Merry Christmas

I hope you are being blessed by family and friends today. May the Lord our Light shine brightly on you.

Sitting her with my Eldest Niece

I am sitting here showing off my blog to my eldest niece, Jayde. She was upset that she had never been mentioned in a blog, so I am doing it now to show her how special she is to me.

Let's all say "ahhhh" now.


AHHHHH...what a great Dunkle Randy is to mention his niece.

I am an Elitist

I am an elitist and I am proud of it. I really think that I am better than most people. I've worked hard and made good choices and I think that makes me better than those who are lazy and made poor choices. I admire those who have worked harder than me and strive to reach them one day.

My brother also freely admits to being an elitist, much to our mother’s distain. She thinks she "raised us better than that." I'm not sure why we as a society abhor "The Elite." There is actually a double standard in that area. Society coddles children so that they will have good self-esteem and is then disgusted when someone actually thinks that they are better than someone else.

The fact of the matter is, we were not created equally; some of us are better than others. Yes, we are all equal in the sight of the Law and we are all equal in the sense that one man is not inherently better than another man just because of who his father is (i.e., we are not noble by birth, but are noble by deed). However, some people have more talent and more intelligence than others. At 5'4" and two left feet, I am not on equal standing (pun intended) as Shaq to play basketball. We were not created equally to succeed in that arena.

I say all of this to lead that when I saw that I could take a quiz to find out what kind of elitist I am, I jumped all over it. The hardest part of the quiz was actually deciding on certain things. I was torn in my options which means I am probably the other kinds of elitist as well.

From Timbuktu to Tijuana, you know all about world
culture and politics. You've seen it all, and
what you haven't seen, you watched on one of
the "smart people channels." Your
friends tell you that you should run for
governor.
What people love: You've always got a great story
to tell.
What people hate: You make them feel like ignorant
plebians. Sometimes you slip and CALL them
plebians.


What Kind of Elitist Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Take the quiz and see what kind of Elitist you are as well.

A Story

For some reason I doubt this conversation ever happened...

German Reporter 1> Did you hear that our intelligence people cracked the secret codes used by Ansar al-Islam organization.

German Reporter 2> Aren't they a group of terrorist?

German Reporter 1> No, they are a group of freedom fighters that uses extreme tactics to overthrow those nasty swine of American Conqureours.

German Reporter 2>Are you sure? I thought that they were being advised by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to be a central agency in the kidnapping and beheading plots.

German Reporter 1> So. Is there a problem with those kinds of tactics? After all, they had to endure an unprovoked attack from those dogs in America. I am writing a story to tell everyone that the codes have been cracked.

German Reporter 2> Wouldn't it be wiser to keep that information a secret? If the terrorist know we can crack thier codes, won't they just change to a new code we can't crack?

German Reporter 1> Ludicrous. They will keep using the same code because it is too hard to get the new code to all thier people.

German Reporter 2> (sarcastically) And of course, they wouldn't have a contingency plan just in case thier codes get cracked.

German Reporter 1> We must do our part to bring down the evil American Empire.

German Reporter 2> I think it is a bad idea...

German Reporter 1> It doesn't matter what you think, the people have a right to know, even if it puts more American troops in harm's way. What do we care? We have to be independent and not pick sides. We have to be nuetral.

Thus, the paper printed the article: German Intelligence Crack Terror Group's Codes

Aieral Survey of my House

As a research project to develop advanced database technology, Microsoft partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey to provide free access to thier vast data store of aerial photos of the United States. It is pretty cool and I
found my house. My house was completed in July 2002 and this picture was taken in March, so all you can see is the foundation of my house. But that is where I live.

It looks very different now with the entire neighborhood complete. I'm not sure how this differs from Google's KeyHole service...but TerraServer is free and KeyHole is a subscription service.

My Art Project

I love the Internet. I am constantly amazed at what kinds of things one will find. Here is a link to a site that allows you to revisit your youth and make cut snowflakes out of paper, minus the scraps.

Give it a spin. By the way, if you really want to marvel, when you preview your flake and it is spinning around, watch the shadows. Outstanding programming...and a web application on top of it.

Two Dogs

Erin and Mihaela left this afternoon with Gary and Hope to go visit Erin's sister ad her family. I will be leaving Thursday to join them. To have room for Erin and the baby, Gary and Hope couldn't take thier dog, Hilly. So, she is staying with me and will travel with me on Thursday.

So, I'm sitting her watching TV in the big recliner and I doze off. I just woke up to loud snoring...both dogs (Hilly and Juliet) are sound asleep...and both are snoring.

You, know, this seemed a lot more interesting before I typed it out...now my own blog is putting me to sleep.

I'm confused...

Have you seen this VISA commericial? A guy is reading a letter from VISA informing him that he can win a refund for all his 2004 VISA purchases. The guy says to his wife "Too bad you didn't buy that much stuff this year". Then, there are flashback to all her purchases and her hiding them from him.

Dutifully, VISA has placed the "fine print" speak ensuring us that "no purchase necessary." HUH?!? Wait a minute, you are telling me that no purchase is necessary to get a refund on purchases?

I know that companies cannot require a purchase for promotions (to require a purchase makes the promotion a lottery and/or gambling scheme that is not permitted in some states). So "no purchase necessary" is a legal disclaimer. But... (hang onto your seatbelts, we are going to use a little bit of logic here) ...if the promo is to get refunds for "purchases" and there is a no "purchase" necessary disclaimer; does that not exclude people who have not made "purchases"? Which really means you must have "purchases" to qualify. Which means this is a lottery/gambling promotion. Which is illegal.

Does anybody else find this confusing?

Thus it begins...

I have predicted that a time of persecution is coming upon us. We, as modern, American Christians have not had our faith tested in the fiery furnace. I am convinved that our generation will not pass without it being weighed in the balance. As a generation, we will be found wanting.

Content in the the comfort of the Constitution, many people with whom I have spoken to about this have disregarded my opinion. Others have warned about the subtle erosion of our liberties and one would have to be blind not notice how the culture (media and government) has been working to eradicate Christianity from society.

Never, though, has the government attacked Christianity with the kid of fervor displayed by this prosecuter. While I am not a big fan of the methods used by the Christians in this story, they did not do anything wrong; the deprived no one of his right to life, liberty or property through the use of force or fraud.

Christians, as we head into a new era it is important to be prepared for how we handle the affliction that will come our way. We must be prepared to "stay strong and play the man" This does not mean we go looking for conflict and strife. As a matter of fact, we should work to avoid the persecution. However, when the time of testing arrives, remember...

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.

Bored at work? Try this out.

Once again the Internet has provided something extraordinary useful. "What could that be?", you ask. Why...it is none other that than a virtual snowglobe that you can interact with.

What fun. What fun. Check it out. (WARNING: Clicking this link may distract you from work. The owner of this site assumes no responsibility or liability for any time you spend staring at it and shaking it.)

P.S. - The only flaw is that I can't turn it upside down. Drats....

Is it really a good idea to steal from God?

Thieves take Church's Every Possession

Hopefully they got a Bible and will happen upon Malachi 3:7-9

IRS Quote

Logic and the IRS code could get married because they surely are not related to one another.

~Bruce Williams

Missile defense shield test fails

The very anti-american, liberal newspaper, BBC, is reporting that the latest test of the Missile Defense Shield failed.

Big Whoop.

The system is never going to be perfect and some missles will get through the shield. The story reports that it has worked 5 times out of 8 attempts. Sure, that is only 60% of the time, but is that so bad for a system that is under development.

Even if that is the best results that they ever get, I feel safer knowing that only 3 missles out ever 8 that are shot at us may make it through rather than knowing that all 8 will make it through.

I have never understood why there is detractors to this kind of defense system. It is not aggresive in natrue and protects us from rogue countries. I can not think of one reason that this kind of spending on this kind of system would be illegitamate.

Tag Board Removed

I removed the Tag Board because it was making my site have pop-unders. I hate advertising via pop-up ads. I don't like it when I visit a site and don't like it on my site.

