The Problem With Corn produced Ethanol

American's Crazed Corn Habit

by Justin Rohrlich
December 22, 2009

According to a recent Congressional Budget Office report, the increased use of ethanol is responsible for a rise in food prices of approximately 10 to 15 percent.

Why?

We're turning corn into fuel — a highly inefficient one, at that — instead of food.

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy points out that "mixing food and fuel markets for political reasons has done American consumers no discernable good, while producing measurable harm."

However, perhaps summing up the issue most succinctly is Mark J. Perry, professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan-Flint:

Anytime you have Paul Krugman agreeing on ethanol with such a diverse group as the Wall Street Journal, Reason Magazine, the Cato Institute, Investor's Business Daily, Rolling Stone Magazine, the Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, John Stossel, The Ecological Society of America, the American Enterprise and Brookings Institutions, the Heritage Foundation, George Will and Time magazine, you know that ethanol has to be one of the most misguided public policies in US history.

But Brazil seems to have made it work. Using just 1 percent of its arable land, Brazil produced 6.57 billion gallons of sugar ethanol last year, roughly half the annual oil production of Iraq. Ethanol accounts for about 50 percent of Brazil's automotive fuel. General Electric and Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer are working to develop ethanol suitable for powering commercial aircraft, with a test flight possible by early 2012. Most importantly, Brazil relies on imported oil for only 10 percent of its energy needs today — due in large part to its ethanol industry.

So, what's Brazil doing right?

The answer is simple. Unlike the United States, Brazil makes its ethanol from sugar, which yields over eight units of energy for each unit invested, whereas corn-based ethanol yields a paltry one and a half units of energy for each unit invested. Sugar-based ethanol is also cheap to produce, at only 60 cents a gallon.

It seems so obvious. An alternative fuel that works already exists. What's stopping us from using it?

What's stopping us is a decision made 36 years ago by a man named Rusty Butz, before ethanol was even a blip on anyone's radar.

In 1973, Earl "Rusty" Butz, President Nixon's USDA chief, did away with the agricultural price supports introduced by the Roosevelt administration. These supports were intended to protect farmers' finances by limiting supply when bumper crops would have otherwise flooded the market and to avoid squeezing consumers by releasing the warehoused grain when crop yields were low and prices would naturally spike.

Butz ginned up political support for the administration by encouraging farmers to plant "fencerow to fencerow" while the government provided them with subsidies to cover the difference between market prices and production costs.

Of course, growing "fencerow to fencerow" did exactly what one would expect: production exceeded demand, and prices took a dive. This didn't sit too well with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), the nation's largest corn refiner.

Now, there's only so much corn one person can eat. ADM suddenly needed to figure out how to somehow stimulate sales of all that excess food.

Then a Japanese technique called "wet milling" caught the company's eye. Wet milling turned corn kernels into what ADM hoped would be a low-cost alternative to sugar — the now-ubiquitous high-fructose corn syrup.

While high-fructose corn syrup was an alternative to sugar, it still wasn't possible to manufacture cheaply enough to make it a low-cost alternative.

Enter Dwayne Andreas, who, at the time, was ADM's CEO.

It just so happened that Florida sugarcane growers were in the middle of a push to get Congress to impose a tariff on foreign sugar, which was exerting downward pressure on market prices. Andreas decided to help fund lobbying efforts by Florida sugarcane growers to convince Congress to impose a quota on non-US sugar, which had been flooding the US market and keeping prices down.

In short, ADM backed its competition's political agenda and, when Ronald Reagan took office, the sugar tariff was swiftly ushered into place. Naturally, sugar prices escalated, eclipsing the cost of ADM's high-fructose corn syrup. Soft-drink makers like Coca-Cola and Pepsi switched to the cheaper alternative in short order.

Perhaps this is why a statue of Ronald Reagan stands at ADM headquarters. It is a token of appreciation from one free marketeer to another for promoting what is, essentially, a socialist policy.

ADM's CEO, Andreas, doesn't seem to view our capitalist society through the same lens as most others. In one interview, he said, "There isn't one grain of anything in the world that is sold in a free market. Not one! The only place you see a free market is in the speeches of politicians. People who are not in the Midwest do not understand that this is a socialist country."

From the looks of things, "socialism" has done well for Dwayne Andreas. A report by James Bovard of the Cato Institute notes, "At least 43% of ADM's annual profits are from products heavily subsidized or protected by the American government. Moreover, every $1 of profits earned by ADM's corn sweetener operation costs consumers $10."

Minyanville professor and Houston fund manager Ryan Krueger says,

The sugar tariff is the biggest scam since one hour Martinizing. For the first time in human history, more than a billion people this year will be classified as 'chronically hungry.' We'll artificially sweeten prices for US farmers, bankrupting poor farmers in Africa or South America and then turn around and send them food aid.

He continues,

The world sugar price is 22 cents per lb. The US price because of the tariff? 44 cents. Want to make candy and buy sugar for 22 cents? Sorry, no can do — it's illegal. If sugar prices plummet? Don't sweat it, Washington's got that covered, guaranteeing a price of no less than 18 cents.

Surely, there must be more to this story.

Nope.

In Krueger's words,

I'd love all the upside and none of the downside in a game where my competitors are barred from playing against me, yet if I still somehow fail to perform the scoreboard operator nonetheless puts up points for me — as long as I vote for the right referee when his contract's up.

Okay, so ADM hijacked the sweetener market. What does this have to do with Brazilian ethanol and our country's insistence on forging ahead with subpar ethanol made from corn, even though tariff-free cane ethanol would cut gas prices significantly?

The path leads directly to good old political back-scratching.

You'd be correct to assume that demand for soft drinks drops during the cold winter months. What would ADM do with idle wet-milling equipment during high-fructose corn syrup's "off season"?

It turns out that wet-milling machines also make ethanol.

The federal government provides a 45 cent per-gallon subsidy for domestically produced (corn-based) ethanol. Add to that the crippling sugar policy, plus a 54 cent per gallon tariff placed specifically on foreign ethanol (sugar based, from Brazil), and bang — ADM corners the domestic ethanol market. Pretty crafty, huh?

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "The federal government is subsidizing corn-based ethanol and we have a tariff of 54 cents-a-gallon on the most important ethanol to discourage cheap fuel coming in from Brazil. This is crazy."

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says, "As you know, I favor open trade and I think allowing Brazilian ethanol, for example, would reduce costs in the United States."

And C. Ford Runge, an economist specializing in commodities and trade policy at the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy at the University of Minnesota, says, "the obvious thing to do is lower that [sugar] tariff and let some Brazilian ethanol come in. But one of the fundamental reasons our biofuels policy is so out of whack with markets and reality is that interest-group politics have been so dominant in the construction of the subsidies that support it."

Until corporate welfare takes a backseat to real, proven solutions that help stateside consumers save a bundle at the pump (and help our less-prosperous allies financially), corn will remain king.

The Black Hole

Congress Reform Act of 2010

A friend sent this along to me. I can't think of a reason to disagree.

I am sending this to virtually everybody on my e-mail list and that includes conservatives, liberals, and everybody in between. Even though we disagree on a number of issues, I count all of you as friends. My friend and neighbor wants to promote a "Congressional Reform Act of 2009." It would contain eight provisions, all of which would probably be strongly endorsed by those who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

I know many of you will say "this is impossible." Let me remind you, Congress has the lowest approval rating of any entity in Government. Now is the time when Americans will join together to reform Congress - the entity that represents us.

We need to get a Senator to introduce this bill in the US Senate and a Representative to introduce a similar bill in the US House. These people will become American heroes.

**********************************


THIS IS HOW WE FIX CONGRESS
Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits.

12 years only, one of the possible options below.

A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms


2. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.


3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.


4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.


5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.


6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.


7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.


8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.
* See my note below about voiding a contract.


The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.


Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.


If you agree with the above, pass it on. If not, just delete, and stop your WHINNING!

*Although I don't think those retired and under the Congress should have to abide by the new rules - that would mean any of us retired under a contract, that contract can be broken and re-written, after we're retired and have possibly no earning power.

Like 14:10

Friend, go up higher.

When first the life of grace begins in the soul, we do indeed draw near to God, but it is with great fear and trembling. The soul conscious of guilt, and humbled thereby, is overawed with the solemnity of its position; it is cast to the earth by a sense of the grandeur of Jehovah, in whose presence it stands. With unfeigned bashfulness it takes the lowest room.

But, in after life, as the Christian grows in grace, although he will never forget the solemnity of his position, and will never lose that holy awe which must encompass a gracious man when he is in the presence of the God who can create or can destroy; yet his fear has all its terror taken out of it; it becomes a holy reverence, and no more an overshadowing dread. He is called up higher, to greater access to God in Christ Jesus. Then the man of God, walking amid the splendours of Deity, and veiling his face like the glorious cherubim, with those twin wings, the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, will, reverent and bowed in spirit, approach the throne; and seeing there a God of love, of goodness, and of mercy, he will realize rather the covenant character of God than his absolute Deity. He will see in God rather his goodness than his greatness, and more of his love than of his majesty. Then will the soul, bowing still as humbly as aforetime, enjoy a more sacred liberty of intercession; for while prostrate before the glory of the Infinite God, it will be sustained by the refreshing consciousness of being in the presence of boundless mercy and infinite love, and by the realization of acceptance in the Beloved. Thus the believer is bidden to come up higher, and is enabled to exercise the privilege of rejoicing in God, and drawing near to him in holy confidence, saying, Abba, Father.

So may we go from strength to strength, And daily grow in grace, Till in thine image raised at length, We see thee face to face.

Eagles players honor Michael Vick with award for courage

Eagles players honor Michael Vick with award for courage
By Chris Chase

According to Philadelphia Eagles players, the most courageous man on the team in 2009 was one who started the year serving time in prison for an act of extreme cowardice.

Today, the Eagles announced that Michael Vick was the 2009 winner of the Ed Block Courage Award, an honor given to a player who shows courage in the face of adversity. Vick's teammates voted for the award, thus demonstrating how tone-deaf and out-of-touch NFL players are with reality.

According to the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation Web site:
Each year, the Ed Block Courage Awards honors those National Football League players who exemplify commitments to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. Recipients are selected by their teammates for team effort, as well as individual performance.

The Ed Block Courage Award recipient symbolizes professionalism, great strength and dedication. He is also a community role model.

One recipient is selected from each NFL team, usually for things like coming back from injury, doing good work in the community or long, dedicated service to a franchise. I'd be surprised if the award's founders intended for the honor to be given to someone doing community service as part of the terms of his parole or for showing courage in the face of reporters asking legitimate questions about federal crimes.

The Eagles' vote is not only a slap in the face to the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation, but to the other 31 players who won the award for their respective teams. Some men are truly deserving of the honor, like Ravens safety Dawan Landry(notes) who was nearly paralyzed last year, but has come back in '09 with four interceptions and a touchdown or Mike Furrey(notes) of the Browns, who does extensive volunteer work in his community. Adding Vick's name to the roll makes the award seem illegitimate and meaningless.

Apparently Philadelphia players confuse Vick handling dogfighting questions and booing with a measure of class as some sort of courage. That Vick only got a chance to show this mild courageousness because of the extreme cowardice it takes to murder helpless animals isn't something that crosses their mind. They confuse Vick's desperation with some sort of integrity.

I'm all for second chances and find myself rooting for Vick to redeem himself both on and off the football field. He's served an appropriate sentence (and then some) and I see no reason for him to keep paying for his past transgressions. But I also see no reason to celebrate his character.

Michael Vick(notes) is very much a work in progress. A few years from now, I hope he will be deserving of such an honor. At this time, however, he has only just started down the path to redemption.

Remenber To Take Family Photos Over The Holidays

Proverbs 16:33

The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.

If the disposal of the lot is the Lord's whose is the arrangement of our whole life? If the simple casting of a lot is guided by him, how much more the events of our entire life--especially when we are told by our blessed Saviour: The very hairs of your head are all numbered: not a sparrow falleth to the ground without your Father. It would bring a holy calm over your mind, dear friend, if you were always to remember this. It would so relieve your mind from anxiety, that you would be the better able to walk in patience, quiet, and cheerfulness as a Christian should. When a man is anxious he cannot pray with faith; when he is troubled about the world, he cannot serve his Master, his thoughts are serving himself. If you would seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all things would then be added unto you. You are meddling with Christ's business, and neglecting your own when you fret about your lot and circumstances. You have been trying providing work and forgetting that it is yours to obey. Be wise and attend to the obeying, and let Christ manage the providing. Come and survey your Father's storehouse, and ask whether he will let you starve while he has laid up so great an abundance in his garner? Look at his heart of mercy; see if that can ever prove unkind! Look at his inscrutable wisdom; see if that will ever be at fault. Above all, look up to Jesus Christ your Intercessor, and ask yourself, while he pleads, can your Father deal ungraciously with you? If he remembers even sparrows, will he forget one of the least of his poor children? Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain thee. He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.My soul, rest happy in thy low estate, Nor hope nor wish to be esteem'd or great; To take the impress of the Will Divine, Be that thy glory, and those riches thine.

SR 71 Blackbird Remote Controled Model

Toys For Big Boys

Richard Holdman: Jingle Bells Christmas 2007 Light Show

Jingle Bells - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Woman Knocks Pope On His Azz At Christmas Eve Mass

I'm not catholic and do not like the Pope, but this was wrong, hopefully they will lock her away and lose the keys. Sounds like a mental case IMHO.


AP - A woman jumped the barriers in St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI at the start of Christmas Eve Mass, but the 82-year-old pontiff got up unhurt and proceeded as planned with Thursday's service.

» Read full article on[Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

The Economic Lessons of Bethleham

The Economic Lessons of Bethlehem
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

At the heart of the Christmas story rests some important lessons concerning free enterprise, government, and the role of wealth in society.

Let’s begin with one of the most famous phrases: "There’s no room at the inn." This phrase is often invoked as if it were a cruel and heartless dismissal of the tired travelers Joseph and Mary.

Many renditions of the story conjure up images of the couple going from inn to inn only to have the owner barking at them to go away and slamming the door.

In fact, the inns were full to overflowing in the entire Holy Land because of the Roman emperor’s decree that everyone be counted and taxed. Inns are private businesses, and customers are their lifeblood. There would have been no reason to turn away this man of royal lineage and his beautiful, expecting bride.

In any case, the second chapter of St. Luke doesn’t say that they were continually rejected at place after place. It tells of the charity of a single inn owner, perhaps the first person they encountered, who, after all, was a businessman. His inn was full, but he offered them what he had: the stable. There is no mention that the innkeeper charged the couple even one copper coin, though given his rights as a property owner, he certainly could have.

It’s remarkable, then, to think that when the Word was made flesh with the birth of Jesus, it was through the intercessory work of a private businessman. Without his assistance, the story would have been very different indeed. People complain about the "commercialization" of Christmas, but clearly commerce was there from the beginning, playing an essential and laudable role.

And yet we don’t even know the innkeeper’s name. In two thousand years of celebrating Christmas, tributes today to the owner of the inn are absent. Such is the fate of the merchant throughout all history: doing well, doing good, and forgotten for his service to humanity.

Clearly, if there was a room shortage, it was an unusual event and brought about through some sort of market distortion. After all, if there had been frequent shortages of rooms in Bethlehem, entrepreneurs would have noticed that there were profits to be made by addressing this systematic problem, and built more inns.

