Freedom to be ... or not to be ...

i have spent almost three days now in contemplation of this blog ... because it touches on everything we as Americans hold dear .... including the right to agree or disagree about everything in it ... and so first the disclaimer ... it is not my intention to offend anyone by what i say here or to embarrass or hold them up for ridicule ... however i also believe that we must call, in the vernacular "a spade a spade" and if as the old saying goes ... "the shoe fits" ... i will only accede to saying so in all kindness and with the aforethought not to say that my way of seeing this is right and yours is wrong; but merely to express my personal thoughts using the God given freedoms of speech and expression inherent not only as guaranteed to every American through our constitution and bill of rights, but also to every human as granted by Almighty Creator that is God, no matter of what nation they are part.

and so to begin ... i received from my friend Marsha, an e-mail regarding elimination of crosses from all Federally -owned property which posed the situation of how to remove all the crosses from the federally-owned cemeteries in which brave souls who fought for freedom lie interred and asking the question of when the insanity of erasing from the public view all vestiges of Christianity would cease.... a few minutes later i received another e-mail from her asking me what another friend she had sent the e-mail to was trying to say in her reply ...

this then is the background from which this blog is written ... i will be quoting from the e-mail from the other friend in red text color. My own words will be in black color and material from additional or supporting sources will be denoted in blue type.

Pam writes

being an American i value and have defended our civil liberties on active duty for eight years and for a very long time in civil service. A major tenet of our freedom is our right and expectation for the federal government to keep its tentacles out of our churches, mosques, synagogues and mandirs. I am becoming more and more offended by the arrogant assumption that we all must worship the same way and believe the same things regarding religion or else we are un-American.

I also am a veteran of ten years of service to our country and also spend a great deal of my time involved in volunteer activities with the young people of this great nation and also agree that freedom of religion is a major tenet of our rights. In fact i made my very first public speech on this very subject as a 7th grade student at Buckeye Elementary School in 1975 (back in the days when you could mention God and religion in schools without fear of being hauled away as a subversive or fascist). I make mention of this fact because ever since those days it has been ONLY one group who has been determined to FORCE their set of values upon everyone and it has not been CHRISTIANS .. rather it is and has been the secular-humanist civil libertarians who have insisted that only THEY KNOW WHAT IS BEST and "correct" and that without them we would continue to be ignorant, bigoted, racist, homophobes; and therefore to be correct we must NEVER NEVER OFFEND ANYONE or do anything that might even possibly remotely have even the slightest speck of potential to offend ANYONE. As a defender of "religious freedom" since an early age i can unequivocally state that the first amendment to the constitution does not say FREEDOM FROM RELIGION but rather FREEDOM OF RELIGION.

Despite recent attempts by the leftist civil libertarians to insist that the founding fathers were not Christian or even believers in God or that they would insist on an absence of all religious discourse in the public forum is both completely ludicrous and totally and patently FALSE.

A quick glimpse at the Founding Fathers reveals that not one of them was a non-believer and that they were overwhelmingly of various Protestant faiths (two were Roman Catholic). Quite the contrary to being anti-religious they were firm believers in God but also firm in the belief that ALL beliefs and systems should share equal respect and acknowledgement ... again not freedom FROM religion but freedom OF religion (although those who wished to be free FROM religion could also practice those beliefs without fear, without ridicule, without inferiority). ALL religions (not the establishment of a state religion as in England) but the freedom to choose your own and feel free to celebrate it in whatever manner seemed fitting ... EQUAL RESPECT not AVOIDANCE and SUPPRESSION, equal respect and openness ... INCLUSIVITY not EXCLUSIVITY. Freedom for all yet not at the expense of their own beliefs that we were founded under the guidance and care of a SUPREME GOD ..

Take for example the declaration of President George Washington proclaiming a national day of thanksgiving:

General Thanksgiving

By the PRESIDENT of the United States Of America

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and

Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us. And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

Source: The Massachusetts Centinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789 (via Hugh Hewitt)


Again Pam writes:

To co-mingle a politically-motivated entity such as the federal government with the activities and interestes of spirituality and religion with all its myriad forms and persuasions is very dangerous and very un-American at least it used to be before THIS ADMINISTRATION.

Unfortunately only in recent times has it become unfashionable and EVIL to mention religion or religious beliefs (especially the Christian belief). Every president, senator, congress member and every other elected official in both federal, state and local offices has taken an oath of office which affirms his agreement to preserve protect and defend the constitution .."so help me God." So too did i, as i stood, in Oakland, California on January 14th 1980, with 63 other persons of all races, colors, creeds, lifestyles, economic and social strata, and gender as we pledged to serve OUR respective services and OUR country and defend that self-same constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. Again i must restate the obvious that we operate under the freedom OF religious thought and belief not freedom FROM those beliefs. In point of fact it is only the Christian faith that seems to be drawing the ire of those who wish to eliminate it from the public discourse, debate and view. Immediately after the tragic events of 9/11 when it was feared that Muslims might be targeted for increased vigilant oversight the civil libertarians SCREAMED at the top of their voices the charge of "PROFILING" don't you dare.... Why for example is it that a Menorah in celebration of Hanukkah is permissible on the lawn of City Hall in Los Angeles and of other cities but a Nativity scene is not?? Is this not, according to civil libertarians, a violation of "separation"? The answer is given that it is not because Judaism is a "minority" religion and therefore to be protected from the evil majority which seeks it out to destroy it (that being Christianity); according to again the cries from the civil libertarian crowd. Just as minorities cannot by the same token be racist or bigoted (according to the same crowd) because "the oppressed peoples cannot be evil only their oppressors."

again from Pam's e-mail:

And yet one group seeks to impose its ideas on all. Where do they get off complaining about being denied imposing their symbols on what should be common ground (a neutral ground). Have they no compassion or compatriotism for everyone else? When someone else allows their personal beliefs, especially beliefs considered extreme by the majority of the people to influence government policy a crime has been committed against democracy. This is what i mean when i say that there are those who would impose their ideas on everyone else. Yes this is fascism and to read its definition is to describe what is occurring in this country now. Establishing a state religion - BAD. Equal treatment for all religions - GOOD. Tolerance for all religions - BETTER. Acknowledgement and respect for all religions - BEST.

Where is there ANY proof written, unwritten anecdotal or otherwise that this administration or Christians either as a part (individuals or whole groups) have advocated, insinuated or in any other way, shape, form or even a wisp of any way shape or form one religious form of belief above or over any others and not been either respectful or tolerant of diverse belief systems? the answer of course is NEVER but not to hear the leftist civil libertarians tell the story...

At no time in recent history, have Christians (or this government) said that EVERYONE MUST be a CHRISTIAN or they are not equal as citizens. In fact it has only been the very same leftist civil libertarians who have consistently insisted that EVERYONE MUST ACT as they deem correct ... it is the "politically correct" crowd, not the Christian, that seeks to impose their values, their dogma, and their way of life upon the rest of us. Is it the Christian who is jumping up and down screaming that it is WRONG to wish others a HAPPY HANUKKAH"? Is it the Christian who is insistent that Kwanza be eliminated as a separately referenced holiday in favor of a universal covering of "Happy Holidays"? NO! NOT EVEN CLOSE.... it is the "liberal" defender of "rights" who insists that schools ban singing of spiritual Christmas carols such as "Silent Night" and that any such celebrations be called "holiday gatherings" or "Winter Festivals" ... Is it the Christian who is suing the County of Los Angeles to remove the image of the pagan goddess Medea from the seal of the county? NO! Again, it is those gallant defenders of the public, the ACLU, which is suing not to remove the goddess from the seal but rather seeking only to remove the small cross on the top of the picture representing the "Mission" in the name of tolerance. Christmas, being a Christian holiday, is EVIL ... and in their viewpoint MUST be like everything else which mentions the Christian God, ELIMINATED not tolerated; ELIMINATED not treated in an equal or neutral way; ELIMINATED completely from the public discourse, thought, policy and view no matter that in point of fact being far from, as Pam writes, "especially beliefs considered extreme by the majority of the people" it is rather that over 80% of the population consider themselves to be of the Christian belief. Now i have to say i was not the GREATEST Math student (all i did was get straight As) but even i know that 80 percent is far from being a "Minority" no matter how you try to slice and dice and parse it.

