101st Fighting Keyboardists, Chairborne Division

Captain Ed has an amusing response for people who have the “chickenhawk” charge leveled against them. He and a few others have organized the 101st Fighting Keyboardists. One wag in the comments section added the “Chairborne Division.” “Chickenhawk” is what anti-war people call those who support the war, but who are not in the military, or if they are older, whose children are not in the military. I think an excellent response to those who agree with Michael Moore that the “insurgents” or as people in the reality-based community like to call them, “terrorists,” are equivalent to our own historical Minutemen, is, “Pick up an AK-47 and fight in Iraq alongside your ideological brethren.” The fact is, in America anyone is entitled to express their opinions freely. The chickenhawk charge is a cheap way to try to cut off debate and declare a moral victory.

I Support the War
The fact is, I do support the war, as I support the coming war with Iran. If I could join the military, I would. If my daughter, about to turn 16, wants to join when she’s of age, she has my blessing. We have an all-volunteer military force, and there is absolutely no danger of a draft in spite of what scare-mongers on the left may say. The last thing the military wants is a draft. They’ve learned that the loss of unit effectiveness and cohesiveness isn’t worth the presumed benefit of the extra names on the roster. Since I would not be welcome in the military because of my health, I give as much as I can to organizations that support the military and the war, and those that support the dissemination of truth about radical Islam. Two examples are Any Soldier and MEMRI. I was also part of the group that created The Gitmo Cookbook, to help show that our military is not running a concentration camp in Guantanamo Bay. (Profits for that go to the USO.)

Why Do I Support the War?
This article by Dan Simmons includes a very prescient description of what is in store for us if we refuse to face the reality that Islamists mean what they say. When they say they want a global caliphate, they mean it. When they require that non-Muslims obey Islamic religious law, like not drawing pictures of Mohammed, they mean it. They don’t have the means to fully enforce it yet - hence the demonstrations in London where they carried signs demanding beheadings, instead of actually beheading people, but they do what they can. Ask Theo van Gogh. Google “honor killings in Germany.” I understand that all Muslims do not agree with the radical Islamists. All Germans did not agree with Hitler, but that did not stop World War II.

The adamant refusal by so many people to take them at their plainly stated words, while at the same time finding hidden meanings and conspiracies in nearly everything their own countrymen on the opposite side of the political spectrum say and do, is perplexing. The actions of the Islamists clearly fit with their words. Furthermore, they are not ignorant savages. The enemy is sophisticated and is easily using our own society and technology against us. They understand public relations. They are waiting out the current administration and hoping for someone more amenable to their long term goals in 2008. Aside from waging war through terrorism, as Iran has done through Hezbollah for nearly 30 years, they use our own free societies and the concept of multiculturalism against us. The demands for Sharia law are increasing in Western countries. Canada has a separate court system for Muslims. There does not need to be a global conspiracy or a fully networked group of people in order to overthrow the West. There only needs to be a shared philosophy.

It is astounding to me to see the lack of support for a war against enemies who have publicly, repeatedly declared their intention to destroy us. To those who say that the United States government is evil, that civil rights are in jeopardy, and that the Bush administration is the enemy, I would recommend a sense of proportion and of priorities. As the Dan Simmons article says, “Your enemy is he who will give his life to kill you. Your enemies are they that wish you and your children and your grandchildren dead and who are willing to sacrifice themselves, or support those fanatics who will sacrifice themselves, to see you and your institutions destroyed. You haven’t figured that out yet – the majority of you fat, sleeping, smug, infinitely stupid Americans and Europeans.” I understand that people of good will can honestly disagree about this. I know that people who say, “if the United States would just stop attacking Muslims, they will leave us alone,” are sincere. Then there are people who say the war is misapplied; they feel it’s more of a “police” issue and if Osama bin Laden could be found and brought to justice, the problem would be solved. At this point both sides have developed their own set of facts. The media chooses not to report on the newly translated Iraqi documents and many other things that don’t forward their agenda. My own brother stands on the opposite side of this debate. I believe the people who believe those things are making a serious category error. If you believe that we can go back to the way things used to be, before 9/11, (or 1998, 1996, 1988, 1983, or 1979…) then look up and learn the meanings of sharia, dhimmi, jizya, hudud, pbuh, kharaz, zakat, qadi, mahram, and burqa. You will need them. Learn what they did when they had control of Fallujah.

A friend of mine asked me why I’m writing this post. I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind, and I don’t want to debate the issue. The Time Traveler in the Dan Simmons article said, “It was important to me to come back to this time early on in the struggle. Even if only to remind myself of how unspeakably blind you all were.”

