Right Truth

Happy Thanksgiving - Guess whose coming to dinner

Happy Thanksgiving.  Many times we concentrate on the things that are going wrong, but Americans have much to be thankful for.  You could have been born somewhere else.  Think about that for a minute.  Simply being born in the United States is a great blessing.  Being happy, healthy, with family and friends that love you is one of the greatest blessings anyone can have.  I thank God every day for every little blessing. 

Many stores have sent out brochures with big discounts on Thanksgiving dinner items, trying to both sell their products and help out American families.  I bet you didn't know that "Nearly Half the Cost of a Thanksgiving Dinner Comes From Taxes".  From Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Thanksgiving is a time for family and for reflection, a time to kick back and consider all the ways in which we, as Americans, have been blessed over the previous year. Now, just in time for the holiday the folks at the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation have released a mini-study pointing out one way in which we can be "unthankful."  

According to them, nearly half the cost of a typical Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people is taxes.  Using figures provided by the American Farm Bureau Federation, ATRF's Center for Fiscal Responsibility has determined the typical tax bite comes to just under 41 percent of the total cost of the meal.

"You probably wouldn't have thought so, but whether you want it or not, Uncle Sam is dining with you on Thanksgiving. The reason is that out of what you pay, the producers and sellers must pay a whole host of taxes not showing up on your bill and these hidden taxes add up to a whopping 40.91 percent," ATR Foundation President Grover G. Norquist said.  (continue)

For the real story of Thanksgiving as told by Rush Limbaugh, visit Common Cents.

Special Thanks to our military around the world and here at home.  You can watch a beautiful set of images here (http://www.cpmsglif2.org/MSG/Pres/td/tdl.html) from The Military Support Group.

God bless them every one.

The Month Before Christmas

*Twas the month before Christmas*

*When all through our land,*

*Not a Christian was praying*

*Nor taking a stand.*

*See the PC Police had taken away,*

*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*

*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*

*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*

*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*

* December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*

*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*

*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*

*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*

*Something was changing, something quite odd! *

*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*

*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*

*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*

* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*

*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*

*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*

*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*

*Are words that were used to intimidate me.*

*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*

*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*

*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*

*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.*

*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*

* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*

*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*

*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*

*So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*

*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*

*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*

*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,

not Happy Holiday !*

Please, all Christians join together and

wish everyone you meet

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christ is The Reason' for the Christ-mas Season!     

The above is old but the message is still true this year. Pass it along to your friends.  Now below you will find some great posts and an opportunity to have your articles on the Watcher of Weasels site:

COUNCIL NEWS: Only Another Black Conservative won the privilege this week of wining honorable mention on the Watcher’s Council page this week by taking advantage of our link whorage opportunity.

Here’s how you do it:

• Make a post on your site linking to this week’s Council winners

• Send me an e-mail with the subject line ‘link whorage’ at rmill2k@msn.com with a link to that post and a link to a new piece you’ve written that you want to appear here.

• The increased traffic and the resulting fame and glory are all yours!

So, without further ado let’s see what we have this week….

 

Council Submissions

• Soccer Dad - I am not a schnook
• Joshuapundit - The Afghan Shuffle
• Right Truth- When Muslims Attack
• Bookworm Room - The perils of an affirmative action president
• The Provocateur - The definitive dossier of Dr. Chacko
• The Colossus of Rhodey - The Messiah still in “blame the US” mode in Japan
• The Razor - The Ignorance of the Obama Administration
• Rhymes With Right - On Judicial Confirmations
• The Glittering Eye - Setting Priorities on Carbon Reduction
• Mere Rhetoric - Carter II: Obama’s Losing Turkey To Political Islam

Honorable Mentions

• Another Black Conservative - Doug Hoffman Unconcedes NY 23 Race

Non-Council Submissions

• Submitted By: The Watcher – Powerline- Blind Pig finds Acorn
• Submitted By: Soccer Dad – Middle East Strategy at Harvard - How the Saudis radicalized U.S. troops
• Submitted By: Joshuapundit – Melanie Phillips - Everything’s Clear To Me Now
• Submitted By: Right Truth – GrEaT sAtAnS GiRlFrIeNd - 2nd Hand Buzz
• Submitted By: Bookworm Room – Flopping Aces - America’s War of Aggression Against Muslims Confirmed by Abuse Photos
• Submitted By: The Provocateur – The Rosisitance - The lawyer in the White House and the spy in federal prison giving away national security secrets
• Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey – The American - Economic Prosperity: A Step of Faith
• Submitted By: The Razor – Common Cents - A Tale Of Two Bows
• Submitted By: Rhymes With Right – Big Government - Obama Ally Code Pink targets children of military families for abuse
• Submitted By: The Glittering Eye – Thomas Lifson/American Thinker - Obama’s Botched Bow
• Submitted By: Mere Rhetoric – HotAir Pundit - President Obama vs. The Rest of the World Greeting The Emperor of Japan

Virtute et armis - By courage and by arms -- (Veteran’s Day 2009)

Virtute et armis - By courage and by arms -- (Veteran’s Day 2009)

By R.J. Godlewski

November 11, 2009, All Rights Reserved

Author’s Note: This article is dedicated to the victims and survivors of the tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas on 5 November 2009, the latest victims of runaway Islamic terrorism. My heart and my prayers go out to all and to those who have ever honorably worn the proud uniform of the United States Armed Forces.

    I had begun this particular article as something of a semi-autobiographical tribute to the Navy and a photomontage of my active service from boot camp on through separation of service. While I have included these photographs at the conclusion of this piece sans the descriptive commentaries from each shot, I’ve found that I simply cannot write about my service alone. In my eight years plus several months of service (four years active, the remainder in various elements of the Reserves), I cannot attest to anything of enough importance to toot my own horn as it were. In fact, I am quite embarrassed to speak of my two Honorable discharges for contrary to the advertisements running at the time on television; I viewed the U.S. Navy as simply a job and nothing more.   

    My association with the Navy began in the frigid cold of Great Lakes, Illinois during that infamous holiday season of 1981/1982 when the mercury dropped to minus-45° F. without the wind and eighty-five below with wind chill. During Christmas, recruits were granted parole for the day and allowed to leave the base with our families but the electricity was out in Waukegan and so my parents, grandmother, and youngest sister ate in the local Denny’s frozen to our seats (of what food there was without power to prepare it, I cannot remember).

    Graduation was not much better, and I stayed in Great Lakes to attend Basic Electricity and Electronics School (Modules 1-25) and Electrician’s Mate Class “A” School after the Navy, in its infinite wisdom, informed me that I would become an electrician and that I would like it or else. I didn’t; not really. I blew a test midway through “A” school and got bumped from the nuclear program.  Eventually, I did get orders to Pearl Harbor, which in itself thawed out my rump but I did not realize that my first command in the fleet, the U.S.S. Jason (AR-8), was once torpedoed by the Japanese during the Second World War. 

  It was only during our brief deployment to the Western Pacific in 1983 that I felt as if we were making a difference on the world stage. The Soviets had shot down Korean Air 007 when we were docked in Japan and the Jason repaired the ships that were out searching for wreckage. Other than that, I served mostly as a tourist as being in Japan for three straight months (in Yokosuka, then a brief spell in Sasebo after we returned from a month in Subic Bay, Philippines and a week in Pusan, Korea) provided us with an opportunity to peruse the oriental nation.

    After my tour with the Jason ended, I was assigned to the U.S.S. Worden (CG-18). I didn’t like it for I was used to a non-combat ship that with women aboard seemed a bit like a cruise ship than a veteran of battle. That and the fact that I had given up on drinking (heavily) during the weekends meant that my attitude needed adjustment. I also developed a reaction to something, probably just psychosomatic and sent on medical hold for a month while they analyzed me to see if my body was functioning properly. It was, but being away from my command for a month sent me on orders to the U.S.S. Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22). After only six weeks aboard the Worden, the next year aboard the Stoddert made me fall in love with the ship. It was, in my opinion, the best command in the fleet – the Benny Sweat, “Pineapple Fleet’s Finest!” as our command flag pronounced as we passed the Papa Hotel buoy inbound at thirty-four knots.

    Unfortunately, aboard the Stoddert, I had only a year left in the Navy and I knew that it wasn’t quite the military service that I had envisioned long before as I snuck into the adult section of the Detroit Public Library as a five-year-old to drool over photographs of B-52 bombers. The truth is, I wanted to become an Air Force pilot after college but could not afford tuition and with my eyes going bad, chose my other great love – the sea.

    My service was before push button anything and we used to stand twelve-hour switchboard watches aboard the Jason in 140 ° F. temperatures as the engine room was located directly above the fire room. Usually, we handled the heat by stripping down to our underwear until the skipper showed up for inspection or we were training one of the women.

    Then, my service ended with a whimper. Two years inactive Reserves and I received my first Honorable discharge. Six years later, during the lead up to Desert Storm, I wanted to return back into active duty but on the day that I was scheduled to take my physical, the Navy cancelled all rescores (transition into another rating). I knew that we steamship electricians were useless but the Navy correctly assumed that it would be cheaper to train someone from scratch than Navy veterans and so I entered the Reserves as Electrician’s Mate Three Class (eventually for all of seven years!) Godlewski and assigned to Mine Division 125 out of Charleston, SC. They were the harbor minesweepers and therefore considered a shore duty station, which I earned via normal sea-shore duty rotations.

   There were three things that I remember from the Reserves. 1.) Because the Southfield, Michigan Reserve center was small enough to be located on the Army site, my unit drilled in a church convent (yes, sailors sharing the halls with nuns and priests!), 2.) During my first and only active duty two-week period, the Soviets tried to overthrow Gorbachev and the military went on alert; and 3.) During my active duty for training period I lived in the Marine barracks, (God bless the Corps! – Great bunch of guys! ;o) ).

    Then they decommissioned my unit, I moved to East Lansing to attend Michigan State, and the Reserve center there wanted nothing to do with another electrician’s mate. Ergo, my last year in the military saw me living as if I was a civilian, though I had met Sara a few months before I received my second Honorable discharge.

    As I have said, my service in the Navy was pathetically boring. I actually feel embarrassed whenever someone thanks me for my service. Perhaps because of this, I have subsequently dedicated my life to doing whatever I could to help this great nation of ours. My efforts to combat terrorism arise from this need to contribute back to the country that I love deeply. I realize how insignificant my own service was because, among other things, many of my fellow classmates at American Military University are presently serving on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq.

    I find it extremely difficult understanding how they could fight a brutal war and still find an opportunity to further their education. They should be teaching us! Myself, I am having difficulty just trying to convince my Muslim professor that Islamic terrorism is not America’s fault or that Israel is not the bane of the world. These people are out there in an honest to goodness shooting war!

    Then something dawned upon me. Here I am studying about terrorists blowing themselves up and taking as many of us along with them as they can. I am learning the intricate art of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), improvised nuclear devices (INDs), and can shoot and fieldstrip AK-47s and AR-15s amongst other weapons and, yet, I cannot relate to those currently protecting our lives. How much further removed, then, is the mind of the rest of America?

    Can we truly comprehend what these fine soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines are going through? Can we, for the briefest of moments, imagine what their predecessors accomplished in battles too numerous to recall here? My generation simply did not pass the torch from our brethren in Vietnam to our friends who served gallantly from Desert Storm on through the present wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere throughout the world. We merely handed off a thimble of smoldering embers. They took our infinitesimal gift and restored it to the roaring fire of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

    As seemingly inadequate as my own naval service seems today, even more so appears my gratitude to these fine men and women who I shall always admire and appreciate. I have been a writer for three full decades – the same length of time that represents my personal crusade against Islamic radicalism – and yet I cannot find words adequate to show my appreciation to those who are currently serving or have served honorably within the greatest military force the world has ever seen. Towards this end, I shall abdicate and resort to cliché:

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND ALL WHO SERVE HER PROUDLY!

THANK YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures below the fold:

I Am An American

Presenting a new patriotic song from Kenny Gamble and Patti LaBelle, entitled “I Am An American.”

Grammy-winning producer Kenny Gamble teamed up with Patti LaBelle and the Temple University Symphony Orchestra and Choirs to bring America its new ode to patriotism, “I Am An American.”  Full of huge orchestral crescendos, excerpts from important speeches in American history and original words, along with Ms. LaBelle’s powerful and soulful voice, “I Am An American” has all the makings of being one of the great patriotic tunes of our time.

A new CD/DVD package which includes new edits of the song and documentary “The Making Of An Anthem,” will be released on November 10, 2009, to coincide with Veterans Day. The well-being of veterans is a personal issue for Kenny Gamble, as his younger brother served in Vietnam.  It is because of this that a portion of proceeds will be donated to the VA to help raise money and awareness for the issue of homelessness among veterans.

“I Am An American” was featured at the Welcome America! Festival in Philadelphia, the 83^rd Rose Bowl Americafest in Los Angeles, and the grand opening of The Museum of Patriotism in Atlanta. This is in addition to helping ring in this year’s Veterans Day festivities at parades across the country including New York, San Diego and Detroit.

I'm every race, creed and color.

I'm every nationality.

I live in every city of every state, in every community.

And if you're proud to be an American, let the world know.

Come and sing along with me.

Visit the I Am An American website here.

You can view a brief video with clips of the song here:

http://music.aol.com/video-hub/artist/kenny-gamble/78651/latest

Happy Halloween - really scary stuff

Nothing new that some folks think Halloween is the Devil's playground.  In reality the Devil's playground is around us 365 days a year, every year.  Some Christian Churches have long claimed Halloween as something evil.  In reality, in the modern world, Halloween is simply a time for kids to dress up in scary outfits and get free candy.

