guy's Grandmother apparently thinks her grandson should have the right to rob someone and threaten them at gunpoint. Doesn't work that way, not in Florida anyway.

Teach your children stealing is wrong, dead wrong.

I Can Understand That

Man Beats Peacock He Says Was Vampire

Charmed employees were feeding him bread when the man appeared.

He seized the iridescent bird by the neck, hurled it to the ground and started kicking and stomping the creature, said worker Felicia Finnegan, 19.

"He was going crazy," she said.

Asked what he was doing, she said, the attacker explained, "'I'm killing a vampire!'"

I'm kidding, I really can't understand that at all. Everyone knows peacocks are from Planet X.

Chertoff Interview

Chertoff: We can't really enforce laws on illegals

Chertoff said Senate opponents deprived his department of the ability to ensure stricter enforcement by requiring companies to enter in a system to check their employees' work status.

"That would be the single greatest additional weapon we could use if we're serious about tackling this problem," he said. "I wish we had some of the tools that were left on the floor of the Senate when they abandoned the bill last week, but we will do what we have to do with the resources we have at our disposal."

So why not introduce a bill that will include the tools you need and only the tools you need. No bloated, hodge-podge, do-it-all bill that no one could possibly thoroughly understand or even read through it all before the vote. Oh, and leave out all the sneaky little things that were put in that huge bill hoping that no one would notice. Also, explain very clearly what it is you are trying to accomplish, don't just push it through like you know better than the American people.

If you act like you are trying to put one over on the American people, than don't be surprised when the American people act like you are trying to put one over on them and rebel against your bill.

PDF Reader

When it came time to install a PDF reader on my Vista machine I decided to look for something other than the ever popular Adobe Reader, which is huge (66+ megs installed), slow, always wants to connect to the internet for one reason or another and tries to download other programs I don't want.

I found a great little program called Foxit Reader 2.0. It's small (3.93 megs installed), fast and free. This is now my default PDF reader on all my Windows machines. Did I mention it is fast? I love programs that do what they are supposed to do and just work.

Try it, you'll like it.

I'm Connected!

To the internet, that is. The new PepWave Surf AP came yesterday and it works like a charm. I had some trouble connecting the Apple Powerbook with WEP/WPA encryption (it kept saying the password was wrong - it was not) so I ended up leaving it with no encryption but the way it is set up you can't tell there is a separate access point from the city WiFi - it is just increasing the signal strength. The Windows computers (XP and Vista) both had no trouble with the encryption, as easy as putting in the password.

I thought Apple got along with everyone? Guess it's really not that easy, eh. I am really disappointed in the Apple computer. There's a lot of hype about it and I'm following the adventures of some that recently switched to Apple and are now enamored with it - as I was - but they will come to realize that it's just another operating system with it's own faults and problems and it's far from perfect. It's a tool, it has it's strengths and weaknesses - just like Windows.

Anyway, I'm happy I finally have high speed wireless throughout the house with no monthly charge. Yeah!

By the way, if you live in an area with city-wide WiFi, I highly recommend the PepWave Surf AP. Definitely a worthy investment.

When Lizards Attack

That's funny.

When Fish Attack

Girl's Leg Broken By Jumping 3-Foot Sturgeon

A 6-year-old girl's leg was broken when she was struck by a sturgeon while riding on a boat in the Suwannee River, wildlife officials said.

That's gotta hurt.

Hamlin said the commission is trying to increase awareness of the sturgeon attacks and warning people to go slow while boating on the Suwannee River.

Sturgeon attacks, eh? Premeditated?

Lightning

We get a lot of lightning here in Central Florida but I don't remember hearing about as many homes being struck and catching fire as seems to be happening this year.

Lightning Destroys Central Fla. Home

Passing Nurse Saves Woman From Lightning-Sparked Fire

Lightning Destroys Seminole County Home"

Maybe I just wasn't paying attention though.

I Was Thirsty

A five-acre glacial lake in Chile's southern Andes has disappeared — and scientists want to know why.

Sorry.

What Are They Thinking?

They are not thinking, that has to be it. Why would you wear a shirt or some other item of clothing with a picture of Mao or Che or some other mass-murderer on it. Are they advertising their ignorance or do they really agree with the policies of these thugs. George Bush is a murderer but Mao, Che, Castro and Stalin are cool? Why not just wear a shirt that says "Agree with me or I'll kill you!"

Open minded? Their mind is so open everything fell out.

Cameron's bag raises a few eyebrows

It's getting to where you can't even watch a movie anymore, who wants to support people like this? Not me.

Gates vs. Jobs

"What's up with that music? It's like baby music."

