What's so special?

The Fourth of July is right around the corner, as we prepare to remember...what?

I noted recently in a Facebook blurb - only partly in jest - that teenagers must believe they are smarter than any adult, because their answer to any information offered by anyone older is virtually always, "I know." Recalling my own reliance on that phrase way back when, I think that response may be hard-wired into our brains.

However, with Independence Day fast approaching, reality casts a different light on what most people actually know about our greatest national holiday (note: Christmas and Easter are ostensibly religious holidays). For instance; ask most grammar school kids today what we're celebrating on Monday and if you're fortunate, you'll get something like, "Ummm...We fought a war?" If you ask many high schoolers you'll most likely get a response that includes the near-universal retort; "I dunno."  And if you ask college-age young adults, who are one step shy of taking the reins of "responsible" adulthood, you might get something mumbled that smacks of "Old white slave-owners." Ignorance of our history is the new standard.

Before liberals took control, US scores
 used to be near the top of the charts

The sad - no,...tragic truth is, the modern American diseducational system has done incredibly successful work over the past half-century in turning what was one of the world's showcase demographic on literacy into Number 18 (depending on which scoring method you look at) and falling.

Thomas Jefferson warned us of the dangers of ignorance; "Educate and inform the whole mass of people...they are the only sure reliance for the preservation of liberty." His words now come back to haunt us as we have traded education for indoctrination, and truth for disinformation. Newspeak passes for news.

All this is a roundabout way to hit my actual point: most Americans no longer know what our own country is supposed to be about: why it was formed and how it got to be the greatest nation in the history of mankind for a while. And while there seems to be a late-blooming awareness by many that something is wrong, most folks today  do not understand how precarious our current position is, or which way we are lined up to fall. And they certainly do not see how those latent dangers may one day directly affect their own lives.

Instead of being a nation of people with the freedom to pursue our own destiny, to enjoy the fruits of our labors, we are being turned into a nation of mindless sheep, driven by packs of ravenous wolves - many of whom don't even realize they will eventually be turned into sheep themselves.

Just because we haven't (yet) officially adopted the swastika or the hammer and sickle, there can no longer be any doubt; America is effectually becoming a police state. We're still in the early stage, but the evidence is clear. Law does not automatically equate to justice. Language no longer makes sense, because meanings have been turned around to expedite political change and agendas. Our leadership is either cluelessly or intentionally destroying everything that made this country a great nation. In any event, that leadership is unravelling as Obama's abject inability to understand how to lead becomes more apparent each day.

OK, then; enough depression for one sitting. Monday is Independence Day. So, what does that day mean to us today? Here are my own answers.

- To me it means that we in this country have been God's favored people, and under His guiding hand for nearly four hundered years (if you think back to the Pilgrim era); perhaps the first since the establishment of ancient Israel (and the reestablishment and defense of modern Israel may have been the latest). But by turning our backs on Him we risk national calamities (natural, economic, military, agricultural, governmental, social, etc.), as have many other formerly Christian nations such as Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Greece, Italy and others.

- It means we are, for the moment, among the most free people in the world, with the ability to follow our own destiny based on our abilities, opportunities, personal energy and will to persevere. But each year we become less free and more dependent - either forcibly or willingly - on government. We have forgotten that we were supposed to elect representatives, and instead continually return career politicians who more often than not simply rule over us with secret deals and bullying tactics, without satisfactorily debating or explaining the issues or heeding our choice. Such actions only reinforce my desire to see an end to political careerism, open debates, and public referendum on major issues, especially those that turn social structure upside-down.

- It reminds me we are blessed with the best military in the world; a true force for good - but (and I've changed my opinion on this) that doesn't mean we should be building nations, or spending our largesse in countries that only use our generosity against us.

- It reminds me that we have been the most charitable nation - for our own needy and those of other nations in distress. But charity has always been and should remain the purview of the Church, based upon our Christian heritage. But that charity is derived from personal and willing generosity, not coercion. When government gets in the charity business, it quickly forgets that it is only giving away what it has forcibly taken from our own productive citizens, and in too many cases, giving it to those who feel no compunction to actually earn or repay their "allowance".  When you've bled your own productive sector dry, it only signals the beginning of a death spiral, as government takes more from people who must now work harder to keep less, and therefore have less to give.

- It reminds me that this nation gained its strength from the union of diverse peoples who sought to become something better than they started as; millions of legal immigrants willingly surrendered (but always retained) part of their former heritage to attain a new heritage as an American. Now we are being consciously and intentionally divided to further political agendas; we are increasingly either hyphenated or socially isolated in cloistered "ghettos" where mostly-illegal immigrants refuse to acculturize, while the rest of the society is divided by moral issues that did not conflict with the social "normal" until the 20th century.

It was during this time that various socialist groups (marxists, communists, nazis, progressives, eugenicists, Fabians) began to insert the Satan bug (Gen. 3:1 - "Did God really say...?") across the culture to get us to doubt our previous moral imperatives: Margaret Sanger introduced the abortion movement in 1921 (which was fraudulently legalized in 1973), immorality became semi-legitimized in 1948 by the first of the faux-scientific Kinsey Reports and went mainstream with the publication of Playboy in 1953, and homosexuality became a liberal cause cèlébre following the 1969 Stonewall riots.

Each of these destructive 'seeds' have germinated into ever-growing movements,cultural weeds propelled and perpetuated by the educational system and the entertainment industry, and facilitated (or disobstructed) by a rogue government that continuously distances itself from our founding principles.

But as far down that dark road we've already traveled, I believe there is a chance to revive this nation's spirit. By that I mean, in part, an authentic religious revival. Unless man reconstructs himself from within and reestablishes internal restraint, reason, and sound judgment, we can never adequately address the needs of the larger community (and by community I mean every social structure outside the immediate family, up to and including the global community). Man cannot rule justly if he only relies on himself, because sooner or later his baser nature will take the lead (as Kings David and Solomon belatedly discovered). In our weaker moments, eventual tragedies are born. We must look to the greater Good for solutions.

I call that greater good...God. I believe God is the ultimate force for creation and destruction. I believe He is the author of logic and science, and through these He is the master craftsman of all creation. I believe that although we have come to understand much, we effectually know next to nothing, and we err when we try to limit Him by our own understanding. He left us instructions, examples, lessons and reminders, and we ignore or misinterpret these at our peril.

