May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will leave the world a little better for your having been here. -- Ronald Reagan

Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Sin of Forgiveness

The Sin of Forgiveness
by Dennis Prager
Wall Street Journal, December 15, 1997

The bodies of the three teenage girls murdered by a fellow student at Heath High School in West Paducah, Ky, were not yet cold before the students of the Christian prayer group that was shot at announced, "We forgive you, Mike," referring to Michael Carneal, 14, the murderer.

This immediate and automatic forgiveness is not surprising. Over the past generation, the idea that a central message of Christianity is to forgive everyone who commits evil against anyone, no matter how great and cruel and whether or not the evildoer repents, has been adopted by much of Christendom.

The number of examples is almost as large as the number of heinous crimes. But one other recent example stands out. In August, the pastor at a Martha's Vineyard church service attended by the vacationing President Clinton announced that it was the duty of all Christians to forgive Timothy McVeigh, the murderer of 168 Americans. "I invite you to look at a picture of Timothy McVeigh and then forgive him," the Rev. John Miller said in his sermon. "I have, and I ask you to do so."

The pastor acknowledged: "Considering what he did, that may be a formidable task. But it is the one that we as Christians are asked to do."

Though I am a Jew, I believe that a vibrant Christianity is essential if America's moral decline is to be reversed and that despite theological differences, there is indeed a Judeo-Christian value system that has served as the bedrock of American civilization. For these reasons I am appalled and frightened by this feel-good doctrine of automatic forgiveness.

This doctrine undermines the moral foundations of American civilization because it advances the amoral notion that no matter how much you hurt other people, millions of your fellow citizens will immediately forgive you. This doctrine destroys Christianity's central moral tenets about forgiveness - that forgiveness, even by God, is contingent on the sinner repenting, and that it can only be given to the sinner by the one against whom he sinned.

These tenets are unambiguously affirmed in Luke 17:3-4: "And if your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if seven times of the day he sins against you, and seven times of the day turns to you saying, I repent, you shall forgive him."

This flies in the face of what passes for Christianity these days - the declaration, often repeated, that "It is the Christian's duty to forgive just as Jesus forgave those who crucified him." Of course, Jesus asked God to forgive those who crucified him. But Jesus never asked God to forgive those who had crucified thousands of other innocent people - presumably because he recognized that no one has the moral right to forgive evil done to others.

You and I have no right, religiously or morally, to forgive Timothy McVeigh or Michael Carneal; only those they sinned against have that right - and those they murdered are dead and therefore cannot forgive them. (Indeed, that is why I believe that humans cannot forgive a murderer.) If we are automatically forgiven no matter what we do - even if we do not repent, why repent? In fact, if we forgive everybody for all the evil they do to anybody, God and his forgiveness are entirely unnecessary. Those who forgive all evil done to others have substituted themselves for God.

When confronted with such arguments, some callers to my radio show offered another defense: "The students were not forgiving Carneal for murdering the three students," these callers argued, "they were forgiving him for the pain he caused them." Let us summarize this argument: You murder my classmates, and the next day I announce that I forgive you for the pain you caused me! That such self-centered thinking masquerades as a religious ideal is a good example of the moral disarray in much of religious life.

Some people have a more sophisticated defense of the forgive-everyone-everything doctrine: Victims should be encouraged to forgive all evil done to them because doing so is psychologically healthy. It brings "closure." This, too, is selfishness masquerading as idealism: "Though you do not deserve to be forgiven, and though you may not even be sorry, I forgive you because I want to feel better."

The rise of the theology of automatic "forgiveness" is only one more sign of the decline of traditional religiosity and morality. As Yale Prof. David Gelernter, who was severely injured by the Unabomber, notes in his thoughtful recent book, "Drawing Life," the 1960's made making moral judgments the greatest sin. He points out that none of his pre-1975 dictionaries contains the word "judgmental." Today, judging evil is widely considered worse than doing evil.

Until West Paducah, I believed that Christians will lead America's moral renaissance. Though I still believe that - many Christians are repulsed by the demoralization and dumbing down of religion - the day those students, with the support of their school administration, hung out that sign I became less sanguine. If young Christians have inherited more values from the '60s culture than from their religion, where can we look for help?

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Bumper Sticker for the Age of Obama

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Obama Effect

Maxine on the Bailout


BAIL EM OUT ?

Back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed.

Now we are trusting the economy of our country and our banking system to the same nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling whiskey.

Lacking Leadership Principles

Any leader worth his salt knows that when he assumes a leadership position, never ever talk down your predecessor. If you assume a position, it is yours, period, Obama.

Second thing you never do when assuming a leadership position, is say stupid weak stuff, like...hey, I inherited this mess. If you assume a position, it is yours, period, Obama.

If you go into a position whining about what's there, then you're not fit to be in a leadership position, Obama.

Jeeeezzz, this guy is a whiny weenie. wah wah wah

Porkulus III

After TARP, after the 780+ spending bill, Congress has just passed another budget!! bill of 450 billion and it's headed for the Senate. Sixteen stupid stupid stupid Republicans voted for this. I hate RINO's (republican in name only) Hey, stupid RINO's, Dems are expected to take the people's money, Republicans are supposed to be for the people keeping their earnings. jeeeezzzz


1,000-plus-page spending bill includes hundreds of pages of earmarks - pet spending projects inserted by lawmakers, ranging from:

$185,000 for coral reef research and preservation in Maui County, Hawaii

$55,000 in meteorological equipment for Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif.

