COMPUTER DAZE!

WHY ME LORD?

Ever find yourself looking towards heaven and crying out this familiar phrase? The times I most often hear it emanate from my lips is when I'm trying to make some changes to my computer system. This time it should have been real simple. Changing my ISP from a dial up to a cable modem. Sounds simple right? Just call 'em up and have 'em do it.

That works fine for any other house on your block. Would have worked well for this house except!!! My computer was manufactured in the bowels of hell.

I'll back up a bit.

Since my recent surgery my daughter has come over to keep an eye on me. You know, make sure I don't go through the fall over and can't get up scenario. She brought her computer over and the 2 machines sit near side by side. She is not satisfied with my dialup service and has convinced me I need to upgrade services. I was ready for the change and agreed amiably. Cable comes in and with a router both computers are hooked to it. Hers works wonderfully. Mine will not. I have been through 1 week plus of hell trying to make this stupid machine work. Her still connects fine. I thought for sure I would have them both mucked up by now and I could kill them both with a hammer, but no. Just mine is the one I'm gonna get to beat mercilessly.

I can still get online through the dialup but the cable company will not issue my machine an IP address. I force fed an IP address and it worked for 2 days. But static numbers are not acceptable. They issued a new IP and my machine will not accept/read it. I'm left blowin' in the wind... Daughters computer still works fine. Worst thing is I was quickly spoiled with the speed of the cable. That is when I get it to work for an hour at a time. In a couple days my daughter will go back to her house, take her machine and really leave me in a tizzy. Good thing I'm bald so I won't be tearing my hair out.

I call up the cable company and they go through some major changes trying to find the problem. They read my daughters machine fine. Mine is there in a hazy 'Wizard of Oz', 'man behind the curtain' sort of way. I call emachines (my manufacturer). They send me to websites that tell me to try stuff I did a week ago without their help. MS/WINXP pages are only there to fill in the blank spots on the internet. Device troubleshooters take one in a circle only to say, "Don't take your paycheck to Vegas buddy, cuz you are out of luck!" I Google the problem (on my daughters machine when I can get her away from it). I get some techy geeks talking acronyms that would leave Bill Gates scratching his head. Working different wire configurations I catch and stop myself from ripping the wires out of both machines.

Worst thing is I know it is 'one setting' in the deepest recesses of my computer that needs a simple mouse click. Perhaps I could get to it with this screwdriver and putty knife.

AND through all this I have not had a smoke for I quit counting how how many days. - OK, I had to count - 19 days. - I did break down and had a stick of gum yesterday. Sort of stale. Don't know how long it had been in the drawer. I do figure that if the stress level I've gone through with this stupid computer has not driven me back to smoking then I'm pretty much in the clear on that end.

Breath Deep, Self Control, Think Happy Thoughts, and Set the Hammer Down...

Time Magazine to turn over subpoenaed records

CNN - Time Inc. announced Thursday it would turn over the subpoenaed records from journalist Matt Cooper regarding the leak of a CIA operative's name, even though it "strongly disagrees" with the court order

I think some might look at this event as an interference between the U.S. Government and the Freedom of the Press. I see it a bit differently. I see it as setting rule of law above excuses to break the law. - For those who missed it here is a quick recap: Matt Cooper and Judith Miller of the New York Times were facing up to four months in jail for refusing to reveal their confidential sources in the "Plame is a CIA agent" revelation.

Because federal law makes it a crime to deliberately reveal the identity of a CIA operative, the Justice Department launched an investigation...
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Miller and Cooper and their news organizations decided to fight the subpoenas, although Cooper did reveal one unnamed source who released him from confidentiality pledge.
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Ironically, Miller faces jail time for refusing to reveal sources she developed during her reporting, even though she never actually wrote a story on Plame or Wilson.

Prying1 sez:
It is a no brainer. If some 'source' broke the law in revealing information to me you bet your sweet bippy the 'source' will find his name on the judges desk before the spit dries on the envelope flap... I realize I am in no way on the same playing field as the big boys in the news rooms and they need to have 'sources' that sometimes need anonymity BUT should any citizen, a newsman or not, fall on the sword for another citizen who is breaking or has broken the law.

Hypotheticals aside I think the answer should reflect the importance of the rule of law.

I love it when I don't have to work!!!

AubreyJ.org (Just another BLOGGER's website) Has said everything anybody Right or Left could say about President Bush's Tues night speech. As a four fingered typist I love it. I need only link to his post and I'm pretty much done.

Now WE (this includes you, dear reader) need only get everyone in the world to read AubreyJ's post. Then everyone can shut up and get back to work. Email the link for his post to 10 people and you will have good luck for one week. Email it to 100 people and you will have 10,000 butterflies settle upon your house.

One of the stupidest things I've heard from the left!!!

Hat tip to - Left End of The Dial - (Another Slap Happy place to visit)

Tribunal on Iraq Findings
World Tribunal on Iraq

Monday 27 June 2005

The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty, on our safety, on our future, on us all - The Jury of Conscience

Istanbul, 27 June, 2005 - With a Jury of Conscience from 10 different countries hearing the testimonies of 54 members of the Panel of Advocates who came from across the world, including Iraq, the United States and the United Kingdom, this global civil initiative came to an end with a press conference at the Hotel Armada where the chair of the Jury of Conscience, Arundathi Roy, announced the Jury's conclusions.
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Am I supposed to believe this PANEL met without any preconceived ideas on how it would turn out?
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The Jury defined this war as one of the most unjust in history: 'The Bush and Blair administrations blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in history. The Anglo-American occupation of Iraq of the last 27 months has led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi state and society. Law and order have broken down completely, resulting in a pervasive lack of human security; the physical infrastructure is in shambles; the health care delivery system is a mess; the education system has ceased to function; there is massive environmental and ecological devastation; and, the cultural and archeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been desecrated.'
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Why do groups like these ignore the hundreds of thousands raped, pillaged and murdered by Saddam and his henchmen? Why do they ignore the gassing of the Kurds?
Why do they ignore the environmental benefits Iraq has received? Why do they ignore the OIL for PAYOFF scandal with the UN?
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Perhaps this is why - Number one recommendation by this group of fool leftists!

We recommend:

1. The immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the coalition forces from Iraq;
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In other words, let the country go back to the terrorists so that mayhem continues and leaves a toehold for world socialism.

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prying1 sez: When you meet these people on the street the same treatment should be given to them as the statue of Saddam Hussein received. Beat them over the head with your shoe!!!

Space Station gets 2001 Upgrade (At Last)

