I haven't...I tried but I could not get into it. I ordered it from the library after a woman at the bookstore told me how life changing it was. The first few pages did not catch my interest and I have so many books in the pile waiting for me to read them, I gave up. After reading this review, perhaps it is just as well. From Hank Hanegraaff, The Bible Answer Man:
Over the last few months I've been hearing more and more about a book titled The Shack by William Young, who goes by his middle name, Paul. Some, like my mother, are profoundly disturbed by the content of this book. Others are saying that it is the best book they have ever read. In fact Eugene Peterson says "This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good."
After reading a front page article in the Life section of USA Today and hearing a comment by a colleague, I decided to open the door on The Shack. Here's the deal: I have to confess that Young's stereotypical characterization of the Father as a large, beaming African-American woman, the Son is a Jew with a large nose, and the Holy Spirit is a mysterious Asian female makes me more than just a little queasy.
Furthermore, virtually every theological heresy begins with a misconception of the nature of God and The Shack is no exception. After chiding those he believes to have misconceptions about the Trinity Young proceeds to compromise, confuse and outright contradict biblical orthodoxy.
For example, he pictures the Father bearing crucifixion scars as well as being incarnated in tandem with the Holy Spirit. Not only so, but he pontificates that Jesus has never drawn upon His nature as God to do anything. Of course those who have read the Bible even once will immediately recognize the falsity of that statement, particularly with respect to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
One more point. Young has Jesus - the Jew with the big nose - declaring "I am not a Christian and I have no desire to make them" - and the them is Buddhists, Mormons, Muslims, etc. - "Christians." Indeed, Young describes Christians as religious fanatics and part of a sinful world system. Of course in sharp distinction the followers of Christ adopted the word "Christian" in the midst of suffering and persecution. You can see examples of that in the Book of Acts written by Luke or by Peter, such as 1 Peter 4:16.
The fact that The Shack is now being touted by those who take the sacred name of Jesus Christ upon their lips is, to me, a sad commentary on Christian discernment. Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle said it best: "If you haven't read The Shack, don't." I suppose in the end it is books like this that make the need for discernment ministry ever more necessary.
Click on the title to visit Equip.org., The Christian Research Institute.
---Katie
Friday, November 07, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Now It is Time to Destroy Sarah Palin....
so she never comes back. This is disgusting.
Strains Between McCain and Palin Aides Go Public
Report: Palin's Wardrobe Is to Be Audited by GOP
By KATE SNOW
Nov. 6, 2008
Now that the defeated team of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have gone their separate ways, the knives are out and Palin is the one who is getting filleted.
Revelations from anonymous critics from within the McCain-Palin campaign suggest a number of complaints about the Alaskan governor:
Fox News reports that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent and did not know the member nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the United States, Mexico and Canada -- when she was picked for vice president.
Click on the title for the rest.
Do you honestly believe that someone who has two school teachers as parents and finished a four year degree does not know that Africa is a continent? Why aren't we making a big deal about Obama's 57 states? Oh, right, he's a liberal - he gets a pass.
What the media and liberal Republicans both want to prevent is Sarah Palin's having anything to do with the resurgence of conservatism in the Republican party. Thus, we must continue to slash away at her so she becomes so damaged that she will not be in the running in 2012. She was the bright spot in the campaign for me and many other folks. Sad to think that she is to be the scapegoat for the GOP's incompetence.
---Katie
Strains Between McCain and Palin Aides Go Public
Report: Palin's Wardrobe Is to Be Audited by GOP
By KATE SNOW
Nov. 6, 2008
Now that the defeated team of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have gone their separate ways, the knives are out and Palin is the one who is getting filleted.
Revelations from anonymous critics from within the McCain-Palin campaign suggest a number of complaints about the Alaskan governor:
Fox News reports that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent and did not know the member nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the United States, Mexico and Canada -- when she was picked for vice president.
Click on the title for the rest.
Do you honestly believe that someone who has two school teachers as parents and finished a four year degree does not know that Africa is a continent? Why aren't we making a big deal about Obama's 57 states? Oh, right, he's a liberal - he gets a pass.
What the media and liberal Republicans both want to prevent is Sarah Palin's having anything to do with the resurgence of conservatism in the Republican party. Thus, we must continue to slash away at her so she becomes so damaged that she will not be in the running in 2012. She was the bright spot in the campaign for me and many other folks. Sad to think that she is to be the scapegoat for the GOP's incompetence.
---Katie
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
The Time to Gloat
What I have been saying our problem is all along....
Bob Parks - Black and Right
Shortly after the left-lurching Democrats were beaten back by the American people in 1994, Republicans and conservatives were instructed not to gloat. Shortly after Republicans attained all three branches of government in 2000, we were instructed not to gloat. Beginning last night the Democrat gloating had begun, but we Republicans also have a reason to gloat.
The Republicans-in-name-only are officially dead.
As is their ability to do so, Democrats will now go on a search-and-destroy mission of all things that have been a thorn in their side for all these years. They will attempt to silence talk radio, internet conservatives, Republican activists, and to a small extent, we have it coming. We have been too tolerant.
We have allowed RINOs to take over the Republican Party. Those who sought to reach out to Democrats, while a noble gesture, are the ones who brought the Barack Obama juggernaut down around us. When Bill Clinton was first elected with a Democrat house and senate, no overtures were demanded by the media, and none was offered by the left. When John McCain found media refuge in bashing his own party in 2000, he believed it was the ticket to political success. When George W. Bush was elected, his “New Tone” was not embraced, and should Rahm Emanuel become Obama’s chief of staff, no new tone will even be considered.
They will seek to crush their opposition while they have the opportunity; something we could have done in 1994 and in 2000, but Republicans listened to and obeyed the demands of our political enemy. We left them alone.
While millions of Americans took to the streets in Third World-style jubilation, celebrating the end of all things racist, sexist, homophobic, intolerant, Republicans who stayed at home last night should reflect on why they didn’t come out for John McCain and Republicans.
Our elected national leaders decided it was more important to be liked by our enemies, and took our votes for granted. Our elected leaders decided it was more important to water down our principles, spurn the base that put them in power, and reach out to those who consider us lower than Satan’s bile.
Click on the title to read the rest...
---Katie
Bob Parks - Black and Right
Shortly after the left-lurching Democrats were beaten back by the American people in 1994, Republicans and conservatives were instructed not to gloat. Shortly after Republicans attained all three branches of government in 2000, we were instructed not to gloat. Beginning last night the Democrat gloating had begun, but we Republicans also have a reason to gloat.
The Republicans-in-name-only are officially dead.
As is their ability to do so, Democrats will now go on a search-and-destroy mission of all things that have been a thorn in their side for all these years. They will attempt to silence talk radio, internet conservatives, Republican activists, and to a small extent, we have it coming. We have been too tolerant.
We have allowed RINOs to take over the Republican Party. Those who sought to reach out to Democrats, while a noble gesture, are the ones who brought the Barack Obama juggernaut down around us. When Bill Clinton was first elected with a Democrat house and senate, no overtures were demanded by the media, and none was offered by the left. When John McCain found media refuge in bashing his own party in 2000, he believed it was the ticket to political success. When George W. Bush was elected, his “New Tone” was not embraced, and should Rahm Emanuel become Obama’s chief of staff, no new tone will even be considered.
They will seek to crush their opposition while they have the opportunity; something we could have done in 1994 and in 2000, but Republicans listened to and obeyed the demands of our political enemy. We left them alone.
While millions of Americans took to the streets in Third World-style jubilation, celebrating the end of all things racist, sexist, homophobic, intolerant, Republicans who stayed at home last night should reflect on why they didn’t come out for John McCain and Republicans.
Our elected national leaders decided it was more important to be liked by our enemies, and took our votes for granted. Our elected leaders decided it was more important to water down our principles, spurn the base that put them in power, and reach out to those who consider us lower than Satan’s bile.
Click on the title to read the rest...
---Katie
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Don't Give Up! Get Out and Vote!
This is well worth reading the whole article! But here is what should motivate you to go vote if you have not:
I’m going to let you in on a few secrets here, and this is not because I enjoy the gossip or the attention directed my way. I’m doing this because I doubt much of you know the true weaknesses of Obama. Another reason for my doing this is that I am lost faith in this campaign, and feel that this choice has been forced on many people in this country. Put simply, you are being manipulated. That was and is our job – to manipulate you (the electorate) and the media (we already had them months ago). Our goal is to create chaos with the other side, not hope. I’ve come to the realization (as the campaign already has) that if this comes to the issues, Barack Obama doesn’t have a chance. His only chance is to foster disorganization, chaos, despair, and a sense of inevitability among the Republicans. It has worked up until now. Joe the Plumber has put the focus on the issues again, and this scares us more than anything. Being in a position to know these things, I will rate what the Obama campaign already knows are their weak links from the most important on down.
Click on the title to go over to RedState and read the whole thing.
---Katie
I’m going to let you in on a few secrets here, and this is not because I enjoy the gossip or the attention directed my way. I’m doing this because I doubt much of you know the true weaknesses of Obama. Another reason for my doing this is that I am lost faith in this campaign, and feel that this choice has been forced on many people in this country. Put simply, you are being manipulated. That was and is our job – to manipulate you (the electorate) and the media (we already had them months ago). Our goal is to create chaos with the other side, not hope. I’ve come to the realization (as the campaign already has) that if this comes to the issues, Barack Obama doesn’t have a chance. His only chance is to foster disorganization, chaos, despair, and a sense of inevitability among the Republicans. It has worked up until now. Joe the Plumber has put the focus on the issues again, and this scares us more than anything. Being in a position to know these things, I will rate what the Obama campaign already knows are their weak links from the most important on down.
Click on the title to go over to RedState and read the whole thing.
---Katie
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Pro-America YouTube Video
A regular reader of this blog makes it to YouTube! St. John folks, see if you recognize anyone singing in this video!
Click on the title!
---Katie
Click on the title!
---Katie
Peaceful Islam - by population increase
I was having a conversation recently about whether or not Islam is generally peaceful and I wanted to share this information with my friend with whom I was talking. I just did not know where to find it - it turned up again on FreeRepublic, so I thought I would post it here for anyone who is interested.
Katie
Friday, 21 March 2008
What Muslim Population Increase Brings
Don Morris writes at Doc’s Talk (thanks to Janet Levy):
...As long as the Muslim population remains around 1% of any given country they will be regarded as a peace-loving minority and not as a threat to anyone. In fact, they may be featured in articles and films, stereotyped for their colorful uniqueness:
United States — Muslim 1.0%
Australia — Muslim 1.5%
Canada — Muslim 1.9%
China — Muslim 1%-2%
Italy — Muslim 1.5%
Norway — Muslim 1.8%
At 2% and 3% they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs:
Denmark — Muslim 2%
Germany — Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom — Muslim 2. 7%
Spain — Muslim 4%
Thailand — Muslim 4.6%
From 5% on they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population.
They will push for the introduction of halaal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature it on their shelves — along with threats for failure to comply. (United States).
France — Muslim 8%
Philippines — Muslim 5%
Sweden — Muslim 5%
Switzerland — Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands — Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad & Tobago — Muslim 5.8%
At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islam is not to convert the world but to establish Sharia law over the entire world.
When Muslims reach 10% of the population, they will increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions (Paris — car-burnings). Any non-Muslim action that offends Islam will result in uprisings and threats (Amsterdam — Mohammed cartoons).
Guyana — Muslim 10%
India — Muslim 13.4%
Israel — Muslim 16%
Kenya — Muslim 10%
Russia — Muslim 10-15%
After reaching 20% expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings and church and synagogue burning:
Ethiopia — Muslim 32.8%
At 40% you will find widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks and ongoing militia warfare:
Bosnia — Muslim 40%
Chad — Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon — Muslim 59.7%
From 60% you may expect unfettered persecution of non-believers and other religions, sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels:
Albania — Muslim 70%
Malaysia — Muslim 60.4%
Qatar — Muslim 77.5%
Sudan — Muslim 70%
After 80% expect State run ethnic cleansing and genocide:
Bangladesh — Muslim 83%
Egypt — Muslim 90%
Gaza — Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia — Muslim 86.1%
Iran — Muslim 98%
Iraq — Muslim 97%
Jordan — Muslim 92%
Morocco — Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan — Muslim 97%
Palestine — Muslim 99%
Syria — Muslim 90%
Tajikistan — Muslim 90%
Turkey — Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates — Muslim 96%
100% will usher in the peace of “Dar-es-Salaam” — the Islamic House of Peace — there’s supposed to be peace because everybody is a Muslim:
Afghanistan — Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia — Muslim 100%
Somalia — Muslim 100%
Yemen — Muslim 99.9%
Of course, that’s not the case. To satisfy their blood lust, Muslims then start killing each other for a variety of reasons.
“Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world. And all of us against the infidel. — Leon Uris, “The Haj”...
Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond’s book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat
Katie
Friday, 21 March 2008
What Muslim Population Increase Brings
Don Morris writes at Doc’s Talk (thanks to Janet Levy):
...As long as the Muslim population remains around 1% of any given country they will be regarded as a peace-loving minority and not as a threat to anyone. In fact, they may be featured in articles and films, stereotyped for their colorful uniqueness:
United States — Muslim 1.0%
Australia — Muslim 1.5%
Canada — Muslim 1.9%
China — Muslim 1%-2%
Italy — Muslim 1.5%
Norway — Muslim 1.8%
At 2% and 3% they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs:
Denmark — Muslim 2%
Germany — Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom — Muslim 2. 7%
Spain — Muslim 4%
Thailand — Muslim 4.6%
From 5% on they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population.
They will push for the introduction of halaal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature it on their shelves — along with threats for failure to comply. (United States).
France — Muslim 8%
Philippines — Muslim 5%
Sweden — Muslim 5%
Switzerland — Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands — Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad & Tobago — Muslim 5.8%
At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islam is not to convert the world but to establish Sharia law over the entire world.
When Muslims reach 10% of the population, they will increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions (Paris — car-burnings). Any non-Muslim action that offends Islam will result in uprisings and threats (Amsterdam — Mohammed cartoons).
