A TALE OF TWO AMERICAS

So, how's that economic recovery working out for you? If you are a member of the middle class or working class the links below pretty much tell the tale.

20,000 + homeowners make last ditch effort to save their houses from foreclosure.

Homelessness up 50% in New York City.

1 out of 6 take government aid.

Dow continues to slide.

U.S. auto sales may hit 28 year low.

New home sales hit 40 year low.

Existing home sales at lowest rate in 15 years. Inventory at 11 year high.

U-6 unemployment rate at 16.5%. May actually be higher.

But what if you belong to the upper middle class and above or the political class?

Luxury retail booms while bargain retail suffers.

Congresswoman's family gets special treatment where scholarships are concerned.

Oval Office gets makeover while Obamas are on vacation.

Luxury car sales growing.

Bankers keep getting richer.

I don't care if the rich get richer or if they spend their money like crazy. Actually, if they spend their money they'll create jobs, which is a good thing. The links above are meant to point to a bigger problem; we are splintering into two separate realities in America. For the majority of Americans, things are getting worse. But for those at the top, life is just swell. The problem is that those at the top, the ones that have the power to make the changes necessary to get the economy going again don't feel the economy the way the rest of us do. In their world, things are fine.

They use the government to create programs and taxes that take the little bit of money the normal guy has to send it to themselves through bailouts, TARP and healthcare. And along with our money comes control over our lives.

And this is where it'll get ugly. If the people begin to believe that their leaders are living in a world of luxury and privilege, and that the people are being excluded from the opportunity to achieve the same level of success by laws and regulations created and passed by those at the top, and worse yet that we are being forced to pay for this luxury and privilege, something will give.

We've always had the minority of people in America that want redistribution of wealth and won't be happy until the wealthy are destroyed. That's a stupid, childish and incredibly dangerous political viewpoint. The average American, on the other hand, doesn't mind at all if someone makes boatloads of money because they worked hard and earned it. Hell, most don't even care if it was inherited or if somebody won it in the lottery. As long as we have the same OPPORTUNITY to achieve success ourselves.

The thing is, it seems like now everyone at the top, from the politicians to the Wall Streeters, to the bankers and attorneys are doing their damnedest to pass laws and regulations that will effectively consolidate their wealth while closing the door to the rest of us. The upper classes seem to get all kinds of public monies thrown their way when they make stupid decisions that invariably rob the average guy. So they not only get us on the front end but then they force us to pay for it through taxation. And then they take expensive vacations, buy expensive stuff and live in private neighborhoods while the rest of us fight to keep a roof over our heads.

Can you see where this is going to lead?

The French Revolution comes to mind. And that may be exactly what some at the top are hoping for. They may believe that they have the power to control and squash massive civil unrest, and that it would present the perfect way to suspend our Constitution and the protections it affords us. I used to think that stuff like this was crazy talk and conspiracy nut territory. Not so much anymore.

Too many buttons are being pushed. I don't think that the powers at the top are stupid so I have to think that the decisions they're making are being made with a rational goal in mind. The only end that I can see is a collapsed economy and a population enraged. If this is the goal then there is a rational reason for it. The only reason I can see is to seize control and consolidate power. Why else would someone intentionally destroy our country and economy?

I've been surprised that we've lasted as long as we have but I suppose that is mostly because it has allowed the money guys to extract as much wealth as possible from the system. Since we seem to be running on fumes now, and if this is truly a plan designed to collapse America, our time must be short.

What happens next? I don't know but I'm sure it won't be pretty. All we can do is pray and ask for guidance and protection. The forces in play are so great that there is nothing we can do to stop them. It seems that every part of our economy has been pushed to the edge and all we're waiting for is the final nudge to send us over.

I hope and pray that I'm wrong, that somewhere behind all this evil that surrounds us we see there is a plan, not to destroy us, but to set right the country and return America to what it was meant to be.

I'm not going to hold my breath.

MORE OF THE SAME OLD, SAME OLD

"If President Barack Obama needed any more incentive to go all out for Democrats this fall, here it is: Republicans are planning a wave of committee investigations targeting the White House and Democratic allies if they win back the majority.

Everything from the microscopic — the New Black Panther party — to the massive –- think bailouts — is on the GOP to-do list, according to a half-dozen Republican aides interviewed by POLITICO.

Republican staffers say there won’t be any self-destructive witch hunts, but they clearly are relishing the prospect of extracting information from an administration that touts transparency."
Politico

As the November elections draw nigh I find myself already tired of the typical gotcha' politics being displayed by the leadership of the GOP. Do we need investigations? Not really. Most of us know that the Obama administration is corrupt and a bunch of us believe that the current administration is actively working to destroy our country.

What we don't need is millions and millions of dollars we don't have being spent on a political sideshow. What we need is a clear plan to right the ship of state. While Issa and Boehner spend their time planning to get even, Rep. Paul Ryan has developed a comprehensive plan to get the country back to fiscal sanity and freedom with his "Roadmap for America". Of course, guess which Republicans will get all the media attention?

The Republican Party leadership is more worried about the party than they are the country. If they don't begin to focus on the real danger they will find themselves marginalized by the people. Most of us are tired of parties and politics. We want leadership.

So instead of worrying about investigations, if the GOP wants to have a real chance of changing the direction that the country is headed, start putting real leaders like Rep. Ryan out in front and start a real, thoughtful and well reasoned argument in front of the American people. Show that there are solutions and that they can be implemented. If the GOP insists on playing these games with investigations they are going to be playing on an emotional rather than logical battlefield, giving the home field advantage to the Democrats.

REPARATIONS TO BLACK FARMERS

Get the federal government out of farming, period. The USDA is not authorized in the Constitution, unless of course the "commerce clause" is interpreted in a manner way beyond the intent of those that wrote it.

Farmers get paid to leave their fields fallow. They get subsidies of all sorts for doing what the government wants. Every one of these actions comes at the expense of someone else, with property being taken from its legitimate owner to be redistributed to a farmer or corporation deemed worthy by the government.

So now the USDA will become the vehicle used by the adherents of Black Liberation Theology to force their twisted understanding of the Gospel on the rest of us by using reparation to force a redistribution of wealth on the American people. Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?

Was there discrimination at the USDA? It wouldn't surprise me. But there is also fraud being done by the Justice Department, the USDA, or whoever is in charge of handing out the reparations if 500% of the black farmers are being given money.

The simple solution? Get the federal government out of the farming business and our lives.

TWO REASONS WE MUST DEFEAT COMMUNISM

From my brother, a bit of ebony and ivory from the Marxist side:

CCHD AT IT AGAIN

Refuse to give any money when the CCHD comes begging at Mass next time. The CCHD, the pet project of the American Bishops at the USCCB, needs to be strangled until it conforms to Church teaching. We send them money and they turn our charity against us by supporting organizations that support evil and work against the laws of God Himself.

Where the hell is Rome??!!!

"...An event entitled the U.S. Social Forum 2010 was held in Detroit on June 22-26. Dozens of People's Movement Assemblies (PMAs) from across the country attended the Forum, "to set a national action agenda." Also present were 21 CCHD grantees, along with a retired bishop, a smattering of Catholic parishes, and 11 Catholic organizations. Five of the 21 CCHD grantees were already listed as problematic, but 16 were not on the list from last year (see list below). Several organizations defunded by the CCHD were also present.

Unfortunately, the program attended by these groups supported by the donations of U.S. Catholics contains numerous workshops promoting homosexuality, Marxism, and abortion (complete list below). Is there any reason not to conclude these are elements of the "national action agenda" being defined at the Forum?"

Current CCHD Grantees in attendance at the USSF meeting:
Border Action Network
Ohio Valley River Environmental Coalition (mentioned in the CCHD Stations of the Cross)
Movement for Justice in El Barrio
Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California
La Union
The Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (partner with the Center for Community Change)
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United
Progress Center for Independent Living
Central District Organizing Project, Gary IN
Contact Center
Immigrant Worker Project
Women in Transition
Nashville Homeless Power Project (partners with the Center for Community Change)
Direct Action Welfare Group
Workers Defense Project (partners with the Center for Community Change)
Food AND Medicine / Jobs with Justice
Power U Center
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Families United for Racial & Economic Equality (FUREE) (partners with the Center for Community Change)
Boston Workers' Alliance
Latino Union of Chicago

Identified Catholic organizations in attendance:
Maryknoll for Global Concerns
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church
Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Des Moines Catholic Worker
MI Catholics for the Better Good
St. John's University
Bishop Tom Gumbleton/ St. Leo Church Pax Christi
Adrian Dominican Sisters
Pax Christi Michigan
Mary Queen of Vietnam
Inside Catholic

HOMOSEXUAL WILL NOT BE ELEVATED TO PRESIDENCY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY

"A board member of a Catholic nonprofit organization who was told he could not become board president because he is gay is trying to rally support to modify the group's rules.

...Ronald Guz, the outgoing board president, said the organization didn't make the decision, but rather "the Catholic church did" in its teachings.

The group's executive director, Zip Rzeppa, wrote in an e-mail: "We serve all people without discrimination. And please note we are not discriminating against Jeff Goldone, a man who has done much good. He disqualified himself for the position of president by choosing to live a lifestyle of illicit sexual union, which falls outside the teachings of the Catholic Church, and outside the qualifications of the Society's international Rule."

Rzeppa added that the vetting process is different for president because the position holds so much authority, like the power to appoint other board members.

(St. Louis Archbishop Robert) Carlson, in a statement to the Post-Dispatch, said: "The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has a regulation that members running for president live a life according to church teaching. I clarified what church teaching is in the matter of homosexuality."

The catechism of the Roman Catholic Church labels homosexual acts as "acts of grave depravity" and "intrinsically disordered" because they "close the sexual act to the gift of life."
STL Today

Thank you Archbishop Carlson. Regardless of the qualifications of Mr. Goldone, the fact that he is a homosexual living in sin offsets any other consideration. St. Vincent de Paul has made the proper choice in this situation because if it were to allow Mr. Goldone to take the position it would be opening itself and the Church to scandal and ridicule, not to mention creating a situation that would sow confusion among the faithful regarding the Church and her teachings on homosexuality. The Church is not removing him from his current position, it just will not elevate him to the Presidency because of his personal choice. There is nothing unjust about this.

Mr. Goldone, I'm sure, knew of the regulation, yet he continues to flaunt it. Like so many others today he seems to believe that the rules don't apply to him; that somehow he's special. Sorry, my friend. If you are Catholic or work for a Catholic organization, the rules apply to you. If you don't like them, move on. Nobody's forcing you to work there.

Mr. Goldone states in his petition, ""If the organization is truly a Christian organization, it must not discriminate against anyone". Does he really believe this? What if the archdiocese attempted to place a known sexually abusive priest in the position of President? Would Mr. Goldone have said something about that? Or, what if the Archdiocese had insisted that someone convicted of murder (an intrinsic evil, just like homosexual sex) be elevated to the Presidency? Would Mr. Goldone have objected?

This false idea of Christianity, that it's some sort of a kumbaya, touchy-feely, purple dinosaur religion is wrong. Especially when it comes to Catholicism. Certain actions are wrong, forever and ever. Nothing will change that. Sex that is not open to life is right up there at the top. Because homosexuality, by it's nature, can never be open to life it will always be wrong and a sin. And Christianity should always discriminate against sin or it's just a pointless exercise in useless worship.

So once again, thanks Archbishop Carlson for standing up for the truth. And Mr. Goldone, you must learn to bend your will to Gods because you'll never get him to bend his to yours. If you can't do that, then find a different job with an organization that doesn't care how you live your life. This is still a free country. No one is forcing you to work for or be a member (if he is) of the Catholic Church. We're not talking about Afghanistan and the Taliban here. Yet, anyway.

TALIBAN: DON'T LET YOUR DAUGHTERS GO TO SCHOOL

Everyone that is so anxious to bend over and take whatever Islam wants them to take really need to think long and hard about their "inclusive" Utopia. The reality of life under the Taliban and sharia law isn't pretty, especially with all the scarring from acid burns.

I wonder if this has more to do with the mosque controversy than "xenophobia and misconceptions" do?

"In a city consumed by a bitter struggle as the Taliban (an extreme political movement with close links to al-Qaeda) tries to regain power after being ousted in 2001 by British and American troops, women are still considered by some to be second-class citizens.

While officially girls can go to school, the people who still support the Taliban's strict, extremist take on Islamic laws are making it more and more dangerous.

Since 2004, Taliban rebels have been trying to reintroduce their long-standing beliefs - including the rule that woman aren't equal to men - in an attempt to turn Afghanistan into what they consider to be the world's purest Islamic country. Imagine no dancing, no TV and no make-up. A world where women must wear the burqa in public and are forbidden from working or getting an education.

...Their father, Omar, is determined his daughters will not be denied an education. By keeping his girls at home, he's ensuring they can continue their lessons. "I couldn't let my daughters go to school because I was so scared somebody would kill them," he says.

Omar's fears aren't without terrifying grounds. In April, more than 80 young Afghan women were affected by mass sickness, following reports of gas attacks in their classrooms. And last year, 15 girls were left scarred and blinded after they were sprayed with battery acid by two men on a motorbike as they walked to school in Khandahar. Eight men were arrested and two confessed.

While the Taliban officially denied involvement, members of the group were rumoured to have moved into the outskirts of the city just before the attack. Posters had also appeared in local mosques. "Don't let your daughters go to school," one said."
News of the World

MORE LIBERAL LIES ABOUT THE MOSQUE

"At its core, the mosque furor is not unlike what Catholics experienced in the United States for more than 100 years, according to Georgetown University theology professor Chester Gillis. He also is dean of Georgetown College and the founding director of the program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue within the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. While there are a wide range of political, philosophical and even zoning arguments about the Islamic center plans, Gillis sees anti-Muslim sentiment -- based in misconceptions and xenophobia -- at the core of the debate."
Catholic News

So the distrust of and downright hostile feelings toward Islam and the mosque are purely a result of "misconceptions and xenophobia"? Really? It couldn't possibly have anything to do with blowing up the World Trade center and the Pentagon. Be-headings, car bombing, threats of nuclear war, Hamas on our Southern border, war in the Middle East and the threat of sharia law here in America play absolutely no part in a rational rejection of the "religion of peace"?

