With the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina this past weekend, our country has been reminded of the intense suffering that occurred 5 years ago. What a horrific event with disastrous results! Most news outlets focused on the destruction in New Orleans, which was immense, but it is also important to note the loss of other regions as well. This was a sad day in our history and the country continues to mourn with those that mourn.
A small glimmer that came out of this event, however, was the reminder of the triumph of human spirit. As a resident of Texas, I have come to know many evacuees who relocated due to the hurricane. I am humbled by their sacrifice, spirit, and strength as well as by those who, with outstretched arms, welcomed our sweet brothers and sisters and provided respite.
To those who suffered because of your great losses, know that you're not alone. A big thanks to all organizations and individuals who made sacrifices to serve your fellow man. May we carry this spirit of service forward.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Al Sharpton on Fox
I'm watching Al Sharpton on Fox News (O'Reilly Factor) commenting on the Beck rally. He had a pitiful, small rally the same time on Saturday. He says Beck was "disgracing Martin Luther King's day" trying to "provoke a confrontation."
Never happened. Nothing even close happened. The rally was attended by non-provoking, good people.
It is hard to watch Al Sharpton, he contradicts himself and outright lies even though O'Reilly shows clips of his actual words, then Sharpton denies saying what we all just heard. I can't believe anybody follows this man. I have yet to hear two sentences in a row that make any sense.
Either way, this is the drivel that people watch and believe.
Never happened. Nothing even close happened. The rally was attended by non-provoking, good people.
It is hard to watch Al Sharpton, he contradicts himself and outright lies even though O'Reilly shows clips of his actual words, then Sharpton denies saying what we all just heard. I can't believe anybody follows this man. I have yet to hear two sentences in a row that make any sense.
Either way, this is the drivel that people watch and believe.
Welcome back, Mr. President
The economy still stinks and people are out of work - please pretend like you care and do something!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
So I have been taking a walk down history lane and was thinking back on why our forefathers decided to leave and break free from the British Empire. For a reference, I went back to the Declaration of Independence. An underlying tension that was present was the overwhelming power that the King was imposing in a variety of areas (taxes, religion, legislation, judicial processes, etc.). So how do we, as a people, respond when we feel oppressed by our government? When we feel the government isn't listening? Some people jump to unrealistic extremes. During the Bush years, my democratic friends made ridiculous statements that they were going to leave the country, move to Canada, etc.
But what can we do to have our voices heard when as a people, we are dissatisfied with the direction of the country? I don't know the answer for everyone, but I'll tell you the conclusions I have come to for myself.
1 - Become more informed about the foundation of this great land, our rights, and our responsibilities.
2 - While maintaining awareness of current news and politics, view news with a critical lens. Lately it seems current events and opinions have overlapped under the guise of being "news."
3 - Get involved.
4 - Vote. Don't vote across party lines, but research, get to know candidates, and make good choices.
5 - Finally, pray. This country was founded by God and we must pray for our current leaders and our future leaders that we might be watched over. That our beloved Heavenly Father will inspire us to act in a way that will bring to pass His will.
My hope is that we can all find a way to speak out and be heard so that this government may not overburden this people.
But what can we do to have our voices heard when as a people, we are dissatisfied with the direction of the country? I don't know the answer for everyone, but I'll tell you the conclusions I have come to for myself.
1 - Become more informed about the foundation of this great land, our rights, and our responsibilities.
2 - While maintaining awareness of current news and politics, view news with a critical lens. Lately it seems current events and opinions have overlapped under the guise of being "news."
3 - Get involved.
4 - Vote. Don't vote across party lines, but research, get to know candidates, and make good choices.
5 - Finally, pray. This country was founded by God and we must pray for our current leaders and our future leaders that we might be watched over. That our beloved Heavenly Father will inspire us to act in a way that will bring to pass His will.
My hope is that we can all find a way to speak out and be heard so that this government may not overburden this people.
Good for Glenn Beck
Beck's 'Restoring Honor' rally today was an impressive gathering of hundreds of thousands of people gathered to discuss a return to America's foundational Christian values. Glenn Beck, who is primarily known for his FOX TV show and has been a controversial figure even among Republicans at times, stood in front of the crowd and passionately called for a restoration of core American values. Beck spoke heavily of God and the nation's need to turn its focus back to Christianity.
