Why?

I read an article today about the mission to the Hubble Telescope. It turns out that this is the last time that they plan to service it. They figure it will run for another 5-10 years and then they will put a rocket on it and fire it back into the earth's atmosphere where it will be destroyed and probably end up on the bottom of the ocean.

My question is why? Why would they destroy an expensive piece of equipment like that instead of continuing to repair it? I would be willing to bet that the answer lies in some NASA budget - that continuing to use it would prevent them from being able to pad their budgets to build a bigger, newer one - one that would have budget overruns and would cost billions of dollars before it is finally put in place.

But why do we have to be so wasteful? I really am tired of this disposable mentality that we have here. It is like a rock star smashing a guitar during a show. (I haven't liked Garth Brooks since I saw him do that in one of his shows. Not that I liked him that much to begin with, but I really was looking for a reason not to like him after that.)

That offends me. It reminds me of the passage in the Bible where the sheep of Israel were rebuked for selfishly muddying the waters and trampling the grass so that the other sheep couldn't drink or eat. Why do we produce junk that has to be constantly replaced? Why have we allowed companies to get away with planned obsolescence? It is wasteful, and it is greedy, and it annoys me.

Anyone who has read this blog for any amount of time would probably not call me an environmentalist. The truth is that I do care about the environment, but I am tired of hysterical people running around jousting windmills when there are real monsters in the land!

This planet was created to be the home for people, and people need certain things to live. One of those things is heat. It is impossible for us to live on this earth without producing so called "greenhouse gases." We can't eat, work, or survive without that outcome. And apparently God planned for it to be that way. Not since the fall of man have we been able to live without fire. That is one of the reasons that I think that this whole global warming thing is a bunch of baloney.

Yet there are plenty of problems in our environment that can be solved. How many environmental problems would be fixed by merely abandoning this disposable economy that we have and beginning to produce products of high enough quality to be passed to our children's children? I believe that it is time to start thinking about such things. Why don't we work to make companies clean up their waste instead of dumping it into our rivers? Why don't we work to help re-establish habitats so that threatened plant and animal species can recover? These things are so much simpler and far more effective that the other green nonsense that is going on now.

For The Protection of Our Parks and Open Spaces

For God’s wisdom and strength to guide President Elect Obama’s choice of a Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, that our nation’s extraordinary national parks, natural resources and open lands may be cared for with excellence

The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
—Genesis 1:12

Creator God, You made the world and everything in it. You blessed it all and said it was good, and You gave to us the powerful gift of creativity. I thank You for that gift and for the way that You continue to be glorified through the creative gifts that You lavish on all You have made.

Lord, we thank You for guiding President-Elect Barack Obama to choose Ken Salazar to lead the Department of the Interior. We ask You to lead him as he makes plans to protect the creativity You, God, have revealed in our nation’s parks and open spaces. Please give Secretary Salazar all the grit and determination he needs so he will be ready and able to tackle the issues that must be faced in the care of our country’s open lands. We thank You for this, in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, amen.

This is the latest in the series of prayers led by the Presidential Prayer Team for the new President and for our nation. If you are interested in receiving the email with each day's prayer assignment you can click here and sign up.

A Good Steward Of American Resources

For discernment in the selection of the Secretary of Energy that our nation may become energy independent, wisely stewarding our resources

My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight.
—Proverbs 3:21

Heavenly Father, You have laid out the oceans and rivers, the mountains and valleys; You set the planets on their paths and You know the name of every star in our universe. You created Earth as the home for Your creation, for man and woman and all the creatures of Your vast imagination.

You’ve made us stewards over this planet and the resources we need to power our civilization. We ask You to place into the position of Secretary of Energy the individual that You know will treat these resources as a sacred trust, one not to be taken lightly. God, give our President-Elect sound judgment and wisdom as he makes this key choice for his administration. In the name of Jesus we pray and are grateful to You, amen.

This is the latest in the series of prayers led by the Presidential Prayer Team for the new President and for our nation. If you are interested in receiving the email with each day's prayer assignment you can click here and sign up.

Check This Out

This is the second video that I have found in less than a month of someone who has figured out how to use water as fuel - and it didn't take a multi-billion dollar budget to do it either.

Is it possible that too many of the professional research organizations out there are less interested in true innovation and discovery than they are the grants that keep paying them? For all of the billions spent, it seems that we should have a few more solutions than we do.

Now let's make sure that the automobile companies are forced to take advantage of this technology and not shelve it.