Living Christmas Tree

Our good friends invited us to attend something called the "Living Christmas Tree" at First Baptist Church in Montgomery. I didn't know what one was but heard it was amazing. So, we dropped Mihaela off at her grandparents and Erin and I , Chuck and Tracy (hey, you got a mention :)), and Andy and Brandy all decided to go (Tracy and Brandy were the only ones who had attended the event before).

I found out that a "Living Christmas Tree" is a choral performance of Christmas songs where the choral risers are built to look like a christmas tree. The performers stand on the stage and it looks like a tree with little heads sticking up. There are, of course, a lot of perfomers on the lowest level of the tree and it the number of performers decrease as the tree gets taller, until there is only one member of the chorus standing on the top level, right below a star decoration. The tree was beuatifully decorated with floral pieces and lights.

The perfomance is combonation of choral pieces, insturmental pieces, and solos. The lights on the tree were synced to the music to come off and on at certain times and to display certain colors. They also created a music video that displayed on the screen during one song. The event was very well planned out and just top-notch. This really shouldn't have surprised since they have been putting on this performance for 24 years.

They singing was very, very good. They sang some classic songs like "Away in the Manger", some less traditional songs ("Light your World"), and ended with a majestic rendition of the "Hallelujah Chorus." Since FBC is the oldest church in Montgomery (founded around the early 1820s) it is a classic Baptist church with only piano and organ accompianment. (They did do thier first song with an acoustic guitar and two soloist that ended the song in a tremendous duet). The organ/piano combonation gave the entire event an air of elegance, grace, and solemenity. My favorite song they did was "Angus Dei."

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and a very uplifting and encouraging performance.

Google's New "Suggestive" Feature

Google Suggest quietly debuted this week on the company's Labs site, which showcases Google features that "aren't quite ready for prime time," according to a message on the site. When a user starts typing a request into the search box, a drop-down menu appears with possible suggestions as to what the user could be looking for. Not sure how useful the feature might be for experienced searchers. For the mundane, though, it should help them find better, more accurate results.

Trying to be Trendy

Well, seems like "tagboards" are the new blog trend. So I decided to try and be trendy and to get myself a tagboard. My efforts to be trendy in the past have always met with failure (*sigh*) because I am a geek. However, like a true geek, I still long to be trendy, so I try and try again...

Now, I just hope that I get a few tags ... *wink*

Christmas Decorations 101

I was driving home from work this evening and the radio mentioned that a wreck on the interstate had traffic backed up at my exit. So I decided to come the back way through town. I noticed many Christmas light displays and one that was so horrendous that it looked as if someone had vomitted up an entire Wal-Mart Christmas display on the front lawn.

OK People. Since it is Christmas time, we needs to cover some basic "decorating philosophy" concepts. First, if you're going to put up decorations, do us all a favor and display them tastefully, or sparingly, or, if all else fails, inside your house.

Here are a few of my Christmas Decorations Pet Peeves:

• Giant inflatable holiday things. (Do you really NEED a 10 foot tall polar bear in a ski hat on your front yard?)
• Icicle lights in Alabama. (C'mon people, you aren't fooling anybody. They don't look anything like icicles (trust me, I've seen icicles), and even if they did, we are in ALABAMA, it's 90 degrees (okay, 60, but still).)
• Front yards that look like they have been resodded with lights. (Watch "Christmas Vacation" and if you can't figure out what is so funny about Clark's decorations, pause the movie, run outside and remove 75% of your lights to get you back to an acceptable level.)
• Some of the lights blink and some are steady. (Choose one or the other or else you are going to give someone a seizure.)
• Dancing Santas. (I don't care if he's wearing sunglasses, a Hawaiian shirt, or the traditional santa suit. It is disturbing. It is especially disconcerting if he's got a motion sensor and shakes his hips to "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" whenever anyone walks near him. )
• Mixing Christmas themes. (Please, please make a decision between Santa OR the nativity scene. Don't do them both. I've read the Gospels quite closely and can assure you that Mary rode a donkey, not Rudolph; and it was not Frosty the Snowman who delivered the myrrh.)

Keeping these simple principles of decorating in mind can lead to a wonderful holiday season by all.

Another New Title

The "Saga of the Blog Ttitle Change" continues. The last time I changed my blog title I mentioned I wasn't thrilled about the change. This one is better but it is not perfect yet. I didn't get that "GRRRR!!!" feeling in the middle of being that said, "Yeah!! That's it!"

I do think, however, that my description is just the way I like it.

Blogging for a Year

I have been posting for one year today.

A little celebration is in order.

Happy Blogging to me.
Happy Blogging to me.
Happy Blogging Dear Randy,
Happy Blogging to me.

(slightly offkey)And many more...

One Year Stats:

• I average 4 Posts Per Week
• I have written 50,736 words in 224 entries for an average of 250 words per entry.
• I have had 937 unique visitors come to my website
• They stay for an average of 4 minutes and 14 seconds
• I average 4 visitors a day

Cabinet Changes

So the media is making a big deal out of Bush's cabinet changes. A little bit of research and you can see President Clinton's Second Administration Cabinet changes:

1. Secretary of State : Warren Christopher to Madeleine Albright
2. Secretary of Defense : William Perry to William Cohen
3. Secretary of Commerce : Mickey Kantor to William Daley
4. Secretary of Labor : Robert Reich to Alexis Herman
5. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development : Henry Cisneros to Andrew Cuomo
6. Secretary of Transportation : Frederico Pena to Rodney Slater
7. Secretary of Energy : Hazel O'Leary to Frederico Pena

I only counted those that changed in 1997. Throughout the course of his Presidency, Clinton had 9 of his cabinet positions turn-over, some multiple times. So why are the changes in President Bush's second cabinet such a big deal?

Social Security Privatization - Is it the only reform option?

I know I said I was getting a new soapbox, but I have to stay on this topic as it appears to be a big part of the President's second term agenda. Today I would like to address some issues that the AARP made as they were strongly opposing the idea of privatizing Social Security. According to them, the President's plan would do two things:

1. Damage the most successful government program in history
2. Abdicate on a promise made to future retirees

My answer to their first objection is that I think that any government program that promotes dependence on government is a failure at its core objective. Since Social Security is the most popular and politically invincible government program, it is the core of the welfare state. This means that Social Security is the most successful government program only if you believe that it is government's duty to provide for you. If you think that you have the responsibility to take care of yourself, then Social Security is the most disastrous of all government programs.

As to their second objection, no compassionate person wants to just cut Social Security without ensuring that promises that have been made will be promises kept. However, it is irresponsible to continue to make the promise to future generations by taking part of their paychecks each week when everyone, including the AARP, knows that at some point in the future the program becomes unsustainable. I believe that people who are currently paid out of Social Security and people who are somewhat near to retirement age, should have thier needs seriously considered as we discuss Social Security Reform. After all they have made choices with the knowledge that Social Security would be there for them.

However, when more people under the age of 35 believe in UFOs than expect Social Security to pay them retirement benefits, it is ludicrous to try and say that we have to ensure that Social Security can pay all future retirees. I for one, would rather opt out now, cut my losses on monies I have already paid it, get to keep and invest my future earning the way I see fit, rather than to continue to pay for something I will never be able use.

Privatize Social Security
In his 2004 Republican Convention Acceptance Speech, Bush laid out his goals for Social Security. He said, "We must strengthen Social Security by allowing younger workers to save some of their taxes in a personal account -- a nest egg you can call your own, and government can never take away." Since his re-election, plans have started to surface to reform Social Security.

• For instance, you have Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina who would allow for privatized accounts, but would also raise payroll taxes to pay for the transition costs. According Robert Novak's editorial, this is the plan we need to keep an eye on because it is the only one with a chance to succeed.
• Another popular bill is New Hampshire Senator John Sununu's bill. His is your basic, run-of-the mill privatizing plan with higher percentages one would be able to send to the private account and no way to pay transition costs.
• Here are a couple of articles by Thomas Sowell on privatizing Social Security:
• Article 1
• Article 2

Abolish Social Security
Of course, privatizing Social Security is not the only option, we could also abolish it. No one in congress dares mention that option for fear of losing their job. However, abolition is truly the best scenario for many reasons.

