True Christmas

FIRST CHRISTMAS CARD

Cleverly done!!!

Twas the Month before Christmas

Twas the month before Christmas

When all through our land,

Not a Christian was praying

Nor taking a stand.

See the PC Police had taken away

The reason for Christmas - no one could say.

The children were told by their schools not to sing

About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say

December 25th is just a ' Holiday'.

Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit

Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-Pod

Something was changing, something quite odd!

Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa

In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down

At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.

At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears

You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty

Are words that were used to intimidate me.

Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen

On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter

To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.

And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith

Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded

The reason for the season, stopped before it started.

So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'

Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully, choose what you say

Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS,

not Happy Holiday!

Please, all Christians join together and

wish everyone you meet

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christ is The Reason' for the Christ-mas Season!

Useless News Links

That's Reassuring
"I always tell Malia and Sasha, look, you guys, I don't worry about you. . . . They're on a path that is going to be successful, even if the country as a whole is not successful."--Barack Obama to New York supporters, Nov. 30

Out on a Limb
"Dominique Strauss-Kahn: 'Uninhibited Sex Life' Ruined My Career"--headline, Daily Telegraph (London), Dec. 1

Who Says Obama Isn't Tough on Terror?

• "The Emerging 'Strong Horse' of the Islamic World"--headline, WND.com, June 11
• "Obama, Congress Restore Horse-Slaughter Industry"--headline, Washington Times, Dec. 1

So Much for the War on Drugs
"Obama: 'Massive Blow' if GOP Blocks Payroll Tax"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 30

Left in the Lurch
"No Kerry Success at Munster Class 4 Inter-County Badminton Series"--headline, Kerryman (Ireland), Nov. 30

Where's Mrs. Obama When You Need Her?
"Like Rest of Nation, Mass. Residents Not Moving"--headline, Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.), Nov. 30

2nd Prize is 4 Obamas
"Michelle Added to Obama Dinner Raffle"--headline, WhiteHouseDossier.com, Nov. 30

Dept. of Low Expectations
"Milwaukee's Economic Recovery Outpacing Chicago's"--headline, Marquette Tribune (student newspaper), Dec. 1

QE3 Is Under Way
"Bank Courier Van Spills Money on Roadway in Upper St. Clair"--headline, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 30

Generalissimo Francisco Franco Is Still Dead
"America Is Still a Giant Oil importer"--headline, Slate.com, Nov. 30

We'll Pass, but Really, Thanks for Offering
"Vomit in FAMU Student's Mouth Before He Dies"--headline, Associated Press, Dec. 1

At That Age, It's Amazing He Can Remember Anything
"Witness Turns '180,' Vindicates Wash. Cop"--headline, PoliceOne.com, Dec. 1

Questions Nobody Is Asking

• "Can You Spot the Difference? Surgeons Replace Dad's Severed Thumb With BIG TOE After He Sawed It Off in DIY Accident"--headline, Daily Mail (London), Dec. 1
• "Truth or Dare: Would Black America Support President Obama If He Were Atheist?"--headline, Puffington Host, Nov. 30

Answers to Questions Nobody Is Asking

• "Supercommittee Failure Shame? Not for Its Members"--headline, Politico.com, Dec. 1
• "Why Rick Santorum Hasn't Had His Moment in the Primary Sun"--headline, DailyCaller.com, Nov. 30
• "Is This the World's First Space Beer? No."--headline, Discovery.com, Nov. 30

Too Much Information
"College Men's Basketball: Purdue Leans on Johnsons"--headline, South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, Nov. 30

News of the Tautological
"Poll: Money Is the Best Employee Incentive"--headline, Ragan.com, Dec. 1

News You Can Use
"Now Might Not Be the Best Time to Hire Pakistani Mercs"--headline, Wired.com, Nov. 30

Bottom Stories of the Day

• "Expert: Mexico Glyphs Don't Predict Apocalypse"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 30
• "France Honors Lenny Kravitz With Highest Award"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 30

What do you think of this?

This is amazing. I don't know what to think of all this. YET, some teachers of preterism dabble on the edge of this. It's like those who claim not to be racist yet make side comments revealing their heart. I am concerned about this.

From the Video Below:

The roots of Replacement Theology and its rotten fruit of anti-Semitism date back to Christianity's infancy. Ironic when the Church was formed by Christ was all Jewish . It was founded in Judea and all its founding documents were written by Jews. As the Church began to spread beyond Judea, its message was embraced by more and more Gentiles who had no interest in maintaining contact with the Church's Jewish roots. Even worse, the new Gentile leaders began to turn against the Jews by characterizing them as "Christ killers." Consider the following examples, which are but a few:

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) - Claimed God's covenant with Israel was no longer valid and that the Gentiles had replaced the Jews.

Irenaeus (ca 130-202 AD) - Declared the Jews were disinherited from the grace of God.

St. Augustine (354-430 AD) - Asserted that the Jews deserved death but were destined to wander the earth to witness the victory of the Church over the synagogue."

THE JEW HAS NOT BEEN REJECTED BY GOD
First, the Bible affirms that the Jews were called as God's Chosen People to be witnesses of what it means to have a relationship with Him (Isaiah 43:10-12). And the Bible makes it clear that this calling is "irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). Second, in direct contradiction of Replacement Theology, the Bible teaches that the Jews have never been rejected by God because of their unbelief. In Romans 3 Paul asserts point blank that their rejection of Jesus has not nullified God's faithfulness to the promises He has made to them (Romans 3:1-4). Paul makes the point again in Romans 11:1 when he asks, "I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He?" He answers his own question with an emphatic statement: "May it never be! ... God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew" (Romans 11:2).

What is God's plan for the Jews in the end times? How will He bring about the salvation of a great remnant? Let me outline the answer for you briefly:

The Jewish people will be regathered in unbelief from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:11-12).

They will once again occupy the city of Jerusalem (Zechariah 8:7-8).

All the nations of the world will come against them over the issue of the control of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2-3).

The Antichrist will come to their rescue by guaranteeing them peace and allowing them to rebuild their temple (Daniel 9:27).

This false "peace" will begin the Day of The Lord and God's judgments and wrath upon the world.
At the end of 3½ years, the Antichrist will declare himself to be God, and the Jews will reject Him (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

The Antichrist will then attempt to annihilate the Jews, and he will succeed in killing two-thirds of them (Revelation 12:13-17 and Zechariah 13:8-9).

At the end of the Tribulation, when the Jews have come to the end of themselves, they will turn to God and receive Jesus as their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10).

Jesus will return at this point in time, and He will regather all believing Jews to Israel where He will establish them as the prime nation in the world (Deuteronomy 30:1-9).

The blessings of God will flow out to the nations through the Jews during the Millennium (Zechariah 8:22-23).

The above comes from this Video.

23 Adult Truths

1 Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How on earth are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind-of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Light than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

23. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

Ladies.....Quit Laughing.

Interesting Stuff

Where people are sad and happy

SADDEST CITIES

1. St. Petersburg, Florida

2. Detroit, Michigan

3. Memphis, Tennessee

4. Tampa, Florida

5. Louisville, Kentucky

6. St. Louis, Missouri

7. Birmingham, Alabama

8. Miami, Florida

9. Reno, Nevada

10. Las Vegas, Nevada

HAPPIEST CITIES

1. Honolulu, Hawaii

2. Manchester, New Hampshire

3. Fargo, North Dakota

4. Omaha, Nebraska

5. Boston, Massachusetts

6. Madison, Wisconsin

7. Sioux Falls, South Dakota

8. St. Paul, Minnesota

9. Burlington, Vermont

10. Plano, Texas

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2068500/Americas-saddest-cities-revealed--3-Sunshine-State.html#ixzz1fJQv8Fl0

This is true, there are lots of Jobs that don't require a college degree, just ability. It's become nearly impossible to find people that know how to DO anything. I can but they all speak Spanish. The crisis we have is lots of educated people with no skills. If you are out of work or looking for a job, the question isn't what education do you have, the question is, what do you know how to do well. If the answer is nothing...you are in deep trouble, even if you have a masters degree with a 4.0 gpa.

Instapundit » Blog Archive » HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Help Wanted: In Unexpected Twist, S

pjmedia.com

DENVER—Ferrie Bailey’s job should be easy: hiring workers amid the worst stretch of unemployment since the Depression.

The EPA and the Administration could shut down the Oil Boom in North Dakota in a few weeks. Just like they did in the Gulf of Mexico. Is there a pattern here? Why is the government against prosperity and jobs?

Fracking Could Be Halted In North Dakota In A Matter Of Weeks

sayanythingblog.com

Democrats here in North Dakota have been railing against a $1 million appropriation set aside by the state legislature to fund a potential lawsuit against the federal government over a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. But there’s good reason for the state to be concerned about the EPA’s actions

When great Religions die. I'm not sorry to see this one go. Zeus and Thor were fictional just like this was. Chuck Comstock you know I have to tag you on this. But you have always been a bit agnostic about this. Now you can go full on atheist about the whole thing.

Stephens: The Great Global Warming Fizzle

online.wsj.com

In The Wall Street Journal, Global View columnist Bret Stephens writes that the climate religion is fading amid spasms of anger and twitches of boredom.

Big companies influence government to prevent the little guy from getting ahead. It's called RENT SEEKING. That's what the christmas tree tax was all about that didn't happen. Read this too. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204224604577028364218075668.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

I know my friend Terry Bobzien hates this kind of corporate corruption as much as I do.

Blocking the Paths Out of Poverty - HUMAN EVENTS

www.humanevents.com

Have you noticed how often government takes sides against the little guy?

Tina Brown turns on Obama...TINA BROWN!! Chief of all liberals

Ace of Spades HQ

ace.mu.nu

Down on Obama, and that includes the liberals, who are beginning to get as distracted and depressed as he is, over the burden of having to spin his failures.

I know some of you will think it cruel, but what is happening now is worse. The excess of horses on the hoof that are better used as for people who like the meat than killed and buried. I'm a farmer at heart. This is a good option for a bad problem.

Horses could soon be butchered in the US for human consumption

dailycaller.com

TULSA, Okla. -- Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses cou

Horror

Study Shows Foster Children Have High Rates of Prescription of Psychiatric Medications

abcnews.go.com

The federal government has not done enough to oversee the treatment of America's foster children with powerful mind-altering drugs, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to be released tomorrow. ABC News was given exclusive access to the GAO report, which capped off a nation...

Good Sociology:
Cars didn’t shape our existence; cars let us escape with our lives. We’re way the heck out here in Valley Bottom Heights and Trout Antler Estates because we were at war with the cities. We fought rotten public schools, idiot municipal bureaucracies, corrupt political machines, rampant criminality and the pointy-headed busybodies. Cars gave us our dragoons and hussars, lent us speed and mobility, let us scout the terrain and probe the enemy’s lines. And thanks to our cars, when we lost the cities we weren’t forced to surrender, we were able to retreat.

The End of Our Love Affair with Cars

online.wsj.com

The fate of Detroit isn’t a matter of economics. It’s a tragic romance, whose magic was killed by bureaucrats, bad taste and busybodies. P.J. O’Rourke on why Americans fell out of love with the automobile.

I know several churches that are very much like the Crystal Cathedral. They too will die because of the inbreeding that a son or daughter brings when the succession passes to them because dad says it should. It seldom works. The only ones that do are when the successor goes away, has success on his or her own, and then after a few years of accomplishment returns to pick up the reins. These situ...ations suffer because the successors anointed have lived in a hothouse environment, never having to learn the rough and tumble ways of public ministry and when the real heat and cold comes they wilt. It is a hard thing, but the best thing a person who is going to be your successor to do is LEAVE for a while. Learn to stand on your own feet and then come back battle hardened. When I see a young person striving to follow on in their father's footsteps in ministry and Dad is paving the way to make it possible, all I see is failure about to happen. I have a friend with children in ministry with...See More

The Day the Crystal Cathedral Died

www.christianpost.com

I liken my grief of the Crystal Cathedral’s death to grieving a loved one with a terminal illness. Now that it’s over, in this moment, I can breath a sigh of relief.

Why so much of the 99% are:
Social scientists routinely find that individuals raised in intact families are generally better equipped to thrive in the economy. Today's 99% is teeming with tens of millions of Americans who were not raised in a stable home environment, and their earnings potential is compromised as a result.

The problem of family breakdown doesn't lend itself to easy fixes. And its cultural roots run quite deep at this point. But it's a safe bet that in the several months they occupied Zuccotti Park and other public spaces, not one new idea was raised by Occupiers that would help arrest this driver of increasing income inequality.

Three inconvenient truths for Occupy Wall Street

www.latimes.com

Occupy Wall Street supporters are claiming credit for at least one political accomplishment: elevating the issue of income inequality to the top of the national conversation.

Christmas Funny

A great leap backwards

Pike church takes stand against interracial couples | Faith & Values | Kentucky.com

www.kentucky.com

A small Pike County church has voted not to accept interracial couples as members or let them take part in some worship activities.

This is how Iran is like the USA

Iran's government is finally taking off the gloves. In its latest attack on Christians, the government has announced that house churches are a threat to youth.

Iran Declares House Churches a Threat

This is so Sad. I don't know how it can go so far.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire

I've seen people leave a wild life full of everything they thought they wanted (money, cars, clothes, power, women etc...) because they got tired of it and realized it was a lie..... so they join "the church".

I've also seen people leave the "the church" (shouting, running, lifting hands, trying to live right, giving your $, singing etc...) because they got tired of it and realized it was a lie........ so they join the wild life.

You will be searching your entire life for an identity as long as you continue to look outside your self. The REAL you is waiting to be discovered and unveiled and can only be accessed through silence, unlearning everything you once thought you knew and focusing on the real you. You don't need to TRY to be you... you just BE. So instead of being a carbon copy of your fav celeb, or the church you go to etc... It's time to be YOU for a change..the No Boxes- No ceilings- No Fear YOU! you will ENJOY the results. But be careful... because OTHERS WONT. (trust me)

Chris Christie on the Super Committee: What the hell are we paying Obama for?

What are we paying him for? We’re paying him to run for president again, I thought.

A video treat below in honor of Fitch declaring that its outlook on U.S. treasuries is now officially negative after the Super Committee’s failure. Coming next: Another bump down to AA for President Downgrade.

[T]he negative outlook indicates a “slightly greater” than 50% chance that Fitch downgrades the U.S. over the next two years.

“Failure to reach agreement in 2013 on a credible deficit reduction plan and a worsening of the economic and fiscal outlook would likely result in a downgrade of the U.S. sovereign rating,” David Riley, a managing director at Fitch, said in the report…

Fitch warned that further deficit reduction efforts “will not be credible” if they solely rely on cutting discretionary spending. Economists have said Congress needs to quickly move to slash entitlement spending on programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

The failure of the Supercommittee to reach a compromise “underlines the challenge of securing broad-based consensus on how to reduce the outsized federal budget deficit,” Riley said.

Granted, the Committee’s failure further weakens America’s creditworthiness, but on the upside, it’s super helpful to Obama’s campaign narrative about a “do-nothing Congress.” And don’t think both sides on the Committee weren’t keenly aware of it. I think the most O-friendly answer you can muster in response to Christie’s question, in fact, is to ask what good it would have done if he had participated. Even if he was willing to detonate his 2012 messaging by making a deal with the GOP — possibly including entitlement reform, which would tie the DNC’s hands on ads targeting seniors next year — who thinks he still has enough political capital left to get any of the Committee’s Democrats to go along with it?

Two clips, one of Christie and the other of O promising Europe we’re ready to “do our part” to help them out of their fiscal quicksand. What that might mean, I don’t know, but the speculation already has me nervous. Dude, three words: Secret. Fed. Loans.

Watch them HERE:






Chris Christie on the Super Committee: What the hell are we paying Obama for? « Hot Air

the junk that has littered the landscape has become a problem, as we all knew it would be. So now what. How do we clear the landscape of the junk that pollutes the landscape.

America Has 14,000 Abandoned Wind Power Turbines

sayanythingblog.com

The symbol of Green renewable energy, our saviour from the non existent problem of Global Warming, abandoned wind farms are starting to litter the planet as globally governments cut the subsidies taxes that consumers pay for the privilege of having a very expensive power source that does not work ev...

Humor

The Nazis are demanding you give up your light bulbs

EDITORIAL: Time to stock up on light bulbs

www.washingtontimes.com

Within four weeks, it will be a crime to manufacture a 100-watt version of Thomas A. Edison’s brilliant invention. Thanks to a Democratic Congress and the signature of President George W. Bush in 2007, anti-industrial zealots at the Energy Department received authority to blot out one of the greates...

This may turn out to be the biggest blunder of our Current President's Administration. WOW

China Open to Canadian Oil | Via Meadia

blogs.the-american-interest.com

This is what bad energy policy looks like: as the US dithers over Canadian tar sands oil, China is ready to buy. Access to reliable oil from a friendly neighboring country like Canada is one of America’s greatest geopolitical blessings. Throwing this away would be the height of folly; those seem t...

Somehow the juxtaposition of these two stories are too precious. I'm afraid the whole idea went out the window with the rest of the fantasy.
http://www.skynews.com.au/politics/article.aspx?id=690184&vId=2879514&cId=Politics

One Of Barack Obama's Big Jobs Will Be To Repair The Tarnished Image Of Brand America | World News |

news.sky.com

On the night of November 4, America once again delivered on the age-old dream, that even an American of modest origins can become President, with talent, sacrifice, hard work and determination.

Articles: Scientists in Revolt against Global Warming

www.americanthinker.com

Global warming became a cause to save life on earth before it had a chance to become good science. The belief that fossil fuel use is an emergency destroying our planet by CO2 emissions took over the media and political arena by storm. The issue was politicized so quickly that the normal scientifi...

I don't know anything about this picture, but it moved me. I did translate the passage below it...not much information. Kind of a prayer.

Wall Photos

دعا می کنم:

"برای آسمان که همیشه آبی بماند..

I have never been very enthusiastic about Colin Powell. He is a good inspirational story, but weak in every other way.

Colin Powell Blames Media and Tea Party for Divisive Tone in Washington | NewsBusters.org

newsbusters.org

Not surprisingly, neither the class warfare stoked by President Obama and his Party nor the resulting Occupy Wall Street movement was mentioned during this seven minute interview with Christiane Amanpour on ABC's This Week (video follows with transcript and commentary):

This is true, there are lots of Jobs that don't require a college degree, just ability. It's become nearly impossible to find people that know how to DO anything. I can but they all speak Spanish. The crisis we have is lots of educated people with no skills. If you are out of work or looking for a job, the question isn't what education do you have, the question is, what do you know how to do well. If the answer is nothing...you are in deep trouble, even if you have a masters degree with a 4.0 gpa.

Instapundit » Blog Archive » HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Help Wanted: In Unexpected Twist, S

pjmedia.com

DENVER—Ferrie Bailey’s job should be easy: hiring workers amid the worst stretch of unemployment since the Depression.

The EPA and the Administration could shut down the Oil Boom in North Dakota in a few weeks. Just like they did in the Gulf of Mexico. Is there a pattern here? Why is the government against prosperity and jobs?

Fracking Could Be Halted In North Dakota In A Matter Of Weeks

sayanythingblog.com

Democrats here in North Dakota have been railing against a $1 million appropriation set aside by the state legislature to fund a potential lawsuit against the federal government over a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. But there’s good reason for the state to be concerned about the EPA’s actions

The EPA and the Administration could shut down the Oil Boom in North Dakota in a few weeks. Just like they did in the Gulf of Mexico. Is there a pattern here? Why is the government against prosperity and jobs?

Fracking Could Be Halted In North Dakota In A Matter Of Weeks

sayanythingblog.com

Democrats here in North Dakota have been railing against a $1 million appropriation set aside by the state legislature to fund a potential lawsuit against the federal government over a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. But there’s good reason for the state to be concerned about the EPA’s actions

Category: Would be funny if it weren't so sad

Maxine Waters in line to take over from Frank on Financial Services

thehill.com

Wall Street executives already are bracing for the possibility that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) will take over as the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee from Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

$770 Million from State Department for 'Mosque Makeovers'

www.youtube.com

www.shoebat.com Atlanta ABC Channel 2 report on our crazy fiscal irresponsibility tied to Islamic appeasement. This should make the blood shoot out of your e...

Direct From Instant Pundit.... Lots of jobs but people don't know how to do them

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Help Wanted: In Unexpected Twist, Some Skilled Jobs Go Begging.

DENVER—Ferrie Bailey’s job should be easy: hiring workers amid the worst stretch of unemployment since the Depression.

A recruiter for Union Pacific Corp., she has openings to fill, the kind that sometimes seem to have all but vanished: secure, well-paying jobs with good benefits that don’t require a college degree. But they require specialized skills—expertise in short supply even with the unemployment rate at 9%. Which is why on a recent morning the recruiter found herself in a hiring hall here anxiously awaiting the arrival of just two people she had invited to interviews, winnowed from an initial group of nearly five dozen applicants. With minutes to go, the folding chairs sat empty. “I don’t think they’re going to show,” Ms. Bailey said, pacing in the basement room.

Her challenge is a familiar one to recruiters, especially in industries that require workers with trade skills such as welding. Union Pacific struggles to find enough electricians who have worked with diesel engines. Manufacturers in many places can’t find enough machinists. Oil companies must fight for a limited supply of drilling-rig workers.

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE: Custom car-maker David Kirkham emails: “Your WSJ link is (depressingly) more accurate than you may realize. I would hire 5 more guys right now if I could. However, it is virtually impossible to find anyone with skills anymore. The number one skill we are missing as a society is a work ethic. I speak to employers all the time and we all are looking for the same potential employee–someone who is honest, hard working, and who has reasonable intelligence. In other words someone who willing and able to learn new things and admit it when they screw up. Notice education is not on the list.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Brett McSweeney writes: “True. My neighbor runs a Wheel & Tire shop. He calls it an adult child minding centre.”

On the other hand, reader Don Wolff writes:

These employers are shooting themselves in the foot. Disciplined work ethic personnel are out there if they really make the effort to look. They just have to understand the ‘code’ in which to communicate and the somewhat arcane way that institutions work. The ‘code’ is Military Occupation Specialties (MOS) there is an civilianized listing here.

And specific to your posting, some of these seem pertinent.

Every major Army installation runs a Separation Transfer Point in the Adjutant General’s office which knows 6 months in advance who’s coming up on the termination of their contracts. At the small cost of a regular FOIA inquiry they can obtain the name and unit of personnel who have the skills or related skills to which they need to be filled and will soon be available to the market. Another key is focusing on installations that have the larger pool of personnel in the skills they’re looking for to increase their chances of hooking the one they need. That too can be done by FOIA as well. Of course this means the prospective employer needs to do some paperwork or visit the nearest military personnel office. The other services operate similar activities.

One advantage that potential civilian employers have is that the real retention officer in the military is Mom. If she ain’t happy, there’s a good chance that traveling days may be coming to an end. Make her happy and the hiring becomes even easier.

And reader Dennis Coxe emails:

Unfortunately I could not afford to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal so I could not read the entire article, but from what is available to the general public I have to say the situation begs the question, why can’t Union Pacific hire “willing-to-work” unskilled labor and train them? This is an area that I think also contributes to the higher education bubble. As you note there are a lot of positions that do not require a full four-year degree, but business’s do not want to invest the money to hire unskilled people and train them. The usual business argument is that there is no employee loyalty so why should they (the business) invest in training people in a skill if they are just going to quit and go to a better paying job elsewhere?

This is a symptom that runs rampant throughout our society in which many people, businesses, non-profits, and government want something for nothing. If these positions are so important to the Union Pacific then they will hire and train people willing to work and commit themselves to a five- or ten-year contract with the railroad, and not wait until skilled workers get let go elsewhere.

I would guess that it’s hard to train people and not have them poached away by other employers. You can’t really hold someone to a five-year contract — but you can lock someone into 20 years of student-loan payments.

A Fuzzy Thinker Analyzes even Fuzzier Thinking

Early this morning, between 6:30-7AM I was listening to Rick Kogan and the Sunday Papers radio show on WGN. I do most Sunday's. He had a fellow on who I was not familiar with.Tony Fitzpatrick. He's an artist of some sort. You can hear the interview here. It's in the first third of the MP3.

He described himself as a fuzzy atheist. Not a good start. It seems to me having some level of conviction would be good. He didn't.

He has produced some presentations apparently, "Who's country is this", "This is the country we are in now". "Is your faith in God or Man?" You know. Classic random fuzzy stuff.

He mentioned during the interview how he had visited the Blue Mosque and was moved. It's in Istanbul. I guess that's OK. Not moved by St Peters? Not moved by the Church of the Sepulcher? Not moved by Oberammergau? I guess not.

He had passed by the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York. Said he knew in TEN SECONDS what they were protesting. I guess he must have lost his fuzzy thinking at that moment. Most of the rest of us are still puzzled.

Here's what he came up with in his ten seconds of revelation:

• He was uplifted...Uplifting he called it. OK. That's subjective enough. Moving along,
• The country finally woke up? Really? I mean, all of us in Tea Party Ville were asleep? We were at THIS party WAAAY before one OWS george soros dependent found the light switch.
• Equality of the American Promise, The American Dream. I guess I didn't know it had become all that inequitable. YES there are rent seeking guilds, unions and big corporations who have bought off politicians to do their will. That is who these folks should be focusing on, the governments who have become servants of big money...
• That the country now has a stomach for justified dissent. I wondered why it was so unprofitable to the stomach when hundreds of thousand gathered at various places in the tea party rallies across the nation and protested big government? Was that not dissent? Maybe conservative dissent is something different. Fuzzy thinking set in again?
• People deserve gainful employment, he said. REALLY?? NO, people deserve a chance at gainful employment. NO ONE deserves gainful employment. AND if they have badly prepared themselves as opposed to what might amount to a dignified standard of living, they should find a new way of preparing themselves for the world they live in now. This IS the world they live in now and if they don't fit they must find a way to do better. That's how it has always been. Anything else is a myth.
• He said that people should be employed equal to their education? HUH?? Why? What employer would hire some person with a degree in art history to work in his accounting department? Just because you got all A's, have a master's degree and a ton of other credentials might mean you MIGHT be a tiny bit more considered for a position. Your degree is worthless unless someone values it. Of all the things Mr Fuzzy Atheist said, this was by far the most inane.
• He talked of people with masters degrees and a hundred grand in student loans not being able to find anything at all employment wise. WHY are they NOT protesting outside the halls of the institutions that made these false promises? It's insane! The world, masters degree or not, owes no one a living.
• He said they are moral coherent people. I guess that differs a great deal from the information passed to me by the news services. I will let that one pass...but I don't buy Moral nor Coherent.
• He mentioned meeting a WWII vet who was protesting. He was 86 years old. It wasn't his first protest. He had been there when Vietnam war protesting was going on. I honor his service, but dishonor his claim that Bill Ayers, Barack Obama's friend, served his country. I looked everywhere. WIKI an all. Nope, Ayers has been a leech and a fiend for decades. This was one deluded fuzzy thinker describing another.
• The last piece of really fuzzy thinking that took place was the comment Kogan's guest made that Starving artists needed to make a fair wage for their work. Sorry charlie, a piece of art work is worth what the greater fool will pay for it. (see greater fool theory).

I like Rick Kogan. I enjoy his program. I enjoy hearing about plays and music.

How he ever let this bunch of 5th grade drivel pass for other than what it was is beyond me.

Real Power from Reinhard Bonnke

We can’t see power with our eyes. It has to be in operation. The world’s fastest runner doesn’t ooze strength with sparks from his fingertips. He sits, talks, drinks coffee, and looks fairly ordinary. I expect he feels ordinary too.

But put him on the race track and suddenly there’s a burst of awesome strength. So many Christians want to feel power, pray for power and keep looking to see if they... have power. They mean to go into action when power pushes them into it. But to experience power we must go into action.

The runner must run to demonstrate what lies in him and we must go for God to realize the anointing of the Spirit. Until then we shall feel ordinary and the devil will tell us we are. The anointing is there when we need it. David was anointed. He slung a stone from a shepherd’s sling at a giant, and God gave it the velocity needed to fell Goliath. By the anointing our witness has impact and force. Whether we see it or not, God is with us.

REINHARD BONNKE

NOW they tell us...after all that global warming foolishness

The climate may be less sensitive to carbon dioxide than we thought – and temperature rises this century could be smaller than expected. That's the surprise result of a new analysis of the last ice age. However, the finding comes from considering just one climate model, and unless it can be replicated using other models, researchers are dubious that it is genuine.

As more greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere, more heat is trapped and temperatures go up – but by how much? The best estimates say that if the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere doubles, temperatures will rise by 3 °C. This is the "climate sensitivity".

But the 3 °C figure is only an estimate. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the climate sensitivity could be anywhere between 2 and 4.5 °C. That means the temperature rise from a given release of carbon dioxide is still uncertain.

To pin down the sensitivity, Andreas Schmittner of Oregon State University, Corvallis, and colleagues took a close look at the Last Glacial Maximum around 20,000 years ago, when the last ice age was at its height.

Read the whole thing

CO2 may not warm the planet as much as thought - environment - 24 November 2011 - New Scientist