SICKNESS FOLLOWS EXXON VALDEZ CLEANUP WORKERS

A reader named Merle Savage posted this comment on a post I put up today. I haven't had time to follow all the links but I intend to later this evening. I hope she doesn't mind that I'm putting this up. If so, I ask her to contact me and I will remove it.

Article from Las Vegas Review Journal:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/exxon-valdez-oil-risks-spur-warning-for-gulf-cleanup-crews-93258964.html

The workers who are cleaning up the oil in the Gulf need to be aware of the chemicals that will be used. I am one of the 11,000+ cleanup workers from the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS), who is suffering from health issues from that toxic cleanup, without compensation from Exxon.

My name is Merle Savage; a female general foreman during the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) beach cleanup in 1989, which turned into 21 years of extensive health deterioration for me, and many other workers. Dr. Riki Ott visited me in 2007 to explain about the toxic spraying on the beaches. She also informed me that Exxon's medical records and the reports that surfaced in litigation by sick workers in 1994, had been sealed from the public, making it impossible to hold Exxon responsible for their actions.
http://www.rikiott.com

Exxon developed the toxic spraying; OSHA, the Coast Guard, and the state of Alaska authorized the procedure; VECO and other Exxon contractors implemented it. Beach crews breathed in crude oil that splashed off the rocks and into the air -- the toxic exposure turned into chronic breathing conditions and central nervous system problems, along with other massive health issues. Some of the illnesses include neurological impairment, chronic respiratory disease, leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, liver damage, and blood disease.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5632208859935499100

My web site is devoted to searching for EVOS cleanup workers who were exposed to the toxic spraying, and are suffering from the same illnesses that I have. Our summer employment turned into a death sentence for many -- and a life of unending medical conditions for the rest of us – Exxon’s Collateral Damaged.
http://www.silenceinthesound.com/stories.shtml

"They called it the "Valdez crud," but it was more than a cough and diarrhea.

"We thought it was a flu that was going around and every body kept getting it," said Merle Savage, who was general foreman of the cleanup crews of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

Instead, the stuff that was making cleanup workers sick was a toxic cocktail of oil droplets in mist they inhaled from spraying the shoreline with hot water and chemicals that were used to disperse the spill's massive black wave.

Now Savage wants today's workers to be aware of similar risks they might face in cleaning up the even bigger BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."
Las Vegas Review Journal

WHY NASHVILLE HAD NO LOOTERS

A friend of mine sent me this in an e-mail:

A picture is worth a thousand words.

A gun in times of trouble: PRICELESS!

HOW WILL YOU REACT?

"American gun owners might not feel besieged, but they should. This week, the Obama administration announced its support for the United Nations Small Arms Treaty. This international agreement poses real risks for freedom both in the United States and around the world by making it more difficult - if not outright illegal - for law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.

The U.N. claims that guns used in armed conflicts cause 300,000 deaths worldwide every year, an inordinate number of which are the result of internal civil strife within individual nations. The solution proposed by transnationalists to keep rebels from getting guns is to make the global pool of weapons smaller through government action. According to recent deliberations regarding the treaty, signatory countries would be required to "prevent, combat and eradicate" various classes of guns to undermine "the illicit trade in small arms." Such a plan would necessarily lead to confiscation of personal firearms.

...The U.N. Small Arms Treaty opens a back door for the Obama administration to force through gun control regulations. Threats to the Second Amendment are as real today as ever."
Washington Times

When this is signed, because it will be, how will you react when they come to take your guns, because they will. There is no other reason to sign on to this unless the object is the removal of the means of resistance from the hands of the citizens.

So how will you react?

When they come for the guns they won't come with overwhelming force. It'll start with pressure being applied through advertising appealing to your humanity and the evils of firearms. Some will hand their guns over willingly.

Then there will be some sort of sanctions applied. After all, the government has a list of gun owners to work from. You don't hand over your weapons and maybe you can't get a drivers licence or your bank accounts are frozen. There are all sorts of ways to make life unlivable in this interconnected world we live in. Perhaps the IRS, which is functioning more and more as a shock troop, will start combing through your taxes.

Most will hand over their weapons at this point.

But what about those that won't?

We will have to either disappear into the woods and try to stay ahead of the law or decide to confront an overwhelming force at our doorstep. We will be arrested or die because if you resist those are the only two options.

So how will you react? It's better to think it through now in peace than to try and decide later when the government agent knocks at your door.

America is being invaded through treaty as surely as if troops were storming our beaches. The ugly reality is that our government is complicit in the invasion. We are losing the war.

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

March 23, 1775
By Patrick Henry

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the house. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the house is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at the truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the numbers of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received?

Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlement assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation.

There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us! They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength but irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extentuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
University of Oklahoma

MEMORIAL DAY 2010

WHATEVER IT TAKES

I agree with Mr. Pollock in the video below. The time for deliberate action has passed. We need the best minds and the best technology with NO restrictions on methods. This is either stopped or the damage will dwarf anything we've ever known. If we have to use nuclear weapons then do it.

SICKNESS SPREADS IN GULF

"Seven oil spill recovery workers who were hospitalized in New Orleans after complaining of feeling ill were properly trained and had protective gear on, according to the the federal on-scene coordinator for the oil spill response effort in the Gulf of Mexico.

"The heat and humidity in Louisiana can be challenging," Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry told reporters Thursday afternoon.

She said the workers were treated for several symptoms, including headaches, nausea, vomiting and shortness of breath. Safety officials from the Coast Guard, BP and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration had responded to the incident, Landry.

