Defending Your Name, Defending the Weak

‘May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!’  ~ Psalm 72:4

    

It seems that the world to-day is conspicuously and sadly devoid of heroes–at least of the variety that receives not their accolades according to how well they catch a ball, drive a car repeatedly in circles, or carry a tune.  True heroes–true heroes–are to-day difficult to find.

This has not always been the case, of course; one may look back through the pages of history to find innumerable heroes to be admired and emulated.  Though many, if not most of them, are of the martial variety Christendom has been blessed with scores of contenders for the faith, defenders of the weak, and advocates for the poor–all heroic in varying degrees and manner.  Sadly, it seems I find myself looking into the past for heroes more often than I seem to find them amidst us.

I found one such hero yesterday where all modern heroes seem to reside in these advanced times of ours: Youtube.  I was a bit surprised to realise that I had not heard of George Galloway, MP (a member of the British House of Commons) nor his struggle to clear his name against spurrious and fabricated charges lodged against him by the U.S. Senate in their errant and Quixotic efforts to legitimise and justify the war against Iraq. 

Mr Galloway’s heroic and pointed defence of his reputation and courage in standing up to a body full of hubris and arrogance is not only refreshing but encouraging.  If only more men had the fortitude to contend for the TRUTH as does Mr Galloway!

I encourage you to watch all six portions of the following video of Mr Galloway’s testimony before  the Senate Homeland Security Sub-committee.  Then take heart–there are heroes among us!

[UPDATE: For some reason Part I of the video will not appear on the screen.  However, you may view it here.]

[UPDATE II: After researching Mr Galloway a bit more, I have determined that he is a strange bird with some even stranger ideals and beliefs.  That being said, the videos are still worth watching and he can be praised for this display of courage in particular, if not for much of anything else.]

  

  

  

   

    

    

Milk Does the Body Politic No Good

‘When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.’ ~ Leviticus 19: 33

   

• Man buys a ledger with the original formula for Dr Pepper.

 

‘Since […] the abolition of slavery never appeared in the platform of any great political party, since the only appeal ever made to the electorate on that issue was scornfully repulsed, since the spokesman of the Republicans emphatically declared that his party never intended to interfere with slavery in the states in any shape or form, it seems reasonable to assume that the institution of slavery was not the fundamental issue during the epoch preceding the bombardment of Fort Sumter.’

 

•  ‘A funny thing has started happening to Paul since his long-shot presidential campaign ended quietly in the summer of 2008. More Republicans have started listening to him.’

 

• It’s nice to see that some folks take their obligations seriously—even NFL football players.

 

What do you do when you’ve been married for 62 years and you’re stuck in the waiting room at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida?

 

 

• ‘“When I see that picture, the first thing I think of is how special and lucky I am to have God use me that way,” Samuel told FOXNews.com. “I feel very thankful that I was in that picture.”’

 

• ‘Bibles in Afghan languages sent to a U.S. soldier at a base in Afghanistan were confiscated and destroyed to ensure that troops did not breach regulations which forbid proselytizing, a military spokeswoman said.’And who collected the Bibles and destroyed them? The chaplains. And here is another reason for Christians to not join or to get out of the military: “U.S. Central Command’s General Order Number 1 forbids troops on active duty–including all those based in Iraq and Afghanistan–from trying to convert people to another religion.” Since the Bible commands Christians to try to convert people, this means the U.S. military is anti-biblical. Christian soldiers, you should obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). If you can’t obey God in the military then get out.

 

• I don’t really care for Trent Reznor nor his ‘industrial rock’ band Nine Inch Nails. However, you have to respect the man for calling a spade a spade and taking Wal-Mart to task:  ‘I’ll voice the same issue I had with Wal-Mart years ago, which is a matter of consistency and hypocrisy. Wal-Mart went on a rampage years ago insisting all music they carry be censored of all profanity and ‘clean’ versions be made for them to carry. Bands (including Nirvana) tripped over themselves editing out words, changing album art, etc to meet Wal-Mart’s standards of decency–because Wal-Mart sells a lot of records. NIN refused, and you’ll notice a pretty empty NIN section at any Wal-Mart. My reasoning was this: I can understand if you want the moral posturing of not having any “indecent” material for sale–but you could literally turn around 180 degrees from where the NIN record would be and purchase the film ‘Scarface’ completely uncensored, or buy a copy of Grand Theft Auto where you can be rewarded for beating up prostitutes. How does that make sense?’

 

• You mean to tell me that Harvey Milk wasn’t anything like the character portrayed by Sean Penn in the movie of the same name? I am SHOCKED!!

 

• A similar poll commissioned last year by Faith in Public Life and Mercer University reported that almost 60 percent of Southern evangelicals believed that torture was often or sometimes justified. When the Spanish did it, it was torture. When the Japanese did it, it was torture. When the Germans did it, it was torture. When the Khmer Rouge did it, it was torture. But when waterboarding was done by Americans under a Republican administration, it suddenly became an “enhanced interrogation technique.”

 

To-Day’s 1980’s Moment is brought to you by: Elvis Costello

 

Modesty, Meet Frugality

‘[T]hen I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.’  ~ Leviticus 26:16

 

• Don’t fall victim to the government’s swine flu hysteria!   

 

‘The way to prepare yourself and protect your family from this influenza is not a vaccine or anti-viral drug. I strongly recommend that if vaccines and/or anti-viral drugs are offered to you, that you refuse them. These actually reduce your immunity; vaccines contain many toxic components, such as aluminum, mercury, and solvents, and anti-viral drugs interfere with critical body processes. Historical evidence of vaccinations has shown that they actually increase the chances of becoming severely ill. Influenza vaccines in particular are notoriously ineffective and have harmed thousands of people, and there is evidence already that Tamiflu, now being stockpiled for a possible epidemic, is useless against influenza. The best way to prepare for influenza is by enhancing your immune system and increasing the amount of vitamin C in your body.’ 

 

•  One ‘benefit’ to be had from the swine flu: it has buttressed the Dollar.  (Oh, Economy, you fickle mistress!) 

 

•  Have a little ‘down time’?  Well then, here’s Chicken Cam! 

 

•  My Christian Brothers, we have to break free from the state. We must stop looking to the next election and the Republican Party as our salvation. And we must stop using the sword of government for our purposes. “For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” 

 

•  Who was the best President who ever handled a depression?  Warren G. Harding. 

 

Pastor Larry DeBruyn brings up a good point:

‘The irony of this whole business is that here was a scantily clad woman – this of course can provoke lust in men (Matthew 5:27-29) – who was asked about marriage by a judge who supposedly isn’t even attracted to women. She gives the politically incorrect answer and in doing so alienated the politically correct judges and forfeited possible victory in the beauty pageant. By giving a correct answer to a loaded question about marriage, and by doing so without hardly any clothes on, Miss Prejean has now become the cause célèbre amongst conservatives and evangelicals for her affirmation of biblically correct marriage.’

 

 China has $2 trillion in U.S. debt. Do you think at some point these countries are just gong to say, “We’re done? We’re not going to keep underwriting your debt?” If so, what happens then?

‘It’s not just China. It’s our own people who are starting to say, “Why would I buy something that’s being printed as fast as you possibly can print it, why would I buy something where debts are getting higher and higher by the hour, and interest rates are at historic lows?” Let’s not pick on the Chinese here.’ ~ Uber-investor Jim Rogers

Wordless Wednesday

‘Say of your brothers, “My people,” and of your sisters, “My loved one.”‘  ~ Hosea 2:1

 

Dollar for Dollar

 ’For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.’  ~ II Corinthians 2:12

 

‘The net effect of the recent surge in household debt is therefore to throw entire populations into financial dependency. The moral implications are clear. Towering debts are incompatible with financial self-reliance and thus they tend to weaken self-reliance also in all other spheres. The debt-ridden individual eventually adopts the habit of turning to others for help, rather than maturing into an economic and moral anchor of his family, and of his wider community. Wishful thinking and submissiveness replace soberness and independent judgement. And what about the many cases in which families can no longer shoulder the debt load? Then the result is either despair or, on the contrary, scorn for all standards of financial sanity.’ ~ Jörg Guido Hülsmann, The Cultural and Spiritual Legacy of Fiat Inflation

 

 

 

• A book that was stolen from Washington College’s library by a Yankee invader 145 years ago has finally been returned to the university.

 

 

 

• ‘Bad as they were, however, the Alien and Sedition Acts were only outward symptoms of a more dreaded disease, Hamiltonian Federalism, and its efforts underway since 1791 to Anglicize government in America and transform it from a republic to a monarchy patterned after the corrupt model of England. First there was the Hamiltonian fiscal system, that engine of oppression, with its paper money, debt, and patronage. Next came the threat of a standing army. . .  

 

 

 

President Obama’s toughest press conference to date:

 

 

 

 

The fact that President Obama, a (a-hem) professing Christian, had an image symbolising Jesus’ name obscured during a speech at Georgetown University is not, quite frankly, surprising to anyone who actually judges people by what they do and not merely by what they say. What is disturbing, however, is that Georgetown agreed with his request. I have long lamented that our society—including Christians—has deified the government in general and the presidency in specific. Now, it appears that we are prepared to allow the President to supplant the King of Kings altogether.

If we can’t take a stand against something such as this, what will be the response if and when we are commanded to bow down and worship the President or his image?

 

 

 

• This report finds what my family already knows: The Neti Pot works!

 

 

 

One of the best garage band songs of all time:  

 

 

 

At least one country has come to the conclusion—if begrudgingly so—that you cannot print yourself into prosperity:

‘Zimbabwe’s new coalition Government has decided to withdraw the country’s worthless currency from circulation for at least a year and rely exclusively on other hard currencies.’

Hopefully, the Powers That Be in the U.S. will come to a similar realisation. (We are not hopeful, however.)

 

 

 

This 1980’s Moment is brought to you by Keith Richards: