As we approach Christmas, we're all reminded that heavy consumerism can lead to despair, not to mention large amounts of unnecessary debt. And in this particular time, it must be stressed all the more.
My inner struggle today however doesn't deal with those issues.
This is first Christmas I have spent with my family since being baptized Orthodox.
Therefore, the traditions I have grown up with are in conflict with those I am embracing now, and it is hard to explain to others who are not Orthodox. (I.e. Christmas Eve feasts vs fasting, blessing of the waters, long liturgical services on Christmas Eve, etc. etc.)
Here's some information I pulled off a BBC website in regards to the Orthodox calendar:
Christmas is celebrated by Orthodox Christians in Central and Eastern Europe and throughout the world on the 7th of January in the Gregorian Calendar - 13 days after other Christians.
In the East, Christmas is preceded by a 40 day fast beginning on November 15th. This is a time of reflection, self-restraint and inner healing in the sacrament of confession.
Usually, on Christmas Eve, observant Orthodox Christians fast till late evening, until the first star appears. When the star is seen, people lay the table ready for the Christmas supper.
On Christmas Day people takes part in divine liturgy after which many walk in procession to seas, rivers and lakes. Everyone gathers around in the snow for outdoor ceremonies to bless the water. Sometimes rivers are frozen, so people make holes in the ice to bless the water. Some take water home to bless their houses. Then a great feast is held indoors where everyone joins in to eat, drink and enjoy themselves.
A Orthodox Russian custom is to serve Christmas cakes and to sing songs. The tradition is mixed with other pagan traditions of ancient Russia such that people may visit their neighbours in disguises, dance, sing and ask for presents, similar to trick-or-treating.
There are similarities, as well as differences, between the Eastern and Western celebration of Christmas. The Eastern Christmas has a very strong family and social appeal just as it does in the West. It brings people of all generations together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Unlike the West, where Christmas ranks supreme, in the East it is Easter, centred on the cross and the resurrection of Christ, which is the supreme festival of the year. Also, Eastern Orthodox Christmas lacks the commercial side that is so typical to the West.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
A legend in your own mind
This post is dedicated to Wayne Coon Sr., my highschool band director. I got most of my values from my mother, but I got a lot from Mr. Coon. During my formative years he provided a stern leadership I really needed, to help me set goals for the future. After my mother passed away when I was 15, I did get a lot of strength from being in band and having him as a mentor. Many other kids my age that weren't interested in band hated him because of his discipline. He was hard on us. But when he gave praise it was because you knew you had done something extraordinary.
Reminds me of the uncle of William Wallace in Braveheart when he explains to the young warrior, "I will teach you to use this..." (tapping his finger against his skull) "before this..."(tapping the sword hanging on his waist)
Mr. Coon was a phenomenal teacher and also fought in the Korean War. He had the ability to take a kid that was lost and straying, to being a disciplined and fantastic musician.
I remember my senior year, he moved me from 2nd chair trombone to bass in the jazz band. I looked at that thing and I said, "You expect me to play that?"
(The whole idea of being a bass bone player was very intimidating. It was huge and I weighed 100 lbs wet back then)
With a stern look, and without batting an eye he said, "Yes I do. And you will. You have the ability, you just don't know it."
I took it home and started toying with it, thinking, "This man is totally crazy," because I knew what challenges it would bring and what he would expect from me.
After a few weeks, I started kind of getting the hang of it, but balancing the rest of the section was really tough. When the word got out what I was doing, more than just a few eyebrows went up.
I spent countless hours learning more scales, etudes, ballads, and more practice combinations than I care to remember. It was like picking up the horn and learning to play it all over again.
But somehow, after a few months, I began to see a development in myself and a newfound confidence I hadn't had with my playing up to that point. The work paid off because when we started going to contest I just did my thing, and many educators came up to Mr. Coon and asked him where he got his bass bone player.
I made the All State jazz band 5A the following summer just before I packed up to go to college.
Basically, the point of my post is that I was forced to draw upon something within myself that I hadn't before, either because I was too scared or just didn't think I could do it. And that is what's wrong with society today. We don't have enough Mr. Coon's anymore to help us overcome our closet skeletons.
He had a lot of profound sayings too full of life lessons. Some of my favorites were:
1) Never say "I heard." (Meaning don't listen to idle gossip and give in to it.)
2) "You are a legend in your own mind." (Referring to people that had such big heads and egos that they couldn't fit through the door. Gee, how many of those have we all run across in our lives?)
3) If someone walks up to you and insults your clothing, appearance or values, simply walk away.
We as a society, because we're so obsessed with American Idol, Hollywood, pop culture, our possessions, and the haves and the have nots, we've forgotten the fundamentals that define our characters and identity as Americans. We've forgotten what freedom is and how hard it is to keep it. We've forgotten what personal responsibility and integrity are.
We are throwing in the towel, giving in to the criticisms, and not walking away to stand up for this world. We say "I heard" more than "no."
We're becoming legends in our own minds, with no respect for those that would guide us to be something better than ourselves. And we're teaching our youth to do the same.
What will our country be like in 20 years? I don't know if I want to hear the answer to that.
Reminds me of the uncle of William Wallace in Braveheart when he explains to the young warrior, "I will teach you to use this..." (tapping his finger against his skull) "before this..."(tapping the sword hanging on his waist)
Mr. Coon was a phenomenal teacher and also fought in the Korean War. He had the ability to take a kid that was lost and straying, to being a disciplined and fantastic musician.
I remember my senior year, he moved me from 2nd chair trombone to bass in the jazz band. I looked at that thing and I said, "You expect me to play that?"
(The whole idea of being a bass bone player was very intimidating. It was huge and I weighed 100 lbs wet back then)
With a stern look, and without batting an eye he said, "Yes I do. And you will. You have the ability, you just don't know it."
I took it home and started toying with it, thinking, "This man is totally crazy," because I knew what challenges it would bring and what he would expect from me.
After a few weeks, I started kind of getting the hang of it, but balancing the rest of the section was really tough. When the word got out what I was doing, more than just a few eyebrows went up.
I spent countless hours learning more scales, etudes, ballads, and more practice combinations than I care to remember. It was like picking up the horn and learning to play it all over again.
But somehow, after a few months, I began to see a development in myself and a newfound confidence I hadn't had with my playing up to that point. The work paid off because when we started going to contest I just did my thing, and many educators came up to Mr. Coon and asked him where he got his bass bone player.
I made the All State jazz band 5A the following summer just before I packed up to go to college.
Basically, the point of my post is that I was forced to draw upon something within myself that I hadn't before, either because I was too scared or just didn't think I could do it. And that is what's wrong with society today. We don't have enough Mr. Coon's anymore to help us overcome our closet skeletons.
He had a lot of profound sayings too full of life lessons. Some of my favorites were:
1) Never say "I heard." (Meaning don't listen to idle gossip and give in to it.)
2) "You are a legend in your own mind." (Referring to people that had such big heads and egos that they couldn't fit through the door. Gee, how many of those have we all run across in our lives?)
3) If someone walks up to you and insults your clothing, appearance or values, simply walk away.
We as a society, because we're so obsessed with American Idol, Hollywood, pop culture, our possessions, and the haves and the have nots, we've forgotten the fundamentals that define our characters and identity as Americans. We've forgotten what freedom is and how hard it is to keep it. We've forgotten what personal responsibility and integrity are.
We are throwing in the towel, giving in to the criticisms, and not walking away to stand up for this world. We say "I heard" more than "no."
We're becoming legends in our own minds, with no respect for those that would guide us to be something better than ourselves. And we're teaching our youth to do the same.
What will our country be like in 20 years? I don't know if I want to hear the answer to that.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Migraines
I have to write something today about migraines. I suffer from them on a pretty frequent basis, almost twice as much since I moved to Ohio. Today I felt like a mannequin spread out on a bad B movie scientist's table. He began by wiring blood vessels onto my body like rusty Christmas ornament hangers.
One by one, bending them painfully around my plastic lifeless body.
Then came the super glue to hold everything in along with my eyes and extremeties. The smell sent me into a tilt-a-whirl state of nauseadom.
Other times, I'm like the guy in the movie "Poltergeist" standing in front of the mirror tearing his whole face apart. Then out of the corner of his eye he spots the steak crawling across the kitchen cabinet and it explodes into maggots.
Instead of steak though, for me, I see my brains. And they're full of foetid squid-like creatures just like the maggots.
You ever see close up microscopic images of jellyfish????
These are just a few of the delightful experiences I have when I experience these mind altering headaches. At least they seem mind altering. When the dizziness comes and I can't feel my fingers and mouth, life gets pretty interesting.
Well at least I'm actually up and typing this today instead of lying in a pool of drool in a mental house.
Ahhh, the joys of PTSD.
One by one, bending them painfully around my plastic lifeless body.
Then came the super glue to hold everything in along with my eyes and extremeties. The smell sent me into a tilt-a-whirl state of nauseadom.
Other times, I'm like the guy in the movie "Poltergeist" standing in front of the mirror tearing his whole face apart. Then out of the corner of his eye he spots the steak crawling across the kitchen cabinet and it explodes into maggots.
Instead of steak though, for me, I see my brains. And they're full of foetid squid-like creatures just like the maggots.
You ever see close up microscopic images of jellyfish????
These are just a few of the delightful experiences I have when I experience these mind altering headaches. At least they seem mind altering. When the dizziness comes and I can't feel my fingers and mouth, life gets pretty interesting.
Well at least I'm actually up and typing this today instead of lying in a pool of drool in a mental house.
Ahhh, the joys of PTSD.
Friday, November 28, 2008
George Mitchell
I heard George Mitchell, a Democrat, speak today (yes on CSPAN) and I was really impressed with his insights on America's economic, political, and moral issues. He's more centrist than left, and when he talks he makes complete sense, answers questions thoroughly and thoughtfully, and is a very eloquent speaker. If Barack Obama had half the abilities of this man and not been so caught up in his own euphoria, I would have been more receptive to his message.
I picked up some stuff off wikipedia to post here about Mitchell:
In 1974 he won the Democratic nomination for governor of Maine, defeating Joseph Brennan. Mitchell lost in the general election to independent candidate James B. Longley, but was appointed United States Attorney for Maine by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Mitchell served in that capacity from 1977 to 1979 when he was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Maine. Mitchell served as a federal judge until he was appointed to the United States Senate in May 1980 by the governor of Maine, Joseph Brennan, when Edmund Muskie resigned to become U.S. Secretary of State.
Since 1995, he has been active in the Northern Ireland peace process as U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland. Mitchell first led a commission that established the principles on non-violence to which all parties in Northern Ireland had to adhere and subsequently chaired the all-party peace negotiations, which led to the Belfast Peace Agreement signed on Good Friday 1998 (known since as the Good Friday Agreement). Mitchell's personal intervention with the parties was crucial to the success of the talks. He was succeeded as special envoy by Richard Haass. For his involvement in the Northern Ireland peace negotiations, Mitchell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom[4] (on March 17, 1999) and the Liberty Medal (on July 4, 1998).
This is a man that should be in Obama's cabinet, but because he has prostate cancer might be the reason he wasn't offered a position.
On March 29, 2006, ESPN learned that Mitchell would head an investigation into past steroid use by Major League Baseball players. Mitchell was asked by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to investigate steroids charges, mainly against Barry Bonds, brought by recent revelations in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) trials of Victor Conte and Greg Anderson. Selig has said that revelations brought forth in the 2005 book "Game of Shadows" were, by way of calling attention to the issue, in part responsible for the league's decision to commission an independent investigation. To this day he is known to have held meetings with only two active players, Jason Giambi, who was ordered to meet Mitchell by Commissioner Selig in light of his public admissions on the issue, and one additional player whose name was initially not made public but was later revealed to be Frank Thomas. Mitchell did however hold extensive meetings with several known steroid dealers, club attendants, personal trainers, and others who had ties to all players named in the report. Even though the union that protects the players had pressured all but Giambi and Thomas into maintaining the culture of silence that had helped the drug problem remain a secret, there was plenty of other evidence aginst those named in his report.
Mitchell released a 409-page report of his findings on December 13, 2007. The report includes the names of 89 former and current players for whom it claims evidence of use of steroids or other prohibited substances exists. This list includes names of Most Valuable Players and All-Stars, such as Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada, Denny Neagle, Paul Lo Duca, David Justice, Barry Bonds, Eric Gagné, Todd Hundley, Randy Velarde, and Benito Santiago.
Mitchell has, in a way, taken on a role similar to that of John M. Dowd, who investigated Pete Rose's gambling in 1989.
Books
Great American Lighthouses (August 1989)
World on Fire: Saving an Endangered Earth (January 1991)
Not For America Alone: The Triumph of Democracy and The Fall of Communism (May 1997)
Making Peace (April 1999 — 1st Edition, July 2000 — Updated)
I picked up some stuff off wikipedia to post here about Mitchell:
In 1974 he won the Democratic nomination for governor of Maine, defeating Joseph Brennan. Mitchell lost in the general election to independent candidate James B. Longley, but was appointed United States Attorney for Maine by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Mitchell served in that capacity from 1977 to 1979 when he was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Maine. Mitchell served as a federal judge until he was appointed to the United States Senate in May 1980 by the governor of Maine, Joseph Brennan, when Edmund Muskie resigned to become U.S. Secretary of State.
Since 1995, he has been active in the Northern Ireland peace process as U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland. Mitchell first led a commission that established the principles on non-violence to which all parties in Northern Ireland had to adhere and subsequently chaired the all-party peace negotiations, which led to the Belfast Peace Agreement signed on Good Friday 1998 (known since as the Good Friday Agreement). Mitchell's personal intervention with the parties was crucial to the success of the talks. He was succeeded as special envoy by Richard Haass. For his involvement in the Northern Ireland peace negotiations, Mitchell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom[4] (on March 17, 1999) and the Liberty Medal (on July 4, 1998).
This is a man that should be in Obama's cabinet, but because he has prostate cancer might be the reason he wasn't offered a position.
On March 29, 2006, ESPN learned that Mitchell would head an investigation into past steroid use by Major League Baseball players. Mitchell was asked by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to investigate steroids charges, mainly against Barry Bonds, brought by recent revelations in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) trials of Victor Conte and Greg Anderson. Selig has said that revelations brought forth in the 2005 book "Game of Shadows" were, by way of calling attention to the issue, in part responsible for the league's decision to commission an independent investigation. To this day he is known to have held meetings with only two active players, Jason Giambi, who was ordered to meet Mitchell by Commissioner Selig in light of his public admissions on the issue, and one additional player whose name was initially not made public but was later revealed to be Frank Thomas. Mitchell did however hold extensive meetings with several known steroid dealers, club attendants, personal trainers, and others who had ties to all players named in the report. Even though the union that protects the players had pressured all but Giambi and Thomas into maintaining the culture of silence that had helped the drug problem remain a secret, there was plenty of other evidence aginst those named in his report.
Mitchell released a 409-page report of his findings on December 13, 2007. The report includes the names of 89 former and current players for whom it claims evidence of use of steroids or other prohibited substances exists. This list includes names of Most Valuable Players and All-Stars, such as Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada, Denny Neagle, Paul Lo Duca, David Justice, Barry Bonds, Eric Gagné, Todd Hundley, Randy Velarde, and Benito Santiago.
Mitchell has, in a way, taken on a role similar to that of John M. Dowd, who investigated Pete Rose's gambling in 1989.