It was because of a government decree that Mary and Joseph, and so many others like them, were traveling in the first place. They had to be uprooted for fear of the emperor’s census workers and tax collectors. And consider the costs of slogging all the way "from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David," not to speak of the opportunity costs Joseph endured having to leave his own business. Thus we have another lesson: government’s use of coercive dictates distort the market.

Moving on in the story, we come to Three Kings, also called Wise Men. Talk about a historical anomaly for both to go together! Most Kings behaved like the Roman Emperor's local enforcer, Herod. Not only did he order people to leave their homes and foot the bill for travel so that they could be taxed. Herod was also a liar: he told the Wise Men that he wanted to find Jesus so that he could "come and adore Him." In fact, Herod wanted to kill Him. Hence, another lesson: you can’t trust a political hack to tell the truth.

If you like this site, please help keep it going and growing.

Once having found the Holy Family, what gifts did the Wise Men bring? Not soup and sandwiches, but "gold, frankincense, and myrrh." These were the most rare items obtainable in that world in those times, and they must have commanded a very high market price.

Far from rejecting them as extravagant, the Holy Family accepted them as gifts worthy of the Divine Messiah. Neither is there a record that suggests that the Holy Family paid any capital gains tax on them, though such gifts vastly increased their net wealth. Hence, another lesson: there is nothing immoral about wealth; wealth is something to be valued, owned privately, given and exchanged.

When the Wise Men and the Holy Family got word of Herod’s plans to kill the newborn Son of God, did they submit? Not at all. The Wise Men, being wise, snubbed Herod and "went back another way" – taking their lives in their hands (Herod conducted a furious search for them later). As for Mary and Joseph, an angel advised Joseph to "take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt." In short, they resisted. Lesson number four: the angels are on the side of those who resist government.

In the Gospel narratives, the role of private enterprise, and the evil of government power, only begin there. Jesus used commercial examples in his parables (e.g., laborers in the vineyard, the parable of the talents) and made it clear that he had come to save even such reviled sinners as tax collectors.

And just as His birth was facilitated by the owner of an "inn," the same Greek word "kataluma" is employed to describe the location of the Last Supper before Jesus was crucified by the government. Thus, private enterprise was there from birth, through life, and to death, providing a refuge of safety and productivity, just as it has in ours.

December 22, 2001
Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. [send him mail] is president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and editor of LewRockwell.com.

Copyright © 2001 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland 2008 - Holdman Christmas Display from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Jeremiah 2:2

I remember thee.

Let us note that Christ delights to think upon his Church, and to look upon her beauty. As the bird returneth often to its nest, and as the wayfarer hastens to his home, so doth the mind continually pursue the object of its choice. We cannot look too often upon that face which we love; we desire always to have our precious things in our sight. It is even so with our Lord Jesus. From all eternity His delights were with the sons of men; his thoughts rolled onward to the time when his elect should be born into the world; he viewed them in the mirror of his foreknowledge. In thy book, he says, all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them (Ps. 139:16). When the world was set upon its pillars, he was there, and he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. Many a time before his incarnation, he descended to this lower earth in the similitude of a man; on the plains of Mamre (Gen. 18), by the brook of Jabbok (Gen. 32:24-30), beneath the walls of Jericho (Jos. 5:13), and in the fiery furnace of Babylon (Dan. 3:19, 25), the Son of Man visited his people. Because his soul delighted in them, he could not rest away from them, for his heart longed after them. Never were they absent from his heart, for he had written their names upon his hands, and graven them upon his side. As the breastplate containing the names of the tribes of Israel was the most brilliant ornament worn by the high priest, so the names of Christ's elect were his most precious jewels, and glittered on his heart. We may often forget to meditate upon the perfections of our Lord, but he never ceases to remember us. Let us chide ourselves for past forgetfulness, and pray for grace ever to bear him in fondest remembrance. Lord, paint upon the eyeballs of my soul the image of thy Son.

Car crash Causes Christmas light show To Be Turned Off

WATCH THE LIGHT SHOW: CLICK HERE TO START

DEERFIELD TWP. — Sheriff's deputies asked the owner who lit up his house with 25,000 Christmas lights synched to music to turn off the display after a traffic accident Tuesday night.Deerfield Twp. resident Carson Williams agreed to shut down his holiday decorations indefinitely. Williams told a Cincinnati television station that sheriff's deputies could not reach the traffic accident because of the traffic lined up in his neighborhood.The display caught attention across the nation on network TV and on the Internet because the lights on the Williams house and filling their yard are synchronized by computer with music broadcast to car radios.Williams is an electrical engineer who said his family spent about $10,000 on the display. He had promised his neighbors they would shut it down if there were problems.For the time being, the only place to view the Williams' display will be online.

CLICK HERE TO START

'Tis The Night Before Christmas

'Tis the night before Christmas and all through the land,
not a freedom is safe from Obama's hand.

Bankers, bewildered, before him now bow,
while auto-makers, thankful, praise his cash cow.

With energy and health care nearing control,
his grasp on the nation is as he foretold.

The people are stirred by his escapades,
and are somewhat shocked by the history they made.

Obama is not what he promised to be;
he brings, instead, tyranny.
++ Read More

A Tiger Woods Christmas Poem

Twas the night of thanks giving and out of the house
Tiger Woods came a flyin', chased by his spouse.

She wielded a nine iron and wasn't too merry,
Cause a bimbo's phone number was in his Blackberry.

He'd been cheatin' on Elin, and the story progressed.
Woman after woman stepped up and confessed.

He'd been cheatin' with Holly, and Jaimee, and Cori,
With Joselyn, and Kalika. The world had the story.

From the top of the Tour to the basement of blues,
Tiger's sad sordid tale was all over the news.

With hostesses, waitresses, he had lots of sex,
When not in their pants, he was sendin' them texts.

Despite all his cryin' and beggin' and pleadin',
Tiger's wife went investin' -- a new home in Sweden.

And I heard her exclaim from her white Escalade,
"If you're gettin' laid then I'm gettin' paid."

She's not pouting, in fact, she is of jolly good cheer,
Her prenup made Christmas come early this year!

###

A doggy Christmas surprise

Amazing Grace: Christmas Light Show

Amazing Grace Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Some Holiday Eating Tips

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit.In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single- malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That' the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Anyone Here Look Familiar?

See the guy in the white suit and blue shirt … see the blond with the white dress … see the guy in the middle? This picture was taken a few years ago.

It seems Obama has known these two phonies for a while, at least when he was a senator. They are getting all this press now as party crashers and the secret service is taking heat.

Three Secret Service agent careers are now ruined because of these two Long-Legged-Mack-Daddy Supporters (as Rev. Manning so eloquently describes him).

Funny how this has not come out in the press.



I THINK IT IS REMARKABLE THAT THE PRESS CAN FIND EVERY WOMAN WITH WHOM TIGER WOODS HAS HAD AN AFFAIR WITH IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, WITH PHOTOS, TEXT MESSAGES, RECORDED PHONE CALLS, ETC.

THEY KNOW NOT ONLY THE CAUSE OF THE FAMILY FIGHT, BUT THEY EVEN KNOW IT WAS A WEDGE FROM HIS GOLF BAG THAT SHE USED TO BREAK OUT THE WINDOWS IN THE ESCALADE. NOT ONLY THAT, THEY KNOW WHICH WEDGE!!!

THIS IS THE SAME PRESS (OR IS IT?) THAT CANNOT LOCATE OBAMA'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE OR ANY OF HIS PAPERS WHILE IN COLLEGE. TRULY REMARKABLE.

YouTube - Obama Is a Long Legged Mack Daddy - Pastor James David Manning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfZqMkdpYi0

Santa Getting In Some Trigger Time Before The Big Night.

