Want to Retrain A Terrorist At Your House?

Some people will never understand that our nation is at war along with our allies. And war is no picnic. I think the government needs to black out the news. Now an alleged "secret spy program," if there was one, is no longer a "secret." I think some of our biggest problemmakers are members of the liberal Senate and House who either divulge "secret" White House briefings outright or else leak documents to the news media via anonymous "unnamed high-level sources said." But, if the news reporters and political and religious leaders were as vocal about terrorists cutting heads off of innocents as they have been about combatants who've been made to wear underwear on their heads, then word would get widely broadcast that America will attack her attackers with everything stored up in her war chest. The most noise we hear comes from those who have never been to war and have no intention of ever signing up to go.

Christians who are against "war" and use the Bible to justify that position need to spend more time talking to the Preacher, because that is not all of it. Believers, for the most part, are humble and loving towards one another and others. But we do not ask evil anything --- we tell evil to go back to hell where it came from. And, we help it to get back there. We don't need to give the devil no place. No more ground. America and her allies are in this fight to win. Thank God.

Don't let anybody bad mouth America. Call them on it when you hear it.That would put a stop to all of those confusing mixed messages. If only the White House and/or Defense Department would speak up and make such a bold statement as that alleged in the copy below, then a whole lot of people might be quicker to stop and think before "blaming America first."The original author of that email joke, below, really hit the nail on the head. I like that!I'm just sorry I had not thought to articulate it, myself.We Christians are humble, but God did not make us floor mats. If war is called for, we run to the battle. And we go praying all the way knowing our God meets us every time and carries us to the victory line.

Here is the copy of an email shared with a list I belong to and is quoted below. Take a look and think about it. [I deleted the name of the sender in this post. If you want to know the name, contact me. As far as I know to date, the author is anonymous.]

Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 12:38 PM> Subject: Joke: Liberals
Accept Responsibility for Killers(LARK) Subject: THE LARK
PROGRAM

A person wrote a letter to the White House complaining about the treatment of a captive taken during the Afghanistan war. Attached is a copy of a letter they received back:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, D.C. 20016

Dear Concerned Citizen: Thank you for your recent letter roundly criticizing our treatment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Our administration takes these matters seriously, and your opinion was heard loud and clear here in Washington.

You'll be pleased to learn that, thanks to the concerns of citizens like you, we are creating a new division of the Terrorist Retraining Program, to be called the "Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers" program, or LARK for short. In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decided to place one terrorist under your personal care.

Your personal detainee has been selected and scheduled for transportation under heavily armed guard to your residence next Monday. Ali Mohammed Ahmed bin Mahmud (you can just call him Ahmed) is to be cared for pursuant to the standards
you personally demanded in your letter of admonishment. It will likely be necessary for you to hire some assistant caretakers. We will conduct weekly inspections to ensure that your standards of care for Ahmed are commensurate with those you so strongly recommended in your letter. Although Ahmed is sociopathic and extremely
violent, we hope that your sensitivity to what you described as his "attitudinal problem" will help him overcome these character flaws. Perhaps you are correct in describing these problems as mere cultural differences. He will bite you, given the
chance. We understand that you plan to offer counseling and home schooling.

Your adopted terrorist is extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or nail clippers. We do not suggest that you ask him to demonstrate these skills at your next yoga group He is also expert at making a wide variety of explosive devices from common household
products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless (in your opinion) this might offend him.

Ahmed will not wish to interact with your wife or daughters (except sexually) since he views females as a subhuman form of property. This is a particularly sensitive subject for him, and he has been known to show violent tendencies around women who fail to comply with the new dress code that Ahmed will recommend as more appropriate attire. I'm sure they will come to enjoy the anonymity offered by the bhurka - over time. Just remind them that it is all part of "respecting his culture and his religious beliefs" - wasn't that how you put it?

Thanks again for your letter. We truly appreciate it when folks like you, who know so much, keep us informed of the proper way to do our job. You take good care of Ahmed - and remember...we'll be watching.

Good luck!

Cordially...Your Buddy, Don Rumsfeld

CORRECTED POST ABOUT NCHC

Note - Please Read:
It is imperative that I send along this Corrected Email /revldowell

To: Ms. Deirdre Murphy
National Coalition on Health Care (nchc)

Re: Ms. Vanessa Dixon
DC Health Care Coalition

I thank you for your prompt corrections. I hope you can understand the mix up because, without my knowing the organizations cited, those names and purposes appear at first sight, to be very similar. In fact, after I found your website, I thought that I had incorrectly copied the "D.C." captioned designation from off the C-SPAN2 program and adjusted it.

