Iraq The Model “Terrorized” By American Soldiers
Remember one of John Kerry’s fairly recent accusations against American troops?
And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, …Iraqis should be doing that.
I say fairly recent, as opposed to his infamous Congressional testimony about smear against the troops in Vietnam. Here’s a USMC Sergeant’s response to Kerry on the “terrorizing in the dead of night” topic, by the way.
As to terrorizing Iraqis, well, as long as someone does it, I guess that’s okay with Democratic leadership. They were certainly terrorized, raped and murdered before we got there, and if we surrender and leave as Kerry et. al so urgently desire, they’ll be terrorized, raped and murdered again. (Anyone remember that “Millions of people died in Southeast Asia as the direct result of those votes by the anti-war Congress in 1973-1975″? Are we really going to bet that history will mysteriously NOT repeat itself? But I digress.)
I’d like to suggest that these night-time searches aren’t universally the terror they’re assumed to be. Iraq The Model is possibly the best known Iraqi blog - it was even quoted by President Bush recently. And some American soldiers dropped by to terrorize Omar and his guests last night. (It’s clear from his account that they didn’t know who he was before they got there.) He’s even got photo evidence!
I often find myself in arguments with people about the behavior of American soldiers when they search homes and many of the people I talk to base their argument and negative impression on the footage of some raids we see on TV or on experiences of presumed relatives or friends. When I try to counter the idea of ‘they knock down doors unnecessarily, steal jewelry and treat people bad’ by saying that there must be a good reason the troops sometimes act rough and that ‘for every reaxction there must have been an action’ I often get the response of “what do you know about that? The Americans never searched your home” Well, last night they did…
Trackposted to Read more
An Inconvenient Truth is a Remake
March 31, 2007 by Laura · 6 Comments
I’ve posted the link - repeatedly - about how global warming scare mongering is not a new concept. The first climate change scaremongering was done by the New York Times in 1895. That’s not a typo - over a century ago, the New York Times was hyping catastrophic climate change - global cooling. Nothing happened, so the media let it rest a while, then gradually ramped up to catastrophic climate change via global warming, climaxing in the 50s. Joe Carter from Evangelical Outpost happened across this wonderful video - produced by Frank Capra!
Even now, Man may be unwittingly changing the world’s climate through the waste products of his civilization. Due to our release through factories and automobiles every year of more than six billion tons of carbon dioxide, which helps air absorb heat from the sun, our atmosphere seems to be getting warmer!
Joe links to the IMDB entry for this movie which has more info, and a really hilarious comment by someone with the user name Discern:
First-class technical background is blended with superior animation to create an ideal learning experience for all ages. WARNING - If you let your children watch this film, they will probably want to become meteorologists.
Ah… nothing like a grande cup of irony, extra soy, lots and lots of foam.
C02 emissions, melting polar ice caps, flooding… evidently An Inconvenient Truth was a remake. Not only is Al Gore a creep who is profiting by the sale of carbon offsets he’s trying to guilt us into buying, but he’s not even original.
Santayana: Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
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No big deal!
March 30, 2007 by Laura · 3 Comments
Okay, when I got up this morning the server was down. Not only my dedicated server, but my hosting provider’s as well, so I couldn’t even open a ticket about it. I figured they’d catch on fairly quickly, so I made some phone calls and read my bible for a while. (Still in Hebrews - I finish it, then I start again.)
Finally when the server came back up, my inbox started just overflowing with spam comments on this blog. Well, okay. I’ll get them deleted and get to banning some IPs. Such is life.
I had a real problem at work, trying to make a client happy, and we made a major mistake. And this is a client I hope will give us a lot of referrals.
I’m feeling fairly sanguine about lots of things, because that lump I was worried about is nothing to worry about. Where it was is taking longer than I thought to heal, but hey, I can live with that. Noooo problem.
It’s funny how your perspectives, and the things you get aggravated and stress about, can just turn on a dime, isn’t it? 
