RACE, RELIGION AND POLITICS
CURRENT- 2013
2001
3-16-13
PAPA FRANCIS
Okay- we have a new Pope as of
this post.
Yeah- it’s hard to write a
journal and not post it- who knows- maybe none of this will ever be seen?
J.D. Salinger became sought after
because of that very reason [he published a couple of hits- Catcher in the Rye-
and then went into hiding].
So- let’s see what happens.
Now- I think Francis might become
my favorite in recent history.
Why?
Francis [the name he took- from Francis
of Assisi- also speaks about his character. St. Francis forsook family wealth
to work in Gods field- he believed God called him to help restore the church to
her original design].
So- Pope Francis lived the same
type of calling.
He’s the first Pope from America
[albeit Latin America].
He’s the first from the Jesuit
order to hold the office- the Jesuits are my favorite Catholic order.
If you remember my church history
section- I covered the Jesuits- and complimented them a lot.
The Jesuits are the intellectuals
of the church- now- the Catholic Church as a whole is of course very
intellectual.
But the Jesuits were very
influential in the development of the scientific method.
As a percentage- there were more
Jesuit leaders in science than any other group.
They also were missionary minded.
When I covered them in the past I
showed how after the 16th century Protestant Reformation the Jesuits
did a sort of Counter Reformation and evangelized Asia- an area where the
Protestants fell short.
So- as you can see- I’m a fan of
the Jesuits.
Francis- from Buenos Aires
Argentina- lived among the poor- he cooked his own meals and rejected the perks
that Cardinals/Arch Bishops get.
Yet- he was a ‘conservative’ in
doctrine.
Huh?
How could he be a sort of
Liberation theologian- and yet hold to conservative views?
Here’s where our modern news
shows mess stuff up.
As an avid news watcher- the last
few years one of the critiques I gave was the mistake of men like Glenn beck
and others- who associated Liberation Theology with heresy.
Now- Beck and others meant well-
they just made the mistake of demonizing people they don’t understand [remember
the rampage against Van Jones?]
But that’s why we need to get our
info from better informed folk.
Anyway- Liberation Theology is a
form of Christian teaching that associates the ministry of Jesus to the poor-
and seeks to impellent that- sometimes too far- with government programs.
So- in Latin America- you have
had Catholic champions of the poor and down trodden- who advocated for the
poor- and at the same time believed in the historic positions of the doctrines
of the church.
For instance- some ‘liberal’
scholars reject the resurrection of Jesus- and other key teachings of the
church.
These men [both Catholic and
Protestant] are referred to as Liberal scholars.
Francis is not one of them- he’s
‘conservative’ when it comes to the historic faith.
Yet- in his actions [Orthopraxy]
he is ‘liberal’ [that is if you think identifying with the poor is liberal].
So- Francis is a lot like me in
my belief [I too am conservative in doctrine] and practice- I have lived with
the poor and down and out for years.
So- he just might be my favorite.
Let’s wait and see.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1999
3-13-2013
HOW LONG TO THE POINT OF NO
RETURN?
Being I’m in the middle of
getting rid of lots of stuff- and doing some final repairs on cars and the
house- I haven’t really had time to comment on many big news events.
This week there have been some
important things that I feel I should mention.
Bradley Manning has been in court
for the leaking of thousands of ‘secret’ memos to Wikileaks.
Most of you should be familiar
with the case.
He has been held in solitary
confinement for a few years and the govt. has charged him thru the espionage
act.
Now- even though most of the
stuff leaked really amounted to embarrassing details- how the U.S. govt. has
done behind the scenes talks with other nations- kind of deceived folk- or the
biggest leak was the video now famously referred to as Collateral Damage.
This video showed a terrible
incident where our guys fired [helicopter] on a bunch of civilian reporters- by
accident- thinking they were the enemy- but were later found out to be
reporters.
It looked bad- really bad.
So- the question is should we
view the leaking of this stuff as espionage [spy type charges] or more like a
whistle blower.
That’s the debate- I personally
think what he leaked does not rise to the level of life in prison- which is
what the govt. is seeking.
Now- we also had the nomination
of John Brennan to head the CIA.
During the hearings- he [and
Holder- US attorney] were asked questions about killing US citizens- without
due process.
As most of you know we killed a
US citizen a few years back with a drone [in Yemen].
He was indeed a full blown
Al-Qaida leader- and had influence with others.
Now- what most don’t know is a
few weeks later we also killed his US born son- 16 years old.
His son was born in Detroit-
living in Yemen.
By all accounts- his son was not
an Al-Qaida operative- he of course was probably influenced by his dad’s
radical views.
But he was a minor- a US citizen-
and he was traveling to see his dad.
We killed him with a drone strike
while he was sitting at an outdoor restaurant.
When the US govt. was asked why
we killed him- one of the responses was he should have picked a better father.
Now- whatever side of the aisle
you fall on- this stuff has to stop.
All this is going on at the same
time we just read the Miranda rights to the son in law of Osama Bin Laden- and
are putting him on civilian trial in NYC.
So- we executed a 16 year old US
citizen- because his dad was a bad guy- yet we read the rights to a non
citizen- who may have some type of involvement with the 9-11 attacks.
[Note- the US govt. has said the
killing of the boy was a mistake- but we still killed him]
This is bad- very bad.
As the US seeks to imprison
Manning- for life.
And is also attempting to get
Julian Assange- the founder of WikiLeaks.
We need to ask ourselves what
role the on-line media outlets play.
For instance- the NY times
printed some of the same material that Manning leaked- yet the print media are considered
‘media’ and the printing of ‘secret’ stuff is considered noble- like Florida’s
sunshine laws.
Yet if an on-line publisher posts
the same stuff- he can be tried for espionage.
During one debate when this
question came up- the pundit simply said if it’s in print- then it’s legal.
But if it’s on line- its not.
Is that really the criteria we
want to use to decide that what one organization published is noble- but for
the other it merits the possible death penalty [which is the level of crime Manning
is charged with]?
Yes- these questions are
important to answer- they should not be seen as ‘left or right’ questions [the
Repub senator Rand Paul did a stand up job- literally- by doing an old
fashioned filibuster on the drone issue the other day].
So yeah- if a nominee for the
CIA- or the US attorney general can not say that a US president has no right to
kill a citizen- in our country- without due process- then he should not be up
for that position.
We as a country have gone thru
many struggles since the tragic 9-11 attack.
And we [first under Bush] did
give up too many rights as we overreacted- by loosening our rules on the
privacy of US citizens.
But if we cant clearly say that
no US president- whether Repub or Dem- has the right to kill a US citizen
without due process- then we are all falling off the deep end-
As Kansas put it TO THE POINT OF
NO RETURN.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1969 CLIFF DIVING
Jack n Jill went down the ….
Actually- Obama and Boehner went
over the cliff ….
Yeah- last night the Dems in the
senate passed a compromise of sorts.
But- we did actually do the
‘cliff’ thing- the house has not passed it yet- but it’s not as bad as the
media made it sound.
I fell asleep early and didn’t
catch the whole scoop- but from what I saw it looks like they are gonna raise
taxes on those who make over 400 grand a year and try and settle the rest
later.
It really was just kicking the
ball down the road- and letting the president get some of what he wanted-
though those on the hard left- and right- are not happy.
Okay- the past few weeks as I
have been doing the halfway house with my friend John David- I have been kind
of teaching a chapter of the bible each week to the guys.
It is funny how every chapter I
read for the week seems to have some type of personal ‘word’ for what we are
doing with the house.
For instance- a couple of weeks
ago the chapter was Jeremiah 33.
I told the guys the other day
that I felt it was no coincidence that a lot of the guys we are working with at
the halfway house are all relatives of David.
John David was a long time addict
in the area where I live- he has 5 or 6 generations all living right around me.
I helped his brother's [Andy]
granddaughter the other day- her name is Kayla.
Plus- she has a cute 2 year old-
so I see her every now and then.
At the house- we have Little
Charlie- Big Charlie- John Boy and Andy.
All related to John David- minus
John Boy.
So- I felt like it was a family
thing as well as an open ‘house’ for others.
So- Jeremiah 33 speaks about the
promises of God to ‘David and his house/family’.
It says there will never fail to
be a family member who will be a part of ‘this house’.
Now- the promises are actually
speaking about the Davidic covenant/promise that God made to the great Jewish
king- King David.
These promises play a very
important role in the history of salvation.
I wrote on this a couple of posts
back- basically God promised king David that he would set a Son upon David’s
throne- and this Son would hold the position ‘forever’.
The Apostles in the book of Acts
saw this promise as being fulfilled thru the death and ascension of Christ to
the right hand of God.
So- that’s what the chapter in
Jeremiah is actually speaking about.
But I also felt like the Lord was
giving us confirmation about what we were doing as well.
See?
It is important- very important-
to make this distinction.
When people begin ‘seeing’
themselves as the actual fulfillment of some bible promise- like the prophet
Jeremiah was actually- in context- speaking about them- then that’s not good.
David Koresh- right up the road
from me in Waco- made this tragic mistake- and we have all seen the end result.
Koresh believed he was the
fulfillment of verses found in Revelation- he took his new name- Koresh- from
an actual figure in the Old Testament [king Cyrus].
When people go down that road-
it’s not good.
But- to apply stuff like the way
I was doing Jeremiah 33- I think is okay.
Now- when I shared this chapter
with John David- I told him a funny thing happened when I read it.
All the promises to David and his
family being involved with ‘the house’.
Well- in my bible- it does not say David.
It says ‘John David’.
Huh?
John- are you going Koresh on us?
No.
I told David about a year ago I
heard a preacher say ‘this year- start personalizing the promises in the bible-
write your name in the spot when a promise is made to someone else’.
So- I did that for about a week
and quit.
But- it just so happened that
this chapter was converted to say ‘John David’.
Yeah- I simply wrote my name over
‘David’ and all the promises were to ‘John David’.
Okay- was going to teach a little
more about these promises and how they are spoken about in Acts chapter 15- the
first church council.
Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow.
For now- just hold tight- we have
to finish repelling down the cliff.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1968 7 PRINCES TO THE RESCUE
I want to try and comment on
Micah chapter 5- an Old Testament prophet.
But first a few other things.
Last night I was watching Fox
news- and Greta mentioned the top stories of the year.
Lots of the news shows do this
every year.
I thought- in general- that it’s
harmful to re-tell the school shootings- over and over again- right at this
time.
In our media world there is a
sort of voyeurism that takes place- we want to see- hear- the actual events-
over and over again.
Sometimes after a tragic event-
maybe it’s already a few days old.
And some network will get hold of
the actual 911 call- and run that as the news ad during the day.
‘Hey look- tonight we have the
actual call’.
Oftentimes it’s the call a parent
made when she found her kid was killed- or some other tragedy.
We do not need to air that type
of stuff.
Anyway Greta said she thinks that
‘Africa will be the top story of this new year- not the Arab Spring’.
Okay- I know my liberal friends
are mad at me- some ‘un-friend’ me and stuff.
Because I have been hard on the
Dems.
But this time I’ll be hard on
Fox.
Who remembers the Arab Spring
posts I did last year?
The 3 nations that ‘sprung’ were
Tunisia- Egypt- and Libya.
All these nations border each
other on the Mediterranean sea- on the North part of the African continent.
In short- all the Arab Spring
nations are Africa- so far.
The only possible one that’s not
African is Syria- and it hasn’t ‘sprung’ yet.
So yeah- we should not always
believe what we see on the tube.
Okay- Micah 5 is the chapter for
this week.
It has the famous prophecy that
out of Bethlehem Jesus will come.
It speaks about Bethlehem as a
small- po dunk type town.
‘You are the least in Judah- yet
from thee shall he spring forth who is to be the ruler’.
See?
Jesus hailed from the wrong side
of the tracks in many ways.
Galilee was also a sort of
underclass area- Jesus and his men spoke Aramaic- which was kind of a lower
class language.
A sort of Ebonics of the day
[ouch!]
Yet- from that spot where it
seemed no good could come- yet good did come.
A couple of verses caught my
attention.
‘Daughter of troops- gather
yourself into troops’.
And ‘When the enemy comes into
the land you will raise up against him 7 shepherds and 8 principal men’.
When I read these verses this
week- I applied them to the halfway house ministry we started a couple of
months ago.
Often times in scripture we read
symbols- things that might use warfare imagery- yet they are not talking about
‘killing’ the way we think.
One of the tragedies of our time
is we have too many religious people who have never made this distinction.
And even in the church we hold to
many ideas- that come from images about war- that are only symbols- but some
teach them as actual war.
In the book of Revelation the
apostle John talks about the Christians overcoming the enemy.
It talks about a battle- Jesus on
a White horse- a sword coming out of his mouth.
When Evangelicals turn these into
actual war prophecies- they do damage to the truth.
I mean the image of a sword from
Jesus mouth is understood as the Word of God.
So Jesus ‘slays his enemies’ with
the word of God.
Does Jesus actually kill them?
No- when people accept the
message of Christ- they get baptized.
Baptism is a type of death to the
old man- and life to the new.
So- the images of those being
killed by ’the sword from Jesus mouth’ should be seen in this way.
[Or as a type of end time
judgment that Gods word carries out- Jesus said ‘the words that I speak to you’
will judge you in the final day.]
Revelation says those who ‘died
the first death and had part of the first resurrection’ the second death has no
power over them.
All who are in Christ have died a
sort of ‘first death’ on these- the 2nd death [when you die] has no
power.
The writer of Hebrews says Jesus
delivered us- who thru fear of death were all our lives in bondage.
Those who have died the first
death- who have joined themselves unto Christ and are 'crucified’ with him.
Yeah- on these the 2nd
death has no power.
Okay- I could go on and on like
this- but the point is we as believers need to be careful when we teach the
verses that speak about killing- death and swords.
Often times they are not to be
taken literally.
So- when I read that God raises
up ‘7 princes’ against the enemy.
I realized- at the halfway house-
there are a total of 7 of us working together in the ministry.
I liked that- God uses people-
princes- to come against the enemy.
How?
Okay- back to Revelation.
There is this image of Jesus with
7 stars in his hand- and it says these are the 7 angels of the churches.
Some see these ‘angels’ as church
leaders.
The Greek word means messenger-
and it can mean angels or people.
The point is- Jesus has these
people- these chosen ones- and he uses them as ‘weapons’.
That is- those who are sent into
the world with the message of the gospel- these are in a way soldiers for the
Lord.
But they don’t go out and kill
people in the literal sense- but when they carry the message of the Cross- and
when others believe in that message- then yes- those who believe and are
baptized have died in a way.
The apostle Paul says ‘I have
been crucified with Christ- never the less I live- yet not I but Christ lives
in me’.
So yeah- when the enemy comes in-
God sends messengers against him.
These messengers too have
‘swords’ in their mouths- they speak the Word of God.
And yes- every so often they
‘kill’ people- that is- those who hear the message- they die a sort of ‘first
death’.
They die to the old man- the old
nature.
They are raised with Jesus also-
to walk in a new way.
Yeah- on these- the next death
will have no power.
NOTES- I also wanted to mention
yesterday’s ruling by Supreme Court justice Sotomayor.
She ruled that the Catholic
owners of Hobby Lobby must either provide birth control thru their company- or
start paying a 1.3 million dollar a day fine.
I remember when the debate was
going on about Obama Care.
Many good people—Bishop Tim Dolan
from N.Y. and others.
They were assured by the
president himself that the religious views of Catholics would not be trampled
over by the new law.
Yet- since the law passed- many
Catholics have already been affected by the law in a negative way.
As most of you know- the church
teaches that birth control is not an acceptable practice for Catholics.
Now- being raised as a Catholic-
and now a Protestant- I do realize that many Catholics do not obey this rule.
But- others do.
It is sad that the Obama Care law
does indeed trample over the rights of Catholics.
When a law forces a Catholic to
provide something that goes against their conscience- that’s wrong.
The president and his supporters
swore that this would not happen- tell that to the owners of Hobby Lobby as
they start writing checks for 1.3 million- every day!
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1967 I’M
JUST A RACIST- I GUESS?
I read a news article yesterday-
it was ‘fascinating’ to say the least.
It talked about the evil
congressional republicans.
[I’m an independent myself- just
sayin’]
It explained that they have 2
choices that they must make as a direct result of Obama Care.
They either have to eliminate the
Mortgage interest deduction- or eliminate the pre tax dollars for employer paid
insurance.
I had this benefit for 25 years
at the Fire Dept.
We called it the cafeteria plan-
each year we signed up for it and we paid our insurance premiums with pre taxed
dollars.
We never paid taxes on the money
we spent for the insurance.
Okay- I remember during the
health care debate- many who objected to Obama Care said that this would
happen.
You had not one single Republican
vote for Obama Care- it was a rare vote where major legislation that would
affect the entire country would be passed by a strict party line vote.
So- the Repubs voted nay- Obama
and the Dems voted yes.
Now- the point I’m gonna make is
simply one of media propaganda- I am not ‘anti’ universal health care- I was
for the more progressive [liberal] choice- I wanted health care- European
style.
So- just letting you know my
position.
The article yesterday made it
sound like the Republicans are solely responsible for the choice of either
eliminating the pre tax insurance benefit- or the mortgage interest deduction.
Yes- we have a Dem president- a
dem controlled senate- and the Repubs are in the majority in the house.
Every single Repub voted against
Obama care- yet- the actual people who did not want this- who warned that this
would happen- are now depicted by the media- and the president and Dem senate-
as the bad guys who are forcing a choice between the 2 options.
This is utterly amazing- that the
media can have so much power- to actually blame one side for something that
side never wanted.
And the other side- who wanted
the law- they are actually teaming with the media to say that the Repubs are
forcing this choice.
Now- for the average news
watcher- they believe the propaganda- they hear this stuff- and let it affect
them.
I posted last week that the
Repubs were going to try and pass a tax raise on millionaires- and ask for not
one single cut in spending.
This would have been a huge plus
for the president and the senate- who were trying to not cut anything while
raising taxes on the rich.
Boehner- the house Repub leader-
got his base mad- yet he would have forced the vote anyway.
But you had a couple of dozen
Repubs say that the president had already swore that he would veto it- and they
would be stuck with a vote to raise taxes on the rich- which would have hurt
them in the next primary.
So- they never passed the ‘plan
b’.
The next day- the president came
out and said ‘let’s try and pass a tax raise on the rich’ and we can settle the
rest later.
The exact thing that the day
before he swore to veto.
Then why did he say he would veto
the legislation?
Because what he is doing is
trying to win a game with the Repubs- he wants to gain the upper hand [not
saying he’s wrong- both sides do this- just showing you the game].
If the Repubs passed the
millionaire tax raise- which would have indeed hurt them with the Tea party
guys- then Obama would have to sign it [if he meant what he has been saying
‘lets tax millionaires and billionaires’] and then he would have signed a bill
that was passed by the Repub house.
So what?
He should have just signed the
thing- not threatened a veto.
[by the way- this was the exact
plan that both Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer wanted- they wanted to raise
taxes only on millionaires and over- because they have rich districts that they
represent].
