It's Dropping F Bombs like Faith and Family Thing

Dear America,

"This may not be politically correct, but I know the power of what faith and family can do,” the mayor said. “Our kids need that structure… I am asking…that we also don’t shy away from a full discussion about the importance of family and faith helping to develop and nurture character, self respect, a value system and a moral compass that allows kids to know good from bad and right from wrong." 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel Chicago Sun-Times 

summer composition numero seis

#949

signing in.

Mayor Rahm was addressing the crazy amount of violence coming out in the streets of Chicago...

and his people-- those people leaning left -- are not happy.

but isn't it beautiful.

finally.

not to gloat, but this girl has been preachin' that kind of message since i was a wee gee....just sayin'

he went on to say...

“If we’re going to solve this … we’ve got to have a real discussion. … Parts of the conversation cannot be off-limits because it’s not politically comfortable. … We are going to discuss issues that have been taboo in years past because they are part of the solution. … We also have a responsibility to help nurture character. It plays a role. Our kids need that moral structure in their lives. And we cannot be scared to have this conversation."

and even though all that he said is well and good, like, very good -- he was immediately lambasted for blaming the victims.

and it's like, what the fluff?

Can't his critics understand that if we raise good citizens right from the start, the majority of people reaching adulthood would never steer towards a life of crime, drugs, prostitution, and gangs.  Gangs are only attractive to the kids who do not get what they need at home; every time a gang banger has been interviewed, all I have ever heard is how the gang filled a need inside, that it provided the family, the support, and a life, that he never had.

And Rahm here, is speaking of this grand and taboo subject, and is absolutely, without a shred of doubt, spot on.  And more important, his people know it.

It doesn't take money to grow children of character.

It takes a committed set of parents who understand and embrace the huge responsibility to teach our children well...to be good role models themselves, to praise and encourage good behavior, to ensure they do their homework, to spend quality time together, to go to church together, to read books together, to have dinner together, to care about each other....all together, like a family, every single day.  

More from Fox News, here's some of his critics --

Shari Runner, former president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League, deemed the remarks insensitive. "I cannot see the victims of racist policies and bigoted practices shamed by anyone who says they need to do better or be better in their circumstance. I won’t accept it,” Runner said

Kwame Raoul, a Democratic state senator who is running for Illinois attorney general, took a similar view. “I think for the mayor to make a generalization about a community is more than just misspoken," Raoul said, "it's outright wrong,”

THE THING IS, people, he wasn't saying EVERYBODY is IMMORAL; he wasn't saying EVERYBODY is lacking in good character. 

HE was speaking of a part of the problem, in his own words, that has grown "politically-incorrect" because it speaks to a core value that is more commonly recognized as an important issue for conservatives.  "Parts of the conversation cannot be off-limits because it's not politically comfortable" does not equate to the whole of the conversation...it is only part of it.  And, apparently, that too, was spot on -- for, as a whole, no one, except perhaps conservatives, paid any attention to the "parts" part.


They jumped on Rahm like he should have been taken to the town square and stoned to death.

AND my God, this Shari Runner -- "I cannot see the victims of racist policies and bigoted practices shamed by anyone who says they need to do better or be better in their circumstance. I won’t accept it."

eh hem
Who's policies have been running CHICAGO, Shari?

Who's policies have been running Chicago, Runner?

What a disgrace.
What a disgrace, and I would tell that to her face.

TO generalize -- and to help us along, shari runner:  every city run by the democrats has major inner city issues; that is just a fact.

Which means, shari runner, when the democrats run things, they reap the results just like every other city in America.

And we reap what we sow, whether we are speaking of our own personal lives, or the lives of an entire community, the country, and the whole of the big wide beautiful world.

Baltimore, since 1947 has had a single Republican mayor and 10 Democratic mayors; For 64 of those 68 years, the city has been run by Democrats. Detroit has had eight Democratic Mayors and no Republicans since 1962 — 53 years. Chicago has had 10 Democrats and no Republicans in 84 years. Philadelphia has had nine Democrats and no Republicans in 63 years St. Louis, similarly has had nine Democratic mayors and no Republicans in 64 years; Boston has had 12 Democrats and no Republicans in 85 years; Los Angeles has had five Democrats and a single Republican in the 54 years. New York, has had 15 different mayors since 1917, nine of whom were Democrats.

84 years, shari
84 years!

Little miss urban league better go find a mirror pretty darned quick.

Wow. she's a beaut.... falling back on the ole excessive amounts of racist policies and bigoted practices at the hands of who, shari...um that would be your democrats; after all these 84 years, republicans had nothing to do with it, just like you so said, and so well!  thank you very much for making it so clear with the present danger.  amen to that, amen to that.

Of course, it isn't just Chicago; and really, it isn't even just the inner cities of America.

There is a faith and family problem that extends from sea to shining sea, from purple mountains majesty to valleys wide and deep.  It's just not fair for Rahm to allow Chicago to take all the heat, right?

If we are going to have parts of that conversation, then we might as well go all in...we are, in fact, the United States of America, after all.

America, as a whole, has a faith and family problem -- and the evidence is seen, and unseen, in numerous ways:

• our churches losing its congregations
• our school systems doing away with a moment of prayer or silence at the beginning of the day (and football games)
• our culture, itself, welcoming the total lack of respect for our bodies, fellow human beings, our neighbors and communities
• our family dysfunction through abuses we do to ourselves...like divorce,  incest, addictions to sex and drugs and alcohol
• our obliviousness to the bad influences seeping into our lives to the likes of an environmental disaster, costing us billions of dollars in damages to the mind, body and soul, through film, video, television...letting Hollywood lead us into temptation [this is a fascinating link, by the way]  with our children being its youngest victims.  [Here's a thought, maybe Hollywood should pay to fix up Chicago once and for all, considering they glorify gang violence, free love, bad behavior, guns and robbers, murderers, and the like, every single second of the day...and their leftists too!]
• our own personal dismissal of the importance of keeping a connection with God

Yes, indeed, I did save the best for last...glad you noticed.

For --the truth is --  if we ALL stayed in relationship with God, and made God the center of our world and co-creator of our days, then, dare I say, we wouldn't even be having this conversation, in part or in whole!  We would ALL be lovely spiritual beings having a human experience all over this great country.

But nooooooooooooo  free will leaves many of us without a Supreme reign, and therein lies the rub

And you know what that means........
We are all a bunch of mother fuckers if we don't get our shit together, and that goes double in an election year. 

“Guard well your spare moments. 

They are like uncut diamonds. 

Discard them 

and their value will never be known. 

Improve them 

and they will become 

the brightest gems in a useful life.” 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

this quote was snatched from the link, above, directing you to Hollywood's undisclosed cultural damages...the author chose this quote as the first sentence.  And I loved it so much, I had to copy.

So much of our lives these days go unguarded...and I'm pretty sure there is no need to explain that; from the moment you read the lines for yourself, you knew.  We go about our days in a fog to God, and yet we allow in all of these other influences, good bad or indifferent.  fuckin' clueless and sleepless in Seattle, Chicago, Portland, Baltimore, Denver, New York City,  Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philly....and on and on and on...

Every man woman and child have the same 24 hours a day to guard well the spare moments, and even the ones fully occupied with all that life brings us.  And in a world where I believe there are no accidents, we, as a whole, have chosen a path in modern day America that has led us wholly astray from the things that truly matter....faith and family.

America has lost it's authentic Christianity, and it shows.

the end.

Make it a Good Day, G

epiblog

IT is true, 

we are not a Christian nation 

and have not a national religion. 

BUT, our founders laid a foundation based 

upon Nature's Law and Christian principles. 

Our founders believed, 

that as long as we, the people, stayed true

to the principles 

and the individual duty to be of morally sound,  good conduct, 

and a lawful people, 

the greater our chances of surviving as a nation.

THE UNALIENABLE RIGHTS this nation has become famous for, 

is based upon our rights handed down from GOD 

that NO man

can ever take away or usurp. 

FAITH &

FAMILY

will

fix

US.

