I almost didn’t post this last blog of the year. After reading it to my wife, I saw that it is not an uplifting piece and it’s kind of dark … but I decided to post it anyway … mostly because I write this blog to share what I think, and to get feed back from you…..so here it is and “there you have it”.
The year 2011 has come and gone; a year I’ve been saying would be one that we would like to forget but most likely never will. At the start of the year we saw the beginnings of what was later called the Arab spring that lead to regime change in Egypt and then in Libya. Now the Mid-East has become even more unstable than it allegedly was. Hosni Mubarak abdicated his office in Egypt, and Maummar Gaddafi was captured and murdered in Libya. No one knows exactly which direction either of those two countries are headed in. Will they become representative democracies similar to the United States? Or will they become something entirely different and fall into the hands of radical Islamic leaders as Iran did in the late 1970’s? … I believe the latter will be the case. I said in my blog posting of January 30th, “Tensions are high in the Middle East and no one is safe. Muslims are angry at their governments, but they are angry at the United States as well. The extremists point to our nation and to Israel as the root of all evil … never mind that Muslims are being and have been oppressed primarily by other Muslims. Be it Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, or Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, you name the Middle Eastern dictatorship and you will find a Muslim in charge … not a Jew or an American”.
This year has been a violent one. The Muslim uprisings were anything but peaceful. Arabs have been killed in demonstrations, reporters have been attacked and CBS News correspondent Lara Logan was gang raped by an Egyptian mob … her attackers chanting “Jew-Jew”. Mexico is a mess and so is Pakistan. There have been attacks in both countries … in Mexico it’s drug-related, in Pakistan it’s Islamic radicalization. As Americans, we should be worried about what happens in those countries because Mexican violence bleeds into the US and because what happens in Pakistan can lead to a nuclear armed menace.
On the war front, Osama bin-Laden was killed and so was the American Anwar al-Awlaki. Osama bin-Laden eluded death for much too long and Anwat al-Awlaki stopped being an American as soon as he joined with al-Qaeda and began plotting to kill Americans in the name of Islam. Americans are safer with both of them dead … but that does not mean that we are safe from Radical Islam, and Muslim terrorism. As we have already seen, there have been terror bombings in Iraq only days after our troops have left. The war against Muslim terrorism continues on. While I’m happy to see our troops come home, I fear that leaving Iraq prematurely (as we did in the 1990’s) will only cause a greater war to erupt there. We may very well find our military fighting against Iraq and Iran as they join together to hold the world’s oil reserves hostage.
Here at home we’ve seen occupy movements become violent. We saw mobs destroy the Wisconsin capital building, and more recently we’ve seen the OWS mobs become violent and unsafe in cities across the country … so much so that the mobs are no longer welcome even on liberal college campuses in California.
The year has been unusual, to say the least. We began with a huge natural disaster in Japan. Then there were the wild fires in Arizona and Texas. The flooding in Tennessee and elsewhere, and don’t forget about the earthquakes that took place in Alaska, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia. This year was the first I can remember in which both an earthquake and a hurricane hit the east coast within the same week … EVER. I believe there were some news sources that said that’s never happened before.
As the year progressed we’ve seen new developments take place in presidential politics. We’ve seen candidates show interest in becoming the next US president come and go. Donald Trump was one, some former governor of Minnesota was another (I never bothered to learn his name), my favorite (Sarah Palin) never got in, and then there was Herman Cain. Herman Cain dropped out of the race once he found out that he could not stop false accusations from being charged against him again and again … now he knows what Sarah Palin’s life has been like.
This year hasn’t been a good one for kids or young people. Every week we heard about children being abducted, raped, abused, and killed. Kids have been used for political reasons by special interest groups of all kinds. They have also been targeted by the media and retailers for economic gain. Young people have been attacking and looting businesses and individuals in flash mobs, gang mobs, and in OWS mobs. You heard about all of that … you just failed pay attention to it.
I’m a Dallas Cowboys fan, and this year (just as it has been for so many years now), seems to be another disappointing season for them and for me. They always have a bunch of talented players but they just don’t win games. But the most disappointing thing to happen in the NFL to my mind are the attacks that the Denver Broncos’ quarterback Tim Tebow has endured. Why has he been attacked? … because of his Christian faith. That’s right, because of his faith. Not that long ago no one would have felt it acceptable to attack anyone for being an unapologetic Christian. That saddens me and it causes me to lose hope in my country.
In San Francisco they have Naked Santa’s. Why? … who knows why. While Santa Claus is a secular symbol of Christmas, never the less he’s a saint. Naked Santa’s are an affront to his symbolism of goodness, charity, faithfulness, giving, and modesty. Actions like these also cause me to lose hope in my country, too.
In fairness I haven’t lost hope in my country alone … I’ve lost faith in the western world. Europe is collapsing before our very eyes, Mexico’s falling apart under our noses, and immorality, debauchery, and evil are on the rise everywhere. If you don’t think so, you’d better look again. Like I said, 2011 is a year we would like to forget but most likely never will. Will 2012 be any better? … I pray that it will.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
LIBERAL HYPOCRICY
I’ve never seen a more fitting example of liberal hypocrisy than that of “Occupy Wall Street” mobs. The mobs haven’t been friendly, clean, inclusive, culturally or ethnically diverse, or even very nice. Aren’t those all of the things that liberals profess themselves to be? Am I missing something?
The mobs have been loud, dirty, filthy, nasty, smelly, and violent. I’ve noticed that with almost every liberal mob. It does not matter if it is the mobs that roamed the streets of Arizona protesting the immigration law, or if is the anti-Glenn Beck mobs that gathered at the Washington mall, or government labor union mobs like the ones we saw “occupy” the Wisconsin capital . These mobs can always be counted on to scare people, confront law enforcement, and then leave the place a mess.
Sure we’ve always known that hypocrisy exists in almost every group of people. It doesn’t matter if it is related to religion, law, business, politics, or government. I have seen and heard self-professed liberals say that they support all types of popular culture agendas while at the same time say that they themselves would never actually do any those very same things.
High income earning liberals will almost always say that the public school system is just fine for us regular folks while they themselves send their kids to esteemed private schools. They even often send them to religious schools while at the same time insist that religion be removed from public schools. Theirs is the notion of “do as I say not as I do”.
The list of liberal hypocrisy is endless and grows with each new day, but the OWS movement has brought that hypocrisy into the light of day and in front of the cameras. Yet liberals (especially those in the news media) haven’t seemed to notice, but rather than scold the OWS mob’s for their disgusting behavior they ignore the behavior … similar to how an unfit parent ignores the behavior of a disrespectful child.
President Obama and Nancy Pelosi have both openly supported these mobs, yet in the past they have accused the TEA Party of being unauthentic. Nancy said that the TEA Party was “astroturf”, as if the TEA Party movement is not a true grassroots movement. Do they really expect thinking Americans to believe that the OWS mob is anything more than “astroturf”?
The OWS mob is a movement of left wing losers, boozers, and stoners. But they make up for it by adding old hippies, young hippies, self hating millionaires and billionaires, drifters and perverts into their ranks. Yep, these are the kind of people that are an authentic movement worth paying attention to … I don’t think so.
The OWS mob claims that they are the 99%. I’d sure like to know what they are 99% of. They must mean that they are the 99% of liberal Democrats, because we know there isn’t any room for a conservative, capitalistic point of view within the Democrat party (that is except for those actual capitalist millionaires and billionaires that comprise the leadership of their party and the Hollywood elitist that contribute lavish donations to them). You know who they are, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, The Kennedy clan, George Sorros, Michael More, The Clintons, and so on. Yep they’re all a bunch of rich fat cat 1% hypocrites and they’re the leaders of the Mob.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like, or let me know if I don’t have a clue
Eddie
The mobs have been loud, dirty, filthy, nasty, smelly, and violent. I’ve noticed that with almost every liberal mob. It does not matter if it is the mobs that roamed the streets of Arizona protesting the immigration law, or if is the anti-Glenn Beck mobs that gathered at the Washington mall, or government labor union mobs like the ones we saw “occupy” the Wisconsin capital . These mobs can always be counted on to scare people, confront law enforcement, and then leave the place a mess.
Sure we’ve always known that hypocrisy exists in almost every group of people. It doesn’t matter if it is related to religion, law, business, politics, or government. I have seen and heard self-professed liberals say that they support all types of popular culture agendas while at the same time say that they themselves would never actually do any those very same things.
High income earning liberals will almost always say that the public school system is just fine for us regular folks while they themselves send their kids to esteemed private schools. They even often send them to religious schools while at the same time insist that religion be removed from public schools. Theirs is the notion of “do as I say not as I do”.
The list of liberal hypocrisy is endless and grows with each new day, but the OWS movement has brought that hypocrisy into the light of day and in front of the cameras. Yet liberals (especially those in the news media) haven’t seemed to notice, but rather than scold the OWS mob’s for their disgusting behavior they ignore the behavior … similar to how an unfit parent ignores the behavior of a disrespectful child.
President Obama and Nancy Pelosi have both openly supported these mobs, yet in the past they have accused the TEA Party of being unauthentic. Nancy said that the TEA Party was “astroturf”, as if the TEA Party movement is not a true grassroots movement. Do they really expect thinking Americans to believe that the OWS mob is anything more than “astroturf”?
The OWS mob is a movement of left wing losers, boozers, and stoners. But they make up for it by adding old hippies, young hippies, self hating millionaires and billionaires, drifters and perverts into their ranks. Yep, these are the kind of people that are an authentic movement worth paying attention to … I don’t think so.
The OWS mob claims that they are the 99%. I’d sure like to know what they are 99% of. They must mean that they are the 99% of liberal Democrats, because we know there isn’t any room for a conservative, capitalistic point of view within the Democrat party (that is except for those actual capitalist millionaires and billionaires that comprise the leadership of their party and the Hollywood elitist that contribute lavish donations to them). You know who they are, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, The Kennedy clan, George Sorros, Michael More, The Clintons, and so on. Yep they’re all a bunch of rich fat cat 1% hypocrites and they’re the leaders of the Mob.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like, or let me know if I don’t have a clue
Eddie
Sunday, October 23, 2011
DECADENCE, DEBAUCHERY, DRUNKENESS, AND FILTH
Decadence, debauchery, drunkenness, and filth! Yes, that is what I said! I know what you’re thinking … now what are you talking about Eddie?! I’m talking about the “Occupy Wall Street” (OWS) mobs that have popped up in NYC and around the country. I’ve heard some people say that they have no idea what the “occupy” movement is all about. I say what they are all about is being played out right before our eyes … on camera! What they’re all about is this … DECADENCE, DEBAUCHERY, DRUNKENESS, AND FILTH!
Now I know a lot of people are saying that the “occupiers” are a lot like the TEA Partiers. I say that those people are either stupid or blind or both. The TEA Parties have always had a consistent message: they opposed the government bail outs, over spending, increasing the national debt, and Obamacare. They have also been kind and respectful to others and to the environment around them. And above all else the TEA Parties have been safe and CLEAN … for every one.
The same cannot be said of the “Occupiers”. I have listened to radio interviews of “Occupy” organizer from here in San Antonio TX and from Austin TX. Their positions have not been consistent, realistic, well thought out, or at all impressive. I have also seen interviews on television of “OWS” participants in NYC that are just as unimpressive … not to mention the images that have popped up on the internet and on the FOX NEWS Channel. I’ll ask you this question: just which crowd would you feel safer in? … a crowd full of conservative TEA Partiers or in an “Occupy Wall Street” mob full of drunk, drug induced liberals? Now be honest.
Some people have compared the “OWS” mobs with the Woodstock mob of the 1960’s. I agree. Woodstock became a Roman orgy of, you guessed it….. DECADENCE, DEBAUCHERY, DRUNKENESS, AND FILTH! Woodstock was an absolute failure. The crowds became unmanageable, they tore up the fields the concerts were played in, and it became an unsanitary pit. Sound familiar? … yes it does.
The “OWS” mobs are filled with “old hippies that don’t know what to do” and with young people that don’t know what to do either, other than complain and holler “tax the rich!”. What they really mean is take the money.
Whose money do they want to take? … in the end; they want your money! That’s right they want your money. They don’t want mine ‘cause I don’t have any … but you do. Sure they say the rich aren’t paying their fair share, but the reality is that the rich pay most of the US tax burden. But the “OCW” mob is full of useful idiots. They’ve been duped to believe that if we just took more money away from the rich all of our troubles would go away. But they won’t go away because there aren’t enough rich people in the entire country to fill the hole that government has dug ... even if the rich were taxed at 100%.
So who will the next target be? The “somewhat rich” or the “not so rich”, and then “the better off”, and then the “doing OK” and then ultimately they will come after you. Because that is what totalitarian communist do. (OH NO I said the “C” word!) Communists will use any means necessary to achieve their ends. It has been said that the only reason communism has failed is because it hasn’t been tried in the right places. The USSR, China, Cuba, and Indo-China, are all failed communist dictatorships. Those countries weren’t even the proper breading ground for communism to have been born in. Marx said that the industrial nations is were communism would take root. That is where the “People’s Revolution” would erupt. But that didn’t happen.
True communism has never been achieved anywhere in the world. That is because the industrialized west opposed it. In doing so the revolution was stalled, but it has never ended. Planning and plotting has been taking place in our colleges, universities, and labor unions around the world and here in the United States. The War On Terror has distracted many of us from the threat of communist, but it has not distracted them. After all the “People’s Revolution” is one that will never and can never end. Not so long as individuals have free will and freedom.
Our country’s foundational principals used to be this; in order for men to be free and to govern themselves we must first be good. Morals, ethics, and characteristics that were once looked upon as admirable are now laughed at and ridiculed. Virtue is a thing of the past. You can see that openly displayed with “OWS” mob. But Eddie, you’ll tell me, “the “OCW” mob does not reflect the majority of Americans”. But it only takes a small well organized and committed core to achieve great things, that are either worthwhile or worthless. I believe the “OCW” mob is worthless. How do I know this? Because this mod is all about… DECADENCE, DEBAUCHERY, DRUNKENESS, AND FILTH.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Now I know a lot of people are saying that the “occupiers” are a lot like the TEA Partiers. I say that those people are either stupid or blind or both. The TEA Parties have always had a consistent message: they opposed the government bail outs, over spending, increasing the national debt, and Obamacare. They have also been kind and respectful to others and to the environment around them. And above all else the TEA Parties have been safe and CLEAN … for every one.
The same cannot be said of the “Occupiers”. I have listened to radio interviews of “Occupy” organizer from here in San Antonio TX and from Austin TX. Their positions have not been consistent, realistic, well thought out, or at all impressive. I have also seen interviews on television of “OWS” participants in NYC that are just as unimpressive … not to mention the images that have popped up on the internet and on the FOX NEWS Channel. I’ll ask you this question: just which crowd would you feel safer in? … a crowd full of conservative TEA Partiers or in an “Occupy Wall Street” mob full of drunk, drug induced liberals? Now be honest.
Some people have compared the “OWS” mobs with the Woodstock mob of the 1960’s. I agree. Woodstock became a Roman orgy of, you guessed it….. DECADENCE, DEBAUCHERY, DRUNKENESS, AND FILTH! Woodstock was an absolute failure. The crowds became unmanageable, they tore up the fields the concerts were played in, and it became an unsanitary pit. Sound familiar? … yes it does.
The “OWS” mobs are filled with “old hippies that don’t know what to do” and with young people that don’t know what to do either, other than complain and holler “tax the rich!”. What they really mean is take the money.
Whose money do they want to take? … in the end; they want your money! That’s right they want your money. They don’t want mine ‘cause I don’t have any … but you do. Sure they say the rich aren’t paying their fair share, but the reality is that the rich pay most of the US tax burden. But the “OCW” mob is full of useful idiots. They’ve been duped to believe that if we just took more money away from the rich all of our troubles would go away. But they won’t go away because there aren’t enough rich people in the entire country to fill the hole that government has dug ... even if the rich were taxed at 100%.
So who will the next target be? The “somewhat rich” or the “not so rich”, and then “the better off”, and then the “doing OK” and then ultimately they will come after you. Because that is what totalitarian communist do. (OH NO I said the “C” word!) Communists will use any means necessary to achieve their ends. It has been said that the only reason communism has failed is because it hasn’t been tried in the right places. The USSR, China, Cuba, and Indo-China, are all failed communist dictatorships. Those countries weren’t even the proper breading ground for communism to have been born in. Marx said that the industrial nations is were communism would take root. That is where the “People’s Revolution” would erupt. But that didn’t happen.
