Peaceful Muslims

In Germany a Muslim cleric described as a "peaceful Imam" beat his wife to a bloody pulp. He broke her nose and clavicle and left her with numerous bruises and contusions. All the while he was reported quoting the Koran. Saying something about a wife submitting and if not she should be put out and beaten. Her offense? She wanted to live a more "western" lifestyle. He's in jail. She's under government protection. Another example of the "peaceful religion".

I had a thought after reading about the "peaceful Imam".

When a Christian murders in the name of his religion. Or beats his wife. Or steals. He is doing so in defiance of his holy book the Bible. When a Muslim murders in the name of his religion, he does so following his book the Koran. The corollary to that is when the Christian suffers in silence he is doing what the Bible tell him to do. The truly peaceful Muslim defies the Koran. He doesn't lie to infidels to advance Islam. He doesn't kill the infidel when he talks against Islam. He doesn't blow up Innocent people as a suicide bomber for his virgins.

The Muslims living in the U.S. peacefully do so for one of two reasons.
1. They see the error of following a 6th century religion that hasn't advanced to this century. In this country. Or.....
2. They are just laying low until they have the numbers necessary to force the U.S. to adopt their laws and religion.

Which is it?

Bible Study for The Athanasian Creed

This is the introduction for a Bible study/book I am writing. Written from a Lutheran perspective I think it will speak to Christians in every church body. While this is a rough draft I decided to post it anyway to "put it out there" partly to force me to continue to write. I have a stack of notes and I will post more when I research and write more.




Unless Otherwise Noted:

Bible quotes are taken from the English Standard Version (ESV) published by Good News Publishers.
Quotes from the Book of Concord are taken from “Concordia, The Lutheran Confessions” a reader’s edition of the Book of Concord (2005).
The English language version of the Athanasian Creed is taken from the Lutheran Service Book (2006).

Introduction

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”

Called the Shema (“Hear“) this declarative statement from Deuteronomy 6:4 is an early creed of Israel’s faith in God and was, and still is, recited by observant Jews twice daily. This religion of one God set the Israelites apart from the other religions in Canaan with their multitude of gods as well as separating themselves from the religion of Egypt they had just escaped from. Moreover this concept of the oneness of God will set the stage centuries later for great theological fights that will require Emperors and Councils to work out and further statements of faith to correct.
Our Lord Jesus Christ used this statement in Mark 12:29-31 to answer the question, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” In answering this question Jesus was summarizing the two tables of the Law thus condensing the Faith into a smaller statement instead of reciting the whole Decalogue or even the whole Torah.
Statements of faith were used to admonish and to teach. In the time immediately following the Ascension of Christ the Apostles taught all who would listen about Jesus Christ and who He was. The Church in Jerusalem grew and slowly started to spread. Then God allowed His Church to be persecuted causing the Diaspora (dispersion). This scattering of God’s people lead to the Gospel being heard around the known world. Churches formed as the Holy Ghost converted many to “The Way”.


Enter the Creeds

Early Christians were at a disadvantage. The first few years there was no Bible as we know it. They had the Old Testament but not the New. But men of God started to write. The Gospels were written. The Apostles also wrote their Epistles to the Churches. The early Church started to compile these documents so they could be read and studied. Debates and arguments would ensue. Disagreements in doctrine would cause factions to be formed. Statements of faith started to arise that allowed the different factions to identify each other. We can find this starting to happen in some of St. Paul’s Epistles. Creedal statements can be found in I Cor 8:6
“yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist“, I Cor 12:13 “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-Jews or Greeks, slaves’ or free-and all were made to drink of one Spirit.“ I Cor 15:3-6 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep”, and I Tim 3:16 “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: ‘He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory“.
We can see the beginnings of our Creeds in these words from Paul.
Paul also writes against preachers who teach something other than the Gospel he delivered to the saints. See II Cor 11:1-5 and Gal 1:6-9 and I Tim 1:3-11 for examples. In Gal 2:11-14, Paul even rebuked Peter to his face over Peter teaching false doctrine. So we see that even in the times of the Apostles false teaching was beginning and statements of Faith were used to a) help the saints to retain the Faith and b) admonish and mark those who taught false doctrine.
Some, if not most, of the disagreements centered around who God is. Remember the Shema mentioned in the beginning? If God is One then how do you explain the concept of the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Ghost? More specifically who is Jesus. What was Jesus. Was he God or man? Was he both? How can a man be God? How can God become a man? How does this fit into our understanding of God the Father? These and other questions were asked and answered. Because of the Sinful nature of Man the answers were diverse and some led to a misunderstanding of Scripture. Thus heresy would lead people away from the Truth and into perdition.
Foundational to our understanding of our salvation is the answer to the question; “Who is Jesus“. What Jesus is directs our faith. If Jesus is who we profess he is in our creeds then our faith is directed towards God who is the source of our salvation. If Jesus is not whom we profess then our faith is directed elsewhere. That usually means towards ourselves and our ability to do good and earn our salvation by ourselves. Since we know through Scriptures that we cannot earn our salvation then putting our faith in a false Jesus leads us to death and hell.
The Early Church struggled to define Jesus. The devil attacked the Early Church much the same way he attacks today. He tries to undermine who Jesus is and His role in purchasing our salvation from the wages of our sin. Therefore if Jesus was not the Son of God, He would not be a fit sacrifice because He would be just a man. If Jesus was not born of a virgin He would be just one of us and not a fit sacrifice because He would not be the Son of God. If Jesus was just a good man then He could not pay the price for our sins. If Jesus was God just pretending to be a man then He was not one of us and could not pay the price. If Jesus did not raise from the dead then we have no hope. If Jesus is not who we confess in our Creeds then the Bible contradicts itself and falls apart. Defining Jesus led to statements of faith which led to public creeds used to counter heresies that arose and to unite the faithful.
The early Fathers have written about the public professions of faith by the church.

As early as 107AD Ignatius of Antioch wrote a form of creed in his Epistle to the Trallians ix.
"Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly born, and did eat and drink. He was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; He was truly crucified, and [truly] died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. He was also truly raised from the dead, His Father quickening Him, even as after the same manner His Father will so raise up us who believe in Him by Christ Jesus, apart from whom we do not possess the true life.
Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly begotten of God and of the Virgin, but not after the same manner. For indeed God and man are not the same. He truly assumed a body; for "the Word was made flesh," and lived upon earth without sin. For says He, "Which of you convicteth me of sin? " He did in reality both eat and drink. He was crucified and died under Pontius Pilate. He really, and not merely in appearance, was crucified, and died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. By those in heaven I mean such as are possessed of incorporeal natures; by those on earth, the Jews and Romans, and such persons as were present at that time when the Lord was crucified; and by those under the earth, the multitude that arose along with the Lord. For says the Scripture, "Many bodies of the saints that slept arose," their graves being opened. He descended, indeed, into Hades alone, but He arose accompanied by a multitude; and rent asunder that means of separation which had existed from the beginning of the world, and cast down its partition-wall. He also rose again in three days, the Father raising Him up; and after spending forty days with the apostles, He was received up to the Father, and "sat down at His right hand, expecting till His enemies are placed under His feet." On the day of the preparation, then, at the third hour, He received the sentence from Pilate, the Father permitting that to happen; at the sixth hour He was crucified; at the ninth hour He gave up the ghost; and before sunset He was buried. During the Sabbath He continued under the earth in the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathaea had laid Him. At the dawning of the Lord's day He arose from the dead, according to what was spoken by Himself, "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man also be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." The day of the preparation, then, comprises the passion; the Sabbath embraces the burial; the Lord's Day contains the resurrection."