What Glenn Beck is doing is bold and deserving of great respect. This is the epitome of standing up for what you believe. He has been derided by the Left and by the mainstream media. In organizing this event, Beck has made a substantive stand about where we are as a nation and our need to consciously steer ourselves back to our roots.
Article on the rally:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100828/pl_nm/us_usa_politics_rally;_ylt=An0USAmJeMsQ6RtOpexsQ8G2GL8C;_ylu=X3oDMTNhMzQ4NDRiBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAwODI4L3VzX3VzYV9wb2xpdGljc19yYWxseQRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzUEcG9zAzUEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNiZWNrcGFsaW51cmc-
What Glenn Beck is doing is bold and deserving of great respect. This is the epitome of standing up for what you believe. He has been derided by the Left and by the mainstream media. In organizing this event, Beck has made a substantive stand about where we are as a nation and our need to consciously steer ourselves back to our roots.
Article on the rally:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100828/pl_nm/us_usa_politics_rally;_ylt=An0USAmJeMsQ6RtOpexsQ8G2GL8C;_ylu=X3oDMTNhMzQ4NDRiBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAwODI4L3VzX3VzYV9wb2xpdGljc19yYWxseQRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzUEcG9zAzUEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNiZWNrcGFsaW51cmc-
Friday, August 27, 2010
It is getting ugly...
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-national/anti-tea-party-groups-turn-violent
Glenn Beck, Dick Armey, and others are the target of death threats for organizing the rally tomorrow in Washington. What a grave situation we find ourselves in. I mourn for our collective understanding of liberty. How is it so many people are so blind? The Tea Party has a very simple goal - STOP SPENDING. We as a country are spending ourselves into a debt from which we may never recover. We spend money like it is falling out of the sky. I guess to Congress and the President, it is falling out of the sky because they can't seem to remember that it actually comes from the hard-working individuals throughout this great country.
As Zuckerman in US News and World Report called in - this is the most fiscally irresponsible government in US history.
Conservatives - if we ever had a reason to speak out, we have it now! Now is the time! This has to stop, if not for you than for children! What kind of a world do you want them living in?
Glenn Beck, Dick Armey, and others are the target of death threats for organizing the rally tomorrow in Washington. What a grave situation we find ourselves in. I mourn for our collective understanding of liberty. How is it so many people are so blind? The Tea Party has a very simple goal - STOP SPENDING. We as a country are spending ourselves into a debt from which we may never recover. We spend money like it is falling out of the sky. I guess to Congress and the President, it is falling out of the sky because they can't seem to remember that it actually comes from the hard-working individuals throughout this great country.
As Zuckerman in US News and World Report called in - this is the most fiscally irresponsible government in US history.
Conservatives - if we ever had a reason to speak out, we have it now! Now is the time! This has to stop, if not for you than for children! What kind of a world do you want them living in?
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Some great quotes
Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have. -- Barry Goldwater
That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves. -- Thomas Jefferson
Compassion is defined not by how many people are on the government dole but by how many people no longer need government assistance. -- Rush Limbaugh
I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. -- James Madison
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. -- John Stuart Mill
Millions of individuals making their own decisions in the marketplace will always allocate resources better than any centralized government planning process. -- Ronald Reagan
We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. -- Ronald Reagan
...Conservatives have excellent credentials to speak about human rights. By our efforts, and with precious little help from self-styled liberals, we were largely responsible for securing liberty for a substantial share of the world's population and defending it for most of the rest. -- Margaret Thatcher
To be free is better than to be unfree - always. Any politician who suggests the opposite should be treated as suspect. -- Margaret Thatcher
Yet the basic fact remains: every regulation represents a restriction of liberty, every regulation has a cost. That is why, like marriage (in the Prayer Book's words), regulation should not 'be enterprised, nor taken in hand, unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly' -- Margaret Thatcher
That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves. -- Thomas Jefferson
Compassion is defined not by how many people are on the government dole but by how many people no longer need government assistance. -- Rush Limbaugh
I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. -- James Madison
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. -- John Stuart Mill
Millions of individuals making their own decisions in the marketplace will always allocate resources better than any centralized government planning process. -- Ronald Reagan
We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. -- Ronald Reagan
...Conservatives have excellent credentials to speak about human rights. By our efforts, and with precious little help from self-styled liberals, we were largely responsible for securing liberty for a substantial share of the world's population and defending it for most of the rest. -- Margaret Thatcher
To be free is better than to be unfree - always. Any politician who suggests the opposite should be treated as suspect. -- Margaret Thatcher
Yet the basic fact remains: every regulation represents a restriction of liberty, every regulation has a cost. That is why, like marriage (in the Prayer Book's words), regulation should not 'be enterprised, nor taken in hand, unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly' -- Margaret Thatcher
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The problem with "Eat Pray Love"
This blog usually is not a place to find movie reviews, but I feel compelled to write about the new Julia Roberts flick, "Eat Pray Love."
