Birth of Gideon Andrew Ott, my Facebook meandering

Another GAO & Gideon!?! Prophesy? Providence? Inspired? Just noticed that Gideon Andrew Ott, son of Andy & Jenn, shares initials with the Government Accounting Office. Our government certainly ought to be called to account. Our Nation certainly can use a Gideon: "The Book of Judges:" Gideon http://bit.ly/dMD9Zd
The Book of Judges: Gideon | Yahweh then orders Gideon to tear down his father's altar to Baal, the god of the Amorites and the Canaanites, and to cut down the pole that represents Asherah, the goddess of the Amorites and the Canaanites. He orders Gideon to use the pole to erect an altar to Yahweh and then sacrifice one of his
Jim Batley: Inadvertent inclusion of text above [on Facebook] may be providential. Children generally improve their parents. Gideon of old corrected the defects of his father. Only defect of Andy I am aware of is service in Air Force rather than Navy. Perhaps Gideon Ott will join and improve the Navy as did the co-founder, Les Spencer, of The Navigators http://bit.ly/hDFtEP
Semi-apology to Andy. It seems The Navigators was founded before the Air Force Academy: '"You teach him!" [Dawson] Trotman responded. And the 2 Timothy 2:2 [ http://bit.ly/gQlBUg ] vision was strengthened. | [Les] Spencer did teach the sailor, and soon the two men were meeting with others. Eventually, 125 men on their ship, the U.S.S. West Virginia, were growing in Christ and actively sharing their faith. By the end of World War II, thousands of men on ships and bases around the world were learning the principles of spiritual multiplication by the person-to-person teaching of God's word.' http://bit.ly/i1HTqR
It is interesting that I seem to be carrying on a bit like Simeon: "[Luke 2:]29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, http://bit.ly/gjF5fT
Usually I seem to be a bit like Polonius: "And Polonius is not exactly an exemplary character. He’s dull, pedantic, wields no real power at court and manages to get himself killed by hiding in the Queen’s bedroom. More to the point, having made this speech full of homely wisdom to Laertes, he is next seen talking to Reynaldo (Act 2, Scene i), a spy he is intending to set on his son." http://bit.ly/gaHWqj

Finnegan's Wake More Fun

     Headline below reminded me of the iconic Tim Finnegan and the great work of literature he inspired: Link
     "Kid's birthday party turns into brawl" Link
     But not nearly as much fun as Finnegan's wake: "Wasn't it the truth I told you? Lots of fun at Finnegan's Wake" Link
     Perhaps pondering on the power of Irish wiskey to revivify Tim Finnegan and on the word for whiskey in the old language which literally means water of life, the fantastically gifted James Joyce was inspired to turn a pleasant little song into a great epic representing the birth, death, and ressurection of the Universe.
     Finnegans Wake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Link
     Finnegans wake - Google Books Link
     A Webified version of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. Link

"... I got rid of the dog but kept the husband?”

     Jennifer: “Do I redeem myself if I mention that I got rid of the dog but kept the husband?”
     No [further (ch. 9/29)] redemption necessary for those not under law but under grace. It is a matter of formal sequential ordering. Scripture plainly teaches children that fathers are first in honor (and mothers first in fear or reverence Lev.19:3 KJV: “Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father ...” Equity rather than the zeitgeist's equal rights.) Equality of person, but subordination of office. Like the Trinity. Mankind in the image of the Creator.
     Your statement is understandable in terms of the way your affections are employed in your daily duties. As a matter of phileo, rather than agapeo. Our Lord accepted Peter's phileo.
     John 21:15-17 KJV So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
     John 21:15-17 GNT-TR οτε ουν ηριστησαν λεγει τω σιμωνι πετρω ο ιησους σιμων ιωνα αγαπας με πλειον τουτων λεγει αυτω ναι κυριε συ οιδας οτι φιλω σε λεγει αυτω βοσκε τα αρνια μου 16 λεγει αυτω παλιν δευτερον σιμων ιωνα αγαπας με λεγει αυτω ναι κυριε συ οιδας οτι φιλω σε λεγει αυτω ποιμαινε τα προβατα μου 17 λεγει αυτω το τριτον σιμων ιωνα φιλεις με ελυπηθη ο πετρος οτι ειπεν αυτω το τριτον φιλεις με και ειπεν αυτω κυριε συ παντα οιδας συ γινωσκεις οτι φιλω σε λεγει αυτω ο ιησους βοσκε τα προβατα μου
     You are probably right to object. But as I often told those who objected to one of Pastor Steve Petit's positions: "Since you are strong in the faith, you should not make a fuss about the positions of those who are weak.” Romans 14:1 KJV Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
     You young Facebook friends have driven me to resume my blog. Facebook formats are too small for the largeness of my meandering thoughts.

Repairing "bare ruined choirs"

     "[Jennifer's friend] is excited to join church family and friends as we put the final touches on the repaired sanctuary! We are praying that everything is up and running by Sunday."
     Better to repair "bare ruined choirs" than to write poetry about them:
     SONNET LXXIII
1. That time of year thou mayst in me behold
2. When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
3. Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
4. Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
5. In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
6. As after sunset fadeth in the west;
7. Which by and by black night doth take away,
8. Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
9. In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,
10. That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
11. As the death-bed, whereon it must expire,
12. Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
13. This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
14. To love that well, which thou must leave ere long. Sonnet text & commentary

"almost 4 kids, 1 dog, 1 hubby...that's life!"

     Quote of the Day: "almost 4 kids, 1 dog, 1 hubby...that's life!" | I do not wish to embarass my old chum, Jennifer Ott, by revealing the source of the quotation.
     It does, at least, encourage the avoidance of polyandry. But the tertiary position of the husband combined with the secondary position of the dog demonstrates that older women have failed in their scriptural duties in instructing the younger women.
     If the older women fail to instruct the younger, we are in real trouble. Young women do not often listen to men. (Single young women may often pretend to listen to a young man they have targeted, of course.)
     Titus 2:3-4 KJV The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
     The Greek is interesting. Two compound verbs are used. Compounds of phileo akin to our "Philadelpha", "love of brothers". Phileo is affectionate love of those like us, or things we desire. Young women know that they are the grandest of human beings. The good Lord has made them so. So that they can properly take care of babies, and that the babies may be drawn to them. The compound Greek verbs are telling young women to have affectionate love toward husban and children as toward fellow human beings, despite their obvious deficiencies.
     I am not one to preach about this. It has recently come to my attention that I have been consistently and egregiously coming short of the behavior intructed for aged men in the preceding verse. It is interesting that I seem to favor those moral injunctions that cannot possibly apply to me.