Books
Great American Lighthouses (August 1989)
World on Fire: Saving an Endangered Earth (January 1991)
Not For America Alone: The Triumph of Democracy and The Fall of Communism (May 1997)
Making Peace (April 1999 — 1st Edition, July 2000 — Updated)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
"Good morning, Vietnam!"
I watched a show this morning on CSPAN about Adrian Cronauer, the famous DJ portrayed by Robin Williams in "Good morning, Vietnam."
He described his experience, which was very different than the Hollywood version. No surprise there.
While in Crete, he volunteered for Vietnam service just before the attacks on Saigon. Just before he was to leave the reports came in and there was nothing he could do at that point to avoid it.
He explained that there was no censorship regarding what music they could play, all that polka stuff was apparently made up. And they did post news and weather reports for the troops, but once the Vietcong caught onto when they were moving their locations due to rain, they had to stop.
In all the interviews he did out in the field, he said that he didn't encounter baby killers, rapists or any such thing as our media and the left would have us believe, just scared young men who'd been plucked from their homes and thrown into a jungle in a foreign country. They were dedicated to what they did.
He did say there was a restaurant that was bombed out on a boat, much like the "Jimmy Wong's" in the movie. And when he tried to report it they hadn't confirmed the casualty count so that's why he couldn't do it.
The "Gooooood morning, Vietnam!" was actually something he threw in as he was readying his tapes and material at the last minute before he started the show.
I remember at All Star band camp I helped out with in the 80's we rigged up a PA system in the dorms and blasted that down the hallways to get the kids out of bed at 5am.
Goooood times!
He described his experience, which was very different than the Hollywood version. No surprise there.
While in Crete, he volunteered for Vietnam service just before the attacks on Saigon. Just before he was to leave the reports came in and there was nothing he could do at that point to avoid it.
He explained that there was no censorship regarding what music they could play, all that polka stuff was apparently made up. And they did post news and weather reports for the troops, but once the Vietcong caught onto when they were moving their locations due to rain, they had to stop.
In all the interviews he did out in the field, he said that he didn't encounter baby killers, rapists or any such thing as our media and the left would have us believe, just scared young men who'd been plucked from their homes and thrown into a jungle in a foreign country. They were dedicated to what they did.
He did say there was a restaurant that was bombed out on a boat, much like the "Jimmy Wong's" in the movie. And when he tried to report it they hadn't confirmed the casualty count so that's why he couldn't do it.
The "Gooooood morning, Vietnam!" was actually something he threw in as he was readying his tapes and material at the last minute before he started the show.
I remember at All Star band camp I helped out with in the 80's we rigged up a PA system in the dorms and blasted that down the hallways to get the kids out of bed at 5am.
Goooood times!
Friday, November 21, 2008
The death of everything
I should play a dirge celebrating the dawn of a new era, of change and hope. I'm going to go down a bottle of champagne in the name of progress. I have so many reasons to do so!!!
1. Death of capitalism and the free market (Michael Moore's idiotic statement)
2. Death of IRA's and the profitable stock market
3. Death of health care as we know it (socialized medicine)
4. Death of decent public education
5. Death of Guantanamo Bay (We have to let those terrorists go because it's just too mean to keep them there. You think I'm against torture if it will save American lives?? HELL NO! Have we forgotten 9/11? Have we forgotten the beheading of our own citizens on TV??? Do we honestly think that Al-Qaeda is going to show Americans any mercy??? Should we keep Gitmo open? YES, WE CAN!!!)
6. Death of journalism (actually that died a long time ago so I'm a little late celebrating that one)
7. Death of American jobs
8. Death of Christianity as we know it in the United States of America
9. Death of our Constitution
10. Death of the U.S. dollar
I asked my husband if he wanted to host his team at our home for Christmas.
His reply:
"No, because we've laid off too many people. Nobody is in the mood to celebrate this year and it wouldn't be fair to ask them to come when they can't."
I can't WAIT for the change to come to this country!!!
1. Death of capitalism and the free market (Michael Moore's idiotic statement)
2. Death of IRA's and the profitable stock market
3. Death of health care as we know it (socialized medicine)
4. Death of decent public education
5. Death of Guantanamo Bay (We have to let those terrorists go because it's just too mean to keep them there. You think I'm against torture if it will save American lives?? HELL NO! Have we forgotten 9/11? Have we forgotten the beheading of our own citizens on TV??? Do we honestly think that Al-Qaeda is going to show Americans any mercy??? Should we keep Gitmo open? YES, WE CAN!!!)
6. Death of journalism (actually that died a long time ago so I'm a little late celebrating that one)
7. Death of American jobs
8. Death of Christianity as we know it in the United States of America
9. Death of our Constitution
10. Death of the U.S. dollar
I asked my husband if he wanted to host his team at our home for Christmas.
His reply:
"No, because we've laid off too many people. Nobody is in the mood to celebrate this year and it wouldn't be fair to ask them to come when they can't."
I can't WAIT for the change to come to this country!!!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Soviet regime returning to Eastern Europe
They say we are not headed toward another Cold War and that the KGB is dead. Think again.
September 18, 2008
By Geraldine Fagan
Forum 18 News Service (Excerpts)
Fr Ioann Grudnitsky – who has already been fined for conducting services without state registration – faced further intimidation when he conducted the funeral of a parishioner in the village of Ruzhany, he told Forum 18 News Service. Village Council leader Leonid Moskalevich showed him an order from the KGB secret police banning him from leading the funeral as his parish – he is under the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad Provisional Supreme Church Authority – is not registered. However, he went ahead while Moskalevich and a police officer observed. "After working our whole lives in factories and on collective farms, sacrificing our health and receiving a tiny pension, we've reached a point where we have to ask permission from the local KGB secret police to organise a funeral!" the parishioners complained in an open letter to the President. "The local KGB has no right whatsoever to interfere in the life of the church." Moskalevich denied to Forum 18 that the document had come from the KGB or that it was a ban. Meanwhile, Grodno-based Baptist pastor Yuri Kravchuk is the latest pastor to be fined for leading unregistered worship.
The KGB secret police in Pruzhany District, close to the border with Poland, has tried to stop an Orthodox priest from leading a funeral in the local village of Ruzhany, the priest, Fr Ioann Grudnitsky, told Forum 18 News Service on 16 September. "They're starting to meddle in believers' affairs again." Yet Leonid Moskalevich, who heads Ruzhany Village Council (Brest Region), denied to Forum 18 that this was the case on 17 September: "It wasn't like that at all."
In Belarus, religious activity not sanctioned by the state is subject to prosecution under Soviet-era provisions of the Administrative Violations Code. Yuri Kravchuk, a Baptist pastor in the north-western regional centre of Grodno, is the latest to be fined.
After displaying a document from Pruzhany District KGB prohibiting Fr Ioann from conducting the funeral of Ruzhany parishioner Nina Levizarovich on 23 July, Moskalevich and a local police officer remained for the service's duration at the village cemetery, Fr Ioann told Forum 18. While the state representatives did not stop the funeral from going ahead, said the priest, they refused to give him a copy of the KGB instruction.
Ruzhany parishioners are "indignant" that Moskalevich, the village council chairman, threatened Fr Ioann with the KGB secret police instruction forbidding him to conduct the funeral. Before her death, Levizarovich had specifically requested that Fr Ioann lead her funeral, they point out in an open letter to President Aleksandr Lukashenko published on the Russian religious affairs website Portal-Credo on 10 September.
"After working our whole lives in factories and on collective farms, sacrificing our health and receiving a tiny pension, we've reached a point where we have to ask permission from the local KGB secret police to organise a funeral!" the parishioners exclaim in disbelief. "The local KGB has no right whatsoever to interfere in the life of the church – first and foremost they should shed tears of repentance on behalf of their Chekist predecessors who swam in human blood."
The Belarusian KGB – which has not changed its name since Soviet times - has made no attempt to distance itself from its Soviet past. It proudly traces its history back to the first Soviet secret police, the Cheka, which was founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky.
September 18, 2008
By Geraldine Fagan
Forum 18 News Service (Excerpts)
Fr Ioann Grudnitsky – who has already been fined for conducting services without state registration – faced further intimidation when he conducted the funeral of a parishioner in the village of Ruzhany, he told Forum 18 News Service. Village Council leader Leonid Moskalevich showed him an order from the KGB secret police banning him from leading the funeral as his parish – he is under the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad Provisional Supreme Church Authority – is not registered. However, he went ahead while Moskalevich and a police officer observed. "After working our whole lives in factories and on collective farms, sacrificing our health and receiving a tiny pension, we've reached a point where we have to ask permission from the local KGB secret police to organise a funeral!" the parishioners complained in an open letter to the President. "The local KGB has no right whatsoever to interfere in the life of the church." Moskalevich denied to Forum 18 that the document had come from the KGB or that it was a ban. Meanwhile, Grodno-based Baptist pastor Yuri Kravchuk is the latest pastor to be fined for leading unregistered worship.
The KGB secret police in Pruzhany District, close to the border with Poland, has tried to stop an Orthodox priest from leading a funeral in the local village of Ruzhany, the priest, Fr Ioann Grudnitsky, told Forum 18 News Service on 16 September. "They're starting to meddle in believers' affairs again." Yet Leonid Moskalevich, who heads Ruzhany Village Council (Brest Region), denied to Forum 18 that this was the case on 17 September: "It wasn't like that at all."
In Belarus, religious activity not sanctioned by the state is subject to prosecution under Soviet-era provisions of the Administrative Violations Code. Yuri Kravchuk, a Baptist pastor in the north-western regional centre of Grodno, is the latest to be fined.
After displaying a document from Pruzhany District KGB prohibiting Fr Ioann from conducting the funeral of Ruzhany parishioner Nina Levizarovich on 23 July, Moskalevich and a local police officer remained for the service's duration at the village cemetery, Fr Ioann told Forum 18. While the state representatives did not stop the funeral from going ahead, said the priest, they refused to give him a copy of the KGB instruction.
Ruzhany parishioners are "indignant" that Moskalevich, the village council chairman, threatened Fr Ioann with the KGB secret police instruction forbidding him to conduct the funeral. Before her death, Levizarovich had specifically requested that Fr Ioann lead her funeral, they point out in an open letter to President Aleksandr Lukashenko published on the Russian religious affairs website Portal-Credo on 10 September.
"After working our whole lives in factories and on collective farms, sacrificing our health and receiving a tiny pension, we've reached a point where we have to ask permission from the local KGB secret police to organise a funeral!" the parishioners exclaim in disbelief. "The local KGB has no right whatsoever to interfere in the life of the church – first and foremost they should shed tears of repentance on behalf of their Chekist predecessors who swam in human blood."
The Belarusian KGB – which has not changed its name since Soviet times - has made no attempt to distance itself from its Soviet past. It proudly traces its history back to the first Soviet secret police, the Cheka, which was founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Thanks Ohio
Ohio is a blue state thanks to ACORN. Well, I can't personally prove that LOL. But I can say that I was hounded by their workers at a summer festival I attended in July. At least 3 different people from their organization approached me with forms to fill out wanting me to register and said it would be more convenient than voting on election day. All they needed was my signature and last four of my SSN.
When I told them no they repeatedly hounded me until I walked away. When I finally did register at the county election office, they didn't ask for my ID, didn't confirm my address with a utility bill, nothing. I suspect this happened all over the state. Apparently a park bench can be given as an address if a voter wants.
So that means if a person said "this bench is my house" or "that bench is my house" and he can go to any county election office and give his name, "address" and some 4 digits of an SSN, he could theoretically vote multiple times. Nobody checked my information when I went to register. All those people that filled out multiple forms with ACORN probably did get registered multiple times. So probably thanks to ACORN we bought Obama's election for him.
And it didn't just happen in Ohio. It happened in numerous states, so to compare this with the FL recount in 2000 aint gonna cut it as a legitimate argument. Dead people can be resurrected through this kind of vote. Illegal aliens can be allowed to vote...yet our military has to go through so much bs and red tape to vote.
I don't think the Obama supporters out there have really given this a lot of thought. They bought into the cult...I keep wondering if he asked people to jump off a cliff, would they?
And also, look for your electricity bills to skyrocket. If the coal industry gets bankrupted like he says he will do...don't come crying to us.
"Let me sort of describe my overall policy. What I've said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else's out there.
I was the first to call for a 100% auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year. So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."
Hmm sounds like the press was in the back mixing more koolaid when this story broke.
Sure sounds good doesn't it? Punish the evil coal industry. Just remember this when you get your bills. And when you need a can of soda pop, look for that to go up too. Soda plants emit CO2.
DON'T BLAME BUSH. ALL YOU WILL HAVE TO DO IS LOOK IN THE MIRROR.
When I told them no they repeatedly hounded me until I walked away. When I finally did register at the county election office, they didn't ask for my ID, didn't confirm my address with a utility bill, nothing. I suspect this happened all over the state. Apparently a park bench can be given as an address if a voter wants.
So that means if a person said "this bench is my house" or "that bench is my house" and he can go to any county election office and give his name, "address" and some 4 digits of an SSN, he could theoretically vote multiple times. Nobody checked my information when I went to register. All those people that filled out multiple forms with ACORN probably did get registered multiple times. So probably thanks to ACORN we bought Obama's election for him.
And it didn't just happen in Ohio. It happened in numerous states, so to compare this with the FL recount in 2000 aint gonna cut it as a legitimate argument. Dead people can be resurrected through this kind of vote. Illegal aliens can be allowed to vote...yet our military has to go through so much bs and red tape to vote.
I don't think the Obama supporters out there have really given this a lot of thought. They bought into the cult...I keep wondering if he asked people to jump off a cliff, would they?
And also, look for your electricity bills to skyrocket. If the coal industry gets bankrupted like he says he will do...don't come crying to us.
"Let me sort of describe my overall policy. What I've said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else's out there.
I was the first to call for a 100% auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year. So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."
Hmm sounds like the press was in the back mixing more koolaid when this story broke.
Sure sounds good doesn't it? Punish the evil coal industry. Just remember this when you get your bills. And when you need a can of soda pop, look for that to go up too. Soda plants emit CO2.
DON'T BLAME BUSH. ALL YOU WILL HAVE TO DO IS LOOK IN THE MIRROR.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
What I've wanted to say all along
I think this bumper sticker expresses my feelings on the matter pretty well.
Today's news
Well, I'm not giving up my fight against the Marxist left. This is my blog and until my free speech rights are taken away, I'm going to fire away at Obama every chance I get. We had to endure all the Bush bashing for eight years. So now it's MY TIME!
So as often as I can, I will add snippets on here to illustrate just what we are in for.
A Romanian architect I met not long ago informed me that he and his family left his country and came to America because of Communism, and that if we don't pull our heads out of the sand, America is headed down that same path.
A Bulgarian woman in her late 80's came to America for the same reasons. She doesn't even want to hear the words "Barack Obama" muttered in her presence.
A Russian hairdresser I knew in Kansas City echoes those sentiments.
An Italian-Greek couple I know saw generations of their families come to America because of freedom. Now they are wondering where that freedom is.
"You have to pinch yourself - a Marxist radical who all his life has been mentored by, sat at the feet of, worshiped with, befriended, endorsed the philosophy of, funded and been in turn funded, politically promoted and supported by a nexus comprising black power anti-white racists, Jew-haters, revolutionary Marxists, unrepentant former terrorists and Chicago mobsters, is on the verge of becoming President of the United States. And apparently it's considered impolite to say so."