Calling The Low Down Varmint Out...

A voice of reason has appeared from an unexpected place. Czech President Vaclav Klaus has challenged alleged global warming 'expert' Al Gore to a debate about global warming. Not surprisingly, Gore isn't willing to intelligently discuss the evidence for or against global climate change or its possible causes. (Perhaps he is unable to do so?)

Klaus said, "It could be even true that we are now at a stage where mere facts, reason and truths are powerless in the face of the global warming propaganda." Ahh, Joseph Goebbels and Adolph Hitler would be so proud!

The Czech President has recently written a book that questions the true motive of the climate change propagandists titled, Blue Planet in Green Shackles - What Is Endangered: Climate or Freedom? Klaus says that the thing most endangered is basic human freedoms and prosperity.

Klaus compares the tactics and aims of the environmental alarmists to the tactics used by the communists in his country during his lifetime.

"Like their (communist) predecessors, they will be certain that they have the right to sacrifice man and his freedom to make their idea reality," he said. "In the past, it was in the name of the Marxists or of the proletariat - this time, in the name of the planet," he added. Klaus said a free market should be used to address environmental concerns and said he opposed as unrealistic regulations or greenhouse gas capping systems designed to reduce the impact of climate change....

Klaus alleged that the global warming was being championed by scientists and other environmentalists whose careers and funding requires selling the public on global warming. "It is in the hands of climatologists and other related scientists who are highly motivated to look in one direction only," Klaus said.

Sound familiar? It is basically the same thing said by the founder of the Weather Channel months ago.

I have said many times (even in the midst of last summer's blistering heat) that I do not believe that any permanent global warming is taking place. I believe that any heating trends can be more easily explained by solar radiation patterns than by carbon emissions. This seems evident to me from a comparison of the amount of "greenhouse gas" emitted into the atmosphere by humans as compared to that given off by nature itself. A single volcanic eruption contains many times more "greenhouse gas" than all of mankind's pollution combined. Thus, you will have a hard time convincing me that any warming (or cooling) trends are being caused by man's usage of carbon.

But lets suppose, just for the sake of argument, that these Chicken Littles were right. Let's consider how life would be if the environazis got their way and took us back to the Stone Age. Even then it would seem that there isn't any feasible way for humans to avoid carbon-based environmental impact. Humans need heat to survive. Anything below 98° F and we start needing some supplemental heat. And there are precious few places on planet earth that are 98° F night and day year round. (Thank God!)

Clothing can allow us to take that number down much lower, but manufacturing clothing in a modern society requires machinery, machinery requires electricity, and the most common source of electricity is combustion. Of course we could go back to using animal skins for clothing, but the environmentalists won't like that either.

There is also the problem of cooking food. Even vegetarians typically cook their food. And if we were to use animal skins for clothing, wouldn't it be wasteful to kill an animal just for its skin? (Seems like I have heard that argument somewhere before....) Thus, if you are going to eat yon mastodon, you'd best have a way cook it. Once again, combustion is going to be required.

Then there's the problem of shelter. Last time I checked there weren't that many habitable caves in the North Carolina Piedmont. That means we are going to have to figure out some place to stay. Well, we can go back to animal skins. (I can hear the animal rights folk howling even now....) There is also lots of nice red mud around here, but to make mud into brick requires baking it - more carbon. We could cut down trees to make cabins, but that reduces the number of trees which help to remove the carbon from the air. It would seem in our environmental Utopia that shelter may be a problem.

There is another problem that we have learned about too: animal flatulence. All those cows are farting the place up and pushing us towards global catastrophe. I guess it is good that all those cowboys nearly wiped out the bison herds back at the turn of the century. Millions of gassy buffalo would have probably pushed us over the edge.

I suppose that many who have read my rants against global warming might assume that I don't care about the environment. Nothing could be further from the truth. I care very much about it. My problem with most environmental issues is that they tend to tilt at windmills.

The issue of global warming is a hoax. It isn't an issue, but is something that is being greedily exploited to further other ends. Al Gore is exploiting "global warming" to put himself in the limelight and assuage his wounded ego after being rejected by the American people. He also, by the way, is exploiting it to make himself filthy, stinking rich through his investments in these "green" companies.

Politicians are exploiting it to line their pockets with bribes from companies that will benefit from new regulations and from those that would be hurt by new regulations. They are also using "global warming" to line their pockets with revenue from bogus carbon offset programs. And of course, let us not forget that it gives them a leverage point to obtain power over the people, exploiting this lie to induce people to give up their freedoms and prosperity.

Finally, environmentalists are exploiting "global warming" to make some marginal gains toward their agendas, and "scientists" are exploiting it to bilk grant money from various governments. These reasons are why I so vigorously oppose "global warming."

There are plenty of legitimate environmental concerns with real-world practical solutions. Pollution is a huge problem. It is clear that air quality has suffered as our cities have grown. Some progress has been made at reducing automobile emissions, but why don't we push on and see if we can't break away from petroleum and find a cleaner alternative? It will take some time, but if we can put a hunk of metal on Mars we should be able to collectively figure out a way to tell the gas companies bye-bye.

Why do we allow companies to dump their waste into our rivers? We should use the same policy with manufacturers worldwide that Momma did: "If you make the mess clean it up." Companies should have to have waste mitigation plans before they are allowed to manufacture the first widget. Would it be more expensive? Yes, it would. But I'd be willing to bet that manufacturers would find a better way to do it if they were forced to. Once they had discovered that way I'd be willing to bet that the prices could come down. (Whether they would or not is a different rant for a different post!) But what about the countries that wouldn't adhere to that standard?!! Don't trade with them. DUH!

Or perhaps on a more personal level, why do we allow people to litter? (This includes throwing cigarette butts out of cars, by the way.)

Why do we allow companies to use packaging materials that are not environmentally friendly? Why are we so addicted to plastics when glass, paper, and metal are much more easily recycled?

There are also water quality issues that are being raised by the irresponsible development taking place throughout the country. In North Carolina these practices threaten to destroy the state's only native trout. (Indeed, Brook Trout are threatened throughout their native range along the entire Appalachian Range from Georgia to Maine.)

All of these issues would be much easier to fix than "global warming." (Especially if it turns out that this purported climate change is being caused by the sun!)

North Carolina's Wildlife Commission has done a stellar job in reclaiming severely damaged river ecosystems. With the work that they have done they have begun to see very encouraging results in the resurgence of threatened flora and fauna. Their re-introduction of deer and turkeys have been wildly successful, and I have hope for the successful reintroduction of the red wolf and elk. It would be wonderful to see these animals thriving in our land again. (Although they will create their own problems too as we have seen with the invasion of coyotes.) I have also seen surprisingly quick results from the size and creel limits imposed on many saltwater fish species. There seem to be far more fish available in just a few short years following the introduction of these limits.

My point is that the real environmental problems facing our world can be dealt with successfully when they are approached with intelligence and TRUE scientific inquiry instead of the junk being passed off as science by so many. There are plenty of resources in our world to allow us to take advantage of them if we will be wise about it and not succumb to greed. It is high time that we start using our own brains and questioning why so many "scientists" are afraid of debate on issues like climate change and evolution. It is time that we stop giving these people money to perpetuate their lies. We cannot keep accepting that what "they" say is true. Too often it isn't. The money that will be wasted on "preventing" global warming would be much better used addressing real problems.

Cars Run On Salt Water?

I saw this man's invention in a news report, however that report centered on his quest to find a cure for cancer and didn't mention this other discovery using the same technology. Hopefully some oil company hasn't bought the rights to this invention. If they have, no doubt they will suppress it.

By the way, this post is a milestone. It is post number 500!

Who Needs Corn?

I just read another interesting article from NC State about their projects to develop alternate fuel sources to power America's transportation industry.

While they are working on other ethanol-based solutions, they are also looking at possible answers by extracting a glue-like substance called lignin from wood products. "Even though it's harder to work with, (Dr. Steve) Peretti (from NC State's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) likes lignin, calling it a 'higher-energy feedstock, almost like crude oil,' that is lower in oxygen. Less oxygen, he says, translates to higher energy value per gallon."

One of the really neat things about this project is that if they can get it to work on a large scale, there are a wide variety of sources for the raw materials needed for this process. It can be extracted from "Anything that has organic molecules in it – clean wood, dirty wood, forest thinnings, bark, waste paper, solid waste, even plastics." Using these sources will provide a serendipitous effect, by keeping these items from landfills and by helping to reduce the risk of wildfire.

In another article, Dr. Glenn Catts, a senior research associate at NC State who is working on a related project said, "Energy is certainly one thing that is not going away in terms of demand. The idea that we can generate energy in an alternative form while at the same time decreasing the risk of wild fires is the most compelling thing about this project."

