Airpower

United States "Budget" and Spending

2011-12-21T10:58:00.000-08:00

Iowahawk on SPENDING can be found HERE. You must see this YouTube Video of Iowahawk's explanation of SPENDING.

Before you look at it, take a quick look at the numbers below.

The following is courtesy of the Air Force Association (AFA):

Snapshot of the U.S. Government financial situation:

* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000

* Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000

* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000

* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000

* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:

* Annual family income: $21,700

* Money the family spent: $38,200

* New debt on the credit card: $16,500

* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710

* Total budget cuts: $385

Pretty basic!!!

The problem is spending. Spending on what? Government! When the government "hires" an employee, they must take money from taxpayers to pay the employee.

Simply put government is OVERHEAD. It is a force pulling down the economy. Government should facilitate commerce, not prevent it. Right now we have too much government.

Think about this, the Federal Government talks about BUDGET CUTS, yet the BUDGET CUTS are SPENDING INCREASES!

Cut spending! Who cares how much you budget. CUT SPENDING.

Actually, if we just froze spending in about 10 years we would have a surplus.

At least a drunken sailor quits spending when he runs out of money! I know, I was one.

Evolis Pebble 3 or Peb3le Card Printer will not print

2011-12-20T14:45:00.000-08:00

We have had an Evolis Pebble 3, or Peb3le as they cleverly call it, for six years. It has printed about 2,000 cards. While they still market the printer, it must be fairly said that it has been out of warranty for four years. Still makes the per card cost high!

It has stopped printing. After the upgrade to OSX 10.7 Lion, it printed 65 cards, then would print no more. Now, it appears Evolis does not yet support Lion. They claim they will in the first part of 2012.

Stay tuned!

70 Years Ago - Pearl Harbor

2011-12-06T21:10:00.001-08:00

Seventy years ago tonight, asthis is written, twenty-nine year old LTjg Jackson D. Arnold, USN, USNA Classof 1934, an Engineering Test Pilot assigned to Ford Island in the middle ofPearl Harbor was at one of the usual Saturday night parties very common at thetime. He and his new girlfriendMuriel McChesney would not get home until early the next morning. No problems, it was going to be a lazySunday. He could sleep in. Jack was, in today’s terms, a PartyAnimal. He dropped off Muriel ather home a mile or so away near the foot of Diamond Head and went home to whatmight be generously called sleep. Things were good, things were stable. All was well.

Things would change. Change faster than Jack could imagine.

Just before 0800, Jack awoke tothe biggest bang he had heard since he was the Officer in Charge of ARIZONA’sNumber Four Turret. He rolled outof bed, ran out side and looked up. Divebombers, rolling in on Pearl Harbor, meatballs on their sides. The bang had been a Jap mistaking hispickle button for a radio key. A500 pounder fell a few hundred feet from his front lanai. He ran back inside, put on his khakiuniform, grabbed his desktop radio and headed towards Pearl, with a quick stopto give Muriel the radio and tell her to keep her wits about her and listen tothe radio.

Into his car and towardsPearl. As he raced along what isnow Nimitz Highway, through the cane fields, a military staff car pulled infront of him, shortly thereafter a truck pulled in behind him. A convoy of three. Soon a Zero found them, rolling in, hestrafed the staff car, which ran off into the cane fields. The Jap came back around and rolled inon the truck, riddled with bullets, it went off burning into the canefields. Jack had had enough ofthat, he pulled off the road and dove under the car. After about two minutes, it came to him; there he wasunder the only potential target. He decided he would more likely survive if he were a moving target andnot hiding under the gas tank. Back on the road! In a fewminutes he came to the Pearl Boat Facility where he looked for a launch to FordIsland. No launches! Then, he looked in the boat shed. It was full of launches and cowering coxswains.

Jack jumped into the launchclosest to the open boat house door. A coxswain came out, “You can’t take that, she’s mine.” Jack said, “Well, she’s going to FordIsland.” “Not without me driving,”as the coxswain hopped aboard and started her.

Arriving at Ford Island in themiddle of the first wave, Jack sprinted across the field, scrambled into theonly flyable F-4F Wildat and got her running. A plane captain clambered up the side of the runningaircraft to tell him that not only was the aircraft very low on fuel, but itwas totally devoid of ammunition. So much for his first air to air victory. With no other flyable aircraft remaining, he looked aboutfor a way to “contribute to the war effort.”

Just before the second wave hit, Jackcame across a young Marine who had lost his life in the first wave attack, butkept his BAR from hitting the ground. Jack, having been on the All Navy Rifle and Pistol Teams and an avidbird hunter felt at home with the Browning. As he stood there near the base of the new tower, a lonetorpedo bomber rolled in to strafe the tower and thus him. Judging his lead carefully, he emptiedtwo magazines into the Jap, killing the pilot and severing a line or two. Smoke and flame poured from the planeas it crashed on the field. The secondwave was gone. Jack went over tothe wreck, it was the Torpedo Squadron Commander. Jack took a bottle of sake from the plane, they would notneed it now. He took a big gulp,passed it to sailors gathering to see what he had found, and ran back to thewhaleboat he had taken to Ford Island.

Grabbing the launch, he put outfor ARIZONA to pick up survivors. The first person he pulled from the water exclaimed, “Mr. Arnold! Mr.Arnold! Mr. Arnold!” Looking atthe man, covered head to toe in bunkers, black as a seal, Jack responded, “Sir,you have the advantage of me. Whothe blazes are you?” The slipperydark form responded, “Sir, it is me, Johnson.” The Number Four Turret Captain, the Petty Officer with whomJack had worked on his first assignment out of the Naval Academy.

Things would change forJack. In five weeks, he wouldmarry his new girl friend Muriel, a marriage that would last over 60years. In less than a year, hewould be a full Commander, form a new Air Group, Air Group Two, be the TorpedoSquadron Commander, with a very short but more successful career than the JapCommander he shot down. He wouldbe Air Group Two’s first Commander or CAG for her first War Cruise on HORNET,the second carrier of that name. Shooting down four more Japs, he would command the most successful AirGroup of the war. After the war,Jack would be Air Officer on BOXER, one of the first jet pilots in the Navy,then go into the Bureau of Naval Materiel. He would design space suits, pioneer new techniques inaircraft and ship procurement. Thenfinally he would be the first Commander of the newly formed Naval MaterielCommand, the biggest command in the Navy. He would retire as a Four Star Admiral. But, he would always be known as Gentleman Jack whose menwould follow him anywhere.

More HERE

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

As you enjoy your leisure on the first three day weekend of the summer or the last one of the spring, depending on your climate location, please remember to whom this weekend is dedicated. Memorial Day, the day set aside to remember before God those who have given their lives that we might live free in this country. Nothing more and nothing less.

Freedom is not free. The cost is high and measured in rich red blood. It exists not because of the politician handing out rights or money, both of which have been confiscated from the citizenry. It exists not because of pundits and critics. It exists not because of political organizations. Freedom exists because when the country called, red blooded Americans answered that call knowing full well they may lose their lives in her defense. This weekend is dedicated to the remembrance of those who have given their lives that we might live in freedom. They gave their future and that of their families’ to the end that we might have a free today.

Charge your glass, raise it high. Drink to them.

United States Military Casualties

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)

Served: No data

Deaths: 4,435

Wounded 6,188

War of 1812 (1812-1815)

Served: 286,730

Battle Deaths: 2,260

Wounded: 4,505

Mexican War (1846-1848)

Served: 78,718

Battle Deaths: 1,733

Other Deaths: 11,550

Wounded: 4,152

Civil War (1861-1865)

Served: 2,213,363

Battle Deaths: 140,414

Other Deaths: 224,097

Wounded: 281,881

Spanish-American War (1895-1902)

Served: 306,760

Battle Deaths: 385

Other Deaths: 2,061

Wounded: 1,662

World War I (1917-1918)

Served: 4,734,991

Battle Deaths: 53,402

Other Deaths: 63,114

Wounded: 204,002

World War II (1941-1946)

Served: 16,112,566

Battle Deaths: 291,557

Other Deaths: 113,842

Wounded: 671,846

Korean War (1950-1953)

Served: 5,720,000

Battle Deaths: 33,651

Other Deaths: 3,262

Wounded: 103,284

Vietnam War (1964-1973)

Served: 8,744,000

Battle Deaths: 47,378

Other Deaths: 10,799

Wounded: 153,303

Gulf War (1991)

Served: 24,100

Deaths: 162

Afghanistan War (2002-present)

Deaths: 2,449 (as of May 20, 2011)

Iraq War (2003-present)

Deaths: 4,771 (as of May 20, 2011)

Wounded in action: 29,978

And the Cold War, which no one remembers, that claimed so many more.

Source: Department of Defense, United States Central Command, and Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

Source: www.va.gov

"THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD"

By Theodore O'Hara

The muffled drums sad roll has beat
The soldier's last Tattoo;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
But glory guards, with solumn round,
The bivouac of the dead.

No rumor of the foe's advance
Now swells upon the wind;
No troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved one's left behind;
No vision of tomorrow, s strife
The warrior's dream alarms;
No braying horn nor screaming fife,
At dawn shall call to arms.

Their shivered swords are red with rust,
Their plumed heads are bowed;
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust,
Is now their martial shroud.
And plenteous funeral tears have washed
The red stains from each brow;
And the proud forms, by battle gashed,
Are free from anguish now.

The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle's stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shouts are past;
Nor war's wild note, nor glory's peal,
Shall thrill with fierce delight
Those breasts that never more may feel
The rapture of the fight.

Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead,
Dear as the blood you gave,
No impious footstep here shall tread
The heritage of your grave;
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While fame her record keeps,
Or honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps.

Yon marble minstrel's voiceless stone
In deathless song shall tell
When many a vanquished age hath flown,
The story how ye fell;
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight,
Nor time's remorseless doom,
Shall dim one ray of glory's light
That gilds your deathless tomb.

Thanksgiving Message from Bishop Jerry Ogles, Anglican Orthodox Church

2010-11-24T15:39:00.000-08:00

November 2010 Anno Domini (THANKSGIVING)

Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. Deut 8:11-14,18

America is a special land, a land that literally flows with milk and honey, and a land blessed beyond all other nations in recorded history. Why do you suppose the invader has never been able to set foot in America’s heartland or drink from the Ohio’s waters? Is it because we are a people superior to all other peoples of the world? Is it because we are more cunning and wise than all civilizations past and present? Is it because our labors and employments merit our abundance in material and resources?

Nothing could be further from the truth. Our land is not blessed by what we do, or the wisdom of our administration of government, or the innate goodness of our citizens as a national people – it is owing to the faith of our Founding Fathers in seeking out that Solid Rock and Foundation for our National Character and Government. Never intending to exclude either God the Father, or God the Son, from being intrinsically woven into the fiber of our National Will and Faith, they drafted founding documents which they hoped would insure the perpetuation of that faith that has propelled us to our state of blessedness and security. They have passed the burning torch of freedom down through generation after generation of heroic and self-sacrificing Americans until, at the present moment, it has fallen upon us to hold aloft and to keep the fires of liberty alight. This is our ensign on the present battlefield. These are the colors around which we must rally or fall.

The storms of doubt and decadence are sweeping the plains and prairies of America fueled by powers and forces that are not representative of the nature of the America our fathers knew. They threaten to extinguish the flame atop our torch of Freedom. How can this be? It can never happen unless we permit it. A freedom-loving people are incapable of defeat so long as they adhere to the faith and principles that made them free in the first instance. That faith is centered on the great liberator of all peoples – the Lord Jesus Christ.

I appeal to each of you, as well as my own household, to petition the Lord God of Heaven to allow His Holy Spirit once again to move upon the face of the darkened waters of America and speak with all the force and majesty as that first utterance at Creation – “Let there be Light!” Let us thank the offended Sovereign of all Nations for the freedom with which He has blessed us, and pray for a renewal and reformation of our souls and hearts to Christ, lest we perish.

In Christ Alone,

JERRY L. OGLES

Presiding Bishop & Metropolitan

Submit or Stay - Show us your …

2010-11-20T15:12:00.001-08:00

Where we are now is that you may not have the freedom to travel unless you agree to provide a current photograph of your and your wife nude, you must agree to allow both of you to be molested by "government" agents. Apparently we now have a protected class of sexual criminal who is allowed to grope at will.

Then consider that muslims who will not go through the full frontal (and rear) nudity camera are not to be "enhanced patdown screened", they may only be felt up on their head and neck. Makes sense? NOT

There have been various TSA agents recorded (no possibility of misconstruction) saying in effect, "If you don't go through the full nudity scanner, we will molest you sufficiently that next time you will." Where is the ACLU now?

Clearly this is an absolute abrogation of our rights. Our founding fathers were clear on this, note the various quotes attributed to Franklin:

• They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

• They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

• Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither.

• He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.

• He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.

• People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.

• If we restrict liberty to attain security we will lose them both.

• Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.

• He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither.

• Those who would trade in their freedom for their protection deserve neither.

• Those who give up their liberty for more security neither deserve liberty nor security.

The head of the TSA has said publicly that no amount of pressure from the public (I might add the citizens of the country of whom he is a servant) will cause him to change "MY rules." HIS rules? Who the heck is he that he has his own rules? I thought we had the Rule of Law. Clearly that is in the rearview mirror at this time. Change? Yes, we need change. Let's do a 180 and get out of here.

I've written my congressman and told him that unless he sponsors legislation to eliminate completely this police state system that I will vote for any candidate that will. I fully understand that would mean voting for a third party candidate who "cannot get elected." So be it. I will not vote for someone who backs a police state.

BUDGET CUTS mean Hard Choices

2010-10-12T20:13:00.001-07:00

So reads the headline on a MOAA article. MOAA, the Military Officers Association of America, the fraternal organization for officers of all the Armed Services. MOAA was realistically discussing the effects of the massive budget shortfall on its members. With the various armed conflicts in Southwest Asia winding down, the politicians in Washington feel comfortable in reneging on promises made to military members. They feel the country will not notice a promise or two or ten broken to those who put their lives on the line for our country. No problem. The four stars are right in line with them, after all what do you expect from political appointees whose primary qualification for promotion to flag rank is suction. Suction, unctuousness and a handsome appearance, what more could you expect from four stars?

It is true! The budget is in sad shape. Our government has committed trillions of dollars they have no idea where to find to projects they have no idea of for reasons clear only to the other hogs at the trough.

Where to find that money? Simple, start cutting Veterans' Benefits, those old tired war dogs, then cut Active Duty pay and benefits. Let them live like the rest of the country. Why should they get the special privileges they did not earn. After all, they are not important to the country like the exalted congress. The pay for privates can be more effectively used by the Congressman's home and office visiting doctor or his barber or the masseuse in the basement.

Plus, the poor need money. They have lots of kids to feed and things to buy and all that sort of thing. Don't forget the undocumented Democrats, formerly known as ILLEGAL ALIENS. Some of them even have aunts! The AUNT OF THE YEAR How about starting by taking a look at the Constitution and if you cannot find a government program there, quit funding it.

By the way, Dear Leader has a new life long medical care plan for Veterans. Call him when you are SHOVEL READY.

One minor question, if the illegal alien aunt is owed a living by the country, then everyone is, so the question: Who is going to work to pay for all this?

Memorial Day

2010-05-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

Almost all of us get the day off tomorrow. Many will have a BBQ or a picnic or just spend the day relaxing.

But, tomorrow is more than just a Bank Holiday. Tomorrow is Memorial Day; that day set aside to remember those who have given their lives to gain our freedom and defend it from those who would enslave our country. To those men and women and the families they left behind we owe an un-payable debt. It will suffice to remember why we take the day off.

Our country is free because when she called many stepped forward to sign a blank check to pay her freedom debt. They signed knowing the check could be filled in with any figure, up to and including their lives. When they signed, they signed not only for their future, but that of their family. Some of those blank checks were filled in for little. Some were filled in for the entire amount.

They put their lives on the line that you might be free. Some never came home.

Many of us signed one of those blank checks or a family member did. I think each of us knows how fortunate we were that the check we signed got filled in for just a little. We all have friends whose check was filled in for the full amount.

Remember them on Memorial Day; remember their families. Remember the sacrifice every time you vote. Freedom is not free. It never was, it never will be.

God - Honor - Country

The Church of Rome extends an olive branch to Anglicans

2009-11-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

The Roman Catholic Church holds itself out as the one true and original church to which one must return if one is to be a “True Christian.” The Eastern Orthodox Church holds the same view about themselves, but that is a subject for a later discussion. So to keep everyone happy and joined as one true church, one would have to join both I suppose.

Let’s look at the Church of Rome, shall we? The one true and original church was established some time after 60AD. The beginning of the Anglican Church came when by Joseph of Ariamethia established the first church at Glastonbury, in Britannia, in 37 AD. So much for the original part.

True?

The Anglican Church motto is Scripture • Reason • Tradition. Article Six of the Articles of Religion states:

VI. Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation.

Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.

If you are having trouble deciphering that, what it says is if it not in the Bible you don’t have to believe it.

What is the Church of Rome’s motto? Not being really certain, one can only look at their actions and determine it is Dogma • Dogma • Dogma. The Church of Rome believes its dogma overrides Scripture. It discourages Bible reading because otherwise its adherents might ask why the Church says one thing and the Pope says another.

Examples?

Take the question of celibate priests and bishops. What does the Bible say? Let’s look at First Timothy Chapter Three

THIS is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

A True Church demands allegiance to God first. Where is Rome’s allegiance? To the “Church”, not the body of believers, but the Church of Rome. Example? Take a look at the handling of the various homosexual pedophile priests. When the Church found out, what did it do? Transfer them to another church jurisdiction and put them in charge of children’s programs.

It goes on and on. We returned to the Bible 500 years ago. There is no point in leaving it now.

This Anglican would be happy to have there be one Church of God. The Church of Rome is not the Church of God.

The Pope extends an olive branch to Anglicans, read Episcopalians, who are disturbed by homosexual priest and bishops. He offers to “let” them join a church which disregards the Bible and actively aids and abets homosexual pedophile priests and presumably bishops.

We can unify under our Lord when they return to Him. In the meantime, Hap to Pope, “NO!”

Just in case anyone missed the message, this Anglican is no longer acceptant of “Anglo Catholic” practices. We are a Protestant Catholic faith. We believe in the Bible. We accept the Protestant interpretation of the Book of Common Prayer to be as far towards Rome as we care to go. If you have any questions, ask yourself, “Is this supported by scripture?” Or, is it something invented by some guy with a backward collar to make himself feel more important.

Thoughts on the Roman offer of unity - Reception of Anglican Groups, etc.

2009-10-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

It would seem that a united Christian church would be a grand idea and in keeping with the direction given us by our Lord. Yet, under what terms?

Recently Rome has offered up the prospect of receiving Anglicans in particular into their fold, thus increasing “unity.” Is this unity a good unity or a bad unity?

Before one can decide good or bad, one should look at the standard.

Are we to be a biblically based Christian church or not?

The answer for Anglicans is that we reformed our church to comply with biblical standards five hundred or so years ago.

And the Church of Rome? Do they conform to biblical standards?

The answer is clearly a resounding NO!

We wish to be catholic, as in universal, yet we are protestant. Is that a conflict?

Are we catholic? A loud YES! We believe in those things Christians have always believed in as defined in the Nicene Creed.

Are we protestant? Also a loud YES! We protested against the errors of Rome when that church left the Bible far behind. Rome consistently values tradition and self-serving, self-developed dogma over scripture. Their loyalty is to their “church” here on earth rather than to our Lord.

Would it be good to come together? Certainly!

On what terms? Simple, we can unify under our Lord when they return to Him. In the meantime, NO.

Blackberry 9530 Storm does not sync with Mac OSX - With MarkSpace or PocketMac

2009-09-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

The Missing Sync for BlackBerry 2.0.2

Known Snow Leopard Compatibility Issues

USB charging feature does not work for some devices on 64-bit systems.
All other features, including synchronization, function properly with Snow Leopard.
Phonebooks are wiped out or addresses are randomly duplicated.
iCAL entries are randomly wiped out, reassigned or mixed up

This software is absolute rubbish and dangerous rubbish at that. The company apparently does know how to make software, the Windows Mobile software reportedly syncs perfectly. They seem to have abandoned the Blackberry software. Perhaps it is because RIM is coming out with Blackberry Desktop Manager for Mac. No way of telling.

Do not buy this software and if you did - DO NOT USE IT. Save yourself!

Anglican Church in North America

2009-05-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

Anglican Church – The name the Church of England goes by around the world. A series of self-contained, self-governing national churches guided by the principles established in England in the mid-1500s when the national church was reformed to correct the errors of the church in Rome and to remove foreign influences.

Since the Revolutionary War ended the Anglican Church in the United States had been known as the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States (PECUSA). It later dropped “Protestant” and has now dropped “of the United States.”

About 135 years ago a group split from the PECUSA over an understanding of baptism and a feeling that the PECUSA was becoming too “Roman” in their understanding of the church. This group became the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC).

In the 1960s radicals began to take over leadership positions in the church, advocating pacifism, abortion, homosexual primacy and other similar positions. For a church which had spawned roughly 40 percent of the country’s presidents and military flag officers, that was unacceptable to many. People dropped out, priests dropped out, no bishops dropped out. The dropouts formed small groups, which coalesced into parishes and dioceses, even into nationwide churches. Often mocked by TEC, they were known as the Continuing Church.

Some of the Continuing Churches of the Anglican denomination in the United States are attempting to coalesce into what would be known as the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). This process is slow and cumbersome, yet on a fast track. It is slow and cumbersome because it is being lead by people without clear vision and good communications skills. Its Arch Bishop selectee, Robert Duncan, was a TEC bishop until about six months ago. He was one of three bishops who finally left TEC, apparently following his flock. With 20/20 hindsight he has managed to style himself as the leader of the Continuum. A leader who lead his flock to follow God after 95 percent of them had gone ahead.

The ACNA has adopted the English 1662 Book of Common Prayer as their standard. Apparently this was done as it is the “Standard” of the Worldwide Anglican Communion. This is flawed reasoning as the Anglican Church is designed to be a national church. The logical book to adopt as standard was the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer. That apparently could not be done as Bob Duncan and the other two leaders had backed the 1979 Book which claimed to be a Book of Common Prayer, but was not. The 1979 Book clearly paved the way for female and homosexual ordinations. They could not admit they were wrong. In addition, they want to be able to leave the 1979 book in place.

In addition, styling the new group as North American rejects the central concept of the national church. Although the Canadian Continuum is small, they deserve their own province.

The Continuum operates on a small budget. For instance, the REC’s Diocese of the West, covering about 40 percent of the country operates on a $30,000.00 per year budget. The ACNA being TEC retreads has full time paid staff and different ideas. They want each of the 700 parishes they expect to gain to give a one time “Thank Offering” of $1,000.00. That will give them a nice $700,000.00 nest egg from which to rule.

Below you will read the missive from the ACNA Chief Operating Officer. Before you read it, read my response. It will make your reading more interesting.

Dear Brad,

What, pray tell, should we be so thankful for that we should send you $1,000.00? Seven hundred parishes at a thousand a pop - $700,000.00. That is money. You tell us that this is a time that should be “marked by both celebration and gratitude.” For what?

The ACNA picked a guy who could not find his way out of the proverbial ecclesiastical wet paper bag. It apparently took him 40 years to recognize the TEC was headed to hell. In the mean time, he mis-led his flock.

We should be grateful the ACNA has decided to adopt the 1662 English Book of Common Prayer? I do not think so. The Anglican church was founded on a national model. We are Americans. Not North Americans, not English. We will use an American Book of Common Prayer. Perhaps you would like me to send you a copy of the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer?

We should be grateful that in the future your organization will live off the fat of our diocese with a tithe? How do you feel about 10 percent of $30,000.00? That is what you will get from our diocese.

I want an Anglican Church of the United States, not North America. I want a leader, not a follower.

Tell Bob and the boys, “No thank you.”

With all due respect,

Hap Arnold

Now, feel free to read the begging letter. Oh, yes – if this appeals to you send money.

-----Original Message----- From: news@theacna.org [mailto:news@theacna.org] Sent: Friday, May 08, 2009 10:50 AM Subject: [SPAM] Special ACNA Thank Offering

Greetings in the name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

I am writing to give you advance notification of a mailing that you should expect to receive early next week. It is a letter to you and your vestry from Archbishop-Designate Robert Duncan of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Upon receipt I ask that you and your Vestry prayerfully receive this invitation of financial support with a gracious heart, and respond as generosity as you can for the sake of all that God has bestowed upon us and is doing among us.

This special Thank Offering was presented to and strongly endorsed by all of the Lead Bishops and Stewardship Group when our Provincial Council met last month to formally accept the 28 dioceses and dioceses-in-formation from all across North America. The idea is to collect an average of $1,000 from each of our more than 700 congregations. It will allow us to start-up effectively and meet the initial financial needs of the new provincial office. In the years ahead, the operations of our province will be funded by regular tithes from our dioceses, not extraordinary congregational offerings.

Full details of this extremely important offering including a sample bulletin insert, suitable for reproduction, and a return envelope will be enclosed in this forthcoming mailing. This offering can be taken on Pentecost and subsequent Sundays up to June 21st (the Eve of the Inaugural Provincial Assembly). We would also encourage your church to include news of this offering in leaflets and newsletters the next few Sundays.

This is an incredibly exciting time marked by both celebration and gratitude. No one among us doubts what the Lord has undertaken for us. The outcome of this offering will be instrumental to our start-up as we begin to fulfill our mission of "Reaching North America with the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ." Thank you in advance for your support and please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you have any questions.

I remain deeply grateful for the tremendous privilege of serving you and your parish.

Blessings, Brad B. Root

Chief Operating Officer Anglican Church in North America (724) 266-9400 brad.root@theacna.org

Barack Obama – Why do people think he is anti-business?

2009-03-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

He is not just anti-business. 0bama is anti-American, anti-capitalism, anti-Christian and anti-freedom.

The now President Obama has never in his entire life had a real private sector job. Never. He has never had to work for a living where his output determined his pay. He was the victim of equal outcome education. This man’s first executive experience is the job of President of the United States.

Surrounded in his early years by homosexuals, socialists and communists, he came out pretty well considering. He looks good in a suit and doesn’t drool when not talking. That pretty much qualified him for Democratic office in Illinois, at least in the big city precincts he was elected from.

After eight years of constant mainstream media and Hollywood assault, the people thought they wanted CHANGE.

Now they have change. Not money, but the change that is left after the bills are paid. Not one heck of a lot of change, either.

