A Frightening Event

SAN DIEGO -- A local pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, who then threatened them with escalating fines if they continued to hold Bible studies in their home, 10News reported.

Attorney Dean Broyles of The Western Center For Law & Policy was shocked with what happened to the pastor and his wife.

Broyles said, "The county asked, 'Do you have a regular meeting in your home?' She said, 'Yes.' 'Do you say amen?' 'Yes.' 'Do you pray?' 'Yes.' 'Do you say praise the Lord?' 'Yes.'"

The county employee notified the couple that the small Bible study, with an average of 15 people attending, was in violation of County regulations, according to Broyles.

Broyles said a few days later the couple received a written warning that listed "unlawful use of land" and told them to "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit" -- a process that could cost tens of thousands of dollars."

For churches and religious assemblies there's big parking concerns, there's environmental impact concerns when you have hundreds or thousands of people gathering. But this is a different situation, and we believe that the application of the religious assembly principles to this Bible study is certainly misplaced," said Broyles.

News of the case has rapidly spread across Internet blogs and has spurred various reactions.

Broyles said his clients have asked to stay anonymous until they give the county a demand letter that states by enforcing this regulation the county is violating their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion.

Broyles also said this case has broader implications.

"If the county thinks they can shut down groups of 10 or 15 Christians meeting in a home, what about people who meet regularly at home for poker night? What about people who meet for Tupperware parties? What about people who are meeting to watch baseball games on a regular basis and support the Chargers?" Broyles asked.Broyles and his clients plan to give the County their demand letter this week.If the County refuses to release the pastor and his wife from obtaining the permit, they will consider a lawsuit in federal court.

Blah!

Rick Warren is worthless.

I suggest that everyone stop reading his books and start reading the Bible.

Why?

Anyone who gives credit to man is not of God. The Word of God is the only truth we can rely upon.

Rick Warren wavers. God doesn't.

Period.

What does Rick Warren really believe?

I'm not a fan of Rick Warren.  He's always struck me as a shady used car or insurance salesman.
Yeah, he's said a few good things.  So what?

This is from a article by Sandy Rios.  I've cut what I believe is irrelevant but you can read the
entire editorial here. 

Rick Warren deeply influential, rightly told his congregation “…if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8. I never support a candidate, but on moral issues I come out very clear.”

Until this week … Holy Week.

On the first Holy Week Peter promised Jesus, “Though others may turn away, I will never deny you.” But then in the chill of night in a courtyard just outside the place of Jesus’ trial, as others around the fire began to probe his relationship to Jesus, he quietly denied even knowing him. No one was threatening his life, but the derision increased and with every barb, until Peter’s denial escalated to a curse as he emphatically denied he had ever known Jesus.

Peter was worried about his reputation. He didn’t want to be the odd man out in the courtyard over the fire… it wasn’t a Roman soldier with a sword who challenged him, it was a mere servant girl.

“On moral issues I come out very clear,” declared Rick Warren when writing in the safety of his office. But when confronted by homosexual friends and Larry King this week, he folded just like Peter. Now, to be clear, he did not deny Christ, but he backpedaled so fast from where he previously stood and reinterpreted his previous statements in a way that strains credulity. He went on to describe how he has “apologized” to his homosexual friends for making comments in support of Proposition 8. He “never once gave an endorsement” of the marriage amendment, he declared.

And in one fell swoop, he not only separated himself from the biblical teaching on marriage, but distorted the past in the process. Seduced by the pressure of fame? Driven by the desire to please his friends? Afraid to be seen as bigoted to a national television audience? Whatever the motivation, the behavior is no less significant.

Rick Warren did not deny Christ on Larry King. But every believer who was watching had to question whether Rick was being faithful to the commission Christ left him with: Teaching others to “obey all the things I have commanded you.” And obedient biblical teaching on marriage is not a particularly difficult matter. Unpopular? Yes. Unclear? Hardly.

After Peter executed his betrayal, he went out and wept bitterly. On Larry King, Rick Warren went on to tell about his profuse apologies to his gay friends. In the broad scheme of things, I don’t think Rick Warren needed to apologize to them at all. An apology to Christ? Now that would be entirely in order.