Hallowe’en is the devil’s work, Catholic church warns parents -  Wearing skeleton suits, dressing up as vampires, witches or goblins or slapping on fake blood is not far removed from communing with the Devil, according to the Roman Catholic Church in Spain  (Times Online)

What's really scary is what the Obama administration and the Lefty Democrats are doing to this country.   Like the almost 2,000 page health care reform bill, Click here to read the entire bill, which still has the death panel and other dangerous items included. 

Obama's Katrina seems to be the H21N1 virus vaccinations.  One example is my nephew in Florida who is 2 years old, has asthma, bronchitis, possible cystic fibrosis, uses a breathing machine at home as well as inhalers and other medications.  He cannot get the vaccination.  His specialist told his mother that he MUST get the H1N1 vaccination even though his specialist insists he needs one.  Only problem is none of the health department in their area or the pediatricians have access to any of the H1N1 vaccine injections.  But....

H1N1 Vaccinations To Be Offered To Guantanamo Bay Detainees - The Pentagon will offer the H1N1 vaccination to detainees at the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay, officials there said Friday, as well as prisoners, before average American citizens in the most susceptible groups cannot get the vaccinations.

Also scary is the list of visitors to the White House just released by the Obama administration.  We're told that this is not a complete list and a complete list will never be released, which makes me wonder who is so controversial that they would be omitted?  The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who I thought had been thrown under the bus, is on the list.  Maybe this is why Obama can't choose a new church, he still has ties to the old one.  Also Malik Shabazz, chairman of the New Black Panther Party.  Maybe this explains why the case against the New Black Panther Party members for voter intimidation  at the 2009 elections was dropped by the Obama administration.

Take the day off from politics, if you can.  Enjoy the family, the trick-or-treaters, have some candy, watch some football, enjoy your pets. 

It's a scary place out in the world today. 

Be careful,... be very careful.....

Zawahiri Calls Obama A Liar

Al-Qadia number two, Ayman al-Zawahri, sent America a 106-minute Arabic-language video, entitled "The West ... and The Dark Tunnel,"  to mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001.  My first thought was the video is 10 days late, since today is

September 21.  If Zawahiri meant for this to arrive and be aired on September 11, perhaps he's further away from civilization that previously thought.

On September 14, 2009 we had a tape from Osama bin Laden entitled "A statement to the American people," which was around 11 minutes long, was an appeal to the American people to sever their ties with Israel and end the war with al-Qaeda. 

"America has come in a new, hypocritical face. Smiling at us, but stabbing us with the same dagger that Bush used," said al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri in the message.

"God willing, your end will be at the hands of the Muslim nation, so that the world and history will be free of your crimes and lies." he said addressing Obama at the end of the two part video.

The message also featured several appearances of Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, an American who grew up in Riverside County and converted to Islam and joined al-Qaeda. He was charged with treason in 2006 and there is a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.  (USA Today)

From Reuters:

Analysts suggested that the posting of the latest tape might have been delayed by nearly two weeks after the anniversary of the attacks because websites have been jammed or because al Qaeda is finding it harder to operate.  

Al-Qaeda has also issued a new video to Germany, promising new terror attacks there if troops are not removed from Afghanistan. Germany has over 4,000 troops serving in Afghanistan. 

 The threat videos, made by al-Qaeda's media production arm, warn of an impending attack within two weeks of the elections if troops are not

withdrawn. 

Newspaper editorials have also mocked the appearance of the speaker on the videos, a 32-year-old Moroccan-born German national and resident of Bonn.

Bekkay Harrach, who takes the nom-de-guerre of Abu Talha al-Almani, appears in an ill-fitting Western suit and tie with drooping, greasy hair and a pale face. But his unprepossessing appearance may be deceptive.

Harrach, who studied laser technology in Germany, is believed to have travelled (sic) to wage violent jihad in the West Bank, Iraq and Waziristan. He is reported to be on a list of around 100 German nationals thought to be a security threat and the authorities there are taking his warnings seriously.  (BBC)

Other News:

A new study shows the prevalence of cross-cousin marriage in the Muslim world, and the deleterious effect this has had on the gene pool.  From Gates of Vienna:

According to Al-Arabiya:  Arabs Suffer From High Rate of Gene Disorders

Obama grants visa to Burmese junta member — but not to Honduran leaders.  (Hot Air)

For the first time, more independents disapprove of Obama than approve, (WSJ)

McChrystal to resign if not given resources for Afghanistan, Murdoc Online.

Universal Remembrance

Universal Remembrance

Speech of the Hon. Viola Herms Drath
Coordinator,
International-Consultative-Mechanism-On-Remembrance
Before Blue Star Mothers of America,
Maryland Chapter,
American Legion Post 116
Reisterstown, Maryland
Flag Day 2009

Thank you for these very kind words of introduction. It is a great privilege to come before Blue Star Mothers of America to explore the spirit of Universal Remembrance. It is comforting a thought to know that you, America’s Blue Star Mothers, remain tireless in your efforts to fulfill your Congressional mandate, “to perpetuate the memory of all men and women, who serve our country as members of the Armed Forces.” Never greater the need for your service to the Nation than at times of war.  For in providing support for our sons and daughters in uniform, in promoting patriotism, assisting veterans, and in providing homeland volunteer efforts you help maintain and preserve the home front. In the forefront of the war effort, you live up to the Nation’s call “to uphold the American institutions of freedom, justice, and equal rights, and to defend the United States from all enemies.”

Today marks the 224th anniversary of the Continental Congress establishing the Continental Army, marking the birth of the United States Army. I can think of no finer venue than ABSM to say, Happy Birthday, Army.

I remember many a pleasant visit to Blue Star Mothers in Nebraska, when the Colonel served as Deputy Director of Selective Service in the Cornhusker State. During Korea. And later, during Vietnam. Your esprit de corps, your cheer, lifting the hearts and minds of America’s Armed Forces and helping keep the country strong. As my grandson, 2nd Lieutenant William Dwyer, West Point Class of ‘08 and now with 3rd ID, readying himself for deployment to Afghanistan, is fond of reminding me: “Lest we forget: It is the soldier, not the politician or reporter, who assures our freedom of speech and press. … It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is draped in the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag!”

(Continue speech below the fold...)

Eram quod es, eris quod sum (I was what you are, you will be what I am.)

Eram quod es, eris quod sum
(I was what you are, you will be what I am.)

By

R.J. Godlewski
© May 24, 2009, All Rights Reserved

    There is a Latin phrase recorded for posterity by Saint Jerome that goes something like Dum excusare credis, accusas (When you believe you are excusing yourself, you are accusing yourself) and I feel that it and the title phrase are most appropriate for reflection upon this Memorial Day holiday. Contrary to how it may seem, it is quite difficult to adequately discuss the importance of a solitary day that most of us considered only as the third element of a three-day weekend. We, as a nation, simply excuse ourselves from further reflection upon the true meaning of memorializing those who have died fighting for our freedoms.

    I myself shall begin tomorrow with a brief trip to my father’s grave, an Army Air Corps veteran from the Second World War, and plan to end it cooking a bunch of Johnsonville® Brats upon my poor excuse for an outdoor barbeque. I suppose that for the “unofficial  start of  summer”, these two events are not very noteworthy when considering the multitude of  parades, retail sales, and travel planned for Monday. By no means are these two events as spectacular as the family wedding reception that I attended only last night, but all three correlate in ways most cannot fathom. Of what possible connection could there be between a deceased war veteran from six decades past, my torching of several beer-flavored sausages, and my Godson and two of his brothers hamming it up for a third’s wedding? Simple. Without the first, there could be neither of the last.

    If there were to be a poll taken today amongst the citizens of the world, I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of the planet would just love to barbeque a few Brats on the grill for they are simply starving as we speak. I could almost guarantee that many would relish the thought of attending a family member’s wedding without worrying about suicide bombers, discrimination, or the simple health of the blessed. We, here within America, can become bored with such activities because my father, and millions like him, had answered the call to defend our nation and the Constitution that guarantees our freedom to seek “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.

    Although my father’s role within the war was rather inconsequential, his intent was proportionately astronomical nevertheless. He could not have understood then that he would live another sixty-three years after the war in which many of his buddies had perished ended. When Japan finally surrendered, I doubt very much that his generation could have conceived of a period in which the United States would have staved off a sixty-year threat from communism only to embark upon what most assuredly will be an equally long battle against radicalized Islam. Their concerns may have centered upon the present, but their intent served the future.

    Those who died guaranteeing this collective future of ours undoubtedly had dreams of a future too. Many of them possessed families and loved ones. Most were young; all died far too early within their lives. They were taken from our midst simply because of humanity’s incapability of existing without tyrants, opportunists, vengeance, hatred, and greed. The seven original sins that caused our Creator to sacrifice His own Son for our future also dictates that we frequently sacrifice our own sons and daughters for a future that appears, all too often, as remote as the day in which Christ left our temporal presence.

    My father was a medic and I am quite certain that he witnessed the brutalities of war in far greater detail than I can relate here. Yet, are we ever really at peace? Or are we merely a javelin’s throw from the next “war to end all wars”? My own military service in the U.S. Navy seems so distant and archaic as to suggest that no generation could truly imagine what the future could offer. As an adult student, electronically surrounded by numerous classmates physically on the frontlines of this latest conflict, I am reminded every day of the week that while our technologies and techniques have changed, the animals arrayed against America and her freedoms have never really disappeared. They have just changed their stripes a bit.

    Whether their allegiance is towards a King, a Fuehrer, or a Prophet, these enemies require that our nation more often than not abandon its peaceful pursuits and go on the offensive against them. As a result, millions die – many of which are those of our own nation. Uncharacteristically, in the annals of global history, however, the sons and daughters that America all too frequently loses are those who have accepted the challenge of defending the rest of us – whether fellow Americans or not – from these heinous adversaries.

    Those who died protecting our freedoms did not do so to divide this great nation of ours. Even those who passed from our presence during the Civil War died either defending the union or defending the state. In their own way, they simply died defending their communities and it is this selfless act of sacrifice for those back home that earns – demands – our respect for them tomorrow.

    The United States of America has never really been without war for there are always those who wish to destroy our right to life, our right to protect ourselves, and our right to live as we so choose; but we have never been without our freedoms and liberties too. America has never lost a war upon its own soil and our citizens have never been forced to worship a foreign entity. Freedom and the pursuit of individual liberty is the one thing in all of humankind that is, in the political parlance of today, too big to fail.

    Therefore, as you enjoy your parades, barbeques, and baseball games this Monday, please remember that the tab had been picked up on your festivities many, many years ago. Our fallen heroes were once what we are today and we may very well be called upon to serve in a manner reflective of their own sacrifice. Until then, we can return the favor by thanking every person who served or is currently serving within the Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard, Reserves and National Guard. It is what their forebears would have wanted…
   

Memorial Day 2009

.

This video was created by Larry Crawford of Collierville, TN. and uploaded to YouTube by the Grouch at Right Truth.

My Memorial Day Message here

God Bless Them Every One!

Memorial Day Message

 Memorial Day for many of us takes place on a daily basis, remembering those who have fought for this nation, some giving the ultimate sacrifice.  We are thankful beyond words.  Fighting around the world to keep America and the world safe, a tall order for any military.

"Freedom is Never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."  -- President Ronald Reagan.

Each individual must do their part to make sure not one brave sole is forgotten.  Mrs. Viola Drath is one who takes this seriously.   Mrs. Francis S. Drath, promoter of Universal Remembrance for our military, who almost single-handed brought together the National Day of Observance to mark Iraq Liberation Day, and widow of the late Colonel Francis S. Drath, USA, who served as Deputy Director of the United States Selective Service System under General Lewis B. Hershey, and grandmother of 2nd Lieutenant William F. Dwyer III, West Point Class of 2008, who serves with the 3rd Infantry Division, just returned to Washington after celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of the Berlin Air Lift and our veterans' historic achievement in securing the Freedom of Berlin, in a united Germany, in a Europe, whole and free.  She reports, "The ceremonies were a fine reflection of the Alliance, then, as now."

Exploration underway between WH and USAF in re the Presidential Unit Citation for our veterans. A House Resolution, marking the Diamond Jubilee, introduced by REP Fortenberry, is in Committee,  Awaiting word from SEN Nelson on companion Senate action. Hoping to bring all of the above together in a grand finale of the Jubilee Year in fall. 

On 8 May, I hosted the VE-Day Dinner, in coordination with the Uniform Services, the Defense Attaches Corps and the Diplomatic Corps.

And now I proudly present the following Memorial Day article by Ilana Freedman of the Gerard Group International:

Preserving America:  A Memorial Day Message

By Ilana Freedman

Over the course of our 233 year history, Americans have been called upon to fight wars against people who wanted to take from us more than we were willing to give.

Today Americans once again face an enemy that threatens to destroy the things we hold most dear - our freedom and our right to live our lives in peace. But today's enemy differs from those of the past - it represents no foreign government, wears no uniform, lives among us, and has threatened to destroy us. We have greeted our enemy with open arms, invited them into our communities. They have entered our schools, our workplace, our organizations and our government, and we don't know who they are.

The enemy has a name. It is radical Islam and it is sworn to our destruction. The great tragedy is that we tolerate the brewing hatred that jihad generates. 

Earlier this year, for example, right here in America where everyone is supposed to be entitled to live free from fear and enjoy equal protection under the law, demonstrators against the Gaza war chanted, "Long live Hitler! Put Jews in ovens! Jews are fossil fuel!" without intervention. In a less violent demonstration of unequal justice, Christian prayers - even silent ones - have been banned from our schools, in an apparent application of the separation of church and state. Yet in these same schools, units of study on Islam have been allowed, even to the inclusion of prayer.

Our laws against incitement have yet to meet a current Constitutional test in the Supreme Court, but when our community tolerates the protection of one group (Muslims) at the expense of another (Jews and Christians) then our system has broken down.

Today, as we approach Memorial Day, a time when we honor those who have sacrificed their own lives so that we can live ours in freedom, we would do well to contemplate the reasonable boundaries between tolerance and appeasement, between acceptance and self-abasement. If we turn over our society to those who would destroy it, out of a misplaced sense of correctness or apathy, the meaning of Memorial Day will have been lost, as will our freedom and our nation.

One hundred years from now, history will give silent testimony to the strength of our commitment to those principles that we claim to hold most dear, and to whether we were willing to stand firm and fight with conviction for America's fundamental dream: the right to self-determination; to individual freedom, the undying wisdom of our Constitution, and the right to be the best we can be, to achieve the best that is within us.

Ilana Freedman is the CEO of Gerard Group International and Editor of this publication.

Thank a veteran by thanking their family this weekend and every day.

UPDATE:

Be sure to read the Grouch's article "NEVER FORGET", on the history of Doolittle's Raid, a great article and some fine images.

Easter, it's about Christianity, Faith, Sacrifice

I should not have to say it, but Easter is the celebration of Christianity, celebration of life and faith.  Jesus Christ gave his earthly life for us, but that is not the end of the story, it's the beginning.  The cross is empty, the tomb is empty.  On Easter Sunday He arose from the grave.  We worship a living Savior and we do that by faith.  We are followers of Christ by choice, not by force.  There is nothing we can do on this earth to earn our salvation -- it is a gift provided by the sacrifice of Christ Himself.  Compare this to other religions.  Compare this to Islam.  Make no mistake, there is a movement afoot to diminish Christianity, to sweep it under the rug like yesterday's dust -- At the same time there is another movement to place Islam on a pedestal, above criticism.  Beware of false prophets.  

I with each of you a wonderful Easter Sunday.  May you spend time with family, share your love with each other, and share your love of your Savior with someone who does not know Him.  He lives and because of Him we too can have eternal life. 

Muslim former CIA official whines about Bush, calls for alliances with stealth jihadists:  Nakhleh said not long ago, "political Islam is not a threat." So obviously we must do nothing to impede its advance.

Dr. Phyllis Chesler notes:

The perverse demonization of Israel and the equally perverse de-ification of Islam is almost complete. Right now, the Islamic member states of the United Nations are busy preparing Durban Two, a document and a conference that legalizes Jew-hatred even further. Iran continues to threaten to genocidally exterminate Israel through nuclear weaponry. The European Union and the United States are appeasing, not confronting, these Islamic nation states.

Early this month, our new, young and handsome American President, Barack Hussain Obama, bowed, but only slightly, to the British Queen; in contrast, President Obama, the leader of the free world, bowed quite deeply, to the Saudi King, a tyrant who funds Islamist terrorism, both in the Kingdom and globally.

On April 6, 2009, President Obama also told the Turkish people that the United States “is not and will never be at war with Islam.” (But we need the Muslims to start telling us that). Whoa! Whom does our President believe attacked us on 9/11?

Does President Obama believe that such obeisance-diplomacy will soften the hard hearts of the Pharoanic-Islamists? Has he been advised that if he presents himself as “one of them,” (which he has just done in Ankara and in Istanbul), that Islamists will give up jihad and terrorism, renounce Islamic gender and religious apartheid, cease their Sunni-Shiia religious warfare? Does President Obama believe that if he is popular among Muslims that his popularity will somehow strengthen moderate, peaceful, dissident and feminist Muslims in their fight against Islamism?

I hope he is right. I fear he is wrong. While Moses did keep politely asking Pharoah to let his people go—God also made sure to accompany these requests with a series of devastating plagues.

 

Terror plot by Muslims to bomb Easter shoppers in the UK thwarted this week. 

Also Muslims using US firms to host their jihadi websites.

Obama’s Creepy Agenda While Sharia Creeps, Watcher of Weasels Council

This week’s results are in and the council spoke in a big way.

The Non-Council submission by Mere Rhetoric was an editorial by Charles Krauthammer detailing his reading of the Obama agenda. In my estimation the read by Krauthammer is spot on.

Obama is a leveler. He has come to narrow the divide between rich and poor. For him the ultimate social value is fairness. Imposing it upon the American social order is his mission.

As with any leftist such a “leveling” does not come without pain for those being leveled. As the United States unemployment figures encroach upon 10% the government insidiously chugs along their with agenda by transitioning former self reliant workers into needful welfare cases. In this respect I take Krauthammer one further. It is much more than leveling the playing field. I see an attempt to flatten the field by creating a new generation of American’s that can’t function without the government safety net. This is a two way net, one that buys the allegiance of a future voter with the promise of government provided diapers of sort.

The elements are highly progressive taxation, federalized health care and higher education, and revenue-producing energy controls. But first he must deal with the sideshows. They could sink the economy and poison his public support before he gets to enact his real agenda.

You bet.

On the Council side we have an article by Bookworm, inquisitively wondering if Sharia law could creep into the United States as it has in Great Britain through political correctness; a side affect of short sighted liberalism.  (continue reading at Watcher of Weasels)

Please enjoy this week’s winning entries.

Council Submissions

• First place with 2 points! - Bookworm Room - Can it happen here?
• Second place with 1 1/3 points - Rhymes With Right - The Problem Of Sexting
• Third place with 1 point - The Provocateur - Some Thoughts on Low Rates, the Credit Freeze, and Politics
• Fourth place with 2/3 point - Mere Rhetoric - New J-Street Poll Is Rigged In Particularly Stupid, Obnoxious Ways
• Fifth place with 1/3 points - (T*) - The Glittering Eye - Risking It
• Fifth place with 1/3 points - (T*) - The Colossus of Rhodey - Just … crazy
• Fifth place with 1/3 points - (T*) - Right Truth - This is America, quit trying to destroy her Obama.

Non-Council Submissions

• First place with 1 2/3 points! - Charles Krauthammer - Obama’s Ultimate Agenda
• Second place with 1 1/3 points - HistoryNet.com - Lashing Back - Israel’s 1947-1948 Civil War
• Third place with 1 point - GayPatriot - Vermont Shows How to go about Recognizing Gay Marriage
• Fourth place with 2/3 point - (T*) - Just One Minute - Jeffrey Sachs, Not Detail Oriented
• Fourth place with 2/3 point - (T*) - Robert Averech/Big Hollywood - “I’m Against Guns and Violence, Unfortunately Reality Has Intruded on My Delusional Paradise.”
• Fifth place with 1/3 points - (T*) - Townhall/John Hawkins - Seven reasons while the GOP comeback will begin in 2010
• Fifth place with 1/3 points - (T*) - Big Hollywood - Hollywood’s Nazi Comfort Zone

HAPPY EASTER

America’s Obama Nation - How President Obama has become more tyrant than executive.

America’s Obama Nation
How President Obama has become more tyrant than executive.

by R.J. Godlewski
© April 10, 2009, All Rights Reserved.
(Right Truth Exclusive)

    Today, I sincerely wanted to write an article regarding the observance of Good Friday. The day on which our Lord sacrificed His own life so that we might be saved. It ranks amongst the most important days in the Christian calendar, even surpassing that federalized holiday of Christmas. Think of it. God could have easily blamed us for our sins. He could have snuffed human existence out of existence and elevated some other creature into the highest pantheon of Creation. Yet, He didn’t.

    Instead of leaving the human race suffering after our expelling from Eden, God took His time to bring us back into His Grace. It was all part of His master plan, to come down to earth amongst His fallen people, to share bread and wine with them, to hear about their foibles, and, when we were at our most troubling selves, He accepted death in the most horrendous way possible on our behalf. There was, as the translators of the New Testament wrote, no greater love imaginable.

    Yes, I very much want to write about the lessons of Good Friday today, but I cannot. The more that I research our nation’s future, the more that I listen to our “glorious” leader in Washington, the more I am beginning to wonder if President Barack Obama is the complete antithesis of Christ. I am a few steps away from characterizing him as an “Anti-Christ”, but his actions do speak for themselves.

    I knew there was going to be trouble for America when Barack Obama chose Joe Biden as his running mate.  Here is a bumbling fool who frequently exaggerates for the purpose of political esteem. Who in their right mind would pick such a choice for Vice-President? Easy. Someone who wants to make sure that everyone does not want him in the role of President. In other words, Joe Biden’s Vice-Presidency assures President Obama of longevity. There can be no greater safeguard for the President than to have Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi next in line.

    However, there is more that concerns me than whether we’re screwed with successors. President Obama’s actions since assuming office (I should say, taking office) are very troubling.  In a matter of only a few brief months, the President has set our nation up for bankruptcy, destroyed the free market system as we know it, apologized to the rest of the world for our ending fascism, bowed to foreign royalty (and lied about it), and capitulated to terrorism.

    Perhaps I am more critical of President Obama because he is, for all practical purposes, my age and I would never consider running for such a preeminent office at this stage within my life. It is obvious that I have more experience dealing with the issue of terrorism than he (you kill terrorists, you don’t police them), I’ve run several businesses more than this “community organizer”, I’m more truthful about my beliefs, more dedicated to my decisions, and, most importantly, I’ve actually served in the military. I do not know about you, but I would take a “lowly” Navy Electrician’s Mate Third Class as President over a ‘civilian’ any day.

    No, I am not an Ivy-league scholar. I earn my “A’s” in college. By that, I mean, that I draw upon my vast experiences to prove my knowledge of the subject. I do not simply take the professor’s word unchallenged. Most of the time, they do know more than I do – but not always. Part of being an “intellectual giant” is to know the facts. Oh, I could argue the case that I am not your typical idiot “clinging to my guns and Bible”. I possess a tolerable I.Q. of 133 (as recorded several times for certainty) and am a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society.  My current G.P.A. is 3.9162 – I missed an ‘A’ in my Intelligence & Assassinations course by a lousy half-percent.  Yet, for me, none of this is important. Sometimes I am a genius, sometimes I am an idiot. I therefore recognize my human frailty.

    If I were President, I would humble myself before Americans and praise myself in front of the rest of the world. It would be a simple matter of “I am deeply honored to serve America but if any of the rest of you places my constituency into harm’s way I will be on your ass like a tornado!” President Obama has assumed the opposite.

    In regards to Americans – ostensibly his own people – President Obama does not serve them, they serve him. He does not believe that they are sufficiently educated enough to 1.) own guns; 2.) choose their own doctor; 3.) handle their own money; 4.) deserve protection from terrorists; 5.) deserve distinction as being bona fide, legal Americans; 6.) freely speak their mind; and 7.) capable of handling their own failures. His greatest abomination, however, is that he is quite interested in safeguarding terrorists over unborn Americans. In other words, President Obama believes that unrepentant terrorists are worth far more than the most innocent amongst us.

    As for the rest of the world. Well, President Obama bows to the very royalty that is funding most of the world’s terrorists and then lies to us about. His party called President Bush a liar for basing decisions upon faulty intelligence but President Obama committed his atrocity in full view of the world through videotape technology. I have spent enough time in Asia to know a bow when I see one. President Obama bowed to the bastard. Perhaps he did not intend to do so. Perhaps his upbringing within or around the Muslim faith instilled upon him a subconscious need to capitulate to higher Islamic authority. Who knows? Still, he bowed and he should fess up to it.

    Now, we come to his apologies for our use of nuclear weapons during the Second World War. Herein we have several things to consider. First, it was only after years of Obamaesque tyrannies that we ended up with the war in the first place. Secondly, our nation would have suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties had we been required to invade Japan. Third, the very nation that we used nuclear weapons against was largely ignored by the current Obama administration as North Korea flung its own missile over our now-ally Japan. President Obama is incapable of helping himself – he just prefers our enemies to our allies and own people. This is despicable.

     Yes, I would very much rather write about Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for us. The Most Infinite becoming the Most Humble in order to grant us an opportunity to enter Paradise without the need to sacrifice others as the Muslims believe. Unfortunately, our highest elected official has decided that in all of American history, he is “the One” most worthy of respect and admiration. For good or bad, he has single-handedly sabotaged the efforts of forty-four presidents and untold millions of fellow citizens. He has become a 21st Century Nero humoring himself while his own nation burns in flames. Welcome to America’s Obama Nation. If only he had chosen someone else to serve as Vice President…

_________________________________________________________________________

Trackposted to Rosemary's Thoughts, third world county, Allie is Wired, The World According to Carl, The Pink Flamingo, Leaning Straight Up, CORSARI D'ITALIA, Stageleft, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Happy Valentine's Day

I already shared my thoughts on Valentine's Day, you can go read them in case you haven't already.  Today I hope that each of you are as lucky and blessed as I am to have found, married, and stayed with my soul mate.  Give your honey an extra hug and kiss and tell them how much they mean to you.

Valentine's Day Thoughts

Sally Field, playing the character of Nora Walker in the TV series Brothers and Sisters, said that she wanted to feel like she was enough, all by herself, just like she is -- enough for the man in life.  It would be great if husbands and wives, and even those in serious relationships, could grasp the wisdom in that statement.  If each of us, man or woman, could feel that no matter how young or old, no matter how healthy or sick, no matter how kind or brutal time has been to us, no matter our size or shape, no matter what our jobs, our education, our status in life -- that the person we love with all our heart, warts and all, feels the same way about us.

While Right Truth is a blog mostly about terrorism, politics and current events, I do get emails about all kinds of topics, including personal relationships.  While I don't claim to be Dear Debbie, I'll give my thoughts on the subject of Valentine's Day and love.

Falling in love is easy, staying in love is a little harder for some than others, but showing that love, being romantic, making someone else feel like they are the most special person, that they complete us, ... is sometimes more difficult.

People have busy lives, work, hobbies, rush here, rush there, him in one direction, her in the other.  Taking time for each other is so important, maybe setting up a date ahead of time, allowing for the anticipation to build.  Love is still there, but romance gets pushed aside, especially as some couples grow older. 

It's hard to look sexy all the time and even harder to compete with females and men on TV, in magazines and on the internet while taking care of the kids, house, pets, yard, neighborhood, and working.  The images of people in the media can't give you love, they can't comfort you when your down, they won't be there for you through the good times or bad times.  Your soul-mate will be there for you.

Young people seem to think they will look, act, feel, function the same when they are "old" as they do today.  When is that magic number anyway?  At what age do we go from young, to middle aged, to old?  In a way age is mind over matter, 'you're as young as you feel'.  Some adults may still think like they did at 20 years old, ... until they look in the mirror.  That's when women and men, wonder if they are still beautiful or handsome enough, if they are still desirable to their spouse.  They feel they can't compete with the images of airbrushed beauties in magazines and on the internet.  They begin to wonder, like Sally Field, if they are enough any more.  With each new birthday that question becomes stronger.

I'm one of the lucky ones -- I found my soul-mate and I still love him dearly.   I'm so very lucky and thankful each and every day.

Do something nice for your sweetie on Valentines day.  You don't have to spend a lot of money, you don't have to buy diamond jewelry that goes out of style, or flowers that die, just do something to make them smile.

To all you lovers out there, young or old, male or female,...  let your honey know that they are not only enough for you, let them know that they are everything to you.

The Watcher of Weasels Council has submitted their great articles this week.  Here they are:

Please enjoy this week’s submissions.

Council Submissions

• Bookworm Room - Economic incest
• Joshuapundit - “60 Minutes” Libels Jews And Israel
• The Provocateur - ACORN and Alinsky Rule #13
• Rhymes With Right - MSNBC Host Calls For Gagging, Deporting, GOP Dissenter
• The Razor - Spending Bill: $200,000 per job
• Cheat-Seeking Missiles - Fair Treatment of Prisoners
• The Glittering Eye - Why What, When, and How Matters in a Stimulus Package
• The Colossus of Rhodey - “Hate speech” definition expanding again
• Right Truth - Battle for the soul of America
• Soccer Dad - Voting for war
• Mere Rhetoric - Austrian Jews Too Terrified To List Their Children As Jewish (Plus: Europe Reaches An Anti-Jewish Tipping Point)

Non-Council Submissions

• Submitted By: Bookworm Room - American Thinker - Change: The First Three Weeks
• Submitted By: Joshuapundit - Nat Hentoff/Cato Institute - Th eCost Of Criticizing Jihadists
• Submitted By: The Provocateur - CNBC - Why Markets Don’t Like the Bailout
• Submitted By: Rhymes With Right - Debbie Schlussel - What Would Lincoln Do?: Celebrating Eternal Welfare Queen John Dingell; Anti-Israel Rep. Doesn’t Live Up to the Daddy My Grandpa Knew
• Submitted By: The Razor - Roadsassy - Truth Be Told: Calling a Spade a Spade
• Submitted By: Cheat-Seeking Missiles - TCS Daily - Multiplier Madness
• Submitted By: The Glittering Eye - Norm Geras - One-Eyed in Gaza
• Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey - Reason.com - The Next Catastrophe
• Submitted By: Right Truth - Chesler Chronicles at Pajamas Media - Conventional versus Non-Conventional Warfare and Why Israel Did Not Lose in Gaza
• Submitted By: Soccer Dad - Israel Matzav - Clenching Israel’s Fists
• Submitted By: Mere Rhetoric - Augean Stables - Time Magazine and Palestinian Sources: On the Origins of Modern Blood Libels

Happy New Year

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

I pray for you health, happiness, time with your loved ones and friends.

I pray for peace, safety, security for America, Israel, and all our freedom loving nation friends.



Below are some year-end articles I think worthy of your time and reading. Thanks to all who email me tips, stories, commentary and original articles.   Enjoy:

SHAPIRO: The card-check deal, by Gary Shapiro at Washington Times:

COMMENTARY:

Spending a day driving from New Delhi to Agra would be an eye-opening experience for any American. On a recent delegation of world technology leaders to India, I saw how plumbing and running water are rare, the air is dirty from ubiquitous two-cycle engines, and electricity is sporadic at best. Life is tough and daily survival is a challenge.

In times of economic crisis, it can be easy to forget how good we have it in this country. We have a working infrastructure and reliable electricity. Our plumbing works and we enjoy clean water. Even our poorest neighbors do not face the fear of starvation or seeing their sick children waste away without proper medical care.

Yet, we are quickly putting our American way of life at risk.  (continue reading)

Gaza Comes to America. Hate Demonstrations Against Israel on the East and West Coasts., Phylis Chesler

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. DECEMBER 30, 2008

“I have not seen such hatred in this country since Selma. That was when I really just shuddered and thought–they (the pro-Hamas-niks) are taking away our country.” (See below for her report, just in).

FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA. December 30, 2008

“This is not Gaza, or London, or Paris, or even Detroit. This is downtown Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.”

Tom Trento is describing the intense demonstration against Israel that just took place. He made the video by quietly and bravely circulating among the pro-Palestine demonstrators so that we can easily hear their chants. At red-hot levels of screaming rage, about 200-300 demonstrators, many in kaffiyehs, wearing or holding the Palestinian flag, some wearing “Obama” baseball hats, many women in serious hijab and men in Islamic prayer clothing, chanted “Nuke Israel–there is no Israel,” “Occupation is a Crime,” “Go to Hell, Israel,” “Free Palestine.” One fully bearded African-American man in Islamic clothing proselytized. He said that Islam is wonderful, that it’s in our very natures, that we had best accept this.  (continue reading)

Hamas Vs. Israel in New York City, John Press author of Culturism

Hamas Versus Israel in NYC

“Support the West Not Islam,” were the highly contentious words on my sign. These words got me in constant, interesting and vital arguments with those on my side. Cordoned off by police barricades, my side was the one supporting Israel's retaliation for constant rocket attacks. The video relates this battle quicker, but the text below has much more detail.

I made the sign as none of the ones our organizers distributed mentioned Islam. The signs simply addressed Israel and Hamas. Our signs failed to educate people about the clash of civilizations. They gave no reason for supporting Israel. If the conflict is just one nation against another, the West has no stake in this fight. Obviously, the Israelis’ cultural roots and values align them with the West. The Islamic world backs Palestine. Sides exist.  (continue reading)

HAPPY
NEW
YEAR !!!

Meat Wars

In a tit-for-tat spat between Mexico and the United States,"Mexico suspends purchases from 30 U.S. meat plants" due to sanitary issues.  But that's not all of the story.  It seems US meat-packers have been hiring Muslims rather than Mexicans to work in their plants.  We've reported on the Somali workers demanding time off for daily prayers while at work, and also demanding time off for Ramadan (not exactly a legal US federal holiday).


A Somali Influx Unsettles Latino Meatpackers (NYT)

Barrett Stinson/The Grand Island Independent, via Associated Press

A compromise on accommodation for Muslim workers during the holy month of Ramadan prompted protests last month at a meatpacking plant in Nebraska.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Like many workers at the meatpacking plant here, Raul A. Garcia, a Mexican-American, has watched with some discomfort as hundreds of Somali immigrants have moved to town in the past couple of years, many of them to fill jobs once held by Latino workers taken away in immigration raids.

Mr. Garcia has been particularly troubled by the Somalis’ demand that they be allowed special breaks for prayers that are obligatory for devout Muslims. The breaks, he said, would inconvenience everyone else.

“The Latino is very humble,” said Mr. Garcia, 73, who has worked at the plant, owned by JBS U.S.A. Inc., since 1994. “But they are arrogant,” he said of the Somali workers. “They act like the United States owes them.”

Mr. Garcia was among more than 1,000 Latino and other workers who protested a decision last month by the plant’s management to cut their work day — and their pay — by 15 minutes to give scores of Somali workers time for evening prayers. (continue at NYT)

One obvious comment must be made here. . .  Mr. Garcia, a "Latino, Mexican-American" according to the report (translation:  illegal alien), says of the Somali workers “But they are arrogant,” he said of the Somali workers. “They act like the United States owes them.”   Let's refresh our memories of the marches in 2007 by illegal aliens demanding equal rights to legal American citizens, demanding citizenship, and amnesty.  Pot meet kettle.

Muslim Meatpackers Demand Time for Ramadan; Backlash Follows:

Muslim workers at meatpacking plants owned by JBS Swift in Colorado and Nebraska walked out in September to demand time for prayer and dinner during their holy month of Ramadan. When the company agreed, other workers, largely Latino immigrants, led counter-protests, complaining that the Muslims were being favored.

A month earlier, Tyson chicken processing workers in Shelbyville, Tennessee, represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), signed a contract that made Eid al-Fitr, the day marking the end of Ramadan, a paid holiday they could take instead of Labor Day. The contract triggered community outrage, but the union said it made sense for the hundreds of Muslim workers.

Eventually, the company added a personal day for all workers and put Labor Day back in the contract.

The meatpacking industry has long had a diverse workforce, but recent events have brought more Muslim workers into the plants,  (continue at AlterNet)

Mexico has suspended purchases from 30 U.S. meat plants:

By Bob Burgdorfer

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Mexico has suspended purchases from 30 U.S. meat plants, some of which are the largest in the country, due to sanitary issues, but U.S. analysts argue Mexico is retaliating for a U.S. meat labeling law that allegedly could hurt Mexican meat sales here.

Mexico denied the retaliation charge and said purchases from the affected plants could resume as early as Monday.

USDA on Friday listed the affected plants on its website, but the suspensions became effective on Wednesday. The listed plants produce beef, lamb, pork, and poultry and can be found here

Mexico is a leading buyer of U.S. meat and news of the suspensions sent cattle and hog futures sharply lower on Friday at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Many of the banned plants are owned by the largest U.S. meat companies, including Cargill Inc, Tyson Foods Inc, JBS, Seaboard and Smithfield Foods.  (continue at Reuters)

We have legal Americans who would gladly take these jobs, who would not demand special holidays or privileges, and who respect American laws.  Why not deport the illegal Mexicans and Somalis.  Americans First!!!

Happy Kwanzaa

Answer the question, win a prize (no cheating):

Question:  What is Kwanzaa?

I admit I'm White, always have been and always will be, and I've always had an idea of what Kwanzaa is but never really researched the meaning.  I can tell you that Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday like Christmas or Hanukkah.

Answer:  Kwanzaa, official website here, was founded by Dr. Maulana Karenga
of the Organization US.  Kwanzaa's origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase "matunda ya kwanza" which means "first fruits" in Swahili, a Pan-African language which is the most widely spoken African language.

Kwanzaa, the annual weeklong harvest-themed celebration of African-American heritage that starts today, December 26, and goes through January 1, was born in the political and social ferment of the mid-1960s and the rise in social consciousness that accompanied the political agitation of that era.  (NYT)

The Roots and Branches are The Continental African Roots and The American Branch.

• a time of ingathering of the people to reaffirm the bonds between them;

• a time of special reverence for the creator and creation in thanks and respect for the blessings, bountifulness and beauty of creation;

a time for commemoration of the past in pursuit of its lessons and in honor of its models of human excellence, our ancestors;

a time of recommitment to our highest cultural ideals in our ongoing effort to always bring forth the best of African cultural thought and practice; and

a time for celebration of the Good, the good of life and of existence itself, the good of family, community and culture, the good of the awesome and the ordinary, in a word the good of the divine, natural and social

Like most holidays, gifts are given: 

Gifts are given mainly to children, but must always include a book and a heritage symbol. The book is to emphasize the African value and tradition of learning stressed since ancient Egypt, and the heritage symbol to reaffirm and reinforce the African commitment to tradition and history.

x x X

The colors of Kwanzaa are black, red and green as noted above and can be utilized in decorations for Kwanzaa. Also decorations should include traditional African items, i.e., African baskets, cloth patterns, art objects, harvest symbols, etc.

But there is trouble in the Kwanzaa world. The New York Times reports:  Kwanzaa has often been the subject of debate within the black community.

Five years ago, in an Op-Ed piece in The New York Times titled “A Case of the Kwanzaa Blues,” the author and lawyer Debra J. Dickerson raised a stir by questioning the purpose of Kwanzaa.

“With all due respect to those who celebrate it, Kwanzaa feels like a cop-out,” she wrote. “Just as drugs are for those who can’t handle reality, isn’t Kwanzaa for those who can’t handle knowing that our ancestors fueled themselves with Western ideals, Christianity uppermost among them?”

Citing the Afrocentric intentions of Kwanzaa’s founder, the black-studies professor and political activist Maulana (Ron) Karenga, Ms. Dickerson asserted that “Kwanzaa feels as if it is more about thumbing black noses at white America than at embracing the lost cause of resuming our Africanness.”

Given the enormous diversity of African cultures and traditions, celebrating a monolithic African heritage makes little sense, she wrote, adding that “insofar as Kwanzaa negates the quintessential Americanness of the slave-descended, it is an affront to the heroism and enunciated goals of our oppressed ancestors. They demanded to be considered, and treated, as Americans, not as Africans.”

Now readers, if anyone asks you "WHAT IS KWANZAA?", you can explain it to them.

Always trying to be informative... 

Christmas: Tis the season of the deadly sins?

The presents are opened, the meal is over, the football games begin,... it's time for a little reflection.  I'm not Catholic and therefore I believe there is only ONE deadly sin, the rejection of Jesus as Lord and Savior.  But looking at the so-called seven deadly sins, especially at Christmas, should make us all take a step back and review our lives with the intention of being better Christians, Jews, etc. in the new year.  I'm wondering how many of these sins were committed this Christmas season...

The Seven Deadly Sins:   Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.  Most of us probably ate more than they needed to sustain life.  But God created food to taste good.  Jesus himself attended meals and weddings where delicious wine and food was served.  I would be willing to bet that most of us who ate too much today, generally watch our diets, care for the body that God gave us, and most of us give to those who are not as fortunate as we are.  

Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.   Are any of us innocent of this one at one time or another in our human lives?  We are blessed that God brings these times to our attention and will forgive us if we ask.    A close cousin of Greed is Envy, the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation,

Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.  We all know that public assistance is not meant to be a permanent form of income, yet somehow, it becomes a way of life for certain segments of society.  Working Americans are required to pay assistance in many forms to people who could work but don't, to people who are not Americans and not hear legally.  Since 1965 the war on poverty has resulted in ... more poverty.

Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.  I'll leave that one to each of you privately.

Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.  Anger can be the result of the previous six sins, but Pride has been called the sin from which all others arise and is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. Pride is also known as Vanity.

 

The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, are a classification of the most objectionable vices that were originally used in early Christian teachings to educate and instruct followers concerning (immoral) fallen man's tendency to sin. They are: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride.  (more)

Anytime we put anything above or in place of God in our lives, we are sinning.  In God's Ten Commandments for his creation, the first is 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'   I wonder how many people this year failed to give God a first or even second thought during this Christmas season. 

The 10 Commandments - God's Revelation in the Old Testament

The 10 Commandments are found in the Bible's Old Testament at Exodus, Chapter 20. They were given directly by God to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai after He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt:

"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

The 10 Commandments - Christ's Summation in the New Testament
About 1,400 years later, the 10 Commandments were summed up in the New Testament at Matthew 22, when Jesus was confronted by the religious "experts" of the day:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:36-40).

A reflective reading of Christ's teaching reveals that the first four commandments given to the children of Israel are contained in the statement: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." It continues that the last six commandments are enclosed in the statement: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

They are not the ten suggestions, they are the ten commandments.  Following these guidelines given to us by God will not make us miserable in life, as some might suggest.  God is not against joy, happiness, beauty, desire, satisfaction.  .  .  He is not against working hard and enjoying the fruits of our labors. 

If we make any New Year's resolutions this year, then one of them be to follow closer to what Jesus would have us to and be.

Smiles from the Hamiltons to you! Merry Christmas!!!

Here's our new baby, Penelope, on Christmas.  She brings joy, smiles, warmth, and love...  Enjoy:

Hubby and I wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, joy, health, happiness, love, peace, and a closer walk with God.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

______________________________________________________________

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and to all a warm and loving Holiday season from the Watchers Council.  Enjoy the articles for this week:

Council Submissions

• The Provocateur - Obama Engulfed By Pay to Play?
• Rhymes With Right - Impeach Jerry Brown
• Joshuapundit - Cheney Slaps Biden Upside The Head
• Bookworm Room - Destruction of Property
• The Glittering Eye - How to Give a Bonus
• The Colossus of Rhodey - *Yawn* Lincoln “parallels” for Obama
• Cheat-Seeking Missiles - Gay Anger At Warren Unwarranted
• The Razor - The Symbol of Oppression
• Soccer Dad - Don’t get too chummy with that flaming dummy
• Right Truth - Re-evaluating America’s Biggest Threat
• Mere Rhetoric - Smug Liberal Sophistication Undisturbed By Decades Of Disastrously Wrong Domestic And International Predictions

Non-Council Submissions

• Submitted By: The Provocateur - John Stossel - Arrogance and Conceit Won’t Fix the Economy
• Submitted By: Rhymes With Right - Discriminations - Are Constitutions Unamendable?
• Submitted By: Joshuapundit - Larrey Anderson/American Thinker - Climate Crisis = Logic Crisis
• Submitted By: Bookworm Room - Jewcy - Madoff the Jew: The Media’s Hypocritical Obsession With the Fraudster’s Faith
• Submitted By: The Glittering Eye - Pajamas Media - The Op-Ed the New York Times Wouldn’t Run
• Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey - Dhimmi Watch - Fitzgerald: If we cut off the jizya, could things become even worse?
• Submitted By: Cheat-Seeking Missiles - The American Spectator - Coffee and Closure
• Submitted By: Bookworm Room - Babalu Blog - A Message for Cathy del Castillo
• Submitted By: Soccer Dad - Counterterrorism blog - Jihad by the Shoe: Who Was Behind it and why?
• Submitted By: Right Truth - Mideast Youth - Hamas, Take your hands off the people!
• Submitted By: Mere Rhetoric - Counterterrorism Blog - OIC’s “Defamation” declaration could be used by Jihadi Terror networks
• Submitted By: The Watcher - Simon Deng - Hudson New York - Bishop Tutu and “Israeli Apartheid”

I Still Call It Christmas, For God’s Sake…

I Still Call It Christmas, For God’s Sake…

By R.J. Godlewski
© December 24, 2008, All Rights Reserved


“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.” (John 15:18)

“And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.” (John 15:21)

    It is quite difficult sitting here in the midst of a (finally) warming deep freeze, to write about something so seemingly distant in the past as to challenge the souls and minds of six billion residents upon this planet. It is even more difficult to simply type, as last night I had the unfortunate gaffe of sending a “safety” pin through the whole of my right thumb. It was one of those horribly painful incidents wherein expletives are strangely absent. However, I found that I could not venture away for the remainder of the year without offering a reflective thought or two on the true meaning of tomorrow.

    The holidays have always been something of a letdown for me, particularly since Sara passed away less than two weeks before Christmas in 2003. This one is no different, even if it is far less unbearable. I have completed the final requirements of my final class for this semester and therefore have no school responsibilities until January 5th.  At forty-five, each semester underneath my belt becomes a treasured achievement, though I have to admit to the ridiculous value placed upon a college education by those of us with experience. We, as a species, spend far too much time trying to “understand” that which we know intuitively already. We just try to overcomplicate matters to the point of incredulity. Perhaps, contrarily, we simply do not fully understand the significance of the incomprehensible.

    As tomorrow is Christmas, I cannot turn on the television news without hearing about the “War on Christmas”. True be told, there is no war on Christmas. God settled that conflict with the most powerful precision weapon imaginable – His coming to earth in the presence of a human baby – and though we more “enlightened” types try to dispatch the implications, His counterinsurgency efforts are infinitely effective. No, there is no war on Christmas, Virginia (or was it Washington?). Only humans can wage war and then only upon ourselves. Well, except one particular human (and His mother).

    Roughly, two thousand and a dozen years ago, something truly extraordinary happened in the town of Bethlehem. A baby was born. A poor baby without neither a home nor a hospital to safeguard his passage into one of the most brutal environments we humans have ever created. Even today, twenty centuries later, Bethlehem fears its association with Christmas for fear that riots and terrorism will surge. Back then, however, the child was a simply an outcast, held a death warrant on his head for just being who He was, and readily accepted the love and warmth of a stepfather who really held no responsibility for the care and safety of the child born of a young teenager whose contemporaries today probably worry more about entering high school than birthing the Savior of the world.

    Those who profess hatred of Christmas testify to the religious significance of this time-honored federal holiday. In reality, this particular date neither is the most religious day of Christianity nor is it even the second most. No, Christmas drops down to third place in terms of significance, though upon its shoulders rests the gold and silver medal winners of the faith. Christmas is no more important for Jesus than my birthday is for me. I simply exist, because it happened. Yet, of what “happening” it was.

    I dare you to imagine what life would be like today without the existence of Christmas (interpreted literally as the Birthday of Jesus Christ). You simply cannot. Even those who profess to hate Christmas – the liberal far left politically – cannot, for much of their ways focus upon Christian thought. They cry for the “separation of church and state”, but Christ was the first to preach that one cannot come to God unless it was from within. They cry about gay rights, but Christ was the first to demand equal treatment for all mankind. Others state that we should worry about the environment, but Christ was the first who gave us the world:

“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food.”  (Gn 1:29-30)

    What distinguishes Christian dogma from secular perversions, is that Christ gave us distinct laws to ensure that human exploration would not be sacrificed to human exploitation. On the subject of gay marriage, for example, it is explicitly stated that “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Gn 2:24). The “suitable partner” that God created for Adam (man) was Eve (woman) and what God designs as “suitable” is therefore unquestionable. Marriage is thus a bond between one man and one woman for the sole purpose of procreation. Nothing more; nothing less.

    So, you may now find yourself asking, how can I cross seamlessly from Christ the Child and God the All-Powerful? Because they are one and the same: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) Christmas is not therefore about a child who became God, but about God who became a child. This is quite extraordinary! The Creator of hundreds of billions of galaxies each comprised of hundreds of billions of stars strewn throughout an unimaginably large and old universe decided that we, every single one of us, were sufficiently valuable that He descended within our ranks to save us from, well, us.

    Again, you cannot imagine what life was like before His presence amongst us. Those who cry foul over “prisoner abuses” down at Gitmo do so because Christ taught us respect for everyone – the thief next to him on the Cross, was the first admitted into Heaven following Christ’s death. Had not Christmas arose, today we would probably be suffering the prisoners to the context of Roman Crucifixion. That is, absolute torture followed immediately by absolute death. The Islamic terrorists therefore, have Christians to thank for their benign treatment. No one else would be feeding them at the expense of those they tried to maim and kill. Now, that’s the true significance of Christian “love thy neighbor.”

    Perhaps those opposed to Christmas are distracted over the lengthy period of gift giving, revelry, and commercialism that heralds in Christmas as soon as Halloween ceases. This need not be the case; there is no blasphemy in sending gifts to one another. Christ died for our sins; I doubt very much that He cares if we celebrate His birthday as our own. In fact, it would be blasphemous if we did not, for according to Jesus He is within us to this very day. My “Jesus” is thus simply sending a birthday package to your “Jesus”. God cannot be offended with what we do with “Caesar’s” presents because our gift to Him is to make something responsible out of our lives, love Him more than anything else, and to treat each other, as we would want to be treated ourselves. Our birthday gift to Christ is simply to be Christians and that holds no exchange or refund policy.

    The true story of Christmas, therefore, is that mere mortal man could not have written it. Could any of us, through our own device, conceive of an infinitely powerful being coming to earth as the most vulnerable of species? Had He chosen to arrive as any other form of animal, He could have been expected to be weaned and on his own before His birthday. No, God chose to dwell amongst us as fully human, born of and having a fully human (if still divinely graced) mother. The God Who created everything that your limited minds can conceive of, placed Himself into the care of a couple who had to take their young, vulnerable child and flee into the desert to avoid His death at the hands of Herod. How many “humans” today would have simply aborted the young baby than to suffer the aggravation and heartaches of leaving their comfortable home?

    The true meaning of Christmas (and subsequently Easter) is that the Creator of EVERYTHING humbled Himself to suffer through such indignities that the whole of humanity could not match. He was born homeless, and allowed for the care of a stepfather. Immediately upon His arrival, He had a bounty upon His head. Before He was a teenager, He was lost from His parents for three whole days. Later on in life, He was harassed by both religious and political authorities, followed for profit by some, figuratively stabbed in the back by one of His closest companions, wrongfully accused of a trumped-up crime, lost his chance for parole to a convicted murderer, literally speared in the side, and died in the most horrendous way ever invented by man right in front of his own mother. Name one other religious belief – Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc. – that could ever write a story like that!

    No, friends, the infinite reality of Christmas is that no mere human being could craft such a story and, as a result, the only conclusion one could reach is that Christmas is the birthday of God Himself. As such, there can be no taming of Christmas; no dismissal of its sincerity; no charges that the holiday is an affront to more “enlightened” souls. One can find fault with Islam. One can find fault with Atheism. One can find fault with either President George W. Bush or President-elect Barack H. Obama. One cannot, however, no matter the effort applied, find fault with the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Sanhedrin tried. The Romans tried. Later, even the Communists tried. They all failed miserably and so too will today’s secular progressives.

    We are powerless in the presence of the All-Powerful. Before we have a thought, He knows our course of action. Before we express a fear, He has provided a solution. Before we can conceive, He has conceived us. Most importantly, however, before we can humble ourselves, He has humbled Himself to the point of being “an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger.” (Lk 2:12) Christmas cannot be snuffed out of existence for He Who came existed well before us and will continue to exist long after the universe dies out through the final fading out of the very last star.

    There is thus no war possible against Christmas, merely a war against ourselves. The ultimate battle has already been won. Christ conquered imagination with His birth, conquered humanity with His life, and conquered eternity with His death. We cannot conceive of an argument against His existence and to try to do so simply underscores our own vanity and infidelity. Christmas existed before the universe began. In fact, Christmas is probably why the universe began. The least that we can do is to admit to the fact.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Merry Christmas Eve from Right Truth

Hubby, Penny and I with all of you a wonderful, blessed, healthy Christmas Eve.  Below are some videos sent to me by Tonja McCarver, with many thanks.  Enjoy:

Christmas Light Show - Amazing Grace Techno:

Christmas Lights:

God Sent Us a Savior

If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator.

If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist.

If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist.

If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.

But our greatest need was forgiveness,

So God sent us a Savior.



This Christmas
may you see and know anew
how great His love
is toward you!


Merry Christmas!

Christmas Poem

If All Were Now as It Was When

If all were now as it was when
Christ came to save us all,
And Christmas Day were Christmas Day,
Not some day we recall;

And in the East we saw a star
Exceptionally bright,
And wondered what was going on
That ordinary night;

If God were walking in our midst,
Saying what He said,
And we were not His followers,
But trod where He would tread;

And we were witness to His word
And looked Him in the eye,
And found His message interesting
But too bizarre to buy;

If we were in Jerusalem
And watched Him bear the cross,
And suffered with His suffering
But feared to share His loss;

And saw Him die in agony,
And wondered at it all,
And this were something we ourselves,
Not printed books, recall:

What would be the difference,
Had we known Him that way,
Between the faith we feared to feel
And what we fear today?

    --My Expression Poems

I hope your answer to the poem above, to the question "What would be the difference, Had we known Him that way?, is:  There would be no difference.  Christian Faith is belief in someone that we cannot see or touch in the physical way.

Christianity claims not to be distinguished by its faith, but by the object of its faith. Faith is essentially an act of trust or reliance on God. Rather than being passive, this leads to an active life of obedience to the one being trusted. Faith causes questions and seeks answers from God and transforms, it sees the mystery of God and his grace and seeks to know and become obedient to God. Faith is not static but causes one to learn more of God and grow, faith causes change as it seeks a greater understanding of God.  (more)

 

All Iraqis are Christian today!

What beautiful words from an Iraqi:     All Iraqis are Christian today!  Could anyone have dreamed a picture like this a few years ago?

Baghdad celebrates first public Christmas

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- From a distance, it looks like an apparition: a huge multi-colored hot-air balloon floating in the Baghdad sky, bearing a large poster of Jesus Christ. Below it, an Iraqi flag.

Santa and his helpers stand under palm trees at Baghdad's first public Christmas festival.

Welcome to the first-ever public Christmas celebration in Baghdad, held Saturday and sponsored by the Iraqi Interior Ministry. Once thought to be infiltrated by death squads, the Ministry now is trying to root out sectarian violence -- as well as improve its P.R. image.

The event takes place in a public park in eastern Baghdad, ringed with security checkpoints. Interior Ministry forces deployed on surrounding rooftops peer down at the scene: a Christmas tree decorated with ornaments and tinsel; a red-costumed Santa Claus waving to the crowd, an Iraqi flag draped over his shoulders; a red-and-black-uniformed military band playing stirring martial music, not Christmas carols.

On a large stage, children dressed in costumes representing Iraq's many ethnic and religious groups -- Kurds, Turkmen, Yazidis, Christians, Arab Muslims not defined as Sunni or Shiite -- hold their hands aloft and sing "We are building Iraq!" Two young boys, a mini-policeman and a mini-soldier sporting painted-on mustaches, march stiffly and salute. Watch the celebration in Baghdad »

Even before I can ask Interior Ministry spokesman Major-General Abdul Karim Khalaf a question, he greets me with a big smile. "All Iraqis are Christian today!" he says.  (continue reading at CNN)

There are still reports of improving ties with Iran, but hopefully the Iraqi government has their eyes wide open.  They are neighbors and will have to deal with each other somehow.

Christmas Thoughts

In one week Christians will be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  That's what Christmas is, that's what it is all about.  Too many people have forgotten why we have this holiday.  Every religion I know has it's own holidays and has the freedom and right to celebrate those holidays as they see fit.  Not so any more with Christmas, we might offend someone. 

In an article "Onward Christian Soldiers", the author Liz Hunt makes the statement "At the core of Christianity is a force for good and we should not forget that."  My first thought was, what an odd statement... what an odd thing that someone has to make that statement.  The author points out incidents in the UK that mirror events here in the US:

 ...  rewriting carols to reflect the tenor of our times – hence the uplifting inclusion of hoodies, single mothers, Aids sufferers, and lottery losers in a version of The Twelve Days of Christmas by the Rev George Fisher from Lichfield.  ...

The Rev Stephen Coulter has gone one better and banned O Little Town of Bethlehem from his services in Blandford Forum, Dorset, because, he claims, it fails to reflect the little town’s recent troubles ...

In Essex, a school choir was forced to pull out of the Corringham Winter Festival because its programme of carols was “too religious”.   (continue reading)

Muslims get prayer rooms and foot bathes in public airports, schools, etc.  Yet Christians cannot display a nativity scene -- a scene of the baby Jesus, for whom CHRISTmas is named.    Snowmen, Christmas trees, light displays, angels, all seem to be on the politically correct and green grinch bad list.  Some stores decorate for Happy Holidays and employees won't say Merry Christmas.




As the Christmas Holiday nears, imprisoned border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean will likely spend it without their families.

While the two agents share a common bond, so do their families.  Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) already has filed not one, but two friend of the court briefs for Ignacio Ramos and Jose Antonio Compean. In those briefs, GOF has pointed out to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that the 10-year conviction of the two agents is for a crime that doesn't exist.

We have called on President George W. Bush to free these men immediately.

AL GORE: NORTH POLAR HAS FIVE YEARS TO LIVE! While In Germany Last Week, Former V.P. Says North Polar Ice Cap Will Be Gone Soon

An “Allegory” is a visual symbol representing an abstract idea. It’s also a word that may sufficiently explain Al Gore’s argument that Santa will have to think about relocating.

Rob Roselli is an average American citizen with a civil engineering background that was utilized to unmask the fake science of the scam radical environmental movement and the real intentions of the environmental movement; a group our illustrious new leader embraces. Today, he has reached a point of such concern for his country that it has assumed “top priority” status.

Roselli is convinced that the entire climate change movement is a scam with a much bigger agenda. “People need to open their eyes,” he says, “Never has their been better time for the old Wizard of Oz movie line, ‘pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.’”

“Besides,” Roselli says, “all the evidence is showing that the earth has actually been cooling for quite some time now. Mr. Gore better start thinking about getting himself a flamethrower if he wants to bolster his argument.”

Parents I know shop wisely for their children, looking for safe toys, toys that teach and build character, physical and mental growth.  But not all parents are this responsible. 

The Nation -- For the second straight year, HealthyToys.org is highlighting test results for more than 1,500 toys and children's products. Researchers at the Ecology Center, a Michigan-based nonprofit, tested more than 1,500 popular children's toys for lead, cadmium, arsenic, PVC and other harmful chemicals in time for this year's holiday shopping season. The results are sobering: One in three toys tested were found to contain "medium" or "high" levels of chemicals of concern.  (continue reading)

The greatest gift ever given is the gift of life from Jesus Christ.  We celebrate the fact that he left Heaven, came to earth, was born as a human baby, lived a perfect life, and then gave that life in death on the cross -- paying the price for our sins.  No gift compares.

GIVING THE GIFT OF VIOLENCE: Are Parents Paying Enough Attention This Holiday Season?

Ignorance is bliss . . . if you don’t mind your child playing a video game driven by death, criminal behavior and “health boosts” that involve a virtual visit with a prostitute.

Such is a glimpse inside the immensely popular Grand Theft Auto video game series, one of a growing number of shockingly violent selections targeted for stockings this year. Art Ally is president of the Timothy Plan family of mutual funds—an investment firm that only buys into companies with quantifiable moral and ethical standards—and he’s prepared to sound the alarm for the parents in your audience.

“It’s not that moms and dads universally don’t care about their children’s exposure to the drug use, murder and mayhem in video games today,” explains Ally. “Many of them just don’t know about it.”

Ally points to data that shows the dynamic of parental discretion is shifting right under our feet. While 88 percent of parents report regularly supervising their children's use of television, only 48 percent report regularly supervising their children's use of video games. No wonder. After all, this can be especially difficult when one third of all children living in a home with video games have a video game system in their own bedrooms. 

 

Let's make a point this Christmas season to remember the reason for the season.  Let us praise and worship our Lord.  As Liz Hunt said, "Christianity is a force for good and we should not forget that."  We should never let others forget this either.

The Greatest Christmas Gift Imaginable

The Greatest Christmas Gift Imaginable

By R.J. Godlewski
© December 13th, 2008

    On Friday, I watched a segment on Fox News detailing how depressing the holiday season can be, especially during this period of unfathomable economic crises. The report continued about how difficult it would be for people recently laid off and therefore couldn’t buy many presents for their children or friends. I, too, know firsthand just how depressing the holiday season can be. Five years ago today and, as luck would have it, also on a Saturday, my beloved Sara passed away after a monumental battle with cancer. I spent a week alone packing every belonging into a dilapidated U-Haul® truck and relocated back to my native Michigan to spend the holidays with family. I arrived on Saturday, the 20th, and I have been stuck here within this interminable state ever since. Talk about depressing!

    This year, however, it is a little different for me. For the first time in sixty years, my mother has to experience a Christmas without my father. She had, fortunately or unfortunately depending upon how you look at it, a chance to prepare herself for my father’s eventual demise. After all, when you knock on 90’s door, the future looks pretty certain if not palatable. Yet, no one expects to lose a spouse who is only 52 years old anymore than they would expect to lose a child before they themselves died. I personally had survived many “broke” Christmases in the past, but it was that one “Bluest” of all possible Christmases five years ago that will haunt my memory seemingly forever. Sara and I were not just close, we were literally inseparable.

    I suppose that Sara was the stronger partner which probably explains why I had to experience what I had to experience to grow as an individual. I know that she is now rightfully placed in Heaven, looking down upon me and wondering why the hell I am not married and raising children of my own yet. It would be easy for her to admit that for, like I said, she is in Heaven now and I’m sitting down here wondering how my country is ever going to survive an Obama administration and possessed with the concern that if I do not do something about the radical Islamists targeting the United States then no one else will. And I wonder why Sara is the one residing in Heaven…

    The truth is, quite obviously, that I have indeed survived Sara’s passing regardless of how lonely life has become without her constant presence. A few of my past acquaintances weren’t so fortunate. One, I remember, told me that he tried to kill himself. Another, my uncle, simply allowed himself to spiral into apathy when my aunt also passed away at fifty-two. Since 2003, I’ve written a half dozen books, a journal article or two, and several hundred Internet articles – many of which right here on this very Blog – so I cannot state that my life has collapsed into nothingness. In fact, while the rest of the world celebrates (or not) the anniversary of the capture of Saddam Hussein, I kind of know that that event was simply Sara’s way of sending me one of her little “notes” to say that everything will be fine. You see, she was my partner and “deputy director” in my war against tyrants.

    Yes, this year will be depressing for me, my mother, and probably millions of other people for varying reasons. Still, I cannot help but believe that we all have shortchanged on our ability to adapt and recover. Perhaps the burden merely seems too much to bear. I know that had Sara continued on living, her care would have been far too great for me to handle. Her doctor had answered my hypothetical with quite a litany on what would have to be done had, somehow, Sara’s cancer disappeared. With the maturity offered by five years, I do not believe that I could have wished that kind of reconstruction upon anyone. Sara’s death was unbearable, yes, but only for me. Living would have been unbearable for her and, well, the events surrounding her death have given me a glimpse into the dignity that she represented. I knew from that moment on that there was no pain great enough that a person could not handle with dignity. I hope that when I pass, I will have the same strength, courage, and blessings.

    What the future holds for me is quite uncertain at the moment. I’ve returned back to school to complete my degree. I know a bright young lady who would like for me to settle down and raise a family. Every day my work becomes better known throughout the world and very few countries now escape being on my “fan list.” My heart remains dull and my mind unfocused, but the future looks brighter than it has for many, many years. Therein, I suppose, lays the greatest gift imaginable.

    I have experienced bad Christmases before. Once, I was in the process of being evicted. During another holiday period, I was laid off and could not pay my bills much less purchase Christmas presents for Sara’s youngest son. Then there’s the simple duty of having served in the military where, from Hawaii, I spent fourteen hours trying to get through to my parents on the telephone because the satellite was overloaded. None of which were Christmases that I’d like to remember but therein is the key: there were better holidays that arrived to take the place of the bad.

    No matter how broke I was, no matter how destitute, I am still better off today. Even the death of my closest companion and confidant now seems merely a bad nightmare from which I woke long, long ago. It was having a simple future that allowed me to weather these disasters and it is having the very same opportunity that will make this Christmas seem no less unbearable from the perspective of an endless series of tomorrows. Look at this from another vantage. When Princess Diana was killed seemingly many decades ago, I heard a television news reporter say that her death would be front-page news for years to come. Yeah, right. I can’t remember what yesterday’s top story was, much less one so long ago.  Most rational people ignored the story almost as soon as they heard it for each day brings another “top story” to bury the past.  Life – no one’s – is predicated upon a singular event. Even Christ’s birth – why we have Christmas and the holidays in the first place – possessed no relative meaning for 33 years. It was His “future” that made both His past and present worth mentioning.

    No matter how bad this Christmas seems, it will be diluted by any myriad of future holidays. When, and by how much, is not ours to squabble over. Some things are just beyond our control. Yet, we do have the opportunity and that is all that matters. Sure, our children will feel bad if they do not get many presents this year, but make togetherness the gift that keeps on giving. Tell them that life evolves through leaps and bounds. It is not linear, and algebraic. People do not get 1.5x more gifts per year as if it was some union-sponsored cost of living entitlement. So what if kids can’t get a wii® this year. Tell them next year’s will be much better and that you’re waiting for the best for your kids. Regardless of so-called “conventional wisdom”, expensive gifts do not make children happy, not within a society where families are at premium.

    Give your family and friends the best gift imaginable: a future. Spend time with your loved ones whenever you have the opportunity to do so. Share your tragedies with others new to the crisis and explain how you have survived. Do not let a depressing season sour those yet to come. Take the time and effort necessary to learn and care about your nation and not just gripe about bad politicians, declining rights, or bleak economies. Do something to change the future so that there would not have to be any “next time”. This Christmas season will, I guarantee, be the best one that you have ever had for the simple reason that it will serve as the foundation for all expectations yet to come. So, ignore all the naysayers and liberal complainants. Give your loved ones an adaptable future to look forward to. And, by all means, order one up for yourself.

On Fighting Terrorism IV: Why do we still insist on humanizing terrorists?

On Fighting Terrorism IV:
Why do we still insist on humanizing terrorists?

ByR.J. Godlewski
© December 4, 2008, All Rights Reserved

 I am always fascinated whenever I hear stories about my family’s “good old days” and how they shatter our childhood-era misconceptions. You know such stories; I sure that you all have examples of your own. You grow up believing that your family was as saintly as Mother Theresa and then slowly come to find episodes, which sound more like they came from The Simpsons more than reality. I, myself, knew early on that my father was a bit “unconventional” during his youth. After all, you cannot belong to a notorious street gang and not develop a reputation for mischief. However, it was my mother’s side of the family that always seemed to be the one that was stable, law-abiding, and, well, less than colorful. Boy was I wrong.

 We always knew that my grandfather was a heavy drinker, that he was “poisoned” once by bootleg liquor and grew violent from that day onwards. We even heard stories of him shooting his rifle at my mother and grandmother while he was under the influence, as they say. After forty-five years, those stories simply fade away and roll off our psychological sleeves. A few weeks ago, my mother began to open up a bit and admitted that it was her mother who actually ran the bootleg still on their farm (though it probably wasn’t their still that poisoned him). So much for honorable grandmothers. My mom quickly subdued the revelation by saying something to the effect of “it was hard times back then”.  I agree. If Michigan is an economic basket case today, eighty years ago northern Michigan must have been infinitely more horrible.

 Today, however, I overheard my mother telling my sister a bit more about the colorful background of her family. She again tried to distance the improprieties of her parents – we just never let up on the knowledge that her parents were “bootleggers”! ;o) – and she informed my sister “the cops once came to our house because someone said that he [her father] was abusing the kids and smashed up his still with axes and said that if they ever caught him abusing his children again that they would come back and break everyone of his fingers.” Boy, talk about protecting and serving. 

 I usually do not like to make public light of my family, but when you spend upwards of twenty hours per day scrutinizing the most heinous deeds of terrorists throughout the world, you just have to laugh sometimes – at anything. So the thought of my “saintly” grandmother making booze on the family farm provides me with an emotional lift. However, it was the story of how the cops handled domestic abuse cases years ago that really got me thinking again. No doubt, today my grandfather would have been met with the Miranda rights, my grandmother and her children with leagues of counselors, and the case would have dragged on for months. Any police officer threatening to break someone’s fingers in an effort to stem child abuse would have been plastered all over the cable news. Of course, this is why we are no longer effective today.

 Consider President-elect Barack Obama’s plans to close the detention center down at Gitmo.  Two hundred thugs had been bred, trained, and equipped to bring devastation upon the United States; to bring the war here, if at all possible. Now the federal government will bring them here at our expense. Why don’t we just skip the middleman and nuke ourselves off of the planet? At least then it will be according to our efforts and choosing. No, once again, the U.S. Government has to lend a hand in our ultimate destruction. Go figure.

 This “Uncle Sam knows best” policy of national security is iffy at  best. During the Second World War, our intelligence agencies said of the Nazi chemical weapons program: “Disclosures relative to so-called ‘Blau Gas’ have occurred numerous times in the past and…are no longer seriously regarded. Intelligence reports lend considerable weight that new German agents are not of the nature of so-called nerve gases.” As Jonathan B. Tucker writes in his book War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, “this assessment could not have been more wrong.” These same agencies were caught off guard by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and their modern compatriots were caught off guard by the horrendous attacks on September 11th, 2001.

 Our national security is therefore a balance between intelligence successes, which we rarely hear about, and intelligence catastrophes (as opposed to simple ‘failures’), which everyone hears about. Yet the greatest weapon in our enemies’ arsenal is not flying aircraft, WMDs, or even AK-47s;  it is our own stupidity and malice of reaction. We hear of “prisoner abuse” down at Gitmo and our first reaction is to bring the terrorists here for better treatment. We learn of a school shooting and our first reaction is to unleash a plethora of gun control legislation. Our greatest threat to national security is not the masses of al-Qaeda operatives over here planning to destroy our citizens but our very politicians in Congress who have left the door open for them to operate.

 Now we hear of Barack Obama’s plans for a 20,000 person “civilian national security force”. Can you say Gestapo boys and girls? We don’t need no stinkin’ “civilian” national security force. We already have an armed and trained population protecting us. Oh, wait. Obama wants to take the guns away from us and dish them out to his thugs. And just imagine, I’m called a “right wing fanatic” if I remind people that is precisely how Adolf Hitler came to power. 

 I personally do not believe that there is a rational, conscience-minded individual out there who wouldn’t like to see the terrorists boiled alive in oil. Preferably some cheap fish product but, hey, I’d shell out $60/barrel to see it done. The only people who consider this action to be “inhuman” are your enlightened types who live within a fantasy world dominated by academic debate and Platonic platitudes. This is all about survival. It is just like that 1962 movie Panic in the Year Zero! Once our cities start disappearing wholesale, “civility” will disappear. No one will be able to restore order – at least for several years – and we have only ourselves to blame.

 Terrorists, particularly the Islamic variety, are fanatics whose only allegiance to law is through their own twisted version of Islam. It is unconscionable to consider that, somehow, we will become less civilized or respectable if we do not treat these thugs like common, garden-variety criminals. When was the last time that a safecracker beheaded someone on camera? Consider the recent attacks in India. We’re going out of our way to avoid implicating the Pakistani government in these horrendous attacks. Of course the Pakistanis are involved! They are involved because they are not making fruitful effort to stop the terrorists holding out within the northwestern tribal areas. 

 Our security is thus torn on several fronts. First our illustrious FBI insists on handling the matter of terrorism as a simple police function. Find the terrorists, build up a case, and send them to jail. End of story. Second, the CIA, which is a bit more creative, is rarely able to operate upon American soil – at least officially; everyone operates on our soil and ‘The Club’ is no different. Third, our politicians try to be diplomatic and avoid anything that might cost them votes. Finally, we the people are to blame because we cannot find enough gumption to toss out those politicians who are nowhere near as bloodthirsty as we would like them to be. We dwell upon a “as long as it does not infringe upon my liberties” attitude which is detrimental to our safety and security. We could care less about whether New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, or Detroit goes up within a great big mushroom cloud as long as it doesn’t interfere with placing bread upon our table or our trip to the plasma section of Best Buy. But it does.

 When 9/11 happened, you couldn’t find a parking spot at church. Now, a brief seven years later and we’re back to tossing Christ out of Christmas. Makes you wonder if our nation is even worth fighting for, doesn’t it? Sixty-three million of our fellow citizens voted in “The One” who will cost us more than every other president in U.S. history combined and yet, today, we find many conservative figures saying such ridiculous things as “But President-elect Obama has to become more right wing in his fight against terrorists, now that he knows what we’re up against.” Listen, if a guy has to be given ultra-sensitive secrets in order to understand what a child knows intuitively, we’re screwed. I started my “crusade” against Islamic (and otherwise) terrorism in 1979. My personal attitude is no less severe today, but it didn’t take 9/11 to convince me that somebody wants me dead simply because I am who I am.

 Our greatest threat has never been armed terrorists. It has always been tenured politicians. Where has the unity immediately following September 11th, 2001 gone? Once the Bush Administration kept us from being attacked again, we all climbed out of our spider holes and began to say “Good thing it was all a nightmare”. It is, be we haven’t woke up. Not by a long shot. Liberal politicians have sided with the Islamist fundamentalists because they – the politicians – resent the fact that “less enlightened” people fully understand the concept of Evil. Without Evil pervading our lives, you cannot have religion and this remains their fundamental goal: to dispense with religion. Politicians do not see Islam as a religion. They see it merely as an ideology that arose from the need to break away from “Christian bigotry”. Poor, poor, pitiful Muslims.  We Christians are the bad guys. Yeah, right.

 Christ warned against false prophets. He warned against burying our head into the sand. He also warned that the way into Heaven would be a very long and dangerous journey. He also warned about forces set to destroy Jerusalem. As we never learn from history, I suspect that His dire predictions were less about 79 A.D. than 2009, 2013, or 2050. You cannot be Christian and dismiss the presence of Evil (as opposed to evil) and herein lays our great disturbance to the common good of liberalism: Evil requires conscious religiosity to defeat. No Evil within the world means no religion too.  Communism, socialism, secularism – whatever you wish to call it – means that people are free to do whatever they want. It also means that they are free to prevent you from doing whatever you want. So, the “good guys” (us) are prevented from “breaking the fingers” of the “bad guys” (the terrorists) because we prefer to arm the victims with counselors, and harangue the terrorists with endless court battles.

 I’m a little bit different. I prefer to deal with the terrorists in the manner which they seek – send them all to God and let Him sort ‘em out. I will not sit here idly and watch my fellow countrymen go up in smoke. I will not allow my brave military, police, and federal personnel be hamstrung by “procedures” and “documents”. This is why I chose, long ago, to use my particular resources and talents to do whatever I can to fight Evil. And, I might add, I am a bit more persistent than your typical Islamist terrorists. They know this, too.  Otherwise, I wouldn’t have Tehran scoping out my INERT organizationwhich, by the way, leads me to believe that the coming “conflagration” is going to be one involving nuclear technology. I must be pushing all the right buttons because my personal Websiteis becoming more popular with “closed” Islamic nations than Americans. Perhaps they fear an arrogant, determined, and uncompromising patriot when they see one. God, I just love being an American.

 

Violence All the Rage This Christmas

 

VIOLENCE ALL THE RAGE THIS CHRISTMAS: Kids Sent Conflicting Messages About Good Cheer With Video Games That Glorify Sex And Violence

Is it purely a coincidence that the Christmas shopping season kicks off with a day called ‘Black Friday’? Maybe so, but how is it then explained that the gifts in the most demand this year seem to be violent video games?

Art Ally’s Group, The Timothy Plan, is a Mutual Fund company that only invests in companies who reach very quantifiable moral and ethical standards. Suffice it to say, Ally draws the line well before investing in companies that provide products that harm children. In fact, The Timothy Plan took this matter so seriously, that it performed an exhaustive amount of research in identifying games that parents should think twice about before letting Santa put them under the tree.

THE FOLLOWING IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE TIMOTHY PLAN:

Video Games as Gifts for Christmas hoping to share “Peace on Earth & Good Will To Men”?
PARENTS BEWARE!

MAITLAND, Fl., November 25, 2008 – For shoppers buying video games on Black Friday, the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season, and beyond, it could wind up being a black day indeed.

Violent video games have become increasingly more popular as graphics and improvements in technology have improved over the years. Studies have shown that aggressive attitudes and even actions can be increased after playing violent games for as little as 20 minutes. Yet, video games have emerged as one of the most popular forms of entertainment for children, with over 70% living in a home with at least one video game player and 33% of children have one in their bedroom.

Art Ally, President, of the Timothy Plan family of mutual funds contends that “many, if not most, parents who buy their kids video games really don’t know the extent of sex and violence imbedded in them. From drug use, prostitution, murder and mayhem to vulgar profanity and blasphemy these games have become a powerfully negative influence on our kids”.  (continue with Special Guests)

So much to appreciate, so little time in which to share

So much to appreciate, so little time in which to share

By R.J. Godlewski
© November 26, 2008, All Rights Reserved

    It would seem that since I craft half my career around the written word that I would be prepared for just about any topic. Unfortunately, some thoughts are still very hard to describe and being a visual personality myself, I would very much rather point you towards an appropriate photograph instead. Part of this difficulty is that we live within a very superficial, take-everything-for-granted culture that has turned simple gratitude into an archaic art form. Sadly, however, there is nothing “archaic” about extending our appreciation for what we have and definitely, no “art” involved. We simply gaze upon what we have or have been given and say “Thank you!” Is such a tough action to undertake?

    I would like to start the process by extending my sincerest gratitude and respect to all who serve or have served honorably in our nation’s uniform. Whether in combat or during what academics proudly hail as “peacetime”, there is no function within the military that is inconsequential to our nation’s future and security. None. Even when this once lowly Electrician’s Mate Third Class stood his evening electrical switchboard watch, his actions provided electrical power to several ships docked alongside in Yokosuka, Japan who came in from searching for the wreckage of Korean Air 007. They needed repairs or refurbishment and while their power plants were down – steam propulsion plants are notoriously finicky – ours picked up the slack. My “fifteen minutes” of international fame, as it were. So to all in the military and who have previously served, this “discharged member” of the U.S. Armed Forces would like to proudly say “Thank you all!” Even if you have just walked through the portals of Boot Camp, you have got more time in service than our next Commander-in-Chief. ;o)

    Next, I would like to personally thank the truck drivers of our nation – a group of citizens who are virtually ignored outside of a few old movies. I know what it is like to manhandle 80,0000 pounds of steel beast in all climates and in virtually all states. I know what it is like to run off 750 miles per day for weeks on end. I know what it is like to arrive at a remote installation at 5:10 P.M. on a Friday only to discover that everyone had already left for the weekend just ten minutes before. It is during such times as these that you realize how luxurious simple things as a bathroom are. I know what it is like to wait twenty minutes for traffic to clear only to have local motorists bitch about all the trucks on the road. I also know what it is like to drive past some brutally horrible accidents, knowing full well that some fellow citizen ended their earthly existence within that particular spot. The images that are framed within my mind forever cannot be erased and so I must extend my fullest gratitude and respect to my fellow “Road Sailors” – you understand intimately why I chose my particular handle. As for the rest of you out there, if you only understood how much went into delivering everything that you buy you would gladly join me in my appreciation. Yet, most of you cannot even drive your car properly.

    Another forgotten group that I would like to single out for appreciation is the commercial fisherman within our nation. Twelve- to twenty-hour shifts seven days per week aboard a fish processing vessel was enough for me to doff my chapeau to all of you battling the seas just so that I could torch my fish sticks. I was safely tied alongside the pier when our ammonia system sprang a leak and the only thing that prevented sixty tons of the stuff from working its way into a steel coffin three hundred feet long was the courage of my fellow engineers. A tiny “pin hole” leak was sufficient to make a huge ship unlivable. Of course, everyone else was able to step onto shore for safety. I cannot imagine what it would have been like had we been hundreds of miles out to sea. No amount of pay is worth going through what fishermen do on a daily basis, but as I still like to eat seafood, I have to take a moment or two and thank you so very much for making my simple dinner plate so tasty. Ships are simply factories at sea and no factory is a luxury hotel.

    Speaking of factories, I have worked in about twenty to thirty myself. I have simply lost track, for their function is always to produce a product. What I have not lost sight of, however, is that each one was no picnic in which to work. Forget what you see on Modern Marvels, most factories are not clean “laboratory-like” environments. Some are noisy. Some are smelly. All are dangerous. They function within an environment that eats at your senses like a myriad of insects. Day in and day out workers arrive to produce both the sensational and the mundane. Sometimes, a bit of humor perks their existence such as when we ran six million envelopes (350,000 on my shift alone) that said, “You are one of THREE finalists!” I have worked in factories that made automotive robotics, plastic toys, paper, the aforementioned envelopes, tempered glass (where I met my beloved Sara), and foam products (archery targets, building facings, etc.). I have also delivered to literally thousands of factories from Oregon to Boston and from Virginia to Arizona, so I know how similar in function the facilities are. If you work within a factory, the nation could not survive without you and so you also have my deepest appreciation and respect.

    Lastly, although primarily so that I could keep this article less than several thousand pages in length, I would like to touch upon several groups that cannot go without singling out. Once, many years ago, my own grandfather was trapped within a Pennsylvania coalmine. Now whether our future president cares to bankrupt this industry or not, I know how valuable the people are who work within it. Thank you, each and every one! Having served as caregiver for both my wife and my father – two long and aggravating deaths in just five years – I have developed a profound appreciation for all within the healthcare industry. Whether you are paramedics (such as those who had to endure my expletives while I tried to shove the Rock of Gibraltar out through my manhood), hospice aides, nurses, or simply the many clerical personnel who made our lives more bearable, many of you seldom receive any thanks. Until now. You are a great bunch of people and, because it is one of the few fields in which I have no desire to participate within, my admiration is unlimited.

    I would also like to take this opportunity to personally thank all of the responsible gun owners within our country, without whom there would be no country in which to proudly serve within all of the foregoing disciplines – at least voluntarily.  It is far too easy for many to label us gun owners as fanatics or “clingers” but the simple truth is that we would have no say whatsoever if it were not for the fact that our nation’s security rests upon our ability to deal with the likes of any would-be Hitlers, Francos, or even Chavezes. It is highly doubtful that I could safely walk through my local towns if it were not for those who carry firearms upon their person. People who “cling to their guns”, my ass. People who cling to their freedom – and yours.

    Yes, writing about Thanksgiving Day is nearly impossible for there are so many people who rightfully deserve our profound appreciation. I have only touched upon my personal list. If you still seek that “one picture worth a thousand words” then simply open your eyes and gaze about you. Find that one thing that you are not appreciative of and ask yourself ‘Why?’ I could look upon my wife’s death, for instance, as something that I am not truly thankful for but the fact remains that her death made our life together that much more valuable. So many people take their spouses and loved ones for granted. How can your “other half” be so unnoticeable? If you cannot solemnly appreciate what you have been given, then perhaps you are not worthy of it? The Scots of Gretna Green can probably understand the attitude of which I speak. ;o) Let’s not turn responsibility into a mere fling of convenience.

    Therefore, in conclusion, if you still desire for me to write poetically about what this holiday is all about. To formulate into a few mere words what we must intimately know and understand. To place into words what even photographs may not adequately address. I accept the challenge. Thank you God for EVERYTHING! Try to improve upon that!
   

* * * *

Note from Debbie:

I would like to say "Thank You" to all you kind friends who stop by Right Truth each day; thank you to R.J. Godlewski, Fern Sidman, and all others who have contributed original articles to Right Truth over the past year.

Special thanks go to my sweet hubby (the Grouch at Right Truth).  He's my soul mate and I am so thankful that God brought us together.  It is God who sustains us each day.  It is God who bestows the many blessings -- health, home, happiness, family, friends,... and puppies.

Thanks to our military for keeping us safe, for fighting back the bad guys all over this beautiful world.

I am so thankful.

__________________________________________________________________

Trackposted to The Pink Flamingo - Wordpress, Rosemary's Thoughts, Shadowscope, DragonLady's World, Leaning Straight Up, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, , Faultline USA, Allie is Wired, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, Rosemary's News and Ideas, The Pink Flamingo, CORSARI D'ITALIA, L.O.M.A., and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Iran At America's Back Door

I've heard people say Iran is no threat to the United States, that they don't have the capability to deliver missiles from Iran to the U.S.   Maybe not, but they don't need to have that capability to harm Americans.  Iran is using our Southern neighbors as an open door to the U.S.  In Iran's Latin American Push, (by John Kiriakou, now in the private sector, who served as a CIA counter-terrorism official from 1998-2004) the author discusses Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's relationships with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez;   Paraguay's new president, Fernando Lugo Mendez, and Bolivian President Evo Morales.

[Mendez] was lauded in the Iranian media as "an enemy of the Great Satan" after naming Hezbollah sympathizer.  Hezbollah -- which is Iranian funded and supported -- already has a well-documented presence in Paraguay, and the U.S. State Department has banned the minister from entering the United States or from flying on a U.S. airline. 

The real danger here doesn't have to do with an arcane diplomatic battle over who has more friends in Latin America. The problem is visa-free Iranian travel and the potential creation of a terrorist base of operations in the United States' backyard. If anyone with an Iranian passport may enter Bolivia without a visa or any further documentation, the country will soon be open to covert officers of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, its Islamic Revolutionary Guard, which the State Department recently declared a terrorist organization, and the Quds Force, an Iranian military group whose mandate is to spread Islamic revolution around the world.

A further danger is if other Latin American countries follow the Bolivian lead and lift visa restrictions. Iran already has proved what it can do in Latin America with visa restrictions. In 1994, Iranian agents worked with Hezbollah terrorists to bomb a Jewish association's community center in Argentina, killing 85 people and wounding hundreds. An established Iranian intelligence presence traveling freely throughout Latin America would make counter-terrorism efforts in the region much more difficult.

The United States still has an opportunity to stop the Iranians in their tracks in Latin America. But it's a big job. The growing Iranian influence -- inconceivable a decade ago -- is the result of the decision by the United States to stop paying attention to the region. And it will only be reversed if the U.S. changes its policy.  (continue reading at LATimes)

Also, as Michael T. reminded me today, "There are dozens of Iranian (Merchant) ships on the Great Lakes, Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the Gulf of Mexico at all times.  Three months ago the Iranians demonstrated their ability to launch a scud-missile from a freighter in the Caspian Sea. Hitting Chicago, New York, California cities and Washington DC is a piece of Persian cake.  We are far from safe."

Also it seems Iran is helping al-Qaeda gain access to nuclear material that could be used for suitcase nukes.  MI6, Britain's secret intelligence service, has identified six Pakistani scientists working in Iran's nuclear bomb program who have been "advising al-Qaida on how to weaponize fissionable materials it has now obtained."  (WND)

Man-made uranium was found in Syria.  Israel and the United Stated firmly believed that Syria was constructing and maintaining a secret nuclear site located near the Euphrates River near the border with Iraq, and so the Israelis took out that facility.  (Telegraph)  The IAEA has now found uranium at the site.  Israel also believes that Syria had relied on imported North Korean scientists to provide the technical expertise to construct the plant.  The question of whether Iran supported this site is still unanswered.

'A possible Israeli strike against Iran is not completely off the radar,' a senior European Union diplomat says. Iran's intention to purchase Russian made S-300s anti-ballistic missiles could push Israel to a quicker offensive,  ...   “The perfect time (for Israel) is between now and Jan. 20 (Obama’s inauguration day).”  (Hurriyet Daily News)

Iran aims to establish Islamic studies departments in UK universities.

The Tehran Times reports that Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology "feels the necessity to help establish and strengthen departments of Islamic studies."

"The ministry is currently studying proposals by numerous world academic centres and universities including several universities from Britain, the United States, and Germany," an official from the cultural department of the ministry announced last month.

"The departments will be set up to train and educate experts on Islam so as to assist in the introduction of Islam and its realities to the world in a proper academic setting," he explained.  (continue reading at PinkNews.co.uk)

The US authorized its special forces to carry out more than a dozen raids in countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, four years ago as part of a stepped-up hunt for al-Qaida.  This was no surprise to those of us who keep up-to-date with our fight against terrorism.  I think this was leaked to the world via the New York Times and picked up by other media, to embarrass President George Bush and his administration.

It was first reported that Iran was NOT part of this authorization, but in fact our troops do have permission and it is my understanding they have used this authorization, to follow terrorists into Iran and take them out.  Thanks for blabbing the information NYT.

Considering all of the above, iran not only continues to be a threat to Israel, other countries in the Middle East, but also a serious threat to the United States of America.  Let's hope President Elect Barack Obama understands this and is willing to act appropriately.

The Undiscovered Citizenry: Honoring your local veteran

The Undiscovered Citizenry:
Honoring your local veteran

By R.J. Godlewski
© November 10, 2008, All Rights Reserved

Patron Saint of Soldiers: Saint George, Saint Joan of Arc;
Patron Saint of the Navy: Saint Francis of Paola;
Patron Saint of the Air Force: Saint Joseph of Cupertino

    It is easy, even within a time of war, to take those proudly serving within the U.S. military for granted. After all, we do not see them every day. They rarely appear outside our television sets and make even rarer appearances upon our movie screens. Chances are, those serving within our Navy, Air Force, Marines, Army, Coast Guard, National Guard and Reserves are as foreign to our expectations, as are the generals of Demetrius. This is sad, for each one of them performs a job unlike anything that you can imagine.

    Last Tuesday, precisely one week ago in fact, our nation heralded in the election of Barack Obama to the presidency as soon-to-be our forty-fourth commander-in-chief. This was a historic occasion. Senator Obama rose from abject poverty to await our nation’s highest office. I commend him for that. However, with nothing personal against Mr. Obama, I extend just a bit more respect to the lowliest airman, Marine, sailor, or soldier from any period in our nation’s history. Why? Because without these who truly sacrificed their time and, more often than we care to admit, their lives, there would be no opportunity for Senator Barack Obama to ascend to the presidency.

    Our freedoms and our liberties were ensured by those who served, both in times of war and during periods of relative “peace”, to keep our adversaries from destroying the very fabric of our culture. We cannot imagine what these fine men and women go through today, let alone those who served decades or even centuries in the past. Could a sailor serving aboard a sleek Aegis-class cruiser understand what it was like to stand engine room watches within a steamy, 140° environment? Could today’s Marine understand what it was like to go weeks or months without resupply or close air support? Conversely, could yesterday’s soldier have dreamed of the level of weaponry offered to today’s foot soldier? Could eighteenth century Marines have grasped the concept of instant data communications?

    Despite these astronomical differences, all soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines of all eras share a common bond: an intense love of country and an admirable sense of duty. Civilians, for example, have the luxury of staying at home whenever we become too ill to work. Not in the military. Once, while standing a roving security watch aboard my first ship, I not only became very sick, I had to clean up the mess before I continued with my rounds. ;o) If that does not teach you something about work ethics, nothing in civilian life ever could.

    When my late father served within the Army Air Corps during WWII, he received a grand pay of $50 per month. When I served within the Navy forty years later, I received about $940 per month, including sea pay. Today, thanks largely to President George W. Bush; our military makes a bit more money. However, no amount of money can inspire people to lay down their lives for their fellow countrymen as do those who proudly wear the uniform of the United States of America. In an election year where the “haves” and the “have-nots” were classified accordingly to strict personal interpretations, we fully ignored the most important group of citizens – the “gaves”.

    Our veterans and military personnel simply gave of their lives and make sacrifices unheard of within modern society. No other group of people have devoted so much of their time, their hobbies, time away from families, and chances at lucrative careers for so little in return. We should not honor them merely with Veterans Day but with Veterans Year, Veterans Decade, and Veterans Century to boot.

    To be a bit romantic and therefore wax poetically, when I wore my simple Navy uniform, I sometimes felt as if it were a suit of finely polish armor. It was my personal statement to all of the thugs and tyrants of the world that I was just one solitary block in the wall against evil and injustice; but that the wall was immensely large and powerful and all of us serving made sure that no one would destroy our homeland. Today, those fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Philippines, and points too numerous to mention are simply shoring up the wall that I remained part of thirty years ago and my father served as part of sixty years ago and countless others comprised since America decided that freedom and liberty were the foundations for a bright future.

    No mere words could therefore ever adequately extend my appreciation to all who serve and who have served. Many of my fellow classmates send in their assignments from the frontlines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Others are joining me in improving our commitment to the military long after we had left active duty. Civilians will therefore have to excuse me for a tiny bit of bigotry – military people, past and present, are the one group that I single out for preferential appreciation.

GOD BLESS YOU AND THANK YOU EACH AND EVERY ONE!