HoHoHoHooo!

Isaiah 54:11

And lay thy foundations with sapphires.

Not only that which is seen of the church of God, but that which is unseen, is fair and precious. Foundations are out of sight, and so long as they are firm it is not expected that they should be valuable; but in Jehovah's work everything is of a piece, nothing slurred, nothing mean. The deep foundations of the work of grace are as sapphires for preciousness, no human mind is able to measure their glory. We build upon the covenant of grace, which is firmer than adamant, and as enduring as jewels upon which age spends itself in vain. Sapphire foundations are eternal, and the covenant abides throughout the lifetime of the Almighty. Another foundation is the person of the Lord Jesus, which is clear and spotless, everlasting and beautiful as the sapphire; blending in one the deep blue of earth's ever rolling ocean and the azure of its all embracing sky. Once might our Lord have been likened to the ruby as he stood covered with his own blood, but now we see him radiant with the soft blue of love, love abounding, deep, eternal. Our eternal hopes are built upon the justice and the faithfulness of God, which are clear and cloudless as the sapphire. We are not saved by a compromise, by mercy defeating justice, or law suspending its operations; no, we defy the eagle's eye to detect a flaw in the groundwork of our confidence--our foundation is of sapphire, and will endure the fire.

The Lord himself has laid the foundation of his people's hopes. It is matter for grave enquiry whether our hopes are built upon such a basis. Good works and ceremonies are not a foundation of sapphires, but of wood, hay, and stubble; neither are they laid by God, but by our own conceit. Foundations will all be tried ere long: woe unto him whose lofty tower shall come down with a crash, because based on a quicksand. He who is built on sapphires may await storm or fire with equanimity, for he shall abide the test.

A Breif History In UFO's

The Amalgamated Flying Saucer Club of America, headquartered in Los Angeles, released this photo, taken by a member, reportedly showing a flying saucer estimated at 70 ft. in diameter.
Bettmann / CORBIS

The year 1969 was a great time for hippies, a bad year for Beatles fans and an even worse year for UFO enthusiasts. Forty years ago, on Dec. 17th, the U.S. Air Force officially shuttered Project Blue Book, the agency's third and final attempt to investigate extraterrestrial sightings and the country's longest official inquiry into UFOs. From 1952 until 1969, more than 12,000 reports were compiled and either classified as "identified" — explained by astronomical, atmospheric or artificial phenomenon — or "unidentified," which made up just 6% of the accounts. Because of such a meager percentage and an overall drop in sightings, officials axed the program and ended the research. So much for the truth being out there.

The U.S. government's search for extraterrestrials began in 1948, a year after an amateur pilot named Kenneth Arnold claimed he saw nine crescent-shaped objects in the sky while flying near Mount Rainier in Washington. Arnold evoked images of "saucers skipping on water" to describe how they flew through the air, but a local newspaper misquoted him, and the term flying saucer was born. That same year, a rancher stumbled upon a 200-yard-long swathe of rubber strips, tinfoil, wood sticks and Scotch tape in Roswell, N.M., and decided to haul the wreckage to a nearby Army airfield, where an excited officer issued a press release claiming a "flying disk" had been recovered. It took less than four hours for a general in Forth Worth, Texas, to step in and claim that the wreckage was nothing more than the remnants of an ill-fated weather balloon.
(See pictures of the UFO congress.)

It wasn't until the 1970s, when Vietnam and Watergate sparked a revival of antigovernment conspiracy theories, that the word Roswell started perking ears. In 1975 officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the North American Defense Command agreed to attend the world's first "serious" international UFO conference to hear new evidence, but after a self-proclaimed "abductee" reneged on his promise to take a polygraph test, the federal attendees left the gathering, skepticism intact. That didn't deter conference organizer Allen Hynek, founder of the Center for UFO Studies in Evanston, Ill., and a tireless campaigner to legitimize the field of "UFOlogy." "We need to stop arguing the existence of eggs and get down to cooking the omelet," he told TIME that year.
(See the mankind's greatest explorations and adventures.)

UFO sightings have been officially recorded in Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Australia and the United Kingdom, but the most complete records were those of Project Blue Book. The earliest UFO sightings in recorded history can be found in 4th century Chinese texts claiming that a "moon boat" hovered above China every 12 years. Other enthusiasts cite the Book of Ezekiel, in which a curious vessel dropped from the sky and landed in Chaldea, in modern-day Kuwait. A wave of sightings occurred near Rome in 218 B.C. and again in Germany in 1561. During World War II, Allied pilots coined the term foo fighters for the bizarre orbs of light that some insisted flew alongside their planes during combat.

Over the years, thousands have stepped forward to claim they've seen — or been abducted by — UFOs. Among these witnesses are more than a few famous names. Miyuki Hatoyama, wife of the current Japanese Prime Minister, wrote in a 2008 autobiography that one night while she was sleeping "my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus." (Her soul was later returned.) U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich provided one of the oddest moments in the tumultuous 2008 presidential elections when he affirmed in a televised debate that in the 1980s, he and actress Shirley MacLaine witnessed an unidentified flying object over her house. "You have to keep in mind," he told Tim Russert, "that Jimmy Carter saw a UFO and also that more people in this country have seen UFOs than I think approve of George Bush's presidency." (In fact, Jimmy Carter did once report seeing a UFO in Georgia and pledged during his presidential campaign to declassify all government files on flying saucers. Once elected, he didn't.)

The real breeding ground for UFO believers seems to be Tinseltown. Forget about the films: just check out the laundry list of celebrities who practice Scientology, or talk to Dan Aykroyd, who signed on as the "Hollywood consultant" for the Mutual UFO Network, one of the oldest and largest organizations of UFO investigations in the U.S. Aykroyd maintains that alien visitors are "coming and going like taxis." Not all are convinced — Demi Moore, a native of Roswell, says she never heard about the famous "landing" as a child. But considering how little has so far been made public — most of the Air Force's investigations remain top secret — for all we know, she could be one of them. SOURCE: Time Magize

Make It 'A Colt 45 Christmas'

Colt 45 Christmas by Afroman. PRESS HERE to order your copy

Hurry - get your copy of this hit album before they are all gone!!!

Watch the smiles on your kinfolks faces as they find this FANTASTIC CD
amoung their presents xmas morning.....

Entertain the entire family this Christmas with Afroman's hit single:
"You can't hurt a ho with a belt cuz they like that shit."

Isaiah 54:12

I will make thy windows of agates.

The church is most instructively symbolized by a building erected by heavenly power, and designed by divine skill. Such a spiritual house must not be dark, for the Israelites had light in their dwellings; there must therefore be windows to let the light in and to allow the inhabitants to gaze abroad. These windows are precious as agates: the ways in which the church beholds her Lord and heaven, and spiritual truth in general, are to be had in the highest esteem. Agates are not the most transparent of gems, they are but semi-pellucid at the best:

Our knowledge of that life is small,Our eye of faith is dim.

Faith is one of these precious agate windows, but alas! it is often so misty and beclouded, that we see but darkly, and mistake much that we do see. Yet if we cannot gaze through windows of diamonds and know even as we are known, it is a glorious thing to behold the altogether lovely One, even though the glass be hazy as the agate. Experience is another of these dim but precious windows, yielding to us a subdued religious light, in which we see the sufferings of the Man of Sorrows, through our own afflictions. Our weak eyes could not endure windows of transparent glass to let in the Master's glory, but when they are dimmed with weeping, the beams of the Sun of Righteousness are tempered, and shine through the windows of agate with a soft radiance inexpressibly soothing to tempted souls. Sanctification, as it conforms us to our Lord, is another agate window. Only as we become heavenly can we comprehend heavenly things. The pure in heart see a pure God. Those who are like Jesus see him as he is. Because we are so little like him, the window is but agate; because we are somewhat like him, it is agate. We thank God for what we have, and long for more. When shall we see God and Jesus, and heaven and truth, face to face?

Hot Springs, SD

This gives new meaning to the phrase
"Honey would you go outside and warm up the car for me?"

These were taken in Pine Shadows subdivision in Hot Springs, SD

A Couple Has A Dog That Snores

Annoyed because she can't sleep, the wife goes to the vet to see if he can help..

The vet tells the woman to tie a ribbon around the dog's testicles, and he will stop snoring.

'Yeah right!' she says.

A few minutes after going to bed, the dog begins snoring, as usual. The wife tosses and turns, unable to sleep. Muttering to herself, she goes to the closet and grabs a piece of red ribbon and ties it carefully around the dog's testicles. Sure enough, the dog stops snoring.

The woman is amazed..

Later that night, her husband returns home inebriated from being out drinking with his buddies. He climbs into bed, falls asleep and immediately begins snoring loudly.

The woman decides maybe the ribbon might work on him. So, she goes to the closet again, grabs a piece of blue ribbon and ties it around her husband's testicles.

Amazingly, it also works on him! The woman sleeps soundly.

The husband wakes from his drunken stupor and stumbles into the bathroom. As he stands in front of the toilet, he glances in the mirror and sees a blue ribbon attached to his privates. He is very confused, and as he walks back into the bedroom, he sees the red ribbon attached to his dog's testicles.

He shakes his head and looks at the dog and whispers, "I don't know
where we were or what we did, but by God, we took FIRST and SECOND place".

Attention Hunters

Note To All You Hunters Out There
This is from a San Francisco newspaper!


Folks, just remember as you read this,
this person probably drives AND votes!...
And, may have already reproduced!

John 14:6

“Jesus says unto him,
I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man comes unto the Father but by me.”

by Octavius Wilson, Leamington, UK
December 1856

NOT the least costly blessing, flowing from the vital power of the atoning blood, is the life and potency which it imparts to true prayer. The believer’s path to communion with God is called the “new and living way” because it is the way of the life-blood of the risen and living Savior. There could be no spiritual life in prayer but for the vitality in the atoning blood, which secures its acceptance. Not even could the Holy Spirit inspire the soul with one breath of true prayer, were not the atonement of the Son of God provided. Oh, how faintly do we know the wonders that are in, and the blessings that spring from, the life-procuring blood of our incarnate God! Touching the article of prayer—I approach to God, oppressed with sins, my heart crushed with sorrow, my spirit trembling; shame and confusion covering my face, my mouth dumb before Him. At that moment the blood of Jesus is presented, faith beholds it, faith receives it, faith pleads it! There is life and power in that blood, and lo! in an instant my trembling soul is enabled to take hold of God’s strength and be at peace with Him, and it is at peace. Of all the Christian privileges upon earth, none can surpass, none can compare with, the privilege of fellowship with God. And yet how restricted is this privilege in the experience of multitudes! And why? simply in consequence of their vague, imperfect, and contracted views of the connection of true prayer with the living blood of Jesus. And yet, oh, what nearness to, what communion with, the Father, may the meanest, the feeblest, the most unworthy child at all times and in all circumstances have, who simply and believingly makes use of the blood of Christ! You approach without an argument or a plea. You have many sins to confess, sorrows to unveil, many requests to urge, many blessings to crave; and yet the deep consciousness of your utter vileness, the remembrance of mercies abused, of base, ungrateful requitals made, seals your lips, and you are dumb before God. Your overwhelmed spirit exclaims, “Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.” And now the Holy Spirit brings atoning blood to your help. You see this to be the one argument, the only plea that can prevail with God. You use it—you urge it—you wrestle with it. God admits it, is moved by it, and you are blest! Let, then the life-power of the blood encourage you to cultivate more diligently habitual communion with God. With sinking spirits, with even discouragement and difficulty, you may approach His Divine Majesty, and converse with Him as with a Father, resting your believing eye where He rests His complacent eye—upon the blood of Jesus. Oh the blessedness, the power, the magic influence of prayer! Believer! you grasp the key that opens every chamber of God’s heart, when your tremulous faith takes hold of the blood of the covenant, and pleads it in prayer with God. It is impossible that God can then refuse you. The voice of the living blood pleads louder for you than all other voices can plead against you. Give yourself, then, unto prayer—this sacred charm of sorrow, this divine talisman of hope.

Tom Flynn reviews TruTV’s Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura.

I didn't think it was possible, but last night pseudo-documentary television reached a new high in seeking new lows.

I speak of the premier of TruTV's Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura (Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Eastern). Think of the worst bottom-feeding show you've ever seen whose sole reason for being was to cloak regurgitated paranormal pabulum in half-truths and innuendo. No matter how bad that show was, Conspiracy Theory was worse. Think Dog the Bounty Hunter meets Ghost Hunter Academy. On angel dust.

The concept: Having grown tired of the Navy SEALs, pro wrestling, and governing a state revered for its lutefisk, Jesse Ventura has created one of those ill-defined research institutes consisting mainly of a meeting room with cool lighting. Its goal: to finally get to the bottom of all those pesky conspiracy theories. Ventura has surrounded himself with young, geeky-looking "investigators" whose credentials aren't even hinted at. (One thing's for sure: acting is not among them.)

Come to think of it, neither is investigating. If the pilot episode is typical of what's to come, Conspiracy Theory will begin each episode by choosing an event or phenomenon worthy of conspiracy theorism (is that a word?), spinning out every ludicrous claim that any crackpot has ever connected with it, assume they're all true, and set out to prove it all. Sharp-eyed readers will note that I completed the preceding sentence without once using the word "investigating."

For the pilot episode, Ventura and his geek squad took on HAARP, the High Altitude Aurora Research Project in Alaska. This is a big antenna farm designed to pump powerful low-frequency radio signals into the ionosphere to stimulate unusual aurora which researchers can then study. A low-frequency radio installation that size (more than a billion watts of power) almost certainly lends itself to some military applications such as communication with submerged submarines. But beyond that...

Hey, this is Conspiracy Theory, and "beyond that" is exactly where Jesse and his Gang That Couldn't Think Straight will go. Apparently possessing an unlimited travel budget, squad members and camera crews fan out across the continent. One interview subject demonstrates an apparatus in which an electric arc in an enclosed tube causes vapor to rise. This of course proves that the real purpose for HAARP to beam a billion watts of radio energy skyward is to control the weather. Another interview, with the disaffected son of a deceased HAARP scientist, lays it all out. HAARP is good for shooting down missiles, controlling the weather, and messing with people's minds. Did you know that when coalition forces liberated Kuwait during the Gulf War, Iraqi soldiers surged out of their hiding places to surrender without firing a shot because HAARP had sent a signal halfway around the world to jangle their brains?

The interviews that support the shows agenda are ridiculous enough. Far richer in unintentional humor are the interviews that don't. One "investigator" tries to pry something incriminating out of two former HAARP scientists, hits a brick wall, and doesn't notice. Weather control? "Nope." Antimissile defense? "Nope." The segment ends with the voice-over narrator wondering why they won't tell what they really know. Finally, Ventura himself simply shows up at the gate of the scientific-military facility to be told that even though he's a former SEAL and a former governor, he still can't come in for a tour. The encounter ends when the videographer starts getting mysterious digital "hash" in his viewfinder. We are left to assume that HAARP's mad scientists diverted a few megawatts of their awesome evil power to tamper with the Conspiracy Theory crew's equipment.