To compare this to anti-Catholic bigotry in the early history of America is ludicrous. Catholics were harassed and in some cases killed based on prejudices spanning hundreds of years, not because they were involved in any sort of campaign of terror and domination against the United States. This is a case of comparing apples and oranges and using misdirection and deciet to support a fallacious proposition.

Oh, and by the way, Catholic news is mouthpiece for the USCCB. Surprised?

WHY TED NUGENT IS RIGHT ABOUT THE MOSQUE

I posted this link to an article by Ted Nugent on Facebook yesterday because I agree with what Nugent says and the overall tone of his article. It was reposted by a friend from high school with the commentary, “Ted Nugent is an idiot.”

I was going to reply to her on her page but since I pissed her and her friends off so much the last time I did I thought that perhaps I’d try and piss off a bunch of people on mine this time.

I’ve come to expect, for the most part, that to those of a, shall we say, more Progressive view point, intelligent argument is generally eschewed for name calling and vile invective. I don’t know why this is but I have to assume it’s because they function more on an emotional level than a logical one.

Nugent may be an idiot. I don’t know. However, his ability to communicate effectively using the written word would tend to argue against it. You or I may not agree with him but then the proper response would be to present a well reasoned argument in opposition, not to resort to childish name calling.

As to the content of his article, where does he go wrong? Perhaps it’s his call for military action against Muslims? Since he seems to limit this call for action to strikes against those that are attacking us, and since we are at war with Islam (there, I spoke the truth…hope it doesn’t piss you off too much) this seems to be the proper course of action. Would we have apologized for killing the Germans or Japanese during WWII?

As I stated in the last paragraph, we are involved in a religious war, a holy war, a war for the very survival of the West and Christendom. All of us that live in and love this country are fighting for our lives. All faiths and creeds are threatened by the evils of Islamic victory and Sharia Law. Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, moderate Muslims and anyone else not in compliance with the dictates of the Mullahs will fall victim to the sword if the Islam of our attackers is allowed to take root. Our Western, and dare I say it, Judeo/Christian ideals of religious tolerance have allowed everyone the freedom to worship as they please in this country. That is something worth fighting for.

What, you say that it’s intolerant of me to say that this is a religious war? If it isn’t then why do we hear “Alluha Akbar!” on the lips of murderers as they pull the triggers on their guns or detonate the bombs on their backs? If it isn’t a religious war then why do the Mullahs endorse and demand violence of their followers?

If Catholics were running around blowing up people, and proclaiming that this was done in the name of Christ, I would be suspicious. If further, the pope and the bishops endorsed this behavior I would call it what it is, Catholic terrorism and open warfare. Why should I treat Islam any differently?

So where is Nugent wrong? Should the mosque be built at ground zero? He says no; I agree. Do the Muslims have a right to build it? As much as anyone else; which is what Nugent says, too. Do the people of America have a right to demand it be moved elsewhere? First Amendment, baby.

It’s interesting that in all the rush to fall on our sword in support of Islamic extremism, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed by the Islamic terrorists on Sept. 11, has been denied permission to rebuild on the spot it occupied before the attack. Wonder why?

And if this mosque isn’t meant to provoke and anger the American people then why is the proposed dedication scheduled for Sept. 11, 2011?

We’re in the waning days of the American experiment. We’ve so clouded our vision with timidity, cowardice and emotion that we can no longer see the truth. We have a country and ideals worth fighting for but we’re going to roll over and give it to the most oppressive group of people on earth. Say goodbye to freedom, forever.

So girls, get out your burqas and men starting growing your beard. And to my friend from high school, a self proclaimed lesbian, get ready to crawl way, way back in the closet; or die. Because that’s what my idiot huntin' brother Ted Nugent and I know is coming and we’re ready to fight against it, and for you. For some reason, you’d rather just call us names.

IF WE PAINT IT UP THE DAMAGE WILL JUST DISAPPEAR

"Almost 45 years into its reign atop the St. Louis skyline, the 630-foot monument is suffering from growing rust and decay. And nobody knows how extensive.

Corrosion, some of it feared aggressive, and severe discoloration of the stainless steel skin have long been present, according to engineering reports reviewed by the Post-Dispatch.

The documents and interviews with metallurgists indicate that the remedy could be as minor as an "expensive" surface cleaning or as elaborate as a full-blown restoration. One report, completed in 2006, called for a deeper study, for which the National Park Service says it only recently obtained funding."
STL Today

You just gotta love the government. If you've ever been to St. Louis you've probably seen the Arch, an architectural wonder. Well, it's showing its age now and may need some repairs, possibly a major renovation.

The government's out of money and really needs to think in terms of how best to spend it. So, instead of repairing the Arch, they want to spend a minimum of $350 billion creating a new park around it.

I'm sure the park will look great with a giant, twisted silver wreck laying in the middle of it.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar dropped by the Gateway Arch today to view the ideas for reshaping its surroundings, and declared, "We will get this done somehow, some way."

Salazar viewed the five finalists' general plans that are on display in the museum area under the Arch.

Among those accompanying him was U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who also promised to do all she can to find money from the government and other sources -- maybe even bake sales,
"We are going to have to demonstrate to Congress that this has consequences beyond St. Louis and we will have to show that this is a high priority," McCaskill said.

"We will not just ask for federal money. we're looking at local and charitable giving, and kids having bake sales."
STL Today

THE BOMB - AN IRANIAN LOVE SONG

H/T I Own The World

ASSANGE CHARGED WITH RAPE

"The founder and editor of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been charged in Sweden with rape and molestation, a spokeswoman for the Swedish prosecutor's office told CNN Saturday.

Spokeswoman Karin Rosander said the charges were filed Friday night, but she didn't have further details."
CNN

Is it just me or does this seem somewhat contrived? How convenient that the man that has pissed off the entire military industrial complex is suddenly charged with rape.

Don't get me wrong; he seems like an arrogant little twit and I really don't care what happens to him. However, I think that he has the right to publish what he did. The bad guy in the Wikileaks story is the person that stole the files to begin with. Beyond that, the press has the right and the responsibility to do with them as they please. Think Pentagon Papers.

And that's why it seems all too convenient that Assange is suddenly charged with rape. The powers that be know he probably can't be shut down on the grounds that he broke a law by releasing the information he did and further, he has stated that he intends to release more. So, send a girl to his room, get her in bed with him, get a good semen sample and scream rape.

Who knows; maybe he did rape someone. He certainly seems sleazy enough when I see him on TV. And if he did, send the bastard away for good.

I'm just not going to jump to conclusions here.

THE SECRET OF OZ

If you have a couple hours to watch this it's well worth the time. We must do away with the central banking system and get the debt monkey off our backs. The bankers mean to control us through debt and they will unless we act.

It may be a bit of problem carrying tally sticks in our wallets, though.

THREE THINGS ABOUT ISLAM

This is an interesting video with one caveat.

The thing that makes me wonder about the authors understanding of Islam is his misunderstanding of Christianity, particularly Catholicism. We cannot "pick and choose" what part of the Bible to believe, even though many do. Christians believe that the Bible is true, entirely and completely. Further, the Catholic Church teaches that truth cannot contradict truth. This means that there are no contradictions in the Bible, even though there may appear to be on the surface.

We have to reconcile these apparent contradictions to understand the truth. The contradictions exist only in our poor understanding, not in reality.

Because the author of the video misses that basic, yet subtle understanding of Christianity I have to wonder what he's missing regarding subtleties of the Islamic faith.

Regardless, he is substantially correct in the majority of his assertions.

The words bouncing all around does get a bit bothersome, though.

H/T American Perspective (MaInfo)

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH WILL NOT BE REBUILT AT GROUND ZERO

Maybe if the Greeks run out and blow up a building or two, enslave and abuse their women and set off a few car bombs they'll have a better chance with the City of New York.

"Greek Orthodox leaders trying to rebuild the only church destroyed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks expressed shock this week after learning, via Fox News, that government officials had killed a deal to relocate the church.

The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, once a tiny, four-story building in the shadows of lower Manhattan, was destroyed in 2001 by one of the falling World Trade Center towers. Nobody from the church was hurt in the attack, but the congregation has, for the past eight years, been trying to rebuild its house of worship.

Though talks between the church and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey stalled last year, church leaders say they've been trying to kick-start discussions ever since. But amid debate over whether a proposed Islamic community center should go forward near Ground Zero, government officials threw cold water on the prospect of any deal with the church -- telling Fox News the deal is off the table."
Fox News

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

"The private lives of young people are now so well documented on the internet that many will have to change their names on reaching adulthood, Google’s CEO has claimed.

Eric Schmidt suggested that young people should be entitled to change their identity to escape their misspent youth, which is now recorded in excruciating detail on social networking sites such as Facebook."
Telegraph

This is the final part of Satan's plot to destroy the individual and replace him with the collective. If we are torn from our names then we are torn from our family. The family is the basic unit of human existence. Without it, our individualism disappears. We become nothing more than a piece of a machine designed to support the collective, which in reality only enriches those that control the machine.

It is only through family that we retain any control in our lives. Look at the communities where the family has broken down. Crime and destruction reign, and the people are slowly destroyed by the government programs that are meant to fill the gap. Without families, a mother and father, married and committed to each other and their kids, living under the same roof, chaos ensues.

Gay marriage, contraception, technology and the collapse of religion have all fed the disintegration of the traditional family and the country itself. Without strong family units as its foundation, America will collapse. The self centered, narcissistic people of today have fallen for the lie that the world revolves around them. They've broken the bonds of family and the responsibility to others that it entails, for the false freedom of individualism on a scale that will in the end destroy the individual and allow him to be subsumed by the machine.

The evil one is playing to a myth that is close to the heart of Americans, that of the rugged individualist standing against his detractors to realize a dream. Because we don't know history, we buy into this lie. Rare are the individuals that have gone it alone, and succeeded, rare almost to the point of non-existence. Most Americans that have succeeded have done so because they worked with others, quite often members of their family. The pioneers that opened the West and the great businesses that a son borrowed money from his father to start; yes these may have been started by individual ideas but they most often succeed because of family. We honor the John Wayne character when the reality was more often Little House on the Prairie.

This idea that at the age of majority we should sever our family relationship completely by changing our identity, if it catches on, will be the final toll of the bell for civilization. We will truly have entered the brave new world of control and the destruction of true individualism.

Pray, pray, pray!

MORGAN GOES BACK TO SEA - THE AGE OF WHALING RETURNS

"The shipbuilders are long dead, their knowledge gone. The shipyard no longer exists. No blueprints survive, nor ship’s models.

But the Charles W. Morgan is still here — the world’s last surviving wooden whaling vessel, built in 1841. And restorers are spending $10 million to turn the museum piece into a working ship able to ply the unruly sea. They plan to sail the ship on its first voyage in nearly a century, opening a new chapter in its long career."
New York Times

This is beyond cool. To see the last of the great New England whalers back on the open seas is almost beyond belief.

Now, let's have some fun. Get the guys from The Deadliest Catch on board and go get some whales. Do it the old fashioned way with long boats and harpoons. I would love to see a Nantucket sleigh-ride caught on film. I'd like to know how the difficulty in sailing and fishing from the Morgan compares to modern fishing from guys that do the work today.

I'd also enjoy the firestorm it would create among the enviro-weenies!

MUSLIMS WANT TO WORSHIP IN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL OF CORDOBA

I suppose that the Muslims will offer the Dome of the Rock to the Jews so they can worship in it. After all, they had their temple there first.

I'm surprised that they can even sit on a camel with the set they've got danglin'.

"While the dispute over the proposed Cordoba House near New York City’s Ground Zero has been highly publicized over the past few months, less known is the debate over Spain’s Cordoba Cathedral, which was formerly the Great Mosque of Cordoba.

For quite some time now, Muslim groups have tried to convince leaders of the Cathedral of Cordoba in southern Spain to allow the Catholic church to be used for both Muslim and Christian worship as the site still remains significant for many Muslims.

The Bishop of Cordoba, Demetrio Fernandez, however, says sharing the space with Muslims would be like a man sharing his wife with another man.

"There are things that are shared and others that are not, and the Cathedral of Cordoba is not shared with Muslims," said Fernandez, according to the Spanish-language Europa Press."
Christian Post

WALMART HAS LOW PRICES EVERYDAY - NOT SO MUCH

Wal-Mart is quietly raising its prices, in some cases up to 60%. I've been noticing this over the last few months because we shop at Wal-Mart on a fairly regular basis, not because I want to but because there isn't a lot of other choices around here.

At some point this would seem to be inevitable. Wal-Mart stores used to be small and simple. Now they've become massive, and by Wal-Mart standards, glitzy. That means that overhead had to go up. And quite honestly, the parking lots are not as full as they used to be and the carts seem a bit emptier, too.

This is the free market in action. It is entirely possible that Wal-Mart believes they can increase their prices because they've effectively wiped out a good deal of the competition over the years so their market should be safe. They've become, in some ways at least, a virtual monopoly. The question though is whether the consumer is willing to pay a higher price when going to Wal-Mart just isn't that convenient because of its size? Given a choice between parking in and walking through a giant parking lot, and then dragging my sorry butt across acres of store just to get a simple bottle of soap, I'd rather go to the local grocery store if pricing is close and get in and out quickly. The same is true for clothes and everything else Wal-Mart sells.

Wal-Mart's size, always having been their advantage, may be starting to work against them. My family no longer shops there for groceries because we've found we can spend less at a local store and get in and out much quicker. The selection isn't as great but really, how many different brands of green beans do we need? I never have bought meat at Wal-Mart because I get it from friends or my local butcher. It may cost slightly more but its fresh and I know where it comes from.

So it'll be fun to see how this plays out. Over time I imagine that Wal-Mart will make substantial changes to their business to accommodate a population with less disposable income. This may mean that they begin to reduce store size and selection or maybe they don't expand into new areas as quickly. Maybe they'll go back to being more of a rural store, like they used to be. Or maybe they'll figure out some way to dominate the markets just as they always have and will continue on as before.

My guess is that as prices at Wal-Mart continue to rise competition will rise along with them. I hope that people start to realize that local merchants with local interests at heart are better for the community than giant box stores. With the economy spinning into the toilet we'll see changes in the retail world in a rather short period of time that will be astounding. We are returning to a smaller world, whether we like it or not. Wal-Mart is going to have to make adjustments to this new reality to survive. Raising prices won't help them.

TEACH YOUR KIDS TO SHOOT

This is why my kids and now my granddaughter all learned to shoot at an early age. Firearms are the great equalizer. The simple .22 rifle this tiny girl picked up made her a clear and present threat to the guys that broke into her house and they ran. This isn't to say that just having a weapon and knowing how to use it will always save your life but I'd damned sure rather have one than not in a tight spot. And I'd rather my wife and kids would, too.

Click on the picture to start the video.



H/T The Dana Show

THE TRUTH IS SLIPPERY AS OIL

"A group of scientists say that most of that BP oil the government claimed was gone from the Gulf of Mexico is actually still there.

The scientists believe that roughly three-quarters of the oil (70% to 79%) still lurks under the surface. The research team, affiliated with the University of Georgia, said that it is a misinterpretation of data to claim that oil that has dissolved is actually gone or harmless. The report was based on an analysis of federal estimates, but the Wall Street Journal notes that it hasn't been published or peer-reviewed yet."
Huffington Post

Once again, we're put in the position of not being able to believe anything. I haven't believed that the oil just disappeared, that somehow magic occurred and 75% of it just went away. And I don't believe that the seafood coming out of the Gulf is safe. I also question whether or not the blowout is completely sealed.

But the thing that really pisses me off is that I know I'm being lied to about so much from the Gulf to the economy to the real purposes of our leaders in the administration that I'm starting to believe anything's possible. I don't trust our government because it lies constantly. It lies as a normal course of action. And the media covers for it and lies right along with it.

The leaders of my Church here in America and in Rome lie to me. People I do business with lie to me.

The clerk at the grocery store lies to me just to move me along. I can't call home Depot and get an answer I trust so I'm forced to drive to find out if they have the $2 thing I needed, wasting $15 in diesel fuel.

The doctors lie when they say they have a cure and the government official I talk to lies because they don't care enough to say that the question has no answer, or a hundred possible answers.

Everything is a lie designed to hide the truth that all of this we've built, the governments and buildings and computers and libraries can't help us. It's all an illusion; or a delusion, take your pick. We like to believe we have power, that we control our world and our destinies when the real truth is that we control nothing but ourselves, and that not very well at all.

All this, the artifice and the edifice are beginning to crumble back to the dust they are made from. When this happens those that have put their faith in man will be lost.

Pick up your Bible and read it. And learn to surrender yourself to something higher than man and his artificial power. Real despair and real power are about to be unleashed on this world. Know where you stand and why because many will look to us for the answers that will save them, possibly not from death but from destruction. We will be held accountable for what we say or don't say.

Real truth is God. The lies come from the devil and are designed to confuse us and lead us from the truth.

I'd say that they're doing a pretty good job right now.

THE DEMOCRATS ARE EVIL; AND SO ARE THE REPUBLICANS

The Catholic Knight published an article that's worth giving a look entitled "Why Catholics Can No longer Be Democrats". He's right. The question is, beyond the scope of how our decisions affect our personal salvation, whether it really matters anymore.

I think that it's beyond any question that the Democrat party is evil. The causes it champions, such as abortion, eugenics, same sex marriage and Marxism are intrinsically evil and cannot ever be construed as a good.

But will voting for the Republicans make a difference? The Republicans support, often to a lesser extent, but support none the less, just about everything the Democrats stand for. Voting for a smaller evil is still voting for evil. The Republicans are in some ways even worse than the Democrats because the Democrats are at least honest about their intent.

I hear so many on the radio and in conversation that are so very excited by the prospect of the Republicans gaining control of the House and possibly even the Senate this fall. Why? It won't make any difference at all. Collapse is coming, along with war in the Middle East and social unrest here at home. The stage is set and the die is cast. It will take an act of God himself to avoid what's coming our way.

Returning this country to anything remotely close to the country the Founders envisioned will take years and we don't have the time. We'll be fortunate if we have even months left to us. We've pushed off the inevitable by printing money and using the government and what's left of our good name and power to hold back the day of reckoning but all of it is about exhausted and we are going to be forced to confront the cost of our profligacy head on. It doesn't matter who is holding the reins.

The large concerns are being reduced to the small. We have to start thinking in terms of family and community and surviving the coming storm. In this regard who we vote for has some import. We can never support evil and the Democrats, and Republicans, are evil. Vote for the candidate that most closely conforms to your moral and ethical beliefs and hold his feet to the fire. If he is garnering a good deal of support from either of these corrupt parties it tells you that his allegiance will be to the party that feeds him, not the people or God's truth. If a candidate is not to be found that meets your personal litmus tests then don't vote at all. It's better to choose none of the above than the lesser of two evils because evil is always evil, regardless of size.

And pray, pray, pray. We're on the verge of something terrible and without precedent in our country and the world. Take care of yourself and your family and get ready.

And don't look to any political party for salvation; salvation comes from God, not man.

MADISON WISCONSIN DIOCESE TO OFFER BIRTH CONTROL COVERAGE

"A Wisconsin state law is forcing the Madison (Wis.) Catholic Diocese this month to begin offering its employees insurance coverage for birth control.

However, a diocesan spokesman said employees will be warned against using the benefit and that open defiance of Catholic teaching on the issue could ultimately lead to termination.

St. Mary's Hospital in Madison has notified employees that it, too, soon will be required for the first time to cover contraception.

Both entities sought to get around the mandate by becoming self-insured, but the costs proved prohibitive.

The law, which took effect Jan. 1, requires all commercial insurance policies with a drug benefit to cover prescription contraceptives. Self-insured policies are exempt."
WCF Courier

I don't know how they can justify this! I don't care what the state says, the Church must not obey an immoral law. Period. I don't care what the government threatens or does, the Church absolutely has to defy it.

What, the Church is going to fire someone that takes advantage of the coverage? Really? If they're willing to start that fight with the state why not just fight the contraception requirement to begin with? If the Church accepts the idea that the state can force it to cover contraception then they have ceded the power to control the faith to the state anyway.

Where is Rome??!!

WHEN SPECIAL INTERESTS COLLIDE

So, who do you think is more likely to come out and vote on election day; the poor and hungry or the public employee unions? And who do you think will donate the most money to the Democrat party coffers?

"Some House Democrats and advocacy groups are getting squeamish about the move to fund the $26 billion state aid bill by making cuts to food stamps, a federal assistance program currently depended on by nearly 41 million Americans.

House members convened Tuesday to pass the multibillion-dollar bailout bill for cash-strapped states that provides $10 billion to school districts to rehire laid-off teachers or ensure that more teachers won't be let go before the new school year begins, keeping more than 160,000 teachers on the job, the Obama administration says."
Fox News

TROPICAL STORM HEADING FOR NEW ORLEANS

I guess we'll see if there is much threat from Corexit or oil if the storm surge occurs. More importantly, from a purely selfish point of view, maybe this storm will break the stranglehold the heat has had on the middle part of the country. I love summertime and all but really, 90 degrees when I walk out the door at 6 in the morning is just a bit much!

"SATELLITE AND SURFACE DATA INDICATE THAT THE DEPRESSION HAS LOST
SOME ORGANIZATION AND COULD BE DEGENERATING INTO A BROAD AREA OF
LOW PRESSURE.

AT 700 AM CDT...1200 UTC...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION FIVE
WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 27.1 NORTH...LONGITUDE 85.8 WEST. THE
DEPRESSION IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH...19 KM/HR.
THIS GENERAL MOTION IS FORECAST TO CONTINUE TODAY...WITH A DECREASE
IN FORWARD SPEED EXPECTED ON THURSDAY. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE
CENTER OF THE TROPICAL CYCLONE WILL BE APPROACHING THE NORTH
CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO TONIGHT OR THURSDAY MORNING.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE DECREASED TO NEAR 30 MPH...45 KM/HR...
WITH HIGHER GUSTS. ALTHOUGH THE DEPRESSION HAS WEAKENED...SOME
STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE CENTER REACHES THE COAST ON
THURSDAY.

...RAINFALL...TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES WITH ISOLATED
MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 8 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE FROM SOUTHEASTERN
LOUISIANA TO THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.

WIND...TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS COULD BEGIN TO AFFECT THE
TROPICAL STORM WARNING AREA BY TONIGHT OR EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.

STORM SURGE...A STORM SURGE WILL RAISE WATER LEVELS BY AS MUCH AS 2
TO 4 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST NEAR AND TO
THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER MAKES LANDFALL."
NOAA

JUDGE NAPOLITANO'S HISTORY OF LIBERTY

Judge Napolitano has produced these videos and presented them at Fox Nation. Yes, they're oversimplified and yes some holes can be punched in his arguments but by and large these videos give an accurate portrayal of American history and the conflict between the states and the federal government. At the very least they do a good job of presenting the basis for the Libertarian views of limited government and states rights.

More will be coming so check Fox Nation for updates.

LET YOUR CATHOLIC FAITH SHINE BRIGHTLY

Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:8

Michael Voris hits this out of the park. Listen to what he says and live the truth. The time is short and the door is closing!

FUDDY DUDDY FIRING

"Google Inc (GOOG.O), which runs the world's most popular Internet search engine, was ordered to defend itself against a lawsuit by a former manager who said he was fired for being too old, clearing the way for a trial.

The California Supreme Court unanimously agreed that a trial court erred in dismissing a complaint by Brian Reid, who was hired in 2002 as a director of operations and engineering, and fired less than two years later at age 54 after being told he was not a good "cultural fit."

Thursday's ruling upheld a state appeals court decision that the trial court erred in dismissing the lawsuit, and said the trial court should have considered "stray remarks" from Reid's colleagues, including that he was an "old man" and "old fuddy-duddy," that might be seen as evidence of bias."
Reuters

Why is the court involved in this? Because of this guy's age? How did age enter into the discussion of individual rights? Should I have more rights at 51 than the 36 year old kid that wants my job? Are rights dependent on something outside themselves or do they exist completely independent of outside forces?

A company should be able to hire and fire anyone they want, for any reason they want. I mean any reason. Because the person that owns the company has rights, too, like the right to do with his property as he pleases. If you or I don't like it then we will spend our money elsewhere. And, if the employees don't like a policy then they can look for work elsewhere.

This collective rights thing drives me crazy. Why should a group have rights? Rights are individual in nature. They come to us from God through the individual, not from the collective.

Anytime this relationship is messed with it causes problems. Let's look at the results of the Civil Rights movement in the '60's. Yes, blacks were denied their rights by both the state and federal governments. And this was wrong because skin color makes no difference as far as our humanity goes. And the government has the duty protect the individual rights of the citizens. But that's not what it did.

The government created a protected class of people. The individual was subsumed by the group. This created a distortion in the very nature of our rights, allowing an entirely new system of slavery to be created, binding an entire race to the government and its largess, and creating new enmity between the races that would not have existed if the government had just restored the rights of the individual. It also allowed corrupt race hustlers like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to abuse the system for their own personal gain.

This is the same collectivism that creates protected classes like age, sex, sexual orientation and disabilities. Instead of recognizing that we are all different and the challenges we face have to be faced at a personal level, we try to build a Utopian world based on the nanny state. We pretend that if we just give the government enough control and throw enough money at it, if we hire just the right number of women or blacks or cripples, we can solve the problems that are wholly part and parcel of our human nature. We can't change human nature any more than we can change the nature of gravity. Pain and suffering are part of life and we cannot fix that!

Yet we continue down the Marxist path, convinced that somehow we can overwhelm nature itself and become little gods. We manipulate and twist reality into something that makes no sense at all, all the while telling ourselves that we've progressed into some brave new age. We are living a lie and we're about to pay the price, either through collapse or slavery to the system we created.

Turn to the truth. And pray, pray, pray.

COUNTERFEIT CATHOLICS - WHERE ARE THE BISHOPS?

To fully implement the Progressive vision they must co-opt or destroy the one thing that still stands in their way; the Catholic Church.

If you like Glenn Beck's style of reporting you're sure to enjoy this from Real Catholic TV.

TAILBAN MURDERS MEDICAL PERSONNEL

And yet we're falling all over ourselves to allow the religion of peace to build a mosque at Ground Zero. When will we wake up and stop with the political correctness and admit that we are at war, not with terrorism, but with Islam?

"At least 10 medical personnel, including six Americans, were slain in northern Afghanistan, officials confirmed Saturday.

The Taliban, through one of its spokesmen, claimed responsibility for the killings.

...A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed that the medical team were shot because they ignored an order from the insurgents to stop. Afterwards, he said, they found evidence that the group were American spies and were preaching Christianity. Speaking by cell phone, he said that they had maps showing their bases, and a Bible in Dari. Although I.A.M. is a Christian-supported group, Mr. Frans said, it does not engage in proselytizing."
New York Times

GENETICALLY MODIFIED CANOLA - THE ASIAN CARP OF THE PLANT WORLD

"Outside a grocery store in Langdon, N.D., two ecologists spotted a yellow canola plant growing on the margins of a parking lot this summer. They plucked it, ground it up and, using a chemical stick similar to those in home pregnancy kits, identified proteins that were made by artificially introduced genes. The plant was GM—genetically modified.

...That likely means that transgenic canola plants are cross-pollinating in the wild—and swapping introduced genes. Although GM canola in the wild has been identified everywhere from Canada to Japan in previous research, this marks the first time such plants have been shown to be evolving in this way. "They had novel combinations of transgenic traits," Sagers says. "The most parsimonious explanation is these traits are stable outside of cultivation and they are evolving."

Escaped populations of such transgenic plants have generally died out quickly without continual replenishment from stray farm seeds in places such as Canada, but canola is capable of hybridizing with at least two—and possibly as many as eight—wild weed species in North America, including field mustard (Brassica rapa), which is a known agricultural pest. "Not only is it going to jump out of cultivation; there are sexually compatible weeds all over North America," Sagers says. Adds ecologist-in-training Meredith Schafer of U.A., who led the research, "It becomes a weed [farmers] can't control."
Scientific American

We never learn, do we? Now we've released a mutant strain of canola into the wild with no way to ever anticipate the possible distortions in nature that will come with it. Think kudzu and Asian carp.

What happens when the pollen from GM plants spreads into traditional crops? Do we end up destroying the health and stability of our food supply?

Or do we find that the entire world becomes a slave to the few companies that make the seed?

JUDGE OVERRULES PEOPLE ONCE AGAIN

"Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, decried the August 4 decision of a federal judge to overturn California voters' 2008 initiative that protected marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

“Marriage between a man and a woman is the bedrock of any society. The misuse of law to change the nature of marriage undermines the common good,” Cardinal George said. “It is tragic that a federal judge would overturn the clear and expressed will of the people in their support for the institution of marriage. No court of civil law has the authority to reach into areas of human experience that nature itself has defined.”
USCCB.org

I've got a whole bunch of disagreements with the USCCB but, when they do the right thing I gotta give 'em credit. California will have to take care of its own problems. How this issue, which rightly belongs in the states, got before a federal judge is beyond me. The federal government does not regulate marriage laws; the states do. So beyond the basic moral problems addressed by the Bishop this is also a problem of federal overreach into areas that should be reserved to the states. This has nothing to do with protecting rights guaranteed by the constitution, such as the overturning of state laws during the civil rights era. This is federal intrusion into the states, pure and simple.

So what's next? Will we have to go to the fed for our drivers licenses? What about fishing licenses or permits to work on our houses? Is everything going to be controlled from Washington? I believe that the states, and through them the people, will become completely subservient to Washington if they don't stand up to it. California needs to tell the judge to kiss off and dare the fed to do anything about it. It owes its citizens that much at least. Otherwise, just hand the keys over to Washington and be done with it.

PROP C WINS BY 3 TO 1 MARGIN IN MISSOURI

"Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a federal mandate to purchase health insurance, rebuking President Barack Obama's administration and giving Republicans their first political victory in a national campaign to overturn the controversial health care law passed by Congress in March.

"The citizens of the Show-Me State don't want Washington involved in their health care decisions," said Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, one of the sponsors of the legislation that put Proposition C on the August ballot. She credited a grass-roots campaign involving Tea Party and patriot groups with building support for the anti-Washington proposition.

With most of the vote counted, Proposition C was winning by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1. The measure, which seeks to exempt Missouri from the insurance mandate in the new health care law, includes a provision that would change how insurance companies that go out of business in Missouri liquidate their assets."
STL Today

The battle has been joined and the first shots fired! Missouri, the first state to have a public vote on Obamacare, has rejected it by a 3 to 1 margin.

We'll hear today from all the experts that this doesn't matter, that the federal laws always supercede the state laws. Of course, that isn't what the Constitution says. The opponents of Prop C are fond of the Supremacy Clause, Article 6, Section 2 of the Constitution which states:

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

The part they always leave out is the qualifier in the first part of the sentence that requires valid federal law to be in compliance with the Constitution before it can be imposed upon the states. That's the point of prop C. The state of Missouri and her citizens do not believe that the Obamacare mandates are Constitutional and because of this we will not follow them. Do we have the authority to opt out of a law that is not authorized by the Constitution in Article 1, Section 8? You bet!

Ninth Amendment to the Constitution
"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

Tenth Amendment to the Constitution
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

The dirty little secret, the one that the politicians don't want you to know, is that the people created the Constitution and the people have the ultimate power. We lent the federal government certain of our rights to allow it to govern effectively. It has the power we allowed it to have, no more, no less. If it oversteps its authority we retain the power to stop it dead in its tracks.

Obamacare requires us to buy a product from a third party as part of our citizenship. It requires us to relinquish our property to the federal government to be redistributed to others. None of this was authorized by the people in the Constitution and the people of Missouri have spoken! The government has overstepped its powers and we're reeling it back in! We are using our powers under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to shut this thing down!

This vote, in conjunction with the court cases that have been filed by Virginia, Florida and a host of other states sends a strong message to the politicans that would be Kings. They've finally gone too far.

Expect things to start to get real ugly now. But no matter what happens, remember, the people of Missouri fired the first shot. Be proud that we stood up and use that pride to carry us forward in this battle for the very soul of our country. And know we're not alone. I suspect that many other states would have done the same thing given the chance.

The air smells just a little sweeter this morning. It smells like liberty.

CATHOLICS HAVE DUTY TO OPPOSE ABORTION AND SAME SEX UNIONS

'Warning of the possibility of a corrupt democracy, Texas priest Fr. Michael Rodriguez has written that Catholics have the “absolute duty” to oppose abortion and all government attempts to legalize same-sex unions.

The parish priest of El Paso’s San Juan Bautista Catholic Church, Fr. Rodriguez published a short essay in the Sunday El Paso Times urging all Catholics to take the teachings of the Catholic Church to heart.

Every Catholic, out of “fidelity to charity and truth,” must oppose “the murder of unborn babies” and the legalization of homosexual unions, he said.

“Any Catholic who supports homosexual acts is, by definition, committing a mortal sin, and placing himself/herself outside of communion with the Roman Catholic Church,” the priest wrote. Those Catholics who neglect actively to oppose the “homosexual agenda” on the grounds of equal rights and tolerance would be guilty of “a most grievous sin of omission.”
Catholic News Agency

Thanks, Father. It's high time that priests and other leaders in the Church speak the truth about homosexuality, regardless of the political consequences. Opposition to abortion is a given and I doubt that anyone is confused on the Church's stance in this regard. Same sex unions and homosexuality in general are treated far differently, probably because of the high number of homosexuals in the priesthood and higher up in the Church. This unholy infestation has clouded the moral certainty of the Church and impacted its ability to speak the truth.

I'm a libertarian and I really don't care what consenting adults do in their bedroom, as long as it causes no one else harm (which is a standard far harder to determine than most people understand. Our actions affect others in ways we will not understand until we stand before God in judgement). Enshrining a morally and societally destructive activity in law is a different matter. Laws serve as guideposts to behavior that benefits all. Homosexuality serves no societal good, only the selfish needs of the individual. It is destructive to society as a whole, perverting the sexual act meant to create new life in conjunction with God into a self serving act of lustful self gratification. The primary purpose of sex is to create life. Any sexual activity that is not open to that possibility, such as homosexuality, the use of birth control or masturbation offends the natural law and should not be made legal and through legalization elevated to a good. (That should have pissed off someone.)