God Bless you Rahm Emanuel

   

It's Persecution Comes in Many Colors Thing

Dear America,

[fine print on the day -- prepare -- I intend to be all over the place; and with good reason.  bon appetit!]

“Our strategy recognizes that no amount of military force will end the terror that is ISIL unless it’s matched by a broader effort — political and economic — that addresses the underlying conditions that have allowed ISIL to gain traction. … Ultimately, in order for us to defeat terrorist groups like ISIL and al-Qaida, it’s going to also require us to discredit their ideology. This broader challenge of countering violent extremism is not simply a military effort. Ideologies are not defeated with guns; they’re defeated by better ideas — a more attractive and more compelling vision.”

President Obama, yesterday  

And now, let's gain a little perspective and philosophy from 1747 from Benjamin Franklin:

"Were this Union formed, were we once united, thoroughly armed and disciplined, were everything in our power done for our security, as far as human means and foresight could provide, we might then, with more propriety, humbly ask the assistance of Heaven and a blessing on our lawful endeavors." (Smyth, Writings of Benjamin Franklin, plucked from pages of The 5000 Year Leap, Skousen)

Franklin, continued:

"The very fame of our strength and readiness would be a means of discouraging our enemies; for 'tis wise and true saying, that 'One sword often keeps another in the scabbard.'  The way to secure peace is to be prepared for war.  That they are on their guard, and appear ready to receive their adversaries, are in much less danger of being attacked than the supine, secure and negligent."

While this strategy of peace through strength is summed up by Franklin like so --

"Our security lies, I think, in our growing strength, both in numbers and wealth; that creates an increasing ability of assisting this nation in its wars, which will make us more respectable, our friendship more valued, and our enmity feared; thence it will soon be thought proper to treat us not with justice only, but with kindness, and thence we may expect in a few years a total change of measures with regard to us; unless, by neglect of military discipline, we should lose all martial spirit, and our western people become as tame as those in the eastern dominions of Britain [India], when we expect the same oppressions; for there is much truth in the Italian saying, "Make yourselves sheep, and the wolves will eat you."

As we swifty  Skip to My Lou  up to the present day.....here's Marco Rubio, while speaking at CPAC not long ago:

"Our allies no longer trust us, 

our enemies no longer fear us." 

And that's when it happened.

Ding!

The observance of how the Obama Administration "fights" ISIL (or Iran...and any other entity considered to be an enemy of America's security) vs. how the Obama Administration confronts -- no, "degrades and destroys" --  Christianity in America; now, uncharacteristically and profoundly disturbing, making this faith public enemy number one.

Obama, circa 2007:

“Whatever we once were, we’re no longer a Christian nation. At least not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, and a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers,”

And masterfully, paving the way and preparing the world for the pending multicultural America upon the horizon, the very destruction of her foundation begins.

Going back to the president's remarks on ISIL...perhaps tweaking it just a wee bit, we arrive at this:

Ultimately, in order for us to defeat terrorist groups like the Catholic Church or Fundamental Christians, it’s going to also require us to discredit their ideology. This broader challenge of countering violent extremism is not simply a military effort YET. Ideologies are not defeated with guns; they’re defeated by better ideas — a more attractive and more compelling vision, which only the progressive Left can provide. 

In the eight years since, military chaplains are being scolded for holding Christian prayers, or saying Jesus by name; while also, an actual Islamic terrorist attack that killed thirteen patriots at Fort Hood, on American soil, is being labeled "work place violence."

Atheists groups are gaining the secular upper hand, being instrumental in removing prayer in the huddle before football games, or removing the Ten Commandments that were once considered written in stone, from the town square.

And to the most recent demise of our religious rights, and community organizing which blatantly prohibit  "the free exercise thereof," as individuals who decline same-sex marriage services become under assault, taking away not only their religious right to free exercise thereof, but their livelihoods, if not their entire fortune!

In response to Obama's comments on ISIL, here's an excerpt from Dan Gilmore, of The Patriot Post, that makes common sense:

"Clearly, we didn’t win independence from Britain with superior debating skills, nor did we defeat the Nazis or Soviets with speeches. Furthermore, debate works amidst a civil society, but not when one side is enslaving minorities, burning prisoners alive and beheading others, while vowing further violence against people with which it disagrees."

This works for the argument supporting military might through strength, as well as posing the appropriate context to support religious freedom and civil rights for all.

In THIS country, it's the INDIVIDUAL who remains is king, last I checked.

But not only has the LGBT community, along with the assist from the progressive Left agenda, shut down the debate on the most basic of civil rights, it has begun to make this religious, faithful, Bible thumping community the outsiders in their own country!

And yet, given the numbers -- the 60% of this nation who consider to be called Christian, along with people who are unaffiliated with organized Christianity, but think of themselves believers adding another 22%, and realizing the Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu encompass a mere 6% -- the fact of the matter is....drum roll please....we are a CHRISTIAN nation, having been founded by CHRISTIAN values, all along!   Even those who love reality shows should be able to embrace this without issue.

Where are the authentic Christian believers, with the help from a few of the "unaffiliated"or not,  with the courage to back up our most fundamental right?

Where are you in this fight?

Um, I heard once, not that long ago, "make yourselves sheep, the wolves eat you,"

In this country, we have a right to bake our cake and eat it too and NOT take it to a same-sex marriage ceremony  and NOT be persecuted for it -- whether you agree with this or not; in this country, we are born with this right.  For the free exercise thereof supports the INDIVIDUAL religious belief and whatever actions they take, both public and private. The individual cannot be separated from their religion.  Whether in church, at home, at school, at work, it is all the same-same.  [Case in point, how the Muslim scarf has been allowed to stay wrapped in America, even in the workplace; or how Muslims are allowed to stop and pray, even in the workplace.]

It's why the First Amendment to the Constitution was written the way it was written.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or the prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." 

It's true -- we do not have an "established" Christian religion in this country -- just look around; we are not commanded to go to mass, or to a church, of any kind; we are free to do  whatever we want when it comes to believing or not believing.   But the truth is, we are a whole bunch of believers.

While the respect and admiration and hope of this very Omniscience that surrounds us - this notion of Divine Providence  written throughout the ages -- and thoroughly having It's way in the founding of this country is not only recorded vividly and profusely within and around our institutions and declarations and history, It was made with firm intention and looking forward with the totality for all future generations.

Some things don't just go away even if a ruckus crowd denies and degrades and aims to destroy it...

Even if five Supremes choose to deny religious conscience...

Even if some people choose to twist the truth into something dirty or wrong headed, or of the wrong ideology.

What has troubled me from the start of this same-sex marriage revolution is the lack of understanding back behind the real life conscience of the Christian believer [And Christianity not being the only religion with exceptions to these unions, while some even oppose to just being gay.].  For according to the actions, through the courts and otherwise, of the LGBT community and the Left, the civil right of simply keeping to yourself and one's own religion is ripe to be trampled upon to no end.

Oh which reminds me of some poignant and thoughtful comments I read earlier this morning, featured on the Huffington Post, and written by a Christian, Gay, woman...Whitney Kay Bacon.  Now, appreciating her experience immensely; I must say it was well written.   That is, up until the end.   It was in her final paragraph, while making her last point, when she said this:

"So, my dear fellow Christians, from one Christian to another, please mind your own business and PLEASE make sure that your hands are clean before you point your finger at me and my community. Amen."

Likewise, Ms. Whitney Kay Bacon.

PLEASE....Let the bakers, the florists, the churches, mind their own business according to their individual beliefs and walk away.   AND let the bakers, the florists, the churches, etc...speak up if they feel so inclined!  [a gag order, pulleeze.]  My, how persecution comes in many colors and flavors.

Wait a minute...wait a minute...
As a matter of fact, and for the record --- the baker in Oregon WAS minding her own business, Ms. Bacon!   Say what....

Now directing a few questions to the general gay community...

Do you really need to sue?
Do you really have to resort to name calling just because she shares certain beliefs as it pertains to marriage along with plenty of other Christians, mind you?
Do you really need to pummel Christianity into the ground and silence it's rightful civil responsibility to voice it's opposition, and act according to one's beliefs, so help me God?
 