I am glad to know your organization is non-partisan as represented, and I will make your corrected notations on my website, where applicable. And, if you have no objections, then I will place your own corrected information ahead of the comments I have made on my site and reference it again directly on the entry. However, if you object to my doing it in that way, then please contact me and I will consider adjusting it accordingly. Again, thank you and please accept my apology.

Rev. L. Dowell
revldowell-clergywomen@erols.com
http://silentthundersheart.blogspot.com/

----- Original Message -----
From: Deirdre Murphy
To: 'Rev. L. Dowell'
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 2:05 PM
Subject: RE: Shameful Behavior of NCHC Representative_revldowell
In response to your email on Friday, January 21, 2005, Vanessa Dixon is NOT a member or spokesperson for the National Coalition on Health Care. In our review of the C-Span film, we noted that Vanessa Dixon is a representative of the DC Health Care Coalition. We are not associated or affiliated with that organization.

Unfortunately, I could not find a web site for the DC Health Care Coalition, but did find a press release that may help you in contacting them: http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/health021120.htm

Our organization, the National Coalition on Health Care, is a rigorously non-partisan, 501(c)3 nonprofit working for comprehensive health care reform. We do not involve ourselves in protests or political activity.

Sincerely,
Deirdre

Deirdre Murphy
Public Affairs Assistant
National Coalition on Health Care
202.638.7151
dmurphy@nchc.org
Web site: www.nchc.org

-----Original Message-----From: Rev. L. Dowell [mailto:revldowell-clergywomen@erols.com] Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 1:46 AMTo: dmurphy@nchc.org
Subject: Shameful Behavior of NCHC Representative_revldowell

Good morning,

In re: Vanessa Dixon, D.C. National Coalition on Health Care (Washington, D.C.)
On January 20, 2005, speaking to A.N.S.W.E.R. protestors of President Bush

/revldowell
See my posted comments in the article entitled: "Cynthia McKinney . . ."

Cynthia McKinney A Disgraceful-Hateful Act

IMPORTANT! This post has been corrected.
Please also read the article about why in, "CORRECTED POST IN RE NCHC"

Shame on you, Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)! Does the word, "anarchist," mean nothing to you? I could understand the other "protesters," but have you not recently put your hand up once more and swore to uphold the United States Constitution in your official (and personal) position as a Congresswoman?

I thought I was hearing things when the protesters on the frontline of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. announced you were trying to come join them. But upon reflection, I knew it was true. Your atrocious demeanor towards President Bush and his agenda while you served in the Congress led to your being ousted by your constituency for the past two years. Now you are back and as shameless as ever. Georgia take note! And take McKinney back home.

McKinney joined with the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition protesters (viewed tonight on C-SPAN2) and she called the group "Patriots for peace." She also told them she was in Congress to work for them as "A voice for peace, dignity, and justice." She said she was glad A.N.S.W.E.R. included her in their voice of protest. The organizers have listed McKinney as one of their guest speakers at the rally. They also appear to boast about being able to have, for the first time, bleachers set up on the parade route and a sound system. But, during the 2004 Democratic convention in Massachusetts, Sen. Kerry's hometown, protesters were placed in specially constructed cages (surrounded by wire top to bottom) far from the Kerry-Edwards meeting place and made to stay in their alloted space. Yet, these protesters have failed to understand that were it not for the approval of President Bush, they would not have been so fortunate. Wouldn't you think that would have told them something about the tolerance of our current President? Like most things, they missed that, too.

As if that were not enough, McKinney's speech was followed by Vanessa Dixon of the [correction] D.C. Health Care Coalition (Washington, D.C.). In Dixon's diatribe, she compared President Bush to Hitler saying, "May I remind you Hitler was also democratically elected." What a surprise to learn via their website that Ms. Dixon was speaking as a representative of a reputable organization with hundreds of members as widely recognized dignitaries, officials, and organizations. [See the corrected post.]