I’m writing this so that future generations, if they happen to read this, will know that all of us didn’t sign the suicide pact.

Daily Reading
Memri
Jihad Watch
Dhimmi Watch
Regime Change Iran
The Religion of Peace
Anti-CAIR

A Few Sources
“Facing Down Iran”
“The 25-Year US-Iran War”
“Mideast’s Undeclared War”
“Loud and clear: No respite in the ‘long war’”
Iran playing offense - US playing defense is an insupportable strategy
“Islam’s Imperial Dreams”
“Iran’s bluster isn’t a bluff”
“Iran Is at War with Us - Someone Should Tell the U.S. Government.”
“The Iran List”
“Islamists develop professional media capabilities to wage public relations Jihad - groups urged to monitor media and respond”
“US ‘losing media war to al-Qaeda’”
“Prepare yourself for the unthinkable: war against Iran may be a necessity“

Great News About Andrea Clark!

From John at Right Wing News, who has been on top of this story from the beginning - “Andrea Clark’s Life Has Been Spared.” She is still very sick, but at least St. Luke’s has given up on its efforts to kill her. In their eagerness to escape mounting bad publicity, they offered to pay for her transfer to a hospital in Chicago that was willing to take her.

He has posted a note from her sister, Melanie Childers:

As you know, I’m a Democrat, but one that is against abortion. I agree with the Republicans on that issue, at least. After this experience, though, I have to tell you: I am in absolute awe of the power that the right to life people generate. I, of course, first posted on Democratic Underground, and I have to give them some credit: they let my post stand against the rules about posting something like this under the wrong topic. They also let it stand, even though it had people’s (my sister’s and mine) personal numbers in it. And, of course, some people there forwarded it to other blogs. And everyone there was very supportive in their comments, as well.

But the pro-life people stepped forward and just absolutely ground St. Luke’s into submission on this issue. You have, without a doubt, saved my sister’s life. I want you to know that. Without the pro-life/right to life people stepping in from the very first of this fight for Andrea, we would have lost. I have never in my life seen such a centered, focused and energized group of people.

You used that energy and focus to do some good in this world and you didn’t care whether you were fighting for a Democrat’s life or a Republican’s. Now, that’s conviction.

There are not enough words in the English language to tell you how grateful I and my family are, for what you people have done. [...]

Because of the people in the pro-life movement, a light has been shown on the truth, for all of Texans; indeed, for all of the world to see. May God bless you for your works.

Everyone who called or emailed, way to go! The euthanasia of a woman was prevented, and God was glorified. Amen!

Blue Cross Blue Shield - Killing Andrea Clark for Profit?

From the Democratic Underground, a post by Andrea Clark’s sister.

Imagine that you are sick and so you make sure that you are covered by really good health insurance [ed- BCBS - Blue Cross Blue Shield]. Your everyday life is a regimen of taking your medications, taking care of your young son, and keeping your appointements with your doctor. You’re not real sophisticated about health insurance, but you know that your health has never been good, because of your heart, so you spend what little extra you’ve got on supplemental insurance policies, because you really need to be sure that, if you get sicker, you’ve got the coverage to

take care of yourself. After all, you’re alone in the world, just you and your young son.

So…you do get sick. You have to go into the hospital. The news is not good: Your heart has some damaged valves which have to be repaired and replaced and you have almost no chance of surviving the surgery. But, if you don’t undergo the surgery, you have no chance at all of surviving. And, you’ve got insurance. You’ve got good doctors.

What would you do? You would probably go with the best odds, even though those odds are not good at all. You’d have the surgery. You’ve got the insurance and you’ve got the doctors. You, quite literally, have to put your life in their hands. You trust them.

So…you undergo the surgery. And, miraculously, you survive. Your insurance is still in force. You’ve got good doctors. Everything is rosy.

Then, you get an infection. Because of the infection, you develop complications. You have to go on some medications that cause other problems. You get a bedsore. You get more complications. In the meantime, the insurance costs are rising. The doctors are becoming less optimistic about your chances.

You’re fighting for your life. But the insurance company is still paying and getting mean about it. They start pressuring the hospital, which starts pressuring the doctor. The doctor had a patient who he could pull from the arms of death with surgery and he almost did it, but then these complications occurred. Things are not looking that rosy anymore. Pressure is mounting from the insurance company.

The doctor, caving to pressure from the hospital, which caved in to pressure from the insurance company, finally gets with the family to ask them for permission to pull the plug. But the family talked to you and you didn’t want to give up the fight.