It is not Christian beliefs which get the preferential treatment but rather every other belief system to the EXCLUSION of Christian values and beliefs. Two years ago, the United States Justice Foundation sued McNair Elementary in Petaluma on behalf of a parent (religion unspecified) who said that students should not be allowed to celebrate "El Dia de los Muertos" the "Day of the Dead" because the holiday was religious. Richard Ackerman said the women they represented was upset because the school supported the Day of the Dead celebration even as it banned Christmas programs on the basis of their religiosity. They lost when the Sonoma County judge hearing the case ruled that the Day of the Dead was acceptable to celebrate as a cultural event. In the end Ackerman said "Christmas was (and still is banned) and Day of the Dead went forward.

The wonderful thing about America is that it is the most welcoming, most inviting, most unjudgemental, most tolerant and most of all the best place (THE ONLY PLACE) where ALL are created equal ... where our creator-given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of each individuals pathway to happiness (no matter however or wherever) that journey may go are GUARANTEED ... "FOR ALL" no matter if rich, poor , Christian or Atheist, Muslim or Jew, Hindu or Buddhist, native-born citizen or recent immigrant ... YOU are covered in that "FOR ALL" no matter who you are .... Not because we have guaranteed freedoms "FROM" speech, "FROM" assembly, "FROM" the press or "FROM" religion but because we have freedoms "OF" those things and also freedoms to "NOT OF" those things if we so choose.

Like it or not, agree with it or not ... the facts of the matter are this: We (THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) are a nation founded on Christian principles, Christian values, Christian morals and Christian Beliefs ... we are a nation which is still founded on those very "self-evident" truths to this very day ... WE are a nation of primarily Christians who reach out to every other belief with acceptance, with respect, with tolerance, as Abraham Lincoln so nobly stated "with malice toward none, with charity toward all" truly respecting and accepting every other type and form of belief (or un-belief) system not by "taunting" them with the superiority of our beliefs but with the same rights for them to be "free to be or not to be" ... free to practice ... free to observe ... truly "FREE" to be whatever, and whoever, and whenever, and wherever as they and all of us as individuals feel is right ....

Only of America can this be said ... only in America can this be factual and true ... only in America where "under God" we live "with liberty and justice for all."

to close i shall remind myself again of the oath i took as a young 18 year old ... to well and faithfully execute the orders of the President of the United States and the officers and superiors over me and will to the best of my abilities, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States against ALL enemies, foreign or domestic ... so help me God.

Yes, Pam, our religious freedoms are a most important tenet of our being but only so, as we continue to remember why they are there and also to remember all the other important rights we so greatly and graciously enjoy in, as Michael Medved so aptly puts it, "the greatest country on God's green earth."

Tonight as i contemplate which units of our military to select for individual thanks i am driven with the thought that EACH AND EVERY PERSON serving today needs to receive from me an individual THANK YOU ... and so tonight instead of indivudal units from each branch i wish to personally say "thank you" to every living veteran who ever served this great nation either in times of war or in times of peace; to every wife, mother, father, brother, sister, husband, grandparent, neice, nephew, son, daughter, aunt, uncle and friend of every fallen veteran "Thank you" for the sacrifice they made so that this wonderful country "of the people by the people and for the people should not perish"; to every man and woman (and through them all their family members and friends) currently serving and wearing with pride the uniform of our military services, wherever you are "Thank you" and "May the Lord bless you and keep you, May the Lord shine His Light upon you, May the Lord be gracious unto you, and grant you the blessings of Peace now and forever more." AMEN.

some holiday reading ....

May i recommend the following as a partial list of excellent reading material for the holiday period including Christmas, Hanukkah and the New Year....

First start with "How the Irish Saved Civilization" and follow it immediately with Thomas Cahill's other books in no particular order "The Gifts of The Jews", "Desire of the Everlasting Hills" and "Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea" all extremely well written books on how we got to where we are and who helped get us there....

Also very high on my must read list this year "The Book of Honor" by Ted Gup ... the fascinating and true stories of the men and women behind the CIA "Stars" ....

A MUST read and MUST buy for anyone into politics is "Never Give In!" the best of Sir Winston S. Churchill's speeches, edited by his Grandson Winston S Churchill.

Sports fans who have not yet SHOULD read "Moneyball", by Michael Lewis, the authoritative tome of the building of the Oakland A's baseball team of the 2000s ... especially since the re-tooling of that team is so much in the forefront of today's sports news.

On the lighter side i heartily recommend any and all of the "Uncle John's Bathroom Readers" a must for trivia buffs who have very little free time to read ....

literary classics that are always up for a re-read or DEFINITELY a FIRST READ include "Doctor Zhivago" by Boris Pasternak, "The Magic Mountain" by Thomas Mann and "Abraham Lincoln" by Carl Sandburg ... in the case of Lincoln a MUST in my opinion for EVERY American junior high and high school student without exception.

For military buffs .. may i recommend "Beyond the Wild Blue Yonder" by Walter J. Boyne ... a fairly comprehensive history of the United States Air Force.

I shall offer two more selections just for general principles which i have not yet read but are most DEFINITELY my next two purchases ... the first is "The Bounty" by Caroline Alexander, about the famous mutiny aboard His Majesty's Armed Transport .... and the second is "How the Scots Invented the Modern World" by Arthur Herman.

Happy reading and remember to tell a friend or buy any of these as either a gift to someone special or for yourself ....


and now just what everyone has been waiting for .... this BLOG's Military Units of Distinction ....

the envelope please ................................ (drum roll)


US Air Force - 355th Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona

US Marine Corps - D Co., 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, Twenty-Nine Palms, California

US Coast Guard - USCG Cutter Willow (WLB 202), Newport, Rhode Island

US Navy - USS Nevada, (SSBN 733), NBK Bangor, Washington

US Army - 20th Engineer Brigade (Combat) (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina


once more into the breach dear friends .... THANK YOU from the bottom of this citizen's (and fellow veteran) heart.... in the word of Sir Winston S Churchill ... "NEVER GIVE IN"

A follow up on death ... and taxes

OK .. reading through my missive i notice that it is not necessarily reasoned but rather impassioned ... no biggie as it it my opinion and only my opinion and dissenting opinions are welcome ... however on my way into work this AM there was a short blurb about how it will be approximately 5 years before ANY appeal of the Peterson case is actually heard due to a MASSIVE backlog of cases up for appeal ... its no wonder our justice system is wacky ....

So in the interest of helping things move along more smoothly why cant we the people install a judicial appeal board of say 7 members whose job would be to review these cases for appeal and be provided with the authority to make their appeal decisions stick ... with the codicil that one final appeal would be granted to the Supreme Court. This board would consist of retired judges (4 of them), two retired lawyers (one defense lawyer and one prosecuting attorney) and a plain ole folks citizen ... they would be appointed (one each by the governor, lieutenant governor, senate pro tem leader, speaker of the assembly, minority assembly leader, senate minority leader and the chief justice of the State Supreme Court) and then elected to a four year term and subject to the same term limits (and removal) as the constitutional officers of the state. their sole purpose in life would consist of judicial review of appeal cases. Staff would be provided for their use but these positions would be stipend (per diem) based.

again .... just an idea but i think it is one whose time has come a long time ago ....



now holding to rules and regulations .... here are this blog entry's military units for thanks ....

US Air Force - 821st Air Base Group, Thule AB, Greenland

US Navy - USS Winston S. Churchill, DDG 81, Norfolk, Virginia

US Army - 3rd Brigade, 87th Division (Training Support), Camp Shelby, Mississippi

US Marine Corps - MALS-12 (Marauders), 12 MAG, MCAS Iwakuni, Japan

US Coast Guard - USCG Cutter Barracuda, Eureka, California

Give me liberty or give me death?????