In a nutshell, the celebration of Independence Day is a celebration of His gift to us; the gift of freedom. I believe He wants us to use that freedom constructively. I believe this nation - for all its ills - has done more for the human race than any other. The downside is that because we have made poor choices, we are undoing much of that previous good. We should use this Monday to remind ourselves and our fellows that we have a greater heritage, and potentially, a greater destiny to live up to.

A week for the history books

Well, I'm still here, and - surprise! - so is everyone I know (although I haven't heard from a couple of friends lately...hmmm.)  So, I either missed the Rapture that was predicted for last Saturday by pastor and Christian radio magnate Harold Camping, or I just don't know anyone who is saved by the sacrificial death and  Resurrection of Christ Jesus.

Camping had predicted the Rapture would occur at precisely 6 pm (somewhere?) on Saturday. When the prediction failed to materialize (or Christians failed to dematerialize), the results were even more predictable. One can only wonder how many lives were inadvertantly (or inadvisedly) made a shambles when the embarrassment and shame of realization took hold.

The problem with his prediction, and with all similar predictions, is that it not only serves to further alienate people who may have been on the edge of believing the gospel, it also gives ammunition (blanks, though they may be) to the skeptics and enemies of God.  If that weren't bad enough, in many instances it pushes away those who believed the preacher's prediction more than the truth of the Bible - some of whom spent their life savings and gave away everything they had in anticipation of the singular event that all real Christians look forward to...but are not able to know, because even Jesus said He did not know when it will happen.

I believe it is foolish to try to second-guess God, and to do so points to a vanity that borders on conceit. Christians are warned to always be spiritually ready, which would logically encourage them to always be good (this is not to say we are saved by works; but our works are the visible portion of our faith). We are not to keep count; we are to keep ourselves from falling away from the faith. Our own ascendency will happen one day, but there will likely be no specific warning to set your watch by; only a general pattern of warnings enumerated by Jesus Himself.

Hit by a "Bibi".  The other outbreak of foot-in-mouth disease was committed by no less than President Obama. In a speech obviously intended to paint Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a diplomatic corner, Obama gave a press conference - while Netanyahu was still boarding a plane to his meeting with the president - in which he outlined the (suddenly new) US position that Israel should effectively commit national suicide by going back to the "1967 borders."  Shortly thereafter, while trying to talk out of the other side of his mouth to Jewish deep-pocket Democrat contributors (modern-day 'kapos') at the American Israel Public Affairs Conference (AIPAC), Obama back-stepped by telling the audience he meant to say his earlier comments only reflected "a public expression of what has long been acknowledged privately," referring to the "two-state solution," and that the borders would be "different;" kinda-sorta implying that the  world didn't hear what he actually said in his televised statement. Of course, his audience consisted of privileged people who have no real concept of what it would be to live (as long as they were able to) in a "two-state solution."  Now, you might think the Jewish moneybaggers (and that is not meant to be a slur against Jews, only this particular group mentality) would see right through Obama's hypocrisy; but O got a standing "O" from the influential but myopic champagne-and-bree crowd, which has been graciously helping to finance their own eventual destruction through the Democrat party for decades.

Many politicians would have bit their lip and tried to make the most of what Obama had put on the now-public table. Alas, and fortunately for the great people he leads, Benjamin 'Bibi' Netanyahu is anything but your usual politician. With the press in the room, the Prime Minister responded (with Obama sitting two feet away) that the two-state suicide solution "isn't going to happen." Obama took the schooling from Bibi stone-faced, while gripping the arm of his chair, possibly to prevent himself from running out of the room crying. The Prime Minister then spoke before Congress to reinforce his point that Israel isn't about to roll over and play (or become) dead.

The absentee president.  Doesn't it seem odd that virtually every time a major disaster occurs in this country, our imperious leader is gallivanting off to other countries, generally adding insult to our injury?  Typically, if he's not taking his family on vastly expensive taxpayer-supported vacations to Europe or the Far East, he's selling us out to our competitors such as Brazil. This time, while thousands of Americans are suffering death and destruction from wildfires, floods, tornadoes, etc., he is off embarrassing himself, our country and the Queen of a country he obviously hates, while dissing another valued ally leader, and drinking beer in a country we have no serious diplomatic, military or economic ties to.  Obama - touted by the Kool-Ade drinkers of the Left as "the most intelligent president ever" - has almost as strong a grip on the realities of leadership as I have on math (ugh...don't ask). It has become almost a mainstay of his presidency to afford guffaws and winces from audiences both here and abroad; and that doesn't even include Gaff-master Joe Biden! He seems to have such a poor grip on basic facts, even on important issues, that it is no wonder he depends so much on other people putting words in his mouth (or on his teleprompter).

Apart from his ignorance of US geography ("I've been to 57 states so far; I think I've got a couple to go"), his intentional slighting of every one of our allies, his obliviousness to diplomatic protocol, his really bad Irish accent attempt, and his seeming attractiveness to bugs and rodents, Mr. Obama is a grotesque caricature of a leader. And I'd be laughing at him along with most of the world, if it weren't for the incredible damage he has done and continues to do to this nation, its people, and our future.

Dread storms rising.  By far, the worst news of the week, as far as Americans are concerned, was the deadly aftermath of unprecedented destruction in the wake of numerous tornados, at least one reportedly measuring up to a mile wide. More than 132 people were killed and more than 750 injured by one of the megatwisters in Joplin, MO, as it cut a blocks-wide swath through the town on Sunday.

But amid all the carnage, the greater story may be one that has hallmarked Americans since our inception as a nation. It is the story of everyday heroes; ordinary folks who, after crawling out of the rubble of what used to be their homes, banded together to dig others out of the ruins, to begin the initial work of clearing debris from streets and giving whatever aid and comfort they were able to their neighbors, many meeting for the first time.

Pree-sent arms!  Monday is Memorial Day. Contrary to popular acceptance as just another day off, it is a day of solemn commemoration of our fallen fellow Americans, who gave all so that we could lounge around and take advantage of the freedoms they paid so dearly for us to unappreciate.

This time around, try looking at it a little differently; not so much as a celebration or kick-back day, but, at 3 PM, to behave for a moment as though we were in church. Those who have died to protect this nation did so - wittingly or not - in the spirit of Christ. Neither He nor they wanted to die, but most went willingly (if reluctantly) to face death and the enemy, so that we wouldn't have to.  The least we can do is give them a moment of silent reflection, with a whispered "Thank you" for those who never returned home. Heroes deserve to be honored.

The Other Big Wave

If you haven't already heard (and you probably haven't if you get your news the vast majority of the blamestream media), Glenn Beck's own news site, The Blaze, followed by the Business Insider, has broken yet another potentially huge national story. It seems that last weekend, former SEIU official Stephen Lerner gave a talk at Pace University in which he outlined a plan to disrupt, overwhelm and collapse the US banking system, Wall Street and the NY Stock Exchange, and pin the blame on JP Morgan Chase. If what Lerner said in this public forum isn't at least seditious or outright treasonous, I'm not sure how you would define those terms anymore. And apparently, most media outlets don't either, because the sound from the usual talking heads (including, so far, even Fox News) you're hearing about this story are overridden by the sound of a pin dropping. Thankfully, at least one congressman had the courage to seek an official investigation. The question is, will this malAdministration respond to his request?

To be clear, I have no particular allegiance to, or particular fondness for any of those financial institutions. They are, however, to varying degrees crucial for the exchange of goods and services in this country, and I would venture to say that virtually every American - as well as our interdependent world - has a stake in keeping the economy going. If you're working, you want to be able to keep working and buying those little things in life like food and fuel.

Even if you're a human sponge who could work but refuses, instead living off the backs of the taxpayers, you still depend on the system working, because government doesn't really create anything other than red tape and problems.  And if the economy collapses like these ultra-Left goons want, before too long welfare coupons are going to be replaced with whips, involuntary work parties and soup lines, so....support your local evil rich bastards.  You know; those men and women who take the financial risks building businesses that provide jobs, so workers can pay taxes that make your life of relative ease and nonproductivity possible, and whose companies make the things you're so fond of having without earning.

Oh, does that sound harsh? Try earning a living and then having a big chunk of your earnings taken from you by force of law and given to people who laugh at your stupidity for working. Now, that's harsh.

Deserting principles.  Thousands of miles away from the disaster in Japan, another catastrophe is occuring that also has the potential to affect life well beyond the borders of the nation in which it is focused.  The second tsunami that is presently happening in the world is the wave of uprisings throughout the Muslim countries of North Africa and Southwest Asia.

The recent attacks by Western powers, ostensibly in support of Libyan rebels, has opened up a new can of worms for the US in particular, because it highlights the current schizophrenic character of the nation and especially the malAdministration.

Surpassing even the expectations of most on the center-right, President Obama has succeeded in pissing off both the Left and the Right;, and the farther from the middle you get, the more outrageous the reactions. In Congress, both sides of the aisle were taken aback by Obama's flippant disregard for his limited constitutional authority and the end game. But when you essentially command the entire government and get most of your dirty work done by bypassing the checks and balances through Executive Orders and regulatory maneuvering, and are in cahoots with some of the most powerful unions and power-hungry billionaires in the country, I guess you can afford to be flippant.

 

 

At this point in the play, the final act has yet to be determined, but the costs of Obama's War are escalating even faster than his incomprehensibly unwavering knack for finding new ways to drive up our consumer price index. After all, cruise missiles don't come cheap (at $1.5 million a shot), and we're expending a lot of our inventory in this new intervention. Fortunately, within the past day Obama has been looking for an "exit strategy" to offset his warlike presidential pretensions.

Muslims in the Philippines

protest US attacks in Libya

Donald Trump asked some pertinent questions earlier this week in context of the recent flurry of Islamic revolutions: Western nations (mostly the US, Britain and France) trained and equipped the Arab nations' military forces, which are used mostly for show and suppression of their own people. If the Arab League wants us to do their dirty work for them, why aren't they ponying up to cover our costs? Of course, the obvious answer is that the sheiks, kings and other puppet masters in the region don't want to inflame their own hair-trigger-temperment peoples any more than necessary; and besides, why get your own hands dirty when you can convince those gullible westerners to do your dirty work for you and take the blame?

 

 

I can't help the feeling that we're being conned yet again. The whiners of the League conveniently put away their distaste for dealing with powerful women and enjoined Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who in turn apparently convinced the Empty Suit in the White House (on yet another foreign "Let's push the US further into energy dependence and poverty" trip to Brazil at the most critical time) to interfere.  I think our intercession into Libya is doing little more than furthering the Muslim Brotherhood's goal (assisted by communists) of expanding their foothold and ripening the field for their dream of a regional (and eventually global) Caliphate.

 

 

Animal Farm.  A lot of news time - too much time, actually -  has been taken up in recent weeks chronicling the gross misbehavior of what are baselessly assumed to be young adults. An epidemic of sporadic fistfights, bar fights, spontaneous riots and the trashing of family restaurants has demonstrated to the viewing world that America is no longer the idyllic place that drew millions looking for a chance to make a new life.

Instead the "Me-generation" (or as I am growing to regard many of them, "Gen-Xcrement"), the kids who have been raised with all the benefits of their parents' labors and on the backs of those who came before them in honor and integrity, seemingly have decided that the world is their personal playpen (or as is often the case, their pig-pen). Disassociated with either social mores or personal responsibility, these young, pampered mongrels seem determined to destroy every vestige of what we oldsters (how did I get here?) used to think of as "civilization." While much of this moral descendency is an accident of omission (because each successive generation of parents is less-informed or less concerned with parenting skills), a huge portion of this societal dissonance is being deliberately invoked by sinister agents of change," including the union-dominated public school system and most of our formerly-prestigious universities.

I mentioned in a previous rant that creationist-evangelist Ken Ham had once said that it only takes one generation to raise a race of savages; meaning that without diligent teaching and reinforcment of good moral behavior, a culture will soon revert to their most primitive instincts and unrestrained lusts. I would venture to say that based on the abundant evidence, his statement is no longer merely conjecture.

Presumed authorities on child-rearing have tricked us into pouring profuse love on our children without demanding responsibility and respect in return. We then put them into the "caring hands" of a hostile, subversive and corrpt education system.   In sparing both the 'rod' and substantive education, we have unwittingly lay cast to the next generation of heathen Nazis; and I mean that in the most literal and horrifying terms.  May God save us all from our sins of omission.

