Birthdays

Today is a big day, my Son turned 5 today. We will be having his party on Sunday. I called home from work this morning, on my way to our quarterly meeting, since I wasn't going to see him until this afternoon, and wished him a happy birthday, so I think he was pretty happy about that. He has also gotten a few more happy birthday phone calls throughout the day, which is pretty cool for a 5 year old.

It got me thinking back just a little bit though, when I was a kid, there was an older lady in our Church who would always call anyone in the Church on their birthday and sing "Happy Birthday" to them, either personally or on their answering machine if that's what she got. It was always a little fun. Sometimes you would forget that she was going to be calling and that made it a nice surprise, and then sometimes you would remember that it was coming and you would find yourself looking forward to it, and if it was a day that you were at school or work (depending on your age) you would make sure you checked the answering machine just to get your happy birthday wish as soon as you got home.

Five years old is such a big deal, especially when you're the five year old. I've got a pretty big one coming up this year myself, but it is still a few months away, so we won't worry about it just yet.

From Whence Cometh The Advice?

I keep seeing this commercial on TV telling everyone that they need to buy Gold as an investment. Actually, Gold is a lousy investment, but that's not my point today. My point is that these people want you to buy your Gold from them, therefore, they stand to make a ton of money off of you, and then tell you to call them to "Get the facts about Gold." I have to assume that these commercials are effective, or they would stop showing them, so it makes me wonder, don't people ever stop to think that the person who stands to make a ton of money off of something might not be the best person to get advice from?

This isn't the only one either. There are also the AARP insurance commercials that tell people, "These are the only plans endorsed by AARP." You think? It has their name on it! Don't you think that means that they make money off of them? So why would they endorse something else? It doesn't mean the plans are any good, it just means that they want to make the money. These plans might be good, I don't know, but if you are shopping for one of these plans, you need to research them from sources not connected with the people selling them.

The same is true of the Gold, don't just take my word for it, check it out, but not from the people selling it. Look at the values of Gold and it's long term track record, don't buy it because somebody has some to sell.

What Should We Do?

Yesterday I mentioned that Obama has sponsored a bill to send nearly a Trillion Dollars of our money to countries around the world. This is billed as doing something about global poverty, which sounds all well and good. What it's really about is redistribution of wealth. That is to say, spreading wealth around so that everyone has the same. This, of course, will only be the first step in the global equalization, there will be much more to follow, to be sure.

Let us be clear, this is not about bringing the rest of the world up to our level, that is to say, making the entire world the First World, rather it is meant to bring us down the the level of the rest of the world, that is to say, making us a Third World country. Regardless if this is intentional or not, but this course of action can ultimately lead to nothing else.

I guess the first question we should address is, as the more prosperous nation on Earth, do we have an obligation to help the rest of the world? Of course we do. I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the idea that throwing money at these countries is going to be the answer. In fact, we know that it won't be the answer. Just sending money always makes things worse. Let's assume that some Warlord or dictator won't get ahold of the money and use it for his (or her) own dastardly deeds, which is a huge problem, but for now, let's assume that it's not. I'm sure you've heard the old axiom that says, "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day..." which is, of course, only the first half, but even this half is incomplete. This is true, but there's more to it, if you give a man a fish, you not only feed him for a day, you also ensure that he will come back to you for another fish tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and he will be dependant on you for the rest of his life. So, even if the money that Obama wants to spread around the world were going to do what he intends for it to do, we would do nothing more than to ensure that the rest of the world would become forever dependant on the US, which, of course, we can't afford.

So, what then should we do? Well, the second part of that Axiom holds the key. "Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime." You see, there is a reason why the US is the most prosperous nation on Earth, we are also the most Productive nation on Earth. And, let us not forget that we have been richly Blessed by God, but of course, we cannot force the world to do the things to make that happen. What we do have to offer though, is the ability to teach the rest of the world how to be productive. We can teach them how to do the things that they need to do to grow enough food, and to start producing things that they can export and bring money into their economies. I don't even mind if we help them to get started with some equipment and such, but the real key is education and hands on training. That is what we can do to help the poor countries. This will be real help, it will not make them dependant, and it will not break us in the process.

Cutting Through The Fog

Everybody in the news media is either so much in Barack Obama's corner, or they are so concerned with being fair to both sides of a debate that they don't bother to concern themselves with providing the facts.

Take Obama's tax plan for example. It seems that everyone wants to let his people get away with telling lies, and not paying any attention to the real facts of the matter. Obama talks about raising taxes on the rich, while giving tax breaks to the middle class. Even if this were true it wouldn't be right, but nobody seems to want to point out that this is Marxism.

More to the point though, it isn't even true. Obama wants to raise Social Security tax. That will affect everyone who earns an income, because, if you work for a living, you pay Social Security tax. He want to increase Capital Gains Taxes, which will affect everyone with any sort of investments, including retirement investments, such as 401K accounts, or IRA's. Which is most working people. But, besides that, it will hit anyone who buys stocks or puts money into mutual funds. So, knowing that we can't count on Social Security anyway, he not only wants us to pay more for a program that people my age won't get anything back from, but he also wants to destroy our ability to make our own investments, so that we won't have anything to fall back on when the Government fails to keeps it's promises, which we know it will.

Besides all of this, he wants to increase the Corporate Income Tax. That means that the company that you work for will have to pay more in taxes, which will cause two major effects, one, they will pay less to their employees, because they will already be taking a big hit to the bottom line, but, even more significantly, it will cause them to "outsource" even more jobs overseas. This isn't just about greed, in fact, for many companies, it's about survival. Companies have to make money, that is why they exist, so, if their taxes get jacked way up, they will have to take action, and we are the ones that will get hurt by it.

So, in short, Obama does want to raise taxes on all of us, and all of us will feel a major squeeze, as the Government wrings every last cent out of us that they can get.

On top of this, the newspersons are letting the Obama people get away with saying that Obama really wants to end the Iraq war so that he can bring all that money home and get our economy going again. Meanwhile they ignore the fact that Obama has sponsored a bill in the Senate (S.2433) called "The Global Poverty Act" which would send $845 BILLION to poorer countries around the world. That is nearly a Trillion dollars, but nobody seems to be brining this up.

On top of that, there is Obama's plan for Universal Health Care, which, as I've discussed before, is really about population control, but is still going to cost us unimaginable amounts of money.

How is it that anyone, anywhere, could buy into the idea that Obama wants to bring tax relief to the middle class? Where is this money going to come from? The rich? I don't think so. You see, if all the loopholes were closed off that allow many rich people to pay lower tax rates than lower income earners, then Obama and his buddies in Congress would suddenly have to pay a bunch of taxes, and they certainly won't allow that to happen.

Is T. Boone Pickens "Swiftboating" America?

Below is an article from JunkScience.com regarding the "new" plan of T. Boone Pickens. You may have seen him on the TV in commercials trying to convince us that he's going to be the savior of the American people as far as energy goes. Trying to tell us that he has all the answers and that we don't know what's really going on. The truth is that we know far more than he wants to give us credit for, and we know that what he's really doing is trying to put Billions more of our dollars into his already overflowing pockets. Yeah, some great guy he is.
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Is T. Boone Pickens 'Swiftboating' America?

By Steven MilloyJuly 24, 2008

Liberals have done a U-turn on conservative billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens.

Formerly reviled for funding the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" campaign against Sen. John Kerry, he's now adored by the Left — unfortunately, for trying to gaslight the rest of us on energy policy.

This column recently spotlighted Pickens' proposed plan to get America off foreign oil by substituting wind-generated electricity for natural gas-generated electricity and then using the natural gas to replace gasoline.

Already having addressed the proposal's flaws — and Pickens' plan to profit at taxpayer expense from it — let's consider how Pickens' marketing shades the truth.

On his Web site and in TV commercials, Pickens tries to frighten Americans about being "addicted to foreign oil."

"In 1970, we imported 24 percent of our oil. Today, it's nearly 70 percent and growing," he intones.

Aside from the fact that the Department of Energy (DOE) puts the import figure at a more moderate 58 percent, Pickens gives the impression that imported oil is scary because it all comes from the unstable Mideast.

His TV commercials feature images of American soldiers fighting in Iraq and he likens the annual $700 billion cost of foreign oil to "four times the annual cost of the Iraq war."

But hold the phone. Only 16 percent of our imported oil comes from the Persian Gulf — barely up from 13.6 percent in 1973, according to the DOE. Imports from OPEC countries are actually down — from 47.8 percent in 1973 to 44.5 percent in 2007.

Contrary to Pickens' assertion that oil imports are growing, the DOE expects oil imports to decrease by 10 percent by 2030.

Pickens tries to shame Americans because, "America uses a lot of oil ... That's 25 percent of the world's oil demand, used by just 4 percent of the world population."

Some might think these figures make us sound greedy and wasteful.

But what Pickens omitted to mention is that the size of the U.S. economy in 2007 was about $13.8 trillion and the size of the global economy was $54.3 trillion.

This means that the U.S. economy represents about 25.4 percent of the global economy. So what's the problem if a nation that produces 25 percent of the world's goods and services needs 25 percent of the world's oil output?

Would he prefer that we shrink our economy by 84 percent to match our share of world population?

Pickens plays the hope-squasher.

"Can't we just produce more oil?" he asks. "The simple truth is that cheap and easy oil is gone," he responds.

But there are hundreds of billions of barrels of oil in the form of oil tar sands and oil shale in North America, not to mention the more than one hundred billion barrels of oil in the outer continental shelf of the U.S. and on public lands like the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve (ANWR).

And don't forget that coal-to-liquids technology can convert our 268 billion tons of coal into 20 times the nation's current crude oil reserves, according to investment analysts. We have liquid fuels to burn.

While producing this oil may not be as easy as it was in 1859, when crude oil bubbled out of the ground in northwest Pennsylvania, it is much more feasible and far less expensive than Pickens' fantasy of replicating the entire existing U.S. wind supply system every year for the next 15 years in addition to building the national infrastructure for natural-gas filling stations.

Finally, Pickens laments the $700 billion (less at current oil prices) "wealth transfer" from America to foreigners every year because of our "addiction."

But is he also concerned about our "addiction" to other imports?

In 2007, the U.S. merchandise trade deficit — the difference between imports of goods from and exports of goods to foreign countries — exceeded $815 billion.

Contrary to Pickens' demagoguery, "wealth transfer" is a term generally used in the context of estate planning, where money is simply "gifted" to heirs.

Our purchases of foreign oil, in contrast, are more reasonably known as "trade" — and trade is good.

Americans are not simply petro-junkies who mainline crude oil for the masochistic high of watching gas pump numbers spin faster. We produce goods and services with imported oil more than any other people on this planet.

Pickens' bad-mouthing of our use of oil sounds like it comes from Al Gore and his fellow Democrats and extreme Greens — and guess who Pickens' new friends are?

Pickens told the National Journal that, "I think I would be for Al Gore for energy czar [in an Obama administration]."

Pickens said that he and Gore agree on about 95 percent of their respective energy plans.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Pickens to speak before the Democratic Caucus.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says that, while Pickens was once a "mortal enemy," they are now friends because of the oilman's conversion to alternative energy.

Then there's Carl Pope, the head of the Sierra Club, who not only flies in Pickens' private jet but writes paeans about him on the liberal Huffington Post blog.

"T. Boone Pickens is out to save America," Pope wrote on July 3.

It would have been more accurate, perhaps, for Pope to write that "Pickens is out to make billions of dollars for himself and to save the Sierra Club's anti-coal, anti-oil, anti-natural gas agenda."

Lastly, the New York Times rhapsodized about Pickens in an editorial this week.

Pickens' involvement in the alleged swiftboating of John Kerry seems to have been forgiven and forgotten by the paper. But the Times went absolutely over-the-top when it observed that the billionaire Pickens wasn't in it for the money because "he doesn't really need it."

It's too bad we can't generate electricity from such hilarity, half-truths and hypocrisy. Pickens and his new friends could power us — as Buzz Lightyear might say — to infinity and beyond.

Steven Milloy publishes JunkScience.com and DemandDebate.com. He is a junk science expert, and advocate of free enterprise and an adjunct scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

How Long Is That?

Did you happen to catch Obama saying that he wanted to meet with some of the World leaders that he's been meeting on his trip because they are the ones that he will be dealing with over the course of the next eight to ten years? Well, if you get your news from the mainstream media, chances are you missed this little gem. Personally, I heard it on the Mark Levin Show.