Those who saw and loved the Stanley Kubrick film "2001: A Space Odyssey" will be pleased to know that the Space Station has finally upgraded 'in part' to reach the year 2001. Although the voice activated computer 'Clarissa' does not have HAL's artificial intelligence it is believed that this system will be much nicer. From what I gather the system sounds even nicer than the voices in my head.
~~~~~~~~~ Quotes from New Scientist magazine ~~~~~~~~~~~
Called Clarissa, the program will initially talk astronauts on the International Space Station through tests of onboard water supplies. But its developers hope it will eventually be used for all computer-related work on the station.
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Clarissa was designed with input from astronauts. They said it was difficult to perform the 12,000 procedures necessary to maintain the ISS and conduct scientific experiments while simultaneously reading through lengthy instruction manuals.
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Clarissa's software runs on a laptop and astronauts interact with it using a headset, which helps screen out noise from the station. The program "listens" to everything astronauts say and analyses what to do in response using a "command grammar" of 75 commands based on a vocabulary of 260 words.
**********
It accurately interprets those commands about 94% of the time, but if it makes a mistake, astronauts can correct it with commands like, "no, I meant...". But because Clarissa listens to everything, early versions of the program misinterpreted whether an astronaut was giving it a command or having an unrelated conversation about 10% of the time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personally I thought the movie stunk. Talk about boring. It did work well as a sleeping aid but I'd rather have insomnia... Hopefully Clarrissa will not put the astronauts to sleep.

(Link in NewScientist.com story to NASA video)

Moving Forward a Bit.

As I sat in this computer room/library I finally decided on Friday it was time to get back to work selling on eBay. I need to clear our some of the stacks of books. Hoping they go to homes that need/want them. I had quite a business going until a few months back and got out of the habit of listing items for sale. Mostly dealing in books but on occasion I would list other items such as printing equipment and even a 1940's stove. It went to a little cabin in Big Bear CA.

One thing I would appreciate was hooking the right book up to the right person. Usually at a discount from the online book sellers. Sometimes I would get emails from customers telling of how their niece/nephew just loved the book or a teacher saying he had to borrow a copy from a friend every year to teach a portion of his class. That one was a great deal for him. $50.00 for a hard to find book. I only saw one copy online and the bookseller wanted $200.00 for it.

Anyway, expect me to tout my eBay sales on occasion. I lucked out. Decided to start fresh with a new eBay name and guess what was available? - 'prying1' - That's right. Your (semi) favorite blogger now has the same eBay nom de plume. - Click here to check my eBay offerings.

Bottom Floor Opportunity

So I've been 'smoke free' for 10 days now. Cold Turkey/no patch or gum. Hasn't been too bad. Little urges every so often but nothing driving me to suicide or murder. Yet! Have been thinking about it a bit though. Seems I got some pleasure from tobacco that is really hard to explain. Must be some chemical in the brain sort of stuff. Some chemical that would have a person ignore the cost. Ignore the mess. Ignore the smell. Ignore the anger and hatred of others. Well sometimes that fit into the pleasure part too. Just getting people ticked at you can have a beneficial boost to the psyche and ego.

So I came up with an idea. All I have to do is figure out some product that people will willingly get addicted to. Is not illegal. They won't care what they spend on it and my manufacturing and distribution costs are minimal. Tack in a percentage to the government for "SIN TAX" (another term for political payoff)And I'm on my way. Seems though since tobacco is already run by people that wouldn't want me horning in on their action I have to come up with something different. Any suggestions??? I'll cut you in on it.

Social Security and FBI Sharing Info

Zippp! Zooommmm! Zappping through Cyberspace and suddenly I came to a screeching halt. - (Many of you may think the word screeching very apropos) - What is this??? Party of the Purple (Combination of red and blue. Get it? Got it? Good!) Mark Owen had made a list of news articles and cartoons that backed up his world view. In the midst of the list was this link to a N.Y. Times Article: "The Social Security Administration has relaxed its privacy restrictions and searched thousands of its files at the request of the FBI as part of terrorism investigations since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, newly disclosed records and interviews show." - end quote -

Well, the link actually led to a page that the Times Syndicate set up as a buffer. A log-in page. To save the privacy concerns of our more cynical readers we at prying1 did a Google Search and found that PrisonPlanet.com has the standing story and requires no sign in. Prison planet may or may not record your visit through your I.P. number. So it goes.

Which brings me back to the story. - Here are some quotes -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The privacy policy typically bans the sharing of such confidential information, which includes home addresses, medical information and other personal data. But senior officials at the Social Security agency agreed to an "ad hoc" policy that authorized the release of information to the bureau for investigations related to Sept. 11 because officials saw a "life-threatening" emergency, internal memorandums say.
............
Social Security and law enforcement officials said that they were sensitive to privacy concerns and had put safeguards in place, but that they believed that the information gave investigators a valuable tool.

"We ran thousands of Social Security numbers," said a former senior FBI official who insisted on anonymity because the files involved internal cases.

"We got very useful information, that's for sure," the former official said. "We recognized the value of having that information to track leads, and, to their credit, so did the Social Security Administration."
............
Some privacy advocates and members of Congress, although sympathetic to the extraordinary demands posed by the Sept. 11 investigation, said they were troubled by what they saw as a significant shift in privacy policies.
............
James Huse, who was the inspector general at the Social Security agency until March 2004, said his agency provided relevant identifying information to the bureau on possible terror suspects but relied on the tax agency to determine what information it would turn over on a suspect's income and employment.

The FBI requests "came in by the thousands," Mr. Huse said in an interview. "They would give us the names of people suspected of being terrorists for whatever reason, and we'd match them against Social Security indices to see if these people were real, did they have Social Security numbers, things like that."

He said that most of the names and numbers run by the bureau did not match up to Social Security records, and that he was unaware of cases of governmental abuse in the requests. Mr. Huse added that "on a big-volume name check like that you wouldn't really know if you had a frivolous name thrown in or not."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ end quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~

So the issue really is as far as I'm concerned (and really most American's), "Will the FBI swoop into my house and drag me and mine away because of info shared between government offices." Conspiracy Theorists will cry out that the issue as they see it is to protect ALL Americans from ALL government conspiracies. It may indeed be their intent but is that what they would DO if by stopping interagency sharing of info they would allow an evil person to continue his devious plots and plans unabated. Who would be howling if the government agencies had the info to take the bad guy out of circulation but would or could not because of interagency squabbles. It looks to me like the Social Security and FBI put a few safeguards in place to watch for abuse. I say they should continue working hand in hand as they are and at least share if SS #'s are valid and more info if they are not. Where do we draw the line otherwise?

Howl Away! I Think it is Funny.

OK, Rove Rant! My rant, not his. It is my blog so I get to say what I want. Rove will have to start his own blog. - I'm really enjoying the ballyhoo and watching the dust fly higher in the breeze.
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Karl Rove the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State, "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," - End Quote -
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The White House is refusing to paint him with a laser and blast him out of existence. Good for them. I wrote a quick note to president@whitehouse.gov saying, - quote - "Stand firm - No apology for or from Rove - Laugh and smirk each time
it is brought up. That'll get their goat more than anything." - end quote -
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Now the moon howlers are out in force ballyhooing how much they support our troops. Viet Nam veteran John (I voted for the money before I voted against the money after I voted against my voting again)Kerry is running around trying to look presidential and rubbing his hands like he's trying to wring the ketchup off 'em. What a jerk and I'll say that to his face.
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Told of Mr. Rove's remarks, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, replied: "In New York, where everyone unified after 9/11, the last thing we need is somebody who seeks to divide us for political purposes."

- prying1 sez: Schumer is a rectal aperture showing his ignorance or trying to deceive us. - Look no further than the purpose of politics in the U.S. which is TO divide citizens into camps so they can elect people that will push forward the ideals and values of the larger camp. Another jerk and I'll say that to his face too.
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(Boston.com) White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush wouldn't ask Rove to apologize. McClellan said Rove was referring to people who have sought to fight terrorism with the law instead of by war, though he declined to name anyone specifically.

"There are many who have looked at the war on terrorism and said it is a law enforcement matter, that we should prosecute people," McClellan said. "The president recognizes that it is a war and that we must stay on the offensive, we must take the fight to the enemy."

prying1 sez: McClellan declined to name anyone specifically. The record of the past few weeks and months is readily available. The liberal howlers can go through the blogs of the past few weeks and see which side wants to fight to win the war by destroying and/or detaining reprobate terrorists and which side wants to throw lawn furniture all around trying to trip up the process.

See a Pop-Up? Hold On To Your Wallet!

Had a popup appear suddenly as I was surfing Blog Explosion. Earlier I was surfing for funny videos to download and that might have been when I got the cookie. Anyway. Here I am zigzagging through Cyber Space when I'm accosted by a window that claims I can make money simply by filling in my name and email address. Such a deal. They didn't even demand I use my real name. Is this a great country or what?

Well I right-clicked on the window and clicked on properties to find out who they were before I'd take a chance on giving them a phony name and junk email address. This is how I discovered 'ReferralWare'. I have no problem with people throwing money at me as these folks proposed. Especially for free. BUTTTT!!! - I have a major defect in my emotional well being. I'm a skeptic... - I thought I would perform one more test. What I call the Company Name/Scam Google Test.

Real simple. Go to Google. Type in the company name with the word 'scam'. Open a couple suggested reading links Google so nicely provides.

HMMM -

624 Google references for - referralware scam -

Ultimately (Less than 60 seconds) I was led to a page that had testimony from a referralware scam victim. It seems the company charges you to join 3 companies and then you get to pay for lists of people to drag into the scam after you. $400 given to ReferralWare vs. $11 received from ReferralWare. Now I'm not a mathematician but even I know that at that rate it will take a long time to clear the first million.

Close all windows - Run Adaware and Spybot Search and Destroy
- Chew up and spit out the cookie that got through. - Blog on! -

I love a happy ending.

Detainee Package Abuse Now Center of Investigation!

It is now a Red Crescent package that is at the root of prisoner abuse in Guantanamo. Cadres of liberal lawyers poured forth into the streets of U.S. cities screaming, "Pick me to represent him! Pick me!"

At the center of this melee the tear stained package remains unopened. "I'm just too upset to even wonder if there are dried figs in it." said Hoshinin Yureer as more tears fell from his eyes. It seems the package was handed to Hoshinin upside down and backwards.

"It was like I was slapped in the face!" he said. "And there was a rubber stamp used on this package that had an alcohol base in the ink. It is tainted and unclean." He continued, sobbing, "Now I am unclean and will have no way to collect my 72 virgins even if I could remove from this planet enough infidel dogs to make Allah smile at the bloodshed..."

Attempts to interview the brutal U.S. guard were met with a stone wall. "That's the wall right there ya basterd." were the words given to the news correspondent. "We set him up right there and shot him so you basterds would'na be able to interrogate him. We put him outta his miserable existence so you *&*#! would'na put him through hell!" U.S. Soldiers have been complaining of abuse by U.S. & foriegn news correspondents.

Old Records to CD'S

Hat Tip to My Best Gadgets who has the scoop on a single machine for getting LP's recorded to CD's.

LP to CD Recorder System cost $400 bucks and looks like a pretty good system. Should get the job done with minimum fuss anyway.

Cure for Snoring in the Works!

Canyon City, IA (UPS) Scientists have discovered a simple cure for snoring that looks very promising says researchers from Interstitial University of Canyon City, Iowa.

"It is really quite simple and impossible to make any money from this one." said researcher Ivano Credutt. "It all has to do with time management."

The researchers noticed while working with control groups that some volunteers seemed to snore more than others. About this Ivano said, "We got it down on paper who snored when and have proof of a simple technique to control snoring."

When questioned further Ivano did admit that insomnia played a big role in the drop of time spent snoring. "Stimulating insomnia played a big role in the drop of time spent snoring" said Ivano.

Research into the health and mental effects of insomnia were not in the plans for this terms agenda. "We can't make no money off this." said the dean of Interstitial University who refused to be named. "How we gonna afford research for that? We'll have to see about sticking it in next years budget cuz we spent all the money they gave us this year already."

The Answer for GITMO!

I've blogged on this before. The problem with detainees in the war against terror. Some questions are: Where do we hold them? Under what circumstances? For how long and how do we treat them.

Dennis Prager has invited Amnesty International onto his show and they have refused to go on. Amnesty International does go on shows where they are given the microphone with no opposition to their diatribes. Amnesty International makes it's motives suspect as a result of this and ALL they say is subject to intense scrutiny with a very critical eye. Liberals that love the truth should now turn from Amnesty as a source of their criticisms of the handling of the war on terror. Especially since the info they continually feed us is influenced by murderous, religious, fanatical terrorists. I believe they have removed themselves from the discussion through their obvious use of 'mis-information' designed to put forth their agenda, whatever that may be.

The idea of closing GITMO is nonsense. These detainees are not members of poetry and garden clubs. They must be kept somewhere and they are being detained because they are willing to commit murder on a daily basis. It would be inhumane to release these men. They will be out butchering people with impunity. Bringing them to the States would be tantamount to the Mariel Boatlift seeing 800-900 Cuban criminals coming to the shores of the U.S. Once they made it on our shores it would be only a matter of time before the bleeding heart liberals would be screaming for their release into our nation's streets. Don't tell me they wouldn't. Liberals ARE that stupid.

Under what circumstances should we be detaining these thugs? It is because they are thugs that we are detaining them. How do we treat them? Had it been my choice they would not be treated as well as they are. These characters are being treated much nicer than they deserve as far as I'm concerned.