True communism has never been achieved anywhere in the world. That is because the industrialized west opposed it. In doing so the revolution was stalled, but it has never ended. Planning and plotting has been taking place in our colleges, universities, and labor unions around the world and here in the United States. The War On Terror has distracted many of us from the threat of communist, but it has not distracted them. After all the “People’s Revolution” is one that will never and can never end. Not so long as individuals have free will and freedom.
Our country’s foundational principals used to be this; in order for men to be free and to govern themselves we must first be good. Morals, ethics, and characteristics that were once looked upon as admirable are now laughed at and ridiculed. Virtue is a thing of the past. You can see that openly displayed with “OWS” mob. But Eddie, you’ll tell me, “the “OCW” mob does not reflect the majority of Americans”. But it only takes a small well organized and committed core to achieve great things, that are either worthwhile or worthless. I believe the “OCW” mob is worthless. How do I know this? Because this mod is all about… DECADENCE, DEBAUCHERY, DRUNKENESS, AND FILTH.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
WHOSE MONEY IS IT ANYWAY?!
“It’s the government’s money”….that was said to me by a cousin of mine (a Democrat). We were debating the upcoming 2008 elections at the time, and, of course, taxes became a big part of the debate. It’s difficult to have a conversation with someone when they don’t understand that the money we earn does not come from the government. It is our money not the government’s, and so I dropped the subject with him. I remember wondering how we can have the same blood running through our veins yet have such polar opposite views …. after all our mother and my father were brother and sister!
You may have gathered that I don’t believe that our money is the government’s money. I’ve never thought that at any point in my life….not even when I was a kid! However there are a lot of, or should I say, there are far too many people that seem to think that our money belongs to the government and that the government should be able to set just how much of that money we may keep. I say to hell with that!
Taxes are always a touchy subject, I don’t know anyone that enjoys paying them. I know that I don’t….do you? I have heard some people say that they do not mind paying their taxes, I call those people…………liars.
Right now there is debate in Washington DC on whether or not taxes should be raised on the “rich”, whomever they may be. However, just not so long ago, President Obama and other Democrats were saying that in these tough economic times, raising taxes on anyone is a bad idea. Have things gotten better since then? Or has this bad idea somehow become a good idea? No things haven’t gotten better and it’s still a bad idea.
Millionaires and Billionaires aren’t paying their fair share they say. So I guess Zillionaires are really getting away with it! They say we can’t keep giving them money. I did not know that Uncle Sam was writing checks to those scoundrels! Wait a minute! Uncle Sam isn’t writing them checks is he?! No he’s not….what Democrats and the President want to do is take more money away from them, because, as my cousin said, “it’s the government’s money”.
Warren Buffet’s been saying that taxes should be raised on millionaires and billionaires, however I’ve heard that Mr. Buffet’s been fighting a billion dollar tax bill for years. He says that his secretary pays more in taxes than he does. Well no wonder she does, he’s been dodging a billion dollar tax bill! I’m sure she hasn’t had a zillion dollar tax bill. Come on Warren, a lot Americans were born at night … but not last night. Sounds to me like Warren’s been drinking too many tequila sunrises with Jimmy Buffet … he must be drunk talking that kind of nonsense.
Some people argue, “what’s wrong with increasing taxes on the wealthy four or five percent more?”. I say it’s one thing if you’re increasing taxes from 1% to 6%, but quite another when you increase 23 % to 27% or 28 %. Here’s what’s wrong with it….it’s their money! It is not the government’s. How would you like it if all of a sudden Uncle Sam decides that now you aren’t paying your fair share because your earn more money than other people in the neighborhood? Answer…you wouldn’t.
Let’s not kid ourselves … there aren’t enough millionaires, billionaires, or even zillionaires in the country to have an significant impact on the national debt. Nor will raising taxes address budget shortfalls either. The only way to lower the debt and fix the budget is by cutting government spending and reducing the size and scope of our federal government. I know people are saying that a lot Americans depend on government to provide them with all kinds of services, benefits, and income … but if we do nothing about how the federal government spends our money, very soon there won’t be enough money for any of those things. We’ve created dependency and now that dependency is killing our independent spirit and is stressing our finances.
Why has that happened? … because for almost a century we have let government forget just whose money it is they spend. Whose money is that? … ours, yours and mine, it doesn’t belong to anyone else. That includes money taxed away from millionaires and billionaires. They best way to increase the money flow into the federal coffers is to increase the number of taxpayers paying taxes into the system, not increasing tax rates.
The most common argument for increasing taxes on high income earners isn’t because it will increase federal revenues, because it won’t. The argument becomes: because it is fair. What’s fair about that? My argument always boils down to this: whose money is it anyway!?! Does it belong to the people that work for it, or does it belong to government?
The President has said that he believes in spreading the wealth around. I say that he should believe in spreading prosperity around … but, he hasn’t a clue on how to do it.
This nation has created a monster. We’ve created a monster of debt, of government, of dependence, and of envy. The trouble with monsters is that they always turn on their creators.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
You may have gathered that I don’t believe that our money is the government’s money. I’ve never thought that at any point in my life….not even when I was a kid! However there are a lot of, or should I say, there are far too many people that seem to think that our money belongs to the government and that the government should be able to set just how much of that money we may keep. I say to hell with that!
Taxes are always a touchy subject, I don’t know anyone that enjoys paying them. I know that I don’t….do you? I have heard some people say that they do not mind paying their taxes, I call those people…………liars.
Right now there is debate in Washington DC on whether or not taxes should be raised on the “rich”, whomever they may be. However, just not so long ago, President Obama and other Democrats were saying that in these tough economic times, raising taxes on anyone is a bad idea. Have things gotten better since then? Or has this bad idea somehow become a good idea? No things haven’t gotten better and it’s still a bad idea.
Millionaires and Billionaires aren’t paying their fair share they say. So I guess Zillionaires are really getting away with it! They say we can’t keep giving them money. I did not know that Uncle Sam was writing checks to those scoundrels! Wait a minute! Uncle Sam isn’t writing them checks is he?! No he’s not….what Democrats and the President want to do is take more money away from them, because, as my cousin said, “it’s the government’s money”.
Warren Buffet’s been saying that taxes should be raised on millionaires and billionaires, however I’ve heard that Mr. Buffet’s been fighting a billion dollar tax bill for years. He says that his secretary pays more in taxes than he does. Well no wonder she does, he’s been dodging a billion dollar tax bill! I’m sure she hasn’t had a zillion dollar tax bill. Come on Warren, a lot Americans were born at night … but not last night. Sounds to me like Warren’s been drinking too many tequila sunrises with Jimmy Buffet … he must be drunk talking that kind of nonsense.
Some people argue, “what’s wrong with increasing taxes on the wealthy four or five percent more?”. I say it’s one thing if you’re increasing taxes from 1% to 6%, but quite another when you increase 23 % to 27% or 28 %. Here’s what’s wrong with it….it’s their money! It is not the government’s. How would you like it if all of a sudden Uncle Sam decides that now you aren’t paying your fair share because your earn more money than other people in the neighborhood? Answer…you wouldn’t.
Let’s not kid ourselves … there aren’t enough millionaires, billionaires, or even zillionaires in the country to have an significant impact on the national debt. Nor will raising taxes address budget shortfalls either. The only way to lower the debt and fix the budget is by cutting government spending and reducing the size and scope of our federal government. I know people are saying that a lot Americans depend on government to provide them with all kinds of services, benefits, and income … but if we do nothing about how the federal government spends our money, very soon there won’t be enough money for any of those things. We’ve created dependency and now that dependency is killing our independent spirit and is stressing our finances.
Why has that happened? … because for almost a century we have let government forget just whose money it is they spend. Whose money is that? … ours, yours and mine, it doesn’t belong to anyone else. That includes money taxed away from millionaires and billionaires. They best way to increase the money flow into the federal coffers is to increase the number of taxpayers paying taxes into the system, not increasing tax rates.
The most common argument for increasing taxes on high income earners isn’t because it will increase federal revenues, because it won’t. The argument becomes: because it is fair. What’s fair about that? My argument always boils down to this: whose money is it anyway!?! Does it belong to the people that work for it, or does it belong to government?
The President has said that he believes in spreading the wealth around. I say that he should believe in spreading prosperity around … but, he hasn’t a clue on how to do it.
This nation has created a monster. We’ve created a monster of debt, of government, of dependence, and of envy. The trouble with monsters is that they always turn on their creators.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Friday, September 16, 2011
HERE’S YOUR NEW JOBS….$BILL
President Obama spoke before a joint session of Congress on Thursday, September 8, 2011. I did not watch his speech … I never do. That is because I have zero confidence in the man and the political party that he leads. The speech was touted as the unveiling of his new jobs programs and initiatives ...it wasn’t. What it was, was just another campaign speech. He spewed the same old class warfare rhetoric that he’s far too accustomed to using. In his speech he repeatedly told Congress to pass his jobs bill. A bill, that at the time of the speech, no one in Congress had seen. I doubt that even Barack Obama himself had seen the mystery bill. I had to jokingly say that not only had he and the Democrats started passing bills without reading them, but now they were going to pass bills without writing them! .... as I’m righting this blog (today is September 14, 2011) the jobs bill has been in congressional circulation a day or so.
As I said, I did not watch the televised speech, but that does not mean that I didn’t follow up on it. I was not surprised that the speech was long on words (just words) and short on details … that is not unusual for a Barack Obama speech. What did surprise me is that he did not have the presence of mind to acknowledge the upcoming tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Here he was in front of a joint session of Congress live on prime time television and he says nothing. I found that to be remarkable, but what I found to be even more remarkable than that, is that almost no one else in the US did.
I (as well as many others) have said that far too many of us have forgotten what happened on 9-11. We’ve become insulated from it. We don’t talk about it. We don’t hear about it. We don’t think about it. But our enemies do think about, talk about, and hear about it … the attack on our homeland was considered a victory in their eyes. What do most people do when they’ve suffered a defeat? … they avoid the topic. And we has a nation have been doing just that. Yes, we’ve taken the war to them but we’ve not defeated them. I’m a big Dallas Cowboys fan …. but just this past weekend, on 9-11-11, I watched them lose a game they thought they were winning. And I believe we as a nation are on the verge of losing a game we think we’ve won.
We’ve not ended the threat of Islamic terrorism against us and we have not ended the threat of our economic woes either. Recently my wife was very excited that we received a letter in the mail from our credit card company informing us that they were going to lower our interest rate. Isn’t that something! Just because we’ve been paying down our debt and then not adding to it they have decided to lower the interest rate. Now if only Barack Obama, the Democrats, and RINO Republicans would do the same with our national debt … pay it down and then stop adding to it.
Barack Obama’s latest bill does neither of those things. He’s going to borrow some more to pay for mostly government jobs and projects. He’s willing to mortgage still more of America’s future to pay for the mistakes of this and former generations rather than fix those problems today. Affixing a great debt on posterity is un-American and immoral. I cannot say it any better than my cousin Lonnie did and so I won’t …. so I’ll let you read how he felt after hearing President Obama jobs speech, “I was extremely disappointed, that, as we approach the tenth anniversary of the attack on our nation, our president would call for a joint session of Congress to declare to the world that the evil intentions of our enemies; to destroy our financial, governmental and military systems were accomplished. We are broke, leaderless, and our ability to defend ourselves is diminishing”. Lonnie Perez , Sept 2011.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
As I said, I did not watch the televised speech, but that does not mean that I didn’t follow up on it. I was not surprised that the speech was long on words (just words) and short on details … that is not unusual for a Barack Obama speech. What did surprise me is that he did not have the presence of mind to acknowledge the upcoming tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Here he was in front of a joint session of Congress live on prime time television and he says nothing. I found that to be remarkable, but what I found to be even more remarkable than that, is that almost no one else in the US did.
I (as well as many others) have said that far too many of us have forgotten what happened on 9-11. We’ve become insulated from it. We don’t talk about it. We don’t hear about it. We don’t think about it. But our enemies do think about, talk about, and hear about it … the attack on our homeland was considered a victory in their eyes. What do most people do when they’ve suffered a defeat? … they avoid the topic. And we has a nation have been doing just that. Yes, we’ve taken the war to them but we’ve not defeated them. I’m a big Dallas Cowboys fan …. but just this past weekend, on 9-11-11, I watched them lose a game they thought they were winning. And I believe we as a nation are on the verge of losing a game we think we’ve won.
We’ve not ended the threat of Islamic terrorism against us and we have not ended the threat of our economic woes either. Recently my wife was very excited that we received a letter in the mail from our credit card company informing us that they were going to lower our interest rate. Isn’t that something! Just because we’ve been paying down our debt and then not adding to it they have decided to lower the interest rate. Now if only Barack Obama, the Democrats, and RINO Republicans would do the same with our national debt … pay it down and then stop adding to it.
Barack Obama’s latest bill does neither of those things. He’s going to borrow some more to pay for mostly government jobs and projects. He’s willing to mortgage still more of America’s future to pay for the mistakes of this and former generations rather than fix those problems today. Affixing a great debt on posterity is un-American and immoral. I cannot say it any better than my cousin Lonnie did and so I won’t …. so I’ll let you read how he felt after hearing President Obama jobs speech, “I was extremely disappointed, that, as we approach the tenth anniversary of the attack on our nation, our president would call for a joint session of Congress to declare to the world that the evil intentions of our enemies; to destroy our financial, governmental and military systems were accomplished. We are broke, leaderless, and our ability to defend ourselves is diminishing”. Lonnie Perez , Sept 2011.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Friday, September 2, 2011
TWO EATHQUAKES AND A HURRICANE
Two earthquakes (one in Virginia, the other in Colorado) and a hurricane hit the United States in the same week; that’s weird isn’t it? From what I understand, Virginia’s never been hit by both a hurricane and an earthquake in the same week. In that same week NYC Mayor Bloomberg announced that he was not going to allow religious leaders to speak at the September 11th tenth anniversary memorial. That’s not only weird, it ain’t right. But he is going to allow politicians to speak at the event … isn’t that special.
Let’s not forget about the earthquake that rocked Alaska in June, or the wild fires, floods, and drought that have hit the USA. And never mind all of the other natural and manmade disasters that have happened everywhere else in the world this year.
The strangeness never seem to end. In the very week that the US was experiencing earthquakes and a hurricane, the rebels in Libya captured Muammar Gaddafi’s son, and now Colonel Gaddafi is seemingly out of power. While in other regional news, Israel launched missiles into Egypt in retaliation to suicide bombings and missile attacks that have been carried out against them on the Israeli / Egyptian border. Security on the border has weakened since Hosni Mubarak was removed from power in Egypt. The Arab uprisings that have been taking place everywhere in the region are all unsettled and will be for the foreseeable future. In a nut shell, no one knows how the Arab uprisings this year will effect global and regional peace, or the world economy, and what Israel is going to have to do in order to survive as a nation.
But that’s not all of the weirdness we should be thinking about. London burned as riots and flash mobs ran rampant through the streets. Destroying property, neighborhoods, and lives … mostly out of class envy, jealousy, and evilness. The riots were not to protest political or religious oppression, or to remove a tyrannical dictatorship, or to establish democracy. They already have democracy in England as well as political and religious freedom. No, it was mob lawlessness that caused the violence. Some will say it was due to the police killing of Mark Duggan, a known drug dealer, that caused the riots … I don’t agree. I would say that his killing was used as a convenient excuse by the rioters, just as was the case with Rodney King and the LA riots. But it doesn’t take much to move a mob to violence … a riot could have easily erupted after a soccer match.
On the economic front, Standard and Poor’s lowered the credit rating of the United States from AAA to AA+ as a direct result of how Congress and the White House have mishandled fiscal policy. However, Moody’s and other ratings institutions have not lowered the US rating … but that doesn’t mean that they won’t. Billionaire investor Warren Buffet has publicly criticized the downgrade, but that doesn’t change the fact that it happened nor does it mean that other rating companies will not follow suit. The United States has never before had its credit rating lowered. That means that our country is no longer considered good as gold. As a result of that, what has Congress and the White House done to correct this strange turn of events? … nothing. Sure there’s been a lot of talk, but talk is cheap … and the national debt and deficits aren’t.
What will happen next is anyone’s guess. So much has happened this year that I can’t recall all of it … from the Japanese spumoni and earthquakes, to the Arab uprisings, to the Arizona shootings. Here in the US we’ve had wild fires, storms, floods, tornadoes, and now hurricanes. Who will ever forget Joplin, Missouri, being destroyed by a massive tornado this year … or the millions of acres of land that has been burned in fires … or birds falling dead from the sky and dead fish washing up on or beaches and shore lines. I won’t … will you? Gas prices have soared this year and unemployment remains much too high. I have said that 2011 will be a year we would like to forget, but most likely never will.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Let’s not forget about the earthquake that rocked Alaska in June, or the wild fires, floods, and drought that have hit the USA. And never mind all of the other natural and manmade disasters that have happened everywhere else in the world this year.
The strangeness never seem to end. In the very week that the US was experiencing earthquakes and a hurricane, the rebels in Libya captured Muammar Gaddafi’s son, and now Colonel Gaddafi is seemingly out of power. While in other regional news, Israel launched missiles into Egypt in retaliation to suicide bombings and missile attacks that have been carried out against them on the Israeli / Egyptian border. Security on the border has weakened since Hosni Mubarak was removed from power in Egypt. The Arab uprisings that have been taking place everywhere in the region are all unsettled and will be for the foreseeable future. In a nut shell, no one knows how the Arab uprisings this year will effect global and regional peace, or the world economy, and what Israel is going to have to do in order to survive as a nation.
But that’s not all of the weirdness we should be thinking about. London burned as riots and flash mobs ran rampant through the streets. Destroying property, neighborhoods, and lives … mostly out of class envy, jealousy, and evilness. The riots were not to protest political or religious oppression, or to remove a tyrannical dictatorship, or to establish democracy. They already have democracy in England as well as political and religious freedom. No, it was mob lawlessness that caused the violence. Some will say it was due to the police killing of Mark Duggan, a known drug dealer, that caused the riots … I don’t agree. I would say that his killing was used as a convenient excuse by the rioters, just as was the case with Rodney King and the LA riots. But it doesn’t take much to move a mob to violence … a riot could have easily erupted after a soccer match.
On the economic front, Standard and Poor’s lowered the credit rating of the United States from AAA to AA+ as a direct result of how Congress and the White House have mishandled fiscal policy. However, Moody’s and other ratings institutions have not lowered the US rating … but that doesn’t mean that they won’t. Billionaire investor Warren Buffet has publicly criticized the downgrade, but that doesn’t change the fact that it happened nor does it mean that other rating companies will not follow suit. The United States has never before had its credit rating lowered. That means that our country is no longer considered good as gold. As a result of that, what has Congress and the White House done to correct this strange turn of events? … nothing. Sure there’s been a lot of talk, but talk is cheap … and the national debt and deficits aren’t.
What will happen next is anyone’s guess. So much has happened this year that I can’t recall all of it … from the Japanese spumoni and earthquakes, to the Arab uprisings, to the Arizona shootings. Here in the US we’ve had wild fires, storms, floods, tornadoes, and now hurricanes. Who will ever forget Joplin, Missouri, being destroyed by a massive tornado this year … or the millions of acres of land that has been burned in fires … or birds falling dead from the sky and dead fish washing up on or beaches and shore lines. I won’t … will you? Gas prices have soared this year and unemployment remains much too high. I have said that 2011 will be a year we would like to forget, but most likely never will.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
ROMANS 11
“Romans 11, Romans 11, Romans 11” … that is what kept popping into my head as I lay in bed one night.
A few weeks ago I was having a debate regarding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. As an Evangelical Christian I was raised a supporter of Israel. Churches that I went to growing up always prayed for Israel. Pastors that I listened to would preach of Israel and how we must support Israel. So I supported Israel mostly because I was told to.
I’ll admit often times I wondered why Christians were told to do so but I never asked anyone to explain that to me. I just took it on faith that is what Christians do ... kind of like I took it on faith that Jesus came to the world to save me from Hell.
Anyway, as the years passed, I began to understand that Israel reserves a special place with God. I learned that God gave Israel his promise of protection when Abraham found favor with him. I remember reading that in the Bible somewhere. Even with that I’ve never really gotten it … that is, until that thought popped into my head.
You see I haven’t studied the Bible, even though I call myself a Christian. I’ve always considered it the job of preachers and teachers to do that for me. You know, then they could pass along the really important stuff to me. Heck, I’ve never even kept notes. Then again, I’ve always been like that. I almost never took notes when I was going to school … I figured what I needed to know would stick, and that what didn’t, didn’t matter.
So there I am laying in bed when Romans 11 pops into my brain. At first I asked my wife if she knew what was in Romans 11. You see, Lisa was one of those Bible-study- church-on-Sunday-&-Wednesday-night-Christian-singles-club kind of Christians when I met her. So, naturally, I expected that she would know. After all, she was the kind of student that took notes in school and graduated from college with honors. Her answer to me in her “I’m trying to go to sleep” voice was, “I don’t know”.
So the only option left was to read Romans 11. And that is what I did. Not only did I read Romans 11, I read Romans 12 and 13, too. In those three little chapters I found my answer as to why Israel is so important to the world and to Christians in particular. But I also found out why it is important for Jews around the world to support Israel too.
You see, the nation of Israel fulfills Gods promise to reestablish Israel on earth … and God always keeps His word. But because Israel rejected God through Christ, the rest of the world was given access to God through Christ by His grace. So now those of us that truly believe that Jesus is who He says He is, the true living Son of God, we’ve now been given access to God’s promise to Israel. That’s a good thing. But here is the really great thing! We have done nothing to gain access to that promise … Israel did. Now it is our job to pray for and support the nation of Israel so that one day soon Israel will turn to Jesus as its savior. Why do I say this? Because I learned that in Romans 11. I hope and I pray that you’ll learn that too.
I can’t tell you why that thought popped into my head in the natural. I’d never even known that there was a Romans 11 until I read Romans 11. The only answer I have to that is that God placed that thought there for me. He did that so that I would know that yes there really is a profound reason for Christians to pray for and support the nation of Israel. And that reason is this … because He wants Israel to be blessed. He always has and always will. And so long as we agree with Him and obey Him in remembering the special place Israel has in His word we will have access to His blessing through Christ. We are the fortunate ones because all of those blessing have been given to us freely as a result of Israel’s rejection of Jesus Christ our Perfect Lord and Savior.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
A few weeks ago I was having a debate regarding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. As an Evangelical Christian I was raised a supporter of Israel. Churches that I went to growing up always prayed for Israel. Pastors that I listened to would preach of Israel and how we must support Israel. So I supported Israel mostly because I was told to.
I’ll admit often times I wondered why Christians were told to do so but I never asked anyone to explain that to me. I just took it on faith that is what Christians do ... kind of like I took it on faith that Jesus came to the world to save me from Hell.
Anyway, as the years passed, I began to understand that Israel reserves a special place with God. I learned that God gave Israel his promise of protection when Abraham found favor with him. I remember reading that in the Bible somewhere. Even with that I’ve never really gotten it … that is, until that thought popped into my head.
You see I haven’t studied the Bible, even though I call myself a Christian. I’ve always considered it the job of preachers and teachers to do that for me. You know, then they could pass along the really important stuff to me. Heck, I’ve never even kept notes. Then again, I’ve always been like that. I almost never took notes when I was going to school … I figured what I needed to know would stick, and that what didn’t, didn’t matter.
So there I am laying in bed when Romans 11 pops into my brain. At first I asked my wife if she knew what was in Romans 11. You see, Lisa was one of those Bible-study- church-on-Sunday-&-Wednesday-night-Christian-singles-club kind of Christians when I met her. So, naturally, I expected that she would know. After all, she was the kind of student that took notes in school and graduated from college with honors. Her answer to me in her “I’m trying to go to sleep” voice was, “I don’t know”.
So the only option left was to read Romans 11. And that is what I did. Not only did I read Romans 11, I read Romans 12 and 13, too. In those three little chapters I found my answer as to why Israel is so important to the world and to Christians in particular. But I also found out why it is important for Jews around the world to support Israel too.
You see, the nation of Israel fulfills Gods promise to reestablish Israel on earth … and God always keeps His word. But because Israel rejected God through Christ, the rest of the world was given access to God through Christ by His grace. So now those of us that truly believe that Jesus is who He says He is, the true living Son of God, we’ve now been given access to God’s promise to Israel. That’s a good thing. But here is the really great thing! We have done nothing to gain access to that promise … Israel did. Now it is our job to pray for and support the nation of Israel so that one day soon Israel will turn to Jesus as its savior. Why do I say this? Because I learned that in Romans 11. I hope and I pray that you’ll learn that too.
I can’t tell you why that thought popped into my head in the natural. I’d never even known that there was a Romans 11 until I read Romans 11. The only answer I have to that is that God placed that thought there for me. He did that so that I would know that yes there really is a profound reason for Christians to pray for and support the nation of Israel. And that reason is this … because He wants Israel to be blessed. He always has and always will. And so long as we agree with Him and obey Him in remembering the special place Israel has in His word we will have access to His blessing through Christ. We are the fortunate ones because all of those blessing have been given to us freely as a result of Israel’s rejection of Jesus Christ our Perfect Lord and Savior.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
I’M MAD AT TOM CLANCY
I’m mad at Tom Clancy!....OK, I’m not really mad at Tom Clancy.
Recently I read a book of his that was published in 1996 titled Executive Orders. Up until then I hadn’t read anything he’s written. I’m not saying that I didn’t know who he is or that he is an author, I just hadn’t read anything of his. Sure, I’ve seen movies that have been made from his books (The Hunt For Red October, Clear And Present Danger, and Patriot Games) and found them all to be great action films. I even liked Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of Jack Ryan (the main character) in The Hunt For Red October. But I didn’t miss him when Harrison Ford took over portraying Jack Ryan in the other films.
The reason I’m mad is because in the book Executive Orders Tom Clancy has an airliner crash into the US Capital Building. This is the second time that a writer whose book I’ve read depicts an airliner being used as a missile on a US building. The first writer I read that depicted that was Joel Rosenberg. He wrote the book The Last Jihad.
In The Last Jihad, Rosenberg has an airliner fly into a building by Muslim terrorists. Ironically he was finishing his book on the very morning of September 11, 2001. In fact, The Last Jihad was Joel Rosenberg’s first attempt at writing a novel. I won’t go into detail about the book, but suffice it to say it was considered to be quite prophetic even though it was published after the September 11 attacks. So I guess I’m mad at Joel Rosenberg too … OK I’m not really mad at him either. To view Joel Rosenberg’s web site click here.
In Executive Orders, Tom Clancy illustrates that Iran and Islamic extremism was the biggest threat to the US in the world in the mid 1990’s and beyond. Not only did he understand that, but he understood that Iran was an equal threat to the Middle East and the rest of the world too. That still holds true today. In The Last Jihad, Joel Rosenberg does the same thing. (I’m not sure if there are others that have written books that have resembled actual events as closely as the books of these two men … it just happens to be that I’ve read their books.) That leads me to this question: If writers of current events fiction are able to accurately depict who our enemies are, what their capabilities are, and the what their intentions are (connect the dots), then why is that our government could not connect the dots?
Clancy also incorporates a subplot in Executive Orders that includes a couple of anti-government types that plan on detonating a truck bomb in Washington DC … does that sound familiar? I don’t know if Clancy added that to the book after the OKC bombing or if it was always a part of the story line. Remember, the OKC bombing took place on April 19, 1995, (the 2nd anniversary of the Waco tragedy). I tend to think it is the latter, since books like this usually take a few years to put together.
He also writes about how our freedoms can be used against us in order to commit a clandestine attack on our country. In the book the US is attacked with weapons of mass destruction (WMD’s). Iranian terrorists travel into the US on various airline flights and detonate biological weapons in cities across the United States causing death and panic throughout the country. That reminded me of just how easily the 9-11 terrorists gained access into the US only to later hijack airplanes on that horrible morning.
Executive Orders also has Iran take over Iraq and merge the two nation together. Sounds pretty farfetched doesn’t it? But just within the last few weeks, as talks are taking place for the United States to leave Iraq, diplomatic talks have also been taking place between those two countries. My instinct tells me that is not a good thing … especially when you consider that China and Russia have a vested interest in Iran.
Tom Clancy and Joel Rosenberg both write fictional books based off of real and made up events. They use their knowledge, skill, imagination, research, and experiences to create their works. After reading their books (and others), it is clearer to me that during the 1990’s no one was paying close enough attention to the threat of radical Islam. Here are some actual events took place in that time: the first WTC bombing, the US Embassy bombings, the OKC bombing, and the USS Cole bombing. All of those attacks took place during the Clinton years. Which leads me to wonder, if authors like these two could figure out who our most blood thirsty enemies are why couldn’t Bill Clinton? So who am I really mad at? ... you guessed it.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Recently I read a book of his that was published in 1996 titled Executive Orders. Up until then I hadn’t read anything he’s written. I’m not saying that I didn’t know who he is or that he is an author, I just hadn’t read anything of his. Sure, I’ve seen movies that have been made from his books (The Hunt For Red October, Clear And Present Danger, and Patriot Games) and found them all to be great action films. I even liked Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of Jack Ryan (the main character) in The Hunt For Red October. But I didn’t miss him when Harrison Ford took over portraying Jack Ryan in the other films.
The reason I’m mad is because in the book Executive Orders Tom Clancy has an airliner crash into the US Capital Building. This is the second time that a writer whose book I’ve read depicts an airliner being used as a missile on a US building. The first writer I read that depicted that was Joel Rosenberg. He wrote the book The Last Jihad.
In The Last Jihad, Rosenberg has an airliner fly into a building by Muslim terrorists. Ironically he was finishing his book on the very morning of September 11, 2001. In fact, The Last Jihad was Joel Rosenberg’s first attempt at writing a novel. I won’t go into detail about the book, but suffice it to say it was considered to be quite prophetic even though it was published after the September 11 attacks. So I guess I’m mad at Joel Rosenberg too … OK I’m not really mad at him either. To view Joel Rosenberg’s web site click here.
In Executive Orders, Tom Clancy illustrates that Iran and Islamic extremism was the biggest threat to the US in the world in the mid 1990’s and beyond. Not only did he understand that, but he understood that Iran was an equal threat to the Middle East and the rest of the world too. That still holds true today. In The Last Jihad, Joel Rosenberg does the same thing. (I’m not sure if there are others that have written books that have resembled actual events as closely as the books of these two men … it just happens to be that I’ve read their books.) That leads me to this question: If writers of current events fiction are able to accurately depict who our enemies are, what their capabilities are, and the what their intentions are (connect the dots), then why is that our government could not connect the dots?
Clancy also incorporates a subplot in Executive Orders that includes a couple of anti-government types that plan on detonating a truck bomb in Washington DC … does that sound familiar? I don’t know if Clancy added that to the book after the OKC bombing or if it was always a part of the story line. Remember, the OKC bombing took place on April 19, 1995, (the 2nd anniversary of the Waco tragedy). I tend to think it is the latter, since books like this usually take a few years to put together.
He also writes about how our freedoms can be used against us in order to commit a clandestine attack on our country. In the book the US is attacked with weapons of mass destruction (WMD’s). Iranian terrorists travel into the US on various airline flights and detonate biological weapons in cities across the United States causing death and panic throughout the country. That reminded me of just how easily the 9-11 terrorists gained access into the US only to later hijack airplanes on that horrible morning.
Executive Orders also has Iran take over Iraq and merge the two nation together. Sounds pretty farfetched doesn’t it? But just within the last few weeks, as talks are taking place for the United States to leave Iraq, diplomatic talks have also been taking place between those two countries. My instinct tells me that is not a good thing … especially when you consider that China and Russia have a vested interest in Iran.
Tom Clancy and Joel Rosenberg both write fictional books based off of real and made up events. They use their knowledge, skill, imagination, research, and experiences to create their works. After reading their books (and others), it is clearer to me that during the 1990’s no one was paying close enough attention to the threat of radical Islam. Here are some actual events took place in that time: the first WTC bombing, the US Embassy bombings, the OKC bombing, and the USS Cole bombing. All of those attacks took place during the Clinton years. Which leads me to wonder, if authors like these two could figure out who our most blood thirsty enemies are why couldn’t Bill Clinton? So who am I really mad at? ... you guessed it.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Monday, July 11, 2011
FLASH FIRES, FLASH FLOODS, FLASH MOBS AND THE WHITE BUFFALO
Let’s talk some more about the weird year we’ve been having. The strangeness doesn’t seem to end. Recently the country has been hit with flash floods, flash fires, and flash mobs, not to mention tornadoes and earthquakes; and we still aren’t full swing into the hurricane season!
We’ve had fires flare up in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona yet the news media, and the White House, have barely even mentioned them. Flash foods have hit Texas, Florida, Missouri, Arizona, and so on, but have you heard much about them? Flash mobs have erupted in Chicago, NYC, Philadelphia, and who knows where else. These mobs have raided business and attacked people, and I’ll bet you weren’t aware of them. There is really only one motivation for these mobs … and that is pure evil.
Have you heard about the white Buffalo that was born in Greenville, Texas, this past May? It’s been reported that the calf is not an albino buffalo because its nose isn’t white and its eyes are dark. So that makes the animal significant with American Indians. According to reports Native Americans say the white buffalo is an omen of hard times to come if people don’t change their evil ways. (I wonder if the fact that the buffalo is white and the Indians lost their lands to the white man has anything to with it.) Anyhow, I guess that can be said about all of the events that have happened in the US and around the world this year.
You know what those omens are … wars, and rumors of wars, fires, earthquakes in diverse places, strange events in the heavens and earth, etc. But, the new tops on the list is the great white buffalo! Since the beginning of this year all of the above has happened. Should we be worried? Should we turn from our evil ways? Yes, and yes. But not because of any omen … because it’s the right thing for us to do. As long as I can remember people have said that humans are being warned to turn from there evil ways or bad times will come.
Sometimes we do change our ways … here in the US we’ve ended slavery, child labor, and denying women the right to vote. We’ve even given the right to vote to young adults. In Europe, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and England have all stopped constantly warring with one and other. You get the point, it wouldn’t be fair to say that the world is as evil a place as it used to be, but there is still evil within it.
I happen to believe that God does give us warnings. The Bible says that He does. He’s given us Ten Commandments that we must obey. He’s destroyed cities for their ungodliness, and He covered the world with a flood for that reason too. He’s given knowledge and warnings to profits of things to come, and then fulfilled those prophecies with the destruction that he promised.
I believe that at least some of what’s been happening this year is of a biblical nature. It is undeniable that the United States has lost its way on moral, political, and social issues. It is also undeniable that much of the entire world has fallen into the same decay too.
What else will happen is anyone’s guess, but I believe that before the year is over something will happen that will eclipse everything we’ve seen happen so far. Yes even bigger that the wars that are taking place. Bigger than the fires, and the earthquakes, and even bigger than the tsunami that hit Japan. Why do I think this will happen? Because even if all of what’s happened is being done by the hand of God we haven’t changed our ways. We continue to test God, to defy God, and to ignore His will and instruction that has been given to us. In doing so, we remove ourselves (as nations, and individuals) from God’s protection. That, my friends, is more dangerous than anything you can imagine.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like, or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
We’ve had fires flare up in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona yet the news media, and the White House, have barely even mentioned them. Flash foods have hit Texas, Florida, Missouri, Arizona, and so on, but have you heard much about them? Flash mobs have erupted in Chicago, NYC, Philadelphia, and who knows where else. These mobs have raided business and attacked people, and I’ll bet you weren’t aware of them. There is really only one motivation for these mobs … and that is pure evil.
Have you heard about the white Buffalo that was born in Greenville, Texas, this past May? It’s been reported that the calf is not an albino buffalo because its nose isn’t white and its eyes are dark. So that makes the animal significant with American Indians. According to reports Native Americans say the white buffalo is an omen of hard times to come if people don’t change their evil ways. (I wonder if the fact that the buffalo is white and the Indians lost their lands to the white man has anything to with it.) Anyhow, I guess that can be said about all of the events that have happened in the US and around the world this year.
You know what those omens are … wars, and rumors of wars, fires, earthquakes in diverse places, strange events in the heavens and earth, etc. But, the new tops on the list is the great white buffalo! Since the beginning of this year all of the above has happened. Should we be worried? Should we turn from our evil ways? Yes, and yes. But not because of any omen … because it’s the right thing for us to do. As long as I can remember people have said that humans are being warned to turn from there evil ways or bad times will come.
Sometimes we do change our ways … here in the US we’ve ended slavery, child labor, and denying women the right to vote. We’ve even given the right to vote to young adults. In Europe, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and England have all stopped constantly warring with one and other. You get the point, it wouldn’t be fair to say that the world is as evil a place as it used to be, but there is still evil within it.
I happen to believe that God does give us warnings. The Bible says that He does. He’s given us Ten Commandments that we must obey. He’s destroyed cities for their ungodliness, and He covered the world with a flood for that reason too. He’s given knowledge and warnings to profits of things to come, and then fulfilled those prophecies with the destruction that he promised.
I believe that at least some of what’s been happening this year is of a biblical nature. It is undeniable that the United States has lost its way on moral, political, and social issues. It is also undeniable that much of the entire world has fallen into the same decay too.
What else will happen is anyone’s guess, but I believe that before the year is over something will happen that will eclipse everything we’ve seen happen so far. Yes even bigger that the wars that are taking place. Bigger than the fires, and the earthquakes, and even bigger than the tsunami that hit Japan. Why do I think this will happen? Because even if all of what’s happened is being done by the hand of God we haven’t changed our ways. We continue to test God, to defy God, and to ignore His will and instruction that has been given to us. In doing so, we remove ourselves (as nations, and individuals) from God’s protection. That, my friends, is more dangerous than anything you can imagine.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like, or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
JUDGE BIERY VS MEDINA VALLEY HS
I have said this before and I will say it again … the founding fathers got a lot of things right when they formed this nation, but they did make a few mistakes. Among those mistakes was this one: lifetime appointments to the courts.
I believe that the US Constitution should be amended to end lifetime appointments. I believe in term limits. I think that not only should the president be limited to two terms, I think that congressional representatives, senators, and judges should also have limited terms as well. I think that senators should be limited to two terms and that congressional representatives should be limited to five two-year terms.
Since federal judges are appointed and not elected, I think that they should be limited to twelve years on the bench of any given court with a maximum of twenty years as a federal judge overall. I also believe that they should have to pass periodic votes of confidence from a legislative body consisting of both senators and congressional representatives in order to stay on the bench. I know that some people will say by doing that the judicial system will become politicized. I have news for you … it already is.
I also believe that judges should have to face consequences for the rulings that they make. In other words they should have to pay for their mistakes. Until they are held accountable for their actions, they will consider themselves beyond reproach.
Judge Fred Biery demonstrates this. He was appointed to the court in 1994, which makes him a President Clinton appointee. He was also a democrat party leader in college, which means that he picked up the 1960 and 1970’s political and social ideologies of the Vietnam era. I have said over and over again that the ideals of that era have caused tremendous damage to the country … especially those ideals that surfaced on college campuses of the day. A lot of leftist thinking made its way into this country back then. Now Fred Biery is a Chief Justice of a court.
For those of you who don’t know who Fred Biery is, he is the Chief Justice of the US district court of the Western District of Texas. He recently ruled that prayer could not be said at the Medina Valley HS graduation ceremony to be held on June 4, 2011. Fortunately he was over ruled by the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals … but this never should have happened in the United States.
With Judge Biery on the court, an injustice was made against the first amendment. The first amendment guarantees the right to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. This amendment does not grant judges the right to infringe on any of those rights in the public square.
We live in a democracy that has established that ours is a government that is accountable to we the people. Remember this …“government of the people, by the people, for the people”. That means majority rules. It doesn’t mean that racial, ethnic, or even political party majority rules.
Clearly Fred Biery does not represent the majority of American’s thoughts … he doesn’t even represent the majority of thoughts on the courts. I’m sure if Donald Trump could do it he’d tell Fred … you’re fired. I haven’t done a lot of research on Fred, but from the little that I have read about him I have found that this isn’t the first time he’s attacked religion … and from what I can gather, it is not going to be his last. That is why I think we should have a system in place to put checks on judges … and not just on federal judges but on all judges no matter what court they preside over. The only way to keep anyone honest, especially a judge, is the threat of scrutiny, ridicule, embarrassment, or legal action otherwise we leave ourselves at their mercy. As the saying goes “the pen is mightier than the sword”, and no one has a mightier pen than a judge.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like of let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
I believe that the US Constitution should be amended to end lifetime appointments. I believe in term limits. I think that not only should the president be limited to two terms, I think that congressional representatives, senators, and judges should also have limited terms as well. I think that senators should be limited to two terms and that congressional representatives should be limited to five two-year terms.
Since federal judges are appointed and not elected, I think that they should be limited to twelve years on the bench of any given court with a maximum of twenty years as a federal judge overall. I also believe that they should have to pass periodic votes of confidence from a legislative body consisting of both senators and congressional representatives in order to stay on the bench. I know that some people will say by doing that the judicial system will become politicized. I have news for you … it already is.
I also believe that judges should have to face consequences for the rulings that they make. In other words they should have to pay for their mistakes. Until they are held accountable for their actions, they will consider themselves beyond reproach.
Judge Fred Biery demonstrates this. He was appointed to the court in 1994, which makes him a President Clinton appointee. He was also a democrat party leader in college, which means that he picked up the 1960 and 1970’s political and social ideologies of the Vietnam era. I have said over and over again that the ideals of that era have caused tremendous damage to the country … especially those ideals that surfaced on college campuses of the day. A lot of leftist thinking made its way into this country back then. Now Fred Biery is a Chief Justice of a court.
For those of you who don’t know who Fred Biery is, he is the Chief Justice of the US district court of the Western District of Texas. He recently ruled that prayer could not be said at the Medina Valley HS graduation ceremony to be held on June 4, 2011. Fortunately he was over ruled by the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals … but this never should have happened in the United States.
With Judge Biery on the court, an injustice was made against the first amendment. The first amendment guarantees the right to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. This amendment does not grant judges the right to infringe on any of those rights in the public square.
We live in a democracy that has established that ours is a government that is accountable to we the people. Remember this …“government of the people, by the people, for the people”. That means majority rules. It doesn’t mean that racial, ethnic, or even political party majority rules.
Clearly Fred Biery does not represent the majority of American’s thoughts … he doesn’t even represent the majority of thoughts on the courts. I’m sure if Donald Trump could do it he’d tell Fred … you’re fired. I haven’t done a lot of research on Fred, but from the little that I have read about him I have found that this isn’t the first time he’s attacked religion … and from what I can gather, it is not going to be his last. That is why I think we should have a system in place to put checks on judges … and not just on federal judges but on all judges no matter what court they preside over. The only way to keep anyone honest, especially a judge, is the threat of scrutiny, ridicule, embarrassment, or legal action otherwise we leave ourselves at their mercy. As the saying goes “the pen is mightier than the sword”, and no one has a mightier pen than a judge.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like of let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Monday, May 30, 2011
WHY DUMP ON ISRAEL?
I don’t know about you, but I don’t understand why the free nations of the world are dumping on Israel. It seems strangely peculiar to me that freedom loving countries such as ours and those in Europe have decided to force Israel into survival mode. Up until May 19, 2011, it had been the support of the United States that guaranteed Israel the right to exist. That changed with a speech President Obama gave on that day. Now it seems that Israel has lost support from the White House. It is true that the current occupant of the White House and his State Department consistently do not speak for, or reflect the will of, the American people. It’s also no secret that all too often they’ve ignored the will of the American people. I think that has happened again with President Obama’s stance toward Israel.
This is a yet another strange event in a year that I have said would be (and has been) filled with strange events. However, this twist in American foreign policy is a strange one indeed. President Obama could not have picked a worse way to announce his new stance toward Israel … just a day before Israel’s Prime Minister would be coming to visit him in Washington (actually, while he was in route). President Obama once again showed us that he does not possess good judgment. I believe President Obama is guilty of (as it relates to Israel) exactly what Texas Governor Rick Perry said about him regarding the US/Mexican border with Texas….“there’s strong evidence that the Obama administration either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about what’s going on on the border”. Governor Perry is right. I think that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must be thinking the same way.
The President has miscalculated again, just as he has so many times before. It won’t be long before he loses support from Congress. If the speech that Prime Minster Netanyahu made before a joint session of Congress is any indication of things to come, the President may have already lost a great deal of Democratic support … especially where his stance toward Israel is concerned. Netanyahu’s speech before a joint session of Congress on May 24, 2011, was interrupted dozens of times with standing ovations from members of both Houses of Congress and political parties. The President has squandered whatever political capital he thought he gained with the killing of Osama Bin Laden, when he turned his back on Israel.
This is just one more example of him either not knowing, not understanding, or not caring about what really matters to Americans … no matter what their political affiliations are. But I can’t lay all of the blame at his feet alone, the news media and Hollywood have given him a false sense of security and they’ve inflated his already immense ego. Even Harry Reid could not support Obama’s latest misguided position.
It is shameful when the leader of a foreign nation sounds more American than the President of the United States. As the Prime Minister said “Israel is what’s righ with the Middle East”. President Obama is what’s wrong with Washington DC, with our nation’s colleges and universities, with liberalism, and with the Democrat Party.
Israel is, and has almost always been, in survival mode. The United States has always stood with Israel and that shouldn’t change simply because this President wills it. I have been told that the US cannot save the world and that we can no longer police the world. I say if we can’t, then who will? … the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians? None of those nations can … nor do we want them too. That would not be good for Israel, western Europe, or the United States. Like it or not, want to or not, this nation is as Ronald Reagan said: freedom’s “last stand on earth”, and Israel is freedom’s last stand in the Middle East.
I did not hear the Prime Minister’s speech and, even in this day and age, I haven’t been able see the entire speech on line without constant interruption. However, I have read the transcript on CNN.com. There is one line in the speech that I liked best (and there are very many excellent lines that can and should be remembered from it). Mr. Netanyahu said, “My friends, the momentous trials of the last century and the unfolding events of this century attest to the decisive role of the United States in defending peace and advancing freedom. Providence entrusted the United States to be the guardian of liberty. All people who cherish freedom owe a profound debt of gratitude to your great nation”. He is right.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
This is a yet another strange event in a year that I have said would be (and has been) filled with strange events. However, this twist in American foreign policy is a strange one indeed. President Obama could not have picked a worse way to announce his new stance toward Israel … just a day before Israel’s Prime Minister would be coming to visit him in Washington (actually, while he was in route). President Obama once again showed us that he does not possess good judgment. I believe President Obama is guilty of (as it relates to Israel) exactly what Texas Governor Rick Perry said about him regarding the US/Mexican border with Texas….“there’s strong evidence that the Obama administration either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about what’s going on on the border”. Governor Perry is right. I think that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must be thinking the same way.
The President has miscalculated again, just as he has so many times before. It won’t be long before he loses support from Congress. If the speech that Prime Minster Netanyahu made before a joint session of Congress is any indication of things to come, the President may have already lost a great deal of Democratic support … especially where his stance toward Israel is concerned. Netanyahu’s speech before a joint session of Congress on May 24, 2011, was interrupted dozens of times with standing ovations from members of both Houses of Congress and political parties. The President has squandered whatever political capital he thought he gained with the killing of Osama Bin Laden, when he turned his back on Israel.
This is just one more example of him either not knowing, not understanding, or not caring about what really matters to Americans … no matter what their political affiliations are. But I can’t lay all of the blame at his feet alone, the news media and Hollywood have given him a false sense of security and they’ve inflated his already immense ego. Even Harry Reid could not support Obama’s latest misguided position.
It is shameful when the leader of a foreign nation sounds more American than the President of the United States. As the Prime Minister said “Israel is what’s righ with the Middle East”. President Obama is what’s wrong with Washington DC, with our nation’s colleges and universities, with liberalism, and with the Democrat Party.
Israel is, and has almost always been, in survival mode. The United States has always stood with Israel and that shouldn’t change simply because this President wills it. I have been told that the US cannot save the world and that we can no longer police the world. I say if we can’t, then who will? … the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians? None of those nations can … nor do we want them too. That would not be good for Israel, western Europe, or the United States. Like it or not, want to or not, this nation is as Ronald Reagan said: freedom’s “last stand on earth”, and Israel is freedom’s last stand in the Middle East.
I did not hear the Prime Minister’s speech and, even in this day and age, I haven’t been able see the entire speech on line without constant interruption. However, I have read the transcript on CNN.com. There is one line in the speech that I liked best (and there are very many excellent lines that can and should be remembered from it). Mr. Netanyahu said, “My friends, the momentous trials of the last century and the unfolding events of this century attest to the decisive role of the United States in defending peace and advancing freedom. Providence entrusted the United States to be the guardian of liberty. All people who cherish freedom owe a profound debt of gratitude to your great nation”. He is right.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Monday, May 16, 2011
THE PRESIDENT GOES TO TEXAS
President Obama came to visit Texas. He stopped in El Paso and told us how well he’s done at securing the border. He even promised to build an alligator filled moat along the border if that would make Republicans feel better. Ha-ha … that’s funny! What isn’t funny is that the border isn’t safe and that he hasn’t done well at all at making it safe … not here in Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona. If Mr. Obama were serious about border protection and illegal immigration, he would not have the Department of Justice filing lawsuits against a state (Arizona) that is trying to do what the Federal Government will not do.
After he left El Paso he took Air Force One on a short flight to Austin to whip up campaign funds. Can you believe that he actually found Texans that were willing to donate money for his re-election campaign?!? If that isn’t self-hatred, I don’t know what is. I can hear them now “Hey buddy, lets give Obama some more of our money even though he ain’t helped Texas one bit”. Like Forrest Gump’s mama said, “ Stupid is as stupid does”.
A few weeks ago President Obama granted an interview to a local Texas television station, in that interview he said that he loved Texas … he loves Texas like Rosie O’Donnell loves Donald Trump. A lover of Texas would not let the state burn up in wildfires. He loves Texas like he loves FOX NEWS. But to make things fair, he did send aid to Mexico to fight their wildfires … like the Church’s Fried Chicken lady used to say, “gotta love it”.
But at least Governor Perry stiffed him on this visit, just like when Barrack Obama stiffed him not so long ago. You remember … he wouldn’t even accept a letter from our governor when they shook hands at the Austin airport. That’s just chicken ... stuff. That’s your president for ya, Texas Democrats. Sure he loves Texas …like a dog loves fleas.
I don’t know what is more embarrassing for Texas Democrats … the fact that Mr. Obama hates Texas, or the fact that he’s taking money from them for nothing in return. Reminds me of that old saying “a fool and his money are easily parted”. Texas Democrats, you really should abandoned B H O he isn’t the man you were told he is by your party slave masters and he never will be. It is time ya’ll cut him loose. In fact, it is time for you to take the party back from the liberals, socialists, communists, atheists, elitists that hijacked your party over 50 years ago.
The Democrat party of today is as about as much for the common American as the Republican party of old was the party of the common American. It is not … and neither is President Obama. President Obama is willing to let the Texas border with Mexico go unprotected, he is willing to let Texas burn with wildfires, he is willing to kill Texas off-shore oil production workers jobs, and he is angered when uppity Texas reports ask him genuine questions. So much for “Change you can believe in”. It really should be CHANGED to “Change we can’t believe”! Texas and the nation are suffering because Democrats and RINO Republicans have abandoned their duty to protect and defend this nation from all enemies both foreign and domestic.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
After he left El Paso he took Air Force One on a short flight to Austin to whip up campaign funds. Can you believe that he actually found Texans that were willing to donate money for his re-election campaign?!? If that isn’t self-hatred, I don’t know what is. I can hear them now “Hey buddy, lets give Obama some more of our money even though he ain’t helped Texas one bit”. Like Forrest Gump’s mama said, “ Stupid is as stupid does”.
A few weeks ago President Obama granted an interview to a local Texas television station, in that interview he said that he loved Texas … he loves Texas like Rosie O’Donnell loves Donald Trump. A lover of Texas would not let the state burn up in wildfires. He loves Texas like he loves FOX NEWS. But to make things fair, he did send aid to Mexico to fight their wildfires … like the Church’s Fried Chicken lady used to say, “gotta love it”.
But at least Governor Perry stiffed him on this visit, just like when Barrack Obama stiffed him not so long ago. You remember … he wouldn’t even accept a letter from our governor when they shook hands at the Austin airport. That’s just chicken ... stuff. That’s your president for ya, Texas Democrats. Sure he loves Texas …like a dog loves fleas.
I don’t know what is more embarrassing for Texas Democrats … the fact that Mr. Obama hates Texas, or the fact that he’s taking money from them for nothing in return. Reminds me of that old saying “a fool and his money are easily parted”. Texas Democrats, you really should abandoned B H O he isn’t the man you were told he is by your party slave masters and he never will be. It is time ya’ll cut him loose. In fact, it is time for you to take the party back from the liberals, socialists, communists, atheists, elitists that hijacked your party over 50 years ago.
The Democrat party of today is as about as much for the common American as the Republican party of old was the party of the common American. It is not … and neither is President Obama. President Obama is willing to let the Texas border with Mexico go unprotected, he is willing to let Texas burn with wildfires, he is willing to kill Texas off-shore oil production workers jobs, and he is angered when uppity Texas reports ask him genuine questions. So much for “Change you can believe in”. It really should be CHANGED to “Change we can’t believe”! Texas and the nation are suffering because Democrats and RINO Republicans have abandoned their duty to protect and defend this nation from all enemies both foreign and domestic.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Monday, May 2, 2011
2011...WIERD ENOUGH YET FOR YA
Is 2011 weird enough for ya yet? It is for me. Let’s see, there’s been tornadoes by the hundreds in the US. Here in Texas we’ve had fires, storms, drought, and tornadoes all at the same time. I guess that’s ‘cause everything is bigger, flashier, and meaner here, and there’s more of it. I’m not even going to mention all that has already happened in just the first four months of this year.
So much has happened that news that is only a few weeks old seems like old stuff. Gas prices have increased so much in just a few weeks that the $3.14 gallon of gas that drove me crazy in March now seems to be a distant memory. Do you realize that gasoline in January of 2008 was less than $2.00 a gallon? That means that the price has jumped almost 100% in two years. Pardon the understatement … but that ain’t good.
I’ll bet you’ve already forgotten that Japan has been hit with three earthquakes. You may have already forgotten that Egypt is still in turmoil. How about the Lieberman report stating that the Ft. Hood massacre could have been avoided … does that ring a bell? I’ll bet that you didn’t know that hundreds of terrorists have escaped from an Afghan prison. Yeah, this year is weird alright.
Now the most unexpected thing has happened … Osama bin Laden has been killed. I, for one, was caught off guard by the news. I’d even started to believe that either he was already dead or that he’d disappeared from the earth some how. I, just as many of you, had become frustrated that he was never captured or killed. I thought that should have happened years ago. It felt as if you he’d gotten the last laugh on us.
To a certain extent he still may have the last laugh. His death does not end Islamic terrorism, in fact it really does very little to end it. Other leaders have already risen into prominence over the years, while he became something of a legendary myth. But he wasn’t a myth and in the end he met his maker with a bullet round that was shot into his face by a US Navy SEAL, as Osama bravely used a woman as a human shield. That’s Bin Laden chivalry for you.
It is a good thing that Bin Laden is dead, and President Obama deserves credit for approving the mission that ended O B L’s life. Let’s pray things settle down and that we can soon bring our troops home for good.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
So much has happened that news that is only a few weeks old seems like old stuff. Gas prices have increased so much in just a few weeks that the $3.14 gallon of gas that drove me crazy in March now seems to be a distant memory. Do you realize that gasoline in January of 2008 was less than $2.00 a gallon? That means that the price has jumped almost 100% in two years. Pardon the understatement … but that ain’t good.
I’ll bet you’ve already forgotten that Japan has been hit with three earthquakes. You may have already forgotten that Egypt is still in turmoil. How about the Lieberman report stating that the Ft. Hood massacre could have been avoided … does that ring a bell? I’ll bet that you didn’t know that hundreds of terrorists have escaped from an Afghan prison. Yeah, this year is weird alright.
Now the most unexpected thing has happened … Osama bin Laden has been killed. I, for one, was caught off guard by the news. I’d even started to believe that either he was already dead or that he’d disappeared from the earth some how. I, just as many of you, had become frustrated that he was never captured or killed. I thought that should have happened years ago. It felt as if you he’d gotten the last laugh on us.
To a certain extent he still may have the last laugh. His death does not end Islamic terrorism, in fact it really does very little to end it. Other leaders have already risen into prominence over the years, while he became something of a legendary myth. But he wasn’t a myth and in the end he met his maker with a bullet round that was shot into his face by a US Navy SEAL, as Osama bravely used a woman as a human shield. That’s Bin Laden chivalry for you.
It is a good thing that Bin Laden is dead, and President Obama deserves credit for approving the mission that ended O B L’s life. Let’s pray things settle down and that we can soon bring our troops home for good.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
AMERICAN FIRST
I was watching an episode of the 100 greatest players of NFL history. I like to watch programs like that because they can be entertaining and you learn a little something about football players from teams you’ve never followed. I also thinks it’s kind of funny just how seriously they take the topic.
In this particular episode they were presenting Willie Lanier as one of the 100. I remember him - he was really great middle linebacker. Of course when he played we didn’t have ESPN or satellite TV, or any of that stuff. The only way you got to see other teams is when they played your team or on the sports segment of the local news, and on the Monday Night Football Highlights.
So I’m watching this program when I find out that Willie was the first-round draft choice of his team (that was in 1967). Willie Lanier is black, so making him the first-round draft choice was a big deal when he played. You see, he was a middle linebacker, which is the equivalent of a quarterback on the defense. You’d think that he might have been drafted by a team from NYC, Boston, LA, or San Francisco …he wasn’t. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs … they’re from Missouri.
Hanks Stram was the Head Coach of the KC Chiefs back then, in fact he was the team’s first head coach. He was an innovative and successful football coach. In a film clip from an interview he’s shown stating that they didn’t care what skin color a player was or what nationality they were. NATIONALITY? That word got my attention.
Here in lies the problem. Even way back in the 1960’s, being a first-round football draft pick meant that you’d been drafted from a US college. That meant that 99% of the time the player was a US citizen and not from some other country. I remember growing up hearing people say that they were of this nationality or that nationality (some people still say that). Someone might say that they are an Italian, or Mexican, or German, or Polish, etc. But as I grew up, I started questioning their references. Italians live in and are citizens of Italy, Mexicans live in and are citizens of Mexico, Germans live in and are citizens of Germany, and so on.
So when I heard Hank Stram say he didn’t care what nationality a player was, I had to take pause. I know what he really meant was that he did not care about the race, ethnicity, cultural back ground, or the nation of origin a players family roots came from. All he wanted were good players. I’m sure Hank knew that Willie Lanier was not a foreigner and that he is in every way a US citizen.
All I want is for us, as Americans, is for us to come together as one people. As Michael Jackson sang it “We are the World”. Americans come from every ethnic back ground, race, religion, and nationality the world has known. Our ancestors came from Europe, Africa, Asia, and all parts in between. As Americans, we have been far to willing to hyphenate our status as Americans and maintain allegiances to places that we (for the most part) have never been … and to nations that do not consider someone from the United States as a fellow countryman.
So my Italian, Mexican, German, Polish, and Black friends, repeat this after me .... I am an American. Feel free to add anything you like after the word American, just remember we are Americans first. American of Italian decent, American of Mexican decent, American of German decent …. you get the picture. As far as Black Americans go, they are no different than any other racial group within the United States … if you are American, you’re an American first. Until all of us no longer look at each other as anything other than a fellow countrymen, we will never completely be one people.
It is not the differences between us that has made us the greatest nation the world has ever known (I’ve said this before) it is our sameness that has made us great. Some would have you believe that this nation and its form of government and how we do business doesn’t work … if that is true, how did we become such a great nation? That is because that is not true. Our nation became great because of the people, our form of government, and our institutions. A strong foundation was set in place after the American Revolution that this country was constructed upon. That foundation is still structurally sound today. A course was set that has allowed us to become the freest, most prosperous nation the world has ever known, and now the time has come to get back on course. But before that can happen we must be come one.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie Perez
American
In this particular episode they were presenting Willie Lanier as one of the 100. I remember him - he was really great middle linebacker. Of course when he played we didn’t have ESPN or satellite TV, or any of that stuff. The only way you got to see other teams is when they played your team or on the sports segment of the local news, and on the Monday Night Football Highlights.
So I’m watching this program when I find out that Willie was the first-round draft choice of his team (that was in 1967). Willie Lanier is black, so making him the first-round draft choice was a big deal when he played. You see, he was a middle linebacker, which is the equivalent of a quarterback on the defense. You’d think that he might have been drafted by a team from NYC, Boston, LA, or San Francisco …he wasn’t. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs … they’re from Missouri.
Hanks Stram was the Head Coach of the KC Chiefs back then, in fact he was the team’s first head coach. He was an innovative and successful football coach. In a film clip from an interview he’s shown stating that they didn’t care what skin color a player was or what nationality they were. NATIONALITY? That word got my attention.
Here in lies the problem. Even way back in the 1960’s, being a first-round football draft pick meant that you’d been drafted from a US college. That meant that 99% of the time the player was a US citizen and not from some other country. I remember growing up hearing people say that they were of this nationality or that nationality (some people still say that). Someone might say that they are an Italian, or Mexican, or German, or Polish, etc. But as I grew up, I started questioning their references. Italians live in and are citizens of Italy, Mexicans live in and are citizens of Mexico, Germans live in and are citizens of Germany, and so on.
So when I heard Hank Stram say he didn’t care what nationality a player was, I had to take pause. I know what he really meant was that he did not care about the race, ethnicity, cultural back ground, or the nation of origin a players family roots came from. All he wanted were good players. I’m sure Hank knew that Willie Lanier was not a foreigner and that he is in every way a US citizen.
All I want is for us, as Americans, is for us to come together as one people. As Michael Jackson sang it “We are the World”. Americans come from every ethnic back ground, race, religion, and nationality the world has known. Our ancestors came from Europe, Africa, Asia, and all parts in between. As Americans, we have been far to willing to hyphenate our status as Americans and maintain allegiances to places that we (for the most part) have never been … and to nations that do not consider someone from the United States as a fellow countryman.
So my Italian, Mexican, German, Polish, and Black friends, repeat this after me .... I am an American. Feel free to add anything you like after the word American, just remember we are Americans first. American of Italian decent, American of Mexican decent, American of German decent …. you get the picture. As far as Black Americans go, they are no different than any other racial group within the United States … if you are American, you’re an American first. Until all of us no longer look at each other as anything other than a fellow countrymen, we will never completely be one people.
It is not the differences between us that has made us the greatest nation the world has ever known (I’ve said this before) it is our sameness that has made us great. Some would have you believe that this nation and its form of government and how we do business doesn’t work … if that is true, how did we become such a great nation? That is because that is not true. Our nation became great because of the people, our form of government, and our institutions. A strong foundation was set in place after the American Revolution that this country was constructed upon. That foundation is still structurally sound today. A course was set that has allowed us to become the freest, most prosperous nation the world has ever known, and now the time has come to get back on course. But before that can happen we must be come one.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie Perez
American
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
BEEN PRAYING
I write this blog as a place for me to comment on national politics and world events as I seen them. I don’t usually write about religion or religious topics … mostly because I don’t want to. With that said, I’m a Bible believing Christian. I don’t consider myself to be a Bible-thumping Christian ... I cannot quote scriptures and haven’t memorized Bible verses. Ever since I was a little boy I have believed that Jesus is who the Bible teaches that He is … the Son of God. I’ve never doubted that. I take Bible gospel at its word. I believe that the Holy Bible is God’s word to man.
I’m doubtful about Church. I consider church separately from the Bible. Churches always seem to have a greater dependency on what church leaders have to say than they do on anything else. It doesn’t seem to matter if it is a global church, a mega church, or a store front church. The head of the church always seems to be the focal point of the church. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be a church leadership … what I’m saying is that I don’t put my faith in church leadership. I put my faith in Jesus and God’s word. Most of what I have learned about God and the Bible, I’ve learned from Christian hero’s I’ve known all of my life or on TV from when I was just a little 5 & 6 year old kid. After all, God’s word is easily found here in the United States … which is why I believe that United States has been blessed.
I’ve always been taught that faith in Jesus and having a relationship with Him is a personal choice. With that choice comes a connection with Him that is private … it is yours and His alone. It is not a collective relationship, nor is it based on collective salvation. What I mean by that is we are saved individually by confessing to Him that you know that you’re a sinner and unworthy to be saved, but Jesus will save you even if you can’t convinces your loved ones to accept Him with you … they have to save themselves by coming to Him on their own.
Making that choice is both the simplest and most complex decision a person will ever make. There isn’t a lot to do. There aren’t any fees to pay … so it doesn’t cost you a month’s salary. There aren’t any forms to fill out or paper work that you have to submit (at least not for Jesus, anyway). There aren’t any tests to take, no physicals you have to pass, and forget about having to pass a background check. Jesus won’t ask you for a urine sample, and he won’t even need or want any character references. All you have to do it take a leap! … a leap of faith, that is.
