Time to come home

Here's another reason the U.S. must leave Afghanistan. LEAVE NOW!

The Best Money Can Buy

We have the best government money can buy. Unfortunately, money doesn't buy the best government for the people. It buys the best government for those wealthy enough to pay for it. That is not democracy. That is an auction.

U.S. Senator's Top 10 List of Corporate Tax Avoiders

U.S. Senator's Top 10 List of Corporate Tax Avoiders

Here's why we have a budget deficit. Rather than cut services to the poor (who provided the big business profits by receiving low wages and benefits), shouldn't we get the big boys to pay their share? After all, they get plenty of benefits from the taxes WE pay.

A Message for Our Leaders

Please join me in reminding our government leaders to consider this scripture passage as they make decisions.

“So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty.

Malachi 3:5 New International Version

You can find senators' e-mail addresses at:

Senators of the 112th Congress

Other leaders can also be found at dot gov sites (If in doubt, Google it -- or Bing it.)

Mubarak Pulls A Mugabe

Hosni Mubarak has pulled a Robert Mugabe and refused to relinquish power even against the will of the people. Personal pride overrules love of country.

How long, O LORD, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.

Habakkuk 1:2-4 New International Version

Is The USA A Christian Nation?

Many today argue that the United States of America is a Christian nation. Is this true?

Early in his ministry Jesus laid out what his job description:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

^19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

^20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ^21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18ff New International Version)

The Gospels show that spiritual, physical and psychological healing was a major part of his work.

Justice was also of great importance. He condemned the religious leaders for being preoccupied with ritual practices but neglecting justice. (Luke 11:42)

Jesus instructed his followers to give to all who ask. (Luke 6:30ff) They are not to resist those who act violently against them, and if sued, they are to give even more than the suit demands. When impressed into service, they are to give service above that demanded. The old rule of "a tooth for a tooth" is superceded. (Matthew 5:38ff)

Jesus' followers are not to judge others. (Matthew 7:1-2) Rather they are to be merciful. (Luke 6:36)

They are to bear lasting fruit. (John 15:16) The Apostle Paul delineates what characterizes this fruit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23 New International Version)

These qualities must be clearly evident in the lives of his followers.

Jesus commanded his followers to love one another. (John 15:12) Not only are they to love one another, they are to love their enemies! (Matthew 5:43-44) This is the criteria by which they will be known to be his true followers. (John 13:35)

Jesus makes it quite clear that he clearly expects his followers to live out the life he has described, and lived himself. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

(Luke 6:46 New International Version)

It is not the shibboleths we shout but the deeds we do that determine whether or not we are a Christian nation.

On the basis of our deeds, we definitely are NOT a Christian nation.

Would that we were.

McConnell: I'm 'disappointed' in Obama's lack of bipartisanship

The Republican's definition of "bipartisanship" is "you buy everything we propose or we part company."

Their idea of compromise is "we both state our positions, you capitulate, and we proceed with our ideas."

They sing a different song now that they don't have a slim majority.

Foolishness

There are fools and there are fools. Judging from this article, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is one of them. Bush's heavy handed power grabbing security policies and military intervention more closely resemble the destructive actions of Mugabe. The land grab had nothing to do with economic policy. It was geared to destruction of political opposition and enriching supporters -- like Bush Republicans loved to do. Obama has more affinity with Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader, who seeks to help the working man rather than the overlords of society.

S.C. governor compares stimulus to Zimbabwe

Posted: 06:16 PM ET

From Jessica Yellin
CNN

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) — The United States faces a Zimbabwe-style economic collapse if it keeps “spending a bunch of money we don’t have,” South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said Wednesday.

Sanford, a Republican, has been a critic of the Obama administration’s $800 billion stimulus plan. He said he’ll turn down about a quarter of his state’s $2.8 billion share unless Washington lets him use that money to pay down debt.

“What you’re doing is buying into the notion that if we just print some more money that we don’t have and send it to different states, we’ll create jobs,” he said. “If that’s the case, why isn’t Zimbabwe a rich place?” Zimbabwe has been in the throes of an economic meltdown ever since the southern African nation embarked on a chaotic land reform program. Its official inflation rate topped 11 million percent in 2008, with its treasury printing banknotes in the trillion-dollar range to keep up with the plummeting value of its currency.

But with South Carolina’s unemployment rate now at 10.4 percent — the second-highest in the country — state lawmakers will attempt to override Sanford and take the $700 million if he turns it down, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said.

Reflections on the Election

Disclaimer

Although I was thoroughly impressed with Barak Obama before I knew anything of his biography, it is true that similarities in our life adventures draw me even more to support him because of the broad cultural experience he brings with him and the dramatic way his life expresses the American ideal.

Obama was born in Hawaii and spent most of his youthful years there. My wife was born and raised in Hawaii and my daughter was born there. I, personally, feel more at home in Hawaii than in any other state of the union. The multi-cultural life in Hawaii is a good basis for a president who wishes to lead and represent a nation of diversity. I gotta geevum fo' da kine local boy.