~~~~~ prying1 sez: ~~~~~
Leave 'em at Gitmo until the end of the war on terror. That war will end when the terrorists are defeated, killed, and no longer blowing up pizza parlors. The left would be serving their own stated agenda by encouraging their talking heads to encourage terrorists to cease hostilities as opposed to making blanket statements against the U.S. and encouraging the terrorists to continue...

Please check Sailor in the Desert's post on Gitmo. Start disseminating the truth. Liberals lie for what??? - Just to TRY to show Bush as a bad person because their boy (and girl) is famous for lying. Lying is BAD! Tell a lib today to face the truth instead of covering it with blankets of lies...

In the comments I would appreciate liberal commenters to stick to suggestions as to what they feel should be DONE re: GITMO... Please avoid restating allegations on our treatment of terrorist detainees that have no basis in truth. We have heard it already and reject it.

I Missed a Week of Blogging!

Those who have been visiting my blog for the last few days I'm sure have been wondering why I have not been posting. The same goes for my email. None answered since Tues the 14th of June.

I guess I'll put it to you the same way I told my buddy Mike on Saturday - "I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is I've quit smoking. The bad news is I had open heart 'triple bypass' surgery." Mike wasn't sure if I was joking or not and I told him I was as serious as a heart attack. Actually I was a little less serious than that because I had no damage to the heart prior to the surgery. With a cadre of prayer warriors at my back the Lord met me with blessings in spite of the situation. Wednesday morning the camera work inside my veins showed that stints were not applicable. I needed full on bypasses in three veins because they were up to 90% blocked. The only signs I had were pain coming and going in my left arm and what felt like a touch of heartburn that would only last a few seconds or so...What finally convinced me it was time to go in was when I thought of how ticked off my wife Renee' would be if she woke up in the morning and found I had died during the night...

The surgery on Friday morning went smoothly and I was in ICU recovery within 4 hours. My wife and friends were locked out of ICU but one pal, Barry Goldman, the Chief Musician at Jubilee Fellowship, the church I attend, managed to find a back way in to the ward. Imagine my surprise when the first moment I open my eyes I had Barry hovering over me, smiling and welcoming me to the land of the living. It certainly is a picture I will not forget. Even if I wanted to I could not forget it.

Speaking of pictures I thought I'd include one showing my new scars. It's sort of a guy thing. I was going to post the picture here but my daughter suggested it might be in better taste to just link to it. - Click here for my 'sort of a guy pic' showing my new scars. -

The healing part is going pretty well. I was out of ICU in a little over 24 hours and a couple days of being pampered by some wonderful people in the Little Company of Mary Hospital they released me back into the wild. I will still need a touch of prayers re: the smoking bit. Although I got a week head start I found the temptation was still out here in the big wide-open world. Two things are helping in this area. One is I've made a quality decision to cease and desist 'cause I'm fed up with it. It holds me back spiritually. The other is that I'm certain the Living God let me off easy this time. Next time The blessings might be a little on the short end compared to the way they were this time...

More on Scientology

Photanical Word Garden has a post on Tom Cruise and his involvement with Scientology. It is really more on Scientology than Cruise. There are many problems with this organization the chief one being that it has a foundation that is false. As a result it's victims are drawn into a web of deception and find they cannot get out as easily as they got in. People that are decieved don't know they are decieved. If they did know they would no longer be decieved.

Many links to the truth on Scientology at Theron Parlin's post such as THIS ONE. Check it out!
You may learn something that will help influence another person to NOT join this devious group or to leave it while they can...

Tug-O-War

The Tug-o-war had been going on for quite a while. The two contestants were not evenly matched. One seemed to have more will than the other and strained at the rope to the point it would have twanged a high note had it been plucked. The other participant just held his ground. The fight was for more than the willful one could ever know. His only desire was to win the contest. No notion was given to the consequences or aftermath. Winning was the only thought of the present moment.

The stronger of the two thought of letting go of the rope but a couple of things held him back. One was his desire to win. Losing would cause too much damage to the work accomplished so far. The other reason was that he knew letting go would only hurt the man on the other end. His falling backwards would literally damage him in more ways than a doctor could see or fix.

The rope could have easily been tugged any direction the more powerful one wished and would have dragged the reluctant one with it. He did not want that. He wished for a willing participant for the plans as they were laid out. The other must learn that straining at the rope would benefit no one. There were only rewards for him as soon as he lost. Seemed backwards from the way the game was usually played which caused a slight chuckle from the benevolent, soon-to-be winner. The accessories to this game of tug-o-war were not enemies and would be partners in an affair that would be beneficial to many. All that was necessary was to wait. Patience would pay off.

The energy once set to the rope seemed to be flagging. It was near the end of the contest.

The tired one suddenly lost his determination and leaned forward releasing the tautness in the rope. It almost seemed as if the single thought of winning was suddenly replaced with another thought.

"You are right God!", he said. "I'm sorry I fought so hard. It suddenly dawned on me that it is only for my best interest and that of others that you want me to do this."

The Lord said, I knew you would soon realize it. Omniscience has it's benefits you know.

Both chuckled at this.

"Is it too late?, the man said.

"Not at all." said the Lord with a smile. "Now here is what I want you to do..."

The Importance of Joy

In The New Testament 'joy' is mentioned in a repetitious manner. The letter to the Philippian church has the line: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again rejoice." (Phil 4:4 NIV) - The book of Thessalonians 5:16 says, "Be joyful always." Jesus had sent out 72 disciples (Luke ch 10) to announce the "Kingdom of God is near." and they came back with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." Jesus' replied, "...do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Why the instruction to rejoice? Digging into the Philippian and Thessalonian text a bit further each gives similar answers.
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(Phil 4:4-7) - Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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(1 Thes 5:16-24) - Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
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The reason God commands us to be joyful is that it brings peace into our hearts. A friend once told me that he thought that men everywhere desire peace in their hearts and minds more than anything else. Not the kind of peace that is an absence of war but the kind of peace that is the presence of tranquility. By cultivating a spirit of joy in the inner man it will radiate into other areas of our lives. Indeed, it will radiate into the lives of those around us. Serenity, enjoyment, delight, happiness will increase in this world if we, as individuals seek to follow this directive of God's word.

Sounds Pollyanna-ish but it does work. In case you missed it the 'how to' is given in these scriptures. Pray without ceasing and giving thanks for God's blessings. How much will that cost?

Just your entire life.

It is worth it though...

There is a God!

We now have proof that there is a God and He does concern himself with the affairs of men. We need look no further than the Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. Just think. He might have been elected president. But for the Grace of God!

The chairman is supposed to bring to the party donations, good PR and votes. Donations are down. Good PR? It is questionable at best. Votes? Even his supporters are thinking twice about what they have done in setting him up for the position he holds... It seems that when Dean is speaking the good things (there are some but they get buried in the rhetoric) about the Democratic party are not uplifted and placed in the headlines. Dean is.

from SFGATE.COM -
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Dean said in San Francisco this week that Republicans "all behave the same, and they all look the same. ... It's pretty much a white Christian party."
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Wade Randlett, a key party fund-raiser in Silicon Valley said, "For small donors, hearing 'George Bush is bad' is enough,'' Randlett said. "What I'm hearing very clearly from big donors is: Tell me how we'll win.
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"We need a Democratic National Committee that is convincing white Republican Christians that they should be voting for us -- not vilifying them,'' said Randlett, who supported Dean for the chairmanship. "He's got himself in trouble with social commentary -- and that's not what the DNC chair does.''
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From redstate.org we find this tidbit. -
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Sen. Joseph Biden (D-NOW) used his appearance on ABC's lightly-watched This Week program to test market a modified limited disavowal, telling Clinton-stooge-turned-"journalist" George Stephanopoulos, "He doesn't speak for me with that kind of rhetoric and I don't think he speaks for the majority of democrats. I wish that rhetoric would change."
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Prying1 sez:

Normally you get what you pay for. But with Dean I think the Dems will be paying more than they thought and more than he is worth. - So it goes...

Zimbabwe Troubles Need Prayer!

While all eyes are on the Michael Jackson trial a few are looking at troubles in Africa. The Art of the Blog has a story, comment and link to Samizdata on what the so called 'leader', Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, is up to and asks where is the outrage? More concern is shown for a few specks of urine on a book in Cuba than for lives being ruined. C'mon folks from both sides. Lets focus on real problems. Pray for these people in Africa that the Living God will intervene to set them free from real tyranny.

The Battle Still Rages

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The demon floated high above the earth. Except for an occasional prayer that would shoot through his body he had no problems. He worried little about those little darts. He healed quickly. His territory encompassed a huge area. His wings cast a shadow over several countries and he was secure that the minions he had in control beneath him were battle hardened warriors and would keep the area under his control.

Suddenly the air and darkness about him seemed to shift. From behind and to his left a battle host of the Lord appeared with blazing swords and cut a swathe through the back edge of his left wing. He immediately pulled his sword, an evil curved blade of a dull finish and a razors edge. He swung it towards the attackers. They simply split into two groups as the blade whistled past them. His bellow called up some of the fiends from below that left their diabolical activities and immediately flew up to join in the battle. Most of the iniquitous imps below cowered as they stared skyward at the bright flashing light swinging past their lord.

Little had he realized that the Lord had directed people to pray from other corners of the earth. The prayers had gone to fill the golden bowls in God's throne room and when these bowls overflowed all heaven broke loose. The angels attacking him had surprised him with their ferocity and cunning. They again joined forces as soon as the metal passed them, swung down and took a cut through his right wing.

For countless generations this demon had cultivated his area to worship him instead of the Living God. His spawn had increased over time until the face of the land beneath him was covered with his imps. Each one had it's purpose. They continually harassed the minds of men, causing them to have their God given consciences seared to the point where evil was considered good and good evil. There were a few holdouts among the weak creatures of mankind, hence the occasional prayer that would rip through his body or wing. These were scattered and ineffectual. Most good untainted men were in hiding for fear their lives would be forfeit. When they did gather only a handful would dare join the meetings and the fear in their hearts kept their faith from being any sort of dynamic force that would endanger his hold on the land.

But this attack was different from anything he had experienced in generations. He had gotten lax in his training of his forces. The angelic host divided into 3 groups. One meeting the devilish defenders coming up from below. Another again ripping through his left wing and the third swinging towards his head. The companies of angels were small. They would soon be contained and destroyed. As he thought this he swung his sword toward the company flying towards his head. This time he changed the direction of his swing and the blade cut through some of the angels removing wings and arms as they tried to avoid the sudden move.

As he turned to see the damage he had wrought a sudden ripping at his belly filled him with pain. Another squad of angels had come at him from below and to his right. God's forces were not fighting fair. The protectors from below were being routed and did nothing to protect his soft underside. Pouring forth from his wound were hundreds of thousands, a giant multitude of demonic spirits that he had been feeding on through the centuries. Spirits that had been feeding on the souls of men and in turn became his food. The true Circle of Life. Now they had been set free.

That was his only consolation as his body dissolved into odiferous smoke. The stinking brood that was released at once dropped to the earth to find more souls to consume. They were hungry. A few were caught by the band of angels that had dispatched the attack from below but most made it to the ground where they quickly found men whose bodies and minds they would invade. These unfortunate men would instantly become willing host to innumerable spirits that would drive them to unspeakable acts. These would work the seven deadly sins towards undoing the damage done by the prayers of God's people. They only needed time. The prayer warriors would soon tire, relax, and cease their pitiful whining. Traitors in the midst of their churches would ridicule their petitions or better yet prattle polarizing appeals to God and cause them to loose faith in prayer's efficacy

Once again the Chief Dragon would send a new battlechief to control the principality and beyond. These newly released goons of Satan would harry the enemy till their forces tired and ceased their skirmishes against them. Once again the rulers of the darkness of this world would control vast areas. This was merely a setback that would soon come under the control of spiritual wickedness in high places. Despotism would soon reign again. Spread by the host of hell, death and destruction, darkness and fear would rule and those in the adjoining areas would see their hopes for freedom and peace dashed. All they needed was time. The church would soon fall back asleep.

Or would they???


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Protect Bloggers Free Speech Rights - Open Letter to the Federal Election commission

Attention - This post is good for archive and historical purposes only. The FEC has stopped taking comments. All emails sent to the FEC address below will be returned as undeliverable -

Sailor in the Desert has written an open letter to the Federal Election Commission and has kindly set it free on the internet to anyone who wishes to use all or part of it in crafting a letter to the FEC.

Be sure to include your name and mailing address: internet@fec.gov -

In case you missed the news Sailor has that covered too. (click here for his complete story) - A Sailor Quote - Back last fall, a federal court judge decided that the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act some how needed to include the Internet as part of that regulation. The FEC has been ordered to apply this law to the Net. This could have the effect of ending the free political speech of bloggers. Why the FEC never appealed this ruling is beyond me. Both Senators McCain and Feingold are on the record as stating that their Bill was never intended to stifle the free political speech of bloggers. Either the FEC needs to appeal this decision or Congress needs to pass legislation exempting the Internet and specifically bloggers from the reach of McCain-Feingold. - end quote - - He also has a link to a Washington Post Editorial that is wishy washy as far as I'm concerned. Below is Sailor's Letter. Use it as you wish as a template for your own or cut and paste those parts you feel most applicable to your feelings on the matter. Email it to your friends. Include this line:

- Be sure to include your name and mailing address: internet@fec.gov -

An Open Letter to the Federal Election Commission


To the Commissioners of the Federal Election Commission:

One of the most basic founding principles of this country was and is the right of free political speech. This possible attempt to regulate the blogs is flies directly in the face of that principle.

Consider this; The blogosphere is the electronic equivalent of the Town Square. Bloggers are those people, that in a bygone era would be upon a soap box in that town square, expressing their political beliefs. That being said, the government should no more attempt to regulate the free political speech of the bloggers, then it would have attempted to silence the citizen on that very soap box in the town square.

Having read some of the reasoning for this hearing, I have to wonder if the FEC will soon be trying to attempt to assess the worth of the campaign volunteer, who goes door-to-door handing out a candidates literature or spends time manning the phone banks. How much is a volunteer's time worth to any campaign? The FEC would not even consider assessing that volunteer's time as a campaign contribution. So why would the FEC even consider trying to assess the value of a bloggers link to a candidate's web site as a campaign contribution?

Any attempt by the FEC to regulate the political speech of any blogger is clearly a violation of the First Amendment and not at all what campaign finance reform was attempting to do.

Clearly, McCain-Feingold, was never intended to include the regulation of the free political speech of bloggers. Senators McCain and Feingold are both on the record saying this. As I see it, the Commissioners have a few paths they can go down:

1) They can table this and await legislation from the Congress clarifying the status of the blogs.
2) They can appeal the court's decision, which I believe they should have done in the first place.
3) They can extend the press exemption to the blogs.
4) They can release a firestorm and put in place rules unconstitutionally regulating the rights of free speech of bloggers.


In conclusion, let me say this, if the FEC makes rules that limit my First Amendment right to express my opinion on core political issues, I will not obey those rules.

Thanks Sailor!

Homosexual marriage Bill California AB19 Defeated

A bill has been defeated that would have changed the language of the state's family laws - Basically the bill strikes out "MAN/WOMAN" and replaces it with "TWO PERSONS" in the state's family laws. I had blogged on this previously and that blog can be read here .

(quote from San Francisco Chronicle) Ultimately, the Legislature remained unmoved, voting 37-36 for Leno's bill, AB19, four votes shy of the majority needed for approval Thursday night. For the time being, the vote signaled an end to lawmakers' struggle over one of society's most divisive issues, and it indicated that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger probably would not be faced with a bill on the subject this year. - end quote -

I (prying1) saw articles saying that the governor would and would not have signed the bill. The latter news had said he would not. Perhaps he had read my email and changed his mind. :-)

Prying1 sez: This really is a blessing for the homosexual community. Some may not see it that way but it does not give them the false sense that their lifestyle is viable.

The avid activists that are spearheading this issue have motives beyond those stated and are using emotional pleas to plow their agenda through and into law. The homosexual marriage issue has been voted down in the City of San Francisco which shows that this issue has divided even the homosexual community. Not all in this group want to see the definition of marriage changed..

Had this passed it simply would have given the activists the audacity to push the envelope even further. They would not be satisfied and indeed they still are not satisfied. Please don't think this issue is now over. This issue and others like it will continually surface. We need to continue praying down the spiritual darkness that hovers over and around our capitols and elected officials.

Must Read For "American Troops Torturing Captives" Buffs

Sailor in the Desert has a post that is really eye opening. Unless you want to go around with eyes closed I'd suggest you click here to find out what is really happening with the American Troops torturing the terrorists!

Old School Photos Online - FOR FREE!!!

This site is amazing - All sorts of countries available with thousands of school yearbook pictures. I was insecure about giving personal info so I used my ex-wife's and the pics looked clearer than they did in her old yearbook. Check this one out!

http://www.worldschoolphotographs.com/wsp/index1.htm

Both Sides Are Right! - AND Wrong!!!

A few blogs ago Clive Allen of Gone Away fame wrote a comment (1st comment on this blog) - quote - "I think it's important to realize that God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. He's not even a Libertarian. The fact is He has His own politics and, when we become part of His Kingdom, we cease to be right wing or left wing, socialists or capitalists. We become Christians and are a part of God's politics from then on." - end quote -

Although loathe to admit Clive is right (I love my politics.) It is true that God could care less which political party we belong to as long as we listen for his voice. I have pondered on it a bit and want to recognize and move upon the truth in what Clive said. Since that time I went to a prayer conference led by Dick Simmons (of Men For Nations) and something he said added to Clive's statement.

Mr. Dick Simmon's Quote: - "Liberals demand justice with no demand for righteousness and conservatives demand righteousness without a demand for justice." - end quote -

Although this line is not absolute there is a lot to it that can be seen to be true.

For example some food for the poor programs show this. With no real accountability some of the food ends up scattered willy nilly to those who really are not in need or sold by the recipients to purchase tobacco, drugs or alcohol. Liberals feel the loss is worth the good that is done. Conservatives look with skepticism and call the whole program a scam. (please know that I realize this is a general statement and does not apply to all persons of either side.) It is true that some programs are merely a scam to part people from their money. They are the results of greed working off the goodness of giving hearts. Neither side should put up with this obvious unrighteousness because it causes the good programs to suffer. Demands for accountability from the recipients of welfare programs (can they truly work or are they lazy?), demands on the programs themselves (is the majority of funds going to administration?) will increase the conservatives willingness to participate.

The same can be seen with the abortion issue. Many liberals say that they don't believe that abortion should be used as a form of birth control yet that is the main reason they are executed. On the other hand many conservatives do not believe there is any good reason for abortions to be performed. With the lives of 48 million children forfeited in the U.S. since Roe vs. Wade there has to come an agreement between liberals and conservatives on the abortion issue instead of allowing it to continue unabated. From this issue has grown a big business in the baby parts industry which I'm certain most liberals do not truly endorse.

Justice and righteousness need to work hand in hand. Since both sides are lopsided in their beliefs I propose that everyone rethink the positions as they come up with an eye on the demand for both issues in their personal conclusions.

If you must ask the tired old question of whose level of righteousness we use and where we draw the lines I suggest you get in touch with a.) Your conscience and see how far you have allowed it to get twisted. and b.) God.

Baby Parts For Sale

Ever wonder why partial birth abortion was defended by the pro-abortion crowd. This is the procedure where a baby was turned so it would be a breech birth. (legs first instead of head first.) Then after all of the baby's body was out of the mother, except the head, they would poke scissors or a knife into the brain, stir it around, suction the brains out, crush the skull and then remove the baby the rest of the way. This was supposedly done to save the mothers life but the question I always had was if the body of the baby could get through why not the head too?

Well it seems the answer has nothing to do with the health of the mother. It has everything to do with money. Here is the link that tells the story. -

Baby Parts for Sale -

Quotes - Kelly stated, We would sell the tissue to private contractors. They in turn would sell to other universities and researchers. There was a high demand every week to buy such fetal tissues. It was shipped by UPS,Fed Ex, Airborne and sometimes by special couriers. Sometimes we would take the specimen in a box to the airport and put it on as regular cargo, to be picked up at the destination. And did these shipping companies know they were transporting baby parts? No. All they knew was that it was just human cells. But it could be a completely intact fetus. It might be a batch of eyes, or or 40 livers going out that day, or thymuses.

And then the obvious question. Kelly is still working for this company, so why did she come and tell this story to a pro-life group? One day when she was working, a set of twins at 24 weeks gestation was brought to us in a pan. They were both alive. The doctor came back and said, `Got you some good specimens, twins.' I looked at him and said, `There's something wrong here. They are moving. I don't do this. This is not in my contract.' I told him I would not be part of taking their lives. So he took a bottle of sterile water and poured it in the pan until the fluid came up over their mouths and noses, letting them drown. I left the room because I could not watch this. But she did go back and dissect them after they were dead. She said, That's when I decided it was wrong. I did not want to be there when that happened. And then it happened again and again. At 16 weeks, all the way up to sometimes even 30 weeks, and we had live births come back to us. And then? Then the doctor would either break the neck or take a pair of tongs and beat the fetus until it was dead.
Did the abortionist ever alter the procedures to get you the type of specimens you needed that day? Her answer was Yes, before the procedures they would want to see the list of what we wanted to procure. The [abortionist] would get us the most complete, intact specimens that he could. They would be delivered to us completely intact. Sometimes the fetus appeared to be dead, but when we opened up the chest cavity, the heart was still beating. She was asked if the type of abortion procedure was intentionally altered to deliver to you an intact specimen, even if that meant giving you a live baby? Her answer was Yes, that was so we could sell better tissue, so that our company would make more money. At the end of the year, they would give the clinic back more money because we got good specimens.

prying1 sez:
What I find a pity is the large bloc of liberals that continues to claim it is for the choice of women that they fight for abortion. In reality they are helping BIG BUSINESS. The same group of people liberals claim to hate when it is about oil. Either they are once again believing a lie since it is not about choice, it is about big business; or they really are hypocrites and know that baby parts are helping evil capitalists get rich. One way or the other they need to change horses in mid stream. This is wrong and cannot continue unabated...

Is God Moving Men's Hearts to Pray?

Recently a few men started a prayer group in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County.

Inspired by a prayer warrior, Dick Simmons, from the Washington DC area, head of Men for Nations this is one of many prayer groups Mr. Simmons has seen birthed. The morning meetings, from 5 AM to 7 AM, average around 19-20 people. Since the first group started there has been a few other nearby locations to catch the Spirit and more groups are forming. There are 5 pastors and the men involved are from several churches. Denominations and doctrine do not enter into the prayer time. All involved simply desire to hear from God and pray according to His will.

Every man's life has changed dramatically as a result of committing to these meetings. Most evident is a commitment to repentance and holiness and a growing desire to walk in God's perfect will. Each is walking in joy knowing that years of bad habits are sloughing off. More Word time and an increased knowledge of the presence of God in their lives are added benefits.

Getting up before dawn is not easy and all have found their internal clocks still need adjusting after 6 weeks of near daily meetings (except Sunday). None appear inclined to quit. Indeed, it seems each has made a lifetime commitment to early morning prayer with other men of God.

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Just wondering if this a just a local (U.S.A.) thing or is God moving more people in other areas of the world to form interdenominational prayer groups?

I'm asking Christians to leave a comment one way or another.
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Keeping Terri Schiavo's Memory Alive

The American Princess has blogged on Terri Schiavo. It seems that Terri's husband's lawyers were in Circuit Court Judge George Greer's office settling affairs the same day she succumbed to court ordered starvation and dehydration.

(Quote from Michael Schiavo on the Larry King show: When asked why he doesn't just divorce his wife or turn over her care to her parents, Michael Schiavo said he couldn't.

"This is Terri's wish, this is Terri's choice," he said. "And I'm going to follow that wish if it's the last thing I can do for Terri." - end quote -)

Seems the last thing after the last thing was clearing out any account. Ever hear, "Follow the money trail"?

Mystery No More!!!

I heard a line on a TV show the other night. "God works in mysterious ways". It reminded me of a word study I had done a few years back. That is on the New Testament use of the word, "mystery" and it's co-word "mysteries". If you read this you will never again be able to use that tired cliche'.

New Testament use of the words (Strong's Concordance - KJV)
Mystery 22 times - mysteries 5 times -
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Each time the word "mystery is used in the New Testament it says something to the effect that the answers to these mysteries are now available to all men. Uncovered. Revealed. In the Old Testament times the mysteries were shrouded. Hidden up for a latter age to understand.