And again Tertullian, in 200AD, wrote in The Prescription Against Heretics, chapter XIII another form of creed.
"Now, with regard to this rule of faith--that we may from this point
acknowledge what it is which we defend--it is, you must know, that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen "in diverse manners" by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh. This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ, and raises amongst ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics."


The Apostle’s Creed we say today started out as a statement of faith said responsively to questions prior to the Sacrament of Baptism. This public profession of faith was necessary to show the person being baptized understood the doctrines of the church in this early form of catechism. The early church took this so seriously that no one could be baptized without this public profession. No one could partake of the Lord’s Supper without being baptized. In fact in some of the Early Churches all un-baptized persons in attendance at a worship service were asked to leave and a person was posted at the door whenever the Order of Holy Communion was to begin. The Early Church understood the true life and death issues at stake in Word and Sacraments.
We do the same today in our Order of Holy Baptism in our hymnal. We repeat the Apostle’s Creed in our Worship services. We say the Apostle’s Creed when we say our Morning and Evening Prayers. We use the Apostle’s Creed as our public profession of faith. We start out by saying “I BELIEVE“. The first word in the Apostle’s Creed is CREDO in Latin. CREDO translates as “creed”. When we state any of the three Creeds publicly we are saying “THIS I BELIEVE“.

The Ecumenical Creeds

The Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed are called “The Three Ecumenical Creeds“. The word Ecumenical means “universal” or “general” and is used because, as a whole, the Early Christian Church adopted these Creeds as a standard of their confession. These Creeds were important enough to be included in The Book of Concord and are referred there in as symbols in the Formula of Concord (491.3). These symbols (I.e.; brief, concise confessions) were written against the heretics in the Early Church. The early Lutheran Fathers pledged themselves to these symbols and rejected all heresies and teachings against them.
The Apostles’ Creed sprung up naturally over time advanced by a need to declare one’s faith both personally and publicly. The foundation for this Creed can be found in the words of Christ recorded in Matt. 28:18,19;
…”All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
Essentially, the Apostles’ Creed is an elaboration of this formula. An early form of this Creed can be found in what is called “The Old Roman Creed” delivered by Marcellus, Bishop of Ancyra, to Julius, Bishop of Rome, c. 340. This “Old Roman Creed” was also written about by Rufinus, a priest of Aquileia in 404 and had been retained as a Baptismal Creed in the Roman Church. The older version from Marcellus reads as follows:
I believe in God Almighty
And in Christ Jesus, His only Son, our Lord
Who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
Who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and was buried
And the third day rose from the dead
Who ascended into Heaven
And sitteth on the right hand of the Father
Whence he cometh to judge the living and the dead
And in the Holy Ghost
The holy church
The remission of sins
The resurrection of the flesh
The life everlasting.
While the Apostles’ Creed seemed to have an organic origin the Nicene Creed sprang from a need to address specific heresies. A theologian from Alexandria, Egypt, named Arius (c. 250-336) taught that God only meant God the Father. Jesus, according to Arius, was a perfect creature to be sure but does not share God’s very essence. The net result of Arius’ teachings was to reduce Jesus to a sort of half-God. This teaching of Arius quickly spread and a great schism started to form, particularly within the Eastern Church.

All Hallows Eve in three days

The Night ‘Fore Hallowmas

When many men choose to sleep,
the night lives on with potent deep.
There darkness surrounds with fear and fright,
the night passes with strength and might.
A time of darkness when daylight slumbers.
A season of twilight when the nether world creeps.
A candle in the darkness, a luminary light.
Cast shadows of darkness into that black deep.
Where the soul of night lives on, without fear or fright.

The man of light fears the life of night.
He cowers in the twilight hours
when his sense of sight fails him.
And goes not into that good night,
where the fear of dark death rails him.

The land of stars, the kingdom of the moon.
This faerie time, the night’s noon.
Directs ever and anon to the Stygian river,
where the other side is seen, felt with a shiver.
The flow is breached just once a year,
so the shades of men may pass.
To walk the earth as they once did,
on the night ‘fore Hallowmas.

Mary's Survivor Story

My survivor story belongs to my wife Mary Watts. In 2000 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In November of that year Mary had a partial mastectomy and over 20 lymph nodes were removed under her right arm. She then went through intense chemo, I've never seen someone so violently sick. Then her hair started to fall out. That was the hardest part. Hair was getting every where so I got my clippers and gave her a buzz cut like mine. When she looked into the mirror she wept. While we were holding each other crying the first unwritten cancer law in our house was written. No one cries alone. Following the chemo Mary then had to endure radiation; once a day, five days a week for six weeks. Mary’s hair started to grow back after that and it came back curly. She loved her new curly hair and I called her my “little house frau with a fro”. Another unwritten cancer law for our house came to be. Laugh often, even if we are laughing at ourselves. Subsequent scans did not show any cancer.

Through out it all if you asked Mary how she was doing she would tell you “I’m ok”. She may have spent the night in the bathroom getting sick but afterwards when asked she would reply “I’m ok”. She may have surgery and lying there with tubes and such hanging out of her body and she’s still “ok“.

In 2008 we moved to Springfield, Missouri from central Illinois. The move saved her life as the doctors in Illinois totally missed her cancer coming back. The doctors in Springfield are the best. Her breast cancer came back in her bones, primarily her lower spine, hip and skull. Every phone call from the doctor was worse and worse. Since 2008 Mary has had the maximum radiation treatment for her spine. Mary also has had radiation treatment for the tumors on her skull and hip. In 2008 she rolled over in bed and her right collar bone broke because the tumor on it had weakened it so much. So more radiation for that too. Weeks in a brace became months and after a year without the collar bone healing Mary said enough. She took the brace off and doesn’t wear it anymore even though the bone has not healed. Again in 2008 the cancer spread to her liver and left lung. In one two week time period the doctors removed two liters of fluid from around her lung. Because of the new tumors Mary has been on chemo since September of 2008, to this day and into the foreseeable future. Mary now takes chemo once every three weeks; a different chemo once every four weeks; and chemo pills seven days on and seven days off. She never complains. She has a lot of pain (besides me) but she never complains. The tumors are kept stable by the chemo, meaning neither growing nor shrinking.

During the last couple of years my faith and perseverance has been tested. But throughout it all Mary has remained stalwart. The x-rays of Mary’s spine show a couple of vertebra fading away from the cancer but all I’ll hear from her is an “Oh my back” once in a while. That’s it, no more complaining. I’ll get her up from bed and it will be “Oh my back”. Between the cancer in her back and the side effects of the chemo Mary can’t walk far so we just put her in a wheel chair and away we go. I finely get to push her around and she finely get to tell me where to go. I cannot tell you the strength I draw from her as she grows weaker in body but not in spirit.
If she can endure the pain and weakness with a smile, I can do no less. We are Mike and Mary the “m&m’s”.

