Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Abigail Adams: Remember the Ladies



March 31, 1776



Abigail Adams wrote this to her husband John Adams:


"I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.

"Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands.

"Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.

"That your sex are naturally tyrannical is a truth so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute; but such of you as wish to be happy willingly give up -- the harsh tide of master for the more tender and endearing one of friend.

"Why, then, not put it out of the power of the vicious and the lawless to use us with cruelty and indignity with impunity?

"Men of sense in all ages abhor those customs which treat us only as the (servants) of your sex; regard us then as being placed by Providence under your protection, and in imitation of the Supreme Being make use of that power only for our happiness."


Do you ever hear Abigail's name mentioned by Feminists or Women's Rights Groups? I certainly have not.

A woman's right to vote was nearly 150 years later, in 1920.

Abigail was surely ahead of her time.



More quotes and exhanges John Adams Famous Quotes


PHOTOGRAPHY OF DOROTHEA LANGE | AN AMERICAN ARCHIVE– HARD TIMES

Originally posted at The Desk of Brian: www.DeskofBrian.com -- read it here: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/photographyofdorothealangeanamericanarchive%E2%80%93hardtimes


Remembering the Great Depression, face to face, should help us understand the gravity of a weakened America. Our rising debt will dwarf those from World War II and the 1930's.

Are we to prepare? If so, how?

Thanks to Steve Beasley, a friend in New Zealand, who I hope to meet face to face someday.












California, February 1936.
”Destitute peapickers in California; a 32 year old mother of seven
children.” This iconic image has become known as “Migrant Mother” is one of a series of photographs that Dorothea Lange made of Florence Owens Thompson and her children in Nipomo, California. Lange was concluding a month’s trip photographing migratory farm labor around the
state for what was then the Resettlement Administration.














February 1939. Calipatria,
Imperial Valley. Car on siding across tracks from pea packing plant.

Twenty-five year old itinerant, originally from Oregon. “On the road eight years, all over the country, every state in the union, back and
forth, pick up a job here and there, traveling all the time.”






















November 1936. “Daughter of migrant Tennessee coal miner. Living in American River camp near Sacramento, California.”






























December 1935. “Resettled farm child. From Taos Junction to Bosque Farms project, New Mexico.”







See all of the photos with descriptions here:

http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/photography-of-dorothea-lange-an-american-archive-hard-times/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email

Bill Maher's crudely urges on Democrats

Originally posted at The Desk of Brian: www.DeskofBrian.com -- read it here: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/billmaherscrudeurgesondemocrats



From March 26, 2010 Bill Maher's show on HBO Bill Maher offers advice to President Obama: tell the populace to kiss his ass, made vulgar references to Tiger Woods and the John Edwards affair, comparing health care to violence sex acts. Maher says to tell the Republicans to "Go F*** themselves" as Obama "drags the ignorant hillbilly half into this century." One last Sarah Palin joke and Maher completes his update on how the left see politcs, Obama's "socialism" and the rest of America.


Here's a word President Obama should take out of his Teleprompter:
Bipartisanship. People only care about that in theory, not in practice.
The best thing that happened this year is when Obama finally realized
that and said: "Kiss my black ass, we're going it alone George W. Bush
style."
[applause]

Now, two months ago, conservative Fred Barnes
wrote, "the health care bill is dead with not the slightest prospect of
resurrection." Well, if it's dead, you just got your ass kicked by a
zombie named Nancy Pelosi. Seriously, the last time a Democrat showed
balls like that John Edwards' girlfriend was filming it.

And yet, even before the Democrats got to take a single victory lap, they
were being warned not to get drunk with power. I disagree. All you
Democrats do a shot and then do another. Get drunk on this feeling of
not backing down and doing what you came to Washington to do. [applause]

Do not listen to the people who are now saying that nothing else big
should be attempted for a while because health care was so rough.
Wrong. Because I learned something watching the lying bullies of the
right lose this one. When they’re losing, they squeal like a pig. They
kept saying things like, the bill was being "shoved down our throats."
Or the Democrats were "ramming it through." The bill was so big they "couldn't take it all at once." [laughter]

And you know what? I realized listening to this rhetoric that it reminded me of something.
It reminded me of Tiger Woods' text messages to his mistress that were
made public last week, where he said, and I quote: "I want to treat you
rough, throw you around, spank and slap you and make you sore. I want
to hold you down and choke you while I f*** that ass that I own. Then
I'm going to tell you to shut the f*** up while I slap your face and
pull your hair for making noise."
Unquote. [laughter]

And this, I believe, perfectly represents the attitude the Democrats should now
have in their dealings with the Republican Party. [applause]

Yes, it does. That's what they should be saying to the Republicans: "Shut
the f*** up while I slap your face for making noise! Now pass the
cap-and-trade law, you stupid b*tch, and repeat after me, ‘global
warming is real.’"
[applause]

The Democrats need to push the rest of their agenda while their boot is on the neck of the greedy, poisonous old reptile. Who cares if cap-and-trade bill isn't popular,
neither was health care. Your poll numbers may have descended a bit,
but so did your testicles.

So don't stop. We need to regulate the banks, we need to overhaul immigration, we need to end corporate welfare including at the Pentagon, we need to bring troops home from
everywhere, we need to end the drug war, and we need to put terrorists
and other human rights violators on trial in civilian courts --
starting with Dick Cheney. [applause]

Democrats, in conclusion, Democrats in America were put on earth to do one thing: Drag the ignorant hillbilly half of this country into the next century, which in
their case is the 19th. And by passing health care, the Democrats saved
their brand.

A few months ago, Sarah Palin mockingly asked them: "How's that ‘hopey-changey’ thing working for you?" Great, actually, thanks for asking. And how's that whole ‘Hooked on Phonics’ thing working out for you? [laughter]

Bill Maher Quotes

Harris Poll: 40% believe Obama a socialist

Originally posted at The Desk of Brian: www.DeskofBrian.com -- read it here: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/harrispoll40believeobamaasocialist






The polarization of America continues as President Obama signed the Health Care Reform Bill into law this week despite poll indicate only 25% favor the bill.

We've heard and seen allegations of violence, horrible bigotry, death threats and more violence.