Sea change

Japan's catastrophic recent events have not abated in recent days; they have merely 'adjusted' into different forms. As the tsunami withdrew, it left a sea of debris. What were previously thousands of tidy little homes and well-tended streets have become near-impassible mazes of tangled and hazardous wreckage that blocks survivors and rescuers alike. Once-familiar neighborhoods have become   unrecognizable piles of trash, splintered building materials, and too often, victims.

Americans who have witnessed tornado damage or Hurricane Katrina could easily sympathize. But even they would not be able to relate to the additional hazard faced by the Japanese. With five nuclear reactors out of action, two nuclear plant explosions (the second hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima facility was felt 30 miles away) and the danger of exposed nuclear fuel rods contaminating the air, there are real and continuing dangers to deal with (although admittedly, there was some concern during the Three Mile Island incident).

On the other hand - and despite the press' obsession with its "If it bleeds, it leads" mentality, things are reportedly proceeding along better than if it had happened in most other countries. For all the hysteria worldwide over the ongoing nuclear disaster, Japan's reactors have shown themselves to be extremely robust, thus far limiting escape of major radioactivity. Also, the Japanese emergency procedures, which are in large part being forged as they go along, has shown reasonable success to this point considering the circumstances. That radiation which has escaped in the blasts has been mostly low-level radiation with a relatively short half-life, although there is still plenty of reason for concern. Looking foward, emerging technology holds the very real promise of substantially safer nuclear power generation, if we don't get shied away from it altogether by the perennial naysayers.

Japan's national bank attempted to stabilize their tanking stock market situation by injecting 7 trillion yen ($85.5 billion) into money markets, essentially copying the United States' drive toward self-induced hyperinflation. At least the Japanese have a good reason: immediate survival. The government there is also doing its best at minimizing panic among its citizens, even as it struggles to get aid to the survivors.

And perhaps it is the story of the people themselves that is the most compelling aspect of this national and international tragedy. Yes, they've made serious mistakes in the past, as have we. But they seem to have winnowed the chaff from much of their general character traits, choosing to learn from those mistakes and recreate themselves, building off the best parts of their heritage. What now appears to the world to be a deeply-rooted aspect of Japan's national character has been variously described as humble, confident, determined, quietly heroic and stoic.

American talking heads are shocked to hear there hasn't been any reports of looting, but perhaps the real question should be, "Why should there be any looting?"  America has long been - or used to be - an example of courage, self-sacrifice, and integrity; but the example of the Japanese people following this unbelievable catastrophe has literally put us to shame, because typical American behavior in recent years (excepting immediately following 9-11-01) has been nothing short of shameful. While the Japanese have been generally unselfish, patient, reserved, and indefatigable, we have been resentful, belligerent, impatient, disrespectful of the views of others, and violent. And that's mostly just the unions.

Meanwhile, as natural disasters claim thousands of lives and threaten millions more, and as people struggle for freedom against relentless tyrannies, economies plunge, political dystrophy fractures the nation, the culture is devolving downward, and America continues to pay too much and depend too much on unreliable foreign sources, the leader of the formerly-greatest nation on Earth deals with his seemingly biggest problem, getting his golf handicap down and wowing the club crowd.

Yep; as the world burns, America's version of ancient Rome's Nero does a stand-up act as a comedian  and takes time out of his busy vacation and golf schedule to handicap NCAA teams for the coming season. He apparently doesn't realize that his funniest bit is his feeble and shallow attempts at leadership. Or, it would be funny, if it weren't so tragic for hundreds of millions of people directly and indirectly affected by his misanthropic, grossly unpresidential antics. While criticism of his lack of leadership might be expected from Fox News and National Review, his royalesque, "Let them eat cake"-like attitude also (finally?) hasn't gone unnoticed by Obama's all-things-Demoncrat cheerleaders in the press and by the voters themselves, many of whom are currently expressing a growing disapproval of Obama's job performance.

Of course, that might be expected since he's never really held a job where he has been forced to demonstrate personal responsibility before (and has yet to accept it in his present role).  His fervor to turn America into a near-future Dystopia seems to be bearing bitter fruits. Recently, an invitation to dialogue with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was rebuffed by Egyptian revolutionaries, and an invitation from Obama to meet with Wayne LaPierre, president of the National Rifle Association, was also curtly (and rightly, in my opinion) turned down, especially in light of his response to Obama's recent anti-gun op-ed in the Arizona Star.

Simply stated, Barack Obama is the colloquial "empty suit." It isn't that he's lackluster - luster has been furnished by a legion of political lackeys doing the bidding of the 'wizards behind the curtain' - it's that he lacks any sort of presidentially-imperative trait, period.

I have become convinced through an ever-expanding universe of evidence that Barack Obama is neither as brilliant as he was portrayed by the absolutely fawning liberal press and media, nor the least interested in the best interests of this nation which he has sworn to protect. To the contrary, there are only two conclusions that fit: either he was specifically chosen for a combination of hyper-egotism and intellectual vapidness, or he is deliberately ignoring all but the most superficial performance of his duties for the express purpose of sowing chaos within this nation and fomenting a profound distrust and disrespect for the United States throughout the rest of the world by his continual disengagement from real issues and his contempt for the office and for our heritage. It is obviously not his heritage.

This is probably a good point to inject a reminder of how important it is to make at least some preparation for disasters. With the rising prices of food and other commodities, shortages are bound to occur quickly during a crisis, especially because there are typically no more than two or three days' supply of anything in most stores anymore.  While most real catastrophes happen too suddenly to search out all you can find on short notice and stock the car with everything you'll want to take with you, it is important to have something at hand that can be quickly grabbed and evacuate, even if you don't have a vehicle.

A "go-bag" should be prepared for each member of the family, among other disaster preparations. Don't wait until the sirens sound (if they even do) to begin a frantic search for things you'll likely need in a pinch ("Dude; did you really need to take that latte machine?") There are few guarantees in life, but one sure thing is that you cannot always depend on the goodness of others for your survival. You may not get a second chance if you carelessly blow the first one.

Slip, sliding away.  As we ponder how Japan will recover from this horrendous blow, we should also ask ourselves:  How long can a society remain afloat when one-third of our population is on welfare?