It was the lesbian couple that went to the establishment and asked for services -- and it was the service of baking a cake for a gay wedding which the baker could not support; the homosexuality aspect was not the issue.  The Oregon baker, @Sweet Cakes, was simply minding her own business and it was the direct actions of the Lesbian couple who made it America's business.

I'm pretty sure another baker, or florist, or "unaffiliated" church would love to serve you with not only their full support, but with pure love.

How about you go to those people!
How about leaving those whose faith teaches them another definition of marriage, under God, alone. Is that really so hard?   For why would you want to force a business who cannot wholeheartedly come to the table of agreement with you serve you anyway?  Funny, isn't it -- for in this way the bully pulpit takes on an ulterior rainbow universe all of it's very own.

The thing is, reality proves a greater war under foot, upon American soil, and far, far away from the growth of ISIL in the middle east.

And sadly, it is a war against Christianity.

My mantra of late is four little words:  THY will be done.

And in this moment, I pray, for not only THY will be done -- I pray that we, as a nation, find a way through this.   Nothing is by accident. [And believe me when I say, you don't have to pray if you don't want to...just sayin']

THY will be done

[Matter of fact, it is done, already

in the mind of God.

Is that soothing to know, or what...]

I BELIEVE, we are assembled and united by a Higher Purpose, even now.

You are here, right now, for a reason.
I am here, right now, for a reason.

To question and become disturbed by things unsettling and troubling, is to question God -- and that is not going to get us anywhere.

It is time to pray for guidance, humility, love and peace for every single one of us and watch the magic that IS Life, that is God, in action.

Spirit has always proven to be superior to matter ....

take the spirit of overcoming Britain, against all odds, in the American Revolution...

take the spirit of overcoming slavery, against all odds, in the Civil War...[While it was the same Christianity which assisted William Wilberforce use his faith to change the world, for he believed slavery was wrong, long before America's Civil War was fought and won.]

take the spirit of overcoming Christian bigotry happening all over the world, right now, and tragically, even here, in the United States of America...

against all odds.


America has been here before.
And it will take every single one of us, as individuals, to work it out and see it through, allowing Divine Providence to carry us, for Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness for all and ultimately protect this beautiful, spiritual, promised land.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a National Prayer Breakfast Not for the Faint of Heart Thing

Dear America,

so, tweaking one of my favorite phrases a wee bit:

I'd agree with you, Mr. President, but then we'd both be wrong...

no, no, here's a wonderful response, coming from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal:

“It was nice of the President to give us a history lesson at the Prayer breakfast,” Jindal said. “Today, however, the issue right in front of his nose, in the here and now, is the terrorism of Radical Islam, the assassination of journalists, the beheading and burning alive of captives. We will be happy to keep an eye out for runaway Christians, but it would be nice if he would face the reality of the situation today. The Medieval Christian threat is under control, Mr. President. Please deal with the Radical Islamic threat today.”

The shot through the heart heard round the world came out of our president's mouth while pontificating of the injustices at the hands of Christians -- in the "name of Christ," he said specifically -- speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast last Thursday.

Letting his ignorance of actual history and his deep-seated hatred for colonial America lead the way, President Obama said the following (mind you, fresh with the image of ISIL burning a Jordanian pilot alive, with a 22-minute video of the barbarity to show for it branded into our memory):

Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history.  And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.  In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ. 

Seriously, Mr. President?

We -- both in America and Great Britain -- abolished slavery in the name of Christ!  Do you have any clue as to who William Wilberforce is?  Look him up.  While the Crusades --  the Crusades happened IN RESPONSE to Muslim Jihad against "the infidels."  Not to mention, get a grip -- for all of this happened a long, long time ago, and all in an era when the entire world, as you say, happened to be "grappling with these questions."  You'd think it was just yesterday.

um, ringing in the Jindal perspective for an encore presentation: "The Medieval Christian threat is under control, Mr. President. Please deal with the Radical Islamic threat today."

But then,
Your Excellency,
you go on to say:

And, first, we should start with some basic humility.  I believe that the starting point of faith is some doubt -- not being so full of yourself and so confident that you are right and that God speaks only to us, and doesn’t speak to others, that God only cares about us and doesn’t care about others, that somehow we alone are in possession of the truth.

Who does this?  Who says this?  As a Christian, I'm offended of this sophomoric view you portray of us believers; while I'm pretty sure, going way back to Sunday School now,  as a Christian,  most of us were raised to believe God loves all the little children of the world...red, yellow, black or white.  

But more than that,
how about you say this directly to the brotherhood ...and when I say the brotherhood, we're not talking south side of Chi-town -- we're talking about the nation of Islam and all things justified in the name of Mohammed.

what?

you scared?

but no, no,
to have the kind of courage of this president ....wow...

...mustering the strength to stand up to the "terrible deeds in the name of Christ" and to show up and bear all at a National Prayer Breakfast of all places....now that is something.  Who's full of himself now?

Given, reading the president's entire speech calls for the patience of Mother Teresa.  Honestly, he sounds all over the place -- deeply confused  -- co-mingling American ideals with falsehoods, grappling with keeping in step with his audience while keeping true to his own heart and soul, which seemed to struggle, at times, to reconcile with his own Christianity,  But feel free to read the President's remarks, here.

And for a quick rebuttal -- allow me to take the reins and send you to The Patriot Post.  go here.  Riding high and bear-back, of course, The Post  combines rugged American conservative opinion and news and values with integrity and grit and truth.

And from another view, read Star Parker's take  here.  [She attended the breakfast and witnessed the assault on Christianity herself]  Here's a thought from Star:

King Abdullah from Jordan was supposed to speak. But after one of his country's pilots was burned alive in a metal cage by terrorists, he needed to return to his country. In his place, a representative read his speech. After hearing it, I knew it was written from someone who knows the difference between good and evil. Someone who stands with Israel and Christians in the Middle East. And someone who yearned for a response from the world's only superpower, only to be told by our President that Christians are just as evil as terrorists.

And now imagine a speech when there isn't a rebuttal coming in from all directions; imagine that speech being so beautiful and unifying and wonderful and in sync with America's best interests at heart that the response was only applause.   Oh the girl can dream, can't she...


And speaking of King Abdullah -- let's compare kings, shall we?

here you go ...enjoy.

And just whose side are you on, President Obama?  I'm beginning to question.

 [um, that's not true. Pardon my Lyin' Williams moment. To go back to the  period of time when I was beginning to question, I would have to go all the way back to 2007; and to that end, I have questioned nearly everything he has either said and done, along with a  whole slew of things left undone.]

We should be afraid when there comes a day when it becomes acceptable to mischaracterize America's Christians of today and our Christian foundation.   But to have it come from our president and leader of the free world....really?   And to have it happen at the National Prayer Breakfast, intended to be a gathering on unity?    There is something so wrong with that.   You, sir, are no Martin Luther King, Jr....

This day, like so many coming 'round the mountain, is not ours to fully understand.

But a prayer or two, or 300 million minus the atheists,  might just be what the world needs now; love sweet love America.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a That was Then, This is Now Thing

Dear America,

what a difference a day makes, huh?

it was shocking news, late last year, when the Obama Administration classified the murders at Fort Hood as just another case of workplace violence.   Thirteen people died -- with three times more wounded -- while all the rest of America was left stunned by the brutal attack -- at the hands of a doctor, an Army psychiatrist of all things, someone who actually studied the mind - body connection, and should clearly know better.

Especially in light of the truth :  It was a methodical, violent, radical, extremist action against our own troops, no less -- on American soil --  in the name of Allah.

In other words -- not even close to the average, random, boiling-over-point manifestation at the hands of  a disgruntled worker.

That was then; this is now.

Now we could sense the tides changing with the Afghanistan attack upon sixteen civilians, including women and children; we knew what was coming; they [this administration, if not the entire world] intend to throw the book at him -- and then it just rolls into  'it's high time'  -- with high hopes to hang him high at high noon (high tide optional).


Now -- if there is ever a case of workplace violence -- this might be the one.   hello.