You are on your own

Yes you are on your own. Not you so much but some of the States.

Case #1. Arizona asks and asks the Federal Government to help with Illegals entering their state from Mexico. The Feds yawn and go on to other matters. The state of Arizona passes a law designed to help themselves and they are ostracized for being racists by the media and by officials in the Federal Government, none of which has even read the bill. Then the two Senators from Arizona beg and beg the President to send troops to Arizona's border with Mexico. What does the President do? After weeks of delay he sends 1200 National Guardsmen. 1200! That's probably two guardsmen per mile of border. I don't think it's enough.

Case #2. The Oil Spill in the Gulf. Accidents happen and this was a bad one. Eleven people dead. Millions of gallons of oil pumping into the Gulf. An oil slick as big as Pennsylvania moving towards Louisiana. The Governor of the state begging the Feds and the Army Corps of Engineers to do something. Anything. To stop it. The Governor asks for more sand barrier islands to be made to stop the oil reaching the beaches and wetlands. What does he get? SILENCE!!!

Case #3. Texas is told that a Somali terrorist is planning on crossing it's boarder with Mexico sometime soon so be on the lookout. The Governor of Texas asks for additional troops for border security. What does he get. Not just silence but NO!!!!!

So what have we learned? The states are on their own. I say the Governors of these states take the bull by the horns and flip the collective bird to Washington. They should all say "Screw you we'll fix it ourselves". Texas and Arizona should call up their Guardsmen and put them on the border. They should form Posses or deputize the Minute Men and put them on the borders too. They should build bearers and fences to protect themselves. The Governor of Louisiana should have his Guardsmen build the sand islands to protect his shores. He should also mobilize volunteers to help with the clean up. Speaking of sand, all three of these guys should tell Washington to "go pound sand". Yes, and these states should with-hold federal tax monies to pay for their having to do the Feds job.

Maybe it's time to think about states succeeding from the Union. I mean if Washington takes and takes but doesn't help what's the point of being in the Union anyway. Really this was the reason the Civil War was fought. The Federal Government was telling the states what to do and interfering with the way they were running things. Are we men? Or are we latte' drinking pantie waists. Check yourself and decide.

War Games 2

Just another thought about the last post. When using fake attacks, terrorists would be more likely to recruit operatives that don't belong to the terrorist's demographic. By using blond haired, blue eyed northern European types for example, Islamic terrorists could separate themselves from detection. Fake attacks would be an easier sale and could even be presented as a prank or some other harmless act. An added benefit would be if the non-terrorist types are caught. In fact this should be arraigned. The addition of a new group of suspects would cause the government to expand it's search profile. And yes the authorities profile. It's not a bad thing. More people would be inconvenienced causing discontent towards the government policies if the terrorists play it right. We see this today. People grumble against government policies and restrictions set in place to protect them from the terrorists that wish to kill them. The people have forgot why the government is doing this and don't focus their anger towards the terrorists.

So fake or copy cat attacks work in terrorists favor. They advance their cause and weaken the governments response.

War Games

Disclaimer: I do not endorse the use of the following methods. I do not advocate violence, terror or any other kind of illegal activity. The following thesis is merely the result of a bored mind that shouldn’t be allowed to play unsupervised. Having said that let us begin with…..

War games

The point of terrorist is to effect a change on the object of their attention. That change may be to kill and maim. Most likely the object of terrorism is to force an enemy to become something else or to move in a desired direction. For example to embrace a religion such as Islam. Or to embrace a political ideology such as Communism. These nudges by terrorist move a people, group or country along by little steps that don’t always have to be successful.

Recently just a short block away from my home a mail carrier found a white powdery substance in a mailbox. Because of past terrorist attacks reported widely in the news where people have died or gotten sick from someone mailing anthrax to government offices the mail carriers are trained to watch out for this. This training combined with the previous attacks has breed paranoia and fear. The result is the local government turned out the fire department, police department, hazmat team etc to investigate. The street was blocked off. Traffic diverted. Resources used. A mail carrier decontaminated. Why? Someone put baby powder in a mail box.

This got me thinking. The first terrorists attacks don’t always have to be successful but they have to be real. The anthrax letters are one example. 9-11 is another. The shoe bomber is a third. The next set of attacks have to have at least the promise of success. Then the rest after that can be fakes. For example the baby powder mentioned before. The unknown factor in all the attacks is weather or not the attack is real. In fact it would be better for the terrorist cause if the later attacks are fakes. Human nature being what it is the rash of fake attacks and the accompanying copycat attacks by disturbed persons not associated with the terrorists will over time begin to lull the victims into a reduced state of preparedness.

Fake attacks can be useful too. For example; an organized mailing of envelops with baby powder in them from all over the country to the Capital in Washington DC would shut down the government mail system. The disruption would mean material would not reach their destination in time. Opportunities would be lost. Vast amounts of money and resources would be spent and diverted over a few ounces of baby powder. Certainly a cost effective and safe operation to carry out. This could be timed to occur as a distraction for another operation. Or a real attack of anthrax letters could occur immediately after the fake to take advantage of spent resources and human fatigue. A mail handler thinking he’s got a hold of another baby powder letter might just mishandle it and someone could get sick or die. Then the terror begins anew. The new fear would be greater and the government and country is nudged one step further towards the terrorist goal.

By definition a group who uses terror as a weapon usually is operating against an organization it cannot confront with a frontal assault. This gorilla, or asymmetrical, war is therefore one of attrition. The use of terror is designed to wear down the opponent’s resources as well as the will to fight. To loosely paraphrase Mao, as long as the gorillas don’t loose they win. Timing is crucial in forcing a capitulation to the terms of the terrorist. For example. Our country is fighting two wars over seas using vast amounts of money and recourses. Our economy is shaky right now while we are in a recession. Our political system is very contentious with each party pushing hard for votes and power. The people are polarized more than any other time since before the Civil War. Carefully timed attacks against our infrastructure could cause massive disruptions of our goods and products being delivered. Key bridges on the Mississippi River could be damaged or destroyed. Some sort of maritime disaster on the Great Lakes could occur such as a toxic spill or a ship sunk in a narrow passage. Coupled with an oil refinery attack or two and our economy could be pushed to the brink. Our recourses would be needed at home and our forces may need to be reduced or even pulled out of the two wars. The terrorists could more easily take over Iraq and Afghanistan. Pakistan could be threatened and their nuclear arsenal seized. The terrorists don’t have to win. They just don’t have to loose.

Again these are just the thoughts of a bored brain. But the scary part is, if I can think of this surly the terrorists can. Pleasant dreams.

Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Today a Muslim cleric in Iran stated that women wearing provocative clothing leads young men astray and causes earthquakes! The way to stop earthquakes is to embrace Islam and repent. If you do that the quaking will stop.