Barack Obama ran for office saying he would be the agent of CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN. We suppose that is as opposed to change you cannot believe in.

We have change. The market (and our retirement) is at a bit less than half of what it was under President Bush’s watch. We are incurring a tax burden about double that under President Bush. We are turning over our health care to a CZAR for rationing to balance the budget. After all, old people are going to die anyway. Why waste treatment on them, merely to extend their otherwise miserable lives. It is clear that there is not enough access to infanticide, thus the government is decreeing that all health professionals are required to provide infanticide services. This is regardless of their personal beliefs. The right of those who wish to murder their child supercedes others right to not participate.

We bail out companies too big to fail with money taken at the point of a gun from those too small to resist.

KEEP YOUR CHANGE

Faith, Hope, and Charity

2009-02-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

One of the more amazing stories from the Second World War is from the defence of Malta. The situation was desperate. There are plenty of accounts of the heroism of the people, of the sailors who managed to get supplies through to the island, and of the garrison who defended it. Due to the complete incompetence of the civil service and the lack of foresight on the part of the politicians, Malta's air defences were woefully under-strength at the outbreak of the war, and, by the end of 1940, the fighter defences were down to just three Gloster Gladiator fighters.

These three out of date and hopelessly slow fighter planes managed to give a very good account of themselves in battle, being flown by RAF officers whose skill must have been stretched to the limit by the Gladiator's upper high-mounted wing, paltry armament, and slow airspeed when pitched into battle against the faster Aeromacchi and other modern aircraft operated by the Italian Regio Aeronautica.

Note the names these three little outdated aircraft bore as they were thrown into frontline action way beyond their expected capability. They were "Faith", "Hope", and "Charity. Charity survived the longest, holding out until, finally, a squadron of Hurricanes could be flown in to Malta and then enhanced with more, and eventually even Spitfires. As most will recognise, the names come from St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians Chapter 13, which famously begins "Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." Ironic, too, that the word, which has now been debased to mean "free handouts" actually meant, in the days of King James 1, "love". And that in the sense of the Greek word "philos" and not, as the word again seems to have been debased, to mean "eros".

On Death and Dying

2009-01-07T19:51:00.000-08:00

When we come in to this world, truly it is on only one condition, that condition is we must leave. All come in. All go out.

Through this world we all pass. Why? This world is a testing ground that each soul must pass through. When all the souls have passed through the earth, it will cease to be. We cannot just go to heaven now, we and all the rest must take the test. God does not test us. He does not put troubles on our back. The troubles we are tested with are the doing of man, random events and the devil. While He does not test us, He does watch how we do. As parents, our most important job is to insure our children get into heaven. Our second most important job is to be there to greet them. A measure of how you have done here is how your children do here. If you do your best and they do their best, all is well. No matter how much or how little you are tested, so long as you do your best (not merely claim to be trying) that is good enough with God’s help.

As imperfect beings with free will, we will never be perfect and will always make bad choices. God has a plan for us – JESUS. Jesus by one single sacrifice one time atoned for all mankind for all time. Recall Jesus’ words in the Gospel according to Saint John, beginning at the First Verse of the Fourteenth Chapter: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” So, if you accept the saving grace Jesus provides, you are heavenbound. He has a place for each of us.

What about those who are not Christians? In Mere Christianity on page 65, CS Lewis writes, “… the truth is God has not told us what His arrangements about other people are. We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him. But in the meantime, if you are worried about the people outside, the most unreasonable thing you can do is remain outside yourself."

The real point of this is that we do not know what arrangements, if any, God has made for other people. We know what arrangements He made for us when He sent His Son to give His life that we might live. Why take chances.

What is ahead of us in heaven? That is not so clear. What we know for sure is that it is good. Jesus told us that this world is like heaven “viewed darkly, as through a glass.” CS Lewis refers to this world as The Shadowlands. Life there is like here, except real.

Too many people have been visited by both angels and their family members who have gone before to doubt we will join those who have gone before us in happiness. All things required for our happiness will be there. To questions like, “Will I be able to fly?” One must answer, ‘Either you will be able to fly if that is what you want or you will be so happy with what is there, you won’t remember you wanted to fly.” Not a perfect answer, but an honest one.

When we think of death, it seems so final. No one comes back from death. Not true, Jesus did and both Moses and Elias visited Jesus in the presence of the disciples. On the other hand, for the rest of us, it is a one way trip. Think of death as in years gone past, Australia. When one left England for their new life in Australia, they were never to come back. Because of the time involved in the sailing transit, they were for the most part never heard of again. Did they still live? But, of course. Was their life better than in England? But, of course. At the same time, it was a one way trip. In this sense, we all go to Australia; Christians, at least. Concentrate on reuniting with your family in Australia. Make sure you don’t miss the boat.

Concentrate not on the temporary separation, but rather unity in heaven for eternity.

A French OMLT infantryman describes interaction with the 506th Infantry (Airmobile) in Afghanistan

2009-01-02T08:35:00.000-08:00

The US often hears echoes of worldwide hostility against the application of its foreign policy, but seldom are they reached by the voices of those who experience first hand how close we are to the USA. In spite of contextual political differences and conflicting interests that generate friction, we do share the same fundamental values - and when push comes to shove that is what really counts.

Through the eyes of that French OMLT (Operational Mentoring Liaison Teams) infantryman, you can see how strong the bond is on the ground. In contrast with the Americans, the French soldiers don’t seem to write much online - or maybe the proportion is the same but we just have less people deployed. Whatever the reason, this is a rare and moving testimony which is why I decided to translate it into English, so that American people can catch a glimpse of the way European soldiers see them. Not much high philosophy here, just the first-hand impressions of a soldier in contact - but that only makes it more authentic.

Here is a translation of the original article in French:

We have shared our daily life with two US units - the first and fourth companies of the 506th Infantry (Airmobile). To the common man, it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as a series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”.

Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day? Few of them belong to the Easy Company, the one the TV series focuses on. This one nowadays is named Echo Company, and it has become the support company.

They have a terribly strong American accent - from our point of view the language they speak is not even English. How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word? Whatever state they are from, no two accents are alike, and they even admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other.

Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.

Here we discover America as it is often depicted: their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity, lack of privacy, and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that: the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star-spangled banner. Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location: books, chewing gums, razor blades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people back him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions: the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat te am are the focus of all his attention.

And they are impressive warriors! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even fil ling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump.

And combat? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all - always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay. That is one of their tricks: they switch from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes. Arriving in contact with the enemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting: they just charge! They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later - which cuts any pussy-footing short.

We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is all right; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.

To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America’s army’s deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owed this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers.

The Beast devouring our Livelihood and Liberty

2009-01-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

How the government tells us when they are lying and when they don’t.

The dilemma, the government needs to fund highway maintenance without cutting essential programs such as welfare and bureaucracy.

The Headline: National commission wants to hike fuel taxes, impose driving fees to pay for highways

The Story: The government wants to move to a new system that taxes motorists according to how much they use roads.

The real Problem: A gas tax hike was one of the reasons Democrats lost control of the House and Senate in the 1994 elections.

So, what? They want a mileage-based revenue system. This means equipping every car and truck with a device that uses global positioning satellites and transponders to record how many miles the vehicle has been driven, the type of roads and time of day. Creation and installation of such a system would take about 10 years. This clearly means a system that knows where you are, when you are and all the Orwellian consequence. So, what the government needs to do is assure the sheeple such a system will be designed to prevent vehicles from being "tracked in some big brotherish way."

Analysis – The American Sheeple are so stupid they will wholeheartedly agree. After all, these are the same people who find high school graduate 30 year patrolman police officers making about $100,000,00 a year, retiring at age 55 at $125,000.00 per year, plus medical, to be underpaid.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

As I sit before the fire this Christmas night, with my family in my line of sight, I reflect on the 30 years and two weeks I spent in the service of our country. For 25 of those years I was home not one Christmas. I don’t think that unusual, I don’t ask for sympathy. I did what I did because my country called. I did it so that my family could rest free. At the same time, the sacrifice was not so much mine as that of my family.

As I look on line at images from around the globe of deployed comrades in arms, I think of the families they have left behind to defend my freedom and that of my family.

Then I reflect on those with whom I flew. Thirty percent are dead, that is less than one a year, but the odds add up. You fly to the edge, you won’t always come back. But, they gave more than their lives, they gave so much of their family.

We live free because of those warriors who defend us.

Charge your glass, raise it high. Drink to them.

USMC Force Recon - Dateline - AFGHANISTAN

2008-12-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

..... It's freezing here. I'm sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush mountains along the Dar 'yoi Pomir River watching a hole that leads to a tunnel that leads to a cave. Stake out, my friend, and no pizza delivery for thousands of miles.

I also glance at the area around my ass every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting. I've actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but them scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod. Hurts like a bastard. The antidote tastes like transmission fluid but God bless the Marine Corps for the five vials of it in my pack.

The one truth the Taliban cannot escape is that, believe it or not, they are human beings, which means they have to eat food and drink water. That requires couriers and that's where an old bounty hunter like me comes in handy. I track the couriers, locate the tunnel entrances and storage facilities, type the info into the handheld, shoot the coordinates up to the satellite link that tells the air commanders where to drop the hardware, we bash some heads for a while, then I track and record the new movement. It's all about intelligence. We haven't even brought in the snipers yet.

These scurrying rats have no idea what they're in for. We are but days away from cutting off supply lines and allowing the eradication to begin. I dream of bin Laden waking up to find me standing over him with my boot on his throat as I spit a bloody ear into his face and plunge my nickel plated Bowie knife through his frontal lobe. But you know me. I'm a romantic.

I've said it before and Ill say it again: This country blows, man. It's not even a country. There are no roads, there's no infrastructure, there's no government. This is an inhospitable, rock pit shit hole ruled by eleventh century warring tribes. There are no jobs here like we know jobs. Afghanistan offers two ways for a man to support his family: join the opium trade or join the army. That's it. Those are your options.

Oh, I forgot, you can also live in a refugee camp and eat plum-sweetened, crushed beetle paste and squirt mud like a goose with stomach flu if that's your idea of a party. But the smell alone of those 'tent cities of the walking dead' is enough to hurl you into the poppy fields to cheerfully scrape bulbs for eighteen hours a day.

I've been living with these Tajiks and Uzbeks and Turkmen and even a couple of Pushtins for over a month and a half now and this much I can say for sure: These guys, all of em, are Huns. Actual, living Huns. They LIVE to fight. Its what they do. Its ALL they do. They have no respect for anything, not for their families or for each other or for themselves. They claw at one another as a way of life. They play polo with dead calves and force their five-year-old sons into human cockfights to defend the family honor. Huns, roaming packs of savage, heartless beasts who feed on each others barbarism. Cavemen with AK 47's. Then again, maybe I'm just cranky.

I'm freezing my ass off on this stupid hill because my lap warmer is running out of juice and I can't recharge it until the sun comes up in a few hours.

Oh yeah! You like to write letters, right? Do me a favor. Write a letter to CNN and tell Wolf and Anderson and that awful, sneering, pompous Aaron Brown to stop calling the Taliban 'smart.' They are not smart. I suggest CNN invest in a dictionary because the word they are looking for is 'cunning.' The Taliban are cunning, like jackals and hyenas and wolverines. They are sneaky and ruthless and, when confronted, cowardly. They are hateful, malevolent parasites who create nothing and destroy everything else. Smart. Pfft. Yeah, they're real smart. They've spent their entire lives reading only one book (and not a very good one, as books go) and consider hygiene and indoor plumbing to be products of the devil. They're still figuring out how to work a Bic lighter. Talking to a Taliban warrior about improving his quality of life is like trying to teach an ape how to hold a pen; eventually he just gets frustrated and sticks you in the eye with it.

OK, enough. Snuffle will be up soon so I have to get back to my hole. Covering my tracks in the snow takes a lot of practice but I'm good at it.

Please, I tell you and my fellow Americans to turn off the TV sets and move on with your lives. The story line you are getting from CNN and other news agencies is utter bullshit and designed not to deliver truth, but rather to keep you glued to the screen through the commercials. We've got this one under control.

The worst thing you guys can do right now is sit around analyzing what we're doing over here because you have no idea what we're doing and, really, you don't want to know. We are your military and we are doing what you sent us here to do.

You wanna help? Buy Bonds America.

Saucy Jack

Semper Fidelis

Stir up Sunday Sermon - preached by The Reverend Charles Royden

2008-11-23T16:57:00.000-08:00

I was given a copy of the Metro newspaper this week. It had ideas for Christmas presents. One was a T Shirt with a picture of Jesus, very like the Turing Shroud image. Underneath the picture it said, ‘Jesus is coming,’ ‘Look busy. ’

Today is the last Sunday in the church calendar, next week we begin Advent. The special theme for today in the church year is a celebration of Jesus as King. Of course today is also named a special Sunday after the collect which we use. We are on that special Sunday before Christmas which we call stir up Sunday. The collect uses those beautiful words

‘Stir up O Lord the will of thy faithful people. ’

Today is a day when we are meant to encourage each other, when we remind ourselves that Christ is our King. It is a day when we draw close to Advent, that season in which we prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. And as we think of King Jesus coming at Christmas, so we welcome him into our own hearts.

But what does Kingship mean?

This would have been a lot easier to answer once, when kings were great and celebrated figures. They held high honour and were seen as having God’s seal upon them. Kings had a divine Right, they were chosen by God to do be kings and they were accountable to no person except God.

Now we often regard kings with contempt, instead of them demanding taxes of us we demand that they pay taxes. But once kings were figures of power.

No wonder Pilate must have laughed when Jesus was referred to as a king. For Pilate, Jesus could not be a king, because he did not fit the mould of a king. Kings are powerful figures, they demand respect and get it. When Pilate put ‘King of the Jews’ over Jesus, it was not in recognition of the kingship of Jesus, it was rather a mockery, Kings did not belong on crosses.

Do we take the kingship of Jesus seriously?

Do we think of Jesus as our King? Or do we think that his kingship is something for the future and so no of much concern to us now? Today we ask the question of ourselves to whom or what do we give our allegiance? Who holds dominion over us? What are we living for? What energizes and gives meaning to our lives each day?

We pray in the Lord’s Prayer ‘thy kingdom come. ’ This prayer is not supposed to be a prayer asking God to bring the world to an end. Rather it is asking that God’s kingdom would be established in our lives. The kingship of Christ is something which Jesus expects us to be able to share now. This will happen if we let our lives be the place where God’s reign extends. Today, above all days perhaps, is the day when we are encouraged to own Christ in our hearts.

Many people do not think that Jesus should be king. Politicians think that Jesus does not belong in affairs of state and government. Many leading businessmen think that Jesus should not be king in matters of economy and business. Often we do not think that Jesus should be king in a whole range of ways that concern what we do out of church.

Today we stir one another up and we remind ourselves that Jesus should be king of every part of our lives, our manners, our behaviour towards other people, are decisions about important life choices.

The kingship of Jesus is not recognised by many of this world, Jesus is King, yet he is not a king who demands obedience. Jesus is a different kind of king. He is a king who leads by example to show us the way that we should behave. This is a new kind of kingship, and one not of the worlds standards. The kingship of Jesus is a radically different kind of kingship. While human kings gain power in order reign over us, Jesus in his kingship demonstrates his authority by showing his love for his people, so much so that he gave his life for us.

What the Kingship of Jesus means

I was watching a film last week, a good film called ‘We Were Soldiers. ’ The main character was played by Mel Gibson, it was adapted from Harold G. Moore and Joseph Galloway's 1992 book "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young." Moore was the lieutenant colonel who in 1965 led the First Battalion of the Seventh Cavalry (ominously, the same regiment headed by Gen. George Armstrong Custer at Little Big Horn) in the battle of Landing Zone X-Ray in Vietnam's Ia Drang valley.

Moore lost more than 70 men from his regiment alone at Ia Drang, and a total of more than 300 died during the Pleiku campaign of which it was a part.

Mel Gibson plays Moore, a devout Catholic family man with a wife, Julie (Madeleine Stowe), and five children.

One the best scenes involves Moore warning his troops before they go into battle. He uses the following speech.

"We are moving into the Valley of the Shadow of Death where you will watch the back of the man next to you, as he will watch yours, and you won't care what colour he is, or by what name he calls God. We are going into battle against a tough and determined enemy. I can't promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear... when we go into battle, I will be the first to step on the field and I will be the last to step off. And I will leave no one behind... dead or alive. We will all come home together."

A man of his word, Lt. Col. Moore set foot on the field of battle first only to find himself and approximately 400 of his men surrounded by roughly 2000 North Vietnamese soldiers. The ensuing battle was one of the most savage in U. S. history, and the first major encounter between the soldiers of North Vietnam and America.

The film shows the two scenes where he lands first and leaves last. He was in the words of Revelation this morning the Alpha and the Omega.

Now that is the kind of a leader that a soldier wants, somebody who will not tell them what to do, like an earthly king, but rather who will lead with his own life and if necessary lay his life down first.

That is exactly what Jesus did with his kingship. He warned the disciples that they would face death and horror, but he said that he did not expect them to do anything which he was not prepared to do himself first.

When Revelation was written the Christians faced horrors, the real horror of martyrdom. Contrary to what so many Christians have mistakenly thought, Revelation is not a prediction of some horror some time in the future, for which we are still waiting. Revelation described for the Christians the very real and present danger which they faced in their daily lives. This is significant because throughout history many faithful Christians have considered that their own times were the most dreadful things which had ever happened and that an end to the world must be nigh. This happened to Martin Luther who believed that the Pope was the antichrist and he saw the end time near. .... It has happened with the American revolution and the Crusaders

Many have wrongly interpreted Revelation as a prophecy about the end of the world. Actually it is a type of writing (apocalyptic writing), a genre that used to be around, just like soap operas are a type of writing today. That type of writing does not describe actual future events any more than we are supposed to believe that the actors of Eastenders or Friends are real.

The purpose of the apocalyptic writing of Revelation is to tell us that real evil exists, that it wins battles, but that ultimately good will conquer evil and that whilst that fight is going on we have Christ at our side.

Alpha and Omega, he is the first one over the trenches and he will be the last one to leave. Christ is in this battle with us, we are not alone. When we have Christian work to do Christ will be with us. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, Jesus is the beginning of all that we do and the end of all that we do. Are we the last generation? That question which Kate challenged us with last week. The message this week is that it doesn’t matter because in Christ all shall be made alive!

Sarah Palin 2012

2008-11-06T20:24:00.001-08:00

Americans owe Sarah Palin an un-payable debt for exposing herself and her family to a lunatic fringe media feeding frenzy to run as John McCain's Vice Presidential candidate. She brought hope to a hopeless situation. John McCain, ever a non-partisan aisle crossing maverick, did not understand there was a partisan race on. Sarah Palin understood. Sarah Palin went into the fray knowing full well not just her reputation and honor would be attacked, but that of her family. She may have been surprised by the "Republican" attacks, but perhaps not. She did her best, it just was not enough to carry John McCain into the White House.

Sarah Palin is the only reason that John McCain did not get his head handed to him on a platter in the election he lost. Sarah Palin is the first presidential or vice presidential candidate with whom I am in complete agreement since Ronald Reagan.

John McCain, quick to defend the honor of the “Reverend Wright” who is clearly wrong and B. Hussein Obama, says nothing when his former aides trash her name.

Republican National Committee hear me well – Foxtrot Uniform. I will not give you another penny, not until I see real progress towards the Republican Party of Ronald Reagan and Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal in 2012!

Republicans who will change things to the way they should be. Change babies can live with.

If you don't vote for McCain, you vote for 0bama. Anyone who votes for Obama is an A+6.

2008-11-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

If you don't vote for McCain, you vote for 0bama. Anyone who votes for 0bama is an A+6.

Think about this:

0bama has "always" been a Christian - CLAIM
0bama supports all abortion, in particular Partial Birth Abortion, for which there is no known justification - FACT
0bama's maternal grandparents were members of the Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA) - FACT
0bama's mother's family moved so she could attend a school where the principal was a member of CPUSA - FACT
0bama's father was a Kenyan Marxist Muslim - FACT
0bama's stepfather was an Indonesian Marxist Muslim - FACT
0bama claims he cannot speak any other language - CLAIM
0bama attended a Muslim madrassa in Indonesia under the name of Barry Sotero - FACT
0bama can recite the Muslim call to prayer in arabic - FACT
0bama was abandoned by his mother to his maternal grand parents - FACT
0bama's grand father (CPUSA) arranged for a male influence in his life while in Hawaii (age 9) - FACT
0bama's male influence was a pedophile CPUSA member who was a drug dealer - FACT
0bama had "someone" pay for his tour around the world - FACT
0bama had "someone" pay for his schooling at Columbia - FACT
0bama had "someone" pay for his schooling at Harvard - FACT
0bama "worked" for a law firm in Chicago, there is no released work he ever did, his name is not on any known documents - FACT
0bama became a "Christian" when he joined the Reverent Wright's church. He claim never to have been aware that Reverend Wright continually preaches racism and anti-Americanism, although he "religiously" attended the church for twenty years - FACT
0bama was paid as a "community activist" and his main claim is that he oversaw the spending of huge sums of money on "Afrocentric" education - FACT
0bama was a State Senator, the only thing that apparently accomplished was simultaneous employment of his wife at a lucrative make work job - FACT
0bama was a US Senator, the only thing that apparently accomplished was simultaneous employment of his wife at an even more lucrative make work job - FACT
0bama lamented the "Civil Rights Movement" did not get around to bringing redistribution of wealth before the Supreme Court - FACT
0bama wants to ban all civilian ownership of firearms (out of his own mouth) - FACT
0bama is the choice of Muslim dictators around the world - FACT
0bama wants to "spread the wealth" of "Joe the Plumber" - FACT
0bama wants to spread your wealth - FACT

If you don't vote for McCain, you vote for 0bama. Anyone who votes for 0bama is an A+6.

Apple Computer has superior products and inferior judgement

2008-10-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

From the Apple Press Release -

"Apple is publicly opposing Proposition 8 and making a donation of $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign. Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8."

There is no "right to marry" under the Constitution for homosexuals or anyone else. They do have a right under California Law to form domestic partnerships. That is not good enough for them. Four California Supreme Court Judges overturned a law passed by the people defining marriage as between one man and one woman. This Constitutional Amendment overturns that Supreme Court ruling.

Apple should stay out of politics. This offends me. I buy computers, lots of them. No point in offending me.

Colin Powell Endorses Obama - BFD

2008-10-19T14:00:00.001-07:00

This is not a bad thing.

First, never trust a man named after a body part. (I realize colon is spelled with an “o”)

Second, I have no idea what Powell was like as a Company Commander in Viet Nam. I did not meet him until he was a LTC in Europe. After that, I know. Like the dwarfs, Powell has always been for Powell. He was then, has been and always will be a liberal politician with no sense of direction. He laments one thing, pursues another. He fired Norman Schwarzkopf for providing the President his opinion when asked. The man who singlehandedly kept Desert One from being a victory. The man who cut the legs from under the anti-Sadamn forces. For some reason, George W. Bush picked him as Secretary of State, a job he was eminently qualified for as he has always put the views of his principal above any principals he might or might not have. As soon as he was relieved of that job, he began stabbing his former boss in the back.

Anyone who things being endorsed by Powell means anything positive was going to vote for 0bama anyway.

Colin Powell, a man of no integrity, whose name lives in infamy. A general who has no followers. No one would follow Powell to the Gates of Hell because they would know he had already made a deal with the devil.

What a loser!

Huntley Brown - NO on Obama

2008-10-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

Huntley Brown is a popular Christian music artist a who wrote this email to some friends who were inquiring if he was going to vote for Senator Barack Obama. He said he has problems with both candidates, but the differences he has with Senator McCain pale in comparison with the ones he has with Senator Obama.

Brown did not write this email to influence public opinion nor did he expect his response to be forwarded to others which resulted in wide distribution of his opinion on the super information highway. No matter the outcome of this election, Brown said as a Christian, he could be counted to support the President in prayer every day.

===============

Dear Friends,

A few months ago I was asked for my perspective on Obama, I sent out an email with a few points. With the election just around the corner I decided to complete my perspective. Those of you on my e-list have seen some of this before but it's worth repeating...

First, I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I need to explain why I will not be voting for him.

Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness. I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can't dictate the terms He does because He is the leader.

I can't vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian because that's who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won't be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning to name a few, wrong economic concerns will soon not matter.

We need to follow Martin Luther King's words, don't judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I don't know Obama so all I can go on is his voting record. His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007. Check it out here: http://nj.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/

To beat Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton as the most liberal senator, takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.

There is a reason Planned Parenthood gives him a 100 % rating.
There is a reason the homosexual community supports him.
There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him.
There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court.
There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill.
There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.
There is a reason he voted No on banning partial birth abortion.
There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue.

Let's take a look at the practice he wanted to continue. The 5 Step Partial Birth Abortion procedures:

A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps. (Remember this is a live baby)
B. The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
C. The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head.
D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.
E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.

There is a reason Obama opposed the parental notification law. Think about this: You can't give a kid an aspirin without parental notification but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. This is insane.

There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years. Obama tells us he has good judgment but he sat under Jeremiah Wright teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright's sermons. I wonder why now? Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training.

Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 - 20 'Go and make disciples of all nations.' This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you; talk like you, believe what you believe etc. The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?

Would you support a White President who went to a church which has tenets that said they have a
1. Commitment to the White Community
2. Commitment to the White Family
3. Adherence to the White Work Ethic
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community.
5. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
6. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.

Would you support a President who went to a church like that?

Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of Obama's former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside. This kind of church is a racist church.

Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discover he went to a racist church.

The church can't be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world. A church can't have a value system based on race. The churches value system has to be based on biblical mandate. It does not matter if it's a white church or a black church it's still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this would never get my vote.

Obama's former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book A Black Theology of Liberation. Cone once wrote: 'Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. ' Cone is the man Obama's mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this?

So what does all this mean for the nation?

In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing - judgment.

Read 1 Samuel 8 when Israel asked for a king.

First God says in 1 Samuel 1:9 'Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.' Then God says 1 Samuel 1:18 ' When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.' 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.' 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, 'Listen to them and give them a king.'

Here is what we know for sure. God is not schizophrenic He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God. Maybe I am the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture so I doubt it.

For all my friends who are voting for Obama can you really look God in the face and say; Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four Supreme Court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy.

I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama's positions. Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends. Since we know someone's value system has to be placed on the nation,

1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation.
2. Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?

