Saturday, February 20, 2010

Obamafun

A real Roadsign in Kenya…. No photoshop
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

OK, upon further examination, it is photoshopped.

But ... I like it.

Carpet Bombing our Economy

1. Federal Budget Deficit Bomb: It started with Bush: The wars, TARP, spending. Obama is only accelerating spending. His budget for 2010 is $14.3 trillion. It was $7.8 trillion in 2005. The CBO predicts future deficits around 4 percent through 2020. America's debt at 84 percent of GDP will soon pass that "toxic" 90 percent trigger point

2. U.S. Foreign Trade Bomb: $400 billion in trade deficits are added each year and foreigners now own $2.5 trillion of America, with China holding over $1.3 trillion in Treasury debt. And they're not our biggest bank.

3. Weakening U.S. Dollar as Foreign Reserve Currency Bomb: If the dollar is replaced as main foreign reserves — and it's falling — "the main index measuring dollar strength has gone from 120 at the Clinton-to-Bush handoff to below 80 today."

4. Cheap Money Bomb — Credit Ratings Down, Rates Up: As debt climbs and the bank ratings fall, interest rates will skyrocket.

5. Global Real Estate Bomb: Dubai is falling apart because of over-speculation. People stopped buying real estate. They've got massive empty towers. Even the tallest building sits empty. Commercial real estate bubble is now $1.7 trillion. People are still behind on mortgages at all-time highs; did we really hit bottom on real estate yet?

6. Peak Oil and the Population Bomb: United Nations estimates world population exploding 50 percent — now, it's the United Nations and I'm not paying attention to them anymore.

7. Social Security Bomb: They've been telling us for a while that by 2035 it will go haywire. But for the first time in history Social Security is in the red. Check your calendar: Is it 2035 yet? Let's see, will politicians cut benefits? Nope, they're weasels. Will they raise taxes we can't afford to pay? What do you think?

8. Medicare Nuclear Bomb: It's going broke faster than Social Security. The Republican progressive prescription drug benefit added an unfunded $8.1 trillion. In five years, estimates rose from about $35 trillion to over $60 trillion now. And they are talking about expanding it in the new health care bill? Along with covering 30 million new people?

9. Health Care Insurance Bomb: "The burden has increasingly shifted to employees. Costs are rising faster than inflation."

10. State and Local Government Budget Bombs: "Deficits of $110 billion in 2010; $178 billion in 2011, on top of more that $450 billion in under-funded state and municipal employee pension funds."

11. Under-funded Corporate Pensions Bomb: Guess who picks up the tab for the $409 billion deficit in under-funded pensions that default? Taxpayers.

12. Consumer Debt Bomb: "Americans are still living beyond their means. Even with a downturn, consumer debt rose from about $2.3 to $2.5 trillion." Hmm, spending more, earning less....

13. Personal Savings Bomb: "Before the 2008 meltdown savings rate dropped from about 10 percent in the early 1980s to below zero." Now it's creeping up: 70 percent of our economy is based on spending.

14. War and Military Defense Deficits: "Costs of Iraq and Afghanistan wars — $200+ billion annually, $3 trillion minimum... long-term costs for veteran medical care, equipment renewal, recruitment."

15. Homeland Insecurity Bomb: "Security at airports, seaports, borders, vulnerable chemical plants all increase budgets."

16. Fed/Treasury Bailout Bombs: Government shifts burden of failing businesses from those businesses to the American taxpayer.

17. Insatiable Washington Lobbyists Bombs: You've seen what "no lobbyists" in an administration looks like. It ends up being 30-plus. Andy Stern, the unions, Goldman — voters and even Congress is becoming irrelevant.

18. Shadow Banking Derivatives Bomb: "Wall Street wants no regulation of this $670 trillion, high-risk, out-of-control casino that's highly leveraged versus the $50 trillion total GDP of all nations. We forget that derivatives almost destroyed global economies in 2008-09, finally will by 2012."

19. Dysfunctional Two-Party Political Bomb: Parties continue to choose politics over the good of the country. Progressives continue to infect both parties and thwart the Constitution.