Meanwhile, those same protesters were publicly advocating to IMPEACH George Bush and chanting such slogans as, "George Bush how many kids did you kill today?"
[I found that link they gave out belongs to a parked website]

Where were the Black Caucus members during the inauguration today? Even Sen. John Kerry and former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hilliary Clinton made the effort to appear. Even Sen. Nancy Pelosi took her place in the procession line. Either the news media overlooked the Black Caucus members or else they were not present. And, the various Democratic Party members who persist in ignoring the fact that we have re-elected our President, will be ignored by the majority, because they will have shown their intent is to obstruct and argue and stop the Presidential policies from going forth. And, if they are left out, then they will have only themselves to blame. One of their complaints is that President Bush does not include them in dispensing information. I wonder why not when some of our Senators and Congress people go on tv and radio and either disclose highly classified information shared in briefings or else leak documents and conversations to the news media and/or personalities?

Personally, I feel sorry for all of those protesters. They are wasting their voices and breath on issues that are being addressed by the Bush Administration. Why don't they spend their money, time, and talents (if any) on personally making a difference directly in their community and working to lift up the downtrodden they profess to be speaking for? Not only that, but also to hear them invoke the name of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as part of their cause is embarrassing. These are frustrated junior-minded ignorants who know nothing about the Civil Rights Movement. And they, much like the radical Islamics have done to Islam, are hijacking the vehicle that effected great changes for the good of Blacks and people of good will all over the world.

As long as God is on the Throne and we know the difference between right and wrong, hot and cold, left and right, good and evil, heaven and hell, and Jesus and Satan, then this nation will continue to stand up to every demon in hell and watch as they recede into the background and oblivion, if they do not repent before it is too late in God's sight. And I say that as decisively as I can, while God's truth is marching on.

I believe Representative Cynthia McKinney's actions were less than honorable, ethical, professional, moral, or as becoming a member of Congress, considering the forum and the timing of her appearance. And I think Ms. McKinney ought to be called before the Congressional Ethics Committee to give an accounting for her actions and sanctioned by the Congressional leadership and members. She is in Congress to help lift the people and not to descend to their base instincts (especially during an anarchist call for overthrow of our government). This is America but some things are off limits. Anarchy used to be one of them.

God bless America. God bless America. God bless America and the world to know He lives.

Hail to the Chief!

January 20, 2005
Happy Inauguration Day

God bless President Bush - A visionary man of his Father's Word.

God bless America - A nation whose God is forever and ever, Amen.

God bless you - A people who have believed and kept faith with God.

FREEDOM Rules the day! Either march with it or rue the day you didn't.

Madam Secretary of State Dr. Condi Rice

While I am here, let me say something about Dr. Condi Rice's confirmation hearings on January 18 and 19, 2005. On the 19th, the Senate voted in committee to confirm Dr. Rice on a count of 16 to 2. The "no" votes were cast by Senator Boxer and Senator Kerry. The Dems are still fighting the 2004 Presidential campaign. Kerry refuses to recognize he lost and it is all over, including the shout. The second Bush-Cheney term of office is here!

I do not seem to recall Madelyn Albright (a woman - former secretary of state under Clinton) having to go through so much cynicism and sarcasm and insults either before or by the U.S. Senate. But, Senator Boxer was outright insulting when she presumed to tell Dr. Rice, among other harsh comments, that she had to get with Dr. Rice to (teach) her how to respond to questions in her new position.

Those Senators who were argumentative with Dr. Rice (including John Kerry) made no secret of the fact they regretted Kerry was sitting in the Senate *with* them again. Even Senator Joe Biden admitted on "HardBall" that he regretted he was not chosen as secretary of state, because Kerry was not President. They treated Dr. Rice with disdain and acted as if she was weak and ignorant. That is the same way they have treated President Bush, since he stepped on the national stage as President.

What are the national congressional leadership and the news media thinking about? They have no problem showing respectful attitudes to *former* officials. For example, when the former officials appear on tv programs, they are respectfully referred to as "Secretary (of State) Madelyn Albright," "Secretary Kissinger," "Secretary Eaglesberger," and the same is accorded former senators and congresspeople. However, they have referred to (now) former Secretary of State Colin Powell (sans title) and Dr. Rice as "Condi." How smart does a person have to be and how much experience do they have to have, if they are black, to be treated as an American who has successfully defended this nation?