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Limited government - always a true principle
Ronald Reagan - Farewell Address to the Nation
1/11/1989
"I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts."
1/11/1989
"I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts."
Monday, August 23, 2010
Watch this video
We have to get these people out of office as soon as possible! Stop spending my money on your unpopular programs that are only intended to serve your socialist agenda!
www.youtube.com/wath?v=7wusgcG4rfo
www.youtube.com/wath?v=7wusgcG4rfo
Brad Pitt - really?
"I was never for the death penalty before - I am willing to look at it again." That's Brad Pitt - speaking about BP executives responsible for the oil spill.
Here's the problem - Brad, I love your work. I think you are talented. Also, I respect the work you are doing in New Orleans. Because of your talent, you have a following around the country and around the world. People listen to what you say, your words make it to news stories and gossip columns. Your place in this world, whether you like it or not, is one of responsibility because of all that you have been given and all who listen to what you say.
So, are you really trying to say that BP execs should be given the death penalty for an accident? Are you further saying that these BP execs are worse than murderers who maliciously seek out victims to rape, maim, and murder? Are you actually saying that you've spent your life disagreeing with the death penalty categorically and now that the oil spill unfortunately happened, this is the event that is making you reconsider its merits?
Brad - please tell me that you didn't mean to say something so irresponsible and that you were just speaking out of frustration. Please tell me that you understand that although this was a terrible tragedy, that it was not done on purpose and that it does not equate to pursuing the death penalty for those involved. Please tell me that you don't actually have such a twisted view of crime and punishment that you look at the impact of an event and then determine that the players involved must be criminals. I wish this hadn't occurred as well, but I know that no one wanted that more than BP. This is the worst PR event that could have happened. They may never fully recover. There is no way that this done on purpose. And, commenting that anyone involved deserves the death penalty is one of the most irresponsible comments I've heard in a long time. Brad - you are better than this.
Here's the problem - Brad, I love your work. I think you are talented. Also, I respect the work you are doing in New Orleans. Because of your talent, you have a following around the country and around the world. People listen to what you say, your words make it to news stories and gossip columns. Your place in this world, whether you like it or not, is one of responsibility because of all that you have been given and all who listen to what you say.
So, are you really trying to say that BP execs should be given the death penalty for an accident? Are you further saying that these BP execs are worse than murderers who maliciously seek out victims to rape, maim, and murder? Are you actually saying that you've spent your life disagreeing with the death penalty categorically and now that the oil spill unfortunately happened, this is the event that is making you reconsider its merits?
Brad - please tell me that you didn't mean to say something so irresponsible and that you were just speaking out of frustration. Please tell me that you understand that although this was a terrible tragedy, that it was not done on purpose and that it does not equate to pursuing the death penalty for those involved. Please tell me that you don't actually have such a twisted view of crime and punishment that you look at the impact of an event and then determine that the players involved must be criminals. I wish this hadn't occurred as well, but I know that no one wanted that more than BP. This is the worst PR event that could have happened. They may never fully recover. There is no way that this done on purpose. And, commenting that anyone involved deserves the death penalty is one of the most irresponsible comments I've heard in a long time. Brad - you are better than this.
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