$9.9 million for science enhancement at historically black colleges in South Carolina.

In addition to the basic operations of government, the new budget includes 775 pages of earmarks, funding programs that include local museums, colleges and infrastructure projects.

Among the earmarked projects in the bill are $764,000 for the Lake George Watershed Protection Initiative in New York, requested by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York
Democrat;

$9.9 million for South Carolina's historically black colleges and universities, requested by House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat;

$1.1 million requested by Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander and Sen. Bob Corker, both of Tennessee, for water treatment plant improvements in Tennessee's Unicoi County, as well as $300,000 for a sewer extension project in another county.

Examples of Earmarks in the Omnibus

$713,625 Woody Biomass at SUNY-ESF. Walsh and Schumer sponsors

$951,500 Sustainable Las Vegas. Berkeley and Reid sponsors.

$24,000 A+ for Abstinence. Specter is sponsor.

$300,000 Montana World Trade Center. Rehberg sponsor.

$950,000 Myrtle Beach International Trade and Convention Center. Graham sponsor.

$200,000 Oil Region Alliance. Peterson sponsor.

$190,000 Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY for digitizing and editing the Cody collection. Barbara Cubin is the sponsor

$143,000 Las Vegas Natural History Museum, Las Vegas, NV, to expand natural history education programs. Sponsored by Harry Reid

$238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society, Honolulu, HI, for educational programs. Sen. Daniel Inouye is the sponsor.

$381,000 for Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York, NY for music education programs. Jerrold Nadler is the sponsor.

Rep. Jerry Lewis of California, the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, would spend $3.8 million on a Needles, Calif., highway.

Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the top Republican on Senate Appropriations, backs earmarks including a $950,000 nature education center in Moss Point, Miss. He defends earmarks.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Ego Boost

On September 17, 1994, Alabama's Heather Whitestone was selected as Miss America

1995.).... Question:

If you could live forever, would you and why?....

Answer:
'I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we
were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live
forever, which is why I would not live forever,'....

--Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest.....

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ....
'Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life,'....
-- Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign .....

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ....
'I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body,'....
--Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward..... ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ....
'Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country,'.... --Mayor Marion Barry, Washington , DC ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,....
'That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it,'....

--A congressional candidate in KENTUCKY .....

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ....
'Half this game is ninety percent mental.'....

--Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark ....

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,....
I love California . I practically grew up in Phoenix .'....
-- Dan Quayle....

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,....
'We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need ?'....
--Lee Iacocca....

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ....
'The word 'genius' isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.' ....
--Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst.....

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,....
'We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people.'....

-- Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instrutor.....

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ....
'Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.'....

--Department of Social Services, Greenville, South Carolina....

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,....
'Traditionally, most of Australia 's imports come
from overseas.'.... ..

--Keppel Enderbery....

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ....
'If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record.'....

--Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman....

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,....

Feeling smarter yet?

Some Family History

I've gotten a massive infusion of family history from my 80 year old aunt from Oregon. I went on Ancestry.com, which turns out to be expensive, but I'll probably join after I learn all the rules. In the meanwhile, here's one of the things she sent from the historical society of Beaver City, NE.

Mr. and Mrs. William T. McKinney, homesteaders in Furnas County
William Thomas McKinney, son of Mathew and Nancy McCreary McKinney was born May 4, 1842 in Guernsey County, Ohio. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union Army mustering into Company A 15th Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving for 4 years and 5 months. He took part in the battles of Chickamauga, Nashville, Franklin and the siege of Atlanta. In 1865 he was honorably discharged. After being discharged from the Army he lived with his parents in Andrew County, Missouri. They had moved there while he was in the Army.

January 12, 1871 he was married to Miss Debora Briggs, daughter of James and Lucinda Tinkham Briggs. Debra was born October 26, 1846 in Vinton County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. William McKinney returned to Missori after they were married. Their oldest child, Mable McKinney Prideaux, was born there.

William T. McKinney came west to look for a homestead September, 1872 in company with Sanders Hileman, a cousin. Mr. McKinney filed on a homestead on N.W. 1/4 of sections 31, township 1 North, Range 23, West of the 6th p.m. He also filed for his brother John on the S.W. 1/4 of the same section. Sanders Hileman took the S.W. 1/4 of section 30. This land is in Spring Green Precinct, approximately 8 miles south of Hendly and just north of the Kansas Line.

The 10th of March, 1873 William McKinney and his brother, John, started back to their claims, starting out in deep snow with covered wagons loaded with household good, tools and provisions to build their log cabins.

May 1, 1873 Debora McKinney with her year old babe, Mable, in company with Clark McKinney, brother of William McKinney and another family, Jasper Wood and his family, started for their western homes with three covered wagons and about 50 head of cattle. The trip took four weeks. The Wood family stopped in Smith County, Kansas, that being their destination. Thirty head of catttle were theirs. William and John McKinney met them there. They had brought a team and wagon in order to take a load of corn back to the homestead. The log cabin was 14x16 with one window and a door with dirt overhead and the same underfoot.