DOB's Robert Herriman posted:

This is out of control! Road rage over a Obama bumper sticker





Are we out of control or headed there?

Harris Poll released this week found:

  • 40 percent of Americans say Mr. Obama is a socialist

  • 33% think he's a Muslim

  • 25% think he was not even born in the U.S.(he's not eligible to be president and is a "domestic enemy that the U.S.
    Constitution speaks of")

Shocking? Not to me.

As I've proclaimed during the Bush administration, the divide between parties is a chasm that is hard to bridge. President Obama campaigned on being capable of uniting the parties, but he struggled to resolve feuds in the Democratic Party to push Health Care Reform.

One example from the Harris Poll:

67 percent of both Republicans and conservatives said Mr.
Obama was a socialist, compared with 14 percent of Democrats and 15
percent of liberals.

Well, at least we have 14-15% of honest liberals and Democrats.


"These new numbers are shocking but not surprising - they detail the
extent to which 'wingnuts' are hijacking our politics. This poll should
be a wake-up call to all Americans about the real costs of using fear
and hate to pump up hyper-partisanship," John Avlon, author of
"Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America"
told the Harris
pollster.


Not surprising?

Of course, it's the right-wing brainwashing machine (aka "wingnuts" in this instance) but does that include Al Sharpton who said this:

"...then we'd have to say that the American public overwhelmingly voted for socialism when
they elected President Obama."


Sharpton tells US: Obama is a socialist


"We are playing with dynamite by demonizing our president and dividing
our country in the process. Americans need to remember the perspective
that Wingnuts always forget - patriotism is more important than
partisanship," Mr. Avlon said.


Yes, but was Mr. Avlon worried about these partisan attacks when Bush was being attacked and called "Hitler" nearly daily.

In a 2007 Rasmussen Poll found that 35% of Democrats thought that Bush knew about the
9/11 attacks in advance, and that another 26% weren't sure. Partisan? Dangerous?

I actually with Mr. Avlon, we're in dangerous territory. So where to go from here? What will wake you up that there is only a degree of difference between the two parties and most of political actions are done for political gain only.

I was not hard enough on Bush as I should have been, of course, most people only agreed with me while I railed on Bush over Social Security, illegal immigration or spending. It was always about a stolen election and the war.

So let me challenge you to do some soul searching.

If the Health Care Reform Bill outrages you, where are you on Bush and the ridiculous spending on Medicare Prescription Drugs?

Why is the Iraq War, Patriot Act and Gitmo so outrageous under Bush, but now just a quiet backdrop under Obama? Where's the protesters?

Yes Bush ran deficits, but if that upset you, where are you on Obama's spending which is THREE TIMES the worst under Bush?

I'm not with the 14% that think Obama is the anti-Christ or the 20% that feel he's a racist.

But I have serious concerns and questions about the actions of this President and his administration.

He appears to be fulfilling his campaign promise of "transforming" America, unfortunately, he's not simply fixing it.

Maybe some people are just now figuring that out.


Read also:

Is there any difference between the war policy of Obama and Bush?





Why I struggled to identify with President Obama? Liberals: Please help.



President Obama and his inconsistencies with the Patriot Act



Commentary: Obama intends to overthrow American capitalism



When did the US President become a "king"? What happened to "checks and balances"?







http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/25/even-average-americans-have-harsh-words-for-obama/





http://newsmax.com/InsideCover/Poll-40percent-Obama-Socialist/2010/03/25/id/353810?s=al&promo_code=9A46-1



Pic: http://bartgordon.net/2009/03/01/obamas-first-40-into-the-abyss/

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Food Fascists attack Happy Meals & Toys

Original posting of "State of the Nation" at The Desk of Brian: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/foodnazisattackhappymealstoys




There's been a lot of headlines featuring the policing of our diets, our foods - especially with the health care reform passing.


Two articles here on DOB:




Now we can add an attack on Happy Meals, or at least, the toys inside.


The Mercury News report that Santa Clara, California is again the epicenter of the assault by the Food Nazis. County Supervisor Ken Yeager is leading the charge to eliminate the dolls, race cars or toys from all of the happy meal, kid meals and the like, as he cites these toys are enticing children to eat the unhealthy foods.

"They want the toy and have no idea what's in the food," Yeager said. "You can't expect a 3-year-old to say there are too many calories in that hamburger."

Especially since the Food Nazis found success in mandates on menus, the charge will be to end your freedom "to feast on fried, fatty fast-food."
As Denise Bertacchi rightly described in here Examiner piece:

This same county in Silicon Valley issued a law in 2008 that required chain restaurants to include a calorie count on their menus, which was later adopted by the state of California. And trends that start in California often spread to the rest of the nation.

Back to the Mercury News:

"Yeager hopes his colleagues will agree at today's board of supervisors meeting. If they do, they'll ask county officials to look into regulating kid meals with toys. The result could range from an outright ban on toys to restricting them to healthful meals. Yeager said the regulation would be the first of its kind in the nation."

Wow, ban the toys...eat this apple or you can't have that Hot Wheel.

I personally never really let my kids eat McDonald's too often, let alone an expensie Happy Meal, but when they did IT WAS A REWARD!

The Mercury News sites a parent that uses the toy as an incentive as well, but the goal here is control. The parents can't handle their responsibility, so we need the State of California to interene and "regulate" kid's meals.

Sin (also commonly called Vice) Taxes are a reality and will now accelerate in areas to regulate our diets and behaviors.

I didn't stand up when they taxed cigarettes,

because I didn't smoke.

I didn't stand up when they taxed alcohol,

because I wasn't much of a drinker.

I didn't stand up when they regulated kid's meals,

I didn't have small kids.

I didn't speak up when they regulated salt,

it didn't really matter to me....


on and on and on...


When will you speak up?









Social Justice revisited with a great post by an old friend

Original posting of "State of the Nation" is at The Desk of Brian (www.DeskofBrian.com) Read it here: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/socialjusticerevisitedwithagreatpostbyanoldfriend




I recently posted an article on Glenn Beck vs. Social Justice in the churches:
Beck instigates "Social Justice" debate over codewords at churches

There was immediate fallout from Beck's comments and frankly, I agree his assertion: "social justice" is a leftist codeword and does NOT belong in the church.

Of course, this is the very treacherous waters, dealing with religion AND politics, and close to home, the tensions rose.