Our own nation, which until a few years ago was a world leader in finance, agriculture, manufacturing, technology, and diplomacy - as well as the leader for international charity in major disasters - has over only two years been "fundamentally transformed" into a relatively placid, effectually flaccid, self-deprecated shell of a former power, with little more than the arrogance of disbelief to sustain us.

For example, our so-called Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton recently deflated the hopes of Libyan rebels hoping for a "no-fly zone" in their fight to free themselves from the tyranny of Muammar Khadaffi (pick your own spelling). She did this by telling the world press that "Absent international authorization, the United States acting alone would be stepping into a situation whose consequences are unforeseeable." Apparently, no one has told Ms. Clinton that there are always unforeseeable consequences under such circumstances. While she and her fellow Alinskyites have no problem fomenting, tacitly supporting revolution against their own country, when it comes to people truly oppressed by tyrannical regimes she seems content to let the freedom fighters languish and be consumed by vengeful and merciless dictators. Does she actually believe that a world body currently governed by a legion of dictatorial regimes would be better disposed to help the Libyan people than the United States? 

Fortunately, the US and the UN Security Council finally got off their collective asses and determined to restrain Libya's leading megalomaniac. Come to think of it, could it have been simply Obama unwilling to put up with the ego competition?

Let me be clear; I'm not looking for the US to get involved in yet another foreign war. I'm now at the point of kissing off Afghanistan, since their people seem not overly interested in our help, and we don't seem interested in winning the war, in view of our current lack of leadership. And we certainly can't count on attrition as an effective strategy. But I believe there are things we could do to show, once and for all, which side we're on regarding Libya.

In my humble opinion, people fighting for freedom from true oppression are justified in their rebellion, and they should get whatever support that freedom-loving people are able to provide. Perhaps our reluctance is the result of so few Americans recognizing what true oppression looks like anymore. One thing is certain; the rebellion will fail if they don't receive the sort of help they need soon. If that happens, no similar movement will look to or trust the US for assistance, and will undoubtedly look at us as just one more foe. But perhaps that is precisely the effect our current malAdministration is really looking for.

It Makes My Head Spin

Have you ever tried to talk to someone who changes their mind thirty times a minute? It can be just a little frustrating because you can never really tell where they stand on an issue - and sometimes, neither do they. Now try to imagine that when you're listening to the President of the United States (POTUS).

After two years of doing everything he can to demonize capitalism, trash the US economy, and emplace an infrastructure designed to convert the nation into one big socialist hegemony, Obama suddenly makes an about-face, penning a piece in the Wall Street Journal praising the very economic miracle that he has been so intent on replacing with...what?  Some imaginary socialist warm-fuzzy ideal where everyone can have everything they need, most of what they want, and never have to face a bill (unless they pay taxes)? Don't get too wrapped up in the idealism that progressives like Obama spout, because they haven't really thought them through, as evidenced by the chaos of 'unintended consequences' that lie in the wake of virtually every policy they enact.

For example, on the heels of lavishly entertaining China's president Hu , he flew to the original home of General Electric (and, incidentally, the Age of Electricity) telling workers in a turbine-manufacturing plant, "We're goin' back to Thomas Edison's principles; we're gonna build stuff and invent stuff."

That sounds great for what amounts to an early stump speech for 2012, and perhaps encouraging to workers who have seen that jobs can no longer be taken for granted, but how does it mesh with the tangled framework of potentially business-crippling new rules that have been introduced (so far) by his army of regulatory czars. And I don't think it rings true to the hundreds of Boeing workers being laid off despite several brand-new multi-billion-dollar government contracts. And GE (the company that brought the electric light to the world) is moving the last of its last light bulb manufacturing plants from Ohio...to China. Oh, but wait; a new light-bulb plant may open in Ohio - owned by a Chinese company.  Anyone see a pattern here?

Granted, to the uninitiated Obama's article and speeches will seem swell, especially with highlights such as his talk of claiming (wait for it) "Over the past two years, the goal of my administration has been to strike the right balance." He made that statement in concert with the signing of an executive order requiring regulation to be agreeable with economic growth and to "cut red tape."  Time will tell how far that goes.

The president's new take on jobs is interesting, especially since the perception of many is that his first two years have been a disaster for this nation's economy, defense, sovereignty, ecology and sanity. During his tenure the national discourse has become, more than ever, a form of internecine warfare instead of rational debate. Between his apparently subconscious inability to stand with dignity in the presence of other leaders and his embarrassingly quick tendency to jump to conclusions without knowing the facts, this president has suceeded in keeping the entire country unified in one condition: unbalanced.

Seeds of discontent.  There are many Americans who are blissfully unaware of how huge agricorporations have been spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the years developing new strains of fruits, vegetables, grains, and to some extent, animals that find their way onto our dinner tables and into our lunchboxes. The objective has been to develop foods that are more disease-resistant, hardier (to grow in more adverse climates), more productive, insect-resistant (in the case of plants), and of course, huge money-makers. Unfortunately, when that last point comes into play (usually first, middle and last place), the other points tend to take a back seat. And in some case, waayyy back.

For instance, an outside study of transgenic corn developed by megacorp Monsanto reveals evidence of toxicity that contradicts the manufacturer's claims, and which may put a large portion of the food chain at risk.  Apparently, the corn includes a self-produced insecticide that may lead to kidney impairment, weight gain (particularly in females), and may be linked to the massive deaths of entire colonies of honeybees, which are absolutely essential for the pollination of many food crops.

Another controversy Monsanto is involved in is the so-called 'terminator' seed technology, in which hybrid seeds for commercial crops are specifically designed to produce higher yields, but are also sterile, meaning that new seeds must be purchased from the manufacturer for each season's crop. The perceived danger is that those hybrid seeds may eventually contaminate and damage the viability of natural, native crops, which would in turn wreak destruction on the food supply - especially if the supply train for the hybrids was somehow impaired (say through natural disaster, terrorism or other calamity). In a worst-case scenario, that could mean slow death by starvation for potentially billions of people worldwide.

Another school of thought.  Do you know anyone planning to shell out big bucks to send their kids to college? They might have second thoughts to learn that according to at least one study 45% of students aren't learning anything by the end of their sophomore year, and as many as 36% showed little improvement after four years of college.

In a recent article detailing the work of two graduates who actually did learn something in college, we learn that they have published their findings in a book titled, "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses." In it, the authors note that half of students never took a course where they had to write as few as 20 pages during an entire semester, and a third didn't have so much as 40 pages of required reading. One freshman said that most of her first year at college was more of a review of her senior year in high school. Others claim that universities were more likely to produce professional partiers instead of refined intellects. Not exactly pushing the envelope of personal development.

The article notes with a hint of irony that the report comes as the federal government argues for more college graduates in order to remain globally comptetitive. One of the authors, Richard Arum of NYU, responds to that by stating, "It's not the case that giving out more credentials is going to make the U.S. more economically competitive. It requires academic rigor ... You can't just get it through osmosis at these institutions."

That's an interesting insight, considering many colleges themselves have worked hard to de-educate Americans over the past several decades, with increasingly lax standards and an emphasis on progressive indoctrination instead of intellectual rigor.  Apart from the technical institutions (MIT, RPI, etc.) which generally continue to produce many exemplary graduates (unfortunately, many of them foreign exchange students who take their knowledge and potential home with them), most colleges now seem to pander to people looking for a free ride to the nearest party. Hard work and long-term dedication are replaced with sports scholarships or Daddy's checkbook; engaging and demanding curricula are replaced with meaningless liberal-arts and socialist revolution-oriented 'political science' courses designed to radicalize their worldview instead of expanding their reasoning ability, and a collegiate social experience more akin to tribal enclaves of Dark Age barbarians instead of the hallowed institutions of higher learning (two words that are virtual antonyms in many modern colleges) which produced so many truly enlightened and productive minds.

The gist of this is, if you're planning to bankroll your child's future with college tuition, keep in mind that unless you've raised a son or daughter with a high degree of focus and toleration for hard work, you should be prepared for a substantial loss in your investment. And your man/woman-child should prepare for a life much less accomplished than they may be imagining, because the 'best things in life' seldom make a magical appearance.

Mincing words

President Obama (I hate using those two words together) recently reminded us how totally foreign he is to the historicity, traditions and foundational values of this nation. Speaking before the Hispanic Caucus, he recited (no doubt, teleprompted) a key portion of the Declaration of Independence, but he just couldn't bring himself to say the two essential words, "their Creator".  It was a magic moment, watching his long, uncomforable pause and near-grimace as he obviously mulled whether to recite the phrase from one of our two most important founding documents, and then literally refused - like a stubborn child - to say the words that give honor to a higher Power. Yes, Barack, there certainly is a higher power than you. And perhaps you should consider not getting so high that you forget that little fact.

But let me give him the benefit of doubt. Perhaps it really is just his Marxist upbrining that prevented him from mouthing those four syllables. After all, he was raised by a family that probably never used (at least not in the same context as most of us) "honor," "patriotism," "righteousness" "heritage" and other words that were ingrained in generations of Americans within their family, through their church, and yes - way back then (the 1950s and before) - even in public school. His environment growing up, especially at Harvard, was filled with the terminology of Marxist revolution, of socialism's impractical ideals, of Islam's merciless demand for perfect obedience and total disregard for the lives and property of "infidels."  Realizing that personal history, it becomes easier to understand his seemingly latent hatred and abject disregard for the well-being of United States, its citizens, our economy and our national security.  He's just misunderstood by most of us.  We should all tolerate and support him and his grand vision for Amerika.

Nah, just kidding. Just because he grew up in a broken home with broken ideals, was thrust into a religion of virulent hatred and violence, and spent nearly his entire life surrounded by marxists doesn't excuse his Macchiavellian scheming to undermine and destroy this nation's independence, stability and safety (any more than it excuses Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, the George Bushes or any others who have contributed to our downward slide).  We are all held to account for our actions.

The truth, the Truth and common sense have been out there all along, but some people simply either discount it or ignore it. Many others seem to find it, and relish it as the firm foundation for their lives. Most of us will recognize a point in our life where we have to make a decision that will affect the rest of that life (and the lives around us in one way or another). I am one of those who believes in God and His perfect justice, and trusts in His Son.  After decades of foolishness and self-destructive behavior, He finally woke me up. I came to recognize that I'm a sinner (and so are you), and that I can never get out of my own way without His Grace, Mercy, and Forgiveness. And because of the road I was on and the world I see around me, I have to believe there is a special, lower region of Hell reserved for those who intentionally do the greatest harm to the greatest number of people.  Jeez, I hate how many times I just used that most personal pronoun. Don't you?

Anyway, I do hope and pray that Obama and his band of bothers will see the light and begin to undo their damage - hopefully before the lights go out for all of us.  It would save so many people from so much grief and suffering.

Is that a tingle up my leg? One person who definitely doesn't mince words is NJ Governor Chris Christie, the fast-rising superstar of the American Right.  Blending equal parts honesty, bluntness and just plain common sense, Christie has become a galvanizing figure for Americans who are sick and tired of dishonest, disingenuous doublespeak from our leaders. I don't know if he's planning an extended trip to the White House anytime soon, but there are a lot of us (and his fan base is growing rapidly) who would like to see him sitting behind the Resolute desk - with his feet firmly on the floor. I believe he would do it honor; our friends would be relieved, and our enemies would tremble.

Johnny get your gun!?  As I peruse Facebook, a common theme for many self-professed conservative participants is the not-so-veiled threat of armed "counter-revolution." For every perceived egregious government action, they are ready to pick up a gun and...what?  Start shooting? At whom? To what end?

The problem is, I believe that's exactly the reaction some in the government - the "Never let a good crisis go to waste" types - want.  As well-meaning (and perhaps eventually necessary) as it might seem at the time, it would be their perfect excuse to pull out all the stops; martial law, complete silence on the internet, restriction of food and energy supplies, travel restrictions ("Your papers, please"...without the "please"), mass detentions and show trials.

All you have to do is to study the history of the early Soviet Union to see where we're headed if we stay on this course. That's not a place I want to go, nor see my family go, because when we are toppled there will be no one to come to our rescue. "Revolutionaries" will be picked up and picked off, never to be heard from again. The technology isn't nearly as primitive as it was a century ago; we live in the perfect environment for a total police state.