We are in the latter age. "The Age of God's Grace" In the New Testament the mysteries are uncovered just as the curtain in the Temple in Jerusalem separating the main sanctuary from the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom at the death of Jesus (Matt 27:51 & Mark 13:28) now all men can freely access God's throne room.
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All it takes is moving towards God and he will meet you where you are.
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Ephesians 5:32 'mysteries' speaks of Gods church being related to Him as a husband and wife are related. Love is to be the foundation of each.
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I Timothy 3 mentions "mystery" twice. The first speaks of those seeking an office in the church, that is, how their behavior should be good and they should be holding the 'mystery of the faith' for others to see. The second use in this chapter explains this as: "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."
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That is, Jesus was born from seed created in His mother's womb by the Living God, lived a sinless life and became our sacrifice for sin. No longer was the blood of bulls, goats and sheep needed. Jesus became the perfect sacrifice and He was able to truly say from the cross, "It is finished."
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This is the mystery of old, now revealed.
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Colossians 1
1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God;

1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
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Matt 13:10-11
And the disciples came, and said unto him, "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?" He answered and said unto them, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given."

Also in Luke 8:9-10 in a similar situation the disciples asked and Jesus answered: And his disciples asked him, saying, "What might this parable be?" And he said, "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand."
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Big clue here that if you have problems understanding the parables of Jesus even with the explanations you are on the outside and need to communicate with Jesus. Start asking him questions just as the disciples did. The answers will sometimes come in the most unlikely ways. Perhaps an event or something said will trigger the parable and revelation. It may be that as you ask the question you will hear the answer in your own mind. God deals with each person individually so there is no set rules on how it will happen. Just know that when you start to talk to God, He will answer.
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Is Real ID Act Setting Us Up for Revelations?

Hat tip to CadiaConcepts. Joshua gave a heads up in a way that gives pause. Is the Real ID Act going to set in wheels in motion that will bring about prophecies of the Book of Revelations? This story from USA Today (5-5-2005) is not getting much air time perhaps because of the judges filibuster and the Pepsi CEO story.

Quote from USA Today - The Real ID Act, which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday and likely will clear the Senate next week, would require most license applicants to show a photo ID, a birth certificate, proof of their Social Security number and a document showing their full name and address. All of the documents then would have to be checked against federal databases. - end quote -

Joshua states in his blog: The card will likely take the place of your driver's license and will store at the very minimum your name, birthdate, sex, ID number, a digital photograph and address, with the possibility of additional data such as a fingerprint or retinal scan. State DMVs will be receiving federal funds to hand over their databases, with the goal of making each state's data available to all other states. The House passed the measure on Thursday, and both the Senate and President Bush are expected to sign off on the bill next week. But the real question is, who will be the first to ask to have the chip implanted so they don't have to worry about forgetting their wallet?

Hmmm. - Revelations Chapter 13 has a bit to ponder too.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. KJV -

If all else fails, it would be better to die than to take the chip! - Get informed by reading the book before the need arises.

Scotwise Does it Again!!!

Once again Scotwise posts a bit of his personal history that will be an encouragement to you if you would just take a couple minutes to go and read it. Wonderful stuff there daily but today I feel it is even more real because his post comes from his heart and is something he has lived.

Yard Sale for All Notions

My cousin decided it was time to reduce the amount of her worldly possessions not to enter a more ascetic lifestyle but to increase the living space which Providence had allotted her. Annie (fake name to protect the innocent and guilty) collected a good size pile of stuff***

- *** STUFF(n.) things that take up space and are saved with the knowledge that you will need them someday. That is, the same day you cannot find them -

In the collection were books, clothes, nick-nacks, some furniture and other odds-and-ends.

Little did Annie realize that placing an advert in the local paper announcing a garage sale would open the door to the Twilight Zone. It was not long after the paper came out that she received a call (Never put your phone number in a garage sale advert) asking if there was any lingerie for sale. She thought about it, remembered there was a couple items and told the caller, "Yes".

The caller asked if he could bring his camera and would she model it for him? Without a word, for fear invectives would be released and only encourage the guy, she terminated the call. - CLICK - A few other calls she received reaffirmed her faith in humanity. That is, most people are of good character and the first call was just a nut or a joker. One of the latter calls she assured a gentleman that there were clothes for larger women. Another call she gave the scope of subjects the books covered.

The day of the sale came and during a lull in customers one person in a nicely tailored pastel pink jump suit parked nearby and came up the driveway. As the customer approached my cousin realized it was not a woman as she had first thought. A few words of conversation and she recognized the voice as the man asking about the larger size women's clothes. He went right to the racks (poles across 2 ladders) and started going through the clothes.


Pulling a nice sequined dress from its hangar he said he hoped she wouldn't mind if he tried it on first, took a couple steps into the open garage and proceeded to take off the jump suit. My cousin was a bit surprised. I would say 'taken aback' but that is so cliche'ish. Sounds like something that Dickens would use. Lets just say she was surprised. She did tell me that his brassiere and panties were stylish and would not clash with the dress.

After he put the dress on he asked and she brought a small mirror which was close at hand. It was difficult for him to see the full effect of the dress in such a small mirror. At this point Annie's daughter and granddaughter came out of the house. Both were taken aback by the situation (I know, I plagiarised the line from Dickens. So sue me.) but quickly fell into the swing of things. After all this was a yard sale and the purpose of yard sales is to get rid of stuff. They affirmed the dress was darling.

The granddaughter picked up a handbag and declared the dress adorable but it needed accessories. She declared it would not be for sale had it been a few sizes smaller and wasn't it a shame the shoes would not fit. Setting the prices up a tad in order to give a deal by coming down they finally had a sale. Annie sent the ever helpful granddaughter in to get her a drink of water and saved the young girl from seeing the dress get peeled off and the customer re-attired in the jumpsuit. Friendly waves all around and Annie decided the next spring cleaning Salvation Army gets the entire load...

An Answer for Stephen

A bit ago in the comments for my Liberals Hate Children posting I had a commenter ask why I voted for Bush. In his 2 comments it was also implied that I should be in favor of government social programs because Jesus would want me to. This is my reply to Stephen...


Comment: - quote -
Seriously though Paul, all jokes and sarcasm aside:

You come across as a very nice guy to me, who cares about his community and family. I'd expect a man like you to have a real sense of humanity and a social conscience.

Chances are however that you voted Bush.
I really can't understand why people on the right wing (in the sense of 'moral' issues) seem to vote GOP.

Bush in my opinion is not a good person.

A man who is big on war and invasion. A man who has put many people (including children) to death, directly violating UN charters. A man who is responsible for a lot of death in Iraq, and a man who I believe is lying to the American people - telling them what they want to hear about morality and pumping them full of fear. A man who clearly supports the rich.

Are these the teachings of Jesus?

Don't get me wrong, I accept fully Bush's right to rule having got a decent majority this time around, it just perplexes me to think why so many voted for him.

Obviously, J Kerry wasn't a formidable opponent, but why did you Americans vote for Bush?

(Please don't respond aggressively, I'm genuinely interested)
- end quote -
Answer to Stephen's Questions

First of all I am going to assume that you are a Christian by choice and not a Christian as a result of heritage. By this I mean that at some point in your life you have personally met the risen Christ, made a choice to trust in Him for salvation and don't merely call yourself a Christian because your parents took you to that type of church. I've met people of many faiths and religions who fall into the latter category and I hope you fall into the first.

I notice from what you have written a lot of statements that could have been taken from talking points of John Kerry's election campaign. Indeed these points could be taken from most U.S. Democratic politicians, the hate Bush at every turn group and the Mainstream Media throughout the world. Bush is an evil liar, war is killing children in Iraq, socialism is the route for good Christians to go, etc. etc. etc....

I would suggest you take a good look at what the mainstream media (MSM) is feeding you and compare it with the Truth. I say Truth with a capital T because if you inspect the MSM you can see many times that simple bloggers have pulled them down because their veracity is very dubious in the majority of what they project. As you may have noticed recently NewsWeek was caught telling lies (Check also Dan Rather, Eason Jordan, ad infinitum...) about the flushing of a Koran down a toilet. Never mind that 99% of toilets would clog quickly, they printed the story. People have died as a result of this 'news' and then they turn around and blame Bush's administration for not telling them to not print the story.

The truth is that the U.S. soldiers are the ones providing Korans to the prisoners that are being held to protect their own countrymen. I understand that the U.S. soldiers have a special protocol in handling these books even wearing gloves as they are passed out. Prisoners themselves are the most likely source of the story.

Did Newsweek volunteer any of this info? No. Will they tell the world of this? Probably not. Why? Because they have an agenda to deceive. It is only because of the internet that they are loosing the power to keep us in the dark.

I said that to show you that the source of your questions is questionable in itself. If you are a true Christian and know Jesus in a personal way I'm confident that you would prefer the truth over living in a lie.