We also do not need any Republicans to compromise with the Democrats. The Dems are only going to turn around and whip the Repubs and flaunt any such compromise(s), as they have always done.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. God bless the U.S.A. and all who know and love God.

A Vietnam Veteran's Invitation

A Vietnam Veteran's Invitation

 

I happened to see your name and address on a web site's public forum and was wondering if you were open to reading some things I have written.  And thank you for allowing internet contact, for the last thing I want to do is intrude or be needlessly offensive.  Isn't it great that the internet provides for the free flow and exchange of knowledge? 

 

I would like to welcome you to visit my web site, if you are interested in knowing about today's political-religious events, including those in Israel and America, and how they relate to Bible prophecy from a Vietnam veteran's perspective.  If you drop by my web site please let me know by signing the "guestbook" or dropping me an email.  Thank you for reading this and I hope to hear from you soon.

 

P.S.  I have posted my latest article "Moved with Compassion" which covers the following subjects:

    (1) My reaction to the presidential election.

    (2) How the Swift Boat veteran's response to Kerry brought back personal memories of the Vietnam era.

    (3) My daughter's heartbreaking face to face encounter with terrorists.

    (4) How the massacre of children in Russian relates to the prophets of Israel.

    (5) The religious offspring of Emperor Constantine in America today.

    (6) Who really guides the Democratic and Republican parties?

    (7) The coming Jewish prophets.

    (8) The weeping Messiah.

    (9) The wide road that leads to Hell.      

 

Please click on the link below and go to "What's New" to read the article.  Please sign my guestbook or send me an email with your comments or questions.   

 

Sincerely, Jack D. Hook

jdhook@cox.net

 

Babylon the Great is Falling

http://www.babylonthegreatisfalling.net

 

 

 

Don't Blame God and Don't Blame His Messengers

I am very glad that God is real. He is alive. He speaks daily.
We do not know when the Lord will come back for His church, but we do know and believe He shall surely come again riding on a cloud. We are truly in the last days more than ever.

God in His mercy has always loved His creatures and forgiven their transgressions. He sent a propitiation for our sins. God allows all things that no man, woman, child will ever be able to do. In His divine wisdom, God provided for the welfare of humankind. His prophets have continued to be run out of town in an effort to shut their mouths about anything that had to do with living a life pleasing in God's sight. His preachers have been laughed to scorn, because the message they preach is from the mouth of God to their ear (whether male or female called by God to preach). They have come up against a people with itching ears heaping up teachers for themselves. And, as a result, people in general have degenerated to the lowest dregs of society by a lack of Godly love, morals, values, purpose, and plain old common sense.

God has stepped back and given mankind what they asked for. To be let alone about anything that has to do with naming the name of Jesus and being led by the Holy Ghost to worship God in the way that is pleasing to Him.

God's word, the pure, unadulterated gospel, has given way to psychology; social sciences; theological, philosophical, hermaneutical, homeletical designs of human flesh that is far removed from spirit. Where is God in all of this? We are living in the time, as prophesied, when men call right wrong and wrong right and the people love it so.

The preacher that has called out for people to turn to God, repent, and to let God turn them from their sins, is laughed to scorn. People don't want to feel guilty or bad. They want to feel good. They don't want no bad news, as they see it. Because, if they heeded the preacher's call, they know their life will change -- never mind for the better. They love their sin and would rather die than turn away from whatever it happens to be.

Preachers! Do not come down off the wall. Do not believe God is dead and does not see or hear. Pay no attention to the many voices that believe they can march on their own into God's throne in their unregenerated state without being washed in the blood of Jesus. Hold fast to God's Spiritual truth. When the storms come, as they have done in recent weeks, did you not know that a whole lot of people called out for God to save them who for a long time never wanted to be bothered.

Do not let anybody blame God for what mankind has taken upon himself to do. Just because man is wrong does not mean that God has lied. God cannot lie. All of His promises are yes and amen. Keep watch. Stay on the wall. Do not add to and do not take away from what God has spoken. We have come to the time when those who are hot must remain hot. Those who are cold shall remain cold. Those who are neither hot nor cold but lukewarm are being given the chance to jump on one side or the other (i.e., right or wrong, right or left behind, Jesus or Satan, hot or cold, saved or unsaved). God knows. His word has continued to go forth for centuries and this generation has been more privileged than most to see many of the fulfillments of end days living. Serious times demand serious preaching by God's called, appointed, and anointed whether the people hear or do not hear! Whether they like it or do not like it! Whether they believe it or do not believe it! Whether they become offended by the cross and the name Jesus or not!

God's word will continue to go on, if only by a narrow few, until God Himself says, "Blow the trumpet in Zion" (I speak about God's word and not those regurgitated by any man or woman out of their own mind that make a whole lot of people shout while their bad habits remain intact).

P.S. I thank God that Michael Newdow, a confessed athiest, did not prevail in his recent lawsuit filed in the U.S. Supreme Court to keep God, prayer, and the Bible out of the upcoming Presidential inauguration. Praise our God!

American Hacker Captured in U.S.

If not for Homeland Security's ever-present suspicion and seemingly quick readiness to arrest anybody they suspect of being homegrown terrorists, I would ask a question of them, if I could be sure I would get a telephone, fax, or email through and not be seen as a suspect, myself. I regret to even have to think this way, but it is symptomatic of the times in which we live.

I am Christian. I am Republican. I am born and reared in the United States all my life from generations of Americans (albeit they came over on a slave ship). I am sure there are more Americans like me who want to be of help, but fear getting caught up in a new governmental format that seems to suggest, "Guilty until proven innocent."

Before I even saw that newspaper story, I had wondered why all the computer hackers could not come together and help our government agencies put a direct line from here to Osama Bin Ladin and/or Al Zahwari. With all of their various taped transmissions they have sent and those websites and bulletin boards they are said to post to, I have to believe that by now somebody should have been able to identify their location and to either monitor their comings and goings and heinous plans and/or shut them down and shut them up and shut them off, permanently.

I would sure like to contact Homeland Security and ask them why they do not do that (if they are not doing it), but somehow I do not think they want to know what American citizens think.

By the way, I was in a local post office earlier this week and a black leather computer bag was left out in the open by the window. I kept watching to see if anybody was going to retrieve the bag. As I looked around, I saw nobody who appeared even remotely connected to the bag. By the time I got up to the window to be waited on, it was still there. After I received my stamps, I asked the postal clerk if she knew whose bag that was. I explained to her it had been sitting there unattended. Then I felt obligated to explain (or mumble something) about Homeland Security and citizens on the lookout for suspicious things. I felt like she might have thought I was paranoid. But she looked over my shoulder and saw the bag and seemed startled. And she said, I'll get somebody out here. By the time I left, the bag was still sitting unattended in the same place. I went to my car praying nothing would happen to either that post office or any other building in this country. Don't scoff. There are a whole lot of devious minds and we have seen that we cannot discount anything we feel inside of us that is not right.

But I digress. Now, back to the subject. A snippet from the L.A. Times about a hacker who was arrested. Now why couldn't they have used him to track down terrorists? The quote follows:

According to Secret Service investigators and T-Mobile, (Nicholas, 21 years old) Jacobsen looked at information from 400 customer accounts and offered to give other hackers access to many more among the wireless carrier's 16 million users. Investigators said he could access voice messages and e-mail of any customer whose cell phone number he knew.Investigators said that some in Jacobsen's circle trafficked in credit cards and other personal information used for fraud, though Jacobsen had no access to T-Mobile credit card data. The Secret Service said Jacobsen even read e-mails from one of its agents. He also reportedly looked at pictures snapped with T-Mobile Sidekick communicators. Jacobsen was betrayed by an informant inside a major fraud ring shut down in October, court records say.

source: LA Times, Friday, January 15, 2005.

P.S. I just came across The Ward Report (Don's Political Blog post) In his article, entitled, "It's Unbelievable," he has highlighted a large part of this government's computer tracking problem. This is A Must Read!

Ex-CBS News President Can't Stand Rather (quote)

1. Ex-CBS News President Can't Stand Rather

Former CBS News president Van Gordon Sauter said Thursday that Dan Rather's liberal bias has so permeated the "CBS Evening News" that even he can't stand to watch anymore.

"I stopped watching it some time ago," the ex-network news boss writes in today's Los Angeles Times. "The unremitting liberal orientation finally became too much for
me."

Sauter, who ran the Tiffany network's news division in the early 1980s, said he still checks in from time-to time, but "less and less frequently."

Instead, "I increasingly drift to NBC News and Fox and MSNBC," he said.
The former news exec said this week's firings of four CBS employees in response to
the Rathergate scandal exposed the real problem for network news:

"A large swath of the society doesn't trust the news media," he contended. "And for many, it's even stronger than that: They abhor the media and perceive it as an
escalating threat to the society."

If the erosion of public trust isn't stopped, warns Sauter, viewers will look elsewhere for their news product.

"Those readers and viewers most comfortable in the center -- will try
to find something ... in the center," he argues.

But that could lead to "a lot of scrupulously impartial ... news sources, managed by
research-driven executives who find it a good marketing approach."
Ultimately, says Sauter, "banality will trump opinion."

source: NewsMax.Com (via an email they sent)

Rather News Report At It Again (WMD)

I just saw a CBS News Break report on tv with Dan Rather.
I confess. When I see him now, my attenae go up, my skin cringes, and my stomach churns.

Is it me or just my imagination?

While he was "reading" a brief report about weapons of mass destruction, Rather said the White House has announced it has given up on its search for (them). Rather also added, "There were no weapons of mass destruction." And it seemed to me he relished that thought a little too much. I think I also saw a glint in his eye and a self-satisfied look of vindication. I hope somebody else saw that report the same time I did. If you did, please write and tell me your own immediate reaction (whether it is like mine or not).

Nevertheless, I really could not believe what I had just heard Rather say. I still can't! That's why I had to jump on this board and pose the following questions --

No Weapons of Mass Destruction?

What about that dictator-mass murderer who wreaked havoc all over the Iraq countryside for years until our military and coalition forces finally went and dragged him out of a worm hole?
(my tongue won't even utter his name outloud)

What about that dictator's sons that our military and coalition forces killed and laid their bodies out for all to see that they would no longer be able to carry out their heinous deeds against the Iraqi people or anybody else?

What about all of those many weaponry bunkers over there filled to overflowing with all kinds of materiel (sic) that were discovered and destroyed by our military and coalition forces?

What about all of those sleek airplanes that our military and coalition forces found buried and hidden in the desert and dug them out of the sand? (That's what I said, "sleek airplanes.")

What about all of those weapons the terrorists still use daily to kill, injure, maim, wound, disable, and to destroy our brave men and women who have put their lives on the line for a free America and world? Are those terrorist weapons a figment of everybody's imagination who view them, also, as being "Weapons of Mass Destruction?"

When did President Bush ever use the phrase, "Weapons of Mass Destruction," that has been erroneously attributed to him when he addressed the joint session of the U.S. Congress before "Operation Iraqi Freedom?" Search that out and then report it. I do not believe he said that. In fact, it was a prominent democrat had first used that specific term.

Looking beyond the banner hoisted on the battleship, when did President Bush ever say, "Mission Accomplished?" I do not believe he ever said that. He did not imply the war was over during that time he thanked the troops. In fact, even at the time President Bush addressed the joint session of Congress, he said this would be a different kind of war and enemy, that it would not be over for a very long time, and that there would be sacrifices made.

What does Dan Rather have to gloat about? Nothing that I can see. I hope he sees that, also, and apologizes for his self-important demeanor (to put it nicely).

CBS News Would Rather Not

Does anybody know anything about sexism in the workplace?

I confess that I am not a fan of Dan Rather, and I have not been eager to watch CBS-TV news for a very long time, but I know sexism when I smell it. It is still a man's world whether we women like it or not. Oh. I am starting to speak about the newly unfolding CBS News Report about that matter concerning the military stint of now President George W. Bush (No. 43).

During the 2004 Presidential campaign, CBS News was acting like a cat that swallowed the canary. They acted like they had the bull by the tail. As it turned out, all they had was bull.

Once reputable newscasters made the decision to be sneaky magazine cats. They decided to cast journalistic ethics and formats to the wind. After all, it was rare that any credible person was outspoken against the news media. Whatever their editorial board decided would be news was it! For a long time, we heard daily and nightly broadcasts about which neighborhood had the most black people killing one another. That type of reporting went on for so long that black-on-black crime became a brand new genre. And now we hardly hear anything about what is going on in the hood, whether it is good or bad.

I am sure today's news was met in some circles with much glee. CBS News let go three (3) staff members, and Dan Rather's producer, Mary Mapes, who was fired. She was accused of stirring up the mess that flooded the airwaves accusing President Bush ("W") of shirking his national guard service during the Viet Nam era. The news department made the decision to place that uncorroborated and defamatory story in Dan Rather's hands and let him run with it all the way to the mike. And he relished every letter he connected to make a sentence.

Somebody tell me something. Isn't Rather head of the news department who calls the shots?! Didn't Rather know he had a hand at CBS during the past five years (5) (at least) of going after anything and everything that would thwart the reelection of President Bush? Mapes was not the person in charge. I believe she was following direct orders from Rather. And I believe the current report that says she contends she was railroaded. But I do not condone what she did. However, I do believe Rather should have stepped up like a man and taken his share of the blame and then totally bowed out of his office instead of being eased out by March 2005. What a sad day for journalism.

Until and unless CBS executives take sterner action against Rather, to terminate him now and not wait, they will not be able to regain their journalistic credibility.

My questions are, How much did Senator John F. Kerry, former presidential candidate, know about the preparation of that CBS news report by Rather and when did Kerry and his campaign staff know about it within context of the time that story was reported on national tv?

How surprised was Kerry and his campaign staff once that story was found to have been bogus and defamatory against President Bush?

Are any of those players really sorry or are they just sorry they got caught with their paper hanging on the wrong side of the typewriter, thanks to "Little Green Footballs" and those other bloggers who would not let up until the truth of the matter was revealed? Kudos to them.

Social Security Reform = More Money 4u

I want to thank LaShawn Barber, a long-time blogger, for her very insightful discussion on the subject of Social Security Reform. You have to read it. She got me to thinking about a subject I never even thought about tackling until I visited her site. I guess I was too busy living it. Social Security has been good to me, especially because like so many young people right now, I never thought at that time, I was going to live long enough to collect. Not only that, I did not think I would have any money coming to me even though I had worked about 20 years and was not working for almost as many. I never looked at my statements that came in. I never called or wrote to find out whether or not I would collect anything. I did not even want to go to the Social Security office to apply when I did become eligible. But my husband kept insisting. Reluctantly, I went. What a surprise! And now I have my own, but my husband has authorization privileges if he ever needs to act on my behalf.

The woman at S.S. who met with me signed me up right then and there and actually told me my payments would begin the very next month from my signing up. The only reason I did not collect immediately was because I came a few days too late for that month. Then! When she told me how much I would be receiving every month, I could not believe it! And I am not just whistling dixie down a dark alley (whatever that means). Most of all, I want to encourage anybody who believes they have a very long time before they will be able to collect their portion. Believe me, the years will go by so fast that you will not even have to worry about it. Just pray to God to let you live to be in good health and collect those payments. And believe me, God is real. He answers prayers and yours is included, except and unless the Lord Jesus returns before then in which case none of that will matter, except that you will be ready to go with Him. Think about that, too.

I am including below (more for me as a reference), the comments that I made at LaShawn Barber's blog. I hope you will take a little time to read that, also, before you go back to click on her link at the start of this post. Thanks. I left the following message for her and guests:

I especially loved and affirmed your remarks about the "idiotic ideas by black people." And I stand by that. In terms of S.S. Take heart. Pray to God to let you live long enough to get your share. I did not think I would. And now *every month* for the past two years without fail there is a substantial check deposited in my bank account. Nobody but God has done that! He even blessed me with great health that I almost feel like I am cheating the system to be so young (yet to be legally eligible to collect my retirement money from S.S.). Ask God and He will do the same for you and, when it is your time to collect, it will be there for you.

Some young people may want to thank their elders who pull out their purses and hand over a hand full of cash to them. When you know you have money coming in regularly and no longer have to work for it (called, "Retirement"), there are just so many things you can buy for yourself. Besides, people who collect S.S. can even earn more money via part-time jobs without taxation. Like somebody said in an earlier post, what is wrong with being able to put some of your own money aside as you choose in the same way as IRAs, etc.? It means you have to be responsible, stay alert, and become money savvy to invest *your money wisely,* after the government hands it over to you. God bless.

Thanks LaShawn for your great observations. comment by Silent Thunder 01.06.05 @ 8:44 pm (I made those comments at LaShawn

Barber's blog earlier)

Send Congratulations to President

(Please forward this message to your friends)

Thanks to our friends at Grassfire.Org, I have just sent a personal note of support to President Bush, and I'm inviting you to join with me and tens of thousands ofother Americans who are doing the same by clicking here:http://www.grassfire.org/57/petition.asp?PID=7621940&NID=1

Between now and Inauguration Day (Jan 20), Grassfire.org will collect and present at least 250,000 personal messages, prayers and congratulations to a key official in the Bush Administration who will then forward the messages directly to the President! This is an unprecedented opportunity for citizens to show their support in a timely and uniquely personal way!

Thanks for taking fast action with me.

Pastor L Dowell

Americans Against America

No doubt you are aware of today's "debate" on the House floor led by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH) et al and sanctioned by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA). It was another failed effort to derail today's certification of President George W. Bush (No. 43) going into his second term of office. I found it to be an affront to the administration of all that America stands for. Apparently the majority of the U.S. Senate also found that to be the case, because they voted 74 to 1 to knock down Sen. Boxer's petition to support the House Representatives in their bid to halt today's certification of President Bush. Seventy-five Senators were present today for the vote.

Among other congresspersons who spoke on the House floor today, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) used the most hateful diatribe. She even loudly extoled the "virtues" of Michael Moore and thanked him, as she said it was he who had brought the "truth" to American citizens by his film. On the other hand, she said she was ashamed to say the Ohio Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell, was black, because, as she claimed, he kept the Ohio citizens from being able to cast their votes and have their votes counted. Rep. Waters even invoked the name of Florida 2000, claiming that was another time President Bush was improperly elected to take office. Those who spoke were of the belief that there needed to be a series of ongoing investigations. I don't believe I heard anybody there voice the opinion that many investigations have already been conducted into the allegations made primarily by the democrats.

Indeed, following the Florida 2000 Presidential election and the same outpouring of opposition by many of the same Congresspersons, the EEOC panel, led by M. Barry (Dem.), conducted an extensive investigation *in* Florida *for* Floridians and the nation, and they reported there was no evidence of election improprieties during that time. Nevertheless, the dems will not let it rest and neither will their constituents who will die believing President Bush stole that election from V.P. Al Gore despite the fact that Bush was ahead with each and every count!

During this past summer 2004, Rep. John Conyers convened a partisan investigation *in the shadow of the White House,* invited in people from across this country and it would be very interesting to read that final report. Yet, Rep. Conyers, too, was on the House floor to challenge the Ohio vote. There is no pleasing those folk. Did you notice how Sen. Kerry was (conveniently) absent from that debate. He is out of the country (during a time when Congress is sworn in). But isn't that like him to be missing in action when it counts? When I listened to the (what Rep. Tom Delay caused "noise" -- and it was), I thought I could hear Kerry cheering those "noise" makers on to ramp up their vile rhetoric while he was hiding somewhere, as is his demeanor. And, once again, there are many citizens who will die believing President Bush stole the election from Sen. John Kerry despite the fact that a very publicly displayed map throughout the election showed a blood red map. As well, the count in Ohio sealed the deal and left Kerry in the dust. He and his crowd just refuse to pick themselves up, brush themselves off, and set themselves down in the Oval Office with the President George W. Bush.

Regardless of whatever excuse those Congresspersons used for today's debate, I believe it was clearly all about their downright hatred for the personhood of President George W. Bush (No. 43). They seemed to want to revise their same confrontational tone of the 2000 election. Then, guess what! They will denigrate the Office of the President and act surprised when they are not invited to come sit down around the table of "common sense," for benefit of the common good and welfare of all the people of this great nation. And when they are called on it, they claim the loudest that they are victimized by racists. They need to step back and examine themselves. Their shrill false statements about the Presidential election process only reveal them to be ignorant of the overall voting process in accordance with the U.S. Constitution and the relevant laws of this nation.

It would be good to know they are making the decision to ask, "Is it I?" Or does the majority vote for President Bush really mean that he won weeks ago fair and square and they lost?

Maybe if the news media would get real and print the truth like they meant it, then those who follow their news reports would know they could trust what they have had to say.

A note to the news media.
Watergate is over! Besides that, Woodward and Bernstein proceeded to uncover the story behind the story out of healthy skepticism (perhaps cynicism). Yet, we still do not know who Deep Throat is, because those reporters have refused to this day to name him (or her?). Why not have a go at that story?! Hmmmmm?