This Holy Week, let’s pray America’s Pastor Rick Warren will not let this story end here.

Lent: Do I Still Practice It?

A few years ago I began adhering to the practice of Lent. At the time it made sense. However,
when I quit reading what man has to say and began reading what God reveals in His word, I quit
practicing Lent.

Lent is a great idea and I don't condemn anyone for practicing it, but I can't find it as Biblical. It's
true that preachers who read more of what man says than the Bible says and aren't guided by the
Holy Spirit are practicing Lent in their churches. It's a cool thing to do.

Now that I've awaken from a 5 year stupor of listening to the exegesis of man on what man says, I
no longer believe that practicing Lent is necessary.

I'm going to worship the Lord and read the Bible. I'm not going to read what man says what they
want the Bible to say.

Real Solutions for a Real Problem

12 American Solutions

Payroll Tax Stimulus. With a temporary new tax credit to offset 50% of the payroll tax,
every small business would have more money, and all Americans would take home more of what
they earn.

Real Middle-Income Tax Relief. Reduce the marginal tax rate of 25% down to 15%, in effect
establishing a flat-rate tax of 15% for close to 9 out of 10 American workers.

Reduce the Business Tax Rate. Match Ireland’s rate of 12.5% to keep more jobs in America.

Homeowner’s Assistance. Provide tax credit incentives to responsible home buyers so they
can keep their homes.

Control Spending So We Can Move to a Balanced Budget. This begins with eliminating
Congressional earmarks and wasteful pork-barrel spending.

No State Aid Without Protection From Fraud. Require state governments to adopt
anti-fraud and anti-theft policies before giving them more money.

More American Energy Now. Explore for more American oil and gas and invest in affordable
energy for the future, including clean coal, ethanol, nuclear power and renewable fuels.

Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains. Match China, Singapore and many other competitors. More
investment in America means more jobs in America.

Protect the Rights of American Workers. We must protect a worker’s right to decide by
secret ballot whether to join a union, and the worker’s right to freely negotiate. Forced unionism
will kill jobs in America at a time when we can’t afford to lose them.

Replace Sarbanes-Oxley. This failed law is crippling entrepreneurial startups. Replace it with
affordable rules that help create jobs, not destroy them.

Abolish the Death Tax. Americans should work for their families, not for Washington.

Invest in Energy and Transportation Infrastructure. This includes a new, expanded
electric power grid and a 21st century air traffic control system that will reduce delays in air
travel and save passengers, employees and airlines billions of dollars per year.

Political Compass Printable Graph

Political Compass Printable Graph

Re: Earmarks in Spending Bill - $58 million by Inhofe Conservatives need to run Conservative. Moving toward the (barf) center is one of the most ridiculous or deficient things a Conservative can to. You will never see a hard-lined left-winged extremist knee-jerk reactionary liberal, like Kennedy, Frank or algore, who want to cram their dogma of intolerance and hate down our throats, do anything to attract the so-called (barf) moderate crowd. I contend that they, the so-called (barf) moderates, don't give a rip about right or wrong. They want a leader. That's what BO did to attract them. He did nothing that was (barf) centrist. BO ran on a left-winged extremist campaign and didn't waver. The (barf) center liked that. He acted like a leader. Note the word 'acted'. It denotes not being genuine or bona fide. In other words, make believe. After all they - the (barf) moderates are the true idiots, or puppets, of the political spectrum. JM tried to attract the (barf) center, while pushing the rational right from him. He was disgusting. He should have paid attention to Sarah Palin. She was a Conservative and ran on Conservative ideals. To the Conservatives: 1. Reagan was right. 2. Reagan will always be right. 3. Do what Reagan would have done.

BO Waffles on Mrs. Clinton's Credentials

President-elect BO has designated the wife of former president Bill Clinton to be his secretary of state.  This is quite a waffle considering BO spent much of the previous two years questioning her foreign-policy credentials.