Don't be one of those folks who deludes themselves into thinking we can win that war; our military (increasingly, the police state's military) has been studying how to combat insurgents since we fought the Moros in the Phillipines. It's only a matter of the lack of political will and secret agendas that has prevented us from winning every conflict since then. When the 'loyal opposition' finds itself in an internment camp, the 'political will' will be very reminiscent of the Soviet purges. Look to the holodomor as a worst-case scenario; Stalin's deliberate starvation to death of millions of Ukrainians during the 1920s.

You don't think today's leaders have the psychological capacity to be that cruel? Remember when Glenn Beck played an old video interview with an FBI agent who infiltrated the Weathermen in the early 70s heard them clearly express their willingness to kill 25 million of their fellow Americans who might be resistant to 'reeducation'?  Think it can't happen here?  Many of the Weathermen, SDS and other revolutionaries of that time are now walking the halls of the White House and manning many of its "czarocracies".  This potential is nothing new.  Keep in mind that the Germans were among the most advanced nations during Hitler's rise to power. With the proper amount of psychological conditioning, reeducating and "nudging," it is amazing what you can get people to do, or to ignore.  Outside of a relatively benign social environment, human behavior hasn't shown any significant improvement since Cain had that little disagreement with his brother Abel.

Parting the waters.  I have to admit, while I believe strongly in the Bible, in God, and in Jesus Christ, my faith is not blind. I base it on corraborated testimony, logic, common sense, and evidence.  In particular, while my faith doesn't entirely depend on evidence, I joy to see it, however circumstantial.

New findings such as the scientific feasibility of the Red Sea parting are exciting and gratifying.  I've heard this theory before, but this is the first time I've seen it given any scientific credence. While such evidence is purely speculative ( and their are dissenting views) due to the extreme passage of time and the inability to detect or discover any other factors not anticipated by modern researchers, it is still an intriguing prospect. And after all is said and done, wouldn't God - the Creator of all matter and energy - be able to manipulate His creation (such as light, radiation, gravity, weather, etc.) to produce the effects He wants?

Always leave 'em laughing.  Have you ever - for whatever reason (and sometimes it isn't even apparent to you) - started laughing uncontrollably?  I've done it a few times, to the point it brought literal tears of joy to my eyes. The outgoing Swiss finance minister found himself in just such a moment recently, while he was giving an otherwise-boring political response to a parliamentary question about cured meat imports. While his laughing jag may not be the stuff of political legend, he certainly has become a YouTube viral hit. Even though his raucous outbursts are somewhat sublime by our standards, it's a great lesson; we all need to break it up now and then. It's good for the soul, it's good medicine for the body, and it's a great reminder not to take ourselves too seriously all the time.

What Is Truth?

I tend to think that Truth has been an elusive element for virtually every politician (and person) who has ever lived, with the exceptions of Jesus Christ, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln (and I have doubts about the last two). That being said, I can't think of another President, let alone any politician, who has allowed Truth to evade his lips more than Barack Hussein Obama. Of course, it could be simply that he's a lot dumber than millions of fellow Demoncrats and Progressives think he is. But whether he's trying to change geography ("I've been to,  what... 57 states; and I think I've got one left to go."), or explain  how his pre-pubescent father served in World War 2 (when he was born in 1936), to his steady diet of political misstruths Barack has given us all a new interpretation of "truth" and "transparency."

But just think of the lessons Dear Leader is trying to teach us poor, dumb, non-Harvard hicks. He and Michelle reportedly don't give their own daughters Christmas or birthday presents (although they do take the children on exotic vacations) and they only give them a dollar a week for chores. Perhaps this is to teach them that magnetic spirit of Christian "social" generosity they learned in Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years; that it's more blessed to expect the government to give you money it takes from others, than to give your own money away. It's probably a way to teach us all how life will be under full-fledged socialism as well, although I can't see the millions of union members who paved his way to power being very pleased with him when the collective feces hits their personal fan.

Smile, you're on (very) candid camera.  While the president may be the most visible proponent of official dissembling, be assured that it is endemic throughout the government. For instance, it turns out that the images that those super body-scanners at the airport and other high-security facilities which can see your most intimate physical details through clothing have been kept on file, at least in some locations. At least one courthouse in Florida saved "tens of thousands" of high-resolution body scans, and you know it wasn't the only one. Now we're told that the devices don't record facial details too; but then, they told us they didn't save the images, either.

The greater lesson here is that we can no longer put any trust in our media, our teachers, or our leaders. the media has become largely a propaganda arm of the ruling party, the schools have been brainwashing our kids with socialism, and that last group has always invited wise doubt.  We cannot trust those whose duty used to be to educate us in truth. Considering that Jesus Christ - the Ultimate Truth - came to earth to set us free from the lies and deceptions, it becomes clearly true that we no longer know, nor too often, value, truth.

Speaking of pictures.  One of the coolest internet services to come along in recent years has been Google Earth, the global mapping program that will literally take you down to a front-door view of a rapidly expanding portion of the civilized world. The downside of this miracle of technology is that it lends itself to exploitation for a number of purposes, (yes, I'll say it) for good or for evil. One town in New York is now using the program to spot "illegal" private swimming pools that might have been built without obtaining the proper permits and, of course, paying the taxes.

It should without saying that this won't be the only invasive use of Google Earth. It's getting more and more difficult to remain independent and relatively unencumbered by a philosophy that requires the thumbprint of government on each of our foreheads.  Given the opportunity (which I'm sure is diminishing rapidly), I'd tend to build a home underground, just to avoid the prying eyes in the sky.

Dis-honor killing.  Muslim "honor killings" are increasing at an alarming rate in America as Islam continues its full-frontal cultural assault against us. A Pakistani man near Buffalo, NY decapitated his wife in February 2009 when she told him she wanted a divorce. Ironically, he ran an Islamic TV network that purported to fight Islamic "stereotypes."  Good job, there.

This weekend, Fox News goes where the lamestream media fears to tread, showing us once again the ugly side of Islam with a special report by Gregg Jarrett.  [By the way, will someone please show me the good side of Islam?] The tragic and brutal murders of Amina (age 17) and Sarah (age 18) Said by their own father, Yaser Abdel Said, are the current most-publicized incident of woefully-misnamed "honor killings." On New Year's Day in 2008, under the pretense of taking his daughters out to eat, he shot them both multiple times in the back of his cab and just walked away.