Man vs. Bear

Hot Tuna Sandwich

I made this the other day and it was delicious. I like to use the tuna fillets in olive oil but any canned tuna will do fine. Mix in a little mayo and Mrs. Dash seasoning blend (I like extra spicy). You can put some celery and/or fresh herbs if you like - whatever. Spread on a good rye bread and top with some slices of Cabot's habanero cheddar cheese (or whatever) and put it under the broiler open-faced and cheese up. When the cheese has melted don't take it out yet, let it brown and even get a little crunchy. Yum.

This Doesn't Happen Very Often

Man Survives Bobcat Attack by Choking Animal to Death

WiFi ... Not Just Yet

I received the PepWave Surf Monday but they sent the wrong one. They sent the 200BG but I had ordered and paid more for the 200BG-AP (it acts as a wireless access point for all the computers in your house). I will have to return it. The good news is it works. It picks up the city WiFi and I get a nice, high speed connection - just not wirelessly, yet.

Didn't Anyone Ever Tell You It's Rude To Stare

We were in a Burger King today (because James wanted a Silver Surfer toy and for no other reason) and after we sat down a woman came and sat across from us. She was leaning forward on the table staring at us or me (I don't know) and talking and arguing (on the phone?). I don't know, there was no phone and no headset that we could see. Still, I think she was on the phone.

Anyway, I told Irma I wanted to sit somewhere else. Apparently I was being too sensitive. I don't like people staring at me, she's not even turning away, just a very intense stare. Now I was being insensitive, she could be mentally ill. I really didn't care what the deal was with the woman, I just wanted to get out of her immediate field of vision. I wasn't going to be rude or insult her or anything like that. I moved, Irma didn't. No big deal, at least I got to eat comfortably and in peace.

As we were leaving the woman went outside and began intensely arguing with some guy. Suddenly, Irma was in a hurry to get away from her.

Mark Steyn Has It Right ...

The Immigration bill is a fraud

I wouldn't presume to speak for the millions of Americans who oppose this bill, but it's because I'm an immigrant myself that I object to the most patent absurdity peddled by the pro-amnesty crowd. The bill is fundamentally a fraud. Its ''comprehensive solution'' to illegal immigration is simply to flip all the illegals overnight into the legal category. Voila! Problem solved! There can be no more illegal immigrants because the Senate has simply abolished the category. Ingenious! For their next bipartisan trick, Congress will reduce the murder rate by recategorizing murderers as jaywalkers.

No Modem, No Cry

My modem is not recognized by Vista and my investigations have led me to believe it may not even be possible to get it to work, since it was made by Diamond many moons ago, and I cannot find a matching driver. Tried a few, no go.

What I did do was find the PePWave Surf Wi-Fi modem, which should get me connected to my town's Wi-Fi mesh.

I have high hopes and I'll let you know how it works out.

Long Day, Vista Installed

It was not a long day because of Vista, I'm happy to report.

I had to take Joshua to the dentist Thursday morning because he had cracked his front tooth in the bathroom. This was a follow-up appointment, but he was having some discomfort. They decided he needed a root canal and to cap his tooth, so the 1 hour appointment turned into hours, then a trip to the pharmacy to pick up some medication for him and by the time I got home it was 2pm. He's OK but he didn't like what he had to go through. Can't say as I blame him.

I went to bed after getting home and woke up at 8:30pm - couldn't sleep any more. Around 9pm I decided to mess around installing Vista too see what happens. About 9:20pm, Vista is installed and working - mostly. I need a driver for my video card to get it up to speed. Amazingly easy.

I needed to download the drivers from ATI - well, I've done it now. Not 100% sure what it is though. It's a 69 meg program, the same program that was on the CD that came with the video card, but updated to work in Vista. I'm assuming it contains the drivers because that's what the website said I was getting and there were only two choices - 32 bit or 64 bit. Unfortunately, I had to wait until I got to work to do it, I can't connect to the internet with that computer right now because the external modem connects to the computer with a serial port and I don't presently have a serial port. Kind of upgraded myself out of one. I ordered a serial to USB connector and I'll have it Tuesday.

Why don't I have broadband? My town has free WIFI access and I was getting the signal until recently. Why pay for something I can get free? Besides, I'm not very fond of the cable company or the phone company and I'm not anxious to give them any more of my money, they're already getting an outrageous amount. Might have to bite the bullet though.

Well, that's all I have on Vista right now, I'm glad I did it. I need a bigger monitor. And a comfortable chair.

Gotta Love Computers!

As I said previously, I am rebuilding my desktop computer. The parts all came in and I put it together yesterday, but it didn't work. It's been driving me crazy! It's an AMI bios and when booting up it beeps 3 times, indicating a memory problem. I swapped the ram modules, reseated everything, tried changing bios settings related to memory - nothing would work. I searched the internet for the problem and the problem is out there, but the solution seems only to be either bad memory or a bad motherboard. Not a lot of help. I started considering returning the motherboard for another - the memory is good - but I really didn't want to do that.