Some of the Repubs said they
would not vote for the plan- because even if they voted for it- and Obama
vetoed it- the media would still blame the Repub congress.
They were right.
If the media are able to take a
law that not a single Repub voted for [Obama care].
And then blame that side for the
decision to either eliminate the mortgage interest deduction- or the Ins
deduction.
And then the side who voted for
Obama care- they are teaming up with the media to say ‘look what the Repubs are
doing’.
Then yes- the media will twist
the story to benefit them- the side that most of them vote for.
This is simply a lesson in the
media- the bias that exists- at times- on both sides.
When I read the article
yesterday- I saw right thru the game- because I write on this stuff- but there
are many who simply have no idea.
I’ll end with one example.
I told a liberal friend the other
day that I will wind up paying the Obama Care ‘penalty’ this year.
It’s about 700 bucks that I don’t
have.
Why will I pay it?
When I retired from the Fire Dept
in 2008- I had to drop my health Insurance.
It would have cost me 70% of my
monthly retirement check to have kept it.
So- I dropped it.
And as the ball bounces- within a
week- I noticed some stuff that really needed to be checked by a doctor.
I panicked and called my Ins
people to see if I could get back on- then I tried to get checked thru the VA-
I am a vet.
No luck.
So- after about a month of this-
I got mad and said ‘the heck with it- whatever will be will be’.
So- how did I get treatment?
Okay- don’t laugh- I went on
line- typed in what the problem was- and simply picked the least terrible
possibility- and then typed in what ‘free’ or natural remedies I could try to
fix it.
Yeah- that’s what I have been
doing.
Now- do remedies like this work?
I have no idea- but just sayin’.
So- if I have to- I spend around
120 bucks and take the hit and make a doctor visit.
[by the way- people- like me- do
not get free health care from the E.R. - that’s false. If you go to the E.R.
with a possible long term disease- they simply recommend you to a doc and then
they do tests. If you do not have Ins-
you can’t go thru the process. And if
the E.R does any work- you get a HUGE bill. There is no ‘free health’ care thru
the E.R. - unless your poor and they can’t bill you].
That leaves me with 7 possible
out of pocket visits a year- for 700 bucks.
Oh yeah- I just got an Obama Care
tax raise for 700- that I don’t have.
My friend who I told the story
too could not believe that I was gonna get fined.
They watch MSNBC all year- and
they thought that everyone that was against Obama Care was a racist.
That those who opposed it just
could never accept a ‘Black Man’ in the White House.
I told my friend that what Obama
Care did for me was it leaves me a choice to get on line [when?] and choose
between an option of private insurers to get insurance.
This is called the Health Care
Exchange.
The govt. will pay for some of
the premium- but not all.
From what I know- I will still
have to cough up money I don’t have- so I will still have to pay the fine.
My friend whose already on govt.
care [all my buddies get Medicaid] had no idea that this was how Obama Care
worked.
That you get to choose from a
group- and you still have to pay- they thought it was some actual ‘universal
health plan’.
So- why would a person like me be
against it?
Because I just lost 7 doctors
visits- that I could not afford to lose.
I now will save that money for
the 'darn’ fine.
Yeah.
Were not all racists.
Some of us just wish we could
have used the money- even for the ‘on line’ drugs.
They still cost you know.
NOTE- I told my friend it was sad
that they never heard about the Health Exchanges- which is what Obama Care
actually is.
They spent a whole year watching
MSNBC.
They heard how all who were
against it were playing ‘dog whistle racism/politics’.
That those in the south can’t get
passed the Civil War.
They heard this ‘stuff’ for a
whole year- and never once learned what the plan was.
That’s why I say outlets like MSNBC
are destroying the country.
They were ‘taught’ that people
like me were racists- because why else would any sane person be against Obama
care?
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1965 JUST ASK
I should have covered this
chapter last week- but I’m behind a little.
So let’s start the week with a
famous verse.
“Call unto me and I will answer
thee and SHOW THEE great and mighty things that thou knowest not”.
Jeremiah 33:3.
This chapter deals with the
restoration promises that God made to his people in the Old Testament.
The other week I did a few posts
about the main meaning of the bible- the message of Christianity.
One of the main themes of the
bible is the promise of a coming Messiah- someone who the Jewish nation was
looking for- he was a future deliverer.
In this chapter the prophet talks
about the promise made to King David- that there would be a Son from his
genealogy that would someday sit on the throne of David.
In the New Testament we see the
promise fulfilled thru the coming of Christ.
If you carefully read the book of
Acts- the main preachers [Peter and Paul] speak about this Davidic promise
being fulfilled thru Jesus.
Jesus came from the lineage of
David and he was raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of God.
Okay- Jeremiah is preaching to
the Jewish people during a time of captivity- the people are in bondage- again
[Remember Egypt?]
In order to encourage them he
tells them God has not forgotten the promises he made to them.
He says he will restore them- he
will fulfill the promise to David- and there will ‘never fail to be someone
form David’s house to sit on the throne- a Branch will grow up from David’.
When the apostles Paul/Peter talk
about this promise to David in the New Testament- they say it must be speaking
about the resurrection of Christ- because it says a Son [Jesus] will sit on the
throne forever.
How can there be a king who takes
the ‘job’ forever?
Because this king has an
everlasting life- seated in the position.
Get it?
So- the whole chapter is simply a
reminder to a depressed people- people heading for their own ‘fiscal cliff’ and
yet- there is still hope.
A few weeks ago I wrote a post
about getting a special ring from a friend- it has the words ‘Trust God’ on it.
So- with my history of losing
rings- I made sure that this one stays on most of the time.
I only take it off when I shower-
and it goes back on.
The other morning I woke up- and
the first thing I realized was the ring was gone.
No!!
I mean I looked all over for it-
turned the house upside down- went to the van- traced my steps- the whole 9
yards.
So- after about an hour- I knew
what needed to be done.
We all know- but we get mad- and
we don’t like to do it.
Yup- I prayed.
‘Lord- this week I’m reading
Jeremiah 33- and it says to call unto you and you will show us stuff we don’t
know- so here it goes- what happened to the ring?’
So- my daughter says ‘dad-
someone will find it- it will show up’.
Yeah- I knew I had to wait- but I
really did not want to.
So- I’m thinking ‘who will find
it?’
Then- when I wake up the next
day- I’m doing some dishes the morning- and I have a thought.
When I was at the halfway house I
worked on the toilet- and I’m sure I took my ring and watch off.
Now- I had the watch- but maybe I
left the ring?
I called the guys and asked
around- there were a bunch of people there that day.
I waited a couple of days- and
when I went to the house- sure enough little Charlie found the ring.
See- the verse doesn’t say ‘call
unto me and I will bring it back’- it says ’I will show you things you don’t
know’.
I didn’t know I took the ring
off- I didn’t remember it- so the answer was God showing me something I forgot.
Okay- try and read the chapter
this week- it’s a great chapter.
Pay attention to the promises
that God is making to the people.
The promises that God will work
thru their families- he will restore the things that are broken- fix stuff.
We all need those types of
promises.
And if you are stuck- pray the
verse- verse 3- and see if the Lord will show you something.
Maybe not an outright miracle-
but just a thought- something you might have overlooked.
Often times that’s the answer to
the prayer- it works.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1964 LETS ARM OUR KIDS!!!
As we end the week- lets hit a
few hot topics.
By the way- the chapter for the
week was Jeremiah 33.
Okay- we are still here.
Yes- the Mayan calendar thing did
not pan out.
I always had my doubts-
especially after I saw a short clip about a year ago.
Some guy was interviewing an
actual Mayan expert [priest?]
He was the real deal- dressed up
and all.
The documentary was a serious
thing- not some comedy central skit.
The priest was asked ‘and what do
you think about the end of the world prediction’.
He says- I kid you not- 'that’s a
bunch of crap’.
Form the priest!
So- I always had my doubts.
Did you hear what the preacher
said?
He couldn’t believe people could
call for stuff like this- yeah- you tell em Harold [Camping].
Okay- the news.
The other day I posted about
Boehner’s Christmas present to Obama.
The Repubs were trying to pass a
tax raise on millionaires only- and kick the ball down the road on the other
stuff.
Now- that would have been a great
deal for the Dems- they said that’s what they want [but they really don’t].
Because when the Dems saw what
Boehner was doing- they hooped and hawed and swore they would never pass it in
the Dem controlled senate.
And if it passed the President
swore he would veto the thing.
So- some Repubs in the house
bailed out- and Boehner never passed it.
O my- you would have thought the
world was coming to an end- again.
The Dems were on all the shows-
saying how this is one of the greatest failures of all time- the Tea party are
even holding their leader hostage.
On and on.
So- last night Obama says ‘lets
just pass an extension of the tax cuts for the middle class- and 0 yea- lets
extend unemployment insurance’.
Huh?
Was this not the basic plan
Boehner just tried to pass- and you swore it was a disaster?
Sure was [Obama’s quick fix would
have raised taxes on lower incomes than Boehner’s- but still- it was the same
basic thing].
He only wanted to beat the Repubs
in the house- if he were serious he would not have threatened to veto their
bill in the first place- that’s a fact.
Okay- last night the NRA guy came
out with their delayed response to the tragic shooting in Sandy Hook.
I’m not an NRA guy- never was.
I actually listened to most of
the speech- on PBS.
He advocated for- be careful now-
putting cops in the schools.
Yeah- he was careful with the
language- he said COPS.
Okay- do I think his plan will
fly?
Not on your life.
Does he think it will fly?
Probably not.
Then why float it?
They want to turn the
conversation from just gun control to a broader one.
They want to talk about kids
being raised with video games that kill people.
Hip Hop songs that talk about
shooting cops.
They want to extend the
conversation beyond more gun laws.
Sure enough- MSNBC had short
clips on the screen ‘NRA WANTS MORE GUNS IN SCHOOLS’.
Stuff like that.
I guess they equate having armed
POLICE with ‘more guns’.
So- according to this line- if
you call the cops after a school shooting- you are irresponsible- you are
calling for more guns on the scene?
See- I don’t support the NRA
view- but when a media outlet purposefully lies- misleads the people- they
destroy as much as any right winger ever did.
One clip showed the words of the
NRA speech.
They then went to some mayor who
is the head of ‘mayors against illegal guns’.
The clip of the speech said ‘lets
put cops in the schools so if another deranged person comes in to kill kids-
the cop can be there as a deterrent’.
Okay- have cops stopped people
from shooting people before?
Just about every day.
When a cop comes to shoot a bad
guy- do we usually call that ‘bringing more guns to a spot that already has too
many’?
No.
So- after the clip- the mayor for
gun control said ‘how insane- he thinks the answer to having too many guns on
the street is more guns’!
Actually- what the mayor did- and
Msnbc and the others- they answered their own question.
The NRA guy did not say he
thought this was the solution to having to many guns on the street.
He said it might prevent another
shooting- which- in reality- it just might.
But the media- the mayor- they
wanted you to think that the NRA- the ‘right wingers’ that they want more guns
in schools.
That they want ‘security guards’
in schools.
Yeah- MSNBC did not use the
actual term ‘More cops’ no- they wanted you to think ‘security guards’ and
teachers- and who knows- even arm the kids!
Yeah- keep playing the game-
nothing gets solved- you breed dissension in the country- and at the end of the
day- you harm the country.
So John- you are for the right
wingers?
No- in no way.
I’m for telling the truth- on
both sides.
I am not against a ban on the 30
round clips.
I am for the ban on ‘assault
weapons’ [though in reality- they are simply semi automatic guns- they just
look more like a military weapon].
I’m for having fewer guns on the
streets- but we live in a country whose founding document gives the right to
have guns to its citizens.
Because of this- we will never be
an Australia that bans all guns.
So- in the Sandy Hook shooting-
the kid got the guns from his mom- who legally owned them.
She lived in a state with some of
the most strict gun control laws in the land.
So- when sick people decide to
get a gun- they get it.
If we totally banned all guns-
would that reduce the threat?
Yes- because the deranged kid
would have to use another weapon- and if he did not have a gun to steal- then
yea- he would not be able to do this type of damage.
So- there are points to be made
on both sides.
But when the media- when MSNBC
describes the position of the right as wanting more guns- more guns in schools-
more guns for teachers- and heck- the right thinks the answer is more guns for
everyone!
When all the man said was ‘lets
have cops in the schools’.
Then we will get nowhere.
Because the uninformed [the
viewers of MSNBC] will have no idea what the real debate is about.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1963 NO BULL
Let’s talk a little about this
past week- and if I have time maybe hit on today’s House [of Rep’s] vote on the
millionaire tax increase [which should be an Obama dream come true!]
Okay- over the weekend I had one
of the street guys stay over.
Huey fell and probably broke a
few ribs- he’s been struggling in the camp and called around 4:30 pm on Friday.
I was sitting at the halfway
house- which I helped start with Huey's brother- John David.
I was talking to my friend who
has terminal cancer- and was getting ready to go home and take the weekend off
from ministry stuff.
That’s when Huey called- so to be
honest it was a sacrifice to bring him home- and give the weekend to ministry
stuff.
But- earlier in the day Henry
mentioned the story of the Good Samaritan- how he put the man up- paid for his
bill at the hotel [Inn] and went out of his way for the man.
When I got the call- I knew I was
supposed to do it.
It’s funny- every time Huey comes
over- if he leaves some type of trinket- there is always a sign to the thing.
Because he’s homeless- he has his
stuff all over the area- maybe some clothes at another friend’s house- he’ll
leave his guitar over here [hanging on the wall].
So- when I came back from my trip
to N.J. - I brought back a walking staff/stick that I found in the park where I
grew up.
I stuck it here at my house- in
the room I use for the street guys.
I have all types of biblical nick
knacks in the room- verses on the wall- stuff like that.
So- I was looking for a couple of
little angel pins a few weeks ago- was going to use it on one of these walking
staffs that I made [not ‘girly’ angels- but saint Michael the Archangel- you
know- tough stuff!]
So- Huey spent the night a while
ago- the next day I go I to clean the room- and sure enough- he left a hat on
the stick- and the hat had 2 angel pins on it [I could not find them on my own
by the way].
So- after this last weekend stay-
before I clean the room after the guys spend the night- I usually write and do
my blogging in the morning.
That morning I read some of the
Psalms and wrote down a verse about Bulls.
It’s a common theme in the bible-
it actually fits in with the posts I did last week.
The Psalm says God is more
pleased with the sacrifices of praise and worship than he is with the offerings
of ‘Bulls and Oxen’.
Okay- the point is God did not
really want animal sacrifices- he wanted our hearts.
Today- in the New Covenant church
that we all belong to- we have no more animal sacrifices- Jesus died for us on
the Cross and he was the final sacrifice for the sins of man.
The apostle Peter writes we now offer the
sacrifices of praise to God- the same theme we read in the Psalms.
So- I write down the Psalm on a
piece of paper and hang it on the wall.
I start cleaning the room- and
Huey must have broke a belt buckle- he left the 2 pieces of the broken buckle
in the room.
They were 2 Bulls.
After I hung up the Psalm- I
stuck the bulls to the wall.
Yeah- true story- no bull.
[Actually ‘no bull[s]’ means we are now living
in a new age of grace and praise- no more need for animal sacrifice- get it?]
Okay- I have not written much
about the news lately- though there is always stuff going on.
I mentioned a few weeks ago it
looked like the president was really not looking for a deal with the House
Repubs- not like in the past.
He seemed to have abandoned the
idea of serious cuts to entitlement programs- and simply wanted to win a
political feud to raise taxes on- quote- ‘millionaires and billionaires’.
Now- in reality- the president
and many other Dem’s have said that they just want to raise taxes on the ‘rich’
and not do any cutting.
But the Repubs have never agreed
to this.
So- the last few weeks that’s
what they have been haggling over.
It looked like Obama was gonna go
over the ‘cliff’ and let the Repubs take the blame.
So- as a counter punch- the Repub
house is going to try and pass a bill today that will raise taxes on
millionaires- and that’s it.
Huh?
In essence- the bill would let
the Bush tax rates expire on everyone else- except ‘Millionaires and
Billionaires’.
Look- I have watched this stuff
for years- if Obama really means what he says- this is looking a gift horse in
the mouth- this is what has said he wants- and in the past he would never- ever
get a deal like this- without entitlement cuts.
Is he going to take the deal- by
making the Dems in the senate vote yeah?
No.
He said it’s a game- a ploy- and
they are already saying it’s no good.
This tells me he really does not
want what he told us- ‘millionaires and billionaires’.
No- at this point- he wants to
win the game.
Sure- we all know just raising
the tax rate on millionaires really won’t raise enough revenue- but he has not
played it that way this last year.
He has the average American
thinking all he wants is to raise taxes on millionaires.
Well- if that’s what you say you
want.
Then Merry Christmas Mr.
President- from John Boehner.
NOTE- in Revelation chapter 4 we
read about a beast vision that the Apostle John saw- the image had 4 things to
it- 2 of them were a Calf [bull] and an Eagle.
One of the church Fathers taught
that these images are types of Christ- sort of like the 4 gospels can be seen
in these images of 4 beasts.
I find it interesting that Huey
has left me 2 of these 4 images already [Bull and Eagle].
Let’s see what’s next.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1960 MY APPEAL TO ALQAEDA
I woke up early the other day-
around 1 am [I have had this problem for years].
Right before I woke- I had one of
those dreams that you feel are significant.
I was with a friend- Huey- and we
were on top of a building.
To get down you had to climb down
a rope from a tree- Huey jumped on the tree and almost killed himself- he
managed to escape but hurt himself real bad.
Later that day- in ‘real life’
[no more dream] he called me- he had some ride he needed or something [Huey is
one of those guys that always has something going on- but seems to never
accomplish anything. A few months ago he asked if he could store some of his
stuff in the room at my house- I use the room for the homeless guys. Sure
enough- he’ll come by late at night- needing something- I felt I needed to
learn some patience with my buddy].
The phone he was on was breaking
up bad- but I told him quickly about the dream- that he needs to be careful
about something [you know- I thought maybe it meant danger- not an actual
fall!].
So I haven’t seen him in a couple
of days- but wanted to know how he was.
His brothers- who I’m doing the
halfway house with- haven’t heard from him.
So I’m walking to my van at the
mission- and I see Huey for the first time since the dream.
‘Hey- how you doing’?
He was in severe pain- maybe a
broken rib.
What happened?
I just fell off of a pier and
hurt myself real bad.
Huh?
I told him ‘didn’t you remember
the dream’.
He didn’t.
Figures.
The point?
Listen to my dreams.
Okay- not really.
The point is God uses us- all of
us- in community.
That means in the bible the
various gifts of the Spirit- they are intended to function this way.
We have [in modern church] more
of an individual style of the gifts.
Maybe we attend a church- or go
to some function- and often times we want to hear what God said – ‘thru the
prophet in the house’ type of thing.
But actually these types of scenarios
lean too heavily on one person.
You might have a gifted young
man- a real go getter- maybe the pastor of a church.