This project will harvest debris from woodland areas for use as potential biomass. They are working with FECON, a company that manufactures mulching machines, to create a machine that can remove forest floor biomass in a cost-effective manner.

Dr. Joe Roise, professor of forestry at NC State said, "This is a resource people haven't thought of, and it's also a critical fire risk that needs to be removed.... What we have is not a product you grow, it's an existing resource that could support the energy needs of the South if you could convert it. So the real question is not how to grow biomass, but how to use the biomass that we already have." (Emphasis mine.)

On a side note, the project that Drs. Roise and Catts are working on could create some potential environmental problems, but they are optimistic that the effect will be similar to the outcome of controlled burns, benefiting many species by thinning out competing plants, and protecting housing in the urban interface.

See what people can do when they actually put their minds to it? Granted there is a long way to go with this research and a lot of work to do, but this just goes to show that there are options. I am confident that as more research is done that we will be astounded at what is discovered.

Once again I am proud to be an alumnus of NC State. They keep proving, as their commercials claim, "We all go to NC State!"

Lovely Vegetables...

I thought I'd share another of the interesting looking vegetables that I discovered. This is my next to last one I think. Perhaps I will go out and look for some more. But we'll just have to see about that.

This is a Chioggia Beet. It is supposed to be particularly sweet. The website where I discovered this picture said that it looks like a piece of peppermint candy. I can go with that. If you are looking for this variety you can find them on the Burpee Seed Company website.

I really don't have a whole lot of varied experience with beets. I have only had them pickled. They wouldn't make my list of favorites in that form although I do crave them from time to time. From what I have been reading, you can eat the greens and there are other ways to prepare the beets themselves. I may have to experiment with these this year.

Another thing about beets is that they are supposed to be better for producing ethanol than corn. Of course that will probably be a non-issue since everyone has decided that the ethanol route was a bad idea. I hope that people will continue to explore ethanol though. There really hasn't been enough research put towards it to find out all of the possibilities or to improve on production techniques and yield. And one thing is certain; we need an alternative fuel source for petroleum.

Well, that is all for tonight. Hopefully tomorrow I can update you on the SJB gig this weekend and perhaps get to some of those other posts that I have been meaning to do. In the meantime, have an excellent week!

Tomatoes With Flames On

I thought these tomatoes were pretty cool looking. It's like they are ready for race day. They are called Red Lightning. It is kind of hard to tell how big they are from the picture, but based on the size of the grain of the wood behind them they don't look much bigger than cherry tomatoes.

Unfortunately, I can't remember anything about them. I may not have read anything particular about them. I got the picture directly from the Burpee Seed Company website.

They look like they would really dress up a veggie tray though! OK. I have very nearly convinced myself to take the plunge and do a garden. Now if it will only stop raining just long enough for me to get the ground prepared. (Mind you, I'm not complaining about the rain. God has blessed us greatly this spring! Hopefully it will continue on through the summer.)

Last year's drought did a number on the trees and shrubs around my house. I came very close to losing one of my beloved dogwood trees. The blossoms have begun to come out and it looks like they are going to be tiny this year. Once they are fully out I will take and post pictures. It doesn't look like I will even have any blossoms on the tree that I nearly lost.

I have been thinking of trying to make a way to conserve rainwater for use this summer. I think that I'd like to find some barrels and run my gutter drains into them. I could also save gray water if necessary this summer. I hope to never see a summer as dry as last summer ever again.

More Wonderful Welcome Wet Weather

Like my alliteration? Give me a break! It's after 3:30 in the morning!

We've had more wonderful rain. I wish it could have been for longer, but it has once again been a good, soaking rain. The verdict is in - looks like prayer works. No apologies to the Atlanta Freethought Society. God is real. God controls everything. Deal with it.

I know I'm busting AFS's chops a little bit, but I really want them to see how good God is. Life is tough and then you die. It's that way for everyone Christian and pagan alike, but it certainly isn't equal.

I've tried life without God and life with God, and WITH is infinitely better. If I could get over myself and my hangups and fears and unbelief there is this incredible ABUNDANT life that is available to me. I hope that I am able to achieve that place before I die! LONG before I die. But even if I don't, what is waiting for me afterwards as a Christian is ASTOUNDINGLY GOOD.