Given the recent State of California Vs Scott Peterson verdict and sentence there has been quite a bit of talk around the old water cooler (or at my work place the old coffee pot) regarding the justice or injustice of the death penalty and its effectiveness or ineffectiveness as either a rehabilitative or deterrent factor and of course its monetary costs/worth to society as a whole.

To that end i offer my own personal view which i hope will be a reasoned argument and which of course is always open to discussion, comment and dissenting opinion.

To first give a background i will first dispense the truth that i am indeed pro death penalty. However as it is presently constituted it does us no good. I am a firm believer in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, after a trial by ones peers who having taken an oath before God to render justice and also in the truest sense of Western law and thought every citizen's right of appeal to higher authority for redress if applicable.

What we have however in the American Justice System is neither American, Justice or a System but rather a complete and total foul-up of the entire works ... Rendered only as bad as any well-meaning group of lawyers on all twelve sides of an issue can produce.

The first error of course is in the new definition of "peers" where it seems that both sides of the argument try their hardest to stock the jury pool with malleable moldible persons without regard to trying to get the "best" people who can think and reason and truly digest the tons and tons of information being shoved at them in order to come to a well-reasoned decision. I first found this fact out when i personally was selected for jury duty and when i arrived and filled out the questionnaire and started the process of weeding down the pool ... was dismissed by the prosecution lead for and i quote "perhaps being more knowledgeable about the whole trial process" then she was - she being new to prosecutorial workings.

Then there is the whole mess of the difference between "legal" evidence and "plain old facts" ... now this is not to say that the Law Enforcement folks can just go out williy-nilly and seize anyone and anything and "Manufacture" evidence but it also does not mean that evidence found that "technically" might be prejudicial or inflammatory or for lack of a better word be a little in the "grey" area should be totally disregarded either.

As in all things there must be equal bearing to the complete record on both sides being brought into play for as a much wiser soul than i stated "truth is like a coin in that there are three sides to it ... the face, the reverse and the area in the middle where it mostly lies.

Both of the above areas MUST be corrected if we are ever to actually have the loyal citizenry believe again that the system works ... both for the victims of crime and those accused of those crimes (who may or may not be guilty as charged).

Sentencing must also be kept free of restricting influences ... such things as preset terms are great as GUIDELINES for a jury to consider however jurors must be able to weigh in their own minds the severity and mitigating circumstances and come up with THEIR recommendations free from the stultifying efforts of both sides to propose and in many cases "force" juries into compliance with "standardized" and "inflexible" sentences (by both sides i mean all three of course ... defense, prosecution and judicial).

and then there is the appeals process ... the longest and most drawn out part of the whole. This is REALLY where the system stinks of rotten fish .... especially in death penalty cases where the state pays for BOTH sides of the argument in the vast majority of cases ... arguing for the prosecution (as the state should do as representative of the victim) but also paying for the argument AGAINST ...its enough to almost make me WANT to become multiple-personalitied ... at least id have some clue as to the logic behind it all.

When did it become the "burden" of the prosecuting entity to have to support and pay for the opposing side in a case that they won in the trial?? and yet in death case after death case ... the state is picking up both sides of the bill. THAT MUST END .... it should have never begun ....

Limits should also be placed on the number of appeals one receives .. there is no justice in the endless filing of appeal after appeal after appeal ... Every death case gets an automatic appeal to begin with and the accused/convicted should get ONE more and only ONE more after that ... PERIOD.

Effective appealing will still weed out the minute number of false "positives" (also known as mistakes) from the system but the limitation on the number of times a case may be appealed will also allow for the "execution" of the rendered sentence in a timely manner as well. Thereby allowing the victim or family of victims to see that justice truly does prevail in our system ... because frankly im not sure it does prevail the way our system currently operates.

When convicted prisoners have more rights and better living conditions then the defenders of our freedoms do, SOMETHING is TOTALLY WRONG .... there is no excuse for that situation to continue in its present course ... to take just the Peterson case in mind it will be most likely that 25 years from now Scott will still be living (not a comfortable life but a life to be sure) at the expense of the taxpayers of California (including but not limited to the family of his victim who with every year's income tax pay of their funds to keep appealing the sentence they so richly deserve to see carried out.