- Melanie Philips, The Spectator ( UK ) 10/14/08
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Obituary London Times
It's a little long, but I think we should pay our respects....
An Obituary printed in the London Times........ Interesting and sadly,
rather true.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who
Has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn't always fair;
and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend
more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children,
are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place.
Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing
a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after
lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only
worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the
job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly
children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental
Consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could
not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an
abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses;
And criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a
burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in
her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents Truth and Trust,
by his wife, Discretion
his daughter, Responsibility,
and his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights.
I Want It Now.
Someone Else Is To Blame.
I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If
You still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do
nothing.
An Obituary printed in the London Times........ Interesting and sadly,
rather true.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who
Has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn't always fair;
and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend
more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children,
are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place.
Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing
a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after
lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only
worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the
job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly
children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental
Consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could
not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an
abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses;
And criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a
burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in
her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents Truth and Trust,
by his wife, Discretion
his daughter, Responsibility,
and his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights.
I Want It Now.
Someone Else Is To Blame.
I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If
You still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do
nothing.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
My friend Bill Ayers
I have this friend Bill Ayers, you see, and he, well, he did some things that were kind of bad.
From wikipedia:
In 1969, Ayers participated in planting a bomb at a statue dedicated to riot police casualties in the 1886 Haymarket Riot confrontation between labor supporters and the police.[10] The blast broke almost 100 windows and blew pieces of the statue onto the nearby Kennedy Expressway.[11] (The statue was rebuilt and unveiled on May 4, 1970, and blown up again by other Weathermen on October 6, 1970.
Ayers participated in the bombings of New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, the United States Capitol building in 1971, and The Pentagon in 1972, as he noted in his 2001 book, Fugitive Days. Because of a water leak caused by the Pentagon bombing, aerial bombardments during the Vietnam War had to be halted for several days. Ayers writes:
Although the bomb that rocked the Pentagon was itsy-bitsy - weighing close to two pounds - it caused 'tens of thousands of dollars' of damage. The operation cost under $500, and no one was killed or even hurt.[14]
Ayers was asked in a January 2004 interview, "How do you feel about what you did? Would you do it again under similar circumstances?" He replied:[27] "I've thought about this a lot. Being almost 60, it's impossible to not have lots and lots of regrets about lots and lots of things, but the question of did we do something that was horrendous, awful? ... I don't think so. I think what we did was to respond to a situation that was unconscionable."
Did my friend Bill Ayers serve a day in jail for those atrocities? Absolutely not.
Ayers is currently a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education. His interests include teaching for social justice, urban educational reform, narrative and interpretive research, children in trouble with the law, and related issues.[2]
He began his career in primary education while an undergraduate, teaching at the Children’s Community School (CCS), a project founded by a group of students and based on the Summerhill method of education. After leaving the underground, he earned an M.Ed from Bank Street College in Early Childhood Education (1984), an M.Ed from Teachers College, Columbia University in Early Childhood Education (1987) and an Ed.D from Teachers College, Columbia University in Curriculum and Instruction (1987). He has edited and written many books and articles on education theory, policy and practice, and has appeared on many panels and symposia.
People make excuses for Obama all the time, saying, "Well we've all had associations we're not proud of." Would they use this same logic if McCain had been an association of Timothy McVeigh's? I think the answer would be very different then.
Here's something to think about: Let's say you have a 16 year old daughter that gets pregnant by the punk that threatened his teachers, had a gun in his backpack and used a pipe bomb at the school? Would you say, "Oh he's just a young kid going through a phase...he'll grow out of it." How would you feel about your daughter having a child by this young man, hence an "association?" Would you be okay with that association? Well, wait a minute. I know what some of you might do. You'd make that girl have an abortion and then you'd run that kid out of your life, never to speak to him again.
Funny how people turn off their radars and red flags for one but not the other. We're electing a President, not a Hollywood celebrity. But America is so caught up with Obamamania, it won't matter. There will be a movie about him at some point. Heck, at all the Halloween stores I've been to, kids go crazy over the Obama masks and the others sit in a pile. It's very sad when we elevate a King to run our country. The "Obama Temple" is but a small part of things to come.
From wikipedia:
In 1969, Ayers participated in planting a bomb at a statue dedicated to riot police casualties in the 1886 Haymarket Riot confrontation between labor supporters and the police.[10] The blast broke almost 100 windows and blew pieces of the statue onto the nearby Kennedy Expressway.[11] (The statue was rebuilt and unveiled on May 4, 1970, and blown up again by other Weathermen on October 6, 1970.
Ayers participated in the bombings of New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, the United States Capitol building in 1971, and The Pentagon in 1972, as he noted in his 2001 book, Fugitive Days. Because of a water leak caused by the Pentagon bombing, aerial bombardments during the Vietnam War had to be halted for several days. Ayers writes:
Although the bomb that rocked the Pentagon was itsy-bitsy - weighing close to two pounds - it caused 'tens of thousands of dollars' of damage. The operation cost under $500, and no one was killed or even hurt.[14]
Ayers was asked in a January 2004 interview, "How do you feel about what you did? Would you do it again under similar circumstances?" He replied:[27] "I've thought about this a lot. Being almost 60, it's impossible to not have lots and lots of regrets about lots and lots of things, but the question of did we do something that was horrendous, awful? ... I don't think so. I think what we did was to respond to a situation that was unconscionable."
Did my friend Bill Ayers serve a day in jail for those atrocities? Absolutely not.
Ayers is currently a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education. His interests include teaching for social justice, urban educational reform, narrative and interpretive research, children in trouble with the law, and related issues.[2]
He began his career in primary education while an undergraduate, teaching at the Children’s Community School (CCS), a project founded by a group of students and based on the Summerhill method of education. After leaving the underground, he earned an M.Ed from Bank Street College in Early Childhood Education (1984), an M.Ed from Teachers College, Columbia University in Early Childhood Education (1987) and an Ed.D from Teachers College, Columbia University in Curriculum and Instruction (1987). He has edited and written many books and articles on education theory, policy and practice, and has appeared on many panels and symposia.
People make excuses for Obama all the time, saying, "Well we've all had associations we're not proud of." Would they use this same logic if McCain had been an association of Timothy McVeigh's? I think the answer would be very different then.
Here's something to think about: Let's say you have a 16 year old daughter that gets pregnant by the punk that threatened his teachers, had a gun in his backpack and used a pipe bomb at the school? Would you say, "Oh he's just a young kid going through a phase...he'll grow out of it." How would you feel about your daughter having a child by this young man, hence an "association?" Would you be okay with that association? Well, wait a minute. I know what some of you might do. You'd make that girl have an abortion and then you'd run that kid out of your life, never to speak to him again.
Funny how people turn off their radars and red flags for one but not the other. We're electing a President, not a Hollywood celebrity. But America is so caught up with Obamamania, it won't matter. There will be a movie about him at some point. Heck, at all the Halloween stores I've been to, kids go crazy over the Obama masks and the others sit in a pile. It's very sad when we elevate a King to run our country. The "Obama Temple" is but a small part of things to come.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Now you know
Question: What is America's first line of missile interceptor defense that protects the entire United States?
Answer: 49th Missile Defense Battalion of Alaska National Guard.
Question: What is the ONLY National Guard unit on permanent active duty?
Answer: 49th Missile Defense Battalion of Alaska National Guard
Question: Who is the Commander in Chief of the 49th Missile Defense Battalion of Alaska National Guard?
Answer: Governor Sarah Palin, Alaska
Question: What U.S. governor is routinely briefed on highly classified military issues, homeland security, and counter terrorism?
Answer: Governor Sarah Palin, Alaska
Question: What U.S. governor has a higher classified security rating than either candidate of the
Democrat Party?
Answer: Governor Sarah Palin, Alaska
According to the Washington Post, she first met with McCain in February, but nobody ever found out. This is a woman used to keeping secrets. She can be entrusted with our national security, because she already is.
Now you know!
Answer: 49th Missile Defense Battalion of Alaska National Guard.
Question: What is the ONLY National Guard unit on permanent active duty?
Answer: 49th Missile Defense Battalion of Alaska National Guard
Question: Who is the Commander in Chief of the 49th Missile Defense Battalion of Alaska National Guard?
Answer: Governor Sarah Palin, Alaska
Question: What U.S. governor is routinely briefed on highly classified military issues, homeland security, and counter terrorism?
Answer: Governor Sarah Palin, Alaska
Question: What U.S. governor has a higher classified security rating than either candidate of the
Democrat Party?
Answer: Governor Sarah Palin, Alaska
According to the Washington Post, she first met with McCain in February, but nobody ever found out. This is a woman used to keeping secrets. She can be entrusted with our national security, because she already is.
Now you know!
Where's Michelle?
In almost every video I've watched of Obama lately, I see a lot of closeups of him with the American flags right behind. Fair enough. McCain does the same thing, as well as every candidate we've seen in the past. But what I can't understand is, why is Michelle not standing right behind her husband urging support for him? You see Cindy McCain with John McCain everywhere he goes, right behind him. You see Todd Palin and all their kids at times with Sarah Palin.
Only after the big speech do you see Barack's wife nowadays. I don't know if it's tension at home, but Michelle is tight lipped and looks nervous all the time. She definitely isn't introducing Barak as "my honey, my baby's daddy" anymore. I guess that big plane of Barack's is only big enough for his ego.
Only after the big speech do you see Barack's wife nowadays. I don't know if it's tension at home, but Michelle is tight lipped and looks nervous all the time. She definitely isn't introducing Barak as "my honey, my baby's daddy" anymore. I guess that big plane of Barack's is only big enough for his ego.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Channel One Suite
I've had some requests for the full version of "Channel One Suite" I posted on youtube. Since it's limited to 10 minutes I couldn't get the whole thing there. I'm happy to announce that I have it available on yousendit.com. Copy and paste the URL into your browser and you should be able to download it.
https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=614549849&email=1815c3859b06f563bedd47da5be97cc4
https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=614549849&email=1815c3859b06f563bedd47da5be97cc4
Friday, October 10, 2008
Delusional Christians
It's fascinating to watch atheists denounce Christians as delusional, say the Bible is mythology and that all God believers should be locked away, and imply that if we just "dispel" our faith we will be intelligent like them.
Well got a news flash for ya, liberals. Obama has said he is a Christian, goes to church and reads his Bible. Yet many of you are going to vote for him because you can't fathom voting for the McCain/Palin ticket. So I don't see how you can argue this and be okay with it. I see a very big hole in this logic.
Either way, looks like we will have another Christian president on our hands. Unless you guys really think deep down Obama isn't "really" a Christian and you can make an exception?? That it's okay to bash the Republican ticket over religion, but not Obama's?
Also, the American Psychiatric Association literature, as well as the DSM-IV reference book, do not promote religious beliefs as delusional.
And the Bible has not been officially endorsed by ANY secular organization worth any salt as mythology.
Well got a news flash for ya, liberals. Obama has said he is a Christian, goes to church and reads his Bible. Yet many of you are going to vote for him because you can't fathom voting for the McCain/Palin ticket. So I don't see how you can argue this and be okay with it. I see a very big hole in this logic.
Either way, looks like we will have another Christian president on our hands. Unless you guys really think deep down Obama isn't "really" a Christian and you can make an exception?? That it's okay to bash the Republican ticket over religion, but not Obama's?
Also, the American Psychiatric Association literature, as well as the DSM-IV reference book, do not promote religious beliefs as delusional.
And the Bible has not been officially endorsed by ANY secular organization worth any salt as mythology.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Bob Beckel is a liar
Yesterday on Fox News, Bob Beckel went on record to say that the voting process in Ohio being classified as dubious is an outright lie. That you can't walk into a booth with no ID and just get a ballot and they don't check it.
Well I am an Ohio voter, and here is exactly what happened to me:
I walked into the County Election office, had my ID and a utility bill ready to give the lady, and she said she did not need it. WHAT? No ID or proof of address???
No, just fill out the form and be sure to put the last digits of your SSN. So I did.
Then she asked me if I wanted to vote today as an absentee. I asked, well don't you have to give a reason to be absentee?
Nope.
It took me about 15 minutes to fill out everything and vote right there on the spot. They entered my name and address in the database but did not check my SSN to ensure I was who I said I was. I watched them do it right in front of me.
It was convenient I will say that, but it's really spooky that we can be so cavalier about our Presidential elections. You have to practically give your firstborn when you apply for a mortgage but to vote in Ohio apparently all you need to be able to do is read a form and sign it.
Cuba Gooding Jr. was in Dayton OH this week at a local University to encourage kids to vote. He walked about 100 of them over to the election office (can you say publicity stunt?) where, just outside of the 100 feet marker by the entrance, is a big sign that reads: Obama 08: Change we need. Vote today!!!
Shame on you Bob Beckel for being a liar. How much did Obama pay you to say those things on Fox News???
Well I am an Ohio voter, and here is exactly what happened to me:
I walked into the County Election office, had my ID and a utility bill ready to give the lady, and she said she did not need it. WHAT? No ID or proof of address???
No, just fill out the form and be sure to put the last digits of your SSN. So I did.
Then she asked me if I wanted to vote today as an absentee. I asked, well don't you have to give a reason to be absentee?
Nope.
It took me about 15 minutes to fill out everything and vote right there on the spot. They entered my name and address in the database but did not check my SSN to ensure I was who I said I was. I watched them do it right in front of me.
It was convenient I will say that, but it's really spooky that we can be so cavalier about our Presidential elections. You have to practically give your firstborn when you apply for a mortgage but to vote in Ohio apparently all you need to be able to do is read a form and sign it.
Cuba Gooding Jr. was in Dayton OH this week at a local University to encourage kids to vote. He walked about 100 of them over to the election office (can you say publicity stunt?) where, just outside of the 100 feet marker by the entrance, is a big sign that reads: Obama 08: Change we need. Vote today!!!
Shame on you Bob Beckel for being a liar. How much did Obama pay you to say those things on Fox News???
Friday, October 3, 2008
I think these videos say it all
These video may not last too long on youtube. Watch them NOW.
1) This one shows the "family" of Fannie Mae and the Democrats.
2) This one shows the coverup by Democrats to regulate Fannie and Freddie despite the Republican's demands. Note 4:51 and 6:05.
3) Here's Bill OReilly really ramming it to Barney Frank:
1) This one shows the "family" of Fannie Mae and the Democrats.
2) This one shows the coverup by Democrats to regulate Fannie and Freddie despite the Republican's demands. Note 4:51 and 6:05.
3) Here's Bill OReilly really ramming it to Barney Frank:
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Criticism of Sarah Palin
I find it really funny how people keep saying that Sarah Palin doesn't have enough "experience" to be a VP of our country. What exactly is this "experience" that the people want?
1) Being able to artfully spin your way out of an argument, thus avoiding any tough questions
2) Going on partisan friendly news shows so that you don't have to get grilled on anything you disagree with
3) Taking advantage of the recent mortgage crisis and doing nothing to stop it (Can you say Nancy Pukosi, Dingy Harry, Chris Dood and Barney Fife?)
4) Asking for $700 billion with no strings attached to bail out our markets?
5) Saying that FDR made a TV announcement after the 1929 market crash?
6) Getting "serviced" in the Oval Office
7) Being able to have an anti-American mentor/pastor for over 20 years and be immune from criticism?
8) Being friends with anti-American loons that just want to bomb the White House?
9) Spending our way into this debt to begin with (i.e. Iraq War)
10) Being unfaithful to spouses, having extramarital affairs with staff and bringing hookers across state lines? (Maybe even fathering a baby while your wife is dying from cancer?)
I could list so many more things. If this is the "experience" that people want, maybe it's time to let America keep having it so they can be duped into believing our lawmakers are true leaders. And then they can keep getting more of the same.
1) Being able to artfully spin your way out of an argument, thus avoiding any tough questions
2) Going on partisan friendly news shows so that you don't have to get grilled on anything you disagree with
3) Taking advantage of the recent mortgage crisis and doing nothing to stop it (Can you say Nancy Pukosi, Dingy Harry, Chris Dood and Barney Fife?)
4) Asking for $700 billion with no strings attached to bail out our markets?
5) Saying that FDR made a TV announcement after the 1929 market crash?
6) Getting "serviced" in the Oval Office
7) Being able to have an anti-American mentor/pastor for over 20 years and be immune from criticism?
8) Being friends with anti-American loons that just want to bomb the White House?
9) Spending our way into this debt to begin with (i.e. Iraq War)
10) Being unfaithful to spouses, having extramarital affairs with staff and bringing hookers across state lines? (Maybe even fathering a baby while your wife is dying from cancer?)
I could list so many more things. If this is the "experience" that people want, maybe it's time to let America keep having it so they can be duped into believing our lawmakers are true leaders. And then they can keep getting more of the same.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wall Street, Main Street and golden parachutes
I've gotten pretty sick of the above overused phrases. Both parties are quoting them as political "power words" to drum up negative emotion and panic among the public. The banks aren't lending because they know they're going to get a fat bailout check within a few weeks, so why risk any more of their money when they don't have to? I just hope Barney Frank and his kind can continue to sleep at night.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Prime example of our failing economy
This is what goes wrong when you play with people's money, and is a prime example of why we are where we are regarding the economy. This company operated with Abercrombie and Kent, a high end travel company based out of England. A&K has since terminated their agreement with Tanner and Haley. Former members have filed a lawsuit that is reported to be in the millions.
Financial News
Tanner & Haley Bankruptcy Incenses Timeshare Industry
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Glenn Haussman
WESTPORT, CT – When Tanner & Haley Resorts filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this summer, it put into question the business model in which the emerging destination club industry is based. Now the company is struggling to continue serving its 874 members even as it recently disclosed it suffered an operating loss of $64 million in 2005.
Just last week its founder and CEO Rob McGrath resigned and casting further down on the viability of Tanner & Haley, which enticed prospective members to join one of its three clubs with luxury vacations in such places such as Aspen and Cabo San Lucas.
To join destination clubs such as Tanner & Haley, new members provide the club with a deposit ranging from anywhere between $80,000 to more than $800,000 depending on the club. While consumers are promised they’ll receive the money back (less an administration fee that could be as high as 20 percent), this bankruptcy puts those deposits in peril for Tanner & Haley members. However, most clubs don’t actively market that members wanting to leave the club must wait for three new members to join. Additionally, members pay annual maintenance fees and daily use fees for access to each company’s luxury homes.
Many destination clubs base financial models on maintaining their homes with annual dues while member deposits are invested in real estate, which is then owned by the club rather than individual members. The club banks on the appreciation of real estate to make money.
Though the media and consumer market has lumped the destination club industry in with timeshare, it’s not an accurate assessment. Whereas timeshare has a real estate ownership component, destination clubs do not. So while timeshare or fractional owners actually own a portion of a deeded property, destination club member own nothing but the right to stay in their respective club’s homes.
And because destination clubs have been so closely linked with timeshare, the timeshare industry has been rallying for years to put into place consumer protections. At the American Resort Development Association’s (ARDA), President Howard C. Nusbaum has always feared that if and when one of these clubs went broke, the headline would read “Timeshare For Rich Fails,” casting a negative light on an industry that has worked diligently to foster a positive image. According to Nusbaum, when a destination club fails, the timeshare industry suffers.
“We believe this business model is fundamentally flawed,” Nusbaum told Hotel Interactive. “It is based on speculation [of real estate]. That scares us.”
Tanner & Haley got into financial hot water because of its guarantee to allow members to stay anytime, anyplace in one of its homes. If that home wasn’t available, the company would have to rent a suitable alternative, costing Tanner & Haley dearly as it scrambled to satisfy member demand by entering into costly short term leases.
Nusbaum is calling for the industry to be regulated like timeshare and have appropriate consumer protections. For example, he believes non-equity destination clubs should be required to have a third party insurance vehicle for membership reimbursements in case a club goes bust and also to be more transparent with their record keeping.
“We love entrepreneurship and we love new ideas, but we need to make sure promises that are made are promises kept. This model has no failsafe,” said Nusbaum.
Dr. Wayne Thorburn, CEO of the Texas Real Estate Commission and Commissioner of the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board agreed with Nusbaum’s assessment. His organization oversees and licenses all real estate transactions in the state, including any timeshare products that are to be sold or promoted directly to people in Texas.
He believes the destination club model does have its compelling side since it provides access to multi-million dollar homes and luxury hotel amenities, but insists regulation is necessary. He is calling for new rules to be put into place either under existing timeshare acts or separate legislation specifically written for non-equity clubs.
“It’s a little dangerous to be playing the real estate market and think appreciation of real estate is the way to make money,” said Thorburn “I am not surprised something like this happened.”
On its website, Tanner & Haley the company said it intends “to continue to meet substantially all travel commitments previously made to Members and to continue to provide Members with a wide range of destinations and services.”
The notice added they will use the Chapter 11 process to “stabilize the company’s finances, put the company on a sound financial footing and develop a more viable business model.”
In a press release issued in conjunction with the bankruptcy filing announcement, Holly Felder Etlin, a Principal at XRoads Solutions Group LLC, was named Chief Restructuring Officer, a new position. She said: "As part of the Chapter 11 process, we will be reviewing and, where appropriate, revising Tanner & Haley's business model so that, upon completion of the financial reorganization, the company will be better positioned to achieve long-term strength, stability, profitability and growth. We are also committed to having the company emerge from the process with greatly enhanced corporate governance and financial transparency."
Lawsuit claims luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent duped timeshare investors
Associated Press
2:47 p.m., Sunday, July 29, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- Luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent has been sued for allegedly duping investors into spending millions of dollars to join high-end vacation clubs that were not run by the tour group as they had believed.
The plaintiffs claim they lost their investments -- $100,000 to $1.3 million -- after the operator of the clubs went bankrupt. They said they would not have invested in the clubs had they known they were not run and operated by Abercrombie & Kent, the lawsuit said.
"The reason most of my clients bought into this club was because A&K has an excellent reputation, they assumed A&K was managing it," said plaintiffs attorney Brian Kabateck. "These people were misled and they've lost their money."
An after-hours call to Oak Brook, Illinois-based Abercrombie & Kent was not immediately returned.
The lawsuit said Abercrombie & Kent allowed other travel companies, Complete Retreats and Preferred Retreats, to use its brand names in connection with the marketing of destination clubs.
The use of the Abercrombie & Kent name in promotional materials misled investors, the lawsuit says, into believing the clubs were operated by the luxury travel company.
Abercrombie & Kent declined to comment on the litigation, but said it ended its relationship with Preferred Retreats and a Complete Retreats subsidiary in June 2005. The company maintained the licensing agreements required that all prospective members be informed that Abercrombie & Kent was not involved in the management or the operation of the clubs.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims intentional misrepresentation, negligence and violation of the California unfair competition law and seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
Membership in the travel clubs would have allowed participants access to luxury resort residences, yachts, private jets, luxury cars and other amenities, the lawsuit says.
Financial News
Tanner & Haley Bankruptcy Incenses Timeshare Industry
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Glenn Haussman
WESTPORT, CT – When Tanner & Haley Resorts filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this summer, it put into question the business model in which the emerging destination club industry is based. Now the company is struggling to continue serving its 874 members even as it recently disclosed it suffered an operating loss of $64 million in 2005.
Just last week its founder and CEO Rob McGrath resigned and casting further down on the viability of Tanner & Haley, which enticed prospective members to join one of its three clubs with luxury vacations in such places such as Aspen and Cabo San Lucas.
To join destination clubs such as Tanner & Haley, new members provide the club with a deposit ranging from anywhere between $80,000 to more than $800,000 depending on the club. While consumers are promised they’ll receive the money back (less an administration fee that could be as high as 20 percent), this bankruptcy puts those deposits in peril for Tanner & Haley members. However, most clubs don’t actively market that members wanting to leave the club must wait for three new members to join. Additionally, members pay annual maintenance fees and daily use fees for access to each company’s luxury homes.
Many destination clubs base financial models on maintaining their homes with annual dues while member deposits are invested in real estate, which is then owned by the club rather than individual members. The club banks on the appreciation of real estate to make money.
Though the media and consumer market has lumped the destination club industry in with timeshare, it’s not an accurate assessment. Whereas timeshare has a real estate ownership component, destination clubs do not. So while timeshare or fractional owners actually own a portion of a deeded property, destination club member own nothing but the right to stay in their respective club’s homes.
And because destination clubs have been so closely linked with timeshare, the timeshare industry has been rallying for years to put into place consumer protections. At the American Resort Development Association’s (ARDA), President Howard C. Nusbaum has always feared that if and when one of these clubs went broke, the headline would read “Timeshare For Rich Fails,” casting a negative light on an industry that has worked diligently to foster a positive image. According to Nusbaum, when a destination club fails, the timeshare industry suffers.
“We believe this business model is fundamentally flawed,” Nusbaum told Hotel Interactive. “It is based on speculation [of real estate]. That scares us.”
Tanner & Haley got into financial hot water because of its guarantee to allow members to stay anytime, anyplace in one of its homes. If that home wasn’t available, the company would have to rent a suitable alternative, costing Tanner & Haley dearly as it scrambled to satisfy member demand by entering into costly short term leases.
Nusbaum is calling for the industry to be regulated like timeshare and have appropriate consumer protections. For example, he believes non-equity destination clubs should be required to have a third party insurance vehicle for membership reimbursements in case a club goes bust and also to be more transparent with their record keeping.
“We love entrepreneurship and we love new ideas, but we need to make sure promises that are made are promises kept. This model has no failsafe,” said Nusbaum.
Dr. Wayne Thorburn, CEO of the Texas Real Estate Commission and Commissioner of the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board agreed with Nusbaum’s assessment. His organization oversees and licenses all real estate transactions in the state, including any timeshare products that are to be sold or promoted directly to people in Texas.
He believes the destination club model does have its compelling side since it provides access to multi-million dollar homes and luxury hotel amenities, but insists regulation is necessary. He is calling for new rules to be put into place either under existing timeshare acts or separate legislation specifically written for non-equity clubs.
“It’s a little dangerous to be playing the real estate market and think appreciation of real estate is the way to make money,” said Thorburn “I am not surprised something like this happened.”
On its website, Tanner & Haley the company said it intends “to continue to meet substantially all travel commitments previously made to Members and to continue to provide Members with a wide range of destinations and services.”
The notice added they will use the Chapter 11 process to “stabilize the company’s finances, put the company on a sound financial footing and develop a more viable business model.”
In a press release issued in conjunction with the bankruptcy filing announcement, Holly Felder Etlin, a Principal at XRoads Solutions Group LLC, was named Chief Restructuring Officer, a new position. She said: "As part of the Chapter 11 process, we will be reviewing and, where appropriate, revising Tanner & Haley's business model so that, upon completion of the financial reorganization, the company will be better positioned to achieve long-term strength, stability, profitability and growth. We are also committed to having the company emerge from the process with greatly enhanced corporate governance and financial transparency."
Lawsuit claims luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent duped timeshare investors
Associated Press
2:47 p.m., Sunday, July 29, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- Luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent has been sued for allegedly duping investors into spending millions of dollars to join high-end vacation clubs that were not run by the tour group as they had believed.
The plaintiffs claim they lost their investments -- $100,000 to $1.3 million -- after the operator of the clubs went bankrupt. They said they would not have invested in the clubs had they known they were not run and operated by Abercrombie & Kent, the lawsuit said.
"The reason most of my clients bought into this club was because A&K has an excellent reputation, they assumed A&K was managing it," said plaintiffs attorney Brian Kabateck. "These people were misled and they've lost their money."
An after-hours call to Oak Brook, Illinois-based Abercrombie & Kent was not immediately returned.
The lawsuit said Abercrombie & Kent allowed other travel companies, Complete Retreats and Preferred Retreats, to use its brand names in connection with the marketing of destination clubs.
The use of the Abercrombie & Kent name in promotional materials misled investors, the lawsuit says, into believing the clubs were operated by the luxury travel company.
Abercrombie & Kent declined to comment on the litigation, but said it ended its relationship with Preferred Retreats and a Complete Retreats subsidiary in June 2005. The company maintained the licensing agreements required that all prospective members be informed that Abercrombie & Kent was not involved in the management or the operation of the clubs.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims intentional misrepresentation, negligence and violation of the California unfair competition law and seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
Membership in the travel clubs would have allowed participants access to luxury resort residences, yachts, private jets, luxury cars and other amenities, the lawsuit says.
"Call me if you need me"
The reason Barack Obama does not want to postpone the Presidential debate on Friday is because he wants to ride the wave he's on and use it to his advantage. If he was down, I'm not so sure he would have the same cocky attitude that he showed today. I believe he said he had been out on the golf course this morning. he's in Florida I guess just "hanging out" until he has to do the debate.
But he says the Senate can "call him if they need him" to make a decision on only the worst financial crisis since 1929. He dodged the reporters' questions, looked down a lot, and was just too cagey. Oh but he and McCain have big planes with "their logos" painted down the sides that can get them anywhere really fast. What does the logos comment have to do with anything? I detected more of his ego coming through in that statement than anything else. Does this sound like a Presidential candidate or a spoiled fraternity kid?
What McCain did today took guts. Political stunt? He's going to lose money in cancelled ads, appearances, etc. He has more balls than Obama. Only age, world experience, combined with his time in Vietnam could propel him to do such a thing.
Obama says "a President needs to be able to do more than one thing at a time." I suppose so if that involves playing golf while talking to Harry Reid on the phone.
But we don't need a "political photo op" do we...
On the economy, the proposed bailout is the worst thing I've seen. It's coming from a President that has lost all touch with reality. It's an act of desperation that's only going to turn our country into a Socialist regime. I have lost pretty much all faith in Bush.
If this bailout doesn't work, we may just see the unveiling of the new currency (Amero) and the North American Union become reality.
But he says the Senate can "call him if they need him" to make a decision on only the worst financial crisis since 1929. He dodged the reporters' questions, looked down a lot, and was just too cagey. Oh but he and McCain have big planes with "their logos" painted down the sides that can get them anywhere really fast. What does the logos comment have to do with anything? I detected more of his ego coming through in that statement than anything else. Does this sound like a Presidential candidate or a spoiled fraternity kid?
What McCain did today took guts. Political stunt? He's going to lose money in cancelled ads, appearances, etc. He has more balls than Obama. Only age, world experience, combined with his time in Vietnam could propel him to do such a thing.
Obama says "a President needs to be able to do more than one thing at a time." I suppose so if that involves playing golf while talking to Harry Reid on the phone.
But we don't need a "political photo op" do we...