Well, here is some more truth. Bush is not an evil liar like the MSM would like you to believe. The U.N. had sanctions against Iraq and were not enforcing them due to the Oil for Food program. The fact that there have been no Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's) found in Iraq does not destroy the fact that Saddam Hussein used gas weapons against his own people. Bill Clinton, John Kerry and many people against Bush and the war in Iraq declared that Saddam had the weapons and it wasn't until after the U.S. went in and did not find them readily available that they started screaming Bush lied. Do they mention that they lied too? How often do they point out the other, MAIN reasons the U.S. went to war with Saddam Hussein? He DID harbor terrorists (we keep finding them there). His presence caused instability in the region and he was a murderous dictator. In fact Eason Jordan wrote an article that his news organization had been NOT reporting the truth concerning Saddam and thereby allowing his crimes to go unreported. Do you really want to trust the news source that allows 11 year old girls to be raped by a dictator's sons because the news source didn't want to get kicked out of the country and lose their source for news. What is the sense of that? I think it is criminal and not the way to run a good news business. News business's should be in the business of reporting facts and leaving the editorial style adjectives off the front page.

Next time you see a news article on President Bush try highlighting the adjectives. See how many are negative fluff that really add nothing to the facts in the story.

The Anti Bush crowd were mistaken just as Bush was. They were trusting in intelligence data that was accrued during the Clinton administration. I will admit it was not smart of Bush to believe anything that came from this impeached president's term of office In fact, did you know that many people still working in our government received their jobs as a direct result of Bill Clinton. You know him. The 'impeached for lying to a court while under oath' president. I figure that if these people love the real liar they would not be above leaking lies to the press. Lies like flushing a Koran down a toilet... Newsweek has yet to let us know who the 'government source' was. Our government does not fire everyone from the previous administration because these people are not supposed to be for the political party but instead should be for the nation. In their misguided beliefs they feel that hurting Bush will help the nation.

The war in Iraq has been a good thing. Ask the people with purple fingers and thumbs that voted. Ask the children there that will not be raped by Sadamm's boys. Ask the people that will not end up in a mass grave. Ask the people that have started local newspapers with freedom of speech. Ask the people that have started businesses. Ask the girls that can now go to school. Ask the women that are not forced to wear burkas. Ask the women that will not be raped and then murdered because they 'cheated on their husbands'. Ask the boatmen whose marshes have been returned from opening Sadamm's dams. Ask the birds that have returned to the marshes. Ask the people that can raise their voices against the U.S. because we give them freedom of speech.

If we wanted their oil we could have walked in and taken it. In fact it would have been easier to take over Mexico and steal their oil. It is a lot closer. The U.S. is not in the business of colonizing other nations. We will however defend our interests. One of those interests is not having terrorists fly planes into our buildings. Even at this point I would like you to take a close look at the way these prisoners are really treated. How many come out of prison looking like the gaunt skeletons from Hitler's camps? Abu Garab was not the norm. It was an aberration.

Enough on the war and Bush. Let us turn to social issues. I'm sure you have heard the saying that, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for his life".

How many poor people do you know that give others jobs? Thousands? Hundreds? Dozens? I think not. Poor people do not give jobs to anyone. Except perhaps government employees. (More on this later)

Poor people go to business owners for jobs and business owners are not poor. This has been the way of things since before Buddha. I will admit that not all business owners are nice people. Some are, some are not. I have worked for both kinds. Chances are you have too. We must admit that it is the business owners that are taking the chances. The employees can walk away and (hopefully) find another job. If the business fails the owner could be liable for debts for years to come. Should governments work to help or hinder these benefactors to the working class?

If they help the employer the employees could benefit from higher wages in the future. Unless they have found a bum employer in which case they CAN move on to another company.

But what happens if the government takes more money from the employer's cash register than the company can afford? To top it off the government takes money from the employees in the form of payroll taxes. The government promises they are going to help the poor. A bureaucracy is set up of government employees getting high wages to decide which poor person gets the money. The employer goes broke and applies for the benefits and his employees are in line behind him.

That is the ultimate end of government largesse. Taking from the haves and giving to the have nots. Governments do not produce anything. They only help hold up the infrastructure and if they do a bad job of that the country will go broke. Often times programs are set up and the only people that benefit are the government employees. For this reason I would prefer an 'evil' corporation over a government social program. You would have a better chance of getting an even shake from the company. If all else fails you can walk away from the company. The government will hound you till after death for the taxes.

Now re: Jesus being a rebel. It is true that he turned over the moneychanger's tables. Why? Because, as he said, they had taken away the purpose of the temple. It had become a place where people went to fulfill legalistic obligations. He wanted it to be returned to God's original intent which was that it become a "House of Prayer". That is, a place where people could commune on a personal level with the Living God.

How many churches today are more like a place filled with money changers tables? I do not mean that money is the ultimate goal of these places. Most often it is 'good' reasons that they have as goals. It goes way beyond money. They have become places of social obligations. Buildings that people go to in order to appease a conscience burning with guilt but with no intentions of turning from sin to God. A structure where programs take precedence over anyone actually seeking God's will for their life. Indeed those that do so are ostracized as fanatics and forced to remove themselves from the company of those self satisfied that run the place with godless efficiency. As long as children can play basketball and football in a safe environment the church has fulfilled it's obligation to the Almighty. As long as the bags of food distributed are a bit more than the community needs the Divine need not bother them. Sunday service will not be disrupted with spontaneous praise for the Creator because the agenda must not be extended so everything is done 'decently and in order' as scripture so conveniently states and all the parishioners can get to the local restaurant before the church across the street lets out.

I think you get the point. Was the last line a run on sentence?

Jesus was indeed a rebel. At one point He had over 5000 men plus women and children at His command. They were well fed and ready to move. He could have tried to use them to gather others and worked to overthrow the Roman government.

Instead He climbed a hill by Himself and prayed. He felt the communion with His Father more important that ruling a country.

Jesus was not hot on social programs. He did like it when individuals saw the need in another persons life and would help to fill that need. It was not something forced on the individual but instead was a result from the Living God being active in the individual's heart. He did say that the poor would always be with us. (Matt 26:11 plus other gospels) He did not suggest that we should let government agencies take care of them. Indeed I'm confident He wanted it to be a personal matter. I'm confident too that He would prefer we cared for them by teaching them to fish.

Sorry this has gotten so long. I do want you to understand a bit of why I believe the way I do. Hope this helps - Paul - GBYAY -

Smoothing the Rough Spots

This morning a friend told me about a near tragedy that happened this last weekend. His son-in-law was driving with his daughter riding shotgun and a friend in the backseat in the diamond lane of a L.A. freeway. For whatever reason the son-in-law lost control of the car and as control was lost the daughter said, "Jesus, save us!" The car actually flipped over and ended up on it's roof. The car is unsalvageable. All three occupants got out of the car without a scratch.

Now, would they have escaped unscathed if the woman had not called out to Jesus? Impossible to tell. I can say this. If the woman did not have Jesus paramount in her heart anything else could have escaped from her lips. If she had filled her soul with certain types of music it could just as well been profanities filling the car instead of a prayer. That might have been tough to explain had they gone to meet their maker instead of exiting the car unscratched.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Trusting in Jesus does not mean that life will be a bowl of cherries with no troubles in it but the Lord does tend to even off the rough edges. In a less dramatic event in my own life I got a flat tire (explosive kind) at night just as I exited a freeway near my home. I was able to continue through a green light, across the street, down half a block and park the car across the street from my home. I thanked the Lord, went inside and went to bed, saving changing the tire till morning's light...

Laws I'd Like to See

There are a few laws I'd like to see passed. This list is in no way complete but some of the main ones are:

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Re: taxes - Any politician proposes a tax hike he must first put half of his material possessions and half his paycheck into an escrow account. After his tax hike is proposed it is sent to the people affected by the hike for a vote. If the people vote 'yes' the politician gets his money back. If the people vote 'no' he loses and his money is distributed to all those who show a receipt showing they voted no.

~~~~~~~~~
Any politician caught trying to raise taxes without going through the escrow/voting process will be tarred, feathered & run out of town on a rail.

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Re: gun control - Anyone who uses a gun in the commission of a crime will have these mandatory sentences on top of any other sentencing concerning any other charges.
1.) Brandishing or showing the gun during the commission of a crime. - 10 years min. with no time off for good behavior.
2.) Pulling the trigger during the commission of a crime. - 20 years min. with no time off for good behavior.
3.) Injuring someone with a gun during the commission of a crime. - 35 years min. with no time off for good behavior.
4.) Murdering someone during the commission of a crime. - Death penalty with rules below applying.

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Re: Death penalty cases - Guilty party will have sentence fulfilled within 2-1/2 years +1 day of actual sentencing date. There will be only 3 appeals allowed.
1.) First appeal is mandatory
2.) Second and Third appeals are at the discretion of the sentenced individual. All evidence at this point must relate directly to the actual case and cannot be concerned with side issues such as bad upbringing, abusive parents, too many twinkies or the public school system failing to instill sound moral judgment.

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re: taxes - Every seventh year of a persons life shall be TAX FREE. That is, for a full year measuring 365 (plus one day for leap years) This includes ALL taxes. Federal, state & local (water, trash disposal, utilities, sales, payroll, stocks and bonds interest, etc... Any taxes absconded with by the government during this period will be refunded from the congressional payroll office and congress's payroll will decrease in commensurate amounts.

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I could come up with a bunch more but I thought some of you blog surfing folks might help me by coming up with a few of your own. Feel free to utilize the comment button and add your ideas.

NC Church Political Scandal Mis-Reported by MSM

Scotwise has posted the real scoop. Not that it is really news. Just business as usual for Main Stream Media. Don't bother digging. Just report what they got and guess at the rest. Waylan Owens taught Chan Chandler, the pastor involved in the East Waynesville Baptist Church in Waynesville, N.C., the church where "all the members of the church who would not support George W. Bush in the 2004 Presidential election were ousted". There is a lot more to the story and much info left out that would have been readily available to any reporter interested in finding the real story. - Check Scotwise daily for encouragement and great Christian teaching. - GBYAY -

Liberals Hate Children

Liberals hate children and want to keep them stupid. In order to accomplish this they make the grading system so meaningless that parents are in the dark about how ignorant the system is keeping their kids. How else could this be explained???

To Spank or Not To Spank?

Earlier (like 10-15 minutes ago) I left a comment on another blog. The initial posting was about James Dobson (Focus on the Family) getting a commercial on TV while the Church of Christ was left out in the cold. - 'So it goes', I figure in my usual cold hearted capitalistic fevered brain. The TV stations can show whichever commercials they want and if someone doesn't like it let 'em go start their own station. That settled, I perused the comments and saw a bit on Dobson's views on spanking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~quote~~~~~~~~~~~
Dobson on child care:
"Pain is a marvelous purifier. . . It is not necessary to beat the child into submission; a little bit of pain goes a long way for a young child. However, the spanking should be of sufficient magnitude to cause the child to cry genuinely."

From Dare to Discipline, pages 6 and 7
"Some strong-willed children absolutely demand to be spanked, and their wishes should be granted. . . Two or three stinging strokes on the legs or buttocks with a switch are usually sufficient to emphasize the point, 'You must obey me.'"

whatever. children don't "demand" to have their will broken. some parents' tempers might demand that children be beaten. but that's a different thing, isn't it.
(posted by jami)
~~~~~~~~~~~~end quote~~~~~~~~~

My (single parent) mom never heard of Dobson and made sure that the tears were genuine. I tried faking it once and that didn't work at all. As a strong willed child I can say that many times my will was broken and in the end I came out a better person for it.

I did not receive spankings because my mom liked beating me. I received them because of direct disobedience to the set rules. The reason for a switch, brush, wooden spoon or belt was because it took mom (or me) a bit of time (wherein she could reflect and not be in anger) to get the item to be used for the spanking. Plus she would not end up hurting her hand.

The same hand she gave me food with was not used to spank me with. There was always a device between the two that in the long run would be a help in getting me to straighten up and fly right...

Worked for me. Wondering what others feel about the subject. I'm talking here of spankings for disobedience, not beatings because of evil, misguided parents.

Mobile Blogging Service Offered by Google

(From PC Magazine / PCMag.com) - Google has introduced a new service for Blogger.com that enables users to create new blogs and post images and text via mobile devices. A consumer using Verizon, AT&T, Cingular, Sprint or T-Mobile can send an e-mail or MMS to go@blogger.com, which instantly creates a new Weblog containing the information sent to Blogger. Google will then email the URL and a claim code back to the user, allowing him or her to view and manage the new blog.

go.blogger.com/mobile
and - help.blogger.com/bin/... - to get started!

The initial page will be a generic-looking site and users will be required to enter the claim codes, which will then allow them to change the templates, blog names, and colors, edit previous posts and activate other features. One such feature will apply to users who want to add mobile posts to an existing blog.

The Blogger Mobile site offers a word of warning to users who have a blog address which does not contain blogspot.com—any mobile posts made before making the switch will not be moved over automatically.

"So, if you plan on publishing mobile posts to your non-blogspot.com hosted blog, we recommend you to claim and switch early, thus avoiding a potential nuisance," the site says.

addendum:

Another link for this story and links to googles service:
- http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050506-150128
- http://go.blogger.com/mobile-start.g
- http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=1131

10 Commandments and U.S. Law

National Legal Foundation has a page that shows all 10 commandments being used and impacting America law and jurisprudence. Court decisions in times past has utilized the 10 commandments and the precedence is to continue doing so, NOT to abolish their use.

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- It is interesting to cut and paste some of the case names into Google and see what comes up. -

Radio Blogger Sets Record at Disneyland

Radio Blogger, Generalissimo Duane - The Producer of Hugh Hewitt's radio show went through hell and lived to tell about it. The May 5th show was broadcast from Disneyland. Hugh, in his usual perverse fashion thought up a torture for Generalissimo Duane that surpasses anything the bleeding hearts would allow for terrorist prisoners. Fifty nonstop trips - in honor of Disney's 50th anniversary - through the Disneyland "It's a Small World".

Anyone who has ever ridden on this knows how the song can stick with you for the rest of the Disney experience. I figure for Duane it is going to take at least 3 weeks to recover.

Duane was on the 50th trip through when the show ended. Hugh claimed that he had not accomplished the goal. "So close but not good enough", Hugh said. This was said after he had given Duane the hope that if he was on the 50th trip it would count. Pulled the rug out of Generalissimo's crowning achievement in life. I wrote to Generalissimo to give him encouragement.

- Email do Duane - quote -
Ask Hugh if he believes in the Bible. It says - Out of the mouths of
two or three witnesses every truth shall be established - There has
been more than 3 witnesses (counting myself) that will verify Hugh
said getting in the ride on #50 counted.

Jesus said "It is finished." before he died even though he had not yet
given up the ghost at that point.

I believe as the boat entered the building on ride #50 you to had the
right to claim as Jesus did, "It is finished."
- end quote -

God Bless generalissimo Duane - Radio Blogger - A true hero!

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update: Rob Ismael, who joined Duane on the ride as moral backup has been bloging on this as well. He hopes to find the tape of Hugh saying, on the ride for number 50 counts. Check out his site and be sure to leave a comment. He needs encouragement too.
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Authorities Arrest al-Qaida's No. 3 Commander

Hat tip to Hugh Hewitt -

NYTimes - U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said al-Libby was the No. 3 al-Qaida figure behind bin Laden and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was captured in March 2003. The official called this arrest the most significant blow to al-Qaida since Mohammed's capture, saying al-Libbi is believed responsible for planning attacks around the world, including in the United States. - ''Their leadership and support network is fraying,'' said the official, who called this a ''significant capture'' and ''another chapter in the degradation of their network.''

Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao described al-Libbi as an ''al-Qaida planner'' who held a senior place in the terror group's hierarchy. He said the U.S. government was offering a $10 million bounty for information leading to al-Libbi's arrest...

prying1 sez:
This shows that the war against terrorism must continue. One by one the bricks fall and the wall comes tumbling down. As a result the world will (and is) a safer place as these terrorist groups find their support withering away.

Is This True Love?

The reason I came up with this blog is because I heard on Sean Hannity's radio program today the perfect example of love. You most likely heard of the Runaway Bride who disappeared from Duluth, Georgia 4 days before her wedding. The woman was missing for 4 days and everyone suspected foul play. She showed up in New Mexico alive and well. Apparently fear and perhaps insecurity or a panic attack drove her to take off the way she did. When she was returned to her home in Georgia, John Mason, her fiance met her and gave her the engagement ring she had left behind.

Quote - "'Cause we haven't walked down the aisle, just because we haven't stood in front of 500 people and said our I dos, you know, my commitment before God to her was the day I bought that ring and put it on her finger and I'm not backing down from that now," Mason told Hannity. - end quote -

A good description of true love comes to us in the words of St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians. (1 Cor. Ch.13 v.4 - 7) - Love is patient and is kind; love doesn't envy. Love doesn't brag, is not proud, doesn't behave itself inappropriately, doesn't seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn't rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. ... - (v.13) But now faith, hope, and love remain-these three. The greatest of these is love. (WEB)

This description is set in what might be called the more mystical chapters of the New Testament. They both deal with the gifts and workings of the Spirit of God. It seems from the 3 chapters that the Corinthian Church had a problem with various members thinking they, as individuals, were more important to the church than others around them. Paul set them straight by explaining that despite ones gifts or job description, no matter how exalted in the eyes of others, each individual was important in order to uphold the persons next to them. Yet, he says, The best way to walk with God is to walk in love.

How to do this? Back to the first paragraph.

Be patient with others. Sounds easy huh? It is unless that other is the slowpoke that slows down (a lot) and takes forever to turn the corner to get out of your way. Or perhaps the person in front of you at the grocers. The one that counts out 45 cents in pennies.

Love is Kind. No problem. Just don't kick the dog. Oh, and let your neighbor know that you will help them when they need it not just when it is convenient for you.

Love does not envy. Now who would envy the junk that guy has. I wouldn't own anything he has. I always pay top dollar for everything I own which brings us to: Love does not brag, is not proud (puffed up)

I'm sure you can go through the rest of the list and if you are honest you can find areas in your life that are a bit weak in the love department. I know I sure can.

One most important thing about love that John Mason exhibits is that LOVE IS A DECISION AND A COMMITMENT!

Congratulations to his future bride, Jennifer Wilbanks, She is getting a good man.