If you go to NewEgg.com or a similar site you see all the user reviews and some say the part didn't work, it's a piece of crap, etc. Many times it is because the person really doesn't understand what they are doing. I really didn't want to return this motherboard because of a stupid problem I could have fixed. But what was the problem?

As it turns out the bios gives some error codes in the lower right of the screen while booting. They go fast and are hard to catch but I wrote them down and googled them. Bingo! Here the solution right here - at least for me it was. Thank you qldit.

It is possible that you are using a USB keyboard which will not be operative at that point. If this is the case try a PS-2 keyboard

What does that have to do with memory? I don't know! But I used a PS-2 keyboard and it worked. Sometimes the simplest solution is what works.

Next problem. Windows XP SP1 won't install, it has to be SP2. No problem, you can slipstream SP2 into SP1 and burn a bootable disc. I did that. It asks for the original Windows XP Professional disc - OK, then it asks for the Windows Professional SP2 disc - OK, I have an SP2 disc, but it's not specifically for XP Professional. It says it's good for Home, Professional, etc. I put it in but it will not except it. It's not what it wants, apparently. I could try some things and burn another cd but I ordered Windows Vista and will be receiving it tomorrow so I will not bother.

Let's see how it goes tomorrow.

Two Sides of Love

When I say that He came to reveal God as love I do not mean to say He revealed the fact that God is tender, and pitiful, and gracious, and compassionate at the expense of holiness and righteousness and truth. There is no fiercer fire burning in the universe of God than the fire of God's love; and if you could for one moment persuade me that God was merely a God of pity, then you would persuade me that the whole fabric of the universe is unsafe. He came to show men that God is love, and He revealed the love of God not merely in the tender, sweet, and gentle words that perpetually fell from his lips, but in the fiery, white-hot scorn that He poured forth as a lava flood against some, for you never find Jesus angry but that if you track His anger back to it's source you will find His anger proceeded from His love.

Perhaps the simplest illustration is the best. He was angry - do not forget it, my masters, He was angry when He said, "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the Kingdom of heaven." We nearly always repeat that word as though it was some soft sweetness falling from His lips. Put the thunder in the next time you repeat it, or you miss something. The disciples were preventing the children. The disciples imagined He could have no time for children, and He was angry when He said, "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not," and there was thunder in His voice. Why was He angry? Because a little child was to be kept away from him, and the thunder was as much an expression of His love as the sweet winsomeness of the permission given to the children to come. When I see Him with those bairns in his arms, and His dear hands upon their heads, and His face wreathed with laughter as He looked into their eyes, I see His love no more than when He rebuked the disciples for preventing their approach.

Or when He said, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" I listen and I hear Him finish His sentence, and I find the reason of the thunder, "Ye shut the Kingdom of heaven against men." At the back of all the anger is love, and He came to reveal God to man as the God of love in all the fullness of the word.

--G.Campbell Morgan

What Nation Was Established On These Principles?

Notice still further how He defended the dignity and rights of men against all forms of tyranny and oppression. Listen to His Woes. He began his ministry with "Blessed." He ended it with "Woe." Over against the eight beatitudes are the eight curses. It is an interesting study. But listen to the Woes. They are all hurled against men who tyrannize and oppress; and the whole teaching of Jesus concerning man is that a man has no right to bind himself beneath tyranny and be content. The teaching of Jesus is that there may be a good deal of incipient blasphemy in the popular idea that a man should stay in the position wherein he was born, and be content. The teaching of Jesus is that every man has inherent rights, and any man who comes between the individual and the throne of God is to be dealt with drastically, and the woe that falls from the lips of incarnate purity is pronounced against him.

-- G. Campbell Morgan

Oh, how far we have fallen.

The More Things Change ...

Wherever He went He said, “Repent,” which meant, Change your mind, your thinking is wrong, your action is wrong, you have departed from the center of things, your measurements are false, your balances are evil, your judgments are perverted! He flung against the materialized age the force of His spiritual conception. He made heaven’s light break upon earth’s darkness. The Voice of God sounded again in the deeps of human nature, and o’re all the region as He passed, men felt the atmosphere of heaven enwrapping them, and they hurried after Him, for never Man spake as He spake. That is the deeper secret in the ministry of Jesus. He was a voice from God, nay, the very Word of God incarnate, speaking in the syllables of human speech, and yet with all the force of infinite truth. What are men to do with that truth? My brethren, then as today, men standing in the presence of Christ have but one alternative. They must do one of two things. They must either crown Him or crucify Him. There is no middle course. And if you ask me why they crucified Christ, I tell you it was because they declined to submit themselves to the spiritual conceptions which He proclaimed, because they would have none of his views of things, because in their deepest heart, notwithstanding all their religiousness, they were godless. And when they silenced that voice, they silenced the voice of the infinite. When they took that Man to the cross, they flung out the One Who had offended them by revealing the fact that all their thinking and all their life were false.