In addtion to more household belongings and cattle, Mrs, McKinney and her brother-in-law, Clark, also brought two pigs and a coop of chickens. Another room for storage was built onto the cabin later. Two more daughters were born in this cabin, Mary who later married Charles Enfield, and Anna who became Mrs. Fred Kohler. After the birth of the last daughter, a bigger cabin was built in 1876. The big frame house was built in 1879 and then there were two sons to add to this pioneer family-hard times as well as many good times. All three of the girls were married in this big frame house and also William and Debora celebrated their 50th anniversary there too. All their children were present except Mary Enfield who had passed away in 1914. There were many grandchildren there to help celebrate the Golden Wedding.

William McKinney passed away at the farm home July 1, 1923. Debora McKinney continued to live on the farm with her son, William W. McKinney, until her death December 26, 1928. Both Mr. and Mrs. McKinney are buried in the Beaver City, Nebraska Cemetery.

The land that Mr. McKinney chose for his homestead was in a beautiful area of the Sappa Creek and many beautiful trees. This staunch pioneer couple faced the hardships and privations of a frontier life. They lived to see a peaceful and prosperous community develop where they found chiefly Indians and buffalo. Few if any of the early pioneers of Furnas County had ever lived as long and died on the land where they first settled.

1972--...the oldest daughter, Mable McKinney Prideaux celebrated her 100th birthday February 27th.


I'm a descendant of the McKinney's and Prideaux's. Yikes!! I've got giant manila envelopes with writings and family trees going back to Europe in the 1600's. Looks like I'm about to become a gynecologist, I mean genealogist.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Observations

Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach that person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks.

I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and think, "Well, that's never gonna happen."

Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday...lying in hospitals dying of nothing.

Doctors can be frustrating. You wait a month and and a half for an appointment, and he says, "I wish you'd come to me sooner."

According to a recent survey, men say the first thing they notice about a woman
is their eyes, and women say the first thing they notice about men is
they're a bunch of liars.

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what
the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and
be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is
another theory which states that this has already happened.

How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

Every teenager should get a high school education. Even if they already know everything.

You know when you're sitting on a chair and you lean back so you're just on
two legs then you lean too far and you almost fall over backward but at
the last second you catch yourself? I feel like that all the time.

I'm not 50 something. I'm $58.95 plus shipping and handling.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Did You Ever Wonder How Yodeling Began?

Here's the true story:

Back in the olden days, a man was traveling/skiing through Switzerland. Nightfall was approaching, and the man had nowhere to sleep. He skied up to a farmhouse and asked the farmer if he could spend the night. The farmer told him that he could sleep in the barn. So the man went into the barn to bed down, and the farmer went back into the house. As the story goes, the farmer's daughter (you knew this was coming) came downstairs and asked her father, "Who was that man going into the barn?"
"That's some fellow just traveling through, " said the farmer. "He needed a place to stay for the night, so I said that he could sleep in the barn."
The daughter then asked, "Did you offer the man anything to eat?"
"Um, no I didn't", said the farmer.
The daughter said, "Well, I'm going to take him some food." She went to the kitchen, prepared a plate of food, and then took it out to the barn. An hour later she returned. Here clothes were all disheveled and buttoned up wrong, and she had several strands of straw tangled up in her long blond hair. She immediately went up the stairs to her bedroom and went to sleep.
A little later, the farmer's wife came down and asked her husband why their daughter went to bed so early.
"I don't know," said the farmer. "I told a man that he could sleep in the barn, and our daughter took him some food."
"Oh," replied the wife. "Well, did you offer the man anything to drink?"
"Umm, no, I didn't," said the farmer.
The wife then said, "I'm going to take something out there for him to drink."
The wife went to the cellar, got a bottle of wine, then went out to the barn. She didn't return for over an hour, and when she did, her clothes were also messed up, and she had straw twisted into her blond hair. She went straight up the stairs and into bed.
The next morning at sunrise, the man in the barn got up and continued on his journey, waving to the farmer as he skied away from the farm and toward the mountain.
A while later, the daughter woke up and came rushing downstairs. She went right out to the barn, only to find it empty. She went to her father and asked, "Where's the man from the barn?"
The father answered, "He left several minutes ago."
"What?" she cried. "He left without saying good-bye?" After all we had together? I mean, last night he made such passionate love to me."
"What?!" shouted the farmer. He ran into the yard looking for the man, but by now the man was halfway up the side ot the mountain.
The farmer screamed up at him, "I'm gonna get you! You had sex with my daughter!"
The man looked back down from the mountainside, cupped his hands next to his mouth, and yelled out....
ilaidtheoldladeetoo..
And that's the true story of the origin of yodeling...honest....

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Obama Democrats: By The Numbers





$34,000: the amount of federal taxes that Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner (D) failed to pay during his employment at the International Monetary Fund despite receiving extra compensation and explanatory brochures that described his tax liabilities.


$75,000: the amount of money that the head of the powerful tax-writing committee, Rep. CharlieRangel (D-NY), was forced to report on his taxes after the discovery that he had not reported income from a Costa Rican rental property. His excuses for the failure started with blaming his wife, then his accountant and finally the fact that he didn't speak Spanish.

$93,000: the amount of petty cash each Congressional representative voted to give themselves in January 2009 during the height of an economic meltdown.