Production values are state-of-the-art for this kind of show: much rapid cutting, repeated flashes of stock shots and effects shots that seem to "prove" the program's contentions. When it's over, the uncritical viewer will be scared to death of an innocuous scientific facility, and yet the producers will be able to deny most of the blame they deserve because their most ludicrous contentions were never actually proven onscreen, merely implied through leading narration and misleading cutting.

TruTV and this show's producers can be proud of themselves (they're obviously the sort who would take pride in such things). They've managed to take crappy pseudo-scientific pseudo-reality TV to a whole new layer of sliminess. And don't miss next week's episode, in which Jesse and his gang will reveal what really happened on 9/11.

Women Domesticated

Once burdened with physically demanding chores, exhausting farm work, and other unpleasant duties, man's quality of life dramatically improved after his successful domestication of the common woman. READ NOW

1 Thessalonians 4:17

So shall we ever be with the Lord.

Even the sweetest visits from Christ, how short they are--and how transitory! One moment our eyes see him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, but again a little time and we do not see him, for our beloved withdraws himself from us; like a roe or a young hart he leaps over the mountains of division; he is gone to the land of spices, and feeds no more among the lilies.

If to-day he deigns to bless us With a sense of pardoned sin, He to-morrow may distress us, Make us feel the plague within.

Oh, how sweet the prospect of the time when we shall not behold him at a distance, but see him face to face: when he shall not be as a wayfaring man tarrying but for a night, but shall eternally enfold us in the bosom of his glory. We shall not see him for a little season, but

Millions of years our wondering eyes, Shall o'er our Saviour's beauties rove; And myriad ages we'll adore, The wonders of his love.

In Heaven there shall be no interruptions from care or sin; no weeping shall dim our eyes; no earthly business shall distract our happy thoughts; we shall have nothing to hinder us from gazing for ever on the Sun of Righteousness with unwearied eyes. Oh, if it be so sweet to see him now and then, how sweet to gaze on that blessed face for aye, and never have a cloud rolling between, and never have to turn one's eyes away to look on a world of weariness and woe! Blest day, when wilt thou dawn? Rise, O unsetting sun! The joys of sense may leave us as soon as they will, for this shall make glorious amends. If to die is but to enter into uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is indeed gain, and the black drop is swallowed up in a sea of victory.

Industrial Revolution Provides Millions Of Out-Of-Work Children With Jobs

Until a factory opened nearby, this young man, 10,

had gone nearly nine years without gainful employment.

After centuries of chronic unemployment, millions of small children across the United Kingdom saw their lives drastically improve when the Industrial Revolution at long last provided them with steady factory work regardless of age, size, or experience.

"Before the turn of the 19th century, frail boys and girls had no choice but to sit at home all day, playing with their younger siblings, just watching as another empty, unproductive week passed them by," noted British scholar William Donnelley said. "Once the Industrial Revolution began, however, any child able to fit inside a narrow mining shaft, or reach deep within a malfunctioning textile press, could venture out into the world and find himself a job."

Added Donnelley, "It was a time of unprecedented opportunity for the nation's 5- to 9-year-olds."

According to records, the introduction of machine-based manufacturing provided a desperately needed solution to England's toddler-unemployment epidemic. Out-of-work children, many of whom had struggled since birth to earn any kind of wage at all, were now afforded the chance to work seven days a week, up to 19 hours a day, in such competitive industries as iron-smelting and steel-tempering.

Not only was finding employment easier than ever for countless preadolescents, but the generous overtime available to them allowed boys and girls to catch up on years of experience they had lost while learning how to walk, nurse, or, in some unfortunate cases, attend several months of school.

"As a child of the time, it must have felt wonderful to be able to go to bed at night, confident in the knowledge that a job as a coal-boy, furnace operator, or even bore-grinder machinist awaited you the next morning," historian Russell Black said. "The sense of satisfaction and well-being all those orphans must have experienced week in and week out—it's hard to imagine."

"After all, there's nothing like a full-time job to help someone get back on his feet," Black continued. "Especially if he's lost one of them in a horrifying threshing accident."

psalm 68:10

Thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.

All God's gifts are prepared gifts laid up in store for wants foreseen. He anticipates our needs; and out of the fulness which he has treasured up in Christ Jesus, he provides of his goodness for the poor. You may trust him for all the necessities that can occur, for he has infallibly foreknown every one of them. He can say of us in all conditions, I knew that thou wouldst be this and that. A man goes a journey across the desert, and when he has made a day's advance, and pitched his tent, he discovers that he wants many comforts and necessaries which he has not brought in his baggage. Ah! says he, I did not foresee this: if I had this journey to go again, I should bring these things with me, so necessary to my comfort. But God has marked with prescient eye all the requirements of his poor wandering children, and when those needs occur, supplies are ready. It is goodness which he has prepared for the poor in heart, goodness and goodness only. My grace is sufficient for thee. As thy days, so shall thy strength be.

Reader, is your heart heavy this evening? God knew it would be; the comfort which your heart wants is treasured in the sweet assurance of the text. You are poor and needy, but he has thought upon you, and has the exact blessing which you require in store for you. Plead the promise, believe it and obtain its fulfilment. Do you feel that you never were so consciously vile as you are now? Behold, the crimson fountain is open still, with all its former efficacy, to wash your sin away. Never shall you come into such a position that Christ cannot aid you. No pinch shall ever arrive in your spiritual affairs in which Jesus Christ shall not be equal to the emergency, for your history has all been foreknown and provided for in Jesus.

New Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill Introduced in Congress

Fellow Common Sense Citizens: The Dems are hoping to reward those who have entered the Country illegally to jump to the front of the citizenship line. In fairness all illegals need to be deported and forced to go to the back of the line and comply with our Immigration Laws. I'm sure the Dems acting in hopes they will be rewarded with more votes gathered by ACORN from the illegal communities in 2010 and '12.

In case you haven't heard yet, a new "comprehensive" immigration bill has been introduced in the United States House of Representatives. The bill is backed by a coalition of progressive caucuses. A roundup of news sources on the new immigration bill is included below.

Via the Wall Street Journal:

"The legislation is set to be introduced by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D., Ill.), the chairman of the House Immigration Caucus. The effort has the backing of two key groups within the House Democratic membership - the Hispanic and liberal-leaning Progressive caucuses.

It would offer a path to legal residence for people currently living illegally in the U.S., and would create a new panel within the Department of Homeland Security to make recommendations about future inflows of immigrants, according to an aide to a member of the Progressive Caucus familiar with the legislation.

Illegal residents in the U.S. with no criminal records would be able to pay a fine, start to pay taxes, take English and civic classes, and after six years be able to apply for a green card.

It was unclear how large the fine would be, and whether the immigrants would be required to pay unpaid back taxes."
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091214-714788.html


Via the Washington Times:

"Democrats on Tuesday begin their new push for an immigration bill, hamstrung by the image of legalizing millions of illegal immigrant workers at a time when the unemployment rate stands at 10 percent -- more than twice what it was the last time Congress tried to act...

A draft overview of the bill, circulated with the letter, ends some enforcement tools such as the 287(g) local police cooperation program, calls for an electronic verification system to replace the voluntary E-verify program, argues that there's no need for more U.S. Border Patrol agents or fencing, and establishes a long-term path to citizenship for illegal immigrants."
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/15/immigration-bill-backers-try-again-in-face-of-jobl/?feat=home_top5_commented


A Press Release from the SEIU:

"Until Congress passes comprehensive reforms, workers will continue to be pitted against each other--denied the opportunity to unite their strength and demand the labor and civil rights protections we need to lift our economy and raise living standards for everyone. This is unacceptable."
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/12/rep_luis_gutierrez_renewing_co.html

MY NEW TRUCK

I
bought a new Chevy Avalanche


and
returned to the dealer yesterday
because I
couldn't get the radio to
work.


The
salesman explained that the radio was voice
activated.


'Nelson,'
the salesman said to the
radio.