A Victim of a Series of Accidents

     "I am the victim of a series of accidents -- as are we all" - The Space Wanderer, aka Malachi Constant, protagonist of Kurt Vonnegut's great inter-galactic epic, "The Sirens of [Saturn's Earth-sized satellite,] Titan". (Click to read first five pages plus)
     The fate of the Wanderer, as well as the fates of rest of us, are better understood by the now often considered archaic and obsolete term: Providence.
     Matthew 5:44-45 KJV But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
     Romans 8:28 KJV And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
     Providence is much more comfortable -- and beautiful, -- and good, -- and true.

Do not kill the goose that lays your golden eggs!!!!!

"A man may seye full sooth (truth) in game and pley," -Chaucer. An example of truth in silliness is an oldie but goodie JimSmiling multi-Tweet: {{_ ATTENTION! All placepersons!! Everywhere!!! ==>==>Always speak, act, and VOTE to FREE: - free enterprise!!!! ==>==>Do not kill the goose that lays your golden eggs!!!!! ==>==>N.B. “Placeperson” is the politically correct update of the archaic “placeman”. ==>==>Meaning: Non-hereditary, non-elected, but, appointed or selected, government official or employee. – js. _}}

President Obama Fisked

President Barack Obama said Saturday that trimming budget deficits [N.B. #1 - Code for tax increase in order to kill free enterprize.]

is as important as creating jobs, [N.B. #2 - Only tax cuts that free small business to create job will work.]

his top domestic priority this year, [N.B. #3 - The red diaper baby's top goal is government control.]

to continue the economic recovery [N.B #4 - Any signs of life are despite O's policies. Hard times remain, made much harder by O.]

that appears under way. [N.B. #5 - Straight talk from experts: this appearance is deceptive.] http://bit.ly/dafoLY

From a somewhat popular twiterer.

Tweeting while neglecting forums. - js

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. - 2nd Corinthians 2:14

Mamas, Protect Babies From Leftists!

Forty Years of Feminism Now Bearing Fruit

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be lefties.

Every child in America, all 73.7 million of them, should be kept safe from the leftist inculcation of the public school curriculum. Taxpayer money should be used to help set up home-schooling networks and resources across the country.

We spend more per capita on education than virtually every other nation, and yet we rank close to the bottom in math and science -- so busy are our children being force-fed global warming junk science, the [h%%%%%%%%l activist] agenda, a whitewashed Muhammad, and other assorted propaganda.

This is how the left has been destroying America since they took over in the '60s. Now the teenage girls in Azam's documentary are reaping what the left has been sowing for decades. [My emphasis]

From an American Thinker .com article by Pamela Geller, Forty Years of Feminism Now Bearing Fruit, more below:

”Why should we pass this bill for posterity? What has posterity ever done for us?” (– 19th Century Member of Irish Parliament, archetypical “Irish bull” -- with deepest apologies to Daniel O’Connell, et al.) - js

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. - 2nd Corinthians 2:14

WARNING Explicit references to s%%%%l moral decay follow!

Forty Years of Feminism Now Bearing Fruit [/] January 26, 2010 [/] By Pamela Geller

A new documentary, O%%% S%% Is the New Goodnight Kiss, chronicles America's moral decay. Sharlene Azam, a Canadian filmmaker, says, "If you talk to teens [about o%%% s%%], they'll tell you it's not a big deal. In fact, they don't consider it s%%. They don't consider a lot of things s%%." In the documentary, teenage girls talk casually about their s%%%%l experiences and even their forays into p%%%%%%%%%n. [/] One girl sums up the new attitudes: "F%%% m%%%%s and I got %%%%. If I'm going to s%%%p with them anyway because they're good-looking, might as well get p%%d for i%, right?"

Azam said that this was going on in good homes right under parents' noses: "The prettiest girls from the most successful families [are the most at risk]. We're not talking about marginalized girls. [Parents] don't want to know because they really don't know what to do. I mean, you might be prepared to learn that, at age 12, your daughter has had s%%, but what are you supposed to do when your daughter has traded her v%%%%%%%y for %%%%% or a %%% %%%?"

This is the bitter fruit of forty years of feminist domination in the United States.Virtue, self-worth, and man's moral value are DOA in the age of the cultural domination of the left. What an awful stench this decaying corpse gives off, lying in a smoldering, fetid pile of ash. [/] This is how the phony feminist movement empowered women? Girls s%%%%%g the i% for a %%%%%%? Those men-hating parasites have ruined the glorious exaltation of women in 20th-century America. I know. I grew up in it. All one has to do is watch movies from the forties, fifties, and sixties (before the left culture rout) to catch a glimpse of the status of women. We were then formidable, respected, treasured, and above all...revered. It was as good as it gets.

Azam's vulgar and depressing documentary is no surprise. The atmosphere is already poisoned by the left's attitudes toward teenage s%%. And these attitudes come out everywhere. Two weeks ago, in Crosby Middle School in Hitchcock, Texas, a member of the Hitchcock school board, Shirley Price, gave what was supposed to be a motivational talk to sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade girls. Instead, she gave a graphic, sm%%-filled rant about o%%% and a%%% s%%. [/] I am sickened by this -- not because I am prudish, but because it speaks volumes about how girls view themselves and their roles, not to mention the ever-increasing diminishing of women in American society.

To say that feminism was one of the worst things to happen to women is being easy. It has been worse for men. The demon seeds of the "liberation" movement are everywhere -- including the epidemic of single motherhood, the breakdown of the American family, the street vernacular of "b%%%%%s and h%s," the e%%%%%%%%%%n of men, and the bone-crushing responsibility of single moms acting as mother, father, breadwinner, chief cook, and bottle-washer.

And what has Obama done about all this? He has appointed Kevin Jennings, the founder of GLSEN (G%%, L%%%%%n, Straight Education Network), to be his Safe Schools Czar. GLSEN is notorious for having sponsored a conference at Tufts University at which teenagers were given instruction in an array of risky and dangerous s%%%%l practices. Obama has appointed this radical to head up America's "safe schools," but who is going to keep kids safe from him? This is another terrible Obama choice. Whatever one's s%%%%l preferences or proclivities may be, do not traumatize children. Why can't the schools just teach reading, writing, arithmetic -- and civics?

But this is no surprise, of course. A breakdown of s%%%%l mores and a flouting of convention is part and parcel of the agenda in every society to which socialism has come.

Pamela Geller is the editor and publisher of the Atlas Shrugs website and is former associate publisher of the New York Observer. She is the author (with Robert Spencer) of the forthcoming book The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America (Simon & Schuster). [My ellipses and emphasis]

Obama: De-Curtained By Mass. Voters

“The inner hollowness and facile talent that propelled his rise gave him none of the grit necessary to meet the challenges. Where would he begin?”

We the people of the United States owe Scott Brown's sup porters a huge debt of gratitude. They didn't merely elect a senator. They ripped the façade off the Obama presidency.

Just as Dorothy and Toto exposed the ordinary man behind the curtain in "The Wizard of Oz," the voters in Massachusetts revealed that, in this White House, there is no there there.

It's all smoke and mirrors, bells and whistles, held together with glib talk, Chicago politics and an audacious sense of entitlement.

[…] America has survived bad presidents before and we will survive this one. Fortunately, we're no longer waiting for him to grow into the job. Massachusetts proved the Nation is ready to move forward. [My emphasis]

From a New York Post article, End of O's cowardly lyin', more below:

The revealed man is the same one seen by the discerning two years ago. - js

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. - 2nd Corinthians 2:14

End of O's cowardly lyin' [/] Updated: Sun., Jan. 24, 2010, 11:07 AM [/] By MICHAEL GOODWIN

[…] At the center is a young and talented celebrity whose worldview, we now know, is an incoherent jumble of poses and big-government instincts. His self-aggrandizing ambition exceeds his ability by so much that he is making a mess of everything he touches. [/] He never advances a practical idea. Every proposal overreaches and comes wrapped in ideology and a claim of moral superiority. He doesn't listen to anybody who doesn't agree with him. [/] After his first year on the job, America is sliding backwards, into grave danger at home and around the world. So much so that I now believe either of his rivals, Hillary Clinton or John McCain, would have made a better, more reliable and more trustworthy president. [/] They warned us he wasn't ready.

Yes, we're stuck with him, but we're no longer stuck with his suffocating conformity. The second Boston Tea Party opened the door to new ideas and new people of both parties. Obama's reactions were predictable. More self-pity, blaming George W. Bush, and claiming that the voter revolt is due to ignorance about the health-care plan they hate. [/] Blah blah blah. Hasn't he heard? The magic is gone.

Massachusetts changed everything. America's spirit of independence has been emancipated and the cult of Obama-ism is finished.

The health-care debacle perfectly captured his utter lack of governing substance. [/] He embraced major provisions he rejected during the campaign, misled the public about costs and impact, and got competing versions through Congress only with a grab bag of outlandish bribes and exemptions. [/] He pledged transparency, then retreated to secret deal-making that corruptly rewarded unions and fleeced everybody else. The result was a national scandal that would have done tremendous damage if it became law.

His sudden adoption of a bank tax springs from a baser motive -- political desperation. [/] He unveiled the tax as polls showed Scott Brown closing in on victory. White House flunkies said the tax marked an aggressive turn to populism and Obama obliged by trotting out the "fat-cat banker" phrase. [/] Which, of course, is bizarre when you want those banks to lend money to create jobs. And you can be sure Obama will hit up those fat-cat bankers for contributions at election time, as he did in 2008. Even his attacks are cynical.

His foreign policy is a dangerous muddle. He is feckless about both Iran's brave dissidents and the mullahs pushing for nuclear weapons. [/] He took a bad situation in the Mideast and made it worse with pernicious demands on Israel. Muslims reject his bended-knee apologies, giving him nothing for his amateurish squandering of American power. [/] Frightening details are still emerging about the disastrous handling of the Christmas Day bomb plot. The decision to quickly put the al Qaeda-trained Nigerian into civilian courts stems from his fixation on giving terrorists constitutional protections.

The talk in Washington is that he look to Bill Clinton's presidency for comeback answers, or maybe Ronald Reagan's. Political history won't help him much. [/] Obama's crisis is personal. The inner hollowness and facile talent that propelled his rise gave him none of the grit necessary to meet the challenges. Where would he begin? [/] America has survived bad presidents before and we will survive this one. Fortunately, we're no longer waiting for him to grow into the job. Massachusetts proved the nation is ready to move forward. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Obama Ugliness Huge As Revealed By “Game Change”: Parts I and II

Et tu, “Game Change” authors! Then fall, Obama mythology?

N.B. #1. “Et tu, Brute. Then fall, Caesar.” – Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar recognizing his friend, Brutus, as one of the forty or so conspirators who were ending his reign over Rome and the Mediterranean world by the pre-Christian method of stabbing him to death.

N.B. #2. The problem with political jokes is that too many of them get elected. – Will Rogers

[I.] In other words: he claims credit for others' ideas, brags when "his" ideas turn out to work and –when he is not unnaturally apathetic (oh..sorry..calm) he is filled to the brim with hubris and ego. [/] Great guy....

[II.] This [attitude toward U.S. Senate], of course, reflects why he tramples the Constitution, congressional rules, traditions, engages in bullying and bribery, loopholes, etc. to push through his policies. Why should he care about other people or institutions (or checks and balances) because that is all so boring. No wonder he just cannot stop giving speeches and making appearances on television, in front of crowds, down Broadway-because that is ... what is fun

My question: why has the media ignored, at least so far, this unflattering portrait of our President? [My emphasis]

From two American Thinker blog entries by Ed Lasky, Game Change on Obama and More on Obama from Game Change , more below:

And Lasky has only gotten to page 30 - js

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. - 2nd Corinthians 2:14

[I.] Game Change on Obama [/] January 15, 2010 [/] Ed Lasky [/] Within a few pages of the new book:

He could come across as cocky, that was for sure. He knew he was smarter than the average politician and he not only knew it but wanted to make sure everyone else knew it, too. He would interrupt aides at meeting, saying Look (he does this all the time) and be off to the races, reframing the point, extending it and then claim ownership of it. "Whose idea was that?” Was another of his favorites, employed with cheerful boastfulness whenever something he'd previously proposed had come up roses. His calmness and composure would veer into the freakish,., and sometimes concealed gaudy confidence in himself. When asked if he was nervous, Obamareplied "I'm Lebron, baby..I can play at this level. I got some game".

In other words: he claims credit for others' ideas, brags when "his" ideas turn out to work and -when he is not unnaturally apathetic (oh..sorry..calm) he is filled to the brim with hubris and ego. [/] Great guy....

[II.] More on Obama from Game Change [/] January 16, 2010 [/] Ed Lasky
This book by page 30 (where I am at) comes down pretty hard on Obama. Aside from today's post, just a couple of pages later he describes how bored he was with the Senate. [/] Excerpt:

The glacial pace, the endless procedural wrangling, the witless posturing and petifoggery, the geriatric cast of characters doddering around the place: all of it drove him nuts. To one friend in Chicago, Obama complained, [/] "It is basically the same as Springfield except the average age in Springfield is forty-two and in Washington it's sixty-two. Other than that, it's the same b%%%s%%%".

After listening to Biden during a committee hearing, Obama passed a note to Gibbs that read "Shoot me now". [/] Time and again after debates on the floor, he would emerge through the chamber's double doors shaking his head, rolling his eyes, using both hands to give the universal symbol for the flapping of gums, sighing wearily, "Yak, yak, yak".

My question: why has the media ignored, at least so far, this unflattering portrait of our President?

This , of course, reflects why he tramples the Constitution, congressional rules, traditions, engages in bullying and bribery, loopholes, etc. to push through his policies. Why should he care about other people or institutions (or checks and balances) because that is all so boring. No wonder he just cannot stop giving speeches and making appearances on television, in front of crowds, down Broadway-because that is ...what's fun? [My ellipses and emphasis]

Union White House Deal = Obamacare Joke!?!

Et tu, Denver Post! Then fall, Obamacare?

N.B. #1. “Et tu, Brute. Then fall, Caesar.” – Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar recognizing his friend, Brutus, as one of the forty or so conspirators who were ending his reign over Rome and the Mediterranean world by the pre-Christian method of stabbing him to death.

N.B. #2. The problem with political jokes is that too many of them get elected. – Will Rogers

Aside from the sleazy deals patching this bill together, its provisions add up to a poison pill for the country in that it fails to reduce costs.

From the wildly improper gifts to senators like Nebraska's Ben Nelson to this week's backroom deals for unions, the so-called health care reform emerging from Washington has become bad medicine for America and ought to be rejected. Quickly.

Unbelievably, the bill got even worse this past week when lawmakers agreed to exempt union workers from paying taxes that other workers will have to pay for years. [My emphasis]

From a Denver Post editorial, Dispatch health care reform bill , more below:

Just as a predecessor left undeniable evidence on a blue dress, our president’s fingerprints are all over this political “joke”. The scene of the “backroom deal” was closed “backroom” meetings in the White House. - js

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. - 2nd Corinthians 2:14

Dispatch health care reform bill [/] The backroom deal to exempt unions from new taxes is a joke. Sen. Bennet should show his independence and kill the bill. [/] Saturday, January 16, 2010 [/] EDITORIAL [/] By The Denver Post

[...] Colorado Senators. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet ought to take a principled stand against the failed reform effort, even if it once held promise. [/] Bennet went on the record weeks ago saying he would support the bill even if it cost him his job. Well, it probably will. [/] His hard-line stance may have been noble at the time, but so much has changed with the legislation since then that the bill is now at odds with the stated goals of both Bennet and Udall. We think both senators have more than enough clearance to oppose it and ask for better. [/] Bennet faces a tough election in November. We understand the pressure Democratic Party leaders have put on him to ensure this stinker of a bill passes, but most Coloradans want an independent leader, and not doing right by Coloradans could be costly at the polls. [/] We'd like to think Udall, who campaigned as a moderate Democrat, could muster the courage to buck his party and vote against the bill, but we won't hold our breath.

Unions bitterly opposed the Senate's tax on the so-called "Cadillac" health insurance plans that many union workers enjoy. In private meetings with the White House and President Obama this week, union chiefs won a deal in which workers with high-end insurance don't have to pay the tax for five years. [/] The reasoning is that union members need the time to negotiate with management for contracts that adjust for the new taxes. Fair enough, but why doesn't that protection apply equally for those workers who aren't members of unions? [/] "The White House and congressional Democrats are picking one group of workers over another," a spokeswoman for House Minority Leader John Boehner told the Wall Street Journal. "If this sounds discriminatory, well, it is."

The Journal reported that the president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, made indications that unions would be less willing to help Democrats this fall. [/] The seedy pact Democrats reached now means that lawmakers must find another way to raise money to make up for the revenue lost to the five-year union waiver. Negotiators are said to be looking at increasing taxes on medical device makers, drug makers and nursing homes — costs which will almost certainly be passed on to consumers. [/] [...] Colorado's elected officials shouldn't accept it. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Haiti: US Top Rescuer, As Usual

(But the anti-American mainstream media seems to emphasize small contributions and intentions of various statists.)

But for all the abuse it takes from abroad [and from domestic elite “intellectual” liberal media, officials, and educators, ably led by our President] about not "doing its share," America already is showing it does know what to do. As a nation, Americans are mobilizing to provide the lion's share of help to the helpless. They did so with the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, and they will do so for our tiny stricken neighbor, too.

It's our nation at its finest. When the chips are down, it's the Americans who come to the rescue.

It won't be an easy task. A quake such as this can have a terrible effect on the morale of a nation. Haiti is a proud country with a history of independence much like our own. It was just getting back on its feet after years of decline. Catastrophe there could have the same effect as 1755's Lisbon earthquake, which left many questioning whether there was a benevolent God and accelerated the Enlightenment.
In this impossible situation, the U.S., the nation born of the Enlightenment [From the Scots enlightenment, actually, where a rational approach was added to a Reformation culture and the common sense of the clans.], is now the hope arising out of the disaster. Not just for Haiti, but as the last best hope for the world. [My emphasis and bracketed qualifications.]

From an Investor’s Business Daily editorial, In Haiti, It's U.S. To The Rescue Again , more below:

Our America bashing mainstream media seem to emphasize the small contributions and noble intentions of the usual suspects: Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, Democrat officials. - js

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. - 2nd Corinthians 2:14

In Haiti, It's U.S. To The Rescue Again [/] IBD EDITORIALS [/] Posted 01/13/2010 07:03 PM ET

Disaster Relief: Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti was its worst since 1770, leaving the capital in ruins and a death toll that may top 100,000. But help is on its way, and it's America leading the effort. [/] Our tiny tragic neighbor was already in bad shape when the 7.0 earthquake struck the capital of Port-au-Prince. It wasn't just any 7.0 quake, as if that were not bad enough, but a shallow one, meaning it shook harder. [/] Worse still, it hit the most populated area of the country, where 3 million of the country's 9 million citizens live — and left thousands dead and many more homeless. […] As for the poor, the story is unbearably sad as the injured trapped in hovels cry out for help and bodies are dragged to the streets. There are no ambulances, no telephones, no power and no potable water.