And yet again. The Cross of Jesus viewed from the Divine side was the logical issue of His own teaching. He Who might have summoned the legions of heaven to His side submitted to the Cross, and so by a mystery of healing love transformed the world’s curse into God’s benediction.

The very spear that pierced His side
Drew forth the blood to save.

All this was utterly beyond their comprehension. All this they could not answer, nor did they see the faintest gleam of it’s light. They were scandalized in Him, and crucified Him; and the Cross became the stumbling block, the offense, the scandal of the age.

Men are still enslaved, waste and want abound on every hand. I need not stay with it's description. What I want to say is this, that everything Jesus stood for, and everything that the cross really means as to deep underlying principle, is as unpopular today as when Jesus was crucified. The age is not Christianized. The thinking of the age, the planning of the age, the policy of the age are not Christian, and the scandal of the Cross has not ceased. This living Christ of God, dying on the Cross, is as much crucified in our midst today as He was of old.

--G. Campbell Morgan

Yeah, this was G. Campbell Morgan day. I'm reading through his works now, don't be surprised to see more of it.

And He said to me, Son of man, all My Words which I speak to you, receive into your heart, and hear with your ears. Ezekiel 3:10

Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house. They have eyes to see, but they do not see; they have ears to hear, but they do not hear; for they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel 12:2

The one having ears to hear, let him hear.Matthew 11:15

The 60 Story House

606 people will live there, 600 of them to take care of 6. No wonder it's so big.

New Power Supply, Too

After writing the post below, it got me thinking about the power supply. It's very likely it is bad and has been the cause of the problems on the computer, or at least contributed to them. I don't want to take any chances frying the new computer parts. I ordered an Enermax 500 watt unit.

Time To Rebuild

My desktop computer has been giving me problems. It all started when my UPS (uninterruptible power supply) died. Uninterruptible, by the way, doesn't seem to be a real word, the spell checker doesn't like it and it's not in the dictionary - dictionary.com anyway, but that's the word they use. Apparently, it suffered a power surge that took it out. It's not a dead battery, it smells burnt and it's completely dead. I just plugged the computer into the wall and it worked, sort of. It kept crashing and I had to slow down the CPU to keep it going. Eventually it just stopped working altogether. That's the second UPS I lost this way and the first time it took out the computer, too. The first was an APS and the last a Belkin.

I've been looking into surge protectors - what a confusing mess. I settled on a Panamax, I hope it works out. Everyone claims to be the best and they trash the rest. I might get another UPS but I will plug it into the surge protector. I wouldn't mind a sacrificial UPS if it saved the computer but they don't offer very good surge protection.

I built this computer not too long after Windows XP came out. It was long before the SP2 update. It has an AMD Athlon 1400 processor, Asus A7V-133 motherboard and 1500 megs of PC133 ram. The only thing I'm keeping is the case (Lian-Li aluminum), probably the power supply and the DVD burner - maybe.

I'm going with an Intel processor this time - E6600 Core 2 Duo. There are so many choices in the PC world it makes choosing the components a chore. I wanted a firewire and an eSata port on the motherboard - I decided on the MSI P35 Platinum. I chose a SAPPHIRE 100166L Radeon X1650XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - that's a mouth full. I'm not looking for bleeding edge performance, I just want a good system. 2 Gigs Kingston DDR 667 ram - could've went with 800 but it costs twice as much and I don't think it's that much faster. I went with 2 Sata hard drives, 80 gigs for the operating system and programs and 320 gigs for storage - both Western Digital. I have a 320 gig eSata drive for back ups. I'll be sticking with Windows XP for now, can't really afford to upgrade to Vista now anyway and I don't want to waste the money if it doesn't work out.

I enjoy putting these together, I wish I could do it more often. I'll have my fun next week and hopefully everything goes well and I'll have a good, reliable system for years to come.

Walking in Darkness

The substitution of the creature in any form for the Creator, constitutes incapacity to receive the Word of God. If a man shall substitute nature for God, a priest for God, a ceremony for God, then, though the Word of God be speaking to him by a thousand voices, he hears none; though the light of God flash on him from every point of the compass, he walks in the darkness; though all the mystic influences of the Divine immanence are about him; he is unconscious of them. No voice, no virtue, no vision, no victory, a famine of the Word of God, because a man has stayed with something short of God.