Anyway, did I miss something, or is it Obama who is unaware that: 1) Presidents can only serve (I should emphasize serve because I'm not sure he understands that a US President is not a ruler, but I digress) a maximum of two terms of four years each, and, 2)They must be re-elected in order even to get the second of those two terms of four years, and 3) He has not been elected the first time yet, so there is no guarantee that he will be dealing with these people at all.

I think that a lot of this goes to his arrogance. If you see him walking around he looks like he thinks he's the emperor of the world, or some such thing, and when he talks about the things that he wants to do as President (aka Marxism) he phrases it as I will do this or that, as if he will have unlimited power to do whatever he wants to do. And I don't think that the thought even occurs to him that he might not win this election. Of course he might win it, but it's far from certain.

There is another possibility though, as this is the same guy that said that he had visited 57 states, and still had two more to go. Most of us weren't sure where the US got an additional nine states from, but he seemed pretty confident, and again, the mainstream press didn't call him out on it. Of course, if McCain had said it, we never would have heard the end of it, and all the talk about how he was obviously too old for the job would have been deafening. Then again, maybe, with his unlimited power that he intends to wield, he'll just add some states to make himself right.

It might be interesting to see an assembled list of Obama's Gaffes, as he makes a lot more of them than Dan Quayle ever did, and you still hear all about how stupid he was.

Hopefully Obama will be President for zero years, but it's going to take the American people waking up and realizing what a true disaster he would be for the Country.

Goodbye Sophia

I just wanted to take a minute today and say goodbye to Estelle Getty, best known for her role as Sophia on Golden Girls. I know, guys weren't supposed to watch that show, and if it hadn't been for her, I don't think I would have.

I know, this picture I chose isn't from the show, it's from the movie "Stop or my Mom Will Shoot" which she did with Stallone, and it's a great movie.

She was an outstanding actress, and will be deeply missed. Fortunately though, she will live on for a long, long time, in reruns of Golden Girls, and in the hearts of many people who spent so much time watching her land the best lines, week after week after week.

I don't have an awful lot to say today, but I thought it important to take a moment and pay tribute to Estelle Getty who passed away today, just 3 days shy of her 85th birthday.

Atheism or Anti-Theism?

Psalm 14:1a "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."

Is it just me or do many Atheists today seem to be pretty angry about people believing in God? It seems to me that pure Atheism would manifest itself in apathy toward religion, rather than hostility. I could see an Atheist getting upset when someone tries to share Faith with them, but other than that, is there any reason why they should care?

I propose the idea that there can be no such thing as a militant Atheist. Simply believing that God does not exist carries with it no compulsion to convince others of that point. Basically, it should be difficult to distinguish an Atheist from an Agnostic, because both should be pretty apathetic about the whole thing.

However, when someone does everything they can to discourage others from believing in God, or arguing against religion of any kind, they are anti-theistic, that is to say, they are against God. So, either they hate God, or they are driven by some force to be against God.

You see, for a Christian, and, to varying degrees, other religions, there is a driving need to convince people of their beliefs, because there is a reason why it makes a difference in your life. For Christians of course, we want people to find Salvation in Jesus Christ, but what does the Atheist gain by getting people not to believe? I would suggest nothing. The anti-theist on the other hand would gain a sense of satisfaction because they actually want to harm God, or those who believe in Him.

There are many good reasons to believe in God, and, for those of us who do, there is a great deal of importance in convincing other people of the Truth of our claims. For the Atheist though, what do they have to gain?

True Colors Shining Through

With all the pain that people are feeling from the high gas prices today, we keep getting a lot of lip service from Congress about how much they want to allow us some relief. Of course they haven't actually done anything, but to hear them talk, you would think that they really care deeply about how much it costs us. Of course, I don't believe them at all, but there you go.

So, this morning I look on FoxNews.com to see a story about how Congress is considering raising the Gas Tax. I couldn't believe that they would be so blatant about it. Here they are, talking unceasingly about wanting to bring us relief from the high cost of fuel, and then, quietly talking amongst themselves about increasing the Federal Gas Tax.