Bringing to light the obvious issues leading up to the horrible, unthinkable actions of a soldier in pain:

the previous brain injury -- the post traumatic stress -- the four deployments to the middle east -- the marital distress -- the personal economic worries -- the cost of active duty in a war zone -- alcohol (rumored) -- sleep deprivation -- pure insanity

the army officer showed signs of trouble and the army did not respond appropriately, if at all; the army could have done better to protect the Afghan community -- and the soldier from himself.

[just as the army could have done better in seeing the Nadal Hassan rampage coming...cuz there were plenty of signs there....but then, we would be falling backwards to rehash that, there's no need and no time to re-litigate that again]

oh, but the army is responding now.  Staff Sgt. Robert Bales has the whole world standing at attention now.

Bales was, is, a broken soldier.  And yes, consequences should come.
Hassan went rogue on purpose -- in the name of Allah, actually; it was a terrorist attack by a homegrown terrorist.  Workplace violence?  Only one proves true.  And it was the one done in a remote part of the southern province of Kandahar.

oh my.

you know, this wasn't even where I wanted to go today at all.

but make no mistake -- I intended to go down memory lane, alright -- just not rounding Fort Hood and stopping there for as long as I did.

My morning really got going with the April 2010 issue of Bon Appetit  [I have a real problem throwing out my food mags].  Only by accident, when flipping through the pages in search of the cover recipe [salmon with sweet chili glaze, sugar snap peas, and greens] did something crazy catch my eye:  "Egypt - where it all begins --  'the river fed my soul' ".... Which is ironic, really, considering the blend of sketchy illustration in various sand tones is hardly something that would stop you dead in your tracks and go oh wow.   so hey --  so what if it's two years later, right?

so circling around again to how we started this day...  'what a difference a day makes'.

Just think of how mornings begin in Egypt these days -- in the immediate days following the fall of Mubarek, we have seen more death, more religious persecution, less stability, less tolerance, more extremism than the days under him.  Just six months ago -- less than a year after the end of Mubarek's rule -- we watched workplace violence, in a no place like home kind of vein, amplified; clashes by Egyptians on Egyptians is now common place.

[Oh, not to worry -- go ahead and book your trip today; I'm sure everything will be cool.  Go to www.egypt.travel and let the egyptians help you with the itty bitty nitty gritty details.]

I feel like I am really running on today...but I'm not apologizing for it one bit...

But here's the thing -- this ad -- this sultry little sales pitch to come booze cruise the Nile away -- uses a fascinating typeface to spell out   e   g  y  p  t.   The "t" is twisted into something reminiscent of a palm frond, looking quite religious -- almost like a Christian cross, jumping off the page, calling to you.   See for yourself.  Go here to bear witness of the official logo.

[fascinating, isn't it?  -- two years ago, Egypt's advertising to boost tourism was based upon appealing to our Christian roots back to the homeland of sorts  -- our religious, peaceful, Moses loving roots. AND now look at them!   ah but that was then; this is now.]

[Almost reminds you of our administration, of how quickly they took a step back post-Mubarek -- you know, to allow for the everyday common-man egyptian to painstakingly go through the proper "democratic" course, and making it sound like the Muslim Brotherhood is our friend and we have nothing to fear but fear itself... ah but that was then; this is now... Coptic churches -- attencion -- heads up....] 

Alexis de Tocqueville made the following observation, once upon a time in a day in the life in America:

"Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions...I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion -- for who can search the human heart?  but I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions.  This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or to a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society."  from The 5000 Year Leap

ah but that was then; this is now.
5000 years is a leap through many, many days.

The kind of religious liberty this country was made, gave us security in ways we have learned to totally take for granted today.  If nothing else, it was the kind of religious liberty that gave good reason to trust our fellow man to do the right thing (because more often then not, we did).

Even without fully knowing what is in the human heart, there was a spiritual connection to something greater than ourselves that grounded all of us, collectively.   The guiding of society to live by principles and values through a system of government elevating the consequences of cause and effect, good vs. evil, duties and privileges, rights and responsibilities simply became the way, and the only way.

Only now, look at us -- evolving into the every day untethered to our religious liberty at all.

Make it a Good Day, G 

and speaking of traveling...

how about Malia traveling to Mexico for Spring Break?  
this is an interesting website, just discovered today -- Death by 1000 Papercuts


but what up?  after issuing travel warnings, you send your daughter???  [just questioning the wisdom of both parents....don't hate]
next question -- with 25 secret service and a dozen friends, how much is this costing us?
what everrr...(say it like a teeny-bopper it's more fun)

It's a Demias Jimerson Rule Thing

Dear America,

oh my word, TGIF!


G just heard from someone near and dear to her heart -- after thinking I lost her for good.

Wow.  How things, feelings, moods, can change in just an instant, no?

But THIS isn't about that.

Until this very moment my heart has been heavy.  And not without real reason --

between the ceaseless, reprehensible attacks against those of us akin to the hearts and minds and solutions of the Tea Party Movement...

between the strange surge in attacks against Christianity through sweeping cultural changes by legislation and regulation to the desperate, rogue attempt after a well meaning 'bless you' following a sneeze...

America's loving, compassionate, tolerable pulse --  most often exemplified by our widespread and prolific Judeo-Christian heritage, through the teachings and philosophy built upon universal values and principles passed down to us from the pillars of great civilizations far and wide (Jerusalem, Athens and Rome) -- is gasping for air.

and then along came an eleven year old.

just makes a heart melt, doesn't he?


"God, grades, touchdowns."  In that order, the reporter sums it up.

this is the age of redistribution of the wealth even on the football field.   The establishment must curtail the natural ability to blow the competition away, and restrict the number of touchdowns this pee-wee football star can make.  It is more fair this way, they say... you know, for the other players who are less talented and less able to do what Demias Jimerson can do.

but just get a load of this kid's response....is that not beautiful, or what?

But little did we know (until today) what we thought to be the latest version of a Mao Rule, a Marxist Rule, a Lenin Rule, a Che Rule, and currently morphing into a made for the twenty first century, Buffet Rule -- has yet another household name for easy brand recognition:  The Madre Hill Rule.

We are so obsessed with making things "fair" for everyone (or is it controlling everyone), we are now making overt requests to dumb ourselves down, calling for refrain, based upon a brand new premise for fundamental transformation, that being: everything NOT equal.    Get it? in direct opposition of the foundation laid out in our Declaration of Independence.  But I digress.

How about we get a grassroots action committee together to emphasize "The Demias Jimerson Rule" ?

Go big, little pee wee, go big!  Score -- as many times as you can; for after all,  football is a sport --  and more than that, it is a competition!  why should this little guy hold back?  Somebody find him a sponsor...

Oh. Right.   He's already beholden of the Highest and Best Sponsor known to man:   The Almighty Rule [made little man and personified by name as Demias Jimerson].

AND    I     DARE     one of his teachers to come out and tell him he can't praise his Lord. I would be first in line for that ticket.

Besides this day already showing signs of a revival...with the reuniting with a soul sister -- this Demias Jimerson story just makes my heart sing even more.  It's enough to think it just might carry me into the weekend and back to a maudlin monday morning with a certain lightness of being ... just in case I had any residual doubt still stirring.

Make it a Good Day, G

AND speaking of some  old  commies, I mean, going on the offensive --

read THIS...
oh okay, Van Jones... "you're going to see an American fall, an American autumn, just like we saw the Arab spring. You can see it right now with these young people on Wall Street. Hold onto your hats. We're going to have an October offensive to take back the American dream and to rescue America's middle class."

wow.

It's Just Another House Divided Thing

Dear America,

so awhile back, I was viciously attacked -- by someone within my own family circle, by the way -- for having and holding deep seated, fundamentally, diametrically, different beliefs than theirs.  Just for having the different point of view was reason alone for being the target of unhinged, and totally unsolicited, remarks.


I responded in the best way I know how -- and spoke up.  I didn't fall into the despair; I didn't shudder in the smacks of criticism across the proverbial face.

But make no mistake, in the privacy of my own home, I did cry.

I cried and cried and cried.