On the economy, the proposed bailout is the worst thing I've seen. It's coming from a President that has lost all touch with reality. It's an act of desperation that's only going to turn our country into a Socialist regime. I have lost pretty much all faith in Bush.
If this bailout doesn't work, we may just see the unveiling of the new currency (Amero) and the North American Union become reality.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Fifth grader suspended
A fifth grader in Colorado was suspended after wearing an anti-Obama t shirt.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/23/fifth-grader-suspended-for-wearing-anti-obama-shirt/
No surprise there. It's Colorado, liberal friendly, and they don't care about trampling on your rights if you're conservative. But I just bet if that kid had worn an anti-McCain t shirt he would have gotten high fives from his friends and the teacher would have overlooked it. Oh, and the cloak they used for suspending him was his "behavior."
If it had been the other way around, they would have spun his behavior as a separate "ADD" episode and set him up for psychological counseling for that, separate from wearing an anti-McCain shirt.
The father is suing the district. Good for him. If the liberals can sue someone, then so can a conservative. Works both ways.
In watching C-SPAN lately, I've noticed that they open every session with a Christian prayer and pledge of allegiance. Yes "under God" too! So, if this is good enough for the DNC and our lawmakers to do without acknowledgement to any other religions and they don't pull the Newdow or Croft crap, then it's good enough for the classroom. Stop walking out on America and trampling on our patriotism. It just makes you look foolish and immature.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/23/fifth-grader-suspended-for-wearing-anti-obama-shirt/
No surprise there. It's Colorado, liberal friendly, and they don't care about trampling on your rights if you're conservative. But I just bet if that kid had worn an anti-McCain t shirt he would have gotten high fives from his friends and the teacher would have overlooked it. Oh, and the cloak they used for suspending him was his "behavior."
If it had been the other way around, they would have spun his behavior as a separate "ADD" episode and set him up for psychological counseling for that, separate from wearing an anti-McCain shirt.
The father is suing the district. Good for him. If the liberals can sue someone, then so can a conservative. Works both ways.
In watching C-SPAN lately, I've noticed that they open every session with a Christian prayer and pledge of allegiance. Yes "under God" too! So, if this is good enough for the DNC and our lawmakers to do without acknowledgement to any other religions and they don't pull the Newdow or Croft crap, then it's good enough for the classroom. Stop walking out on America and trampling on our patriotism. It just makes you look foolish and immature.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Free market economy a thing of the past?
I have to rewrite this because blogger failed to save/publish a really good article that I wrote a few minutes ago and I don't have the patience to recreate it. Basically America is in trouble if we don't get our heads out of the sand and wake up to the reality around us. Big Brother will be in charge which is what the elitists want, and the people really responsible for this mortgage crisis won't really have to pay. I can hear then salivating around the trough now, as they think up ways to bilk us for that $700 billion. Yeah right. Double or triple that.
We all will pay. The investor, instead of having investment banking choices on Wall Street, will now be forced to do business in a commercial bank or take his money overseas. That's ok for good ol Ted Kennedy but not for anyone else.
When we have another Depression on our hands, because we've been too stupid to make better decisions, we can line up for the Ritalin and Viagra to take the edge off.
We all will pay. The investor, instead of having investment banking choices on Wall Street, will now be forced to do business in a commercial bank or take his money overseas. That's ok for good ol Ted Kennedy but not for anyone else.
When we have another Depression on our hands, because we've been too stupid to make better decisions, we can line up for the Ritalin and Viagra to take the edge off.
Free market economy a thing of the past?
This is a followup to my posting earlier this week.
I've been watching the latest on the financial crisis unfold this week, as major investment bankers change their status to commercial banking, as oil prices continue to skyrocket, and our dollar has seen its worst record yet against the Euro. $700 billion price tag to bail us out? I highly doubt that. You can probably double or triple that. And this doesn't even touch the billions in our deficit.
Fans of big government are no doubt gathering to salivate at the trough this very moment, savoring what they'll probably call the "biggest victory yet" over the evils of capitalism and the free market economy. Screw the small business owners, the entrepeneurs, the go-getters who have made our country so great. "Big brother is going to bail you out."
Our country is falling apart. After two major hurricanes this year, cleanup still continuing after Katrina, this mortgage crisis, the war, immigration, our deficit, a new generation of retirees and not enough Social Security and Medicare to cover their costs, and a plethera of other things I could mention, we are in dire straits.
I know it sounds very negative. But these sobering facts are just what America needs to wake up and get her head out of the sand. We are losing our competitive edge in the global markets. Job loss is at an all time high. Medical bills are skyrocketing and the drug companies could care less if they keep us all high on ritalin and viagra.
Because we haven't paid attention and let the media and government do the thinking for us, Americans will not have the tools to fight back once our economy does collapse. Our government is going to step in and once again, preach their mantra about how they know what's best for us after all, and if we'd just trust Uncle Sam, we don't need to do anything.
The individuals responsible for the mortgage crisis are, in my opinion, scumbags, the lowest of the low, and don't deserve a penny for running their companies into the ground, ruining the lives of their employees, families and countrymen in the process. It's almost a reflection of Darwinism in itself, "The survival of the fittest." But I don't know how they can be punished without making innocent Americans pay for their greed. And that's what this bailout will wind up doing. Make us all pay. But isn't that what the elite establishment wants anyway? To redistribute all the wealth in this country and give us all a piece? I'll be looking for that piece next year when I file my taxes. I'm sure it will be there.
Unfortunately, those with fatter wallets among us will just take their investments elsewhere and stop fooling with the American markets, if commercial banking is all they can get on Wall Street after this is said and done. It won't be like Burger King anymore.
"You get it our way, Mr. Investor, or you don't get the son of a bitch."
That's ok, he will say, and take his money to Bermuda or Switzerland. Funny how that works.
But wait...don't the Kennedys have a lot of money overseas? What about that? Oh never mind...Ted Kennedy is a "man of the people," so that's perfectly okay. We can overlook that.
I've been watching the latest on the financial crisis unfold this week, as major investment bankers change their status to commercial banking, as oil prices continue to skyrocket, and our dollar has seen its worst record yet against the Euro. $700 billion price tag to bail us out? I highly doubt that. You can probably double or triple that. And this doesn't even touch the billions in our deficit.
Fans of big government are no doubt gathering to salivate at the trough this very moment, savoring what they'll probably call the "biggest victory yet" over the evils of capitalism and the free market economy. Screw the small business owners, the entrepeneurs, the go-getters who have made our country so great. "Big brother is going to bail you out."
Our country is falling apart. After two major hurricanes this year, cleanup still continuing after Katrina, this mortgage crisis, the war, immigration, our deficit, a new generation of retirees and not enough Social Security and Medicare to cover their costs, and a plethera of other things I could mention, we are in dire straits.
I know it sounds very negative. But these sobering facts are just what America needs to wake up and get her head out of the sand. We are losing our competitive edge in the global markets. Job loss is at an all time high. Medical bills are skyrocketing and the drug companies could care less if they keep us all high on ritalin and viagra.
Because we haven't paid attention and let the media and government do the thinking for us, Americans will not have the tools to fight back once our economy does collapse. Our government is going to step in and once again, preach their mantra about how they know what's best for us after all, and if we'd just trust Uncle Sam, we don't need to do anything.
The individuals responsible for the mortgage crisis are, in my opinion, scumbags, the lowest of the low, and don't deserve a penny for running their companies into the ground, ruining the lives of their employees, families and countrymen in the process. It's almost a reflection of Darwinism in itself, "The survival of the fittest." But I don't know how they can be punished without making innocent Americans pay for their greed. And that's what this bailout will wind up doing. Make us all pay. But isn't that what the elite establishment wants anyway? To redistribute all the wealth in this country and give us all a piece? I'll be looking for that piece next year when I file my taxes. I'm sure it will be there.
Unfortunately, those with fatter wallets among us will just take their investments elsewhere and stop fooling with the American markets, if commercial banking is all they can get on Wall Street after this is said and done. It won't be like Burger King anymore.
"You get it our way, Mr. Investor, or you don't get the son of a bitch."
That's ok, he will say, and take his money to Bermuda or Switzerland. Funny how that works.
But wait...don't the Kennedys have a lot of money overseas? What about that? Oh never mind...Ted Kennedy is a "man of the people," so that's perfectly okay. We can overlook that.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Get out the German Shepherds
That's right. A Denver University professsor assigned, to his class, a paper to be written specifically targeting Palin. He had 2 classes and apparently one class didn't speak up about it so when a student in his other class did he used the old, "Well they didn't say anything so you shouldn't either," intimidation tactic.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_10502315
One of Hallam's students, Jana Barber, took her concerns about the assignment to KCNC4, which broadcast a story Wednesday night.
Barber spoke with the TV station and on the Mike Rosen radio show this morning, before filing a complaint against Hallam with the school later in the day, said Cathy Lucas, a spokeswoman for Metro State.
Lucas said Hallam made the assignment last Thursday. After consideration, he broadened it at the next class on Tuesday to allow students to write about Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John McCain, she said.
Yeah, of course he did. If the students hadn't taken action would he have changed his tune? Very very doubtful. And even then he won't pick apart the ones that write about Obama, I betcha.
I don't recall in any of my political science classes in my undergrad years being assigned anything of this nature. It was always about ISSUES and not CANDIDATES. One could always tie them in as part of the assignment I suppose, but these new directions our Universities are taking is really scary, considering that liberals want even more public education money. Public education money endorsed by liberal Democrats=professors that will say and do anything to keep their jobs=teaching a one sided view of society to students=becoming a puppet for our increasingly liberal society=donations for public education to keep the circle going. And this is teaching non partisanship and thinking objectively in our school systems exactly how???
Why do they not want vouchers and discourage and ridicule homeschooled kids? Why do they not want parents to have a choice in how to educate their children? Because the liberal mantra is what they want imposed on society and this is how they plan to do it.
When I was in grad school I was assigned a paper on human relations. Completely open to interpretation. Open ended questions. When I handed in my assignment, which was a paper on the brutality of the North Korean Gulag, the Holocaust, stem cell research and abortion, I received a written reprimand from the committee that handled my paper. First they implied I had not interpreted the questions "correctly" and that abortion and stem cell research were not human relations issues. No, I did interpret the questions correctly because they were open ended and no answer was considered "wrong." They made it "wrong" because I questioned the establishment. And um, yeah, last I checked, abortion and stem cell research are human relations issues. Hell, they're political issues too. Can't have your cake and eat it too!
Had it not been pass or fail on that particular paper, I doubt I would have passed the class. That is how biased it is. If you agree with the liberal doctrine and question everything else, you will go far in this life. If you do the opposite, you will be ousted and persecuted. You will lose job opportunities, promotions, you won't be able to "save face" with those around you because you don't "go with" the crowd.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_10502315
One of Hallam's students, Jana Barber, took her concerns about the assignment to KCNC4, which broadcast a story Wednesday night.
Barber spoke with the TV station and on the Mike Rosen radio show this morning, before filing a complaint against Hallam with the school later in the day, said Cathy Lucas, a spokeswoman for Metro State.
Lucas said Hallam made the assignment last Thursday. After consideration, he broadened it at the next class on Tuesday to allow students to write about Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John McCain, she said.
Yeah, of course he did. If the students hadn't taken action would he have changed his tune? Very very doubtful. And even then he won't pick apart the ones that write about Obama, I betcha.
I don't recall in any of my political science classes in my undergrad years being assigned anything of this nature. It was always about ISSUES and not CANDIDATES. One could always tie them in as part of the assignment I suppose, but these new directions our Universities are taking is really scary, considering that liberals want even more public education money. Public education money endorsed by liberal Democrats=professors that will say and do anything to keep their jobs=teaching a one sided view of society to students=becoming a puppet for our increasingly liberal society=donations for public education to keep the circle going. And this is teaching non partisanship and thinking objectively in our school systems exactly how???
Why do they not want vouchers and discourage and ridicule homeschooled kids? Why do they not want parents to have a choice in how to educate their children? Because the liberal mantra is what they want imposed on society and this is how they plan to do it.
When I was in grad school I was assigned a paper on human relations. Completely open to interpretation. Open ended questions. When I handed in my assignment, which was a paper on the brutality of the North Korean Gulag, the Holocaust, stem cell research and abortion, I received a written reprimand from the committee that handled my paper. First they implied I had not interpreted the questions "correctly" and that abortion and stem cell research were not human relations issues. No, I did interpret the questions correctly because they were open ended and no answer was considered "wrong." They made it "wrong" because I questioned the establishment. And um, yeah, last I checked, abortion and stem cell research are human relations issues. Hell, they're political issues too. Can't have your cake and eat it too!
Had it not been pass or fail on that particular paper, I doubt I would have passed the class. That is how biased it is. If you agree with the liberal doctrine and question everything else, you will go far in this life. If you do the opposite, you will be ousted and persecuted. You will lose job opportunities, promotions, you won't be able to "save face" with those around you because you don't "go with" the crowd.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Why Sarah Palin should not be VP
Just thought I'd add some thoughts on why Sarah Palin should not be the next VP of the United States.
1) She's a former small town mayor
2) She's a right-wing fundamentalist wacko
3) She shoots moose
4) She's a hockey mom pit bull lipstick-wearing "barracuda"
5) She's never had an abortion
6) She has 5 kids, one with Down's Syndrome, and no woman should ever consider having lofty goals in that kind of situation (unless she is Nancy Pelosi or another liberal woman of course)
7) She gave money back to the taxpayers of AK
8) Her daughter is 17 and pregnant
9) She has absolutely no experience to be VP
10) She doesn't take any crap from anybody
11) One magazine prints "Why Obama loves Michelle" while another prints "Babies, lies and scandal" when it comes to Sarah Palin without checking their facts
If you sincerely believe that she is inexperienced due to what I have put in the above list, you have been led down the path by the looney left that only considers women to be true pioneers if they lean their way. Truth is, she's shaking up Washington like never before, and there's even rumours that Joe Biden might be thinking he was not the best pick for Democratic VP. Wouldn't that be interesting?
But Biden will never drop the ticket. It will be interesting to see how much the Clintons really help the Obama campaign, or if they are just putting on a facade.
Speaking of facade, I love how Obama and McCain were at ground zero today. Good photo ops and PC behavior. Tomorrow they'll drag out the attack dogs again. America has learned absolutely NOTHING from 9/11. Good luck on reaching across the aisle there.
1) She's a former small town mayor
2) She's a right-wing fundamentalist wacko
3) She shoots moose
4) She's a hockey mom pit bull lipstick-wearing "barracuda"
5) She's never had an abortion
6) She has 5 kids, one with Down's Syndrome, and no woman should ever consider having lofty goals in that kind of situation (unless she is Nancy Pelosi or another liberal woman of course)
7) She gave money back to the taxpayers of AK
8) Her daughter is 17 and pregnant
9) She has absolutely no experience to be VP
10) She doesn't take any crap from anybody
11) One magazine prints "Why Obama loves Michelle" while another prints "Babies, lies and scandal" when it comes to Sarah Palin without checking their facts
If you sincerely believe that she is inexperienced due to what I have put in the above list, you have been led down the path by the looney left that only considers women to be true pioneers if they lean their way. Truth is, she's shaking up Washington like never before, and there's even rumours that Joe Biden might be thinking he was not the best pick for Democratic VP. Wouldn't that be interesting?
But Biden will never drop the ticket. It will be interesting to see how much the Clintons really help the Obama campaign, or if they are just putting on a facade.
Speaking of facade, I love how Obama and McCain were at ground zero today. Good photo ops and PC behavior. Tomorrow they'll drag out the attack dogs again. America has learned absolutely NOTHING from 9/11. Good luck on reaching across the aisle there.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Shooting your mouth off
From a recent press conference by Mayor Nagin of New Orleans on the upcoming Gustav festivities:
"Looters will not be tolerated. You will be sent directly to jail. You will not be given a pass like last time."
A pass like last time. Amazing isn't it? Wow he managed to get all that out in 3 sentences. The local schmuck who did nothing to help his city in 2005, yet managed to get re-elected. Of course the Democrats won't slam him despite the thousands that were left homeless, vulnerable to crime and disease, what have you. It's all Bush's fault that happened, right?
By the way, Nagin managed to work in a vacation to Jamaica to avoid the press scrutiny right after Katrina. How's that for having no balls?
From Michael Moore:
"I was just thinking, this Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven," Moore said, laughing. "To have it planned at the same time - that it would actually be on its way to New Orleans for day one of the Republican Convention, up in the Twin Cities - at the top of the Mississippi River."
Moore did manage to work in that he hoped nobody got hurt and he hoped everybody is taking cover. However, he failed to make note of the $43.625 billion in damage the last hurricane to strike New Orleans caused - Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - and the billions of dollars the storm cost taxpayers.
Let's not forget too that Gustav hit his favorite country, Cuba, pretty damn hard. Where's the sympathy for those people?
I have a hard time saying this, but maybe, just maybe, Michael Moore's mother should have considered an abortion? And I am a pro lifer. I doubt Michael Moore even believes in God. So there it is. Not proud of it, but that's me shooting my mouth off for today.
"Looters will not be tolerated. You will be sent directly to jail. You will not be given a pass like last time."
A pass like last time. Amazing isn't it? Wow he managed to get all that out in 3 sentences. The local schmuck who did nothing to help his city in 2005, yet managed to get re-elected. Of course the Democrats won't slam him despite the thousands that were left homeless, vulnerable to crime and disease, what have you. It's all Bush's fault that happened, right?
By the way, Nagin managed to work in a vacation to Jamaica to avoid the press scrutiny right after Katrina. How's that for having no balls?
From Michael Moore:
"I was just thinking, this Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven," Moore said, laughing. "To have it planned at the same time - that it would actually be on its way to New Orleans for day one of the Republican Convention, up in the Twin Cities - at the top of the Mississippi River."
Moore did manage to work in that he hoped nobody got hurt and he hoped everybody is taking cover. However, he failed to make note of the $43.625 billion in damage the last hurricane to strike New Orleans caused - Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - and the billions of dollars the storm cost taxpayers.
Let's not forget too that Gustav hit his favorite country, Cuba, pretty damn hard. Where's the sympathy for those people?
I have a hard time saying this, but maybe, just maybe, Michael Moore's mother should have considered an abortion? And I am a pro lifer. I doubt Michael Moore even believes in God. So there it is. Not proud of it, but that's me shooting my mouth off for today.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The highest "Bidenator"
Rush Limbaugh called it last week when he said that Hillary would use her speech last night to convince the American people that she should have been the VP nominee. And, as predicted, this is exactly what all the commentators have said. I don't know enough about Joe Biden to decide whether or not he is a good VP candidate or not, but it seems to me that Barack Obama made the "safest" choice with what he had in front of him. I call it the "Biden condom" for lack of better words.
The Clintons have dominated the landscape for a very long period of time, but what about the Kennedys? How long has Ted Kennedy been in office? Come on. The Bushes have been around for a long time too. So to suddenly imply that this is because the DNC needs to rid themselves of the Clintons all of a sudden sounds awfully suspicious to me.
Another thing that srikes me as odd, and that is this thing with Ohio congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who was scheduled to speak at the DNC convention. At least that's what I understood from the news reports. She was a staunch Hillary supporter and suddenly suffered a brain aneurism while driving and subsequently died. It might just be coincidence, but she was a black woman that supported Hillary. Hardly anything has been said about her death. Barack and Biden are going to attend her funeral after the convention. This woman was alone in her car driving on the road after meeting some friends when this all happened. I just find it very very suspicious that this occurs just days before the convention. What did she know? Did she know anything? Was she a threat to the Obama campaign? Maybe, maybe not. But it's one of those things that makes me go "hmmmm..."
The Clintons have dominated the landscape for a very long period of time, but what about the Kennedys? How long has Ted Kennedy been in office? Come on. The Bushes have been around for a long time too. So to suddenly imply that this is because the DNC needs to rid themselves of the Clintons all of a sudden sounds awfully suspicious to me.
Another thing that srikes me as odd, and that is this thing with Ohio congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who was scheduled to speak at the DNC convention. At least that's what I understood from the news reports. She was a staunch Hillary supporter and suddenly suffered a brain aneurism while driving and subsequently died. It might just be coincidence, but she was a black woman that supported Hillary. Hardly anything has been said about her death. Barack and Biden are going to attend her funeral after the convention. This woman was alone in her car driving on the road after meeting some friends when this all happened. I just find it very very suspicious that this occurs just days before the convention. What did she know? Did she know anything? Was she a threat to the Obama campaign? Maybe, maybe not. But it's one of those things that makes me go "hmmmm..."
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The DNC convention
Hypocritical. Last night they had the opening prayer for the DNC led by Reverend Leah D. Daughtry. She acknowledged the "Amighty God" and offered a prayer to only the Christian God. I didn't see any other prayers offered to any other gods. Okay Democrats, where's your diversity now? Nobody challenged the DNC on this. Because it's okay for Democrats to do that. They also had the GI Forum out to present the colors and said the pledge of allegiance, "one nation, under God." Okay, everybody's making this big stink about Hillary, so why no stink about the patriotic and religious factors that so many skeptics and freethinkers (albeit many Democrats and liberals) want to spew in our faces the other 51 weeks of an election year?
That's because it's ALWAYS ok for the Democrats to put on a facade. There will never be an outcry when Democrats show their support publicly for their country. But behind closed doors lurks a litigious hateful percentage of the human population that wants to forever remove God from everything in our society, yet when the camera is on them they can't be happier to do what the status quo wants them to do. Hey whatever it takes I guess, right?
Let's see what the RNC criticisms are next week in the liberal media.
That's because it's ALWAYS ok for the Democrats to put on a facade. There will never be an outcry when Democrats show their support publicly for their country. But behind closed doors lurks a litigious hateful percentage of the human population that wants to forever remove God from everything in our society, yet when the camera is on them they can't be happier to do what the status quo wants them to do. Hey whatever it takes I guess, right?
Let's see what the RNC criticisms are next week in the liberal media.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Writer's block
I feel that urge to start writing beginning to resurface again, but it has no direction, which is the story of my creative writing life. Bits and pieces materialize but then go nowhere. I have so many unfinished manuscripts it's scary. I'm my own worst enemy, putting walls and blocks up to keep myself from finishing a project. Is it a fear of success or a fear that all of my vulnerabilities as a human being will be exposed? Sure I can mask them within characters but someone will pick them out surely and then I would forever hate myself.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Starting to settle in
In the last few weeks, we've been trying to get our new household set up (i.e. yard maintenance, unpacking, etc.) Some days I get a lot done, others I don't want to do anything. I haven't decided what to do with my back yard yet. I'd like to make it look like a New Orleans patio style area, or just leave the hammock and grill out there and wait to see what inspires me next.
I really want to have a Halloween party and invite my new neighbors. But I'm not sure if that is not too overwhelming a task (not to mention expensive) venture to engage in right now. I might have to put that off until next year.
We're so far away from our families now, and I'm not sure if they'll ever come to visit, which makes me sad. I still mish my old Parish quite a bit, and every time I visit my prayer corner I think of them and wish I was still there. But hopefully over time I can get past that and move forward. The older I get and the more changes in my life, it seems the less capable I am of dealing with them. But I think that applies to many of us.
We were talking about taking a vacation this year, maybe Vegas or Mexico or even up to Maine but it looks like we may be putting that off too, which is actually ok because with the high fuel prices, I don't feel exactly compelled to hand over our hard earned money to the airlines or at the pump so that the oil companies can get even richer.
People used to say, oh there will be an outcry if gas ever gets above $3 a gallon. Well it's been here, my friends, and what have we done? Nothing. What will we do when it hits $7 a gallon? Will we do nothing then and just swallow it up? We buy smaller cars to save on fuel, which is great and all, but when the fatality rates on American roads start to go up because all the so called "smart cars" aren't so smart, that will change too. And where will GM be to make all those mid sized cars we used to love?
I really want to have a Halloween party and invite my new neighbors. But I'm not sure if that is not too overwhelming a task (not to mention expensive) venture to engage in right now. I might have to put that off until next year.
We're so far away from our families now, and I'm not sure if they'll ever come to visit, which makes me sad. I still mish my old Parish quite a bit, and every time I visit my prayer corner I think of them and wish I was still there. But hopefully over time I can get past that and move forward. The older I get and the more changes in my life, it seems the less capable I am of dealing with them. But I think that applies to many of us.
We were talking about taking a vacation this year, maybe Vegas or Mexico or even up to Maine but it looks like we may be putting that off too, which is actually ok because with the high fuel prices, I don't feel exactly compelled to hand over our hard earned money to the airlines or at the pump so that the oil companies can get even richer.
People used to say, oh there will be an outcry if gas ever gets above $3 a gallon. Well it's been here, my friends, and what have we done? Nothing. What will we do when it hits $7 a gallon? Will we do nothing then and just swallow it up? We buy smaller cars to save on fuel, which is great and all, but when the fatality rates on American roads start to go up because all the so called "smart cars" aren't so smart, that will change too. And where will GM be to make all those mid sized cars we used to love?
Monday, June 30, 2008
Another of God's Blessings
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse with the move, I found a wonderful doctor in my new town that is going to take good care of me. It's a breath of fresh air and now seems like a huge weight off my shoulders. As the weeks go on and I adjust to my new city, I'm sure I will see God's blessings that were always there but I was too caught up in my own worries to notice. I was afraid this move would bring about calamaties I could not change or have any control over, that I would go literally crazy from the whole mess. But maybe I can get up tomorrow and start a new day of unpacking more boxes and trying to rebuild. And the day after that, who knows? Maybe I'll even do some gardening or start swimming at the community pool.
Friday, June 20, 2008
New home
We arrived at our new home in Ohio this week. Unpacking 170 boxes and dealing with a sick cat has not been my idea of a fun time. Many tears have been shed these last few days trying to get used to this transition. I'm missing my parish dearly and my previous home and neighbors as well.
But this weekend I'm going to start at another parish, and this one has opportunities for missionary work in Guatemala. Maybe this is part of God's plan for me. They say everything you go through just makes you stronger. With everything that has happened to me over the course of my life, I should be like 10 inch steel, but I feel no more strength in me than a piece of paper right now.
Every day I pray though, and I feel a hand helping me up the cliff. It's like the poem "Footprints"
Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed of walking along the shores of different lands.
I could tell that You were with me by the footprints in the sand.
As I gazed upon the heavens, I saw pages of my life.
It was then I realized that You remained there by my side.
When the clouds began to gather and the rains came falling down,
I looked to only find one set of footprints on the ground.
I said, "Lord, why did You leave me in the troubled times of life?
I believed that You would always walk beside me day and night."
(Then I heard:)
"My precious child, I'd never leave you.
I have carved you on the hollow of My hand.
It's then I carried you in My arms,
When you see one set of footprints in the sand"
Dear Lord, will You be with me as I travel through the years?
Will You be there in the struggles? Will You wipe away the tears?
As my eyes turn toward the ocean and the shores of distant lands,
I'm still thinking of the single set of footprints in the sand.
(I heard Him say:)
"My precious child, I'd never leave you.
I have carved you on the hollow of My hand.
It's then I carried you in My arms,
When you see one set of footprints in the sand."
Will I hear the angels singing, as my life comes to an end.
Oh Lord, I long to see You. Will You be there once again?
My eyes turn toward the heavens, along the path of foreign lands,
Once more, I'm thinking of the set of footprints in the sand.
(Jesus said:)
"My precious child, I'd never leave you.
See your name carved on the hollow of My hand.
I'm here to carry you to your home.
You will see one set of footprints in the sand.
But this weekend I'm going to start at another parish, and this one has opportunities for missionary work in Guatemala. Maybe this is part of God's plan for me. They say everything you go through just makes you stronger. With everything that has happened to me over the course of my life, I should be like 10 inch steel, but I feel no more strength in me than a piece of paper right now.
Every day I pray though, and I feel a hand helping me up the cliff. It's like the poem "Footprints"
Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed of walking along the shores of different lands.
I could tell that You were with me by the footprints in the sand.
As I gazed upon the heavens, I saw pages of my life.
It was then I realized that You remained there by my side.
When the clouds began to gather and the rains came falling down,
I looked to only find one set of footprints on the ground.
I said, "Lord, why did You leave me in the troubled times of life?
I believed that You would always walk beside me day and night."
(Then I heard:)
"My precious child, I'd never leave you.
I have carved you on the hollow of My hand.
It's then I carried you in My arms,
When you see one set of footprints in the sand"
Dear Lord, will You be with me as I travel through the years?
Will You be there in the struggles? Will You wipe away the tears?
As my eyes turn toward the ocean and the shores of distant lands,
I'm still thinking of the single set of footprints in the sand.
(I heard Him say:)
"My precious child, I'd never leave you.
I have carved you on the hollow of My hand.
It's then I carried you in My arms,
When you see one set of footprints in the sand."
Will I hear the angels singing, as my life comes to an end.
Oh Lord, I long to see You. Will You be there once again?
My eyes turn toward the heavens, along the path of foreign lands,
Once more, I'm thinking of the set of footprints in the sand.
(Jesus said:)
"My precious child, I'd never leave you.
See your name carved on the hollow of My hand.
I'm here to carry you to your home.
You will see one set of footprints in the sand.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Saying goodbye
This week I leave Kansas City to take on new adventures. Today I said goodbye to my parish as I celebrated my last communion with them. It's been one of the hardest days I've ever had, and I've seen some pretty dark days. This week has been spent in prayer and reflection and thanking God for the wonderful blessings that I do have, and had I not moved to Kansas five years ago I would have never become Orthodox.
As I hugged my godparents, I couldn't be brave anymore. I started to cry and they said, "He loves you more than we do." I think that says it all right there.
As I hugged my godparents, I couldn't be brave anymore. I started to cry and they said, "He loves you more than we do." I think that says it all right there.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
The plot thickens
From the latest at the Wall Street Journal:
Concession Expected Saturday;
Obama Camp Discounts VP Talk
By JACKIE CALMES
June 5, 2008; Page A1
WASHINGTON -- Supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton suggested she would like to be Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, but close advisers to Sen. Obama are signaling that an Obama-Clinton ticket is highly unlikely.
Some in the Clinton camp also noted a possible deal-breaker for a party-unity ticket: Bill Clinton may balk at releasing records of his business dealings and big donors to his presidential library.
Sen. Clinton scheduled a gathering for her staff at her house Saturday, where she will end her campaign and concede the nomination, three advisers said.