It may be even as I attempt to deliver the message there is nothing in it for you. Words, empty words, a meaningless occasion, an opportunity for curiosity. You are in the midst of a great famine, famine for the Word of God; and the reason is that you have compelled the capacity in your life which ought to take hold of God to cling to something short of Him. As Paul puts it in writing to the Romans, you havesubstituted the creature for the Creator, and having fastened your life upon something short of God you have become hardened to the touch of God, unconscious of the fact of God; and though His Word is living and quick and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged sword, it fails to affect you.

The sealing of the Bible always follows idolatry, and the issue of such idolatry is famine, and the result emaciated, emasculated humanity. The thing that has sealed the Word of God to the believer is the believer's unbelief and disobedience and idolatry. If we could rid ourselves of our idols, the famine would be over, and the Word of God would be living to us again.

Wherever a man has lost his capacity for the Word of God, cannot discern it, does not hear it, does not appreciate it, almost ceases - hear me carefully in this apparent contradiction - almost ceases to desire it, wherever that is true, there results in the life of that man, woman, community, a great ceaseless searching restlessness; and I believe that the restlessness of our own age is due to the fact that our age is in the midst of the famine of the Word of God, a famine following upon its idolatry, national, social, and individual.

But, is there such restlessness? Think with me for a moment. I maintain there is an ignorant restlessness. By that I mean a restlessness that does not understand itself in any measure, and I believe that that ignorant restlessness which is unconscious of the meaning of its own fruitless search is that of nothing less than a search for the Word of God. Men do not know it. They would not so name it; but every attempt to satisfy the life without God is in the last analysis an attempt to find the Word of God. I suppose the old illustration, the most familiar perhaps, the most sublime in Scripture, is the natural one that comes to the mind at this moment. Paul's great word to the Ephesians, "Be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit." What did the apostle mean? Why link these two things together? Because they are bound together, because in the underlying meaning of the attempt to get some kind of satisfaction out of wine is the cry of the soul after God. And all the restlessness of this ignorant age is the panting of the human heart after the Word of God. There are men and women running from north to south - from north to east, to be true to the figure of my text - from sea to sea, from land to land, in ceaseless, roving restlessness. What do they want? Ask them and they tell you, some new sensation, some new thing, some new thrill. What do they really want? They want the Word of God, they want God himself, communicating to them through the Word that they may find the sustenance of their spiritual life. Oh, the restlessness of the worldling, as understood from the upper spaces, is the panting of the heart, in ignorance, after God. In such ignorant restlessness God is not recognized, and no sin admitted. God is not talked of. It is a little out of date to talk of God among such people. They dismiss the Word. Religion is taboo! God is not named, and sin is never mentioned. There is a great famine in the land.

A partial text of the sermon "Famine of the Word of God" by G. Campbell Morgan from his book, The Westminster Pulpit.

Hog Wild

I never knew a pig could get so big. That thing is a monster.

Where is the Love?

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8).

Here we come face to face with that tremendous declaration of the Scriptures: "God is love." It means that at the root all God does is love. No matter how difficult it may appear to us, the fountain from which all God's activity stems is this kind of self-giving love. Even His judgments, His condemnations, arrive from love. Judgment is not something separate from love. If you convince me that a holy, loving God cannot judge a sinful person, then you will also convince me that He cannot love a sinful person. Inherent in the quality of love is an antagonism toward anything that opposes the object of love. Also, inherent in it is the quality of judgment. God is a purifying fire, consuming and burning away the dross in order that He might preserve the gold. That, incidentally, is how the book of Hebrews describes Him. "Our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). Love is not always easy to live with because of that very quality, yet it is the most wonderful thing in the world because of its warmth and its all-embracing inclusiveness that takes in all kinds and all conditions, without looking for merit on the part of the object loved. That is the love of God.

I don't like the words "sin" or "sinners" because most people just turn off when they hear those and don't understand what they mean - just some religious mumbo jumbo. Sin is nothing more than lawbreaking.

(1John 3:4) Everyone practicing sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

God did not arbitrarily create the laws of the universe. The law of gravity, for instance, could not behave in any other manner without tearing apart the universe. The same goes for every other law this creation must abide by. They are what they are because that is what they must be in order to create the orderly universe we so often take for granted.

Now, the physical laws we can pretty much figure out on our own - we got that part down (well, most of us), but there are spiritual laws that govern humanity that we cannot figure out on our own, they must be revealed by the Creator. We cannot naturally see the spiritual. The breaking of them we feel, we see it all around us. Many of us strive to heal the sickness but have no clue as to the cause.

Lawbreaking should not be tolerated by a loving society, to tolerate or excuse it is not love. Love can be tough at times, but it is always looking to the betterment of the individual and the society.