Guyana — Muslim 10%
India — Muslim 13.4%
Israel — Muslim 16%
Kenya — Muslim 10%
Russia — Muslim 10-15%
After reaching 20% expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings and church and synagogue burning:
Ethiopia — Muslim 32.8%
At 40% you will find widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks and ongoing militia warfare:
Bosnia — Muslim 40%
Chad — Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon — Muslim 59.7%
From 60% you may expect unfettered persecution of non-believers and other religions, sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels:
Albania — Muslim 70%
Malaysia — Muslim 60.4%
Qatar — Muslim 77.5%
Sudan — Muslim 70%
After 80% expect State run ethnic cleansing and genocide:
Bangladesh — Muslim 83%
Egypt — Muslim 90%
Gaza — Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia — Muslim 86.1%
Iran — Muslim 98%
Iraq — Muslim 97%
Jordan — Muslim 92%
Morocco — Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan — Muslim 97%
Palestine — Muslim 99%
Syria — Muslim 90%
Tajikistan — Muslim 90%
Turkey — Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates — Muslim 96%
100% will usher in the peace of “Dar-es-Salaam” — the Islamic House of Peace — there’s supposed to be peace because everybody is a Muslim:
Afghanistan — Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia — Muslim 100%
Somalia — Muslim 100%
Yemen — Muslim 99.9%
Of course, that’s not the case. To satisfy their blood lust, Muslims then start killing each other for a variety of reasons.
“Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world. And all of us against the infidel. — Leon Uris, “The Haj”...
Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond’s book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Vote Against Obama
This is circulating the internet. The writer makes some good points.
Dear Mr. Obama,
It is August 30, 2008. My name is Mark Gregg. I am a 50 something
conservative white male. I have followed your campaign closely,
including the speeches you and others made at the democratic national
convention. I am respectfully providing you with seven simple (probably
shallow) reasons why I could never vote for you. I believe my opinion is
shared by many people. While there may not be quite enough to prevent
you from becoming president of this nation, I do think there is an
awakening to the fact that you are not a (the) messiah that the media
and liberal Hollywood entertainers are trying to portray you.
1. I hear your mantra of change, change, change. Yet, you picked a long
term, liberal, Washington insider (Joe Biden) to be your running mate.
This is NOT change. It is a move that hypocritically refutes the very
thing you supposedly stand for. Your campaign then slammed McCain for
picking Sarah Palin, apparently, because she is NOT a Washington
insider. She is a maverick who cleaned-up Alaska's quagmire of political
scandals. Which way is it, Barack? Is it okay for you to pick a
Washington insider under the mantra of 'change', but not okay for John
McCain to pick a smart, aggressive, reformer?
2. You have the single most liberal voting record in the senate. This
indicates to me and others like me that you may very well be an angry
black man seeking to punish our country for sins of a different
generation. I am not racist. I have some biases just like you and every
other human alive. Unlike the democratic party who claims to be for the
minority (but their record heavily refutes this), I will give any person
who truly needs help, help. I married a 'minority' girl 35 years ago
(she is Hispanic) and have seen the evils of prejudice first hand.
However, I have also seen my wife and my children and others in her
family throw off the veil of self imposed prejudicial bondage and move
ahead. They love our country and do not view themselves any different
than I view myself as a citizen of this country. Your lovely wife so
disappointed people like me during this campaign when she stated it was
the first time she had ever been proud of this country. She apparently
never noticed the massive aid we give dozens of other countries. She
apparently never noticed the sacrifice of literally millions of veterans
who helped make this country a free nation and helped liberate other
nations from brutal dictators such as Adolf Hitler. She apparently does
not remember that she attended ivy league universities with scholarship
money that ultimately (at least some of it) was paid for by our taxes.
This troubles me more than you know. She is an angry black woman who
appears to not like her country very much. I don't want her representing
me to the rest of the world.
3. You claim Christianity but apparently do not realize that the Bible
teaches that he who does not work, does not eat. The Bible does not say
or even suggest that he who CANNOT work, should not eat. Yet, your
liberal policies reward people who are capable of working, but choose to
not do so. This bothers me. I know that if you are elected our taxes
will spiral upwards. You should heed the words of Winston Churchill: 'We
contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a
man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.'
If I like anything about you, it is your campaign promise to balance the
federal budget. Unfortunately, we have heard this a huge number of times
from a number of different politicians and we realize that when you
energize the very liberal Nancy Pelosi, Robert Byrd, Ted Kennedy, etc,
etc, and the many other democrats like them, a balanced budget will
never, ever happen on your watch.
4. During your question and answer session with Rick Warren of
Saddleback Church your answer concerning the question of where does life
begin, stunned me: 'Above your pay grade?' Does this mean when something
bad happens as President of this nation that you are going to look at
your salary to determine if you can respond? I am sorry, but this was
the most serious gaffe I have seen you make. Frankly, it shows me that
you are pandering in the most obvious manner. You will choose your words
not from your heart, but from an agenda that I believe is still hidden
from the American people.
5. If anything stands out about you it is probably your appeasement
mentality. In this era of rampant, radical Islamic extremism and with
the latest stunt pulled by the re-energized Russian government, I am not
sure appeasement is healthy. I again revert to the words of Winston
Churchill: 'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat
him last.'
6. You and your party tacitly believe that a 13 or 14 year old girl must
have the parents approval to have the school nurse provide them with a
Tylenol when they have a headache at school. Yet, this same girl can
become pregnant and the school can skirt her off to a clinic and abort the child in her body without the parents knowing or being notified. This scares the hell out of me. You have two little girls. Would you be upset if this happened to them and you were not informed? Then why do you stand for this? It makes no sense to me.
7. My seventh and final point (for now) is your supporters. I have
watched the Hollywood entertainers that support you, systematically
embrace Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and others like him. I see the
continuous smut and garbage produced by Hollywood, the very people who
promote you the most vigorously. It is not a positive point to me and
others like me to see these over-paid, bizarre, poor examples of human
existence fawn over you and push you and your liberal agenda as hard as
they do. The way I see it; When the devil is for you, we should question
whether or not we should be against you.In closing, I just want you to
know that you scare me. I cannot vote for you. It is not because of your
skin color. It is because these items I've listed and many, many others
like them. Do not claim that my dislike for you is race based. It is
because I do not feel you have the best interests of this nation at heart.
Respectfully,
Mark A. Gregg
---Katie
Dear Mr. Obama,
It is August 30, 2008. My name is Mark Gregg. I am a 50 something
conservative white male. I have followed your campaign closely,
including the speeches you and others made at the democratic national
convention. I am respectfully providing you with seven simple (probably
shallow) reasons why I could never vote for you. I believe my opinion is
shared by many people. While there may not be quite enough to prevent
you from becoming president of this nation, I do think there is an
awakening to the fact that you are not a (the) messiah that the media
and liberal Hollywood entertainers are trying to portray you.
1. I hear your mantra of change, change, change. Yet, you picked a long
term, liberal, Washington insider (Joe Biden) to be your running mate.
This is NOT change. It is a move that hypocritically refutes the very
thing you supposedly stand for. Your campaign then slammed McCain for
picking Sarah Palin, apparently, because she is NOT a Washington
insider. She is a maverick who cleaned-up Alaska's quagmire of political
scandals. Which way is it, Barack? Is it okay for you to pick a
Washington insider under the mantra of 'change', but not okay for John
McCain to pick a smart, aggressive, reformer?
2. You have the single most liberal voting record in the senate. This
indicates to me and others like me that you may very well be an angry
black man seeking to punish our country for sins of a different
generation. I am not racist. I have some biases just like you and every
other human alive. Unlike the democratic party who claims to be for the
minority (but their record heavily refutes this), I will give any person
who truly needs help, help. I married a 'minority' girl 35 years ago
(she is Hispanic) and have seen the evils of prejudice first hand.
However, I have also seen my wife and my children and others in her
family throw off the veil of self imposed prejudicial bondage and move
ahead. They love our country and do not view themselves any different
than I view myself as a citizen of this country. Your lovely wife so
disappointed people like me during this campaign when she stated it was
the first time she had ever been proud of this country. She apparently
never noticed the massive aid we give dozens of other countries. She
apparently never noticed the sacrifice of literally millions of veterans
who helped make this country a free nation and helped liberate other
nations from brutal dictators such as Adolf Hitler. She apparently does
not remember that she attended ivy league universities with scholarship
money that ultimately (at least some of it) was paid for by our taxes.
This troubles me more than you know. She is an angry black woman who
appears to not like her country very much. I don't want her representing
me to the rest of the world.
3. You claim Christianity but apparently do not realize that the Bible
teaches that he who does not work, does not eat. The Bible does not say
or even suggest that he who CANNOT work, should not eat. Yet, your
liberal policies reward people who are capable of working, but choose to
not do so. This bothers me. I know that if you are elected our taxes
will spiral upwards. You should heed the words of Winston Churchill: 'We
contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a
man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.'
If I like anything about you, it is your campaign promise to balance the
federal budget. Unfortunately, we have heard this a huge number of times
from a number of different politicians and we realize that when you
energize the very liberal Nancy Pelosi, Robert Byrd, Ted Kennedy, etc,
etc, and the many other democrats like them, a balanced budget will
never, ever happen on your watch.
4. During your question and answer session with Rick Warren of
Saddleback Church your answer concerning the question of where does life
begin, stunned me: 'Above your pay grade?' Does this mean when something
bad happens as President of this nation that you are going to look at
your salary to determine if you can respond? I am sorry, but this was
the most serious gaffe I have seen you make. Frankly, it shows me that
you are pandering in the most obvious manner. You will choose your words
not from your heart, but from an agenda that I believe is still hidden
from the American people.
5. If anything stands out about you it is probably your appeasement
mentality. In this era of rampant, radical Islamic extremism and with
the latest stunt pulled by the re-energized Russian government, I am not
sure appeasement is healthy. I again revert to the words of Winston
Churchill: 'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat
him last.'
6. You and your party tacitly believe that a 13 or 14 year old girl must
have the parents approval to have the school nurse provide them with a
Tylenol when they have a headache at school. Yet, this same girl can
become pregnant and the school can skirt her off to a clinic and abort the child in her body without the parents knowing or being notified. This scares the hell out of me. You have two little girls. Would you be upset if this happened to them and you were not informed? Then why do you stand for this? It makes no sense to me.
7. My seventh and final point (for now) is your supporters. I have
watched the Hollywood entertainers that support you, systematically
embrace Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and others like him. I see the
continuous smut and garbage produced by Hollywood, the very people who
promote you the most vigorously. It is not a positive point to me and
others like me to see these over-paid, bizarre, poor examples of human
existence fawn over you and push you and your liberal agenda as hard as
they do. The way I see it; When the devil is for you, we should question
whether or not we should be against you.In closing, I just want you to
know that you scare me. I cannot vote for you. It is not because of your
skin color. It is because these items I've listed and many, many others
like them. Do not claim that my dislike for you is race based. It is
because I do not feel you have the best interests of this nation at heart.
Respectfully,
Mark A. Gregg
---Katie
Friday, October 24, 2008
Obama and the Left
Thomas Sowell makes some excellent points about Obama's relationship with left wing extremists:
Although Senator Barack Obama has been allied with a succession of far left individuals over the years, that is only half the story. There are, after all, some honest and decent people on the left. But these have not been the ones that Obama has been allied with— allied, not merely "associated" with.
ACORN is not just an organization on the left. In addition to the voter frauds that ACORN has been involved in over the years, it is an organization with a history of thuggery, including going to bankers' homes to harass them and their families, in order to force banks to lend to people with low credit ratings.
Nor was Barack Obama's relationship with ACORN just a matter of once being their attorney long ago. More recently, he has directed hundreds of thousands of dollars their way. Money talks— and what it says is more important than a politician's rhetoric in an election year.
Jeremiah Wright and Michael Pfleger are not just people with left-wing opinions. They are reckless demagogues preaching hatred of the lowest sort— and both are recipients of money from Obama.
Bill Ayers is not just "an education professor" who has some left-wing views. He is a confessed and unrepentant terrorist, who more recently has put his message of resentment into the schools— an effort using money from a foundation that Obama headed.
Nor has the help all been one way. During the last debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, Senator McCain mentioned that Senator Obama's political campaign began in Bill Ayers' home. Obama immediately denied it and McCain had no real follow-up.
It was not this year's political campaign that Obama began in Bill Ayers' home but an earlier campaign for the Illinois state legislature. Barack Obama can match Bill Clinton in slickness at parsing words to evade accusations.
That is one way to get to the White House. But slickness with words is not going to help a president deal with either domestic economic crises or the looming dangers of a nuclear Iran.
People who think that talking points on this or that problem constitute "the real issues" that we should be talking about, instead of Obama's track record, ignore a very fundamental fact about representative government.
Click on the title to read the rest.
---Katie
Although Senator Barack Obama has been allied with a succession of far left individuals over the years, that is only half the story. There are, after all, some honest and decent people on the left. But these have not been the ones that Obama has been allied with— allied, not merely "associated" with.
ACORN is not just an organization on the left. In addition to the voter frauds that ACORN has been involved in over the years, it is an organization with a history of thuggery, including going to bankers' homes to harass them and their families, in order to force banks to lend to people with low credit ratings.
Nor was Barack Obama's relationship with ACORN just a matter of once being their attorney long ago. More recently, he has directed hundreds of thousands of dollars their way. Money talks— and what it says is more important than a politician's rhetoric in an election year.
Jeremiah Wright and Michael Pfleger are not just people with left-wing opinions. They are reckless demagogues preaching hatred of the lowest sort— and both are recipients of money from Obama.
Bill Ayers is not just "an education professor" who has some left-wing views. He is a confessed and unrepentant terrorist, who more recently has put his message of resentment into the schools— an effort using money from a foundation that Obama headed.
Nor has the help all been one way. During the last debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, Senator McCain mentioned that Senator Obama's political campaign began in Bill Ayers' home. Obama immediately denied it and McCain had no real follow-up.
It was not this year's political campaign that Obama began in Bill Ayers' home but an earlier campaign for the Illinois state legislature. Barack Obama can match Bill Clinton in slickness at parsing words to evade accusations.
That is one way to get to the White House. But slickness with words is not going to help a president deal with either domestic economic crises or the looming dangers of a nuclear Iran.
People who think that talking points on this or that problem constitute "the real issues" that we should be talking about, instead of Obama's track record, ignore a very fundamental fact about representative government.
Click on the title to read the rest.
---Katie
Why I Can't Vote for Obama
A friend of mine wrote this and sent it to me today. I posted it here with her permission.
Dear Friends & Family,
Who can’t help but like Barak Obama? He is handsome and charming with a message of hope! What a great speaker!
How I wish that my mother could be here to see the first black man on the presidential ballot. She would be so excited. My mother was passionate about Civil Rights before it was popular or politically correct. I share her enthusiasm and long to see a world that is color blind. That is why it saddens me to admit that I am unable in good conscience to vote for Obama.