At its very core Social Security is based on an immoral philosophy that it is OK for government to use force to take money from one segment of the population to give to another segment of the population. However, rarely do you hear discussions about the morality of Social Security in Washington DC. Federal money is presumed to be owned by no one, and is, therefore nothing more than a common pool of cash to be handed out by government. Anyone who has a job, though, and sees the difference between their gross pay and their net pay quickly realizes that the money is not free - it does not come from some leprechaun sitting at the end of a rainbow. Rather, the money comes from individual Americans and is redistributed in two different ways.

First, Social Security blatantly takes money from workers and gives it to retirees. These retirees have no right (i.e., moral claim) to the money (i.e., they didn't work to earn it); rather, the program simply robs some people for the benefit of other people. Secondly, Social Security redistributes the responsibility for caring for the elderly from individuals and families to the state.

These two forms of redistribution generate results that one would should really expect. When one takes from workers, then there is less reward for labor, so there is less incentive to work (and less incentive to prepare for one's own retirement). This means that Social Security leaves workers less ready for retirement.

There are also moral overtones when one shifts the responsibility for the care of the elderly to the state. While I recognize the fact that caring for different generations within a family can be difficult and even unpleasant, the intergenerational ties that are formed during that process are among the most important sinews of community. I could go off a tangent here about how our modern day society has forgotten its elderly and thus has forgotten its history and its heritage. Those who have lived long lives acts a moral compasses to younger people ensuring that lessons learned in the past are not forgotten. Social Security weakens those social links and makes it very difficult for a family to offer better care for its more vulnerable members. Thus, by denying younger workers the ability to achieve a higher return throughout their working lives, Social Security actually leaves younger workers with less money to share with their parents and older relatives.

One can clearly see then that Social Security faces a dual crisis. On the practical side, it is going under. On the moral side, it is robbing Americans, weakening family ties, and destroying community bonds.

The main problems with privatization is the outrageous transition costs and the fact that privatization does not fix the moral problem associated with Social Security, just the budgetary ones. Privatizating the system sustains government's role in Americans' retirement. Politicians would still mandate savings, regulate plans, and otherwise intrude in the retirement system. This solution still avoids confronting the basic moral wrong of using force to ensure that existing taxpayers fund current retirees.

Most retirees believe that the government is obligated to them because they have paid into the system and need to get their return. Compassionate people understand why they feel that way and sympathize with them, but that doesn't justify the continuation of an immoral system.

Even though those currently receiving Social Security benefits were victimized by previous generations, is it morally justifiable for them to victimize succeeding generations of innocent people? In the conflict between current taxpayers and current retirees, do not those currently paying the bill have the stronger moral claim? Truthful answers to these questions suggest only one clear answer to what to do with Social Security.

The simplest and most just solution is the complete abolition of Social Security. Eliminate the bureaucracy, taxes, and benefits. Get rid of everything. Nothing should be left. And it should be done immediately, with no transition payments or anything else.

This is obviously a tough-minded, unsympathetic approach, but the moral, political, and economic crisis presented by Social Security calls for a tough solution. The protests would be overwhelming, but we need to look at the issue from the standpoint of three different groups - young workers, old workers, and retirees.

1. Young workers below a certain age, probably in their 40s, depending upon income level, would benefit the most from an immediate dismantling of Social Security. They would have no complaint, since they would see an immediate raise of 7.5% in their paychecks. Hopefully, their employers would give them the 7.5% of their salary that is budgeted for their position that their employer pays resulting in a net 15% wage increase. They would be able to invest this sudden raise and with 20+ years to see their investment substantially grow.
2. Workers older than the break-even point could still invest but would lose on net(i.e., they would have gotten more money from Social Security than they will by investing since they have lost the important time component needed in long-term investing).
3. Retirees, those currently relying on Social Security benefits, would lose the most (though some would actually have received far more than they and their employers had "contributed").

I, of course, am concerned with the latter two groups. It would be immoral not to have a plan to deal with them. So, how would they cope with the loss of income on which they had counted?

1. First, they could rely more on their children. Us younger people would be saving on taxes and earning a greater return, allowing us to fulfill our moral obligations to our parents. There will be a hurdle as it may take some effort to recreate that ethic in young people.
2. Secondly, private charities should take on a greater role where the financial needs are serious. When the government drops its 15% tax on people's incomes, it would free up money for charitable giving. Also, the 15% tax break would encourage economic growth that itself would yield more revenues available for charity in the future. I have faith in the American people that those elderly left in need would undoubtedly be considered a priority by many philanthropic organizations. I assure you that new charities with the sole purpose of assisting former Social Security recipients would spring up.
3. Finally, able-bodied seniors might choose to remain in or return to the workplace. Even today, some older Americans prefer to work, despite the financial disincentives created by Social Security (benefits are reduced as income is earned). They welcome not only their pay but also their interaction with others in the workplace, including young people.

Conclusion
Social Security is hailed by many in government and outside of government as the best and most successful government program. I'm not sure I like their measuring stick because I must wonder what could be worse and more evil than a program which:

• takes workers' money, making it harder for them to provide for themselves and their parents
• weakens family and community ties
• discourages work and saving
• makes people more dependent on government
• imposes enormous losses on workers in the name of security
• creates enormous doubts about its own survival
• risks potential intergenerational war as the system slides towards insolvency?

If this is what is considered a successful government program, then I have to wonder what people who think this way would consider to be signs of failure.

When Social Security was enacted in the United States in 1935 a mistake was made that everyone is paying for. Instead of trying to fix this monstrosity that is built on an evil foundation, we should just rid ourselves of it. Then, as Americans have done in the past, we should act compassionately and creatively (on a voluntary basis) to ensure that anyone who meets with adversity due to this extreme measure are provided for. Tinkering with Social Security is not enough. Privatization proposals which preserve a role for government, while offering a vast improvement over the current system, don't go far enough in righting the immoral, socialist nature of the program. The only completely right answer is the abolition of this evil system.

Small Group Regroups

After being away from one another for the two weeks because of the Holidays, the small group regathered at our house last night. Things are really going well with the group, which is good. I have led two or three other groups in the past without much success, but this group seems to be gelling.

Last night we were joined by a new small group member who really liked the group and will probably come back. She was in a group last year, but her group took a break over the summer and then never regrouped. She was out the week we all stood up and introduced the groups, so didn't know what her options were. One of our other group members invited her, and she decided to come check us out. We had a new couple join church yesterday and they are probably going to come to our group next week. We may also get another family who was in the same group as the lady who joined us yesterday. They are going to come visit as well.

Anyway, we covered the letter to the church in Thyatira last night and had a great discussion as we contemplated the question of, "How do you strike a balance between a generous and forgiving love and a proper intolerance for heresy and sin in the church?"

Week 8 - "The Adulterous Church: Thyatira"

• Teacher Notes

Retitled my blog

After a little less than a year of blogging (5 days until my 1 year anniversary of blogging), I have discovered that everyone and his dog titles his blog something to do with "Rambling", "Random", and/or "thoughts." I thought I was being witty when I titled my blog and now I see was commonplace and mundane. I despise being commonplace and mundane...so I have changed the title and the description.

I'm not sure I really like this title either, but it is better than the old one.

Church under FIre

The body of Christ is facing more and more legal persecution by the Government. According to an article by the Agape Press, a pastor of Texas church is being sued after following the Biblical mandate to disassociate rebillious members who willfully and spitefully live a life contrary to the teachings of scripture. Pastors should not have to fear legal action when discipling members of thier fold. While I do not believe that there should be "a seperation of church and state," proponents of this philosophy must follow the phrase both ways. If churches have no place in the government, then the government has no place in the church.

I have a strong feeling that this will not go well for the church and that the government will find it liable and grant the litigant some monetary compensation for her "suffering." Unfortuantely, I think American Christians are wimps and will bow to the pressure of Government influence and stop fulfilling thier duty to call members to repentance and deal out discipline when necessary. I pray that I am wrong and that churches and pastors will continue to do what is right, no matter the pressure.

Baby sits herself up

Erin just called to tell me that Mihaela sat herself up, although Erin did not witness the feat herself. Erin was doing some housework and on one pass through the living room, she noted that Mihaela was playing on her stomach. Then, as she passed back through the living room, Mihaela was sitting up. So, unless the dog sat the baby up, she must have sat up on her own. Yeah!!!

Now, we will see if she will do it again or when we are in the room!

New Political Soapbox

I've decided to have a new political soapbox. I have been ranting and raving about taxes (especially the Social Security Tax) to my friends, family, neighbors, and anyone else who will listen for years now. I have written letters to my congressman, senators, and Presidents asking for reductions and reform, all with no avail. Actually, my congressman wrote back a somewhat nasty letter where he basically said that I was too ignorant to be able to have an opinion and that I should trust him.

Anyway, that idiot of congressman was up for re-election. I voted for the democrat (there was no libertarian running for the office), knowing full well that my congressman who thinks I am too stupid to form a congent opinion on tax policy on my own would be re-elected despite my vote against him and the fact that I got others in my district to vote against him.

This has spurred me to step onto a new soapbox: Term Limits. I think that term limits need to be set. I don't have time right now to go into all the reasons for term limits and to lay out a plan, but stay tuned because I will. I think if we can get Term Limits enacted (yeah, right - like congress will vote themselves out of a job) then we can actually try to clean up some of the other messes (such as taxes) that government has caused.

GRRRRRR!!!!!

I AM SO STINKIN' ANGRY!!! I just read an article on WorldNetDaily where a fifth grade teacher is suing the school district he works for because the administration of the school will not allow him to pass out copies of the Declaration of Independence. Now, you may ask, why would the Declaration of Independence, the document that started our Revolutionary War, the document that boldly stated a new paradigm of government and is the foundation of our Constitution and our freedom, why would that document be banned from being taught? Well, you see, the Declaration of Independence, realizes that our innate freedoms are gifts of God and mentions that. However, in our postmodern, pagan society there is to be a separation between religion and government. Therefore, any government document that references religion can not be taught.

This is not just an attack by government schools on our freedom of religion, it is an attack on our very freedom. We can not allow for the bedrocks of freedom to be censored. I am sad to say that it is beginning to look like it is once again time to "water the roots of the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots and a tyrants". We, as freedom loving people, must hold our government accountable. We are government of the people by the people and when our government become tyrannical and refuses us the freedom of thought by censoring those documents that put that government in place, then a regime change is necessary. I hope and pray that in this situation we can use our laws, our legal processes and procedures to remove these incredibly inept administrators from the awesome responsibility of educating our young people. However, if we must, then forceful expulsion must be an option. We can no longer stand idly by like sheep and wait to be slaughtered by our local bureaucrat.

No, we are not sheep waiting to be herded and led to green pastures to be fed by the hand of our master. We are a nation of lions who will roaringly defend our territory and will be intimated into submission by threats of lawsuits. British loyalist, Byles Mather (nephew of Cotton Mather and fired from his position as minister of Hollis St. Congregational Church following the British Evacuation of Boston in 1776) predicted that one of the effects of a republic form of government would be that instead of being "ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away" we would be ruled "by three thousand tyrants one mile away." This case shows how right he was. And just like we would not stand for that kind of talk 230 years ago, we must not stand for it now. We are to be ruled by laws, not by ever changing public opinion and temporal philosophies of bureaucrats.

So what can you do to respond to this situation. First, read the lawsuit so that you have the facts. Then, I suggest a letter may be in order to this tyrant reminding her of her true responsibility is to be a guardian of freedom by educating children on the cost that was incurred to obtain their freedom and teaching them the responsibilities they have as stewards of freedom. Here is the address of the school, courtesy of Neal Boortz:

Patricia Vidmar, Principal
Stevens Creek Elementary School
10300 Ainsworth Drive
Cupertino, California 95014

In Texas

Erin, the baby, and I are in Texas. I am currently writing this from our hotel room using the FREE high speed internet provided by La Quinta. I know that I have been lax in posting lately and hope to fix that soon. I have been so busy at work that I have not even been listening to the radio in the background. This causes me to miss to the news, so I don't commentate on it.

To bring you up-to-date here is a brief synopsis of the past week or so...

Friday, Nov. 19
Erin and I left Mihaela with a baby sitter and joined two other couples from our small group for dinner and a play. One of our friends, Andy, is a faculty member at one of the local universities in the English department so he gets free tickets to the productions. We met for mexican food prior to the show and then went and saw "The Death of a Salesman." It was a great show and fun was had by all.

Saturday, Nov. 20
I worked for MCS and implemented a technology that we had not used before to allow full-text searches of a SQL database and return results in ColdFusion. It has been awhile since I have had to use a new technology to perform a task. It was exciting and refreshing to attack and solve this problem.

We then had dinner at Erin's parents house. They wanted to celebrate her birthday early since we wouldn't be with them on Thanksgiving. They gave Erin a new set of pots and pans, from the Wolfgang Puck series. She loves them. We threw away all of our old equipment.

Sunday, Nov. 21
Went to church (duh!). Then, Sunday night was a big joint worship time with five other churches in the Montgomery area. We had Jerome Williams come and lead worship. Prior to going to that, our small group met and had a heavy snack get together. We then all went over as a group. The singing was incredible and the worship was awesome.

Monday, Nov. 22
I had an all-day meeting at one of our colleges in Birmingham and was out-of-the office all day.

Tuesday, Nov. 23
I was in the office, but had to catch up from being gone the day before as well as prepare to be gone the rest of this week. I followed up on many tasks from my previous day's meeting. After putting in a full-day at work, I went home and helped Erin finish packing. We left about 7:00 PM to drive to Jackson, MS on our way here.

Today
We finished the trip. The trip was very uneventful, which is just how trips should be. We met my Mom and Dad at the hotel. While unpacking the car I spotted some other family members who were staying at the same hotel. We talked for quite a while. Then, we all went to Aunt Prissy's house for dinner and fellowship. Erin, Dad, one of my uncles, and I left early to put the baby to bed. She is sleeping now and that is why I have time to type.

Tomorrow will be a big day as we all get together and eat turkey and stuff. It is also Erin's birthday. I do not have her gift yet. I was waiting on a check I was expecting to come in to use it buy her present, but it has not arrived yet. Hopefully, I will get it when I get back and will be able to go buy her the present I have picked out for her.

Spiritual Emphasis Day at ACA

Erin has been invited back to Alabama Christian Academy to teach a girl's class for ACA'a annual Spiritual Emphasis Day. She has been working on it for about a month, very intently the past two weeks. She worked very hard on this and it looks and sounds really good. She made a little postcard that the girls will be able to fill out and keep.

I'm sure she will do a fantastic job. I am uploading her slideshow so that she can download it tomorrow. She went to ACA today and to test her slideshow and had some problems. I am making three different formats available in hopes that at least one will work.

• Get Up! Stand Up! - .pps file
• Get Up! Stand Up! - Office 97 - Office 2003 format (.ppt)
• Get Up! Stand Up! - Office 95 format (.ppt)

Quote

"The government says to the citizen: "Your earnings are not exclusively your own; we have a claim on them, and our claim precedes yours; we will allow you to keep some of it, because we recognize your need, not your right; but whatever we grant you for yourself is for us to decide."

- Frank Chodorov

Small Group materials

OK - so I was bad and did not get last weeks materials posted at all last week. I am so ashamed. :( However, it was a busy week last week because I only worked 2 days and had just returned from being at the work retreat. Then, we had the court date on Wed. and spent the rest of the week planning for the party on Saturday. I just didn't have a chance to blog much and that included posting last week's materials. However, enough excuses:


Week 6 - "The Suffering Church: Smyrna"

• Teacher Notes
• Slideshow
  

Week 7 - "The Carnal Church: Pergamum"

• Teacher Notes
• Slideshow
  

Party Today

I've been off work since Wed. and I am just now getting to a post. How bad of me. It is not even like I can use the excuse that I was busy. We had a few errands to run to get ready for Mihaela's party today, but I had time to post. I think, though, that I will use the excuse that my Mom and Dad were visiting and I was entertaining them. It would've been rude to blog while they were here. Here is a brief update of the week's events:

Wed.
We went to court to finalize Mihaela's adoption. It was a bit hectic in the morning because I had forgotten to pickup my jacket and dress pants from the dry cleaners. Also, I had asked to borrow a video camera from a buddy of mine and needed to go it pick it up at his house. I left early to go run those errands and then met Erin, Mihaela, my parents, and Erin's parents at the lawyers office. The lawyer briefed us on what to expect in the court room and we drove to the court house.