Blessings, Huntley Brown

Standing on the shoulders of giants

2008-10-06T17:37:00.000-07:00

When you see Arlington National Cemetery, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam Memorials, do you truly appreciate the sacrifice those men gave for our country by giving their lives so we might live free?

We stand with our heads above water because we stand on the shoulders of giants like them. We should never forget for even one millisecond the tremendous sacrifices made for our freedom. Freedom is not free. It never was and it never will be. Those to whom the monuments are dedicated gave all they had for this country. Not only did they give their future for ours, but their families' future. Never ever forget that, not for one millisecond. Those who answer the call to arms are those to whom the country owes a debt it can never pay. Each and every one put their country before themselves, their family and their fortune that we might be free. Not only did they give their lives, but they gave their mobility, their limbs, their minds, they gave precious time with their wives, sons and daughters that we might live free.

Charge your glass, raise it high. Drink to them.

Joe Biden's 14 lies at the debate

2008-10-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

1. TAX VOTE: Biden said McCain voted “the exact same way” as Obama to increase taxes on Americans earning just $42,000, but McCain DID NOT VOTE THAT WAY.

2. AHMEDINIJAD MEETING: Joe Biden lied when he said that Barack Obama never said that he would sit down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmedinijad of Iran. Barack Obama did say specifically, and Joe Biden attacked him for it.

3. OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING: Biden said, “Drill we must.” But Biden has opposed offshore drilling and even compared offshore drilling to “raping” the Outer Continental Shelf.”

4. TROOP FUNDING: Joe Biden lied when he indicated that John McCain and Barack Obama voted the same way against funding the troops in the field. John McCain opposed a bill that included a timeline, that the President of the United States had already said he would veto regardless of it’s passage.

5. OPPOSING CLEAN COAL: Biden says he’s always been for clean coal, but he just told a voter that he is against clean coal and any new coal plants in America and has a record of voting against clean coal and coal in the U.S. Senate.

6. ALERNATIVE ENERGY VOTES: According to FactCheck.org, Biden is exaggerating and overstating John McCain’s record voting for alternative energy when he says he voted against it 23 times.

7. HEALTH INSURANCE: Biden falsely said McCain will raise taxes on people’s health insurance coverage — they get a tax credit to offset any tax hike. Independent fact checkers have confirmed this attack is false

8. OIL TAXES: Biden falsely said Palin supported a windfall profits tax in Alaska — she reformed the state tax and revenue system, it’s not a windfall profits tax.

9. AFGHANISTAN / GEN. MCKIERNAN COMMENTS: Biden said that top military commander in Iraq said the principles of the surge could not be applied to Afghanistan, but the commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force Gen. David D. McKiernan said that there were principles of the surge strategy, including working with tribes, that could be applied in Afghanistan.

10. REGULATION: Biden falsely said McCain weakened regulation — he actually called for more regulation on Fannie and Freddie.

11. IRAQ: When Joe Biden lied when he said that John McCain was “dead wrong on Iraq”, because Joe Biden shared the same vote to authorize the war and differed on the surge strategy where they John McCain has been proven right.

12. TAX INCREASES: Biden said Americans earning less than $250,000 wouldn’t see higher taxes, but the Obama-Biden tax plan would raise taxes on individuals making $200,000 or more.

13. BAILOUT: Biden said the economic rescue legislation matches the four principles that Obama laid out, but in reality it doesn’t meet two of the four principles that Obama outlined on Sept. 19, which were that it include an emergency economic stimulus package, and that it be part of “part of a globally coordinated effort with our partners in the G-20.”

14. REAGAN TAX RATES: Biden is wrong in saying that under Obama, Americans won’t pay any more in taxes then they did under Reagan.

As long as you are happy being poor and downtrodden, you should vote Democrat!

2008-10-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

The Democrats are the party of the poor and the downtrodden. As long as you are happy being poor and downtrodden, you should vote Democrat.

In addition, isn't it interesting the Republicans bet the Union on freeing slaves (Civil War). The Democrats still had segregation as their official party plank until after the 1948 election. Democrats resisted the Civil Rights Act of 1964, finally passed by the Republicans. Democrats feel blacks can only exist with government protection and favoritism (note how ZeroBama got into Harvard). Note also, the Democrat’s position is remarkably similar to that of the Klu Klux Klan, not surprising in that they founded the KKK. Republicans choose the best qualified. That is why JC Watt, Colin Powell and Condelezza Rice aren't "black."

We are in the credit problem because of affirmative actions by Democrats, specifically Barney Frank, Joe Biden and ZeroBama, in resisting changes in regulatory environment and rules proposed by Republicans, specifically George Bush and John McCain. Yet, the problem is all the fault of George Bush and John McCain.

Let’s review the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions:

Chris Dodd (S-D-CT) $165,400.00
Barack Obama (S-D-IL) $126,349.00
John Kerry (S-D-MA) $111,000.00
Harry Reid (S-D-NV) $77,000.00
Barney Frank (H-D-MA) $42,350.00

First question, if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are Government Sponsored Entities, what are they doing making Campaign Contributions? Second question, why are the Democrats who hold the only solution the biggest recipients of their largesse? I thought Barack Obama “warned us about this two years ago.”

John McCain sponsored legislation two years ago that would have increase oversight and tightened up lending requirements. Chris Dodd and Barney Frank kept the legislation in committee, never to see the light of day. Don’t remember those names? Look at the list above.

John McCain has been in Washington too long, 22 years. Sarah Palin has no experience, she was only a business owner, mayor and governor. She is the only one so far who suggested that if you can only afford a $100,000.00 house, perhaps you should not buy a $300,000.00 house. A more apt observation is yet to be made on the "crisis."

ZeroBama brings a fresh look to the presidency, he was elected senator about the same time Palin became governor. She ran the state every day, he managed to get to work 147 times. Joe Biden has invaluable experience, he as been a senator for 32 years.

If you have not puked yet, the headline Obama Fights Poverty $28,500 At a Time

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama took a hard-lined stand on 16 September 2008 for the poor and downcast. Knowing that if Big Government doesn't look out for the little guy no one will, Obama attended a fundraiser which had an attendance price of $28,500 per head. It is not known whether or not the poor or downtrodden were invited. It is certain no one rode for free.

After writing this up, AP comes out with a story on it, quoting Obama: Standing in the courtyard of the palatial estate, he said his campaign was dedicated to people who need jobs and health care and worry about their pensions and sending children to college. "It's about those who will never see the inside of a building like this," Obama said.

Skill Mismatch
* Barack Obama has put out an ad that simple minded John McCain cannot use a computer. [He has much difficulty typing due to torture by the North Vietnamese]
* John McCain has not bothered to point out the world's savior, Barack, cannot land a jet fighter on an aircraft carrier at night.

Double Standard - NO!

Why John McCain?

2008-09-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

John McCain and I do not see eye to eye on a number of things, but Barak Nobama and I do not see eye to eye on anything. As they say in the Royal Navy, ‘Always choose the lesser of the two weevils.’

At the same time, while John McCain and I do not see eye to eye on everything, we do on a lot of things. Let me point out:

John McCain would die before doing anything he thought would prove harmful to his country. John McCain would choose death over dishonor. Both these are not mere suppositions or wild claims, they are fact. Fact that no one can dispute. John McCain proved who he was, not only in combat; but as a POW.

John McCain understands both the cost of war and the horrible cost of losing a war.

John McCain is a good man.

John McCain is an honest man.

John McCain is a Christian who is not afraid of letting people know. At the same time he has no problem with others practicing their own beliefs. He is comfortable with his own Christianity and understands it is not God’s desire for him to force it on others. He got his foreign experience in Vietnam and other foreign travel on government business; but, he never attended a madrassa in Indonesia. He never registered for school as a muslim. He did not begin attending church when his wife decided he needed to belong to a “white” church to get elected. He did not attend a racist anti-American church for twenty years without noticing its point of view. He did get into a bit of trouble over religion in one of his foreign travels. He was once dubbed a “Hell’s Angel” for rioting against his captors in Vietnam in order to hold Sunday church services.

John McCain is a real and good man. A person you would be delighted to have to your home for dinner. A person with whom you could trust your life and that of your family. After all, that is what you are doing when you vote for a President.

Drill Here, Drill Now and in my backyard preferably – BUT first, send water South, Death to the Delta Smelt

2008-08-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Drill Here, Drill Now and in my backyard preferably – BUT first, send water South, Death to the Delta Smelt

There is a water “crisis” in San Diego County, indeed in all Southern California. Why” Are we in a drought? Sort of? Sort of? Yes, a shortage of water caused by the government.

The California Department of Water Resources has reduced by 40 percent the water it allows Southern California to draw from the Sacramento Delta which in turn draws from the Sierra Nevada snow pack.

Why?

To protect the Delta Smelt.

What is a Delta Smelt? It is a two inch long non-gold fish.

Who cares about it?

A bunch of people without jobs who think you should not have water for your home.

Death to the Delta Smelt and none too soon.

Don’t think of it as endangered, think of it as obsolete.

Like almost all other problems, the Delta Smelt and no water is brought to you by the government. The water is there for us to use. The government just thinks the Delta Smelt is more important than you are. The same government that has not yet brought us a budget. But, don’t worry, the budget is on the way. Along with a huge tax increase to further bloat the stomach of the ever hungry government employees unions. You certainly would not want them to go without their nine square meals a day at your expense, would you?

Drill Here, Drill Now and in my backyard preferably – BUT first, send water South, Death to the Delta Smelt

A jar of marbles?

2008-07-30T15:30:00.001-07:00

Things to think about
There is more to do in the world than we can or even really want to do. This came across my desk about two years ago and then again last week. I’ve edited the story to condense it slightly:

I overheard an older fellow talking about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say,

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here next to my desk.

Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.

This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.”

Why are we here on earth?
God put us here on earth to make a difference. In Genesis, it is written:

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

God gave us the earth and all that is therein with the charge that we should go forth being fruitful, subdue it and have dominion over it. What then is our charge, our commandment, our instruction?

To make a positive difference in this world, our world, more importantly God’s world, which he left in our charge. So our priorities are:

1 - If you are parents, your first priority is to make sure your children go to heaven;
2 - Your second priority is to be there to meet them;
3 - Your third priority is to prepare your children to meet the challenges of this world;
4 - Your fourth priority is to provide for the needs of your family;
5- Your fifth priority is to be of positive use to your friends
6 - Your sixth priority is to have fun doing the first five!

You have to take care of your country, so that your family will have an environment from which to get to heaven. You have to help your neighbors to the extent you can. Recall Jesus’ summary of the law:

THOU shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

If what you are doing is in conflict with what you are charged to do, change what you are doing. Eternity stretches from the past so far we cannot see it and into the future so far we cannot fathom it. Only today, the present, where the Hand of God touches the timeline to eternity, can we exist. While we remember yesterday and hope for tomorrow, today is where we live. Always. Yesterday was, tomorrow may be, but today is. Act today. Your actions will affect your today if tomorrow comes.

So, what are you doing and how does that fit into the plan? Do you need a jar of marbles to focus your life?

HughesNet - Hughes Net - hughes.net - Does not matter what you call it, it doesn't hack it!

2008-07-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

The day Hughes Net has a product that doesn't suck will be the day they market a vacuum cleaner. (Not original, but Microsoft isn't the only company that sucks)

What kind of speed can you look forward to with your Hughes Net Satellite Service. Well, we have the Small Business Professional Plan and the DW7000 router, this gives us blinding speeds. Most of the time we get an uplink speed of around 4 - 5 Kbps and a downlink speed of around 14 - 15 Kbps. Tonight, the downlink is about 750 bps (no K, less than 1 K per second).

Now, there is a downside, if you do a major software update and exceed your daily limit, or if they think you might exceed your daily limit, you are put on restricted access due to the aptly named Fair Access Policy. Then you are limited to 128 Kbps maximum download speeds. Of course, you never get that speed ever. But the limit is there.

The only place Hughes Net is used is where you cannot get any other form of service. We live in the country and dial up is 14 Kbps maximum.

In the event cable, DSL, ADSL or fiber optics ever get here, Hughes Net can go to the dumpster. That DAY.

Mac OSX 10.5.4 Leopard Evolis Pebble Drivers that work!

2008-07-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

You can download a BETA Pebble Driver package that worked on my MacBook Pro Intel machine running 10.5.4 here:

http://www.descansorodents.com/pebble_osx10.5.4_drivers/

The drivers are courtesy of Darcy Ryan of Australia who prevailed on www.interactcard.com.au to send them to me. Thanks Darcy!

I am so happy that I can use my Pebble again!

Thanks!

Mobile Me SUCKS and SO DOES APPLE

2008-07-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

Due to Apple's Ego Centric renaming of the DOT Mac Service to Mobile Me (how me-centric can you get), they cannot renew my membership because of their own programming ineptitude. So, what to do? They will cancel my account and delete all the information in three days, if I do not renew. Of course, I cannot renew because their programmers are up and locked. Oh, yes - And I cannot even figure out how to sign in to my own account now. Great website, Steve O. What a bad joke. User friendly? If I wanted this kind of support, I would call Bill Gates!

They are AFU and I am supposed to lose my e-mail and web pages. There is no phone number, no e-mail address, no nothing. For this I have been paying $100.00 per year?

In the event my site goes down, I have already instructed our legal department to file suit. Let Apple get a taste of its own medicine!

First Memo to Steve Jobs - I find Mobile Me to be a very insulting name.

Second Memo to Steve Jobs - GET A JOB!

Women in the Priesthood and Bishopric

2008-07-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

Today we hear the Mother Church of Anglicanism, the Church of England, is to allow the ordination of women bishops. This is not surprising to any with intellect and memory. The CoE has ordained women priests in violation of biblical direction, why not bishops?

Please read the following from the First Book of Timothy, Chapter One, Verse Five:

thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

Those who are in communion with the CoE are not in communion with the Bible. Your choice.

The Truth shall set you free!

Pebble 3 Card Printer and Problems with Mac OSX / OS X Leopard 10.5.1 and 10.5.2

2008-07-07T20:14:00.001-07:00

Since we upgraded our computer system to Leopard 10.5 and then 10.5.1 we have not been able to print directly to the Pebble 3. We could print through another computer running 10.4 Tiger. After upgrading to 10.5.2, that no longer worked. We need the printer. Evolis has been ZERO help. Our card program operates in Filemaker, so we are going to try the Windows version under Parallels. Will post results.

Air Force Renewal - A Guest Editorial

2008-06-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

In my humble opinion, the mess with the nukes on the bomber was inexcusable and people should have gotten fired immediately. For them to flunk the retest, means a few more needed to go but that's not what all this about. Simple solution, 1 bomber on alert for each of the B-52 and B-2 sqdn, the troops pull an alert tour ever 3 months or so and go through all the procedures--plus big clue, don't store nukes and fake nukes/conv weapons in the same bunkers/rooms and maybe splash a little paint or big stencils/logos on them if they are no longer a nuke. B-1s are now conventional only so they get a pass.

Gates has it in for the AF and is just paying back the pilots, for his time of AF service before his CIA service. He was a big wig when the CIA didn't see the wall coming down, USSR collapsing or Saddam Kuwait adventure, but he's suddenly a military genius.

The AF has spent a lot of money on the f/a-22 and taken forever to field it - it was the wrong choice back in 1990 but that's subject of another discussion. Now it has a few neat airshow machines and bunch of worn out airplanes which it can't afford to replace. The AF could buy 3 or 4 F-15Es for the price of a f/a-22 and be able to put bombs on target as well as shot missiles at anything that staggers into the air. Whether carrying 2 1000# GBUs (which it has to borrow from the Navy) or 8 250# SDBs, it is unlikely the f/a-22 would make a big impact as bomber and it would only be able to carry 2 AMRAAMs and 2 Aim-9s when it is going a bombing.

The last few AF Gens have been totally heavy on the F-15 background and for the most part much like their airplane don't seem to have a clue about the A/G arena. The stars in the desert/mountain/cities recently have been the bombers, A-10s, and I would image the AC-130s although you don't hear much about them.

The UAVs have become the FACs and Recee fliers. Unmanned and therefore fearless, they do the job of the O-1,O-2, OV-10s and the like. There's some magic number that the system is able to provide and it works out to around 25 orbits, covered 24/7, 365. I kind of wonder how many airborne FACs covered SVN which I believe is a smaller land mass then IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN but that's another subject.

The Army wants their own UAVs and the AF says they should control all UAVs so they can be deconflicted with other traffic. The AF could not generate enough UAVs to suit the needs of the Army for overwatch of its activities so the Army complains it isn't getting support and tries to buy its own system, which is just a little different from the AF predator.

Gates meanwhile runs around complaining about the AF want to fight the "next war". This is funny because it is commonly understood that most military forces are structured to fight their last war using the "lessons learned" and almost always start a war using the old tactics, equipment, etc. For example one study showed that the ARMY had 4000 tanks but only around 400 in the desert. The rest were concentrated in Europe. We've pulled almost all the combat aircraft out of Europe but the tanks are still there. Wouldn't they be better in some location were they could be rapidly put on fast boats and sealifted to a combat area?? Remember the fiasco when the AH-64s tried to self deploy to Bosnia?

Also constraining the ARMY vehicles so they will fit inside C-130s is dumb. Unless you are sending troops as a trip wire or special force team, the small vehicles are unsafe. IEDs and RPGs go right through the little vehicles. A hundred M-1s offloaded from a fast ship is much more threatening than a couple of C-130s loaded with Hummers and Strikers, without the armor cause then they are too heavy. The armor and ammo has to come in via another aircraft.

Another of Gates's great ideas is heavy emphasis on special ops and special forces. The fact is to get those kind of troops takes lots of training, years of time and then to pay them the same as you do some admin clerk, PA or JAG means they move on to better jobs or get out of the service. Also, the Army hates those types and doesn't promote them as a rule. Additionally, we now have a military culture controlled by JAGs who Monday morning quarterback decisions and go after servicemen who actually fight. How about a JAG in each combat platoon as point man, that way there won't be any problems about ROEs, etc?

Taking the space mission and cyber force is in keeping with the AF mission and also shows its biggest vulnerabilities. Everything is now tied into the GPS and comm links. Jamming a signal is usually the easiest way of defeating any electronic emitting system and doing it can be as simple as keying a radio on the freq as we all know.

The constant need to know where the forces are is a military requirement but it is also what killed the U-boats in WWII. The reporting in combined with the code breaking allowed the allies to find the stealth forces of the day and eliminate their threat. The f/a-22 is constantly mentioned as an ISR resource but it needs to reveal itself to provide the information to other, so what good is that? Encryption and all that cosmic electron pushing does wonders but when the system can be compromised by a luke warm allie who sells to anyone or espionage.

Lastly the AF and all the other services are too small. As they were downsized after the USSR collapse, the virus of downsizing kept going and now the military is actively engaged far more than any time in its post WWII past with a smaller force. Mao said "quantity has a quality of its own". The military should be doubled in size across the board and the number of aircraft being built each year should not be measured in double digits, including drones.

The unstated effect of the beheadings of the AF leadership is that when the reviews for funding start in Aug, there will be interim and inexperienced people representing the AF. The Navy will be front loaded with the JCS and Central Region and the Army will be next in line to allocate funds. The Army is supposed to grow in manpower like the Marines and the AF might just be able to stop it personnel downsizing if Gates keeps his word. Watch for the Army to get a big budget boost, navy to get some big bucks and the AF to get cut in funding. Probably no more f/a-22s as the f-35 is coming and will solve all the AF needs.

CMAC

The Air Force shakeup

2008-06-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

The shift was long over due.

Somehow when the Bomber Generals got thrown out, along with there Peace is our Profession motto, they were replaced by the Air to Air Generals.

Air Superiority missions have another name, Defensive Counter Air. Defense never won a war, never will.

What wins a war is a grunt with a rifle saying, "This freaking piece of ground belongs to the US." Nothing less.

Neither the Bomber nor the Air to Air Generals would give the time of day to the people doing the fighting: Fighter Bombers, Attack Aircraft, FACs and Special Operations. The war in Southeast Asia was an anomaly. You had an air war in the North and a ground war in the South. The two were not in many senses connected.

Desert One was an Air War, followed by a Ground War. There was no follow-on.

Desert Two is only a Ground War, the Red side did not fly one sortie. The only need for the Air Force is for CAS and Transport. CAS is becoming a bit different, but it is still the direct support of our troops, mostly in contact.

So, what was the service priority?

The F-22.

What is the F-22?

It is an Air Superiority Fighter with very limited Air to Ground capability.

What use is it in the current war?

I have no idea, neither apparently does anyone else. Mostly, it looks cool doing fly bys at Langley.

What is the solution?

Gates had part of the idea.

First fire all the generals and colonels. Promote fighters. The people that should be running the Air Force are those who support the concept of winning wars against our enemies. The only way to do that is with Joint Action. Let's see FACs, SOP and Fighter Bomber / Attack people running things.

The UCAVs are interesting. They in some ways are the way of the future for limited wars, given our casualty aversion. Their use in a major war rather limited, however.

The last two Chiefs of Staff have managed to make the Air Force seem irrelevant.

One parting thought, even though the current war is a limited conflict, China can go to war at any time. They are our real current enemy and we need to be ready to defeat them. By the way, 180 F-22s won't do squat there either.

A plan, a plan, my kingdom for an Energy Plan

2008-06-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

If we do not want to go back to the dark ages, living as manual laborers, eking out of a living from whatever we can, using draft animals, dying at an average age of 33, we need energy. The source is not critical, the form and cost are.

Is oil a renewable source of energy? We do not know. Many call oil a “fossil” fuel, yet no one can duplicate a process and artificially create oil. Is it a natural substance somehow produced in the earth’s core? We do not know that either. Junk science will not tell us.

We need a reliable source of energy, two to be more precise. One for fixed units: houses, offices, factories and the like. Nuclear power producing electricity will do fine for this.

Oh, but the danger!

Danger? What danger? How many people have been killed by nuclear power in the United States? To save time, not one.

The hazardous waste!

What waste? Most of what is currently classified as nuclear waste is in reality not hazardous at all. The totality of nuclear waste with a rational definition will fit in one shipping container for the whole United States for a year’s worth of waste. Less, if you allow recycling!

Nuclear power would also allow for the use of electric cars. Electric cars have a reasonable range of about 120 miles per day. That would take care of about 90 percent of US needs, hybrids could handle the rest.

What about aircraft, boats/ships and trucking?

Synthetic Liquid Fuel (SLF) Liquid combustible fuel is the only source of energy with sufficient energy density for aircraft and vehicles.

We need a Manhattan Project to manufacture SLF. Now.

So, what to do? How do we drop energy costs to a manageable level?

Simple:

1. Open all the US territory to drilling for oil. ALL of it.
2. Open the ANWR to drilling right now.
3. Federalize power, oil and gas production permitting requirements so that a single permit is all that is needed to build a powerplant, LNG facility, drill for oil or build a refinery.
These three items will drive the cost of energy down to the point that gas will be under $2.50 per gallon immediately in an effort to preclude these steps from being economical. Short range victory for the US.
4. Allow the immediate permitting and construction of nuclear powerplants. Change tax codes to encourage energy production.
5. Dedicate all resources required to develop a SLF, the patents to be United States property.
6. Encourage the production of stand alone solar energy units of the 1-25KW size in areas of appropriate weather. Make them easy to shop for and install.

Simple. Quick. Effective.

Oil, Energy and the Economy

2008-06-06T14:33:00.001-07:00

A robust and growing American economy is due to a number of factors:

• Productivity of the American worker;
• Abundant natural resources;
• Low government overhead;
• Low energy costs.

The American worker is one of the most productive in the world, bar none. Toyota and Honda build cars here because they are better and cheaper than the ones built by Japanese workers.

We have abundant natural resources compared to any other industrialized country.

Although we complain of high taxes, they are the lowest in industrialized world.

Until now, energy costs have been relatively low. We have not been energy taxed to the hilt like the European countries. With the current spike in energy prices, our economy is in a precarious position. The European countries have the same problem, except made worse by their taxation. They do have the advantage of much smaller distances to overcome, but diesel at $9.50 per gallon is destroying their economy, also.

Energy prices need to come down. $140.00 per barrel of oil with the profit going to the various forces of evil that oppose our way of life is not good.

What is the solution?

We need CHEAP ENERGY. Period.

What does that mean?

Nuclear power, synthetic liquid fuel that can be burned in internal combustion engines, solar power that works cheaply, where it makes sense. Increased efficiency.

Most important, this all needs to be based on SOLID SCIENCE. Not the junk science of Global Warming.

SOLID SCIENCE will bring us a solution. It is inconceivable that a synthetic liquid fuel cannot be manufactured if we have access to unlimited capital, say 100 Billion dollars, unlimited talent and unlimited (nuclear) energy.

The time is NOW.

Airlines, Capacity and Survival

2008-06-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

For airlines to survive the revenue per used seat mile must exceed the cost per used seat mile. For some this is “Rocket Science”, for others it is elementary math. For anyone in the airline industry it is an obvious fact.

Currently fuel prices are in an upward spiral, out of control and irrational. That does not change the fact that they are up 100 percent in the last year. Fuel would seem to be a constant fraction of costs, about 30 percent. Not true, the fuel fraction of costs is actually about 67 percent due to its influence in the other sectors.

The era of cheap travel is gone. So long as our governments allow the price of energy to be artificially inflated, the airlines have no choice. They either raise the yield, that is the revenue per aircraft mile or they go out of business.

The number of people traveling today is based on old energy costs. When the price of flying doubles, which it must, the number of people who can afford to fly drops about 75 percent. People who can afford the higher fares will not fly in the current cramped seating. Thus, the airlines need to cut their capacity by about 60 percent. With 40 percent of the aircraft flying at a lower load factor the airlines can make money.

There is an unintended consequence. Places that depend on drive in traffic will do okay; these are cities like San Diego whose tourism comes mostly from Los Angeles. Areas like Hawaii, whose tourists are almost exclusively air travel customer, will have a major problem as their lower end customers stay home.

Stand by for more economic bad news brought to you by the current administration. But, the Democrats have an even worse solution. We need an energy plan. Watch this space for a real one.

Tooth Violence

2008-06-05T11:03:00.001-07:00

Dateline Today
In light of yesterday’s tooth violence incident, I am asking each of you sheep to write or call your legislators and local government officials. We have for too long been subject to the ravages of the wolves’ teeth. Please implore them to pass legislation calling for the immediate registration and then confiscation of all sheep teeth. For too long have we as a herd put up with sheep being eaten by wolves’ teeth. We must ban the ownership, possession or use of sheep teeth. Only if we are truly without a means of defense will the wolves quit eating us.