Okay- good- but if the format is
trying our best to hear God- mainly thru the speaking gift of one person- then
thats limited- it really is not the way ‘church’ was done in the bible.
Okay- enough of that.
I have a couple of things I want
to write on- but can’t do them both.
I want to write a post- just to
Al Qaeda.
What?
Yes- not one of those ‘got ya’
type titles- but a real life post to members of Al-Qaida.
What would possess you to do such
a thing?
This last year I have had a lot
of web hits from countries where many Muslims live.
My blog changed a function a
while back.
It shows me- not on the site- but
in the private section- how many hits we get.
A while back I stuck a thing on
the site to see what countries view- but I realized the hits were much more than what that Fidgit thing was
showing.
We were goin up a few hundred
every couple of days.
Grant it- that’s not much- but
it’s more than I thought.
We just passed 37,000 hits the
other day.
So- I also noticed that the posts
where I mention Islam- or some type of political thing- they get the most hits.
So- being I already said this
much- might as well make this the Al-Qaida post.
I’m grateful to have Muslim
friends who read the site- I’m grateful if some are Al-Qaida.
My appeal- what I try to do over
the years- is to simply see both sides of a thing- to try and understand the
others view- and then do my best to present the Christian idea.
Now- when I was talking to a
friend the other day- Islam came up.
I told him ‘did you know that
Muhammad- the founder of Islam in the 7th century- had many of the
same protests that other Christian groups would later voice too’.
I explained that Muhammad’s rise
in defense of the poor and down cast [by the way- that’s actually a biblical
characteristic of prophets- in the bible] were similar to Christian movements
that would rise later on- like the Salvation Army.
I went on to show that he also
felt like the growing use of statues in Christian worship was a violation of
the commandment that says you should not make images/idols.
Now- to my Catholic friends- I
have taught the entire history of the use of art- and yes- statues- in
Christian worship.
I have also taught against the
Iconoclasts- those Protestants who destroyed the statues in the Catholic
churches- during the times of the Reformation [16th century].
So- I’m not ‘Catholic bashing’ at
all.
The point is- Muhammad had some
of the same objections- based on the bible- that later Protestants would have.
Gee John- I never knew this? That’s why I teach it- it helps to have less
of a negative view of Muslims as a whole.
So- after I try to look at some
of the good things that Islam has done [Hamas- in the Palestinian area. Why do
they garnish so much support among the populace? Because they start hospitals-
they feed the poor- they start welfare programs for the kids. Do they do this
as some sort of trick- a way to gain the hearts and minds of people? No- they
do this because it’s a basic tenet of their faith].
Okay- then what do I say to any
Al-Qaida on the site?
I say that the historic
divisions- the things that divide the East from the West- many of them are
actual misunderstandings.
Yes- some of the religious
objections were misunderstandings.
The classic one.
Muhammad believed that the
Christians worshipped 3 Gods- what we call the Trinity.
But he thought the believers
worshipped God- Jesus- and Mary-the mother of Jesus.
That’s of course not the trinity-
this is simply a misunderstanding.
Christians believe that there is
one God- in 3 persons.
Those persons being the Father-
Son and Holy Spirit.
But the biggest thing I like to
show my Muslim friends- my friends form other faiths- is that the message of
the Cross- it’s one of grace.
Christians believe that Jesus
kept all the commandments of God- then he died to pay the price for our sins.
As Christians- we don’t teach
against the 10 commandants- but we don’t use them to gain acceptance with God-
the acceptance we have with God comes because of the death of his Son on our
behalf.
In actuality- this message is a
great relief for all people who live ‘under the law’.
That is- if your Muslim- if your
Al-Qaida- you too can take this.
Yes- Jesus died for you too.
That’s the appeal I make- I’m not
asking my friends from other faiths to convert- if they want to- fine.
But that’s not my appeal.
I’m saying to all my friends-
this message of the Cross- this is for all people.
Heck- if you want to stay Muslim-
stay- but just accept the reality of this post.
Yes- Jesus is spoken about much
in the Quran.
The prophet Muhammad respected
Jesus.
Jesus can become- should become-
all that he was intended to become- that is he died for you guys too.
Right now in the Muslim world
there is a movement going on- it’s highly debated in Christian circles.
The movement is many Muslims are
receiving Christ in this way- and staying Muslim.
Yet- they are accepting the
Christian view of the death of Christ on their behalf.
As somewhat of a scholar type
guy- yeah- I see where the objections arise.
But as a real world person- who
is glad that I get many readers from countries where I know many Muslims live.
To you- go ahead- accept the
benefit of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Many Muslims have already done
this- many more will.
If you want to keep the other
good points of Islam- fine.
But don’t see acceptance thru
your ability to keep the law- no one can ultimately live up to that standard.
Jesus was the only one who never
sinned- his death on our behalf allows us to come into the presence God.
He died for all- Muslims- Jews-
Hindu’s’ the list goes on and on.
In today’s world- many of the
objections against Christianity are really objections against Western
Imperialism.
A thing I too reject.
That’s not the heart of the
Christian faith.
You can receive Christ- and keep
objecting to all the political ideas of the Western world.
Heck- Jesus railed against the
money changers [the rich capitalist pigs of the day].
In some ways- Jesus was the
ultimate Revolutionary who spoke truth to power.
Yeah- many radical’s- even
Al-Qaida could respect him for this.
That’s my appeal to Al-Qaida
today.
Glad some of you might read- keep
reading- that’s the point.
NOTE- There is a famous prophecy
about Jesus in the bible- it says ‘Gentiles shall come to your light- and kings
to the brightness of your rising’.
This also applies to the ‘rise’
of the church- the people of God.
But in context- the gentiles are
all the nations [even various religions- some are called Denominations] that
are not Christian- not considered benefits of the Covenant of God.
The apostle Paul teaches us that
we are all now part of the covenant of hope- we all now benefit from the
promises of God [Ephesians].
The point being- the bible speaks
about other groups- other nations- seeing the reality of Jesus and his kingdom-
and that these too will come to the ‘brightness of his rising’.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1959 SOME OF YOU WILL BE PUT TO
DEATH
Much to say- little space.
Before I forget- the chapter for
the week was [is] Luke 21.
Okay- the last few days I have
seen an interesting thing- this is how you know what’s really going on.
You listen carefully to those who
support the view that they are speaking about.
Example- Gloria Borger is a news
reporter from CNN.
I have seen her lots of times-
she’s fairly good- and she is a supporter of the president.
The other night she gave a short
report about the current fiscal crisis [called the Fiscal Cliff].
She said that Obama and the Dems
are feeling justified after the election- and they seem more willing to not
negotiate- for real- and to let the blame fall on the Repubs.
Now- as she talked- you could
tell there was a sort of concern in her voice- like those who have supported
the president might be worried that he might take the country over the cliff
needlessly [remember- she was giving a sort of behind the scenes view of other
Democrats- that they seem to think Obama is the one that might take the country
over the cliff- even though he is saying it’s the Repubs- his own supporters
kind of think he’s lying about the thing- get it?]
Why needlessly?
She [as well as a bunch of
others] have now come out and said that the thing that’s holding up a deal is
the Repubs insistence on Medicare ‘means testing’.
Right now the 2 sides [Obama and
the Repub congress] are stuck because Obama wants to raise taxes on the rich-
and the Repubs want to means test entitlements [Medicare].
Okay- Obama himself was for means
testing- just last year he gave a speech claiming we could raise 1.2 trillion
by doing this [it’s s simple adjustment to Medicare that makes the rich pay
more].
So- those news papers and media
outlets who have been behind the president 100% are now saying that he needs to
agree to it.
Why are they all out in force
like this?
They realize that he was [might
still] purposefully blow a deal- because the blame will go to the Repubs.
But isn’t that petty- isn’t that
wrong- isn’t that dangerous?
Sure- but that’s the honest read
of this- that’s the only reason why you would have a bunch of more liberal
leaning news media all come out at this time and try to force Obama’s hand.
When Boehner came out and said
the deal the president offered was a joke- most insiders agreed- he was going
to go over the cliff- no doubt about it.
Okay- the clincher for me was the
infamous MSNBC- yes Ed Shultz had on Emanuel Cleaver [a Dem congressman who
kinda looks like Richard Pryor].
Now- out of all the supporters of
Obama- you would be hard pressed to exceed Shultz [now- I’m not saying it’s
wrong to support the pres- I’m showing you how his supporters in the media have
tried to shape the narrative].
Shultz was asking Cleaver about
means testing Medicare [remember- this is the exact thing the Repubs want- and
Obama’s side does not].
Cleaver gave quite a good view of
why WE SHOULD MEANS TEST Medicare.
Huh?
I thought that was the very thing
the Repubs want?
That’s right- now you’re
learnin’.
Yeah- Cleaver went on and
explained why we should do means testing- he gave the entire Repub talking
points- and he was right.
Wow- finally- you mean they might
be admitting the need to compromise?
Actually no.
Shultz then said ‘but you will
never be able to convince the Repubs to do this- because they will try and
protect their rich friends who will pay the most out of means testing’.
And Cleaver agreed.
You see- they both purposefully
lied to their watchers.
They both know that what they
said was an outright lie- like all the racial accusations of those who had real
objections to healthcare reform.
MSNBC spent the last year calling
them all ‘under the cover’ racists- playing ‘dog whistle’ politics.
The fact is- the Repubs are the
ones demanding means testing- not the Dems.
And they gave you a spin that
said the opposite.
They do no service to the country
when they do this.
Okay- lets hit a little from Luke
21.
This is an ‘end time’ chapter
where Jesus speaks to his men about the end of the age.
Just a few points.
I only cover [read] a couple of
chapters a week.
The last year- I don’t think I
read a single ‘earthquake’ chapter at all.
I have found the chapters I’m
covering to have significance.
Just yesterday [or the day
before] Japan was hit with another huge earthquake off its Pacific coast [Luke
21 says at the time of the end- outcome- there will be earthquakes.]
It was the same size of the one
that leveled the area a few years back.
Pray for Japan.
Jesus gives us some of the signs
that will take place at the time of the end.
I kind of ‘spiritualized’ my
reading of the chapter this week- you know- looking for some practical things
that are speaking about the here and now.
So- one of the things that spoke
to me was what I posted about the other day- the post on ‘the dead ones’
remember?
I talked about praying for
inmates on death row.
Okay- this practice became a
habit a few years ago- and I felt like the Lord was in it.
While reading Luke 21 Jesus says-
at the time of the end [or outcome] of these things- some OF YOU will be put to
death.
In a strange way it fit what I
sensed the Lord saying- sort of like ‘John- now that you have adopted these
dead ones- these on death row- they are ‘some of you’- you have embraced them-
this happens at the time of ‘the end’ the time of the outcome of all things.’
Get it?
Okay- there are a few more things
I got from the chapter- but I’m trying to give you a sense of how God can speak
to you ‘outside’ of the text.
Now- when you do this- read with
a personal idea in mind- you should never make it doctrine.
That is- what I just showed you
is fine to do in a devotional kind of way- trying to hear God about personal
direction- but that’s not the actual teaching itself.
The actual teaching is about the
end times- and also the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in a.d. 70.
I shared this with my friend who
I’m doing the halfway house with.
I told him about ‘adopting the
dead’.
He told me an interesting story
about this.
Now- I have told John David's
story many times over the years- so I won’t do the whole thing again.
But John David killed his best
friend in Dallas many years ago.
A very brutal shotgun killing
that made the headlines- his brother told me one day that when they picked up
the dead body- he had shotgun pellets under his feet.
David kept shooting even after
his friend was down.
John David got off for this
crime- his mother got the same lawyer who defended Jack Ruby [who killed Lee
Harvey Oswald] - and he got David off scot free.
Okay- that’s the story.
David told me the night he was in
the Dallas prison- he was with another inmate who also just killed someone.
They were both puking up beer-
sick as dogs- and sitting in the same cell- as murderers.
David was walking out of the
mission here a few years back- and he randomly saw a news paper article- it was
the execution of the Black cellmate that David was with that night[some of you-
but not all will be PUT TO DEATH].
David relayed this story to me
because I told him about the Lord leading me into the ‘adoption’ of the Death
Row Guys.
He felt it fit- I might have even
prayed for this guy he was with.
Yeah ‘some of YOU will be put to
death’.
Yeah- I got it.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1958 AGAINST HIS OWN PEOPLE!
Its story time again kiddies!
Come- gather at the media
carnival- they have another great fantasy for us all.
Yes- that’s the way I feel often-
when seeing new narratives emerge.
The past couple of days I have
been hearing ‘he might use chemical weapons- against his own people’.
Heaven forbid it- oh my- we could
never have that.
Yes- that’s the way they want you
to respond.
I’m talking about Syria and the
ongoing tragedy of the civil war taking place in their land.
Now- I’m certainly not a
supporter of Assad- the son of Hafez Assad- who ruled with an iron fist for 40
years.
Hilary Clinton called the son a
reformer- a good man who was for change.
Now he’s a murdering thug with a
bent on using the most horrid thing in the world- chemical weapons! Oh my!!
Yes- for those of you who don’t
know- the standard method of killing- shooting lead [or other metals] into the
bodies and skulls of folk- smashing their skulls as the bullet goes in.
In many cases leaving the wounded
person to die- in great agony.
Well- this method is humane.
Or say dropping a nuclear bomb on
hundreds of thousands of Japanese women and children.
You know- giving radiation
poisoning to tens of thousands of moms- many who were pregnant.
These kids dying of radiation
sickness- their limbs melting off like charred meat from a chicken bone.
Yes- this is ‘humane’.
But chemical weapons- against HIS
OWN PEOPLE- o my.
I guess it would be okay if it
were other people?
Did you know our great Winston
Churchill used- and advocated for the continuation of them- during the war?
Bet you didn’t know that little
tid bit.
My point?
I don’t want anyone to use any
weapons- ever.
And yes- chemical ones are very
bad.
But when you see the western
media saying ‘against his own people’.
Watch out- they are trying to
develop a narrative that will excuse our involvement [via NATO] to go in once
again and ruin another country.
Right now- as I write- the guys
who killed our ambassador in Benghazi are walking the streets- freely.
There are reports that no one has
been questioned- everyone in town knows who did it [Ansar Al Shariah].
Yet till this day the U.S. has so
badly dropped the ball- that these guys roam the streets with impunity.
This week I heard an ‘expert’ on
Arab affairs describe the ongoing protests in Egypt as simply a healthy
expression of Democracy.
That the Egyptians were
suppressed for so long- that now that they have freedom- they just can’t get
enough of this new expression of rising up in their streets.
Wow- what a great story.
O- but I forgot- the women have
been raped openly in the famous square- by the great Muslim Brotherhood.
All of these things are examples
of the media wanting to make things look/go a certain way.
It would be terrible if after all
the praise about the Arab spring- the open support we gave to Morsi [Egypt’s
new pharaoh].
If after all this- we now realize
that we were part of a revolution- that simply became anarchy.
That’s why they tell us the story
thru this lens.
That’s why they say ‘chemical
weapons- against his own people!’
So you would think ‘of course we
had to intervene- we had no other choice’.
When the so called rebels
[Al-Qaida] attacked a hospital in Syria and killed innocent victims and
doctors- was this called an attack ‘on their own people’.
No.
When the Al Qaeda group in Libya
hunt down the former relatives and friends of Gadhaffi.
When they torture and kill them.
When the free roaming militias
terrorize blacks and women- do we say they are ‘terrorizing their own people’.
No.
We don’t say it because we backed
them.
The guys running Libya are guys
we put in power.
So when the various atrocities
take place- against ‘their own people’. We don’t say it.
But when it’s time for the west
to intervene again- well watch out- we start saying ‘against his own people’.
All war- and weapons of war- are
sad- tragic.
It’s sad that many young Arab-
Persian and Muslim kids have grown up in this mess.
Its’ sad that some have embraced
radical expressions of their faith because they see no other way out.
It’s sad that Morsi turned out to
be no better than the guy before him [Mubarak].
It’s sad that the U.S. has put
its hand to many times to try and make a certain outcome happen.
Maybe we have done this meaning
well [maybe!] but the end result has not turned out well.
If we go in and depose Assad
[Syria].
That country will fall to
Al-Qaida- that’s a fact.
I don’t want to see chemical weapons
used either.
But don’t fool yourselves.
They are all killing- both sides-
using very bad things- against THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
The only innocent ones are the
true protestors who have not resorted to violence.
Those in the square of Egypt
today- who are not violent- they are noble.
Those in Libya- Syria- all the
other hot spots in the Arab world.
Those who reject violence- they
are noble.
But if you take up a weapon- be
it chemical or any other- then you have chosen to live by the sword.
A great man once said ‘if you
live by the sword- you will die by it’.
His name was Jesus Christ.
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like
the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on.
Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have
posted lots.
1956 SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES
[versus the 2nd amendment?]
Found it interesting to see the
politics play out over the sad murder/suicide of the Kansas City chief’s
football player.
Both the left and the right were
out in force- using their standard lines.
Bob Costas used his coverage of a
game- during halftime- to speak about gun control.
That raised the ire of the right-
and they were out too- you know- the usual rhetoric.
I guess the most honest view came
from Joe Namath.
He was on Piers Morgan [CNN].
Morgan asked him about Costas’
comments.
Joe said even though he was
partial to the gun control side- yet he felt Costas shouldn’t have used the
game in a political way.
I mentioned I saw the Lincoln
movie the other day.
It really was a good history
lesson on how congress works.
They spent most of the movie simply
playing out the political machinations of congress and the president- and how
making the right moves can accomplish the goal.
Slavery was forbidden under the
13th amendment to the constitution.
The second amendment talks about
gun rights.
I own a few guns- am not a
liberal- or an NRA type of guy.
But I find it strange how
believers seem to associate guns with patriotism and freedom.
Of course weapons have been used
in the past to obtain freedom- and it's in mans nature to resort to violence in
order to protect what he thinks is valuable.
But there actually is a biblical
goal- the scripture speaks about God’s ultimate goal for weapons.
It does- I never knew that?
Yes- the bible speaks about a
future day when there will be no more weapons of war.
The prophet Isaiah says ‘they
will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks-
they will learn war no more’.
Now- to my friends on the right-
no- I’m not against our 2nd amendment rights.
To my friends on the left- well-
yeah- guns don’t kill people- but people do.
But- the end goal for the
believer- for the kingdom- is no more weapons.
Okay- I guess a few more examples
from my homeless buddies will do here.
I have been mentioning the guys
the last few weeks- we have been working together on a halfway house- and I
have been sort of playing the mediator role with some of the guys.
In ‘ministry’ there exists a sort
of competitive spirit.
The same type of thing you see in
sports.
My friend David who started the
halfway house has noticed that some of our mutual pastor friends are not so
happy about it.
I have been teaching the guys
about the nature of ‘church’ and Gods kingdom- insights I have gleaned over the
years.
And my friend David is seeing it-
the competitive thing- and he realizes that people are more willing to help
other ministries if they have some type of name recognition fixed to it.
A few pastors/churches are
willing to help my buddy- but they want him to incorporate as part of their
church.
The other day David asked if I
wanted to actually use my ‘ministry’ as the name- the incorporation- for the
halfway house [he wants to establish many of them].
I have been helping the most I
guess- out of all the other ministries.
I told David I really did not
want too- I actually incorporated years ago- but eventually dropped the status.
There was no need for it.
I never took offerings- or
financial support at all [since around 1994?]
So I told David I had no need- or
desire- to have the thing under my name.
But he saw that seemed to be a
big thing with some of the other pastors we work with.
In my talk the other day with the
group [called NeWay].
I spoke about the kingdom of God
in the parables of Jesus.
Often times we overlook the
simple teachings of Christ when thinking ‘church starting’.
Now- there are many theological
reasons pastors do this- too many to cover right here.
But- in the parables of Jesus we
see a principle- a kingdom principle about seeds.
Jesus teaches his men that the
kingdom of God is like spreading seeds.
You throw some here- some there-
and you have no control over which ones take and the others that don’t.
Jesus says ‘after he plants- he
sleeps- and wakes- and the seed grows- he knows not how’.
I like that- we are just seed
sowers.
Now- Jesus did not just teach
this- he also modeled it in the actual ‘ministry’ he was building with his men.
They were going from town to
town- preaching the good news- healing the sick- feeding the poor.
They were not ‘setting up
ministries’ in the way we think.
They were simply communicating
the truth of God- in whatever format they were in at the time- and doing
kingdom works.
Eventually some in those towns
became followers- others did not [some seeds took- some did not].
Notice- there was no big appeal
for lots of money- sure- they did receive offerings from some- but the appeal
to start some huge 501 c3 thing was nonexistent.
So- the point I was making was
we- ministers- Christians in general- we should not focus most of our time on
simply raising money for all types of ‘worthy’ causes.
No- we are here to basically
model the ministry of Christ.
Yeah- could it be that simple?
Sure.
Jesus said ‘let your light so
shine before men- that they may see YOUR GOOD DEEDS- and glorify you father in
heaven’.
See?
Our ‘light’ is not the showcasing
of our gifts or our talents.
We often see modern ministry thru
that lens.
‘wow- did you hear him speak’
type of thing.
Actually that’s not the light.
The light Jesus spoke about was
the actual good deeds of charity.
The actual lived out love we have
for one another.
‘greater love has no man than
this- that he would lay down his life for his friends’.
Yeah- the kingdom seems to always
rub against our own ideas.
Yeah- there's coming a day where
there will be no more weapons.
Only love.
That’s not just a Lennon song.
It’s gospel.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1955 GRECIAN FORMULA ….
I spoke to a liberal friend not
long ago- she watches all the more progressive news shows [MSNBC].
She was railing against Romney-
against the rich fat cat corporate guys.
She went on and on about the rich
being the actual cause of all the nations problems.
I asked my friend if she thought
the rich pay less taxes than the middle class.
She said ‘of course they do’!
I went on to inform my friend
that the tax rate- as well as the actual dollars paid- are much higher among
the rich than the middle class.
She could not believe this was
so.
I told her that when some say
they are not paying their fair share- their talking about Capital Gains taxes
being less than the middle class tax rate for income.
And the rich who don’t earn
income- well they do pay less- if they are only living off their investments.
But most who are in this category
do indeed earn income [the rich now being earning 200 thousand or more].
But it’s the way the debate was
framed- blaming things on the rich- this caused my friend to not see the real
problem.
Which is no matter how much we
tax the rich- that will not solve the problem of our country having promised
too much stuff that we can no longer afford.
I saw Ed Shultz the other night-
he actually was telling people that the problem was we are not taxing them
enough.
If you listen long enough- you
would think that we could get out of the hole if we simply taxed rich folk.
I’m for raising the tax on them
by the way- I don’t think it’s wrong to go back to the Clinton year’s tax rate.
I’m no conservative about this.
But that does not even come close
to fixing the problem.
Our nation is in debt for around
16 trillion dollars.
The largest expense- not counting
the military- are the Entitlement programs.
Medicare- Medicaid- etc.
Now- if we do raise the taxes on
the ‘rich’ it will bring in about 80 billion a year.
That’s a drop in the bucket- that
won’t barely put a dent in the debt.
But the rate of growth for
Medicare- if we keep growing at this rate- will eventually swallow up the
entire budget- we will be spending everything on Medicare alone.
That’s why I believe the result
of the last few weeks has been bad.
After Obama won re-election- many
from the more liberal side began putting pressure on him to not deal with
entitlement spending.
Yesterday he made an offer to the
House Republicans- and it had no real change to these programs.
If we do not make any changes to
the programs- like means testing [the rich get less benefit than the poor-
which you would think would be a Democrat’s dream come true- yet they are the
ones blocking this change].
If we simply keep framing the
argument as one being the rich not paying their fair share- then that will give
an excuse to not actually fix these programs.
And that’s what the president has
decided to do.
Remember- I’m for the tax rate
going up on the rich- but that will barely put a dent in the debt.
You must- we must- make some
adjustments with the entitlement programs- that’s the only way to really fix
the problem.
And the president- and some who
support him- have decided to continue the campaign.
They are not going to
realistically look at the problem.
And if they keep kicking this can
down the road.
Well- it will land in Greece.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1951 ALL THE WORLDS A STAGE [and
the media write the script]
This past week we have seen media
bias on an unusually large scale [that is it’s rarely so blatant].
The current conflict between
Israel and the Palestinians has been reported in the strangest of ways.
Say if you had 2 kids throwing
apples at each other.
You would ask ‘how did this
start’.
And say if we found out that
Timmy had small apples- and Billy had big ones.
Now- Timmy knows Billy has better
apples- that he can launch them with greater precision and power- yet Timmy
thinks if he plays his cards right- that maybe Billy won’t throw in response
[Or that his new friends might come and help him].
So Timmy throws about 300 apples
in a short period of time.
Finally Billy has enough- he
takes his precision throwing skills to the table and slams Timmy.
After a few days of getting
slammed- Timmy’s friend [little Morsi from around the corner- lives on Egyptian
trail] gets involved.
Morsi says ‘damn you Billy- stop
it- Timmy’s my friend’.
Billy has only one request- tell
Timmy to stop throwing.
Morsi is really not a go between
at all- in all his talks he keeps saying he’s on Timmy’s side- he calls Billy a
cold blooded apple thrower- and little Morsi does not even recognize that Timmy
actually started the whole thing [the recent apple throwing].
So- the big brother on the block
finally steps in.
Yeah- the guys from USA Street
enter the fray.
They have recently praised the
guy from Egypt Street- they have made all sorts of statements saying he’s
really a heroic figure- he’s willing to reach out to both sides and play the
mediator.
Yet- in fact- he has not done
this at all.
But the boys from USA Street have
to make it look that way- or else they too will look bad- after all- they were
behind the Egyptian street boys rise to power [in many covert ways- like
calling for Mubarak to step down ‘yesterday’].
So- USA boys have a plan- they
have friends that write comic books [called news paper reporters].
These friends will write and say
anything to help their friends who are currently the bosses on USA Street [the
Obama team].
So- they wrote all types of
articles praising the new leadership role of Morsi- they made it look like
Obama and his risk in backing Morsi was worth it- after all- Egypt has emerged
as the new mediator in these affairs.
Well the truth is- all of this is
a big lie- a true comic strip if there ever was one.
Yes my friends- I have rarely
seen bias on a scale so large.
These last few days the articles
reported that ‘both sides have demands’ [Israel and Hamas].
They reported ‘a cease fire is
now in place- but there are rockets that continue to be fired into Israel- will
Israel use this as an excuse to be the first to break the cease fire’.
Huh?
If the other side [Timmy- Hamas]
are firing rockets after the so called ‘cease fire’ what do you call that?
You say ‘o- Hamas broke the cease
fire’.
But no- the media made it sound
like these rockets had a will of their own- they were fired into Israel- after
the cease fire- which according to them- both sides were still abiding by.
I mean this stuff is laughable-
they must think we are absolute morons.
The truth is- Israel and the
Palestinians have a long feud- and this post is not to say one side is totally
right- I at times have said we also need to see the true plight of the innocent
Palestinians- yes- some are very good people- they are not all Hamas.
But- the recent violence is a
direct result of Hamas deciding to send rockets into civilian areas of Israel.
No nation- that has the
capability to fire back- would sit back and not respond.
Israel did the only thing that
they could- they shot back.
Now- to then say ‘yes- the
violence is a result of both sides having legitimate concerns’ is stupid.
Yes- the Palestinians do have
real concerns- but the recent violence is a result of little Timmy starting the
apple throwing.
I read a report that said
‘Israel’s demands are for the rockets to stop- Hamas wants an end to the
embargo’.
Okay- I got that.
But when one guy starts shooting
at the other- and the other shoots back- and you say ‘okay guys- what’s going
on- what do you want’.
And when Billy says ‘I don’t want
anything- Timmy just started throwing- I want him to stop’.
That’s not ‘both sides having
equal demands’ no- that’s one side saying ‘quit throwing the apples’.
The truth is- this entire thing
is a debacle.
President Obama should not have
been in Asia- there’s too much going on at home [fiscal cliff] and he needs to
have more involvement in the mediation.
Yes- when Bush was in office- and
had an actual peace process on the table- when things hit the fan- Harry Reid-
and many other Democrat leaders were on the floor condemning Bush for not being
involved more.
This time Obama does not even
have a peace process in place- he could not even call both sides ‘back to the
table’ because there is no table.
One article showed a picture of
the president on the phone- it said he ‘skipped dessert and rushed back to the
phone’.
Making it sound like him and
Morsi were these 2 jet setter type diplomats- in a world of ids fighting.
The reality is this thing was a
huge foreign policy mess.
Hillary went in- she basically
told Morsi what he had to do- and she [we] also made it sound like he won- he
prevailed as a new emerging peace negotiator- this is all a false story.
Hamas agreed to stop firing [even
though they were still firing!] because Israel has amassed a ground force and
were ready to go in and demolish Hamas.
Yet- after the agreement- both
the Palestinians- and Morsi- were celebrating a so called military victory over
the ‘terrorist’ Israel.
Yes- Morsi and Hamas all held to
this same line.
How can you call him a new peace
maker- after he says and acts like this?
Yes my friends- we have seen the
worst in media bias- in a long time.
We have seen the comic strip
writers living up to their reputation.
Yeah- they all put on a big show
for us- they wrote a script that had nothing to do with what really happened.
And they did all this because
this time their friend was running the show.
The last time around [Bush years]
well the script looked nothing like this.
NOTE- Why so hard on Morsi [the
Egyptian president]?
Just yesterday he re wrote the
‘Egyptian constitution’ and took to himself more power than Mubarak ever had.
Many Egyptians took to the
streets [they are there right now] protesting this power grab by an Islamic
group.
Yes- Morsi and the group he’s
affiliated with- the Muslim Brotherhood- promised to never do this.
There are Christians and other
non religious secularists in Egypt who fear this move.
One of the reasons he did this
was because he arrested- and wanted tried- many of his political opponents.
The judges in Egypt have a
reputation of being independent.
Yes- they are not as good as our
system- but they are pretty good- in that they are not simply tools of the
leader- like in many other places around the world.
So- when Morsi wanted some of his
political enemies tried- the courts said no.
They said there was not enough
evidence to try them- or find them guilty.
So- Morsi made this move- and is
replacing all the judges with his own men.
Yes- this move is worse than
anything Mubarak ever did.
Yet- we find president Obama and
his administration praising him as some sort of great peace negotiator.
Ah- what a web we have weaved in
this mess.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1948 WAR OF THE WORLDS [or world
views?]
Once again I end the week with
the dilemma of either writing on a bible chapter [Hebrews 9] or discussing
world events.
Let me start with a few news
items.
I find it funny how the media has
been covering some recent events.
I also find it degrading that
MSNBC has begun a new era- yes- for the first time I can remember- they are now
continuing to go after the losing side’s candidate- even after the race is
over.
Yes- They have been doing shows-
I guess we should start calling them skits [they are performers you know].
And they are blasting Romney for
anything he says- even as a private citizen- and they are using his life- I
guess for ever- as a talking point.
I guess we will continue to hear
about Ann Romney’s MS- her use of horses- you know- O’Donnell can’t stop
mocking the woman.
Her kids- watch out- MSNBC will
get you too!
This is so sad.
Chris Matthews had on Jim Clyburn
the other day [a Dem congressman] they were discussing the issue of Susan Rice
[UN ambassador].
She’s under fire for her
statements about the Benghazi attack.
To be fair- it does seem like
some on the right misread it- Petraeus did testify yesterday that she did not
change the Talking Points.
But they were ‘scrubbed’ by the
Intel community- not the White House.
This was the big issue- who
removed the part that said Al-Qaida were part of the attack.
Anyway- Clyburn tells Matthews
that- don’t forget- they are going after a young ‘BLACK WOMAN’.
Matthews says ‘go on’.
Very sad indeed.
There were [still are] very
legitimate questions about what Rice said.
Why did she present talking
points that basically said the opposite of what they knew? [even if she’s not
at fault- they were still not accurate].
She did go on in the Sunday
interviews and say Al-Qaida was on the run- yet the truth was they were part of
the attack.
Even if she is innocent- yet she
did present a false narrative.
If this is business as usual-
than we still have a problem.
Israel;
I was at the mission the other
day and some girl asked one of the older guys who works there ‘what are you
reading’.
He told her a news article from
the NY Times about the Palestinian- Israeli fighting.
She asked him why Israel was
bombing the Palestinian area.
He really didn’t have a good
explanation- right at hand.
So I contributed a brief synopsis
[which he later thanked me for- as well as the girl- just to say it wasn’t
rude].
I told the girl that Israel began
this recent action [it’s the largest military action against Hamas- the group
that they are fighting- in years].
Because Hamas started shooting
rockets into Israel about a week ago.
They sent around 300 rockets in-
with no response.
Now- as someone who has tried
very hard to be unbiased about the middle east question [for instance I have
written in defense of the Palestinians many times- something that is the
minority position in Evangelical circles].
Israel had no choice but to
respond.
But some in the media are making
it sound like Israel is to blame.
CNN said ‘this all began when
Israel killed the top Hamas leader’.
Yes- many of you have seen the
dramatic video of the guy being taken out in his car.
But this was not the ‘start’ of
the violence.
If someone bombed your house- say
3oo times- and then you shoot them with a gun.
Well- who started it?
There is a very important story
that should be told- that takes a little time- but the media is not telling
you.
Let’s give it a shot.
First- I’m not blaming Obama.
But elections do have
consequences.
Over the many years of the
fighting about the Palestinian question- Hamas- the group that won the election
a few years back- took power.
Now- they are actually branded as
a terrorist group by the U.S.
They now feel emboldened to act-
to make an all out attempt to raise world awareness- by these initial attacks-
and they are hoping for their own Arab Spring.
Why are they doing this now?
Understand- Hamas is actually an
arm of the Muslim Brotherhood- the group who has now risen to power in Egypt.
The new Egyptian president-
Morsi- has already sent a team to the Palestinian areas- and they are backing
Hamas.
Obama has been very friendly with
the Muslim Brotherhood- and very cold to Israel [though he denies it].
After the re-election of Obama-
it’s only natural for Hamas to think they have much more leverage now- see?
Now- that took a couple of lines-
why couldn’t the media have told you that narrative?
Fahreed Zakariah- a CNN analyst
who I actually like.
He was asked about the release of
a guy who killed some Americans- Iraq was holding him- they let him go.
He blamed the problem on Bush
[yeah- you can use Romney on MSNBC- CNN will use Bush].
He said that Bush was too willing
to work with the radical Islamist groups- and he allowed them to gain some
power in Iraq- and that’s why this happened.
He also said Obama came in and
tried to fix it- but it was too late.
I find it interesting that Fahreed-
who advises the president- has been part of the entire ‘new approach’ to the
Arab world.
Yes- Obama [for good or ill] had
very high hopes of starting a new relationship with the Muslim world.
He sincerely felt if he could
reach out to certain groups [Muslim Brotherhood] than he might be able to
change the tone in that part of the world.
He has made more effort- at
normalizing relations with Muslim groups- than anyone in the history of the
presidency.
I just showed you how some of
these efforts might be the root cause of the aggression right now with Israel
and the Palestinians.
Yet- in the middle of the
greatest effort ever made to reach out to- and work with radical groups.
One of Obama’s top defenders said
‘the reason Iraq released the guy who killed our men- is because Bush was too
cozy with radical Islamist groups’.
This would be funny if it weren’t
so sad.
I try to be fair in my analysis
of these things.
When you are simply a cheerleader
for either side [MSNBC on the left- Fox- some- on the right].
Then you lose all credibility-
because people know they can’t trust you with a fair analysis.
But if we can’t- as a nation- as
a globe- see behind the lines- see what’s really going on- then we will
continue to blame one side- or the other- while not really seeing the root
cause.
Yes- there are questions still to
be asked.
Maybe the president’s noble
attempt at reaching out to radical elements was doomed from the start.
Maybe one of the reasons we are
seeing some of the worst violence in the Palestinian areas has to do with this.
But for one of the president’s
biggest cheerleaders- who has himself criticized Bush many times for his hard
stance and ‘unwillingness’ to see the Muslim side.
For him to say one of the
problems is Bush was too chummy with radicals- it’s beyond belief.
Yeah- but if we don’t blame Bush-
who else could we blame?
Easy.
Just switch to MSNBC- they’re
still blaming Romney.
Yeah- that will work.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1947 DAYS OF OUR LIVES or
General[s] hospital?
Okay- lots to cover today.
First- the growing fallout over
the Benghazi debacle has now entered a phase that can only be described as
having a sort of soap opera aura.
Most of you know that right
before the election some radical militants attacked our counsel in Benghazi
[Libya] and killed 4 Americans.
One of them being our new
ambassador to the region.
Now- within days of the incident-
Susan Rice- our U.N. ambassador- went on the Sunday morning talk shows and said
the attack was a response to an anti Muslim video.
In fact there were multiple
protests that same day- Sept. 11th- around the Arab world.
So- Rice sort of lumped the
killing of our ambassador with the video protests.
Now- what we now know is this;
That the Libyan attackers were
not simply part of a protest that went out of control- but were one of the many
militia groups who operate in Libya.
The counsel [embassy type
compound] at Benghazi was under a real threat.
It was bombed before- and the Red
Cross- as well as the British pulled their people out of there because the
place was a sitting duck target for these radical militia guys.
We also now know that our guys at
the embassy warned about the growing threat.
They made requests for greater
security- which were denied.
And that by all accounts- the
administration failed in the sense of not providing adequate protection for our
guys.
Now- those defending the
president say it would not have mattered if there was more protection- that a
military style assault would have been effective either way.
Then let’s pull the guys out.
Some say if we had around 10
Marines- with automatic weapons- that in itself would have been enough.
Either way- the facts are that
the British and the Red Cross pulled their people out.
Why didn’t we?
Some think that Susan Rice and
others purposefully made it look like the attack was part of the video protests
because that would have gone along with the political line that Obama has Al
Qaeda ‘on the run’.
Enter David Petraeus.
Petraeus was the guy in charge of
the CIA- a former general who some say had great success in Iraq and later
Afghanistan [he was the guy who did the Surge strategy- more troops to finish
the job type thing].
Okay- as head of the CIA he
actually went to Benghazi and interviewed his men.
Yeah- we have CIA guy’s right
there near the compound.
What did he find out?
Was there more going on than
meets the eye?
Petraeus got back and testified
before congress and gave the same story as Susan Rice- that the attack was
simply a protest that went out of control.
Okay- here comes the soap opera
part.
A few months ago- some lady in
Tampa Fla. was receiving what she felt were threatening emails.
The lady- Jill Kelley- was
involved with the local military there in Tampa- and by chance knew Petraeus
and the top generals [Allen being one].
The U.S. has a military post in
Tampa where the top generals and their families go.
So- she had a friend at the FBI
[because she was also sort of a civilian FBI cadet- you know- these programs
where anyone can get into as a civilian. We used to do these things at the Fire
Dept. sometimes the people that get involved are wannabe’s- that is they sort
of fantasize about being the real deal].
So- Kelly tells her FBI friend
about the emails.
And he starts the ball rolling to
find out who is sending the emails.
The emails basically said to
leave Petraeus alone.
Hum?
Lo and behold- the emails were
sent by Paula Broadwell- a lady who wrote a biography about General Petraeus
[whew- this gets tiring!]
The story breaks that Broadwell
was a lover of the general [in more ways than one]- she sent the emails as sort
of a jealous lover type thing. She knew Jill was friendly with Petraeus and was
telling her to leave ‘her man alone’.
And when the story hits the fan-
Petraeus resigns abruptly- right after the president gets re-elected.
Now- no one in congress [and
supposedly the president] knew anything about the affair until after the
election.
The problem is Petraeus was
supposed to testify about the Benghazi attack in a few days.
Some on the right think his
abrupt resignation has to do with this.
Broadwell's father has said ‘you
aint seen nothing yet’ [or something to that effect] - indicating that this
whole scandal has much more to it than meets the eye. [More than this? I don’t
know if I can take much more?]
So- we have one general gone- the
other general –Allen- a top military guy- who was up for another position-
which now looks like it’s on hold because during the investigation over the
emails [you know- the Tampa socialite].
It was discovered that Gen Allen
sent a load of emails to Kelley- some reported that they were ‘sexual’ in
nature.
Nah- no way- our generals?
Do they even know the word?
Okay- all the reporting on the
women- that is the stuff about their lives- showing the picture of the mistress
right next to the wife of Petraeus [Holly] all of this makes for ratings- but
really has no value.
Last night CNN’s Cooper was
reporting on the credit card debt of Jill Kelley and her doctor husband.
He went into their mortgage
problems [not paying their mortgage on their million and a half home].
That they started a cancer
charity- and things look fishy with the charity.
Peirce Morgan reporting that she
is a sort of flirt with all the military guys.
One report said she was a ‘lune’
[loony].
None of this is relevant- nor
should the media be getting into the ladies credit card debt.
She is not a public [elected]
figure- leave all that stuff out.
The real news is the fact that
our guys were killed.
Did the administration and his
team purposefully make the Libyan attack look like a video protest gone awry?
Did they mislead the public about
the deaths of our people because of political reasons?
If so- then that’s a huge
scandal.
Now- in defense of their side
[Obama].
We did have Intel that said the
many protests that took place on that day were in fact over the stupid video.
That’s true.
And the Libyan attackers did use
the same day to attack and kill our guys.
One of the statements that Rice
and others made was that the militia guys took advantage of the protests and
did a more organized attack.
Looking at all this stuff- that
statement is not really that off.
So- yes- the attacks were not
simply a protest gone awry.
But- it is more than likely that
the attackers used the other 9-11 protests as an opportunity to attack.
One more thing- after it became
known that Paula Broadwell was having an affair with Petraeus- the news outlets
of course went thru all their old video’s of her.
She has appeared numerous times
on various shows.
One recent clip had her saying
that our embassy grounds in Libya also was holding some Libyan militia guys as
prisoners.
She said this was inside
knowledge [then why say it in a speech?]
And she hinted that might be the
real reason for the attack [some think she might have had inside knowledge
because of the affair].
Now- by law- the CIA is not
allowed to hold prisoners.
Petraeus was the top CIA guy- who
just got back from Libya doing his own personal investigation.
Then he quits.
Yeah- some see something fishy
with the whole thing.
I have no idea which side is
right [maybe there is some truth on both sides?]
But we do need to get to the
facts.
We don’t need to know what Jill
Kelley’s credit debt is.
Or why the FBI guy in Tampa sent
her a shitless pic of himself [and was thus removed from the case].
Well- just be reassured- after
all- these are the guys that are running the country- they are the protectors
of the flame.
Yeah- Obama kept saying ‘we have
them on the run now’.
I just wonder who ‘them’ is.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1946 JEWS TEACHING SCIECNE- WHAT
IS THIS?
I want to try and cover a little
bit more on Einstein.
But just a few quick notes.
The last few days- as I have
watched some of the post election coverage- I find it funny how the ‘4th
estate’ has tried to rise above their own ignorance.
This past year- as I have both
read- viewed- listened to many media sources- all sides of the various debates
that go on in the country.
There was a conscious decision
made- by some on the left- to ‘suppress the vote’.
What?
I thought it was the Repubs that
were trying to do this?
Yes- there were efforts made-
whether noble or not- to suppress some of the minority vote [noble - some say
they were just trying to stop voter fraud- others said they were trying to
suppress the minority vote].
But- how did the left do this?
Once again- yes- hailing from the
great state of N.J. [ the headquarters of many media outlets- it is sad that
the most grievous offenders come from my hometown area! - Fort Lee- Secaucus-
spots right where I grew up].
MSNBC spent an entire year
mocking the faith of Romney.
I saw Martin Bashir- actually
say- on air- that Christians should not vote for Romney because he denies the
Trinity.
Can you imagine him saying this
about a Muslim candidate?
Chris Matthews- he spoke about
Romney and his religion as weird- a cult- and other interesting terms [Matthews
says he was taken out of context- but simply using the word accomplishes the
task].
Now- after a year of this- it is
true that some White evangelicals [their target audience of suppression] did
indeed not vote for Romney.
In media lingo they call this
‘failed to get out his base- the White vote’.
Mission accomplished.
They see what they did as a noble
cause- a good thing.
When you convince yourself that
those who don’t embrace your ideas are racist nuts- then it justifies this
double standard.
There was an article on Hillary
Clinton seeing the Broadway play the Book of Mormon [yeah- Bloomberg manages to
keep the lights on Broadway on- but watch out if you’re from Staten island or
the Rockaway’s!]
When she came out of the theater
she said it was so funny- she couldn’t stop laughing.
What was she laughing at?
The play is an open mockery of
the Mormon faith.
Yet- this same state dept
official- she was outraged over the release of some on line movie clip that
depicted the prophet Muhammad in a negative light.
They just sentenced the maker of
the movie to a year in jail- over some probation thing.
Yes- that’s the double standard
of the media- politicians- it is quite obvious.
Okay- Einstein.
As I read a few chapters every
few days- I want to comment on the important- relevant stuff.
One of them being the very word
Relativity.
Now- I am tempted to go back and
review all the posts we did on physics [you long time blog readers might
remember?].
But this book is not a physics
book per se’- but a biography.
Yet a quick review might help.
Einstein became famous for a few
things- most of us know the famous equation E=mc2.
Simply a conversion of mass into
energy formula- it works for all things- not just Nuclear.
His theory of Relativity shook up
the world of physics- and Einstein is indeed the father of what we call modern
physics [and Quantum theory].
Okay- what he did was he took the
centuries old ideas of Newton [the father of classical physics] and he said
that time and space were not absolutes.
That’s is- that depending on the
observer [and his speed] time actually changes.
Some in the scientific community
could not fathom what he was saying.
The book has actual headlines
from the NY times- they openly doubted some of Einstein’s work
I remember reading this years
ago- but this time I saw the real headlines.
They said stuff like ‘what is
this new theory- that space might be limited- this defies the actual definition
of space’.
Now- it would take too long to
tell you what they were covering- but it is one of the various theories of the
universe.
In actuality- the times might have
been right in this one case [it’s a theory that the universe is curved- has no
detectable edge- if so- you can than argue for an infinite universe in a closed
space- because there is no edge- or end].
As a side note- logically- the
times was correct.
Just because you can’t find a
‘sharp edge’ to a thing- that does not mean the thing is ‘endless’.
I covered this years ago in our
apologetics posts- it was interesting to have re –read this from this author
[Isaacson].
He is a good author- and explains
stuff well.
Okay what was the other stuff
that some objected to?
Some associated- wrongly- the
theory of Relativity- with the modernist philosophy called Relativism.
Relativism [remember the
philosophy stuff?] said that there was really nothing as objective truth- that
what you see might be just as true as what someone else sees.
You might both be looking at the
same thing [morally- murder- etc.] yet to one it might be wrong- to the other-
right.
This idea- Relativism- was
strongly rejected by many philosophers- especially those with a
Christians/Theist background.
Even today this is one of the
major debates going on in the world of the philosophy.
But- some confused what Einstein
was saying- and they thought [or used it] to back up the ‘moral’ philosophy of
Relativism.
This was a mistake.
Einstein himself- as I mentioned
in an earlier post- was not a relativist at all- that is when speaking about
moral absolutes.
So some began to associate him-
as one of the new ‘Jew’ scientists- who were introducing dangerous doctrines to
the world.
Yes- some of the objectors to
Einstein objected on the basis of this new ‘Jewish science’ that was breaking
away from the moors of Christian science- whose father was Isaac Newton.
See how both anti Semitism- and
religious belief played a role in this?
I’ll end with a quote from a
famous man of the time- an up and coming politician- I mean he could awe his
audience like no other.
Obama- Clinton- even the great
communicator- Reagan- were no match for this man when it came to giving a
speech.
He said ‘Science- once our
greatest pride- is today being taught by Hebrews’.
Who said this?
The future leader of Germany-
Adolph Hitler.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1945 BIRTHER- ME?
Before we end the week I want to
simply quote a few verses from Isaiah 26.
‘Thou will keep him in perfect
peace whose mind is stayed on thee’
‘Trust ye in the Lord forever-
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength’
‘When thy judgments are in the
earth- the inhabitants of the world will learn justice’.
I stumbled upon this chapter the
other day- I did not realize how many verses I have memorized over the years-
ones that I would quote and stuff- not realizing they were lumped together in
this chapter.
Over the years I have had times
[years] where I would read thru the bible every year.
Or maybe read the New Testament
thru many times- and the Old Testament a little slower.
These past few years I have
slowed down a bit- still reading every week- but less ‘volume’ and more
meditation.
I’ll read a chapter- then stay on
it for a few days- and then see more stuff each time.
I try and listen for ‘daily
bread’ type of a thing.
In the Lord’s prayer [Our father]
he said we should pray for ‘our daily bread’ and in a way that speaks about
what God wants to tell us each day.
Sort of like the story of Manna
in the time of Moses.
The people of God were in the
wilderness for 40 years- and God fed them bread every morning.
It was called ‘angels food’ it
was this little wafer type thing that was on the ground each day.
God told them only take enough
for you and your family- if you take too much- and store it up overnight- it
will spoil.
But on the 6th day
they could take enough for 2 days- because they were not supposed to gather it
on the Sabbath.
So God in a way has daily manna
for us- if we try and overload the system- by eating too much- then it will
spoil.
Its funny- over the years I have seen/gone
thru stages where you get involved with movements- good people- who for
whatever reason get into some type of teaching.
Maybe they will emphasize some
new thing- and for years they will go down that road.
Maybe it’s not a bad road per
se’- but these things were not supposed to be ‘roads’ at all.
That is- as believers we should
establish our hearts in grace and the reality of God.
The reality of the Cross and
death of Christ for us.
And then as we learn and grow-
sure- we will learn lots of stuff- but when you get into fads- well it’s like
the verse in the book of Hebrews.
‘It is a good thing that you are
established in grace- not with meats [ side doctrines] for it is not profitable
for those who are occupied therein’ [my paraphrase].
Okay- a few things.
The other day at the mission I
had to intervene- sort of like a Ref.
2 of the guys were getting into
it- over all things- politics and religion!
Now- these guys happened to be
sober- but you have a few guys who start drinking early- and by the time I get
there- well let’s say they are feeling pretty good.
So- I could think of no better
environment to discuss politics and religion- can you?
Somehow one of my buddies- who is
very smart- got a hold of ‘birthirism’ somewhere along the line.
I first heard him talk about it a
few months back- and was kinda surprised.
He is not a ‘right winger’ at
all- he attends a classically more liberal church [Methodist] and we often
discuss the Sunday school teaching from the previous week.
He has the notes from church- and
they are always taking a more liberal side- and I have told him that the
Methodists are a great church- and they do an excellent job at social justice
[like the Catholics].
So- it was a surprise for my
friend to have launched into birthirism [the belief that Obama is not a U.S.
citizen].
By the way- those who believe
this are not total nuts- if I have time I’ll share a few facts- things that
have caused people to question- yet I have never swallowed the Trump view.
So- my buddy starts into his
talk.
‘Obama was sworn in on the Koran-
even if he was born in Hawaii- that’s not part of the continental U.S.- so he
still is not legitimate’.
A few more things like this- that
coming from this particular friend- surprised me.
Now- this day we were sitting
with my other friend Don.
Don is the gardener at the
mission- the pics I posted on Facebook- with the garden- that’s Don.
Don is quite the intellectual-
for real.
It never ceases to amaze me when
I run into the smartest guys that are homeless.
Don has a well rounded education-
knows all types of subjects- sort of a renaissance man if you will.
So- for Don to have heard my
other friend launch into his thing- well- he could not believe that my friend
was saying this.
Don- rightfully- corrected my
buddy in no uncertain terms.
My buddy went on about Obama
being a non citizen.
Then they appealed to me- to be
honest I did not want to get into it.
But I did.
I had to side with Don- and
correct my other friend because he was so misinformed.
Obviously Hawaii is part of the
U.S. - even though Alaska and Hawaii are not part of the land mass that makes
up the lower 48.
Yet they are states- and they
count as being born in the U.S.
But I had to throw out some cover
for my misinformed friend.
He looks up to me as sort of a
teacher- and when someone sees you that way- it’s hard for them to be corrected
by someone they look up to.
So- I did tell Don that I have
read/watched so many news things over the past 4 years- that there were things
that gave some people real reason to doubt the president’s place of birth.
Now- be careful here- I want you
to hear carefully.
Because what I think has
happened- is the president did things in the past- like we all have done
[skewing the facts to gain a benefit].
He possibly presented himself- at
various times- as being from Kenya- or as sharing the Muslim faith.
What- are you nuts?
Not 100% [maybe half?]
Okay- here’s the cover for my
buddy.
As people started looking into
the birth certificate thing- there were some indications that the president
might have said he was from Kenya- maybe to sort of play into the role of ‘this
new and up and coming author- with such an interesting background’.
Or maybe at times- in applying
for school- you might say you’re a
foreign born person- because you get an edge if the school has a quota type
thing [thus the Trump challenge to show his college records].
Why do I think this might have
happened?
When you wade thru all the
accusations- there were a few things that did come up that quite frankly looked
strange.
One of the more questionable
things was the actual promotion of one of Obama’s books- the book publisher
actually introduced Obama- the author- as a ‘Kenyan born’ person.
Now- when this came out- the
president- and the publisher- both admitted that this was not a fake.
They simply said it was a typo.
Huh?
They both admitted that the intro
for the book said Obama was Kenyan- but it was a typo.
Look- a typo is hitting a wrong key
on the keyboard [unless this type writer had Kenya as one of the keys?]
And what are the chances that
this typo just happened to name Kenya as his birthplace?
I mean that’s a bit much to swallow to be honest.
So John- he’s a Kenyan!
/
Now- here's where I give the pres
the benefit of the doubt- but why I say he too has given the birthers a reason
to question him.
There are a few people that
said/think that Obama used this ‘I was born in Kenya’ thing to simply help
promote himself.
He has spoken about his own
identity struggle in the past.
Growing up he had the name of his
step dad [Sotero].
As he got older- being raised by
a single mom- he eventually learned more about his real dad- from Kenya- and he
did try to identify more with his father’s heritage.
So- maybe did he start saying
‘I’m Kenyan’
Sure.
Was this so bad?
No.
But is this possible?
Yes.
The more believable explanation
for a book publisher to say you’re from Kenya- would be that Obama might have
presented himself as such.
Others have said that he did say
this to them as well.
And some think he might have used
this on his college application.
This is very possible- and to be
honest- for a book publisher to accidently pick Kenya- as a typo- that’s a bit
much.
So- I gave cover to my birther
friend- by leaving him room- that is to say there are people who question it-
Obama’s place of birth- and they are not all nuts.
But- I also sided with Don- that
at the end of the day- I think this issue is settled.
It’s hard to have friends on both
sides of these things.
Because when you take one side-
the other feels alienated.
I think it’s also wrong to assume
that those who did not support Obama are all birthers.
I supported Romney simply on the
basis of experience.
Those who want a real honest
critique of the president should read Bob Woodward’s latest book.
He tells the story- the true
story- of how many of the president’s closest inside fiends felt he was so far
out of his league- after he got in- that others had to actually run the show-
for quite some time.
Yes- these are actual reports
from friends of Obama.
I remember hearing his main
financial guy [I forget the name right now- Lawrence Lindsey?]
He said at one point ‘if we were
not running this show- no one would be in charge’.
Yes- there are some real- honest
critiques that have come out- and they did indeed feel like the president was
way out of his league for this job.
And these were not birthers.
So- at the end of the day- some
supported one side because they had real questions.
Others supported Obama because
they too had honest positions.
But we also need to correct those
in our midst who have wrong views- things that they picked up along the way.
If we want good discourse- it
must be informed.
And yes- at times both sides have
missed this mark.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1944 PEACE ON EARTH AND GOOD WILL
TO MEN?
Before I get into the news- let
me mention that the bible chapter for this week was Isaiah 26.
Once a week I like to focus on a
chapter- and if I have time I do a post on it.
But being I want to cover some
news stuff- If I don’t get to it- that’s the chapter for this past week.
Okay- what’s going on?
Yesterday I was amused as I went
thru a few news papers.
As most of you know- my
prediction that the DOW would be in the 12,000-s has come true.
But why?
The news shows came out right
away after the president was re-elected- and said ‘the dow is down because
people are afraid that CONGRESS and the president will not make a deal’.
Okay- one of the arguments made
by Romney for his election was the reality that both the pres and congress are
in gridlock [true] and that- regardless of who you blame- more than likely if
you re-elect Obama the gridlock will remain.