What this proves, and ought to be obvious to everyone, is that every single one of these people needs to be voted out of office. You hear a lot in the press about how low President Bush's approval ratings are, yet, did you know that the Congressional approval rating is even lower? That's right, according to the latest Gallup polls, Bush stands at an abysmal 31%, while Congress shows a disheartening 14%. That's right, less than half. Of course, you don't generally hear anything about that part in the media at all.

The big problem when it comes to Congress is that so many people realize what a terrible job the so-called representatives are doing as a collective whole, but most people try to rationalize and say that their own Congressman is doing a pretty good job. WRONG! They all need to be sent packing, yours included. Vote the bums out! Let's start over with a fresh Congress, and be sure that they understand that if they pull the same crap, we will do it again! This is the only way we can get good people in there who will follow the Constitution and do the right thing. We must hold these people accountable for not doing the job that they were elected to do.

Liars and Scapegoats

I heard on the news the other day that the airlines are trying to tell everyone that we shouldn't blame them for the high ticket prices that many are facing today, or all of the extra fees that they have added. They say that you should blame the speculators for driving up the cost of fuel.

This generally works because most people don't know what speculation is, or what speculators are. This is further complicated by the fact that normally level headed people, who normally give pretty good facts, like Bill O'Reilly, have bought into this "Evil Speculators" jargon, and are hocking it all over the place. Basically, and there is a bit more to it than this, but here's the basics, speculators buy a certain amount of oil (or whatever product, but we're talking about oil here) in the future. What they do is to look at the market forces and guess what oil prices are going to do down the road. So, if they buy the oil higher than what it is today,and the actual price is higher at the time that their purchase comes due, than what they paid for it, they make a lot of money. This can work when prices are going down as well. Of course, if all the speculators are bidding high, it can cause the prices to go up, but, if other market forces make the price fall in spite of the speculation, they could lose their shirts.

Anyway, the airlines get into speculation also. This only makes sense, when the prices are going up, and they need to have a supply of fuel going forward, they buy futures (in other words they speculate) in order to try to have fuel at a better price in the future, so that they won't get hit so hard if the price increases keep flying upward. So, if you want to blame speculators, ok, but that means you can blame the airlines also, they told you that you could.

A Quick Note

Apparently the despicable Morons at the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, you know, the ones who protest at military funerals, the ones with the web site telling why God hates pretty much everyone, except for them apparently, have announced intentions to protest at Tony Snow's funeral. I don't only find this disgusting because I had so much respect for the man, but also because these people are disgusting to begin with.

I looked at the web site, of course I couldn't stomach it for long, but you don't have to be there long to see them rejoicing about Tony Snow rotting in Hell, according to them, they know that's where he is. I don't know where he is, I hope he's in Heaven, and I think that there is certainly a good chance of that, but it's not my place to judge, I don't know what his exact personal religious beliefs were, and just knowing what church he attended doesn't give an absolute answer. When the Bible tells us not to judge, which a lot of people like to through around whenever you disapprove of behavior, is actually about judging someones eternal soul. We are forbidden from declaring that some is going, or has gone, to Hell, especially when there is no good evidence of it, as in this case.

I keep asking this question of myself, if I were to see these people protesting somewhere, and I ran them down with my car, would I be guilty of murder, or, since they are perverting Christianity, would I be fulfilling the Biblical demand to defend the Faith? I think there is a case to be made for that.

I just don't want to leave room for anyone to think that there is any level at which these people don't disgust me.

Tony Snow

I'm sure that pretty much everyone is aware by now that former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow has died. He was just 53 years old. He struggled through a long battle with Colon Cancer, through which he always kept a good attitude, and never stopped being who he was.

There are those who didn't like him, simply because he worked for the Bush administration, and some have even suggested (if not flat out stated) that he deserved the Cancer because of all the "lies" he told on behalf of the President. I guess if you are going to say something like that, then saying that they didn't like him is something of an understatement. Vitriolic hatred would be more accurate... but I digress.

I think the thing that really struck me about Tony Snow during the time when we all first learned about the Cancer, was how high his Spirits were. He would do an interview on one show or another, and they would ask him about his health, and he would kindly tell them what was going on, and how he was going to beat it, and then say, "But I'm here today to discuss..." and then whatever the issue was.