But there is the U.S. and, all partisan politics aside, it's to America's credit that it's once again the last resort of the devastated, and has the biggest, swiftest response under way. [/] Employing the best practices learned from past disasters, already the U.S. Coast Guard has surveilled the country by air with P-3 Orion aircraft to determine the extent of the catastrophe. The U.S. embassy personnel inspected the airport and port and found them usable, and U.S. military personnel have taken over air traffic operations to ensure aid can get through.

Disaster Assistance Response Teams (known as DARTs) landed Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the quake, and are assessing where help is most needed, as well as how much and what kind. The DARTs are gathering news about open roads, areas where information can be found, medical needs, and food, sanitation and potable water needs. [/] Meanwhile, President Obama has ordered the U.S. Navy's Southern Command to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier with 2,000 Marines, plus six other ships, toward Port-au-Prince. It will support the U.S. Agency for International Development effort, and keep order with the U.N. mission down. Cargo planes are on the way; the USS Comfort, an invaluable hospital ship, [Maybe one of these should be home ported on the gulf coast.] is preparing to leave Baltimore. Cities such as Los Angeles have also dispatched disaster response teams to help.

Then there are the ordinary U.S. citizens. Using the technology of the day, Americans have sprung forward with $10 donations to the American Red Cross by texting "HAITI" to 90999, billable to their cell phones. Haitian musician Wyclef Jean has seen his Web site overwhelmed with offers of help and is urging Americans to text "YELE" to 501501 to donate small amounts. [/] Aid agencies such as Feed the Children, the Salvation Army, Catholic Relief Services and Direct Relief International are marshaling resources and preparing to find the best way to deliver them. [/] There's no doubt the task will be tough for everyone and there could be blunders along the way. Disease, looters and corruption are troubles ahead. Already Haitians are complaining that the [United Nations] troops are clogging the streets and doing nothing, probably because they don't know what to do. [/] [My ellipses and emphasis and bracketed comment.]

Experienced Based Opinion

More correct than the “politically correct” opinion perhaps?

Every religion has its abusers. And anecdotal evidence alone cannot establish the truth or falsity of any religion. But there comes a point when we begin to see patterns and must admit that a religion simply does not “work” when it comes to providing recovery or redemption.

[…] Brit Hume was right about the prospect of Christianity offering redemption for Tiger Woods. He was right because Christianity offers truth and Buddhism offers an illusion. And that is why we must steer clear of Buddhism. We simply cannot allow its karma to run over our dogma. [My emphasis]

From a Town Hall .com article, by Mike Adams, Buddha Take the Wheel!, more below:

Dr. Adams recalls some experiences with the practical results of religious belief.

The final authority for every man is his own experience. - js

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. - 2nd Corinthians 2:14

Buddha Take the Wheel! [/] Mike Adams [/] Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Back in 2007, I received an email from a young woman whose life was a mess. It wasn’t as bad a mess as Tiger Woods’ life. But she was miserable. And the source of her misery was similar to Tiger’s. She had been sleeping around for a number of years and simply couldn’t find peace and happiness. Apparently, something she read in one of my columns convinced her she could no longer continue to have sex outside of marriage and expect happiness.

So she stopped sleeping with her boyfriend. He was pretty irritated because he was the one who recommended my columns to her in the first place. He thought the columns would affect her but really didn’t expect them to affect him – at least not in that particular way!

The column the young woman referenced was about the concept of “testing the fleece” to determine what God wants for your life. It also included an assertion that no matter what one’s past has been there is someone out there for everyone. If one makes a choice to walk with God he (or she) will not be punished with a lifetime of loneliness. God will provide someone for them regardless of their past. In other words, Christianity offers a promise of hope and redemption for even the worst of sinners.

About six months after this young woman told me she was splitting up with her boyfriend she wrote back to tell me she had met someone new. She met him at church and together they were learning to walk with God in ways they never had before. I was pleased to hear it. But I didn’t hear anything about the relationship for about two more years.

That changed in November when the woman wrote to ask me whether I was an ordained minister. I laughed before responding that I was not. Then I realized what she meant. The two were getting married. This woman who had thought she did not deserve a husband (and thought she had blown her chances of redemption) was wrong. She turned to Christianity and found a better life. She found redemption and she has now found happiness.

I shared this woman’s story in December when I was in a Karaoke bar Los Angeles. I was talking to a former cocaine addict who had turned his life around about a decade ago. He had given up drugs and alcohol and sex outside marriage since his conversion to Christianity. This was a decision he made after sleeping with over 100 different women.

This man was full of energy and enthusiasm as he talked about his new life. He felt lucky to be alive after all he had done. And he pledged to live a life of celibacy until the Lord gave him someone with whom he could share the rest of his life. He told me emphatically: “I am doing it God’s way or no way at all.”

I shared the story of the newly engaged woman with that former addict because I believe he will write to me one day with news of an engagement to another Christian. I see these happy endings all the time with people who decide to turn to Christianity for redemption.

The contrast between those who seek happiness in Christianity and those who seek happiness in Buddhism could not be more marked. I simply have no good stories to tell concerning those who turn to the latter as opposed to the former.

I think of one of my Buddhist friends – I only know two – who, since divorcing, has been involved in a number of sexual liaisons. He enjoys group sex, sex with married women, and seems to have no real boundaries in matters sexual. But he meditates daily in order to free himself from worldly desires on a supposed path towards greater enlightenment.

My only other Buddhist acquaintance – a gay man now living out West – lives a similar lifestyle. By night, he frequents gay bars. But every day he meditates for three hours – again, in an effort to free himself from worldly desires on a supposed path towards greater enlightenment.

[…] There are good reasons why Buddhism seems to work for so few people. Among them are the following:

[…] 2) Since Buddhists believe that evil is an illusion there is no basis for condemning the actions of a Tiger Woods anyway. And there is little sense seeking a cure for something that does not really exist.

[…] 4) Finally, the tendency to look within to find enlightenment is nothing more than a poorly-disguised desire to become one’s own personal god. Such a desire is more than just a contradiction of the supposed effort to thwart desire. It is a vain attempt to inflate one’s ego in an effort to cure problems that stem from an inflated ego. It seeks in vain to make a cure out of a disease.[…] [My ellipses and emphasis]

The Gospel: Ann Coulter’s View

The Old Testament critics of those in authority usually exhibited similar beliefs.