Brad, Angie say they’ll adopt Ray
March 28, 2007 by Laura · 3 Comments
Brad, Angie say they’ll adopt Ray:
New Orleanians breathed a collective sigh of relief last week, as celebrity super-couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie confirmed they are in late-stage negotiations to adopt New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.
The couple had been frustrated in their recent attempts to adopt a Vietnamese child, due to international legal restrictions preventing unmarried parents from adopting. No such restriction
applies to Nagin, according to Ann S. Williamson, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Social Services.
“Married, unmarried, gay, straight, space aliens, hell. They can have him,” Williamson said at a joint news conference with Jolie, Pitt, and a scowling, towel-swaddled Nagin.
Although it is hoped that simply removing Nagin - or “Baby Ray,” as Jolie has nicknamed him - from City Hall and remanding him to a nursery in the couple’s renovated French Quarter mansion will dramatically accelerate the city’s recovery, residents have not given up hope that the couple will also adopt District Attorney Eddie Jordan and New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley.
“Well, you know, those two do tend to fight a lot, and they’re sneaky,” Jolie said. “Let’s see if we can get this one to play nice first.”
Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced that citizens can apply for adoption by Pitt and Jolie through the governor’s new “Road to Someone Else’s Home Plan.” Delays began immediately, and the program is expected to make its first awards no later than 2013.
Inside a Mosque
What’s going on inside one of the UK’s largest mosques?
h/t to Reformed Chicks Blabbing for the Christian answer to YouTube: GodTube.
Another New Philophronos Member
March 26, 2007 by Laura · Comments Off
Henry Neufeld at Threads from Henry’s Web emailed me to let me know that there is another new Philophronos member. Meet Bob MacDonald of Bob’s Log and drop by to read his excellent posts on the Psalms.
New Philophronos Member
March 22, 2007 by Laura · 4 Comments
I’m happy to announce a new addition to the Philophronos blogroll. Rosemary at The Pen of the Wayfarer has joined, so drop by and check out her blog and welcome her.
I have to say, trying to live up to the standards we set in creating this group has been a considerable challenge to me. I have failed several times, and had to apologize. But overall, putting myself under this obligation has made me tone down quite a lot of my writing even before I post, which has been good both for my writing and my thinking. For example, in Democrats Attempting Bribery To Stop War I didn’t have to hold back my thoughts about the Democratic Party’s latest attempt to stop the war. But I did have to delete some harsh sentences about Nancy Pelosi regarding her character and morals before I hit Publish. It’s enough to criticize actions or note the results of actions - there’s no need to try to beat someone down personally, and I’m a better person - and a better witness for Christ - for not doing it.
Here’s the original post explaining Philophronos Blogging. If you’re interested in joining, comment or email me at laura@pursuingholiness.com.
[Update: Henry Neufeld of Threads from Henry's Web, and cofounder of the Philophronos Blogging group also posted to welcome Rose aboard, and remind readers what Philophronos Blogging is and is not:
There is no Philophonos police force, who read your blog to decide whether you have lived up to some set of rules. Rather, this is something you take on yourself, and your readers get to judge whether you’re living up to your claim. I think there is an enormous amount that we can learn from one another ...
—————————————–
The internet, as much as I enjoy it, has helped lower the level of political discourse because it is far easier to type something directed at a stranger that you’d never dream of saying to the face of someone with whom you’re acquainted. It even affects the Christian blogosphere. I’m not alone in occasionally wanting “to not just debate the point, but to crush [someone's] argument into oblivion.” I also know that feeling is not consistent with 1 Peter 3:15-16:
But dedicate your lives to Christ as Lord. Always be ready to defend your confidence in God when anyone asks you to explain it. However, make your defense with gentleness and respect. Keep your conscience clear. Then those who treat the good Christian life you live with contempt will feel ashamed that they have ridiculed you.
If we are called to make our defense of our faith with gentleness and respect, how much more should we do so with respect to minor issues like the politics of our nation or any of the temporary governments of this world? Those things may feel quite important right now, but in the light of eternity, our perspective on them will be very different. By and large I think Christians do an excellent job of keeping debate civil, and that is why I’m joining Henry Neufeld, a liberal blogger (Threads from Henry’s Web) to make a rather bold challenge that we’re calling Philophronos Blogging.
philóphrōn: to think, have a mindset. Friendly, courteous, benign (1Peter 3:8). Deriv.: philophrónōs (G5390), in a friendly or kind manner.
Philophronos is defined by Louw-Nida in their Dictionary of the New Testament According to Semantic Domains as “pertaining to friendly concern and kindness toward someone.”
Christian bloggers should purposefully express our political beliefs with gentleness and respect, with the intention of setting the example for non-Christians. We’re not all going to agree. We don’t need to agree. But we can debate the issues in such a way that the debate glorifies God and points people to Christ. We’re challenging Christian bloggers who write about politics to write at least one post a week until the election - and hopefully after it - that adheres to the following guidelines.
- Consistent with 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and Ephesians 4:15
- Assume goodwill and good intentions for our political opponents
- Wherever possible list supporting reasons why they have good intentions
- Negative statements are not personal and are factual
- If negative statements are conclusions, the facts that led to the conclusion are referenced
- Negative statements support the argument and are not gratuitous
Imagine what the political tone in the country would be like if all political debate adhered to those guidelines! Again, we believe most Christian bloggers are already doing these things, but we’re challenging the Christian blogosphere to do so in a more purposeful way, on the “pay it forward” concept that if we start this, others may just join in. We can have edifying and productive political discourse. Let’s work on blogging friendly - practice Philophronos Blogging!
If you would like to join us, you’ll be added to the blogroll and aggregator. But if you just want to let us know that you’re blogging Philophronos without joining, trackback to this post or the one at Henry’s. To join, post a comment on here or at Henry’s.
UPDATE:
Here is the code for the blogroll -
If you want to display the blogroll without taking up a lot of your sidebar, you might try using this code - it will limit the height and add a scrollbar to the side of the blogroll -
Here is the aggregator. After trying a different service, I decided on just using the Favorites feature in Technorati, because it offers several options. You can just read posts on the Favorites page, or you can add them to your side bar via an RSS feed as I have done here, with Christian Favorites and Political Favorites.
To join, you may display either the blogroll, an RSS feed, or a Technorati widget.
Democrats Attempting Bribery To Stop War
March 22, 2007 by Laura · 2 Comments
Because of this and this and the video below, I sent this email to my Congressman, Bobby Jindal yesterday.
I’ve read on several conservative blogs that the Democrats are basically attempting to bribe you to vote against the war in exchange for Katrina aid which we already deserve and should have. Get the aid for us the right way - not as a bribe, but in recognition to our value to the country, and in recognition of the Corps’ malfeasance.
Although President Bush says he’ll veto the bill, he’s said a lot of things that he has not come through on and he cannot be trusted. PLEASE do not allow us to be defeated in Iraq. PLEASE do not endorse these filthy tactics and allow yourself to be bribed. It is despicable and shameful that the Democrats are behaving this way and this tactic should be exposed for what it is - a desperate attempt to stop the surge and ensure our defeat.
I have been a long time supporter, and for whatever it’s worth, authorized your gubernatorial campaign to use my name. I have always believed you are an honest and honorable man. Please don’t disappoint me.
Sincerely,
Laura Curtis
So much for ethics, Ms. Pelosi. If you truly had a mandate to stop the war (i.e. “surrender”) then you’d have the votes. But the fact is, you don’t have it, and this attempt is very revealing - all the things Democrats accuse Republicans of doing. (Sometimes with justification, as in this sneaky provision to make it easier to enforce martial law - which you didn’t have time to stop because you’re busy undermining the man your party just sent to lead the surge.)
Find out if your congressman is being bribed and contact him/her to show your disapproval.