BO claimed that she didn't possess the necessary foreign policy experience to be president.  Here's a quote he made during a campaign event last March in Texas:

“What exactly is this foreign policy expertise? Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no.”

Now, BO says his new foreign policy team, which will be led by Mrs. Bill Clinton, would change America’s foreign policy for the better.  He told reporters:

“I am confident that this is the team that we need to make a new beginning for American national security,”

BO had said exactly the opposite view of Bill Clinton's wife during the primary campaign.

Quotes of the Day

"Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men." --John Adams


"If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs." --Theodore Roosevelt


"If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that, too." --W. Somerset Maugham


"He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has." --Epictetus

Useless Words

Here is a list of useless words that are used in everyday language.

Usually. This stupid word is used as an absolute. Why? Here's an example, "usually we don't do that..." When what they mean is, "we DON'T do that." What is the purpose of 'usually'?

Kinda. Self explanatory. Why is it used as a comparison when it doesn't compare? Talk about STUPID!

Actually. This is the ultimate use of stupidity. If it isn't already ACTUALLY, then what is it? C'mon, what's the purpose of it?

The English language is so abused. Why do we allow these things to continue?

Why?

Why do people say...

It's Ameeeeezing?


Why can't they say it's amazing?

This is something I will never understand.

THIS JUST IN...

FROM CNN AND NPR...



THOSE ON THE democrat VOTE PROGRAM (welfare) WILL
RECEIVE EXTRA CREDIT ON THEIR democrat VOTING CARD INCLUDING BEER,
SNACKS AND CIGARETTES IF THEY WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER 5TH TO VOTE.



REMEMBER, VOTE NOVEMBER 5TH!

Bill Ayers is a College Professor

"Bill Ayers is a professor of education in Chicago; 40 years ago when I was 8 years old he engaged in despicable acts with a domestic group. I have roundly denounced those attacks."

That's BO's story and he's sticking to it. (BO because his policies stink)

BUT, and it's a big but, when BO was 40 Bill Ayers said he didn't regret what he did and that he should have used more dynamite.

Come on, BO, you're in league with an unrepentant terrorist and you know it.

Is Marriage a Right?

Many people believe that marriage is a right. But is it? Let’s think about this for a moment and look at some of the ramifications if it was a right.

Who’s going to marry the 300 pound slob?
Who’s going to marry the jerk who won’t get a job?
Who’s going to marry the ugly duckling? I mean the ugly duckling!
Who’s going to marry the womanizer? Who’s going to marry the female equivalent?
It doesn’t make sense to say that marriage is a right.

While it certainly makes sense that everybody has the right to TRY to get married it doesn’t make sense that anybody has the right to be married.

Let’s stop calling things rights that aren’t rights.

Democratic is a process,
democrat is what they are...

The Bail Out

Any solution should observe three guiding principles.

• Restore the stability of the financial system quickly and and at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayers.
• Address the root causes of this crisis, i.e. the price collapse in the residential real estate market.
• Punish those who are responsible for the losses.
  

Here are some of the problems with the bail out bill.

1. How will the assets be priced? Efforts in the past to establish a price have not been successful. In fact, markets have frozen up largely due to the difficulty of pricing them.

• If the Treasury pays to close to par, as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke alluded to at the Senate hearing, it's going to pay too much.
• If it pays the current prices, no one will sell due to the impact on their capital.
• If it pulls a price out of thin air, it will be acting arbitrarily. The proposal needs to create a price setting process.
  

2. Are we better served by buying assets or institutions? It's obvious that the purchase of mortgage related assets from struggling or failing financial institutions is necessary. But why should the taxpayer, instead of the shareholders and debt holders, bear this burden of debt
for financial institutions that are solvent? I think not.

3. How much is this really going to cost the taxpayer? $700 billion is a lot of money. But what if it isn't enough? Some economist are saying the price could be over $1 trillion.

Before anything is consummated the solution should respect the rule of law by spelling out the proposal in sufficient detail for the Congress and the voters to pass judgment. It should follow proven precedents.

Sarah Palin

This is from an article written today by, CNS News senior editor, Susan Jones.