Would you take time right now from your busy schedule and allow me to share these reasons with you. Please prayerfully consider them.
1. Obama talks about lowering taxes for the middle class, but in looking at his voting record, I am unable to find a single time that he has voted to ease the tax burden on the middle class. Although, I want to believe his promise, I have to look at his track record. His track record is one of voting to raise taxes. Please see his voting record at this site: http://votesmart.org/index.htm and especially see Tax and budget issues: http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=9490&type=category&category=10&go.x=17&go.y=16 .
2. I’m tired of high gas prices. Even though they are going down at the moment, they are still too high. In fact, I don’t want to buy oil from foreign nations anymore. Obama stated in his third debate that “oil companies have to drill on their land or lose it.” What did he mean by that? Who would they lose the land to? The Federal Government? Are we talking about nationalized oil companies? I certainly hope not, but Obama is very vague and that scares me. Nationalized oil companies are something I DON’T want! Does Obama want socialized, nationalized oil companies? Isn’t America still a Free Market nation? Oil companies have excessive regulations and restrictions on them that make it nearly impossible to drill. I would like these restrictions eased, while still protecting our beautiful land and oceans. But, I want to drill the Gulf. I want to drill Alaska. I want to drill North Dakota and anywhere else there is oil in our nation.
3. Unfortunately, though Obama declares his support of Israel, I am unable to believe him because of his ties to Arab terrorists. Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East. I want the USA to stand beside her, not undermine her by secret deals with her sworn enemies. When Obama talks about sitting down with no preconditions with countries and leaders that desire to wipe Israel off the face of the map, I am concerned…greatly concerned.
4. Obama uses the term “distribution of wealth” quite frequently in his speeches and in the debates. I have read The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and recognize that term from this book. Although Biden uses the term “let’s be fair,” this team is putting forward as their platform the principles in this book. Since I am not a Marxist/Communist, I find this rather frightening. In fact, haven’t the countries that have tried communism found that it doesn’t work? Didn’t we win the “Cold War?” Why are we trying something that is a failed theory???? I challenge you to read The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx with Obama’s own campaign platform from his own website and compare the two. You will be shocked to find all the similarities. Obama’s platform: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ Here is a place you can download the book for free as a pdf file: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm
5. In the last debate, Obama mentioned that we have to “win the trust” of countries that have “lost faith” in us. His plan to “win their trust,” he went on to explain was to give them EVEN MORE foreign aid. That was very frustrating to me. I am tired of giving away billions of dollars to countries that burn our flags, insult us, and undermine our foreign policies. I certainly don’t want to give these countries MORE aid. In fact, I want to give them LESS aid or none at all.
6. When talking about health care, Obama promised in the second debate that uninsured Americans would be insured by “the same company that insures our senators and congressman.” Something struck me as odd and the next day I investigated to find out just who that “insurance company” was. I was surprised and shocked to find out that the “company” was a federal agency. This “company” is called “Federal Employees Health Benefits Program,” and is not like any company I’ve ever seen. Get on their site and investigate. They talk about selection and choice, but no other companies are ever mentioned. Hmm. At least 70% of the “premium” is paid by the federal government. Yes, they may “subcontract” with other companies, but this “company” Obama wants to have us be insured by is the federal government. See their website: http://opm.gov/insure/health/about/fehb.asp Try to find some proof that this is a real company. After investigating, I felt that I had been deceived by Obama’s rhetoric. I don’t want socialized medicine. I think socialized medicine is foolish and a drain on the economy. I would like tax cuts to purchase my own insurance and laws putting a check on greed in the insurance companies. I would like more, not less, competition. Socialized medicine is not the way I want to go. Please, give me more money in my pocket, so that I can choose my own plan.
7. Obama has talked about bringing soldiers home from Iraq. But when I listened to him in the second and third debate, I heard him wanting to send our troops all over the place. In fact, he wanted to increase, not decrease, our involvement in other nation’s problems, including Darfur. All I could think about was how much it would all cost. Shouldn’t we finish the job we started in Iraq and then come home with our heads held high? I don’t want to leave before the job is finished, like we did in Vietnam.
8. Business and corruption don’t have to go hand in hand. There is an old saying that “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” I agree with that statement. It is true of people in government. It is true of people in business. The government and businesses should be separate entities. No more government subsidies, no more government bail-outs, and no more of the government micromanaging business decisions. Let’s require government to have a limited amount of laws and regulations that keep businesses in check. John McCain and Sarah Palin both have experience in cleaning up corruption. But let’s leave business to private citizens. The government simply makes a mess of business (and other things too!)! Let’s let government govern and businesses conduct business. In the end, everyone will be better off.
9. I have concerns about the company that Obama keeps. You can tell a lot about a man or woman by the people that surround them. That is why it concerns me that Obama has ties to ACORN and William Ayers. One of ACORN’s less fraudulent schemes (but dangerous!) was coercing banks into giving loans to those who could not afford to pay them back. They played their own role in the current banking disaster! William Ayers is an unrepentant terrorist. The Hamas leader, Ahmed Yousef, and other terrorist leaders have endorsed Obama. Why is Obama so popular with people who support terror? Why is Obama so popular with people who hate Israel? Why is Obama so popular with people who hate the United States of America? That concerns me. Warren Buffet, the richest man in the world and a big giver to and supporter of Abortion, is funding Barak Obama. Has Obama promised him a role of power? Can wealth buy power? I hope not.
10. Though Americans are divided with some being Pro-Life and others Pro-Abortion, most Americans find partial birth abortions distasteful and morally reprehensible. I was shocked and saddened by Obama’s reaction in the third debate to the question of partial birth abortion. He stood firmly in support of abortion, even if the method was barbaric, inflicting torture upon unborn babies. When babies are born alive from botched late-term abortions, he voted to outlaw giving those children care. He wants to leave those babies to die. Please explain that to me? There are many people in this land who would gladly adopt these children. I am of the conviction that you cannot treat life with contemptuous disregard and expect the blessing of God on your nation.
11. Yes, I know I said ten reasons, but this last reason is more subjective, so I don’t want to count it as one of the ten. I may be completely wrong here, but I don’t sense in Obama a love for this nation. Would he lay down his life for the USA or for the Americans he wants to lead? I can’t answer that question for him. I don’t see that love for our nation in him like I do in John McCain. There is confidence in my heart that John McCain would gladly give his life, his reputation, and the outcome of this election for his beloved United States of America. I want someone leading this nation who loves her. I will vote for someone who puts America first and thinks that she, though flawed, is the most wonderful nation in the world.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. May God bless you in every way!
MLC
---Katie
Dear Friends & Family,
Who can’t help but like Barak Obama? He is handsome and charming with a message of hope! What a great speaker!
How I wish that my mother could be here to see the first black man on the presidential ballot. She would be so excited. My mother was passionate about Civil Rights before it was popular or politically correct. I share her enthusiasm and long to see a world that is color blind. That is why it saddens me to admit that I am unable in good conscience to vote for Obama.
Would you take time right now from your busy schedule and allow me to share these reasons with you. Please prayerfully consider them.
1. Obama talks about lowering taxes for the middle class, but in looking at his voting record, I am unable to find a single time that he has voted to ease the tax burden on the middle class. Although, I want to believe his promise, I have to look at his track record. His track record is one of voting to raise taxes. Please see his voting record at this site: http://votesmart.org/index.htm and especially see Tax and budget issues: http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=9490&type=category&category=10&go.x=17&go.y=16 .
2. I’m tired of high gas prices. Even though they are going down at the moment, they are still too high. In fact, I don’t want to buy oil from foreign nations anymore. Obama stated in his third debate that “oil companies have to drill on their land or lose it.” What did he mean by that? Who would they lose the land to? The Federal Government? Are we talking about nationalized oil companies? I certainly hope not, but Obama is very vague and that scares me. Nationalized oil companies are something I DON’T want! Does Obama want socialized, nationalized oil companies? Isn’t America still a Free Market nation? Oil companies have excessive regulations and restrictions on them that make it nearly impossible to drill. I would like these restrictions eased, while still protecting our beautiful land and oceans. But, I want to drill the Gulf. I want to drill Alaska. I want to drill North Dakota and anywhere else there is oil in our nation.
3. Unfortunately, though Obama declares his support of Israel, I am unable to believe him because of his ties to Arab terrorists. Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East. I want the USA to stand beside her, not undermine her by secret deals with her sworn enemies. When Obama talks about sitting down with no preconditions with countries and leaders that desire to wipe Israel off the face of the map, I am concerned…greatly concerned.
4. Obama uses the term “distribution of wealth” quite frequently in his speeches and in the debates. I have read The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and recognize that term from this book. Although Biden uses the term “let’s be fair,” this team is putting forward as their platform the principles in this book. Since I am not a Marxist/Communist, I find this rather frightening. In fact, haven’t the countries that have tried communism found that it doesn’t work? Didn’t we win the “Cold War?” Why are we trying something that is a failed theory???? I challenge you to read The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx with Obama’s own campaign platform from his own website and compare the two. You will be shocked to find all the similarities. Obama’s platform: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ Here is a place you can download the book for free as a pdf file: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm
5. In the last debate, Obama mentioned that we have to “win the trust” of countries that have “lost faith” in us. His plan to “win their trust,” he went on to explain was to give them EVEN MORE foreign aid. That was very frustrating to me. I am tired of giving away billions of dollars to countries that burn our flags, insult us, and undermine our foreign policies. I certainly don’t want to give these countries MORE aid. In fact, I want to give them LESS aid or none at all.
6. When talking about health care, Obama promised in the second debate that uninsured Americans would be insured by “the same company that insures our senators and congressman.” Something struck me as odd and the next day I investigated to find out just who that “insurance company” was. I was surprised and shocked to find out that the “company” was a federal agency. This “company” is called “Federal Employees Health Benefits Program,” and is not like any company I’ve ever seen. Get on their site and investigate. They talk about selection and choice, but no other companies are ever mentioned. Hmm. At least 70% of the “premium” is paid by the federal government. Yes, they may “subcontract” with other companies, but this “company” Obama wants to have us be insured by is the federal government. See their website: http://opm.gov/insure/health/about/fehb.asp Try to find some proof that this is a real company. After investigating, I felt that I had been deceived by Obama’s rhetoric. I don’t want socialized medicine. I think socialized medicine is foolish and a drain on the economy. I would like tax cuts to purchase my own insurance and laws putting a check on greed in the insurance companies. I would like more, not less, competition. Socialized medicine is not the way I want to go. Please, give me more money in my pocket, so that I can choose my own plan.
7. Obama has talked about bringing soldiers home from Iraq. But when I listened to him in the second and third debate, I heard him wanting to send our troops all over the place. In fact, he wanted to increase, not decrease, our involvement in other nation’s problems, including Darfur. All I could think about was how much it would all cost. Shouldn’t we finish the job we started in Iraq and then come home with our heads held high? I don’t want to leave before the job is finished, like we did in Vietnam.
8. Business and corruption don’t have to go hand in hand. There is an old saying that “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” I agree with that statement. It is true of people in government. It is true of people in business. The government and businesses should be separate entities. No more government subsidies, no more government bail-outs, and no more of the government micromanaging business decisions. Let’s require government to have a limited amount of laws and regulations that keep businesses in check. John McCain and Sarah Palin both have experience in cleaning up corruption. But let’s leave business to private citizens. The government simply makes a mess of business (and other things too!)! Let’s let government govern and businesses conduct business. In the end, everyone will be better off.
9. I have concerns about the company that Obama keeps. You can tell a lot about a man or woman by the people that surround them. That is why it concerns me that Obama has ties to ACORN and William Ayers. One of ACORN’s less fraudulent schemes (but dangerous!) was coercing banks into giving loans to those who could not afford to pay them back. They played their own role in the current banking disaster! William Ayers is an unrepentant terrorist. The Hamas leader, Ahmed Yousef, and other terrorist leaders have endorsed Obama. Why is Obama so popular with people who support terror? Why is Obama so popular with people who hate Israel? Why is Obama so popular with people who hate the United States of America? That concerns me. Warren Buffet, the richest man in the world and a big giver to and supporter of Abortion, is funding Barak Obama. Has Obama promised him a role of power? Can wealth buy power? I hope not.
10. Though Americans are divided with some being Pro-Life and others Pro-Abortion, most Americans find partial birth abortions distasteful and morally reprehensible. I was shocked and saddened by Obama’s reaction in the third debate to the question of partial birth abortion. He stood firmly in support of abortion, even if the method was barbaric, inflicting torture upon unborn babies. When babies are born alive from botched late-term abortions, he voted to outlaw giving those children care. He wants to leave those babies to die. Please explain that to me? There are many people in this land who would gladly adopt these children. I am of the conviction that you cannot treat life with contemptuous disregard and expect the blessing of God on your nation.
11. Yes, I know I said ten reasons, but this last reason is more subjective, so I don’t want to count it as one of the ten. I may be completely wrong here, but I don’t sense in Obama a love for this nation. Would he lay down his life for the USA or for the Americans he wants to lead? I can’t answer that question for him. I don’t see that love for our nation in him like I do in John McCain. There is confidence in my heart that John McCain would gladly give his life, his reputation, and the outcome of this election for his beloved United States of America. I want someone leading this nation who loves her. I will vote for someone who puts America first and thinks that she, though flawed, is the most wonderful nation in the world.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. May God bless you in every way!
MLC
---Katie
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Scary Words from the Obama Camp
Michelle Obama in a speech in California:
"Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zone . . . Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual - uninvolved, uninformed."
So we are going to be required, ie. forced, to do what, exactly? What happened to the right to be left alone? Do we want to have the government telling us how we must live? Who the h*ll is Barak Obama to tell me how to live, much less how to think?! (And why does this woman irritate me so much?)
Joe Biden:
"Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”
David Rockefeller:
"We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis..."
A crisis generated by leftists to achieve leftist goals? Does this make you nervous at all?
Barak Obama:
“If we are going into war, then all of us go, not just some.”
"I will call on a new generation of Americans to join our military.... I will expand AmeriCorps to 250,000 slots, and make that increased service a vehicle to meet national goals like providing health care and education, saving our planet and restoring our standing in the world, so that citizens see their efforts connected to a common purpose."
Sounds like he is proposing some type of a draft - perhaps a service requirement for everyone, with a choice between civilian and military service. It also sounds like there is going to be pressure to have common goals, leftist goals of course.
Barak Obama:
“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”
Bill Ayers:
“Yes, I think there ought to be a draft into public service, no exceptions—maybe every 10 yrs from the age of 18 we should give a year to what WE determine in a democratic process to be the COMMON GOOD.”
Who determines it? Who will be telling us what to do?
Do you value freedom? The left says they do, but they are the ones who are talking about required service. Our freedom is going to be curtailed if this man is elected. Please don't do it.
Again, do you value freedom? Really? Or do you just want "change?"
---Katie
"Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zone . . . Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual - uninvolved, uninformed."
So we are going to be required, ie. forced, to do what, exactly? What happened to the right to be left alone? Do we want to have the government telling us how we must live? Who the h*ll is Barak Obama to tell me how to live, much less how to think?! (And why does this woman irritate me so much?)
Joe Biden:
"Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”
David Rockefeller:
"We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis..."
A crisis generated by leftists to achieve leftist goals? Does this make you nervous at all?
Barak Obama:
“If we are going into war, then all of us go, not just some.”
"I will call on a new generation of Americans to join our military.... I will expand AmeriCorps to 250,000 slots, and make that increased service a vehicle to meet national goals like providing health care and education, saving our planet and restoring our standing in the world, so that citizens see their efforts connected to a common purpose."
Sounds like he is proposing some type of a draft - perhaps a service requirement for everyone, with a choice between civilian and military service. It also sounds like there is going to be pressure to have common goals, leftist goals of course.
Barak Obama:
“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”
Bill Ayers:
“Yes, I think there ought to be a draft into public service, no exceptions—maybe every 10 yrs from the age of 18 we should give a year to what WE determine in a democratic process to be the COMMON GOOD.”
Who determines it? Who will be telling us what to do?
Do you value freedom? The left says they do, but they are the ones who are talking about required service. Our freedom is going to be curtailed if this man is elected. Please don't do it.
Again, do you value freedom? Really? Or do you just want "change?"
---Katie
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Barak Obama Tells People what They Want to Hear
What does Barak Obama have to say about Israel? It sounds kind of like "It depends on what the meaning of "is" is...
Click on the title to see what Obama is saying...or not saying.
---Katie
Click on the title to see what Obama is saying...or not saying.
---Katie
Friday, October 17, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
What Kind of America Do You Want?
Here is an excerpt of an article from the Witherspoon Institute about Obama's extreme views regarding abortion. It is a long article, but it is well worth reading. Abortion is not the only thing I consider when evaluating a candidate, but I admit that I would have a hard time voting for someone who believes the right to unrestricted abortion is paramount. I absolutely could never vote for someone with views on abortion like Obama. Click on the title for the entire article which gives the specifics on Obama's views on the rights of the most helpless among us.
------
What kind of America do we want our beloved nation to be? Barack Obama's America is one in which being human just isn't enough to warrant care and protection. It is an America where the unborn may legitimately be killed without legal restriction, even by the grisly practice of partial-birth abortion. It is an America where a baby who survives abortion is not even entitled to comfort care as she dies on a stainless steel table or in a soiled linen bin. It is a nation in which some members of the human family are regarded as inferior and others superior in fundamental dignity and rights. In Obama's America, public policy would make a mockery of the great constitutional principle of the equal protection of the law. In perhaps the most telling comment made by any candidate in either party in this election year, Senator Obama, when asked by Rick Warren when a baby gets human rights, replied: ''that question is above my pay grade.'' It was a profoundly disingenuous answer: For even at a state senator's pay grade, Obama presumed to answer that question with blind certainty. His unspoken answer then, as now, is chilling: human beings have no rights until infancy - and if they are unwanted survivors of attempted abortions, not even then.
------
Hat tip to Pastor Rob for alerting me to this excellent article!
---Katie
------
What kind of America do we want our beloved nation to be? Barack Obama's America is one in which being human just isn't enough to warrant care and protection. It is an America where the unborn may legitimately be killed without legal restriction, even by the grisly practice of partial-birth abortion. It is an America where a baby who survives abortion is not even entitled to comfort care as she dies on a stainless steel table or in a soiled linen bin. It is a nation in which some members of the human family are regarded as inferior and others superior in fundamental dignity and rights. In Obama's America, public policy would make a mockery of the great constitutional principle of the equal protection of the law. In perhaps the most telling comment made by any candidate in either party in this election year, Senator Obama, when asked by Rick Warren when a baby gets human rights, replied: ''that question is above my pay grade.'' It was a profoundly disingenuous answer: For even at a state senator's pay grade, Obama presumed to answer that question with blind certainty. His unspoken answer then, as now, is chilling: human beings have no rights until infancy - and if they are unwanted survivors of attempted abortions, not even then.
------
Hat tip to Pastor Rob for alerting me to this excellent article!
---Katie
Monday, October 13, 2008
Obama Wants to Spread the Wealth Around
Your wealth of course....
From Fox News:
Barack Obama told a tax-burdened plumber over the weekend that his economic philosophy is to "spread the wealth around" -- a comment that may only draw fire from riled-up John McCain supporters who have taken to calling Obama a "socialist" at the Republican's rallies.
Obama made the remark, caught on camera, after fielding some tough questions from the plumber Sunday in Ohio, where the Democratic candidate canvassed neighborhoods and encouraged residents to vote early.
"Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" the plumber asked, complaining that he was being taxed "more and more for fulfilling the American dream."
"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too," Obama responded. "My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
Click on the title for the entire article.
Are we really going to put this guy in the White House?
---Katie
From Fox News:
Barack Obama told a tax-burdened plumber over the weekend that his economic philosophy is to "spread the wealth around" -- a comment that may only draw fire from riled-up John McCain supporters who have taken to calling Obama a "socialist" at the Republican's rallies.
Obama made the remark, caught on camera, after fielding some tough questions from the plumber Sunday in Ohio, where the Democratic candidate canvassed neighborhoods and encouraged residents to vote early.
"Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" the plumber asked, complaining that he was being taxed "more and more for fulfilling the American dream."
"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too," Obama responded. "My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
Click on the title for the entire article.
Are we really going to put this guy in the White House?
---Katie
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Senator McCain, It is Time to Get Serious about This Campaign!
Sarracuda is serious about exposing the real Obama! How about you?
“The last four weeks of this election will be about whether the American people are willing to turn our economy and national security over to Barack Obama, a man with little record, questionable judgment, and ties to radical figures like unrepentant domestic terrorist William Ayers. Americans need to ask themselves if they’ve ever befriended an unrepentant terrorist, or had a convicted felon help them buy their house — because those aren’t smears, those are true facts about Barack Obama.” —Tucker Bounds, spokesman McCain-Palin 2008
---Katie
“The last four weeks of this election will be about whether the American people are willing to turn our economy and national security over to Barack Obama, a man with little record, questionable judgment, and ties to radical figures like unrepentant domestic terrorist William Ayers. Americans need to ask themselves if they’ve ever befriended an unrepentant terrorist, or had a convicted felon help them buy their house — because those aren’t smears, those are true facts about Barack Obama.” —Tucker Bounds, spokesman McCain-Palin 2008
---Katie
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
If Obama Loses, American Voters are Racist
Well, actually, only some American voters are racist. Republicans are going to vote Republican anyway. Democrats, on the other hand, must vote for their candidate or be labeled racist. After all, what other reason could a Democrat have not to vote for Obama? It couldn't be because he is a raging leftist with no experience and a pile of shady associations? Nah, they're just racist....
---Katie
---Katie
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Vote Early! or even better - Absentee!
If you want to help out the GOP this year, you can do a lot by requesting an absentee ballot and sending it in right away. This benefits you in one very pleasant way - it reduces the calls and mailings you get from candidates. Not only do you get that benefit, the GOP saves money and time by being able to concentrate on the people who have not yet voted and might be undecided. Most campaigns get weekly updates listing who has voted already. If you don't vote absentee, then take advantage of early voting! All indications point to a big turnout and you don't want to get stuck in line at the voting booth on election day. (Well, maybe you do, but I know I don't! We have already requested our absentee ballots!)
---Katie
---Katie
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Pig reference is plaguing Obama's campaign
So what do you think? Was Obama referring to Sarah Palin when he said, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig?" The way the crowd reacted, they certainly thought so. The more Obama tries to explain what he meant, the worse it gets for him. And MSNBC helps out by writing in the midst of a hit piece on Palin, "Palin could be heard nearly squealing with delight in the front of the plane at the sight of three of her children at the foot of the stairs, and according to several aides, refused to stay inside the plane." Squealing? Yikes! What timing!
Shhh! Don't tell the media that their constant attacks on Palin are making her look better and better!
Maverick/Barracuda 2008!
---Katie
Shhh! Don't tell the media that their constant attacks on Palin are making her look better and better!
Maverick/Barracuda 2008!
---Katie
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Just in case you missed it....
Click on the title to see a YouTube video of what Piper Palin was doing while her mom was speaking last night. Priceless!
---Katie
---Katie
Monday, September 01, 2008
Wow. What a choice.
I have always said that I am pro-choice, but that I think the choice should be for preserving the life of an innocent, unborn child. I wish that the thought of killing a child in its mother's womb was so abhorrent that it would be a choice that was made in only the most extreme circumstances.
We have quite the choice this year for president and vice-president. On the Democrat side, we have Barrak Obama who says he would not want to punish his daughters with a baby. He would not even support legislation to protect infants born alive as a result of botched abortions. His Catholic running mate has supported all pro-abortion bills placed before him.
On the Republican ticket we have a vice-presidential candidate who not only talks the talk, but she walks the walk as well. Instead of aborting her Downs syndrome son, as is done in about seventy-five percent of cases, she gave birth and welcomed him into the family. Today we hear that Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol is five months pregnant. (I guess she really can't be baby Trig's real mom, can she, you left wing loonies?) She is going to give birth and, apparently, marry the father of her child. They are walking the walk that I have watched a number of my Christian, homeschooling friends walk in recent years. I applaud them for loving and supporting their daughter. Not to leave out the presidential candidate - McCain was actually handed his adopted daughter by Mother Teresa! (If I am wrong on this let me know...)
We have a choice this election between a culture of death and a culture of life. I am so happy to be able to vote for someone who supports life with actions, not just words. I believe that we will become a country that supports life not through laws, but through people who do what is right.
---Katie
We have quite the choice this year for president and vice-president. On the Democrat side, we have Barrak Obama who says he would not want to punish his daughters with a baby. He would not even support legislation to protect infants born alive as a result of botched abortions. His Catholic running mate has supported all pro-abortion bills placed before him.
On the Republican ticket we have a vice-presidential candidate who not only talks the talk, but she walks the walk as well. Instead of aborting her Downs syndrome son, as is done in about seventy-five percent of cases, she gave birth and welcomed him into the family. Today we hear that Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol is five months pregnant. (I guess she really can't be baby Trig's real mom, can she, you left wing loonies?) She is going to give birth and, apparently, marry the father of her child. They are walking the walk that I have watched a number of my Christian, homeschooling friends walk in recent years. I applaud them for loving and supporting their daughter. Not to leave out the presidential candidate - McCain was actually handed his adopted daughter by Mother Teresa! (If I am wrong on this let me know...)
We have a choice this election between a culture of death and a culture of life. I am so happy to be able to vote for someone who supports life with actions, not just words. I believe that we will become a country that supports life not through laws, but through people who do what is right.
---Katie
Sunday, August 31, 2008
They're Right about Palin....
From HotAir (Click on the title)...I wish I had written it!
I lifted and partially rewrote this from Damiano in another thread. He gets the credit, not me. Nevertheless, let the truth be told:
Palin is completely inexperienced and utterly incapable.
You heard me. The initial euphoria over the idea of a naughty librarian on the TV news each night for the next 4 to 8 years has worn off. Now, it back to hard, pragmatic reality and the reality is that she has no place in Washington, DC.
Want proof? Consider the following:
Only an amateur would speak off the cuff, as she usually does. Experienced politicians avoid speaking extemporaneously whenever possible. Otherwise, the electorate might find out what they really think.
If Palin had meaningful experience, she would have known that the job of Ethics Commissioner is SUPPOSED to be corrupt, thus saving her the trouble of resigning in protest and then running for the highest office in the state.
Only an amateur would attain political office by actually defeating opposing candidates at the ballot box. An experienced politician would have eliminated opposition candidates by protesting technical glitches in their nominating petitions or petitioning to change the party rules on how votes are counted in primary elections or hiring groups like ACORN to register 14 people who all, coincidentally, have the same names and reside at the same abandoned and boarded-up restaurant. Did she not once consider taking lessons from the Chicago political machine that got Obama elected? Sheesh.
Any experienced politician knows that upon assuming high office, you are supposed to demand a larger plane; not sell the useless behemoth that was recently purchased by your predecessor.
Only an amateur would implement a comprehensive energy and conservation policy shortly after taking office. A more experienced politician would have avoided the issue outright for at least 30 years while demonizing oil companies, then banning any voting on the topic followed by a recess vacation through the next election
Any experienced politician knows that once elected, you are not supposed to spend your first 20 months in office actually doing the job you were elected to do. You should be campaigning for another office – as Obama could have told her.
Sarah Palin was only supposed to TALK about government reform and utter platitudes about exiling corrupt, entrenched politicians – not actually do anything about it. She demonstrated her naivete by creating a smooth running government that included representatives of other political parties, thereby making it impossible for her to find a scapegoat if anything goes wrong.
Only a political greenhorn would thumb their nose at the environmental lobby by hunting and actually shooting moose and caribou. Worse yet, she foolishly told the truth: the proposed oil drilling site in ANWR is NOT the secret location of Eden but is, in fact, a barren wasteland.
What Sarah Palin does not seem to understand is that here in the 21st century, chief executives do not negotiate beneficial business deals for their states with foreign nations or take time to actually hang out with soldiers in Iraq. That time is better spent preening for the cameras in Berlin – something else a more seasoned and experienced politician such as Obama could have told her.
Holding oil companies accountable and successfully negotiating mutually productive agreements with them proves she does not understand their true purpose: if you work with them to the benefit of your state, you will no longer have a faceless villain to scare people into voting for you.
By creating new jobs instead of demonizing capitalism, Sarah foolishly enabled people to become more reliant on themselves and less reliant on government, hereby diminishing the dependant voter base – a classic newbie mistake. After all, if people have jobs, they will not have much need for the government and will be too busy enjoying their lives to protest the U.S., its corporations and, of course, opposing candidates.
Worse yet, Palin created a budget surplus and mailed it back to the taxpayers. Doesn’t she know that if the government generates a surplus, it’s doing something wrong? An experienced leader like Obama or Biden knows that taxpayer money belongs to the government – not to the people.
In another rankly amateurish move, she cooperated completely with government officials investigating accusations made against her. Experienced politicians know that you are supposed to stonewall, obfuscate, pressure libraries to expunge any record of unsavory political associations and ship potential witnesses off to Caribbean islands – another good reason not to sell the executive jet.