I posted the following on Facebook, which led to a great exchange, and a fantastic post by an old friend of mine that I wanted to share with the DOB Universe.

Brandon: I guess we don't talk about religion and politics because it reveals a lot about a person's character, beliefs, moral compass and how they see the world -- dangerous waters indeed


TG: ..or as Abe Lincoln said: "Its better to stay silent and be thought a fool, than speak and remove all doubt."

DS: I say what ever I feel like,I still pay taxes, and know I'll pay a lot more come tomorrow! Be heard America!

CB: I say religion is man made...But having a personal relationship with JESUS is spiritually needed ...As far as politics are concerned . . . When Jesus runs for president then I will vote lol .

TERRY B:

You're completely right Brandon but they are the best of topics! And between TG's Abe quote and your opening statement I think Proverbs 17:28 would plug in well.


" Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is
counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of
understanding."


Unfortunately I believe we have a lack of teach-ability
in our "I'm right" society. Nobody wants to be wrong and it's easier to be passive with a smile or blame the other guy.


Pride is a major killer in our culture and you can argue with it all day long and get nowhere. It's definitely easier to let the train go, if you will. The other passive stance thinks if I should open my mouth on such topics, my position just might be discredited. It's too bad folks are so thin
skinned on such topics. We'd be better by far if we would simply enter the "dangerous waters" for it has also been said that "smooth sea never made a good sailor".

Would many drown, most likely.

But you wouldn't have as many casualties if you start this thinking early. Many would probably learn to use the oars of teach-ability and the sails of discernment. So I say, hoist the sails and pull the anchor and go out into the treacherous waters!

Oh, CB you're right on target. Religion puts the burden of justification on man and his efforts to obtain God. Christianity on the other hand is God's work through Jesus Christ and His substitutional sacrifice in order to reach down to man.


Now as for waiting until Jesus comes in order to cast a vote, be
mindful we are not voting for a Pastor (that would be nice) but a leader with discernment, backbone who will need to make "good"
compromises.


I do believe we need to be active as Christians, to
exercise our vote and to speak out at injustices. At the same time we always need to be mindful that this world seeketh not after the things of God.

Don’t put any hope in man or a political party, government is
man led.

"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will
remember the name of the LORD our God." Psalm 20:7

OK overkill I know.

I don't know, maybe to much coffee? I think DS has it right with his last statement, "Be heard America"

Hope you all have a great day.



I obviously removed the other poster's names and made some minor edits to Terry's post.

To Terry: Guilty as charged.

I was politically ignorant and oblivious to the world affairs as a whole. 9/11 changed that for me and began reading: everything left and right...from Al Franken to Rush Limbaugh.

I was horrible to argue or debate (many would say I still am) but I'm working hard to be more patient and listen to other stances.

I'm shocked by two major things:

1. Smart people, college educated, know absolutely nothing and refuse to ever consider that their pre-determined "belief" are incorrect or need to be re-evaluated.

2. As Terry well articulated, the role of the Christian is not to hold blind faith in some politician or leader. I despise the marginalizing of Christians as mindless sheep following some proverbial Evangelical talking head to fall in line behind the Republican party.


The topic at hand was a shocker for me because "social justice" is historically a codeword for the Leftist, Progressive Movement's socialist agenda.



It may still mean "charitable works" or "helping the poor" to some folks, but not to progressives. To the left "social justice" is that old pesky Joe the Plumber line: redistribution of wealth, including property and taxation, under the disguise of helping the impoverished as well as, perpetuating the leftist agenda: promotion of global warming and penalizing offenders, granting amnesty for illegal immigrants and providing reparations for previous offenses.

Witnessing "social justice" redefined by SOME churches under the veil of Christ's will for charity, mercy and grace to promote political agendas and allegiances is VERY DANGEROUS.

Thanks again Terry, I appreciate you letting me post your comments on DOB.













Pic: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ng35b-c3qOE/SQY_sQtQ6XI/AAAAAAAAAKw/N_YC-KBIHcI/s400/socialJustice-w4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://clearnote.blogspot.com/&usg=__XnWDhPXZtfQZXrJoX0Fkjyk4Nys=&h=400&w=243&sz=23&hl=en&start=14&sig2=zK8I7SXB86PI6WgwNHlPgg&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=7P_dZpgj5JJMKM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=75&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522social%2Bjustice%2522%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=kPCpS_aQEpqutgeU6pS7BQ

1965: Gus Grissom & "Gemini 3" really Launched the Space Program

Originally posted at The Desk of Brian, www.DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/pop-culture-other-topics/1965gusgrissomgemini3reallylaunchedthespaceprogram?pli=1


March 23, 1965 Major Virgil Grissom and Lt. Cdr. John Young completed the world's first maneuverable manned spacecraft through a near-perfect flight of four hours and 54 minutes.
Gemini 3 blasted off from Cape Kennedy as America's first two-person space flight.
This was truly the beginning of a whole new era in man's travel into space.

Check out this photo gallery from "Life":
"Molly Brown", as the craft was named, flew nose forward, backward, upside down -- all on their three-orbit journey. The spacecraft's maneuverability was integral to the space program's development and freedom from total control on earth of basic operations.

From the debriefing:

"Molly Brown" lifted off so smoothly that neither Grissom nor Young felt anything. Their real cues were seeing the mission clock on the instrument panel start running and hearing Cooper announce it from mission control. There was less noise than they had heard on the moving-base simulator in Dallas. When the first-stage engine cut off two and a half minutes later, acceleration plunged from six gravities to one. The second-stage engine ignited, bathing the spacecraft in a flash of orange-yellow light that disconcerted Young for the moment it took him to realize that this was a normal product of fire-in-the-hole staging - that is, second-stage ignition before, instead of after, separation. The launch vehicle had slightly exceeded its predicted thrust, but a warning from Cooper prepared the pilots for the larger than expected pitchdown when the second stage took over the steering. Young, who had never been in space before, was entranced by his view of Earth's horizon and the sense of rapid motion as second-stage thrust built up.


It reads better than most novels or the dribble excreted by Hollywood these days.

John Young smuggled a corn beef sandwich aboard, an incident that resulted with the crewmen being reprimanded when they returned to Earth and subsequent crews were warned against pulling similar stunts. Evidently, there was concern that bread crumbs from the sandwich could be harmful to the electronics aboard Molly Brown.

"Oh boy," Commander young said to President Johnson by radiophone from the aircraft carrier after pickup from the Atlantic. "The only thing wrong with it was it didn't last long enough."
Cape Kennedy NASA officials bragged how the Gemini did things that the Russians had never said they could do with their Vostok and Voshkod craft.

  • First time a manned spacecraft had used rocket power for real alterations of its flight path

  • First time re-entry into the earth's atmosphere had been controlled (Essential to the Apollo Project)




The nickname he gave the capsule is a reference to the musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." After Major Grissom's first ride in space on July 21, 1961 -- and he is the only man to do it twice -- his Liberty Belle 7 capsule sank in the Atlantic.

After a rust-colored cloud of smoke and steam flashed from the tail of the two-stage rocket and the first manned Gemini flight was airborne.

Three minutes later, Maj. L. Gordon Cooper Jr., who almost two years ago made the nation's last manned flight, said from his communicator's position in the control center:
"You're on your way, Molly Brown!"

"Yeah, Man," Major Grissom replied.

45 years later: "Yeah Man" still feels like the appropriate response. In an era where astronauts were heroic icons, this larger than life launch set the table for a climactic decade of space travel.


Sure seems like light years from where we are today.



Last summer we remembered the first moon walk in my old CFB "State of the Nation" column (at the bottom): http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/state-of-the-nation-from-crazed-fanboy-may-oct-2009/sotn-week-07-13-09


http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0323.html#article





See also: "GT-3 Debriefing," pp. 3-2 through -6; "GT-3 Flight Crew Self-Debriefing," NASA Program Gemini working paper No. 5026, 3 June 1965, pp. 2-1, 3-2; "GT-3 Mission Report," pp. 7-11, -20, -21; "Air-to-Ground Voice," p. 3; Grissom and Young, "Molly Brown was OK," p. 41.



Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Healthcare and YOU

Originally posted at Desk of Brian: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/thehealthcarebillyou

Analysis from WebMD (only from a benefits stand point, NOT cost or taxes etc...)

Beginning immediately:
  • Children up to the age of 26 can remain on their parent's plan
  • People with "pre-existing" conditions are eligible for a government federally funded "High Risk" insurance plan
  • Small businesses could qualify for a tax credit for the cost of premiums
  • Insurance plans will no longer have lifetime caps
  • Insurance companies can no longer cancel policies if a patient gets sick
  • Pre-existing conditions for children cannot be banned or prohibited

Four years from now, 2014:
  • Insurance marketplaces, called "Exchanges" will be set up instates to offer competitive pricing on health policies for individuals and small businesses that don’t have coverage
  • People with any pre-existing condition would no longer be denied coverage
  • All lifetime and annual limits on coverage would be eliminated Medicaid would be expanded to cover more low-income Americans

Also in 2014:

  • ANY person who did not obtain medical coverage would pay a penalty of $95 or 1% of income, whichever is greater (that penalty would rise to $695 or 2.5% of income by 2016)
  • The bill would exempt the lowest-income people from that insurance requirement
  • Medicaid would be expanded to cover those under age 65 with an income of up to 133% of the federal poverty level
  • To make coverage more affordable, the legislation would offer premium subsidies for people with incomes more than 133% but less than 400% of the federal poverty level ($29,327 to $88, 200 for a family of four)
  • People in their 20s would have the option to buy a lower-cost "catastrophic" health plan
Small Businesses:

  • Employers with 50 or more workers would face fines for not providing insurance coverage
  • Businesses with smaller workforces, though, would be exempt
  • Companies would get tax credits to help buy insurance if they have 25 or fewer employees and a workforce with an average wage of up to $50,000
Large Employers:

    • Large employers would run their health plans as they do now, so there won’t be much change. Even though they have more insurance-buying clout, large businesses have seen steadily rising insurance premiums over the past decade without reform, as medical costs have increased. That pattern isn’t likely to change much, at least immediately.

All per WebMD, not me.

Regarding the uninsured, here's the Washington Post's Ezra Klein breaking that down for us:

About a third of the remaining uninsured are illegal immigrants, who are ineligible for coverage through the program. Then there are some folks who have incomes below the individual mandate threshold. Under the terms of the individual mandate, if coverage would cost more than 8 percent of their monthly income, they can skip it. Other people will decide to pay the individual mandate's $750 penalty rather than purchase insurance. Still others will be eligible for public programs such as Medicaid but won't sign up. So the population of the uninsured will be far reduced, and primarily composed of illegal immigrants, the few people who can't afford their insurance and aren't getting subsidies to help them purchase it, and people who have decided to pay the penalty rather than purchase insurance.


I want ever fact and aspect of this proposal to be put forth, so as it self-destructs, we can come back and show them why this failed, why we are NOT supporting go forward with MORE socialized medicine -- it will happen.

It happened with Medicare, Medicaid and even Social Security.

Americans wanted reform, just not this reform. We cannot afford it, it still leaves countless holes, destroys the private insurance companies' ability to do business and put an enormous burden on taxpayers to carry this financial burden.


http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/news/20100322/faq-how-health-care-reform-will-affect-consumers-employers

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/who_is_left_uninsured_by_the_h.html

Prager right on debt, wrong on name

Originally posted at State of the Nation by Brandon Jones at DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/pragerrightondebtwrongonname




This is a great article. I've been screaming for over two years, these are socialists, bent on destroying our way of life and I've been attack at nearly every turn. Dennis Prager is among the Conservative talking heads that REFUSED to call them what they are - leftists, socialists, marxists or fascists.


Well, while he finally catches up on the debt and the pending economic destruction, he refuses to call them socialists - only leftist.

It's a start.

Here's his article "Why Democrats Don't Care about $9.7 Trillion Debt"



As reported by The Washington Post, "President Obama's proposed
budget would add more than $9.7 trillion to the national debt over the
next decade, congressional budget analysts said Friday."

CNN adds, "Of that amount, an estimated $5.6 trillion will be in interest alone."

