Apple Blocks the Lama App

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091231/tc_afp/uschinaitcompanyapple

I’m not Paying Back Taxes Cause my Baby’s $800 Coat Comes First-  In America, at least at present time, there’s only a few things that are certain in life.  Some say life’s a real bitch, then your luck dries up and you marry one.  Other’s say that mortality is inevitable, but tell that to Elivis and Tupac Shakur who are still creeping around the proverbial building.  Both, however, would agree that taxes are a real pain in the ass, and they aren’t going anywhere.  Neither are you if you’re up to your eyeballs in debt to the IRS.  Well, that might not be true because former D.C. Marion “that’s not me on tape” Barry owes a bundle, but he ain’t payin a cent this month.

Barry owes thousands of dollars in back taxes, but that didn’t stop him from buying his girlfriend an $800 coat.  He bought the opera coat with his own money Saturday at a cancer auction held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel where he topped CNN’s Wolf Blitzer’s bid.  The IRS has been taking $1,350 every two weeks from Barry’s salary since late 2006 and he also has been paying the D.C. government $350 a month (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090429/ap_on_re_us/us_marion_barry_800_coat;_ylt=AmHbYEykCb8pfcMDjQlnbU9vzwcFBarry).

Barry said his troubles shouldn’t be a factor in what gifts he buys, and why should it?  So, what.  The guy has a little tax problem. Doesn’t every politician?  Sure, it looks bad because he was caught on tape smoking crack with a prostitute in a D.C. hotel, and another time when he was  nabbed buying coke from a goverment official in the Virgin Islands, but that doesn’t make him a bad guy.  After all, he did some great things as mayor, though none of them will be remembered.  The fact of the matter is his main squeeze needed a nice jacket to wear out on the town so he picked it up, and he outbid that bore Wolf Blitzer in the process.   Screw the IRS.  They can wait for a check like everyone else.

from YahooNews:

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats passed a landmark health care bill in a climactic Christmas Eve vote that could define President Barack Obama’s legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country’s history.

The 60-39 vote on a cold winter morning capped months of arduous negotiations and 24 days of floor debate. It also followed a succession of failures by past congresses to get to this point. Vice President Joe Biden presided as 58 Democrats and two independents voted “yes.” Republicans unanimously voted “no.”

The tally far exceeded the simple majority required for passage.

The Senate’s bill must still be merged with legislation passed by the House before Obama could sign a final bill in the new year. There are significant differences between the two measures but Democrats say they’ve come too far now to fail.

Both bills would extend health insurance to more than 30 million more Americans.

Vicki Kennedy, the widow of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, who made health reform his life’s work, watched the vote from the gallery. So did Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the longest-serving House member and a champion of universal health care his entire career.

“This morning isn’t the end of the process, it’s merely the beginning. We’ll continue to build on this success to improve our health system even more,” Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said before the vote. “But that process cannot begin unless we start today … there may not be a next time.”

At a news conference a few moments later, Reid said the vote “brings us one step closer to making Ted Kennedy’s dream a reality.”

The Nevadan said that “every step of this long process has been an enormous undertaking.”

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee, said he “very happy to see people getting health care they could not get.”

It was the Senate’s first Christmas Eve vote since 1895, when the matter at hand was a military affairs bill concerning employment of former Confederate officers, according to the Senate Historical Office.

The House passed its own measure in November. The White House and Congress have now come further toward the goal of a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s health care system than any of their predecessors.

The legislation would ban the insurance industry from denying benefits or charging higher premiums on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. The Congressional Budget Office predicts the bill will reduce deficits by $130 billion over the next 10 years, an estimate that assumes lawmakers carry through on hundreds of billions of dollars in planned cuts to insurance companies and doctors, hospitals and others who treat Medicare patients.

For the first time, the government would require nearly every American to carry insurance, and subsidies would be provided to help low-income people to do so. Employers would be induced to cover their employees through a combination of tax credits and penalties. The legislation costs nearly $1 trillion over 10 years and is paid for by a combination of taxes, fees and cuts to Medicare.

Republicans were withering in their criticism of what they deemed a budget-busting government takeover. If the measure were worthwhile, contended Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., “they wouldn’t be rushing it through Congress on Christmas Eve.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner assailed the bill moments after passage.

“Not even Ebenezer Scrooge himself could devise a scheme as cruel and greedy as Democrats’ government takeover of health care,” the Ohio Republican said in a statement.

“Senator Reid’s health care bill increases premiums for families and small businesses, raises taxes during a recession, cuts seniors’ Medicare benefits, adds to our skyrocketing debt, and puts bureaucrats in charge of decisions that should be made by patients and doctors,” he said. “The bill also authorizes taxpayer-funded abortions, violating long-standing federal policy. It’s no coincidence that the more the American people learn about this monstrosity, the more they oppose it.

The occasion was moving for many who’d followed Kennedy, who died in August.

“He’s having a merry Christmas in Heaven,” Sen. Paul Kirk, D-Mass., appointed to fill Kennedy’s seat, told reporters after the tally.

Kirk said he was “humbled to be here with the honor of casting essentially his vote.”

Said Dingell: “This is for me, this is for my dad, this is for the country.”

Reid nailed the last votes down in a rush of deal making in the last week that is now coming under attack because of special provisions obtained by a number of senators. In Nebraska, home to conservative Democrat Ben Nelson, the Democrats’ crucial 60th vote, the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost of a planned Medicaid expansion in perpetuity, the only state getting that deal.

Negotiations between the House and Senate to reconcile differences between the two bills are expected to begin as soon as next week. The House bill has stricter limits on abortion than the Senate, and unlike the House, the Senate measure omits a government-run insurance option, which liberals favored to apply pressure on private insurers but Democratic moderates opposed as an unwarranted federal intrusion. Obama has signaled he will sign a bill even if it lacks that provision.

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It could be that the ultimate evil in the world manifests through control. After all, the basic temptation revolved around man being his own god! For the natural mind, being god tends to come down to one question: who’s in charge? Control takes away freedom; it takes away choices; it deprives us of the very essence of being human and having the opportunity to decide our fate. In the end, control replaces the Lordship of Jesus with the opinion of man. Sadly, while violating nearly all that is godly it is most often done for our good and in many instances done in Jesus’ name!

Ultimate control is not overt physical force. No! Ultimate control is intellectual intimidation: the control of your thoughts and opinions. God gave man dominion over himself and over the natural elements of Planet Earth. Since the fall we have tried to exercise dominion over others as a substitute for self control. Man is held in control by keeping himself in darkness. Darkness, which is the opposite of what we have in Christ, disallows man of the God-given right to see, ask questions, and experience God for himself! When man cannot see he needs a guide; thus, the outplaying of darkness becomes the physical, economic, and spiritual control of our lives by those who “lead” us.

Control comes dressed in many costumes. In some dictatorial environments it is overt, easily understood, and quickly identified. But in other environments it is an oppression that lurks beyond the veil, just past the clarity of reason. In an environment that espouses freedom, control is always dressed as a concerned benefactor there to give us what we seem unable to get for ourselves! It is a defender of the faith, a crusader for the cause; it is the knight in shining armor that has come to do for us what we have been led to believe we cannot do for ourselves.

Politicians fill us with fear of the future and then offer to protect us from the monsters they created. In education teachers omit the facts they determine to be damaging. The medical practitioner confidently tells us what is good for us and is quickly frustrated if we question his radical procedures. The scientific community is no better than any other group; they may, in fact, be worse than most. By disregarding facts they make us feel ignorant if we so much as consider that which does not fit into the accepted dogma of academia. And then there is the meanest and deadliest control of all: religion. Religion wants to impose its view of God so that you see God in the approved manner.

Regardless of the arena, the limiting of ideas keeps man crippled. It restricts him from attaining his rightful place in Planet Earth as a child of the Creator. In the church world it causes us to doubt who we are in Christ and what we have through His finished work. When the goal is control of the person, what better way to control than to undermine your belief and experience of who you are in relation to God? All the woes of society, from the fall of man in the Garden to the vilest expression ever known, have resulted in man’s refusal to see God as a good God and to see ourselves as God has created us, in both the natural world and as believers in Christ! When man is not held in the esteem God intended the vilest of actions can be justified!

The message of the codependent controller, no matter what language is employed, what dogma prevails, or in which arena it exists, is always the same: “I have something you don’t have and you need me. You’re not smart enough, strong enough, or anointed enough to get what you need.” From the pulpit to the White House where codependency exists, it exists to give other people control of your life. Those who consider themselves the solution usurp the Lordship of Jesus and alienate you from the grace of God for yourself!

One of the unique factors of oppression is that it cannot be questioned! In smug arrogance those who seek to control will not tolerate being questioned. Questions reflect independent thinking and independent thinking is the path to loss of control! Today if a scientist is challenged about the accepted explanation of global warming the thinker, whether a member of the scientific community or a journalist, will find himself ostracized and very probably dismissed from his job.

Much of the scientific community, which prides itself on the pursuit of knowledge, is very clear that it is only in pursuit of knowledge that supports what it already believes. Simply ask an evolutionist about any form of intelligent design and you will encounter an onslaught of intellectual attack, intimidation, and belittling worse than anything you have ever encountered from the most insecure bully on any school playground!

Challenge a journalist about using “unidentified sources” in a scandalizing column while identifying absolutely no proof of legitimacy and you will meet with fury. Hiding behind the misuse of the Fifth Amendment, no matter how bizarre, has become a “self-evident” freedom for one man who violates the freedoms of another. Simply question the “source” and you will be made to feel that you are the one who does not honor the constitution; you will be portrayed as an anti-freedom, anti-American troublemaker.

Those who seek to play god and take control of our lives shame us into sitting quietly with our eyes closed until we believe all that exists is darkness and we do, in fact, need someone to deliver us. In the darkness of no challenging thoughts that which is real and obvious becomes twisted and distorted. That which is evil is called good and that which is good is called evil. And none dare question the powers that be! To do so would require opening our eyes and we are not qualified to open our eyes lest we see a different point of view. In various ways using corrupt reasoning we are told to keep our eyes tightly closed and we will be safe because someone else will tell us what they see!

Knowing God is a walk, a journey; it is not a stagnant event. There are several aspects to growing in the knowledge of God. One is the fact that there is no end to God. We will forever be growing in the knowledge of Him. Second, our life is not static. Every day brings new challenges and issues. Therefore, I must experience God in each of the scenarios in a way that allows the God-desired outcome of the abundant life. Therefore, growing in God is a constantly expanding awareness of what I have in Christ.

When the New Testament talks about knowing God it is talking about experience, not simple academic information. Experiencing God, as I need to know Him today, is based on revelation. In my current situation I need to perceive and experience God in some way that I have not previously perceived and experienced Him. I am not talking about something beyond the bounds of what He has shown us in the New Covenant; but I do need to see how I can experience Him in my current situation.

Religion has said that certain people have anointing that has allowed them to know God in ways that you haven’t, and it is implied that you probably won’t. Since they have what you don’t, you come to them instead of to God. No, it’s never said, “Don’t go to God.” In fact, you are encouraged to go to God with the implication that you are not as qualified as the anointed ones (or in some circles the professionals) or the clergy. While pointing you to God, they, in fact, become your mediator. They don’t lead you to God by praying with you or even showing you how to pray; they come between you and God by praying for you. (Sometimes that is obviously valid.) But in the end you are somehow left with the idea that you need them and they will take care of your God issues.

In somewhat the same manner the government says you need them to make life bearable. In the same way scientists say you need them to think for you and educators say you need them to explain the information to you. Like the over-protected child, the unspoken message is that you are not smart enough or capable enough to run your life; you need someone to do it for you.

In Matthew 13, when Jesus was asked about the use of parables, He made two seemingly paradoxical statements. In so many words He said, “I speak in parables because it is given to you to know the mysteries of Kingdom of God.” Then He said something that seemed to contradict all He stood for, “but to them it is not given.” If the Gospel is given freely to all how can we understand such a statement? Did God select to whom He would give revelation and to whom He would withhold it? Absolutely not!

Jesus made it clear that they would look and not see, listen and not hear. They would be exposed to the same opportunity to internalize and perceive truth but there was a reason it would not happen. Matt 13:15 says, for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them. God didn’t close the hearts and minds of the people. They closed their own hearts and minds. They had been conditioned by the religious leaders not to think, not to ask questions, and not to consider anything beyond the religious boundaries that had been defined. They needed a revelation they were not willing to see because it would require them to think and experience God for themselves.

Revelation doesn’t come because God decides He will show what He has previously kept hidden. After all, Jesus came so we could look at Him and see God! But religion doesn’t really look at Jesus and His finished work to understand God. Religion takes just enough of the Bible to make it seem true, then makes it fit in with accepted cultural concepts and the lie seems self-evident! Religion always makes adjustments in God’s offer to mankind. After all, if it is all free and freely given to all men, look how many people would be out of jobs, or even worse, lose power!

People listened to Jesus and not only failed to “get it;” they often wanted to kill Him for what He said. Keep in mind it wasn’t the “common” people who wanted to kill Jesus but those who controlled the common people by their religious ideas. The Jews and almost every version of the church have felt that only the elite should think and interpret truth. After all, the common ones, the laity, the nothing ones, just aren’t capable of reaching the conclusions that were sanctioned!

Leaders think the proof that we need to think for the masses is revealed by their lack of reaching the right conclusions. That only reveals that they have not been taught how to study, pray, listen, and think! People who are controlled can’t make the right decisions even when they have the right information. The teaching methods of those motivated by the need to control are not based on Jesus’ model.

One thing Jesus’ style of teaching did that was not done by the religious leaders of His day was that it required you to think for yourself. The public was very religious, they knew the rules that were imposed on them, but they really didn’t know the Scripture in a way that really worked. Yet, Jesus modeled the love of God, talked to them in ways that required them to think, asked questions, and trusted the Spirit of God to do His part! Many times He answered their questions with questions. Occasionally, He just walked away without answering their questions. This was completely different from those who sought to control their every thought about God!

People who don’t want others to think build walls. The Communists built the Berlin wall. It was designed to keep out the ideas and philosophies of the West. It was done, of course, for the benefit of the people. They didn’t want their people corrupted by the ideas of the West. And the concern for those people imprisoned, I mean protected, by the wall was so deep and heartfelt that they would kill their own people if they attempted to cross the wall. Politicians call that political parties, religion calls that denominations, scientists have a name for it, and so does every other group committed to control.

In the end, refusal to be questioned brings about hostile repercussions on those who ask. As a way of keeping the disease from spreading, those who dare to think or ask are attacked and vilified in such a way that inspires deep fear in the hearts of possible “dissenters” who would dare to color outside the lines. And, as always, it is done in the name of “protecting the innocent,” which is another word for “the ignorant.” But the truth is, it is designed to protect the power of those who attempt to be god to those who are less fortunate.

Without questions we can’t find new answers. It isn’t rebellion and unbelief to ask questions. New questions can be the pathway to answers that become the revelations that change our life and our experience with God. Every new revelation brings us to repentance, a change of mind about God. I am not talking about revelation outside of His Word; I am talking about new depths of experiencing Jesus! When I was a child I spoke as a child… How I experience God continues to grow as I grow in Him. But growing in Him means I have to always be ready to question my understanding and application of truth. In the absence of revelation, i.e. seeing God and His Word in an applicable mode that matches our current need, we are stuck where we are.

When we become “stuck” we create circumstance theology that explains and justifies why we are not experiencing God the way the Bible promises. The tendency then seems to be to hold others within the realm of our current experience. Our faith has been systematically and theologically sabotaged by those who would be threatened if our experience with God somehow overshadowed theirs. So the shadow of darkness is spread by those who through their insecurity attempt to validate their limiting experience by limiting the experience of others.

The heart that cannot ask questions cannot live in faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. If believers had been allowed to ask questions we would have had steam engines, air travel, medicine, and unimaginable discoveries centuries before we had them. And, had believers been allowed to ask questions these discoveries would not have fallen into the hands of the wicked who line their pockets on the suffering of mankind. God would have been viewed differently and the world would not have become so anti-God!

The apostle Paul said: It is for freedom we have been set free. (Gal. 5:1, NIV) He then encourages us not to misuse freedom. However, because of those who would misuse it, he never justifies taking it away from us. People will misuse freedom. It is that very battle cry that the American government is using today to justify the stripping of almost all of our biblical and constitutional freedoms. But the institutionalized church has waved the same banner for around 1800 years. Whether it is government, educators, scientists, or religious leaders, the refusal to embrace and allow freedom is always for the sake of giving power to the corrupt controllers, “for the good of the people.”

Neither in a free society or a society that wants to appear to be free do people go into bondage by force; they go into bondage by oppression. The slow process of brain washing, of shaping thoughts and ideas, ultimately leads to the disallowing of free thought. People are misinformed, shamed, and intimidated into giving up the truth and ultimately their freedoms. The process is so slow that all our limiting beliefs seem self-evident! We think it has always been this way!

Today the world is in a dark place. The Kingdom of God is the only force capable of reshaping our world! The institutionalized church, (not all of the church) in the name of Jesus, will either conform in order to survive and maintain the freedom to assemble, or it will try to push us over into an anti- government conflict. One is a deliberate path of compromise to keep the preachers in a job. What’s the point in having the freedom to assemble if we can’t tell the truth when we come together? The other, the call to fight the government in the name of Jesus, will justify those who desire to stamp true Christianity from the face of our country. But we must not be drawn into the battle on the terms of the carnal controller; our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

For almost two thousand years the church has tried to establish righteousness by force. Wars have been fought; people have been murdered, vilified, tortured, and ostracized in a vain attempt to force on others what can only occur in the heart. The Kingdom is within. We enter that Kingdom when we believe that Christ was raised from the dead and that, as our Lord, we were raised up with Him.

The only reason our country and the world is where it is today is because those who sought to control us assassinated the fact that we are created in the likeness and image of God and that we have been made righteous in Jesus. By stripping us of our identity, our every pursuit of God and the Kingdom of God was reduced to behavior modification with a sprinkling of religious ceremony and biblical terminology. It was a pretty message with no power.

Be a responsible citizen. But do not for one moment think that the war you must win is “out there.” To complain about our country and not be a better citizen is hypocrisy. To want change and not be the change is a contraindication of all Jesus taught and modeled. Open your Bible; discover who you are in Jesus. Know and experience God for yourself. Write the truth of your identity on your heart. Become immovable in your faith. You don’t have to be an activist, just actively be who you are in Christ! Establish the Kingdom of God by influencing the hearts of others through your own life of love and kindness. Be who you are in Jesus. Show the world the love of God they have never seen through institutionalized Christianity. You be a light in a dark world.

When explaining why some people would never experience the truth Jesus said, For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. (Matt. 13:12) We get more of what we have in our heart. We see more of what we have already decided to see. Our understanding of anything becomes more locked into our preconceived ideas because that is how we need to see it; in other words, it is our world view that determines how we see the world, therein how the world becomes.

Our world view drives our scientific, political, and religious beliefs. Those who have their security in Jesus don’t mind asking questions and don’t mind being asked. In fact, those who are secure are comfortable with the idea that we may not know the answers. But those who build a false persona of spirituality tend to feel secure by being right and controlling the information. If your security is in your ideas instead of your Savior, those who challenge your ideas threaten your security and in that fear you become an irrational defender of the faith. You attack, slander, and assassinate others in the name of Jesus. You create an imaginary enemy out there while nurturing your own demons through fear, intolerance, and unbelief.

Jesus said all things are possible to him who believes. Instead of making excuses for the impotence of the church or our own ministry, if we would go back to the place where we started our journey, that place of surrendering all to Him, that hungering for all He is, then maybe, just maybe, we would be filled! If we are living and thinking in a realm where few things are possible maybe we believe what man has said more than what Jesus said.

The Spirit of the Living God is the Teacher; He will teach you. Part of this covenant we have in Christ is based on the fact that we don’t have to teach one another to know God. Every man can know God for himself in Christ! Teachers don’t control the truth, they point you to the truth and then the same Spirit that is in them can speak to you and help you experience that truth in a way that works in your life.

After teaching the famous parable of The Sower and the Seed Jesus said we would only get the benefit from the word we heard in relation to the amount of thought, study, and meditation we give it. After we have heard the truth we don’t need someone else to explain it. We need to ponder it and allow the Great Teacher to speak in our hearts and draw every life-giving element of that word. And He will gladly lead you to the answer of every question.

(I am not an enemy of the church, but I have no use for religion. Religion sets aside the finished work of Jesus and instead exalts rules and regulations that do nothing to benefit the world for whom Jesus died. I am so very thankful for those pastors who really do want to help people. They have that ability and heart to build organizations that really have a Kingdom purpose and Kingdom values. Institutions that exist to keep people in jobs and support the failed ego of its leaders are the darkness that has kept the world from seeing God as He is. You’re the only one who knows if that is what you are doing. No one has the right to judge your motives. I encourage every believer to be a part of a healthy church, free of control, built on the love of God, that exalts Jesus and His finished work as Lord. If you are in a church that is mean, controlling, legalistic, and judgmental – run! )

Escape From Codependent Christianity by Dr. James B. Richards

 11:59 pm

I am Hugo Chavez and I WILL Shoot Down Your Spy Planes – CARACAS, VENEZUELA - Once again that maniac in training Hugo Chavez feels neglected so he took it upon himself to tell the rest of the world about it.  Though doubltful that anybody still pays attention to Senior Hugo, he loves to be in front of the camera making threats  and cracking smiles with those big pointy teeth.  A few months back he took over the only television station in the whole country and began doing weekly variety shows that featured news, comedy, and a random execution or two.  Within the last few weeks he conducted a nation-wide p.r. campaign urging people to lose weight and get healthy or he would shoot them in their sleep.  That’s nothing. Just today he threatened to destroy all US spy planes with his x-10 modulator, if he can get the damn thing to work.

Earlier today Chavez accused the U.S. of violating Venezuelan airspace with a drone type of spy plane and ordered the Venezuelan Air Scouts to be on alert and shoot down any suspect aircraft or ufo.  Speaking during his weekly television and radio program, Hugo said the aircraft overflew a Venezuelan military base and dropped a few bombs for the hell of it, then flew back into neighboring Colombia, his most despised enemy.  He did not go into any detail, but suggested the plane was being used for espionage, then he went into a few yuk yuk jokes followed his sock puppet show.  “These are the smart ass Americans making trouble again. They are entering Venezuela illegally ,” he said.  “I’ve ordered them to be shot down though we will still deliver our processed oil as usual.” (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091220/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_us_colombia)

Chavez has repeateldy accused Colombia of allowing the United States to use its military bases as a ploy to overththrow the country.  Both the U.S. and Colombia have denied such allegations in the past, saying the U.S. military presence is for the sole purpose of protecting the United States’ secret cocaine operation which runs right through Caracas.   It’s pretty much a weekly thing for Chavez to accuse the U.S. and its allies of conspiring against Venezuela so nobody really listens to him.   Tensions between Venezuela, the US , and Colombia have been heightened for years months due to Chavez’s accusations of warmongering and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s dirty politics, but he’s just mad because Uribe and certain unnamed US officials have cut him out of the coke business. 