Yup, she is hopelessly inexperienced.
That is why I ♥ SARAH’CUDA and why I am voting McCain/Palin ‘08
Me too...
---Katie
I lifted and partially rewrote this from Damiano in another thread. He gets the credit, not me. Nevertheless, let the truth be told:
Palin is completely inexperienced and utterly incapable.
You heard me. The initial euphoria over the idea of a naughty librarian on the TV news each night for the next 4 to 8 years has worn off. Now, it back to hard, pragmatic reality and the reality is that she has no place in Washington, DC.
Want proof? Consider the following:
Only an amateur would speak off the cuff, as she usually does. Experienced politicians avoid speaking extemporaneously whenever possible. Otherwise, the electorate might find out what they really think.
If Palin had meaningful experience, she would have known that the job of Ethics Commissioner is SUPPOSED to be corrupt, thus saving her the trouble of resigning in protest and then running for the highest office in the state.
Only an amateur would attain political office by actually defeating opposing candidates at the ballot box. An experienced politician would have eliminated opposition candidates by protesting technical glitches in their nominating petitions or petitioning to change the party rules on how votes are counted in primary elections or hiring groups like ACORN to register 14 people who all, coincidentally, have the same names and reside at the same abandoned and boarded-up restaurant. Did she not once consider taking lessons from the Chicago political machine that got Obama elected? Sheesh.
Any experienced politician knows that upon assuming high office, you are supposed to demand a larger plane; not sell the useless behemoth that was recently purchased by your predecessor.
Only an amateur would implement a comprehensive energy and conservation policy shortly after taking office. A more experienced politician would have avoided the issue outright for at least 30 years while demonizing oil companies, then banning any voting on the topic followed by a recess vacation through the next election
Any experienced politician knows that once elected, you are not supposed to spend your first 20 months in office actually doing the job you were elected to do. You should be campaigning for another office – as Obama could have told her.
Sarah Palin was only supposed to TALK about government reform and utter platitudes about exiling corrupt, entrenched politicians – not actually do anything about it. She demonstrated her naivete by creating a smooth running government that included representatives of other political parties, thereby making it impossible for her to find a scapegoat if anything goes wrong.
Only a political greenhorn would thumb their nose at the environmental lobby by hunting and actually shooting moose and caribou. Worse yet, she foolishly told the truth: the proposed oil drilling site in ANWR is NOT the secret location of Eden but is, in fact, a barren wasteland.
What Sarah Palin does not seem to understand is that here in the 21st century, chief executives do not negotiate beneficial business deals for their states with foreign nations or take time to actually hang out with soldiers in Iraq. That time is better spent preening for the cameras in Berlin – something else a more seasoned and experienced politician such as Obama could have told her.
Holding oil companies accountable and successfully negotiating mutually productive agreements with them proves she does not understand their true purpose: if you work with them to the benefit of your state, you will no longer have a faceless villain to scare people into voting for you.
By creating new jobs instead of demonizing capitalism, Sarah foolishly enabled people to become more reliant on themselves and less reliant on government, hereby diminishing the dependant voter base – a classic newbie mistake. After all, if people have jobs, they will not have much need for the government and will be too busy enjoying their lives to protest the U.S., its corporations and, of course, opposing candidates.
Worse yet, Palin created a budget surplus and mailed it back to the taxpayers. Doesn’t she know that if the government generates a surplus, it’s doing something wrong? An experienced leader like Obama or Biden knows that taxpayer money belongs to the government – not to the people.
In another rankly amateurish move, she cooperated completely with government officials investigating accusations made against her. Experienced politicians know that you are supposed to stonewall, obfuscate, pressure libraries to expunge any record of unsavory political associations and ship potential witnesses off to Caribbean islands – another good reason not to sell the executive jet.
Yup, she is hopelessly inexperienced.
That is why I ♥ SARAH’CUDA and why I am voting McCain/Palin ‘08
Me too...
---Katie
Friday, August 29, 2008
Hillary Clinton Supporters are excited over Palin
Click on the title to visit the Hillary Clinton Forum. I'm not really sure what to think about their reaction.
---Katie
---Katie
Defending Against the First Attacks on Sarah Palin
Gov. Palin's nomination has created quite a furor in the blogosphere; here is an interesting article from the American Thinker on how to answer some of the criticisms:
Defending Against the First Attacks on Sarah Palin
By Patrick J. Casey
As John McCain has shocked pretty much everybody with his pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, it's important to prepare for the attacks on her that will be launched, starting this afternoon, by the Democrats and the media. For attack they will, relentlessly. And they'll start with these three things:
First - "Palin has no experience". That's an easy one to dismiss. Sarah Palin has had more executive experience, meaning experience in running either a business or a government, than either Barack Obama or his running mate, Joe Biden. She has more executive experience than even her running mate, John McCain. Governor Palin served as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska from 1999 to 2002. She was elected as President of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. She was elected as Governor of Alaska in 2006. And she has quite a few concrete achievements, considering the amount of time she's been in office.
Click on the title for the rest of the article which goes on to address the scandal that the opposition keeps trying to create regarding her firing of Alaskan Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.
---Katie
Defending Against the First Attacks on Sarah Palin
By Patrick J. Casey
As John McCain has shocked pretty much everybody with his pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, it's important to prepare for the attacks on her that will be launched, starting this afternoon, by the Democrats and the media. For attack they will, relentlessly. And they'll start with these three things:
First - "Palin has no experience". That's an easy one to dismiss. Sarah Palin has had more executive experience, meaning experience in running either a business or a government, than either Barack Obama or his running mate, Joe Biden. She has more executive experience than even her running mate, John McCain. Governor Palin served as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska from 1999 to 2002. She was elected as President of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. She was elected as Governor of Alaska in 2006. And she has quite a few concrete achievements, considering the amount of time she's been in office.
Click on the title for the rest of the article which goes on to address the scandal that the opposition keeps trying to create regarding her firing of Alaskan Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.
---Katie
Palin Pic Two
Yay, they look like regular people from "flyover country!" And I think my teenager would have that same look in that situation!
---Katie
Is it Palin?
I have gotten used to the idea of McCain as our candidate for president - it does not make me happy, but I would rather have him than Obama. My dread has been about who he might choose as his running mate. The Republicans aren't called "the stupid party" for no reason! I think McCain has a decent chance of beating Obama, but he cannot afford to alienate conservatives any further by choosing someone like Lieberman for his VP.
This morning Fox is all abuzz because Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, flew into Dayton, OH, last night. In about an hour and a half, that is where McCain will be announcing his VP. Could it be that he will choose a conservative as a running mate?
Here is what C. Edmund Wright of The American Thinker says Palin brings to the table:
Is it Sarah Palin for Vice President? It is beginning to look like the Alaskan Governor has re-emerged as a serious candidate to be John McCain's running mate. If this is the case, there are some risks involved of course, but there is a big upside to this pick.
A: Energy: Sarah Palin is right on the energy issues. When you are the governor of Alaska, that's a big deal. She is way ahead of Obama, Biden and in fact McCain on this issue. She also wants to take McCain to ANWR and show him how ugly the area is that would be set aside for drilling. That's a bold stance.
B: Hillary: At the risk of being condescending to women voters, you have to think that the disaffected Hillary Clinton vote would be very interested in the pick of Palin. At least some of the Hillary vote is the "sisterhood of the travelling pant-suit" mindset, and this is a group that will focus on the gender of the candidate.
C: Can't hit the girl: Joe Biden's debate style could be described as offensive under any circumstances, but he would be thrown off stride by having to go head to head with Palin. Even Hillary Clinton, in no way as "girlish" as Palin is, gained traction on this very issue with her debates in New York while running for Senate.
D: Andrea Mitchell: The prospect of McCain's naming of Palin was extremely upsetting to this worn-out NBC liberal. That's a good thing. When Republicans start to make a smart move, it is always upsetting to folks like Mitchell. Mitchell tried to make the case that naming Palin brings the ethical problems of Alaskan politics into the fray and thus a bad move for McCain. Uh Andrea, Palin was elected precisely because she is not part of that. She is not Ted Stevens or Frank Murkowski. That's the point.
E: Conservative Base: Palin will thrill the base. She is a conservative reformer. She is pro-life and with five kids, has cred on this issue. She is pro energy production. She is not a big government type. She is the one pick who can excite the base with no collateral damage to other potential voters.
F: Central Casting: Quite frankly, Palin is very attractive. A liberal pundit a few weeks ago even referred to her as "naughty school teacher hot." It was meant as a compliment. Few women politicians in the Democrat Party have ever been accused of that by the way. But in addition to that, she is a hunter, likes to fish and has a bit of the tough outdoorsy Alaskan independence to her. For crying out loud, shows about Alaska are all the rage now on cable.
The names are bouncing around like crazy today. They run the spectrum from Lieberman to Palin. And of course, it could be a name not discussed. But if it is Palin, there is a classic risk-reward equation in play. The potential rewards are very interesting.
Click on the title for the article.
CNN just stated at 10:35 am that they have gotten inside confirmation that Sarah Palin is the nominee....
---Katie
This morning Fox is all abuzz because Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, flew into Dayton, OH, last night. In about an hour and a half, that is where McCain will be announcing his VP. Could it be that he will choose a conservative as a running mate?
Here is what C. Edmund Wright of The American Thinker says Palin brings to the table:
Is it Sarah Palin for Vice President? It is beginning to look like the Alaskan Governor has re-emerged as a serious candidate to be John McCain's running mate. If this is the case, there are some risks involved of course, but there is a big upside to this pick.
A: Energy: Sarah Palin is right on the energy issues. When you are the governor of Alaska, that's a big deal. She is way ahead of Obama, Biden and in fact McCain on this issue. She also wants to take McCain to ANWR and show him how ugly the area is that would be set aside for drilling. That's a bold stance.
B: Hillary: At the risk of being condescending to women voters, you have to think that the disaffected Hillary Clinton vote would be very interested in the pick of Palin. At least some of the Hillary vote is the "sisterhood of the travelling pant-suit" mindset, and this is a group that will focus on the gender of the candidate.
C: Can't hit the girl: Joe Biden's debate style could be described as offensive under any circumstances, but he would be thrown off stride by having to go head to head with Palin. Even Hillary Clinton, in no way as "girlish" as Palin is, gained traction on this very issue with her debates in New York while running for Senate.
D: Andrea Mitchell: The prospect of McCain's naming of Palin was extremely upsetting to this worn-out NBC liberal. That's a good thing. When Republicans start to make a smart move, it is always upsetting to folks like Mitchell. Mitchell tried to make the case that naming Palin brings the ethical problems of Alaskan politics into the fray and thus a bad move for McCain. Uh Andrea, Palin was elected precisely because she is not part of that. She is not Ted Stevens or Frank Murkowski. That's the point.
E: Conservative Base: Palin will thrill the base. She is a conservative reformer. She is pro-life and with five kids, has cred on this issue. She is pro energy production. She is not a big government type. She is the one pick who can excite the base with no collateral damage to other potential voters.
F: Central Casting: Quite frankly, Palin is very attractive. A liberal pundit a few weeks ago even referred to her as "naughty school teacher hot." It was meant as a compliment. Few women politicians in the Democrat Party have ever been accused of that by the way. But in addition to that, she is a hunter, likes to fish and has a bit of the tough outdoorsy Alaskan independence to her. For crying out loud, shows about Alaska are all the rage now on cable.
The names are bouncing around like crazy today. They run the spectrum from Lieberman to Palin. And of course, it could be a name not discussed. But if it is Palin, there is a classic risk-reward equation in play. The potential rewards are very interesting.
Click on the title for the article.
CNN just stated at 10:35 am that they have gotten inside confirmation that Sarah Palin is the nominee....
---Katie
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Vote for me! Vote for me!
As I said in an earlier post, I was surprised to find myself on the ballot for this Tuesday. I am running against two other women to serve as precinct committeewoman for precinct 522 in Orange County, FL. I volunteered for the position, not realizing that I might face an election. This has been kind of fun, just seeing my name on a ballot. Today another exciting thing happened - I got a phone call from the Republican Victory Committee (or was it the Republican Committee for Victory? oh well) telling me to vote for me! Wow - that was cool.
The reason that local Republicans asked people like me to volunteer to be on the Orange County Republican Executive Committee is that Ron Paul supporters are working to remake the Republican Executive Committees throughout Florida. They want to move the Republicans back to Ronald Reagan style Republicanism, which might not be a bad thing. I know I have not been happy with establishment Republicanism myself lately. I think that is a general trend, looking at what has been happening politically in the last several years. Perhaps it is time to shake things up. I hope I get to be a part of it!
---Katie (vote for me)
The reason that local Republicans asked people like me to volunteer to be on the Orange County Republican Executive Committee is that Ron Paul supporters are working to remake the Republican Executive Committees throughout Florida. They want to move the Republicans back to Ronald Reagan style Republicanism, which might not be a bad thing. I know I have not been happy with establishment Republicanism myself lately. I think that is a general trend, looking at what has been happening politically in the last several years. Perhaps it is time to shake things up. I hope I get to be a part of it!
---Katie (vote for me)
Thursday, July 24, 2008
More Questions about Global Warming
Should we wreck our economy to "solve" the global warming problem? Maybe not.
No smoking hot spot
David Evans | July 18, 2008 The Australian
I DEVOTED six years to carbon accounting, building models for the Australian Greenhouse Office. I am the rocket scientist who wrote the carbon accounting model (FullCAM) that measures Australia's compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, in the land use change and forestry sector.
FullCAM models carbon flows in plants, mulch, debris, soils and agricultural products, using inputs such as climate data, plant physiology and satellite data. I've been following the global warming debate closely for years.
When I started that job in 1999 the evidence that carbon emissions caused global warming seemed pretty good: CO2 is a greenhouse gas, the old ice core data, no other suspects.
The evidence was not conclusive, but why wait until we were certain when it appeared we needed to act quickly? Soon government and the scientific community were working together and lots of science research jobs were created. We scientists had political support, the ear of government, big budgets, and we felt fairly important and useful (well, I did anyway). It was great. We were working to save the planet.
But since 1999 new evidence has seriously weakened the case that carbon emissions are the main cause of global warming, and by 2007 the evidence was pretty conclusive that carbon played only a minor role and was not the main cause of the recent global warming. As Lord Keynes famously said, "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"
There has not been a public debate about the causes of global warming and most of the public and our decision makers are not aware of the most basic salient facts:
1. The greenhouse signature is missing. We have been looking and measuring for years, and cannot find it.
Click on the title for the rest of the article.
I have no idea why people want to rush into restrictions, taxes, carbon offsets, etc. to solve a problem that may not even be something we have any way to solve. Well, I do, but it has much more to do with the powers that be wanting to control every aspect of life than it does with saving the environment.
---Katie
No smoking hot spot
David Evans | July 18, 2008 The Australian
I DEVOTED six years to carbon accounting, building models for the Australian Greenhouse Office. I am the rocket scientist who wrote the carbon accounting model (FullCAM) that measures Australia's compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, in the land use change and forestry sector.
FullCAM models carbon flows in plants, mulch, debris, soils and agricultural products, using inputs such as climate data, plant physiology and satellite data. I've been following the global warming debate closely for years.
When I started that job in 1999 the evidence that carbon emissions caused global warming seemed pretty good: CO2 is a greenhouse gas, the old ice core data, no other suspects.
The evidence was not conclusive, but why wait until we were certain when it appeared we needed to act quickly? Soon government and the scientific community were working together and lots of science research jobs were created. We scientists had political support, the ear of government, big budgets, and we felt fairly important and useful (well, I did anyway). It was great. We were working to save the planet.
But since 1999 new evidence has seriously weakened the case that carbon emissions are the main cause of global warming, and by 2007 the evidence was pretty conclusive that carbon played only a minor role and was not the main cause of the recent global warming. As Lord Keynes famously said, "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"
There has not been a public debate about the causes of global warming and most of the public and our decision makers are not aware of the most basic salient facts:
1. The greenhouse signature is missing. We have been looking and measuring for years, and cannot find it.
Click on the title for the rest of the article.
I have no idea why people want to rush into restrictions, taxes, carbon offsets, etc. to solve a problem that may not even be something we have any way to solve. Well, I do, but it has much more to do with the powers that be wanting to control every aspect of life than it does with saving the environment.
---Katie
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
I'm running for office!
Several years ago my dear husband asked when I was going to run for political office. I told him never because several of my friends have done so, and I had no desire to go through what they went through. Imagine my surprise when I received my absentee ballot for the upcoming primary - my name is on it! Several weeks ago I responded to a plea from the state Republican women's group to serve as a member of the county Republican Executive Committee. Apparently, I was not the only one to respond from my precinct, so now we have an election and I am on the ballot. How fun! So, if you are in precinct 522 of Orange County Fl - vote for Kathryn! ;-)
---Katie
---Katie
Attention Peacemakers!
I just got an e-mail from Peacemakers Ministries about their conference in Orlando September 25 - 27. All Florida residents can get one-half off of registration through August 31! Click on the title for more information. If you cannot find the code for the special, let me know.
---Katie
---Katie
The Half Century Mark!
Wednesday is my birthday...I'm turning 50. If anyone has any advice about dealing with turning 50 it would be greatly appreciated! Funny jokes are good too - I think I'm a little depressed!
---Katie
---Katie
Monday, July 14, 2008
The Annie Moses Band
Last night we had the opportunity to attend a concert at the International Christian Retail Show. Five different groups/individuals performed, Jeremy Camp, Group 1 Crew, Brian Free and Assurance, Nicole C. Mullins and the Annie Moses Band. Wow. Everyone was great! We particularly enjoyed hearing Nicole M. sing her wonderful song, Redeemer. I loved learning that she wrote it after reading the book of Job, which is one of the studies I am a part of right now.
The group that I am most excited about is the Annie Moses band. They were just so completely different from any of the other groups. They are a family of musicians, some of whom have trained at Julliard. As I watched them, I thought, "I bet they are homeschooled...." and I researched them and they were homeschooled, but I cannot tell if they still are homeschooling the younger ones. The kids play the violin, viola, cello, harp, banjo, mandolin, and keyboard. Dad plays the keyboard and writes and arranges the music. Mom sings and writes lyrics. They are not your average homeschool family band. Watching the siblings play the stringed instruments together is awesome! What I really enjoyed, too, was watching Mom watch them as they played. I recognized her expression - I have that sometimes with my kids! Wow, look what they are doing!
Click on the title to see and hear their arrangement of God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen. You won't regret it!
---Katie
The group that I am most excited about is the Annie Moses band. They were just so completely different from any of the other groups. They are a family of musicians, some of whom have trained at Julliard. As I watched them, I thought, "I bet they are homeschooled...." and I researched them and they were homeschooled, but I cannot tell if they still are homeschooling the younger ones. The kids play the violin, viola, cello, harp, banjo, mandolin, and keyboard. Dad plays the keyboard and writes and arranges the music. Mom sings and writes lyrics. They are not your average homeschool family band. Watching the siblings play the stringed instruments together is awesome! What I really enjoyed, too, was watching Mom watch them as they played. I recognized her expression - I have that sometimes with my kids! Wow, look what they are doing!
Click on the title to see and hear their arrangement of God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen. You won't regret it!
---Katie
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Does Obama take the time to verify his statistics?
This article talks about Obama's stand that our incarceration rate for young black men is inherently racist. The paragraph below interested me, since I am beginning to wonder if Obama is concerned at all with telling the truth.
Last July, Obama said that "more young black men languish in prison than attend colleges and universities." Actually, there are more than twice as many black men ages 18 to 24 in college as there are in jail. Last September he said, "We have a system that locks away too many young, first-time, nonviolent offenders for the better part of their lives." But Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute, writing in the institute's City Journal, notes that from 1999 to 2004, violent offenders accounted for all of the increase in the prison population. Furthermore, Mac Donald cites data indicating that:
"In the overwhelming majority of cases, prison remains a lifetime achievement award for persistence in criminal offending. Absent recidivism or a violent crime, the criminal-justice system will do everything it can to keep you out of the state or federal slammer."
-----
So I wonder, does he think we are too stupid to fact check his statements or is he (or his staff) too lazy to fact check them?
Click on the title to read the article.
---Katie
Last July, Obama said that "more young black men languish in prison than attend colleges and universities." Actually, there are more than twice as many black men ages 18 to 24 in college as there are in jail. Last September he said, "We have a system that locks away too many young, first-time, nonviolent offenders for the better part of their lives." But Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute, writing in the institute's City Journal, notes that from 1999 to 2004, violent offenders accounted for all of the increase in the prison population. Furthermore, Mac Donald cites data indicating that:
"In the overwhelming majority of cases, prison remains a lifetime achievement award for persistence in criminal offending. Absent recidivism or a violent crime, the criminal-justice system will do everything it can to keep you out of the state or federal slammer."
-----
So I wonder, does he think we are too stupid to fact check his statements or is he (or his staff) too lazy to fact check them?
Click on the title to read the article.
---Katie
Barak Obama: Just Tell the Truth!
I am not a big fan of John McCain as you might already know. I am truly tired of voting for the lesser of two evils in presidential elections. Unfortunately, that is where we are again. There is no true conservative in the race who has a chance of winning and the consequences of letting Obama win look pretty dire. So, I'm back to blogging in spite of the fact that the current political line up has discouraged me from even reading about politics in the last few months.
Obama claims that he has been a Christian all his life, yet there is ample evidence that he is not being completely truthful. Click on the title above to read the entire article. Here are a few facts from the article:
Family members claim everyone in the family was Muslim.
His enrollment documents at a Catholic school he attended from first through third grades list him as a Muslim.
Teachers a the two public schools he attended recall him being listed as Muslim. One teacher has retracted her statement.
In his book, Obama talks about attending Koran class.
He, at least occasionally, attended mosque on Fridays.
None of this makes him a Muslim now, but why lie?
---Katie
Obama claims that he has been a Christian all his life, yet there is ample evidence that he is not being completely truthful. Click on the title above to read the entire article. Here are a few facts from the article:
Family members claim everyone in the family was Muslim.
His enrollment documents at a Catholic school he attended from first through third grades list him as a Muslim.
Teachers a the two public schools he attended recall him being listed as Muslim. One teacher has retracted her statement.
In his book, Obama talks about attending Koran class.
He, at least occasionally, attended mosque on Fridays.
None of this makes him a Muslim now, but why lie?
---Katie
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Filly Dies after Derby run
I love horses and I love to watch the races of the Triple Crown every year. I hate to watch races where the horses get injured. It is part of the sport, I know, and we can expect it to happen, but I hate it when it could have been prevented. Apparently, Eight Belles should not have run in the Kentucky Derby. She came in second, broke both her ankles at the end of the race and was euthanized today.
Here is what Paul Moran wrote earlier this week:
Eight Belles Deserves Better
Where are the animal rights activists when you need them?
Eight Belles was entered in the 134th Kentucky Derby on Wednesday. Success would demand that she run 10 furlongs faster than 19 males. There is the most remote possibility that she will succeed, this covered by one of life’s immutable truths: Anything can happen in a horse race.
What is far more likely is that Eight Belles will be permanently scarred by the experience.
Three fillies have won the Derby, in 1915, Genuine Risk, Genuine Risk, in 1981, and Winning Colors, whose victory will mark its 20th anniversary on Saturday.
Regret, though she was generally unsound, was an extremely fast filly whose regularly defeated males. But Genuine Risk and Winning Colors were nothing like Eight Belles. Both were big, rugged fillies who competed against males on even physical terms. Winning Colors defeated males in the Santa Anita Derby before the Derby. Genuine Risk prepped for the Derby in the Wood Memorial, in which she finished third.
Eight Belles has nothing in common with those fillies.
She is, however, a beautifully conformed filly, light-framed and feminine. Her misfortune is not trainer Larry Jones, who skirts the issue uncomfortably. A trainer who criticizes the decisions made by an owner will not be training for long. Though he came here a year ago with Hard Spun, who was runner-up to Street Sense, Jones shows no symptoms of Derby fever and he seems uncomfortable discussing Eight Belles’ chances in the Derby. Owner Rick Porter, however, is apparently beset by Derby fever.
Unlike the three fillies who have won the Derby, Eight Belles has never faced males nor has she attempted a race beyond 1 1/16. She has won her last four races, one in New Orleans, three in Arkansas but none in Grade I company. She would be formidable in the Oaks on Friday, in which Jones has Proud Spell for more reasonable, less vain connections who are probably concerned with the welfare and well being of their prized filly.
There is no reason beyond vanity to run Eight Belles in the Derby, either. As a breeding prospect, her value may be increased but a broodmare can produce only one foal a year. Breeders found it almost impossible for Genuine Risk to conceive and Winning Colors has had no impact as a broodmare.
The only thing that might have saved Eight Belles from the cruelty she is about to endure was a poor post position but the draw put her connections sixth in order of selection, assuring a favorable position in the barrier a day after she drew the outside post in a field of 12 entered in the Oaks. She will face the firing squad from post five.
Porter has enjoyed great success, having owned the very good filly, Jostle, a Grade I winner in 2000, Round Pond, winner of the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Hard Spun, who he sold for an enormous amount of money last year. Porter should know better. He should also show a bit of compassion for a very nice, still developing filly who, if he sends her into the teeth of a buzzsaw on Saturday, may very well leave he career in the shadows of the twin spires. If so, it will be a sad, sad day.
-----
And a sad day it is.
---Katie
Here is what Paul Moran wrote earlier this week:
Eight Belles Deserves Better
Where are the animal rights activists when you need them?
Eight Belles was entered in the 134th Kentucky Derby on Wednesday. Success would demand that she run 10 furlongs faster than 19 males. There is the most remote possibility that she will succeed, this covered by one of life’s immutable truths: Anything can happen in a horse race.
What is far more likely is that Eight Belles will be permanently scarred by the experience.
Three fillies have won the Derby, in 1915, Genuine Risk, Genuine Risk, in 1981, and Winning Colors, whose victory will mark its 20th anniversary on Saturday.
Regret, though she was generally unsound, was an extremely fast filly whose regularly defeated males. But Genuine Risk and Winning Colors were nothing like Eight Belles. Both were big, rugged fillies who competed against males on even physical terms. Winning Colors defeated males in the Santa Anita Derby before the Derby. Genuine Risk prepped for the Derby in the Wood Memorial, in which she finished third.
Eight Belles has nothing in common with those fillies.
She is, however, a beautifully conformed filly, light-framed and feminine. Her misfortune is not trainer Larry Jones, who skirts the issue uncomfortably. A trainer who criticizes the decisions made by an owner will not be training for long. Though he came here a year ago with Hard Spun, who was runner-up to Street Sense, Jones shows no symptoms of Derby fever and he seems uncomfortable discussing Eight Belles’ chances in the Derby. Owner Rick Porter, however, is apparently beset by Derby fever.
Unlike the three fillies who have won the Derby, Eight Belles has never faced males nor has she attempted a race beyond 1 1/16. She has won her last four races, one in New Orleans, three in Arkansas but none in Grade I company. She would be formidable in the Oaks on Friday, in which Jones has Proud Spell for more reasonable, less vain connections who are probably concerned with the welfare and well being of their prized filly.
There is no reason beyond vanity to run Eight Belles in the Derby, either. As a breeding prospect, her value may be increased but a broodmare can produce only one foal a year. Breeders found it almost impossible for Genuine Risk to conceive and Winning Colors has had no impact as a broodmare.
The only thing that might have saved Eight Belles from the cruelty she is about to endure was a poor post position but the draw put her connections sixth in order of selection, assuring a favorable position in the barrier a day after she drew the outside post in a field of 12 entered in the Oaks. She will face the firing squad from post five.
Porter has enjoyed great success, having owned the very good filly, Jostle, a Grade I winner in 2000, Round Pond, winner of the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Hard Spun, who he sold for an enormous amount of money last year. Porter should know better. He should also show a bit of compassion for a very nice, still developing filly who, if he sends her into the teeth of a buzzsaw on Saturday, may very well leave he career in the shadows of the twin spires. If so, it will be a sad, sad day.
-----
And a sad day it is.
---Katie
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Global Temperatures have not increased since 1998
Could we be heading into global cooling?
Check out this excerpt from a BBC article on climate change:
Global temperatures will drop slightly this year as a result of the cooling effect of the La Nina current in the Pacific, UN meteorologists have said.
The World Meteorological Organization's secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, told the BBC it was likely that La Nina would continue into the summer.
This would mean global temperatures have not risen since 1998, prompting some to question climate change theory.
Read more by clicking on the title!
Katie
Check out this excerpt from a BBC article on climate change:
Global temperatures will drop slightly this year as a result of the cooling effect of the La Nina current in the Pacific, UN meteorologists have said.
The World Meteorological Organization's secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, told the BBC it was likely that La Nina would continue into the summer.