The Post continues: "The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) and the White
House (are) ... both predicting a deficit of about $1.5 trillion this
year -- a post-World War II record at 10.3 percent of the overall
economy. But the CBO is considerably less optimistic about future
years, predicting that deficits would never fall below 4 percent of the
economy under Obama's policies and would begin to grow rapidly after
2015.

"Deficits of that magnitude would force the Treasury to continue
borrowing at prodigious rates, sending the national debt soaring to 90
percent of the economy by 2020, the CBO said."

CNN adds that "By 2020 the (CBO) estimates debt held by the
public would reach $20.3 trillion, or 90 percent of GDP. That's up from
53 percent of GDP in 2009."

I suspect that most Americans, if asked whether these numbers
trouble the Democratic leadership and President Obama, would answer in
the affirmative.

They would be wrong.

They would be wrong not because the Democratic Party or the president are economically illiterate or bad individuals, but because the Democratic Party and the president are
leftists. And most Americans, including most Democrats, do not
understand the left. They may understand liberalism; but President
Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and most Democratic representatives
and senators are not liberals; they are leftists. And most Americans do
not understand the difference between liberal and left. They do not
realize, for example, that there is no major difference between the
American Democratic Party and the leftist social democratic parties of
Western Europe. They do not know that from Karl Marx to Obama, the left
(as opposed to liberals) has never created wealth because it has never
been interested in creating wealth; it is interested in redistributing
wealth.

Therefore, unprecedented and unsustainable debt, a debt that
will negatively affect most Americans' quality of life, renders the
dollar increasingly undesirable, and undermines America's prestige and
power in the world -- these developments do not particularly disturb
the left. They may trouble the president, the Democratic Party, and
others on the left on some political level, but that pales in
comparison to what the left really wants: a huge government overseeing
a giant welfare state and a country with far fewer rich Americans.

Achieving those goals is far more important than preventing a

decline in the American quality of life. The further left one goes, the
more contempt one has for the present quality of American life in any
event. The left regularly mocks many of the symbols of that life --
from the three-bedroom suburban house surrounded by a white picket
fence to owning an SUV (or almost any car) because Americans should be
traveling on public buses, trains and bicycles.

As for the dollar, I can bear personal testimony to the

decline of the dollar's prestige. I am writing this column in Morocco.
In Casablanca, my wife and I and another couple hired a Moroccan driver
for the day. And when it came time to pay, the man refused to accept
dollars; he wanted to be paid in either Euros or Moroccan dirhams. Yes,
dirhams rather than dollars. But the demise of the dollar as the
world's currency disturbs the left as much as does America's not
getting a gold medal in curling at the Winter Olympics.


And as for America wielding less power in the world, that is
a positive development for the American left. It is the world community
as embodied in the United Nations that should wield power throughout
the world, not an "overstretched," "imperialist" and "militarist"
United States.

I used to believe that left and right have similar goals for

America, that they just differed in the means they wanted used to get
there. I was mistaken. The left has a very different vision of America
than those who hold the founding values of America, most especially
individualism and small government. And if the price of a once in a
lifetime possibility of getting to a giant welfare state dominated by
the left is America's steep financial decline, that is a price fully
worth paying.




Friday, March 19, 2010

Florida Rail not generating Florida jobs

Originally posted at Desk of Brian, DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/hot-topics/florida-high-speed-rail/floridarailgeneratingjobsnotfloridajobsthough

The Kansas City Business Journal reports: Florida's rail received the $1.25 billion from the Federal government for the initial phase to service Tampa to Orlando. The Stimulus Bill funds were thought to create jobs, but this project will be employing companies from other states.

HNTB Corp, a Kansas City firm, will join Wilbur Smith Assoc. from South Carolina under the DOT's newly created "Florida Rail Enterprises."

The article states: "The HNTB/WSA team will provide overall program support and oversight
for planning, design, public outreach, vehicle and systems integration, operations, construction, project controls and procurement of all contracts for the Florida high-speed rail program."


"It’s exciting to see the return on the investment we made in
high-speed rail. I’m confident that our momentum will
continue to grow as more funding is released."
- Peter Gertler, HNTB’s high-speed rail services chairman


No surprise that Peter Gertler is an Obama supporter and made a donation to his campaign. Wilbur Smith Assoc. is a firm advocating the Obama agenda -- from their site is a link "Five Ways to Speak Like Obama" and tons of links to story defending the President, his agenda and the Democrats.

The Stimulus Bill has proved time and time again that it was more about fulfilling political promises and deepening alliances than creating jobs.

Charlie Crist and Florida supporters of this Rail program should be ashamed of themselves having misled Floridians, cramming this down our throats and not helping the unemployed in their own state.















http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2010/03/15/daily40.html


http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=Gertler&fname=Peter

Sweden government seize child from Home school family

Originally post at Desk of Brian, DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/swedengovernmentseizechildfromhomeschoolfamily


This story broke at end of December and I began research to discuss the assault home schooling families. I discovered Homeschooling Illegal in Germany and that German home school refugees granted asylum in Tennessee so it should not have surprised me hear this story out of Sweden:

In Gotland, Sweden, "a Christian home schooling family could permanently lose custody of their only child simply because they home-school. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) are joining forces as legal advisors to the family in order to persuade the Swedish government to return the seven-year-old child to his parents." (Lifesitenews.com)

"Parents have the right and authority to make decisions regarding their children’s education without government interference," said ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska, who is based in Europe. "This is about a socialist government trying to create a cookie-cutter child in its own image. Without help, the parents in these cases are really powerless since the system is so one sided."

I couldn't agree more.

Combined with the crackdowns and threats from EU countries like Germany, it appears Europe is intolerant to allowing parents primary authority to educate their children.

Dominic Johannsen was forcibly remoed from his parents in June 2009 as the family was boarding a plane to moe to India (the Mother's home nation.) The officials had NO WARRANT and did not charge the parents with any crime.

The officials stated "they believe home schooling is an inappropriate way to raise a child and insist the government should raise Dominic instead."

Remember, the family was relocation from Sweden to India when the abduction occurred and Yes, I feel it was an abduction.

In December, the Johanssons lost their case in Swedish court citing "government was within its rights to seize the child" noting the child's vaccination record was incomplete, and also claiming "home-schoolers do not perform well academically and are not well socialized."