Some of you have been calling for all sheep to carry sharp teeth as a means of defense. Can you not see how ridiculous that would be? The only way for the sheep to be truly free of tooth violence is for none of us to have teeth.

What about the wolves? Don’t worry, be happy. Your herd management will protect themselves, I mean you.

Regards,

Leandro T. Sheep
Head of the Sheeple

BIG OIL makes WINDFALL PROFITS of a half TRILLION DOLLARS

2008-05-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

Nice headlines aren't they?

What is the story under the headline?

On their sales last year the oil companies made $528 Billion Dollars. A lot of money. On that $528 Billion, they paid almost $300 Billion in taxes. The leftover $228 Billion was distributed as profit or share gain and will be taxed to the shareholders at figure of about 30 percent leaving a net real profit of about $150 BILLION, still not bad. Of course, it is only about 3 percent when the government gets their share.

Oh, the government. What does the government get?

Well, glad you asked. The taxes on the oil amounted to 1.3 TRILLION DOLLARS, plus the about 370 BILLION in taxes for a net take of 1.6 TRILLION DOLLARS.

Who is screwing you? Remember, Nancy Pelosi and Patty Murray tell us it is BIG OIL. After all, the government is here to help you. Actually, they are here to help themselves to your money. And, remember this also, they're not happy until you're not happy.

Boy, I sure am glad the Democrats got in to Congress and did something about the $2.30 per gallon price of oil when the Republicans were running things into the ground.

Oh, yes. And, could Barak Omama please call the EU and ask them what temperature my thermostat should be set at?

Baby Seals, NMFS and other Fairy Tails

2008-05-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

Authorities Investigate Men's Rescue Of Seal From Net

SAN DIEGO -- Two men who ventured into a protected seal colony in La Jolla this week to free one of the sea mammals from a fishing net could face civil or criminal sanctions, a federal spokesman said Friday.

The baby seal has been tangled in a gill net for days, according to area news outlets. And omnipotent federal authorities had not done squat. All of the local federal authorities with the power normally reserved for God were suffering (or benefiting from) cranial rectal inversion.

The federal marine agency had been working with SeaWorld to come to the animal's aid and had a well-practiced plan of action in the works, according to Jim Milbury, a spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service the agency charged with ENFORCING the Marine Mammal Protection Act, not helping those same mammals.

Steve Eddy of San Diego and Mark Katona of Oceanside succeeded in rescuing the animal without harming it or other members of its colony while his agency sat on its backside doing absolutely NOTHING, Milbury acknowledged. Nonetheless, their actions -- while motivated by understandable and humane concern -- had the potential to "do more harm than good," since the men are not experts at handling sea mammals,d not EXPERTS at doing NOTHING like his agency, Milbury said.

Milbury's agency, specialists in sea life and backside sitting opined pompously the pup's predicament did not appear to be putting it in any imminent physical danger. Obviously Milbury enjoys being trussed like a turkey in a net like the little seal above. (actual photo of said seal)

"But obviously, we weren't going to wait forever," he added. JUST TILL THE THING DIED NATURALLY - No Doubt!

The men potentially could be fined if it is determined that they violated the marine-mammal act, which is designed to keep people from harassing seals and other sea creatures, according to Milbury - Also, the agency is concerned about its image. If people ever find out how lame they are, the only way they will keep their jobs is through the ADA.

China Camp

2008-04-20T15:30:00.000-07:00

As the major nations of the world sink into the abyss of secular socialism and become paralyzed by their national socialist systems, the United States, which has resisted the anti-God national socialist disease, has become the single most powerful country on the face of the earth. At present the United States has roughly 45 percent of the military forces in the world. Combined with her two closest allies, the other two countries who have not yet slid into the abyss, Australia and England, they possess roughly 55 percent of the world’s military power.

With almost a quarter of the world’s population, China is attempting to fill the void of a “counter power” to the United States. Around the world, China is buying her way into every country she can. Scholarships abound to study in China. Military training exercises with Chinese PLA forces. Goods sold under market to gain entry into countries. With almost 1.4 Billion people, over three times the population of the United States and Australia combined, all under centralized control, all ready to act on the orders of the benevolent instruction of Hu Jintao. China, a country of post partum abortion, volunteer organ donors, laborers who work for the privilege of living, though perhaps not for long, is a force to be reckoned with.

China, mindful of the need to win the hearts and minds of the world, while working their hands around the world’s neck, has developed a new program, Peaceful Rise.

“We will not advance at the expense of others, but rather with others,” Hu Jintao.

China and Russia, our two “allies” are the original source of almost every weapon and round of ammunition used by Mohammedan terrorists around the world, as well as being the source of weapons for the drug cartels.

Good friends.

China – A force of evil, which bears watching. Russia, likewise, I am sure.

Christianity – The Church of Christ or Compassion and Kindness, the Church of Oprah

2008-04-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

Many today profess Christianity as their religion, more so than at any time in the past in terms of simple numbers. Yet what do they profess to confess?

Kindness, consideration for others, love of family, many things. So, to be a Christian, is it these things we must believe?

Is it kindness?

Be kind to your web-footed friends
For a duck may be somebody's mother
Be kind to your friends in the swamp
Where the weather is very, very damp

No.

Is it, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”?

No, that is the Golden Rule.

Well, enough of that, what is it that must be believed?

Simply put, to be a Christian one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He came into this world and gave His mortal life here that we might have eternal salvation.

If you do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, think what that means, listen to CS Lewis, "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, The MacMillan Company, 1960, pp. 40-41.)

We know that when we die our bodies cease to hold our soul. To what end, what now?

Jesus tells us that through His death on the Cross, we gain the grace of God and eternal salvation.

How?

Frankly, that was not explained by Him. Why not? Who knows, it is certainly above my pay grade. CS Lewis, the greatest Christian writer of all time explains it like this in Mere Christianity, “We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed. Any theories we build up as to how Christ's death did all this are, in my view, quite secondary: mere plans or diagrams to be left alone if they do not help us, and, even if they do help us, not to be confused with the thing itself.

The Church of Oprah would have you believe that Jesus was a nice guy, a great teacher, but certainly not the only key to heaven. What did Jesus say about that?

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14.6

The Church of Oprah and all their counterparts are picking and choosing what they want, the veritable smorgasbord of church theology. They pick what they want taking a few concepts from their poached egg, a few from Aphrodite, a few from Inanna, a few from Lara, a few from Baal and a bit of Molech and there you are. What is right for you may not be right for me.

Those churches are of this world. They do not worship the one true God, they worship Goodness. Goodness which they define and changes daily.

Our actions in this world are in anticipation of the world to come. We follow the lodestar of our God. There is right and there is wrong. It does not change. As Christians, we need to let Christ in to our lives, to let His Word be our guide. There is a tendency these days for people to believe that within each of us is God; a desire to believe that each of us has within themselves the necessary moral compass from which we can navigate our lives. Many “churches” advocate looking to within.

In the words of the song, “Christ within us.” A nice concept, but wrong. The words of the song, “Christ within us,” refers to the letting Christ into our lives to guide us. The Bible gives no credence to the thought that Christ is somehow buried in us and merely needs to be found.

We need to let Christ in to our lives as a point of reference, a polestar by whom we can navigate our lives towards that heavenly shore.

Spreading the Gospel requires each of us to plainly live as Christians and testify to others the value of such a lodestar in our lives. To be the New Man of Saint Paul’s letters, putting off the old. Not looking for God within our old, but rather putting on the new and following the new map with the new compass.

Message from Bishop Richard J. Boyce - Anglican Province of America - Diocese of the West

2008-02-21T19:45:00.000-08:00

This message is in response to questions about the position of APA and the Diocese of the West in particular regarding the Common Cause Partnership (CCP).

You have asked each of us for our response in regard to CCP. Although you are aware of my general position already, the following is a statement of why I believe CCP is a necessary commitment for us at present.

1) Biblical Mandate: We are a province which is committed to the authority of Scripture, holding "the One Faith revealed in Holy Writ," maintaining the "Doctrines, Sacraments and Discipline of Christ as the Lord hath commanded in His Holy Word." (from "Solemn Declaration" of the APA Constitution). That Lord is specific in His desires "that they [believers] all may be one, as You Father are in Me and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me." ( St.John 17:20-23), among other passages, with the thought repeated by St.Paul that we are one Body. Although we have many optional practices, oneness is not, not only because you cannot in fact divide Christ but also because it is crucial to the salvation of those who watch us, "that the world may believe." It is a command therefore that we seek diligently to achieve oneness. Those who resist this are no more followers of Biblical authority than the Jesus Seminar or Spong.

2) Anglican Unity; "We declare this Church to be... in full communion with all traditional Anglicans throughout the world, as an integral portion of the One Body of Christ" (also from "Solemn Declaration"). If in particular, we are to be "classic Anglicans" it is clear both from this Declaration and from the very definition of what constitutes an Anglican, that the apostolic and episcopal nature of our Faith requires common cause with other faithful Anglicans. If, as we allege, some, such as the TEC leadership, have strayed from Biblical norms and Anglican Tradition and order, we are hypocritical to then do the same along a different path related primarily to Donatism or sectarian self-righteousness rather than sexual and authority issues. In short, Anglicans belong together unless separated by drastic deviations such as TEC has done. We have been going around saying for a decade or so the Global South, REC and Forward in Faith churches are orthodox Anglicans- therefore what excuse can we possibly use to not talk with them about our shared Faith?

3) What Are We Joining?: CCP is not a jurisdiction nor church. It is a voluntary association of orthodox Anglicans. I know some of our people are still traumatized by the big boot of ECUSA leadership back when they left the Episcopal Church. But this is not the same. We can quit as easily as we can join. To be sure, the clear purpose of CCP is to shape the formation of a new province. That is what Jesus wants (see point #1 above). Surely we don't need to spell out that it should therefore be what we want. Further, the opportunity to sit at the table and help shape the new province is a wonderful way to do mission for classic Anglicanism. Our input as the "elder brother" of American orthodox Anglicanism is invaluable and could reawaken the traditional sense in people who have had to live with pressure from the other direction for a long time. My impression is that Bp. Duncan in particular has gone out of his way to invite our participation in this and it is unthinkable that we would pass it up. Even if our input is not accepted to the point where we could become an integral part of a new province, at least we have had a chance to shape the future of Anglicanism. To withdraw from these discussions, as is now proposed, and then sit back and criticize the outcome when instead we could have shaped the outcome is totally irresponsible. It will have a negative impact not only on the new province but also on us, as we become a marginalized sect of soreheads with nothing Anglican to offer.

4) Polity We talk of the congregationalist mindset and bewail it. But if we leave CCP, we have confirmed it as our real polity. Anglicans, as all catholics, see the basic unit as the diocese not the congregation. We have the right to expect the integrity (sorry about the word, but it is a good one even if the wrong people sometimes claim it) of our dioceses and hopefully the decency to respect the rights of others. But we need to be where the Anglican bishops are.

5) Who Loves Ya? as Kojak used to say. The Global South churches have come to our defense, because we proclaimed the Gospel, the same one they proclaim. They have been punished for this and suffered financial loss, many in areas of desperate poverty. It has been a real blow for them, but they have stuck with us. Now are we to proclaim they are not good enough, either, to even talk with us about the Anglican future of America? No wonder the criticism of our stand has been pretty strong.

6) What Are the Fears?
a) Women will rule our altars.
b) People, especially bishops, we don't like are part of this.
c) We will be forced to change- our parishes will be incorporated into other dioceses, maybe even ones which ordain women, or are (choose one) Anglo-Catholic or Evangelical.
d) We will be forced to use the 1979 BCP, and/or wave our arms in the air at prayer.

To answer:

a) 1.CCP is a discussion group. It has no power to force anything.
2. The great majority of orthodox Anglicans in the world do not ordain women as priests. The situation is the reverse of the ECUSA experience, and it is the minority who ordain women who will be asking for tolerance.
3. Once out of TEC, many who endured women priests have renounced their past (witness Jeffrey Steenson of Rio Grande).
4. The Church of Nigeria does not ordain women as priests, despite rumors and silly statements to the contrary.
5. It appears each jurisdiction will be free to follow its own practice but not to enforce it on others; we could help make sure of this if we sit at the table; some may even phase out women priests.
6. The fail/safe: In the unlikely event the other 5 reasons all are wrong, we do not have to join a new province if it happens. We would be justified in not doing so if this were imposed on us, having tried in the formation talks to prevent it. It is certainly not a reason to refuse to talk to people, most of whom, like ourselves, find women's ordination incorrect.

b) Not liking some people has been the greatest sin in the Continuum and the primary cause of its failure, from 1977 on, to be more than a fragmented and continually fragmenting bunch of ineffective sects instead of the Anglican voice in America. Much of what is happening now would have happened decades ago and in a better way if it were not for our sinful ego preference to trash personalities instead of preach the Gospel. God in His patience and mercy is now giving us a second chance. Unfortunately, obnoxious people are ever with us, and CCP has no monopoly on them. Let us bear our cross about them, remembering Jesus died for them too. They are never a valid reason for dividing Christ's Body.

c) There is no evidence currently of attempts to force polity or bad theology on us. Indeed the opposite is true. Again, if this happens by some ugly turn of events, all we need to do is leave, having done our best in the formation discussion to avoid it. But leaving in anticipation of an unlikely event when unity and the relevance of our Anglicanism to the rest of the church is at stake is unseemly and unfaithful.

d) This kind of pressure is even less likely.

Rumors
Bearing false witness is not taken lightly by God. All the hen talk about which bishops are really running things and how they will pollute the new province with heresies and bad ideas is beneath us. I understand some people would prefer to have church by themselves and never confront the mission being asked of them. That feeling in itself defines them as not Anglican. When such people then employ weapons from rumor through threats of withholding money or "quitting the church," they have by such acts disqualified themselves from contributing to the discussion. When they do so over simply joining an exploratory group, it is clear they are at the least overreacting. I would appeal to anyone opposed to these talks to review what it is they are really afraid of, given that we can decline joining a new province if it is not going to be truly orthodox. They may or may not have a case when we are asked to be a part of a jurisdictional structure. They have no case regarding CCP.

8) An Anglican Church My group joined APA because it was open to Anglican unity. We need a united voice, a good seminary or two, a Christian education resource, a national magazine, a profile to help announce the Gospel to a needy nation. We need to be part of a world of inspiring orthodox Anglican leaders. Should I give all that up to join an isolated cult of complainers?

All this is not intended to offend, just to plead with the worried among us to rethink our CCP participation.

- Richard J. Boyce
Bishop of the Diocese of the West
Anglican Province of America

The Archbishop of Crackberry

2008-02-08T20:37:00.000-08:00

Look at the picture above. Is this a normal person? Is this someone to whom you would listen for spiritual guidance? I think not.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the nominal head of the Anglican Church Worldwide. A far left leaning liberal who is concerned and conflicted because he also feels strongly that the Anglican Church should hold to universal beliefs, which he himself does not believe in, Williams spoke out boldly on the plight of muslims in the United Kingdom. On BBC Radio Four, Williams told shocked listeners the UK has to "face up to the fact" that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system. Bizarrely, Williams argued adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law would help maintain social cohesion. For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court. He says Muslims should not have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty".

Oblivious to the concept of the universal rule of law, Williams said an approach to law which simply said "there's one law for everybody and that's all there is to be said, and anything else that commands your loyalty or allegiance is completely irrelevant in the processes of the courts - I think that's a bit of a danger…There's a place for finding what would be a constructive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law, as we already do with some other aspects of religious law…What we don't want either, is I think, a stand-off, where the law squares up to people's religious consciences."

Williams who has already made well know his serious doubts as to the Bible now makes his way into the civil arena with his support for muslim rule of terror on a local basis.

Williams is clearly not fit to be a member of the Anglican Church, let alone an ordained minister, let alone a bishop, let alone occupy the chief office of that church.

Let is be known - Anyone who acknowledges Rowan Williams as a fellow communicant and / or minister of God is a heretic.

Undocumented Workers, Illegal Aliens, Driver’s Licenses, Rebates and the like

2008-02-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

You must understand – Words mean something. That is each word has a meaning or several meanings depending on the sense in which it is used. If a word does not have a specific meaning, then you must also understand there can be no rational expression using that word. Unless, of course, you are thinking of a “Wild Card.”

A person who is in this country is either a citizen or an alien. There is no prejudicial wording here; those are the only two categories.

Now, for a person to be a citizen, they must either have been born here or be a naturalized citizen (that is a person born in another country and given the rights of a citizen). If a person is not a citizen, then that person is by definition an alien. With the notable exception of those who have renounced their citizenship, that means they were born in a foreign country and are not a citizen of this country. There is no prejudicial wording here; those simply the definitions of the two words involved.

Now, if one is an alien, they are either here legally (That is to say with the permission of the government) or illegally (That is to say without the permission of the government).

Thus, if one is in this country without having passed through Customs and Immigration, they are by definition an illegal alien. In this country, as well as all others of which I am aware, being an illegal alien is by definition a violation of the law. In this case, all illegal aliens have broken federal law. There is no prejudicial wording here; that is simply the law.

What is an “undocumented worker”? An illegal alien. Not someone who has not passed all their craft union tests, but someone who is here illegally. They have no “documents” because they crossed the border illegally.

What does the law say to do with illegal aliens? Arrest, imprison, then deport them. Whether you like it or not, that is what the law says.

The federal courts have told the states they MUST provide education and health care to illegal aliens. They cannot “discriminate” against them. So now, the states want to give them driver’s licenses and the federal government wants to give them tax “rebates”.

Have we all gone mad?

They are breaking the law by being here. Find them, arrest them, deport them.

Then, if their own country wants them to have driver’s licenses, health care, rebates, let that government give it to them.

By the way, before you make the argument that they are doing jobs Americans won’t do, go to this website and hire a patriot to do the work illegal aliens used to do:

http://www.hirepatriots.com/

Martin Luther King Day 2008

2008-01-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Arnold Offices will be officially closed Monday 21 January 2008 in honor of Martin Luther King Day.

- The Arnolds

Over the years, there have been a lot of jokes about Martin Luther King Day. This is not one of them. We are taking the day off because Dr. King was the leading the charge for all Americans. His point should be taken that we are Americans, color is just a function of skin pigment. We are as our pledge says, "one Nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all." Some object to that; some want to divide us. That was not Dr. King's message.

I used this story again, maybe you did not get it last year, maybe you forgot. If you remembered it, good enough. This is a clear example of what our country should be about. Read the story of the first black Naval Aviator and the man who tried to save his life. Here is the story of Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner.

When his flight lead, Jesse, was shot down, Tom didn't see a black pilot on the ground trapped in a smoking airplane, he saw a fellow Naval Aviator. He did what needed to be done, without regard to his own safety. Rescue Helicopter Pilot Marine Lieutenant Charles Ward didn't ask what color the two pilots were, or for that matter what the heck they were doing on the ground, behind enemy lines. He did what needed to be done, without regard to his own safety.

Take the time to read this, these people risked their lives so you could be free. Jesse gave his.

The Brotherhood of Soldiers at War
Thomas Hudner & Jesse LeRoy Brown

That No Man Should Die Alone By ESAP Advisor Doug Sterner

Jesse was 24 when he died, think about it.

Eight thousand badly outnumbered Marines shivered in the sub-zero temperatures of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea on December 4, 1950 as eight F4U-4 Corsairs left the deck of the carrier USS Leyte. Each of the eight heavily armed but outdated fighters was piloted by a Naval aviator rushing to defend their comrades on the ground. Most of the pilots were young, in their early twenties, but all were dedicated "brothers in arms" who would risk their lives for the soldiers on the ground, men they didn't even know, but defended because they were Americans at great risk.

Lieutenant Commander Richard Cevoli led his squadron inland, over the rugged mountains of North Korea just north of the Chosin Reservoir. The eight fighters skimmed 1,000 feet above the snow covered terrain, eyes alert for the movement of enemy troops. It was a general support mission, one of many Naval pilots had been flying recently to give air cover to the withdrawing Marines below. Cevoli's pilots had been flying over Korea for only about two months, but in that short time they had become skilled combat veterans. They had also become close.... like brothers.

Off in the distance flying "wing" for Ensign Jesse Brown was Lieutenant (j. g.) Thomas Hudner. Hudner was senior to Brown, but the Ensign had more experience. In the perilous skies over North Korea, rank didn't matter. It was experience that counted. The two pilots were good friends, though they had little more in common than a boyhood fascination with airplanes and a determination to some day soar above the clouds. Their dream had come true. That dream had also become a nightmare of death and destruction. On this day they would confront the nightmare once again, and Lieutenant Hudner would do all the wrong things.....

BECAUSE IT WAS RIGHT!

Thomas Hudner was born in Massachusetts on August 31, 1924; the son of a successful Irish businessman. By no means rich, his family lived comfortably in their hometown of Fall River where Tom's father ran Hudner's Markets, a chain of grocery stores. In school Tom was a fair student whose primary interests were athletic. His grades were sufficient, however, to qualify him for the U. S. Naval Academy where he graduated in 1946. After serving time on the USS Helena, Tom finally made his dream of flying come true. He received the wings of a naval aviator in August, 1949, and in November he joined Fighter Squadron 32 aboard the USS Leyte in the Mediterranean.

One of the "old hands" Tom Hudner met upon joining Fighter Squadron 32 was Jesse LeRoy Brown. As Tom came to know Jesse, the two became good friends. Two years younger than Tom, Jesse had earned his wings a year earlier, in October 1948. Seven months before Thomas had joined the squadron, Jesse was commissioned an Ensign. But despite the boyhood dream of flying both young men shared, the two could not have been more different. It was this difference that generated Tom's immense respect for the junior officer, and that cemented a bond of brotherhood between the two.

Jesse LeRoy Brown was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi... a world away from Tom's New England state. The son of a hard-working but poor sharecropper, he grew up in a home that offered little comfort other than love and dreams for the future. The Brown home didn't have electricity, running water, or even an indoor toilet. Racial prejudice stood as a wall to any young, black boy's dreams in a community that preached and practiced segregation of white citizens from its black residents.

As a boy, Jesse had watched airplanes fly over the cotton fields. He would look to the sky and say, "That's where I want to be." He refused to be denied this, or any of his other dreams, by a society that judged him by his color. He excelled as both an athlete and a student, graduating second in his high school class. Scholarships afforded him the opportunity of a college education... provided he was also willing to work full time. He began his college education at the age of 17. He had been told that the right thing to do would be to enroll in a black college. Instead, as a personal challenge, Jesse enrolled at Ohio State University. Less than 1% of the students there were black. Jesse had done the wrong thing.... because it was RIGHT. To afford that education, he also worked a full night shift. Through his long days of study and the hard hours of his night shift loading boxcars, Jesse continued to dream of flying.

In 1946, the same year Tom Hudner was graduating from the Naval Academy, Jesse Brown enlisted in the Naval Reserve. The following year he was appointed a Midshipman. Undaunted by the kind of prejudice voiced by an ROTC instructor at Ohio State who told Jesse, "No nigger would ever sit his ass in a Navy cockpit", the courageous young pioneer was the only black American among the 600 cadets when at last he entered flight school in Pensacola, Florida. Despite continued prejudice, even outright harassment by some officers, on October 21, 1948 Jesse LeRoy Brown received his wings.

Jesse LeRoy Brown became the Navy's first black pilot.

Living with Jesse Brown on the USS Leyte, and flying with him from its decks, Thomas Hudner became privy to the more intimate details of Jesse's struggle to overcome racial prejudice and follow his dreams. The more he learned about the the 23-year old pilot, what he had been through and how he had risen above it, the more his respect for the young man grew. He also found Jesse to be a devoted husband and father. Back home awaiting his return was his young wife Daisy and a year old daughter, Pamela. Jesse spoke of them often and wrote to them almost daily.

The Leyte was anchored off the coast of France on Sunday, June 25, 1950 when nearly 100,000 North Korean soldiers swarmed south to smother the free Republic of Korea. Shortly afterwards Leyte was ordered home for repairs before being dispatched to the Sea of Japan. The interlude afforded Jesse a five day visit with his wife and daughter before facing the dangers of combat on foreign shores. Even the simple task of returning to his ship was marred by lingering racial prejudice. As the Navy's first black aviator traveled to Birmingham to catch his plane, he was almost denied a seat on the bus.... because he was black.

After stops in San Diego, Hawaii, and Japan, the USS Leyte arrived off the coast of Korea in October, 1950. The pilots of Fighter Squadron 32 were quickly thrown into the cauldron, flying missions over enemy controlled territory almost immediately. By the morning of December 4th as Lieutenant Commander Cevoli's Corsairs skimmed the mountains along the Chosin Reservoir, Jesse Brown was already flying his 20th combat mission. His wingman, Thomas Hudner, flew just a short distance away. Everything seemed to be going smoothly and the calmness of Ensign Brown's voice on the radio announcing he was loosing power didn't register an immediate alarm. Then his voice came across the radio again and the other pilots in the formation knew something was seriously amiss when he said:

"I think I may have been hit. I've lost my oil pressure and I'm going to have to go in."

Lieutenant Hudner watched in fear and hope as Jesse Brown fought the controls of his Corsair. The engine was out; there was no power, and no place to run. The terrain was simply one mountain after another. As Ensign Brown's plane neared the side of the nearest mountain, the other pilots began a circling pattern. The mountains were swarming with camouflaged Chinese Communist soldiers, and if Jesse was able to land his crippled craft successfully they would need to move in swiftly to provide cover fire to protect him.

Flying into the wind, it was going to be a "wheels up, dead stick landing" on a near vertical, snow-covered mountain slope. The other pilots held their breath, then watched in horror as Jesse Brown's aircraft slammed hard against the mountain side. The impact created an immediate cloud of flying snow that momentarily masked the other pilots' view of the crash scene. Then, as the snow cleared, they could see Jesse Brown's shattered plane lying in ruins. The engine had been ripped away and the fuselage was ruptured at the cockpit, twisted at an almost 45 degree angle. Sunlight glinted off the glass of the closed cockpit and Jesse Brown's wing mates released a sigh of despair, fully aware that the Navy's first black pilot had died in the crash on a North Korean mountainside. Before turning away, they circled a second time. Suddenly Tom Hudner noticed something. The canopy was now OPEN! He descended for a closer look and there, sitting in the open cockpit, Jesse Brown waved back at his wingman. Somehow he had survived the impact.