This would mean global temperatures have not risen since 1998, prompting some to question climate change theory.
Read more by clicking on the title!
Katie
Sunday, March 23, 2008
A Blessed Easter
I hope everyone had a blessed Easter Sunday!
We had our first Easter Sunday in our new church home. Since 1979, we have worshiped every Easter at our former church, as long as we were in town and not sick. This was a bit of a milestone for us. It was good to hear my husband say that he was content. I am still struggling with grief, I guess, for what St. John used to be, but I am happy to be where we are now.
I sing in the contemporary service, so we did not attend attend the traditional service, but we were there and slipped into it for the processional "Jesus Christ is Risen Today." It was wonderful; I think it was my favorite part of the day.
---Katie
We had our first Easter Sunday in our new church home. Since 1979, we have worshiped every Easter at our former church, as long as we were in town and not sick. This was a bit of a milestone for us. It was good to hear my husband say that he was content. I am still struggling with grief, I guess, for what St. John used to be, but I am happy to be where we are now.
I sing in the contemporary service, so we did not attend attend the traditional service, but we were there and slipped into it for the processional "Jesus Christ is Risen Today." It was wonderful; I think it was my favorite part of the day.
---Katie
Friday, March 21, 2008
Fabulous Tornado Picture
I just had to share this. If you really like it you can order a print - click on the title for info. Oh, by the way, it's the recent Atlanta tornado!
---Katie
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
California Home School Decision
In case you are interested in what Home School Legal Defense Association has to say about the very bad decision recently handed down in CA regarding home schooling, here is their brief statement:
As many of you know, the Second Appellate District Court of Los Angeles handed down a very bad decision regarding a case involving a homeschool family.
Home School Legal Defense Association was not involved with this case, and the family are not members, which is why we only heard about this case when the opinion was released on February 28, 2008.
Since legal cases have many facets, and we are starting from scratch, it takes time to investigate and fully absorb all the facts which led up to a particular decision. We are in the middle of that process, but because of the interest in this case we want to give you as much information as we can regarding the implications for California.
The opinion holds that homeschooling is not a legal option in California. HSLDA strongly disputes this interpretation of California law. We believe that the court made a mistake when it relied on two decisions reached in the 1950s in order to show that homeschooling is not a legal option.
If the opinion is followed, then California will have the most regressive law in the nation and homeschooling will be effectively banned, because the only legal way to homeschool will be for the parent to hold a teaching certificate. Parents should not have to attend a four-year college education program just to teach their own children.
California is now on the path to being the only state to deny the vast majority of homeschooling parents their fundamental right to teach their own children at home.
HSLDA stands ready to provide assistance in appealing this decision in order to show the court that it made a mistake. It should have ruled that homeschooling is a fundamental right and that parents have a legal option to homeschool in California.
Click on the title to read the actual decision. It is a pdf, so it might take a moment to load, at least it did for me.
Home schoolers, don't let down your guard. Pay attention to what is happening on the political scene. Notice who panders to the NEA - they want to shut home schooling down completely. Every child that leaves the system costs them money and power. Vote in every election and make sure you know who supports your right to home school your kids. If you don't home school, support the rights of those who do - every restriction of our freedom affects all of us!
---Katie
As many of you know, the Second Appellate District Court of Los Angeles handed down a very bad decision regarding a case involving a homeschool family.
Home School Legal Defense Association was not involved with this case, and the family are not members, which is why we only heard about this case when the opinion was released on February 28, 2008.
Since legal cases have many facets, and we are starting from scratch, it takes time to investigate and fully absorb all the facts which led up to a particular decision. We are in the middle of that process, but because of the interest in this case we want to give you as much information as we can regarding the implications for California.
The opinion holds that homeschooling is not a legal option in California. HSLDA strongly disputes this interpretation of California law. We believe that the court made a mistake when it relied on two decisions reached in the 1950s in order to show that homeschooling is not a legal option.
If the opinion is followed, then California will have the most regressive law in the nation and homeschooling will be effectively banned, because the only legal way to homeschool will be for the parent to hold a teaching certificate. Parents should not have to attend a four-year college education program just to teach their own children.
California is now on the path to being the only state to deny the vast majority of homeschooling parents their fundamental right to teach their own children at home.
HSLDA stands ready to provide assistance in appealing this decision in order to show the court that it made a mistake. It should have ruled that homeschooling is a fundamental right and that parents have a legal option to homeschool in California.
Click on the title to read the actual decision. It is a pdf, so it might take a moment to load, at least it did for me.
Home schoolers, don't let down your guard. Pay attention to what is happening on the political scene. Notice who panders to the NEA - they want to shut home schooling down completely. Every child that leaves the system costs them money and power. Vote in every election and make sure you know who supports your right to home school your kids. If you don't home school, support the rights of those who do - every restriction of our freedom affects all of us!
---Katie
Sunday, March 02, 2008
It's Official!
We joined a new church today! We left our ELCA church of twenty-nine years and joined a nearby LCMS church. I am surprised at how unburdened I feel!
---Katie
---Katie
Jack Nickolson Supports Hillary
Click on the title to check out this ad Wacko Jacko has done for Hillary. It is just a little bizarre....
Wonder if it will push people toward Obama.
---Katie
Wonder if it will push people toward Obama.
---Katie
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Pending members expire?
I maintain a yahoo group list for members and former members of my church. I just saw this on the group page:
(!) Pending members require your approval. If you take no action, they will automatically expire after 14 days.
I did not know being a list manager gave me such power. They will expire? Wow.
;-)
---Katie
(!) Pending members require your approval. If you take no action, they will automatically expire after 14 days.
I did not know being a list manager gave me such power. They will expire? Wow.
;-)
---Katie
Friday, February 29, 2008
China May Scrap One Child Policy
BEIJING (Reuters) - China, worried about an ageing population, is studying scrapping its controversial one-child policy but will not do away with family-planning policies altogether, a senior official said on Thursday.
With the world's biggest population straining scarce land, water and energy resources, China has enforced rules to restrict family size since the 1970s. Rules vary but usually limit families to one child, or two in the countryside.
Click on the title to read the rest.
I wonder if the growing Christian population will have any affect on the policy regarding "family planning?"
---Katie
With the world's biggest population straining scarce land, water and energy resources, China has enforced rules to restrict family size since the 1970s. Rules vary but usually limit families to one child, or two in the countryside.
Click on the title to read the rest.
I wonder if the growing Christian population will have any affect on the policy regarding "family planning?"
---Katie
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Trubble - teacher of the year?
So I haven't heard much from my co-conspirator in blogging lately. He is a busy teacher...but I heard a rumor Sunday night at an inter-Lutheran banquet where our praise team sang. Is it true, Trubble? Did you get teacher of the year at your school? Details, please!!!!
---Katie
---Katie
Easter is early this year...
It is actually the earliest any of us will ever see it!
A friend of mine sent this to me:
Easter this year is: Sunday March 23, 2008 . . . and more
As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after
the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that
Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves
around on our Roman calendar.
Found out a couple of things you might be interested in!
Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier
than it is this year, (March 22) but that is pretty rare.
This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the
rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population
have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none
of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!
Here are the facts:
The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the
year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early
was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that
were around for that!).
The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the
year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22
was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any
earlier than this year!
Fascinating!
---Katie
A friend of mine sent this to me:
Easter this year is: Sunday March 23, 2008 . . . and more
As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after
the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that
Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves
around on our Roman calendar.
Found out a couple of things you might be interested in!
Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier
than it is this year, (March 22) but that is pretty rare.
This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the
rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population
have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none
of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!
Here are the facts:
The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the
year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early
was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that
were around for that!).
The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the
year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22
was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any
earlier than this year!
Fascinating!
---Katie
Monday, February 25, 2008
Will this be the picture that sinks him?
Dukakis in a tank, Kerry in a baby-blue spacesuit - Will this be the picture that makes Obama look like a foolish choice as president?
---Katie
Obama for President? Really?
Here is an interesting article about the Obama Phenomenon from The American Thinker. Click on the title to read it at the site.
The Fierce Urgency of Lies
Lance Fairchok
Obama's finest speeches do not excite. They do not inform. They don't even really inspire. They elevate. They enmesh you in a grander moment, as if history has stopped flowing passively by, and, just for an instant, contracted around you, made you aware of its presence, and your role in it. He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh, over color, over despair.
- Ezra Klein, The American Prospect
Grown men weep in his presence, women faint, and thousands scream his name like a rock star. The liberal press prints glowing tributes to their new progressive prophet, calling him "the triumph of word over flesh" and other absurd and profoundly unwarranted accolades. Obama, a very junior Senator, will guide us to a Utopia that has yet to be defined, an America that the left envisions but cannot quantify; but rest assured it will be swell.
Obama's image is picture perfect Ivy League political correctness. He is an educated man of color. He is a socialist. He has an intelligent and lovely wife, which he publicly embraces with obvious devotion. Even better, he has a deep and melodious speaking voice, full of the heroic righteousness of Martin Luther King, which echoes a time of triumph over injustice. He is the embodiment of our popular culture, passionate and handsome, well spoken yet carefully imprecise, and so absent of consistency he cannot long endure critical examination.
His political history is painfully short; his track record, what there is of it, is pure leftist, there in nothing to indicate he has a uniting or bipartisan bone in his body. Yet he would have us believe he will "bring America together to solve problems" and fill us with an "Audacity of Hope." Of course, how he will do that is merely a repackaging of the same leftist boilerplate we endured from Hillary, Kerry or Edwards. There is nothing new, nothing uniting, nothing to match the flow of his rhetoric or the timbre of his voice.
What we hear from Obama is the eternal mantra of the socialists; America is broken, millions have no health care, families cannot afford necessities, the rich are evil, we are selfish, we are unhappy, unfulfilled, without hope, desperate, poverty stricken, morally desolate, corrupt and racist. This nihilism is the lifeblood of all the democrat candidates, even "hope you can believe in" performers like Obama. When Michelle Obama claims she is only newly proud of her country, she does not exaggerate. In her world as in Obama's, they believe we are a mess, a land filled with the ignorant and unenlightened, filled with despair.
"For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction."
They learned these things from places like Princeton and Harvard, they have it reinforced by propagandists like Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, they embrace the fiction of Michael Moore and the fairy tales of the New York Times. They revere failures like Jimmy Carter and America's enemies like Castro and Chavez. They believe we have done nothing of value and brought no good to the world. Their arrogance is just below the surface and it is clear they do not know the country or people they presume to lead. Mrs. Obama reveals the depth of this pathology when she says, "That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation." This is a stunning revelation for those of us who live in the spiritually vibrant "flyover country." The Obama's would be our spiritual as well as political leaders.
Yet the truth of America is far different once you escape the ideological pandering and the supportive bias of a devious and self-serving press. Even as the public is bombarded with falsehoods, the truth filters through, especially when the reality of day-to-day life so often contradicts what our television screens tell us. Our economy bustles along, with inevitable ups and downs, but remains strong. Americans live better than ever before. As a nation, we live in the best of times, a place that the rest of humanity covets. We did this by the sweat of our brows and the energy of our people. We have more education, more luxury, more life options, more of everything good and far less of everything bad, less disease, less poverty and less struggle than ever before. We have prosperity, we have employment, we have technology. Hope is what America is all about; hope that has every expectation of success. Consider the millions that are desperate to get here. Even our poor have cars, appliances and entertainments. Our concern for them is not hunger but obesity. Never before in the history of mankind has this contradiction existed.
Ignore all those facts. What Obama tells us distills down to this: if we were nicer, if we were more generous, if we were better people, if we played better with others, if we gave more to the disadvantaged in the world, then we could fix this country (which sounds perfectly rational if your starting assumption is that it is broken). He claims he loves this country, and he just wants to help it reach its potential. In this, he is like a selfish husband, who says he loves his wife, but just wants her to have different hair, a different figure and a different voice.
In the cognitive dissonance of the left, the consequences of applying that insipid philosophy as demonstrated by Carter and Clinton is lost. The shattering attacks of 9-11 were conceived and pre-positioned under the nose of a self-absorbed and scandal-distracted President Clinton; his Middle East diplomacy was a sham and crumbled in short order. Iran is the danger that it is today because of President Carter's foolish foreign policies. He continues to enable brutal thugs in the Middle East, where his recent book sells well, just after Mein Kampf. Consequences are inconvenient things. When Democrats look back in fondness to those times, it is the power that they miss; they dare not point to their achievements.
Obama's inner circle includes radical academics, socialists, far-left propagandists as well as the unrepentant leftovers of the Clinton administration. Zbigniew Brzezinski, an Obama advisor and Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor, is visiting Syria. The Democrats visit Syria, a known supporter of terror, with alarming regularity. Nancy Pelosi also visited recently, providing wonderful propaganda opportunities for their dictator-controlled press. Hezbollah is sucking the lifeblood from Lebanon with longstanding Syrian and Iranian support. The Syrian Intelligence Service has assassinated politicians and community leaders by the dozen. They have the blood of hundreds of Americans and thousands of innocents on their hands. The Democrats and Obama apparently believe they can talk this brutal regime into abandoning its current policies. After all, look how well it worked in North Korea. For some, constant failure is not a lesson easily learned.
The left invents injustice and crisis, injects it into the public psyche and then promises salvation, like a child manipulating a distracted parent. In that perpetually adolescent relationship, Obama calls for change for change's sake, criticizes all that came before, carefully ignores recent history, fudges the facts and with predictable frequency, calls America broken. He steals the words of Martin Luther King, but he does not have the righteous cause, he postures in a battle already won. Obama is a polished huckster, a used-ideology salesman, a slick fraud. He offers failure, not hope, simple slogans and easily remembered rhymes to confront a dangerous world.
The other great leaders I've heard, guide us towards a better politics, but Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our highest selves, to the place where America exists as a glittering ideal, and where we, its honored inhabitants, seem capable of achieving it, and thus of sharing in its meaning and transcendence.
- Ezra Klein, The American Prospect
That is his appeal; he is an actor, a performer, a cinematic presence that stirs simple emotions, emotions that have little grounding in truth. His speeches are the inane lyrics to a popular song that endures only because it has a great beat. One must not think to deeply on what Obama says, for it turns to smoke and disappears in the light of day. Ezra Klein is correct, Obama's speeches do not inform, they pander, they propagandize, they harmonize with the mythology of despair and the chimera of entitlement. As his hagiographies proclaim, he represents a new Camelot, but one that does not hold America quite so precious, a Camelot of globalists, moral relativists and communitarians.