"It is so inhuman, it is so cruel how these people are treating this family," Mike Donnelly, an HSLDA attorney involved with the case, told LifeSiteNews.com. "They are treating this family like they are criminals, like they somehow did something to hurt this boy."

"They were taking care of him for seven years and he’d never been sick. He was always provided with what he needed and plenty of toys and opportunities to learn," said Donnelly.

Up next I'll examine this pattern of eliminating home schooling in the US following Europe's precedent. No warrant, bogus accusations, false claims -- this is all part of the fascist attack against home schooling.




Battle over Nigeria

Originally posted at Desk of Brian, DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/battleovernigeriarageson



CNN reports: 11 people were murdered Wednesday near Jos, a region of Nigeria that has been convulsed by violence between Muslims and Christians.

"Muslim herdsmen, some dressed in military uniforms, attacked a predominantly Christian village at about 1 a.m. Wednesday near the city of Jos, close to where a machete-wielding Muslim group killed hundreds in a mostly Christian town this month, said Choji Gyang, special adviser on religious affairs to the governor of the Nigerian state of Plateau."

Last week 500 more Christians were murdered as Muslims attempt to control Nigeria. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi says Nigeria should be divided in two to avoid more bloodshed.

A wave of killings south of Jos targeted defenseless Christian women and children as the battle between the Muslim north and the Christian south is leaving hundreds dead.
"The Nigerian government should ensure that the perpetrators of acts of violence are brought to justice under the rule of law, and that human rights are respected as order is restored," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

There has been a lot of destruction of houses and property and many people managed to flee," said Robin Waubo, a spokesman from the International Red Cross.

Bob Hoskins, Founder of Christian mission group OneHope claimed: "The goal of the Muslims, of course, is to establish sharia law in that whole region. And, they're being supported by people like Gaddafi who sends literally millions of dollars in."

"We're being encouraged by the government to go into the schools, to share our Biblical literacy program, and to share Christ with the children" Hoskins continued as OneHope has met resistance as workers have been beaten by radicals.

Hoskins' missionairies are boots on the ground reporting: "Our workers go into the villages, and there's so little available to them..." and that's were their outreach begins.

The Book of Hope and The Godman film are great outreach tools. Hoskins says the ministry tools are effective and as these young people turn to Christ, Hoskins says, "They start a study group under a tree somewhere," and that's how churches are established.

OneHope has a goal of distributing 1.2 million copies of the Book of Hope this year. They need your help. Hoskins says it doesn't take a large commitment to have a huge impact. "It's incredible to believe that for 33-cents we can engage a child with the Word of God that can change an entire community, and actually result in a church being started -- in an area where its 90 to 100-percent Muslims."

The region is embroiled in a battle between Christians and Muslims and the Nigerian government has done little to qwell the violence. With feuds over oil resources compounding this tension, I doubt we've seem the last of these mass murders.




Happy Birthday James Madison

Originally posted at The Desk of Brian, www.DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/happybirthdayjamesmadisonfatheroftheconstitution



259 years later we have completely forgotten one of the greatest minds in our history. James Madison, our fourth President, is regarded as the "Father of the Constitution" as he worked closely with George Washington in those early days to organize our federal government.

Some people only see the name James Madison and wonder if they are referring to the NCAA tournament and the "Dukes"

Never escaping the shadow of Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin, the shy Madison present his Virginia Plan draft at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. It was a truly revolutionary three-branch federal system and the backbone for the American Constitution of today.


Celebrating a Presidential birthday in March rather than February has furthered lack of honor, recognition and publicity. Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland and John Tyler join Madison as March Presidential birthdays, but it's Madison that should be reverred.


"It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage, and such only as he believes to be acceptable to him. This duty is precedent both in order of time and degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society. Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe." - Madison's "Remembrance"

His language, absent of Christian reference, is a point of favor amongst atheists who misrepresent his beliefs and wrongly interpret the goal of mixing church and state:

The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources not adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities impressed with it. - letter to Frederick Beasley in 1825


At only 24 years old, while the Declaration of Independance was signed, Madison drew up the Virginia Declaration of Rights. He is a shining example of how the founders believe we are a "Godly Nation" which should be run by a secular approach to governing. The right belongs to the individual to determine in their own conscience how best to exercise their duty to the Creator and NOT the State.


It is hard to imagine the impact of boyish looking 36 year old helping craft this amazing document. Specifically, the national government would be made potent in its limited scope of authority, given "few and defined" powers. Meanwhile, the states would retain their "numerous and indefinite" powers, except in the realm of federal authority.

How far America has drifted away from these ideals.

James Madison's joint efforts with John Jay and Alexander Hamiltion to produce the "Federalist Papers" which, more than any other initiative, helped explain and defend the Constitution, and turned public sentiment from skepticism to support.

Madison transitioned from his work in Congress under Washington to Thomas Jefferson's Secretary of State garnering more and more respect and credibility. With Jefferson's endorsement, Madison was elected President in 1809.

France and England refused to respect America’s commercial rights in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars and Madison's ineffective Secretary of State threw Madison into a role he was never best suited: pressuring Congress for results.

Better suited to be a Representative rather than the Commander, Madison's errors in handling the oppressions from England and France led to the War of 1812.

The Congress didn't react to finance a military and while there were successes, the British victory to occupy Washington DC, burn the White House, was the pinnacle of shame for a Madison presidency.


Ridiculed as "Madison's War" Madison left a sour legacy of a chaotic and expensive war. After leaving office, Madison retired to Montepelier and later founded the University of Virginia with his longtime friend Thomas Jefferson.


Another stigma is Madison's failure to stop Alexander Hamilton's Federalists from creating the central bank. From Wikipedia:

Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton built a nationwide network
of supporters that became the Federalist Party and promoted a strong
central government with a national bank. To oppose the Federalists,
Madison and Jefferson organized the Democratic-Republican Party. Madison
led the unsuccessful attempt to block Hamilton's proposed Bank of the United States,
arguing the new Constitution did not explicitly allow the federal
government to form a bank.



Late in life he spoke against secession and how to perpetuate the Union.


On James Madison I'll turn to George Will who wrote in 1981:

If we really believe the pen is mightier, or even more dignified than the sword, the nation’s capital would be named not for the soldier who wielded the revolutionary sword, but for the thinker that was ablest with a pen. It would be Madison, D.C.
James Madison was certainly the most prepared of all delegates. James Madison may never be viewed as a great leader in American history, due in large part to his inadequacy as our nation's Fourth President. The case may also be made, that same inadequacy is directly attributable to many of the problems we face today.


Similar links of interest on DOB:



Famous Quotes: George Washington (32)











Sean Penn: Journalists who call Hugo Chávez a dictator should be jailed

Originally posted at Desk of Brian.com http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/seanpennjournalistswhocallhugochavezadictatorshouldbejailed



Sean Penn on the media depiction of Hugo Chavez:

"Every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it, and accept it. And this is mainstream media. There should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies." - Penn on Bill Maher's HBO show March 10, 2010



  • The Organization of American States recently accused Chávez of intolerance and authoritarianism in a 300 page report.

  • Spanish judge accused Venezuela of cosseting Farc and Eta terrorists

  • "Dictator for Life" article (Penn says Chavez should be applauded for the free and open elections)

Jail them all for their lies. The reports are widespread so Washington Post, Telegraph and CNN reporters - you should be leery of spreading these biases...er...lies.

Well, BIASES is you read the reporting in South Carolina: WisTV


He (Penn) says that "there should be a bar for which one goes to prison for these kinds of biases."

Penn is already being misquoted. "LIES" have become "BIASES" - how dare they? Put them in prison, there must be a penalty!!!

"The devil came here yesterday and it smells of sulfur still today." - Hugo Chavez on President Bush at a UN General Assembly September 20, 2006

Chavez continued:

"As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world. An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: 'The Devil's Recipe.' "

Chavez held up a book by Noam Chomsky on imperialism and said it encapsulated his arguments: "The American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its hegemonistic system of domination, and we cannot allow him to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated."


Can we jail Chavez for discussing our President in this manner? He made these comments on our soil at a UN meeting.

"George W. Bush is a dictator in all but name, surrounded by a coterie
of men and women as single-minded and devoted to their leader as the
Goerings and Himmlers of the Third Reich." - envio.org March 2003 (source here)

"He's the only one of those leaders who goes in there with a commanding
popularity among his own people, because he is perceived to be an
effective dictator. What we have in this country is a dictator who's
ineffective.
" - Newsweek's Eleanor Clift on the McLaughlin Group, July 2006

"Tony Blair is a dictator." - Dai Davies June 2006 reported by the Guardian (Read here)


So I guess it's not a manner of what you say, but what you believe. Penn's sentiments for Chavez has led him to believe we should limit free speech as long as it fits his perceived truth.

Chavez good...Bush and other conservatives bad.

I love the Hollywood left in America.





Organization of American States story:



Dictator for Life:



Fact Checking Kenya sign Irene Sendler & Cohen

Originally posted at Desk of Brian: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/factcheckingmoree-mailsoddnews

Obama's birthplace Kenyan sign.





The email:



This road sign was photographed in Northern Kenya near the Kenya, Sudan border! This is an actual picture, NOT a hoax.



What a LIAR Barack Obama is!!!!!

What a shameful cover-up our government is putting over on its citizens!

We deserve BETTER than lies and deception!




100% FALSE - Great photo shop work, but no such sign exists.






In addition, the lettering does not correspond to the language used in Kenya.





For those of you "Birthers" that want the latest: read here http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=105764








Al Gore Wins, beating Irene Sendler



Irena Sendler

Recognize this email:

There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII Irena got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive'. She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German). Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids). She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants.. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunite the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected.Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming.


100% TRUE!

Irena's story is an amazing testament to human history and self sacrifice. It's a tragedy that the Global Warming politics were triumphant and denied her off the recognition she deserved.

Thanks to Chester for reminding me of her tale.





Lastly, a quick nod to a strange story: Australian boy who climbs into a candy machine, trapping himself inside.

From the article by the Telegraph:

Cohen Stone, 2, climbed inside the claw grabber machine in an
Italian restaurant, where his mother, Kyra, 24, had brought him to
celebrate a friend's birthday.

Kyra, from Perth, in Western
Australia, said: "I had been playing with him in the children's area
but took my eye off him for two minutes as the food arrived at our
table."

"When I turned back, he was inside the machine. My first thought was "Oh my God."

"I just couldn't believe what he had done in that space of time. He was there one minute, inside it the next, like a magician's trick."

AWESOME!!!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Stupak tells all : Democrats want government paid abortions

Bart Stupak (D-MI) describing his exchange with Henry Waxman (D-CA) on abortion funding in the health care bill:

"I gave him the language. He came back a little while later and said, 'But we want to pay for abortions.' I said, 'Mr. Chairman, that's -- we disagree. We don't do it now, we're not going to start.'

"'But we think should,'" Stupak said Waxman told him.

"I said, 'Well, I'm sorry but the House has spoken. We had that debate. We won 240-190. You forced the vote, a vote we won fair and square and we're not gonna, this is what it is. If you want to move health care keep current law,'" Stupak continued.


Check out all these stories and more at Desk of Brian: http://www.DeskofBrian.com

Looking back at Global Warming analysis

Originally posted at DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/hot-topics/global-warming-climate-change-whatever-else-they-ll-call-it/lookingbackatglobalwarminganalysis

"Let's just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and future." - Ellen Goodman, 2007 Boston Globe article (see below)


This old article sites voters' prioritites, dumbfounded by the low ranking Global Warming received:



"The folks at the Pew Research Center clocking public attitudes show that global warming remains 20th on the annual list of 23 policy priorities. Below terrorism, of course, but also below tax cuts, crime, morality, and illegal immigration."



"One reason is that while poles are melting and polar bears are swimming between ice floes, American politics has remained polarized. There are astonishing gaps between Republican science and Democratic science. Try these numbers: Only 23 percent of college-educated Republicans believe the warming is due to humans, while 75 percent of college-educated Democrats believe it."


Funny how those bogus scientists manipulated the data to perpetuate this fallacy and 75% of smart Democrats were more than happy to accept it as absolute truth and NEVER be skeptical.



"This works for some. But a lot of social science research tells us something else. As Ross Gelbspan, author of "The Heat is On," says, "when people are confronted with an overwhelming threat and don't see a solution, it makes them feel impotent. So they shrug it off or go into deliberate denial."