"Basically, these folks all had the proper personal protective equipment on, and they all received the required training," she said. "Fortunately, everyone is fine."
WIBW

"Some fishermen who have been hired by BP to clean up the gulf oil spill say they have become ill after working long hours near waters fouled with oil and dispersant, prompting a Louisiana lawmaker to call on the federal government to open mobile clinics in rural areas to treat them."
LA Times

"Deja Vu."

That's how marine toxicologist and Huffington Post blogger Rikki Ott described the similarity of events surrounding the failing health of workers recruited to cleanup the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and their Alaskan counterparts who worked to do the same after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.

On Wednesday, The Los Angeles Times reported that fishermen hired to cleanup BP's mess were coming down with nausea, severe headaches, and breathing problems after working in waters contaminated by the nation's worst oil spill.

BP reportedly told the workers that if they encountered oil, it "wasn't supposed to bother [them]." BP did not distribute gloves, suits, or any other kind of protective gear.

Following up on the LA Times report, Propublica noted that BP continues to use a dispersant called Corexit, which has been tied to human health problems in the past. BP continues to use Corexit despite a deadline imposed by the EPA directing the oil company to stop using it."
Huffington Post

"Hi all,

Making this quick, don't feel well. About 4:15pm or so eastern, coming back from Tampa, Florida north on Veteran's Expressway...about 7 miles perhaps from SR 54...it sprinkled some gray watery and solid black oil on my car. Thought it was bugs, but so fast did not make sense and windshield wipers just smeared it. Got out of car at store and looked on the paint and solid black dots on my car...I touch? huh? it's wet? it's OIL!!!!!

I had several folks verify it before I sprayed it off and it came off easier than the few love bugs. Two hours later still wet like OIL! nope, not water, smell it, OIL!!!
Anyone on Gulf try not to smear touch it as it is harder to wash off if it happens to you. Bands of storm clouds coming this way from Gulf of Mexico...has not actually rained at least where I have been, just ran through the sprinkle. I smell it now I am inside the house...it's just hard for me to believe also. One can think of a other things...oh maybe it was a vehicle in front of you...there was no vehicles near me at the time. So coincidence oil spill in the gulf and it rains oil on my car? okay believe what you will...but I know my gut and what happened to me, what I saw, others witnessed, I took pics of (sorry don't know how to post them, and it photos could be debatable anyway, take my word or not whichever...but we are in deep hocky doo folks.

I was noticing that big black blotch closer to west coast FL on some images that someone posted yesterday on Disasters board...wondering. Well, maybe wrong board but felt more may see it here and ones that live here. Be careful, if it gets on your clothes, pets, hair, eyes, skin...it won't be so easy to wash off as a well waxed car is.

Not checking this for now, gotta wash out my ears, eyes, nose and lay down...change clothes as I smell it now inside the house on my clothes. I did not smell it while out though and my nose is now desensitizing, but I feel nauseated. I am really sensitive though, some may not be so much or get the heavy warnings I do.

Thanks for letting me post this bopp, if you want to move it, okay with me I understand...maybe nobody pay attention anyway and I am not super pops here as it is!

~ Eve"
Signs of the Times

OIL POURS INTO GULF WITH NO REAL END IN SIGHT

There is no other story now. The entire United States economy and the Presidency of Barack Obama will be sucked into this. And, as goes the U.S.A., so goes the world. This will destroy the food chain and water supplies as it spreads through ocean currents and is lifted across America's heartland through hurricanes and the inland storms they produce.

This has changed everything.

"The amount of oil and gas leaking from BP's ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico could increase as much as 20 percent while efforts are made to cap it, the White House said on Sunday."
Reuters

"There is still a hole in the Earth, crude oil is still spewing from it and there is still, excruciatingly, no end in sight. After trying and trying again, one of the world's largest corporations, backed and pushed by the world's most powerful government, can't stop the runaway gusher.

As desperation grows and ecological misery spreads, the operative word on the ground now is, incredibly, August — the earliest moment that a real resolution could be at hand. And even then, there's no guarantee of success. For the United States and the people of its beleaguered Gulf Coast, a dispiriting summer of oil and anger lies dead ahead.

Oh ... and the Atlantic hurricane season begins Tuesday."
Yahoo

"The Obama administration scrambled to respond on Sunday after the failure of the latest effort to kill the gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. But administration officials acknowledged the possibility that tens of thousands of gallons of oil might continue pouring out until August, when two relief wells are scheduled to be completed.

“We are prepared for the worst,” said Carol M. Browner, President Obama’s climate change and energy policy adviser. “We have been prepared from the beginning.”
New York Times

"In the Gulf, BP has started deploying a containment device known as a lower-marine riser package cap. The cap will attach to the top of the well’s existing blowout preventer and will then funnel oil and gas into a pipe that extends to a ship on the surface, Suttles said.

After the attachment of the lower-marine riser package cap, BP plans to install the new blowout preventer on top of the existing one, Suttles said. BP will then try to use the valves on the new blowout preventer to stop the flow.

“We’re still looking at a month before we get this thing killed,” Les Ply, a retired mud engineering consultant for the oil industry, said yesterday in a telephone interview. “I think we’re looking at a week to 10 days to get this riser and cap in place.”

The new method, if successful, would stop the leak long enough for a so-called relief well to be drilled nearby and provide a permanent seal."
Bloomberg

"A BP executive says a relief well is the "end point" of efforts to stop the Gulf oil spill — which suggests there's little chance of plugging the leak until the new well is completed in August."
Fox News

LIFE AS WE'VE KNOWN IT IS SLIPPING AWAY

"BP Plc (BP.L) said on Saturday the complex "top kill" maneuver to plug its Gulf of Mexico oil well has failed, crushing hopes for a quick end to the largest oil spill in U.S. history already in its 40th day.

