Posts filed under 'Uncategorized'
The sad facts of life in Gaza:
As Palestinians stranded in Gaza face a humanitarian disaster due to blocked borders, Christians there also face beginning Advent without Mass.
Israeli authorities Sunday refused to allow the papal nuncio in Israel, Archbishop Antonio Franco, and two priests of the Latin patriarchate to enter Gaza to celebrate Mass.
The refusal came despite previous coordination with Israeli officials. The nuncio intended to celebrate Christ the King Mass with the faithful there. The parish in Gaza is vacant since the parish priest, Monsignor Manuel Mussallam, was allowed to leave Gaza last week after eight years to visit his family in West Bank.
Too many people hating, not enough people loving - and the problem confounded by people who refuse to see evil where it is. This is the result of decades of blindness - a Mass can’t be held because hatred and fear have masked human decency. The enemy laughs with delight. There is plenty of blame to go around in that area of the world, but the primary blame goes to those who fan the fires of hate - who delight in war and destruction.
God in heaven, grant us peace.
Tags: Christianity, Gaza, Israel/Judaism
November 26th, 2008
The thing I use for a brain is tired, and I’m heading to bed - amuse yourselves, dear readers. But have a bit of poetry to start it off:
A Hymn: O God of Earth and Altar
O God of earth and altar,
Bow down and hear our cry, Our earthly rulers falter,
Our people drift and die; The walls of gold entomb us,
The swords of scorn divide, Take not thy thunder from us,
But take away our pride.
From all that terror teaches,
From lies of tongue and pen, From all the easy speeches
That comfort cruel men, From sale and profanation
Of honour and the sword, From sleep and from damnation,
Deliver us, good Lord.
Tie in a living tether
The prince and priest and thrall, Bind all our lives together,
Smite us and save us all; In ire and exultation
Aflame with faith, and free, Lift up a living nation,
A single sword to thee.
- G.K. Chesterton
October 9th, 2008
President Bush, thanks for speaking out for sanity.
(CNSNews.com) - “The United States has an opportunity to help increase the supply of oil on the market,” thereby easing gasoline prices for hard-working Americans,” President Bush said on Monday.
He reminded Congress that he has proposed opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Continental Shelf to domestic oil drilling — something that would “help us through this difficult period.”
You almost had, it, Mr. President. If you had pushed harder on what you proposed earlier in your presidency, we would be nearing the end of this mess in which we find ourselves, or at the very least we’d be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. But after the usual suspects of enviro-whackos, along with their willing shills in Congress did their normal routine of wailing and gnashing of teeth, instead of holding your ground on the matter, you backed off. Rather than rallying the American people to the need for harvesting our own domestic energy reserves, you instead took a page from the Eisenhower playbook and played golf with regard to the issue. You even went so far as to play right into the envirowhackos hands, simultaneously increasing the credibility of their argument while weakening yours.
And you almost had it today, Mr. President. You almost had it on the nuts.
But then you went and said this:
“We remind our friends and allies overseas that we’re all too dependent on hydrocarbons, and we must work to advance tech that help us become less dependent on hydrocarbons,” Bush said on Monday as he headed out to Europe.
One step forward, three steps back.
Mr. President, now’s not the time to humor the delusional fancies of the crazy uncles in the attic making life a living hell for the rest of the family. You’re damned right we’re
“addicted” to oil; in much the same manner as we’re “addicted” to air and to food. So what? We’ve got plenty of it if our legislators would finally quit kowtowing to the crazy uncles in the enviro-whacko movement and act in the interests of the American people for a change.
Screw the enviro-whackos. When the hell were they ever right? About anything?
We have the technology to harvest our own resources in a way that minimally disrupts the surrounding environment; in many cases augmenting it.
Mr. President, you have a nation that’s bleeding from the ears economically, and you have it within the scope of your office to issue executive orders to stop that bleeding. May I add that, given that we’re in the midst of an economic emergency, and given that our nation’s economic security is at risk, it would not be a misuse of your power under executive authority to do so.
And what greater a presidential legacy to leave your fellow Americans, than to decrease their dependence on foreign oil?
Tags: energy policy, Environmentalism, President Bush
June 9th, 2008
I have an announcement for everyone here at Blogs For Victory. About a month ago I moved from Boston, MA to Buffalo, NY. I have traded Ted Kennedy and John Kerry for Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton. I only had to suffer one day with Eliot Spitzer as my governor.
Anyway, so, that’s my news. I am now a resident of New York State. As you may know, aside from this and other nationally oriented blogs, I also have a local Massachusetts politics blog, Hub Politics, which is still operating. I co-founded Hub Politics with my brother back in 2005, and it became the biggest conservative blog in the state. It will still go on, with my role gradually decreasing as I have now started a new conservative local politics blog for Western New York called The Buffalo Bean. So, for any of you out there from New York state, particularly Western New York, I encourage you to check out my new blog project.
Tags: blogs
April 28th, 2008
As can be plainly seen on the sidebar of my blog, I am not by any stretch of the imagination a fan of John McCain. While he is right with regard to most of the major issues of defense and the prosecution of the war on radical Islam (save for wanting to close down Club Gitmo), he has been wrong on so many domestic issues, from his “Gang of 14″ megalomaniacal episode; to his penchant for amnesty for illegals a-la McCain-Kennedy, to his full frontal assault on the First Amendment with the advent of McCain-Feingold.
While his overtures at CPAC may be considered a start to healing the rift with movement conservatives, much is yet required in the way of action before movement conservatives will trust that he will indeed carry the conservative mantle to the White House on January 20, 2009.
Yet, credit must be given where credit is due. For instance, McCain’s opposition to the big government behemoth created by the Bush administration (one of my few areas of disagreement with the President), otherwise known as the prescription drug benefit for seniors.
Today, Tom DeLay, whom I at one time defended to the hilt, attacked McCain for not being liberal enough:
Washington (CNSNews.com) - Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay criticized likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain - and by extension some of the more conservative members of Congress - by calling McCain’s 2003 vote against the Medicare prescription drug plan a non-conservative vote.
DeLay made his remarks in an interview with Cybercast News Service at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
While in Congress, DeLay had helped quashed a rebellion by House conservatives, who tried to defeat the prescription plan then being promoted by President Bush.
“I’m very proud of the Medicare bill,” DeLay told Cybercast News Service. “… We took a welfare state program and applied conservative principles to it.” Listen to Audio
Asked if McCain’s vote against the Medicare expansion bill was un-conservative, DeLay responded, “Yes, it was, as a matter of fact. It was taking the easy way out.”
Mr. DeLay, just which conservative principles were applied to the Medicare Prescription Drug bill? You can’t take the greatest expansion of a government program in the recent history of these United States and call it “conservative” any more than you can take a pig, apply lipstick on it, and call it Bo Derek. Calling the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit “conservative” is not only balls-on intellectually dishonest, but in fact requires a suspension of disbelief so enormous as to make it an exercise in futility.
There are plenty of issues for conservatives to disagree with John McCain.
This isn’t one of them.
Tags: President Bush, Tom DeLay
February 11th, 2008
It was the attack that sounded the clarion call; that the United States could no longer stand idly by while evil elements made their insidious trek across the globe.
It was the decisive moment that provided Americans with the righteous indignation that would be required to sustain them in fueling their eventual victory over the then-axis of evil; Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan. No longer would that generation stand on the sidelines, waiting for someone else to take up that mantle; nor would they pass the burden for future generations to bear.
This was their moment. Their cup of suffering did not pass, but neither did their sacrifices fail to bear the fruits of liberty for future generations; not only of the United States of America, but of the entire global community.
_________________________________________
Fast forward to another day that will continue to live in infamy:
This, dear readers, is our generation’s clarion call. The time when history asks us to step up to the plate to fight a global evil.
Will we follow the brave example of what up til now had been our greatest generation? Will we now take up the mantle to fight the forces that threaten liberty, and portend doom upon our way of life, if not our very existence?
Or, will we instead squander the fruits of the sacrifices that followed that fateful day in December of 1941; opting rather to play on political expediency; hoping against hope that the unthinkable will not occur. Or if it does, that it will do so long after our generation passes; leaving our progeny to live their lives in slavish dhimmitude, if at all.
Dear readers, History today calls upon us to answer the call of defending liberty.
The question that is yet to be answered is thus: Will we utilize the clarion call put forth by the events on September 11th, 2001 as a source of righteous indignation to persevere in the cause of freedom? Or will our generation be the one that allowed government by the people, of the people, and for the people to perish from the earth?
I shudder to think about the looming answer to that question.
Tags: Defeaticrats, Islam, War on Terror
December 7th, 2007
Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed on and triumph, as it did among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men; for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from evil. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things which we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. - Thessalonian 3:1-5
Why the quote? Because I, and my family, feel a bit in need of being delivered from wicked and evil men - just a bit.
Its not like we’re under the gun, but we are a alarmed. You see, over this past weekend the Mrs and I decided to travel to Reno and visit her daughter and boyfriend. It was a tremendously good weekend - we have a fabulous Japanese dinner (I actually used chopsticks for the first time in my life - worked well, probably was the beer that made it workable); we did a bit of shopping; we saw a movie (Dan In Real Life - wonderful movie, highly recommended)…we just had a good time. Unfortunately, while we were out, someone decided that they disliked me enough to vandalise my car in Las Vegas, as well as steal some Christmas gifts my father had ordered (they actually took these UPS-delivered boxes off my front doorstep; as well as opening up boxes addressed to my Mrs, which contained Christmas gifts for me, some of which are missing). The vandalism of the car involved the writing of “blood up” and “bitch”, in a woman’s handwriting, in magic marker on the driver side door and hood. What this means is that someone either followed me home, did a great deal of research to find where I live, or is someone who I know enough to have actually invited to my house at some point.
I have called the police and will be making a full report. I will be strongly upgrading the security of my house. I’ve talked it over with my Mrs and she is of the opinion that any change in my daily activities would be a victory for whomever did this, so I will continue forward undaunted. It is my presumption that “blood up” is some sort of reference to my continued support for the war and thus the attack is based upon my expressed views. I have had, of course, that one individual who both knew a lot about me and wrote some alarming messages to me - that person has contacted me since that incident and offered a full apology, for which I have granted my entire forgiveness. I make no accusations - I do not know who did this and I wanted to be clear to all and sundry that no conclusions on who did this will be jumped to. Past actions will be looked into, naturally, but I will entirely suspend judgement until I know all the facts.
I do wish to let the person or persons who did this know that I forgive the crime. The law still must be satisfied, but on my own personal level I offer forgiveness and my prayers. You see, I feel sorry for anyone who has that bad a life - to take valuable time which should be used in expressions of love and use to to express hatred is just incredibly sorrowfull to me. There is so much evil in this world today that it seems, at time, that the world has gone mad - I don’t wish to add to the madness, and I wish this even to stop right here, right now. Ultimately, that will be up to the person or persons who did this. I do hope they will think long and hard about what they have done - and ask God if their actions were in accord with God’s will.
Tags: Extremism
November 12th, 2007
It started out, of course, as Armistice Day; the remembrance of the end of the First World War on November 11, 1918. Over the years it changed and evolved and it was only in 1954 that an act of Congress made it official - a day we set aside each year to remember those who have served our country in uniform.
Here in 2007, it is especially important that we remember. Right now, gi\ven the result of the week and some of the political rhetoric which lead up to it, the troops are looking over their shoulder, wondering if we here at home are going to back them to victory, or not. Our very best and bravest are giving their all for the cause of liberty and the United States of America - it is altogether right and fitting that we should carry those brave men and women in our hearts today But, more than that, we should re-assure them at every turn that we won’t let them down - that we won’t let their sacrifices be in vain.
Words can never describe just what it means to be in the service of one’s country, and no benefit of a grateful people can ever repay the debt owed to those who serve - but each of us, as best we can, must do what we can to let those who serve know that we remember them, that we support them, that we pray for them and wish their efforts to be crowned by victory.
Take a little time today to remember them all - past and present. Perhaps go here and see if you can do something to help out; but, mostly, just remember - never break faith with those who have put on your country’s uniform.
Tags: Patriotism
November 11th, 2007