As most people know, I'm neither a Bush fan, nor a Bush hater, but even when I disagreed with the President, I never got upset with Tony Snow for defending him, I just figured that he was doing his job. And let's face it, he did his job very well. Sometimes I even felt bad for the guy, because he had no choice but to deliver the administration line, and you just knew that he was too smart to really believe what he was telling us, but he had to say it, and make it sound good. Probably not a job I could do, but I guess it has to be done by someone.

For me though, I gained the most respect for Tony Snow after he had left his post at the White House. Listening to him as he filled in for Bill O'Reilly, or did interviews on various shows. It soon became clear what an honest man, and intelligent man he really was. A true Conservative, looking for the real answers to real problems, and, as I said before, someone who was willing to do what it took to deal with reality, which is, after all, what true Conservatism is all about, doing what works.

It's been well known for years that he had been battling Cancer, but I had not heard that he was back in the Hospital again, but it seemed to me that he tried to keep such things quiet. So, it was a surprise to me to see that he had died. I saw on the news, right before I left for work the other night that they were doing a story about him, but the sound was down, and it didn't dawn on me that there was any sort of a big deal going on. The, after I got to work, I saw the headline that he had died. It was a sad thing to see. I wasn't personally devastated, or anything like that, because he wasn't someone that I knew personally, but I was saddened none the less.

My prayers and thoughts are with his family is this trying time, and I wish and pray the best for them.

Way Over The Top

This story has been making the rounds some, but it's so over the top ridiculous that I had to comment on it here. I admit though, it's so off the wall stupid that you may have trouble believing it.

At a Governmental meeting in Dallas County, Texas, the subject came up of an office that was losing parking tickets. At one point, one of the commissioners made the comment that the office was something like a black hole. Of course, as pretty much everyone knows, this refers to the scientific theory of a heavenly body with gravity so strong that even light cannot escape it. So, what the commissioner was saying was that things go into this office, and never come out. Totally innocent, right?

Well, one of the other commissioners, this one a black man, took great offence to this label. He claimed that this was a racist charge. Then he wanted to know why he didn't call it a white hole. Of course, a white whole spews matter out, as opposed to taking it in like a black hole, so, if the office were similar to a white hole, they wouldn't have needed to have a meeting about it.

After the meeting the offended commissioner started going off about Angle Food Cake and Devils Food Cake... I guess he sees himself as a civil rights warrior. Unfortunately for him, all he has shown himself to be is a MORON!

En Ingles, Por Favor

Now Obama is saying that he doesn't understand why it's a big deal for so many Americans that we have an English only society. And then he goes on to prove that he doesn't get it. He talks about going to other countries, and people from other countries coming here... on vacation. He says that we don't need to worry, that people who come here will learn English... I guess he forgot to tell them that, because there are a lot of the illegal variety who don't seem to have gotten the message. And a lot of there kids, who may have citizenship for one reason or another, who don't bother to learn English because it's not important to their parents.

The thing is that it's not about us not liking other languages. It's not even really about convenience, although that is part of it. It's really about the fact that societies that do not have an official language, and fall into having multiple languages, officially or not, end up tearing themselves apart. It really is that simple. I don't care what language someone speaks at home, it really doesn't matter to me, but they need to be able to communicate in English if they want to live in the United States. It's good for them, and it's good for the country. It is very hard for someone to achieve great success here if they can't speak English, it really is that simple. Of course, that's probably why the Democrats don't want to make an English only policy, that way the can ensure that there will always be that ultra low, down and out class so that they will always have a poster victim to "represent."

The Wonder That Is Alf

The other evening I was doing something in the living room, and had the TV on Fox News. Some story came on that was inappropriate for the kids, so I grabbed the remote and hit "guide" so that I could quickly find something to switch the channel to something that wouldn't be bad for the kids to see. I saw that Alf was on one of the nearby channels, and so, switched to it. While I was busy with other things the kids got quite involved with the furry little brown alien, and didn't want to get ready for bed, so I told them I would record the rest of the episode for them, so that they could watch it the next day. My daughter also asked me to see if any more episodes were going to be on. So I did, and there were two more on after that one, so I recorded them as well. After they watched those episodes, they started asking if there were any more. I did find a few episodes that will be on in a few days, so I'll record those.