Oh-My-God!! These people are still living in the 6Th century with 21st century weapons and they think this stuff? Our leaders, pardon I forgot where I was living. Our Beloved Leader Obama and his regime of rulers better start getting serous about Iran and it's nuclear aspirations or we'll all be glowing in the dark soon.

In an unrelated report. At least no one is making the connection. The President stated the other day "... like it or not we are a superpower...". I truly think he doesn't want us to be a superpower. He has apologized all over the world for the United States. Every time he makes a speech overseas he says "I'm sorry". Everything his regime does seams to be pushing us towards making America a has been nation just like France. Think about it.

Odds and Ends

You're going to love this.

A Georgia Congressman stated in a House Armed Forces Committee hearing that he was concerned with sending too many troops and equipment to Guam. He was afraid the island would tip over and capsize. This is the quality of people we have running our government. Oh he voted for ObamaCare and he is a former Judge.

An Illinois Congressman stated he wasn't concerned about the Constitution in regards to the health care debate. I guess that whole putting your hand on the Bible and vowing to uphold and defend the Constitution was just for show. I wonder how that applies to his wedding vows?

President BO bragged this week that "we took 86 billion dollars from the banks". He was referencing the 100% government take over of the student loans. This was put in the reconciliation bill to help fudge the number so the whole health care bill would be deficient neutral on paper. The government just swept in and eliminated a private sector industry so they could get more revenue. Whose next?

The director of Homeland Security has decided to stop looking closely at air travelers from certain Muslim countries. From now on they will be screened just like anyone else. I feel safer already.

The FAA has announced that Pilots can now take anti-depressants and fly. I guess the whole drowsy and suicidal side effects aren't that big a deal when piloting a plane with 400 souls on board. I think I'll drive, thank you.

You can't make this stuff up!

Religious exception in Obama Care

Religious exception in Obama Care. We have heard that the Amish for example may be exempt form forced inclusion in Obama Care. But what about other religions? Orthodox Jews maybe? Did you know that some Muslim clerics view insurance as gambling? Any insurance! Life insurance, health insurance, etc. Wait! Did I just say health insurance? Yup! Muslims have a religious view that insurance is gambling and they should not buy it. You and I will be forced under threat of arms (ie: taxes, fines, confiscation of property and prison time) to buy Government approved health care insurance. But not the millions of Muslims in Amerika! It will be amazing to see how many Muslims suddenly become very devout when the IRS goons come knocking?

Until later comrade.

Traitors (aka Democrats)

Weep, weep, weep for your country all you who love the America we once knew. The Traitors of the Constitution have prevailed in the House. The Obama Care bill will be signed into law on Tuesday by the Traitor in Chief. Where oh where is the statesman who will stand up and lead the Revolution? Who will stop the emboldened from moving onto Illegal Aliens receiving amnesty? Who will now stop Cap and Trade with it's $7 a gallon gas and heavy tax on fossil fuel? America has peeked, it's all down hill from here.

The new strategy from the Republicans should be vote no on ALL legislation. Just vote no but do not oppose more than that. Let all those democrats who voted for these Traitors see just what they did to this country. When the country was first formed the word democrat was a political epitaph just like the "N" word is a racial epitaph. In other words a derogatory word that when used against another usually ended in a fight. Today it is again. To call someone a "Democrat Politician" is now the most vile thing I can think of to call someone.

March 21, 2010 will now be known as Black Sunday.

Thank You Mr. President

Thank you Mr. President. I have learned so much from you since you have taken office.
Say anything to get elected.
Blame the last guy.
Lie a lot
Don't answer any questions directly.
Lie a lot
Tell stories to tug the heart strings, even if they are not true.
Blame the last guy.
Lie a lot.
The end justifies the means.
Lie a lot.

I mean wow! This opens up all kind of possibilities. If I want to be a millionaire all I have to do is lie and steal. I mean it doesn't matter how I get there. Rules are for wimps. Laws are for the other person. The constitution doesn't matter especially if it keeps getting in the way. Right? I mean there was that whole hand upon the Bible swearing to uphold and defend the Constitution but that was just some old fashion ritual. We shouldn't hold you to your word or anything?

Thank you again President BO.

Wow that felt good. I needed to get that off my chest. After having heard some of what is in the Obamacare bill I was feeling mighty bad. I was considering taking flying lessons. Not landing lessons, just flying. But I just didn't understand.

Why should I be upset that the IRS is taking over the oversight for health care compliance? Why should I be upset that the IRS will checking everyone in the U.S. monthly for proof of health care insurance. Or that the IRS has it's own set of rules. That old pesky Bill of Rights doesn't apply to them. Innocent until proven guilty? Right to remain silent? Who needs them. The Man-God Obama has made it all better.

How about all the bribery needed to get Democrats to vote for this bill? The Louisiana Purchase? The Nebraska Corn Husker Kick-back? The Connecticut Hospital bribe. The North Dakota bank exemption to the Education Bill attacked to the Health Care Bill? The Congressman who's brother was appointed to be a Federal Judge for his yes vote. The Congressman from Ohio who switched his vote yesterday from no to yes after his wife got a job working with Mrs. Obama. The list goes on and on.

How about the parliamentary hand job that allows congressmen to vote for the Health Care Bill by "Deem and Rule". The so called "Slaughter Rule". This allows the congressmen to vote for the reconciliation bill with out voting for the bill itself. A yes vote will mean "we vote for this and it will mean we agree the Health Care bill has already passed". Even tho they did not vote for the Health Care bill at all. They do this to avoid having to get a super majority vote to pass this thing. This is in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution which everyone in Congress has vowed to uphold and defend.

If the Democrats get this passed America is dead! They can use the "Slaughter Rule" to pass anything they want between now and the November elections. Immigration reform giving amnesty to 30 million illegals. Cap and Trade which will, among other things, mean $7 a gallon gas. Coal plants, which produce half of our electricity, will be taxed out of existence. The Big BO said so himself on the campaign trail. Our great nation will grind to a halt.

I am afraid it is too late to stop this. God has forsaking us. Kiss your family good-by.

In-Laws

Ok, electing a president is like getting married. You get in laws. If your lucky like me you get very nice and very neat in laws. But if your not lucky and you elect someone like President BHO you get...

Eric Holder, Attorney General. Ta ta ta daaaaaa!!!

A closer look revels Mr. Holder worked in the Clinton administration and was instrumental in securing the presidential pardon of Porto Rican terrorists. These terrorists are responsible for planting bombs and killing police officers. These murderers are walking free today because Holder championed their release.

When Clinton left office Mr. Holder went to work for a Washington DC law firm. This firm has represented more gitmo detainees than any other single law firm. To be fair Holder didn't represent any detainees himself but in light of his previous actions I imagine he was sympathetic to the cause.

Now he is the AG. That means he is the head of the justice department. Since he took over there have been at least nine attorneys brought on that have represented gitmo detainees. To a man these lawyers have championed their clients cause in court. I'm sure they all wanted to have their clients tried in a civilian court. To have their clients Miranda rights read them. It suddenly doesn't surprise me that the mastermind of the 911 plot is now going to be tried in civilian court.