Obama's father came from Kenya in East Africa. Just out of college I lived in Tanzania, Kenya's next door neighbour and at that time fellow member of the East African Community. I visited Kenya often. Barak Obama is African American in the truest sense. My two sons were born in Zimbabwe. They, too, could be called African Americans by geography of birth. Africa is in my family's blood. My daughter and older son did their secondary schooling in Kenya. The sense of identity many in Africa and other countries feel for Barak Obama opens doors for him to lead on the world stage in a unique way.

These are some of the reasons I feel a special affinity for Obama in addition to the attraction to policy positions and philosophical positions that agree with mine. This affinity will strengthen my support of him even when we disagree.

Transitional Symbol

Obama, for me, is also a transitional symbol. I welcome the change in the USA that his election represents.

I remember when the only contact I had with non-white Americans was in the cotton patch. In the fall when the cotton was ready to harvest, schools closed and we all went to work picking cotton. Blacks and whites shared the labour in the fields but not the same water bucket. We were side-by-side in the field and some conversations and superficial friendships were possible. But we went back to separate schools when the cotton was harvested and used separate bathrooms and water fountains in the towns. When the white churches held revivals in the small southern towns, they knocked on every door to invite folks. White people were invited to the revival. Black people were invited to visit the local black church. (That never quite fit into my understanding of God. When we sang "Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight" I took it literally.)

I remember when my high school was integrated. A neighbouring school wouldn't allow our pep squad to attend the basketball game when we played in their gym. Our black players could come. We were all very frightened and ready to fight for our team mates. We "joked" about which of us would be hanging from the flag pole after the game. But we were seriously afraid.

I could tell more horror stories of what life was like back then. There were times when there was a double risk for those who crossed the colour barrier. One could be attacked (physically and verbally) by both white extremists and black extremists whose only point of agreement was that we must be separate.

The election of Barak Obama and the beauty of his family on the stage at his victory speech was like a fresh wind rejuvenating hope after the dark despondency brought on by his predecessor. For many of us the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the beginning of what seemed to be a never ending nightmare.

Barak Obama's election may, just MAY, be a symbol that change really is coming. Sam Cooke, you sang about it. You were not a dreamer, you were a prophet.

Barak Obama and Zimbabwe

The election of Obama brings my mind back to my adopted home of Zimbabwe (where I wish I were). Obama's election highlights one difference between the USA and Zimbabwe that plays a role in causing the USA to overcome difficulties while Zimbabwe is self-destructing. It's a simple difference in attitude and law (but one that some Americans are loosing sight of, making them more akin to Mugabe's party than the American Founding Fathers). It is the practice of inclusion rather than exclusion.

Obama's father was not a US citizen. But Barak Obama was born in the USA, and even if his mother had not been a citizen, he became a citizen by birth. A Zimbabwean friend of mine studying for his PhD in the USA had a son born here. His son is a US citizen. He is eligible to become president of the USA. The French recognized the significance of this attitude when they presented the people of the USA with the Statue of Liberty. The USA builds upon the gifts, skills and aptitudes of those whose parents chose the USA as home. And the USA is a better country for this inclusivity.

On the other hand, my sons were born in Zimbabwe and their birth certificates clearly state that they are not eligible for citizenship. Not only that, Mugabe has actively tried to drive out others who were born in Zimbabwe. Second, third and even fourth generation Zimbabweans whose ancestors came from Malawi, Moçambique, Lesotho and other countries are denied citizenship and efforts have been made to repatriate them to countries they have never known. As a result Zimbabwe is losing many who could be contributing to the betterment of the country. Many who love Zimbabwe and would sacrifice to build the nation have been forced to leave in order to survive. Many of the brightest and most skilled are now building other countries and will probably never return. The brain drain will leave the country with only the least qualified as the building blocks for recovery.

Barak Obama is a symbol of what can be accomplished when a country practices inclusivity. He could not have risen so high in Zimbabwe. I'm thankful his father chose to study in the USA rather than in Zimbabwe.

Sarah Palin a Muslim?

Steve Hayes at Notes from underground has come up with a great analogy.

"If I've seen it once, I've seen it dozens of times, people claiming that Barack HUSSEIN Obama is a Muslim. That's about as convincing as saying that Sarah Palin is a Muslim because she's the governor of Al Aska."

Unfortunately, such stupidity is contageous and too many Americans have weak or non-existant immune systems. The confusion of the little lady who was corrected by McCain in the oft replayed clip is more common than we wish to acknowledge. Who knows who will become confused and think Al Aska is an islamic state since it is bordering on Russia like all those "istans" that emerged from the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Song of Obama and Other Irishmen

This is just TOO funny. If one drop of black blood makes a person African American, then a drop of Irish blood should make him Irish American. Obama meets O'Hara, O'Reilly and the rest of the clan.



Thanks to Thin Places for finding this and posting this where I could find it.

High Politics

On the way to work one day last week, I stopped at a traffic light behind a vehicle with a political bumper sticker high up on the back window. My eye drifted down to the license plate and my mind linked the letters on the license plate to the high bumper sticker. As a product of the 1960s, the humour of the juxtaposition of the two overcame me. I had a small point-and-shoot camera in my lunch bag beside me. I immediately began digging to find the camera and get the shot. Just as I got the camera out, the light changed. I was able to grab a poor shot as the vehicle pulled away.