And then I spoke up.

I wrote back; directly and privately, I responded with my whole heart, thoughtfully and determined to stand up for myself and my beliefs.

I wrote back.

But, lo and behold, communicating didn't make it stop, while my feelings were ignored, ridiculed, or dismissed altogether; and only then did I take it to the next level, resorting to feeding my bare naked thoughts to the  blogosphere...albeit metaphorically, but wide open to the public none the less.

And only once; but let me tell you, once was enough.

Let's just say, making it public opened the flood gates (but let me also say, that this isn't about that.  I'm over it already.)

Overall, our public arena has grown even more public -- if you can imagine that!  Everything is out in the open; conversation and commentary that is made hundreds of miles away are visible within mere minutes upon facebook, Twitter, even mass media like Yahoo! and cable news outlets, while the mainstream media keeps up with the tags, links, syndication, and rss feeds automatically, each lining up like little soldiers to get the news out and about as fast they possibly can.  (what a job to keep up with it all, no?)

From the large scene to the itty bitty lives of people like you and me, we live these days totally exposed in every way.  And from a wider angle -- if we have one bad date, perhaps one uncomfortable rift with a girl friend, or make one mistake, it is on.   Online and made note -- and in turn, made everlasting, along with an immediate trail of responses and anonymous commentary to boot.

Basically -- strangely -- nearly everything we do is subject for exposure -- whether we agree with it, are aware of it, want it, or ask for it.

BUT the thing is, if we do it -- if we act, say, think out loud about anything!  -- it becomes fair game.  But more than that, if you invite response in any way, you are culpable.  Whether you thought about it well in advance or not; whether you thought about how it would be received, or not; whether you are open to opposition in any way, or not.

Whether in the micro or the macro, our words are powerful.

Our words are like a boomerang and carry the capacity to bounce right back to us; our words can care, or can hurt; our words can love, or can hate. They hold the power to unite or divide, destroy or create, at any given moment.

Is it enough to recognize that a house divided against itself cannot stand -- or do we actually need to know where these words come?

Abraham Lincoln quoted Jesus -- against the advice of his own good council, by the way -- when addressing the Republican delegates for U.S. Senate (yes, indicating we were also still living in the age when the state legislature decided who would be seated as state representation in the U.S. Senate). But consider this, it was 1858 -- and even then, dropping the 'yea, Jesus' as moral authority to get a message across was highly frowned upon.  For a quick background check and transcript of the "House Divided" speech, go here.

But needless to say, this moment marked only the beginning of a long, hard fight (for both the country and Lincoln); it was merely the precursor before leading us down a weary history of a war of words and ultimately, to a real, live, civil war.  But it was the right thing to do, wasn't it.  Nobody questions the wisdom of a Lincoln standing firm to his beliefs, his faith, and eventually, his call to arms within the full context of good reason.  Nobody.

How do we know what is right and wrong anymore?  What drives our personal authority, within ourselves and in communion with each other, to do the right thing anymore?

The faction of secular progressives would have us all believe that all we need to do is trust our feelings.

Ah, wouldn't that be nice.

And yet, some of us feel more for dolphins, then for the unborn child; some of us feel more for the planet, then fueling the free market with fair and balanced energy and regulation; some of us feel more for radical agendas, then fundamental principles and values this country was made.  We could go all the live long day about how much we feel and find a counter feeling just the same.

But what makes us truly moral, or not?  What is the code, the example, the method of recognizing what is morally the right thing to do -- just where does this kind of conviction come?  Hollywood?  Government?  School?

I have stumbled in the last week; found myself running into obstacles of faith and questioning nearly  everything possible -- as things normally moving forward are now sliding backward --  things usually right side up are now upside down.  Christians, more than any other group in America, are being attacked -- sometimes right out in the open, and at other times, hidden deep into legislation:

Let's quickly link to a few standouts:

The San Juan Capistrano Home Bible Study Police.

Vanderbuilt against Christian Liberty

Catholic Bishops confronting Obamacare

and then I found this, something that just might explain everything.

"Secularism is good for government. But it is terrible for society (though still preferable to bad religion) and for the individual.

One key reason is what secularism does to moral standards. If moral standards are not rooted in God, they do not objectively exist. Good and evil are no more real than "yummy" and "yucky." They are simply a matter of personal preference.

...The heart has replaced God and the Bible as a moral guide.

And now, as Brooks points out, we see the results. A vast number of American young people do not even ask whether an action is right or wrong. The question would strike them as foreign. Why? Because the question suggests that there is a right and wrong outside of themselves. And just as there is no God higher than them, there is no morality higher than them, either."

"Why Young Americans Can't Think Morally", syndicated columnist Dennis Prager, as featured on The Patriot Post.

Don't you love that:  "Good and evil are no more real than 'yummy' and 'yucky'."

The thing is, both in my personal experience and according to the greater community I share, the more The Left insists on burying our freedom of religion, and the free exercise thereof, the more it inspires me to speak up.

Just how in the world can this ONE NATION under GOD, protector of the "free exercise thereof," be here now -- knee deep in religious persecution?

Just how can this land -- creator of Lincoln and Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness for all -- become so consumed in the every day by the growing number of religious descent,  growing more and more visceral, if not totally vitriolic in nature, creating the very conditions for making the house divided?

When it comes to truly living by our faith -- by Divine Providence, if  you will -- what troubles me is that it seems no longer good enough to simply coexist and thereby agree to disagree with each other, and live and let live.  We have somehow ushered in a new era that allows for our differences of religion to be used against us; we have allowed to let in the unimaginable, writing into the unspoken behavioral rules permission to disgrace, ridicule, discredit and destroy anything that still lives and breathes a symbol of faith (but mostly, our Judeo-Christian history).

The house divided is here again.

But put into words we might all understand, it seems to be a pretty 'yucky' time in history.

"It does me no injury 

for my neighbors to say 

there are twenty Gods or no God; 

it neither picks my pocket 

nor breaks my leg."  

Thomas Jefferson

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a Nation Building Thing

Dear America,

and now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain... and more, much more than this, I did it my way...

happy friday everybody...and where would the world be without music...I don't even want to know...and on that note, my digression is way too early in the day.


The week began with another assault on 'Under God'.  By Wednesday, we were mildly intercepted with a presidential address, reminding us of many things, but the greatest of these being:  “America, it is time to focus on nation building here at home."  And now, as the end is near, my inclination is to tie the two together.

In the last few weeks we have discussed all kinds of ideas surrounding the making of a nation, the building of good character, casting the foundation upon a virtuous lot to keep things steady, comfortable, peaceful, responsible and always, fully engaged -- and thereby, fully committing ourselves, from beginning to end, to the creation of... how did our president say... that "One American Body."

It is a monumental task, this continuous re-building, especially considering it is a construction project that never really ends.  There is always something that needs mending, perhaps a fresh coat of paint, maybe a new room with a view -- from five minute maintenance jobs to years consumed by a labor of love -- restoration hardware requires each and every one of us to do our part.

The president is so right; it is time to focus this nation on building a better nation here at home; because in this present moment, in this new age of liberty freely expressing, we are coming up in short supply of our most precious resources.  For that one American body and it's shelter is falling apart.


Yes, indeed, "infrastructure"..."innovation"... make for good company, after decades of bad science and evolution and false Gods.

Yes, indeed, "nation building"..."here at home"... just makes good sense, after years of utter recklessness in every way, shape, and form, with infidels running the show.

Oh, I'm sorry.  Did I offend anyone?
What, am I not entitled to share my views of the world and society anymore because what, I come from a place so out of this world -- somewhere, out there,  in awe of God?

Here's a real shocker worthy of a headline: this whole 'Under God' brouhaha is a terrible travesty against not only our nation's first shining, founding principle -- but runs, in actuality, in real life, right smack up against GOD Itself. That is cold, bold, and totally absurd...if not also incredibly stupid.

Enough already.  I have had enough.

And in this moment, I deeply regret the ignorance built into my very next question:  HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Oh, don't bother -- I know.