Who is She?

Palin was born Feb. 11, 1964, in Idaho, but her parents moved to Alaska shortly after her birth to teach. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987.

The Palins have five children: Track, 19; Bristol 17; Willow 14; Piper, 7, and Trig, who was born in April with Down syndrome. Track enlisted in the Army in 2007 on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and has been assigned to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks.

In just two years, Palin has moved from suburban hockey mom and small-town mayor to governor and vice presidential contender, the Associated Press reported.

She is the first woman to appear on a Republican presidential ticket. She is Alaska’s first female governor, and she ran on an anti-corruption, ethics platform.

During her first year in office, Palin distanced herself from the powerful old guard of the state Republican Party, even calling on Sen. Ted Stevens to explain to Alaskans why federal authorities were investigating him, the Associated Press reported.

However, the Alaska Legislature last month voted to hire an independent investigator to look into allegations that Palin abused her office by trying to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper.

Palin has said she welcomes the investigation: "Hold me accountable," she said. She denies allegations that she pulled strings in an attempt to get her sister's ex-husband fired.

She also successfully took on the oil industry, leading to a tax increase on oil company profits that have swelled the state's treasury.

Bumper stickers and blogs have proclaimed Alaska and Palin: "Coldest State, Hottest Governor." Last year, the former beauty queen posed for a photo shoot in Vogue, the Associated Press reported.

She lives in Wasilla, a town of 6,500 about 30 miles north of Anchorage, with her husband, Todd, a North Slope oil worker who competes in the Iron Dog, a 1,900-mile snowmobile race. He is part Yup'ik Eskimo.

Her previous political experience consisted of terms as Wasilla's mayor and councilwoman and a stint as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

She is solidly pro-life, reports say, and is expected to have strong appeal to social conservatives.

This says it All!

Just a thought...

I'm sitting here in the rain enjoying the day and I'm also listening to the news.

There's something that's very wrong. The democrat party isn't democratic, in fact, they're against the process. Does anybody remember the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004?

algore hates the process. He did everything he could to avert it. He lied. He cheated. He cried like a baby.

John Kerry, on the other hand, was disgusted with the process. The democrat party did everything they could to make him president. They lied. They cheated. They cried like babies. John Kerry did a noble thing. He walked away knowing the George W. Bush won the election.

Remember these words of wisdom,

DEMOCRATIC IS A PROCESS,
democrat IS WHAT THEY ARE!!!!!

Any questions?

The Classic List Changed... Already?

That's right.

I had to think hard about Catcher in the Rye. It's not a book I can recommend because of the language.

If it was a movie, I wouldn't watch it.

Classic Literature Must Reads

This is such a touchy subject. As soon as I post this list I'm going to change it or somebody is going to criticize me for not including their favorite 'Classic Must Reads'.

Let me know what yours' are so they can be included. Don't think I'm so arrogant to suggest that my list is definitive. There are many classics I haven't read, 'A Brave New World' comes to mind, however, I just requested it from the local library. I should start reading it by the end of the week. To tell you the truth I love short stories. My mind rarely allows for novels because I drift and have to start over. These are a list of those which kept my attention from start to finish.

The list I concocted will be revised, and revised, and revised... As indicated, any book that can keep my attention is worth the read.

Here it is.

1884 - a frightening reality of a paperless society (memory holes) and liberal rule.
Tom Sawyer - this and Huck are simply awesome
Shane - the book is better than the movie, duh.
Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane's descriptive writing is remarkable.
Huckleberry Finn - See Tom Sawyer, above.
To Kill a Mockingbird - incredible.
Edgar Allen Poe - A wordsmith with an unbelievable imagination.
Sherlock Holmes - The plots are fascinating.
Agatha Christie - The queen of short stories.
Dairy of a Rat Man aka Willard - WHAT!? You scream in horror. Yeah, I liked it. Summer of '71!

This is it for the moment. The usual Shakespear and Sophocles are givens, however, I really don't care for them that much. Shakespear is great for understanding the King James Bible because you'll use a dictionary. You won't when you read the KJV and that's a shame.