Oh but there's more. The New Black Panthers stood in their para-military uniforms with billy clubs in their hands attempting to intimidate voters in the election that brought BHO to power. When presented with the evidence, which included video, the Justice department declined to prosecute. Wow, really? What if these had been white guys?

What about the Christmas bomber? Fifty minutes after they started interviewing him he was read his Miranda rights. The FBI acting upon instructions from Mr. Holder stated they had got all they needed in that fifty minutes. Do they really think we are such morons? Well yes they do, but I digress. Over a month later to try to smooth over the flack of Mirandizing too soon the Justice department says well the bomber was talking now. Now? Now, after all his buddies in Yemen have bugged out and went to ground. Now, when most of his information is dated and of no use to us? These terrorist lovers in our government are killing us!

Which leads me back to bHo. He was born and created out of the radical "I hate America" groups. Someone of his ilk was bound to come along. It was a "fate' complete". He had a communist father. His grandfather on his mother's side would take him at an early age to meet communists. By his own admission he would seek out community organizers and radicals. He associated with a convicted Weather Underground bomber who had bombed the Pentagon. His pastor for over 20 years is a communists preaching "God Damn America" from the pulpit filling bHo's head with black liberation theology. The Rev White sounded happy when he told his congregation that "America's chickens have come home to roost" in the days after the 911 attacks. He was praised by bHo in his first book and defended until he had to throw him under the buss to get elected.

Barack Hussein Obama hates the America we love. His wife said it was the first time she was proud of America during the election. If she is just now proud what was she before?

Remember connections? This is just the tip. But it's getting late. More soon.

Connections

"No man is an island". I forget who said that but it is true. When you wake up in the morning you are not a blank slate. All you say or do during the day is based upon all you have learned going back to the day you were born. The knowledge taught to you throughout your life came from other people spanning back to the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. There is a cumulative effect. Ancient man was not some dumb half animal. He just didn't have the centuries of knowledge we draw upon. Today our decisions are made by the sum of our learning. The politics of our parents or friends or someone we admire cause us to look in that direction. To seek answers down a specific path. The same goes with our social presentation. What we have learned by observing others we do ourselves. This learning never stops. Based upon what we learn today we will consciously direct our moves tomorrow. How you act at 13 is not how you act at 30 or 50 or 60. You continue to grow, if you are lucky.

So a corollary to "no man is an island" could be. "I stand upon the shoulders of all who went before me, my day is illuminated by all the sun rises there ever was."

I have no original thought. In fact Adam was the only man who ever had one. Everyone else has based his "original thought" upon the assembled knowledge of those who came before. The conclusions we mistake for original thinking are merely the end result of a connection of data along a time line.

Many years ago there was a show on PBS called "Connections". It was hosted by an English chap named Burke I think. The purpose of the program was to show the connections of the discoveries over the centuries. A show may start out in 13Th century Italy with some discovery and end up in 19Th century America with the TV. Connections, because someone discovered something or postulated some new mathematical formula someone else later on could draw upon it and add to it.

Everything is connected. People and actions in close proximity feed off each other and move in a common direction. If everyone in the group are of the same mind the group will desire the same results.

Which brings us to politics. Remember connections? Look how we got to this subject. This didn't just spring upon this blog unexpected. Starting from the opening post I have marched steadily on to this point. The next post will be based upon this and all the previous posts plus the accumulated knowledge I have. Which is sometimes not enough. The next post will delve into some of the connections I see in our government. Stay tuned.

An Snow it goes

The biggest snow storm to hit Washington DC since 1922. Federal employees are told to stay home. They are now in their 5th snow day. The mayor of DC has pulled the snow plows off the road for now. The capital buildings cannot be seen through the snow. It's as if they all disappeared. Congress is idle.

The rest of the nation has ground to a halt. The trains have stopped running. The planes have stopped flying. Trucks of produce are stranded on the side of the road. Grocery stores are running out of food. Hospitals have gone dark. The children are dying!

Wait a minute?!?! You mean the rest of the country is not at a stand still? Washington is still shut down and we are alright? How can this be? If this keeps up the people will start to realize that we don't really need that big of government in Washington. You mean the federal government could be reduced and we could still live the American dream?

I had an epiphany a few years ago. It was when Reagan was president. He was fighting with congress about the budget and the federal government was shut down except for a few essential offices. After about two weeks they passed a budget but by then the damage was done. Our lives were not affected one little bit during that shut down. Yes I realized how little we needed the feds.

I sometimes think that congress and the president pass those laws and spend our money just so they can justify their positions. It doesn't seem to matter we have thousands of laws on the books. It doesn't seem to matter the laws we have are not being enforced. They say: "By golly something needs to be done about (enter any problem here) and we are the congress and we should have hearings and pass a law and impose a tax to pay for fixing (enter the afore mentioned problem here)." They do that because they are really thinking: "If we don't do something the people will fix it themselves and then realize they don't really need us."

So back to the snow storm. While I don't want anyone to get hurt because of it I really would like to see it snow there until June.

Presidential Gaffs

Presidential gaffs. George Bush was ridiculed for them. His "speech-a-fing" was proof to his detractors he was a dumb Texas redneck. Well.......

Some of the presidential gaffs of the current President whom I'll just call BO. AlQeada is pronounced by him as Al-kI-A-duh. Huh? Or he pronounces Taliban, "Tal-ee-bon". Then there's Copenhagen which he says Coop-en-hogging. As in Hogging Dass the ice cream? That Harvard edgamakation is really paying off.

How about when he gave his first address to the nation after the Ft. Hood massacre. BO talked for over two minutes giving "shout outs" and praises to someone who had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. It turned out that while the man was a war hero he did not receive the CMH but BO had awarded him some civilian Congressional Medal. Apparently as Commander in Chief BO does not understand the armed forces he's the head of. He also doesn't understand about addressing the nation and calming fears after a terrorist attack. The disrespect he showed to the dead and wounded was telling. Or the speech he gave about medical costs when he used the example of a man who lost his health insurance and then died. Well the man did loose his insurance but got it back two weeks later and then was treated for his cancer. He lived several more years before dying. Again in another medical cost speech he talks about taking a child to the ER to be treated for asthma and said something about a simple treatment with a breathalyzer would have prevented the child taking up a hospital bed. Again I scratch my head.

So two days ago he gives a speech (with the use of his teleprompter) about some Navy Corpsman who was serving on a Hospital ship in Haiti. Not once, not twice, but three times he refers to the corpsman as corpse-man. I don't know about you but if I wake up from surgery and a corpse-man is standing over me I might be a little worried! I wonder what the military symbol for corpse-man is. A corpsman is the standard snakes entwined on a pole with wings. I guess a corpse-man would be a sickle? Wait a minute! Corpse-man? Sickle? All we need is a hammer! That proves it! BO is a Marxist!

So what is the point of all this. One, you put someone in front of a mic and cameras every day he (or she) will say something that will make you go "huh?" and sound really dumb. Two, George Bush wasn't as dumb as the media and the left made him out to be. Three, BO is not as smart as the media and the left makes him out to be.