$133,900: the amount Fannie Mae "invested" in Chris Dodd (D-CT), head of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, presumably to repel oversight of the GSE prior to its meltdown. Said meltdown helped touch off the current economic crisis. In only a few years time, Fannie also "invested" over $105,000 in then-Senator Barack Obama.

$140,000: the amount of back taxes and interest that Cabinet nominee Tom Daschle (D) was forced to cough up after the vetting process revealed significant, unexplained tax liabilities.

$356,000: the approximate amount of income and deductions that Daschle (D) was forced to report on his amended 2005 and 2007 tax returns after being caught cheating on his taxes. This includes $255,256 for the use of a car service, $83,333 in unreported income, and $14,963 in charitable contributions.

$800,000: the amount of "sweetheart" mortgages Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) received from Countrywide Financial, the details for which he has refused to release despite months of promises to do so. Countrywide was once the nation's largest mortgage lender and linked to Government-Sponsored Entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their meltdown precipitated the current financial crisis. Just days ago in Pennsylvania, Countrywide was forced to pay $150,000,000 in mortgage assistance following "a state investigation that concluded that Countrywide relaxed its underwriting standards to sell risky loans to consumers who did not understand them and could not afford them."

$1,000,000: the estimated amount of donations by Denise Rich, wife of fugitive Marc Rich, to Democrat interests and the William J. Clinton Foundation in an apparent quid pro quo deal that resulted in a pardon for Mr. Rich. The pardon was reviewed and blessed by Obama Attorney General and then Deputy AG Eric Holder, despite numerous requests by government officials to turn it down.

$12,000,000: the amount of TARP money provided to community bank OneUnited despite the fact that it did not qualify for funds, and was "under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses." It turns out that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), a key contributor to the Fannie Mae meltdown, just happens to be married to one of the bank's ex-directors.

$23,500,000: The upper range of net worth Rep. Allan Mollohan (D-WV) accumulated in four years time according to The Washington Post through earmarks of "tens of millions of dollars to groups associated with his own business partners."

$2,000,000,000: ($2 billion) the approximate amount of money that House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) is earmarking related to his son's lobbying efforts. Craig Obey is "a top lobbyist for the nonprofit group" that would receive a roughly $2 billion component of the "Stimulus" package.

$3,700,000,000: ($3.7 billion) not to be outdone, this is the estimated value of various defense contracts awarded to a company controlled by the husband of Rep. Diane Feinstein (D-CA). Despite an obvious conflict-of-interest as "a member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee, Sen. Feinstein voted for appropriations worth billions to her husband's firms ."

$4,190,000,000: ($4.19 billion) the amount of money in the so-called "Stimulus" package devoted to fraudulent voter registration ACORN group under the auspices of "Community Stabilization Activities".ACORN is currently the subject of a RICO suit in Ohio.

$1,646,000,000,000 ($1.646 trillion): the approximate amount of annual United States exportsendangered by the "Stimulus" package, which provides a "Buy American" stricture. According to international trade experts, a "US-EU trade war looms", which could result in a worldwide economic depression reminiscent of that touched off by the protectionist Smoot-Hawley Act.


********
AND, ITS ONLY BEEN THREE WEEKS FOLKS

MDA Telethon 2008 - Terry Fator performance (Hour 4)

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Your CD Has Been Shipped

I just loved this confirmation email, and I guess now, a plug for this company:

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.

A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Tuesday, February 17th.

I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did.
Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year." We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sigh...

Monday, February 16, 2009

Love, What Does It Mean To You?

Answers by 4-8 year old's:

"When my grandmother to arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love..."

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that you name is safe in their mouth".

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay."

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate."

"There are two kinds of love, our love and God's love. But God makes both kinds of them."

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day."

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."

'My mommy loves me more that anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."

"Love is when mommy give daddy the best piece of chicken."

"Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."

"I let my big sister pick on me because my Mon says she only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister because I love her."

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."

"Love is when mommy sees daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Hymns for Seasoned Citizens

The Old Rugged Face

Precious Lord, Take My Hand (And Help Me Get Up)

It Is Well With My Soul (But My Back Hurts)

Nobody Knows the Trouble I Have Been Seeing

Amazing Grace (Considering My Age)

Just a Slower Walk With Thee

Count Your Many Birthdays, Name Them One by One

Go Tell It On the Mountain (And Speak Up)

Give Me That Old Timers Religion

Blessed Insurance

Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah (I've Forgotten Where I Parked)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Monkey Riverdance

Measurments

Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter: Eskimo Pi

2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital: 1 I.V. League

2000 pounds of Chinese soup: Won ton

1 millionth mouthwash: 1 microscope

Speed of a tortoise breaking the sound barrier: Mach Turtle

Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour: Knot-furlong

365.25 days of drinking low-calorie beer because it's less filling: 1 lite year

16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone: 1 Rod Sterling

Half of a large intestine: 1 semicolon

1000 aches: 1 megahurtz

Weight an evangelist carries with God: 1 billigram

Basic unit of laryngitis: 1 hoarsepower

Shortest distance between tow jokes: A straight line

Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement: Bananosecond

A Half-bath: 1 demijohn

453.6 graham crackers: 1 pound cake

Given the old adage "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," the first step of a one-mile journey: 1 milwaukee