An Obama administration will be one of historical revision, of faltering American values, of ideologues crafting "progressive" policy, of radicals telling citizens how to live, what to drive, what to eat and what to believe. They will tell us that the constitution is a living document and should change to reflect the times. They will tell us that we must pay more and more for the common good. They will take away our choices and make more and more of us dependant. Obama's will be an administration of concocted class warfare, of racial exceptionalism and of pro-Islamist bias, and in the name of redefined justice and revolutionary inclusiveness, America will lose part of her soul and more of her freedoms. For all his rhetoric of hope, change and "coming together," we still live in a perilous world. In a time of Islamic terror and nuclear proliferation, an Obama presidency will undermine America as never before.
---Katie
The Fierce Urgency of Lies
Lance Fairchok
Obama's finest speeches do not excite. They do not inform. They don't even really inspire. They elevate. They enmesh you in a grander moment, as if history has stopped flowing passively by, and, just for an instant, contracted around you, made you aware of its presence, and your role in it. He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh, over color, over despair.
- Ezra Klein, The American Prospect
Grown men weep in his presence, women faint, and thousands scream his name like a rock star. The liberal press prints glowing tributes to their new progressive prophet, calling him "the triumph of word over flesh" and other absurd and profoundly unwarranted accolades. Obama, a very junior Senator, will guide us to a Utopia that has yet to be defined, an America that the left envisions but cannot quantify; but rest assured it will be swell.
Obama's image is picture perfect Ivy League political correctness. He is an educated man of color. He is a socialist. He has an intelligent and lovely wife, which he publicly embraces with obvious devotion. Even better, he has a deep and melodious speaking voice, full of the heroic righteousness of Martin Luther King, which echoes a time of triumph over injustice. He is the embodiment of our popular culture, passionate and handsome, well spoken yet carefully imprecise, and so absent of consistency he cannot long endure critical examination.
His political history is painfully short; his track record, what there is of it, is pure leftist, there in nothing to indicate he has a uniting or bipartisan bone in his body. Yet he would have us believe he will "bring America together to solve problems" and fill us with an "Audacity of Hope." Of course, how he will do that is merely a repackaging of the same leftist boilerplate we endured from Hillary, Kerry or Edwards. There is nothing new, nothing uniting, nothing to match the flow of his rhetoric or the timbre of his voice.
What we hear from Obama is the eternal mantra of the socialists; America is broken, millions have no health care, families cannot afford necessities, the rich are evil, we are selfish, we are unhappy, unfulfilled, without hope, desperate, poverty stricken, morally desolate, corrupt and racist. This nihilism is the lifeblood of all the democrat candidates, even "hope you can believe in" performers like Obama. When Michelle Obama claims she is only newly proud of her country, she does not exaggerate. In her world as in Obama's, they believe we are a mess, a land filled with the ignorant and unenlightened, filled with despair.
"For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction."
They learned these things from places like Princeton and Harvard, they have it reinforced by propagandists like Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, they embrace the fiction of Michael Moore and the fairy tales of the New York Times. They revere failures like Jimmy Carter and America's enemies like Castro and Chavez. They believe we have done nothing of value and brought no good to the world. Their arrogance is just below the surface and it is clear they do not know the country or people they presume to lead. Mrs. Obama reveals the depth of this pathology when she says, "That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation." This is a stunning revelation for those of us who live in the spiritually vibrant "flyover country." The Obama's would be our spiritual as well as political leaders.
Yet the truth of America is far different once you escape the ideological pandering and the supportive bias of a devious and self-serving press. Even as the public is bombarded with falsehoods, the truth filters through, especially when the reality of day-to-day life so often contradicts what our television screens tell us. Our economy bustles along, with inevitable ups and downs, but remains strong. Americans live better than ever before. As a nation, we live in the best of times, a place that the rest of humanity covets. We did this by the sweat of our brows and the energy of our people. We have more education, more luxury, more life options, more of everything good and far less of everything bad, less disease, less poverty and less struggle than ever before. We have prosperity, we have employment, we have technology. Hope is what America is all about; hope that has every expectation of success. Consider the millions that are desperate to get here. Even our poor have cars, appliances and entertainments. Our concern for them is not hunger but obesity. Never before in the history of mankind has this contradiction existed.
Ignore all those facts. What Obama tells us distills down to this: if we were nicer, if we were more generous, if we were better people, if we played better with others, if we gave more to the disadvantaged in the world, then we could fix this country (which sounds perfectly rational if your starting assumption is that it is broken). He claims he loves this country, and he just wants to help it reach its potential. In this, he is like a selfish husband, who says he loves his wife, but just wants her to have different hair, a different figure and a different voice.
In the cognitive dissonance of the left, the consequences of applying that insipid philosophy as demonstrated by Carter and Clinton is lost. The shattering attacks of 9-11 were conceived and pre-positioned under the nose of a self-absorbed and scandal-distracted President Clinton; his Middle East diplomacy was a sham and crumbled in short order. Iran is the danger that it is today because of President Carter's foolish foreign policies. He continues to enable brutal thugs in the Middle East, where his recent book sells well, just after Mein Kampf. Consequences are inconvenient things. When Democrats look back in fondness to those times, it is the power that they miss; they dare not point to their achievements.
Obama's inner circle includes radical academics, socialists, far-left propagandists as well as the unrepentant leftovers of the Clinton administration. Zbigniew Brzezinski, an Obama advisor and Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor, is visiting Syria. The Democrats visit Syria, a known supporter of terror, with alarming regularity. Nancy Pelosi also visited recently, providing wonderful propaganda opportunities for their dictator-controlled press. Hezbollah is sucking the lifeblood from Lebanon with longstanding Syrian and Iranian support. The Syrian Intelligence Service has assassinated politicians and community leaders by the dozen. They have the blood of hundreds of Americans and thousands of innocents on their hands. The Democrats and Obama apparently believe they can talk this brutal regime into abandoning its current policies. After all, look how well it worked in North Korea. For some, constant failure is not a lesson easily learned.
The left invents injustice and crisis, injects it into the public psyche and then promises salvation, like a child manipulating a distracted parent. In that perpetually adolescent relationship, Obama calls for change for change's sake, criticizes all that came before, carefully ignores recent history, fudges the facts and with predictable frequency, calls America broken. He steals the words of Martin Luther King, but he does not have the righteous cause, he postures in a battle already won. Obama is a polished huckster, a used-ideology salesman, a slick fraud. He offers failure, not hope, simple slogans and easily remembered rhymes to confront a dangerous world.
The other great leaders I've heard, guide us towards a better politics, but Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our highest selves, to the place where America exists as a glittering ideal, and where we, its honored inhabitants, seem capable of achieving it, and thus of sharing in its meaning and transcendence.
- Ezra Klein, The American Prospect
That is his appeal; he is an actor, a performer, a cinematic presence that stirs simple emotions, emotions that have little grounding in truth. His speeches are the inane lyrics to a popular song that endures only because it has a great beat. One must not think to deeply on what Obama says, for it turns to smoke and disappears in the light of day. Ezra Klein is correct, Obama's speeches do not inform, they pander, they propagandize, they harmonize with the mythology of despair and the chimera of entitlement. As his hagiographies proclaim, he represents a new Camelot, but one that does not hold America quite so precious, a Camelot of globalists, moral relativists and communitarians.
An Obama administration will be one of historical revision, of faltering American values, of ideologues crafting "progressive" policy, of radicals telling citizens how to live, what to drive, what to eat and what to believe. They will tell us that the constitution is a living document and should change to reflect the times. They will tell us that we must pay more and more for the common good. They will take away our choices and make more and more of us dependant. Obama's will be an administration of concocted class warfare, of racial exceptionalism and of pro-Islamist bias, and in the name of redefined justice and revolutionary inclusiveness, America will lose part of her soul and more of her freedoms. For all his rhetoric of hope, change and "coming together," we still live in a perilous world. In a time of Islamic terror and nuclear proliferation, an Obama presidency will undermine America as never before.
---Katie
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Teens steal from Girl Scouts....
These lovely young ladies are not sorry for stealing money from little girls selling Girl Scout cookies. The article below comes from WPBF.com in West Palm Beach. Click on the title for the entire story.
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -- The State Attorney's Office will decide whether to charge two teens who admit they robbed a 9-year-old Girl Scout selling cookies outside of a Boynton Beach supermarket.
"I thought that it was a really mean thing to do, and I was sad after," Girl Scout Gracie Smith told WPBF News 25.
Authorities said that a 17-year-old girl in a hot-pink sweatshirt approached Smith outside of a Winn-Dixie supermarket at Hypoluxo and Jog roads in Boynton Beach Wednesday evening and asked the girl what her favorite cookies were. Police told WPBF that, while Smith was telling the teen about her favorite Cinna-Spins, the teen snatched an envelope containing about $167 off of Smith's table, hopped into another teen's car and drove away.
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Smith told WPBF that she turned to her mother in tears, saying, "Mommy! That girl took all my money!"
Authorities said they caught up with the 17-year-old girl Thursday and pulled her out of class at Park Vista High School, where she allegedly confessed to the crime, WPBF reported. Investigators said the girl's female accomplice, another a Park Vista student, also confessed.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said that the case has been handed over to the State Attorney's Office to determine if charges will be filed against the teens.
Smith's mother, Charlene Rubenstrunk, told WPBF that the girls returned to the store Thursday to taunt her daughter.
"They are within 10 feet of the same kid they just robbed last night and there is nothing anybody can do about it. I find that offensive," Rubenstrunk said.
The girls, whose names are not being released because they are minors, told WPBF that they were not remorseful for the crime, and that they did it because they "needed money."
"We went through all that effort to get it, we got all these charges and we had to give the money back. I'm kind of pissed," one of the girls told WPBF.
The other girl told WPBF that she was upset because police found them.
"I'm not sorry, I'm just pissed that I got caught," the girl said.
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Their parents must be so proud.
---Katie
Monday, January 28, 2008
Florida Voters - Don't sign the petition for Hometown Democracy!!!!
There will be lots of people at the polls Tuesday collecting signatures for the Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment. As nice as "Hometown Democracy" sounds, the result would be disastrous for the state of Florida. It would turn us into a direct democracy where voters have to approve every comprehensive plan in cities, counties and the state - and every change in such a plan would have to be approved by voters. Just to let you know what kinds of numbers we are talking about, in 2003 alone, there were over 12,000 plan amendments - which under Hometown Democracy would need to be put on a ballot. Wouldn't you like to have a 100 page ballot every election day? Wouldn't you love for zoning changes to have to wait for the next election to be decided by the voters?
Hometown Democracy is a very nice name for a very pernicious amendment. Don't sign their petitions and tell your friends not to!
---Katie
Hometown Democracy is a very nice name for a very pernicious amendment. Don't sign their petitions and tell your friends not to!
---Katie
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List
A friend of mine sent this to me. It was originally from Secular Homeschooling Magazine, then at the Family Hack blog. I found it pretty funny, although just a little harsh, so I probably would not voice most of those sentiments except for those days when I choose to wear my "I have nothing nice to say!" t-shirt.
I do have one thing to add to the list - If you know a homeschooler who is weird, consider the possibility that he or she is homeschooling because he or she is a little weird, not that he or she is a little weird because he or she is homeschooled. Weird kids don't always fare well in the public school system while they can blossom quite well in a homeschool setting.
The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List
There are predictable reactions when people find out we homeschool our kids. So, when I ran across this rant in Secular Homeschooling Magazine, I had to laugh…hard…and share it with you all. Consider yourself warned. We homeschoolers can be a scrappy bunch.
1. Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is — and it is — it’s insulting to imply that we’re criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?
2. Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you’re talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we’ve got a decent grasp of both concepts.
3. Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.
4. Don’t assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
5. If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.
6. Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You’re probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you’ve ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
7. We don’t look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they’re in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we’re doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.
8. Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.
9. Stop assuming that if we’re religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.
10. We didn’t go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.
11. Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn’t have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don’t need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can’t teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there’s a reason I’m so reluctant to send my child to school.
12. If my kid’s only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he’d learn in school, please understand that you’re calling me an idiot. Don’t act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.
13. Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We’re the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it’s crowded and icky.
14. Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we’re into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don’t have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.
15. Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don’t get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I’m one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.
16. Don’t ask my kid if she wouldn’t rather go to school unless you don’t mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn’t rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.
17. Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it’s some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you’re horrified. One of these days, I won’t bother disagreeing with you any more.
18. If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you’re allowed to ask how we’ll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can’t, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn’t possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.
19. Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child’s teacher as well as her parent. I don’t see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.
20. Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he’s homeschooled. It’s not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.
21. Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she’s homeschooled.
22. Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.
23. Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.
24. Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won’t get because they don’t go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.
25. Here’s a thought: If you can’t say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!
Have some to add? I’d love to hear it.
Click on the title to visit Secular Homeschooling Magazine!
---Katie
I do have one thing to add to the list - If you know a homeschooler who is weird, consider the possibility that he or she is homeschooling because he or she is a little weird, not that he or she is a little weird because he or she is homeschooled. Weird kids don't always fare well in the public school system while they can blossom quite well in a homeschool setting.
The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List
There are predictable reactions when people find out we homeschool our kids. So, when I ran across this rant in Secular Homeschooling Magazine, I had to laugh…hard…and share it with you all. Consider yourself warned. We homeschoolers can be a scrappy bunch.
1. Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is — and it is — it’s insulting to imply that we’re criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?
2. Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you’re talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we’ve got a decent grasp of both concepts.
3. Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.
4. Don’t assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
5. If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.
6. Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You’re probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you’ve ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
7. We don’t look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they’re in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we’re doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.
8. Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.
9. Stop assuming that if we’re religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.
10. We didn’t go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.
11. Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn’t have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don’t need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can’t teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there’s a reason I’m so reluctant to send my child to school.
12. If my kid’s only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he’d learn in school, please understand that you’re calling me an idiot. Don’t act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.
13. Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We’re the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it’s crowded and icky.
14. Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we’re into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don’t have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.
15. Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don’t get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I’m one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.
16. Don’t ask my kid if she wouldn’t rather go to school unless you don’t mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn’t rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.
17. Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it’s some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you’re horrified. One of these days, I won’t bother disagreeing with you any more.
18. If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you’re allowed to ask how we’ll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can’t, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn’t possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.
19. Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child’s teacher as well as her parent. I don’t see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.
20. Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he’s homeschooled. It’s not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.
21. Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she’s homeschooled.
22. Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.
23. Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.
24. Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won’t get because they don’t go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.
25. Here’s a thought: If you can’t say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!
Have some to add? I’d love to hear it.
Click on the title to visit Secular Homeschooling Magazine!
---Katie
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