Lieutenant Commander Cevoli quickly broke away from the other fliers to gain altitude and radio for a rescue helicopter. The other pilots continued a low altitude circle of the downed airman to insure that the enemy didn't reach their comrade before the rescue crew. As they anxiously watched the surrounding terrain, they also kept an eye on Jesse Brown. Something was wrong. He was sitting up, waving from time to time, but he wasn't making any effort to get out of the ruptured cockpit. Then Thomas Hudner noticed smoke rising from the nose of the Corsair. The plane appeared to be on the verge of erupting into flames which, because of the direction of the wind, would quickly engulf the cockpit.... and Jesse Brown. The fact that his friend hadn't got out of the plane meant one of two things. Either Jesse was too badly hurt to extricate himself, or he was somehow pinned in the wreckage. Without a second thought Lieutenant Hudner prepared to do the wrong thing, because it was the right thing to do.

"I'm going in," Tom radioed his commander, knowing that there was only one way to do that. Any landing would be disastrous, but Lieutenant Hudner had just decided to crash a perfectly good American fighter plane on a steep mountainside heavily controlled by the enemy. He didn't wait for an approval from anyone, he just did it.

The other pilots watched from their tight circles as Lieutenant Hudner headed his Corsair toward the steep mountain slope, searching for anything resembling a level area to land. Flying into the wind and up the slope in a carrier-like approach, he settled towards the ground. It would be a planned, wheels-up crash landing. Then he was down, about 100 yards slightly upslope from his friend. As he hit the rock-hard ground and bumped to a stop his thought was, "What in the hell am I doing here!" And then he was out of the cockpit and running to the side of his "brother".

Jesse Brown was in horrible pain. Tom could see it in his eyes and on his face. But Jesse remained calm, speaking to his wingman from time to time. Lieutenant Hudner could see that the brave Ensign was indeed trapped. The buckling cockpit had pinned him beneath the hard metal of the instrument panel. And Jesse was cold. He had been on the ground for almost half an hour, exposed to sub-freezing temperatures at more than a mile above sea level. In working to free himself from the wreckage he had removed his flight helmet exposing his head to the wintry blasts that hung over the mountain. He had also removed his gloves to release himself from his parachute harness. They dropped from his numb fingers. He had struggled to retrieve them but, pinned as he was, they were out of his reach. "By the time I got there," Hudner says, "his hands were like claws.... totally frozen."

Lieutenant Hudner worked to release his friend from the metal tomb, but to no avail. The wreckage held him too tightly. The helicopter that would be coming to rescue the two men would be useless unless they could free the trapped man. He knew his radio was still operational, knew also that by turning on the battery to power it he risked igniting the fuel that leaked about the plane. So once again Lieutenant Hudner did the wrong thing.... because it was the right thing to do. Returning to his own Corsair he powered the radio and told the rescue helicopter to bring an ax to chop the wreckage away and free Jesse, as well as a fire extinguisher.

After sending the message, Tom Hudner returned to his friend's side. He had retrieved a wool scarf and cap that he had carried in his flight suit for emergencies, and now he gently lowered the cap over Jesse's head. "Wrapping the scarf around his frozen hands was more of a gesture than a remedy," Hudner says. "Everyone knows when limbs are already frozen that a wrap won't warm them back up. But it was all I could do."

Jesse was still conscious and spoke from time to time, but he spoke very slowly. It was apparent that his body was broken up inside, but Jesse never cried out or complained. Meanwhile Tom Hudner began to scoop up the cold snow and tossed it at the spot where the smoke was coming from under the cowling, but the smoke didn't diminish. After about half an hour both mean could hear the throb of the rescue helicopter arriving, then landing on the steep slope. Marine Lieutenant Charles Ward brought the fire extinguisher and ax to Tom Hudner. The extinguisher was small and quickly expended. Then the two men began frantically beating against the metal cockpit with the ax without any effect. It was getting dark, time was running out. Jesse spoke less and less frequently, more and more slowly, and began to fade in and out of consciousness as the two rescuers vainly attempted to free him. The ax simply bounced off the metal. They made no headway.

As the sun set over the cold mountain, Lieutenant Ward informed Tom that his helicopter was not equipped to fly at night. They would have to give up soon, or at the very least fly out for additional help. Everything they had done was fruitless. Perhaps if they could fly back and get torches to cut the metal.

Lieutenant Hudner sensed Jesse was trying to say something and leaned closer to his friend. "If I don't make it," he whispered, "Please tell Daisy I love her."

Tom Hudner promised his friend that he would. Lieutenant Ward informed Tom it was time to go, that nothing more could be done. In the fading twilight Lieutenant Thomas Hudner peered once more into the shattered cockpit of the Corsair. Jesse no longer spoke. He was unconscious and fading fast. Tom Hudner had crashed his plane on a mountain side to rescue a friend, something the Navy would certainly frown on. In the end, it had been for naught. As the helicopter lifted off Thomas Hudner looked back one last time at the crash site and Jesse Brown sitting motionless in the open cockpit.

"One of the worst things when something has happened to you is the feeling that you're alone," Thomas Hudner later said. "Just being with him to give him as much comfort as we possibly could was worth the effort." Tom Hudner is also quick to point out that he would have done the same for any of the other men in the squadron, and they for him. "I just happened to be the one that went in that day," he says. "If it hadn't been me, it would have been one of the others (pilots)."

In the days that followed it became impossible to recover either Jesse Brown's body or the two downed Corsairs. When Tom returned to his ship, he reported the circumstances to the ship's captain. Then, to prevent the Chinese from gaining access to the crash site, the captain dispatched a flight of aircraft to the mountainside where they dropped napalm on the two aircraft and Jesse's body. It was the most dignified burial the men of Fighter Squadron 32 could have afforded their brother. As the napalm blanketed the hillside, Jesse and his Corsair vanished into history, a hero that we can not afford as a Nation to ever forget.

Jesse LeRoy Brown

13 Oct 1926 - 4 Dec 1950

Tom Hudner and Lieutenant Ward landed in Hagaru-ri at the foot of the Chosin reservoir through which thousands of Marines were withdrawing from an overwhelming Chinese force, then flew to Koto-ri where they were the weather held them for three days. When the weather lifted, Tom was flown back to the USS Leyte, where he was informed upon arrival that Captain Thomas Sisson wanted to see him on the bridge. Lieutenant Hudner approached uncertainly, convinced that he was about to be reprimanded for for his actions. "There are still people who think I did the wrong thing," he told me recently. "They say I destroyed a perfectly good, multi-million dollar fighter plane for one man. But what is a life worth!"

Captain Sisson listened to the brave Lieutenant's account of that horrible day on the mountainside and understood. Sometimes it takes more courage to do that which you know is RIGHT, than to simply give in and do what others think is right. Captain Sisson recommended Navy Ensign Jesse Brown for one of our Nation's highest awards, the Distinguished Flying Cross. He submitted Jesse's wingman and friend, Lieutenant (j. g.) Thomas Hudner for the Medal of Honor.

Four months later on April 13, 1951, President Harry S Truman invited the Hudner family to the White House where he presented the Medal of Honor to Navy Lieutenant Thomas Hudner. It was a moment of great joy for the Hudner family.

Attending the ceremony and standing quietly to the side holding a large bouquet of roses was a young black lady. She smiled through her tears and shook hands with Lieutenant Hudner. He had delivered the message, "Tell Daisy I love her."

When Lieutenant Hudner returned home, Fall River proclaimed "Thomas Hudner Day" and hosted a wonderful celebration. The appreciative citizens presented the young pilot with a check for $1,000, a considerable sum in 1951. Lieutenant Hudner didn't cash it. Instead he endorsed the back and sent it to Daisy Brown who had returned to school.

On March 18, 1972 the Navy christened a new member of its fleet:

USS Jesse L. Brown It was the first time in our Nation's history that a naval vessel was named for a Black American. Daisy Brown and Thomas Hudner were there to remind us all, of the brave young pilot for whom it was named.

Blessed with strong determination, he overcame racial barriers of the times while making many unlikely friends. Shot down in Korea in 1950, his story is an inspiration to all and an example of the commonality of man.

Born a sharecropper’s son in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Jesse dreamed of becoming a pilot after his father had taken him to a local air show when he was just six years of age. First, however, he realized he had to go to college. Ohio State University (OSU) was his choice since one of his heroes was Jesse Owens, the great black Olympic champion. Owens had been a track star at OSU. Jesse Brown was a track star in high school.

Ignoring advice that he should attend a black school instead of OSU, Jesse enrolled in the engineering school in 1944 with the intent of becoming an architect. Although there were few black students at OSU and only seven had received diplomas the previous year, he received a friendly reception from his classmates.

Jesse was excited to find that OSU had a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corp (NROTC) program that could lead to pilot training. The Navy recruiter, however, told him bluntly that the Navy had no black pilots and had no plans to have any.

Undeterred, he passed the Navy exams and during his second year of college he entered Navy pilot training. Pilot training is tough and being black didn’t make it any easier. While he experienced racial prejudice, his fellow trainees and instructors for the most part treated him like any other trainee and in some cases even encouraged him.

Jesse earned his golden wings on October 21, 1948, the first black person to do so. His picture appeared in Life magazine.

The Navy had a strict rule that no marriages were permitted until after graduation from flight school. Jesse was in love and he was certainly not averse to taking risks. He ignored the prohibition and married his high school sweetheart, Daisy, during his training even though he risked being kicked out of the program. He successfully kept it a secret even though it became more difficult after Daisy became pregnant.

Jesse’s life changed abruptly in 1950 when 100,000 Chinese soldiers poured into North Korea over the Yalu River, trapping 8,000 Marines. The Marines had to run a gauntlet to the sea where they could be rescued. Jesse’s squadron, flying off the USS Leyte, was assigned to protect the Marines.

Flying his 20th mission, Jesse’s Corsair was hit by ground fire over hostile territory and lost power. The only place to land was on the side of a mountain covered by snow. LTJG Thomas Hudner, a Naval Academy graduate and Jesse’s wingman watched in horror as Jesse’s plane pancaked hard on the mountainside.

Hudner was briefly buoyed by hope to see Jesse wave from the open canopy. But he wasn’t making any effort to get out of the cockpit. Something was very wrong, and to make matters worse, there was smoke rising from the shattered plane.

Hudner made a quick decision to try to rescue Jesse. That meant crash landing his plane next to Jesse on the side of the mountain, which he successfully did. Meanwhile, the rest of the squadron circled overhead to watch for Chinese soldiers and radioed for a rescue helicopter.

Hudner found Jesse trapped in the buckled cockpit without his helmet and gloves in below zero temperature and undetermined internal injuries. He covered Jesse’s head with a wool cap and his numb hands with a scarf and used the snow to put out the smoldering fire. But he couldn’t budge Jesse no matter how hard he tried.

Charlie Ward, a pilot friend of Jesse’s, arrived, making a difficult landing with the helicopter. Charlie had an axe, but that didn’t help free Jesse since the axe just bounced off the metal surface of the plane. Jesse kept getting weaker as the two men desperately tried to free him.

Their efforts were for naught and Jesse died as they worked in frustration. His last words were, "Tell Daisy that I love her." Hudner and Ward wept.

Back on the ship, Jesse’s squadron debated what to do. They didn’t want to leave him for the Chinese so they decided to give Jesse a "warriors funeral." The next day seven aircraft left the carrier and flew over the crash site. While one plane accelerated in a vertical climb toward heaven, the others dove and released their bombs on the mountainside. The voice of one of the pilots could be heard over the radio reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

On April 13, 1951, President Truman awarded the Medal of Honor to Jesse’s friend and wingman, Thomas Hudner. Jesse was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.

On March 18, 1972 the Navy christened the Destroyer Escort, USS Jesse L. Brown. It was the first Naval Ship named after a black American.

Funeral Arrangements

2008-01-09T20:49:00.000-08:00

Admiral Arnold’s funeral arrangements have been finalized as follows:

Date: 19 January 2008 - Saturday
Time: 1430 (2:30pm)
Place: NAS North Island Chapel

The funeral will be a full military honors funeral, with an Honor Guard, Flag Team and live bugler. Weather permitting there will be a Missing Man formation flyover, tentatively set to be United States Marine Corps F-18 Hornets from MCAS Miramar.

Following the funeral service, there will be a reception at the NAS North Island Officers’ Club, in the tradition of aviators everywhere. Jack asked that it be, “Quite an operation.”

If you plan on attending the funeral, and I really encourage you to do so, please let me know so we can plan for you. Also, the funeral will be held on an active military installation. If you do not have a base decal, we will need to make arrangements for a guest pass for you. If you do not provide information for the guest pass, there will be parking outside the gate with buses to the chapel and Officers’ Club. Please see the form at the end of this letter.

If you have any questions, please call or e-mail me: (800) 207-9301 • bill@arnoldoffice.com

Admiral Jackson D. Arnold, US Navy (Retired) • 3 November 1912 – 8 December 2007

2007-12-08T15:56:00.001-08:00

Admiral Jackson D. Arnold
US Navy (Retired)
3 November 1912 – 8 December 2007

Admiral Arnold was born 3 November 1912 in Gainesville, Florida, the first of five children, to US Army Major AC and Irene Arnold. A far ranging adventurer, AC Arnold had fought in the Boar War on the side of the Boars, joined the Seventh Cavalry as a trooper, been a river boat gambler, fought with Pershing on the Mexico Punitive Expedition, been awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for actions with the 1/326 Infantry at Chateau Thierry during World War I, gone to law school, been assigned to several positions in the peacetime Army before rejoining the Seventh at Fort Lewis, where he passed away in 1932.

Jack grew up in Army posts around the United States, he was proud of “taking the chicken” from Douglas McArthur in Washington, DC. As the second Arnold to take McArthur’s chicken; AC had taken an entire chicken dinner from McArthur’s bunker during World War I, a foreshadowing of the Dugout Doug moniker.

Jack joined the Navy via the Naval Academy from Fort Lewis Washington, where his father was the Seventh Cavalry Judge Advocate General, responsible for federal law west of the Mississippi.

At 21, he graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland with the Class of 1934.

As with all Naval Academy graduates of the time, he served in what is now the Surface Warfare Community for his first tour. After two years aboard USS ARIZONA as her Number 4 Turret Officer, he was selected for training as a US Naval Aviator, graduating from Pensacola in 1937 and being designated Naval Aviator 5551; his orders were signed by Captain William H. Halsey.

His first assignment was with Torpedo SIX aboard USS ENTERPRISE on her maiden voyage flying TBD Devastators on a goodwill tour of South America. During a port call in Buenos Aires, LTjg Arnold won a Argentine medal for saving the life of the President during an assassination attempt. He attended the state dinner that night in his dress whites, complete with blood spatters at the President’s request.

Subsequently he was assigned as the Senior Aviator for Cruiser Scouting Squadron EIGHT aboard USS SAVANNAH flying SOC-1 Floatplanes. His most memorable aviation experience came here when he performed night test flights to see if a floatplane could be operated in blackout conditions at sea. They found it could, but probably not with the same pilot for more than one flight.

His next assignment was to Ford Island, Pearl Harbor as the Engineering Test Pilot, where he met his wife to be Muriel McChesney.

On 7 December 1941, when the Japanese struck, then LT Arnold made his way to Pearl Harbor under fire. After quite a bit of trouble convincing the crew of a whaleboat to take him to Ford Island, his normal duty station, he finally got to the island. There, during the middle of the first wave’s attack, he fired up a Wildcat, the only flyable one on the island. A ground crew member crawled up on the wing telling him, “You can’t take this airplane!” “The heck I can’t, get off my wing!” he replied. “But, it doesn’t have any ammunition!” came the response. He jumped out near the base of the tower and picked up a BAR from a Marine who did not need it anymore. A long time shooter, pistol and bird, a member of the All Navy Pistol Team, he was a very good shot. Anyway, he shot down a torpedo plane coming in to strafe the new control tower that he was standing at the base of. The plane crashed on the field. Between the two waves, Jack and a couple of sailors went over to look at the wreckage. They found it was the first wave’s Torpedo Squadron Commander, they drank his sake and got on with the war.

That kill from the ground was later to make Jack the only known pilot who shot down five aircraft (one with a BAR, two with an Avenger, two with a Hellcat) who is not Ace!

During the lull between attacks he commandeered a motor whaleboat and began picking up survivors from his first ship, USS ARIZONA and others in the harbor. The first person his boat pulled from the water was the Petty Officer in Charge of the Number Four turret on ARIZONA. Jack did not recognize him as he looked like a seal, black with oil head to toe.

After 66 years ARIZONA still leaks bunker oil into the harbor, a few drops at a time. ARIZONA and UTAH were the only two ships not raised after the attack.

Before leaving Pearl Harbor, he married Muriel McChesney on 16 January 1942.

Then LCDR Arnold was assigned as Commander Torpedo TWO, whose patch he designed, flying the new TBF Avenger, with the newly forming Carrier Air Group TWO. The Group was assigned to new USS HORNET for her first war cruise. After a short time, then CDR Arnold was designated Commander Air Group TWO flying the F6-F Hellcat.

The Air Group Commander’s job brought a new challenge. The job was offered at 2200, the night before the invastion of Iwo Jima, where HORNET was to play a pivotal role in close air support. The first takeoff was at 0430, to allow the aircraft to be over the beach 30 minutes prior to sunrise. Although an experienced pilot, with flight time in an extremely wide variety of aircraft, CDR Arnold had never flown a Hellcat. After planning the attack, he went down to the flight deck, boarded the CAG aircraft with its 99 on the nose. With a flashlight under a blanket, he familiarized himself with the aircraft, then he went to his room for a brief rest. The self checkout must have worked. He made his first Hellcat takeoff at night, into combat. On that very first flight he got the only two kills he was to get in the Hellcat.

HORNET and her Air Group supported operations in Palau, Guam, Iwo Jima, Saipan and Tinian and the First Battle of the Philippine Sea. During the cruise, he flew 165 combat hours, made 4 Japanese aircraft kills, and was awarded two Navy Crosses, a Silver Star, Distinguished Service Medal, two Distinguished Flying Crosses and seven Air Medals. Air Group Two finished the war after two cruises as the Pacific’s highest scoring Air Group in terms of tonnage sunk and the second in terms of Air to Air kills.

After his tour as CAG, he was assigned to Washington, DC for staff tours, returning to sea as Air Officer aboard USS BOXER. He was in the first group to check out in the McDonnell Phantom (later the Phantom I), the first carrier borne jet fighter.

After that tour, he was offered command of BOXER. With the absolute independence he was known for, he said, “No thank you. I have been at sea since 1934, I’d like a stateside tour, then I’ll be happy to take her to sea.” Turning down a command is never good, turning down command of a carrier, particularly BOXER, the newest of the best is the end of a career.

Never mind, on to a new career.

Jack was designated an Aeronautical Engineering Duty Officer and assigned to NAS North Island as the Overhaul and Repair Officer. There he met the man who was to be his best friend and neighbor, Johnny Olson. CDR Olson had joined the Navy as a Ship’s Carpenter in 1903 and was now the Commander of the Aircraft Repair and Overhaul Unit. After another staff tour, he attended Harvard University, where he got his Masters in Business Administration.

Subsequent assignments in the various Bureaus, Aeronautical, Weapons and Materiel, culminating in an assignment as the Force Fleet Materiels Officer, gave VADM Arnold a well-rounded background which made him the logical choice to be the final Chief of the Bureau of Naval Materiel and the first Commander of the newly formed Naval Material Command. The fact that he kept current as a Naval Aviator made him a standout choice for promotion. With the new assignment came the promotion to full admiral, the first Aeronautical Engineering Duty Officer to achieve the four stars of a full admiral.

Replaced at the Naval Materiel Command by long time friend, shipmate and son of ARIZONA’s final Flag Officer, Isaac Kidd, Jr, ADM Arnold retired in 1971.

Admiral Arnold stayed active in aviation, joining the Cubic Corporation Board of Directors, the Golden Eagles, the San Diego Aerospace Museum and various other naval aviation oriented groups.

After moving around the country and being at sea for years, Admiral Arnold retired to Rancho Santa Fe, California, where he built a home of his own design for himself and his wife Muriel. They were both active in the Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club and other activities in the community.

Ever the artist, he continued drawing and working in his garden. Occasionally, he would put an entry into the Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club show, most always gaining a ribbon or two.

Towards the end of his life, Jack spent most of his time in his living room watching television. Perhaps due to his past life, he loved to watch cavalry, westerns and action movies. Chuck Norris will be pleased to know Walker Texas Ranger was at the top of the old warrior’s list.

Although the Arnolds had no children of their own, they were very close to their families, the McChesneys and the Arnolds. They spent a lot of time with their nieces and nephews over the years. Somehow the assignments always kept them near their family and they got an opportunity to be with them. Leading by example, he passed on his values, God, Honor, Country, politeness, preparing for all of life throughout the family.

Through the years, he has been a shining example of how one ought to treat others. Most people who did not know him react in amazement to find out he was a decorated combat leader and an Admiral. He exuded niceness, yet if pressed on a subject he felt strongly about, would react with the fire expected of the CAG. A true leader, he lead from the front of the group and people wanted to follow him. This was true in the Navy and true in retirement.

Preceded by his wife Muriel, his brothers Patrick, Charles and sister Mary, he is survived by sister Dorothy and twenty-seven nieces and nephews, the Admiral will be missed by his family and those shipmates who remain behind.

The One Way

2007-11-24T15:01:00.000-08:00

Many people today see the church as irrelevant. They want the “church” to address the ills of society, to make wrong right and to make everything okay.

That is not the church’s function. The church is the body of believers, the body of Christ. The function of the church is to paraphrase our parish’s mission statement:

To minister to the spiritual needs of our its members so they might effectively spread the Word of God and the good news of His Son Jesus Christ, our Savior, locally and throughout the world by prayer, word and deed, and in our case, in the Anglican tradition.

The members are then to act a Christian fashion and then they themselves can work to right wrongs, etc, etc.

People talk today about “family values” and homosexual acceptance in the same paragraph. They are not willing to judge one social system superior to another.

With no grounding (due to the abject failure of their parents) in religion, people substitute good for right, feeling good for doing the right thing. With no moral absolute, only moral relativity, there is no lodestar pointing the way. The one way.

Homosexual marriage is okay, not because it is okay, but because we don’t want people to feel bad. We back the individual’s right to do what they want, regardless of the effect on society as a whole. That is, so long as it furthers the anti-God agenda. A crucifix in a jar of urine is individual expression, praying is not.

What will the government do to help me? How about most of what is wrong is wrong because the government helped someone?

"There's this false monopoly on terms, like Republicans are champions of family values and the left is good on social justice. And young people don't like that," she said. "We don't want to be pigeonholed." Actually, the Democrats are terrible on both and the Republicans only a little better.

God charged us to be stewards of this world. But good stewards depend on good rational science to determine their course of action. Global warming is not a fact, even less a fact is man being behind it, if it exists. Yet, those who would rule us pretend it is and that the solution is to return the cave.

Many young people want to pretend the humanist agenda is God’s agenda. It is not.

We need to make the Word of God available to those who want it. We also have to face the facts, not everyone will want it. No matter how much better their lives would be if they would accept God’s help.

Remember, the Devil chose to be Number One in Hell, rather than enjoy Heaven.

iWeb 2.02 Still Sucks, Still Won't Post

2007-09-27T21:59:00.000-07:00

I have not been able to post to my blog at DOT Mac since 5 August 2007. See my site at: http://web.mac.com/thebeadle/iWeb/BeadleBlog/Blog/Blog.html

Note there have been no new postings since 5 August 2007. This is because I foolishly adopted iWeb 2.0. It would no longer post. No problem, iWeb 2.01. Ooops, still won't post. No problem, six weeks later iWeb 2.02. Same "An unknown error occurred". Maybe I should call Apple. Oh, that won't work. They don't have a clue!

Wonder if this happens to Steve Jobs? Likely he uses some other reliable software. Eh, Steveo? Or is that iSteve?

Damned if he do, Damned if he don't. Could do something and not be damned, but he won't.

2007-09-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, a man who holds the office normally considered to be the leadership position of the Worldwide Anglican Communion, is an ineffectual fence sitter who has no idea what he should do. He has been placed in a bad position by his predecessors who accepted heretics and atheists as fellow bishops rather than offend them. They sacrificed their principles rather than offend. Now, poor Williams reaps the reward. He is faced with two camps, card carrying homosexual advocates, to whom tolerate means promote, and "hard liners" who think that God meant what He said. He has "tolerated" for so long, he has no idea how to lead. Like the Band Leader on TITANIC, he is DOING SOMETHING, but the ship is headed for the bottom. Unlike the Band Leader, he could close the open seacocks sinking his ship, but he won't.

For a litle humor, read this article from the UK's DAILY TELEGRAPH:

Archbishop accused of 'dehumanising gays'

By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent Last Updated: 12:59am BST 23/09/2007

The Archbishop of Canterbury's hopes of averting schism in the worldwide Anglican Church are foundering after he was accused of dehumanising gays by the openly homosexual bishop Gene Robinson.

Gene Robinson said he 'had to tell the truth'

Dr Rowan Williams is holding two days of crisis talks in New Orleans in an eleventh-hour effort to persuade the bishops of the American branch of Anglicanism to reverse their pro-gay agenda.

But insiders said that a number of the liberal bishops were in no mood to capitulate, and any compromise that they might eventually accept was unlikely to placate conservatives who want them ousted.

Documents leaked to the Daily Telegraph suggest that they may agree an ambiguous form of words that will fall far short of the unequivocal reassurances demanded of them, leaving Anglicanism on the brink of collapse.

Insiders in the often emotive private meeting in a New Orleans hotel said that Dr Williams rapped the Americans over the knuckles for triggering the crisis by consecrating Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

He told them that they had to balance their fidelity to gay and lesbians with fidelity to their fellow members in the 77-million strong Anglican Communion, the vast majority of whom believe homosexuality is sinful and unbiblical.

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But Bishop Robinson, who is attending the six-day House of Bishops meeting with his partner Mark Andrews, said that though he had always publicly supported Dr Williams, he now "had to tell the truth".

According to witnesses, he said that for Dr Williams to present the situation as a choice between fidelity to gays and fidelity to the Communion "is one of the most dehumanising things I have heard in a long time" and he wanted no part of it.

Another liberal, the Bishop of Massachussetts, the Rt Rev Thomas Shaw, also criticised the Archbishop for failing to honour the American Church's "prophetic discernment" in consecrating Bishop Robinson.