1 million microphones: 1 megaphone

1 million bicycles: 2 megacycles

365.25 days: 1 unicycle

2200 mockingbirds: two kilomockingbirds

10 cards: 1 decacards

1 kilogram of falling figs: 1 fig newton

1000 grams of wet socks: 1 literhosen

1 millionth of a fish: 1 microfiche

1 trillion pins: 1 terrapin

1 million billion piccolos: 1 gigolo

10 rations1: 1 decoration

100 rations: 1 c-ration

10 millipedes: 1 centipede

3 1/3 tridents: 1 decadent

10 monologues: 5 dialogs

5 dialogs: 1 Decalogue

2 monograms: 1 diagram

8 nickels: 2 paradigms

2 wharves: 1 paradox

100 senators: not 1 decision

Here’s What You Don’t Know and Weren’t Taught About the Crusades III

First Crusade: In addition to what was noted in the previous blogs, the First Crusade was also in response to a plea from the Byzantine Empire. There were thousands people that came to the call that suffered and died. They marched thousands of miles across Europe.
They crossed the Bosporus at Constantinople, and then marched to Nicaea. Thousands of people that needed to be fed and sheltered on the move. The logistics boggle the mind. They restored the city to the Byzantine Emperor and then on to Anatolia and restored to Christian control the city of Antioch, one of the ancient patriarchates of Christianity. Keep in mind a lot of these Crusaders were not professional soldiers. Marching on they captured Edessa. Moving on, down the coast they come to Jerusalem. They captured it in July 1099. This Crusade completed what it set out to do. That it was done is amazing. So many people in a strange land, so unprepared, yet so successful. The rest of the story doesn’t show much success.

The Second Crusade, led by two kings and preached by St. Bernard of Clair Vaux, failed dramatically. Edessa had been lost, and this Crusade was to regain it. The leaders fought each other, undermined each other, and were an abysmal failure. It even strengthened a powerful Muslim leader. They tried to take Damascus and that failed too. Results of the Second Crusade, failure.

Third Crusade: A famous adventure, written about in many books, fiction and non-fiction, and movies, because the story involved Richard the Lionheart against Saladin. The fight was for Jerusalem. Results of the Third Crusade, failure.

Forth Crusade: This is the one where the Crusaders reached Constantinople, the largest, most powerful Christian city in the world; sacked it and dispersed. This was the source of the split between Western and Eastern Christendom.
The purpose of this one was to recapture Jerusalem. The Byzantine Empire and Turkey were still mad at what happened the last time the Crusaders crossed their land, destroying their crops, fields and cities, so the leaders of this Crusade thought they would sail across the Mediterranean. They didn’t have boats, so they went to Vienna, gave them some blank checks, and the Venetians asked them how many ships for how many people, supplies and livestock. The Crusaders ordered transportation and provisions for 33,500 men and 4,500 horses, and the Pope said, go ahead and do it. It took awhile, and eventually all ships and tons of provisions were ready. Only about 12,000 folks showed up. The Crusaders didn’t have the money as a result. To make amends the Venetians requested the Crusaders sack Zara, a city on the Dalmatian coast. The ruler of the city was the Hungarian king, which had signed on to the Crusades and was a supporter. The city was also a Catholic. They moved on to Constantinople and hoped to get to Egypt from there. A lot of misunderstanding. The city got sacked. The Pope was TO’d and excommunicated the lot. The Crusade didn’t even make it to the Middle East. Results of the Forth Crusade, failure.

Albigensian Crusade: Big civil war in France. Cathars were wiped out and Southern France’s attempt at independence from Northern France was squashed.

Children's Crusade: The leader of the French army, Stephen, led 30,000 children. The leader of the German army, Nicholas, led 7,000 children. The history of this Crusade is fuzzy. Some of the kids made it back home, a lot settled along the route, many were sold into slavery in the Middle East and North Africa, or died of starvation.

Fifth Crusade: This was organized by the Church, and was directed by professional administrators and soldiers to recapture Jerusalem. The captured the city of Damietta, and were then ordered to take Cairo. Lost that battle hugely. Major defeat. Results of the Fifth Crusade, failure.

The next crusade and the Fifth can be viewed as the same. Fredrick II had led the Fifth, went back and negotiated a settlement with the ruler of Egypt. This lasted for about ten years. He got Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem; Muslims got Muslims were given control of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa mosque.

Over the next few years and Crusades, nothing else much happened. A lot of skirmishes in Europe. The Crusades as we were taught, and what Muslims were taught is incorrect.
If there should be any grievances, the West should be stating them. Now, a thousand years later, Muslims are again killing to convert, using both terrorism and the laws of democratic states to conquer.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Bear in the Woods

An atheist was taking a walk through the woods. "What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself.

As he was walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He saw a 7 foot grizzly charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder ans saw that the bear was closing in on him. He looked over his shoulder again, the bear was even closer. His heart was pumping frantically and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.

At that instant the Atheist cried out: "Oh my God, save me!" Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky: "You deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don't exist, and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?" The atheist looked directly into the light, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps, could you make the BEAR a Christian?"

"Very well, " said the voice. The light went out and the sounds of the forest resumed. Then the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, and bowed his head and spoke: "Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive and for which I am truly thankful".

Here’s What You Don’t Know and Weren’t Taught About the Crusades II

The other aspect was of course the religious component. It is now politically incorrect to justify, as noted above, religion as a motivation for war. Jerusalem and the surrounding area was, for Christians at the time, holy land. Jesus walked, taught, lived, died and was resurrected there. Pope Urban was the one that called for the First Crusade, saying:
“They (the Turks) have completely destroyed some of God’s churches and they have converted others to the uses of their own cult. They ruin the altars with filth and defilement. They circumcise Christians and smear the blood from the circumcision over the altar or throw it into the baptismal fonts. They are pleased to kill others by cutting open their bellies, extracting the end of their intestines, and tying it to a stake. Then, with flogging, they drive their victims around the stake until, when their viscera have spilled out; they fall dead on the ground. They tie others, again, to stakes and shoot arrow at them; they seize other, stretch out their necks, and try to see whether they can cut off their heads with a single blow of a naked sword. And what shall I say about the shocking rape of women?”

The Crusade was to be a pilgrimage, and a holy endeavor. It was to bring grace and penance. It was originally for able bodied men that could fight. But everyone, women and the elderly wanted to go. What happened was that Urban relented and as a result, many sick, poor, children, women and other people unfit for soldiering went. Not just this crusade but the following ones.

Who went? About 150,000 from all European countries went. Most were poor, many were women. There were about 40,000 men in the First Crusade. Very few Knights, and these had armies. These weren’t loser knights, weak sons, etc, but barons, lords, estate owners, many of whom lost everything, including their lives. It was expensive too. Funds had to be raised because the cost was far beyond what it took to run their estates.

As part of Urban’s degree, captured lands were to be left to the Byzantine emperor. Most knights, after fulfilling their vows, returned to Europe with adding to their wealth, and often were impoverished and had to rebuild. The same for the poor; no wealth to be gained. A lot of ways to die. Starvation, bandits and robbers, attacks from Muslim armies. Were there ill intentioned people making the journey? Surely. I contend most were doing it for exactly the reasons they stated. Protect Europe, the Holy Land, and Christianity.

The scriptures that motivated: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:24) “And everyone that has forsaken houses, or brethren, or sister, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life: (Matt 19:29)

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Switch

A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed: "Dear Lord, I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through, so please allow her body to switch with mine for a day."

God, in his infinite wisdom granted the man's wish. The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman.

He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to school, came home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners and stopped at the bank to make a deposit, went grocery shopping, then drove home to put away the groceries, paid the bills and balanced the check book. He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog.

Then it was already 1pm and he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry, vacuum, dust, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor. Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home. Set out cookies and milk and got the kids organized to do their homework, then set up the ironging boared and watched TV while he did the ironing. At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetables for salad, breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for super.

After supper he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed. At 9pm he was exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed where he was expected to make love which he managed to get through with complaint.

The next morning he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said, "Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh please, let us trade back."

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom replied, "My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were.

"You'll just have to wait nine months, though.
You got pregnant last night."

Here’s What You Don’t Know and Weren’t Taught About the Crusades I

Here’s What You Don’t Know and Weren’t Taught About the Crusades

The word “crusade” comes from “cruce-signati” meaning “those signed by the cross”. It’s modern meaning is for any huge endeavor; for example, a crusade against illiteracy, or poverty. The original Crusades have come to be viewed as a military campaign, religious warfare. Of course religious warfare is despicable, but wars for real estate and secular ideology are okay. The exception in modern time is militant Islamofascism. “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”

The big clash now between Western Civilization and Islam is a repeat of what happened about a thousand years ago. Christianity had no armies until the Roman Emperor Constantine got converted from paganism about 312 CE. Jesus had no armies. Mohammed had armies. I believe sources need to be looked at; they inform thoughts and behavior or any organization and belief.

Mohammed began by waging war, first against Mecca, the neighboring villages and towns to consolidate his power. He ended up conquering all of Arabia and the Middle East; Persia, Egypt and Syria. After his death, Islam continued to use military might to conquer and convert. They conquered North Africa. Moved across the Straits of Gibraltar and conquered Spain. They met defeat in France. On the other side of Europe, Islamic armies moved in deep, claiming Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia.
They had ships on the Danube. In 846 CE a naval expedition entered the River Tiber and Arab forces sacked Ostia and Rome.

The Crusades were a defensive measure. I’ll start with the First Crusade, which was a success, and then over the next few posts show how the rest were at best marginal failures and others absolute failures.

Monday, February 9, 2009

We Surround Them



Do you watch the direction that America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it?

Do you believe that your voice isn’t loud enough to be heard above the noise anymore?

Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach…as if you’re completely alone?

If so, then you’ve fallen for the Wizard of Oz lie. While the voices you hear in the distance may sound intimidating, as if they surround us from all sides—the reality is very different. Once you pull the curtain away you realize that there are only a few people pressing the buttons, and their voices are weak. The truth is that they don’t surround us at all.

We surround them.

So, how do we show America what’s really behind the curtain? Below are nine simple principles. If you believe in at least seven of them, then we have something in common. I urge you to read the instructions at the end for how to help make your voice heard.

The Nine Principles

1. America is good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

You Are Not Alone

If you agree with at least seven of those principles, then you are not alone.