If i were the Rocha family i would scream a HUGE FIT ... that MY taxes would be going to pay to keep my daughter's killer both alive and appealing the sentence handed out. IS it just me or is there SOMETHING TOTALLY SCREWY ABOUT THAT KIND OF JUSTICE????

If we are going to keep the death penalty .... and most Americans say they want it ... LETS REALLY HAVE ONE ... ONE that WORKS and actually GETS USED. As another very wise man once said to me ... "Son, either fish or cut bait.... cause you can't do both at the same time". NOW is the time we MUST decide what we are going to do .... it is long overdue ... one way or the other, the time to choose and ACT DECISIVELY on THAT CHOICE is NOW.



and now on to better and more useful things such as a hearty thank you to those persons serving in our military ... the guardians of our freedoms who willingly give up some of theirs for a time in order to ensure that the rest of us will NEVER have to give up any of OURS ....


US Air Force - 49th Fighter Wing, Holloman AFB, New Mexico

US Army - 1st Personnel Group, I Corps, Fort Lewis, Washington

US Navy - VFA-151. CW2, NAS Lemoore, California (USS Abraham Lincoln)

US Marine Corps - 6th Communications Battalion, Brooklyn, New York

US Coast Guard - USCG Cutter Hickory, Homer, Alaska

Please remember this Christmas to give a special thanks to the members of these units both current and former for their dedication, service and sacrifices to their nation ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL and A HAPPY, SAFE, and PEACEFUL NEW YEAR!!!!!

In search of ....

... the real Christmas story.

According to the powers that be at both Newsweek and Time through their cover stories, the FACTS of the case cannot be proven and therefore it MUST mean that the case is therefore FALSE and WITHOUT MERIT.

The question one must ask is why, if in non-religious writings a writer is believed even without corroborating evidence, cannot the same standard be applied to religious writings such as the Gospels.

The answer is plain ... both from scripture and also from the writings of biblical scholars and theologians. The scriptures plainly tell us that light cannot exist with darkness neither can faith survive hand in hand with unbelief ... one cannot serve two masters ... either one believes wholly and folllows the scriptures in truth and as truth or one does not believe; and as diametricly opposed opinions never meet neither can the deliberate and consciously choosing unbelievers meet the the truth and recognize it.

Society today is all about freedom ... freedom from right and wrong .... freedom from personal responsibility ... freedom to "do what is right in their own eyes" without suffering or accepting the consequences of those actions. Scripture plainly also states that "the way that seemeth right unto men" inevitably ends "in the ways of death". Only by casting dispersions, insults, doubts, innuendo and outright bold faced lies upon the truthfulness and veracity of Scriptures can the secular humanistic individual ease his own conscience into submission and peace.

A noted religious author once put it this way regarding those of unbelief ...."The Word of God (Biblical Scriptures) is plain ...the testimonies of His Spirit call attention to the Scriptures which points out your defects of character ... therefore you do not heed them. In order to justify your carnal and ease-loving course you begin to doubt whether they are from God. Those who seek to lessen the faith of God's people are fighting against God. It is not the instrument that you slight and insult but God Himself."

and so the question remains ... will the articles in Newsweek and Time serve the purposes for which i believe they were written -- that purpose being to give credence to the "anything goes", "there's no wrong answer", "if it feels good to you do it", "no one is to blame" mentality and modus operandi of the world at large? Unfortunately the answer is yes and gratefully also no.

The believer belives without having to see proof because of his faith ... faith being from God, if continually cultivated in a personal relationship with HIM, will only grow stronger and stronger and thus continue to build within the BELIEVER an even more impregnable fortress of hope and joy and love and faith in God from which nothing, as the Apostle Paul so eloquently stated, "can separate us."

The same unfortunately is also true of the unbeliever. We humans are a very proud and stubborn race... tending to become defensive when challenged. The secular portion of society will also continue to harden their stances, build up their forces and work at all cost to remain if not totally God-less then most definitely try to make God "less".

