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...
~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~
Am I supposed to believe this PANEL met without any preconceived ideas on how it would turn out?
~~~~~~~
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.'
~~~~~~~~
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?
~~~~~~~~
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;
~~~~~~~~
In other words, let the country go back to the terrorists so that mayhem continues and leaves a toehold for world socialism.

~~~~~~~~
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.
**********
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.
**********
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(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.
~~~~~~~~~~~
(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.
///////////
(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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 -
~~~~~~~~~~~~
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."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"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.''
~~~~~~~~~~~~

From redstate.org we find this tidbit. -
~~~~~~~~~~~~
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."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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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