From Glenn Beck glennbeck.com

Hamas In Their Own Voices





Obama says there is no war on terror. That we can make peace with these guys just by being nice and the force of his personality. By the way, Jimmy Carter (D. Georgia) openly supports Hamas and is an anti-Semite.

Message fm Michael Steele/ New Republian Party Chair

"This is Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Democrats have controlled both branches of government for less than a month. And you have to wonder if all that power has gone to their heads.

"For the last two weeks, they've been trying to force a massive spending bill through Congress under the guise of economic relief.

"All of us -- Republicans and Democrats -- agree the government must act to kick-start the American economy. American families are doing their best to balance their own budgets and pay their mortgages.

"The fastest way to help those families is by letting them keep more of the money they earn. Individual empowerment: that's how you stimulate the economy.

"But the Democrats have a different philosophy. Instead of leaving money in the family checkbook, they want to send it to Washington, run it through a slow and inefficient government, and hope that does some good.

"When families keep the money, they spend it, save it, or invest it. And the private sector economy benefits when families and businesses buy consumer goods or invest it for the future. But when Washington spends the money, some of it may flow into the economy, but all too often, much gets wasted.

"Democrats in Congress want a one-trillion dollar spending bill. You've heard about the pork-barrel programs they want to fund... 45 million dollars for ATV trails and removal of fish passage barriers is one that caught my eye. Exactly what is a fish passage barrier and why does it cost 45 million dollars to stimulate the economy with it?

"That's why Republicans in the House voted against uncontrolled spending. This is not a bragging point, but rather a statement that at least Republicans would stand with the American taxpayer.

"But voting 'no' is not enough... and Republicans have offered innovative ideas to help struggling families and small businesses. We've offered plans to spark job creation and investment through lower taxes, to stop the taxation of unemployment benefits, and to help Americans keep their jobs and their homes.

"The comprehensive Republican plan would lower taxes for all working American families. If you're married, the first 16,750 dollars you make this year will be taxed at ten percent. Why don't we cut that rate in half to give instant buying power to every working American family?

"Good ideas... lots of them... all left out of this plan by the Democrats in Congress.

"Republicans stand ready to work with reasonable Democrats to do what is right for America.

"But it will take more than bipartisan words from the President. It will require fair-minded action from Democrats in Congress.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Daschle's Hypocrisy

Daschle's Hypocrisy
Rudy Gersten
Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Tom Daschle wants us believe it when he says his failure to pay $128,000 in taxes was an honest mistake. He wants us to believe that not reporting $250,000 in compensation involving a limousine and driver over three years was just an accident, and his decision to pay those taxes after he was nominated to head the Health and Human Services Department was merely a coincidence. He can explain why he wasn’t at fault when he failed to pay an additional $88,000 in work as a consultant—earnings he still has not paid taxes on—and can explain how he accidentally overstated his charitable giving by $15,000 in tax deductible donations.

The former Senate Majority Leader from South Dakota, who once declared on the Senate floor “tax-cheaters cheat us all,” has been doing a lot explaining this week. In a letter to leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, who will decide his fate, Daschle urged his former colleagues in the Senate to believe his “mistakes were unintentional.”

And yet, when he was on the other side of the Senate confirmation process, Daschle didn’t extend the same courtesy to another cabinet nominee whose nomination hit a bump in the road.

Shortly after my mother Linda Chavez was nominated by President Bush to be Secretary of Labor in January of 2001, ABC News reported that she had given room and board to an undocumented woman from Guatemala. As Chavez stated at the time, she had provided the battered woman with emergency assistance due to the domestic abuse she was facing at the time, got her enrolled in English classes, and helped her find work with a neighbor. In her own defense, Chavez pointed to her long history of taking in those in need, and a long history of paying taxes on household help from legal citizens, as tax records confirmed.

But Chavez’s honest explanation was completely disregarded by Daschle. Less than a week after Bush announced the nomination, the then-Minority Leader declared he had “serious problems” with the illegal alien revelations and threatened to filibuster her nomination, a move that would have been the first in our nation’s history against a cabinet nominee.

Daschle told CBS’ Face the Nation at the time that a cabinet secretary “ought to set the example, ought to be able to enforce all of the laws. If she hasn’t been able to do that in the past, one would have serious questions about whether she’d be able to do it in her capacity as secretary of labor.” But Chavez broke no laws. Shamefully, Daschle was turning what was an act of charity by Chavez into irresponsible accusations.

Though Chavez and her immigrant houseguest—now a U.S. citizen—both insisted that their relationship hadn’t been that of employer/employee, Daschle refused to entertain the explanation. And yet now, hoping to be confirmed by the Senate after much more serious allegations, Daschle wants to be taken at his word that his were honest mistakes.

Chavez eventually withdrew her nomination as Secretary of Labor, expressing regret that her controversy was becoming a distraction for the incoming Bush administration. Daschle applauded the withdrawal, stating without irony that “Ms. Chavez made the right decision…There should be no question that the person who is in charge of enforcing America's labor laws respects those laws.”

Daschle ought to make the right decision now as well, and withdraw his nomination to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. After all, there should be no question that someone who is in charge of enforcing America’s laws be able to respect those laws.

But in all likelihood, that won’t happen. In the end, Senators must decide for themselves whether to apply the same standards to Daschle that he applied to others.

Copyright © 2009 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.