"We have not been able to stop the flow," said Doug Suttles, the London-based oil giant's chief operating officer.

"We have made the decision to move on to the next option," he added.

That next option is called the lower marine riser package cap, one that captures oil from the well rather than plug it. Suttles said it could take four days or longer to show results.

U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Mary Landry, flanking Suttles at a daily briefing, said the news of the top kill failure was disappointing and that the best option for ending the spill was drilling a relief well which BP estimates will take two months."
Reuters

The media and all the talking heads either can't see it or they're being told not to say it but this blowout will effect everyone on the planet. As the Gulf dies and the oil nears the Gulf Stream all we hear about is Lady GaGa.

The great chastisement has begun. Isn't it ironic that God has chosen to turn the very thing, oil, that allowed us to live a life so far removed from any other human experience of life that one could almost make the argument that our lives really haven't been human after all. Oil afforded us the arrogance to turn against our Creator and allowed us to take His place in the temple, to sit on His seat as the final arbiters of right and wrong.

We're about to be taught a lesson about the exact nature of humanity and how powerful the true God is.

Pray!

IS BP CAPPING THE WRONG HOLE?

2ND ICELANDIC VOLCANO SET TO ERUPT

And the hits just keep on coming.

"A second, much larger volcano in Iceland is showing signs that it may be about to erupt, scientists have warned.

Since the start of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, which caused cancellations of thousands of flights in Europe because of a giant ash cloud, there has been much speculation about neighboring Katla.

An initial research paper by the University College of London Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction said: "Analysis of the seismic energy released around Katla over the last decade or so is interpreted as providing evidence of a rising ... intrusive magma body on the western flank of the volcano."
MSNBC

COMMUNIST GOALS FROM 1963

Communist Goals (1963)

Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35

January 10, 1963

Current Communist Goals

EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, January 10, 1963



Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.

At Mrs. Nordman's request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following "Current Communist Goals," which she identifies as an excerpt from "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen:

[From "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen]

CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.

RACISM REARS ITS POINTY LITTLE HEAD IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, MISSOURI

 

Villa Ridge, where this occurred, is not very far from my house. This crap makes me sick. We don't need it around here.

I've got black families that live all around me, most descended from slaves that were owned by farmers in the area. Their forefathers bought their own farms and stayed here after the war. Pacific, the next town over has a Mayor, Herb Adams, that is one of those descendants. Mostly everybody gets along fine out here. Sure, you hear the occasional remark, something stupid from a white guy about blacks and I'm sure it goes the other way, too. That's just human nature and part of living in a country that is made up of people from around the world.

But we don't need the old days of Klans and hatred to come back. My family had a farm in Stanton, a town about 25 miles from here, 100 years ago and I know the stories that I heard from my grandma about how blacks were treated back then. Of course, my grandma's family was Italian and they had their own problems. My parents have told me about a sign in Eureka, Mo., another town about 15 miles away, years ago when they used to have a clubhouse on the river there, that told the blacks not to be in town after dark. So the lady in the video that talks about not being able to go inside to eat her ice cream in Union (the county seat of Franklin County) when she was a kid doesn't surprise me at all.

The ugly reality is that Missouri was a slave state and many of the old beliefs took a long time to die. But, for the most part they have. Except among the toothless, crack smoking, low life white trash bastards that are a drain on our society. I'm tired of seeing toothless crackheads wandering around our county and causing problems. My guess is that it just these sorts of people or kids that hang with the lowlifes that did this.

I fear that as society comes apart and jobs become scarce the stupid among us will begin to look for someone to blame their misfortune upon. The one place they won't look is in the mirror. The coming storm is going to cause real hardship and suffering for all of us, black and white. We need to work together as a community, using all of the talents that God has distributed among us for the good of us all. We cannot afford to let racist morons get in the way of the common good and our survival.

HAS THE BLOWOUT BEEN STOPPED?

Why can't we get simple yes or no answers about anything anymore? The Coast Guard says it's fixed while BP says it's not. Yes or no, that's all we ask. If they don't know then don't say anything. WTF??!!!!

"Engineers have stopped the flow of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico from a gushing BP well, the federal government's top oil-spill commander, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said Thursday morning.

The "top kill" effort, launched Wednesday afternoon by industry and government engineers, had pumped enough drilling fluid to block oil and gas spewing from the well, Allen said. The pressure from the well was very low, he said, but persisting.

Once engineers had reduced the well pressure to zero, they were to begin pumping cement into the hole to entomb the well. To help in that effort, he said, engineers also were pumping some debris into the blowout preventer at the top of the well."
LA Times

"BP refused to say Thursday morning whether the latest effort to staunch the huge oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico had stopped the flow.

"The operation continues," BP managing director Bob Dudley told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira, but it is "too early to draw conclusions from it."

Dudley did say that "top kill" was "moving the way we wanted to" and that the situation would be clearer later in the day.

"It wouldn’t be reasonable for anybody to draw a conclusion from that until we’ve killed the well for good," he told Vieira."
MSNBC

"Scientists say the Gulf of Mexico spill has now leaked far more oil than the Exxon Valdez disaster — maybe even three-and-a-half times as much.

That makes the Gulf spill by far the worst in U.S. history.

U.S. Geological Survey Director Dr. Marcia McNutt said Thursday that a government task force estimates that anywhere from 500,000 gallons to a million gallons a day has been leaking. BP and the Coast Guard had put the flow at about 210,000 gallons per day.