Quote above taken from the May 25th Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman.
© 2007 by Elaine Stedman -- From the book The Power of His Presence: a year of devotions from the writings of Ray Stedman; compiled by Mark Mitchell. Devotion pages, excerpts, or quotes may be used as long as the copyright notice includes the book title and author along with a reference or a hyperlink to the Official Ray C. Stedman Library web site at http://www.RayStedman.org.

Rewarding Lawbreaking

Please, can my sister become an illegal immigrant?

Here I have to ask for lenience for my poor sister. You see, although the natural law informs my own ideas of right and wrong, I generally obey the positive law, even when it's wrong. To live creatively and productively, I require safety and stability. I fear my sister shares the same aversion to living on the edge. In any event, whatever deep-seated defect obeying the law signifies – she has it. Most people who immigrate legally have it; those who do so illegally don't. Bully for them.

I understand that by privileging illegals, the Bush-Kennedy-McCain troika intends to cleverly weed out, in the Darwinian sense, people of probity. This is a smart tactic with a proven track record, as individuals with no qualms about breaking one set of laws are less prone to observing the law in general. To wit, statistics place illegal immigrants in the high-crime bracket. I worry that this is a standard my sister cannot live up to.

I'm A Winner!

I enter a lot of sweepstakes and I've won quite a few things, haven't hit a big one yet, though. I won a Rachel Ray t-shirt last month and yesterday I received a Dog the Bounty Hunter t-shirt and DVD from A&E. Thanks A&E!

When Will We Get It?

During the Cold War, two things came to be known and generally recognized in the Middle East concerning the two rival superpowers. If you did anything to annoy the Russians, punishment would be swift and dire. If you said or did anything against the Americans, not only would there be no punishment; there might even be some possibility of reward, as the usual anxious procession of diplomats and politicians, journalists and scholars and miscellaneous others came with their usual pleading inquiries: "What have we done to offend you? What can we do to put it right?"

A few examples may suffice. During the troubles in Lebanon in the 1970s and '80s, there were many attacks on American installations and individuals--notably the attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, followed by a prompt withdrawal, and a whole series of kidnappings of Americans, both official and private, as well as of Europeans. There was only one attack on Soviet citizens, when one diplomat was killed and several others kidnapped. The Soviet response through their local agents was swift, and directed against the family of the leader of the kidnappers. The kidnapped Russians were promptly released, and after that there were no attacks on Soviet citizens or installations throughout the period of the Lebanese troubles.

These different responses evoked different treatment. While American policies, institutions and individuals were subject to unremitting criticism and sometimes deadly attack, the Soviets were immune. Their retention of the vast, largely Muslim colonial empire accumulated by the czars in Asia passed unnoticed, as did their propaganda and sometimes action against Muslim beliefs and institutions.

Continue Reading Was Osama Right?

Global BS

Global warming debunked

A combination of misinterpreted and misguided science, media hype, and political spin had created the current hysteria and it was time to put a stop to it.

"It is time to attack the myth of global warming," he said.

Water vapour was responsible for 95 per cent of the greenhouse effect, an effect which was vital to keep the world warm, he explained.

"If we didn't have the greenhouse effect the planet would be at minus 18 deg C but because we do have the greenhouse effect it is plus 15 deg C, all the time."

The other greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen dioxide, and various others including CFCs, contributed only five per cent of the effect, carbon dioxide being by far the greatest contributor at 3.6 per cent.

However, carbon dioxide as a result of man's activities was only 3.2 per cent of that, hence only 0.12 per cent of the greenhouse gases in total. Human-related methane, nitrogen dioxide and CFCs etc made similarly minuscule contributions to the effect: 0.066, 0.047 and 0.046 per cent respectively.

"That ought to be the end of the argument, there and then," he said.

"We couldn't do it (change the climate) even if we wanted to because water vapour dominates."

You know global warming is a scam because it fit's exactly into the lefts social engineering schemes, that's about all you need to know.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with reducing your footprint; and keeping the air, oceans and land as clean and beautiful as possible is a wonderful thing. We should do more of it. Just don't try to package your social engineering crap in environmentalism and expect me to fall for it. And stop throwing cigarette butts and trash on the ground.

Socialized Radio

Radio Free Congress by Fred Thompson

I had planned on talking a bit today about Venezuela. The president there doesn’t like the way his media is covering him, so he’s doing away with the free press. He’s established rules on what he thinks is fair, and he’s denying licenses to television and radio stations that don’t play by government rules.

I can’t criticize him now, though. After all, how would it seem for me to complain about another country, when our own congressional leadership is trying to put the same sort of rules in place here? To do so, they’re pulling the Fairness Doctrine out of the dustbin of history.