It's funny that a show that was on all those years ago can still so captivate kids today, and it's a decent show that I don't really have to worry about, and honestly, I've enjoyed watching them as well. Admittedly it is kind of a silly show, but enjoyable none the less. It's nice to see some of the old sit-coms where they don't have to go for the sexual joke, or the cheap laugh, and yet it's still a very funny show. It's really too bad that more shows today can't follow the same formula.

War Hero

There has been a lot of talk in the media about John McCain's war record and what it means. Some have said that it doesn't make him a hero. Some have said that it doesn't qualify him to be President. Ok, so I agree that it doesn't automatically qualify him to be President, I can give them that one, but what of the other point? Does it make him a war hero? Is John McCain a real American Hero? Let's take a brief look at some of the major points of his record and find out.

You have probably heard that he was not in the top of his class at the US Naval Academy, and that is true, but he did graduate and become an officer in the US Navy, and ultimately a Naval Aviator, which they don't pick just anyone for.

When his ship was disabled in a fire, he volunteered for service on another ship. On his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam he was shot down in enemy territory. When he was found, he was beaten, and his shoulder crushed with a rifle butt. At this time he was taken to the infamous Hanoi Hilton, where he was denied even basic treatment for his wounds, until it was discovered that his father was a high ranking Admiral, at which time he received third rate treatment.

After years of imprisonment his father was named Commander of all US forces in the Vietnam area, and the North Vietnamese offered to release McCain, because they wanted to look good to the rest of the world, and because they wanted to demoralize the rest of the prisoners and show them that their officers would abandon them when they got the chance. McCain refused the offer of release, declaring that he would accept release only if all of the prisoners who had been captured before him were released as well.

After this he spent years in solitary confinement and endured several beatings per week, and was tortured repeatedly for refusing to sign statements for the enemy. He had signed one early on following several days of constant torture, but never signed another. As a result of all of this, John McCain still cannot raise his arms above his head.

I have made no secret that I don't support McCain for President, and am not likely to vote for him (I talked a little more about that yesterday) but let us be crystal clear on this matter. John McCain is a hero, and to say that he isn't is beyond reprehensible, and those who claim that he isn't are liars.

I understand the need to overcome the opposition when it comes to elections, but it is a disgusting tactic to try to claim that someone like John McCain doesn't deserve to be seen as a hero after the way in which he served our Nation.

Featherweight Prize Fight

The news media are really doing everything that they can to try to hype up the Presidential election as much as possible, even though it's still several months away. Of course, you can't really blame them, the more interest they get in the election, the more viewers they get for themselves, which is good for business. I just can't believe that people are buying into it.

There is nothing at all exciting about either of these candidates, and it's just shocking that so many people are getting so excited about it. To me, most of my attention on this has been focused on my disgust, because there really is nothing to get excited about. Hopefully there will be better news on Congressional and State/Local elections around the Country. Of course, none of it will matter if people don't start to pay attention, and think critically, and logically, instead of regurgitating talking points, from either side of the political divide.

Now, if you've read here very much in the past, you'll know that I find nothing exciting at all about John McCain, and have stated that I would not vote for him. I still very well may not, but I've been forced to take a step back from that and wait to see who he selects for his running mate. Usually this isn't something that I would worry too much about, but this case is different. Due to McCain's age, and given that fact that he is not likely to run for re-election, even if he does win the Presidency. So, his VP choice has to be looked at closely because, they may end up having to assume the Presidency from him at some point, and even if that doesn't happen, they would be the most likely person to get the GOP nomination for the next Presidential election. So, now I'm not really sure what I want to do.

The problem here is that Obama is a total light weight, who doesn't have any sort of history making big decisions for anything, and gets his policy plans for his campaign from the writings of the likes of Karl Marx. The biggest problem with Obama isn't the crazy idea's he comes up with, but rather that if the Democrats hold Congress, he'll sign pretty much anything they send him, without question.

McCain, of course, has had to make some big decisions in his life, and has a lot of experience in the Government, but he's way to much of a popularist, willing to go whichever way the wind blows, and doesn't hold to principles to make his decisions. He likes to be called a maverick, but he's really too much of a wild card, you can't fully know what to expect of him, because his ideas, and his reactions to things that happen, don't really make any sense. You can listen to his speeches, and still not really have any idea what he would do in any given situation.

Obama, we know, would just try to steal all of our money, and take away our liberties, but at least we know to expect that from him.

We need to really pay attention to this stuff, and think, and vote for good people for Congress, for State office, and for Local offices. It may be too late for the White House, but that doesn't have to mean that it's too late for the Country.

Happy Independance Day

I wanted to take a moment today and remember that this is the Two Hundred and Thrity-Second anniversary of the addoption of the Declaration of Independence, and I hope that you will take the time to read through this marvelous document, posted below. It will really give you a better understanding of the founding of this great nation.

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When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. -- Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. -- And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.--
John Hancock
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery, Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott, William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross, Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Mr. Jefferson was the third President of the United States and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence

Wait, is that right?

There is an old saying, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." How many times have you heard that? Sounds like it makes sense doesn't it? After all, as we look at the world around us, and we see people come into positions of power, how often do they end up being corrupted by that power? Pretty common isn't it? This usually would lead one to think that this statement is true, and just accept it and move on.

I think, though, that sometimes we need to take some of these gems of common wisdom and say, wait a minute, is that right? Let's think about this one for a minute. Doesn't God have absolute power? Yes, of course He does. And is He corrupted? Of course not. So, it is not an absolute fact that power corrupts or that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Of course, God is the only one that has absolute power, but, by watching His example, we can see that power need not corrupt us either.

In and of ourselves, when we try to live our own lives and do things on our own, it is nearly certain that power would go to our heads and corrupt us, but if we know God, through Jesus Christ, His Son, and have a relationship with Him, we can, through that relationship, handle power without being corrupted.

So, while there may be some truth to some of these pearls of wisdom, we really need to stop and think things through, instead of just accepting them at face value.

Not For Revenge

Yesterday Florida carried out an execution for the first time in 18 months. The man was convicted of the rape, torture, and murder of an 11 year old boy in 1991. He had just been released from custody for the rape of a teenage boy, when he saw his next victim in the newspaper for winning a kite flying contest. At first he tried to befriend the family so that he could get close to the boy, but when that did not work, he just kidnapped him and took him to a motel where he carried out his evil plans.

Now, for those who know me, and have read here before, know that I do believe in the Death Penalty, for a multitude of reasons. And I think that it was used appropriately yesterday. But to be clear on the reasons, it's not for revenge. To kill someone, even if they really deserve it, out of revenge, would, in itself be wrong. From a strictly human perspective, it is understandable, but that doesn't make it right. What this is about is consequences, it is about a punishment that fits the crime. In order to survive, a society must implement penalties that reflect the severity of the crime that has been committed. There are other reasons as well, such as the deterrent factor, which, I know, a lot of people tend to say isn't actually true, but some studies, and I don't fully understand how this works, but they say that they are conclusive, have shown that for every murderer that is executed, 18 lives are saved. Not being flippant at all, since we are talking about human lives, but that is a pretty good return on investment.

I want to be clear though, it is my sincere hope that at some point while this man was in prison, that someone was able to reach him with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter how horrendous his crime, there is nothing that places a human beyond God's ability or capacity to forgive. I think that it is important to point this out because it reminds us that anyone can have that hope. If even someone like this man can be forgiven, then all of us can. I don't know in this case if this is something that happened or not, but it is my prayer that it did.

I think that it is important to remember that all of these terrible things happen in the world because of sin. That is not to say that it had anything to do with any sin on the part of the boy or his family, nothing of the sort. These horrible things happen in the world because sin is in the world. Romans 5:12 says; "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" but there is no need for us to be dismayed, because there is hope to be found in Christ also. Romans 6:23 says; "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

So, while I support the death penalty, and I don't think that society, if we want to survive, have any choice but to implement it from time to time, and probably more often than we do now, this does not have anything to do with people needing Jesus, and certainly doesn't condemn these people to hell. They can still be saved. I read in a news report that there was a man standing outside of the facility with a sign instructing the condemned man to "Rot In Hell." This is not my attitude, nor a position that I can support. I hope that this man is not in Hell, but I don't know. And I hope that others will come to see the truth of the fact that people, whether criminals or victims, whether free or in prison, or even on death row, need Jesus.