The new government estimate means at least 19 million gallons and maybe as much as 39 million gallons have leaked in the five weeks since an oil rig exploded and sank. Exxon Valdez spilled about 11 million gallons.

BP is trying to plug the leak and says it has siphoned off about 924,000 gallons."

CONFUSION REIGNS

"The M3 figures - which include broad range of bank accounts and are tracked by British and European monetarists for warning signals about the direction of the US economy a year or so in advance - began shrinking last summer. The pace has since quickened.

The stock of money fell from $14.2 trillion to $13.9 trillion in the three months to April, amounting to an annual rate of contraction of 9.6pc. The assets of insitutional money market funds fell at a 37pc rate, the sharpest drop ever.

"It’s frightening," said Professor Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research. "The plunge in M3 has no precedent since the Great Depression. The dominant reason for this is that regulators across the world are pressing banks to raise capital asset ratios and to shrink their risk assets. This is why the US is not recovering properly," he said.

The US authorities have an entirely different explanation for the failure of stimulus measures to gain full traction. They are opting instead for yet further doses of Keynesian spending, despite warnings from the IMF that the gross public debt of the US will reach 97pc of GDP next year and 110pc by 2015."
Telegraph

"Even articles like the above in the Telegraph are not reporting the full nature of the problem - which is not merely banks being over-regulated and "over-capitalized." The numbers in this case may in fact tell part of the story. The only way debt-based money begins to circulate is if banks (the sacred repositories of central bank fiat money) lend it, but banks simply aren't lending - they are not putting central bank, debt-based money into circulation. But the culprit is not just over-regulation (or even the failure of Keynesian deficit spending), in our humble, opinion - no, not at all.

The real reason that banks STILL aren't lending much may also have to do with the depth and breadth of the downturn. We've written in the past this is no ordinary downturn but a fiat-money blowoff. Western paper currencies, in fact, have all failed at once, including king dollar. They have failed because incessant credit stimulation has so distorted Western economies that even after two years, these economies have not yet returned to a point where banks and other investors can tell the difference between a legitimate opportunity and one that has been kept alive by various forms of governmental chicanery. This is why "stimulus" and "bailouts" are ultimately so counter-productive. They actually retard economic recovery."
Right Side News

Up is down and right is left. It doesn't surprise me that the author for Right Side seems to believe confusion is the root cause for the plunge in money supply. We live in a world that has become increasingly devoid of the truth. Nothing is what it claims to be anymore.

This is another indication that God is backing away from us because we've asked Him to. Order and reason come from God while lies and distortion come from Satan. We now live in a world that is controlled by evil. Economies collapsing, our oceans being destroyed, families ripped apart and countries on fire. Not to mention the rise of the New World Order.

I hope and pray that I'm wrong but I don't believe I am.

I believe we are a generation that will witness signs and wonders from above and it scares the hell out of me. Many of the things that I write and post are not things that I want to say and many times they are things that I find embarrassing to say. Except for a small group that I know most people think that those that see things through the eyes of faith and the teachings of the Church are nuts. It would be a whole lot easier just to go along with them and lose myself in the pleasures of the world.

But that wouldn't be the right thing to do. Maybe I'm wrong and everyone that laughs at those of us that believe as I do are right to do so. I mean really, I write things all the time that put me in the same category as that long haired, stinky guy wandering the streets with a board hanging from his shoulders proclaiming, "The End Is Near!" I get the feeling all the time that what I write or say is just going to make me look like an idiot or start a fight; but I do it anyway because I believe I'm supposed to.

All I ask is that you consider the possibility that I am right and that there is a reason the whole world seems to be coming apart at once. And why there seems to be some sort of evil logic behind it. Because all of this has been prophesied. We've all heard the stories, even if we dismissed them as so much superstitious mumbo-jumbo. We can look around and see all those crazy stories playing out.

Pray, even if you don't believe in God. Ask Him to show Himself to you. I know that it may feel really, really weird to do this if you've never tried but if you have an open heart and are honestly searching for the truth you'll find it. Don't expect explosions and lightning and Charlton Heston; just pray quietly and in earnest.

We live in a time of signs and wonders but above all we live in a time of grace. God wants you back and He will take you anyway He can get you. All you have to do is ask. He'll do the rest.

"Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you.

For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

Or what man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone?

Or if he shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a serpent?

If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?"
Matthew 7:7-11

If you don't read the Bible or haven't in a long time, read the passage below and then relate it to current times. Think of the many false messiahs in the political world and then think of how many more could arise in the coming collapse, especially the one that could arise as the savior of the New World Order. When Jesus talks about followers being afflicted and put to death, think Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular, think how the abuses of power in the leadership have caused scandal and hatred of the religion. The Gospel will be preached to the whole earth; that has happened because of modern technology. Nation rising against nation, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famine. Many if not most of these things have happened before but I'm hard pressed to find any other time they are all happening so quickly, at the same time and on a global scale. Not to mention the sun and moon darkened and the stars falling from the sky. this sounds an awful lot like the prophecies of the Three Days of Darkness not to mention that speculation surrounding the possibility of a Tenth Planet and its imminent arrival. And let's not forget the potential destruction of our oceans if the blowout in the Gulf isn't stopped.

Some, or maybe all of this sounds crazy and maybe it is. But what does it hurt to think about it and more importantly to pray about it?