Restaurant Forced To Change Ambiguous Bathroom Signs

McGuire's Irish Pub is one of my favorite restaurants, it's in Destin, Fl. If you're ever in the area, check it out, the food is great and the beer is made on premises.

I can't say I'm surprised to see this happened, but I am disappointed. The first time I went into the bathroom I was told to read the sign carefully, obviously some people have no sense of humor. What a surprise.

Just a Good Commentary

Guns, the devil and God

You see, in today's America the self-reliant, responsible, independent-minded man or woman who carries a gun – the kind of person who is aware, thinks for himself, is skeptical of government, the press and all of society's "experts" – the person not content to be a victim, but willing to take charge of a situation, "get involved," even fight back and stand up for what is right – in other words, a true American – is threatening to society's elitists, experts and politicians who are addicted to power.

Cower, Cringe, and Hide

Time for the sun to set on the Culture of Sheep

“Why am I being punished?” I asked.

“Because you fought back,” I was told.

I was stunned and disgusted in the same instant. Though I did not realize it in these terms, it was my first memory that I and the other students were being conditioned to be victims - to accept the idiotic culture of sheep. If attacked, submit and hope for the best. This concept is unnatural to humans; it certainly goes against the grain of my instincts.

Just how this cower, cringe and hide in the face of danger concept ever caught on is beyond me. I reject that early conditioning the liberal public schools tried to thrust upon me. Ever since that injustice the anti-self defense culture, the culture of sheep, has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Their philosophy is not only unjust, it is down right stupid and deadly.

The Always Inciteful Insightful

Ann Coulter: C'EST SI BON

Apparently, even the French prefer Western civilization to clitorectomy-performing, car-burning savages.

The Democratic Party is now officially the only organization on Earth that does not take the threat of Islamic fascism seriously. Between the Democrats and the media, America has gone from its usual position as the world's last hope to radical Islam's last hope.

Amazing ... But true?

Bullet in woman's head for 64 years

The shape of the bullet in the x-ray makes me wonder. It looks like a bullet, and that's the problem. Don't bullets deform and break apart on impact? Perhaps there are bullets that don't, I don't know. That's a question for the experts.

How To Destroy The Earth

Destroying the Earth is harder than you may have been led to believe.

You've seen the action movies where the bad guy threatens to destroy the Earth. You've heard people on the news claiming that the next nuclear war or cutting down rainforests or persisting in releasing hideous quantities of pollution into the atmosphere threatens to end the world.

Fools.

The Earth is built to last. It is a 4,550,000,000-year-old, 5,973,600,000,000,000,000,000-tonne ball of iron. It has taken more devastating asteroid hits in its lifetime than you've had hot dinners, and lo, it still orbits merrily. So my first piece of advice to you, dear would-be Earth-destroyer, is: do NOT think this will be easy.

This is not a guide for wusses whose aim is merely to wipe out humanity. I (Sam Hughes) can in no way guarantee the complete extinction of the human race via any of these methods, real or imaginary. Humanity is wily and resourceful, and many of the methods outlined below will take many years to even become available, let alone implement, by which time mankind may well have spread to other planets; indeed, other star systems. If total human genocide is your ultimate goal, you are reading the wrong document. There are far more efficient ways of doing this, many which are available and feasible RIGHT NOW. Nor is this a guide for those wanting to annihilate everything from single-celled life upwards, render Earth uninhabitable or simply conquer it. These are trivial goals in comparison.

This is a guide for those who do not want the Earth to be there anymore.

This Might Be Important To Know

Listening to an iPod could stop your heart

Ipods can cause pacemakers to malfunction by making them go too fast, too slow or even stop altogether, according to a study.

Researchers found that iPods could make pacemakers malfunction by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart rate.

Well, of course, you have to have a pacemaker. Will over reaction cause a backlash against iPods by those with pacemakers? And if an iPod can do it, any electronic device should do it, too. There's nothing special about the electronics in an iPod.

She added: "On rare occasions, some electrical gadgets can potentially interfere with pacemakers, so it is sensible to keep these devices directly away from pacemakers.

"If you have a pacemaker and are sitting next to someone with an MP3 player it is extremely unlikely that it will interfere with your pacemaker."

I Did Not Know That!

" Surprisingly, it is very hard to pin down the age of a star," Anna Frebel, the lead author of a paper on the results, said in a statement.

Yes, I'm shocked.

For He Does Not Bear the Sword for Nothing

God's Strange Servants

You really need to read this all the way through but here are a few excerpts from the text:

I think we Americans are slowly learning that not every body of people in the world can handle democracy. There was a time when, naively, we thought democracy was the best (and only enlightened) form of government, and all we had to do was go around the world and set up democracies and people would begin to function properly. Democracy would solve all their problems. Now, after many painful experiences, we know better than that. We know there are times and places where democracy just won't work. It can't work; people aren't ready for it. They can't handle that kind of liberty, that kind of responsibility. Therefore God doesn't give it to them. The government they have is better suited for their purposes than the one we have. We are slowly catching on to that.

