We just got to see Discovery take off into the heavens!
It was the first night launch in a long time. We watched the local news station for the countdown and when it hit zero, we ran out into our front yard and watched the orange glow intensify over the roof across the street and then the ball of fire appeared! Woohoo! It was so cool! It was neat to hear the cheers and whoops from people all over the neighborhood who were doing just what we were.
There are some good things about living in Central Florida!
---Katie
Saturday, December 09, 2006
US Airways Did the Right Thing
But will we let our politically correct legal system force us to accept unacceptable behavior in our air travel system?
On a Wing and a Prayer
Grievance theater at Minneapolis International Airport.
BY DEBRA BURLINGAME Wednesday, December 6, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST
Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Those are the words that started it all. Six bearded imams are said to have shouted them out while offering evening prayers as they and 141 other passengers waited at the gate for their flight out of Minneapolis International Airport. It was three days before Thanksgiving. Allahu Akbar: God is great.
Initial media reports of the incident did not include the disturbing details about what happened after they boarded US Airways flight 300, but the story quickly went national with provocative headlines: "Six Muslims Ejected from US Air Flight for Praying." Yes, they were praying--but let's be clear about this. The very last human sound on the cockpit voice recorder of United flight 93 before it screamed into the ground at 580 miles per hour is the sound of male voices shouting "Allahu Akbar" in a moment of religious ecstasy.
They, too, were praying. The passengers and crew of flight 93 lost their valiant fight to take back the plane just one hour and 20 minutes after it pushed back from the gate. Until the hijackers stormed the cockpit door, they were just a handful of Middle Eastern-looking men on their way to sunny California. So, yes, let's be exceedingly clear about the whole matter. Some 3,000 men, women and children are dead because the unassuming people on those airplanes did not look at them and see murderers. Or dangerous Arabs. Or fanatical Muslims. They saw a few guys in chinos.
Given that Islamic terrorists continue their obsession with turning airplanes into weapons of mass destruction, it is nothing short of obscene that these six religious leaders--fresh from attending a conference of the North American Imams Federation, featuring discussions on "Imams and Politics" and "Imams and the Media"--chose to turn that airport into a stage and that airplane into a prop in the service of their need for grievance theater. The reality is, these passengers endured a frightening 3 1/2-hour ordeal, which included a front-to-back sweep of the aircraft with a bomb-sniffing dog, in order to advance the provocative agenda of these imams in, of all the inappropriate places after 9/11, U.S. airports.
"Allahu Akbar" was just the opening act. After boarding, they did not take their assigned seats but dispersed to seats in the first row of first class, in the midcabin exit rows and in the rear--the exact configuration of the 9/11 execution teams. The head of the group, seated closest to the cockpit, and two others asked for a seatbelt extension, kept on board for obese people. A heavy metal buckle at the end of a long strap, it can easily be used as a lethal weapon. The three men rolled them up and placed them on the floor under their seats. And lest this entire incident be written off as simple cultural ignorance, a frightened Arabic-speaking passenger pulled aside a crew member and translated the imams' suspicious conversations, which included angry denunciations of Americans, furious grumblings about U.S. foreign policy, Osama Bin Laden and "killing Saddam."
Predictably, these imams and their attorneys now suggest that another passenger who penned a frantic note of warning and slipped it to a flight attendant was somehow a hysterical Islamophobe. Let us remember that but for their performance at the gate this passenger might never have noticed these men or their behavior on board, much less have the slightest clue as to their religion or political passions. Of course, that was the point of the shouting. According to the police report, yet another alarmed passenger who frequently travels to the Middle East described a conversation with one of the imams. The 31-year-old Egyptian expressed fundamentalist Muslim views, and stated the he would go to whatever measures necessary to obey all the tenets set out in the Koran.
Click on the title to read the rest.
On a Wing and a Prayer
Grievance theater at Minneapolis International Airport.
BY DEBRA BURLINGAME Wednesday, December 6, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST
Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Those are the words that started it all. Six bearded imams are said to have shouted them out while offering evening prayers as they and 141 other passengers waited at the gate for their flight out of Minneapolis International Airport. It was three days before Thanksgiving. Allahu Akbar: God is great.
Initial media reports of the incident did not include the disturbing details about what happened after they boarded US Airways flight 300, but the story quickly went national with provocative headlines: "Six Muslims Ejected from US Air Flight for Praying." Yes, they were praying--but let's be clear about this. The very last human sound on the cockpit voice recorder of United flight 93 before it screamed into the ground at 580 miles per hour is the sound of male voices shouting "Allahu Akbar" in a moment of religious ecstasy.
They, too, were praying. The passengers and crew of flight 93 lost their valiant fight to take back the plane just one hour and 20 minutes after it pushed back from the gate. Until the hijackers stormed the cockpit door, they were just a handful of Middle Eastern-looking men on their way to sunny California. So, yes, let's be exceedingly clear about the whole matter. Some 3,000 men, women and children are dead because the unassuming people on those airplanes did not look at them and see murderers. Or dangerous Arabs. Or fanatical Muslims. They saw a few guys in chinos.
Given that Islamic terrorists continue their obsession with turning airplanes into weapons of mass destruction, it is nothing short of obscene that these six religious leaders--fresh from attending a conference of the North American Imams Federation, featuring discussions on "Imams and Politics" and "Imams and the Media"--chose to turn that airport into a stage and that airplane into a prop in the service of their need for grievance theater. The reality is, these passengers endured a frightening 3 1/2-hour ordeal, which included a front-to-back sweep of the aircraft with a bomb-sniffing dog, in order to advance the provocative agenda of these imams in, of all the inappropriate places after 9/11, U.S. airports.
"Allahu Akbar" was just the opening act. After boarding, they did not take their assigned seats but dispersed to seats in the first row of first class, in the midcabin exit rows and in the rear--the exact configuration of the 9/11 execution teams. The head of the group, seated closest to the cockpit, and two others asked for a seatbelt extension, kept on board for obese people. A heavy metal buckle at the end of a long strap, it can easily be used as a lethal weapon. The three men rolled them up and placed them on the floor under their seats. And lest this entire incident be written off as simple cultural ignorance, a frightened Arabic-speaking passenger pulled aside a crew member and translated the imams' suspicious conversations, which included angry denunciations of Americans, furious grumblings about U.S. foreign policy, Osama Bin Laden and "killing Saddam."
Predictably, these imams and their attorneys now suggest that another passenger who penned a frantic note of warning and slipped it to a flight attendant was somehow a hysterical Islamophobe. Let us remember that but for their performance at the gate this passenger might never have noticed these men or their behavior on board, much less have the slightest clue as to their religion or political passions. Of course, that was the point of the shouting. According to the police report, yet another alarmed passenger who frequently travels to the Middle East described a conversation with one of the imams. The 31-year-old Egyptian expressed fundamentalist Muslim views, and stated the he would go to whatever measures necessary to obey all the tenets set out in the Koran.
Click on the title to read the rest.
---Katie
If We Don't Learn the Lessons of History....
We Are Doomed to Repeat Them.
This columnist gets it. Will we? In time?
The West Can't Afford to Lose War with Islamicists
Sixty-six years ago, Nazi Germany had overrun almost all of Europe and practically hammered England to certain defeat. England held out for two years even with staggering shipping losses and the near decimation of its' Air Force in the Battle of Britain, but was saved because of the arrogance of Hitler and his advisors who thought the British were a relatively minor threat that could be dealt with later since England was on the verge of collapse by late summer of 1940.
America during this early period of time, and at the beginning of WWII, was in an isolationist, pacifist mood and wanted nothing to do with the war in Europe or Asia. However, on Dec. 7, 1941 the mood was changed and at that time we had few Allies when we entered the war, the same as we have today while engaged in Iraq. Germany and Japan had ideas of conquering America by first invading Canada and Mexico and once conquered, then invade America over the North and South borders, after they took complete control of Asia and Europe.
When the Japanese attacked and sank our battleships at Pearl Harbor we were ill prepared or equipped for war. Had it not been for Hitler's assumption that England was finished and diverted his attention to conquering Russia, we would not have had the two years we needed to gear up our reserves in order to counter attack Germany and Japan. I bring this up to illustrate that turning points in history are often dicey things. Today we are involved in another kind of war.
The terrorist and the militant Muslims, are basically Nazis. They believe that Islam, a radically, conservative (not liberal) form of Wahhabi Islam, should own and control the Middle East first, then Europe, then the world, and that all who do not bow to Allah should be killed, enslaved, or subjugated. They want to destroy Israel, purge the world of Jews, the same as Hitler wanted also. If the Wahhabis win and get control of the Middle East, OPEC oil, the United States, European and Asian economics, and the Techno Industrial economics, the world will be at the mercy of OPEC, not an OPEC dominated by the well educated and rational Saudis of today, but an OPEC dominated by the terrorist.
Click on the title to read the rest.
I understand not wanting to be at war or wanting to do a better job at fighting the war. However, if we bail on this war and let the Iraqis "settle it among themselves," we are going to have a much bigger problem on down the road. I fear that we don't have the stomach or the will to fight and win. Our enemies are not shackled by political correctness or even a concern for humanity. The Islamic radicals will kill us, our children, our grandchildren....barbarically (I wanted to say "if necessary," but that doesn't really fit here does it? There are those in the radical Islamic camp who enjoy killing barbarically. And video taping it and putting it on the internet.) I fear we will not wake up in time to prevent some serious world wide bloodshed.
This columnist gets it. Will we? In time?
The West Can't Afford to Lose War with Islamicists
Sixty-six years ago, Nazi Germany had overrun almost all of Europe and practically hammered England to certain defeat. England held out for two years even with staggering shipping losses and the near decimation of its' Air Force in the Battle of Britain, but was saved because of the arrogance of Hitler and his advisors who thought the British were a relatively minor threat that could be dealt with later since England was on the verge of collapse by late summer of 1940.
America during this early period of time, and at the beginning of WWII, was in an isolationist, pacifist mood and wanted nothing to do with the war in Europe or Asia. However, on Dec. 7, 1941 the mood was changed and at that time we had few Allies when we entered the war, the same as we have today while engaged in Iraq. Germany and Japan had ideas of conquering America by first invading Canada and Mexico and once conquered, then invade America over the North and South borders, after they took complete control of Asia and Europe.
When the Japanese attacked and sank our battleships at Pearl Harbor we were ill prepared or equipped for war. Had it not been for Hitler's assumption that England was finished and diverted his attention to conquering Russia, we would not have had the two years we needed to gear up our reserves in order to counter attack Germany and Japan. I bring this up to illustrate that turning points in history are often dicey things. Today we are involved in another kind of war.
The terrorist and the militant Muslims, are basically Nazis. They believe that Islam, a radically, conservative (not liberal) form of Wahhabi Islam, should own and control the Middle East first, then Europe, then the world, and that all who do not bow to Allah should be killed, enslaved, or subjugated. They want to destroy Israel, purge the world of Jews, the same as Hitler wanted also. If the Wahhabis win and get control of the Middle East, OPEC oil, the United States, European and Asian economics, and the Techno Industrial economics, the world will be at the mercy of OPEC, not an OPEC dominated by the well educated and rational Saudis of today, but an OPEC dominated by the terrorist.
Click on the title to read the rest.
I understand not wanting to be at war or wanting to do a better job at fighting the war. However, if we bail on this war and let the Iraqis "settle it among themselves," we are going to have a much bigger problem on down the road. I fear that we don't have the stomach or the will to fight and win. Our enemies are not shackled by political correctness or even a concern for humanity. The Islamic radicals will kill us, our children, our grandchildren....barbarically (I wanted to say "if necessary," but that doesn't really fit here does it? There are those in the radical Islamic camp who enjoy killing barbarically. And video taping it and putting it on the internet.) I fear we will not wake up in time to prevent some serious world wide bloodshed.
I have come to believe this is the most serious political issue of our time. Why aren't our politicians concerned? Do they really think this won't affect us?
---Katie
New ELCA Sexuality Study
The ELCA has its new sexuality study available online. Check it out by clicking on the title.
I don't see why we need to even do it! After all, this last paragraph seems to have already reached the conclusion:
In Galatians, the apostle Paul declares, "In Christ Jesus...the only thing that counts is faith working through love"(5:6). May this bold statement guide your reading and reflecting, your discernment and your deliberation, your listening to and speaking with one another.
So as long as we have faith and we do what we do in love, we can do what we want! Whoopee! (In my ethics class I have studied Joseph Fletcher's Situation Ethics. That is what situation ethics teaches - one ethic, the ethic of love. So we Lutherans are now situation ethicists, with faith thrown in.)
I wonder if this is what we will be teaching our kids in confirmation and youth group? That we can throw out the moral teaching of the Bible as long as what we are doing is loving?
Hmmm....I wonder if it is more loving to give our tithe to a bloated church bureaucracy or to organizations that are interested in teaching people about the transformational power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? Oh, that's right, we don't need to be transformed! We are ok just as we are...as long as we are "loving."
Sheesh.
OK, so I haven't actually read the whole study. I have read others' comments and I, sadly, formed an opinion as soon as I saw the title. I'll have to read it in bits and pieces. My church life is depressing enough right now without more evidence that the ELCA is charging headlong into complete antinomianism.
My friends at a local LCMS church tell us they are saving us a spot.
----Katie
I don't see why we need to even do it! After all, this last paragraph seems to have already reached the conclusion:
In Galatians, the apostle Paul declares, "In Christ Jesus...the only thing that counts is faith working through love"(5:6). May this bold statement guide your reading and reflecting, your discernment and your deliberation, your listening to and speaking with one another.
So as long as we have faith and we do what we do in love, we can do what we want! Whoopee! (In my ethics class I have studied Joseph Fletcher's Situation Ethics. That is what situation ethics teaches - one ethic, the ethic of love. So we Lutherans are now situation ethicists, with faith thrown in.)
I wonder if this is what we will be teaching our kids in confirmation and youth group? That we can throw out the moral teaching of the Bible as long as what we are doing is loving?
Hmmm....I wonder if it is more loving to give our tithe to a bloated church bureaucracy or to organizations that are interested in teaching people about the transformational power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? Oh, that's right, we don't need to be transformed! We are ok just as we are...as long as we are "loving."
Sheesh.
OK, so I haven't actually read the whole study. I have read others' comments and I, sadly, formed an opinion as soon as I saw the title. I'll have to read it in bits and pieces. My church life is depressing enough right now without more evidence that the ELCA is charging headlong into complete antinomianism.
My friends at a local LCMS church tell us they are saving us a spot.
----Katie
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