So you live in the Republic, there was a new budget on Wednesday and that has taken some money off you. Now you have gone from simply hating the Government to downright fury. What do you do? Protest march? They don’t seem to work anymore, unless your over 65 then the budget will be changed for you. How about a strongly worded letter? Hmm not sure your fury and hatred will come across in written form, anyway you feel so alone.

So what’s left? Well I’ll tell you what Irish people have done for years. I used to, in my youth, work in restaurants. When people would come in for something to eat, they would quietly choose something and order it. Once they were chowing down we as the staff had to ask if everything was alright. Some of the staff did this just because they had to, I did it because I was interested. I wanted happy customers because I got paid more, and tips. Here’s the thing, without doubt and I’m talking 99% of the time, upon being asked “Is everything alright for you?” The customer would say “perfect” or “fine thanks”. There were no complaints. Oh sure sometimes they would ask for more water, or another bottle of wine but nothing bad to say. It didn’t seem to matter if you served a raw egg, or a burnt steak it would just be pushed to the side of the plate half eaten, and the customer would pay and leave. The thing is, you would never see them again. Let me explain.

Irish people don’t like complaining, not a direct confrontation with a shopkeep or even a waiter. We are the very same with this budget, we all complain to each other but the niceness in us keeps us from storming Government buildings and setting our own cars on fire like the French do, hats off to the French they know how to protest. They tell us that the cost of goods and services here has fallen some 8% or so, but you and me know that things aren’t that cheaper here really. So what should we do? The answer to that lies in our way of non confrontation.

We need to do nothing, just vote with our feet. Just like in the Restaurant, say “That’s fine Minster” and leave, bring your hard earned Euro to the bank and get some Pounds. It’s happening right now because Irish retailers won’t or can’t drop their prices. Sure the big ones are starting but the home grown ones are still trying to rip us off. Only where true competition exists will you get a bargain. Who cares where your money ends up, who cares if your sending profits into the UK tax system. Here’s all that matters: for years we were ripped off, by shops, by retailers, by wholesalers and by the people we elected. Now its payback. Put food on your table anyway you can, get the presents and the toys but don’t give this current Government a cent. They’ll soon get the message.

Oh and by the way, when election time comes and these same people who created this mess we are in come to your door looking to get re-elected. Make sure you let them know what you think.

From TheWashingtonPost.com:

One year ago, I stood with city leaders on a hill in Northeast as we broke ground for affordable housing in the District. When the St. Martin’s Apartments are completed, nearly 200 low-income families and individuals will get a fresh start on life in a wonderful example of the type of effective public-private partnerships the residents of our nation’s capital need.

St. Martin’s is being developed by Catholic Charities, on land owned by the Catholic Church and with funding sources that include the District of Columbia.

Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of Washington are committed to continuing to serve the people of the District as we have for many decades. That includes partnerships such as St. Martin’s. Unfortunately, the D.C. Council is considering legislation that could end these kinds of partnerships.

It doesn’t need to be that way. While we do not agree with the council on redefining marriage, we recognize that it is firmly committed to opening marriage to homosexual couples. We are asking that new language be developed that more fairly balances different interests — those of the city to redefine marriage and those of faith groups so that they can continue to provide services without compromising their deeply held religious teachings and beliefs. The archdiocese has not been alone in requesting broader language. Other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington and nationally recognized legal scholars all called for stronger protections for religious freedom in their testimony on the original bill.

For the archdiocese and Catholic Charities, two core tenets of our faith are at the heart of our concerns: our understanding of the nature of marriage and our commitment to expressing Christ’s love through service to others. Under the legislative language before the D.C. Council, the archdiocese would be forced to choose between these two principles. The archdiocese has long made clear that all people have equal dignity, regardless of sexual orientation. But marriage is reserved for husband and wife because of its essential connection with the creation of children.

The proposed legislation offers little protection for religious beliefs, including no protections for individuals, as is required under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Under the bill, religious organizations would be exempt from participating in ceremonies or from teaching about same-sex marriage in religion classes and retreats in accordance with their faith beliefs, but they would be required to recognize and promote same-sex marriage everywhere else, including in employment policies, and adoption and foster-care policies, against their beliefs.

The proposed legislation offers little protection for religious beliefs, including no protections for individuals, as is required under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Under the bill, religious organizations would be exempt from participating in ceremonies or from teaching about same-sex marriage in religion classes and retreats in accordance with their faith beliefs, but they would be required to recognize and promote same-sex marriage everywhere else, including in employment policies, and adoption and foster-care policies, against their beliefs.

So what does this mean?

The archdiocese and Catholic Charities are committed to continuing to provide services in the District. Despite the headlines, there has been no threat or ultimatum to end services, just a simple recognition that the new requirements by the city for religious organizations to recognize same-sex marriages in their policies could restrict our ability to provide the same level of services as we do now. This is so because the District requires Catholic Charities to certify its compliance with city laws when applying for contracts and grants. This includes contracts for homeless services, mental health services, foster care and more. Since Catholic Charities cannot comply with city mandates to recognize and promote same-sex marriages, the city would withhold contracts and licenses.

Each year, 68,000 people in the District rely on Catholic Charities for shelter, nutrition, medical and legal care, job training, immigration assistance and more. This assistance is offered to whoever needs it, regardless of race, religion, gender, nationality or sexual orientation. Many of the programs are offered in partnership with the city, which turns to Catholic Charities and other ministries when it cannot provide social services on its own. Catholic Charities has a proven track record of high-quality service, supported through caring, qualified staff, thousands of dedicated volunteers and millions of dollars in financial support from parishioners all over the region. This legislation won’t end Catholic Charities’ services, but it would reduce unnecessarily the resources available for outreach.

We recognize that the council is likely to legalize same-sex marriage. It is the hope of the archdiocese and Catholic Charities that council members will work with us to find a way to better balance interests so religious organizations that have served this city well for many decades may continue to provide services without compromising the tenets of their faith.

The writer is archbishop of Washington.

MEXICO CITY —  A lawmaker in Mexico’s capital has proposed changing the city’s civil code to allow gay marriages.

Mexico’s Roman Catholic Church opposes the proposal. The church defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, as does current law.

Lawmaker David Razu says the changes he is proposing would give same-sex couples the same rights heterosexual couples have regarding social security and other benefits.

The local legislature sent the measure to committees for consideration Tuesday. No date was set for a vote.

Mexico City’s legislature is dominated by the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party and has legalized abortion and civil unions for same-sex couples. The church and conservative groups also opposes those changes.

Desteni Productions
Video Response to BlissWeaver
Part 2
November 18, 2009

Hey! This is part 2! Darryl with Desteni Productions, and this another clip in regards to Cari AKA BlissWeaver, who had a problem with the 2012 ascension prophecy that we made a couple days ago.

Right. Okay, Cari, again, this is not an attack on you. This is not something that insult or humiliate of offend you in any way. I hope not, anyway. This is just a point; some responses to what you’ve said, and they’re directed at the response [made by BlissWeaver to the Desteni 2012 clip], okay? All right.

One thing that you said, is something that I have heard a million times from these people who profess “love” and “life” and “positive” and “beautiful” metaphysical feelings and emotions – is that suffering is “useful” for “learning.” Or, suffering is what people have “chosen” to endure. Or, suffering is vital to “provide lessons.” I do not know why the people who profess “Love,” “Light,” “Higher Consciousness” would have such a callous disregard to other people’s suffering.

You know, the same people who have the Candy Land Metaphysics of “Everybody is One,” “We’re All One,” “We’re all thoughts of God,” “We’re all the same,” “We’re all One Entity, one gestalt of being, one great chain of being,” “We’re all One, we’re all beautiful, bright, radiant things.” But, these same people disregard the suffering as something beneath them. Something that can’t reach them. Something that they have “spiritually evolved” out of. It’s like, “Oh, I’ve made it! God loves me! Oh, you guys will have to stop suffering and come up here with me!” I mean that’s just silly. It’s selfish. It’s silly. And it’s callous. And it’s like these people have both polarities – they the polarity going of callous disregard and “Oh, Love and Light.” And they’re the same thing. I find it disgusting, actually, that whole point of suffering. As the comment you mad, Cari – the comment’s disgusting – that you said: “To think that one can relieve another’s suffering is Ego-Trip.”

So if I can extrapolate that point: Martin Luther King was on an ego-trip. Abraham Lincoln was on an Ego-Trip. Mahatma Gandhi was on an Ego-Trip. Nelson Mandela was on an Ego-Trip. Jesus was on an Ego-Trip. Mother Theresa was on an Ego-Trip. Mother Theresa. Maybe she was. If we’re gonna be on Ego-Trips, we might as well try to alleviate the suffering of others.

As long as we’re going to spit in the faces of people, of beings that tried to alleviate the suffering of others, we might as well call it an Ego-Trip. If we can just spit in their faces or rub what they’ve done or accomplished or what they tried to do in the dirt, as long as we can do that, we should just call it an Ego-Trip. Just to complete the whole point, there, just to put a cap on it.

I think what an Ego-Trip is actually, what I think an Ego-Trip is actually, is professing “Light” and “Love” and “Beauty” and disregarding the “Ugly.” Disregarding the Grotesque, disregarding the Rejected, Disregarding the Dark, Evil Places that can’t find acceptance anywhere – that’s an Ego-Trip, to think that you above or Better than anybody else, Better than people who suffer.

I know you don’t think that. I know you don’t think you’re better than people who suffer. And I know you don’t think that you’re better than people who are concerned about other people’s suffering. But to say, “To think that one can relieve another’s suffering is an Ego-Trip,” I would have to ask you, do you really believe that? I don’t have to wonder that, because you don’t believe it – it’s just a statement, like al the other statements you’ve made. But this statement, you denigrate and sully the accomplishment of people who did actually – got off their butts and did something about it.

Now, take that for what it’s worth. What we are doing as Desteni, are producing people… raising awareness – and these people that we’re producing will stand as the point of common sense. We want our Principles acknowledged; the Principles of Life and the Principles of what is best for all: Equality and Oneness. All these things you’ve read about and seen on the videos. We’re not just going to make videos about – we’re gonna do something about it. And Expect that you will Spit in our faces while we are trying to correct what needs corrected. We don’t care. You know, we’re not gonna take it personally when you spit in our face. We expect a lot of people who like things the way that they are, to have the same reaction. We’re not going to be stopped. And in the end, you’ll thank us. So I think that’s all I have to say.

I’m grateful to Chris Brady for the following link.

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

All you need to do to contact your representative is enter your state/zip and then follow the dialogue box at the US Government webpage.  Here’s the letter I penned to my Representative, Mike Rogers on the eve of the Health Care Reform vote:

Nov. 6

To the Honorable Mike Rogers,

Based on the emails I have received and the videos I’ve watched it sounds like you’re on the side of limited government and oppose our current president’s “health care reform.”

I am opposed to the current health care reform on two grounds.  First, I believe it is a backdoor to enable abortion to be covered as medical care, supported by taxpayers dollars.  I, for one (among many, many citizens), am thoroughly opposed to requiring my taxes be used to murder the most innocent and vulnerable in our culture.

Secondly, and more generally, I believe the health care reform bill is a significant step away from limited government.  Due to the power that God has granted government (to protect citizens from threats within–police, and to protect citizens from threats without–military) through bearing the sword, the force of government must remain limited or it will inevitably be abused.  As Lord Acton so ably put it, “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

I am grateful and hope that you will continue to be a positive force for good for the American People of Michigan whom you so able represent.