One insider said: "The speeches we heard suggested that the tide was running heavily in the direction of saying to the Archbishop, thank you for your concern but we have made up our minds and we are going forward."

In February the primates, the heads of the 38 self-governing provinces that make up the Anglican Communion, gave the Americans until the end of this month to declare unambiguous moratoriums on future consecrations of gays and on same-sex blessings.

But the Daily Telegraph has seen a draft document drawn up by a senior bishop who urges his colleagues to adopt a far less clear position that will be open to a wide range of interpretations, allowing liberal American bishops considerable leeway.

Insiders said they believed that the document by the Bishop of Alabama, the Rt Rev Parsley, who is head of the American Church's theology committee, could well form the basis of the House of Bishops' final statement next week.

Dr Williams has told friends that he may nevertheless allow the Americans to come to next year's showcase Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, and call the bluff of conservative archbishops in Africa and Asia who have threatened to boycott it.

Meanwhile, conservatives angrily dismissed a plan announced by the head of the American Church, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, to appoint eight bishops as "episcopal visitors" for American traditionalists who reject her authority.

One said: "It has just gone too far. It is like asking people, knowing what we know, would you like to board the Titanic and sail with us. What we have is a clash of world views with eternal consequences."

In a sign of their growing frustration, a handful of the most conservative bishops walked out of the House of Bishops' meeting, saying they could contribute nothing more to it.

Dr Williams, who preached at an ecumenical service complete with jazz and dancing yesterday, also left the meeting for a trip to Armenia, Syria and the Lebanon.

The House of Bishops is expected to issue its final statement on Tuesday next week.

Splitting yes, but why?

2007-09-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

Read the following article, 'Church is split by gay movement's impatience' from Nederlands Dagblad of 19 augustus 2006 and consider, why is the Anglican Church splitting? Is it because the radical queers can wait a few years to let their agenda grow on the church like a slow growing cancer? Or is it because the collegial bishops would not or could not confront evil and wrong in their midst? What if Spong, PIke and their ilk had been excommunicated when they first showed on the X-Rays, where would we have been? Likely, we would have been in the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States and they would be in hell. They are bound there anyway, trust me on that. Anyway, read on!
============

From our Religion Desk

LONDON - If it comes to a split in the Anglican Communion, it is not the fault of the orthodox wing which wants to leave, but of the radical wing that couldn't wait to make a 'gay bishop' and the blessing of gay relationships possible.

Such is the view of the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, expressed in an interview with the Dutch Evangelical daily newspaper, Nederlands Dagblad.

Williams himself does not regard homosexuality as an issue on which the Church should split. He says it is a subject 'we must talk about'. ,, There are enough Christians of good faith in every denomination - Evangelical to Roman Catholic - to whom it is not quite so self-evident, who are not absolutely sure that we have always read the Bible right.''

But that discussion is being foreclosed by people with a 'radical agenda' who just can't wait, says the Archbishop. The Episcopal Church in the United States (ECUSA) three years ago ordained a Bishop who lived openly in a gay relationship. In doing so ,, it has made a decision that is not the decision of the wider body of Christ'', says Williams. He confronts the ideal of the inclusive church. ,, We welcome everybody into the Church, but coming in is a decision that will change you. Conversion is called for,'' so the Archbishop.

He is worried about an imminent split in the American Church which will reverberate throughout the Communion. His 'nightmare scenario' is that there will eventually be American-, English- and Nigerian-Anglican Churches in the same city, and that ,, in ten years' time we will all be tied up before law courts, in disputes about property''.

Concerned Anglicans in America say they are encouraged by what the Archbishop has said. Their leader, the Bishop of Pittsburgh Robert Duncan, says the Anglican Church in the US and worldwide is threatened by 'balkanisation'. He says the interview makes clear that the Archbishop is aware that he has to provide 'help and leadership'. He embraces Williams's vision that ,, a relationship with Jesus Christ comes with the call and the means to repent and change''. This is the ,, classical, reformed-catholic'' Anglican faith that we want to stick to, Bishop Duncan says. The radical wing ,, chooses to go a path that leads them outside the Anglican Communion and mainstream Christianity''.

Concerned, Conflicted, Wants to be a Roman; he still quit!

2007-09-23T14:49:00.001-07:00

From the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande. He wants the TEC to "come back" to the Roman Church. I have no truck with him or his philosophy, nor for his overriding concern that no one be too upset, nor for his appreciation of the "pastoral support" he has received from the person who thinks she is a bishop. But even this spineless witless wonder has committed to quitting the TEC. If this invertebrate can move, what about the conservatives wth their "plan"? The answer is they don't have a plan. Anway, read on!

===================

September 21, 2007

To the Clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This is a very difficult letter to write as your bishop and colleague in the ordained ministry, and I hope that you will receive it in the prayerful spirit in which it is offered. A pastoral letter to the people of the diocese will follow in a few days. At the House of Bishops meeting about to be convened in New Orleans, my intention is to ask them for permission to begin the process to resign as diocesan bishop. The bishops must give their consent, and then I will step down by the end of the year.

The reason for this decision is that my conscience is deeply troubled about where the Episcopal Church is heading, and this has become a crisis for me because of my ordination vow to uphold its doctrine, discipline, and worship. An effective leader cannot be so conflicted about the guiding principles of the Church he serves. It concerns me that this has affected my ability to lead this diocese with a clear and hopeful vision for its mission. I also have sensed how important it is for those of us in this position to model a gracious way to leave the Episcopal Church in a manner respectful of its laws.

I believe that God’s call to us is always positive, always a to and not a from. At the clergy conference next week I hope to be able to share something of this. Many of you already know of my love for the Catholic Church and my conviction that this is the true home of Anglicanism. I will not dwell on this, however, so as not to lose sight of my responsibility to help lay a good foundation for the transition that you must now lead.

I also want to acknowledge with gratitude the pastoral support I have received from the Presiding Bishop and her office during this time. She has offered to visit, and I have invited her to be with us at the clergy conference the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 26, and perhaps also for that evening, for mutual conversation and the opportunity to know each other better in this time reserved for the clergy. I hope that you all can be present.

This has been an extraordinarily difficult decision to make because of the bonds I share with you and the people of this diocese. It has indeed been a privilege to serve alongside you these past seven years. With deep feelings I write, with regret for how this may complicate your own ministry, with profound gratitude for your prayers and support, and with much love for you. I pledge to you my prayers and friendship in these days to come.

Your brother in Christ, +Jeffrey Steenson

=========

NB - "+" is a symbol that many "ordained ministers" place in front of their signature to indicate they are Christians. If they do not do this, they sign themselves, "yours in Christ." They do this because otherwise no one would have any idea from what they do or say that they are Christians.

An Honest Assessment of a Dishonest Church

2007-09-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

This would cut to the soul of the Epsicopal Church (TEC) if they had one.

COMMENTARY

By David W. Virtue in New Orleans
www.virtueonline.org
9/22/2007

Orthodox Episcopalians and Anglicans around the Anglican Communion can only wonder and marvel at what they saw and heard in New Orleans this week.

Many will still be rubbing their eyes in disbelief for days and weeks to come.

What they had hoped for, at a minimum, was that the Archbishop of Canterbury would enforce the demands of the Windsor Report and perhaps take a step further and tell the Episcopal Church that their refusal to comply could effectively destroy the Anglican Communion. The scholarly poet and author of 14 books could then have stood up in their midst, like a latter day prophet, (the beard helps) and declared the Word of the Lord, announce that God's word can never be broken, that they would answer for their endorsement of pansexual sin at the Last Judgment and then turn on his heel shaking the hotel dust off of his feet as he went.

He didn't. The overpowering collegiality, the bonhomie, the quiet solicitation of "your grace", the murmurings in his ear that to include sodomy among the church's pantheon of sexual behaviors would cast him as a "prophetic" figure embracing the new religion of The Episcopal Church leading inevitably and triumphantly to a new reformation akin to Martin Luther, won the day.

What happened instead was that the homogenital Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, pointed the finger at the Archbishop of Canterbury and accused him of "dehumanizing" gays and lesbians, telling him in no uncertain terms exactly "what was on my mind and on my heart." Dr. Williams hung his head as he listened to the browbeating bishop. At a press conference Williams expanded his views. When questioned by the pansexual Episcopal organization Integrity about what word of hope he had for the GLBT baptized, Williams replied, "I would hope that a gay or lesbian person who would want to be a Christian would want affirmation and challenge and would want to be challenged as to what is the way to live life as a follower of Christ. I hope we are clarifying the belief that is being and has been expressed in a number of conferences that violence against gay and lesbian people is inexcusable."

The issue of "violence" against gays which is miniscule, but makes headlines because of gay and liberal agit-prop, cannot be compared to the slaughter of Anglican Christians in Northern Nigeria by mad Muslim hoards which barely makes two inches of copy in the New York Times.

"Certainly gay and lesbian people have a place in the church as do all the baptized," said Williams. Orthodox Episcopalians are hanging on by their fingernails in liberal dioceses, have no place at the Episcopal table, and are daily being hounded and marginalized in one revisionist Episcopal diocese after another. Is it any wonder they are leaving The Episcopal Church by the thousands every week, said Williams, is how far the traditional theology of the church lets us move in that direction. The answer of course is that it won't and it can't, and 2,000 years of Christian teaching on sexuality will not be erased or updated simply because Williams and a revisionist Episcopal House of Bishops say so.

On the Dar es Salaam communique, there was even more rewriting of history. The Sept. 30 date, we are now told was never a fixed deadline, an omega point for the Episcopal Church, rather it was an alpha point, the beginning of "conversation" around which it is hoped the Episcopal Church will fudge the Primates findings and thus carry on doing what it has always done - act defiantly and thus tear the fabric of the Communion into shreds while claiming the moral high ground of inclusion and diversity.

Williams and Australian Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, among the Anglican representatives at the meeting, would later say, "We had misread the communique" and "expressed a sense of regret" over how it was written.

That is not how the evangelical Archbishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East saw it. Bishop Mouneer Anis put it bluntly, "My friends, you may believe you have discovered a very different truth from that of the majority in the Anglican Communion. It is not just about sexuality, but also about your views of Christ, the Gospel, and the authority of the Bible. Please forgive me when I relay that some say you are a different church, others even think that you are a different religion." Mouneer went on to conclude, "For the first time in centuries, the fabric of our communion is torn."

Then Williams turned the screws on the church's true believers suggesting that the Global South (the newer churches) should learn from the TEC and the CofE (the older churches), even as their churches empty, unable to convince their own cultural elites of the truth of Christianity, while African and Asian churches grow by the million, many in the face of intense persecution, joyfully proclaiming the gospel as they go. What exactly did Williams think the Global South had to learn from post-modern Western Anglicans most of whom wouldn't know how to lead a person to Christ if their lives depended on it!

A parishioner of Truro Episcopal Church, Mary Ailes asked the archbishop why it is that the one thing we have heard often is that we are free to go, but we have to leave the buildings behind. Some hear that as: "We have no need of you but we need your buildings." What would you say to those who want to be Anglican, but cannot in good conscience remain Episcopalian?

Williams responded by saying that they should start looking for arrangements and situations within what exists because grace is given even in hopeless places. "Isn't God's grace still given sacramentally in the Episcopal Church? I would be slow to look for solutions elsewhere." What about those faithful Episcopalians who simply want to proclaim the gospel in buildings they, not the diocese or national church built; a gospel that liberals are too ashamed to proclaim preferring to talk about inclusion and diversity even as their parishes empty and are being sold to upstart Evangelical churches that fill them by the thousand. Perhaps the archbishop might reflect on what happened in the diocese of Western Michigan where the cathedral in Kalamazoo was sold by the diocese at a financial loss and bought by a church of 2500 evangelicals, what "grace" had been given "sacramentally" to that diocese to keep the cathedral open. Even the bishop cut his losses and got out. And what would the archbishop say to dozens of liberal bishops like Charles E. Bennison who are selling empty and dying parishes because no one crosses their threshold to hear sermons about how inclusive the Episcopal Church is. Williams is living in a dream world. The Episcopal Church has less than 800,000 attending weekly services and within a decade, at the present rate of departures (now over 700 a week) that figure will be down to 300,000 "sacramental" persons. Ichabod is written all over the church.

Williams said it was distressing to see the levels of litigation going on in The Episcopal Church. "I would hope and pray that there is a possibility of stopping this from being dragged through the courts interminably." He said that with Mrs. Schori sitting right next him. She never said a word. Do you think for a moment that she would suddenly call off her legal beagle, David Booth Beers whose law firm is being paid enormous sum of money to sue parishes all over the country? Not a prayer. Last week Beers crawled all over and threatened Bishop Jeffrey Steenson (Rio Grande) for settling with the pro-cathedral in El Paso after the diocese came out ahead with $2 million! Beers wanted a fight instead, but Steenson told VOL he didn't have the money for lawsuits and he was glad to settle. Beers ground his teeth. Where was Mrs. Schori in all this? Why didn't she tell Beers to back off? Where is the "sacramental" presence here? Why didn't Williams tell Mrs. Schori to put a leash on Beers? It will never happen. The Episcopal Church props up the Anglican Consultative Council and he won't bite the hand that feeds it.

We were told that there were moments of tension in the closed-door discussions. Williams got an earful from both sides of the room. Some bishops told VOL that he had to make some concessions for the sake of Anglican unity. It never happened. That is clear from what everything we heard at the press conference.

The Archbishop of Canterbury's inability to act decisively may well have cost him the Anglican Communion. He is gone now. All that remains is for the liberal leadership of the TEC and ACC to mop up the scraps. The brainy Gregory Cameron of ACC will schmooze a paper saying everything and nothing. The TEC leadership will agree with it. It will be a paper of monumental fudge. The Windsor bishops have rolled over. The Network (ACN) bishops have mostly gone, their voices all but made irrelevant. Lambeth is still on. Akinola was rebuffed in asking for a cooling off and postponement of Lambeth, but reports out of London say that he has made it clear that he and his Nigerian bishops are unlikely to be going to Lambeth 2008. Instead, with the other Global South partners, they could even be at a "Fourth Trumpet" GS meeting, in other words, a rival Lambeth. Akinola is apparently adamant. He told Ruth Gledhill of the London Times that this was not schism. Yes, Communion was broken, but Nigeria was remaining in the Anglican Church. It was not they who had moved.

Williams has issued his invitations to Lambeth and he will not withdraw them. Even if he reduces TEC to an observer status at Lambeth as a gesture to the orthodox next year it will be meaningless because there will be no resolutions like Lambeth 1:10 to vote on. It is the Global South's play as to what they will do now. The ball is in their court.

Next week in Pittsburgh, Common Cause Partners will meet and decide how to respond to what happened here in New Orleans. They too will continue the "conversation", but from an orthodox perspective. No significant announcements can be expected until all the dioceses represented have their conventions, but by the years' end the gig will be up.

In the meantime, orthodox Episcopalians in the Episcopal Church will continue to leave in ever increasing numbers. Bishops like John W. Howe (Central Florida) and Bill Love (Albany) will go back to dioceses with parishes screaming to leave. Mrs. Schori, our Lady of Litigation, will have her man Beers ready to fire off lawsuits at bishops and parishes alike if they dare attempt to leave with their properties. Nothing will change, the beat will go on and the Episcopal Church will slowly wither and die. That is the judgment of history; it is also the judgment of God.

of Bishops

2007-08-19T13:12:00.001-07:00

What does the Bible say about bishops? Paul wrote a pretty concise and clear set of qualifications to Timothy in Chapter Three, he said:

This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Bishops are not only to be the commanders, but more importantly the leaders of the Church. They are to “Go forth and preach the Word of God!” They are to be exhort their followers to follow them towards God, to do His Will, to serve the Lord in all they do. Understanding that, do you know how many bishops lead their flocks from the heresy of the TEC? Zero, that is how many. The so called “conservative” bishops who remain in the TEC have a plan for their flocks, they just cannot tell anyone. They would rather be collegial with their fellow bishops or bishopettes than “Go forth and preach the Word of God!” They are willing to associate collegially with those who publicly admit they do not believe in God, that they do not believe Jesus was the Son of God.

What did Jesus say about this desire to “just get along”?

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his church, and the deacon against his priest, and the bishop against the arch bishop. And a man's foes shall be they of his own church. He that loveth his place in the church more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth priest or bishop more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:34 – Slightly modified

If you look around the Anglican and so-called Anglican Communion, you will see how fortunate we are to have Bishop Boyce. He is a follower of God, a good man and a leader. He knows what he should do and he does it, regardless of who is looking. Such are few and far between.

Light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a train!

2007-08-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

For the first time in recent memory, we see a government official with her head other than up and locked. Kudos to Gina Marie Lindsey, Executive Director of Los Angeles World Airports.

With regard to the recent incident, discussed in an earlier posting that stranded 17,000 thousand passengers at LAX due to a Customs computer outage, with no real backup plan, Gina Marie told the Los Angeles City Council, "It was unprecedented and unacceptable,"

Lindsey and several council members agreed that one reason for the delays was that the federal government's backup system could not handle more than a fraction of the passengers typically processed by customs. It remains unclear, however, whether the backup system will be upgraded.

Homeland Security, on the other hand, has refused to acknowledge their lack of pre-planning, nor have they come forward with a solution. They are quite content to tell people they "have to sit quietly and wait for the problem to be resolved," while continuing to conduct their own shift changes without interruption. Thus making it clear to all that the taxpayers being told to sit quietly are simply sheep to be fleeced and when their fleece runs out, eaten. They need to sit and suck it up. Anything less will require union mandated break time to be interrupted.

Out of Control: Stick - Forward; Rudders and Ailerons - Neutral; Aircraft Unloaded - Recover from ensuing dive

2007-08-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

Homeland Security - Border Patrol - Customs and Immigration
Out of control and part of the Big Government problem.

You want to go home. Their "computer is down", so all the taxpayers get to sit on airplanes at the gate. No problem. You don't need to be let in to a comfortable lounge. A coach seat is good enough for you. Afterall, you are nothing but a citizen who pays their salary. One of the sheeple. On the other hand, let them miss one coffee break and by God you will hear from the union. I am not picking on Homeland Security, they are no worse than anyone else who doesn't give half of a rat's hind end.

Look at this story:

Alaska Airlines Serving LAX Passengers Holding on Ground During Customs Computer Malfunction
Sunday August 12, 3:39 am ET

SEATTLE, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A U.S. Customs and Border Protection computer malfunction affecting all international flights arriving after about 1:30 p.m. yesterday at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has prevented Alaska Airlines passengers from deplaning and going through customs. The following flights with a total of 976 passengers onboard were impacted:
-- Flight 207 - La Paz-Los Angeles - arrived 4:33 p.m.
-- Flight 283 - Mazatlan-Los Angeles - arrived 4:36 p.m.
-- Flight 291 - Puerto Vallarta-Los Angeles - arrived 5:18 p.m.
-- Flight 277 - Los Cabos-Los Angeles - arrived 5:58 p.m.
-- Flight 211 - Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa-Los Angeles - arrived 6:25 p.m.
-- Flight 289 - Los Cabos-Los Angeles - arrived 7:35 p.m.
-- Flight 231 - Mexico City-Los Angeles - arrived 8:05 p.m.
An eighth aircraft, Flight 225 from Cancun to Los Angeles, was diverted to San Diego, where passengers went through customs. The flight departed again for Los Angeles and arrived at 11:09 p.m on Saturday.

During the holding period for aircraft at LAX, all airplane lavatories have been serviced and the airline has provided food and beverages to passengers. Diapers and baby formula also have been delivered to the aircraft, as well as extra pillows and blankets.

Flights 207 and 283 were released by customs officials to deplane at 9:50 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. respectively on Saturday and passengers on these flights are currently proceeding through customs. The airline expects the remaining five flights to be released by customs officials within the next three hours.

"We will deplane remaining passengers as soon as customs officials allow us to do so and continue to do all we can in the meantime to keep passengers onboard these aircraft comfortable," said Glenn Johnson, Alaska's executive vice president of airport services and maintenance and engineering.

The airline also is working to reschedule passengers who missed their connecting flights due to the ground hold.

Alaska Airlines and sister carrier, Horizon Air, together serve 92 cities through an expansive network throughout Alaska, the Lower 48, Canada and Mexico. For reservations visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom.

Lead, follow or get out the way!

2007-07-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

Forward in Faith, the Resolution and the elusive Plan
For years, like Gnostics, Episcopal bishops like Ackerman have claimed they had a plan, they just can’t share it with us. They claim to support, no, more than support, they think they lead, conservative Anglicanism. Yet not one has left the “safety” of the The Episcopal Church (TEC). They talk one way to us and another to their fellow bishops of the TEC.

The time to act is now, to all the purple shirts, the Beadle says:

Lead, follow or get out the way!

We sent our priest Father Acker to the Forward in Faith,North America meeting with a resolution to be presented for adoption; the resolution consisted of four points:

1. Hold a convention of the representatives from each Common Cause Partner (a bishop, a priest, and a lay representative elected by the partner organization) to conduct the necessary organizational tasks to form a federal structure of the partner organizations to work together in unity (see the items 2-4).
2. Elect a Bishop Moderator from the representatives who will act as the chairman for a 4 year term. (Limited to one term and sequential Moderators must be from a different partner organization than his predecessor.)
3. Affirmation of a theological statement or covenant for membership of partner organizations.
4. The Moderator shall approach a primate to present this province for recognition by the Primates.

The meeting adopted the first three points for the most part and made representations as to the fourth. There was no date certain for the actions, which our resolution called to be completed by 30 September 2007.

The time for the Anglican Church of America to be formed is NOW. Delay is not acceptable. To follow the Anglican model, we need a national church, an Anglican Church of America. The primates need a national church in the United States to deal with. We need to coalesce. We need to come together under a common banner, to face a common enemy. No one needs give up autonomy, no one needs compromise on any point. They do need to agree on common points and follow a single leader. Not follow him down the TEC road, but rather God’s road. The point is not that God is on our side, but rather we are on His side. We just need to do what he asks.

If the bishop members of Forward in Faith won’t act, they will become irrelevant, just as the TEC bishops are irrelevant. We follow leaders, not sheep in the middle of the herd. We want a leader. It would be nice if he were already a bishop. But, we have dealt with that problem in the past and we can deal with it again.

If any of you know a bishop, read this to him slowly and very clearly so he can understand:

Lead, follow or get out the way!

Ecclesiastes or Useless, Useless, or So, what are we doing here anyway?

2007-07-09T20:57:00.001-07:00

Some times life seems rather pointless, doesn’t it? Pointless or directionless, depending on your point of view. First reflect on this:

If you don’t know where you are going, you won’t know if you are on the right track, if you need to correct left, right, up or down or you won’t even know if you get there for that matter.

So, why are we here? If by here you mean on earth the answer is pretty simple: God put you here to make a difference. God put you here to do a bunch of things, depending on where you are in life:

• The first and most important obligation you have is to insure your children go to heaven;
• The second and corollary duty is to be there to meet them;
• He put you here to be a steward of the earth;
o To leave it better than you found it, to the best of your ability;
o This means to use, but not waste, resources;
o To actively change the environment for the better;
o To change not only things, but people; to help others to hear His Word;
• To bring His Word to all around you;
o To make it available, not to force it;
o To do good to all, harm to none;
• To defend good from evil;
• To provide for your family, your country and His Church;
• To exhort all to worship and work;
• To have fun with fellow beings;
• To be happy, for true happiness is found in doing God’s will.

If you aren’t making a difference, what are you doing here anyway? Breathing in oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide is not making a difference.

Consider these questions:

• What did you do today to make a difference?”
• What could you have done today to make a difference?

Time to Act - Lead, Follow or get out of the Way!

2007-05-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

The Most Reverend WALTER GRUNDORF Anglican Province of America 3348 West State Road 426
Oviedo, FL 32765

RE: It is time to Act!
-------------

Dear Bishop Grundorf:

It is time to act on a unified church in the United States. Now, not later. The time for talk is over. Done. It is time to act.

The World Wide Anglican Churches are looking for a single contact in the United States of America. As the Church of England expanded around the globe, it did so not as the “Church of England”, but rather as the Anglican Church with national churches in each nation.

When the United States formed, the Church of England then operating in the country re-formed as the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. Continuing the model of the Church of England, each country where this form of Christianity spread formed its own national church, each under the direction and leadership of a single bishop or primate. Until recently, all the national churches looked to the Archbishop of Canterbury as the symbolic head of the worldwide church. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury is not the monarch of the church, nor does anyone think he is infallible. All of the national churches form the Anglican Communion, with, in theory, all subscribing to the same Articles of Religion found in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and its predecessors.

As the church known as the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America (PECUSA) succumbed to heresy and apostasy, it morphed into the Episcopal Church of the United States of America (ECUSA) and now The Episcopal Church (TEC). Over the past 30 years the now TEC has become less and less Bible oriented; its theology can no longer be found in the Bible. As the various dioceses elected apostates as bishops, membership dropped. With the election of a practicing homosexual adulterer as a bishop and the election of a woman who cannot bring herself to refer to Jesus as the Son of God, the one time important church has dropped to less than ten percent of its former size.

Even the Primates are beginning to recognize that not only is the TEC not an Anglican Church, it is not a Christian Church, nor is it even a Church of the One True God.

The Primates are asking to deal with one entity in the United States of America. They seem to be confused by the myriad of Anglican churches in this country. They fail to understand that the myriad exists because of a lack of leadership by the Bishops of the PECUSA – ECUSA – TEC. With bishops leading the church to hell, valuing collegiality over God’s Word, the people began to see the problem. Over time many individuals and in a few cases congregations have left the PECUSA/ECUSA/TEC and formed new churches where they could practice their religion without fear of apostasy. Thus, the split was gradual and diverse.

The new churches are known as the continuing church. The continuing church is comprised of many splinter groups. They are often derided for not being willing to come together. Those from whom the derision arises actually mean not willing to compromise their principles and come to the other side. Most of the continuing churches saw what compromise brought and who brought it: bishops, bishops wearing purple shirts and sporting spade tipped tails, gutless bishops who preferred the collegiality of their exclusive club of bishops to following the clear Word of God. Lest we blame the event wholly on the collegiality of the American bishops, let it be recognized the Global Primates have yet to take a concrete stand on the heresy of TEC. They continually write almost incomprehensible letters to the TEC threatening action of indeterminate nature at an indeterminate time in the future.

There are differences in approaches, not so much in theology, but certainly approaches. No one should compromise, yet we should not let our differences override our natural ties through our allegiance to God, His Son, the Holy Ghost and our Anglican form of religion.

The time to act is now. We need a unified Anglican Church of the United States of America and we need it right now. Not five years from now, or even next year. NOW.

The solution is to act on what we can agree on and act now. We need to maintain our uniqueness. Yet, to have an effective voice in the Anglican Communion there needs to be one voice for the United States’ Anglican Churches.

There is a solution – the Anglican Church of the United States of America, a sort of Church Republic. The problems facing the United States’ Anglican Churches are almost identical to those facing our young nation at its founding. So is the solution:

Hold a National Convention
o Each national church (APA, REC, UEC, etc.) to send three delegates, a Bishop, a Priest and a Layman
o Form a list of beliefs and rules common to all
o Number the list
Elect a Presiding Bishop from among the Bishops present
o Period of office – Four years
o One term only
o The Presiding Bishop, like an ambassador, can only commit the Anglican Church of the United States of America to a tentative agreement. Any action he takes must be ratified by the Congress.
o The next Bishop cannot be drawn from the same national church
o Any change or addition to the list of common beliefs and rules must be by unanimous agreement of the member churches.
Make contact with the other Primates and send the Presiding Bishop to the Primate meetings. They will have to choose sides. No more talk.

This will give us a single voice and there will be no compromise. Each of the component churches, like the states, retains its identity, traditions and rules. Nothing is required to change. No bishop loses his position.

One voice – No Compromise – All Gain – No Loss

So, how do we get this started?

Simple.

You call the Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church and tell him you want to meet with him to start the process. Ask him to get on board with this plan. List out a set of beliefs and rules common to the two groups. Then call the next biggest group and do the same, and so on and so forth. Then, with 60 days notice, call for a National Convention. Put the list up, already agreed to, call for a vote and be done with it. Then, hold the election for Presiding Bishop and break for lunch.

Objection: Can’t be done! There are no simple solutions to complex problems like these!

Frankly, we are tired of hearing that. The fact is there are no complex solutions that work. You may not like the simple solution, but it will work. If you don’t act, someone else will.

Lead, follow or get out of the way.

Regards,

ALPINE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF THE BLESSED TRINITY

Charles W. Arnold, Beadle

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Be

2007-03-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

"I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace, USMC, a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy said. "I do not believe that the armed forces of the United States are well served by a saying through our policies that it's OK to be immoral in any way." "As an individual, I would not want (acceptance of gay behavior) to be our policy, just like I would not want it to be our policy that if we were to find out that so-and-so was sleeping with somebody else's wife, that we would just look the other way, which we do not. We prosecute that kind of immoral behavior."

Pace later said he was sorry he spoke of his own personal feelings, but did not deny that was the way he felt.

Homosexuality is a deviation from normalcy. There is no place for homosexuals in the military. Who wants to put their hand into a sucking chest wound and wonder if the AIDS virus got there before the bullet? Not to mention, who do they shower with?

Homosexuals - Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Be in the military. Frankly, I don't care how talented you are or what a great interior decorator you will be in another life.

DirecWay used to kind of suck, now Hughesw.Net really sucks!

2007-03-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

If you exceed your FAP download allotment, Hughes.Net will supposedly limit your download speeds to 150Kbps until you are back within the arbitrary limit. Most of you are probably asking, what kind of broadband is that? How are you supposed to download movies, stream audio and video and the like? Who would go for that?

On the other hand, if you are a Hughes.Net user, you know the real question – How do you get to your FAP limit with real world speeds that average about 15Kbps?

This is blog is uploaded on a 28.8K dialup because tonight all I can get with a signal strength of 82 is 2.5Kbps.

The day Hughes.Net does not suck will be the day they market a vacuum cleaner.

The Left isn't Right

2007-02-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

Foreword - This is not my work, but rather the writing of a contemporary of mine, Jimmy Cash, who stayed on active duty. It is worth reading. Take the time and read it. Hap

LET'S BE SPECIFIC

Due to the thunderous applause that I received from the far-left over the "I Am Tired" letter written by one of our troops in Iraq, I thought it prudent to follow up with one last attempt to be very specific about what I have observed and actually personally encountered during my 36 years of service to this Great Country. Unlike Bob McClellan, I will not continue to whine, twist and degrade our country's leaders on a weekly basis. Instead, this will be a one time input attempting to reach some of those who are confused by McClellan and his ilk's unethical rantings and give some insight through my personal experience as a professional military officer over the years.

These examples are but a few. In real life there were many more which space and time will not allow.

As a young fighter pilot, flying F-4s in Vietnam, I was stopped in my tracks by the decisions made by Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara. I was young and naive, but even then I knew their daily interference was wrong and would not allow us to win this thing and go home. Decisions like not allowing us to strike enemy aircraft while still on the ground, keeping real targets off the target list, and allowing us to strike only rusted-out trucks made us basically a toothpick factory. However, the big one for me came the day I saw the President Lyndon Johnson on television, forcefully lying to the American people. I'll never forget the language, "I want to assure the American people that the United States of America has never, and will never, bomb or use force inside the borders of Cambodia".! On and on he disavowed the reports that this was happening. I was amazed. Guess where I had put several F-4 loads of 750 pound general purpose bombs every day for the past five days. You guessed it, Cambodia!!! So much for Mr. Johnson.

The only question in my mind was simply, "Was it just Johnson or was it the methodology of a particular political party? "

I decided to delay answering that question until more experience was gained.

Years passed, and I ignored politics as much as possible, as a good military man should.

Then came Jimmy Carter.

Our young people don't remember 18% interest rates and 18% inflation, but I'll bet someone in your family does. That is one really bad thing Carter did for our country, but it is not the worst.

During this period, I was an F-15 Squadron Commander, located at Langley AFB, VA. Jimmy Carter and his democratic party stopped spare parts procurement for almost every weapon system in our military, and diverted the funds to social programs. The F-15 was brand new at the time with leading edge technology designed to provide air superiority anywhere in the world on a moments notice. That was my job. I loved it, but guess what? In a two year period from 1979 to 1981, there was not one day when more that one-third of my assigned aircraft were flyable. It is amazing the lengths we went to in those days, cannibalizing parts, expending twice the time and energy to fix every little item, and still two-thirds of the birds were always broken because of no spare parts.

Had this country faced a really serious military threat during that time frame, only Montana Hunters could have saved us.

The military had some equipment, but it was all broken.

Do you want to know the really bad part for me and the young fighter pilots working for me?

Our flying sortie rate was so low that pilot proficiency dropped to dangerous levels. The accident rate tripled. That obviously was totally unacceptable, as we were losing expensive airplanes and highly trained young pilots at a rate comparable to losses seen in actual combat.

All of a sudden, even a Texas Aggie like me began to see a trend.

Forward a few years to 1986. I am an F-16 Wing Commander at MacDill AFB, Florida, and Ronald Regan is president. His change in attitude and policy toward the military had time to fix the spare parts problem. We were flying 26,000 flying sorties per year ou! t of MacDill AFB, my aircraft fully mission capable rate (FMC) was above 90%, the aircraft accident rate was below 1.75 per hundred thousand flying hours, fighter pilots were flying and proficiency levels were at an all time high. The United States Air Force was ready to defend this Wonderful Country.

Proof of the pudding is simple.

Look what the USAF, and the military in general, accomplished in Iraq during Desert Storm. And, they did it in less than 100 hours.

Yeah, at this point I was starting to realize there was a difference in mentality between Democrats and Republicans, or should I say, the Right and the Left.

Then, came everyone's favorite---Bill Clinton. If there ever was! an individual 180 degrees out of sync with the ideals and the values of the US military, it was Clinton. He was a known draft dodger, military hating, self absorbed, unspeakingly shameless and immoral individual, who the Left managed to elect President of the United States of America. Clinton's antics in the White House would have brought court martial, conviction, and Dishonorable Discharge had he been a military member. We still suffer oral sex on school buses, because the President told the world it wasn't real sex, and some of our children believed him.

It took a lot of years, but now I became certain.

There is a big difference in the right and the left on all fronts, and for the first time I started feeling angry and shamed that the majority of the American people were actually willing to vote for such an individual. Sometimes, an abstract such as the following tells the story in very simple terms: Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden, Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, Ted Kennedy, Howard Dean, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Michael Moore, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Nancy Pelosi, Barbra Boxer, John Kerry, Benedict Arnold, and the list goes on. America, wake up.

Giving in to the likes of these people and Abraham Lincoln's prediction of destruction from within just may come true.

There is not a country in the world that can be considered a conventional military threat to the United States today.

However, this country faces a new kind of threat---one that will not go away. It is a threat even more serious that WWII, because money, industry and technology will not defeat it. It is a threat of defeat from within. It is a threat of a faltering economy because of a lack of resources, or! the even the simple threat of such a loss brought on by te rrorism. It is a threat created by the American people trusting the inept. It is a threat created by the people wanting change, and perilously believing that the left can successfully deliver that change.

Have you seen anything from the left that remotely resembles an answer to the Iraq situation?

Have you seen anything more than continued Bush-Bashing? Is that an answer?

If there was ever a need for a strong, well trained military, it is now.

THE LEFT HAS HISTORICALLY DISMANTLED OUR MILITARY IN THE NAME OF REDISTRUBITION OF WEALTH FAVORING SOCIAL PROGRAMS. We just cannot afford to let that happen now. If we do, the entire country will be bowing to the east several times a day within the next 50 years, maybe sooner.

Now a final thought meant to upset as many as possible on the far-left. As you might guess, I don't believe in political correctness. So, let's look at the facts, not far-left rhetoric attempting to empower the democratic party. Initially, I was not a George Bush fan. I am not even a Republican. I normally vote Republican, because of my total despise of Communism, Socialism and the far-left in this country. I am a Conservative.

However, during his watch, I feel President Bush just happened to stumble upon the leading edge of the greatest threat this country has ever faced. Mistakes have been made, because of the newness of the threat. Overall, the President has done a superb job dealing the threat, and at the same time held off the constant ranting, raving, deceitful and malicious escapades of the far-left attempting to regain political power. I! F THERE WAS EVER A TIME THE COUNTRY NEEDS TO COME TOGETHER AND BACK OUR PRESIDENT, IT IS RIGHT NOW. WITHOUT CONCENSUS WE ARE EMPOWERING THE TERRORIST!!!!

The far-left is totally absorbed with the power struggle and regaining control of congress. They could care less about defeating the threat. It literally disgusts me to hear the constant disagreement with everything the President tries to do, all in the name of trying to make him look bad to the voters. Unfortunately, by the time the American people really appreciate how bad the far-left really is, it may too late.

What are the real facts?

On the home front this country's economy is the strongest that it has been in my lifetime. Interest rates are as low as they we! re when I was in high school forty years ago. Inflation does not exist for all practical purposes. For you youngsters, please remember the Jimmy Carter comments? The Dow is approaching 13,000. Unemployment is nonexistent. Wages are at an all time high. Home ownership is at an all time high. Taxes have been lowered to an almost acceptable level. Because of the surging economy the deficient is under control and projected to go away far ahead of schedule. The far-left is rich beyond its wildest dreams, so Mr. President when are you going to "fix" all these domestic problems? Bob and George, give me a break!!!! On the war front this country has not! been touched since 2001.

I remember being part of a seminar at the USAF War College in 1983 discussing the terrorist threat. There were some good minds at that table and a lot of disagreement. However, one common thought was that the US would be hit within the next five years. Answers to the terrorist threat were just as hard to come by then as they are now. Well, it took a little longer than the projection, but the attack occurred. For an old military guy like me, the main point here is that it has not happened again. We have suckered the bad guys into entering the fight somewhere other than in our country.

To hell with political correctness.

The President can't say this, but I sure can. I smile every morning when I get up and realize that one of our great cities has not been blown away. And, there is zero doubt in my mind that if we pull out of Iraq prematurely, that will happen within a short period of time after our departure.

I don't care what you might think of President Bush personally. He has done the best he can with what he has, and this country is not smoking because of it. So, back off McLean and McClellan.

You honestly don't have a clue about what you are talking about. Call me, and I will tell you what I really think.

I realize there are different points of view on war, and I do not believe the meek will inherit the earth, at least not in the next few hundred years. To those like McClellan, McLean, poor Eve Kyes and Sinowa Cruz let me say, "This is a strong country!!! " It has! survived the uneducated thinking of the far-left before, and I'll just bet it will again.

Regardless of who is President, the people will not tolerate mass explosions on a daily basis, as our good friends in Israel have been forced to do. To protect that position of power, even Hillary will be forced to become a true hawk. To guarantee a few more votes Ted Kennedy may be forced to begin supporting a strong military. One more attack on America might even wipe the giddy, 'I-am-finally-somebody' grin from Nancy Pelosi's face, and make her realize that is not about votes and personal power.

IT IS ABOUT PROTECTING THIS GREAT COUNTRY FROM ALL ENEMIES, BOTH FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC.

Jimmy L. Cash, Brig. Gen., USAF, Retired

Anglican Communion meeting in Tanzania

2007-02-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

The leaders of the Anglican Communion met in Tanzania 12 - 19 February 2007. The primary purpose of the meeting was to decide what to do with the apostates in the “Developed Countries”, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most troubling, the United Kingdom, England in particular.

While the Anglican Church was originally known as the Church of England, it is national in nature, with each country having (in the old days) a single national church. Each country sent representatives, its highest ranking priest a Bishop, known as a Primate, to the annual meetings of the Church in general. With no real central authority, all looked to the head of the Church in England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, as the spiritual leader.

From the 1960s on, the Epsicopal Church in the United States became more and more liberal at the upper levels as it was taken over by radical feminists and homosexuals. The membership, always very conservative, left in droves. The church is now roughly 10 percent of its 1967 membership count. As the liturgy changed to accommodate the feminist - homosexual - liberal - anti-American agenda, membership plummeted. Most left the church for "independent" religion, that is they did not affliate with any church. Others left and either established new chuches mirroring the old PECUSA, Protestant Epsicopal Church of the United States, or joined those who had. These are known as the continuing church. Foreigners find this to be splintering. Members of the continuing church are not concerned. They reject compromise, pointing out the purple shirts compromises got the ECUSA (now TEC) where it is. The continuing church is growing at about 15 percent per year, while the TEC is in freefall.

While church membership is in decline in the developed countries, it is rapidly rising in the developing countries. Membership in places like Africa far outnumber membership in the developed countries. While the majority of money comes from the developed countries, that is far less important to the Anglicans than to Roman Catholics. The Anglican Church is often referred to as the home of the church mice. Like the US Marines, they have done so much with so little, they think they can do anything with nothing.

The current problem is that the developed countries have turned their back on the entire Anglican Motto – Scripture – Reason – Tradition. They no longer look to the Bible as the Word of God; they accept, nay, embrace homosexuality and other activities commonly thought to be deviate; they do not support their nation states as patriots; they look to the state for handouts and support national socialism; they no longer follow the liturgical practices of the past. In short, they have turned their backs on everything that made winners chose the Anglican Way in the past.

We have prayed that the Primates listen to the Holy Ghost, follow His direction and not get in His way. We asked that they listen to the words of our Lord when He said, as recorded by Saint Matthew, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.“

For too long have the Bishops valued collegiality above God’s will. We asked the Primates as they meet consider what Jesus asked of us, Do not block God, but rather follow Him, Battle Evil; Do Good.

What has come out of Tanzania? Nothing. As a "Proud Texan" said, "Sadly I read this as 'Please comply with the Winsor report and we really, really, really mean it this time, if you don't we're going to send you a letter with all sorts of bad grammar.' My guess is that the deadline will come and go with all sorts of meaningless shuffling of feet."

Jesus calls us to action, not collegiality. Once again, it seems the church has been betrayed by the purple shirts who value collegiality above God’s will.

Is there any wonder bishops are less trusted than used car salesmen?

One voice – No Compromise - The Anglican Republic

2007-02-15T19:30:00.001-08:00

One voice – No Compromise - The Anglican Republic
When the United States formed, the Church of England then operating in the country re-formed as the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. Continuing the model of the Church of England, each country where this form of Christianity spread formed its own national church, each under the direction and leadership of a single bishop or primate. All the national churches look to the Archbishop of Canterbury as the symbolic head of the worldwide church. Unlike the Roman Catholic church, the Archbishop of Canterbury is not the monarch of the church, nor does anyone think he is infallible. All of the national churches form the Anglican Communion, with, in theory, all subscribing to the same Articles of Religion found in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and its predecessors.

Never a very large church, the PECUSA nonetheless has provided 35 percent of our country’s Presidents and 40 percent of its military flag officers.

The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States eventually dropped the Protestant part and became just The Episcopal Church of the United States. It has now dropped its national identity, along with a lot more, and is now just The Episcopal Church, or TEC.

Over the past 30 years the now TEC has become less and less Bible oriented; its theology can no longer be found in the Bible. As the various dioceses elected apostates as bishops, membership dropped. With the election of a practicing homosexual adulterer as a bishop and the election of a woman who cannot bring herself to refer to Jesus as the Son of God, the one time important church has dropped to less than ten percent of its former size.

With bishops leading the church to hell, valuing collegiality over God’s Word, the people began to see the problem. Over time many people have left the PECUSA/ECUSA/TEC and formed new churches where they could practice their religion without fear of apostasy. The new churches are known as the continuing church. The continuing church is comprised of many splinter groups. They are often derided for not being willing to come together. Those from whom the derision arises actually mean not willing to compromise and band together.

Most of the continuing churches saw what compromise brought and who brought it. Bishops, bishops wearing purple shirts and sporting spade tipped tails. There are differences in approaches, not so much in theology, but certainly approaches. No one should compromise, yet we should not let our differences override our natural ties through our allegiance to God, His Son, the Holy Ghost and our Anglican form of religion.

We need to maintain our uniqueness. Yet, to have an effective voice in the Anglican Communion there needs to be one voice for the United States’ Anglican Churches.

There is a solution – the United Anglican Republic.

The problems facing the United States’ Anglican Churches are almost identical to those facing our young nation at its founding. So is the solution:

Hold a Constitutional Convention
Each national church (APA, REC, UEC, etc.) to send three delegates, a Bishop, a Priest and a Beadle
Form a list of beliefs and rules common to all
Number the list
Elect a Presiding Bishop from among the Bishops present
Period of office – Four years
One term only
The next Bishop cannot be drawn from the same national church
Send the Presiding Bishop to the Primate meetings

This will give us a single voice and there will be no compromise.

One voice – No Compromise

Always have, always will

2007-02-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

PAUL GALANTI
TIMES-DISPATCH GUEST COLUMNIST
Sunday, January 28, 2007

Since I was otherwise occupied as a POW in Hanoi and wasn't able to observe firsthand, I suppose it was a '60s thing -- when everybody who was anybody was or deeply aspired to be a victim. And, later, when the soldiers who'd fought valiantly in a war they actually won handily en route to defeating an entire evil empire demanded the same respect given every other element in society -- deserving or not -- they were accorded their own category of victimhood and enshrined in the most out-of-sight, obscure memorial in Washington, D.C.

The re-writing of history to correct the many historical perversions has been very slow in coming.

I remember writing one of my first Op/Eds about the Vietnam "Wall, " which reminded me then of a big hole in the ground or a large open mouth? la a contemporary actress/ally of our enemy. But it was a nice gesture. Although it tended to patronize the suddenly glamorous former "baby killers, " most of our contemporaries in military service shrugged it off as a belated, sort-of thanks from a grateful nation.

From my first days in the military, I was taught that our job was to serve; there would be tough times but keep a stiff upper lip and press on. And enjoy the good times and camaraderie that military life -- almost exclusively -- engenders. Most movies back then had male heroes who sucked up adversity and pressed on. Mothers encouraged their daughters to marry the strong, silent types -- like John Wayne.

On my return in 1973, being greeted by crowds and overuse of the sobriquet "hero" was embarrassing and confusing. The words and articles written about our incarceration in the filthy, miserable dungeons of communist Vietnam were laced with the term "heroes" -- and there were, in fact, a few of those. But it became apparent, early on, that by hero the writers and speakers and extollers usually meant victim -- as in you poor guys. There was obviously a confusion of terminology! In fact, the roles had been reversed. At Home, the Same Spin

During my entire time in the infamous Hanoi Hilton POW compound, I felt like Winston Smith in Orwell's 1984 as the North Vietnamese propagandists talked about their glowing victories and mocked American efforts as the ignominious defeats of the U. S. aggressors and their lackeys. Now that I was home, I began to feel that propagandists in our country had developed their own strain of Newspeak to justify their weak arguments.

When we POWs were released in February 1973 after the crushing B-52 raids and crippling of North Vietnamese commerce, I thought we'd won. Imagine my surprise when many Americans apparently indoctrinated by academia and a powerful media seemed to think we'd been routed.

Fast forward to 2007. Reading the generally unbelievable mainstream media, one would suspect that unemployed communist propagandists had found a new home -- as journalists. Their endless agonizing over American losses omits any mention of the good things that are happening throughout the Middle East or even the crippling losses of the other side! Embedded in the safe Green Zone, reporters write damning articles that cannot be corroborated.

I'm almost glad this is happening because I can now see with my own eyes what transpired here in the 1960s while I read between the lines in Vietnam. From the condescending words used to describe the fighting forces, to outright exaggerations and lies, efforts are made to transform our servicemen into "victims. "

Regardless of how it started, the assault on America by our own tenured, unassailable academy, by our own "free" press and politicians for personal gain is undone by e-mails from actual soldiers and Marines in harm's way. But the true story usually fails to gain traction. It's much easier to manufacture hand-wringing bad news to weep and wail and whine about our valiant troops/victims than it is to find something interesting to report about our successes. Call it the Dan Rather/Jayson Blair School of Journalistic Integrity -- it has a deleterious effect on those who never cross-check the stories. It's a good reason that polls can swing up and down by 10 percentage points on the basis of an unreliable but sensational story.

Military Doesn't Need Sympathy - Our armed forces are not victims. They are not in Iraq because they're dumb. They are performing selfless acts on behalf of all Americans, and they don't need sympathy. That, simply, is what they do. Proudly. And justifiably so. Always have, always will. It's something the Hate America crowd will never understand. Frankly, most of those serving don't care what their de facto domestic enemies think of them. But, if those ungrateful Americans ever need help, their armed forces will be there serving proudly.

~~~~
A Richmond resident, retired Navy commander and attack pilot Paul Galanti was a prisoner of war in Vietnam from 1966 until 1973. He is currently the chairman of the Board of Veterans Services for the commonwealth. His Commentary Columns regarding veterans appear regularly on the Back Fence.

Running as a national past time for our civilian government

2007-02-12T19:47:00.000-08:00

'The Last Helicopter'

By AMIR TAHERI Wall Street Journal, March 29, 2006; Page A18

Hassan Abbasi has a dream -- a helicopter doing an arabesque in cloudy skies to avoid being shot at from the ground. On board are the last of the "fleeing Americans, " forced out of the Dar al-Islam (The Abode of Islam) by "the Army of Muhammad. " Presented by his friends as "The Dr. Kissinger of Islam, " Mr. Abbasi is "professor of strategy" at the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guard Corps University and, according to Tehran sources, the principal foreign policy voice in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's new radical administration.

For the past several weeks Mr. Abbasi has been addressing crowds of Guard and Baseej Mustadafin (Mobilization of the Dispossessed) officers in Tehran with a simple theme: The U. S. does not have the stomach for a long conflict and will soon revert to its traditional policy of "running away, " leaving Afghanistan and Iraq, indeed the whole of the Middle East, to be reshaped by Iran and its regional allies.

To hear Mr. Abbasi tell it the entire recent history of the U. S. could be narrated with the help of the image of "the last helicopter. " It was that image in Saigon that concluded the Vietnam War under Gerald Ford. Jimmy Carter had five helicopters fleeing from the Iranian desert, leaving behind the charred corpses of eight American soldiers. Under Ronald Reagan the helicopters carried the bodies of 241 Marines murdered in their sleep in a Hezbollah suicide attack. Under the first President Bush, the helicopter flew from Safwan, in southern Iraq, with Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf aboard, leaving behind Saddam Hussein's generals, who could not believe why they had been allowed live to fight their domestic foes, and America, another day. Bill Clinton's helicopter was a Black Hawk, downed in Mogadishu and delivering 16 American soldiers into the hands of a murderous crowd.

According to this theory, President George W. Bush is an "aberration, " a leader out of sync with his nation's character and no more than a brief nightmare for those who oppose the creation of an "American Middle East. " Messrs. Abbasi and Ahmadinejad have concluded that there will be no helicopter as long as George W. Bush is in the White House. But they believe that whoever succeeds him, Democrat or Republican, will revive the helicopter image to extricate the U. S. from a complex situation that few Americans appear to understand.

Mr. Ahmadinejad's defiant rhetoric is based on a strategy known in Middle Eastern capitals as "waiting Bush out. " "We are sure the U. S. will return to saner policies, " says Manuchehr Motakki, Iran's new Foreign Minister.

Mr. Ahmadinejad believes that the world is heading for a clash of civilizations with the Middle East as the main battlefield. In that clash Iran will lead the Muslim world against the "Crusader-Zionist camp" led by America. Mr. Bush might have led the U. S. into "a brief moment of triumph. " But the U. S. is a "sunset" (ofuli) power while Iran is a sunrise (tolu'ee) one and, once Mr. Bush is gone, a future president would admit defeat and order a retreat as all of Mr. Bush's predecessors have done since Jimmy Carter.

Mr. Ahmadinejad also notes that Iran has just "reached the Mediterranean" thanks to its strong presence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. He used that message to convince Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to adopt a defiant position vis-à-vis the U. N. investigation of the murder of Rafiq Hariri, a former prime minister of Lebanon. His argument was that once Mr. Bush is gone, the U. N., too, will revert to its traditional lethargy. "They can pass resolutions until they are blue in the face, " Mr. Ahmadinejad told a gathering of Hezbollah, Hamas and other radical Arab leaders in Tehran last month.

According to sources in Tehran and Damascus, Mr. Assad had pondered the option of "doing a Gadhafi" by toning down his regime's anti-American posture. Since last February, however, he has revived Syria's militant rhetoric and dismissed those who advocated a rapprochement with Washington. Iran has rewarded him with a set of cut-price oil, soft loans and grants totaling $1.2 billion. In response Syria has increased its support for terrorists going to fight in Iraq and revived its network of agents in Lebanon, in a bid to frustrate that country's democratic ambitions.

It is not only in Tehran and Damascus that the game of "waiting Bush out" is played with determination. In recent visits to several regional capitals, this writer was struck by the popularity of this new game from Islamabad to Rabat. The general assumption is that Mr. Bush's plan to help democratize the heartland of Islam is fading under an avalanche of partisan attacks inside the U. S. The effect of this assumption can be witnessed everywhere.

In Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf has shelved his plan, forged under pressure from Washington, to foster a popular front to fight terrorism by lifting restrictions against the country's major political parties and allowing their exiled leaders to return. There is every indication that next year's elections will be choreographed to prevent the emergence of an effective opposition. In Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, arguably the most pro-American leader in the region, is cautiously shaping his post-Bush strategy by courting Tehran and playing the Pushtun ethnic card against his rivals.

In Turkey, the "moderate" Islamist government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan is slowly but surely putting the democratization process into reverse gear. With the post-Bush era in mind, Mr. Erdogan has started a purge of the judiciary and a transfer of religious endowments to sections of the private sector controlled by his party's supporters. There are fears that next year's general election would not take place on a level playing field.

Even in Iraq the sentiment that the U. S. will not remain as committed as it has been under Mr. Bush is producing strange results. While Shiite politicians are rushing to Tehran to seek a reinsurance policy, some Sunni leaders are having second thoughts about their decision to join the democratization process. "What happens after Bush? " demands Salih al-Mutlak, a rising star of Iraqi Sunni leaders. The Iraqi Kurds have clearly decided to slow down all measures that would bind them closer to the Iraqi state. Again, they claim that they have to "take precautions in case the Americans run away. "

There are more signs that the initial excitement created by Mr. Bush's democratization project may be on the wane. Saudi Arabia has put its national dialogue program on hold and has decided to focus on economic rather than political reform. In Bahrain, too, the political reform machine has been put into rear-gear, while in Qatar all talk of a new democratic constitution to set up a constitutional monarchy has subsided. In Jordan the security services are making a spectacular comeback, putting an end to a brief moment of hopes for reform. As for Egypt, Hosni Mubarak has decided to indefinitely postpone local elections, a clear sign that the Bush-inspired scenario is in trouble. Tunisia and Morocco, too, have joined the game by stopping much-advertised reform projects while Islamist radicals are regrouping and testing the waters at all levels.

But how valid is the assumption that Mr. Bush is an aberration and that his successor will "run away"? It was to find answers that this writer spent several days in the U. S., especially Washington and New York, meeting ordinary Americans and senior leaders, including potential presidential candidates from both parties. While Mr. Bush's approval ratings, now in free fall, and the increasingly bitter American debate on Iraq may lend some credence to the "helicopter" theory, I found no evidence that anyone in the American leadership elite supported a cut-and-run strategy.

The reason was that almost all realized that the 9/11 attacks have changed the way most Americans see the world and their own place in it. Running away from Saigon, the Iranian desert, Beirut, Safwan and Mogadishu was not hard to sell to the average American, because he was sure that the story would end there; the enemies left behind would not pursue their campaign within the U. S. itself. The enemies that America is now facing in the jihadist archipelago, however, are dedicated to the destruction of the U. S. as the world knows it today.

Those who have based their strategy on waiting Mr. Bush out may find to their cost that they have, once again, misread not only American politics but the realities of a world far more complex than it was even a decade ago. Mr. Bush may be a uniquely decisive, some might say reckless, leader. But a visitor to the U. S. soon finds out that he represents the American mood much more than the polls suggest.

Mr. Taheri is author of "L'Irak: Le Dessous Des Cartes" (Editions Complexe, 2002).

Martin Luther King Day 2007

2007-01-14T13:03:00.000-08:00

Monday, 15 January 2007, is the day set aside to honor the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King.

But why?

Because he was a great Black or African American?

I think that thought would be repugnant to the Reverend King as it surely is to God. In his “I have a dream” speech the Reverend King dreamed of an American where we would each be Americans, neither black, nor white.

Consider if you will the intertwined stories of Thomas J. Hudner and Jesse Leroy Brown whose lives came together before God and parted on 4 December 1950.

Ensign Jesse LeRoy Brown was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on 13 October 1926. Jesse did not know the Navy had no black pilots and never intended to have any. He was told that, but he paid no attention. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1946 and was appointed a Midshipman, USN, the following year. After attending Navy pre-flight school and flight training, he was designated a Naval Aviator in October 1948, the first “African American” to achieve this status. Midshipman Brown was then assigned to Fighter Squadron 32. He received his commission as Ensign in April 1949. During the Korean War, his squadron operated from USS Leyte (CV-32), flying F4U-4 Corsair fighters in support of United Nations forces. On 4 December 1950, while leading a close air support mission near the Chosin Reservoir, flying his 20th mission, Jesse’s Corsair was hit by ground fire over hostile territory and lost power. The only place to land was on the side of a mountain covered by snow. LTjg Thomas Hudner, two years older than Jesse, a Naval Academy graduate and his wingman, watched in horror as Jesse’s plane pancaked hard on the mountainside.

Hudner was briefly buoyed by hope to see Jesse wave from the open canopy. But he wasn’t making any effort to get out of the cockpit. Something was very wrong, and to make matters worse, there was smoke rising from the shattered plane.

Hudner made a quick decision to try to rescue Jesse. That meant crash landing his plane next to Jesse on the side of the mountain, which he successfully did. Can you imagine what it takes to put a six ton machine down onto the side of a mountain at 85 miles per hour? Meanwhile, the rest of the squadron circled overhead to watch for Chinese soldiers and radioed for a rescue helicopter.

Hudner found Jesse trapped in the buckled cockpit without his helmet and gloves in below zero temperature and undetermined internal injuries. He covered Jesse’s head with a wool cap and his numb hands with a scarf and used the snow to put out the smoldering fire. But he couldn’t budge Jesse no matter how hard he tried. He returned to his crashed aircraft and radioed other airborne planes, requesting that the helicopter bring an ax and fire extinguisher.

Charlie Ward, a pilot friend of Jesse’s, arrived, making a difficult landing with the helicopter. Charlie had an axe, but that didn’t help free Jesse since the axe just bounced off the metal surface of the plane. Jesse kept getting weaker as the two men desperately tried to free him.

Their efforts were for naught and Jesse slipped slowly away as they worked in frustration. His last words were, "Tell Daisy that I love her. " Hudner and Ward wept.

Back on the ship, Jesse’s squadron debated what to do. They didn’t want to leave him for the Chinese so they decided to give Jesse a "warriors funeral. " The next day seven aircraft left the carrier and flew over the crash site. While one plane accelerated in a vertical climb toward heaven, the others dove and released their bombs on the mountainside. The voice of one of the pilots could be heard over the radio reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

On April 13, 1951, President Truman awarded the Medal of Honor to Jesse’s friend and wingman, Thomas Hudner. Jesse was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.

Think of this, down below he could see his fellow Naval Aviator trapped in the cockpit, with enemy forces likely to close soon. With no thought for himself, thinking only of his fellow Aviator (notice not black or African, but just a fellow Aviator), Tom Hudner did the only thing he could to help. Charlie Ward came in to pick up his fellow Aviators; not black, not white.

This is the America the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King dreamed of. It had taken root far before the “I have a dream” speech and with actions, not mere words. It is an America with Americans, plain and simple. God’s chosen people showed their face once again at the Chosin Reservoir in this story as in so many others in that terrible place.

The Maji - The Three Wise Men - Were they really wise women?

2007-01-07T15:13:00.000-08:00

Church rethinks three wise 'men' Tuesday, February 10, 2004 Posted: 10:01 AM EST (1501 GMT)

But were they really wise women?

Church of England
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- The Three Wise Men who followed the star to Bethlehem bearing gifts for the baby Jesus may not have been all that wise -- or even men, or for that matter even human. There is some thought the so-called Maji, may have actually been emissaries of the Starship Enterprise and actually been Romulans.

The traditional infant nativity play scene could be in for a drastic rewrite after the Church of England indulged in some academic gender-swapping over the three Magi at its General Synod in London this week.

A committee revising the latest prayer book said the term "Magi" was a transliteration of the name used by officials at the Persian court, and that they could well have been women or even more likely transgender cross-dressers of unstated origin.

"Magi is a word which discloses nothing about numbers, wisdom or gender embodied in the term. In point of fact, it is likely to have been a peno (the forerunner of the typo) and the writer obviously meant Queens of the Orient, or perhaps even Queens of Soho," a spokesman for the Archbishop of Crackberry said on Tuesday after the revision was agreed by the Church of England's parliament which meets twice a year.

In the authorized 17th century King James bible used by up to 70 million worshippers in Anglican churches around the world, the gift-bearing visitors are referred to as "The Three Wise Men."

Now they are to be called just "Magi" and no longer gender-specific in the Anglican prayer book.

"Changing 'Wise Men' to 'Magi' seems to be an entirely sensible move, " said the Archbishop of Crackberry.

The revision committee said: "While it seems very unlikely that these Persian court officials were female, the possibility that one or more of the Magi were female cannot be excluded completely. "

There is no theological dispute about the gifts they brought -- gold, frankincense and myrrh -- but the prayer has been changed to use the word Magi on the grounds that "the visitors were not necessarily wise and not necessarily men. "

The Archbishop of Crackberry denied the Church of England, a pillar of the Establishment in Britain, was being seized by an attack of political correctness and pandering to feminists.

The decision was greeted by mocking newspaper headlines like "The Three Fairly Sagacious Persons" and "Is it unwise to call the Magi men? "

On Tuesday, the Synod will be turning its attention to "Gender Neutral Titles. "

Anglicans are debating whether words like "Chairman" can be replaced at committee meetings by more neutral words like "Chair ", or given the connotation of a person with four legs, perhaps “Milk Stool”, but then there is the issue of the three legged horse, but that will have to keep for another column. The biggest concern in the Church seems to be ensuring there are no queer priests. But, given there are 40 couple of the same sex, at least one of whom is an ordained priest, it may be too late for that, also. Back to you Milk Stool.

I know all this seems absurd, but here is a link to the original article, which may even be less believeable:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/02/10/uk.magi.reut/index.html

direcway sucks DOT com

2007-01-01T14:30:00.000-08:00

We live too far from the telephone switch for DSL and way too far out for cable. The only broadband solution is satellite. Too bad it is so slow. Sometimes you will see upload speeds in the 200K per second and download speeds in the 500K per second range. Unfortunately, most of the time the speeds for both are in the single digit K speeds. Often, we are reduced to hundreds or even tens of bauds! Today is another dialup day. 28K dialup is better than direcway today.

DWay cares, not much and certainly not about service, particularly your service. But they care.

San Diego Auto Show Sucks DOT com

2006-12-31T18:40:00.000-08:00

Today we experienced the San Diego at its finest. My lovely wife asked to go to the San Diego Auto Show. This is an event held annually at the San Diego Convention Center. The cost is $10.00 per person, thus for the three of us it would be $30.00, plus $10.00 Special Events Parking. All this to allow automakers to show us their products in the hope we might buy them.

After wending our way through the Gas Lamp Quarter, over torn up streets, around sleeping bums and drug addicts, we arrived to the front of the Convention Center. The underground parking was closed, FULL said the sign, although there were no cars to be seen in the parking garage. Oh, yes, and a sign – Additional Parking at 801 Harbor Drive – with no indication of which way was 801 Harbor Drive. The only thing was to go the way we were going, finally turn around and find the parking structure at 801 Harbor Drive. Two entrances, both with cars 10 deep, to park in a garage one the opposite side from the entrance to the show.

So, how was the show? No idea. We left. The people who planned our trip through the bums, the tank traps that pass for roads, who closed the parking garage can look for some other suckers to pay the $40.00 to look at The National City Mile of Cars inside a building. All we wanted was out of town.

Can you tell me more about the Sixth Commandment?

2006-12-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

The Sixth Commandment which has been the source of much confusion, misdirection and misinformation for Christians has been translated as follow:

Thou shalt not kill. (Exodus 20:13) KJV
Thou shalt do no murder (1928BCP)

As many people are aware, but perhaps tend to forget, the Ten Commandments had to be written down twice. Moses got them once, but upon his return to camp he found that people had started the party without him. Naturally incensed, he made the blunder of smashing the tablets upon which God had written his commandments. This was God's first work as an author, and now it was lost! But God, being God, felt capable of salvaging the matter. He told Moses that he'd write them down again, exactly as they had been written originally. With two originals, it is not surprising there are now a myriad of different translations. It is often believed one of the key Commandments states, “You shall not kill. ” But the original Hebrew does not use “kill. ” It says, “You shall not murder, ” which is clearly very different.

Like English, Hebrew, the language in which most of the Old Testament was written, uses different words for intentional vs. unintentional killing. The verse translated "Thou shalt not kill" in the KJV translation, is translated “Thou shalt do no murder” or "You shall not murder" in modern translations - because these translations represents the real meaning of the Hebrew text. The Bible in Basic English translates the phrase, "Do not put anyone to death without cause.’ The Hebrew word used here is ratsach, which nearly always refers to intentional killing without cause (unless indicated otherwise by context). Hebrew law recognized accidental killing as not punishable. In fact, specific cities were designated as "cities of refuge’, so that an unintentional killer could flee to escape retribution. The Hebrew word for "kill" in this instance is not ratsach, but nakah, which can refer to either premeditated or unintentional killing, depending upon context. Other Hebrew words also can refer to killing. The punishment for murder was the death sentence. However, to be convicted, there needed to be at least two eyewitnesses.

Many believers regard this as perhaps the most basic and easily accepted of all the commandments. After all, who would object to the government telling people not to kill? Unfortunately, this position relies upon a very superficial and uninformed understanding of what is going on. This commandment is, in fact, much more controversial and difficult that it appears at first.

To begin with, what does it mean to “kill”? Taken most literally, this would forbid killing animals for food or even plants for food. That seems implausible, however, because the Hebrew scriptures contain extensive descriptions about how to properly go about killing for food and that would be strange if killing were forbidden.

More significantly is the fact that there are many examples in the Old Testament of God commanding the Hebrews to kill their enemies — why would God do that if this were a violation of one of the Commandments? Thus, many translate the original Hebrew word ratsach as “murder” instead of “kill.” This may be reasonable, but the fact that popular lists of the Ten Commandments continue to use “kill” is a problem because if everyone agrees that “murder” is more accurate, then the popular lists — including those often used for government displays — are simply wrong and misleading. In fact, many Jews regard the mistranslation of the text as “kill” to be immoral in and of itself, both because it falsifies the words of God and because there are times when one has an obligation to kill.

How much does the word “murder” help us? Well, it allows us to ignore the killing of plants and animals and focus just on the killing of human beings, which is useful. Unfortunately, not all killing of human beings is wrong. People kill in war, they kill as punishment for crimes, they kill because of accidents, etc. These killings are not prohibited by the Sixth Commandment. There is so much in the Hebrew scriptures that describes how and when it is morally licit to kill other human beings. There are many crimes listed in the scriptures for which death is the prescribed punishment. Despite this, there are some Christians who read this commandment as though it prohibits any killing of other human beings. Such committed pacifists would refuse to kill even in times of war or to save their own lives. For Christians, the Sixth Commandment must be read much more narrowly. The most reasonable interpretation would seem to be: Thou shalt not take the lives of other human beings in a manner proscribed by the law. That’s fair and it’s also the basic legal definition of murder.

You make the choice, but remember Radiation is our Friend

2006-09-17T22:23:00.000-07:00

No matter what our religion (unless it is their particular brand of Islam), whether we like it or not, we are in a worldwide religious war with people who claim the religion of Islam and claim to be followers of Allah. These “Holy Warriors” are honor bound to kill or convert each of us to their own particular brand of Islam. Anyone who is not in their narrowly cast brand is an “infidel.” Not just Islamist against Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists, but Sunnis killing Shittes, etc.

For all practical purposes, Mohammedans, Moslems, Followers of Allah, by whatever name are divided into two camps:

• Those who follow the Koran
and
• Apostates

The followers of the Koran have the following values inconsistent with civilization as we know it:

• With regard to those they consider infidels, they have only three choices:
- Conversion
- Death
- Taxation until one of the above
• They only recognize an Islamic government as legitimate

Those who would appease the Islamofacists fail to recognize they will be the first to die when the Islamofacists take over.

Let it be written that we have no real options in dealing with followers of the Koran; they must all die. The only other choice is for us to die.

Like World War II, we did not start this war. Unlike World War II, it will not be over in six years, unless the end starts with a sunrise like that seen in Japan. It would be best for those “Moderate Muslims” to reflect on the words of Yamamoto, “We have wakened a sleeping giant. I fear we have but six months to rage like a wild boar.” Then think further on to realize that once awakened, the sleeping giant will take no prisoners and turn their homelands into a glass lake.

Christianity is based on Christ’s words, “My kingdom is not of this world” and “Cast not your pearls before swine.” We cannot accept the presence in this world of suicidal forces who believe in the forcible spread of their cancer.

You are with us or against us.

You make the choice, but remember Radiation is our Friend.

Israeli Restraint

2006-07-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

Everywhere we hear about the need for Israeli restraint.

Why?

If your family was being shelled and rocketed, would you exercise restraint or would you eliminate the problem?

If you are one of those restraint exericisers, I do not want you in my family.

If my family is shot at, trust me, I will exercise every last bit of force I can get my hands on to eliminate the problem from the face of this earth.

There is only so long until the "End Game", tolerating evil only accelerates the timing. The Israelis, rather than using excessive force, by their "restraint" are only speeding the final days. The time for taking prisoners is long gone. Muslims only see prisoners as something to bargain for. The next time they kidnap an Israeli to get back their Muslim friends, the Israelis should execute every Muslim in that prison, and then go on to the town the ransom note came from.

The time for understanding, understatement and restrain is long gone.

There are 1.5 billion Muslims. If only 10 percent are hardliners, that is 150 million.

A point to keep in mind, the Israelis only have about 300 warheads. On the other hand, the Muslims only have about 100 targets of value. Thus, there are 200 warheads left for Europe in the end game.

Israel, nice people and Collateral Damage

2006-07-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately we learn the lessons of the last war and usually not the lessons that mattered. The Japanese fought World War II on the basis of the Russian War of 1905; they just missed the real points. We fought Gulf I on the basis of Viet Nam, we just missed the real points. Israel is fighting this war on the basis of the our example of Kosovo.

The Israelis are surrounded by people who want them dead. They do not have enough territory to allow an in depth defense. There are only two real solutions, either allow no incursions or attacks without massive and complete destruction of the perpetrator or take enough territory to allow an in depth defense.

Israel should never have occupied any territory beyond its borders. It should have expanded its borders and expelled or eliminated any previous occupants who did not desire to become Israelis. The occupation of territory is a mistake. That implies the territory is not legitimately theirs.

Our enemies, for in this case Israel's enemies are also those of the United States, and in fact enemies of the entire non-muslim world, must understand that we will accept no nibbling away at our toes. If they strike at us from a location, we will take that location for our own. For when it is our territory we need not fear attack from it. Muslims who will not acknowledge the civil authority of non-islamic government need to be expelled. There is no freedom under even the United States Constitution to advocate the violent overthrow of our government.

Our enemies also need to understand that what we take, we will never give up. Never.

Airpower is nice, precision is nice. A rifleman wins the war. With enough airpower, you can make it easier for the rifleman, but the war is not over until the rifleman holds the ground.

Precision has its limits and is not always that helpful. Perhaps rather than precisioning a 125 pound warhead, it would be better to precision a 3,000 warhead and tell people not to get too close to the enemy.

Pat Buchanan and the Bloodthirsty Hebrews

2006-07-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

In two columns, posted at WorldNetDaily this week, Pat Buchanan accused President Bush of being a puppet of nefarious Jewish warmongers. Nothing sets Buchanan’s imagination racing like a Bush-backed Israeli war. On Tuesday, Pat asked, “Who is whispering in his ear?” His answer: bloodthirsty Hebrews.

“That Tel Aviv is maneuvering us to fight its wars is understandable. That Americans are ignorant of, or complicit in this, is deplorable.”

This occurred after “Israel instructed the United States to terminate all aid to the Palestinian Authority,” and “Our Crawford cowboy meekly complied.” In an overtly ethnic reference, he added, “Bush sounded less like the leader of the Free World than some bellicose city councilman from Brooklyn Heights.”

In Thursday’s column, entitled “No, This is Not ‘Our War,’” Buchanan writes America is “impotent” because “we have allowed Israelto dictate to whom we may and may not talk.”

Worse, blood-drenched Jews are using America equipment to commit war crimes. “Israeli airstrikes [are] an outlawed form of collective punishment, that has left [Hezbollah supporters] with no sanitation, rotting food, impure water and days without light or electricity in the horrible heat of July.” (Days without light in July?)

He sagely concludes: “And we wonder why they hate us.”

I am a bit offended by the reference to paleoconservatives and Pat Buchanan in same sentence. I presume the paleo… refers to "old" and then ties in conservative.

Pat Buchanan is a populist, one of those who the founding father hoped to protect us against when they did not make this a democracy, but rather a constitutional democratic republic. The function of the Constitution in a large part is to stabilize the government and protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority.

In addition to being a populist, Pat Buchanan is either a devil buddy or a fool.

The Israelis have tried since the the year 33AD to make people like them by being timid. They ignored the instructions in the Old Testament, their Torah; they ignored the lessons of the Inquisition; they ignored the lessons of the Holocaust; they ignored the lessons of the first seven Arab-Israeli wars, which were really Muslim-Israeli wars. Seven wars, the Israelis won each one of them. There are still Muslims left. How many Jews would be left if the Muslims won one war?

The Israelis need to listen to history. Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it; repeat it they certainly have.

The Israelis need to:
• Tell the Muslim world that they have a right to exist;
• Tell the Muslims that they will no longer accept Muslim violence passively;
• Tell the Muslims in advance that they will annex permanently any territory that harbors perpetrators of violence against Israel, but not annex the people; they will drive the people out and it will become Israeli territory forever;
• Tell the world this is a new dawn, Israel will no longer beg for mercy;
• Put their fighters on Victor alert;
• Tell Europe in no uncertain terms the Victor alert fighters will nuke the European capitals as well as the Muslim world in the event of a war that the Israelis appear to be losing;
• Name every operation with code words like FAT BOY, LITTLE MAN, SUNRISE, MUSHROOM and the like, just to make sure the world groks the plan in its fullness;
• Remind the world of Masada and tell them the sword goes out first this time;
• Strike the heart of any nation who allows violence to cross their borders into Israel.

It is well known that Muslims are either at your throat or at your feet. The word of Allah, as interpreted by the Wahabbist, leaves no room for other religions, thus there is no room for other religions. Thus, either you kill them, or they kill you.

Let there be no misunderstanding; no talk of compromise; no talk of love without love in return.

Give violence a chance.

Molon labe

Can you sleep when the winds blows?

2006-06-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

This is not mine, I have no idea where it came from, other than it was sent to me by Melanie. It bears reading and thinking about. "We know not at what hour the Master cometh." It is far better to be ready now. Hap
==============

Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him. "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, Hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming!Tie things down before they blow away!"

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.

To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?

The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm.

We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.

The Great Disconnect

2006-05-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

This is like finding Waldo. Can you find the problem?

First Directive – You must verify that a person is a legal resident of the United States and has the necessary paperwork allowing them to work in the country before you pay them to cut your grass. This seems reasonable to me. I want people to be here legally. I do think it can be a more cumbersome process than necessary, but the issue of being here legally is an important one.

Second Directive – The State may not ask a person about their legal residency status before they give them welfare, medical treatment, driver’s license or anything else. This does not seem reasonable to me. I think the government has the same responsibility to follow the law that I do.

Let's boil this down to a simple one v one:

I cannot pay an illegal alien to cut my grass; on the other hand, the State takes money from me at the point of a gun to pay illegal aliens.

Being the State has its privileges, doesn’t it? Abuse under color of authority is a egregious crime.

I cannot pay for an illegal alien, so if they need money, they go to the State who can pay them, but only if they do not work.

Do you still wonder why we have a budget deficit?

Our government has a mental illness called liberalism.

The Three Choices of Islam

2006-05-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

Islam or Mohamedism is very clear on its only choices for non-believers:

• Convert
• Pay tribute to live
• Die

The Islamofacists have a particular distaste for Christians and Jews. There are people who claim to follow Islam, who in reality are like many who claim to be Christians. They like the bullet points of the religion (at least those they agree with) and are willing to ignore the points they do not like, or find inconvenient. Those are the public wine drinkers (for Islam). They are not a problem in their religious mode. In the secular mode, they can be as much or as little trouble as the next person.

True followers of Mo Hamed are a major problem. They do not have the same value structure that Christians and Jews share:

They follow a man, not a god.
We follow God at the direction of the Son of God.
They praise "Allah", but follow Mo Hamed.
We praise God and at His Son's direction pray to Him and follow Him only.
Their kingdom is intended to be here on earth.
Ours is not of this world.
They want all government to follow their rules, sharia.
We are told to respect civil authority, to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's.
They are told to overthrow all governments who will not follow their rules.
We are told to pray for the civil rulers.

It is no coincidence the evil Klingon Empire and the CS Lewis Tash people were based on Islam.

This new fellow in Iran is particularly troublesome in a worldly sense. He believes it is time for Ragnarok (the Viking Final Battle). He is working on developing nuclear weapons with the stated purpose of leveling Israel. This is what he is saying on the open world forum, his internal communications are far more inflammatory. Frankly, I am far more concerned near time that he will be able to buy some of the former Soviet nuclear weapons, of which there are hundreds, if not thousands unaccounted for.

If you do not see the conflict, one can only say, "There are none so blind as those who will not see."

It is also good to be prepared for the end of the world at a moment's notice. For our personal world can end at any time and we face our Lord at the Final Sorting Hat.

Islam as a "Religion of Peace"

2006-04-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

Islam as a "Religion of Peace" is vastly over rated. Christianity has as one of its basic tenants, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar and unto God that which is God's" and "Do not cast your pearls before swine."

Christianity recognizes, or should if the Bible is followed, the authority of the civil government over the affairs of this world (those of the physical body) while leaving the affairs of the soul to religious law. It also calls for believers to offer up their beliefs to unbelievers and if they are not interested not to bother them further.

This is a far cry from Islam's insistence that the bizarre set of rules set by someone calling himself a Prophet of Allah should govern everyone's life here on earth and that if you will not "believe", "true believers" are duty bound to kill you.

The "War of Terror" is simply a half hearted response to a global war by Radical Islam (which by the way means anyone who follows the Koran/Qran/Quaran). Terror is a method used by Islamofacists to wage war, thus the War on Terror could be equated to an earlier War on Blitzkrieg or War on Kamikaze.

Interesting, isn't it.