Rules have consequences ... a society with less rules has less consequences ... more freedoms ... less responsibilites ... it is this force that Christians are fighting ... it is this force that is determined to lessen the humans dependence on an external God by substituting in its place an internal "personal" god ... the god of human nature.

If we believe that the Bible is true and truthful in all aspects the outcome is known ... in the end God wins ... "do it yourself" loses ... but it is not going to be an easy and quick battle and victory ... it will in fact get even more intense the nearer to the final judgement we come.



and now the Military Unit Thanks of the Blog ...


US Air Force - 52nd Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem AB, Germany

US Army - 3rd Recruiting Brigade, Fort Knox, Kentucky

US Navy - USS Oklahoma City, SSN 723, Norfolk, Virginia

US Marine Corps - VMFT 401, Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Arizona

US Coast Guard - Coast Guard Station, Oregon Inlet, North Carolina

May God by His Grace grant each one of you serving this Great Country Peace, Love Hope, Joy and Thanksgiving at this the Christmas season.

and may every veteran, every serving member of our armed forces, and our nation's leaders be blessed as well this Christmas with every good and perfect gift ... God Bless you and continue through his mercy to bless America ...MANY THANKS FOR A JOB WELL DONE!

Why is it ....

Why is it that we can always do things over and over and over but somehow FAIL to do them right the first time because we are so busy ...

human nature being what it is im sure we have all had those kind of days .... HURRYING inevitably leads to inaccuracy ... and inaccuracy leads to HUGE problems ... is it really so important to have IT NOW, RIGHT NOW even if its not completely done or totally verified? Has the lure of FILTHY LUCRE become so great that we cant or shouldnt take the time to do whatever it is we are doing right? or have we (and this includes ME) just gotten so lazy we don't care? Whether in business, or our personal lives will we really lose SO MUCH by taking our time and doing it RIGHT than we will by having to do and re-do and re-do ???

speaking just for me ... i think it is about time I DID it right rather than first in a lot of things in my life ... so bear with me and keep me honest (you people i rely on for this KNOW WHO YOU ARE and also know WHAT YOU NEED TO DO) ....

Personal responsibility for our actions (or lack of actions as well) is not just something we need to TALK about we also NEED to apply it in a practical sense as well.

So ... as an early Yew Year's resolution suggestion may i suggest (and in my case --demand of myself) that every one of us here on PLANET EARTH in the coming year try their best to live up to the following ...

as originally written by Mister Richard Bach in his book "Illusions", (you young people go read Jonathan Livingston Seagull first then ask questions!) ....

"Live never to be ashamed if anything you do or say is published around the world--even if what is published is not true."

Wouldnt the world be a much more wonderful place??? The golden rule is not just a Christian experiment ... every known belief system shares that simple respectful code in its own way ...and so in the words of BILL AND TED ... "Be Excellent to each Other!" We are after all the only "brotherhood of man" we will ever have ... lets make the most of it shall we?

In this spirit of togetherness and caring ... especially at this SEASON of GIVING ... remember those around you who have less or are struggling .... give a little something of yourself to someone else .... you will be amazed at how much better off YOU will be because of it.

It doesnt even have to be a BIG thing .. a smile for the harried store clerk or the postal worker ... allowing someone else to take your place in a long line ...

Have you ever bought the groceries for the person ahead of you in the supermarket? If you want to see someone break out in wonderment and thanks ... the next time there is a senior citizen ahead of you at the store ... pay for some of their groceries ...

AND YES i have and YES it made her day ... a wonderful way to share with a stranger the SPIRIT of CHRISTMAS .... ALL YEAR LONG .... ALL LIFE LONG!

and speaking of strangers and people you will never meet who DESERVE special THANKS remember to thank the local law enforcement and fire and emergency medical people you see as you travel around day to day ... lets face it they do a job that MOST of us WOULD NOT do ... and they do it well ....

which brings me back to my special thanks to the brave men and women of our NATION'S ARMED FORCES ....