Sincerely,

Rev. Timothy A. Brown

Lastly, here’s the main link to the House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/

I came upon this interview which I would like to share with you. Please take the time and watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTgyakGAddM

After you have digested the information , stop and ask yourself:  “Is this a conspiracy theory or is there something that rings true to me?  Is my Government  trying to help me or kill me?.”  Absurd? Maybe, maybe not.

Considering,  the United States is now embracing a Socialist Ideology  based on the little red book of Chairman Mao; what difference is there in slaughtering 60 million citizen who oppose your government? Or,killing off millions because the government believes there are too many citizens to support and, what better solution than murdering your citizens with a vaccine while blaming it on a pandemic situation which is truly not as deadly as our government would want you to believe?

While I am not a conspiracy theorist,  I must question the World Health Organization why millions are not dead yet as predicted?  I have not checked the accuracy the following;  we are told that there will be no liability or culpability for the Manufactures and Government against any side effects or deaths that citizens may suffer from. This makes me pause and it should for you as well.

To all you pregnant women and elderly out there start checking the facts. Read up on how serious the ingredients in these vaccines are for pregnant women and the elderly. Think about it. What better way to control population growth than to kill of pregnant women?  The advantage of killing off the elderly provides for more money to redistribute among the existing population that is contributing to the efforts of the machine, that is the Government. It is an example of the way an Octopus uses his many arms…….

Keep the faith, remain vigilant, and discover the joys of  knowledge. Use your fingers to surf the net. The information you are seeking is available with just one touch.

Andrea

Ooo I found this on another bloggers site today…

Politics and $ex scandal, my two fav things.

Piero Marrazzo a high-profile governor stepped down on Saturday, days after four policemen were arrested for trying to blackmail him with a video purportedly showing him with a transsexual in a Rome apartment.

That certainly give another meaning to skirt-chaser!

Originally Piero, who is married with 3 daughters said it was a fake video but then changed his tune…oh dear, they all do.

It’s a personal case in which weaknesses that have to do with my private sphere have come into play,” said Marrazzo, the governor of the Lazio region, which includes Rome.

“The mistakes I have made have in no way interfered with my public activity,”

Well all I know is this guy needs to talk to Kobe’s jeweller, he has some sucking making up to do.

If anyone out there voted from O-man and is not appalled at the ‘war’ on Fox News, you should be. Even f you dont watch the news station, thats fine, dont watch it, you dont have to, but I hope for educating yourself you do watch it as well as all the other news stations out there including BBC.

Because this is plain and simple, it really is attacking the first amendment, its freedom of speech. Yo umight not like what the other side has to say, but they have the right to say it….or dont make a big hoopla over someone yelling “you lie” during a speech.

The Obama administration on Thursday tried to make “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg available for interviews to every member of the White House pool except Fox News. The pool is the five-network rotation that for decades has shared the costs and duties of daily coverage of the presidency.

But the Washington bureau chiefs of the five TV networks consulted and decided that none of their reporters would interview Feinberg unless Fox News was included.

Good!

Media analysts cheered the decision to boycott the Feinberg interview unless Fox News was included, saying the administration’s gambit was taking its feud with Fox News too far. President Obama has already declined to go on “Fox News Sunday,” even while appearing on the other Sunday shows.

If this is true, this is very sad.

Justice concludes black voters need Democratic Party, U.S. blocks N.C. city’s nonpartisan vote is the headline from the Washington Times

KINSTON, N.C. | Voters in this small city decided overwhelmingly last year to do away with the party affiliation of candidates in local elections, but the Obama administration recently overruled the electorate and decided that equal rights for black voters cannot be achieved without the Democratic Party.

WTF??? Thats worse than Lindsey Lohans Tan.

The Justice Department’s ruling, which affects races for City Council and mayor, went so far as to say partisan elections are needed so that black voters can elect their “candidates of choice” – identified by the department as those who are Democrats and almost exclusively black.

I think there are man things wrong with the voting system, but this is just terrible.

last time I checked voting was not mandatory in this country and nor should it be the the justice system get involved. Phish this makes the Afghan election look like its on the straight and narrow.

The department ruled that white voters in Kinston will vote for blacks only if they are Democrats and that therefore the city cannot get rid of party affiliations for local elections because that would violate black voters’ right to elect the candidates they want.

Well then geez, get a ACORN bus in there and it shoudl solve the problem.

“To begin with, ‘nonpartisan elections’ is a misconceived and deceiving statement because even though no party affiliation shows up on a ballot form, candidates still adhere to certain ideologies and people understand that, and are going to identify with who they feel has their best interest at heart,” said William Cooke, president of the Kinston/Lenoir County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Mr. Cooke said his group does not take a position on this issue and would not disclose his personal stance, but expressed skepticism about the Justice Department’s involvement.

Well I feel like I just woke up in the the 1940’s

And I think that is pretty darn high. I’m surprised anyone approves of her performance.

A poll released over the weekend shows that only 34 percent of Californians approve of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) job performance, down 14 points from March

The study polled 1,005 Californians by phone from Sept. 18 to Oct. 5.

I’m wondering for those that came back ‘no-opionion’ have any idea in who she actually is and those that approved are actually her plastic $urgeons.

The numbers are FINALLY in folks.

The Obama administration on Friday said the government ran a $1.42 trillion deficit in fiscal year 2009.

Merry Christmas kiddies

Tax receipts for the year fell 16.6% overall, while spending soared 18.2% compared to fiscal year 2008. The causes: rising unemployment, the economic slowdown and the extraordinary measures taken by lawmakers to stem the economic meltdown that hit in fall 2008.

Consequently, the annual deficit rose 212% to the record dollar amount of $1.42 trillion, from $455 billion a year earlier.