Here is the High Politics shot of the week:

Interesting Comparisons

Dr. Jonas' Blog has the following post:

Interesting Comparisons

A former student emailed me the following this morning. It is probably a bit of an exaggeration but is nevertheless still an interesting read.

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight....

If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic, different.'Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

If your name is Barack, you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim. Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

Graduate from Harvard Law School and you are unstable. Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience. If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian. If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife (WHILE SHE WAS FIGHTING BREAST CANCER) and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

That pretty well sums it up!

"Change" McCain Style

The story is told of a WWII POW camp commander who told the prisoners one day that they would be allowed to change their underwear for the first time in six months. The prisoners began to cheer until the commander began to point from one prisoner to another and say, "You change with you. You change with you."

That is "change" McCain style.

Lest We Forget

Church Mice got it right.

May the same mind be in US that was in Christ Jesus.

AMEN!

Cry for Zimbabwe

A defeat for justice? Or a case of Solomonic wisdom? Or a triumph for violence and fear?

Read the tragic news: Cry for Zimbabwe

Political Hardball

Political Hardball

The playoffs for the Democratic (National) League championship to decide who would play the Republican (American) League champion in the Political Baseball World Series has proven contentious.

Team Clinton batted first in the opening game and scored a run in the top of the first inning. A light mist was covering the field. As Team Obama came in to bat it began to rain and continued to do so resulting in the game being called off.

When game one was replayed, Team Clinton scored a run in the third inning and Team Obama scored one in the fourth and one in the eighth, winning the game 2-1.

Game two went to Team Clinton who scored 5 runs in the sixth inning while Team Obama scored 1 run in the fourth and 1 in the ninth. Team Clinton won 5-2.

Team Obama won the third game 9-4, scoring a run in each inning. Team Clinton scored all four of its runs in the ninth inning.

Team Obama also won game four 7-5. They scored 1 run in the first inning, 2 runs in the fifth, 2 runs in the sixth and 2 runs in the eights. Team Clinton scored all five of their runs in the ninth inning.

Team Clinton won game five by a score of 6-1. Team Obama opened the scoring with a run in the first inning but Team Clinton replied with 4 runs in the fifth and another two runs in the eighth.

Team Clinton claimed that the series was tied 3-3 since they had won the opening game 1-0. Team Obama argued that it was 3-2 in their favor since the opening game had been called before they had an opportunity to bat. The commissioners of Political Baseball ruled in favor of Team Obama leaving Team Clinton fuming.

Game six was vigorously contested by Team Clinton. Four Team Obama batters reached first base after being hit by pitched balls. Ultimately Team Clinton was victorious, winning by a score of 5-2.

Team Obama took game seven by a score of 5-3. Team Clinton failed to even the score in the top of the ninth inning, but insisted that Team Obama bat in the bottom of the ninth, even though they lead on the scoreboard. They argued that the game must be played out since in the remaining half-inning, Obama players could suffer injuries which would prevent them from achieving victory against Team McCain of the Republican League in the World Political Baseball World Series.

Team Clinton put out a press release stating that they should represent the Democratic League since they had scored more total runs than Team Obama. When informed that it was games won rather than total runs that decide the winner of a series, they replied that their superior total run scoring showed they were the stronger team. Moreover, they had made more double plays than Team Obama indicating that they were also a better defensive team. If they had been allowed a designated hitter as Team McCain was in their playoff, Team Clinton would have won game four since it was the strike-out by their pitcher that ended the game before they could win. They had been robbed of the run they scored in the aborted first game and should be allowed to apply it to their total score. They also scored more runs in big innings than Team Obama. For all these reasons, according to Team Clinton, Team Clinton should go to the Political Baseball World Series rather than Team Obama.

At last report, Team Clinton planned on fielding a team at the Political Baseball World Series, even if it meant locking Team Obama in the dressing room before the game.

Sacrifices

(From the Sentinel-Record newspaper in Hot Springs, AR.)

Each must sacrifice according to what he is willing to give.

OUTRAGE!

Hillary Clinton has claimed that the situation with Michigan and Florida delegate counting in the Democratic Primary Election is like the election in Zimbabwe where votes are not counted. This is the most outrageous thing she has done yet. There is NO comparison between the two situations. I lived in Zimbabwe for 16 years and it became home for me. I suffer daily over what is happening there. Lives are being lost and a great country destroyed due to the power hunger of one man, Mugabe, and his minions. In Zimbabwe it is those who follow the rules who lose, not those who flaunt the rules.

On second thought, maybe there is a parallel. Hillary Clinton more closely resembles Robert Mugabe than Morgan Tsvangarai in her effort to attain power. Mugabe is the one who changes the rules, ignores the rules, lies, and does whatever is necessary to attain and maintain power. Just what we see Clinton doing.

Early in the election season I had high regard for Clinton and thought she would make a great president with Obama as vice president. However, her true character has been revealed in the manner she has sought the nomination. She has disqualified herself by my standards of decency, integrity and honesty.

Footsteps

From Peace Takes Courage: