Sunday, December 27, 2009

Christmas in Bethlehem Destroyed by Israel?

 by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook

I guess I haven't been paying attention the past few years. I didn't know that Israel has destroyed life for Christians in the town of Bethlehem to the point that Christians have left in a "massive flight."



Bethlehem - Manger Square

WorldNetDaily has this story, and I found it via AmerIsrael. According to WND's Aaron Klein, Reuters, the GuardianUK and others, are in the habit of reporting, each year at this time, the terrible treatment of Christians by Jews in Bethlehem. If you do not have time to read the portions below, or time to go directly to WND to read the entire piece, read the three paragraphs in bold text below, and you will get the idea.
TEL AVIV – Like clockwork, every year at this time reporters file misleading and, in some cases, outright false reports about the state of Christmas in Bethlehem [blaming Israel for the demise of the Christian population]. 

They claim Israeli policies have wreaked havoc on the city's economy and that Israel is responsible for the massive flight of Christians from Bethlehem. Yet the news media completely ignore Muslim intimidation and get their facts wrong on documented history and the true state of affairs in this ancient town.

A widely circulated Reuters article, for example, laments "Christmas cheer hasn't spread to all of Bethlehem's residents," squarely blaming "an Israeli wall" for the town's misfortunes. Britains' Press and Journal also paints a dismal picture of Bethlehem, claiming the city is "divided by a huge wall" and that the "26ft-high security wall completes the isolation of Bethlehem and prevents it from ever expanding." The piece also wrongly states that about 2 percent of Bethlehem's population is Christian.

An opinion piece by Austen Ivereigh in the London Guardian, meanwhile, also claims Bethlehem is "shuttered and depressed" by an "Israeli separation wall."

"I don't just mean the structure itself – 30 feet high, bristling with watchtowers and formed of grey concrete slabs – but where it is built, deep into the town itself, far into the West Bank, severing Bethlehem from Jerusalem and ensuring the relentless expansion eastwards of Jewish-only settlements built on land seized from Palestinian farmers," the Guardian piece claims. Regarding the "wall" that "surrounds" Bethlehem: Israel built a fence in 2002 in the area where northern Bethlehem interfaces with Jerusalem. A tiny segment of the barrier, facing a major Israeli roadway, is a concrete wall that Israel says is meant to prevent gunmen from shooting at Israeli motorists....

Amazingly, Ivereigh's piece in the Guardian falsely claimed: "Bethlehem is shuttered and depressed not because of Koran-wielding thugs but because the wall has smashed its economy. The town has become a ghetto, severed from lands to the north and west by the wall, and to the south and east by settler-only roads and a forest of checkpoints, leaving it barely able to trade."
Simple demographic facts disprove this contention entirely. Israel built the barrier seven years ago. But Bethlehem's Christian population started to drastically decline in 1995, the very year Arafat's Palestinian Authority took over the holy Christian city in line with the U.S.-backed Oslo Accords.
Bethlehem was more than 80 percent Christian when Israel was founded in 1948. But after Arafat took control, the city's Christian population plummeted to its current 23 percent. And that statistic is considered generous since it includes the satellite towns of Beit Sahour and Beit Jala. Some estimates place Bethlehem's actual Christian population as low as 12 percent, with hundreds of Christians emigrating each year.
As soon as he took over Bethlehem, Arafat unilaterally fired the city's Christian politicians and replaced them with Muslim cronies. He appointed a Muslim governor, Muhammed Rashad A-Jabar, and deposed of Bethlehem's city council, which had nine Christians and two Muslims, reducing the number of Christians councilors to a 50-50 split.
Arafat then converted a Greek Orthodox monastery next to the Church of Nativity, the believed birthplace of Jesus, into his official Bethlehem residence.
Suddenly, after the Palestinians gained the territory, reports of Christian intimidation by Muslims began to surface.

Christian leaders and residents told this reporter they face an atmosphere of regular hostility. They said Palestinian armed groups stir tension by holding militant demonstrations and marches in the streets. They spokes of instances in which Christian shopkeepers' stores were ransacked and Christian homes attacked. 

They said in the past, Palestinian gunmen fired at Israelis from Christian hilltop communities, drawing Israeli anti-terror raids to their towns.

In 2002, dozens of terrorists holed up inside the Church of the Nativity for 39 days while fleeing a massive Israeli anti-terror operation. Israel surrounded the church area but refused to storm the structure....

Some Christian leaders said one of the most significant problems facing Christians in Bethlehem is the rampant confiscation of land by Muslim gangs.

One religious novelty store owner recently told WND that Muslim gangs regularly deface Christian property.

"We are harassed, but you wouldn't know the truth. No one says anything publicly about the Muslims. This is why Christians are running away."
 The City of the birth of Christ, the birth of King David, and the tomb of Rachel is under Palestinian governance, and has a Muslim majority population.

In 2007 the city had approximately 25,000 residents with Christians making up 20% of the citizenry. With life made difficult for Christians, and the fact that Christians propagate at a much slower rate than Muslims, the Christian presence in Bethlehem is dwindling.

Read about Christmas observances by Christians in Bethlehem here and about the Church of the Nativity and the birthplace of Christ here.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

The War on Christmas and Christianity Continues in 2009!


The War on Christmas and Christianity Continues in 2009!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet


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OK, let me make it as clear as I am able right up front! I am not interested in “multiculturalism” and I am even less interested in “inclusivity.” I am an Isolationist at heart, but a realist… out of practicality.

Having cleared the air, I can get on with these few comments.

It is time for America to celebrate Christmas. For those of the Christian community it is a grand time of celebrating the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ, from whose name the word Christmas, or “Christ Mass,” is derived. I am of this community.

I care nothing for the celebration of anything else. I care that you have the right to celebrate Hanukkah, or that newly invented secular holiday for Afro-centric African Americans, Kwanzaa. You are guaranteed that right by the Constitution, which was, itself, guaranteed by Christians.

I know, I know! I can see the “comments box” filling up even as I write this. That’s OK. Just keep it clean.

In the year 2009 one would have to be a disconnected, isolated, idiot to believe that Christmas is not under attack in the western world, especially in the United States.

If you are a regular reader of my scribbling then you already know that I believe that Christians founded America as a Christian country. As a Christian country we are tolerant of other religions. That does not mean that individual American citizens must approve of any particular religion or practice thereof. In a Christian country a citizen is not compelled to be a Christian or a subscriber to any religion, for that matter. That right was guaranteed all Americans in that aforementioned Constitution. And that, Dear Reader, in my humble opinion, is where we mis-stepped. That “right” we celebrate, and hold so dear, has come back to bite us on our collective “Christian butts.”

Any antagonist, worth his salt, uses his opponent’s weakness against him. The opponents of Christianity, no slackers they, have learned to use our weakness of tolerance for other religions, or no religion, against the Christians of America, indeed, in much of the world.

Christian symbols are being relegated to the closets, and basements, of public buildings not to be displayed on the walls of, or grounds of, such public buildings such as, for instance, courthouses.

Put up a Crèche scene, in honor of Christmas, in the town square, and you’d better have a Menorah, a Christmas tree, A Santa Claus, a Kwanzaa something or other, and on and on. The idea is simply to dilute Christmas in a mass of other religious, and secular, celebrations and lessen its influence on the average American. The more timid among us are even afraid to utter that time honored “Merry Christmas.”

No more Christmas break for our public schools. It’s now the “Winter Break” a phrase reminiscent of the pagans of Western Europe. Gone is the Christmas tree in many of those same schools.

Now, I could go on, and on, citing example after example of the battles being waged all across America against Christmas and, collectively, Christians.

Currently, we are in a worldwide war with Islam. Oh, you may argue, we are at war with only the fundamentalist Islamic! I beg to differ. Again, in my opinion -- this is a war between Islam and Christianity. The Muslims know this. Only those of us of the Western Christian countries have deluded ourselves into believing we are in a war with some splinter group of Islam. Hopefully, we will awaken to this fact before it is to late to recover from our mistake and take the battle, for our very existence, to the enemies of Christianity.

Meanwhile, in America, we have our hands full dealing with our own internal enemies. “The War on Christmas” is just a symptom of the greater war on Christianity. Until we recognize that fact, and begin to fight back, we will continue to lose our Christian symbols, our Christian holidays, and eventually our practice of the Christian faith.

I was thinking, as I wrote these words, that there must have been some squinty-eyed old scribe hidden away in a semi-darkened “scriptorium”, somewhere beneath the streets of ancient Rome, scratching out similar words as these while Christians were being gored, and mauled, and torn limb from limb, in the amphitheatres such as The Coliseum above his lowly hovel.

Somehow, every attack against Christians has served to strengthen The Christian Church and insure her survival. One doesn’t have to be a believer to acknowledge the work of a Supreme Being in the dissemination of what we Christians call “The Good News” or “The Gospel.” And yet, down through the ages, many Christians, liked this scribe, feel driven to denounce, in our writings, the evil forces at work against the Christian church.

As one who has studied the scriptures, I know the church will be whittled down until there will be only a remnant of the followers of Christ left upon his return. We witness the “whittling down” process everyday in reports of attacks upon the Christian faith in the news media of the world. And yet – I feel a force, deep within me, urging me to proclaim to all who read these words that no matter the size of the remaining remnant, the Christian Church WILL survive. No matter the odds, the ultimate force for good in this world will continue to feed the hungry, heal the sick, lift up the fallen, and spread the good news of the birth of a savior in a little Middle Eastern town called Bethlehem, some 2,000 years ago. Since that remarkable night, men and women have been unceasingly spreading the news of His arrival and the message He brought of “Peace, Good Will Toward Men.”

Men and women of the Christian faith, in the modern world, may again be relegated to “the catacombs” to practice their Christian faith. But just as their ancient counterparts, they WILL keep the faith. In the face of all odds they will not falter and they will not fail.

And so, from my own little scriptorium, as I write in the wee hours of the morning, please allow me to be among the first to wish you, and your family, a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

J. D. Longstreet

Monday, October 19, 2009

Are Evangelical Churches Drifting Left?

by Barbara Sowell

Did you wake up one Sunday morning and finally realize that you could no longer support or attend a church that has gradually embraced an anti-American – anti-Capitalistic gospel in the name of Christ? Did it suddenly dawn upon you that the ever-present term “social justice” is merely a code word for a Marxist view of redistributive justice wrapped in a thinly disguised Christian veneer? Have you visited church after church after church only to discover that something decidedly unchristian has crept into the gospel teachings replacing, by redefinition, all that has been sacred to Christianity for centuries?

We live in the Age of Heresy and what we have to fear is not the old cults that Christians have traditionally warned against for years. What we have to fear today is the steady drift to the political left that has distorted our many venerable institutions and well-known Christian denominations.

Today 100,000 local congregations and 45 million Christians are supporting leftist goals yet most of the members are still blissfully unaware. For a quick overview of this un-Christian indoctrination, please read: United Nations Entrenched Within Most Christian Denominations

The following information is from the leftist progressive blog called Queering the Church which is proudly proclaiming the Evangelical Christian churches “leftwards drift.”

Martha Cook of the Centre for American Progress reports that “Evangelicals Step Up For Marriage Equality”

Brent Childers used to call himself a “Jesse Helms Republican” who justified his homophobic beliefs through biblical interpretation. But last weekend, as he marched in the Equality March in Washington, D.C., he stood alongside his lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender friends in support of their full human rights. . . .

From The Rise of the Religious Left”

As Austen Ivereigh points out, Moore’s anti-capitalist preaching is quite in keeping with Catholic traditions of social activism. What’s less known is that evangelical Christian churches – the supposed mainstay of rightwing politics in the US – are showing a leftwards drift.”

“Nearly every major social justice battle fought in the US has been supported, if not driven, by religious groups – which in statistical terms overwhelmingly means Christians. It’s widely known that the historically black church has been a key player in promoting justice for African Americans – from the abolition of slavery to the civil rights movements – as well as championing initiatives that support marginalised communities, both black and white. Beneath the more notorious rhetoric of Obama’s former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who at one point looked likely to irreparably fracture Obama’s presidential bid, we can find him preaching the acceptance of homosexuality and the importance of works as well as faith. Wright’s work at Trinity United Church of Christ, the church Obama was a member of for over 20 years, involves programmes for HIV/Aids sufferers, drug rehabilitation, and housing support for Chicago’s impoverished South Side communities.” . . .

For a thorough assessment of Wright’s church, Black Liberation Theology, and what the Catholic Pope also has to say about the dangers of Black Liberation Theology, please read Obama’s Marxist Liberation Theology Church.

From David Horowitz Newsreal on “queer theory:”

. . .For these new radical theorists, the enemy is no longer a ruling class, a hegemonic race or even a dominant gender. Instead it is the sexual order of nature itself. Oppression lies in the very idea of the “normal,” the order that divides humanity into two sexes. Instead of a classless society as the redemptive future, queer theorists envisage a gender free world.

A specter is haunting America’s universities, the last refuge of the political left. It is the specter of “queer theory,” the latest of the radical identity politics that have replaced class struggle and the classic proletariat in the schema of Marxist revolution. . .

Here are some links to other bits of news concerning Christianity this week:

A Reason for the Left to Hate MLK offers an excerpt from the writings of Martin Luther King Jr. as to why he rejected Marxism.

Praise God – Washington Times Covers the story of the Iranian Christian Girls (Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30) Jailed for Converting to Christianity

Members of Iran’s tiny and much-persecuted Christian minority, they were arrested March 5 for “acting against state security” and “taking part in illegal gatherings” and left to rot in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. Their families have tried to bail them out, to no avail. . . .

PETITION FOR THE RELEASE OF MARYAM RUSTAMPOOR & MARZIEH AMIRIZADEH
FROM IRANIAN PRISON

The following from beliefnet’s Crunch Con

Politically correct white flight

Aaron M. Renn at the indispensable New Geography site has a fascinating analysis of a curious aspect shared by progressive urban havens like Austin, Portland and suchlike: they have relatively few black people in them. Excerpt:

This raises troubling questions about these cities. Why is it that progressivism in smaller metros is so often associated with low numbers of African Americans? Can you have a progressive city properly so-called with only a disproportionate handful of African Americans in it? In addition, why has no one called these cities on it? . .

Obama ‘Loathes’ and is ‘Disgusted’ by Israel

JERUSALEM – U.S. officials in recent days expressed to the Palestinian Authority that President Obama’s administration is “disgusted” with Israel, a top aide to PA President Mahmoud Abbas told WND in an interview. . . .

Organizing for America — a political action group for President Barack Obama — recently carried an entry on its website from ultra-left-wing professor Richard Falk, who said “Comparing the present-day Israel with Nazi Germany, one discovers that the majority of the Israeli policies are exact copies of the Nazi policies.”

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Obama Enlists Religious Left to Win Support for Healthcare Reform

by Barbara Sowell

Yesterday’s teleconference with President Obama, "40 Minutes for Health Reform," was organized by a network of religiously progressive faith-based organizations that support Obama’s plan to change our nation’s health-care system.

The 40 minute teleconference was the launch pad for a 40-day push to guilt-trip religiously naive Americans into accepting a public option for health care reform. It is no accident that proponents of Obamacare chose the symbolism of the number 40.

Jesus was tempted by the Devil after fasting for 40- days and nights in the desert. Appealing to pride, Satan challenged Christ to prove that He is the Son of God by jumping off the temple so that all can see the angels catch Him.

The Lord is tempted when He is in a weakened state, after fasting for over a month. Christ's fasting for 40 days and nights is also akin to the fasting of Moses (Ex. 34:28). God had promised that one would come after Moses who was like Moses (Deut 18:18). It may not be too much of a stretch to see this as pointing to the prophecy. In any case, we can expect that Satan will try His tricks when we are physically weak.

Jesus's scriptural response to Satan is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:16, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test."

The nation is in a weakened state. We are tired of well over 40 days and nights of fruitless health care-reform debate. Obama hasn’t fared well as all polls show that the majority of Americans don’t want a public option. Now Obama is going on the offensive. He is again reaching out to the very churches that got him elected. Can the religiously left turn the tide?

Here’s their simple strategy:

According to the Orlando Sentinel, “Obama, who joined the last few minutes of the teleconference, used religious references such as "I am my brother's keeper" and said that misinformation being spread about reform had "a lot of folks bearing false witness." . . .

The implication is clear. If you think you are your brother’s keeper and you don’t want to bear false witness, then you will jump into the arms of awaiting health-care reform angels.

But, is Obama’s public option going to save our brother or eventually destroy him? Is it bearing false witness to point out that under a public option, health care rationing is a distinct possibility, and that the Democrats have failed to put wording in the current house bill that will insure that we won’t eventually pull the plug on someone’s Grandma???

Many of the 30+ organizations that participated in the teleconference are members of Obama’s White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which President Obama established by executive order on February 5, 2009. The above link provides a partial list of members.

The following churches sponsored the “40 Minutes For Health Reform” teleconference:

CALL SPONSORS:

AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH (AME)

CATHOLICS IN ALLIANCE FOR THE COMMON GOOD

CATHOLICS UNITED

CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION

DISCIPLES CENTER FOR PUBLIC WITNESS

DISCIPLES JUSTICE ACTION NETWORK

EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

FAITHFUL AMERICA

FAITHFUL REFORM IN HEALTH CARE

FAITH IN PUBLIC LIFE

GAMALIEL FOUNDATION

ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA

JEWISH COUNCIL FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS

JEWISH WOMEN INTERNATIONAL

NATIONAL BAPTIST CONVENTION, USA, INC.

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES IN CHRIST

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN

NETWORK, A NATIONAL CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE LOBBY

PICO NATIONAL NETWORK

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA), WASHINGTON OFFICE

PROGRESSIVE NATIONAL BAPTIST CONVENTION

RELIGIOUS ACTION CENTER OF REFORM JUDAISM

SAMUEL DEWITT PROCTOR CONFERENCE

SISTERS OF MERCY OF THE AMERICAS

SOJOURNERS

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE LATINO LEADERSHIP CIRCLE

THE NEW EVANGELICALS

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST ASSOCIATION

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

UNITED METHODIST CHURCH GENERAL BOARD OF CHURCH AND SOCIETY

WASHINGTON OFFICE OF WOMEN’S DIVISIONS, GENERAL BOARD OF GLOBAL MINISTRIES, UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Stopping ObamaCare!


Stopping ObamaCare.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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We have roughly 30 days to kill socialized medicine in the United States. The ObamaCare enthusiasts are pulling out all the stops, during the month of August to push whatever their healthcare overhaul FINALLY turns out to be.

You see, even the Obama Administration and the democrats on Capitol Hill have NO IDEA, at this point, exactly what their “healthcare” bill will include and what it will exclude. They have been jumping around all over the healthcare map, like fleas on a hotplate, trying, desperately, to come up with something, anything; the American people will swallow hard and accept. Problem is… the American people simply don’t want what they are selling! But the democrats are frightened, witless, that their new president is about to get his first “slap-down” by the electorate and the democrat/socialists are desperate to prevent that. If ObamaCare can be stopped, it will be a great victory for Amereicans who want no part of socialized medicine in the United States… plus it would be a tremendous embarrassment for Obama. Even Republican Congressman Jim DeMint, of South Carolina, claims it could be Obama’s Waterloo! Now, that IS embarrassing!

To make matters decidedly more difficult for the ObamaCare crowd, Rasmussen released a story on Monday (08-03-09) that made some folks in DC sit up and take notice. The report (out 08-03-09) says Confidence in the U.S. Health Care System Has Grown in Recent Months.

Rasmussen says that forty-eight percent (48%) of U.S. voters now rate the U.S. health care system as good or excellent. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 19% rate it as poor. These figures reflect a significant increase in support for the health care system over the past few months. In May, just 35% of adults nationwide rated the system as good or excellent. A year ago, just 29% of Likely Voters rated the system in such positive terms.

And check this: The new polling also shows that 80% of those with insurance rate their own coverage as good or excellent. That’s up from 70% in May. You’ll find the entire eye-opening article HERE.

The democrats absolutely must get something through the Congress the President can lay claim to as the HIS Healthcare plan, even if it bears no resemblance to the glorified “pie-in-the-sky” healthcare, or Government-Run Healthcare, or Universal Healthcare, or Nationalized Healthcare, or Public Option Healthcare, or whatever they are calling it today. For our part- we are still referring to it as ObamaCare, or Socialized Medicine.

So, the plain truth is – neither Obama or his henchman on Capitol Hill have any idea what will be in the bill when they finally manage to scrape something together they can get enough votes in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to pass and send to the President for his signature.

Now, here’s the thing: During the next month, or so, primarily August, they will be back home back-slapping and glad-handing and trying, like crazy, to get you to support a bill the contents of which they haven’t a clue! In other words, the democrats and Obama are now at the point in their Socialized Medicine threat of trying to sell America what we in the Carolinas would refer to as a “Pig-in-a-Poke”. Interpreted that means simply, you can tell something is in the bag, but you have no idea what it is. It could be a pig or a polecat! And… you don’t get to find out which it is - until after you buy the bag!

Get ready for the letters, the phone calls, and the knocks on the door, the TV and radio ads, and the columns and articles in the newspapers and, of course on the Internet boosting ObamaCare during the month of August because they are going to be pouring it on.

If we are to kill this socialized medicine, we are going to have to meet them blow for blow. We have to tell our Congresspersons and our senators that if they are so weak as to vote for ObamaCare they can forget about our vote next time they stand for re-election. Help them understand they can expect an early retirement from the nation’s legislature.

You must remember that, first and foremost, the Obama Administration is going to force you to have health insurance, whether you want it or not. It is called the “Individual Mandate.” Yes, dear reader, this bill will affect EVERY American, healthy or sick, young or old. It will make no difference.

J. D. Longstreet

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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

“Never again will I doom the earth because of man…” By: God

“Never again will I doom the earth because of man…” By: God

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A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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The title above was taken from the first book of the Bible, Genesis, the 8th Chapter the 21st verse.


So here we are, man, taking credit for destroying the earth, which God, Himself has told us he will not allow.I, along with a host of other “deniers”, have been screaming from the rooftops, Man-Made Global Warming doesn’t exist! It is the absolute height of arrogance for human beings to believe they have to power to destroy something God has made and placed his personal guarantee on. But, we’re doing it.


I want to refer you to an article titled: “What God Thinks About Anthropogenic Global Warming”. Kevin Roeten wrote it. You’ll find it HERE.


In his article, Mr. Roeten makes a statement and asks the following question: “Believing one has the power to affect an entire planet’s ecosystem is presumptuous at best and rashly arrogant at worst. God is either laughing at the sheer audacity of such an endeavor, or crying at the outcome of such egotistical actions. Are some of us telling God that man is in charge now?”


As a fellow who counts himself among the religious, I must tell you that much of the claims of the Man-Made Global Warming crowd, and the Climate Change crowd, stun me. I feel as if I should be dodging lighten bolts, hurled from on high, at the arrogant souls making such ludicrous claims. And yet they continue to do it… and worse, they have sold it to many of our mainline Christian churches. That is another reason I have washed my hands of Organized Religion.
Man-Made Climate Change not so… er… Man-Made?


Fred Singer an atmospheric and space physicist says it is the sun. Check it out HERE.


The “experts” tell us the science is “settled” on global warming. They tell us mankind pumping so much CO-2 into the atmosphere has, and is, causing it. Then they use the guilt trip they have imposed on fellow human beings to shame us into completely altering the way we live. It is the oldest con game in the book. And the peoples of the planet are falling for it.


I have heard the question asked, and even I have asked it, myself: How did Hitler manage to entice an entire nation to follow him into insanity? Actually, it is quite easy. Propaganda. As an old advertising man, I can tell you, it IS possible to sell anything if you package it correctly and if you create a desire in the consumer for it. If you lead the consumer, your target audience, to believe that all his neighbors are using and endorsing whatever it is you are selling, you have a successful sales campaign. Works every time. It worked for Hitler and it is working for the man-made global warming crowd. Except… the global warming hoaxers are much better than Hitler. He only had to con a single nation. They have taken on the world and they have had brilliant success.


So how have they done it? With emotion! Plain and simple. Human emotion. Hoaxsters play on human emotions, especially guilt. They do it because it works! Human emotion will run roughshod over human rationality every time. Think about it. The world is being destroyed and you are the cause of it! Guilt.


Let’s face it. Most of us do not understand the so-called science behind the claims of Man-made Global Warming. Most of us are not scientists. The fact that we don’t understand it brings a degree of shame. (Remember emotion) We drive our nice cars and trucks and live in our nice homes and wear our nice clothes and along comes someone who has a scientific formula, which we do not understand, to tell us that all these things we are enjoying are causing death and destruction to our fellowman… to our home… the earth. We are ashamed and we feel guilty about what, we are told, are our excesses. The guilt we feel drives us to bow to the demands of those pointing their fingers at us and crying “shame, shame”. Next thing you know, in order to feel good about ourselves, we are following the demands of the hoaxsters and have even joined the finger pointing group calling “shame, shame” at the holdouts who HAVE bothered to take a second look, a RATIONAL look, at the claims made by the hoaxsters and found them far short on facts.This entire Man-made Global Warming Hoax can be unveiled and destroyed if the public would only stop and think rationally for a few minutes.


It is up to each of us to look closely at the claims the hoaxsters are making and with a little fundamental research we can debunk it.


If you remember any of your grammar school and high school science you already know that the earth goes through heating and cooling periods. It is the way of nature. It is as natural as sunrise and sunset. And, most important, it happens to be true.


Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you do not understand something about the Man Made Global Warming message. Then check the answers for accuracy. You have the greatest library in history at your fingertips… the Internet.


As a religious man, I believe that God created this planet as a home for us. Man’s most heinous sin has always been his aspiration to be God, or to be LIKE God. This Man-Made Global Warming scheme is simply more evidence that man has not yet learned that he is not BIG enough TO BE God. Not yet. Not ever.


J. D. Longstreet

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Monday, July 20, 2009

Church Makes Itself Irrelevant.

Church Makes Itself Irrelevant.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Episcopal Church officials voted recently to allow bishops the latitude to bless same-sex unions and it is a vote that may further divide the worldwide Anglican community. Read the full article entitled: "Episcopalians authorize bishops to bless same-sex unions" HERE.

In my opinion, it is past time for the Anglican community to toss ECUSA out and be done with it.

I am a non-practicing ELCA Lutheran. I became non-practicing when my church adopted left-wing politics in place of the scriptures. It was at that point that it became, in my opinion, apostate, and I left the church because that is what Christians are supposed to do when they find themselves in such surroundings.

The Episcopal Church, USA seems bent on becoming a "cult", of some sort, rather than a church or denomination, within the mainline churches of the world. The Anglican Communion, in my opinion, ought to toss them and get on with their Christian work without the distractions left-wing organizations seem always to bring with them into any organization.

There is an article at the Charlotte Observer site you will find interesting. It is titled: "A Church Divided" and you will find it HERE.

As we watch the mainline churches in America fall like dominoes to the evil forces assailing them, one must wonder whatever gave them the idea they could weigh anchor and sail away from safe harbor within the sola scriptura. As one of the (seemingly) very few OLD Lutherans left still kicking, I confess to believing, still, in sola scriptura, meaning: "only from the scriptures," or "the scripture alone," or, finally, "the scriptures (The Bible) as the sole source of authority." What I mean, simply, is that I base my faith on scripture alone, not on politics, not on any secular creed, not on passing fancies, whims, fashions, and, or, fads, but scripture - alone. Back in the day, when protestantism did the same thing, denominations did not split over things like homosexual bishops, blessing homosexual marriages, etc. It was enough that the scriptures condemned homosexuality. The argument, if ever there was one, was over before it began.

With the all out attack of left-wing politics on the church, and the Left's "everybody goes to heaven" theology (making the church, itself, irrelevant), denominations not deeply anchored in sola scriptorua folded like cheap suits.

Sola scriptorium, on the other hand, is a philosophy upon which the original protestant churches were built. The Great Reformer, Martin Luther, gets the credit for inventing it. It dictates, in layman's terms, that the interpretation of the word of God ultimately rests within a person and his or her personal relationship with God. That is, no one else can tell you how to believe in God. See, now, I LIKE that. In fact, I have lived my life that way. I do not now, nor have I ever, believed that it is forbidden for one to interpret the scriptures for oneself. Although, some churches in Christendom do believe it is forbidden for the believer to read and interpret the scriptures for himself or herself.

As I said above, I must admit to being an adherent to Sola Scriptura, as well. That is - Bible Sufficiency - or the scriptures alone. In other words, I hold a belief in the scriptures as the sole source of authority... not the preacher, not the pastor, not the priest, not the Bishop, not the Pope - the scriptures alone. As a result, I have very few gray areas in matters of faith, to deal with.

In my last few years as an active church member, I was in a constant state of turmoil. I watched my church become something I knew to be wrong. When I spoke up and warned fellow members the path the church had taken was not biblical, was not true to the faith, and most importantly, was not true to the scriptures, I was looked upon with disdain. As I looked about me I saw, to my horror, that fellow members did not seem to be troubled by the path the church was taking. Mainly, they wanted to be left alone and not disturbed by unpleasant things such as apostasy.

I stopped taking communion - and finally announced to my bible study class that I was leaving the church because I could not remain a part of an organization that I believed was not true to the scriptures. I was admonished to remain in the church and work from the inside to force the church to return to its scriptural mission. After a few weeks of actually considering that - I decided that would not work because the hierarchy of the church was far too powerful and they had set the course for the church and nothing I could ever do would make the least bit of difference. And so, I left the church.

My only regret is that I could not do a thing to save my beloved church from self-destruction. My greatest disappointment is with my (former) fellow members of that denomination who could not be bothered to act quickly and decisively to save a great old Christian denomination which had done much good in this world, in God's name, but had now gone over to the opposition.

Today, as I watch so many of the mainline churches going over to the enemy, I have to ask myself if this is as bad as it appears? The scriptures tell us clearly that only a remnant of God's people will survive "the great shakeout." It seems to me that our great old denominations, like our nation, the USA, have become fat and lazy and are not competent to lead anymore. The churches, tired of setting the standards for society have, instead, adopted society's standards as their own. It is much less work, you see. In doing so they have forsaken their only true mission on this earth and are of no further use in the fulfillment of The Great Commission. Shouldn't we, then, ask ourselves if these churches, these Christian denominations, have become a hindrance to the work of the true church on this earth? I warn you, an honest answer here WILL hurt!

J. D. Longstreet

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Sunday, July 5, 2009

" ... But There Shall Be No Peace."

…“Men shall cry: Peace! Peace! But there will be no peace.”
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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It bothers me when I hear politicians, and former politicians, call for a Lasting Peace in the Middle East… especially a Southern politician, a Baptist, at that, and… a former President of the US.

I am referring, among others, to former “horrible” President Jimmy Carter of Plains, Georgia.

Now, let me see if I can explain this a bit:

It is always difficult to “unmix” politics and religion; at least it is for me. I really like to keep them separate, as much as I can… with the knowledge that each will, most certainly, intrude on the other… and there is no way to stop that. Not in a free society, anyway.

I was raised Southern Baptist. I left the Baptist church when I was in my mid-twenties and became a Lutheran. I felt the Lutheran church offered me something I could not find in my former denomination. Today that offering has been revoked and I find myself a “non-practicing” Lutheran.

Experience in the Baptist church taught me many things. One is that the policy Mr. Carter is suggesting, a “Lasting Peace in the Middle East”, is certainly not what the Baptist church teaches... at least they didn’t when I was a Baptist. In fact, it taught just the opposite… that there would be no peace, whatsoever, in the Middle East, until the return of Christ and the great battle of Armageddon.

So, you can imagine how my jaw dropped when I read Carter’s article in the Washington Post. You can find it
HERE.

What’s going on here? Has “Jimma” finally gone round that bend he has been approaching, rather rapidly, of late? Or, has the Baptist church changed its stance on Peace in the Middle East? I simply don’t know. But, knowing the Baptists, as I do, (there are a number of my family, including my brother, who are Baptist ministers) I cannot believe the church has changed its teachings to reflect modern, secular, politics. (I expect I’ll hear from a Baptist, or two, about this! Fine people, those Baptists!! How’s that for “sucking-up”?)

The last I heard, (and I have some friends who travel to Georgia, fairly often, and attend church at Carter’s church… and even attend the Sunday School class he teaches, or did teach.) the Baptist Church had not changed it’s teaching on “End Times”, Armageddon, or the Rapture. So, I have to wonder how other Baptists, members of one of the most conservative denominations on the earth, feel about this prominent Baptist misrepresenting their belief.

Carter’s association with the Baptists and his obvious break with them concerning Israel, and the Middle East, is a puzzlement. But then, politicians, who wear their religion on their sleeves, have always raised my eyebrows.

There is a distinct difference between wearing one’s religion on one’s sleeve, and practicing one’s religion, as that worthy adversary, Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman, does. I do not question his faith. He lives it.

Seems to me America would be a much better place if our politicians would LIVE their religion rather than publicly touting it as so many do.

Am I guilty of judging others by going against the biblical precept, “Judge not, that ye be not judged”? Of course I am! Christ himself said: “Ye shall know a tree by the fruit it bears.” I’m just examining the fruit! I’m kind of a “fruit inspector”, if you will.

I suggest we ALL begin examining the fruit we’re being offered much more closely than we have in the past. All the evidence we need to convince those among us who STILL need convincing has been splattered all over the media lately.

J. D. Longstreet

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Thursday, July 2, 2009

I Miss America! ... J. D. Longstreet

I Miss America!
J. D. Longstreet


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I have always thought Providence had a plan for this place we call America. No, I did not get that from the “Good Book,” the Bible, as you might think I would claim. Actually, I think it came from my fundamentalist evangelical upbringing. In any event, it is a feeling to which I grasp firmly to this day.

America has done a lot of good I this world. We have managed, along the way, to do some harm. At least those who do not look as kindly upon America as I do seem to feel that way and seem to have no problem letting those feelings be known loudly and clearly.

There has been a feeling within much of the Christian community in America that Providence has shielded America from much harm by extending His protection about her. I cannot argue for or against that stance. I just don’t know.

Recently, however, that is to say - within the past few decades - as America has taken to patterning her society after the European style liberal and socialist societies, the Christian community has taken another look and now a good deal of that community is proclaiming that God has now withdrawn that divine protection and America is now open to whatever evil comes her way. I cannot say, one way or the other. While it is true that God and I have a very personal and close relationship, I am afraid He doesn’t take me into His confidence on such matters. I am eternally grateful for that! Unlike some among us scribes, I take no pleasure in publicly proclaiming I have any sort of inside track with The Almighty in how He deals with the nations.

However, I can tell you this - there is a written record of his past dealings with nations that have won his favor and then lost it. If, indeed, America DID have divine protection extended to her, and has, as some believe, lost it, then judging from the record I referred to above, America will have some trying times ahead of her.

We know from the scriptures that God “chastens those whom he loves.” Its sort of a “tough love”… divine style.

Let me give you an example from that written record we know today as the Bible. When the Chosen People decided they wanted a king like all the nations around them, the prophet told them they did not need a king because God was their sovereign. Not satisfied they demanded a king. Finally, God relented and gave them a king. Problem was, He gave them King Saul. And in doing so, God told them they would rue the day they ever asked for a king! And, boy, DID they! Saul became, quickly, a warrior king and many of God’s chosen people were slaughtered on the field of battle. It seems they were always at war with some other people, or nation, over some problem or other, until the people did come to realize they had made a major mistake in demanding an earthly king. Unfortunately, it was too late. The kingly line had been set and the people then had a royal family and a line of kings that would, march far into the future until captivity and dispersion.

Now - if there is a parallel between those ancient people of the bible and the modern US it might be the demand of the American voters for Obama as our “king” or President. Many of us knew, at least two years before the election, that John McCain would never be President of the US. So, when the GOP decided he was to be their candidate the election was sealed in favor of his opponent, and it turned out to be Obama. And today, about six months into Obama’s reign, the American voter is beginning to rue the day they demanded Obama as their king or President. Calls for his early resignation are heard from all corners of the land today.

After considering all of this, I must admit it does appear as more than just chance that all the bad that has happened to America in the past half a year leads right back to that election and the people’s demand for “change”. And make no mistake about it, the people of the US DEMANDED Obama. We got him - and look what else we got to boot.

And now we are fast approaching the day we celebrate our independence from Great Britain, the Fourth of July. I am sitting here at the keyboard trying to find something to say that is meaningful on this anniversary of our freedom. I find it is difficult, this year, to do that with all the bad we find ourselves nearly swamped in.

Each time I pull up to the keyboard, and type those few words, my eyes want to tear up and I get that lump in the throat that I used to associate with singing the national anthem and watching the flag march by, proudly held aloft by a veteran of the US Armed Forces. It is a common trait among those of us who have worn our nation’s uniform.

Ah, but this year, this year, the would-be tears are not only for those who have paid the price of our freedom with their body and blood - and sometimes even their sanity, it is for what we, as Americans, have lost in just the first five short months of the new presidential administration’s reign.

Near the top of my list of things we Americans have lost is PRIDE. Pride at being an American. Pride that was earned - that was paid for by the men and women who went before us into the jaws of hell and back to free a people in a country the name of which some of them could not even pronounce. It was pride earned because Americans were a people who would lend a hand to their fellow man, far away, who yearned to be free from a brutal dictator.

America used to be thought of as a “can-do” nation. It didn’t make a lot of difference what needed doing, America could, and would, do it. It never occurred to us we could fail. I mean, after all, we were AMERICANS! We DON’T FAIL!

It was confidence. Self-confidence, if you will. We were a nation of rugged individualists who did not rely on government for a damned thing. As a matter of fact, the less government we had - the better.

The nation, itself, was founded largely by the outcasts of other nations. Occasionally, other nations would send their criminals here as punishment. I know that is difficult to believe but it happened! They were people who had nothing to lose, with their backs against the wall they had one way to go and that was straight ahead - and the devil take the hind most! Those were the people who formed the bedrock foundation of the people the world would come to know simply as “AMERICANS.” Unique in the history of the planet - there had never been a nation made of people like those Americans. They were different. They knew it and they loved it.

They were a people who wanted their freedom - and so they took it – and they took it from a world superpower, no less. They created an experimental system of government called a representative republic and made it work! Some 80 years later they fell out, over state’s rights, and split into two separate countries and went to war against each other. The War for Southern Independence was unlike anything the world had seen before and since. They went at killing each other with workman like precision. On more than one occasion soldiers would cheer and applaud the other side’s bravery in the midst of the battle! More Americans died in that war than in all the wars America has been involved in added together. Some say the way that war ended has much to do with where America finds herself today. I cannot disagree with that. As a result of that war’s ending we stand today as one nation containing two countries made up of 50 separate and sovereign states. At some point it is bound to unravel.

America’s downfall came quickly once it began in the early 1990’s.

I have concluded, rightly or wrongly, (But I BELIEVE I am RIGHT) that ignorance is the cause of America’s downfall. We Americans are, as a whole, stupid. We are the least educated, dumbest, society on earth. How else can you account for the people we elected to lead the nation? I mean… just LOOK at that bunch! Now… look at what they have done to the country in less than six months! There is no easy way to say this – the election of Obama was a huge triumph for ignorance in America. If you STILL do not believe me, stick around for oh, a year, maybe eighteen months, or so, and watch what is going to happen and THEN tell me I am wrong.

Come on folks! Look at the fare on your TV. Most of it is insulting to anyone with a slightly above average IQ. You must understand the comprehension level of the average adult American today is around that of a third grader, or below. The people who produce the garbage on TV have to dumb it down so the average American can understand it! How else are they going to be able to sell it to the networks as vehicles for their commercials?

Our public school system (the government schools, as many now refer to them) is absolutely pathetic. It is a colossal failure. The curriculum has been dumbed down so that we are graduating kids who can barely function in a world that will surely pass them by. We know what is wrong with our schools and we know how to fix them - but we won’t. You must understand that for the government (we now have in America) to continue to control the reins of power they need MORE dumb Americans - not less. Our cookie-cutter schools are turning them out by the millions every year.

So, if you say America has passed her zenith, I certainly would not argue with you. Today’s America is but a caricature of the real America. If you choose to believe that God has withdrawn his shield of protection from America, then I certainly cannot argue with that, either. But I CAN tell you this - I really, really, miss America!

J. D. Longstreet
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

US Government’s Climate Con-Job


US Government’s Climate Con-Job

J. D. Longstreet

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America’s Christian community is a bit stunned – and - somewhat overwhelmed with the attack on Nature’s God by those in our own government who vehemently explain that they are attacking Nature’s God in the Name of Nature “herself”(?). If this paragraph leaves you somewhat confused, welcome to the club!

The largest portion of American Christians is taught, from the cradle up, and from Genesis forward, (in the bible) that God created the Earth for man and man was charged with being a good steward of the planet. Man was given divine permission to use the planet, and use the bounty of the planet, but - to use it wisely.

For man to use the resources of Earth wisely, man had to wait eons, it seems to understand the earth, and the world around him, until he actually had the knowledge and the wherewithal to manage the earth as that “good steward” God had appointed.

We have not yet arrived at the optimum period in our stay on this planet when it will be possible to provide for our needs without drawing from the earths storehouses of bounty. So we continue to use the resources provided for us through Nature by Nature’s God. But we are close. The oil and coal is ours to use, as is the bounty of the sea, and game of the forest, and the seeds of the field – all ours - provided for our use by our God.

When the day comes on which we will be able to switch from the use of coal and oil to a man-made synthetic that will do the job just as well, then we will do so - and we will stop withdrawing from Nature’s storehouse of petroleum. It is the common sense way of things. It is the way our survival was insured.

God did not plop man down on a barren planet and allow us to fend for ourselves. He situated us on a planet of plenty and carefully explained that everything we needed to survive was here and we had permission to use it wisely.

For most of our time on this earth, man has used earth’s resources wisely. Well, considering that for the largest part of our sojourn here we did not even know what that meant. But we learned. And we learned to use those resources to better our lives and to create those things we humans require for existence - and then we had the time to create things of beauty in the many and varied forms of art, and so on.

And then, unfortunately, some of us discovered they could control thier fellow man by controlling the use of the earth’s resources. In a manner of speaking –that was when Satan entered the garden!

From that time forth, right up to this day and this hour, we have been in turmoil. Using God’s gifts as weapons tends to do that to those who abuse his generosity.

Today, here in America, formerly the greatest country on earth, those who govern us seek to use God’s gifts to control God’s people, and, ultimately, to enslave God’s people to the yoke of Godless socialism.

Just days ago the US house of Representatives passed a bill that would control the use of all those natural resources in such a manner as to make Americans serfs on their own land. Many of us in the Christian community do not believe that is good stewardship of the bounty of this earth by our government, nor by any government that seeks to gain power for itself at the expense of the people it governs.

The US Senate must now approve the bill before it goes to the President for his signature. Those of us in the Christian community, especially the Christian conservative community, must take advantage of this time window before the Senate brings the bill to the floor for debate and consideration. We must contact our senators and let them know, in no uncertain terms, how we feel about this nation-crushing bill.

Conservatives all over America are gearing up to fight this power grab by our government. Those of us who can are speaking out against this bill.

I received the article below from a fellow conservative a few days ago. He, too, is furious - and - like so many of us who understand what this bill, as law, would do to the America we have known, is a bit frightened by how easy it has been for the Obama Regime to "pull the wool over the eyes" of such a large portion of the American electorate.

Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the "Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow" and "Congress of Racial Equality", and author of Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death. He has hit the nail directly on the head in this piece.

Please read what Paul has written below. Again, we ask that you contact your Senators and demand that they vote "NO" on this Cap and Trade bill.

It is no overstatement to say that if this bill passes, and is signed into law, America, as we have known it, will be gone, quite likely, forever!

Thank you!

J. D. Longstreet

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US Government’s Climate Con-Job
Obama administration “report” on climate change is deceitful, scare-mongering, bogus science
By: Paul Driessen
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Suppose a company doctored data, misrepresented study findings, replaced observations with computer simulations, and hired PR flacks to promote its new “wonder drug.” News stories, congressional hearings, and subpoenas would be in overdrive. Fines and jail sentences would follow. And rightly so.

But the standards change when “climate catastrophe” is involved.

The White House has made global warming the centerpiece of its revenue-raising and energy policies. A House of Representatives 942-page bill would tax, regulate and penalize all US hydrocarbon energy use, to “save the planet from climate disaster.” The Senate promises an August vote.

But average global temperatures peaked in 1998 and since have fallen slightly, even as carbon dioxide levels continue to climb. Thousands of scientists say CO2 has little effect on planetary temperatures, and there is no climate crisis. Few developed countries are ready to commit economic suicide, by agreeing to reduce their CO2 emissions by a fraction of what the House bill demands for the United States.

Americans are beginning to realize the legislation would cost millions of jobs and trillions of dollars for a hypothetical 0.1 degree F reduction in global temperatures. Most put global warming dead last in a Pew Research list of 20 concerns.

The government’s answer to these inconvenient truths is simple.

Issue another report by government scientists carefully selected to exclude any who don’t subscribe to climate Armageddon. Ignore contrary data and analyses. Crank out more bogus computer-generated worst-case scenarios. Hire an activist media firm that specializes in environmental scare campaigns. And spend tens of millions hyping every imaginable climate disaster:Rising sea levels, floods in lower Manhattan, California beaches permanently submerged. Ferocious hurricanes, floods and droughts. Food shortages, epidemic diseases, a quadrupling of heat-wave deaths in Chicago. Aged sewer systems convulsing from massive storm runoff. Wildflowers disappearing from Rocky Mountain slopes and polar bears from the Arctic. Leisure time gone, as people struggle to survive.

“Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States” is the “most up-to-date, authoritative, comprehensive” analysis ever done on how human-caused warming affects the United States, deadpans Obama “science” advisor John Holdren.

Actually, it’s the most flagrant attempted con-job and propaganda campaign in US history.
If it helps Congress enact cap-and-tax legislation, it will give activists, courts and bureaucrats control over virtually every aspect of our lives. It will enable them to confiscate hard-earned dollars, convert them to payoffs for activists and companies that get on the climate-crisis bandwagon, consign uncooperative companies and scientists to the ash heap of history, and conceal the exorbitant costs of restrictive energy policies – on families, industries, jobs and transportation – until long after the bill becomes law.
The bogus “report” conflates and confuses human activities and emissions with the powerful natural forces that have caused major and minor climate changes and weather anomalies since the dawn of time – from the Carboniferous Period to the Age of Dinosaurs, from the Big Ice Ages and interglacial periods to the Little Ice Age, Roman and Medieval Warm Periods, Dust Bowl and countless others. It relies on conjecture, conformist thinking and conspicuous elimination of contrary, skeptical, realist scientists and studies that do not support climate cataclysm conjecture and ideology.
The authors “largely ignored” critical comments to earlier drafts and made the final version “even more alarmist” than infamous UN “summaries” of global warming “crises,” says Joseph D’Aleo, first director of meteorology at the Weather Channel and former chairman of the American Meteorological Society’s Weather Analysis and Forecasting Committee. The report is simply “wrong on many of its claims” and marks “an embarrassing episode for the authors and NOAA,” D’Aleo concludes.
University of Colorado environmental studies professor Roger Pielke, Jr. says the report “misrepresents” his own work, makes claims that are not supported by citations provided, relies heavily on analyses that were never peer reviewed, ignores peer-reviewed studies that reach opposite conclusions from those proclaimed by the report, and cites analyses that do not support conclusions rendered.“I didn’t notice a single recognized hurricane expert in the list of authors,” says NOAA Hurricane Research Division scientist Stanley Goldenberg. The report relies heavily on surface temperature data from monitoring stations located next to parking lots and air conditioning exhaust ports – falsely skewing temperature records upward – other experts noted. It is lead-heavy on assumptions, assertions and speculation – hydrogen-light on evidence.
But the most egregious miscarriage of science in this agit-prop exercise is its near-total dependence on worst-case scenarios conjured up by computer models. That’s where it gets its litany of “Day After Tomorrow” Hollywood disasters.
These climate models have never been validated by actual observations, notes Professor Robert Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at Australia’s James Cook University. Indeed, Australia’s own climate modeling agency (CSIRO) stresses that climate change scenarios are based on computer models that “involve simplifications of [real world] processes that are not fully understood. Accordingly, no responsibility will be accepted … for the accuracy of forecasts inferred” from its reports.“Modeling results are interesting – but worthless for setting public policy,” says Carter. But that is exactly how they’re being used.
Sure, it’s conceivable that Antarctica could melt, and cause sea levels to rise 20 feet, as Al Gore and the government con-artists suggest. Greenhouse gases would merely have to increase average annual Antarctic temperatures from their current –50 degrees F to +40 degrees for a century or two, to melt 200,000 cubic miles of South Pole icecaps. A mere 90-degree swing.
That may be as likely as having the planet overrun by raptors and T-rexes cloned from DNA in fossilized mosquitoes. But it’s conceivable. And in the realm of global warming politics, that’s all that matters. As MIT atmospheric physicist Richard Lindzen observes, “global warming has developed so much momentum that it has a life of its own, quite removed from science.”
As one climate activist group put it: “The task … is not to persuade by rational argument.” It is “to work in a more shrewd and contemporary way, using subtle techniques of engagement. The ‘facts’ need to be treated as being so taken-for-granted that they need not be spoken.” The strategy is to treat “climate-friendly activity as a brand that can be sold. This is the route to mass behavior change.”This is the kind of science, transparency, honesty and accountability we have come to expect over “human-caused climate chaos.”
If the congressional, administration and activist conspirators behind this massive deceit were in the private sector – peddling bogus drugs, rather than bogus science – they’d quickly become convicts. Instead of jail time, though, they’ll probably get bonus checks.
_____________
Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow and Congress of Racial Equality, and author of Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death.
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Monday, June 29, 2009

An Open letter to the NC Delegation to the US Senate from a Constituent


An Open letter to the NC Delegation to the US Senate from a Constituent

It is extremely important for those of us of the Christian faith to become involved in the government of our country. Especially today as our country is under the threat of dominion by socialism which, as Christians know, is anathema to Christianity. We have watched as our government, over the past handful of months gone form a democratic nation based on Judeo-Christian ethics and laws and British Common Law to a European form of socialism. Those of us who have lived thru most of the era of socialism sees it for what it is and recognize the overwhelming dangers to a democratic society socialism poses. But we have the two most recent generations of Americans who are not well versed in the dangers of socialism and the sly way I has of “sucking-in” the un-suspecting , like a form of political quicksand until a nation is so immobile it can no longer defend itself and surrenders to the soul-rotting cancer that the more experienced among us know as the hallmark of socialism.

The Cap and Trade Bill (The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009) is the most recent attempt of the Obama Administration and the socialist national legislators in our Congress to so completely capture the United States in their web of deceit and domination that we will be bullied to shut up and accept socialism as inevitable and just allow them to roll over us and have their way.

This Christian is NOT so INCLINED!

I sent the following letter to the two Senators from North Carolina to, hopefully, strengthen their resolve to stand fast against the socialist onslaught. I encourage you to do the same. If we have any chance of saving our country we Christians must exercise our constitutional right to challenge our government and set their course aright. I have published the letter (on the internet) I sent to my Senators in the hope that it might encourage other Christians to do the same. You will find it below.

Please contact your Senators and urge them to vote “NO” on the Cap and Trade bill. I am completely convinced the future of America, as a democratic country, depends on the utter defeat of this heinous bill.

JDL



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Dear Senator:

I respectfully ask that you vote against the “Cap and Trade” bill (The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009) soon to come before the US Senate.

I am convinced the bill is one of the worse, if not THE worse bills to come before the Senate in its long history. The result of the bill will be higher taxes, higher prices on nearly everything the public buys, including essentials, high unemployment, and a geo-political shift in the nations of the world that would effectively remove the US from any leadership role for a very long time, if not forever. The bill is so badly disliked it is referred to, out here, as the “Destroy America Bill.”

Senator there would never be a “good time” for this bill, but there certainly could not be a worse time in the history of our country to ram this bill through the House and the Senate.

I respectfully ask that you vote no on the Cap and Trade Bill when it comes before your legislative body in a few days. I can assure you, Senator; your constituents will be watching how you vote with more than casual interest. We will be watching to determine how we vote when next you stand for election. If you vote in support of the bill, Senator, my vote, and many, many, others here in North Carolina will not be cast for you. Your career as a US Senator may very well come to an abrupt end.

This is one of those times when an elected official is expected to act in accordance with the wishes of his constituents. Nothing less is acceptable.

I have watched the House, as it dealt with this bill, and it certainly seemed the general electorate was far more aware of the contents of the bill than were the Representatives in the House. The Congresspersons in the US House give all indications of having voted for a bill they had not even read! That speaks volumes about the reliability of those national legislators and it does not reflect well upon their ability to make the right choices under pressure. Many of the members of our NC delegation, in the House of Representatives, have brought shame to their constituents here at home. We will not forget it in 2010 and beyond. I can only hope the Senators from North Carolina are far more familiar with the Cap and Trade bill than the delegation in the House!

Senator, we are asking such a small thing. We are asking that you be true to your promises and represent your constituents wishes and desires concerning this Cap and Trade Bill.

What the US House has done in passage of this bill is already being referred to as a “Betrayal” of the people of America. The near socialist-like reform brought about by the Democrats in charge of the Congress and government of the US, including the offices of the Obama Administration, have rocked the citizens who make up the grassroots of the electorate in America. There is an undercurrent of distrust and anger toward the current US government the likes of which I have never experienced in my nearly seven decades on this earth as an American. We are no longer becoming Balkanized - we ARE Balkanized!

Much has to change, Senator, for the US to be whole again. Those changes must begin in our national government. You can be a part of the healing process, a part of the process of bringing our nation back together again as a single people, by voting no on the Cap and Trade bill. Supporting the bill will only drive the wedge deeper between the two camps and ensure more pain for the American family as a result of higher prices on nearly everything, lost income due to lost jobs as more and more industry moves overseas in search of friendlier climes for business, and, of course, higher prices for petroleum products as we become ever more dependent on off-shore suppliers of fuel to run the engine that drives our nation’s economy. This stress will only feed the flames of distrust and anger seething just below the surface even now.

Now is the time, Senator, to represent the folks of your state who love this country and want to keep her intact.

Again, I respectfully ask that you vote no on the Cap and Trade bill (The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009) when it comes before the Senate. However you vote, it will be remembered in the primaries and in the November election next year.

Respectfully yours,




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Sunday, June 28, 2009

We Must Stop the Destroy America Bill!


America Betrayed!

J. D. Longstreet

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"This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!" But - there is little rejoicing in America today.

The Cap and Trade Bill, the one piece of legislation to come before the US House, so far this year, that could actually destoy this great country was PASSED by a narrow percentage of votes (219 t0 212) in the House last week and will now go to the US Senate for their approval and passage and then, on to the President for his signing it into law - which he will do with no hesitation.

It is time for people of faith to stand and be counted.

It gives me no joy to remind you that we told you this Congress and this President would do this to America. I refer, of course to the betrayal of America by the US House of Representatives when they passed the Cap and Trade Bill last week (June 26th, 2009 - another day that may yet live in infamy!)

The vote was 219 for and 212 against. Nevertheless, HR 2454 passed and now goes to the Senate for a vote there and then to the President for his signature.

It was a black day for Republicans because the bill could have been stopped had not the handful of Republicans who voted for the bill not done so. You need to remember their names:

Mary Bono Mack - California 45th District
Mike Castle - Delaware
Mark Kirk - Illinois 10th District
Leonard Lance - New Jersey 7th District
Frank LoBiondo - New Jersey 2nd District
John McHugh - New York 23rd District
Dave Reichert - Washington 8th District
Chris Smith - New Jersey 4th District
The primaries are coming up next year, 2010. This is far too important an issue to forget. We must not allow GOP voters to forget those from among their ranks who sold the party, and the nation, out with their support of this “Bill to Destroy America.”
In the meantime, we have to contact our US Senators and let them know, in no uncertain terms, how we feel about what the US House has done and explain, clearly, that we will not stand for them supporting this bill in the Senate. Let them know that you/we are “taking names” and we will not allow the memory of this issue to flag, or be swept under the rug when their name next shows up on our ballots. E-mail, fax, phone, or write (altho only the Good Lord, Himself, knows when a letter will actually reach a US Senator these days!) your Senators immediately, if not sooner. You can bet the democrat’s-in-charge are going to ram this bill through the Senate just as fast as they can to try to get out ahead of our protests. You can access the phone numbers, mailing addresses, and e-mail addresses for every senator in the US Senate HERE.
As is his wont, Alan Caruba has written a piece, an important piece, I might add, that all Americans should read. You will find it HERE.

I have included it in this piece because Mr. Caruba’s insight into this rogue Congress, we currently have in Washington, DC is, in my opinion, without equal and when he decides to share that insight with us, it is worth careful consideration. Please don’t leave this site before you read what he has written below.

The next meeting of the Tea Parties is set for Independence Day, July Fourth. It is an opportunity to rally Americans, who still care about their country, to a showdown with the US Senate, the Congress as a whole, and our socialist President. If there had been any question in your minds as to the intent of the Socialist/Democrat Congress and President toward destabilizing America, her economy, and her standing among the nations of the world, then the passage of the Cap and Trade bill should erase all doubt. If this bill passes in the Senate - the entire worldwide geo-political alignment of nations will shift almost overnight. America will no longer be considered the world’s leader. She’ll just be another member of the pack.

Americans who care about their country cannot let this pass. We must rally and defend our country.

Please read Mr. Caruba’s commentary below.

J. D. Longstreet

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Betrayed by Congresss
By Alan Caruba
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Mark it on your calendar; June 26, 2009 was the date that the House of Representatives betrayed every American in the name of saving the nation and the Earth from global warming.


It was the day that 219 Representatives voted for the obscenely misnamed “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.” Only eight Republican members of the House voted for it and 44 Democrats voted against it.

The bill, some 1,200 pages, was not read by those men and women voting on it because they were not permitted the time to do so or have their staffs do it. The co-author of the bill, Rep. Henry Waxman, admitted that even he did not know its full contents.

The vote was not based on science, on economics, or simple common sense. It was an exercise in raw political power exercised by the Speaker of the House and her minions.

The bill puts limits on the generation of “greenhouse gases”, primarily carbon dioxide, setting up an elaborate scheme for the sale and trade of so-called carbon credits that will ultimately be the equivalent of the bundled housing mortgage securities that produced the present threat to the nation’s financial system. It is a get-rich scheme that will benefit a few while penalizing every American with higher costs for electricity.

The limits are justified by the claim that the Earth is dramatically warming due to too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The Earth has been cooling for the last ten years and is predicted to continue cooling for thirty years or more. Carbon dioxide plays no role in the warming or cooling of the Earth.

The bill is a direct attack on the nation’s coal industry. Fifty percent of all the electricity generated nationwide comes from coal-fired plants. The U.S. has deposits of coal sufficient to meet the nation’s needs for hundreds of years. It is cheap and it is abundant. No new coal-fired plants will be built in America in the foreseeable future. Coal that is not utilized here will be exported to China, a nation that is building new coal-fired plants and opening them on a weekly basis to meet its need for power.

The bill also allocates billions for the development of the two worst, most inefficient and unpredictable sources of electricity, wind and solar energy. Presently, these represent barely one percent of all the electricity generated in the nation. There is no way, nor should there be, they can replace coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy as a source of electricity. They are also the alleged source of “green” jobs.

As for “security”, a nation that cannot access its own sources of energy, coal, oil and natural gas, has no security if it must import them from other nations, some of whom are hostile to our values and system of government. The bill puts our fate in the hands of nations that support the goals of Islamic global domination. It puts the nation at the mercy of men like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and explains why President Obama made a deep bow to a Saudi prince earlier this year.

The bill must now go to the Senate where it is hoped that the upper body, though controlled by Democrats, will ensure it does not move on to the desk of the President.

If it passes in the Senate, the beginning of the actual decline of America as a great economy will be dated June 26, 2009.

Without abundant power, electricity for our homes, offices and factories; without gasoline for our cars and trucks, America will become a failed nation.

Alan Caruba
FounderThe National Anxiety Center
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