The
radio replied, 'Ricky or
Willie?'


'Willie!'
he continued and 'On The Road Again'

came
from the speakers.


Then
he said, 'Ray Charles!', and in an
instant

'
Georgia On My Mind' replaced Willie Nelson.
I
drove away happy, and for the next few
days,


every
time I'd say, 'Beethoven,'


I'd
get beautiful classical music, and if I
said,


'Beatles,'
I'd get one of their awesome
songs.


Yesterday,
some guy ran a red light


and
nearly creamed my new truck,


but
I swerved in time to avoid
him.


I
yelled, 'Ass Hole!'


Immediately
the radio responded with,


"Ladies
and gentlemen, the President of the United
States


Barack
Hussein Obama


Damn
I love this truck...

Revelation 3:4

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments;
and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

We may understand this to refer to justification. They shall walk in white; that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith; they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen snow.

Again, it refers to joy and gladness: for white robes were holiday dresses among the Jews. They who have not defiled their garments shall have their faces always bright; they shall understand what Solomon meant when he said Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. Let thy garments be always white, for God hath accepted thy works. He who is accepted of God shall wear white garments of joy and gladness, while he walks in sweet communion with the Lord Jesus. Whence so many doubts, so much misery, and mourning? It is because so many believers defile their garments with sin and error, and hence they lose the joy of their salvation, and the comfortable fellowship of the Lord Jesus, they do not here below walk in white.

The promise also refers to walking in white before the throne of God. Those who have not defiled their garments here shall most certainly walk in white up yonder, where the white-robed hosts sing perpetual hallelujahs to the Most High. They shall possess joys inconceivable, happiness beyond a dream, bliss which imagination knoweth not, blessedness which even the stretch of desire hath not reached. The undefiled in the way shall have all this--not of merit, nor of works, but of grace. They shall walk with Christ in white, for he has made them worthy. In his sweet company they shall drink of the living fountains of waters.

Is this what we're fighting for?

(Video may be blocked in some countries)



No, this is not a spoof or a put on.

This is what's actually going on in the field.

What kind of psychopathic criminals would send American troops to fight and die under conditions like this?

By the way, the US and UK news media rants on and on about the Taliban supporting themselves with opium and heroin trading.

Since the invasion, Afghanistan now provides at least 80& of the world's opium.
It's a $3 billion business.

Note that the Taliban's take is around $200 million.

For people who can do math, that's less than 10% of the total score.

So who's getting the rest?

Friends of Uncle Sam.

Horray For Michigan

Professor Indrek Wichman http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/wichman.asp

Claim: A Michigan professor sent an e-mail telling Muslim students to leave the country.

Status: True.
The story begins at Michigan State University with a mechanical engineering professor named Indrek Wichman.

Wichman sent an e-mail to the Muslim Student's Association. The e-mail was in response to the students' protest of the Danish cartoons that portrayed the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist. The group had complained the cartoons were 'hate speech'

Enter Professor Wichman. In his e-mail, he said the following:

Dear Moslem Association,

As a professor of Mechanical Engineering here at MSU I intend to protest your protest.

I am offended not by cartoons, but by more mundane things like beheadings of civilians, cowardly attacks on public buildings, suicide murders, murders of Catholic priests(the latest in Turkey), burnings of Christian churches, the continued persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt, the imposition of Sharia law on non-Muslims, the rapes of Scandinavian girls and women (called 'whores' in your culture), the murder of film directors in Holland, and the rioting and looting in Paris, France.

This is what offends me, a soft-spoken person and academic, and many, many of my colleagues.

I counsel you dissatisfied, aggressive, brutal, and uncivilized slave-trading Moslems to be very aware of this as you proceed with your infantile 'protests.'

If you do not like the values of the West - see the 1st Amendment - you are free to leave. I hope for God's sake that most of you choose that option. Please return to your ancestral homelands and build them up yourselves instead of troubling Americans.

Cordially,

I. S. Wichman
Professor of Mechanical Engineering

As you can imagine, the Muslim group at the university didn't like this too well.

They're demanding that Wichman be reprimanded and the university impose mandatory diversity training for faculty and mandate a seminar on hate and discrimination for all freshmen..

Now the local chapter of CAIR has jumped into the fray . CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, apparently doesn't believe that the good professor had the right to express his opinion..

For its part, the university is standing its ground in support of Professor Wichman, saying the e-mail was private, and they don't intend to publicly condemn his remarks.

Send this to your friends, and ask them to do the same. Tell them to keep passing it around until the whole country gets it. We are in a war. This political correctness crap is getting old and killing us.

If you agree with this, please send it to all your friends; if not simply delete it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPod-hxD7g

HOW DO YOU LIKE CHANGE SO FAR?

Obama recently approved a 2% salary increase for all federal employees effective January 1, 2010. Members of the executive, legislative and judicial branch are due for an automatic 20% pay increase in January as well. All this on the backs of seniors who will not incur any Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) increases for several years.

For the first time in history, the Congress will NOT allow
**an increase in the social security COLA (Cost Of Living Adjustment).
**In fact, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation predicts there may
**not be any COLA for the next three years.
**However, the per person monthly Medicare insurance premium, part B, will be increased from the 2009 premium of $96.40 to $104.20 in 2010 and to $120.20 for the year 2011.

Send this to all seniors you know. Remind them not to vote for any incumbent senator or representative. The only way we can take this country back is to clean out those who have become career politicians and are driving our republic into the ground.

Sarah Palin Another Stooge

By Al Cronkrite
The Covenant News
December 12, 2009


On December 1st, Paul Craig Roberts wrote the following paragraphs:

“In less than one year, President Obama has betrayed all of his supporters and broken all of his promises. He is the total captive of the oligarchy of the ruling interest groups. Unless he is saved by an orchestrated 9/11-type event, Obama is a one-term president. Indeed, the collapsing economy will doom him regardless of a ‘terrorist event.’”

“The Republicans are grooming Palin. Our first female president, following our first black president, will complete the transition to an American police state by arresting critics and protesters of Washington’s immoral foreign and domestic policies, and she will complete the destruction of America’s reputation abroad.”

Sarah Palin and her family are plagued with common domestic problems; she is attractive, articulate, self controlled and resolute. The domestic problems identify her with “common folk” and the personal attributes sustain her on the political stage. The media is in the process of creating wide spread sympathy for Sarah Palin by taunting her unmercifully. Media cooperation, sympathy, hatred for President Obama, and the votes of millions of Evangelical Christians could boost this determined neophyte into the Oval Office.

Hoosier icon and journalism insider, Dan Thomasson, after hearing her speak before critics at the Washington Gridiron Club wrote “…she came to town the other night and proved once again what has been undeniable for some time: She has more political sex appeal than anyone on the scene with the exception of Barack Obama”.

The grooming process involves mysterious financial support that provides talented writers, swift publication of her book, airplanes, and news coverage. Acceptance of these enabling gifts indicates a willingness to comply with the requests of the enablers. The strings that control Sarah Palin would be just as effective as the strings that controlled George W. Bush, Barak Obama, and several previous Presidents.

The sudden stroke of good luck that strikes selected presidential candidates must come as a welcome surprise – all of a sudden doors that remain closed to others are flung open and you are beckoned in.

Momentum to drive her anticipated elevation may come from the enervating image of Barak Obama who was in turn elected by the unpopular actions of George W. Bush.

United States political candidates are helped by a pleasing appearance, cogent prolixity, flexibility, and a compliant disposition. Campaign promises are meaningless. Because they are beholden to forces higher than themselves United States presidents regularly break their oaths and vows. Their behavior is choreographed by hidden oligarchs who are malevolent in their requirements for conformity.