Here is where it becomes complex. Even though Jesus will freely save you, what has really happened when you accept Him is that you have saved yourself from yourself, from the world, from the devil, and from hell. Even though all of that was freely given to you it does not mean that there isn’t an expectation of you from Jesus and from God. That is where the Bible (God’s word) comes in.
The Holy Bible is a handbook. Within it we find out what the rules are and what God expects of us. Jesus’ teachings can be found there and so can the ten commandments (not the ten suggestions). There are instructions on how to properly love and care for one another, on personal and business conduct, and on moral and ethical behavior. No where have I read (or I should say, have I ever heard read) in the Bible that the ends justifies the means. Honesty, humility, charity, integrity, are constant themes in the Bible. So are bravery, selflessness, sacrifice, and long suffering. I believe that all of those themes were true of our country’s founding.
I’ve heard that for almost any question you can find an answer to that question within the pages of the Bible. Kind of like the old spaghetti sauce commercials used to say, “it’s in there!” I have put that theory to test on a couple of occasions and have found that to be true (I won’t go into detail here about them here). I have said that the root of most of the troubles we have today are caused by the lack of good basic morals and ethics. Why do I say that? … because the bible tells me so.
I’m no different than most Christians. I find myself looking for God and praying to Him when I’m in trouble or worried about a loved one. I’m working on that. I’ve started attending a Bible study ( I even bought a Bible … two actually). I’ve also been using the internet to study Bible verses and stories and have been making a conscious effort to pray … I usually pray when I’m driving.
I don’t pray nearly as much as I know I should. But, like I said, I’m working on it. Time and time again I have said in my blogs and when talking with others that 2011 is going to be a year we’d like to forget but most likely never will. That is another reason why I’ve started turning to prayer, to the Bible, and to Jesus. I’ve admitted to people that I don’t think I love Jesus nearly as much as I know He loves me. I’m praying for a more intense connection to Him. I also pray that more people will turn to Him before it is too late in their lives for them to take that leap of faith.
However, I’m a pragmatist. I know that many will come to him and many will not. The Bible says as much. I differ from a lot of (or probably most of) Christians I know in that I believe that more people will suffer the consequences of rejecting Jesus than they’ll even consider. Islamic terrorist are one example. Many of them are educated and have studied theology. They know about the world’s religions and beliefs. That means that they know about Christ and have rejected Christianity for Islam. That’s their choice. Agnostics very often are people that have grown up in some religion or another. They learned about Christ and rejected Christianity. That’s their choice. The same can be said for most atheist, and New Agers. I’ve even know of people that have been to seminary that have turned from their faith. The Bible teaches all of this. As a Bible believing Christian that accepts the good news of Jesus Christ, I have to accept the not so good news too.
I’m not a gambler. I’ve never enjoyed betting. Every once in a while I’ll play cards with friends, never expecting to walk away with any winnings. I’ll gamble away twenty dollars and call it a night. I’m definitely not a gambler where my soul is concerned. I hope you aren’t either. If you haven’t accepted Jesus, consider doing so … I believe you will find that it is the best bet you’ll ever make.
So why did I write this posting? I’m not really sure … it’s just what has been on my mind and I thought I'd shared it here with you.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
I’m doubtful about Church. I consider church separately from the Bible. Churches always seem to have a greater dependency on what church leaders have to say than they do on anything else. It doesn’t seem to matter if it is a global church, a mega church, or a store front church. The head of the church always seems to be the focal point of the church. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be a church leadership … what I’m saying is that I don’t put my faith in church leadership. I put my faith in Jesus and God’s word. Most of what I have learned about God and the Bible, I’ve learned from Christian hero’s I’ve known all of my life or on TV from when I was just a little 5 & 6 year old kid. After all, God’s word is easily found here in the United States … which is why I believe that United States has been blessed.
I’ve always been taught that faith in Jesus and having a relationship with Him is a personal choice. With that choice comes a connection with Him that is private … it is yours and His alone. It is not a collective relationship, nor is it based on collective salvation. What I mean by that is we are saved individually by confessing to Him that you know that you’re a sinner and unworthy to be saved, but Jesus will save you even if you can’t convinces your loved ones to accept Him with you … they have to save themselves by coming to Him on their own.
Making that choice is both the simplest and most complex decision a person will ever make. There isn’t a lot to do. There aren’t any fees to pay … so it doesn’t cost you a month’s salary. There aren’t any forms to fill out or paper work that you have to submit (at least not for Jesus, anyway). There aren’t any tests to take, no physicals you have to pass, and forget about having to pass a background check. Jesus won’t ask you for a urine sample, and he won’t even need or want any character references. All you have to do it take a leap! … a leap of faith, that is.
Here is where it becomes complex. Even though Jesus will freely save you, what has really happened when you accept Him is that you have saved yourself from yourself, from the world, from the devil, and from hell. Even though all of that was freely given to you it does not mean that there isn’t an expectation of you from Jesus and from God. That is where the Bible (God’s word) comes in.
The Holy Bible is a handbook. Within it we find out what the rules are and what God expects of us. Jesus’ teachings can be found there and so can the ten commandments (not the ten suggestions). There are instructions on how to properly love and care for one another, on personal and business conduct, and on moral and ethical behavior. No where have I read (or I should say, have I ever heard read) in the Bible that the ends justifies the means. Honesty, humility, charity, integrity, are constant themes in the Bible. So are bravery, selflessness, sacrifice, and long suffering. I believe that all of those themes were true of our country’s founding.
I’ve heard that for almost any question you can find an answer to that question within the pages of the Bible. Kind of like the old spaghetti sauce commercials used to say, “it’s in there!” I have put that theory to test on a couple of occasions and have found that to be true (I won’t go into detail here about them here). I have said that the root of most of the troubles we have today are caused by the lack of good basic morals and ethics. Why do I say that? … because the bible tells me so.
I’m no different than most Christians. I find myself looking for God and praying to Him when I’m in trouble or worried about a loved one. I’m working on that. I’ve started attending a Bible study ( I even bought a Bible … two actually). I’ve also been using the internet to study Bible verses and stories and have been making a conscious effort to pray … I usually pray when I’m driving.
I don’t pray nearly as much as I know I should. But, like I said, I’m working on it. Time and time again I have said in my blogs and when talking with others that 2011 is going to be a year we’d like to forget but most likely never will. That is another reason why I’ve started turning to prayer, to the Bible, and to Jesus. I’ve admitted to people that I don’t think I love Jesus nearly as much as I know He loves me. I’m praying for a more intense connection to Him. I also pray that more people will turn to Him before it is too late in their lives for them to take that leap of faith.
However, I’m a pragmatist. I know that many will come to him and many will not. The Bible says as much. I differ from a lot of (or probably most of) Christians I know in that I believe that more people will suffer the consequences of rejecting Jesus than they’ll even consider. Islamic terrorist are one example. Many of them are educated and have studied theology. They know about the world’s religions and beliefs. That means that they know about Christ and have rejected Christianity for Islam. That’s their choice. Agnostics very often are people that have grown up in some religion or another. They learned about Christ and rejected Christianity. That’s their choice. The same can be said for most atheist, and New Agers. I’ve even know of people that have been to seminary that have turned from their faith. The Bible teaches all of this. As a Bible believing Christian that accepts the good news of Jesus Christ, I have to accept the not so good news too.
I’m not a gambler. I’ve never enjoyed betting. Every once in a while I’ll play cards with friends, never expecting to walk away with any winnings. I’ll gamble away twenty dollars and call it a night. I’m definitely not a gambler where my soul is concerned. I hope you aren’t either. If you haven’t accepted Jesus, consider doing so … I believe you will find that it is the best bet you’ll ever make.
So why did I write this posting? I’m not really sure … it’s just what has been on my mind and I thought I'd shared it here with you.
There you have it.
Pass it on if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
WOW NOW JAPAN
In my first blog of the year I said that I thought 2010 was a strange year and I said that I thought that 2011 would be a strange year, too. In my opinion, 2010 was a disappointing year, but 2011 has been an astonishing one … and we haven’t even been through the first quarter of it yet! I never could have imagined that so many things could happen in such a short time. We see the entire Middle East is in revolt … oil prices, food prices, and global violence is on the rise. That’s all occurred in just January and February alone.
Government unions here in the U.S. are up in arms because states are having to face cutbacks caused by poor decisions that were made in the past. Now the states and the government unions will have to find ways to correct those mistakes. They will have to do so without asking for any more new money from the taxpayers because we don’t have the money for the taking and we will no longer put up with poor government spending. We know that for every dollar a union employee and politician is paid, and every benefit they receive comes from our pockets. In most cases, the benefits and pay government employees and politicians receive is a lot more than the people paying the taxes. If they aren’t careful we the people will fire them all.
I have been saying that 2011will be a year we’d like to forget but most likely never will. I think that 2011 will be forever remembered just as 1776, 1944, and 1968 will always be remembered. Here are just a few of the remarkable happenings we’ve witnessed take place this year: there was the suicide bombing of the church in Egypt, the suicide bombing in Russia, the murdering rampage in Arizona, birds and sea life have turned up dead by the thousands in parts of the country and millions of fish died in California, the Egyptians overthrew their dictator (Libyans are trying to do the same and very many of them have been killed), even more protests are taking place all over the Middle East. In Wisconsin government workers have used the Egyptian turmoil as a false rallying cry for their selfish movement. Disturbingly, the Chinese unveiled their first stealth jet fighter … one that looks almost exactly like ours. It went on it’s first test flight while our Secretary of Defense was paying them a visit ... what a coincidence. Those are just a few of the things that have happened since the first of this year.
And now we have Japan. Japan was hit with the triple crown of disasters … an under water earth quake that triggered a massive tsunami, that then has caused (at the time I wrote this blog) three explosions at nuclear power plants. The magnitude of these disasters was brought horribly to bear as 1,000 bodies of victims washed onto Japanese shores. The death toll will exceed 10,000 it could be in the hundreds of thousands. One official has said that 10,000 are missing from his city alone. Fortunately, Japan has planned for earth quakes and tsunamis, but not of the type and scale that just hit them. Certainly they could never have planned for such devastating disasters to happen all at the same time. Even if they had, there’s no preventing them.
The Japanese have shown tremendous grace and fortitude in dealing with the aftermath of the disasters. There hasn’t been rioting, raping, looting, violence, or disobedience. The people are helping and working with one another peacefully, prayerfully, and civilly. They have been a lesson in politeness at a time when it is most needed. It is a remarkable contrast to what Americans saw happen in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. I pray that the Japanese people will not have to suffer anymore than they are enduring right now, and I know that you and millions (no, billions) of others all around the globe are doing the same. And I pray that 2011 will give us a break for a while.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Government unions here in the U.S. are up in arms because states are having to face cutbacks caused by poor decisions that were made in the past. Now the states and the government unions will have to find ways to correct those mistakes. They will have to do so without asking for any more new money from the taxpayers because we don’t have the money for the taking and we will no longer put up with poor government spending. We know that for every dollar a union employee and politician is paid, and every benefit they receive comes from our pockets. In most cases, the benefits and pay government employees and politicians receive is a lot more than the people paying the taxes. If they aren’t careful we the people will fire them all.
I have been saying that 2011will be a year we’d like to forget but most likely never will. I think that 2011 will be forever remembered just as 1776, 1944, and 1968 will always be remembered. Here are just a few of the remarkable happenings we’ve witnessed take place this year: there was the suicide bombing of the church in Egypt, the suicide bombing in Russia, the murdering rampage in Arizona, birds and sea life have turned up dead by the thousands in parts of the country and millions of fish died in California, the Egyptians overthrew their dictator (Libyans are trying to do the same and very many of them have been killed), even more protests are taking place all over the Middle East. In Wisconsin government workers have used the Egyptian turmoil as a false rallying cry for their selfish movement. Disturbingly, the Chinese unveiled their first stealth jet fighter … one that looks almost exactly like ours. It went on it’s first test flight while our Secretary of Defense was paying them a visit ... what a coincidence. Those are just a few of the things that have happened since the first of this year.
And now we have Japan. Japan was hit with the triple crown of disasters … an under water earth quake that triggered a massive tsunami, that then has caused (at the time I wrote this blog) three explosions at nuclear power plants. The magnitude of these disasters was brought horribly to bear as 1,000 bodies of victims washed onto Japanese shores. The death toll will exceed 10,000 it could be in the hundreds of thousands. One official has said that 10,000 are missing from his city alone. Fortunately, Japan has planned for earth quakes and tsunamis, but not of the type and scale that just hit them. Certainly they could never have planned for such devastating disasters to happen all at the same time. Even if they had, there’s no preventing them.
The Japanese have shown tremendous grace and fortitude in dealing with the aftermath of the disasters. There hasn’t been rioting, raping, looting, violence, or disobedience. The people are helping and working with one another peacefully, prayerfully, and civilly. They have been a lesson in politeness at a time when it is most needed. It is a remarkable contrast to what Americans saw happen in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. I pray that the Japanese people will not have to suffer anymore than they are enduring right now, and I know that you and millions (no, billions) of others all around the globe are doing the same. And I pray that 2011 will give us a break for a while.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
GROWING VIOLENCE IN 2011
Over the last few weeks we have seen the world become increasingly violent. Unarmed people have been killed in Libya, Iran, and Mexico. Two unsuspecting USAF Airmen were killed and two were wounded in Germany by a radical Muslim. In Lubbock, TX, a radical Saudi Arabian Muslim student was caught planning to attempt bombings here in the U.S. … he’d even targeted the home of former President G. W. Bush.
The Middle East is in greater turmoil that anyone could have ever imagined. As the unrest increases, there is no telling just how much more blood will be shed. In my blog from February 20th I said “if the violence worsens and lives are lost in the Middle East, the media, the President, and pundits will have more trouble and blood on their hands than they could ever have imagined”. As we know now, the violence has gotten much worse. We’ve been lucky so far that no America citizens have been killed … yet.
We haven’t been as lucky in Mexico. Too many Americas have been killed in Mexico due to the rampant violence. But even more worrisome than that has been the unacceptable number of Americans that have been killed by the Mexican gangs on our side of the border (in law enforcement and civilians). Recently, a young 21 year old woman that took on the role of Chief of Police in her town has fled Mexico in fear of her life. Yet our federal government still will not secure the border.
Another disturbing development has been the violence we’ve seen unveiled by government union employees at rally after rally held across the nation … and not just in Wisconsin. By and large, the people attending these rallies do not represent the whole of the unions, they are from the most radical arm of them. For all of the negative rumors that were spread by liberals in the media, and in the Democrat party about the TEA parties being hate-filled, it has been union thugs that have actually been caught on tape behaving hatefully. We don’t hear anything about that from liberal reporters, politicians, or from President Obama.
I don’t know if the world is actually anymore violent today that at any other time in history, but it sure seems that way to me. Maybe it is because so much has happened in just the first two months of this year that I’m sensing it. Not only has there been actual violence, but there is great potential that this year may get even more violent. I believe that high oil prices will cause tensions between nations to rise. I think oil producing nations outside of the Middle East will soon use the Middle East’s unrest to even further blackmail the world with even higher oil prices … in a sense that is already happening. I’m convinced that those nations will attempt to increase their wealth and global influence with this new oil money. If that happens, there is no telling how much more violent the world will get.
Libya, Iran, Mexico, Cuba, China, Afghanistan, etc., have shown us a fraction of man’s inhumanity to man. They’ve also shown us just how easily a small group of radicals can take over a nation or a movement and kill without remorse in the name of revolution, or social justice, or simply in the name of change. The only way for evil to win as Ronald Reagan said “is for good men to do nothing”. Change is coming, and what that change will bring none of us knows for sure, but if it is the wrong change (and I believe that it is) will we simply set back and do nothing?
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
The Middle East is in greater turmoil that anyone could have ever imagined. As the unrest increases, there is no telling just how much more blood will be shed. In my blog from February 20th I said “if the violence worsens and lives are lost in the Middle East, the media, the President, and pundits will have more trouble and blood on their hands than they could ever have imagined”. As we know now, the violence has gotten much worse. We’ve been lucky so far that no America citizens have been killed … yet.
We haven’t been as lucky in Mexico. Too many Americas have been killed in Mexico due to the rampant violence. But even more worrisome than that has been the unacceptable number of Americans that have been killed by the Mexican gangs on our side of the border (in law enforcement and civilians). Recently, a young 21 year old woman that took on the role of Chief of Police in her town has fled Mexico in fear of her life. Yet our federal government still will not secure the border.
Another disturbing development has been the violence we’ve seen unveiled by government union employees at rally after rally held across the nation … and not just in Wisconsin. By and large, the people attending these rallies do not represent the whole of the unions, they are from the most radical arm of them. For all of the negative rumors that were spread by liberals in the media, and in the Democrat party about the TEA parties being hate-filled, it has been union thugs that have actually been caught on tape behaving hatefully. We don’t hear anything about that from liberal reporters, politicians, or from President Obama.
I don’t know if the world is actually anymore violent today that at any other time in history, but it sure seems that way to me. Maybe it is because so much has happened in just the first two months of this year that I’m sensing it. Not only has there been actual violence, but there is great potential that this year may get even more violent. I believe that high oil prices will cause tensions between nations to rise. I think oil producing nations outside of the Middle East will soon use the Middle East’s unrest to even further blackmail the world with even higher oil prices … in a sense that is already happening. I’m convinced that those nations will attempt to increase their wealth and global influence with this new oil money. If that happens, there is no telling how much more violent the world will get.
Libya, Iran, Mexico, Cuba, China, Afghanistan, etc., have shown us a fraction of man’s inhumanity to man. They’ve also shown us just how easily a small group of radicals can take over a nation or a movement and kill without remorse in the name of revolution, or social justice, or simply in the name of change. The only way for evil to win as Ronald Reagan said “is for good men to do nothing”. Change is coming, and what that change will bring none of us knows for sure, but if it is the wrong change (and I believe that it is) will we simply set back and do nothing?
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Sunday, February 27, 2011
GULF WAR DISEASESE
My topic for this blog posting isn’t focused on politics or global events. It’s about Buddy.
I have a friend, Nilda, who cuts my hair. My wife, Lisa, and I have been seeing her for at least fifteen years. Over that time we have gotten to know each other very well. She knows our kids and never fails to ask about them. We’ve met her husband, Buddy, many times at her shop … he even attended our little girl’s dance recital when she was in pre-school. I think that recital was one of the last times I saw Buddy … our daughter is ten years old now, so that must have been at least five years ago.
Buddy is a veteran. He served our country in the US Air Force. He proudly served this nation and fought against Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War, Operation Desert Shield that later became Desert Storm. Buddy would not be a veteran if he’d had his way, but as times would have it, he lost his job in the military due to a reduction in force (RIF’s they call them) that was brought on the military by the Clinton administration. I believe at the time they said we did not need a large military due to the “peace dividend” that our nation and the world was enjoying at the time. So Buddy was RIF’d out of the Air Force just as very many others were. Probably the most famous military layoff was Tim McVeigh the Oklahoma City Bomber, he was Gulf War vet too.
Buddy moved on with his life and went to work in the hotel business with Hilton Hotels. He moved up, was well liked, was good at his job and with people. I know every time we were together, he was kind and friendly. Nilda says that he was always a happy go lucky guy. Buddy isn’t so happy go lucky today. Buddy is sick. He is very sick and he is dying. Buddy has Gulf War Disease, or Gulf War Syndrome as it is more well known.
You see, Buddy’s been sick for a long time now. This disease is killing him and other Gulf War vets and they aren’t getting the help and medical attention they need from the Veteran’s Administration. Why that is, I’m not sure. Part of the problem is that the disease attacks vets differently causing them to become ill in many different ways. It causes physical problems, medical conditions, and mental disorders that are too numerous to mention. Veterans that have it are dying from chronic illness and many have committed suicide. I have not researched it, but Nilda has and, more importantly, she and Buddy are living it. They’ve seen what it has and is doing to other vets.
Buddy has gotten so sick that he is a shadow of his former himself. Nilda says that he has lost all interest in things that he used to enjoy. He has medical, mental, and physical sicknesses. His hair has thinned and he has rubbed bald spots on his head from rubbing his hands on his head due to headaches that he suffers. He has lost teeth without even knowing it. He has lost weight, his appetite, and concern about personal hygiene … this from a man that used to wear a suit to work.
Nilda tells me there are thousands and thousands of Gulf War vets that are enduring these and (even worse) troubles than Buddy has. She says that many vets go undetected with the illness because they fall off our radar. They either die without ever being diagnosed and treated, or they become dysfunctional and are unable to cope with life and have no personal support system to aid them. Many of their marriages fail. Too many of them become homeless and are left to roam cities and towns untreated. They are forgotten.
This shouldn’t happen to our veterans … that is why the Veterans Administration exist. The VA is supposed to look out for the interest of our vets. The VA is supposed to be a safety net for them, to treat them when they are ill, and help them … especially if a veteran does not have the means to do so … not out of pity, or as a welfare program, but because they are owed that help as veterans. They signed an agreement with their country … an agreement that is to be honored .
Veterans served the nation….in turn the nation must serve them. The US government should not dodge that commitment simply because it is an expensive proposition. But from what I’ve recently heard from Nilda, and from the experience I witnessed watching my father go through the VA system, it is clear to me that money dictates at the VA. Instead of using aggressive action to get vets the help they need, it seems the VA uses aggressive action to skirt and deny patients’ treatment. I’m sure the VA administrators would say something differently, but that is how I’ve seen and heard the VA operate.
Some people say that an issue never becomes personal until it becomes personal. Nilda has kept me up with Buddy’s trials and tribulations for a long time now, but she’s been able to hide the effects of Buddy’s condition from her clients. It wasn’t until recently that she’d even mentioned that he is dying. She’s always maintained her composure and has been upbeat, but knowing that she is losing Buddy to a slow death has to taken its toll on her. It has also made her angry that the US government has been so reluctant to provide Buddy, and veterans like him, the proper medical treatment they need. From what I’ve heard her say, Buddy’s experience with the VA borders on incompetence … for that there is no excuse. She told me that Buddy has never regretted his service to the country that he loves and that he would do it again. Yet he has also told her that he never expected his country to treat him this way.
I know I’ve left out a lot of details regarding Buddy’s story. I’ve done that out of respect to him. However, what he has gone through and continues to go through is happening with far too much regularity to US veterans and it must be stopped.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
I have a friend, Nilda, who cuts my hair. My wife, Lisa, and I have been seeing her for at least fifteen years. Over that time we have gotten to know each other very well. She knows our kids and never fails to ask about them. We’ve met her husband, Buddy, many times at her shop … he even attended our little girl’s dance recital when she was in pre-school. I think that recital was one of the last times I saw Buddy … our daughter is ten years old now, so that must have been at least five years ago.
Buddy is a veteran. He served our country in the US Air Force. He proudly served this nation and fought against Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War, Operation Desert Shield that later became Desert Storm. Buddy would not be a veteran if he’d had his way, but as times would have it, he lost his job in the military due to a reduction in force (RIF’s they call them) that was brought on the military by the Clinton administration. I believe at the time they said we did not need a large military due to the “peace dividend” that our nation and the world was enjoying at the time. So Buddy was RIF’d out of the Air Force just as very many others were. Probably the most famous military layoff was Tim McVeigh the Oklahoma City Bomber, he was Gulf War vet too.
Buddy moved on with his life and went to work in the hotel business with Hilton Hotels. He moved up, was well liked, was good at his job and with people. I know every time we were together, he was kind and friendly. Nilda says that he was always a happy go lucky guy. Buddy isn’t so happy go lucky today. Buddy is sick. He is very sick and he is dying. Buddy has Gulf War Disease, or Gulf War Syndrome as it is more well known.
You see, Buddy’s been sick for a long time now. This disease is killing him and other Gulf War vets and they aren’t getting the help and medical attention they need from the Veteran’s Administration. Why that is, I’m not sure. Part of the problem is that the disease attacks vets differently causing them to become ill in many different ways. It causes physical problems, medical conditions, and mental disorders that are too numerous to mention. Veterans that have it are dying from chronic illness and many have committed suicide. I have not researched it, but Nilda has and, more importantly, she and Buddy are living it. They’ve seen what it has and is doing to other vets.
Buddy has gotten so sick that he is a shadow of his former himself. Nilda says that he has lost all interest in things that he used to enjoy. He has medical, mental, and physical sicknesses. His hair has thinned and he has rubbed bald spots on his head from rubbing his hands on his head due to headaches that he suffers. He has lost teeth without even knowing it. He has lost weight, his appetite, and concern about personal hygiene … this from a man that used to wear a suit to work.
Nilda tells me there are thousands and thousands of Gulf War vets that are enduring these and (even worse) troubles than Buddy has. She says that many vets go undetected with the illness because they fall off our radar. They either die without ever being diagnosed and treated, or they become dysfunctional and are unable to cope with life and have no personal support system to aid them. Many of their marriages fail. Too many of them become homeless and are left to roam cities and towns untreated. They are forgotten.
This shouldn’t happen to our veterans … that is why the Veterans Administration exist. The VA is supposed to look out for the interest of our vets. The VA is supposed to be a safety net for them, to treat them when they are ill, and help them … especially if a veteran does not have the means to do so … not out of pity, or as a welfare program, but because they are owed that help as veterans. They signed an agreement with their country … an agreement that is to be honored .
Veterans served the nation….in turn the nation must serve them. The US government should not dodge that commitment simply because it is an expensive proposition. But from what I’ve recently heard from Nilda, and from the experience I witnessed watching my father go through the VA system, it is clear to me that money dictates at the VA. Instead of using aggressive action to get vets the help they need, it seems the VA uses aggressive action to skirt and deny patients’ treatment. I’m sure the VA administrators would say something differently, but that is how I’ve seen and heard the VA operate.
Some people say that an issue never becomes personal until it becomes personal. Nilda has kept me up with Buddy’s trials and tribulations for a long time now, but she’s been able to hide the effects of Buddy’s condition from her clients. It wasn’t until recently that she’d even mentioned that he is dying. She’s always maintained her composure and has been upbeat, but knowing that she is losing Buddy to a slow death has to taken its toll on her. It has also made her angry that the US government has been so reluctant to provide Buddy, and veterans like him, the proper medical treatment they need. From what I’ve heard her say, Buddy’s experience with the VA borders on incompetence … for that there is no excuse. She told me that Buddy has never regretted his service to the country that he loves and that he would do it again. Yet he has also told her that he never expected his country to treat him this way.
I know I’ve left out a lot of details regarding Buddy’s story. I’ve done that out of respect to him. However, what he has gone through and continues to go through is happening with far too much regularity to US veterans and it must be stopped.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Sunday, February 20, 2011
EGYPT, MEXICO, AND WISCONSIN!?
No sooner after the riots, marches, protests, and demonstrations successfully disposed of Egypt’s dictator, similar movements have spread all around the region. Actually, those demonstrations were already gaining steam before Hosni Mubarak resigned. Isn’t it interesting, no actually, isn’t outrageous that the news media and political leading class supported the regime change in Egypt calling it democracy in action, but haven’t been nearly as supportive and blushingly complimentary about those actions in Iran? Never mind the lack of broad based coverage of the demonstrations happening in other Middle Eastern nations. Are those countries not demonstrating democracy in action? Shouldn’t we be pressuring the Iranians and others for regime change? Shouldn’t we be calling on them to listen to the wishes of their people? They want CHANGE, too. Shouldn’t those young peoples’ voices be HEARD? No, I guess not … after all, the president says we cannot dictate the internal affairs of sovereign nations (as was his position in 2009). That is, unless that nation happens to be an ally of the United States.
The Iranians openly supported the movement in Egypt. I find it troubling that our media, the White House, and political pundits all did too. I also find it troubling that this nation openly opposed Israel (our best ally in the region) at the United Nations. Actions like that should trouble the rest of our allies, too. Appeasement is a sign of weakness in that part of the world. But if the violence worsens and lives are lost in the Middle East the media, the President, and pundits will have more trouble and blood on their hands than they could ever have imagined.
But enough about the Middle East. This week an American was killed in Mexico again. This time two US federal law enforcement agents were chased down and ambushed on a Mexican highway. One of them was killed. Does Mexico not have an armed highway patrol that could have (and should have) come to the aid of these men? Sure they do! But they didn’t. Mexico isn’t a friend to the United States. They haven’t been our friend for decades, and we as a people should realize that. Mexico has done nothing to foster fairness, hope and equality among its most needy classes. Why should they? … their citizens have been able to simply walk across our shared border to find those things here that they lack at home. When I say that Mexico is not our friend, I mean the political and social elite. Mexicans I’ve known have for the most part been nice, decent people … but they don’t come here to become an American. They come here because Mexico became a hopeless place for them. Americans are no longer safe in Mexico, along our shared border, or in Arizona. Why is that? … because the federal government will not do its job, and because the Mexican crime machine has gotten stronger and more violent.
Hear at home we have seen Government Employee Unions protest in anger over budget cuts and spending cuts that are being proposed by the Governor of Wisconsin. Those very union workers are brining up Egypt as there rallying cry. They are not willing to negotiate on benefits and compensation while tax payers have seen the very same things asked of them. Elected Democrats fled the state so as to make voting on the legislation impossible. In effect, they are not willing to help fix the mess that they have created ... I’d call that “dereliction of duty”. They “drove the car into the ditch” and are perfectly willing to leave it there. Who’d have ever thought that the events in Egypt would be used as a ploy in derailing badly needed government spending cut backs? I’ll tell you who would have thought of it Democrats … and union bosses. OH, my bad, that would just be Democrats. At the demonstration rallies I have seen and heard, the very same types of hate speech and hateful signs that just weeks ago people were accusing the TEA Parties of. You remember that would have been on the same day that a deranged gunman shot and killed people in Arizona and nearly assassinated Congresswomen Giffords. I haven’t heard the President, or news media make an issue of it. I guess when Democrats use them, they are simply exercising their constitutionally protected right to free political speech … but if TEA Partiers do, it’s hate speech.
Well that’s it for now. Here is a recap for 2011: We had the suicide bombing of the church in Egypt, the suicide bombing in Russia, the murdering rampage in Arizona, birds and sea life have turned up dead by the thousands, and the Egyptian dictator stepped down and now protests are taking place as result of it all over the Middle East and in (of all places) Wisconsin. Oh, I keep forgetting to mention the glorious unveiling of the first Chinese stealth jet fighter … you know, the one that looks almost exactly like the one we have …. how’d that happen? They just happened to give it their first test flight while our Secretary of Defense was paying them a visit .. what a coincidence.
As I’ve been saying, 2011 will be a year we would like to forget but most likely never will.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
The Iranians openly supported the movement in Egypt. I find it troubling that our media, the White House, and political pundits all did too. I also find it troubling that this nation openly opposed Israel (our best ally in the region) at the United Nations. Actions like that should trouble the rest of our allies, too. Appeasement is a sign of weakness in that part of the world. But if the violence worsens and lives are lost in the Middle East the media, the President, and pundits will have more trouble and blood on their hands than they could ever have imagined.
But enough about the Middle East. This week an American was killed in Mexico again. This time two US federal law enforcement agents were chased down and ambushed on a Mexican highway. One of them was killed. Does Mexico not have an armed highway patrol that could have (and should have) come to the aid of these men? Sure they do! But they didn’t. Mexico isn’t a friend to the United States. They haven’t been our friend for decades, and we as a people should realize that. Mexico has done nothing to foster fairness, hope and equality among its most needy classes. Why should they? … their citizens have been able to simply walk across our shared border to find those things here that they lack at home. When I say that Mexico is not our friend, I mean the political and social elite. Mexicans I’ve known have for the most part been nice, decent people … but they don’t come here to become an American. They come here because Mexico became a hopeless place for them. Americans are no longer safe in Mexico, along our shared border, or in Arizona. Why is that? … because the federal government will not do its job, and because the Mexican crime machine has gotten stronger and more violent.
Hear at home we have seen Government Employee Unions protest in anger over budget cuts and spending cuts that are being proposed by the Governor of Wisconsin. Those very union workers are brining up Egypt as there rallying cry. They are not willing to negotiate on benefits and compensation while tax payers have seen the very same things asked of them. Elected Democrats fled the state so as to make voting on the legislation impossible. In effect, they are not willing to help fix the mess that they have created ... I’d call that “dereliction of duty”. They “drove the car into the ditch” and are perfectly willing to leave it there. Who’d have ever thought that the events in Egypt would be used as a ploy in derailing badly needed government spending cut backs? I’ll tell you who would have thought of it Democrats … and union bosses. OH, my bad, that would just be Democrats. At the demonstration rallies I have seen and heard, the very same types of hate speech and hateful signs that just weeks ago people were accusing the TEA Parties of. You remember that would have been on the same day that a deranged gunman shot and killed people in Arizona and nearly assassinated Congresswomen Giffords. I haven’t heard the President, or news media make an issue of it. I guess when Democrats use them, they are simply exercising their constitutionally protected right to free political speech … but if TEA Partiers do, it’s hate speech.
Well that’s it for now. Here is a recap for 2011: We had the suicide bombing of the church in Egypt, the suicide bombing in Russia, the murdering rampage in Arizona, birds and sea life have turned up dead by the thousands, and the Egyptian dictator stepped down and now protests are taking place as result of it all over the Middle East and in (of all places) Wisconsin. Oh, I keep forgetting to mention the glorious unveiling of the first Chinese stealth jet fighter … you know, the one that looks almost exactly like the one we have …. how’d that happen? They just happened to give it their first test flight while our Secretary of Defense was paying them a visit .. what a coincidence.
As I’ve been saying, 2011 will be a year we would like to forget but most likely never will.
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Sunday, February 13, 2011
2011 WHAT WILL IT REVEAL NEXT?
Lets briefly recap events over the past six weeks of 2011. There was the suicide bombing of the church in Egypt, the suicide bombing in Russia, the murdering rampage in Arizona, birds and sea life have turned up dead by the thousands, and now the Egyptian dictator has been replaced by a military ruling body (I’m not sure how that will make things better for the people of Egypt). All of this has happened before St. Valentines Day! I’ll bet some of you have already forgotten about at least one of those things.
On Thursday, February 3rd , the results of an investigation of the home-grown terrorist attack at Fort Hood, TX was released by Senator Joe Lieberman. The report revealed that the terrorist traitor’s attack could not only have been stopped … it could have been prevented all together. Did you hear any broad based news coverage of that? Were the events in Egypt more important to you than the finding of facts that Americans could have been saved from death but were not? … I don’t think so. Americans should be rightfully outraged that a known traitor was not captured and removed from our military service and that the very same traitor was promoted even after his associations and beliefs were known. In effect, they ignored a ticking time bomb to avoid being charged with prejudice. But how can Americans be outraged of it if we don’t know about it and the news media has chosen to not cover the story with any effort? Here is a link you my care to check out. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/lieberman-fort-hood-massacre-could-have . Political correctness lives on while Americans die.
Just the day before that on February 2nd ,the president signed a nuclear arms agreement with Russia (he signed it without press coverage other than photography). Some say based off of the preamble to the of the treaty, that it places limits on the development and deployment of nuclear defense system technology. That agreement still has to be passed by both the US and Russian legislatures. The Russians are very interested at placing limits on (or I should say at reducing US defenses in) Europe. Why would that be? Others wonder why should this bill be rushed … just as so many of this President’s other poorly constructed bills had been rushed through the previous Congress. These are just two stories that the news media did not cover and report on to you. Instead they focused on Egypt … including my favorite FOX NEWS. That is why I say if you don’t listen to talk radio, you are under-informed. I’ll add that I also read articles on line from differing news agencies and talk about issues with people I meet.
I have a friend that was raised in Zimbabwe (she’s white) and lived in South Africa. She also lived in England because her parents are British. She always tells me how great our country is, yet she is surprised that racism and prejudice exist in the United States. Before you ask … yes she immigrated here legally. I tell her that prejudice and hatred exist everywhere. We often talk about world events, I like to hear her perspective since she’s been in places I’ve never been to and most likely never will. She’s seen war, bigotry, prejudice and hatred at its worse because she lived where it exists. I’ve told her it must seem boring living here after having lived in Africa. She is a born again Christian. The last time I talked to her, she expressed what it feels like to have been a part of a ruling minority race in Africa and the feeling of being a part of the majority in England. She instantly felt a part of England because she could blend in, while in Africa she could not. Yet in England she could sense that England and Europe has become almost Godless … she said she does not feel that here in the United States. Isn’t that wonderful… just when I was starting to believe that we have become a more and more Godless country I hear that we are not.
2011, what will you reveal next?
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
On Thursday, February 3rd , the results of an investigation of the home-grown terrorist attack at Fort Hood, TX was released by Senator Joe Lieberman. The report revealed that the terrorist traitor’s attack could not only have been stopped … it could have been prevented all together. Did you hear any broad based news coverage of that? Were the events in Egypt more important to you than the finding of facts that Americans could have been saved from death but were not? … I don’t think so. Americans should be rightfully outraged that a known traitor was not captured and removed from our military service and that the very same traitor was promoted even after his associations and beliefs were known. In effect, they ignored a ticking time bomb to avoid being charged with prejudice. But how can Americans be outraged of it if we don’t know about it and the news media has chosen to not cover the story with any effort? Here is a link you my care to check out. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/lieberman-fort-hood-massacre-could-have . Political correctness lives on while Americans die.
Just the day before that on February 2nd ,the president signed a nuclear arms agreement with Russia (he signed it without press coverage other than photography). Some say based off of the preamble to the of the treaty, that it places limits on the development and deployment of nuclear defense system technology. That agreement still has to be passed by both the US and Russian legislatures. The Russians are very interested at placing limits on (or I should say at reducing US defenses in) Europe. Why would that be? Others wonder why should this bill be rushed … just as so many of this President’s other poorly constructed bills had been rushed through the previous Congress. These are just two stories that the news media did not cover and report on to you. Instead they focused on Egypt … including my favorite FOX NEWS. That is why I say if you don’t listen to talk radio, you are under-informed. I’ll add that I also read articles on line from differing news agencies and talk about issues with people I meet.
I have a friend that was raised in Zimbabwe (she’s white) and lived in South Africa. She also lived in England because her parents are British. She always tells me how great our country is, yet she is surprised that racism and prejudice exist in the United States. Before you ask … yes she immigrated here legally. I tell her that prejudice and hatred exist everywhere. We often talk about world events, I like to hear her perspective since she’s been in places I’ve never been to and most likely never will. She’s seen war, bigotry, prejudice and hatred at its worse because she lived where it exists. I’ve told her it must seem boring living here after having lived in Africa. She is a born again Christian. The last time I talked to her, she expressed what it feels like to have been a part of a ruling minority race in Africa and the feeling of being a part of the majority in England. She instantly felt a part of England because she could blend in, while in Africa she could not. Yet in England she could sense that England and Europe has become almost Godless … she said she does not feel that here in the United States. Isn’t that wonderful… just when I was starting to believe that we have become a more and more Godless country I hear that we are not.
2011, what will you reveal next?
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
FEBRUARY 2011
February has come in with a bang, both figuratively and literally. The unrest in the Middle East that was started in a lesser nation of the region has engulfed Egypt. I originally thought (and still) do that home grown Islamic radicals would try something here in the US this year … I had no clue that Islamists would be hard at work reshaping the political and religious direction of the Muslim nations in the Middle East.
I understand that the people of the Middle East are hurting. Their governments have been oppressive, restrictive, and at times brutal … but I’ll have to ask you, what’s new with that? It is time they came into the modern age and by now they should have had well established democratic representative governments like ours. I never agreed with “W” when he said that a new democratic government in Iraq did not have to resemble ours … I thought he was wrong (there I said it). Our form of government has worked well and is the most successful democracy in world history … our economic system has been too. So why wouldn’t imitating our form of government in the Middle East be a good idea?
I’m not sure why the Obama White House is behind the movement in Egypt to change the government, but did nothing to foster the removal of Iran’s oppressive, antagonistic government when thousands there were demonstrating in 2009. Iran has been a threat to Middle Eastern peace while Egypt has been a stabilizing presence. Iran is an enemy, Egypt an ally … so why such a different reaction from the Obama administration?
When Egypt falls, all holds are off and the next US ally will fall … by that, I mean that I believe that Saudi Arabia will be the next target of the Islamists. If that happens then, of course, Israel will be in the crosshairs of radical Muslims and the Islamists … but before they attack Israel, will they threaten to reduce the flow of oil or will they actually cut the flow of oil off to the world? Either way, it will be an attempt to blackmail the rest of the world and isolate Israel from her allies. If that happens, a global struggle will take place … because once the nations of Europe are starved for oil and the price of it becomes out of control, they will attack the region and take the oil. They will do it regardless of what happens to Israel … and they will do it with or without the United States. Why? … because they need their oil more that we do. We have the resources to sustain ourselves, but we haven’t tapped into them.
Our own natural resources remain unused mostly due to weak political leaders that have never countered liberals and radical environmentalists. If they had, we would be well on our way to energy independence. An energy independent United States would be not only good for us, but for the rest of the world as well. I have always said that a strong United States (politically, economically, and militarily) is ultimately good for the rest of the world. Becoming energy independent does not mean that this nation would abandon our position as the world police. It will allow us to be an even greater influence for good in the world. Any American that believes otherwise has simply chosen to be unwise.
The Middle East is the epicenter of global unrest and that makes it the biggest threat to Americans since we are being targeted for Islamic hatred … if Israel were eliminated that would not change. The events in the Middle East have captured our attention and, to a certain extent, we’ve become somewhat less concerned with other global issues, dangers, and enemies that still confront us. Our debt to China is looming like a hurricane ready to make landfall. Europe is broke and violence has erupted there for the same economic reasons that has caused the rioting and demonstrations in Egypt. Islamists are taking advantage of that unrest … they aren’t letting ala Rahm Emanuel “a crisis go to waste”.
Now, after stating all of the above, there is a flip side. If Egypt can repel an Islamist take-over of the reigns of government and defeat the Islamic Brotherhood in free and open elections, then that will be a major defeat to the radicals in the country. If a more liberal (that’s right, I said liberal) government emerges that supports the same inalienable rights that our founding fathers embraced respecting the rights of religion, speech, and of the press, the entire region will take notice. An Egypt that is still at peace with Israel will be at peace with the United States.
My hope is for the latter. The nations of the region don’t have to change or alter their long held beliefs and customs, but they do need to enter the modern age and end the never ending wars that have plagued them.
WOW what a beginning of 2011!
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
I understand that the people of the Middle East are hurting. Their governments have been oppressive, restrictive, and at times brutal … but I’ll have to ask you, what’s new with that? It is time they came into the modern age and by now they should have had well established democratic representative governments like ours. I never agreed with “W” when he said that a new democratic government in Iraq did not have to resemble ours … I thought he was wrong (there I said it). Our form of government has worked well and is the most successful democracy in world history … our economic system has been too. So why wouldn’t imitating our form of government in the Middle East be a good idea?
I’m not sure why the Obama White House is behind the movement in Egypt to change the government, but did nothing to foster the removal of Iran’s oppressive, antagonistic government when thousands there were demonstrating in 2009. Iran has been a threat to Middle Eastern peace while Egypt has been a stabilizing presence. Iran is an enemy, Egypt an ally … so why such a different reaction from the Obama administration?
When Egypt falls, all holds are off and the next US ally will fall … by that, I mean that I believe that Saudi Arabia will be the next target of the Islamists. If that happens then, of course, Israel will be in the crosshairs of radical Muslims and the Islamists … but before they attack Israel, will they threaten to reduce the flow of oil or will they actually cut the flow of oil off to the world? Either way, it will be an attempt to blackmail the rest of the world and isolate Israel from her allies. If that happens, a global struggle will take place … because once the nations of Europe are starved for oil and the price of it becomes out of control, they will attack the region and take the oil. They will do it regardless of what happens to Israel … and they will do it with or without the United States. Why? … because they need their oil more that we do. We have the resources to sustain ourselves, but we haven’t tapped into them.
Our own natural resources remain unused mostly due to weak political leaders that have never countered liberals and radical environmentalists. If they had, we would be well on our way to energy independence. An energy independent United States would be not only good for us, but for the rest of the world as well. I have always said that a strong United States (politically, economically, and militarily) is ultimately good for the rest of the world. Becoming energy independent does not mean that this nation would abandon our position as the world police. It will allow us to be an even greater influence for good in the world. Any American that believes otherwise has simply chosen to be unwise.
The Middle East is the epicenter of global unrest and that makes it the biggest threat to Americans since we are being targeted for Islamic hatred … if Israel were eliminated that would not change. The events in the Middle East have captured our attention and, to a certain extent, we’ve become somewhat less concerned with other global issues, dangers, and enemies that still confront us. Our debt to China is looming like a hurricane ready to make landfall. Europe is broke and violence has erupted there for the same economic reasons that has caused the rioting and demonstrations in Egypt. Islamists are taking advantage of that unrest … they aren’t letting ala Rahm Emanuel “a crisis go to waste”.
Now, after stating all of the above, there is a flip side. If Egypt can repel an Islamist take-over of the reigns of government and defeat the Islamic Brotherhood in free and open elections, then that will be a major defeat to the radicals in the country. If a more liberal (that’s right, I said liberal) government emerges that supports the same inalienable rights that our founding fathers embraced respecting the rights of religion, speech, and of the press, the entire region will take notice. An Egypt that is still at peace with Israel will be at peace with the United States.
My hope is for the latter. The nations of the region don’t have to change or alter their long held beliefs and customs, but they do need to enter the modern age and end the never ending wars that have plagued them.
WOW what a beginning of 2011!
There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
Sunday, January 30, 2011
HAPPY NEW YEAR?
I’ve written a couple of times about how I believe that 2011 will be a strange year. Maybe I should say that it will very likely be a year to remember … just as 2001, 1968, 1941, and 1776 are all years which standout in history. In each of those years, peoples’ perceptions of each other, their countries, and the world were significantly changed forever. I think 2011 will become one of those years.
January 2011 hasn’t even ended and we’ve seen historical incidents take place here in the U.S. and around the world. Suicide bombings have taken place in Russia and Egypt. A terrible shooting in Arizona was turned into a political spectacle that will carry on through out the rest of this year as one political faction uses the tragedy to vilify the other. Europe is reeling in a financial quagmire and the nations of the Middle East are in turmoil … not just in Egypt, but everywhere … Israel, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, etc., are all in distress in one way or another.
Tensions are high in the Middle East and no one is safe. Muslims are angry at their governments, but they are angry at the United States as well. The extremists point to our nation and to Israel as the root of all evil … never mind that Muslims are being and have been oppressed primarily by other Muslims. Be it Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, or Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, you name the Middle Eastern dictatorship and you will find a Muslim in charge … not a Jew or an American.
Some will say that it is the United States that has kept these dictators in place … that is only partially true. Every nation, including those in the Middle East, has its own political ruling class … and they are who are responsible for the government. The nations of the Middle East are ruled by way of a monarchy or a dictatorship. There is only one nation in the region that has a functioning track record as a democracy … and that one isn’t Iraq. To blame the U.S. for the sorry state of public affairs in the region is like blaming conservatives for the actions of a lunatic gunman in Arizona. You can make the argument, but it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Nations, just like people, are responsible for their own actions.
The year is still young I can hardly wait to see what February will bring.
There you have it
Pass it along if you like or let me know it I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
January 2011 hasn’t even ended and we’ve seen historical incidents take place here in the U.S. and around the world. Suicide bombings have taken place in Russia and Egypt. A terrible shooting in Arizona was turned into a political spectacle that will carry on through out the rest of this year as one political faction uses the tragedy to vilify the other. Europe is reeling in a financial quagmire and the nations of the Middle East are in turmoil … not just in Egypt, but everywhere … Israel, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, etc., are all in distress in one way or another.
Tensions are high in the Middle East and no one is safe. Muslims are angry at their governments, but they are angry at the United States as well. The extremists point to our nation and to Israel as the root of all evil … never mind that Muslims are being and have been oppressed primarily by other Muslims. Be it Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, or Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, you name the Middle Eastern dictatorship and you will find a Muslim in charge … not a Jew or an American.
Some will say that it is the United States that has kept these dictators in place … that is only partially true. Every nation, including those in the Middle East, has its own political ruling class … and they are who are responsible for the government. The nations of the Middle East are ruled by way of a monarchy or a dictatorship. There is only one nation in the region that has a functioning track record as a democracy … and that one isn’t Iraq. To blame the U.S. for the sorry state of public affairs in the region is like blaming conservatives for the actions of a lunatic gunman in Arizona. You can make the argument, but it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Nations, just like people, are responsible for their own actions.
The year is still young I can hardly wait to see what February will bring.
There you have it
Pass it along if you like or let me know it I don’t have a clue.
Eddie
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