Tired

I haven't been writing much lately because I'm tired. I feel like I am just pooping words out there and nothing happens. Nothing changes.

Like this story on the local news today. Fed Ex puts a Springfield employee on administrative leave because she won't hide the cross she's wearing. Seems they have a policy against "personalized jewelry". Who knew wearing a cross was personalized jewelry? In the United States of America someone could loose their job for wearing a cross! I won't call for a boycott of Fed Ex. No one would anyway. Besides Christians are an easy mark. It's not like we have any suicide bombers like that other "religion of peace".

Then there is the story of the presidents chief of staff who used the term "f***ing retards" to a bunch of democrats. He should be fired but nooo! Just an apology to the head of the Special Olympics will do. Who's name is Shriver as in the Kennedy's. Like he is really sorry anyway.

Or the president saying in his State of the Union address that the Senate blocked forming some committee he wanted but that was ok because he would just put out some presidential decree and form the committee anyway. The president just flipped the bird to Congress. By the way he used the words "I" or "ME" over 100 times in that speech. Notice he didn't use "us" or "we" or any other corporate term that much. It's all about him!

Then we find out the Attorney General was the one who told the anti-terrorist people to stop grilling the Christmas Bomber and read him his rights after only 50 minutes of interrogation. The guy immediately clammed up. The AG also refused to investigate and prosecute some "New Black Panthers" who were at a voting place in Philly dressed in black military uniforms and holding billy clubs in an attempt to intimidate voters. Another one who just don't get it. He should be fired too. By the way the current AG was instrumental in getting some Portal Rico terrorists a presidential pardon under Clinton. I guess he likes bad boys.

Or the EPA who told congress that if you don't pass some form of environmental legislation they will just impose even stricter regulations. A form of government blackmail.

An on and on and on.....

I heard a good suggestion on the radio tonight. We should all take a month off from work and go to Washington DC and "get their attention". Maybe we SHOULD shut down the country. Maybe we SHOULD march on Washington and refuse to leave until the broke down, worn out, corrupt, P.O.S. politicians are tarred, feathered and ridden out of town on a rail.

Yeah, works for me. Now where did I put that pitch fork and torch?

Moon rise

Tonight while I was sitting in my guard shack I got to see one of the most beautiful moon rises I've seen in a while. It was large and round and glowing pale yellow. It almost moved me to tears. Seeing an event such as this I can understand why early man was enamored with the moon. The beauty of it must of moved them too. They watched it and studied it. After a while they began to understand the moons effect on our world, the seas and we humans. I was wishing the power plants in our area would shut down so we could really see this moon and sky. Have you ever seen moon shadow? What a wonderful world we live in.

There is talk the government may shut down our return to the moon. I hope they let us return. We must have dreams.

Homeless

Last Sunday a coal train came into the plant with a couple of transients on board. A man and a woman plus a dog. They left in a hurry. It got me thinking. Living where we do we see a lot of people walking around with big backpacks and such caring signs, wanting rides. The other day I saw a man walking on the side of the road with a large day pack caring a duffel bag. I would guess he was caring all he owned. At first I thought poor guy. Then I remembered I had to rent a 26 foot U-haul packed floor to ceiling to move down here. We still didn't have enough room for all our stuff. My daughter and I were sore for a week because it was just the two of us caring stuff into the house. Poor me I think.

Stuff! Things! Crap! Who owns who. Do I own my stuff or am I just a slave to it? Time and time again I try to reduce this mountain of stuff. I just can't get it done. So who's freer? The homeless man or transient carrying all they own on their backs? Or me carrying all I own on my back crushed by the weight of it all. This addiction for stuff is fueled by that temptress the TV. "Your life sucks" so buy our stuff and you too will be handsome and strong and rich and successful. The government says we need to buy more stuff to stimulate the economy. "Don't save, buy"! The credit card companies and banks tell us to barrow so we can have more stuff.

So now I've gone from talking about transients to being a wage slave. One thing leads to another and it's a strong man who can resist the siren call and not be dashed upon the rocks. To become another shipwreck on the alter of STUFF.

Just in case you don't hear from me anymore, goodbye. The weathermen are predicting another "end of the world" event tomorrow. Snow deep enough to shovel! Freezing rain and sleet! Kiss your children goodbye! Since we moved to Springfield, Missouri every storm that comes by is really played up. Maybe it will be a bad storm, maybe not. It just sounds like the boy who cried wolf all the time. I'll let you know if we survive.....

On a totally unrelated note. We had to take Mary to get another x-ray of her lungs today. That's two this week. The chemo is not working like it was and she is starting to get some fluid around her left lung again. The doctor needed a different view to see what needs to be done. While I was waiting for her there was a family of seven in the waiting room too. I know I am in the Ozarks and all but you can buy teeth here too. With the exception of the daughter there was not a full set of teeth among the rest. An they were fighting over the last stick of gum! Oh well.

Odds and Ends

"I decided not to talk today,
so I put my hands in my pockets" me

I have had quite the cold the past week so I have not felt like posting or thinking or writing or... well you get the idea. But I'm back. I was thinking about what to write tonight at work as I watched the fog roll in. I went from seeing the city lights in the distance to not seeing anything beyond a quarter mile away. I thought my world was shrinking. It was and it is. I mean how far can someone really see out of the circle of one's life? With the Internet and cable and cell phones etc you can be in contact all over the world but just how far is your, or my, influence? Really just a handful of people listen to me. I'm not sure any of them are really listening. I sometimes think I am just background noise. If I jump up and down like a little kid and scream "Listen to ME!" then pull the camera back. You now see other people jumping up and down shouting "Listen to ME!" Pull the camera further back and the whole world is jumping up and down shouting and screaming "Listen to ME!" Everyone wants to be heard and we're all shouting at once. But thanks for taking the time to visit here and listening to me.

Now to political stuff. Wow! Tuesday's election of Scott Brown as Senator in Massachusetts was big. Just last week the Democratic super majority in the House and Senate was goose stepping down the road to Government domination trampling the will of the people into the mud. Now it's like a slum apartment in Congress. Someone turned on the lights and the cock-roaches are scattering. Most of the Democrats are lining up at the mics to explain maybe we should slow down on health care. Yeah it's Obama's fault too because he was pushing too hard. It's funny to watch. Everyone of them were licking the shoes of Obama, Palosi, and Reid just a few days ago. Now it's CYA on steroids. The goosestepping in lockstep juggernaut is now in chaos, milling around like they're in a Woody Allen movie or something. Chaos is good for us. If Congress can't get their act together they can't be bothering us. Enjoy it why we can.

Pictures n' promises

Say what you will about Obama but he did make his campaign sound like there was hope in the air and change on the way. We should have known.



A long, long time ago I wrote in my diary that "politicians say whatever they can to to get elected and what ever they need to to stay in office". It would seem the worst name you could call someone is Politician. Obama is just a politician.




The above is what the Founding Fathers were fighting against when they went up against the most powerful nation in the world at that time to gain their freedom. Why can't we see that the United States today is just a bastard great, great grandchild of this once great nation.