A day after his history-making declaration that he had enough delegates for the nomination, Sen. Obama on Wednesday named a search team for a vice-presidential running mate. The first African-American nominee for a major party tapped two high-profile supporters—Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President Kennedy, and Eric Holder, President Clinton's former deputy attorney general. They join Jim Johnson, a former Fannie Mae chairman, who had already been enlisted to lead the search and vet potential choices.
Sens. Obama and Clinton briefly exchanged greetings Wednesday at a convention of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, where they both spoke. (Please see article.) They also held brief phone conversations Sunday and Tuesday nights that advisers described as the first steps in a dance of rapprochement.
RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Mr. Clinton refused during his wife's 17-month presidential campaign to release records of his financial dealings and details of his presidential library's major donors. Even if Mr. Clinton did open his records as part of the traditional vice-presidential vetting process, the unprecedented complications he would pose for an Obama White House as the vice president's spouse go deeper and broader than his personal records, Democrats on both sides say.
A former president's global travels for his humanitarian foundation, speeches here and abroad for which he has received up to a quarter-million dollars, financial deals and everyday utterances could pose "a whole host" of conflicts with the policies of an Obama administration, Democrats say.
Referring to a potential vice-presidential slot for Sen. Clinton, a senior Obama adviser says: "The more this gets vetted the less likely it becomes."
Sen. Clinton would present problems of her own for Sen. Obama, advisers in both camps say: As half of the couple that has dominated in the Democratic Party and Washington for 16 years, she would "completely undermine the Obama message'' of change and new direction in politics, as one Clinton confidant put it.
That could well override the political advantages that some other supporters have been promoting, notably her fellow New York Democrats in Congress: That Sen. Clinton could help Sen. Obama win the support of women, blue-collar workers, seniors and white men -- all groups that the Illinois senator had trouble with during their nomination race.
Several advisers said Sen. Clinton decided Wednesday to end her campaign after consulting supporters in Congress including the fellow New Yorkers, along with Reps. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio.
The campaign later put out the statement saying that she will host an event in Washington Saturday "to thank her supporters and express her support for Senator Obama and party unity." The date changed from Friday to Saturday "to accommodate more of Senator Clinton's supporters who want to attend."
Obama advisers say Sen. Clinton should have as much time as she needs to decide how and when to quit the race. But some of his supporters are irritated at what they interpret as pressure on Sen. Obama from her side to offer her the No.2 spot.
Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, said Wednesday he is starting a "dream ticket" effort for party unity. Mr. Johnson said publicly that Sen. Clinton had blessed his effort. Lanny Davis, another prominent Clinton advocate, said he is starting a petition drive seeking a place for her on the ticket.
Several Obama aides said the two supporters aren't the best ambassadors for a Clinton vice-presidential candidacy. Robert Johnson referred during the race to Sen. Obama's acknowledged drug use as a young man, while Mr. Davis has frequently lambasted Sen. Obama on cable television talk-shows.
Sen. Obama, in an interview on NBC, counseled both sides to relax. "We just completed a very hard-fought contest," he said. "She needs to catch her breath. I need to catch mine. I think all our supporters need to just sit back and let things sink in. We're gonna go through a process in the vice-presidential search where I look at a whole range of options."
In her remarks to members of AIPAC, a leading Jewish lobby, Sen. Clinton assured the audience that Sen. Obama "will be a good friend to Israel." That assurance was significant given many American Jews' opposition to Sen. Obama for seeming to them to be too sympathetic to Palestinians and Iran. The Jewish population, while small, is concentrated in states crucial to the election, in particular Florida.
Sen. Obama's own speech was well-received, and he was accompanied by one of the country's best known Jewish political leaders, Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
Mr. Emanuel later was among several members of Congress who endorsed Sen. Obama, as the Democratic Party establishment embraced the first-term Illinois senator as the nominee. Mr. Emanuel made his name as a top Clinton White House official, but he is a friend and ally of his fellow Chicagoan, Sen. Obama.
By mid-day Wednesday, Sen. Obama's campaign said he had 2,159.5 delegates -- more than the 2,118 needed for the nomination -- to Sen. Clinton's 1,927, a difference of 232.5 delegates.
The candidates split Tuesday's final primaries, with Sen. Obama winning Montana and Sen. Clinton South Dakota. He won 15 pledged delegates to her 16. What put him over the top Tuesday was a rush of endorsements from 55.5 superdelegates, elected officials and other party leaders who can vote for whomever they choose at the Democratic convention. Many superdelegates had waited for the end of the primaries and caucuses to announce their choice.
Democrats in both camps Wednesday criticized Sen. Clinton's speech Tuesday night, at a valedictory rally in New York City. Some complained because she didn't concede the race. Others grumbled that beyond a brief tribute to Sen. Obama's "extraordinary race," she dwelled on her own successes in the race's final stretch and continued to suggest she'd be the more electable nominee.
A defender of Sen. Clinton's stance, longtime Democratic strategist Michael Berman, said, "I have little patience for those who criticize Hillary Clinton for not endorsing Senator Obama last night."
Recalling his own late-night encounter with Hubert Humphrey hours after the 1968 Democratic nominee had conceded to Republican Richard Nixon, Mr. Berman added, "Major candidates for president are by definition great dreamers. When their dreams are quashed they should be given the courtesy of a little time to internalize their loss."
Many Clinton supporters seemed united in believing Sen. Clinton would accept the vice presidency. They argued it has become an important post in the modern era, most recently with Democrat Al Gore and Republican Dick Cheney -- "from funerals to fundamentals," as Mr. Emanuel put it.
But some supporters criticized the efforts to push Sen. Obama's hand. They said it could backfire, or make him look weak if he acceded unwillingly. Sen. Clinton told fellow New Yorkers in Congress on Tuesday that she would be open to the second spot.
"She is not campaigning and there's no deal-breaker because there's no deal," Clinton campaign strategist Geoff Garin said. "She is not encouraging any campaigning. But as she told the New York delegation, she would entertain anything that would help secure a Democratic victory in November."
Some Democrats say Bill Clinton is privately pressing her case to be on an Obama ticket, even as he is encouraging her to hang tough and not concede the presidential race, to increase her leverage. But one insider countered, "His importance in this is completely exaggerated. She's going to figure it out for herself."
For Sen. Clinton to be considered, she would have to undergo an invasive vetting of both Clintons' private and public affairs, just like other recent vice-presidential aspirants, say veterans of the process. They said it would likely require Mr. Clinton to reveal donors to his library in Little Rock, Ark., which have included the governments of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Middle Eastern businessmen, as well as details of his confidential business dealings.
In April, he did end a relationship with Yucaipa Cos., an investment firm run by billionaire friend Ron Burkle that has had a partnership with the ruler of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The Obama vetters "are going to say, 'You have to give us the list of library donors, and that's a deal-breaker if you don't,'" said one longtime Clinton confidant. "I don't think the former president will agree to it."
Sen. Obama probably won't announce a running mate for a while, perhaps waiting as long as August, a supporter said. The Democratic convention is Aug. 25-28 in Denver. His campaign and the three-person search team will draw up a list of possible choices and test Sen. Obama's support in different regions and demographic groups, to decide which potential running mates could best help him, this person said.
Well here's what I think:
1) Who cares how much money Bill Clinton made while lecturing on the private circuit? Seriously. It's okay for everyone else to make money, isn't it? (How much did Al Gore make for that stupid movie? And he got the damn Nobel for it.)
2) Obama is arrogant and condescending. He has been from the very beginning. "We'll just give Hillary a little time to absorb her loss."
3) Why does he need Caroline Kennedy on a team to help him pick a VP? Do I even need to explain this???
4) Here's the problem: The Clinton's didn't work out a contingency plan for what might happen should that request for Bill's library donor records become an issue. The fact that he is refusing will probably cost Hillary the VP slot. So, I ask, why in the heck did she even run? Did they think they were going to be immune and above the law AGAIN and just ASSUME she would have the nomination in the bag? Apparently so. Shame on you, Bill. You and the Obama camp both have assisted in kicking your wife in the teeth.
Concession Expected Saturday;
Obama Camp Discounts VP Talk
By JACKIE CALMES
June 5, 2008; Page A1
WASHINGTON -- Supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton suggested she would like to be Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, but close advisers to Sen. Obama are signaling that an Obama-Clinton ticket is highly unlikely.
Some in the Clinton camp also noted a possible deal-breaker for a party-unity ticket: Bill Clinton may balk at releasing records of his business dealings and big donors to his presidential library.
Sen. Clinton scheduled a gathering for her staff at her house Saturday, where she will end her campaign and concede the nomination, three advisers said.
A day after his history-making declaration that he had enough delegates for the nomination, Sen. Obama on Wednesday named a search team for a vice-presidential running mate. The first African-American nominee for a major party tapped two high-profile supporters—Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President Kennedy, and Eric Holder, President Clinton's former deputy attorney general. They join Jim Johnson, a former Fannie Mae chairman, who had already been enlisted to lead the search and vet potential choices.
Sens. Obama and Clinton briefly exchanged greetings Wednesday at a convention of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, where they both spoke. (Please see article.) They also held brief phone conversations Sunday and Tuesday nights that advisers described as the first steps in a dance of rapprochement.
RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Mr. Clinton refused during his wife's 17-month presidential campaign to release records of his financial dealings and details of his presidential library's major donors. Even if Mr. Clinton did open his records as part of the traditional vice-presidential vetting process, the unprecedented complications he would pose for an Obama White House as the vice president's spouse go deeper and broader than his personal records, Democrats on both sides say.
A former president's global travels for his humanitarian foundation, speeches here and abroad for which he has received up to a quarter-million dollars, financial deals and everyday utterances could pose "a whole host" of conflicts with the policies of an Obama administration, Democrats say.
Referring to a potential vice-presidential slot for Sen. Clinton, a senior Obama adviser says: "The more this gets vetted the less likely it becomes."
Sen. Clinton would present problems of her own for Sen. Obama, advisers in both camps say: As half of the couple that has dominated in the Democratic Party and Washington for 16 years, she would "completely undermine the Obama message'' of change and new direction in politics, as one Clinton confidant put it.
That could well override the political advantages that some other supporters have been promoting, notably her fellow New York Democrats in Congress: That Sen. Clinton could help Sen. Obama win the support of women, blue-collar workers, seniors and white men -- all groups that the Illinois senator had trouble with during their nomination race.
Several advisers said Sen. Clinton decided Wednesday to end her campaign after consulting supporters in Congress including the fellow New Yorkers, along with Reps. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio.
The campaign later put out the statement saying that she will host an event in Washington Saturday "to thank her supporters and express her support for Senator Obama and party unity." The date changed from Friday to Saturday "to accommodate more of Senator Clinton's supporters who want to attend."
Obama advisers say Sen. Clinton should have as much time as she needs to decide how and when to quit the race. But some of his supporters are irritated at what they interpret as pressure on Sen. Obama from her side to offer her the No.2 spot.
Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, said Wednesday he is starting a "dream ticket" effort for party unity. Mr. Johnson said publicly that Sen. Clinton had blessed his effort. Lanny Davis, another prominent Clinton advocate, said he is starting a petition drive seeking a place for her on the ticket.
Several Obama aides said the two supporters aren't the best ambassadors for a Clinton vice-presidential candidacy. Robert Johnson referred during the race to Sen. Obama's acknowledged drug use as a young man, while Mr. Davis has frequently lambasted Sen. Obama on cable television talk-shows.
Sen. Obama, in an interview on NBC, counseled both sides to relax. "We just completed a very hard-fought contest," he said. "She needs to catch her breath. I need to catch mine. I think all our supporters need to just sit back and let things sink in. We're gonna go through a process in the vice-presidential search where I look at a whole range of options."
In her remarks to members of AIPAC, a leading Jewish lobby, Sen. Clinton assured the audience that Sen. Obama "will be a good friend to Israel." That assurance was significant given many American Jews' opposition to Sen. Obama for seeming to them to be too sympathetic to Palestinians and Iran. The Jewish population, while small, is concentrated in states crucial to the election, in particular Florida.
Sen. Obama's own speech was well-received, and he was accompanied by one of the country's best known Jewish political leaders, Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
Mr. Emanuel later was among several members of Congress who endorsed Sen. Obama, as the Democratic Party establishment embraced the first-term Illinois senator as the nominee. Mr. Emanuel made his name as a top Clinton White House official, but he is a friend and ally of his fellow Chicagoan, Sen. Obama.
By mid-day Wednesday, Sen. Obama's campaign said he had 2,159.5 delegates -- more than the 2,118 needed for the nomination -- to Sen. Clinton's 1,927, a difference of 232.5 delegates.
The candidates split Tuesday's final primaries, with Sen. Obama winning Montana and Sen. Clinton South Dakota. He won 15 pledged delegates to her 16. What put him over the top Tuesday was a rush of endorsements from 55.5 superdelegates, elected officials and other party leaders who can vote for whomever they choose at the Democratic convention. Many superdelegates had waited for the end of the primaries and caucuses to announce their choice.
Democrats in both camps Wednesday criticized Sen. Clinton's speech Tuesday night, at a valedictory rally in New York City. Some complained because she didn't concede the race. Others grumbled that beyond a brief tribute to Sen. Obama's "extraordinary race," she dwelled on her own successes in the race's final stretch and continued to suggest she'd be the more electable nominee.
A defender of Sen. Clinton's stance, longtime Democratic strategist Michael Berman, said, "I have little patience for those who criticize Hillary Clinton for not endorsing Senator Obama last night."
Recalling his own late-night encounter with Hubert Humphrey hours after the 1968 Democratic nominee had conceded to Republican Richard Nixon, Mr. Berman added, "Major candidates for president are by definition great dreamers. When their dreams are quashed they should be given the courtesy of a little time to internalize their loss."
Many Clinton supporters seemed united in believing Sen. Clinton would accept the vice presidency. They argued it has become an important post in the modern era, most recently with Democrat Al Gore and Republican Dick Cheney -- "from funerals to fundamentals," as Mr. Emanuel put it.
But some supporters criticized the efforts to push Sen. Obama's hand. They said it could backfire, or make him look weak if he acceded unwillingly. Sen. Clinton told fellow New Yorkers in Congress on Tuesday that she would be open to the second spot.
"She is not campaigning and there's no deal-breaker because there's no deal," Clinton campaign strategist Geoff Garin said. "She is not encouraging any campaigning. But as she told the New York delegation, she would entertain anything that would help secure a Democratic victory in November."
Some Democrats say Bill Clinton is privately pressing her case to be on an Obama ticket, even as he is encouraging her to hang tough and not concede the presidential race, to increase her leverage. But one insider countered, "His importance in this is completely exaggerated. She's going to figure it out for herself."
For Sen. Clinton to be considered, she would have to undergo an invasive vetting of both Clintons' private and public affairs, just like other recent vice-presidential aspirants, say veterans of the process. They said it would likely require Mr. Clinton to reveal donors to his library in Little Rock, Ark., which have included the governments of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Middle Eastern businessmen, as well as details of his confidential business dealings.
In April, he did end a relationship with Yucaipa Cos., an investment firm run by billionaire friend Ron Burkle that has had a partnership with the ruler of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The Obama vetters "are going to say, 'You have to give us the list of library donors, and that's a deal-breaker if you don't,'" said one longtime Clinton confidant. "I don't think the former president will agree to it."
Sen. Obama probably won't announce a running mate for a while, perhaps waiting as long as August, a supporter said. The Democratic convention is Aug. 25-28 in Denver. His campaign and the three-person search team will draw up a list of possible choices and test Sen. Obama's support in different regions and demographic groups, to decide which potential running mates could best help him, this person said.
Well here's what I think:
1) Who cares how much money Bill Clinton made while lecturing on the private circuit? Seriously. It's okay for everyone else to make money, isn't it? (How much did Al Gore make for that stupid movie? And he got the damn Nobel for it.)
2) Obama is arrogant and condescending. He has been from the very beginning. "We'll just give Hillary a little time to absorb her loss."
3) Why does he need Caroline Kennedy on a team to help him pick a VP? Do I even need to explain this???
4) Here's the problem: The Clinton's didn't work out a contingency plan for what might happen should that request for Bill's library donor records become an issue. The fact that he is refusing will probably cost Hillary the VP slot. So, I ask, why in the heck did she even run? Did they think they were going to be immune and above the law AGAIN and just ASSUME she would have the nomination in the bag? Apparently so. Shame on you, Bill. You and the Obama camp both have assisted in kicking your wife in the teeth.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
No big surprise
Well Obama has pretty much won the nomination. Now all he needs to do is get Clinton to run as his VP, something I've suspected might happen all along. But I could be wrong on that. Only time will tell.
These 2 could have saved the Democratic party a whole lot of heartache and suffering (not to mention money) if they would have just formed an alliance and been done with it. It's shameful, really, that they had to take it this far.
My hunch is that Obama will be the next President, and it's not that he's qualified, in my opinion. I don't believe he is. And it's got NOTHING to do with his being black. I have nothing against a black President. As a President, I think he will head our country into a socialist, communist type society that will become even more dependent on government subsidies, health care, and with Hillary on his side, how can they go wrong in achieving their goals??? The liberal elite will just get richer and richer and laugh at all the "little people." It's ok to be wealthy if you are a liberal with a Harvard education, but if you are a conservative and have any money or success, you are evil. And make that more evil if you're a Christian.
No matter what kind of dirt is dug up on Obama, no matter what happens, he will be immune to it, and in my opinion, will become the next President, no matter what. He is the "chosen one" and George Soros and co. have a lot of money banking on this guy, and they're not going to lose, as they are liberal elites.
I don't think McCain stands a chance. If Obama can win the nomination despite the Clinton machine, McCain will be a piece of cake.
These 2 could have saved the Democratic party a whole lot of heartache and suffering (not to mention money) if they would have just formed an alliance and been done with it. It's shameful, really, that they had to take it this far.
My hunch is that Obama will be the next President, and it's not that he's qualified, in my opinion. I don't believe he is. And it's got NOTHING to do with his being black. I have nothing against a black President. As a President, I think he will head our country into a socialist, communist type society that will become even more dependent on government subsidies, health care, and with Hillary on his side, how can they go wrong in achieving their goals??? The liberal elite will just get richer and richer and laugh at all the "little people." It's ok to be wealthy if you are a liberal with a Harvard education, but if you are a conservative and have any money or success, you are evil. And make that more evil if you're a Christian.
No matter what kind of dirt is dug up on Obama, no matter what happens, he will be immune to it, and in my opinion, will become the next President, no matter what. He is the "chosen one" and George Soros and co. have a lot of money banking on this guy, and they're not going to lose, as they are liberal elites.
I don't think McCain stands a chance. If Obama can win the nomination despite the Clinton machine, McCain will be a piece of cake.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Officially Orthodox
I am now offically Orthodox! I was baptized on May 31, 2008. It was an absolutely wonderful experience. Once I was immersed, I left behind the old things weighing me down spiritually and experienced a new rebirth into Christ. Not only do I have a new family here on Earth, but in the Heavens as well, with the communion of all the saints. This is what I talk about when I say to those that are thinking of giving up God, "Don't do it yet."
I offer prayers for those who have not yet been introduced to this rich, full and complete expression of the Christian faith, and that Orthodoxy will continue to grow in numbers in the United States. She has overcome many obstacles over the last 2,000 years, so the track record has withstood the test.
In the name of the Father, Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
I offer prayers for those who have not yet been introduced to this rich, full and complete expression of the Christian faith, and that Orthodoxy will continue to grow in numbers in the United States. She has overcome many obstacles over the last 2,000 years, so the track record has withstood the test.
In the name of the Father, Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Persecution of Christians
I'm sure that opponents will say the following videos are completely unfounded and incorrect, full of propaganda, biased, whatever. I say they are not, and anyone who cannot see the atrocities suffered by innocent followers of Jesus is likely blinded by the anti-Christian movement, otherwise disguised as "anti-religion."
I've also included some about persecution of Christians by sects of violent Islam and one from a Hindu organization. (Notice I did NOT say "all Muslims" or "all Hindus.")
This is an alarming trend and people need to wake up and see it for what it is and stop twisting and spinning the issues. Believe it or not, there are people out there claiming to be full of logic and reason yet deny the fact that Christians are still being persecuted and killed for their beliefs. They say "Oh that hasn't happened since Roman times." Wrong again.
First up, North Korea I and II:
Russia
China:
Pakistan:
Iraq:
Egypt:
Vietnam:
And here's a video of radical Hindus attacking a Christian. Most Hindus are peaceful for the most part. But I've never been to India so I can't make the claim 100%. Unfortunately in India there is a caste system and if you aren't high enough you're not even worthy in God's eyes, according to the radicals. So why do they care about a few converting? Those in radical dominant power do not want these Indians to feel empowered by anything. They want to keep them under their boots:
I found a whole series on youtube dedicated to persecution of Chinese Christians by their atheist government. Should I go on?
I've also included some about persecution of Christians by sects of violent Islam and one from a Hindu organization. (Notice I did NOT say "all Muslims" or "all Hindus.")
This is an alarming trend and people need to wake up and see it for what it is and stop twisting and spinning the issues. Believe it or not, there are people out there claiming to be full of logic and reason yet deny the fact that Christians are still being persecuted and killed for their beliefs. They say "Oh that hasn't happened since Roman times." Wrong again.
First up, North Korea I and II:
Russia
China:
Pakistan:
Iraq:
Egypt:
Vietnam:
And here's a video of radical Hindus attacking a Christian. Most Hindus are peaceful for the most part. But I've never been to India so I can't make the claim 100%. Unfortunately in India there is a caste system and if you aren't high enough you're not even worthy in God's eyes, according to the radicals. So why do they care about a few converting? Those in radical dominant power do not want these Indians to feel empowered by anything. They want to keep them under their boots:
I found a whole series on youtube dedicated to persecution of Chinese Christians by their atheist government. Should I go on?
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Religion and intelligence
11 year old Akshay Rajagopal of Nebraska won the NatGeo top prize in the geography bee today.
From Cbsnews.com:
Cochabamba is the third-largest conurbation in what country?
Your answer might be, "Huh?" But 11-year-old Akshay Rajagopal answered "Bolivia" to clinch the 20th annual National Geographic Bee on Wednesday.
A conurbation is a large, densely populated urban area - and Cochabamba is the third-largest one in the South American country.
Akshay's correct answer capped a two-day event in which he got every question right. A sixth-grader at Lux Middle School in Lincoln, Neb., he won a $25,000 scholarship.
Along the way, Akshay answered questions that included the westernmost Asian national capital (Ankara in Turkey), the country where Makossa is a popular type of music (Cameroon), and the location of Tillya Tepe (it's in Afghanistan).
"Some of them were hard but others were OK," Akshay said as he held an oversized check. "I think I was just lucky."
As he blitzed the competition, his family looked on from the front of the auditorium at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington. He boned up for several months by studying geography DVDs and textbooks.
"He's been interested in geography since he was 5," said his mother, Suchitra Srinivas.
"It was just sheer elation," Vijay Rajagopal, told CBS New correspondent Thalia Assuras about how he was feeling after his son's triumph. "Pure joy, I guess... being very proud."
One student from every U.S. state and territory, along with a student from a military family, took part in the competition run by National Geographic. Akshay was the youngest of the 10 finalists, all boys.
"Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek, who has moderated the bee for all 20 years, called it the "national annual humiliation," exposing that a group of middle schoolers has vastly more knowledge of geography than most of the nation.
Okay, so I'm going to make an assumption that this kid might be Hindu. That means he would be a religious person. Now I could be wrong about this. He might be from an atheist family. But let's just say for argument's sake that he is religious. That would make him one very smart Hindu boy.
The establishment today wants the world to embrace this idea that people with religious backgrounds are somehow less intelligent than "freethinkers" or basically those that have "woken up and let go of all of their religious crutches."
Many of the great atheist thinkers quoted and promoted today are white Americans or Europeans. I know there are many that are not, but the big ones promoted today are. Just look at this video on youtube to see my point. It won an award from Harvard and received praise from their scholars:
(If you go to the youtube website and look in the description box for this video, the creator has admitted that some of the individuals he featured he later found out are not atheists. He has not corrected the video and reloaded it, and it doesn't appear that anyone from Harvard will be challenging him to do so.)
When I did work study for the University way back when as an undergrad, I had the opportunity to fit caps and gowns for the PhD and JD candidates during a spring semester. Now the majority of those graduates were of Indian and Middle Eastern descent. Let's also just say for argument's sake that many of these people were Muslim or Hindu as well. I'm not basing any of this blog entry on any actual data, it's all just speculation, so please keep this in mind.
When asked directly, I've been told by some atheists that all humans evolved equally despite many comments to the contrary. It seems to me then, based on what I've been told, that they would accept most other humans, even religious ones, no matter what deity (s) they worship, as highly intelligent and capable of reason, logic and advanced critical thinking.
But I'm not a smart atheist, so I could be completely wrong on this.
However, I'm still left with a dilemma. Even after they admit that we have evolved equally, many still say that religion is a crutch, that we're hurting society and holding everyone back with our intellectual stupidity. Just look within society to see the proof. So which viewpoint is the correct one? I guess some clarification is necessary to distinguish which category those of us that are religious fall into, the plain delusional and stupid category or the intelligent and respectful category. (I think it ultimately depends on which religion you follow and the one they are most comfortable with you belonging to.)
I'm very, very confused on this. Maybe someone can explain it to me.
On the surface, it appears that in their blind glee to rid the world of Christianity, atheists are "forgetting" about the intelligent Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists out there that are also devoutly religious. I also make another observation. They quote a lot of elitist white Americans and Europeans for their cause without giving any credit to multi-national thinkers, according to the above video that has won an award from Harvard University.
It just seems flawed on all sides to me.
From Cbsnews.com:
Cochabamba is the third-largest conurbation in what country?
Your answer might be, "Huh?" But 11-year-old Akshay Rajagopal answered "Bolivia" to clinch the 20th annual National Geographic Bee on Wednesday.
A conurbation is a large, densely populated urban area - and Cochabamba is the third-largest one in the South American country.
Akshay's correct answer capped a two-day event in which he got every question right. A sixth-grader at Lux Middle School in Lincoln, Neb., he won a $25,000 scholarship.
Along the way, Akshay answered questions that included the westernmost Asian national capital (Ankara in Turkey), the country where Makossa is a popular type of music (Cameroon), and the location of Tillya Tepe (it's in Afghanistan).
"Some of them were hard but others were OK," Akshay said as he held an oversized check. "I think I was just lucky."
As he blitzed the competition, his family looked on from the front of the auditorium at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington. He boned up for several months by studying geography DVDs and textbooks.
"He's been interested in geography since he was 5," said his mother, Suchitra Srinivas.
"It was just sheer elation," Vijay Rajagopal, told CBS New correspondent Thalia Assuras about how he was feeling after his son's triumph. "Pure joy, I guess... being very proud."
One student from every U.S. state and territory, along with a student from a military family, took part in the competition run by National Geographic. Akshay was the youngest of the 10 finalists, all boys.
"Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek, who has moderated the bee for all 20 years, called it the "national annual humiliation," exposing that a group of middle schoolers has vastly more knowledge of geography than most of the nation.
Okay, so I'm going to make an assumption that this kid might be Hindu. That means he would be a religious person. Now I could be wrong about this. He might be from an atheist family. But let's just say for argument's sake that he is religious. That would make him one very smart Hindu boy.
The establishment today wants the world to embrace this idea that people with religious backgrounds are somehow less intelligent than "freethinkers" or basically those that have "woken up and let go of all of their religious crutches."
Many of the great atheist thinkers quoted and promoted today are white Americans or Europeans. I know there are many that are not, but the big ones promoted today are. Just look at this video on youtube to see my point. It won an award from Harvard and received praise from their scholars:
(If you go to the youtube website and look in the description box for this video, the creator has admitted that some of the individuals he featured he later found out are not atheists. He has not corrected the video and reloaded it, and it doesn't appear that anyone from Harvard will be challenging him to do so.)
When I did work study for the University way back when as an undergrad, I had the opportunity to fit caps and gowns for the PhD and JD candidates during a spring semester. Now the majority of those graduates were of Indian and Middle Eastern descent. Let's also just say for argument's sake that many of these people were Muslim or Hindu as well. I'm not basing any of this blog entry on any actual data, it's all just speculation, so please keep this in mind.
When asked directly, I've been told by some atheists that all humans evolved equally despite many comments to the contrary. It seems to me then, based on what I've been told, that they would accept most other humans, even religious ones, no matter what deity (s) they worship, as highly intelligent and capable of reason, logic and advanced critical thinking.
But I'm not a smart atheist, so I could be completely wrong on this.
However, I'm still left with a dilemma. Even after they admit that we have evolved equally, many still say that religion is a crutch, that we're hurting society and holding everyone back with our intellectual stupidity. Just look within society to see the proof. So which viewpoint is the correct one? I guess some clarification is necessary to distinguish which category those of us that are religious fall into, the plain delusional and stupid category or the intelligent and respectful category. (I think it ultimately depends on which religion you follow and the one they are most comfortable with you belonging to.)
I'm very, very confused on this. Maybe someone can explain it to me.
On the surface, it appears that in their blind glee to rid the world of Christianity, atheists are "forgetting" about the intelligent Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists out there that are also devoutly religious. I also make another observation. They quote a lot of elitist white Americans and Europeans for their cause without giving any credit to multi-national thinkers, according to the above video that has won an award from Harvard University.
It just seems flawed on all sides to me.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The Club of Rome
Recently I found some interesting information about an organization called "The Club of Rome." They are made up of an Anglo and European elitist "think tank" that basically decide what the crisis du jour will be for the world. I find this disturbing.
http://www.clubofrome.org/about/index.php
And then I came across a youtube video about them. Now keep in mind that some of the information in the video "could be" taken out of context from their publications so please keep an open mind about that. But you can connect the dots.
http://www.clubofrome.org/about/index.php
And then I came across a youtube video about them. Now keep in mind that some of the information in the video "could be" taken out of context from their publications so please keep an open mind about that. But you can connect the dots.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The ugliest fashion statement ever
Okay, this post is just poking fun at a rival school. No harm or slander intended. I've always had respect for the UT band. Seriously. We used to have little "playoffs" with them on the sidelines before the OU/Texas games. We were never mean spirited or low class to each other, so it was all cool.
But come on, watch this video and then honestly say tell me it isn't just the ugliest thing you've ever seen. ROFL
RIC RAC FTW!!!
Here's a dandy clip from 1986 when I was in the Pride. Ahhh...the good old days.
But come on, watch this video and then honestly say tell me it isn't just the ugliest thing you've ever seen. ROFL
RIC RAC FTW!!!
Here's a dandy clip from 1986 when I was in the Pride. Ahhh...the good old days.
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