And no more caring what the world thinks of you -- because, as Jesus warned in a prophecy constantly fulfilled by liberals: The world will hate you.

With Christianity, your sins are forgiven, the slate is wiped clean and your eternal life is guaranteed through nothing you did yourself, even though you don't deserve it. It's the best deal in the universe. [My emphasis]

From an article by Ann Coulter, IF YOU CAN FIND A BETTER DEAL, TAKE IT!, more below:

It is not necessarily immoral to disrespect a religion. It may be a duty. It is more important to respect one made in the image of the Creator than it is to respect that man’s religious opinions. - js

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. - 2nd Corinthians 2:14

IF YOU CAN FIND A BETTER DEAL, TAKE IT! [/] January 6, 2010

Someone mentioned Christianity on television recently and liberals reacted with their usual howls of rage and blinking incomprehension. [/] On a Fox News panel discussing Tiger Woods, Brit Hume said, perfectly accurately:

The extent to which he can recover, it seems to me, depends on his faith. He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So, my message to Tiger would be, “Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."

Hume's words, being 100 percent factually correct, sent liberals into a tizzy of sputtering rage, once again illustrating liberals' copious ignorance of Christianity. (Also illustrating the words of the Bible: "How is it you do not understand me when I speak? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my words." John 8:43.)

[…] God sent his only son to get [[beaten]], die for our sins and rise from the dead. If you believe that, you're in. Your sins are washed away from you -- sins even worse than adultery! – because of the cross. [/] "He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:14. [/] Surely you remember the cross, liberals – the symbol banned by ACLU lawsuits from public property throughout the land?

Christianity is simultaneously the easiest religion in the world and the hardest religion in the world. [/] In the no-frills, economy-class version, you don't need a church, a teacher, candles, incense, special food or clothing; you don't need to pass a test or prove yourself in any way. All you'll need is a Bible (in order to grasp the amazing deal you're getting) and probably a water baptism, though even that's disputed.

You can be washing the dishes or walking your dog or just sitting there minding your business hating Susan Sarandon and accept that God sent his only son to die for your sins and rise from the dead ... and you're in! [/] Because, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9.

If you do that, every rotten, sinful thing you've ever done is gone from you. You're every bit as much a Christian as the pope or Billy Graham. [/] No fine print, no "your mileage may vary," no blackout dates. God ought to do a TV spot: "I'm God Almighty, and if you can find a better deal than the one I'm offering, take it."

The Gospel makes this point approximately 1,000 times. Here are a few examples at random: [/] "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16. [/] "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8. [/] "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23. [/] In a boiling rage, liberals constantly accuse Christians of being "judgmental." No, we're relieved. [/] Christianity is also the hardest religion in the world because, if you believe Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead, you have no choice but to give your life entirely over to Him. No more sexual promiscuity, no lying, no cheating, no stealing, no killing inconvenient old people or unborn babies – no doing what all the other kids do. [… [see at top]] [My ellipses and emphasis]

Best tweet (so far) scoops Rush

Chefs Used Ringers, Not Veggies From Obama Garden http://bit.ly/7RVZUU

Thus avoiding Clinton sludge contamination. http://bit.ly/7txxGA

_________________________________________

Perhaps they also raised veggies in Chicago, at their own expense.

If so, I will apologize for the tweet.

UPDATE:

2:32 PM 1/13/2010 Rush Limbaugh just reported on the substitution and the sludge. At times, I find myself actually ahead of the cutting edge.

Liberals: Interpretation and Response

False Religion versus The Truth

The phrase “you’re being uncivil” always means that the liberal is experiencing anger at his, her, or its inability to counter an intelligent political move or political argument.

When the liberal begins to hate the speaker, he, she, or it refers to the argument as “hate speech.”

The phrase “you’re being uncivil” is most frequently employed by the least polite and least socially skilled (e.g. Nancy Pelosi) party in a given conflict.

The appropriate conservative response to an accusation of incivility is to: a) identify the exact words, phrases, and ideas that provoked the accusation of incivility, and b) increase their frequency of use by at least 50% in all subsequent confrontations with the accusing liberal.

And, finally, (it should go without saying) never apologize in response to an accusation of incivility at the hands of a liberal. [My emphasis]

From a Town Hall .com article by Mike Adams, R.E.S.P.E.C.T., more below:

You can tell that a liberal begins to understand what you are saying when he becomes speechless with rage. – Ann Coulter

The sad, sad Truth about politically correct nonsense.

Including the preposterous notion that respect should be equally distributed to any opinion voiced by anyone. – js

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. - 2nd Corinthians 2:14

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. [/] Mike Adams [/] Monday, January 11, 2010

[…] Imagine having to answer to a left-wing feminist who alternately encourages uncivil discourse (to war protestors) and civil discourse (to town hall protestors) depending on political expediency. But I do know something about working for Nancy Pelosi. I work for her ideological twin sister, Rosemary DePaolo.

In January of 2008, there was a movement by some members of the faculty senate to fire DePaolo […] DePaolo undoubtedly got wind of the potential coup. […] So she did what many radical feminists do under the circumstances: She hired a man to come save her. [/] After Provost Brian Chapman was hired […] he quickly earned a reputation as a hot-head. [/] […] During one of those faculty meetings a tenured professor asked Chapman whether he was hired to come in here and “kick a**” for DePaolo. He answered in the affirmative. [/] In other words, our East Coast Nancy Pelosi needed someone to yell at the faculty and keep them in line. But she didn’t want to be the one who was tagged as being “uncivil.” She gave the job to a stronger man.

The faculty responded with an uprising and fired Chapman. Chancellor DePaolo (hereafter: DePelosi) responded by pushing for greater “respect” and “civility” on campus. She even had the following “Seahawk Respect Compact” framed and posted in every classroom on campus:

In the pursuit of excellence, UNC Wilmington actively fosters, encourages and promotes inclusiveness, mutual respect, acceptance and open-mindedness among students, faculty, staff and the broader community. [/] Therefore, we expect members of the campus community to honor these principles as fundamental to our ongoing efforts to increase access to and inclusion in a community that nurtures learning and growth for all."