20. The Coming Populous Rebellion Bombs: The media will say those are the Tea Parties. Let me show you what it really is. Van Jones: A 9/11 Truther, radical communist who set up organizations to defend cop killers. He was in the White House and now is going out on a speaking tour with a senator from New York. The influence is already here.

Friday, February 19, 2010

An Interesitng Idea.... Church is NOT for Believers (by Alan Knox)

Three years ago, I first read Martin Luther’s “The German Mass and Order of Divine Service”. I wrote a post about it called “Luther and the Church.” Since then I’ve written other posts as well. I was surprised when I read that Luther was convinced that the “Mass” or “Divine Service” was not for the church but was for unbelievers. I was also surprised to read what Luther said a meeting of true believers should look like.

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Luther and the Church

In the preface of “The German Mass and Order of Divine Service” (1526), Martin Luther describes three different kinds of “divine service”. The first and second kinds of “divine service” are differentiated only by the languages used (Latin and German, respectively). Importantly, this is what Luther says of these two kinds of “divine service”:

Both these kinds of Service then we must have held and publicly celebrated in church for the people in general. They are not yet believers or Christians. But the greater part stand there and gape, simply to see something new: and it is just as if we held Divine Service in an open square or field amongst Turks or heathen. So far it is no question yet of a regularly fixed assembly wherein to train Christians according to the Gospel: but rather of a public allurement to faith and Christianity.

Thus, for Luther, the public service in both Latin and German are for the purpose of exposing unbelievers to the Gospel. Notice that he does not see these services as being for Christians. So, what does Luther proscribe for believers? Keep reading for his “third sort of divine service”:

But the third sort [of Divine Service], which the true type of Evangelical Order should embrace, must not be celebrated so publicly in the square amongst all and sundry. Those, however, who are desirous of being Christians in earnest, and are ready to profess the Gospel with hand and mouth, should register their names and assemble by themselves in some house to pray, to read, to baptize and to receive the sacrament and practise other Christian works. In this Order, those whose conduct was not such as befits Christians could be recognized, reproved, reformed, rejected, or excommunicated, according to the rule of Christ in Matt. xviii. Here, too, a general giving of alms could be imposed on Christians, to be willingly given and divided among the poor, after the example of St. Paul in 2 Cor. ix. Here there would not be need of much fine singing. Here we could have baptism and the sacrament in short and simple fashion: and direct everything towards the Word and prayer and love. Here we should have a good short Catechism about the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer. In one word, if we only had people who longed to be Christians in earnest, Form and Order would soon shape itself. But I cannot and would not order or arrange such a community or congregation at present. I have not the requisite persons for it, nor do I see many who are urgent for it. But should it come to pass that I must do it, and that such pressure is put upon me as that I find myself unable with a good conscience to leave it undone, then I will gladly do my part to secure it, and will help it on as best I can.

It seems that Luther is calling for a different type of meeting for believers. In this meeting, Luther does not have to order things. Instead, he sees that “the form and order would soon shape itself.” (I would add that it is the Spirit that forms and orders the meetings.) In fact, Luther sees baptism and the Lord’s Supper happening in this group – not in one of the public meetings that are meant for unbelievers. Notice also that in this meeting, believers would teach one another and take up money to give to the poor.

So, why did Luther not pursue this type of service? Well, he tells us here that he does not know “earnest” Christians willing to participate in this type of meeting. History tells us that Luther later relented from this position in order to appease the state church.

Everything that follows this point in “The German Mass and Order of Divine Service” describes how to carry out the first two kinds of “Divine Service”, which Luther said were not intended for believers, but for unbelievers. We will never know what would have happened historically if Luther had held to his convictions: “I will gladly do my part to secure it, and will help it on as best I can.”

The one year Anniversary of the Tea Party Movement

One year ago this morning Rick Santelli went off on the Rant Heard Round the World.

He called for a new Tea Party. It had never been said before then.

Those few minutes, those few words have changed everything.

I am Proud to be a member (whatever that means) of the Tea Party Movement. There are a lot of attacks. Ignore them. Sarah Palin was right, as long as no one tries to control or lead the movement it will prosper.

Sure there are intramural fights. They happen in every move. They will happen in this one too. But if we ignore the naysayers, if we ignore those who make fun of us, if we ignore the media's drumbeat to silence us all we can take back the government from those who would try to control us all.

Thank you Rick Santelli for these words that launched a thousand rallies and a movement to restore government to it's righteous roots.

When Dummies Vote

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency. It will be easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails us. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president.”


This IS the reason we need VOTER REFORM! I think it should be as simple as if you do NOT pay taxes you can NOT vote. Why should those who do NOT contribute to the pot have any say in how the pot is spent? I know that sounds radical, but I believe the vote should be used as a means of encouraging people to work harder, as incentive to better themselves so they can have a say in how things are run insted of having to put up with what those who can vote relegate them to. I believe that would work ALOT better than as it is NOW with those who DO NOT contribute, and make no mistake they are fast approaching as many as those of us who DO! We damn sure don't want it to come to those who DO NOT pay, telling those of us who DO pay how it's going to be!

November Start to vote those who have ABUSED our trust and BLOWN our money on BOTH sides of the isle OUT! Vote in some Pro-American values, taxpayer, capitalist IN!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

UH OH....


Somebody in Wisconsin doesn't like President Barack Obama all that much.

An unnamed company has paid for a billboard along Highway 41 in Oshkosh that reads, "Impeach Obama."

The tagline says: "America's small businesses are failing; help us spread the message."

It was paid for by an unnamed company represented by Tom Wroblewski who told the AP the sentiment is that Washington politics are bad for small businesses.

The billboard is scheduled to remain up for at least six months, at a cost of $1,000 per month.

Jef Hall is the chairman of the Winnebago County Democratic Party. He says having a bad opinion of the president doesn't mean there's been an impeachable offense.

Wroblewski says despite the billboard's language, he's not suggesting Obama committed an impeachable offense.

Huh?

Monday, February 15, 2010

The end of Prairie Pollution

If you ever wondered, this article describes exactly what is going to happen to all that Junk that litters the landscape across the great plains.

Skeletons of broken down rusting iron litter the prairie. It's soon time to start a company to take them down, dig up the wire and concrete and grind them back into the scrap metal they always were.

Healing at the LCMS Lutheran Church in LaFox

I have been around Pentecost thirty years. I knew the Happy Hunters back in the day. Seen lots and lots of healing services. Conducted a few myself.

Yet, what I saw and experiences was unlike what I have seen in the past. This was not a bombastic thing. I have been to Benny Hinn meetings. This wasn't like that.

There was no "Big Man" on the platform that ministered to people. The night before we had an equipping meeting. About 40 people were invited using the same criteria that was defined in the book of acts for those chosen to be deacons.

There was a training and equipping time. Anointing. Empowerment. Very Ephesians 4 oriented.

Then the night of the healing meeting, a time of worship. And, then some teaching. Some preparation. THEN, he called up the ministry teams that had been developed the night before.

THEY laid hands on the sick. There was a track to run on. One of which I approve. My theology has always been that you declare healing over a person. Jesus didn't pray for the sick and neither should we. We should declare the healing power of Jesus.

Neither Pastor Teske nor the Sr Pastor laid hands on anyone during the meeting.

It was amazing. Perhaps a hundred came forward for healing. People were set free. Many received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.

AND MANY WERE HEALED.... I actually couldn't believe my eyes.

This in an LCMS Lutheran Church.

I was touched by the purity of it all.

This is a departure from what has been the pattern in many good Pentecostal healing services I have been part of over these last decades. I had a conversation with Teske, he's the real deal. I think God must be using him in this way because he's in a denominational environment so much of the time.

On the other hand, in a few weeks he is going to be at Morningstar with Rick Joyner. So he ministers to Pentecostal groups a lot as well.

It was quite a time. I am rattled by it all. My paradigm has been tipped over. We Holy Ghost folks who have lived in this so long are supposed to have a corner on this thing...right?

Hitler Hired Al Gore and isn't Happy

I didn't write this, just found it. F word a few times. I guess you probably have seen it in print. But it's brutal. If anyone left on the planet believes in AGW this should allow some room for doubt.