The Tea Party insults

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) called Candidate Brown a "... far-right tea-bagger Republican". When the tea party movement started and the left started calling us tea-baggers I had to look the term up. I wish I didn't know now. Sometimes one can have too much imformation. But lets go back in time. It's 1998 and Chucky Schumer is running for senator for the first time. His opponent calls him a putz-head. Chucky hits the ceiling. Why he rants and raves all the way through the campaign about it. Putz apparently means penis in Yiddish. Who knew? So I guess that means he was called a "Richard cranium".

This goes to show you the double standard here. Don't call the Democrats names or they will get mad. But, and this is a big butt, they can call anyone anything they want. Schumer can call Brown a "tea-bagger". Reid can call Obama a "light skin Negro who doesn't talk with a Negro dialect". Reid says sorry mister President and Barack says no problem. Senator Lott had to quite at leader of the Senate and resign as senator when he praised 90 year old Strom Therman at his birthday party by saying things would have been different if Strom had been president years ago. Apparently Strom liked to keep the races separate back then. But Lott wasn't necessarily talking about Stroms racist tendencies. It didn't matter to the Dems and their lap dogs the media. Compare that to Reids treatment by the media. Nothing, Nada. Yeah he shouldn't have said it but he's a good guy who just miss spake. Can't we all just get along.

Back to little Chucky Schumer. I would love him to call someone at a tea party rally a "tea-bagger" to his face. He'd be spitting teeth for a week.

Third Day

It's Third Day. The third day after Mary receives Chemo is usually the worst. While she is not sick she is very, very tired. She will sleep off and on all day long. This is the day the "happy juice" starts to wear off. That is all the anti-nausea and anti-pain medicines they put in her before they start the actual chemo. They take two to three hours just to put this stuff in her. Then they start the chemo. So she's tired and she's sleeping. This is still better than the chemo treatments she received in 2000. I have never seen anyone so violently ill as she was then. Thank God for modern medicine.

America Lost?

You sit around and feel somethings not right. You feel the world is slipping through your fingers. You're right. America as we know it is coming to an end. The Democrats are locked behind closed doors dividing our lives like Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill did eastern Europe when they meet in Malta. An Iron Curtain of health care is about to fall and "We the People" will be walled in place. Locked behind this barrier we can only get fleeting glimpse of freedom, of better times past.

The President has broken many of his promises from the campaign. He promised to air the health care reform in public sessions on C-SPAN. When he and the Democratic leaders in congress saw the American people were not in favor and were very outspoken in their opposition they moved the sessions behind closed doors. Why?

"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."

The Democrats are in a rush. The senate race in Massachusetts is getting close and the Republican candidate is inching ahead of the Democrat. The horror of loosing "Kennedy's" seat is too much to bear. Couple that with the real possibility that if the Republican wins the Democrats in the Senate will loose their 60Th vote that allows them to pass anything they want. If they loose the seat the Republicans can block legislation with a filibuster among other procedures.

So whats happening in the race? The Democratic Candide states in a debate she believes there are no terrorists in Afghanistan. When a reporter catches up with her on the side walk afterwords and asks her if she stands by her statement she looks around and says "next question". That must be the "code word" because the reporter is then knocked down by one of her goons. This thug then helps the man up. The cameras are rolling after all, and asks to see his press credentials. While watching the video I see this goon continually obstruct the reporters path while the candidate makes her escape. Ah democracy in action.

Now the other shoe. If the Republican wins in Massachusetts the Dem's may seek to delay his certification and swearing in as the new senator for some time, maybe a month or more. This political conniving would preserve the Democratic majority in the Senate until the finial health care vote is taken. The will of the people will be ignored once again.

"He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected:....."

And finally, since I am writing all these quotes, there are the Czars. I'll write more on them another time but let me write this last quote.

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

The above quotes are from our Declaration of Independence. The similarities are beginning to pile up. The super majority of the Democrats in the House, Senate and White House has caused their leadership to become drunk with power. They don't even try to hide their ambitions. Speaker of the House Polosi laughed into the camera when asked about Obama's promise to hold public hearings on the Health Care Bill. She laughed and said "I'm sure a lot of things were promised on the campaign trail". What gaul! Her disdain for the American People was apparent. She in effect told us, "you don't expect us to keep our promises". Her laugh was a laugh of contempt saying "you are dumb if you believe a promise made in a campaign".

I was raised to believe a promise is a promise. If it is broken there were consequences. The time is running out if we are going to change the direction of this country. We need to put fear into their hearts. We the People need to strike down those who try to rule us and replace them with servants of the people who represent us.

Twenty-ten is our cry!
Throw them out, do or die!

Chemo

Today was another chemo day for Mary. Approaching two years now. You know you go to a doctors office too many times when everyone knows your name and family history. Even the greeter in the building's lobby commented on Mary's finger nails and noticed she had changed their color. Wow, every two weeks for six to eight hours each treatment. Well it's worth it. Mary is doing OK and is scheduled for a CT and MRI scan next week. We hope they continue to show everything is stable.

Weather is getting warmer again. The temps will be in the 40's over the next few days. Yippee.

The buck stops Here.

"The buck stops here". Well the President said it. He has now taken all responsibility for future events. He has a problem though. He has set himself up to fail. Take a look around the conference table of security advisers just a few hours before the President made his statement. Twenty people were setting there. To name a few; Secretary of State, Secretary of Defence, Secretary of Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, NSA, NSS, TSA etc. The problem I see is there are too many department and agency heads. Too many kingdoms. They all are searching for terrorist. They all are receiving data. But are they all sharing? We have learned the Government knew about the Christmas day bomber. They were going to detain and question him when he landed, if you can believe that. But no one told the airline about him. No Sky Marshall's were on board the plane.

My concern is that there are too many hands in this cook pot. Too many filters for information to pass through. Not enough people putting eyes on the total picture. Sure someone sees a man is on the watch list. But someone else sees he applied for a visa. Someone else hears form his dad about him being a possible threat. There is too many someones. There is no centralization, no hub which this data passes through.

Someone dropped the ball, but no heads will roll. The President can say the buck stops here all he wants but so what? If the Christmas bomber hadn't gotten his panties in a twist he could have set the bomb off. Almost 300 souls on that plane could have been lost. If the plane had come down into Detroit the death toll could have been a thousand!

Solutions? One, we need a new Secretary of Homeland Security. Two, this department need to be the central warehouse for all data collected foreign and domestic. The FBI handles domestic. The CIA foreign. Three, eliminate the other departments and make them all sub sets of Homeland Security. Four, eliminate all Czar positions related to security, I think there are at least two. The secretaries of Defence, State and Homeland Security have to be approved by Congress. I think the FBI and CIA director does too. We don't need anyone working with our security that doesn't get screened through Congress.

Next we need hard and fast rules about coming into this country. On a watch list? No entry. From a country supporting terrorism? No entry. No passport? No entry. Get the picture? These rules apply to everyone. No exceptions. There is a report someone vouched for the Christmas bomber when he first boarded his plane even though he didn't have a passport, paid in cash, was on a watch list, had no luggage, etc. The days of "he's with me" are over. This could get us killed!

Finally, even though the President says "the buck stops here" don't be fooled. He flies on his own jet with fighter escort. He has armies of people protecting him. If something goes down it will be us who die. I'm sure he would get upset and maybe even work up a tear but that won't do much good when we are all splattered on the ground.

Maybe we should just make all airplane passengers eat a ham sandwich before they can board?

Reading

I love to read. I read anything and everything I can get my hands on. Books, magazines, newspapers, blogs, anything. One of the first books I remember reading is John F. Kennedy's PT109 in grade school. He was still alive when I read it. I was hooked. In Junior High I discovered Jules Verne. Mysterious Island was a turning point for me. The main character was an Union Officer who was an engineer. His collection of knowledge helped everyone survive and even prosper. Andrea Norton was next. She was a Syfy writer I enjoyed very much. Especially her Starman's Son. Later I discovered Tolkien and Clancy. I've already talked about Thoreau. Then there is Ellis Peters and her Brother Cadfael's seires. Of course I read Louis Lamour and Aurthur Conan Doyle. I could go on. But wait there's more. In my library you will find books about camping, Military, living off the land, religion (not just Christian books), etc.

One of the best books I have read lately is "The Black Arrow" by Vin Suprynowicz. It takes place in the not to distant future in an America that has gone all wrong. No freedom, no justice, no order just laws and corrupt politicians and goon squads that are more apt to rape than do anything else. Out of this mix comes our hero The Black Arrow. A man who evens the odds with his bow because the people have been disarmed and terrorized by their government. I could not put this book down! The only thing I didn't like about it was it was not mine and I had to return it to the library. I first heard about the book reading Claire Wolfe articles on the Outlaw Life. It seems the older I get the more I want government to get out of my life.

You can read more of Claire Wolfe's article online at the Backwoods Home Magazine web site. You can read Vin Suprynowicz website at http://www.vinsuprynowicz.com.

Sorry Mr President but you have reached your CO2 emissions for today.

Christmas Tree Orniments

Ok, a quick question. Who had a Christmas tree with a Chairman Mao ornament and a Hedda Lettuce - Drag Queen ornament? Think real hard. Need a clue? How about a Mount Rushmore ornament with one of the Presidents faces replaced by Barack Hussein Obama? Bingo, give that man a cigar. The answer is The White House. Sometimes called "The Peoples House". Someone in the administration had the bright idea to hire some "famous" decorator and this is what he came up with.

Mao and a drag queen ornament. I'm so proud of my government. I shouldn't be surprised though. This is the same government that has a Safe School Czar. This man once wrote for a magazine that advocated men having sex with boys. And they gave him a title of Safe School Czar. Makes you wonder what the people who voted for Hussein was thinking about. Wait a minute. They weren't thinking that's the problem.

Chains you can believe in.

The Pine Song

When I was a young lad I would listen to my dad tell of his time in the woods hunting and fishing. When I got old enough I started wandering into the swamp behind our house in Illinois. It was just a one acre wooded puddle but it was the great outdoors to me. Later on when I joined the Boy Scouts my outdoor world really opened up. Camping or hiking throughout the state and even a canoe trip to Canada. I enjoyed the woods.

Then, in high school I took an American Literature class taught by Miss Zimmerman. In her class I was introduced to Henry David Thoreau for the first time. I read “Walden”. I read “Civil Disobedience”. I was hooked. Thoreau touched me in such a way that my woods roaming was never the same. The woods stopped being a bunch of trees in which I played. They became living poetry.

But as with all youthful tales, I grew up. My trips to the woods became more infrequent until they stopped altogether. I became one of those men Thoreau said “were leading lives of quite desperation”.

Years later, when we lived in Manito, Illinois, my wife Mary started playing cards with “the girls” once a month. Since there was a nice state forest outside of town I decided on those days to renew my woods roaming again. The effect was like giving sweet water to a thirsty man. I drank deep. My parched soul was renewed. I started looking forward to Mary’s cards with the girls. Then there was that day…….

I park my truck at the usual spot. It’s November and there’s a nip in the air. It wasn’t quite misting. I wouldn’t call it a fog. It felt like a cloud had settled on the ground for a rest. Haversack and canteen on my shoulder. Staff in my hand. I step onto the trail. It was the Red Trail once again. An old familiar trail for an old familiar walk. But not today. Today was different. The cloud had changed the woods. The first part of the trail lead through the Oaks. Their leaves scattered about. Rice Krispies we call them because they go snap, crackle and pop when you walk on them. But the cloud had quieted them down. I make little noise as I start my walk. Nothing stirs. Not even the squirrels. I’m the only thing moving. My pace slows. I cast my eyes right then left and occasionally down my back trail. A queer feeling grows in my mind. I almost bolt for the truck. “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me”. Stealing myself I walk on. The oaks mark my progress. Their bare branches spray out like giant spiders, swaying in the wind, waiting to pounce. Mighty is their presence. Masters from root to twig. But solitary. Though hundreds, thousands strong they each stand alone. They let me pass unmolested.

Where the trail cuts a fire break I pause. After the oppression of the oaks I should be happy for the open fire lane but the openness worries me. I’ll be exposed as I cross. Who’s watching me. Looking up and down the lane I search for watchers. Guardians to prevent my escape from the oaks. Or to prevent me from entering beyond. The other side is a giant pine phalanx. The trail leads into it’s dark opening. I am drawn towards it. Glancing side to side I trot across the fire lane. I enter The Pines.

After a few paces I stop and check my Six. What is wrong with me? The feeling of Presence is growing. I feel I’m not alone.

Generations ago these pines were planted in straight rows north, south, east and west. In the ensuing years they have grown straight and touching the sky. I’m standing in a Cathedral of trees. Their trunks are pillars holding up a ceiling of green. The lowest branches are high over my head. Pine needles lay in a carpet inches thick.

Silently I move on. My footsteps not making a sound. The wind plays it’s tune and the Pines begin to sing. The sound is soothing like a lullaby. Time slows, I move slow. Then I reach my goal.

A few hikes before I found this place. A bowl, a depression 100 yards across where the pines thin a little but the canopy still covers. The ceiling of boroughs even higher here. Today with the cloud it takes on mystical powers. It reminds me of a Fairy Circle. Where unwary travelers enter in and never return. Held captive by the Fairies for all time. It beckons me. I enter into this alter area, this Holy of Holies, in this cathedral of Pines.

Along the path reclines one of the Patriarchs of the forest laid down by time. I set down and rest on his back. Closing my eyes I listen to the Pine Song. Each branch plucked by the wind. The creaking trunks joining in. Time stops. Eternity in a heartbeat. There is a brush on my cheek and I am back among the pines. Their song has stopped. The cloud has lifted back to the heavens. Time and the world have returned. My heart aches.

At the edge of the bowl I turn and look back. Like Conway in “Lost Horizon” I wonder if I’ll ever see my Shangri-La again. Bowing my head I turn and walk away. I have returned to this spot a few times since but it’s not the same. The magic is not there as I set upon the log longing for a touch that will not come. The world is not the same. The Pine Song has changed it all.