Now- in his case- he did not
place blame [smart] he simply used this as a talking point- like Obama saying
‘Romnesia’.
But- here’s the catch- the media
and the Obama people said ‘false’.
That it made no difference who
got in- you would still have gridlock [the Dems would also be in gridlock
against Romney].
So- after Obama got in- the DOW
took a dive.
Okay- was it only because of the
Fiscal Cliff [which the media blame it on- because that gives mutual blame to
congress and the pres].
No- not at all.
Listen carefully- if the Romney
argument was false- and the media were right- then it would have made no
difference [according to their view] who got elected.
Because business and the economy
watchers all would have seen gridlock- no matter who got in.
If this were true- then why wait
for the election for the DOW to tank?
Come on folks- are we that dumb?
If it made no difference [in this
particular scenario] then why wait till Obama got in?
Yes- it did make a difference-
like the Romney people said.
Okay- sour grapes here?
No.
Just trying to show you the system- how the media jumped to say that
Obama getting re-elected had nothing to do with the stock market tanking.
Okay- I read 2 or 3 more
articles- and they were all trying to give you the same narrative- that it was
better for the country- and the world- that Obama got in.
How so?
O- Let’s see.
One page [yes they had a whole
page comparing the differences- the heading said ‘what to expect’ now that
Romney lost and Obama got in]
I laughed.
One paragraph was ‘that Democracy
will be promoted in the world’.
Huh?
This was juxtaposed against ‘what
to expect if Romney got in’.
I guess Romney would have
promoted communism?
Another article ‘the re-election
of Obama means there is now an opportunity to save many Syrians by trying to
get peace in Syria’.
Again- this is ONLY an
opportunity- now that Romney lost [see- a Romney win would have meant the
killing of many more women and kids- got it?]
It went on and on like this- for
the unsuspecting reader [the media must think people are all fools] you would
get the impression- without realizing it- that Romney would have destroyed
civilization- all the while using language and innuendo that made you think
Obama will save the world.
Fact check;
Many in the business/financial
world do see Obama as anti business.
Now- I’m not giving you talking
points- I’m telling you from personal experience- and being a reader of all
things- including global economic stuff.
Over the past 4 years- in all my
years as a Texan- I have never seen a president/justice dept. attack
cities/states like this one.
I have read- on more than one
occasion- how my own city was being sued by the justice dept [which means this
White House] for various stuff.
Some had to do with the oil
producing industry- and regardless of what side of the aisle you are on- these
multiple lawsuits have killed many- many jobs.
I have seen it.
Now- this has been the style of
president Obama- for all types of political reasons- this has been ‘ground
truth’.
Okay- Fiscal Cliff.
What is it?
The president and congress did
not come to a deal on cutting spending and increasing taxes- so they passed a
law that said if they don’t get a deal by 2013- then automatic cuts will go
into effect.
These are very deep cuts that
both sides really don’t want.
Okay- it is amazing- but one of
the things that will negatively affect the economy is if this Fiscal Cliff
hits- then all the Bush tax cuts [which have been demonized by Obama] will
expire.
So- both sides are saying- if you
lose all the Bush tax cuts [which those on the left say are bad] that it will
negatively affect the economy.
Look- if you have been saying the
Bush tax cuts are bad- then go ahead- let them expire.
If you say you want to cut
defense by huge amounts- then go ahead- do it.
But- if you argue for all these
things [which Obama has done many times over the years] and then say ‘no-
congress- if you let this happen you are ruining the economy’.
Then which one is it man?
Before the president got in
office- he made a statement- on video tape [you pretty much have to catch him
on tape- or in writing in his own books- to pin him down].
He said he wanted gas prices to
be high- around 7 dollars or so a gallon.
At the time- this was [still is]
a prevailing view among some environmentalist types.
Obama ran with that crowd- that’s
why he said this.
Okay- he also said- if he ever
had a chance to be pres- to implement these types of things on a large scale-
that he would make it so hard on the oil industry [coal operating plants]- that
he would put so many fines in place- that if some company wanted to start a new
coal plant- that they could do it- but because of all the new govt. regulation
that he would put in place- that they would go bankrupt.
Okay- these things are all real
things the president has said.
Then- after he got in- one of his
top environmental guys in Texas started going after the oil industry in Texas-
I have seen it- with my own 2 eyes.
The guy Obama had in charge- was
caught on tape [yeah- if it’s not on tape they deny all the things they said].
He was caught talking about their
policy in Texas.
He said ‘like the Romans- when
they went into a city and crucified the first rebel- that sent a message’.
He was saying that they needed to
hit certain oil businesses in Texas- hit them so hard [maybe even prison for
the executives?] that all the other oil companies would see it and either shut
down or never get a new business going.
Huh?
That’s the exact same strategy
the president had said he would use if he ever had the chance.
Now- not only has he said this-
he has done this.
But- if you listen to all the
statements he makes on this stuff- he makes you think he is more pro oil than
Bush/Cheney.
See- that’s the problem- that’s
part of why the DOW tanked [plus the E.U. crisis- a global slowdown- Fiscal
Cliff- see- there are many reasons- and one is the anti business policies of
the president.]
I’m not saying Obama is a bad
man- nor am I excusing a congress that might at times simply be obstructionist.
But I’m saying it did make a
difference who got in- it did indeed have an impact on the markets and the fear
that some in business have because of the polices of the president.
This post is not a defense of the
right- or left.
It is intended to show you how
quick the media were to downplay the real negative effect that the re-election
of Obama did already have on the economy.
Look- you might agree with his
policies- maybe even on his anti oil stance- fine.
If you agree- agree.
I too hold very liberal positions
on many things [I’m very pro immigrant- I was also for a national health care
system- yeah- true Canadian style].
But I want you to see how the
media played this.
I wanted you to see- that Romney
was indeed correct- a least about this one point- that the re-election of Obama
would continue gridlock [regardless of who you place the blame on- that was not
part of his argument].
Yeah- some of these things came
true- sad- but true.
But then again- according to the
paper.
If Romney got in;
More Syrians would die [women and
kids mostly].
Democracy would not be promoted.
And world peace would elude us.
Gee- I guess the trade off was
good then- the DOW went down- but there will be peace on earth- and good will
toward men- all because of the re-election of the president.
Thanks media- thanks news papers-
I feel better already.
Just try not to crucify any more
of our oil executives- because it’s tough on those looking for work in the Lone
Star state if you do.
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I have posted lots.
1943 IT IS FINISHED
Good morning everyone.
Some of my friends are rejoicing
today.
Others are flying the flag at
half staff.
Yes- most of the pundits were
right- those who were following the polling- Obama did indeed win- as most of
the polls showed.
Now- why were some [on the right]
skeptical of the media/polls?
One reason is- they had good
reason to be.
Huh?
Most every morning when I get up-
I listen to NPR radio news.
They have a reputation of being
liberal [part of the big bird thing- Public Broadcasting- you know. One time I heard Alex Keaton- Michael Fox
[Family Ties] berate his dad for working at a ‘not for profit’ company- Keaton
could not even conceive of the idea!]
So yes- NPR has been a target of
the right for some time.
Now- as a media guy- who
listens/reads/watches lots of media- I do catch the left wing bias every so
often.
But it’s tricky- that is you
don’t even know for sure if those engaging in it even realize they are doing
it.
Just about every morning these
last few weeks- their top of the hour news coverage- which gets repeated every
hour- started with either an actual re-play of an Obama ad [free ad time] or
some report about how Romney lied.
Now- the undiscerning hearer
might think they were actually doing news coverage- and in a way they were.
But all the coverage was favorable to the
president- and none of it [that I heard] favored Romney.
Okay- was I mad?
Not really- but it makes me think
how many people- not realizing the imbalance- wind up hating one man [who
seemed like a good man- are you mad that I even say this? About Romney- then
maybe you have also swallowed the hate bait].
Yes- when you hear this it
affects you.
I watched some of the coverage on
MSNBC- I think Matthews does not even realize what he says.
They were gleefully referring to
Romney as a liar- someone who does not care for people at all- a man who does
not like minorities or women.
It went on and on- at the same
time they were covering the right wings ‘attack’ on the voting rights of all
people.
There were actually multiple
reports- not fake either- that many people [tens of thousands?] were actually
voting for Romney on the touch screen- and their machine registered a vote for
Obama.
When MSNBC covered this- they
laughed at the republican official who used ‘strange’ language when registering
the complaint.
Yet- they could care less that many
thousands of people were tricked by rigged machines.
Then they went on and spoke about
how the Repubs were attacking the rights of voters- in the same breath.
That’s media blindness- that’s
why many are skeptical of them- and that’s why many on the right simply did not
believe the polling as the day of voting began.
Now- I was not really skeptical-
that is I saw some polling that was off- but as I listened to multiple sources-
I got the feel from even some on the right-That they felt they were in trouble
in the battle ground states.
And at the end of the day- they
were [the Repubs].
Where are we at now?
I personally will continue to
pray for the president over the next 4 years- by name- twice a week.
I mention him and his family as
well as other world leaders- this is mandated in scripture- we are supposed to
do it- I do it.
And I don’t do it grudgingly
either- I have done it for all the presidents for many years- be they Repub or
Dem.
The left- the media- they did
indeed divide the country by their coverage.
They often accused those who did
not support the president of racism.
Yet- once again- in Philadelphia-
the racist group Black Panthers- were out in force- standing at the polls-
looking like they might beat you with a bat.
Yes- the same group that the
justice dept. dropped the charges against [its illegal to intimidate voters]
were out again- intimidating voters.
Any media outcry?
None.
Yet- the same media who would not
mention this- at the same exact time- were calling Romney and his people actual
racists- and calling this media/election coverage.
Sad indeed.
If Romney won- and there were
multiple reports of people voting for Obama- and the machine registered Romney-
there would be an uproar.
If you had White supremacists-
whose leader has called for the murder of Blacks- actually intimidating Black
women and elderly Blacks- the second election year in a row- the media would be
calling for the arrest of these thugs.
Yet- all these things did happen-
but because they happened on the side the media supports- it was not an issue.
And not only was it not an issue-
the same media called the other side racists- while this was going on.
Yeah- it does not surprise me
that many went into the Election Day skeptical of the media.
I had a feeling Romney was in
trouble- I kinda saw it in the ‘read between the lines’ stuff.
But what the media did yesterday-
well- that’s a sign that we as a nation are in trouble.
Yeah- for the media- fly the flag
at half staff.
For the president- I will
continue to pray for him and his family- and I hope we as a nation can try and
work together.
Lincoln said ‘a house divided
against itself cannot stand’.
He was quoting another great
leader of days gone by.
The man- Christ Jesus.
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I have posted lots.
1942 POLITICS AND EINSTEIN
Let's start with the big story of
the day.
The election.
Just a few things before I get
back to Einstein.
As I have followed the news on
this- over the past few weeks there has been some question on whether or not
the media have manipulated any of the numbers.
How?
Going in to today’s election- if
the media are correct- Obama will no doubt win.
Why?
They have shown polls that have
the president winning in enough states [battle ground states] that he should
win.
Are any of the polls wrong- or
possibly skewed?
That the question.
It’s hard to say that all
pollsters would have some inside conspiracy to do this.
Actually I don’t believe that
they would [they do have reputations you know].
But- we do have some actual
evidence that some have done this.
It’s hard at times to filter out
the bias- on both sides- but let’s try and take one example of possible
skewing.
Most of the polls we have seen
these past few weeks have shown the sample of people that they use.
For instance- you might have one
say they polled a thousand folk- then they’ll say 39% were Democrats- 31 %
Republicans.
Now- some on the right were
saying ‘see- they are cheating’.
Would this be cheating in a poll?
No.
Why not?
Because the pollsters are trying
to get an accurate picture of the electorate- that is- if they ‘think’ that
more Dems will vote- then this would be a fair way to poll.
So- how do they figure out who
the likely voters will be?
They usually look at the last
election [presidential].
But- everyone who watches
politics will tell you that the last election- 2008- had an historic turnout of
Dem’s.
Why?
Many were not only voting for a
man they felt would do a good job- but they also felt like they were part of an
historic thing- the possible election of
Americas first Black president.
Everyone [well most] will admit
this- and it’s not wrong to admit this- that many came out to be part of an
historic event- fine.
So- did some of the pollsters do
this- did they use a larger number of Dem’s in the polls?
Yes.
Now- a case can be made that you
would not have the same type of turnout this time.
Why?
Because you don’t have the same
historic significance- it’s not historic to say ‘yeah- we voted for the first
Black president in history- the second time’.
See?
Okay- but the pollsters do have a
reason to have more Dems than Repubs- sometimes.
But- there were some polls that
showed twice as many Dems [as a percentage- that is if you had 7% more Dems
last time- this time they were showing about 14%- something that would be next
to impossible].
So- yes- in this few cases- we do
have some evidence that some pollsters were rigging the system to benefit one
side.
Okay- said all that to say this.
If Romney wins- and big [which I
doubt] then you just saw a good example of media bias- because according to
most of the media- Obama should win.
Lets see what happens in the
morning.
Okay- just a few notes on the
Einstein biography I’m going thru.
The book is an older book- I
picked it up a few months ago at half price books.
But it’s a good book- not written
from a religious perspective at all- the author- Walter Isaacson- is a top
notch writer.
The reason I say ‘not from a
religious perspective’ is because it’s kind of amazing how many times Einstein-
and his companions- either speak about God- or outright quote him!
Yeah- over the years I have heard
views from both sides [Atheists and Theists] who have tried to make Einstein
more like them.
But the actual quotes from him-
and how many times they allude to God- is really more than I thought.
I’m at the point in the book
[about halfway] where you begin seeing the anti Semitism rise up in Germany.
As most of you know- Einstein was
a Jew- who came from Germany.
He lived at the time of the rise
of the Nazi’s- and the anti Jewish ‘ness’ of the times would affect him.
Einstein held teaching positions
at various universities of his day- one was in Berlin.
Some of his contemporaries- men
like Max Planck- were indeed all in for the German nationalism that was riding
a wave at the time.
Einstein on the other hand
resisted the mixing of science with nationalism- he believed more in a global
type citizenship- that the great breakthrough’s they were making at the time-
were for the world- not just for the benefit of one nation.
Einstein would refuse to sign a
declaration signed by many of the thinkers of his day- one that supported
German nationalism.
Instead he was part of a smaller
group who drew up a sort of pacifist declaration- one which would fall by the
way side because of its lack of support.
A few notes.
I find his insight into war-
where it ‘comes from’ to be enlightening.
I’ll give you a quote- it comes
from “a biologically determined feature of the male character” “What drives
people to kill and maim each other so savagely” “I think it is the sexual
character of the male that leads to such wild explosions”.
Einstein saw a sort of genetic
‘defect’ in man- something within him- that was the root cause of war.
In the book of James- in the New
Testament- the brother of our Lord writes ‘from whence come wars and fighting’s
among you- come they not hence- even from your lusts that war in your members’.
Yeah- I think James and Einstein
were on the same page.
Eventually Einstein would oppose
the war- that is- the initial aggression that was sprouting from his homeland.
The book does not go into detail
about the actual war [WW2] at least not yet.
But we know from history that the
Nazi’s would be part of one of the most heinous mindsets the world has ever
known.
Hitler’s idea that a certain race
of people were inherently ‘less human' that others.
Many do not know that some of his
thoughts were formed by the popular idea of Evolution.
The teaching that all humans are
on a scale of the ‘most evolved’ and the ‘least evolved’.
Yes- I have gotten into this in
the past- and don’t want to do it again right now.
Eventually the allies would also
cross a line of war- a line that divided the U.S. and the British for a short
time.
The line of bombing urban
centers- and targeting civilians.
Some of the correspondence that
came out after the war showed that certain American military commanders
objected to the bombing of civilian centers.
They would eventually do as they
were told- but they did make their objections known.
The British were more willing to
engage in the bombing- after all- Germany had already bombed them.
The first city center to go was
Hamburg- a convenient target- right across from the British on the North Sea.
Above Belgium and the
Netherlands.
War has a tendency to take all sides further
than their conscience would allow at the start.
There seems to be something
within the nature of man that always leads down a road of more destruction- not
less.
One of the greatest minds of our
time- a man who was brilliant- and also struggled with his own passions- saw it
as some type of inner flaw of man.
A sort of ‘sinful nature’.
Yeah- James- the Lords brother
called it ‘the lusts that war in our members’.
On this point they agree.
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1941 BORN TO RUN
The last couple of weeks- since I
have been back from N.J.- It’s kind of been surreal to see all the video of the
spots that got washed out in NY/NJ.
As I was watching the news with
Henry on my big screen TV- I kept telling him ‘I was just at that spot’.
For the past 25 years I have been
back to NJ many times- this last trip was the only time I took a tour of the
city [NY]- I have been wanting to do a train/subway ride for the past 10 years-
and simply ride the famous A train and see the city from the top of the tracks.
I got this idea in my head one
year while watching a documentary about NY.
They showed you the history of
the subway/train system- and the idea of a train ride was birthed at that time.
Yet- the last time I was up
north- about 9 years ago- I missed out on the chance.
But this time- I finally did it.
I rode with my friend Patrick- to
the last stop on this particular train- Rockaway beach- Queens.
As we walked the area- we walked
right up to the boardwalk right off the Atlantic ocean.
For some strange reason I felt
like I should walk right up to the ocean and splash some water on my face.
It was the first time I ever
stuck my hand in the Atlantic ocean from the NY area.
Not many days later this very
ocean would engulf the region.
We walked back to Pat’s brother’s
house and had a nice visit for a few hours.
Then back on the train- back to
the crossing where the subway goes under the Hudson and comes out on the Jersey
side.
I took pictures from Rockaway to
the Jersey side- we even saw Hoboken a little- the place I was born.
All of these spots- Rockaway
beach- Hoboken- all the areas I toured- are some of the worst spots that got
wiped out by hurricane Sandy.
It just was a feeling of ‘this
was the last chance tot take the tour- before the storm comes’.
As we were watching the video at
the house- Henry said ‘gee- you were like a messenger of wrath’.
To be honest- that thought came
to me more than once.
I woke up yesterday morning with
the guys still sleeping on the floor in the living room.
I got up early to post and get
some stuff done before they got up.
Dirk- my good friend for years-
got up early too.
He came into my study and told me
he just had a dream- and he felt it was from God.
Now- with all of my friend’s
problems and struggles- I know at times they have said things that are
significant- that have meaning.
I was writing about some of the
political things with Governor Christie- I of course have written about the
storm- and in my office I have all types of world maps and stuff- plus a huge
poster of NYC- and Jersey maps.
It just gives a sense of being in
a ‘larger’ place.
Dirk begins telling me the dream-
he says they were all at some place- and they had a friend that was- well-
going to shoot himself.
He had a gun that was on a timer-
and they all tried to tell him not to do it- but he wouldn’t listen.
Dirk called the gun thing- quote-
‘a suicide machine’.
He said after they left- the
timer went off.
Now- Dirk felt that this dream
meant something.