It's All the Republicans Fault (Those Wascaly Wepublicans)

Blame the Republicans: "[T]his does read to the public as though the Republicans went after [Tom Daschle], someone that the president very much wanted, and brought him down." --MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell

Those blasted Republicans again: "Not one Republican voted for
[the House stimulus package], turning a cold shoulder to the president's appeal
for bipartisan support." --ABC's Charlie Gibson

++ "Have the Republicans no shame? After swarming around President Obama like adolescent girls swooning over the Jonas brothers, getting their picture taken with him and accepting his invitation to a White House cocktail party, every Republican in the House still voted like Rush Limbaugh instructed them to -- registering a big fat 'no' on Obama's stimulus plan." --Newsweek's Eleanor Clift

"But don't you think that right now ... it behooves the
Republicans to be a little bit more in the middle? I mean ... their voices
aren't going to be heard anyway, as we saw with this economic stimulus plan. ...
So doesn't it behoove them to be more bipartisan and meet in the middle?"
--CBS's Maggie Rodriguez to Ann Coulter

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Relationships

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping
through the channels.
She asked, 'What's on TV?'
I said, 'Dust.'

And then the fight started...



I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some
reason, took my order first.
"I'll have the strip steak, medium rare,
please."
He said, "Aren't you worried about the mad
cow?""
Nah, she can order for herself."

And then the fight started...



A woman is standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror.
She is not happy with what she sees and says to her
husband,' I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly.
I really need you to pay me a compliment.'
The husband replies, 'Your eyesight's damn near
perfect.'

And then the fight started.....



I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light
for $14.95.
Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95.
I told her the beer would make her look better at night
than the cold cream.

And then the fight started....



My wife asked me if a certain dress made her butt look big.
I told her not as much as the dress she wore yesterday

And then the fight started.....




A man and a woman were asleep like two innocent babies.
Suddenly, at 3 o'clock in the morning, a loud noise
came from outside.
The woman, bewildered, jumped up from the bed and yelled
at the man
'Holy crap. That must be my husband!'
So the man jumped out of the bed; scared and naked jumped
out the window. He smashed himself on the ground, ran through a
thorn bush and to his car as fast as he could go.
A few minutes later he returned and went up to the bedroom
and screamed at the woman, 'I AM your husband!'
The woman yelled back, 'Yeah, then why were you
running?'

And then the fight started.....




My wife and I are watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
while we were in bed. I turned to her and said, "Do you want to
have sex?"
"No," she answered.
I then said, "Is that your final answer?"
She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying
"Yes."
So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."

And that's when the fight started....

Monday, February 2, 2009

Christianity, Paganism, Women

I'm watching the government and corporate attack on Christianity in this country. I'm watching the attack on women world wide. I'm looking at the attack and exploitation of women and children worldwide. I'm thinking we are regressing to paganism in the West. Some think it's okay to exploit and disrespect women, like was done in pagan times, before Jesus said some things about it.

In ancient times, women and children were of little to no value. Infanticide was common. Wanted a son, but had a daughter; kill her. Can you name a country now that engages in that practice? All humans without power were killed for entertainment (Roman lions and gladiators). Women and children, said even by great philosophers like Aristotle and Cicero, were of no worth. It was the prevalent thinking of ancient Jewish society. The family was of no importance at all. The state was responsible for the raising of children (it takes a village, anyone?)

Jesus comes along and tells people that this is wrong. He had women travel with him. He had women as confidantes. Even some of his disciples objected to this teaching, that women were to be respected, and had value. Adultery could only be committed by women. Jesus said no, this is an equal sin. In marriage women were given a more dignified position. Actually, when I read early church history, women seem to have run things.

As we move to the Middle Ages, courtly behavior toward women emerged. Courtesy began to be offered to women. The family started to become important, and woman's role in holding the family together and caring for and educating children became important. Romantic love was the foundation of this. That romantic love was different from what is expressed now. Now it's okay if you're horny for each other, well, get married. Hornyness goes away, get divorced. Romantic love as the basis was of course the ideal; a good ideal even though we fall short in practice. This ideal brought together erotic and spiritual love. The consent of the woman was prerequisite for marriage. Marriages no longer had to be arranged. Marriage was a reflection of God's relationship to us. We are His bride, and he honors and treats us with respect (please see my series on Romance).

I don't see this reflection of God in our relationships. I don't see God reflected in the way, more and more, our women are treated in the West. Young girls now think it's okay to send nude pictures of themselves via camera phone (as young as 11 or 12). "Sexting" is the new rage. The Romance is taken out of marriage. The meaning is taken out of marriage. The disrespect of women in hip-hop especially, and pop culture now, is no better, in my view, than the way pagan societies treated their women. Not what I viewed women's liberation to be about.

It's all about our having continually over the years, allowed government and corporations to remove Christ, and God's Law from our lives. We Christians had better find a way of presenting Christ's message about how to treat people, how to reflect God's Law and Love into our relationships, or we will once again find ourselves in pagan times. Many would like that. I would rather see the human condition improve and human suffering diminish.

Serious Look at the Bailout - Conservative View



Every time there's been a tax cut, revenues to the government have gone up. Problem is, so does government spending, in excess of revenues. What this bail out is like, is borrowing from your Capital One credit card to pay your Bank of America credit card.

The Bailout Explained