The behavior and violent deaths of the Kennedy brothers set an example for the future of defiance. On the Rockwell page Edward Curtin reviewed a new book by James Douglass, “JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters” (Orbis Books, 2008). Curtin believes the Douglass book is “one of the best books ever written on the Kennedy assassination”. Douglas maintains Kennedy was killed because he defied the warmongering of the military industrial complex and stubbornly pursued peace. War is an instrument used by the power structure to disrupt the social order, transfer wealth, and shield the progress of tyranny.

Successful evil is always heavily flavored with righteousness. Palin is seen as an Evangelical Christian who attends church, seeks the prayers of its members, opts to give birth to a retarded child and is solicitous of the father of her illegitimate grandchild. In our theologically starved Christian milieu those characteristics are sufficient evidence of Christian wisdom. With a sincere belief that conversion qualifies a person for leadership, Christian associations of any kind are bonanzas for millions of starved American congregants.

Our family is planning a trip over the Christmas holiday and as we prepare for the personal intrusion of the airport TSA personal I find my attitude is calmer than it was the last time we flew. Gradualism allows humans to become quietly compliant.

If a 1920s Christian was suddenly thrust into our contemporary society the shock would be devastating. Though WWI had debased the moral fiber of the nation (all wars do that) and women had begun to flaunt themselves there was a steady willingness to acknowledge immorality. Businesses were closed on Sunday. There was no income tax. There was no department of children and families. Policemen were generally feared by gangsters and respected by citizens. Mothers kept house and had children while fathers earned a living. Schools taught reading, writing, and arithmetic and were established and controlled in neighborhoods. Hunting and fishing did not require a license. There were no traffic jams. Homosexuals and other sexual deviants were scorned but tolerated. Pregnancy out of wedlock was disgraceful and illegitimate children were usually adopted. Some women worked, some women voted, some women were feminists but leadership in government, business, and academia was predominantly male. Prohibition created a scenario similar to the Drug War but the nation was smaller, less needless laws were being enforced and our jails were not bursting at the seams. (Four hundred and thirty-five supercilious congresspersons, many of dubious integrity, going on junkets, wasting time on investigations and entangling the nation with new laws is a serious problem by itself – but that is another subject.)

The 1920s was far different than the Twenty First Century. Social debasement has come slowly. Two centuries ago St. Paul’s Biblical opinion on women was respected and women were not set into leadership positions over men. Biblical moral standards are interconnected when one standard is violated other standards are effected. First Suffrage and then Feminism tore at the fabric of the family. The family is the basic Biblical governmental unit and the prime foundational structure for the entire creation.

Like the intrusion of the TSA at our airports we have become inured to the devastating results of feminism. As Sarah Palin is groomed for the Presidency, the Biblical wisdom of keeping women in the home is being defied. She and her supporters are thumbing their nose at the Creator in the name of Christianity. The disaster of Dispensationalism has robbed God’s people of righteousness by abolishing His criterion for behavior through obedience to His Law. When Christians live without reference to God’s Law sinful conciliations abound.

Two party politics in the United States is a pragmatic game that involves constant compromise. Since compromise is death to God’s legal standards it is difficult to find a righteous politician. Palin is a politician. Not only has she exalted herself into contention for the Presidency but she has breached the proper standards of the religion she professes. That she is being touted as a viable candidate reflects a low esteem for the office itself.

The promotion of Sarah Palin is following a propaganda pattern set up by the media. A Black hero is followed by a Female hero who is succeeded by a bumbling White man. I am not sure what is meant by the term “political sex appeal” but Palin appears to be a pseudo-Christian woman who is falling into the politically correct role of stooge for those who rule America.

Wisdom, discernment and a firm grasp of the need for obedience to God’s Law are indispensible requirements for leaders.

Al Cronkrite is a free-lance writer from Florida.
He can be reached at fmsinfla@hotmail.com

God is in your state Constitution......

The 'Founding Fathers intended a separation of Church and State when they wrote our Constitution, but were wise enough to insure that G_d would remain a guilding force of this New Nation in all of it's endevors.



President Barack Obama said in Turkey: "We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

America's founders did not intend for there to be a separation of God and state, as shown by the fact that all 50 states acknowledge God in their state constitutions...

THIS IS VERY INTERESTING! After you check your state, look at the last sentence or two.

The Fifty States Reference God in their Constitutions-Truth!
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/god-constitutions.htm

Alabama 1901, Preamble;
We the people of the State of Alabama, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution...

Alaska 1956, Preamble;
We, the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land...

Arizona 1911, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...

Arkansas 1874, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government...

California 1879, Preamble;
We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom...

Colorado 1876, Preamble;
We, the people of Colorado, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe...

Connecticut 1818, Preamble;
The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy...

Delaware 1897, Preamble;
Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshipping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences...

Florida 1845, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of Florida, grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty ... establish this Constitution...

Georgia 1777, Preamble;
We, the people of Georgia, relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution...

Hawaii 1959, Preamble;
We, the people of Hawaii, Grateful for Divine Guidance ... establish this Constitution...

Idaho 1889, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings...

Illinois 1870, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of Illinois, gratefulto Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors...

Indiana 1851, Preamble;
We, the People of the State of Indiana, grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to chose our form of government...

Iowa 1857, Preamble;
We, the People of the State of Iowa, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings ... establish this Constitution...

Kansas 1859, Preamble;
We, the people of Kansas, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges ... establish this Constitution...

Kentucky 1891, Preamble;
We, the people of the Commonwealth of grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties...

Louisiana 1921, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy...

Maine 1820, Preamble;
We the People of Maine .. acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity ... and imploring His aid and direction...

Maryland 1776, Preamble;
We, the people of the state of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God or our civil and religious liberty...

Massachusetts 1780, Preamble;
We, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe...in the course of His Providence, an opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction...

Michigan 1908, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom ... establish this Constitution...

Minnesota, 1857, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings...

Mississippi 1890, Preamble;
We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work...

Missouri 1845, Preamble;
We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness .. establish this Constitution...

Montana 1889, Preamble;
We, the people of Montana, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty establish this Constitution...

Nebraska 1875, Preamble; We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our
freedom .. establish this Constitution

Nevada 1864, Preamble;
We the people of the State of Nevada, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, establish this Constitution...

New Hampshire 1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V;
Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience...

New Jersey 1844, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors..

New Mexico 1911, Preamble;
We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty...

New York 1846, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings...

North Carolina 1868, Preamble;
We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those...

North Dakota 1889, Preamble;
We, the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain...

Ohio 1852, Preamble. We the people of the state of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common...

Oklahoma 1907, Preamble;
Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty ... establish this...

Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I. Section 2;
All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences...

Pennsylvania 1776, Preamble;
We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance...

Rhode Island 1842, Preamble;
We the People of the State of Rhode Island grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing...

South Carolina, 1778, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of South Carolina grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution...

South Dakota 1889, Preamble;
We, the people of South Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties . establish this...

Tennessee 1796, Art. XI.III;
That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience...

Texas 1845, Preamble;
We the People of the Republic of Texas, acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God...

Utah 1896, Preamble;
Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we establish this Constitution...

Vermont 1777, Preamble;
Whereas all government ought to ... enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man...

Virginia 1776, Bill of Rights, XVI;
Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator . can be directed only by Reason ... and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other...

Washington 1889, Preamble;
We the People of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...

West Virginia 1872, Preamble;
Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia .. reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God...

Wisconsin 1848, Preamble;
We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility...

Wyoming 1890, Preamble;
We, the people of the State of Wyoming, grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties ... establish this Constitution...

After reviewing acknowledgments of God from all 50 state constitutions, one is faced with the prospect that maybe, just maybe, the ACLU and the out-of-control federal courts are wrong!

"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."
...William Penn