Nothing really exciting happened at the court room. We sat down at some tables. The judge entered and asked the lawyer to intorduce everyone and outline the main points of the case. After the lawyer did that, the judge asked him to question us. The lawyer asked me who I was, where I worked, where I lived, and then asked if I had been providing financial and emotional support for the baby and if I were aware of that it would be our sole responsibility from here on out. He then asked Erin the same set of questions. The judge then decreed that it was in the best of intrest of the child for the adoption to be finalized and signed the paperwork.

YEAH!!!! She was finally ours, legally.

Thur
Veterans day. We basically just kicked around the house. Erin cleaned the house to get ready for the party.

Fri.
Yesterday we ran around town running errands to get ready for Mihaela's "Gottcha Ya" day party. We had to go get some pictures printed, buy party supplies (we went with "Baby Einstien" party ware), get food, and order cakes and balloons and stuff. We made some of the food for the party and ate dinner with both my parents and Erin's parents.

Sat.
That brings us to today. The party is today. The turkeys are smoking in the smoker and everything appears to be developing as planned. We have a busy morning ahead of us as we have more food to make, decorations to display, and a few more errands to run. So, I guess I should go.

Tomorrow is the big day

Well, tomorrow is the BIG day; Mihalea's adoption will be finalized. We are so excited. I am taking off tomorrow, Thursday is a state holiday, and I'm taking off Friday. Since I was gone 3 days last week for the work retreat, yesterday was very busy I spent the day catching up.

Today I wrote a web app completely from scratch to allow us to create and manage our data dictionary for our new project. I had to get that done before I left today so that other committee members could start filling in the defintions while I am gone. My boss had a big deadline tomorrow morning and needed data that only I could query for him, so I ended up working late to get him his information so I could be off tomorrow.

Hopefully I can rest a little this week, though I don't really expect to. We have to prep for Mihalea's "Gotcha Day" party on Saturday. I have to get over to PCA and fix thier email and get my Small Group materials from last week posted (tomorrow, I hope) and get ready for Sunday's small group. Always busy these days. Usually, though, December slows down at work... sigh

Been at a Work Retreat

I've been gone since early Wed. morning to the Lake Guntersville State Park for a working retreat. We are redesigning the way we collect data from our colleges and had to meet with the steering committee to pound out some details. The State Park facilities are great and they only charge $25/night for state employees conduction state business. The only sad thing is that there was no internet connection. Man, was I going through withdrawl. Anyway, I'm back...

It Just Might Be Over

The FoxNews website has called Ohio in favor of Bush, which means that the election is over. He will probably win the Electoral College outright. He's up in the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes (that will narrow as California reports), and he should lead the popular vote when all is said and done.It is difficult to see where Kerry can go from here. Before he can even think about contesting the election, he'll need to run the table and pick up Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, and Wisconsin. I just don't see New Mexio going to him as Bush is up 17.5 thousand votes with 80% of preciencts reporting. The other states all look to be leaning toward Kerry.

I surely am praying that Fox is right!

Not watching THE results...

Erin gets too involved and too emotional, jumping to conclusions long before results are finalized. Add to that the fact that we don't have cable, so no FoxNews, we decided not to watch the results and rented and watched a movie instead.

However, being a political junkie, I have been paying close attention over the internet. I have 5 browser windows open, one to FoxNews, one to CNN, one to ABCNews, one to CBSNews, and one to MSNBC News.

It is kind of intresting watching the differences between them all.

Communion

It was my turn to share the Communion thought yesterday at church. I did something a little bit different. Usually, the person who leads communion shares a thought, prays over the bread, and then we sing while the plate is being passed around. He will then either continue his thought and pray over the juice, or just pray, and we will sing while they pass that around.

Yesterday, I said a few words and prayed over the bread. Then instead of singing, I showed a PowerPoint and read scriptures outloud. The PowerPoint was timed to my speed of reading and the ending was very powerful as I was dramtically emphasizing the scriptures. Then, I prayed a very short prayer and we sang a song that is new to us, "All Praises Be." It was really good. Anyway, here are my thoughts and the PowerPoint.

• Introduction, Prayers, and Scriptures
• Slideshow

Classes and Small Group

I substituted for our regular Sunday School teacher yesterday and covered John 6. Here are the class notes:

• Class Notes

Here are the notes and slideshow from last night's small group.

Week 5 - "The Church without Love"

• Teacher Notes
• Slideshow

Another Busy Weekend Planned

We have another busy weekend planned. Let's see...

When I get off work @ 4:00, I have to run home and make some "Freaky Witches' Fingers" for a Halloween party that starts at 6:30 that some people from church are throwing. This is a "have to dress up" party, so Mihaela is going as a LadyBug, Erin is going as "G.I. Jane" and I am dressing up like Wally.

Tomorrow, PCA is having thier fall festival and Erin has to work it for a couple of hours. I need to work a couple of hours for my consulting business and I have to finsih preparing for my John class on Sunday and my Revelation Small Group. I did complete my comminion thought for Sunday already.

Then, on Sunday, Erin is singing on the praise team, has a WINGS (Women In God's Service) meeting, and has to provide a dish for the guest luncheon. I will be sharing my communion thought during first service, teach class, share comminion thought during second service and then teach small group Sunday night.

We will be busy, busy, busy...

Its and Ear Infection

We took Mihaela to the doctor yesterday because she still really wasn't feeling better. She has an ear infection. She is being medicated with an antibiotic. I found this ironic because while we were waiting for an hour in the exam room I read the the poster on the back of the door that informed us that most ear infections are caused by a virus and warned against using antibiotics due to the danger of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. Then, the doctor gives us an antibiotic. I guess she can tell the difference between viral caused ear infections and bacterial caused.

We did weigh her while she was there and she is up to a whopping 23 lbs 9 oz.

Small Group Materials

I've been meaning to upload and make available all my materials that I have been creating for small group but haven't had the time. I am staying home with Mihaela today because she is not feeling well so I thought this would be a good oppertunity to do this.

Week 1 - "The Nature of the Book"

• Teacher Notes
• Handout
• Slideshow

Week 2 - "The History and Heritage of the Book"

• Teacher Notes
• Handout
• Slideshow

Week 3 - "The Four Views"

• Teacher Notes
• Handout
• Slideshow
• Homework: Chapter 1 Study Guide

Week 4 - "Chapter 1: He Walks Amongst Us"

• Teacher Notes
• Slideshow
• Homework: Church Comparison Chart
• Homework: Chapters 2 and 3 Study Guide

I will try to be more faithful and post each week's material promptly on Monday following the Sunday small group.

John Class

It seemed like everything was conspiring against me this weekend. I finished my notes up late on Saturday night and went to print. I was out-of-ink. Never fear, I said to myself, I had a printer in the car that had been donated to PCA that I needed to clean up and test. I cleaned it up, hooked it up, and it worked beuatifully, exept it had no ink either. I didn't worry then though, I would just print it at church. I took my laptop with me to church on Sunday morning, but for got that I had actally saved the files to my Office PC, not the laptop. So I had to run back home nad burn them onto a CD and go back to church and print. I printed off my notes and went to the copier to make copies. The copier was out-of-order. DOH!!!

Well, at least I had my notes for class.

John 5 Notes
John 5 Discussion Questions

Busy Weekend Ahead

I am procrasting a very busy weekend that I should be working on by blogging right now. I am supposed to be studying John 5 because I am filling in teaching Sunday School for the next two weeks. The teacher called me on Wed and asked me to substitue because his wife's mother had passed away and they were travelling to Arkansas for the weekend. Then next weekend he was scheduled to lead a discussion in our "Make Your Election Sure" class on war. I told him I would be happy to fill in, so I am studying John 5 this week and John 6 next week.

I am also supposed to work tomorrow for Joe. I need to put in a number hours to try and get more done on the project I am working on so that I can show it to Joe. He hasn't given me a deadline for it, but I know the quicker I get it done, the quicker he can market it and have it be a revenue source.