The doctor convenes a meeting with other doctors and they decide to medicate you into unconsciousness so that you can’t say what you want anymore. Once they do that, they have another meeting, with other doctors and make the decision that they can unplug you, with or without your or your family’s permission.

These people, the insurance company that you gave your money to, in the expectation that they would pay for your medical bills; the doctor, who you trusted in and believed in, to have your best interests at heart–these are the people who are bringing about your death, just when you are fighting for your life the hardest you’ve ever had to fight.

Isn’t that one heck of a deal, guys? These are the people whose hands you put your life into and they are going to kill you. That’s the Texas Futile Care Law. And my sister is going to die because of it.

This is NOT another Terri Schaivo. There was a lot of dispute there between the family and the facts were in dispute - whether or not she was conscious and aware. This is NOT the case for Ms. Clark. Andrea Clarke is awake, aware, able to communicate. No one, including the doctors who have decided she must die, dispute that fact. As a nation, we need to have one collective ROAR over this outrage, that a person may be put to death in these circumstances. Bill Frist, Republicans, where are you?! This is THE pro-life case of the decade, the one where it is blindingly obvious, where the facts are undisputed, where the right to life (not to mention liberty and the pursuit of happiness) of an innocent person may legally be ended unless we take action to stop it.

The hospital (St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital) and Blue Cross Blue Shield are losing money on this case, and I sympathize. Sometimes I lose money on a project as well, as do all businesses. They need to find some other way to deal with that besides murdering the patient. They intend to pull the plug on Sunday, April 30th. This is murder. This is euthanasia. This is the dreaded slippery slope that started with abortion, which led to old people, and unconscious people, and now people who are awake and protesting.

The fact that this is occurring in a hospital named “St. Luke’s” is sickening. The insurance company who, according to Ms. Clark’s sister, is pressuring the hospital to do this, is Blue Cross Blue Shield. Apparently the “Ethics Committee” made the official decision to take Ms. Clark off the ventilator and dialysis.

If you have a blog, please blog about this, making mention of Blue Cross Blue Shield. If you have stock in BCBS, please consider selling it. If you have any connections to BCBS employees, encourage them to pass the word along that this is reprehensible and that killing expensive patients is not exactly a good selling point for their product. If you live in Texas, call your legislators. If you don’t live in Texas, find out if your state has a law like the “Futile Care Law” which permits conscious, awake, aware, protesting people to be executed because they are too expensive to continue to treat.

Most of all, PRAY.

Other blogs covering this:
Texas Rainmaker
My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Hyscience
JackLewis.Net
Right Wing News
Slobokan’s Site Schtuff
BlogsforTerri
Pro-Life Blogs
Texas Advanced Directives Blog (Ms Clark’s attorney)
The Rogue Angel
Independent Christian Voice

Please, be polite, but call or email:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas
901 S. Central Expressway
Richardson, Texas 75080
General Information: (972) 766-6900
TDD: (800) 735-2989 (for the hearing-impaired)
Houston office: 713-354-7000 or 800-235-0796

St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital
6720 Bertner Avenue
Houston, TX
Phone: 832-355-1000
Email: generalinformation@sleh.com

City of Houston
Mayor Bill White
P.O. Box 1562
Houston, TX 77251
Phone: 713-247-2200
Fax: 713-247-1067

Citizens Assistance Office
Richard Cantu, Director
900 Bagby, Public Level
Houston, TX 77002
Phone: 713-247-2907

On Tithing

My family has not always given 10% of our gross income to the church. We have been generous with giving to the church and other organizations - far in excess of 10% - but a minimum of 10% of the gross to the church specifically has just not been what we’ve been doing. After our church’s Malachi Challenge series this spring, we went ahead and started doing that.

Bring all the tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. And test Me now with this, says Jehovah of Hosts, to see if I will not open the windows of Heaven for you, and pour out a blessing for you, until there is not enough room.
(Malachi 3:10)

I don’t think that tithing is a magic bullet for financial problems. There are many blessings in being obedient, and financial gain is not necessarily one of them. And if financial gain is the motive for a person to tithe, that speaks to an inappropriate love of money (and the love of money, not the actual money, is the root of all evil) that God will not bless. The bottom line here is that we are God’s servants, and stewards to his property. We’re not the owners. Recognition of that fact means that it is no sacrifice to tithe. When I babysit someone’s child, it’s not a personal sacrifice when the parents pick the child up at the end of the night, and returning a portion of the money that God has entrusted to me to manage is not a personal sacrifice either. So now we’ve got our heads on straight as far as who owns what in this equation, and now we tithe.

I repeat - tithing is not a magic bullet for financial problems. Motive counts, and even when your motives are correct, God may bless you in other ways. Or as the infomercials say in the fine print, “Results not typical.” What results? Yes, I was getting to that. Since we started tithing, our household income has increased substantially. In a two month period, I exceeded the total of last year’s receipts for my web dev business. And last year was my best year ever. And this month will be even better, so that in a total of four months, I will have more than doubled last year’s total income for my business. I have not done any new marketing. In fact I’ve done a lot LESS marketing, because my BNI group has disbanded since Katrina. I can only attribute this amazing increase to God’s providence. I truly believe that because we’ve been obedient and trustworthy with the smaller amount, that God has trusted us with more.

MSMers and Their Imaginary Friends

It’s tough being a leftist. And with the ongoing layoffs of the declining mainstream media, it’s probably getting kind of lonely. Patterico tells the amusing and well-documented story of LA Times’ Michael Hiltzik and his imaginary friends. Sad, but true. If you live in L.A., help this guy out. Invite him to a BBQ or something. Think of it as a ministry project! He obviously needs to spend more time in actual reality, instead of what leftists fondly call the “reality based community.”

As for me, I obviously don’t play in the big leagues but in the interest of disclosure I do have user accounts at various blogs and quite a few email addresses. They all start with “laura”, so I’m pretty easy to track down. I don’t, however, use any of them to refer to myself approvingly in the third person.

Out

I’m going to be out. Out of the office, and quite possibly out of my mind. Maybe I’ll have an out of body experience. I’m sick (flu or cold or something) and tired (can’t sleep) and so overwhelmed with work I can’t even describe it. So, naturally, instead of staying in my lovely home office near the Theraflu and my bed for the occasional power nap, I’m going to spend the day in (yergh) pantyhose and a (ugh) suit schlepping around a briefcase full of presentation folders and attending meetings.

I would like to be one of my cats, just for one day. Other than that whole litterbox thing, it looks like a pretty good gig.

Since I have nothing to contribute to the blogosphere for the day, I recommend Matt Jones, Prophet for Hire, Northshore Politics, or Dummocrats, a group political blog that I am a contributor to. Enjoy!

Katrina Flooding

It’s been over seven months since Hurricane Katrina. My parish is adjacent to Orleans Parish, which obviously sustained a lot of damage, but still less than St. Bernard Parish, which is more to the right, closer to the Gulf and Biloxi. In St. Bernard, every single building flooded. Every. Single. Building. Think about that. It’s amazing.

My parish had a lot of flooding, but that is primarily because our parish president shut the pumps down and sent the pump operators far away. So wherever you go, there are FEMA trailers and construction, but my parish, Jefferson Parish, made out pretty well compared to our neighbors to the east. But I’m so very tired of it all. Seven months, and our daily lives, even in our relatively unscathed parish, are still affected.

I’m not feeling well and by the time I finished my last meeting today I didn’t want to cook, so I thought I’d get fast food for the DOTH and I for dinner. (The MOTH was repairing something at my mother’s house. He’s a saint, I tell ya!) 5:20 in the evening. Burger King was open, but the drive through was closed and the line in the lobby extended to the parking lot. McDonalds was closed. I finally found a Wendy’s that was open and thus was saved from having to cook. God is merciful. Especially to the Daughter Of The House. I don’t cook well when I’m sick.

Just one example of the things I used to take for granted. The sidewalks in what used to be a 24 hour city now get rolled up pretty early. If you want something from the grocery or drugstore, plan on getting it before dinner. If you want to watch a video, get Netflix because the Blockbuster that’s open is a good drive away. But even if you get Netflix don’t expect too much because the mail service is irregular. (Postal service is officially “back” but I’m telling you - five days a week is a good week. Three or four, usually, is what we get.) I’d like to be able to pick up the phone and schedule something with some good friends, but they now live in other states. I’d like to be able to go to church on Sunday, instead of on Saturday in someone else’s church building. I’d like to not have 10 to 20,000 illegal immigrants in my city, clogging up the ER so that my husband could not get treatment a few weeks ago. (They’re driving down wages, using public services, straining the already overburdened hospital system - several hospitals are still closed since Katrina, and next year when they enroll their children in our public schools, they’re going to want ESL teachers and resources in Spanish that we can’t afford to pay for. Thanks a whole heap, President Bush and Congress.)

Oh, I know I’m whining. I know people - many people - who still can’t live in their homes. My mother still has two co-workers staying with her. I know people whose homes are just gone. I know I’m lucky. But still. I want my old life back.

JARS OF CLAY LYRICS

“Flood”

Rain, rain on my face
It hasn’t stopped raining for days
My world is a flood
Slowly I become one with the mud

[Chorus:]

But if I can’t swim after forty days
and my mind is crushed by the thrashing waves
Lift me up so high that I cannot fall
Lift me up
Lift me up - when I’m falling
Lift me up - I’m weak and I’m dying
Lift me up - I need you to hold me
Lift me up - Keep me from drowning again

Downpour on my soul
Splashing in the ocean, I’m losing control
Dark sky all around
I can’t feel my feet touching the ground

[Chorus]

Calm the storms that drench my eyes
Dry the streams still flowing
Cast down all the waves of sin
And guilt that overthrow me

[Chorus]

Lift me up - when I’m falling
Lift me up - I’m weak and I’m dying
Lift me up - I need you to hold me
Lift me up - Keep me from drowning again

You Can’t Handle the Truth!

I love that line from “A Few Good Men” because I believe so few people can handle the truth. And I mean that in two ways.
1)Many people can’t cope with the truth. They will hide from it any number of ways, by avoidance, willful misunderstandings, anger, just to name a few methods.
2)Many people can’t be trusted to “handle the truth.” They twist and warp it to their own purposes. (Think MSM.)

At The Dilbert Blog, Scott Adams has an amusing post called Respecting the Beliefs of Others. A commenter responded with

As far as figuring out which is true, I think you’ll be surprised to learn that most faiths don’t believe in a concept of absolute truth. I know this because I asked them all on the usenet about 11 years ago. What they wrote back is at bandtek.com/truth. The exceptions were the fundamentalist christians and the muslims. The fundies told me I would burn in hell for asking, and the muslims said that logic would help me figure it out.

He knows that most faiths don’t believe in the concept of absolute truth because he asked “them.” (Which “them”? There are so many.) All. On Usenet. 11. Years. Ago.

Brilliant!!

Usenet, probably the earliest forum on the internet unless you want to count individually owned BBSs like those I used to dial into with my 300 baud modem. Thousands of people participated in Usenet, completely unmoderated and frequently anonymously. I went to the link the commenter posted, and found, grouped by religion, some of the responses. These responses contained the opinion of the responder, and frequently a link to another website housing their own or someone else’s opinion. The responders were generally practitioners of whatever faith, but not necessarily.

I would classify this person as a type 1 because a serious seeker of truth goes to the source. If you can handle the truth, read the source books; the Bible, the Quran, etc. Invest yourself in the quest. Speak to acknowledged experts on the faith like recognized clergy. At the very least, trusted friends who are long-time practitioners of that faith. Not total strangers on the internet. I’m not trying to mock the seeker; far from it. I feel sure that he was sincere, just extraordinarily unwise to rely on strangers on the internet as a source of religious education.

One nugget admidst the dreck:

I’ll try to be brief. You must read and study the Bible. While doing these two things, you will discover that Christianity is “the one true faith” as you put it. However, your understanding of God will expand and your perception of “the one true faith” will no longer be of importance.

Some may argue that you must read and study ALL religions in order to make that the assessment you desire, but I believe God will speak to you as you read and study the Bible — He will answer this, and all your questions.

Failure to use good judgement can cause you to be unprepared when you encounter type 2 people - those who can’t or don’t handle the truth in a trustworthy manner. (For whatever reason, be it ill will, poor judgement, poor communication skills, whatever.) For example:

If you look around, there are lots and lots of conversion stories floating around. Most are about conversions within Christian denominations…but the end point is clear, wherever the person writing the story ended up…it was the “true” faith.

What’s true for me isn’t necessarily true for you? Want your eternal life to rely on the “truthiness” of a philosophy you read on the Intarweb? I certainly hope not.

Then you have the folks who say, “any claim to ultimate truth is rather arrogant.” That is a copout, and a smug, superior way to make sure you get the last word. By definition, when you hold a belief of any sort, you inherently believe that your belief is correct. If not, you wouldn’t believe it to begin with. You would simply have no opinion on that topic. You may be open to persuasion, but while you believe something, by definition you think you’re right.

If you can handle the ultimate truth, I say pick up a bible. Ideally one in modern English that you don’t have to fight to understand, unless you’re one of those folks who is completely comfortable with Shakespearean English. I believe you will find the truth there. If you want a different answer, ask another girl or ask another question. But I’ll still think I’m right.

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