You see, God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. He is not a Socialist, or a Marxist, or even an American! The biblical picture is that God not only sends us good men sometimes, by his grace, to lead us and heal us, but also he sends us bad men at times, to punish us. And we deserve them. Therefore, when Hitlers, Stalins, and other ruthless individuals come to the throne of power, God has put them there because that is what that people needed at that particular time in history. This is the biblical position with regard to government, and it is rather startling.

I thank God for the enlightened soul, a few decades ago, that set in line a motion that added to our pledge of allegiance the words "under God." That reflects biblical truth. This nation exists as a nation under God. What that is saying, of course, is that nations are to recognize that they have limited power. They are agents of God, but they are not God.

From whence come wars and conflicts among you?

Do they not arise out of your own passions? --James 4:1,2

That's a tremendously helpful verse because it bridges an individual's world of his own personal life and the social world, extending even to communities, and beyond, to states and nations in the world. The claim of that verse is simply that conflict and strife with neighbors, friends, relatives or nations arises out of human passions---anger and feelings of attack or injustice. The same forces produce world conflicts as well. Wars and strife between individuals or nations spring from the same source. It always appears to be naive for various groups to suggest that we eliminate strife on the social level when the very people who seek to do so haven't succeeded in eliminating conflicts in their own lives. People who mount protests and demonstrations to eliminate war oftentimes have terrible conflicts in their own homes! They haven't solved the problem there, even.

Taken from TEN PROPOSITIONS CONCERNING WAR by Ray C. Stedman

Disorders & Acronyms

Some common human disorders:

ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
APD: Auditory Processing Disorder, also referred to as CAPD or Central Auditory Processing Disorder
ASD: Autistic Spectrum Disorder
BD/ED: Behavior Disordered / Emotionally Disturbed
CD: Conduct Disorder
MDO: Major Depressive Disorder
MPD: Multiple Personality Disorder
OCD: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
ODD: Oppositional-Defiant Disorder
PDD: Pervasive Developmental Disorder
PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
SAD: Seasonal Affective Disorder
SED: Severe Emotional Disorder
SED: Severely Emotionally Disturbed

Bees even have a disorder:

CDD: colony collapse disorder

Some little known disorders:

NOSD: Not Otherwise Specified Disorder
TEACCHD: Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Disorders Disorder
ADMSD: Acronym doesn't make sense disorder
INADODD: Inability to name a disease anything other than a disorder disorder
EDAD: Every disorder must have an acronym disorder
RPAD: Really pushing it acronym disorder
BAD: Bad acronym disorder
RBAD: Really bad acronym disorder
NEAD: Not even an acronym disorder

That's Justice

Eight Arrested In Honda Theft Ring

"It keeps them off the street. They can't steal any cars for at least another 21 days," Bartlett said.

I like the old west way, steal a man's horse, you get hung. Should work the same way for cars.

Stupid Turkey

As I was writing the previous post there was a turkey in the driveway walking around my car. I should have known what he was doing. A few days ago I was driving past my neighbors house and saw a turkey pecking her car. I picked up the kids and when I was coming back home it was still there. She was outside, so I told her and she chased it off.

I just went to pick up the kids again and when getting back in the car from the other side noticed the entire side of the car is scratched. That turkey must have been going to town on my car for a while. Why on that side and not on the side I could see from the window?

I like having the turkeys around, I enjoy watching them, and they have never done anything like this before, that's why I didn't chase it away. It looks like it's just this one turkey. A rogue turkey. If he keeps this up I might have to arrange a little accident - just kidding. I'll just let James loose on him, he'll chase him a way.

Do You Believe ...

in global warming?

Once a person becomes a believer of global warming, "you never have to defend this belief except to claim that you are supported by all scientists -- except for a handful of corrupted heretics," Lindzen added.

In Al Gore they trust.

Help Al Gore Save Mars

Our CO2 emissions are getting so bad they are actually causing the climate on Mars to heat up.

Scientists from Nasa say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period.

Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena.

Ya Think? A natural phenomena? The pompous Al Gore might actually be wrong?

See post below.

Masters of the Universe

Human beings, in their inventiveness, think they can master the earth. But the very solutions they work out become the bigger problems that they can no longer manage. The whole vast scheme of things eludes them; they are not able to put them all together.

--Ray Stedman

...and that's the truth.

Meet Becka

She belongs to my brother-in-law. She's very sweet and I'm not sure her age but she's less than a year old. She's a Boxer in case you couldn't tell.