Note the exhaustive efforts to denounce deniers and marginalize real questions regarding the science, especially the short term nature of evidence.


Instead of adding Goodman to the Quotes page, I felt we could just reflect on her faith and loyalty to the Global Warming cult that has consume so many, especially on the left.






Beck instigates "Social Justice" debate over codewords at churches

Originally posted on DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/beckinstigatessocialjusticedebateovercodewordsatchurches

Glenn Beck created a frenzy again with this statement:



"I beg you look for the words social justice or economic justice on
your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you
can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words...Am I
advising people to leave their church? Yes! If they're going to
Jeremiah Wright's church, yes!




"If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another
parish, go alert your bishop and tell them, 'Excuse me are
you down with this whole social justice thing?' If it's my church, I'm
alerting the church authorities: 'Excuse me what's this social justice
thing?' And if they say, 'Yeah we're all in on this social justice
thing,' I am in the wrong place."



The fury raged across the Internet including a close minister friend of mine who vows that "social justice" and "economic justice" are essential to his mission as a Christian.



I really don't care what Beck says, but I agree in that "social justice" is a CODEWORD for socialism and "economic justice" is NOT CHARITY.



Let's dig a bit...



Social justice From Wikipedia:

Social justice is the application of the concept of justice on a social scale.


The term "social justice" was coined by the Jesuit Luigi Taparelli in the 1840s. The idea was elaborated by the moral theologian John A. Ryan, who initiated the concept of a living wage. Father Coughlin used the term in his publications in the 1930s and 40s, and the concept was further expanded upon by John Rawls' writing in the 1990s. It is one of the Four Pillars of the Green Party upheld by the worldwide green parties. Some tenets of social justice have been adopted by those on the left of the political spectrum.


Social justice is also a concept that some use to describe the
movement towards a socially just world. In this context, social justice
is based on the concepts of human rights and equality and involves a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution, policies aimed toward achieving that which developmental economists refer to as more equality of opportunity and equality of outcome than may currently exist in some societies or are available to some classes in a given society.


Let's review: progessive taxation, income redistribution and property redistribution....but let's go back and look at Wikipedia's definition of economic egalitarianism:


Economic egalitarianism is a state of economic affairs in which
the participants of a society are of equal standing and equal access to
all the economic resources in terms of economic power, wealth, and
contribution. It is a founding principle of various forms of socialism, communalism and cooperative economic organization.


Jerry Falwell delivers a succinct response:



"Jesus taught that we should give to the poor and support widows, but he
never said that we should elect a government that would take money from
our neighbor's hand and give it to the poor"



and pastors who preach economic and social justice "are trying to twist the gospel to say the gospel supported socialism."




Rev. Jim Wallis disagrees and has been making the rounds:




"The God of the Bible is the God of justice. Though the poor are in the
center of God's concern... Poverty breaks the heart of God. And it
breaks the heart of the church. So, this is about Christians who may
disagree on politics. Republicans, Democrats, it doesn't matter. Left
or right. We have different views on the role of government. Doesn't
matter, But justice is integral to the gospel. And across the spectrum,
Christians are saying Glenn Beck got it wrong." (Wallis on MSNBC's Countdown)






Wallis and other pastors doing EXACTLY what Falwell and Beck claim: twisting the Gospels.



Wallis' statement is correct as it states "GOD of JUSTICE" not justice by means of the government, government intervention or a government program.



From Rev. Wright's Trinity United Church's mission statement:

"It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation."




That is the dividing line: how are you expecting injustice to be fought and by what means?!?!



The Christian Reformed Church has an "Office of Social Justice" and here's a separate example from a Riverside Church under Missions and Social Justice beneath the heading of "Get Involved":



  • Global Justice and Peace: which is support for the UN, task groups to battle "injustices toward undocumented immigrants; and 2) anti-torture and Guantanamo detainees; and 3) environmental protection."

  • Marantha: "promoting equity for Lesbian, Gay,
    Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning people. To these ends, we have
    organized our ministry to serve, advocate, and support the LGBTQ community."



Not all of the goals and missions have political overtones (prison ministry, outreach to Africa) but to deny the churches' directives are politically aligned is completely dishonest.



I never thought I'd agree with Glenn Beck and Jerry Falwell on any topic, but churches need to be honest with regard to the political bias in their directives, especially with socialist terms that use the word "justice" to describe an ends.



From Ronald Nash in "Social Justice and the Christian Church":



"...being a Christian does not obligate one to adopt a liberal and statist
dogma in order to aid the poor. Helping the indigent is definitely a
foundational Biblical ethic, however, there is also a Biblical ethic
which will guide our personal polity concerning government."








Mass E-Mails: Which are True?

Originally posted on DeskofBrian.com: http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/masse-mailswhicharetrue




Seen this one: Barack Obama carrying and reading the book "The Post-American World" with shock factor language to insight our American patriotic spirit.



Reality Check: Picture true.



The disturbing fact is that this was taken in Montana 2008, before the election and completely ignored. The author, Fareed Zakaria, is a huge Obama fan and fan of globalization. To quote Newsweek's review:

It's true China is booming, Russia is
growing more assertive, terrorism is a threat. But if America is losing
the ability to dictate to this new world, it has not lost the ability
to lead.


Thanks to Carolyn for sending this to me as we can see that the book does in fact fit the social and foreign policy agenda of the White House.





How about the Andy Rooney email, seen this one:





CBS
DIDN'T STOP HIM- THIS IS
GREAT




Good
for him!!!





Surprised


CBS let him get away with this even though he's
right




Andy Rooney


said
on '60 Minutes' a few weeks
back:




(exerts from the email)



"Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game."



"When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities

where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability."



"We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they

could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations."




It's 100% false.



The origins date back to 2003 and this email was so widely circulated on and off again for a couple of years, Rooney actually issued a statement in 2005:



There's a collection of racist and sexist remarks on the Internet under a picture of me with the caption "ANDY ROONEY SAID ON 60 MINUTES" If I could find the person who did write it using my name I would sue them.






I recently received this from Brian, Bill and several others - nope, not true. Andy is intense at times, but this one is complete fabrication.













www.snopes.com