I told him one of the things that
caught my attention was the phrase ‘suicide machine’.
I asked him if he knew where that
term came from- what famous song.
He did not know.
I told him it was a line from the
state song of NJ.
Springsteen's Born to Run.
‘mansions of glory … in the
suicide machine’.
I told Dirk I have been writing
about governor Christie [who has been to about 150 Boss concerts].
I have been thinking about-
praying for NJ the past few weeks.
I have been back from the tour-
riding the subway [machine] right before the storm hit.
That in many ways this dream has
significance.
Next week we vote for the next
president- I don’t know who will win.
One of my friends- who is on
welfare- lives in public housing- gets a disability check [though he is in
better shape than me].
He asked me who I was supporting.
I told him I don’t hate Obama- or
love Romney- but just as a matter of the past 4 years- I am supporting Romney.
My friend said ‘no- he will take
away my check’.
I think it was DeToquville who
said that a Democracy will only last long enough until one party starts giving
away free stuff and the majority of the people just vote for the free stuff.
Yeah- at that point we are all on
a suicide machine.
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I have posted lots.
1940 WHY THE EXCITEMENT?
Okay- as promised let’s cover the
gospel of Luke- chapter 15.
First- we had a good fellowship
last night- cooked lots- and 4 guys spent the night crashed out on the floor.
I just saw Hugh on the way to my
office room- he was eating left over chicken for B-fast.
Luke 15.
This story- the Prodigal son- is
famous amongst preachers/bible readers in general.
The chapter actually starts with
2 other stories.
A lost sheep- 1 out of 99.
And a lost coin- 1 out of 10.
Context.
Why these stories from Jesus?
The bible says Jesus was eating
with- and ‘receiving’ sinners.
The religious leaders at the time
developed their idea of serving God- as a ritualistic thing [remember
yesterdays post- Isaiah 58?].
Part of their understanding of
this service to God- was being separated from ‘the world’.
Yes- the world of Jesus’ day was
much like ours- you had outcasts- ‘illegal’ aliens- and the overall class of
people that couldn’t quite seem to make it in life.
Now- when the religious leaders
saw Jesus accepting them- that is he received them- loved them- but at the same
time never ‘whitewashed’ sin- they got mad.
He never said ‘oh- that’s fine-
we all mess up- keep on doing it’.
No- in time they knew that Jesus
was showing them the love of God- yet God had a better way for them- than the
old paths of sin.
So- it’s because of this reaction
from the Pharisees that Jesus tells these 3 stories.
A man has 100 sheep- he loses 1-
and he goes after the lost one.
When he finds it- he’s so happy-
not because he didn’t care for the 99 that stayed home- but because he regained
one that went astray.
A woman has ten coins- she loses
one- the same thing happens.
Jesus is telling them ‘look- all
of you who are jealous that I’m accepting these non Jews- these Gentiles- your
mad because I’m excited about these outcasts- but it’s just like when you guys
lose a sheep- or coin- you react with joy because you regained something that
was missing- that was supposed to be a part of the puzzle all along- that’s why
I’m going after these outcasts’.
See?
Then he tells the longest story
of the chapter.
A man had 2 sons [in context-
these are references to the Jews- Gentiles].
The one son asked his father for
his inheritance and the father gave the money to both the sons.
After a while the younger
irresponsible son goes and wastes all the money on partying.
He becomes broke- realizes what
he did- and repents and heads home to his father.
His father sees him coming and
rejoices- he accepts the son- throws a huge party for him- gives him this nice
robe- puts a ring on his finger- and all is well.
Not really.
As the party is going on- the
older son- the one who never left home [a type of the Jew who saw themselves as
part of Gods people all along- they never had left God- not like these ‘dog’
Gentiles- see?]
This older son is outside-
sulking.
The father goes out to see what’s
wrong- the older son says ‘look dad- I was with you all these years [a type of
the Old Covenant- the Jewish people had a long history with God] and you never
acted excited like this with me- making a big party- killing the calf- the
whole thing’.
The dad [a type of God] says
‘son- you were always with me- all hat I have is yours- don’t take my
excitement wrong- it’s not because I don’t love you- but it’s because your
brother was gone for a long time and finally made it home’.
That’s the story of the Prodigal
son- God was just as excited about regaining a lost human [the Gentiles]- as we
are about regaining things we lose.
The story deals with jealousy in
the human heart- how we often benefit from the blessings of God- yet we feel
wronged somehow if others too get the blessing.
These themes run thru out the
teachings of Christ- talking about us receiving forgiveness- yet not giving it
to others.
In the 1st century
context- the Jewish people saw themselves as part of this special covenant that
God made with them many years earlier.
They kept this covenant- as best
as they knew- and when they see their Messiah- accepting these others who were
like the younger son- they felt wronged.
They felt like all their years of
being with God- as Gods special people- were for nothing.
That’s the mindset Jesus was
dealing with here.
If I had more time/space- I would
make a few applications about the current situation with the storm.
Some are mad at Governor
Christie- he’s buddying up too much to Obama in the view of some on the right.
It's not exactly the same- but
there are side’s people take- there are jealousies and divisions with all of
us.
And it helps us if we can sit
back and examine what’s really going on- Socrates said the unexamined life is
not worth living.
When we examine ourselves- do a
self inventory- maybe we should be happy that others are getting help- that we
should not see it as us losing out in some way- whether it be politically or
any other way.
In the end- there was enough
mercy to go around- the father was happy that the lost son was found.
Just like we get happy when we
recover things.
It doesn’t mean that the things
that never got lost hold less value [99 sheep- 9 coins].
No- its juts a natural reaction
to be excited that something that was lost- that seemed like it had no hope-
was recovered.
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I have posted lots.
1938 LEAN FORWARD?
I debated whether or not to
address this today.
I thought of maybe just doing a
prayer request for all of our friend’s in N.J. - the devastation is beyond what
anybody would have thought.
I find it strange that I was just
in Jersey- rode the subway for the first time in 25 years- and now I see the
tunnels flooded.
As I drove into the state- I
passed some of the shore points- and was going to stop and see some of the old
spots I loved as a kid.
One of my favorites was Seaside
Heights- now the area is devastated.
So- we do need to pray for all of
our friends in the region- and help in any way we can.
Now- the tough stuff.
As a news/political watcher- I
saw the president do something that was a crass political move.
He did it because he knew that
most people would not know he was doing it- during the deaths of people- but he
wanted his ‘target’ audience to respond.
What did he do?
In one of the first speeches
about the hurricane- he said ‘I am directing all the aid agencies to LEAN
FORWARD’.
About 6 months or so this term
LEAN FORWARD became the new campaign theme for the Obama team.
Yeah- maybe 5 % of the public
know this- but everyone in politics knows it.
Now- at the same time MSNBC took
the phrase LEAN FORWARD as their own sort of cheer for the president.
None of this is a secret- it was
an open type thing.
Okay- when the president used the
term- he knew it would be heard by the Repubs/Romney folk- and he wanted them
to tell you what I just did- that he indeed followed the advice of his former
White House chief of staff ‘let no disaster go to waste’.
Rahm Emanuel said you should use
a disaster- when people die- to your political gain.
So- he dropped this statement in-
trying to elicit a response from the opponent- and then MSNBC would jump into
lap dog mode and say ‘how dare he accuse the president of politics!!’
Of course they would have to take
a break from their present mantra ‘all who don’t like the president are
racists’.
I at first did not think Obama
would do things like this- I did like the man at the start.
But- I have seen him do this-
more than once.
When the Pres gave the order to
get Bin laden- no one knew it till after the State of the Union address- it
made him look big in the eyes of many- because the scene of the Repubs giving a
response to the Pres- while he was ‘getting the bad man’ simply gives political
points to the ‘good man’.
Got it?
Now- he did no other action like
this- until the next year- during the next state of the union address.
Yeah- he waited a whole year- and
in the next state of the union he sent in U.S. troops to go after Joe Kony- a
radical leader of a group in Africa.
He gave the order to go- on the
same exact night of the state of the union.
The man we went after has been
operating for many years- as a matter of fact his influence had waned over the
past few years.
But- he was trying to get a
response from the opposing side- the Repubs- and they did not take the bait.
Finally- after a week or 2 of no
criticism from the right- I heard a liberal reporter slip and say ‘all you bad
guys- watch out- the president only comes after you during his state of the
union speeches’.
Oops.
Now- like I said at the start-
why would he have used this term LEAN FORWARD- knowing for sure that the
insiders would know that he was connecting his political goals with the
hurricane?
He did it because he knew that if
anyone had the ‘audacity’ [of hope?] To tell you what I just did- then they
would pounce like there was no tomorrow.
Then why did I just say it?
I said it because what he did was
simply wrong- he has a tendency to throw out bait like this- in situations
where people are/have died- and he does it for political advantage- that’s why.
And he played the odds- sure-
maybe a small percentage of political folk knew that he actually made the
phrase LEAN FORWARD- his campaign mantra- but he figures ‘to heck with them’
that is those who know what he did- he’ll just write them off- and throw out
the bait because he wants the Romney folk to tell you what I just told you.
Sad.
Sad that any president would do
this- while people are dying.
Sad that he was waiting for
someone to tell you this- so he and his media advocates could say ‘how dare any
one even think this’.
But most of all- it’s sad that
this is true- and you can take that to the bank.
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like
the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on.
Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have
posted lots.
1937- WAR CRIMES AND OTHER STUFF.
In the aftermath of the Benghazi debacle
[the U.S. putting an embassy in the middle of an unsecured area- with known
militants roaming the land- and then pulling out their security]. There were
voices [including the president] that condemned the killing of the ambassador
as acts of terror- or on the same grounds as a war crime.
The president used language like
‘bring them to justice’.
When one nation declares war on
another [or in this case- a specific group- Al Qaeda]- then the killing of
actual representatives of the other side- when that side is dumb enough to
plant them like sitting ducks- is actually considered a legitimate military
target [compared to the killing of an ordinary citizen who holds no official
capacity].
Now- before I lose my
conservative readers- listen clearly.
I of course condemn the killing
of ambassador Stevens- and the 3 other Americans.
After watching/reading the
stories about this incident over the past couple of weeks- I fault the U.S.
administration for failing to properly protect the area.
We now know that that the U.S.
watched the attack unfold- over a period of 7-8 hours- and did nothing.
There are conflicting stories-
our people on the ground said they requested help- multiple times.
They said that help was denied.
We had a brave young Navy seal
who took it upon himself to try and save the ambassador- he was killed in the
attempt.
And we had the president say-
that as soon as he heard of the attack- he immediately made ‘the call’ to
increase security around the world- and start the steps to bring the attackers
‘to justice’.
What our guys needed was ‘real
time’ help- we had a drone filming the thing- some possibly armed- and we
watched our guys get killed for 7 hours- and did nothing.
Now- this was a debacle in no
uncertain terms- and the loss of our guys is tragic.
But- when you declare war- and
put an official representative of the opposing side smack dab in the middle of
those we declared war on- what the ‘heck’ do we expect?
War crimes.
Right now in the media- this term
is often used against those we deem ready for removal.
It makes no difference to us
whether the side doing the removal are Al Qaeda- we simply refer to the leaders
as having committed ‘war crimes’ or ‘crimes against humanity’.
We did this with Gadhaffi- doing
it with Assad [Syria] and will probably keep doing it from now on.
When you see one side as having
committed ‘crimes against humanity’ in general- then it justifies the other
side- no matter how bad they are.
The whole concept of holding
people responsible for war crimes arose after world war 1- yet it wasn’t until
WW2 that we really had the concept down.
After the war was over- there
were trials held in Germany- the most famous being Nuremburg- and we tried the
German military men who committed ‘war crimes’.
Some of the criteria for a war
crime simply said ‘if the losing side did it- and the winning side did not-
then that’s a war crime’.
Sounds a little like Jeff
Foxworthy type stuff.
But this is true- some of the
German submarine captains actually used as there defense- that the allies [our
side] did the same thing- and that was enough to say ‘okay- not a war crime’.
As you can see- war crimes- or
‘crimes against humanity’ are in the eye of the beholder.
Now- in the entire history of the
world- the biggest one [or 2] day killing of civilians- that is a targeting of
civilians for a military/political goal- was the bombing of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
Yes- out of all the nations on
the planet- the U.S. killed more civilians- on purpose- in these 2 attacks-
then in any other single bombing in history.
We had our reasons for sure- but
the immediate deaths were around 200 thousand- not counting the many women and
children who died many years later- from the long tortuous process of radiation
cancer.
These types of deaths- especially
on many of the thousands of young kids who suffered extreme agony- great fear
in their deaths- were not considered ‘crimes against humans’.
Yet- the water boarding of a
terrorist- an actual enemy who is in our custody- is considered tortuous- and
meets the criteria of a war crime.
See how messed up this is?
Now- in the past 2 years the U.S.
has worked closely with the state of Israel in monitoring/spying on Iran- to
see how far along they are coming with their nuclear program.
We share intelligence- and have
even ‘partnered’ with them in some clandestine op’s.
The famous Stuxnet virus- a
computer virus that was launched to disable Iran’s nuclear reactors- was a
joint program between the U.S. and Israel.
Okay- one of the other secret
operations that has been going on is the killing of civilian scientists who are
working with Iran’s nuclear program.
These scientists are not military
targets- they are civilians- who are deemed ‘worthy’ targets because of their role
in the nuclear program.
I have heard no one call these
killings ‘crimes against humans’ or ‘war crimes’ even though these scientists
are civilians.
No- in the reports about their
killings- there is a sense of ‘hooray’.
In the past 3 years there has
been a collection of various bomb parts- dropped by the U.S. - in the
mountainous region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
There are legal teams on the
ground- representing the families of kids and women who have been killed by our
nonstop use of Drones in the area.
We- the U.S.- have a military
objective- to root out the Taliban [who were ‘created’ by the U.S. govt. when
we aided them against the Russians]. In the process of this rooting out- we
have killed- and keep on killing- Muslim women and kids.
Now- do we ‘mean’ to kill them?
Of course not.
But we are making the
military/political calculation that so many kids and women will indeed be
killed- we know this.
So- we are basically saying
‘look- we really don’t want to kill these kids- but this does happen from time
to time’.
Can we help it?
Of course- stop using the ‘darn’
drones- solved.
The whole point I’m making in
this post is we- the citizens of the world- are often manipulated by the way a
story is told- by the way the media show us stuff.
I know of no U.S. citizen who
even thinks twice about calling the killing of the Japanese- and thousands of
kids- with radiation poisoning- a very tortuous death- a war crime.
Yet many see the water boarding
of a terrorist as a war crime.
Does this make any sense at all?
All killing- all war- is wrong.
What?
You mean our response to 9-11 is
wrong?
I mean that when humans resort to
killing other humans- because they see no other way to resolve the problem-
then it’s wrong.
I don’t like hearing the words
‘this guy committed a crime against humans’.
When you put a bullet in another
human- and kill that person- it is never a just act- not in my book.
Yes- there are people who have
committed terrible crimes- and I- like everybody else- also think ‘that so and
so needs to die’.
But as a society- we should be
able to deal with them [life without ever getting out] without having to kill
them.
Over the next few weeks we will
see the outcome of what really happened in Libya- but when I hear words like
‘we will bring them to justice’.
I don’t truly get it- if we [the
U.S.] declare war on a group- we then need to be more responsible about where
we put official rep’s of the U.S.
Our official Rep’s are deemed
‘justified’ targets- they represent the U.S. govt. in an official capacity.
The U.S. needs to respond to
attacks on them as an act of war.
I heard Leon Panetta say ‘we
couldn’t put our troops at risk in an unknown situation’.
No- you say that if it’s some
type of rescue operation of non U.S. citizens- but when it’s an attack by those
we have declared war on- and they are attacking our official U.S. rep on the
ground- no- we do indeed put our troops at risk to go in and do what needs to
be done.
That’s war.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1936 EINSTEIN THE DETERMINIST.
In keeping with the last post
[propaganda] I read an interesting AP article on Syria.
As most of you know Syria has
been in a civil war for many months- they are the 1st ‘Arab spring’
nation that has not ‘fallen’ to the rebels.
Now- there are lots of political
things going on in the region [Russia and China not supporting a Libyan style
NATO action] that are sustaining Assad’s regime.
But I found it funny how the
western media have chosen to portray the war.
In order for the media to side
with those who want to depose Assad- they must ‘side’ with the ‘deposers’.
So- the article spoke about the
outside Al Qaeda groups who are coming in to assist the rebels.
It used terms like ‘heroism’
‘valor’ ‘experienced fighters who know what they are doing’.
These terms were used to describe
Al Qaeda fighters- in contrast to Assad- a ‘crimes against humanity’
description.
Wow- I never thought the media
would actually try and honor Al Qaeda fighters- in order to accomplish their
agenda.
That my friends is the ultimate
in propaganda.
Okay- I read some more on
Einstein over the weekend- and wanted to cover a few things.
Over the years as you read
various sources about famous folk- you need to be aware of the source.
For instance- Christian writers
[writing from that perspective] often portray the religious tendencies of a
figure in a more favorable light then an atheist writer would.
So you have to be careful that the
author is not writing his own story into the person he is covering.
But the biography I’m reading was
not written from a religious view.
Yet- the author does share the
various positions Einstein has taken about God over the years.
One thing to note is Einstein was
a lover of philosophy- he admired men like Hume, Kant and Spinoza.
If you remember- a few years ago
I covered the history of philosophy and how much of it dealt with what the
causes of things are.
The law of Cause and Effect [also
referred to as causality].
As a Physicist- Einstein had a
great interest in these subjects.
At the end of the day- Einstein
fell into a camp of thinkers called Determinists.
That means he believed that that
the universe was ruled by definite principles- even though we did not have the
answers to all the puzzles- yet he was convinced that if we searched long
enough- we would find order to it.
This belief is in keeping with
Theistic thinkers- not with those who ascribe chance and disorder to the
creation.
I might have bitten off a little
much here- but the point is- at the end of the day Einstein rejected the
commonly held belief that there is no real cause to the things we see.
Many thinkers who argue against
the existence of God argue form a perspective that chance is behind the
‘perceived’ design we see in nature.
Dawkins [the famous atheist]
calls it ‘the appearance of design’.
Einstein did not simply believe
in the ‘appearance’ of design- but he believed that the Cosmos was indeed a
product of some type of cause that gave it design.
Now- I’m not saying Einstein was
a Christian [or observant Jew]- but the point is- in his thinking- he rejects
the most commonly held arguments that are made against the Theistic world view
[in Cosmology- science] and sides with the Christian thinkers of our day.
Einstein famously said ‘God does
not roll dice’ meaning he did not believe in the atheistic argument that things
just happen without any cause.
No- Einstein seems to agree with
one of his favorite thinkers- Spinoza said ‘All things are determined by the
necessity of Divine nature’.
Yes- Einstein was a Determinist
in his thinking- he did indeed side with the Theists at the end of the day.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1935 ROMNESIA ANYONE?
Let’s end the week with a little
news.
Last night I caught a few ‘fact
checking’ reports.