It is a rhetorical question -- falling in line with everything else... rhetorical speeches, rhetorical inauthentic Christianity, rhetorical political correctness, rhetorical intellectual attacks against our Constitution.  There is an explanation for it all.

The only reason we are here -- as a nation -- is that for two hundred years we gave God our all, and everything more, to make this nation hum.  Our founders may not have each and every one believed in the same God; and by that, let's clarify, a God suspiciously deigned by the mad dog collective as "a Christian God."   Au contraire;  this was exactly the reason why we ran, as fast as we possibly could, from the Church of England, for Pete's sakes.  Their view was far more transcendental, more appropriately and globally framed, if you will.  One might even say, fit for a new age, no matter when it should happen to come along.

We made a nation UNDER God, our Creator, of which ALL of our rights and duties come -- as defined in our Declaration of Independence and clearly spelled out in Amendment I of our Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

so attencione', oh hallowed halls of government, I HAVE A GRIEVANCE.

My free expression of living life as an American, faithfully under God, is being harassed, ridiculed, slandered and denied.

You want to rebuild a nation, Mr. President?  Start here.

How about we try this -- next time you get up on your high horse at the podium, tell the people to straighten up and fly right; tell the people to stop attacking our first principle; tell the left wing media to stop giving the free expression of  living under No God more credibility than living Under God; stop dismissing the clear and present danger of "nation building" under a system which, under no uncertain terms, wants to erase God from the town square, and if all goes right, totally extinguish God from our heart and soul.

I dare you, Mr. President, tell us, tell us that this is the time to return to our FAITH in God; that in order to rebuild, we must start with basic principles and truths and start all over.  You are a man of faith.  And, after all, you are supposedly an authority on Constitutional Law, you should know all the in's and out's of this like the back of your hand; I have no doubt you have read and thoroughly reviewed the words and intentions of our quintessential documents of our fine nation, and from out of the mouths of our founders themselves.  How could you not and still get your degree?

Let me ask you, how can it be okay for one religious group -- who just so happens to be a group who claims to have no religion, except that, of course, of their own god created from their own belief system, which is, what, I don't know,  a belief in nothing? How can they be the ones to continually  hog the microphone?  They are their own God, are they not?  Their God is the UnGod, who by admission believe it is there dogma that rules over mine?  How is that okay?

We have talked about this so much on G, it is beginning to make my head spin.

They have every right not to believe, think or do in NO-thing, if they so choose -- absolutely every right; but they have no right to squelch my belief, or the FREE EXPRESSION thereof.

Just because we name a street, "Seven in Heaven," it does not establish a national religion; and, to prove it, there are virgins up in heaven waiting for Muslims to return home as we speak.  In the afterlife of world religions large and small, a heaven is made somewhere (that is, if you so believe) or maybe it is not, it does not really matter.

Saying Heaven, is like saying Chocolate -- is it always the same?  I think not.  Are we particular to certain brands?  you bet.  Is the idea of what makes the perfect chocolate each and of our own to decide?  absolutely.  Which, of course, brings us to another shocking truth... for you may be one of those odd sort who don't like chocolate at all.  For me, chocolate is just a sliver of heaven I can put in my mouth...can G get an amen?

Sure, it is silly.  But just think about how over sensitive we have become as a society?   And more than that, just think of all the ways this outright perversion of this primary and sacred principle, the one that this nation was indeed founded, is being shamefully swallowed as the new gospel.

If I were a judge -- I would be laughing at every case that comes my way bearing false allegiances to a nation under no god.

The thing is, when we stopped talking about being a Nation Under God in school (from kindergarten through PhD) it became the very day we stopped building a nation.  case closed.

No.  we are not required to think the same way when it comes to God.  IT is wide open spaces, as they say, when it comes to the intellectual spin revolving the question of what is God, is there God, what is It all about?  what is my purpose? where do I belong?

These are questions that seem to be a threat to the Left (as a whole and generally speaking, and in reality, is more like chopped up bits and pieces run amok) -- and all I have to say to that is, gee, golly gosh, so sorry.

This nation, believe it or not, was created to believe in God our own way -- could this not be any more refreshing and free spirited?  Well, at least it was... up until some people began to go on the attack on other people's beliefs.  Now we have mayhem.


Look, if it is any consolation to the non-believers (which, in reality, are so few, it makes me wonder how your voice, out of all the voices here,  gets the total and free run of the stage in which we are all supposed to share)  --  but if we could just settle down and rethink this.  Surely, there must be a way to come together and figure this out.

What if, every time you see the word God, LOVE pops into your head?  Of course, with full disclosure, my beliefs teach me that my God is Love, but that should be neither here nor there, let's not let something like that get in the way, shall we?   But really, honestly, how innocent and un-alarming is such an idea, the concept of love?  surely, you  love,  right?   

We all love...if only our self and a favorite ice cream... can we not then come to a realization we can build a foundation on that, that God is the same as Love?

From here on out, as you go your way and I go mine, can we just agree that when you see "God" that all we are talking about here is Love.  Just Love.  Literally, figuratively, collectively...it's just a whole lot of love.  Some might even call it Big Love.  Very Very Big Love -- and there is plenty to go around.

It's not like everybody has to believe in Jesus, you know what I am sayin'; and by that, I also mean, some of us believe in all the little children -- red, yellow, black or white, each are precious in His sight -- but nobody has to, you know.   Even though, I believe, that we are here on earth as Spirit expressing, my natural inclination is to say, even atheists are children of God -- but now, I guess that is just fighting words, now isn't it?

But I, as a believer, have the Constitution and our Declaration of Independence at my back and in my heart.  I am free to express God, as long as nobody gets hurt.


Nobody in their right mind would say we have established a National Religion here in America.  For our Constitution was written with a purpose, a purpose UNDER HEAVEN by the way (but God only knows).

Our founders truly believed they were divined by our Creator, by the Maker of All Things seen and unseen, to lay down this nation's Rule of Natural Law.  Our rights, appreciated or not, understood or not, came right out of the Ten Commandments, and then some.  Our rights, as they were written, came from God -- and, against all popular belief,  still do.  Nothing has changed.

This was to protect the people from having a country like England, back hundreds of years ago -- where the Church controlled every function of government and prospered off the backs of it's people.  This was to protect the citizens from it's government -- giving all power to decide such freedom of expression to the people, on their own, in their own time, any way they so wished.  This was to protect this nation from being a society wrecked with internal civilian warfare, pinning one order against another, creating chaos, as it occurs every day in places like Syria, Iran, Egypt, and the like, using tenets of one Religion, one belief, to control people in every way --  in total denial of certain rights taken for granted here -- as in the divining of a real separation of mosque (church) and state.

It was to protect US, the citizens, from an overzealous government using a religion to control the masses.

America was set apart from the rest of the world solely on the basis of our religious freedom.  It is the cornerstone.  It is the foundation.  It is the way we have always been -- and the way we can only continue.  It is the way, the truth, and the light, that created a nation that prospered; and prospered very well  BECAUSE of our faith, not in spite of it.

So this week, under God, we have experienced another test of the human spirit.  And in the end, I agree with a president wholeheartedly when he says it is time --  it is time for America to focus on nation building here at home.

And it begins with returning to the Free Expression of our Faiths -- in God, in Love, in Life that surrounds us.

It begins with reminding the citizenry of the great responsibility we have in front of us -- for we are at a crossroads.

But the truth is, nation building does not require stimulus, infrastructure, green energy, or spending not even one dime; matter of fact, it is the most cost effective way  to not only rebuild our nation as we sit in the throws of economic disaster, but the wisest thing we could do, on the cheap, in order to recreate a nation revolutionized by our first principles, for the next generation.

These last few days, questioning the spirit of a nation under God -- this week, with a nation's focus brought back to the home front -- is an opportunity.  We are not in the midst of chaos.  There is order here in America.  We know that It lives here and is Something we honor.  Deep down, restoring our faith is the only thing that will take us from here to there with any given sense of calm.

we just need to walk our talk (again).

what are we good for?

what reality do we wish to live in -- order or chaos?

isn't it better to ask what is God, what is Love, what is Life all about ?  than not at all.

do we not owe that to our children, who are just beginning to grasp this thing called life --  only now, as the careless chaperones we have been, turn over to them a broken world?

just how do we expect them to make a life and sense out of it all -- what will ground them, console them, give them faith to push through it all?  Chocolate? maybe.  and maybe not.  but what does it hurt to talk about it? absolutely nothing.

Establishment of Religion -- I wish!  We couldn't be further from the truth.  We are living in an age where "religion" is vilified, shunned, ignored, deemed irrelevant and ridiculous.  Unless, you are Muslim, then it is all good.  Unless, you are an Atheists, then all the power to you.  Unless, you are just a hater of Christians or Jews, then that secular theater gets played all day long. Tolerance, pulleeze, I laugh in the face of danger.

It is a big world out there; there is room for all of us; but the last place on earth I would ever think I would have to defend my freedom of expression, of my religion or yours, from road signs to crosses to curriculum to a nation's Pledge of Allegiance -- is here. 

To the atheists, if you are telling me that you cannot respect another person's religion, just who is the one being closed minded and bigoted and rude?   To the intellectual elite within the media, feeding this narrative, is this really how you want to play it -- copy-writing a nation characterized by living without a soul, without the courage to stand up for our nation's first principle?

'Under God' is what we make it -- nothing more nothing less.  

If a street sign saying 'Seven in Heaven' is religious establishment -- it is the most generic ever made.

It is time to focus on nation building here at home.  

The good news is that it will not cost a thing; and the bad news, restoring our courage, integrity, and honor, requires us to hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil,  in return.

Make it a Good Day, G 

Dear America,

this is a time when things get a little fuzzy around the edges.

We forget, or we fail to recognize, that out of our inherent civility and political correctness, our president has deep seated allegiances, in blood, with Muslims around the world.

Anyone care to discuss this itty bitty factor, or is our new start, domestic meets foreign policy strategy simply to ignore it?

Just to be clear -- this isn't a put down; this isn't a "mark" against the man, as if I pronounce all Muslims, and their intent, bad.  I do not feel that way at all; and you would have me and what I am saying entirely wrong.

It is simply a fact, based upon our president's life experiences and family heritage -- he is, whether we want to discuss all of the idiosyncrasies and propensities about it aloud, or not, half Muslim.

Now you know I love The Daily Bell -- a place where profound libertarian, free-thinking opinion is shared with the world, and sometimes with a deafening pitch; at times though, their perspective seems so outlandish, often I find myself faced confronting the difficult task of believing every word -- truth has a funny way of creeping up on us like that. But quite honestly, there are numerous times I simply surrender with the greatest of ease thinking, oh my gosh, no way, that's radical, dude, everything makes so much sense now.

And the last few days have been no exception. can we get a whoa, far out, on this little number.

So, think about it...there are so many levels of not knowing the reality behind closed doors... happening all around us... everyday.

Much like the Bell's articles of late hemorrhaging on the antics of the Federal Reserve, the Davos meetings, and anything else going on around the world that screams raw western elitism at play -- or how America's juvenile European jealousies, with tendencies immediately to follow, wreak havoc on the global front.  Everyday, according to the staff and the guest editorials, The Daily Bell paints a vivid, sometimes gruesome picture, traveling the unpredictable mine-fields, and MIND-fields, of the times.

Egypt, and the entire Middle East, is a powder keg of conflicting energies of resistance and rebellion, relationships and revolution, seeking change.  What happens in the coming days may change everything
...did the U.S. really promote the uprising? is this for the betterment of future diplomacy, or a  break up? are we letting go of the past alliances and making new friends, or just making more enemies?

Who are our friends, really? For another interesting take on Egypt...and the Muslim Brotherhood...read this.

Is this a time when a half Muslim president rides in on a white horse and saves the world, demonstrating the very attributes bestowed upon him, as the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, before ever really doing a thing -- based solely upon the 'perception' of a man, rather than gut reality of a true leader?  Time will tell, right?


I was amused watching a really old movie over the weekend -- Nighthawks, from 1981 -- by the looks of the bad cinema lighting, the disco dancing, and the clothes, it still reeked of more the mid seventies than parading in what would become a decade of over indulgence and the uprising of the young, upwardly mobile, professionals... use of the word 'professionals' highly suspect; now that it's over, and coming from the heart of the movement myself...looking back, I fear we have grounds to make such claims of professionalism seem downright absurd.  Everything came way to easy, and way to fast, if you ask me...

for now look at us.

Anywho, getting back to the flick, what a little wonder this turned out to be.  First, the players, Sylvester Stallone, Rutger Hauer, Billy Dee Williams, Lindsey Wagner, it dripped handsome super power heroes and villains.  But hey, that was just the packaging --  the substance,  the lines, the story brought to us thirty years ago! priceless.

After quickly setting us up with the plot, to catch a terrorist,  a British Interpol officer comes to New York City to instruct a couple of undercover guys and apparently, NYC's finest -- partners, Sylvester and Billy Dee -- on how to catch the bad guy, Rutger Hauer; and when I say  bad guy I really do mean, one, bad, guy.  Just one guy.  It's just the way it was played out, back then, in the aftermath of the Weather Underground, and all.

At one point, Wolfgard, Rutger Hauer,a.k.a the terrorist, says "I speak for the oppressed... I am a liberator!"  Nearly capturing the essence of the Weathermen of yesteryear in one fell swoop --  that the wealth of an empire belongs to the people, to the oppressed who made the wealth... redistribute the wealth!  redistribute the wealth! (and if you say it like Van Jones, it makes it really fun to say) or we will rise up against you and bomb bridges, buildings, babies -- whatever it takes.

The Interpol Brit outlines the mission saying things like, "[you] might have only one time...to catch him vulnerable...gotta take the shot..."  or something like that.  The point he was making to Sylvester and Billy Dee, was that we have to be just as ruthless as the terrorist -- for they are banking on our civility, our rules of engagement, our pledge to treat others the way we want to be treated; and basically -- flipping things around a bit -- terrorism is always waiting for our vulnerability to show first.

He added a sounding alarm, saying "[they will] come after what we love...", before sending the good guys off on their way, against all odds, not even knowing what this guy would even look like anymore (following the way of Hollywood and the oldest terrorist story in the book: just before leaving London, or was it Paris? Wolfgard had plastic surgery to protect his identity, leaving a murdered doctor in his wake... like we didn't see that coming...).

The thing is, that was made for Hollywood, thirty years ago -- what have we learned?  what has changed?  Something tells me the seriousness of the matter has elevated to way beyond a couple of beat cops from New York City, and you?

But more enlightening is coming face to face with the reality of the what we knew THEN, as general knowledge and movie research begs to tell us everything we ever imagined, and more, three decades ago.

I'm just saying, as elementary as it may seem, if we were supposedly "thinking like a terrorist" then -- what, pray tell, is our excuse now?

I don't want terrorists having a foothold anywhere in the world; I don't want radical extremism leading the way, and coming after the things we love, for any country around the globe -- whether it be Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, or New York City.

The movie declared something stark and unimaginable -- "gotta come at the violence with greater violence..." or something like that.

For just a girl, who really only wants to live in a world that values world peace, the very thought of that seems utterly frightening -- and even though I know it was just a movie -- I am left with wondering, what if it's true?

Hearing the Interpol Brit preaching in my ear again, he said "that's the technique of terror, how do you like it?"

ugh.
wish we could all have milk and cookies and talk about it like reasonable people.

Make it a Good Day, G

and really, if a half Muslim, half Christian, president can't get this right...what are our true hopes, and future, built on?  sand?

Adele, rolling in the deep, is playing on GTV, with a click on Dear America.  REALLY hot song...love love love this girl  -- just trying to leave you on a high note... with a song that won't get out of my head...and it ain't disco.  enjoy.

Dear America,

Thank God it's Friday.

To wrap up the indoctrination by maher segment of the week, let's recall a couple of his final words of wisdom from last night's appearance with Bill O'Reilly, as it is just so fascinating to watch; he's much like a baboon in the wild, and you never know what sounds he'll make or what load of crap he will undoubtedly throw at you. And all I can add to that is, thank God we continue to evolve.