I also have communion next Sunday (the 31st) and have been preparing for that this week. I need to get a few more things ready to show the Worship Leader this Sunday so that he can work what I have planned into worship. I will post that after next week because I think everyone will like it. I have this strange feeling I may have created something that may be passed around via e-mail all over the Internet. Then again, I may be experience dillusions de grandeur.

Of course, I still am teaching small group on Sunday night. I spent Tuesday night prepping for it, but still have work to do to get ready for it. I did finish my homework study guides for the next two weeks, but still have to prep discussion questions for the night.

One of our small group member's father has just been diagnosed with leukiema, so we are praying for that family. Another member of the group had to have surgery this past week so we have to take food over this weekend. Needless-to-say, I am really too busy to be writing this, but I wanted to procrastinate. I guess I need to get back to the grindstone.

Maybe She Forgot How

Last night I blogged my excitement as Mihaela completed her "rolling over" phase by successfully returning to her back from her stomach. Prior to last night's achievement she could only roll one way, from her back to her front.

Today she spent a lot of time, at least for her, on her tummy. Erin said she rolled over from her back to her tummy this morning and then stayed on her tummy for over 15 minutes. She never even tried to return to her back. Then, this evening when I was playing with her I put her on her back and she immediately rolled over to her tummy. She kicked her legs, rocked back and forth on her tummy a few times, and pushed her chest and head high into the air with her arms. She never rolled back onto her back. She became frustrated about being on her tummy and didn't even try to roll back over. I think she forgot that she knows how to do it.

Maybe tomorrow she will relearn to do what she already did with great ease.

Geeky "Personality" Test Results

Which OS are You?

Rolling Over

Mihalea has decided that she is was not content to merely roll-over from her back to her front. She has decided tgo roll-over from her front to her back too!!!! She successfully completed the manuver, causing the entire household (her mother and me) to erupt in great cheers. This did nothing but excite her, so she rolled back on to her tummy and then proceeded to show off by duplicating her feat. She rolled back and forth from tummy to back about 6 times after she figured out how to do it.

She is also rotating on her stomach and also scooting around in circles when she is sitting. She is no longer content to sit in one position, but bursting forth with movements. Erin thinks she will be crawling with in two weeks. Anyway, it is so exciting watching her learn and seeing her accomplish these great feats.

Weekend Update

Wow! This was a busy weekend we just had. On Friday night we had over 3 other couples for a "Game Night." Andy made chili and everyone brought some food and we played board games until after 10. It was a lot of fun.

Then, we got up early on Saturday morning because Mihalea had a Dr. appointment to get her first flu shot. We took her in and she got her shot. I then worked for about 8 hours for my consulting job. Erin and the baby spent the day with her parents and then we all ate dinner togather.

Sunday, I got up early and went to set up the sound board. Church rocked. Erin said I had the best mix of the praise team ever and Don preached it out of the park. I spent Sunday afternoon preparing for small group and then we had small group at our house. Our Bible study time lasted 1 hour, followed by 30 minutes of unplanned sharing. We then prayed and ate. A couple of the couples from our small group just stayed around talking until after 10 PM. I then had to run to PCA to implement the internet filtering software that I said I would have done by Monday.

It was a very busy weekend and I am tired and ready for bed...

Google My PC

The people from Google must read my brother's blog, because back in May he blogged about wanting a feature like this from Google. Now, they have provided it for him.

I am downloading and testing the newest creation from Google, Google Desktop Search. According to Google, this is

"...a desktop search application that provides full text search over your email, computer files, chats, and the web pages you've viewed. By making your computer searchable, Google Desktop Search puts your information easily within your reach and frees you from having to manually organize your files, emails, and bookmarks. "

Download it for yourself @ http://desktop.google.com

Blogger NavBar

I watch my site statistics very closely. Not that I get a lot of hits, only 4 to 6 a day. I find it very intresting what people are searching for when they end up on my blog. I wish I had started a list of search terms that drew people to my site when I first started.

Anyway, I turned on the Blogger NavBar yesterday as part of my move to a Blogger Template and have been amazed to find in the past two days that my hits have doubled as people use the NavBar to get here.

I don't think they are sticking around and reading anything. Too bad for them because I have some wonderful insights (if I do say so myself). But, they are coming.

Used Blogger Template

I haven't liked my blog look for some time and had been trying to come up with a new look, but don't really have time to re-do it. So I opted for one of the built-in templates. Maybe one day I will re-do an orginal.

I did make a few enhancements to the template to kind of personalize it.

France Forces Champagne Down the Drain

So, you have a product and want to raisethe price. There are two ways to do that:

1. Increase demand, keep supplies the same
2. Decrease supplies, keep demand the same

Well, in France the vineyards wanted to raise the price of champagne, so they lobbied thier government to enforce quotas on the amount of champagne a vineyard was allowed to produce. This quota is determined by the acre, so bigger vineyards stay big while smaller vineyards stay small.

Anyway, it appears that this year's grape harvest is a phenomanal one. The best in 300 years. However, the quotas are in place and no one can take advantage of this and produce a lot of extra good champagne.

This kind of regulation is destructive to small businesses and denies a good product to many people who might not normally be able to afford it.

Read the article here.

Concert

Bill, Brooke, Jayde, Aubree, Morgan and Adam drove down to Montgomery today to visit for the weekend. Bill, Jayde and Aubree didn't know it, but Gary had arranged for them, Brooke, Erin and I to go to a concert tonigh. Ma stayed home with Mihaela and the two little ones. The rest of us suprised Bill, Jayde and Aubree by taking to see Third Day and Toby Mac.

It was a great concert. The first band was called Day of Fire, a heavy metal christian band. The lead singer used to be a member of a Metal band called "Full Devil's Jacket." However, when a drug overdose landed him in re-hab, he was found by Christ and saved. He is a complete new man. The group finds its roots in the classic metal sound of Metallica and Motley Crue and while you will hear the similarities between them and Pearl Jam or Nickelback, you find phenommal lyrics that show just how merciful and gracious God is. I was truly moved by thier testimony and thier music.

Then, Toby Mac and crew put on a very upbeat, lively, and rocking show. Wow!!! Do they have a lot of energy! It was a great set.

Finally, Third Day performed and an outstanding, worshipful time was had by all. Their newest CD rocks. They had a great light display, excellent video footage, and a wonderful format. It had been 4 or 5 years since they were last in Montgomery and thier stage presence and show has greatly improved.

I missed the debate to go the show but don't really care. I had such a good time. If you get the oppertunity, this is a concert you don't want to miss.

Communism or Facism: Pick your Poison

Joseph Farah has written an editorial piece railing against the mountain of regulations created by beuracrats that pour out of Washington each year. He makes the points that those regulations created by federal agencies cost private citizens and private business real dollars. This, then, makes the practice of regulating a form of taxiation. Farah goes on to point out that since these beuracrats are not elected and Congress does not police them, then we have returned to the era of "taxation without representation."

These agencies not only subvert the founding principle of "no taxation without representation," they also totally subvert the principle of the separation of powers. The agencies all make rules, interpret the rules, and enforce the rules. In essence, each agency has legislative, judicial and executive power in spite of the founders intent to separate those powers.

This practice of regulation is the essence of facism. Most people don't really understand what facism is, though they throw the word around willy-nilly. Remember, Nazi Germany did not advocate public ownership of the means of production like Communist Russia. In Nazi Germany, ownership rights were negated by government regulations. What is the point of ownership when one has no power to use or dispose of their property as they themselves see fit?

Facism and Socialism are not polar opposites. They are the same beast and we have been moving towards both with great haste. Since the inclusion of the Income tax we have started taking money away from those who earn it to give it to those who need it. This moves us as individuals towards socialim. Meanwhile, we regulate our businesses so heavily that business owners can not really sell a widget or move a wadget without paying homage to the god of government.

The real tragedy is that one of these two forms of tyranny are the will of the people.

New Programmer Started

I hired a new programmer and he started on Monday. He appears to be very talented and his personality meshes well with the group. I am excited.

He sent me an invitation to GMail and I replied that I didn't need it because, as a Blogger, I already had an account. I am intrested to see how it long it takes him to find my blog. So, Chad, when you find this...leave a comment. :)

Small Group Started

Everything seemed to go well. We had 4 other families join us on Sunday night. Two of the families we are very good friends with and they were determined to come back when I first started talking about hosting a small group. On Sunday morning the Shepherds had each small group leader take 1 minute to talk about his group so that people could see what was going on. The other two families heard my little spiel and decided to come to our group. One of the families has not even placed membership at the church yet.

A good time was had by all (I think). I pray that God will continue to bless this group and that it will be a conduit to some long-lasting, deep relationships.

Small Group starts tonight

Erin and I decided that we needed to lead a small group. It starts tonight and will be looking at the book of Revelation.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I get into a "cruise-control Christianity" mentality. It is the state when I am going to church, reading my Bible, praying, and living an ethical/moral life, but am not really striving after a Christ-like character. It seems that I am more-or-less jogging the race, not running after it.

The focus of the Small Group is to use the book of Revelation to spur us on to a deeper understanding of God and living a more authentic Christ-like life. By studying the Revelation of Jesus we will be studying that prize that we are to keep our eye on and that will inspire us to step up the pace from jogging to running.

I'll post an update after group and will include week one's outline and presentation.

Milestone Reached...Finally

Well, Mihaela has finally rolled-over. After 7 1/2 months of immobility, she has decided that being able to switch from being on her back to being on front might be a good thing. We assumed she had figured out how to roll-over earlier this week when we went to get her out of her crib one morning and she was on her tummy. Since I had put her to bed on her back, obviously she had rolled over.

Today, though, we officially saw the roll. She is working on being able to roll back over, but still has a lot of mass to move. I think she will force herself to crawl very soon now that she is learning to be mobile and is no longer content to be stationary.

Boring Debate

The debate was so boring. Where are the good, old days of candidates screaming at each other and vehemently defending his position? These polite exchanges don't allow for us to see how a person will react when goaded and under stress. I want to see the candidates push each other's buttons and engage one another. Oh, well, such is the price of political correctness. Rudeness is not allowed; neither is truth.

Which Terrorist are our enemies?

Orson Scott Card (a science fiction/fantasy author of the highest caliber) writes a weekly opinion piece for his local newspaper. He then publishes that piece to his web a couple of weeks later. Card is a long-time democrat, opining along the same vein as Zell Miller. He is not a socialist and not a liberal, but a moderate, well reasoned democrat. Very rarely do I find myself disagreeing with him.

This week's opinion is no exception. He brilliantly writes that to win the war on terrorism, there can be no distinction between international terrorists and local terrorists. As our President criticizes Putin for his reaction to the Chechan terrorists (which I think is a mistake on Bush's part) we see why it is important for us to channel our resources to destroy all terrorism.

Iraq had no nuclear weapons

The former head of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program details some of the history of Iraq's struggle for nuclear weapons. He talks about the fact that right before the war against Iraq there was no nuclear program, but does explains how it was very legitimate for the west to believe Saddam still had nukes. He ends by saying the nuclear program could have been reconstituted at any time with very little problem and opines why that is dangerous and how America needs to handle this situation.

Legitimate War

Many people in the media and on the Left attempt to paint the battle in Iraq as a "red herring" in the War on Terror. Depending on how partisan the person is, they may charge Bush with anything from fabricating reasons to initiate a war in Iraq to relying on faulty documents that he used to make arguments to the American people so as to gain approval for a war. They tend to believe that the war in Iraq is either nothing more than a personal vendetta or a way to line the pockets of his friends. No matter what they use as the reason for Bush wanting to go to war with Iraq or how he got there, they have an underlying position that the war in Iraq is illegitimate.

There are several misleading statements that they use to justify this position and they repeatedly state them as if they are fact. I heard Jesse Jackson making these same misstatements on the Sean Hannity Radio Show yesterday and was surprised the Hannity did not rebut them. However, I have been working on a long blog to counter each of these arguments but have not posted it because all of my research was not done. However, my brother called me yesterday seeking some information and I thought he could use this post. So, I will make a feeble attempt to fill the role of both Adam and Jamie and bust these myths.

Myth # 1: The Battle in Iraq is part of a Republican Agenda
The official foreign policy of the US concerning Iraq has been "transition to democracy" since 1998 when President Clinton signed the 1998 Iraqi Liberation Act. This policy did not change with the Bush Administration. Prior to election year politics the necessity of regime change in Iraq was a rare point of agreement between the two parties, as made clear by the October 2002 vote authorizing the president to use force against Iraq (supported by 29 Democratic Senators and 126 Democratic Representatives).

Myth #2: Iraq was billed as an imminent threat to U.S. security
In the President's 2003 State of the Union Address he actually makes it very clear that the threat from Iraq is not imminent:

"Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late."

The President did not say the threat was imminent, but instead made a case that to wait until the threat was imminent was to wait too long. This is wise thinking that agrees with such proverbs as "A stitch in time saves nine" and "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Myth #3: Bush lied about Saddam seeking yellowcake uranium from Niger
While I am talking about the President's 2003 State of the Union Address I best deal with this myth. First, let me be clear about what I call a lie. A lie is a statement that one knows to be false at the time the statement is made. It is not, for instance, a lie to wake up in the morning, roll over and say to your spouse, "It is sunny today," when in fact it is overcast. However, if you wake up, open the backdoor, see that it is overcast and then go say to your spouse, "It is sunny today," you have lied. A careful examination of those words show that they were indeed true at the time Bush spoke them.

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought
significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

In July 2003 (after the controversy erupted) British intelligence services and Tony Blair were firmly standing by their assertion of the Iraq-Niger connection. In case that is not enough, it is important to note that the bipartisan-prepared 9/11 Commission Report cites several credible pieces of intelligence affirming the link, including reports from a foreign service and the U.S. Navy about uranium from Niger headed for Iraq and stored in a warehouse in Benin.

Myth #4: There is no tie between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda
Before I get started debunking this myth it is important to note that the Bush administration never claimed Saddam Hussein had any hand in planning the 9/11 attacks. However, we are not in a war against those who attacked us on 9/11; we are in a War against Terror. The attacks on the WTC were just an excursion from one company of terrorists.

Just saying that there was no connection between al-Qaeda and Iraq does not make it so. When one looks at the facts, one must draw the conclusion that Saddam engaged in the supporting of terrorist. Here are just a very few documented examples of Saddam's terroristic efforts:

• Saddam's regime offered $25,000 in blood money to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
• Saddam harbored prominent terrorist figures like Abu Nidal, responsible for the deaths of American citizens, and Abdul Rahman Yasin, an Iraqi who helped hatch the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.
• He also sponsored Ansar al-Islam, the al-Qaeda spin-off group headquartered in northern Iraq.
• Czech officials report that Atta met with an Iraqi official in Prague on April 8, 2001.

Stephen Hayes, the author of a book called The Connection makes a very convincing case for connections between Saddam and terrorists. The book is overflowing with footnotes and references to his sources that include Iraqi intelligence documents, confessions of Iraqi intelligence personnel, intercepted telephone conversations, allegations of counterterrorism officials in the Clinton administration, and even satellite photographs. It is my opinion that only partisans can outright dismiss the al-Qaeda/Saddam link after reading his book.

Myth #5: No WMDs have been found
This is pretty easy to disprove, either weapons have been found or they haven't. If this debate were not so partisan, then a few news articles showing the discovery of WMDs would put this to argument down. Before we look at articles, it is imperative that an agreement on what constitutes a WMD is reached. This report by FoxNews provides a concise overview. Now, here is a summary of what has been discovered in Iraq:

1. Chemical and biological weapon systems plans and equipment
2. Reference strains of biological weapons agents
3. New research on brucella and congo-crimean hemorrhagic fever, and continuing work on ricin and aflatoxin
4. A biological weapons lab
5. Polish troops in Iraq uncovered warheads containing Cyclosarin, an agent far more toxic than Sarin. (These were old and degraded and probably would not have been a threat, but were still illegal under the terms of Kuwait Surrender for Saddam to have)
6. Prohibited long-range missiles suitable for delivering WMDs
7. Documents showing Saddam tried to obtain long-range ballistic missiles from North Korea
8. 10 to 12 sarin and mustard gas shells have been found in various locations in Iraq
9. Gas centrifuge elements for enriching uranium, parts of a nuclear weapons program, buried in the back yard of Mahdi Obeidi, a nuclear scientist. Obeidi also gave up nuclear development documents and said there were other pieces of the puzzle hidden elsewhere.
10. A barrel of enriched uranium found near Mosul.
11. Iraq was 3 years from a building a nuclear weapon, according to top nuclear scientists quoted by CNN.
12. In May 2004, the Iraq Survey Group, the people who are searching for WMD, confirmed that a roadside bomb detonated was also packed with Sarin nerve agent. That bomb was one 550, for which Saddam Hussein failed to account prior to the war. The article also points out that Hans Blix reported that his inspection team found 16 empty, Iraqi warheads marked for use with Sarin prior to the start of the war.
13. In October 2003, Kuwaiti security forces intercepted Iraqis attempting to smuggle $60 million worth of chemical weapons and biological warheads to an unnamed European country
14. On January 16, 2003, UN weapons inspectors discovered 11 rocket warheads designed to deliver chemical weapons in a bunker 75 miles south of Baghdad.
15. Chief Weapons Inspector David Kay reported "dozens of WMD-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations during the inspections that began in late 2002," including vials of live botulinum bacteria that were found hidden at the home of an Iraqi scientist. Botulinum is the single most poisonous substance known to mankind.
16. Kay's final report reveals Iraq's attempt to "revive its efforts to develop nuclear weapons in 2000 and 2001," and that "Baghdad was actively working to produce a biological weapon using the poison ricin."
17. Kay successor Charles Duelfer reported on March 30, 2004: "Iraq did have facilities suitable for the production of biological and chemical agents needed for weapons. It had plans to improve and expand and even build new facilities." Iraq was also working up to March 2003 to construct new facilities for the large-scale production of dual-use chemicals.
18. According to former Justice Dept prosecutor John Loftus, "The CIA has found 41 different material breaches where Saddam did have a weapons of mass destruction program."
19. "We know from some of the interrogations of former Iraqi officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD" - David Kay, who also told the Associated Press that satellites showed "a lot of traffic" from Iraq to Syria
20. A Syrian journalist who defected to Paris in January has named three sites in Syria where Iraqi WMDs are buried, based on contacts of his in Syrian Intelligence. Israeli intelligence has confirmed his account
21. An Iraqi scientist told American weapons experts that Iraq had secretly sent unconventional weapons and technology to Syria just before the war, according to the New York Times
22. Jordan recently seized 20 tons of chemicals trucked in by confessed al Qaeda members who brought the stuff in from Syria. The chemicals included VX, Sarin and 70 others

When Saddam surrendered and signed the papers he agreed to surrender all chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons to UN monitors. But inspector David Kay has testified that the Iraqi regime violated UN Resolution 1441, by finding new ways to sidestep its provisions. Saddam's enduring evasiveness, coupled with an aggressive last-ditch bid to cover up its militaristic aims by barring international inspectors from sensitive sites, kept inspectors from discovering Iraq's illegal missile programs.

Myth 6: America is fighting the war in Iraq alone
Three-dozen countries are currently contributing military forces to the country, and several creditor nations have forgiven Iraqi debt and pledged reconstruction funds. President Bush listed out many of our allies in this war in State of the Union Speech.

"Some critics have said our duties in Iraq must be internationalized. This
particular criticism is hard to explain to our partners in Britain, Australia,
Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark,
Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, the Netherlands -- (applause) -- Norway, El
Salvador, and the 17 other countries that have committed troops to Iraq.
(Applause.) As we debate at home, we must never ignore the vital contributions
of our international partners, or dismiss their sacrifices."

So, we have allies but it is an illegitimate coalition because the UN did not give us permission to fight this war is the follow-up argument. I don't buy this argument because getting permission from the UN would put our ability to defend ourselves in the hands of Kofi Annan and an organization where "free" countries can be paid off, the voice of a dictator is equal to the voice of freedom, and our enemies have a vote. This does not make sense.

Myth 7: We are more susceptible to terrorism today because of the War in Iraq
I wrote a blog entry about this back April about the fact that we are winning the war on Terror and are safer than ever. No use rewriting that one.

Conclusion
Wow! This is long. I figure most people won't get this far. However, I think I've made some compelling arguments and rebuttals for the myths. My brother used to be against the war in Iraq but has become convinced otherwise because of entries on my blog. Something in my chain of thoughts changed his mind, so I've included a little index of all my entries dealing with the war Iraq in chronological order just as he would have read them.

• December 15, 2003 - Sadaam Caught
• December 15, 2003 - War on Terror is a Spiritual War
• March 12, 2004 - Analysis of 4 Presidential Candidates following Spanish Train bombing
• March 15, 2004 - Impact of Spanish Train bombing on Spanish Election
• March 16, 2004 - Al-Qaeda Intended to influence Spanish Election
• March 16, 2004 - France Threatened by Terrorist despite Appeasement Mentality
• March 17, 2004 - Appeasing terrorist is like spoiling children
• March 25, 2004 - Iraqi Insurgency led by Al-Qaeda
• April 12, 2004 - A War Quote to Ponder
• April 14, 2004 - Resistance in Iraq does not equal Failure in the War on Terror
• April 27, 2004 - How can a Libertarian Support the War on Terror?
• April 30, 2004 - We are Winning the War on Terror (Ant Metaphor)
• May 6, 2004 - A Compassionate Side of Bush
• May 7, 2004 - Evidence of Iraq/Al-Qaeda Connection
• May 12, 2004 - A Look at the Enemy (Nick Berg Beheaded)
• May 18, 2004 - Analysis of article by Thomas Sowell
• June 15, 2004 - World Ignores Iran
• June 21, 2004 - I take the Paddle to the Blame America Crowd
• June 28, 2004 - Greetings to the New Government of Iraq
• July 22, 2004 - Foreign Leaders Dictate American Foreign Policy
• August 4, 2004 - Analysis of Terrorist Attack on US Election
• August 18, 2004 - How I think Jesus would Vote on the War on Terror Issue
• August 26, 2004 - War on Terror, Not Vietnam Service is Most Imporntant Election Issue
• August 31, 2004 - French Discover Appeasement doesn't Offer Protection
• September 6, 2004 - Rant Against Terrorist who Killed Russian Schoolchildren
• September 8, 2004 - Lest we Misremember
• September 8, 2004 - Only a Fool would not know how to Describe someone who kills children
• September 20, 2004 - Who would Al-Qaeda Vote For?

Great Quote

During Bible class this eventing the administrator at Erin's school recited a quote that he had heard at an Administrator's Conference.

Parents used want you (schools) to prepare thier children for the road ahead. Now they want you to change the road.

I found this to be a very insightful commentary on our culture. However, things may be Changing. According to the Orgeonan, GenXers are setting more boundries for thier children than the Boomers did.

Iran to continue exploring atomic energy alternatives

• Let's see, one of the countries in the Axis of Evil, that sits on one of the largest reservoirs of oil needs to continue its nuclear program. However, they say, don't worry, we are not building weapons. Yeah, right.
• I wonder if anyone will condemn them for acting unilaterally without UN permission? Probably not.
• The fact is Iran is not afraid of repercussions of this decision because the political process here in the US has demonized our effort in Iraq to the extent that the American people no longer have the resolve to protect ourselves. The Democrats and the media have successfully taken away Bush's ability to use the fear of force to ensure that Iran does not build nuclear weapons.
• Not a good investment plan: Everyone who trusts Iran to not build weapons and only use the technology for energy purposes, please send me $1.

Not those world leaders

This past weekend Dennis Hastert (R- IL) opined that Al Qaeda would be more comfortable with a Kerry administration than a Bush administration. This, of course, prompted criticism of Hastert by the Kerry\Edwards campaign.

Many months ago Kerry proclaimed that some world leaders wanted him to win this election, but refused to say which ones. Now, that someone has actually provided a name of some world leaders that might want Kerry to win, they get all excited and disparage the statement.

I think everyone would agree that Kerry appears to be softer on terrorists than Bush. Most people would agree that the terrorists would want the person who is a less of a threat to them to win, ergo, they would want Kerry to win. However, that line of thinking requires logic and common sense. That will prevent most liberals from reaching that same conclusion.