They covered the statement in the
debate when Romney used the phrase ‘apology tour’.
Now- over the past year this term
has a meaning- sort of like ‘Obama care’.
In the talk show/news circuit it
means that the President did indeed do a world tour where he felt like he would
try and establish a new relationship with foreign leaders.
Now- some say he was naïve-
others think he did well- either way- the term ‘apology tour’ refers to this
trip.
In the debate- when Romney used
the term- the president responded that Romney is a liar- and that he never
‘apologized’.
Got ya.
Now- Romney never said he
apologized- and in response Romney said when he uses the term ‘apology tour’ he
is not in any way saying he actually used the words ‘I apologize’.
No- Romney gave an
honest/truthful response- he said that during this tour- the president did use
words like ‘the U.S. has dictated to you other countries at times- and this
will be a new season’.
Romney basically said- yes Mr.
president- your right- you never actually apologized- but you represented the
U.S. in a way that said we were arrogant in the past- we responded to 9-11 in a way that was inconsistent with our values
[I heard him say this myself- he was referring to the water boarding stuff].
Okay- basically Romney used the
term- sort of like Obama uses Romnesia- he is not saying that Romney actually
suffers from some strange form of amnesia- no- he is saying that Romney changes
his position on stuff.
Okay- now here’s how the media
tries to manipulate the public.
The reports I saw yesterday- the
so called ‘fact checkers’ they went thru some of the speeches Obama gave during
this ‘apology tour’ [they left out the ones where he did use the most
apologetic language].
And at the end of their fact
checking- they said ‘no- Romney is wrong [liar?] because the president never
actually apologized’.
Ah- so the unsuspecting public
thinks that Romney actually said the president apologized- and then when you
hear these reports- these so called ‘fact checks’ you then think ‘gee- that
Romney is a liar’.
Okay- where were the reports that
said ‘ no- in fact- Romney does not suffer from Romnesia’?
See?
That’s media manipulation- that’s
media bias- the media shapes a story in a way that makes you think the way they
want you to think.
The actual fact is- Romney- nor
anyone that I ever heard use the term- ever meant that Obama actually said ‘I’m
sorry’.
But the fact check made you think
that was the accusation.
A few years ago there was a news
story about a trip to Afghanistan by some senators.
Later on it was reported that
some military leaders might have used a form of propaganda on the senators.
Psychological Op’s.
They supposedly did this in order
to influence the senators to take their side in the war- I think it had to do
with funding or man power.
After the report surfaced- the
senators did of course condemn it- but they also said ‘look- we’re big boys- we
can’t be swayed by stuff like that’.
But- when you use propaganda- you
use it in a way that when you ‘persuade’ the victim- he does not know it.
For instance- maybe when the
senators were there for a week- the military guys spoke in a negative way about
a certain group/position.
But they did it in what you
thought was normal conversation- maybe after a week- you think your just
listening in to regular conversation- but everything you heard was to persuade
you.
Then- when you get back home- if
a vote comes up on the issue- you have already heard all the pros’ [or con’s]
and this would indeed effect you.
That’s manipulation- that’s all
the ‘fact checks’ that said ‘no- Obama never apologized- Romney is wrong’.
When you read/hear that- you
think Romney accused Obama of apologizing- but he never did- he even went out
of his way in the debate to say ‘when I use the term Apology Tour- I do not
mean you actual apologized- no- I mean…’
Yet- the media still covered the
story the way they wanted you to see it.
Now- is this one little thing
such a big deal?
No- not if this were the only
time it was done.
But the fact is- the media do
this every day.
They focus on a story that they
think might hurt someone [like a 40 year old hair cut that Romney gave to some
kid- a ‘bullying incident’].
But the murder of 4 Americans in
Libya- and the absolute failure on the part of the administration by not
protecting our guys- no- on some news shows this gets zero coverage.
That’s manipulation- that’s bias-
that’s what you don’t see.
Yes- like the well meaning
senators- you might think ‘heck- I’m not that dumb’.
But the media must think we are-
because they keep on doing it- day after day.
No wait- maybe they think we suffer
from that newly coined disease- what was it again?
Oh yeah- Romnesia- that’s it.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1934 MERCY OR JUDGMENT?
Let’s talk a little.
First- I found it interesting
that the last few days the stock market took a hit.
In the beginning of the year I
thought the Dow should/would be somewhere in the 12,000 range by the end of the
year.
I heard some financial guys talk
about it maybe going to 17,000- others had lower estimates.
But none had my estimate.
Why did I have a bearish view?
Because all [most] of the data
showed that we were in a global slowdown.
The Asian markets/economy was
doing worse than expected.
Many were counting on China to
pull the rest of the world out- instead the rest of the world [the E.U. crisis-
U.S.] pulled them down.
Now- the jobs numbers were not
good- and the last few days the data showed this.
This is [should not be] a
surprise.
But to many it was.
Why?
Because many financial folk- good
people- simply did not want to believe the bad report.
Even though the ‘bad’ report- the
stats I just gave- were more than likely going to pull the market down- yet
many felt if they just keep talking up the market- things will do better.
Sorry- a positive confession does
not work when the stats are bad.
So- as we near the end of the
year- it looks like we might make it into the 12,000’s once again.
Okay- I also wanted to mention a
few more things about my Jersey trip.
I want to give a prime example of
what ‘too much government’ looks like.
Now- I love my old state- the
Garden state [you ask- why garden? Because as a kid I remember the paintings of
gardens on some old truck road down the block!]
While I was staying at my mom’s
house- my mom and sister have multiple health problems- my dear mom is getting
up in years- and to be honest- they have a hard time simply dealing with day to
day chores.
But- I was shocked at the fact
that one of the major chores of their week was having to move their cars- by
‘law’ 2 times a week.
Yes- that Old Street Sweeper just
keeps on coming!
The city [for those who don’t live in N.J.]
has a street sweeper that comes by on Mondays and Wednesdays- between 1 and 3
p.m. - and basically pushes the dirt around.
I have lived my entire adult life
with no street sweeper- and the streets look the same- the rain does the job
for free.
But- in my old town- with all the
political connections- you would never be able to get rid of the dept.
So- my mom plans her week around
having to move 2 cars [hers and my sisters] 2 times a week.
Problem?
Everybody else is also moving
their cars- at the same time- to the opposite side of the street.
So- every so often- my mom drives
a couple of blocks to find a spot.
She also has to jump start my
sisters car- twice a week- to move it.
Sometimes if you can’t find a
spot- you simply drive around from 1-3.
To be honest- this is what you
call ‘a police state- or city’.
I told my dear mom- if this were
in Texas [or any other Democracy] you would have some guy [gal] run for mayor
on a platform of ‘the first thing I will do is abolish the street sweeper- I
will then rebate all these fine citizens of this town all the wasted money on
the thing’.
And the guy would win.
But- the politicos have
connections- the unions support guys who keep them in their jobs- and the fine
citizens of North Bergen will continue to move their cars- twice a week- so the
guys can keep their 70,000 dollar a year jobs.
One last note from the journey.
On the way back to Texas I
listened to news/talk radio.
One of the big stories I caught
while driving thru Dallas was the case of a 22 year old single mom who glued
her daughter’s hands to the wall.
Yes- a very sad case indeed.
The reason it lit up the talk
shows was the night I was driving in- the judge sentenced her to 99 years in
prison.
The show I was hearing played the
audio in the courtroom- many were in shock.
The talk show guy was siding with
the judge- you had various people call in with their opinions.
This sentence was harsher than
that given to people who have actually have killed their kids [Deena Shlosser
being one].
When you make child abuse- which
is a very bad crime- a higher punishment then actually murdering the child-
then what do you think the results might be?
Sure- some say ‘well- that way
people will know not to do it’.
But you might also have some
unstable moms who have already abused their kids- who might now think ‘gee- if
they ever tell- I will be punished with a harsher sentence then if I killed
them’.
That’s something we don’t want
either- see?
I cut out the news article of the
girl- Elizabeth- and she will forever be on my prayer wall- with hundreds of
other cases that I have collected over the years.
As I heard the sentencing judge-
of course he had his reasons- the prosecutor was only asking for 45 years- yet
the defendant chose a non jury trial- and in Texas the judges are elected.
Your main election benefit of
being ‘tough on crime’.
And that was that.
We had a local judge run over a
highway worker a few years ago.
He was a very famous ‘tough on
crime’ judge- he and his wife were big Democrats- involved in all the politics
of the area- many connections.
When I read the story- the judge
was driving 70-75 on a turn that was posted at 20-25 MPH.
I have gone to many car wrecks
over the years- as a firefighter- and when we had people doing stuff like this-
you got arrested- and had some type of price to pay.
But- as the story went on- the
local paper explained that the 20 MPH sign was just a ‘suggested’ speed- that
the turn is still part of the highway- so 75 MPH was the actual speed.
Huh?
Also- even though he flipped the
guy off the bridge/overpass- and nearly killed him- yet- somehow the judge did
no wrong.
When all was said and done- he
got the equivalence a parking ticket.
[ I also read an article in the
paper about this time- it was a ‘warning’ to drivers- the story interviewed
some local officials- and they explained that if your driving 55- in a 55- you
could be cited for reckless driving- because if its raining- then the cop makes
the call. It went on to say if you slow down to much in the rain- that too is
reckless. And- of course- if you’re going to fast- well we can’t have that. So
the article stated that if your going under the speed limit- doing the speed
limit- or driving over the speed limit- watch out! That’s of course if you’re
not connected in some way].
Sad.
I’m sure when the case worked its
way thru ‘the system’ that at each turn the people who knew him felt justified
‘after all- this is so and so- he has a family for heaven’s sake!’.
And they empathized with him
because they knew him.
Yet- when meeting out judgments
on others- they seem to be able to see only justice- without mercy.
I will pray for Elizabeth- to be
honest- the rest of my life.
Maybe I will write her as time
goes by.
But the bible says ‘mercy
rejoices against judgment’ I choose mercy.
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1933 THE LAST FANDANGO
Got home yesterday afternoon- had
a few buddies that were waiting for me at the house.
Yeah- they hunted me down!
Actually I told the guys the
other day [homeless bro’s] that we were gonna do another all nighter this week.
I get with them- we hang out for
the day- I pick up bbq and we have an all day fellowship- then they crash out
on the floor till morning.
So- they ‘picked’ last
night!
No BBQ- but they ate left over
home made meatballs [they did come good!] and a plate of Mac’s- I think they
liked it better than the BBQ.
Henry’s crashed on the couch- we
both watched the debate and fell asleep.
Okay- howd’ it go?
A few points;
I think they both pretty much
pleased their base- after the poor showing by the President in the 1st
debate- his base wanted him to ‘go after Romney’.
And that’s what he did.
The political team of Obama chose
to use the word ‘you are a lair’ or ‘you
are simply not telling the truth’.
This became a mantra for Obama.
After saying it once or twice- I
found it tiresome.
The president did in fact say
this- when he was the one who was ‘factually wrong’ [sounds better than liar-
don’t you think?]
Last night the president accused
Romney of not wanting to help the auto companies during the bailout.
At the time Romney wrote an Op-Ed
and said he felt the auto companies should go thru bankruptcy- and then the fed
govt. could at that point bail them out financially.
Last night Obama said that Romney
did not want any fed money to be used.
Romney replied that he was wrong-
he did indeed call for fed money- Obama said he was lying.
It took 5 minutes to Google the
op-ed- yes- Romney was right- Obama wrong.
The problem?
He was using the accusation
‘liar’ when he himself was doing it.
He must know he is doing it.
Then why do it?
He made the political calculation
that this was the best way to raddle your opponent- you lie about him- and call
him a liar at the same time.
What about the people who will
find out that Obama lied?
That’s part of the calculation-
only so many will find out the facts.
I don’t like it when a sitting
president does this- most candidates fudge the numbers on stuff- but to
actually outright lie in a public forum is rare.
He did this in the last debate as
well.
Romney said that oil
drilling/permits on public [govt.] lands went down the last 4 years.
Obama said Romney was ‘lying’-
huh?
Romney tried to be careful- he
said that oil permits/drilling went down on govt. land- but up on private.
Now- as a news guy- I have known
this stat for a few years now.
But- Obama repeatedly said Romney
was lying- and that drilling/permits went up on govt. Lands in the last 4
years.
Huh?
It took 5 secs to find out that
drilling/permits have gone down- 39%- on govt. lands the last 4 years.
Okay- while the pres was being
‘factually wrong’ at the same time- he is saying ‘your lying’.
I just found the whole ‘you’re a
lair’ strategy to be condescending- your making the calculation that the other
guy will get really mad [wouldn’t you?] Because you are the one actually lying-
numerous times- while making the accusation.
Romney never took the bait- many
supporters of the president- who only watch MSNBC- will never find out he was
indeed wrong- and for the others who did find out he was wrong- he could care
less.
So- that’s the big story- Obama
never really laid out any plan- anything he would do that would be different
than the last 4 years.
The tax plan ‘the rich paying
their fair share’ will increase taxes on individuals making more than 200
thousand a year- couples making more than 250.
In many areas of the country-
that’s not rich.
So why do it?
If you simply 'tax millionaires’
you won’t make enough revenue.
So- you say ‘tax the rich- they
are not paying’ but you mean ‘tax many in the middle class- but don’t say it’.
That’s the only real ‘plan’ the
president has- and that’s not really a plan.
When I was in N.J.- I caught some
news.
In the beginning of the year we
knew that in order for the unemployment number to go down- under 8%- you needed
to create at least 300 thousand jobs a month- for a few months in a row.
At one point- it looked like that
might have happened- and all the pundits- liberals and conservatives- agreed
that the only way unemployment would go under the 8% mark was for this to
happen.
But then- not only did the
monthly jobs never make the above 300 mark- they did not even keep up with the
150 thousand mark- which meant that the rate would go up- to around 8.5. [you
need around 150,000 a month to keep up with population growth- new people
entering the workforce for the 1st time].
So- as the year rolled on- what
could the media do?
Some said- just watch- they will
get the number they need- somehow they will simply say ‘the new unemployment
number is now under 8’.
But how?
Last month’s jobs number came
out- they were once again below 150,000- and nowhere near 350,000 or higher.
Yet- as the labor dept. put out
the new employment numbers for the month- they reported unemployment at 7.8%.
This would mean that the
jobs/economy is doing better than it has in many years.
This simply was not true- yet
they got the magic number- somehow?
How did they do it?
There is lots of speculation- but
there was a little note at the bottom of the report.
When the labor dept. does these
numbers- they collect all the data from the sates and average it out.
In the reported states- one state
was left out.
Was it a little state- say like
Rhode Island?
No- it was California.
The largest state- economy wise-
in the country.
They used to be the 8th
largest economy in the world- they were just passed by Brazil for that rating.
But- they are also the worst
state- economically- then all the others.
If you leave out Cali- then you
get the magic 7.8 number.
Sure- they will later revise the
number- after the initial effect wears off- but they got what they wanted- that
initial effect of ‘unemployment is the lowest it has been in years’ the month
before the election.
Even though that stat is
unreliable.
So- as we end the debates and
head towards the election- one guy kept saying the other guy was lying.
And time after time- in many
ways- we were all lied to.
Vote your conscience- look at the
facts- don’t let others form your opinion of either man- simply look at the
track record for yourself.
O- and may God help us all- we
will need it.
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read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
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I have posted lots.
1932 CHALLENGING THE SYSTEM
I have finally started my book on
Einstein.
I bought it a few weeks ago- and
never had the chance to break it open.
I also am working my way thru the
Catechism of the Catholic church- quite a volume indeed.
I watched a couple of
documentaries on Netflix over the weekend- Last night I caught a documentary on
Hunter Thompson.
He was the character that Johnny
Depp played in the movie ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’.
Hunter was a sort of counter
culture hero- he wrote for Rolling Stone and had his own unique style of
writing.
He called it Gonzo journalism- he
said the writer needed to inject himself into the story- and become part of the
story.
Sort of like what the reporters
did in the Iraq war- we called it ‘Embed’.
He covered the campaign of George
McGovern- who sadly passed this week.
George was the quintessential
liberal- but a man of conviction- he was a good man.
Hunter made it into the headlines
a few years back- he killed himself with one of his favorite things- a gun.
Yeah- Hunter was a gun lover- a
liberal- and in some ways a moralist of his time.
Now- with all the doc’s I saw
[also finished Greek civilization] and the books I’m reading- it’s hard to pick
one subject to cover at a time.
But let me go with Einstein for a
few minutes.
In this biography- by Walter
Isaacson- he doesn’t go too deeply into the science of Einstein- which would
take a whole physics course to understand.
But he does cover some high
points.
One of the things that Thompson and
Einstein had in common- was their willingness to challenge the system.
They took on the ‘received
wisdom’ of the day- and were daring enough to take the ‘path less trod’.
Just one area- Ether.
At the start of the 20th
century Ether was an accepted ‘scientific truth’ that most [if not all]
scientists accepted.
It would be like Dark Matter
today- something that seems to be ‘true’- most of the scientific community
speak of it as real- yet- as far as we know- we have never once actually
detected it.
So- ether was this theory that
said light/energy is a wave [not particles] and therefore for this wave to move
thru space- it needs a carrier.
Ether was this so called vapor
like substance that allowed Energy/light to travel.
At a young age Einstein accepted
this idea- but he was learning at a time when particle physics was just getting
off the ground.
Though atoms and molecules
[particles] were indeed part of the conversation- yet they were not totally
proved yet.
So- part of the great
breakthrough of Einstein put to death the idea of Ether- and instead we learned
that light is not a wave so to speak- but a sort of particle beam- we did not
really need the Ether concept- and to be honest- it never was really there.
This is just one little tid bit from
the book that I thought interesting- today you would be considered a fool if
you still talked about Ether [in this way].
Yet- at the time of Einstein you
were a fool if you did not accept it.
Einstein would later challenge
the field that he launched- Theoretical/Quantum physics.
He felt like some of the ideas
were not really scientific- too much speculating.
That’s what I see as I watch/read
about some of the most popular ideas that seem to make it into the TV specials
that cover these subjects.
It’s often the theories/ideas
that are ‘way out there’ that are the most interesting- and get the most
viewers.
The problem is- many of these
ideas are [in my view] modern day Ethers- they are accepted ‘fact’ even though
we don’t really know if they exist.
When I see shows on alternate
universes- parallel worlds- where we supposedly have duplicate lives and all.
Well- this is not science- this
is not even Ether- its fairy tale land.
Yet- these same theorists will
mock belief in an omnipotent being- because they want to see the facts.
Sad.
So- over the next few weeks I
will try and hit a little more on the books I’m reading- cover some more
important news stuff- and try to be as challenging as Hunter.
Sometimes it’s when we go against
the status quo- when we are open to see things differently- that’s when we make
major breakthroughs in our thinking.
We should not cast off all the
stuff that has come to us down thru the ages- but we need to realize that some
of the stuff that seems to be accepted fact today- just might be the Ether of
yesterday.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
[you can read more
posts in the February posts]