"60% of the people believe Noah's Ark is true..." in high blasphemous billy fashion...going on to pound out the idiocy of literally believing every word of God as if it were true, even quoting a verse in "Deuteronomy" to prove it...as if God told "his people" that discovering your neighbor working on a Sunday is enough to warrant killing them.  right, Maher Luther, king of the jungle, that's what he told us to do, and by golly, we follow..doink y der dee do...I think a coconut just hit me on the head.

There was a moment when he threw O'Reilly a bone (at least, I think it was, hard to tell from this far away) when he proclaimed, "I think if Jesus were in charge (today), we'd have health care for everybody."  Does Maher not remember what happened in the temple? But there we go again with the redistribution of all the bananas and the power in the bunch...

Oh, my my my maher, ye of so little faith; you really hate the believers of this world, don't you.

One thing that keeps batting around my head, with regard to this great contempt for the religious extremists of the world, is how you seem mum when it comes to the fundamental Islamic extremism wreaking havoc across the world, and taking on America from ground zero on up -- especially, as a New Yorker and all; how is that possible that you are not calling out these horrific actions of extremism, based entirely on a belief system, having birthed from one of the sons of Abraham?! 

The history of Christianity does include defending our ground from time to time against Muslim extremists; and yet, here we sit, at the start of the twenty first century, still defending those who can't but with one difference, our militia is not simply Christians -- but includes Jews, Buddhists, Agnostics, Atheists... even 1.6% Muslim...we come as one nation under God in full UNI-form as AMERICANS. 

As its been done from kingdom to kingdom come -- every war, every conflict -- Americans have never come in the name of a Christian God, ever.  We have never adorned our soldiers swaddled in fabric and sword in the name of Allah (or God), and continue to praise Him as we act out our radical religious order against heathens of other faiths -- much like the Islamic Extremists attacking the oddly peculiar, yet apparently highly threatening, western world of the Christian species.

So where are you on that, Willy?

And I can't even believe you admitted to the world, "I don't know" -- trying to explain how the Earth was made, "nobody can explain it" you say...babbling on some more, about how the ignorance of "championing faith" is nothing more than "suspending (all) critical thinking." Have you lost your mind?  Because the absolute fact remains, for you to even have a chance TO THINK about it, should give you plenty of ammo to answer that question.

You must have missed G when we defended God (of all kinds) featuring a book by a physicist and Jewish/Theologian Scholar, having been fully educated and doctored from MIT, Gerald Schroeder (http://www.geraldschroeder.com/) His latest book, not to be confused with a number of others, including The Science of God, The Hidden Face of God, and Genesis and the Big Bang --in his latest, God According to God -- and you're gonna love this part -- actually uses excerpts from the Bible to prove specific scientific points.  Genius really.

Anywho, what I have noted before and will surely say again, the Big Bang, the beginning of it all, began with something really BIG to create it; what was that something? Just a thought.  ker pow, bang, der it is.

Something had to THINK about it first; as the accidental mathematical physical probability of having it all come together, at just the right time, at just the right temperature, came down to a nano-second, or perhaps an eternity, knee deep into thought to basically come up with the 'build it and they will come' philosophy back behind creation itself.  Gives a girl goosebumps, how 'bout you?

Schroeder offers us this...

"...then came the discovery of the uncertain, fuzzy world of the quantum.  And suddenly our classical view of reality, the inbred misconception that reality must conform to our logic, was shattered. We have discovered that the reality we perceive stands in place of, or better said, represents, a deeper essence of truth.

And that is what I discuss here, the idea, admittedly speculative, that the truth of our universe is not as we perceive it, even with the aid of the most sophisticated particle accelerators and most powerful space telescope; that from the invisible realm of the quantum to the vast reaches of space, our universe may more closely resemble a thought than a thing."

The alchemists and meta physicists have delved into the world of thoughts-are-things for centuries -- it isn't anything new; while even the modern day gurus, self-help promoters, and preachers collide with our ability to change our world, change our life, starting with a simple thought; that what we think about expands; that our very thought is the actual genesis of all things we are surrounded with (be it person, place... or shiny new thing).

Everything we do, and everything that is here and now and ever will be, begins with a thought, an idea, a realization of that which could be a something being virtually created out of a nothing, all within the confines of the mind.

Mr. Maher, your cult following captures just such a thing; as you had an idea, and lots of them really, and not all of them good, but in each new day, you are able to ponder, voice, expand your extremists views out unto the world -- and make money off of it!  Oh, what a wonderful world we live.

It doesn't matter, the matter in which we live; what matters is what we do with it.  Do we throw it around haphazardly, or do we treat it with care?  Everyone is at a choice to do it there own way -- at least here in America, we still can -- which should make you fall to your knees in thanksgiving.  Other parts of the world, are not able to think freely and act accordingly and create a life in liberty and justice and free speech for all -- while attending a church of their choice, or not.

Some people actually want to attack that part of us, no matter where we live in the world, just because we are different  here in America -- we let people live and let live under a rule of law that fully supports and defends our GOD given, UNALIENABLE RIGHTS.  Our laws, rights, amendments, constitution and declarations only put to word what already IS; for our unalienable rights do not come from man, or a government, or a president, or even from the evolution of baboons; these inherent rights are passed down from generation to generation from God; we are intimately connected to the Source of all things, good and evil, right or wrong, seen and unseen, without falter and in pure faith.

Our rights -- if we could only be fully satisfied by calling them that -- come from the One; they come from the one, true, First Thought.

Some religions are, quite frankly, disturbed -- threatened -- emboldened to attack -- such totalitarian freedom enriched territory, land of liberty and home of the brave.   Allah-u-Akbar! (only my) God is Great!

I am thrust into a thought, going way back when, to the days of Abraham and descendants of Ishmael, and ponder just how the world would be right now if only Mohammed had changed a thought, or two; I wonder too, with the Qu'ran being taken so literally, verbatim, as the word of ALLAH, around the world, you must think all Muslims are idiots, too, Mr. Maher -- or no?

Or, are you just afraid to say that out loud? 

Did you know, they believe in many of the same prophets...they adore mother Mary (Suru Maryam)...and are not afraid to admit they believe in Angels, too? 

But the reality is, according to the Land of Ishmael and the making of Islam (and feel free to ask the closest Muslim near you) the Qu'ran is speaking the word of God, literally, word for word, across the world, around the clock -- so call me funny, but I would think that would bug you more, Maher; for they, fully admit it.  The gospel of the Qu'ran makes something like honoring thy father and mother sound like a nursery rhyme.

So let's face it, we can agree to disagree about all sorts of details, but extremism in any shape, genealogy, or ancestry is deadly, dangerous and destructive -- end of story.  Be it the Bible or the Qu'ran or the little red book of Mao, what truly matters is the thought back behind the things, the consciousness back behind the actions, the mindfulness back behind the creation of an America or an Iran, an Iraq or an Afghanistan, a Cuba or a China.

The individual, who acts, who does, who thinks, becomes fundamental; hence, the premise behind the making of our Declaration of Independence, and our Constitution -- to the actual making of our children, the remarkable little creatures that they are, who happen to not only have the great responsibility to survive the legacy of debt we are leaving them, but somehow be able to do so while passing on the fundamentals of love and life to the next generation, and so on and so on...

Where do we govern from an open heart, allowing for the freedom to think and grow rich, living in a country who worships liberty, shelters the common man, and defends the inherent rights of all people, equally but not without great difficulty -- with civility, while fortunately for us, on most days, without suicide bombers disturbing the peace with religious fanaticism and extremism in the townsquare -- AND FURTHER be allowed to follow that heart... to find hope, peace, forgiveness from Sunday to Sunday, believing (or not) in an Unimaginable God, of Out of this World Proportion, who really we wishes unconditional Love upon us all?

Show me that land and I will show you where I want to live, both literally and figuratively, metaphorically and verbatim -- and more important,  I am not afraid to say so.

Let us all say a little prayer for Maher today (I think he would just love it) and
Make it a Good Day, G