The Church needs to make its teachings clear on this issue and stand for the truth, regardless of the condemnation that comes its way. There are some things more important than being liked, or even retaining a tax exemption.

DUSTY ROADS AND REGULATORY INSANITY

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering a crackdown on farm dust, so senators have signed a letter addressing their concerns on the possible regulations.

The letter dated July 23 to the EPA states, "If approved, would establish the most stringent and unparalleled regulation of dust in our nation's history." It further states, "We respect efforts for a clean and healthy environment, but not at the expense of common sense. These identified levels will be extremely burdensome for farmers and livestock producers to attain. Whether its livestock kicking up dust, soybeans being combined on a dry day in the fall, or driving a car down the gravel road, dust is a naturally occurring event."
News 9

"But an EPA spokesman said new rural regulations were never part of the plan.

"Contrary to blatantly false drum beat by agricultural alarmists, EPA does not have any plans to focus on regulating dust from farm fields or gravel roads," said Kris Lancaster, EPA, Region 7.

Lancaster said as part of the EPA's mission to protect public health the assessment focuses on significant sources of pollution most of which are in urban areas.
Senator Johanns asks if that were true why put agricultural regulations in their proposed assessment policy—which is the first step along the pathway to regulation? Between this and a recently withdrawn EPA proposal to monitor spilt milk, Johanns said it is too much.

"Why do they do these wacky things and then claim that we are the ones being alarmists? These folks drive me nuts. They are a federal department that just is out of control," Johanns said."
KHAS TV

I live in the country and the fact of the matter is that dust is all around us, casting a fine mist on the windshield of my truck, the leaves on the trees and the top of the coffee table in my living room. And why wouldn't it be? We've got gravel roads, equipment in the fields and animals everywhere. Not to mention the nearly constant onslaught of pollen from all the plants.

That's just part of living close to the land. Given a choice between dust and all the crap floating around the air and laying in the streets in a normal urban environment, I'll take dust any day. Besides, a certain amount of gray gravel dust floating in the air is part of the summertime feel; just like Mike Shannon broadcasting Cardinal baseball on the radio and pork steaks on the pit.

It almost seems as though these power mad regulators are trying to create artificial shortages, whether in food, fuel or any of the other vital areas of human life they feel compelled to screw with. With each passing day we find more and more of our lives managed by some official in a government far removed from that which they direct, not to mention inserting themselves in areas never intended for the federal government to be involved in. America is beginning to look more and more like a centrally planned and controlled country and less and less like the free market economy that created wealth and freedom for generations.

MISSOURIANS MUST VOTE FOR PROP C TOMORROW

If you live in Missouri tomorrow is the day we get to tell the federal government to get out of our health care decisions. Make sure you get out and vote for Prop C!

SECOND REGULAR SESSION

[TRULY AGREED TO AND FINALLY PASSED]

SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 1764

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

4419S.05T 2010



AN ACT

To repeal section 375.1175, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to insurance, with a referendum clause.



Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Section 375.1175, RSMo, is repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 1.330 and 375.1175, to read as follows:

1.330. 1. No law or rule shall compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer, or health care provider to participate in any health care system.

2. A person or employer may pay directly for lawful health care services and shall not be required by law or rule to pay penalties or fines for paying directly for lawful health care services. A health care provider may accept direct payment for lawful health care services and shall not be required by law or rule to pay penalties or fines for accepting direct payment from a person or employer for lawful health care services.

3. Subject to reasonable and necessary rules that do not substantially limit a person's options, the purchase or sale of health insurance in private health care systems shall not be prohibited by law or rule.

4. This section does not:
(1) Affect which health care services a health care provider or hospital is required to perform or provide;
(2) Affect which health care services are permitted by law;
(3) Prohibit care provided under workers' compensation as provided under state law;
(4) Affect laws or regulations in effect as of January 1, 2010;
(5) Affect the terms or conditions of any health care system to the extent that those terms and conditions do not have the effect of punishing a person or employer for paying directly for lawful health care services or a health care provider or hospital for accepting direct payment from a person or employer for lawful health care services.

5. As used in this section, the following terms shall mean:
(1) "Compel", any penalties or fines;
(2) "Direct payment or pay directly", payment for lawful health care services without a public or private third party, not including an employer, paying for any portion of the service;
(3) "Health care system", any public or private entity whose function or purpose is the management of, processing of, enrollment of individuals for or payment for, in full or in part, health care services or health care data or health care information for its participants;
(4) "Lawful health care services", any health-related service or treatment to the extent that the service or treatment is permitted or not prohibited by law or regulation that may be provided by persons or businesses otherwise permitted to offer such services; and
(5) "Penalties or fines", any civil or criminal penalty or fine, tax, salary or wage withholding or surcharge or any named fee with a similar effect established by law or rule by a government established, created or controlled agency that is used to punish or discourage the exercise of rights protected under this section.

375.1175. 1. The director may petition the court for an order directing him to liquidate a domestic insurer or an alien insurer domiciled in this state on the basis:
(1) Of any ground for an order of rehabilitation as specified in section 375.1165, whether or not there has been a prior order directing the rehabilitation of the insurer;
(2) That the insurer is insolvent;
(3) That the insurer is in such condition that the further transaction of business would be hazardous, financially or otherwise, to its policyholders, its creditors or the public;
(4) That the insurer is found to be in such condition after examination that it could not meet the requirements for incorporation and authorization specified in the law under which it was incorporated or is doing business; or
(5) That the insurer has ceased to transact the business of insurance for a period of one year.

2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a domestic insurer organized as a stock insurance company may voluntarily dissolve and liquidate as a corporation under sections 351.462 to 351.482, provided that:
(1) The director, in his or her sole discretion, approves the articles of dissolution prior to filing such articles with the secretary of state. In determining whether to approve or disapprove the articles of dissolution, the director shall consider, among other factors, whether:
(a) The insurer's annual financial statements filed with the director show no written insurance premiums for five years; and
(b) The insurer has demonstrated that all policyholder claims have been satisfied or have been transferred to another insurer in a transaction approved by the director; and
(c) An examination of the insurer pursuant to sections 374.202 to 374.207 has been completed within the last five years; and
(2) The domestic insurer files with the secretary of state a copy of the director's approval, certified by the director, along with articles of dissolution as provided in section 351.462 or 351.468.

Section B. This act is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state for approval or rejection at an election which is hereby ordered and which shall be held and conducted on Tuesday next following the first Monday in August, 2010, pursuant to the laws and constitutional provisions of this state for the submission of referendum measures by the general assembly, and this act shall become effective when approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon at such election and not otherwise.

Section C. Pursuant to chapter 116, RSMo, and other applicable constitutional provisions and laws of this state allowing the general assembly to adopt ballot language for the submission of this act to the voters of this state, the official ballot title of this act shall be as follows:

"Shall the Missouri Statutes be amended to:

● Deny the government authority to penalize citizens for refusing to purchase private health insurance or infringe upon the right to offer or accept direct payment for lawful healthcare services?

● Modify laws regarding the liquidation of certain domestic insurance companies?".