~ We affirm the dignity of all persons. ~ [/] ~ We promote the right of every person to participate in the free exchange of thoughts and opinions within a climate of civility and mutual respect. ~ [/] ~ We strive for openness and mutual understanding to learn from differences in people, ideas and opinions. ~ [/] ~ We foster an environment of respect for each individual, even where differences exist by eliminating prejudice and discrimination through education and interaction with others. ~

In other words, DePelosi did everything short of hiring Elton John to come sing “Can you feel the love tonight” before the entire faculty senate. [/] It is important for every conservative to read that compact (and to forward this column) because it reveals fundamental truths about how the liberal operates in response to a potential loss of political power – or even the prospect of losing a simple argument. Some of those truths are worth highlighting: [[See paragraphs quoted at top – js]]

[…] Recently, a student came by to complain that he had gone to one of DePelosi’s “open forums” designed to allow students to ask questions of the Speaker, I mean, Chancellor. He wanted to ask a question but was not allowed to. Instead, students were asked to write down their questions on a sheet of paper. An assistant to the chancellor then filtered all the questions and read the easier ones to the Chancellor, thereby avoiding any direct exchanges with the students (read: constituents). [/] That scene mirrors the way our politicians view us today. They are increasingly afraid of us because they are increasingly aware that we do not approve of what they are doing to us. But our approval is, in their eyes, increasingly irrelevant. And they try to shut us out of the process by ignoring difficult questions. [/] I really don’t respect Chancellor DePelosi because she has not earned it by showing she can debate with people a third of her age. Nor do I respect Speaker Pelosi since she is unwilling to allow transparency during the legislative process.

Respect cannot be legislated any more than it can be framed and nailed on a wall. Respect must be earned. Then, and only then, can we talk about civility. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Captain Oblivious and the Limits of Cool

Et tu, Maureen Dowd! Then fall, Obama Intelligence Team?

N.B. “Et tu, Brute. Then fall, Caesar.” – Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar recognizing his friend, Brutus, as one of the forty or so conspirators who were ending his reign over Rome and the Mediterranean world by the pre-Christian method of stabbing him to death.

Our president came down from the mountaintop. [/] He had applied the freshness of his independent thought to the critical matters at hand. He had convened his seminar, reviewed the reviews, analyzed the intelligence every which way, thought anew about everything, and lo and behold, he finally emerged to tell us some stuff we already knew.

We are under attack. [/] There is evil in the world. [/] Yemen is a dangerous place that breeds people who want to kill us. [/] Al Qaeda is determined to attack inside the United States. [/] Al Qaeda is casting a wide recruiting net for vulnerable young men. [/] Aspirational terrorists eventually become operational terrorists. [/] Our airports are not safe. [/] Metal detectors can’t detect nonmetal explosives sewn into underwear. [/] Our incomplete no-fly lists are more like “Welcome aboard” lists. [/] We still can’t connect the dots, even when the dots are flying at us like 3-D asteroids. [/] The sun rises in the east. [/] Two plus two equals four.

“We must do better,” Captain Obvious said Thursday at the White House, “in keeping dangerous people off airplanes while still facilitating air travel.” [My emphasis]

From New York Times op-ed columnist, Maureen Dowd, Captain Obvious Learns the Limits of Cool , more below:

I am too courteous to mention rodents looking for convenient exits.

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

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

Captain Obvious Learns the Limits of Cool [/] January 10, 2010 [/] OP-ED COLUMNIST [/] By MAUREEN DOWD

[…] “We must do better,” Captain Obvious said Thursday at the White House, “in keeping dangerous people off airplanes while still facilitating air travel.” [/] John Brennan, the deputy national security adviser, was equally illuminating. “The intelligence,” he informed us, “fell through the cracks.” [/] He also offered this: “Al Qaeda is just determined to carry out attacks here against the homeland.” That rings a bell.

The president and his intelligence officials stressed that these were not the same mistakes made before 9/11. [/] “Rather than a failure to collect or share intelligence,” President Obama said, “this was a failure to connect and understand the intelligence that we already had.”

Wow. That makes me feel that all those billions spent on upgrading the intelligence system were well spent.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s father personally delivered a neon warning to our embassy in Nigeria, and a State Department employee quickly dropped the ball by misspelling the aspiring terrorist’s name, leading to the false assumption that he did not have a valid U.S. visa. [/] Border security officials figured out while he was in the air that the young man had extremist links, but inexplicably decided to wait until he landed to question him, failing to notify the pilot of his plane. After all, what harm could a foreign extremist bring to a plane over American soil.

So it wasn’t bureaucratic turf wars that caused the intelligence to fall through the cracks this time. The C.I.A. and counterterrorism agencies weren’t hoarding information and refusing to pool tips. They were just out to lunch.

And this is supposed to be progress? [/] I’d rather they were hoarding. It would be more reassuring to think our intelligence analysts actually knew what was going on but were hampered by power grabs than to think they were cooperative but clueless.

Even though Russ Feingold, who is on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been pointing out since 2002 that we need to focus on Yemen — “It’s the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden and the place where Al Qaeda blew up the U.S.S. Cole and we lost 17 people,” he impatiently notes — the president said that the intelligence community was caught off guard by the attack planned by the Qaeda affiliate in Yemen, even though “we knew that they sought to strike the United States, and that they were recruiting operatives to do so.” [/] Senator Feingold told me that “this is obviously an international network and we have to start thinking about it that way rather than as a country-by-country eradication process.”

Unlike the Republicans, who have yet to take responsibility for a single disastrous thing they did, President Obama said “ultimately the buck stops with me.” [/] But when he failed to immediately step up to the microphones in Hawaii after the Christmas terror and thank the passengers for bravely foiling the plot that his intelligence community had failed to see, President Cool reached the limits of cool.

No Drama Obama is reticent about displays of emotion. The Spock in him needs to exert mental and emotional control. That is why he stubbornly insists on staying aloof and setting his own deliberate pace for responding — whether it’s in a debate or after a debacle. But it’s not O.K. to be cool about national security when Americans are scared. [/] Our professorial president is no feckless W., biking through Katrina. He is no doubt on top of the crisis in terms of studying it top to bottom. But his inner certainly creates an outer disconnect. [/] He’s so sure of himself and his actions that he fails to see that he misses the moment to be president — to be the strong father who protects the home from invaders, who reassures and instructs the public at traumatic moments. [/] He’s more like the aloof father who’s turned the Situation Room into a Seminar Room. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Obama: “Bunker-Mode Insanity”?!?

U.S. Intelligence: “Clueless[ness]” Cubed?!?

Let's parse that more particularly. More than eight years after 9/11, the U.S. did not have a counterterrorism desk that was: [/] a) comprehensive or [/] b) functioning [/] c) in dealing with high visibility and [/] d) high priority [/] e) Al Qaeda plots [/] f) particularly against Homeland. [/] That d%%%ing, wholesale admission of gross and inexcusable incompetence is accompanied by failures regarding would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallabthat are astonishing for being all the more mundane.

[…] Obama's performance was his strongest to date in struggling to get command of an administration that was clueless as to the seriousness of the attack and its own bumbling. So clueless, NCTC boss Michael Leiter took to the ski slopes after the bombing attempt. So clueless, Brennan fessed up to having given Leiter the okay to go. [/] While accepting responsibility and promising accountability, Obama blamed the system and took no action against anyone, not even Leiter, who after three years at the top of NCTC produced an operation that was neither "comprehensive or functioning." That doesn't come close to accountability. That's bunker-mode insanity. [My emphasis]

From a New York Daily News editorial, Terrible on terror:, more below:

Et tu, New York Daily News editors! Then fall, Obama Intelligence Team?

N.B. “Et tu, Brute. Then fall, Caesar.” – Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar recognizing his friend, Brutus, as one of the forty or so conspirators who were ending his reign over Rome and the Mediterranean world by the pre-Christian method of stabbing him to death.

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

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

Terrible on terror: Airline bombing revealed total dysfunction of U.S. intelligence [/] EDITORIALS [/] Friday, January 8th 2010, 4:00 AM

In advance of yesterday's report on the failed Christmas Day terror attack, theWhite House national security chief warned that the revelations would generate "a certain shock" among Americans. [/] That was an understatement of epic and outrageous proportions. [/] The administration's summary of how Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula slipped its operative through America's vast intelligence network revealed screwups and incompetence of the most fundamental nature.

To wit, and quoting from the heart of the matter as outlined on the very last page of the document: [/] "There was not a comprehensive or functioning process for tracking terrorist threat reporting and actions taken such that departments and agencies are held accountable for running down all leads associated with high visibility and high priority plotting efforts undertaken by Al Qaeda and its allies, in particular against the Homeland." […] To wit, and again quoting from the last page:

"NCTC and CIA personnel who are responsible for watchlisting did not search all available databases to uncover additional derogatory information that could have been correlated with Mr. Abdulmutallab."

"A series of human errors occurred – delayed dissemination of a finished intelligence report and what appears to be incomplete/faulty database searches on Mr. Abdulmutallab's name and identifying information."

"Information technology within the [counterterrorism] community did not sufficiently enable the correlation of data that would have enabled analysts to highlight the relevant threat information."

Again parsing more particularly, the staffs of the National Counterterrorism Center and CIA did not thoroughly and competently search U.S. computer files - and their computers stank. [/] At this level of buffoonery, it was almost foreordained that Islamist radicals would manage to get explosives onto a jetliner. [/] Even though, as Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan conceded, the NCTC was well aware Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was seeking foot soldiers to attack the U.S. [/] Even though the NCTC had gotten screamingly clear warnings that Abdulmutallab was likely one of those recruits. [/] President Obama announced remedial action, including ordering his intel crew to accountably pursue terror tips. How basic is that? [/] […] [My ellipses and emphasis]

Evil: In Man Or In “The System”?!?

For some, there is no evil in man. Only in the imperfect "system". "The system", of course, is a code name for Providence. Blasphemy? - JimSmiling Tweet

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. - 2nd Corinthians 2:14

2010 Will Be Much Worse

After fifty years of government financial mismanagement, climaxed by the gross government financial mismanagement of recent months and years.

Ludwig von Mises addressed the limits of credit in The Theory of Money and Credit, originally published in 1912. As he expressed in later work: “There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit [debt] expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit [debt] expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved.”

In 2009, it was not possible to finance U.S. capital requirements through conventional markets. Only via the Fed's explicit (and surreptitious) Quantitative Easing was the government able to fund its 2009 deficits. Discussing 2009, Zerohedge [[blog]] stated: “There was a huge credit and liquidity crunch, and then there was Quantitative Easing. The last is the Fed's equivalent of band-aiding a zombied and ponzied corpse, better known as the US economy. It worked for a while, but now the zombie is about to go back into critical, followed by comatose, and lastly, undead (and 401(k)-depleting) condition.” [My emphasis]

From an American Thinker .com article, 2010 Will Be Worse, more below:

Sources that I consider reliable are consistent with this assessment.

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

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

2010 Will Be Worse [/] January 01, 2010 [/] By Monty Pelerin

[…] The government has decided that the cure for too much debt is more debt. This solution cannot work, especially when credit is already so overextended. Income and wealth cannot support present debt levels. Credit will adjust back to the mean, regardless of what the government attempts. Whether this is via orderly payment or via default, the reduction in debt is inevitable. [/] Zerohedge [[blog]] estimated that demand (financing) for U.S. fixed-income securities must increase elevenfold in order to fund capital needs in 2010. Continued shrinkage in foreign participation in U.S. fixed-income markets makes that increase impossible.

There are only three possibilities with respect to meeting 2010 funding needs:

[1.] The Fed continues its QE beyond their planned cessation in March 2010.

[2.] The Fed raises interest rates to levels that would attract the capital necessary to fund government operations via conventional credit markets.

[3.] No Fed action is taken. That would cause the government to default on some of its obligations.

None of these alternatives is attractive. The unpalatable choices arise from prior Fed and governmental policies. To avoid recessions over the past fifty years, the government abused and then finally exhausted all reasonable options. After years of mismanagement, the government is in a quandary of its own making from which there is no escape.

All alternatives will be very painful, and none offer the possibility of a traditional recovery. No matter what alternative is chosen, the country cannot avoid a depression. At this point, "do no further harm" should guide policy. [/] Of the three alternatives, what is best economically is worst politically. This natural conflict between good economics and good politics is not unusual. Economically, the country would be harmed least by implementing alternative 2. From a political standpoint, alternatives 2 and 3 are probably unacceptable. Thus, it is likely that alternative 1 will be tried (again!). It is precisely the continual overuse of this alternative that has led to the current sad state. [/] Alternative 1 cannot work. It will not avoid a depression. Worse, it will likely result in hyperinflation. Thus, we likely end up with the worst of all worlds. With hyperinflation, money will cease to be a medium of exchange. Markets will cease to work, except on a barter basis. The middle class will be wiped out. Their savings will become worthless along with the dollar. The end will be as Mises warned so many years ago.

The possibility of losing our form of government is a real risk under any of the alternatives. So is civil unrest and strife. All are probably more likely under alternative 1 because of the corrosive effects of high inflation combined with a depression. [/] Beware the turn of the calendar. Things are going to get interesting, and probably very quickly. [/] Monty Pelerin blogs at economicnoise.com. [My ellipses and emphasis]