Said is still on the loose, and is wanted by the FBI. It is unknown if he is still in this country or has returned to his native Egypt. Curiously, the agency removed the phrase "honor killings" from its original wanted poster under protest from Islamic groups who claimed it "attached a religious motive" to the crime. Well, yeah; ya'think?  Incidentally, Yaser Said married the girls' mother when she was only 15 and he was 30. In hindsight, she thinks he might have married her to get his "green card."  Said reportedly had beaten, abused and threatened his wife during their 20 years of marriage.

I'll admit that I have little real understanding of Islam past the usual references to "72 virgins." Really; what happens after you've used up all 72...retreads? Steal someone else's unused virgins? And what, exactly, do women get out of Islamic Paradise, when they're told that their entire life must be dedicated to unquestioning and unhesitant slavery?

That aside, I cannot envision worshiping in a religion that requires, let alone allows a parent to cold-bloodedly murder his own daughters merely because they might be dating someone the father disagrees with (although there are certainly a lot of dads who'd want to take a baseball bat to the guys dating their sweet little girl) or "becoming too Western." And before you Christophobes give me the line about Abraham and Isaac; that was a lesson God provided for him and us, and He didn't allow Abraham to go through with it. In fact there are several instances in the Bible where God indicates his love for children and his hatred for those who abuse them.  But I am unable to find anything honorable in the Islamic "duty" of Islamic men to murder their daughters and wives for "honor" and offer their sons as "martyrs" for jihad. Frankly, that's a cultural gulf I'd rather not cross.

Lessons to take from this:

1. Be wary of foreign strangers who flatter you and push a relationship on you, especially if they aren't full citizens (regardless of religion, race or nationality).
2. If you are pondering a relationship, pay attention to how they speak about you and your family among their own family and friends. Are they respectful? Insulting of your culture? Threatening? Dishonest?
3. If they are threatening or abusive, get out of there! What, are you nuts?

The Party's Over?

Anyone familiar with the work of Saul Alinsky will recognize that one method used to wear an enemy down is to isolate them from their friends and allies. That gameplan seems to be playing out in Barack Obama's foreign policy strategy, or lack thereof.

Obama's intentional snub of Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu is perhaps understandable (albeit despicable), considering his Muslim preferences. And the dissing of Poland and Georgia might be dismissed as political expedience (of the cowardly type) in the face of Russia's resurgent aggressiveness and Obama's communist leanings. But some other snubs are more difficult to fathom.

Take Great Britain, for instance. The Brits have been one of our most stalwart allies for more than a century. The fact that we saved them from utter defeat in two world wars probably has something to do with it, not to mention Winston Churchill had an American mother, and there is that English language thing. The British have stood with us faithfully, but that may be about to change.

Barack Obama himself has gone out of his way to insult the Brits since he took over the Oval Office. Sending back a bust of Churchill, having photos taken with his feet up on the Resolute desk, giving PM Gordon Brown cheap DVDs that can't be played on European equipment and giving the Queen an iPod with his "greatest speeches"; these are not the hallmarks of honoring a valuable ally.

Now the Obama malAdministration is adding to the insults by supporting Argentina's illegitimate claim to the Falkland Islands, which the British Navy and Royal Marines had to take back by force after an Argentinian invasion in 1982. Needless to say, the Brits are getting just a little disenchanted...no...angry with our wannabe messiah.

The excuse for this behavior has been attributed to a report that Obama's grandfather was tortured by the British during the Kenyan rebellion of the mid-20th century. I can understand this, also, from a purely human instinct perspective. Still, such personalization of international relations has not been the hallmark of American presidents, and it does nothing to enhance either our international standing or our national security.

Bullet points for the week: 

• I haven't said much about the BP disaster, but the effects are growing exponentially. Plus, it's beginning to  look like a classic "bait and switch" operation to enable this malAdministration to grab even more power through Cap and Tax. And if that weren't bad enough, some Democrats are looking at the $20 billion extorted from the company by Obama as a way to fund the unsupportable Obamacare plan instead of repairing the Gulf.
• Retired Maj. General Paul Vallely has called for Obama and his cabinet to resign, citing his "incompetence, corruptness, fraud, lying, and treasonous occurrences in his administration which are violations of his oath and violation of the Constitution, but also his entire political apparatus in Washington and those who contributed to the corruption."
• Newsweek continues to mark its decline as a reputable news publication, this time by assigning Princeton-uneducated intern Isia Jasiewicz to review Glenn Beck's newest New York Times Number 1 bestselling fiction (Beck calls it "faction" because it is based on actual events and political strategies) novel, The Overton Window.  Unfortunately for Newsweek, the intern had the audacity (a hallmark of this generation, apparently) to admit she'd only read 10 pages of the book. Adding to the self-humiliation (which I don't believe she'll even notice) that she writes at the end of the "review", she takes a swipe at F. A. Hayek's masterwork "The Road To Serfdom", that Beck had spoken about on his program - which in turn, elevated that 1944 publication to the NYT No. 1 spot. Unfortunately, she puts her ignorance of Hayek and the topic in print for all (who are willing to check) to see.

• The Obama malAdministration has decided to sue the state of Arizona for defending itself by passing a law - which reflects federal laws that federal agencies are refusing to enforce. This is not just a punitive measure against the state for going against what the feds think is their private power reserve, it's also a means to intimidate other states away from resisting the force of the federal behemoth. It is the "Chicago Mob" rules in play.

The Bell tolls for thee...  If you want an understanding of where we are and how we got here, catch Part 1 and Part 2 of an interview with former KGB operative Yuri Besmenov (it apparently dates from the 1980s). I learned of this master plan to conquer the US years ago, but I've never heard it crystallized so clearly by someone who should know how the brainwashing of America was accomplished.

The essence of what Besmenov speaks of is the indoctrination of children (here, here, and others) and it isn't just happening in this country; Obama is being used to indoctrinate Muslim children overseas) who then grow up with the virtually unshakeable belief that Obama is literally their messiah. This has been shown to be an effective tactic, most visibly in the Hitler Youth movement.

Another worrisome sign is the incrreasing chorus from the loony Left ( MSNBCs Ed Schultz, Woody Allen, Rosie O'Donell unflinchingly and clearly calling for Obama to become a dictator. We have reached the point of becoming a nation that has been intentionally made to forget its heritage.