This BLOG's units of special recognition are:

US Air Force - 2nd Bomb Wing, Barksdale AFB, Arkansas

US Army - 10th Aviation Brigade, Fort Drum, New York

US Navy - Naval PostGraduate School, Monterey, California

US Marines - Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion, Company D, Fort Gordon, Georgia

US Coast Guard - Coast Guard Air Station, Traverse City, Michigan


PLEASE REMEMBER THESE and ALL OTHER MEMBERS OF OUR ARMED FORCES and THEIR FAMILES .... thanks to them and those who have served before WE ARE FREE!!!!

I will close with another final thought from Mr. Bach ...

"Here is a test to find out if your mission on earth is finished .... if you're alive, it isnt."

im the one on the LEFT 

and now a word from our sponsors ....

enough of the steroid talk already .... If an individual wants to take the personal responsibility for his/her actions and take steriods to in some way increase their potential performance ... so be it. JUST DONT WHINE if after your career is over you suffer the unforeseen or adverse consequences of YOUR actions. For those who swear that it taints records i say if a person was using something that was not illegal during the time they were using it ... live and let live. Now if it was banned already and they continued to take it -- thats a different horse and should be dealt with by each individual sport or activity in their own manner -- more power to them ... To those who will say "but we have to do something or all our young people will be taking them i say "Hello can you say PARENTS??? COACHES??? hey if you are a parent and you kid is taking steriods and youd dont want him too, use your PARENTAL VETO and say "do sterionds or anythine else illegal--No sports" or no whatever it is they are really into .... its called GROUNDING ... worked for me and my siblings ... trust me it will work for your children too .... but it all comes back to taking RESPONSIBILITY .... Coaches can ban youth from playing if they are juicing as well and parents should be adult enough to accept the rules as rules. and that goes for everybody. but like i say ... enough talk about the steriod issue ....

lets get to more fun things .... like the unfairness of the BCS system where only in America can you be ranked 4th for 9 weeks and after the last game still be ranked 4th but not get to go to the Big Boys bowl games like CALIFORNIA or even worse go undefeated the entire season and still not make the championship game despite being in the conference that is universally acknowledged as the toughest in the country like AUBURN .... Please NCAA can anyone there inside of FOOTBALL spell P-L-A-Y-O-F-F T-O-U-R-N-E-Y-M-E-N-T? I know that NCAA Basketball and Baseball can and for you bowl purists it can all be done within the BOWL FORMAT ... goodness knows there are enough BOWL games between now and Jan 4th to put at least the top 16 teams in a winner take all single elimination BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP .. with the winner being a REAL champion and no one getting thrown a PENALTY FLAG.... come on NCAA get with the program and give all us football fans a REAL system ....

and while we are venting here about inaneness or is it insaneness??? lets take REALITY TV and put it where it really belongs .... SOMEWHERE ELSE .... because even though it says its reality TV ... lets face it its NOT ... not even close ... I personally have never watched a single minute of a single reality TV show .... my exposure is only due to the teasers and trailers but if what is on the trailer teaser is any indication of the REAL-NESS ... ive seen more reality in a fake mink stole then in any of these WAY TOO MANY reality shows. In deference to my sister who patiently tries to show me the reality and difference between different shows i will grant her that THE AMAZING RACE seems to be at least the closest to real life of any of them ... but even that is stretching it a bit too far in my view.

WOW!!! I feel SO MUCH BETTER now ....

Speaking of REALITY here are some real military units and outstanding citizens that deverve our unwavering and unlimited thanks for their service and dedication to the protection and service of all of us ....

US Air Force - 22nd Air Refueling Wing, McConnell AFB, Kansas

US Army - 18th Medical Command, Republic of Korea

US Navy - USS Ronald Reagan, CVN 76, San Diego, California

US Marines - 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Pendleton, California

US Coast Guard - USCG Cutter Galveston Island, Guam


.... MANY THANKS for YOUR BEING BRAVE, DEDICATED, DEVOTED TO DUTY AND COUNTRY .... and may your families also be thanked for their sacrifices on behalf of the rest of us .... GOD BLESS!