Matthew 24

1 And Jesus being come out of the temple, went away. And his disciples came to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2 And he answering, said to them: Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be destroyed.
3 And when he was sitting on mount Olivet, the disciples came to him privately, saying: Tell us when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the world?
4 And Jesus answering, said to them: Take heed that no man seduce you:
5 For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ: and they will seduce many.
6 And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places:
8 Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be scandalized: and shall betray one another: and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many.
12 And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold.
13 But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom, shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come.
15 When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand.
16 Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains:
17 And he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 And he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat.
19 And woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days.
20 But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the sabbath.
21 For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be.
22 And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say to you: Lo here is Christ, or there, do not believe him.
24 For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.
25 Behold I have told it to you, beforehand.
26 If therefore they shall say to you: Behold he is in the desert, go ye not out: Behold he is in the closets, believe it not.
27 For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west: so shall the coming of the Son of man be.
28 Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.
29 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty.
31 And he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.
32 And from the fig tree learn a parable: When the branch thereof is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh.
33 So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh, even at the doors.
34 Amen I say to you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.
36 But of that day and hour no one knoweth, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone.
37 And as in the days of Noe, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark,
39 And they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away; so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then two shall be in the field: one shall be taken, and one shall be left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill: one shall be taken, and one shall be left.
42 Watch ye therefore, because ye know not what hour your Lord will come.
43 But know this ye, that if the goodman of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open.
44 Wherefore be you also ready, because at what hour you know not the Son of man will come.
45 Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath appointed over his family, to give them meat in season.
46 Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing.
47 Amen I say to you, he shall place him over all his goods.
48 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming:
49 And shall begin to strike his fellow servants, and shall eat and drink with drunkards:
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopeth not, and at an hour that he knoweth not:
51 And shall separate him, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Luke 21

1 And looking on, he saw the rich men cast their gifts into the treasury.
2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in two brass mites.
3 And he said: Verily I say to you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
4 For all these have of their abundance cast into the offerings of God: but she of her want, hath cast in all the living that she had.
5 And some saying of the temple, that it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said:
6 These things which you see, the days will come in which there shall not be left a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down.
7 And they asked him, saying: Master, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when they shall begin to come to pass?
8 Who said: Take heed you be not seduced; for many will come in my name, saying, I am he; and the time is at hand: go ye not therefore after them.
9 And when you shall hear of wars and seditions, be not terrified: these things must first come to pass; but the end is not yet presently.
10 Then he said to them: Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
11 And there shall be great earthquakes in divers places, and pestilences, and famines, and terrors from heaven; and there shall be great signs.
12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands upon you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into prisons, dragging you before kings and governors, for my name's sake.
13 And it shall happen unto you for a testimony.
14 Lay it up therefore into your hearts, not to meditate before how you shall answer:
15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist and gainsay.
16 And you shall be betrayed by your parents and brethren, and kinsmen and friends; and some of you they will put to death.
17 And you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake.
18 But a hair of your head shall not perish.
19 In your patience you shall possess your souls.
20 And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed about with an army; then know that the desolation thereof is at hand.
21 Then let those who are in Judea, flee to the mountains; and those who are in the midst thereof, depart out: and those who are in the countries, not enter into it.
22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things may be fulfilled, that are written.
23 But woe to them that are with child, and give suck in those days; for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword; and shall be led away captives into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles; till the times of the nations be fulfilled.
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves;
26 Men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of heaven shall be moved;
27 And then they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with great power and majesty.
28 But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand.
29 And he spoke to them in a similitude. See the fig tree, and all the trees:
30 When they now shoot forth their fruit, you know that summer is nigh;
31 So you also, when you shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand.
32 Amen, I say to you, this generation shall not pass away, till all things be fulfilled.
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
34 And take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly.
35 For as a snare shall it come upon all that sit upon the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are to come, and to stand before the Son of man.
37 And in the daytime, he was teaching in the temple; but at night, going out, he abode in the mount that is called Olivet.
38 And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, to hear him.

PLUG THE DAMN HOLE!

I imagine the administration doesn't believe this is happening since they don't believe radical Islam even exists. Actually, they probably view this report as further evidence of America's racial hatred and racist tendencies.

"The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com.

The warning follows an indictment unsealed this month in Texas federal court that accuses a Somali man in Texas of running a “large-scale smuggling enterprise” responsible for bringing hundreds of Somalis from Brazil through South America and eventually across the Mexican border. Many of the illegal immigrants, who court records say were given fake IDs, are alleged to have ties to other now-defunct Somalian terror organizations that have merged with active organizations like Al Shabaab, al-Barakat and Al-Ittihad Al-Islami.

In 2008, the U.S. government designated Al Shabaab a terrorist organization. Al Shabaab has said its priority is to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, on Somalia; the group has aligned itself with Al Qaeda and has made statements about its intent to harm the United States."
Fox News

NOW WE WAIT

Pray this works and turn from sin. I don't care how crazy this sounds to most people but the root cause of this is us. We've turned from God. If, and it's a big if, "Top Kill" works, then treat this as a warning. And remember that even if it works the best case scenario is a big, dead chunk of ocean along with an economy and lives destroyed.

We can't go back to business as usual.

This Reuters report is very encouraging, at least upon first blush...

BP Plc Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said on Wednesday it appears drilling mud, not oil, was gushing from a ruptured undersea well six hours into an effort to halt a growing oil spill.

"What you've been observing coming out of the top of that riser is most likely mud," Suttles said at a news conference broadcast from a Louisiana command center. "We can't fully confirm that because we can't sample it. And the way we know we've been successful is it stops flowing."

Indeed, the underwater cam now looks completely different, muddy and not clear, basically.

Fingers crossed. It will be awhile before we have anything confirmed. (via @alea_)

UPDATE: A spokesperson at Deepwater Horizon Response would not confirm these rumors: "What they're looking for is monitoring that feed and the operation to see if the leak itself stops. At this time it's too early to call whether or not it's been successful."
Business Insider

"BP officials may know by Thursday afternoon whether the oil company's latest attempt to cap the runaway leak in the Gulf of Mexico is yielding results.

"I think we just need to take the next 24 hours and actually see what the results are," said BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles from Robert, Louisiana.

The operation, known as a "top kill," that began Wednesday afternoon was going according to plan, he said, with drilling mud being applied to the well at a rate of up to 65 barrels per minute.
Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry, the federal on-scene coordinator, was equally reluctant to draw conclusions.

"While we're very encouraged by some aspects of this procedure, I don't want to express optimism until I know for sure that we've secured the well and the leak has stopped," she told reporters.
CNN

"If oil stops flowing to the surface in the Gulf of Mexico, BP officials will know that their latest effort to plug a blown-out undersea well off the Louisiana coast was successful.

BP PLC was pumping heavy mud into the leaking well, and executives said Wednesday night that there had been no problems so far. Still, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said engineers would not know until at least Thursday afternoon whether the latest remedy was having some success.

"The absence of any news is good news," said Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the operation. He added: "It's a wait and see game here right now, so far nothing unfavorable."
CBS

THE GREAT EQUALIZER

From SHTF Plan:

The Gun is Civilization by Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret)

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that’s it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.

The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we’d be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger’s potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat–it has no validity when most of a mugger’s potential marks are armed.

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that’s the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there’s the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser. People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don’t constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level.

The gun is the only weapon that’s as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn’t work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn’t both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don’t do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I’m looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don’t carry it because I’m afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn’t limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation… and that’s why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

By Maj. L. Caudill USM C (Ret)

The greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced.

Remember only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

IT COULD BE 24 YEARS BEFORE OIL STOPS FLOWING

Pray that the "Top Kill" works. If not, pray for all mankind because life as we know it is coming to an end.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

H/T Business Insider

CHEAP OIL IS KILLING US

"This is a sign to Louisiana. This is a sign to the entire Gulf. It is a sign to all humanity.

We need to get back in harmony with God's Creation.

We were meant to coexist with and live off nature -- not treat it as the enemy, not annihilate it (in the name of short-term profits).

Nowhere in America was as contaminated.

Now it reaps what it has sown. I remember the eerie feeling, watching helicopters lifting off pads on the delta to head for the offshore rigs, which have no place there.

This is a moral issue. It isn't a political issue. It is not a tree-hugging issue. This isn't a liberal issue. It should be a conservative (conservation) issue. It also should be a pro-life issue. A recent study startled the nation by saying that we have no real idea what the tens of thousands of chemicals we now use may do to us because few of them have been tested before companies were allowed to go ahead in the name of the economy and disperse them. The lowest estimate is that they cause at least six percent of all cancers (the figure is undoubtedly far higher).

Just think a moment (and pray for more than a moment) about the cancer rates."
Spirit Daily

I agree with the sentiment above. We must exploit nature to live but we don't have to work against it or destroy it. The question though is how we disentangle ourselves from the life we've built?

We can live like the crazed tree huggers would like us to live by going back to our caves, teepees or log cabins in some sort of idealized Utopian existence that never was and never can be. Or we can continue to live in a false, oil driven world of cheap energy and disconnect from our nature and nature itself. We can continue to pretend that somehow a system that causes the average meal to travel 1500 miles to reach the plate of the diner is sustainable. We can pretend that supporting slave societies in places like China is justified as long as we can buy cheap shoes. We can agree that a constant state of war is a good thing as long as the oil flows and the jobs in the defense industry are available.

Or maybe there's a third way, a way that makes sense on a human scale. Maybe we can use technology and combine it with sustainable activities and choices ordered towards local economies. Maybe if we would start to think about our families, communities, counties, states and federal government, in that order, and focus on fixing the problems closest to us, maybe we could find solutions to the larger problems created by globalism and oil.

Disconnect from the system as much as possible. Make your family as independent as you can. Then help your neighbors do the same thing. Create neighborhoods that can stand by themselves, islands of independence that don't rely on the outside world. This won't be easy and we may never completely unhook from the grid (I define the grid as something more than just power but all the controls placed upon us by governments that violate our basic individual rights) but to the extent we can we gain freedom for ourselves and our neighbors.

We need energy, period. The thing is, oil isn't the only or best source of it. We need to join our independent little communities together in our counties and states and push for the use of nuclear, natural gas and coal. I know, they all have some downsides but there isn't anything that doesn't. We need energy to cook and heat our homes at the very least. I don't know about you but I kind of like electricity, too.

Nuclear has a long record of safety. It is clean and we ain't going to run out of it. Natural gas is abundant, really, really abundant, clean burning and it wouldn't take that much effort to convert our cars and trucks over to it. Coal is the bald headed step child in this trio because it is dirty and it is the old technology. However, we can burn it cleanly and it does produce a lot of energy and we've got more of it than any other place in the world. And it won't leak out and destroy the ground it's mined in.

We need to take advantage of our technology and use it wisely. Why do white collar workers that sit at computers all day long to perform their jobs have to drive to an office? With broadband internet they should be working from home. Think of the energy that would save. No commute and no office building. Of course this would cause a massive shift in our economy. If everyone stays home we won't need all the restaurants. People won't buy as many clothes and shoes. Starbucks will get killed. Car sales would drop.

However, local communities would get a boost. There would be a demand for local merchants to supply the items that we need since we wouldn't be traveling around town all the time. The money saved by staying home could be spent on something besides energy, helping to create new jobs to offset the ones that were lost.

And most importantly our focus would be on our communities, the places that most affect our lives and where we have the most control. If we strengthen our families and then our communities everything else will fall in place. Regardless of what our political leaders would like us to believe, power comes from the bottom and flows up, not the other way around.

Cheap oil has ruined families, communities, countries and now with the leak in the Gulf it has the potential to ruin the very system that supports our life. We need to bear whatever the cost is to break away from it, if not for us for future generations.

NO OIL RELIEF 'TIL AUGUST

So far nothing has worked to stop the flow of oil. If everything goes right they may be able to get relief wells drilled into a six inch pipe more than a mile beneath the surface by August.

This leak has been pouring from the ocean floor for about a month now and August is three months away. I'm not a mathematician but that tells me that we've only seen 25% of the total oil that's going to be released into the Gulf.

The Gulf is dead if that's the case, along with the entire Gulf coast and who knows how much of the American economy. The larger question is how much will this impact the Atlantic, the East Coast of the U.S., Europe and the world. The oil will get into the Gulf Stream and it will be carried across the Atlantic, to Europe and Africa and North up the coasts of Central and South America. If it effects the Gulf Stream flow massive changes in weather will occur around the globe, not to mention damage to sea life and our food chain.

This is a problem of Biblical proportions; quite literally.

Pray, pray, pray!

"For weeks, it was a disaster in abstraction, a threat floating somewhere out there.

Not anymore. In the last week, the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico has revealed itself to an angry and desperate public, smearing tourist beaches, washing onto the shorelines of sleepy coastal communities and oozing into marshy bays that fishermen have worked for generations. It has even announced its arrival on the Louisiana coast with a fittingly ugly symbol: brown pelicans, the state bird, dyed with crude.

More than a month has passed since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blew up, spewing immeasurable quantities of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and frustrating all efforts to contain it. The billowing plume of undersea oil and water has thwarted the industry’s well-control efforts and driven government officials to impotent rage."
New York Times

"The last resort for the owner of the blown-out well, and the most trustworthy way to plug the gush of petroleum, relies on the steady but slow toiling of two rigs now drilling what the industry calls "relief wells."

That label suggests the opposite of the two wells' true intent, for they are meant to kill, not relieve, the stricken well that has been leaking oil and natural gas for more than four weeks.

BP PLC, owner of the damaged well, predicts it will take 70 to 90 days — perhaps into August — to stab through more than 3 miles of seawater and earth and puncture the vertical pipe that is channeling a torrent of oil and gas to the surface of the Gulf near the Louisiana coast.

"So how the hell are you going to hit something that's 6 inches wide?" said Bill Abel, founder of Abel Engineering & Well Control Co. and someone who has helped do just that about 30 times.

The short answer: decades of practice combined with increasingly precise technology."
Orlando Sentinel

THAT HAD TO HURT

Why do I have this image of a vampire writhing in pain from some old horror movie stuck in my head?

"Two teachers accused of sprinkling holy water onto an avowed atheist colleague have been removed from the classroom, and may be fired.

The teacher who was allegedly sprinkled filed a complaint with the Broward County school district, which is investigating the incident as an act of bullying.

At the center of the investigation are Blanche Ely High School reading teachers Leslie Rainer and Djuna Robinson, who profess that they are Christians. They are accused of sprinkling holy water onto fellow teacher Schandra Tompkinsel Rodriguez.

On March 11, Rodriguez was in her classroom discussing her disbelief in God and the Bible with students when the alleged incident took place."
SFL Times

I wonder what we'd be hearing if the teacher had been explaining to her class her belief in God and the inerrancy of the Bible? If the same two teachers had walked into her room and clubbed her in the head to save the minds of the children from religion they would have been hailed as heroes.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

From Ecclesiastes Chapter 4:

8 There is but one, and he hath not a second, no child, no brother, and yet he ceaseth not to labour, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches, neither doth he reflect, saying: For whom do I labour, and defraud my soul of good things? in this also is vanity, and a grievous vexation.

9It is better therefore that two should be together, than one: for they have the advantage of their society:

10 If one fall he shall be supported by the other: woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he hath none to lift him up.

11 And if two lie together, they shall warm one another: how shall one alone be warmed?

12 And if a man prevail against one, two shall withstand him: a threefold cord is not easily broken.

I heard Glenn Beck on his TV show today quote this passage and I found it interesting in light of what I wrote earlier about individualism and salvation. We can't do this alone. It does require a village, of sorts; just not the village that the Progressives would like us to be part of.

As things begin to spin apart here in America and in the world we must turn to our families. Our families are our strength. If we can get everything straight there then, and only then, we should move out into our social group; friends, neighbors, communities. You see, the path, not only to salvation but to peace here on earth starts in the family, not the government. Each of us is part of something that is holy, sanctified through marriage and empowered through birth and death, grace and prayer, struggle and victory. God and family provide safe harbor in times of trouble and it is from this harbor that the ships of restoration and redemption must sail.

All power in the temporal order flows from from God through the family. The solution to most problems can be found in the family. Families must be supported by society in order for society to function correctly. Parents need to be allowed to exercise the power that they've been given by God. The state has no part in any family decisions unless the family has broken down and can no longer function; and even then the state should be the last resort. That's why we have churches and fraternal organizations. The power of the family should be held sacrosanct. A mans home is his castle and his family is his kingdom.

This is a reflection of the fatherhood of God. Just as the family reflects the triune nature of God it also is structured in the same way that God's kingdom is. Husband and wife share the same nature through marriage , just as the Father, Son and Holy Ghost share their divine nature. The same relationship is experienced in marriage as in the Trinity; husband and wife are the same yet the husband is the head. I'm sure that's going to get someone mad (sorry, honey).

"But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.
For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother; and shall cleave to his wife.
And they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
Mark 10:6-9

"Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord:
Because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. He is the saviour of his body.
Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for it:
That he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life:
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any; such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish.
So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife, loveth himself.
For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the church:
Because we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh.
This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the church.
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular love his wife as himself: and let the wife fear her husband."
Ephesians 5:22-33

That passage from Ephesians is bound to get women riled up. Why? It's a clear picture of how the family is supposed to work. It is a reflection of the relationship between Jesus and the Father and also Jesus and the Church. This is how the world is supposed to work because it's the way God works.

Do you see how easy it is for some one of a Marxist/Progressive/Masonic/Satanic bent to pervert the meaning of this passage and in so doing to turn the natural order on its head? Do you see why religious education has been banned from schools and why religion has been diluted by the false gospel of social justice? Can you understand why men and women have been pitted against each other through the Feminist movement? All of this has been done to destroy the family because if the family is destroyed then God's conduit of grace is destroyed. This isn't Barack Obama's plan or George Soros' plan. This plan comes straight from hell and the mouth of the Devil! And he's managed to keep us all focused on politics while he sets fire to God's creation with the intent of burning it to the ground.

Focus on your family men and get your house in order. It is our responsibility and if we don't do it we will be held accountable. Wives, you have responsibility in this to. You and your husband are one flesh through marriage so you must act in accord, not just for yourselves but for your children and all of humanity. The power comes through you, not some Satanic government overlord, bent on control and destruction of all mankind.

It takes a village all right; a village of families.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND REALITY-WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

"Conspiracy theories exist in the realm of myth, where imaginations run wild, fears trump facts, and evidence is ignored. As a superpower, the United States is often cast as a villain in these dramas."
America.gov

Regardless of what the government would like you to believe sometimes conspiracy theories are true. Some may seem crazy and some not but that doesn't mean they should all be dismissed without further investigation.

Just for the fun of it go to 33 Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out to be True and take a look at all the things that have been called crazy at one time or another yet proved to be true.

Always stay skeptical and question everything. That being said we live in a world of lies and obfuscation, misdirection and deceit. Keep your eyes open and pay careful attention. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that somebody's not out to get you.

IS GLENN BECK RIGHT ABOUT INDIVIDUALISM?

Cardinal George Pell said the new mass had a "different cadence" to the translation of the Roman Missal that two generations of Australian Catholics grew up with, and which was a "bit dumbed-down".

...The new translation places a heavier emphasis on Christ's sacrifice and underlines the dependence of individuals on God. In one of the most controversial changes, the words of the consecration in the mass specify that Christ shed his blood "for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins", rather than "for all" as the present translation puts it.

Cardinal Pell said the change reflected the official Latin version of the Roman Missal, and although Christ died for everybody, this would remind worshippers of the need for personal repentance.

In the creed, the faithful will now say "I believe" rather than "we believe", emphasising the importance of personal belief."
The Australian

On Tuesday's show, Beck called on church leaders to "stand up for individual rights." Beck, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, said the gospel is about individual salvation only.

"It's individual salvation. The Lord doesn't call us up, review our salvation and go, 'Ok now hang on just a second. Now serving group number 10!' It's individual. Your church is either for socialist government or the living of the gospel. It's either about God or government. Tonight you're going to find out which is which," said Beck.

...Falwell was not alone this week in referring to Jesus' parable to discuss social justice. The day before the Beck broadcast, the American Family Association's (AFA) Bryan Fischer said the talents parable runs counter to "the worldview of Jim Wallis."

"Bottom line," said Fischer, "Jesus, as much as Wallis will hate to admit it, had capitalism in his DNA."

Efrem Smith wrote on Sojourners' God's Politics Blog that this interpretation of the parable is wrong because it roots the gospel in "individualism and capitalism."
"The church is called to make disciples and to do justice and love mercy," said Smith. "Let the Word of God drive the evangelical church and its theology, not a political talk show host."
Christianity Today

So is Glenn beck right about salvation and the individual? Or should we listen to the Progressives when they link our salvation to the group? And why does the new translation of the Mass highlight the individual relationship in a return to tradition? Is our personal relationship with Christ all that matters? If so, why have a church community?

I certainly don't look to Beck or any other talk show host for my religious edification. However, truth is truth and it can exist in many forms in many places. His understanding of religion, in the abstract, is similar to mine, especially in relation to the Constitution and the intent of the Founders. Obviously there is a great deal of difference between Catholicism and Mormonism, points of contention that I don't wish to address here.

The religion of Progressivism is antithetical to Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It's reliance on group think and corporate salvation through the state denies the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. I stand shoulder to shoulder with Beck in this belief. However, his reliance on individual salvation goes a bit too far.

While we will stand as individuals before God in our personal judgement our salvation is bound up in our relationship within our families. The basic unit of human existence is the family. Families reflect the inner reality of the triune God, multiple persons, one nature. We exist, live, die and find our path to salvation inside our familial relationships, never alone. No man is an island.

It is in either rejecting or failing to recognize this simple fact that both Evangelicals and Progressives lose their way. Both swing too far in the opposite directions. As usual, the Catholic Church finds the sweet spot, theologically speaking, in melding two seemingly opposing views into a sensible and correct understanding of true human nature.

Of course, the Evangelicals come closest to the truth while the Progressives are playing for the other team. Progressivism is so appealing simply because it contains just enough distortion of the truth to seem like it is the right way to those that have forgotten the true meaning and function of the family. Progressivism replaces true family as designed by God with the family of the state. It uses government to fill the hole it created through the actions it has taken to destroy the real family of God.

Satan is one devious bastard!