But let me guess, this is all the previous administrations fault, forget earmarks, lobbying etc, etc

So of course the mouth peice out of the white house says:

“It was critical that we acted to bring the economy back from the brink earlier this year. As we move from rescue to recovery, the president recognizes that we need to put the nation back on a fiscally sustainable path,” said OMB director Peter Orszag in a statement. “As part of the FY2011 budget policy process, we are considering proposals to put our country back on firm fiscal footing.”

But O-man himself? I’m sure on airforce one somewhere heading to Oprahs house for dinner. NomNomNom.

Okay, okay the headline is perhaps a little exagerated, but 20 million is being diverted from expense accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an analysis to pay for an educational institute named after the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Senators diverted a total of $2.6billion from these accounts to pay for certain pet projects earmarks, including Kennedy’s educational institute (sure hope they are not teaching driving lessons) is another 778 such projects and another example is a $25 million for a new World War II museum at the University of New Orleans.

Earmarks are not new in Washington and lets face it, Dems have a history of cutting funds to the troops, its what they do, but perhaps its time for this administration to stand by what they said, which was cutting back on earmarks and perhaps the one wing of the government that is hurting the most, should not have to worry about cuts for a while.

UFO Over Moscow

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2677449/Mystery-UFO-halo-in-clouds-over-Moscow.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News

Well folks, we knew it was going to happen and it did, so let me start my saying…

CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA YOU ONE STEP CLOSER TO PASSING HEATLH CARE REFORM FOR THE BONUS PRICE OF $829 BILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!!!

Ahhhh, make sure your grand kids thank you before you die, oh thats right, this thing is not goign to cost us anything is it?

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, was the lone committee member to cross party lines, breaking with other Republicans to vote for the measure. All the committee’s Democrats supported the bill.

Which we all knew she would as she is as crazy as Brtitney Spears without her drugs

So what the next step

If the House and Senate both manage to pass health care overhaul bills, a conference committee then will negotiate a final version requiring approval from both chambers before going to O-man for his signature. Who as you could imagine when it comes to that will have the biggest hard on ego known to man.

Well folks for the time being, its off behind closed doors in Reid office for the orgy next step, all the while, the dollar is slipping to the yen and euro.

Its going to be a Merry Christmas for everyone!

Ahhh back to the heath care battle. The dems are now scrambling behind closed doors as the Health Insurance companies with their huge pocket books are not playing nice anymore.

So once the Senate Finance Committee votes Tuesday on its health care overhaul plan, the focus will shift to the closed doors of Harry Reid’s office.

And then this is where must merge the conservative-leaning Finance Committee legislation with a more liberally drawn bill approved by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

So whats the difference? The Finance Committee bill and the health committee legislation involves a government-run insurance company — the public option.

The health committee bill provides for a robust public option designed to compete head-on with insurance companies and force them to rein in costs.

Grrrreeeaaatttt…

So what are the health insurance companies doing?

They are sending a strong message that health care legislation will drive up premiums for people who already have coverage comes as a warning shot at a crucial point in the debate, and threatens President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

So whats the fear for the dems you say/ well back in the 90’s it was the Insurance industry that destroyed President Bill Clinton’s health care plan by fanning fears that people with coverage would wind up paying more.

On the heels of McCain urging for backing of McChrystal’s suggested 40,000 troops in Afghanistan a U.S man was arrested and convicted in the U.A.E for terror ties

So where are we in this “war on terror”? No one seems to know, it seems to be a big mess and the arrests made throughout the U.S a few weeks ago, seem for some reason misplaced. We heard about them over and over again for a few days but previously we heard nothing for a few years and since those few days, we have heard nothing again. I dont know why, but something seems amiss, almost staged….ahhh perhaps its the conspiracy theory going on in my head.

How many U.S citizens do we need to worry about both fighting for the US and against the U.S? Both seem to be on the excalting rise and nethier seem to have the detail they deserve.

In the words of Sen Sen. Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee something seems like its needs to be done “sooner, rather than later.”

O-man and the powers at be need to Focus or get some ADHD meds ASAP. But I guess fighting for the Olympics and receiving a Nobel can take your attention away, you know from the details

Ahhhh, remember when Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) boasted that lawmakers would work four or five days a week to bring change to America after the dems taking control of the House in 2006 and then when O-man was running for president?

Well it seems as though those days are over and congress is back in more of a hard working slackass routine.

Members usually get in sometime late on Tuesday and leave on Thursday, yet receive full tax payers dollars in their paychecks at the end of the week.

DAYM!!! How do I get that job again?

But of course, the dems are saying why should they stay when they can get the job in half tha time.

I dont know, let’s rattle off a few things, High unemployment rate, Health care bill, Financial Crisis, Afghanistan, Iraq, Low troop morale, Bailouts, Auto industry…just to name a few things.

Asked about the abbreviated workweeks, Hoyer said Tuesday: “I think you understand why we’re doing it.” He pointed to the appropriations bills stalled in the Senate, but he didn’t cast blame at senators for moving so slowly. “It takes a long time to do it,” he said.

Well, if you will excuse me, need to go chat to my boss and see if I can do the same thing…my guess is once I bring this up to him, I’ll be in the unemployment line with the rest of them tomorrow.

See you at the soup kitchen on Thanksgiving

Ahhh when will it ever end?

Detroits homeless, yep, homeless and low-income residents get another opportuniy at getting some millions more of the stimulus money.

Why oh why???

It isto help those almost becoming homeless to pay some bills and those who are homeless to find housing?

Soooo the homeless can get housing, but wont be able to get a job because of the poor economy in Detroit and will be homeless again?

So instead of using the stimulus to help shelters and education and courses for the homeless to keep them occupied during the day, we are just going to throw money at them.

How many of the homeless are homeless because of mental issues??? Just sayin?

I guess you do infact have to pay for those votes afterall

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