Not so much for non-Christians. It is sad that some will actively choose to reject God and His great gift to us and choose to suffer God's justifiable wrath. Others will apathetically follow the herd down the path of least resistance right over the cliff. If you're on the "wrath" side of the coin right now, don't be offended. God is extremely patient and is offering the chance for you to be whole and free and joyful. All you have to do is accept the gift. You don't have to clean yourself up first - He takes care of that later, you just come. I cannot understand how someone could turn such a great deal down, but the Bible says that many will. It's tragic really.

If you haven't accepted God's gift of salvation, please do. I assure you that you'll be glad you did.

In the meantime, I'm gonna keep praying for rain!

I Wonder If It Rained Today In Georgia

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." - God

I really meant to write about this this morning, but I wasn't able to get to it before now. Today was the day that the Governor of Georgia, Sonny Purdue, lead a prayer for rain on behalf of the state of Georgia. I was praying right along with him (albeit from a several hours' drive away). I don't know if they got any rain in Georgia, but we got a little here.

There was an article about the impending prayer meeting last night that really ticked me off.

Ga. Governor Prays For Rain Amid Drought
By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer Mon Nov 12, 6:15 PM ET


The tone of the article was incredibly cynical and arrogant.

As Georgia descends deeper into drought, Gov. Sonny Perdue has ordered water restrictions, launched a legal battle and asked President Bush for help. On Tuesday, the governor will call on a higher power (emphasis mine).

He will join lawmakers and ministers on the steps of the state Capitol to pray for rain.

While public prayer vigils might raise eyebrows in other parts of the nation, they are mostly shrugged off in the Bible Belt, where turning to the heavens for help is common and sometimes even politically expedient (emphasis mine).

"Christianity has more of a place in the culture here than in some other region," said Ray Van Neste, a professor of Christian studies at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. "And it's only natural, in a way, for the public to pray for rain." (Emphases mine.)

First Mr. Bluestein refuses to acknowledge that they are praying to God. No, to him it is just some nebulous "higher power." Then he goes on to suggest that what Governor Purdue is advocating violates the mythical "separation of church and state." Then he suggests that the Governor is merely using this prayer as an opportunity to grandstand and win votes. (I wonder if he would lay this charge against Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama with their newfound religious zeal?) After all, in the poor little backwards South they aren't sophisticated enough to realize that rain doesn't come as a result of prayer, right? It's just a cultural thing. There's nothing to it. It means nothing.

WHAT CONDESCENDING, EQUINE ORGANIC FERTILIZER!

Bluestein went on to say "In the U.S., public expressions of faith are often discouraged as a breach of the separation of church and state."

He makes it sound like it has always been thus. Down through our history Americans have had the good sense to know when they have run afoul of God's favor. Days of called fasting and prayer have been COMMON since the 1600s. Every single year there is a National Day Of Prayer, and every single year our nation celebrates Thanksgiving. That's right, THANKSGIVING, NOT turkey day. Don't get me started on that.

I find it telling that Bluestein didn't find any Christians to talk to. He did, however, manage to find a group of folks that were opposed to the prayer meeting, though.

The loudest opposition to Perdue's move has come from the Atlanta Freethought Society, a secular group that is expecting about a dozen of its 125 members to protest at the vigil.

"The governor can pray when he wants to," said Ed Buckner, who is organizing the protest. "What he can't do is lead prayers in the name of the people of Georgia."…

Well, I reckon he did anyway. Since the Atlanta "Freethought" Society didn't want any rain prayers offered on their behalf, I decided to pray that Governor Purdue's prayers for rain wouldn't benefit any of the Society's members one iota. I guess it might make an impression if everyone around them got rain but their land stayed parched and dry!

I didn't realize it, but the Governor of Alabama has also called for prayer to end the famine.

Perdue won't be the first governor to hold a call for public prayer during the epic drought gripping the Southeast. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley issued a proclamation declaring a week in July as "Days of Prayer for Rain" to "humbly ask for His blessings and to hold us steady in times of difficulty."

My hat's off to both Governors, who, at least in this case, have proven themselves courageous and wise enough to know from where rain comes. Good job, fellas. My prayers are with you. Oh yeah, and thanks, Lord, for the rain!

This Is More Like It

I'm glad someone finally had the guts to do this. Lots of people talk a good game about how religious they are and how important prayer is to them, but how many politicians are actually willing to call for prayer to end a famine? Once upon a time it wasn't so rare, now they are like hens' teeth.

Georgia Plans Service to Pray for Rain

What to do when the rain won't come? If you're Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, you pray.

The governor will host a prayer service next week to ask for relief from the drought gripping the Southeast.

"The only solution is rain, and the only place we get that is from a higher power," Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said on Wednesday.

Perdue's office has sent out invitations to leaders from several faiths for the service, set for Tuesday

Good job, Governor Perdue. I'll be joining my prayers with yours.

Al Gore's Broken Hobby Horse

Global warming is a crock. At least Al Gore's version is. I can't believe that boob won the Nobel Peace Prize. Of course, he is in pretty good company. Over the past 30 years or so the winners' list has had more boobs than a statue of Artemis of Ephesus.

John Stossel has written a pretty good article debunking most of the conclusions of looney-boy Gore. You can read it HERE. The article also draws attention to some wrong assumptions made about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:

The media also treat the (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) IPCC as impartial scientists, but Reiter and Christy, who were members of the IPCC, say it is not what the public thinks it is. Many of the people involved in writing its report "are not scientists at all," Reiter says. "They were essentially activists." Members of groups like Greenpeace were involved. Skeptics were often ignored.

Say it isn't so! You mean they actually let non-scientists write the report?!!!

Al Gore may have declared the debate on "global warming" closed, but the fat lady hasn't even made her way from the dressing room yet.

Cool Picture

OK, it wouldn't be cool if you were there, but from here that is a cool picture.

So, Michelle Malkin has written that this fire is partly the fault of the environmentalists who have been blocking the clearing of deadwood debris in the forests. Of course the environmental moonbats are screaming "Global warming is to blame!" The Democrats are certain President Bush is to blame. And I'm going to chime in and say that the project that I mentioned in THIS post would have gone a long way to helping to curtail this fire had various government agencies actually been willing to do something to benefit America instead of furthering the stupidity known as partisan politics.

Time To Duck...

It hasn't rained at my home since my birthday over a month ago. The drought is so severe here in North Carolina that they don't have a more severe category to use to classify it. This is the driest that it has ever been here since they have kept records. This is what they would call a famine in biblical days.

The interesting thing about famines is that they don't come around for no reason. According to the Bible famines come as a wake up call from God to turn from our sins and cry out to Him. Here's the problem: no one seems to be calling out to God. Now, I know that I have a number of Christian friends who are praying for rain and even a few who are acknowledging that this seems to be a judgment from the Lord's hand. However, the numbers of people who seem willing to acknowledge this are small in comparison to those who want to scream "global warming!"

Today in the news I have heard about massive, violent, unseasonable tornadoes and thunderstorms all across the country. There is a major storm in Washington state right now that is threatening a floating bridge, and there has been an overabundance of rain in Texas of all places.

The thing that really concerns me is that the Bush administration is beginning to press Israel for a "Palestinian" peace deal again. They even have some people in Israel talking of giving up part of Jerusalem to the terrorists in exchange for peace. Just the other day Secretary Of State Rice declared that now is the time for a Palestinian state. I shudder. The last time we got involved in pushing Israel to give up its rightful homeland, ceded to them by God, Katrina devestated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, killing thousands.

In fact, historically, every time that the United States has pushed Israel to give up land it has ended very badly for us.

So right now we have catestrophic (historically associated with judgment) weather patterns plaguing us. Our economy is on very shaky ground with the dollar growing weaker almost daily and the banking industry suffering the consequences of the poorly thought out loans that they made during the housing boom. Businesses are run by CEOs with short term mentality and big time greed. We even saw swarms of insects attack our national passtime in the Cleveland and New York game! The next thing in the litany of judgments is pestilence and it may have been unleashed as MRSA claims more and more lives and begins to spread further and further. After that comes war and defeat.

I wish I knew what to repent for. The problem is not actually trying to find one thing to repent for - it is that there are so many things that we are guilty of! As a people we are perverse, murderous, idolatrous, greedy, self-absorbed, non-loving, rebellious, faithless, baby-killing, self-worshipping swindlers. I am reminded of a passage from Jeremiah that says, "'Should I not punish them for this?' declares the LORD. 'Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?'" (Jeremiah 5:9 and 5:29 and 9:9) These words make me tremble. I pray that they make you tremble as well.

God please forgive us! Please cause us to repent! And please turn your anger from this land.

I believe it is time to duck.

Good News!

I think that I mentioned in my tirade against the global warming myth that North Carolina has had a number of success stories in their attempts to undo the environmental stupidity, wastefulness, ignorance or whatever you want to call it of the past several hundred years. I found another success story article today.

Endangered Minnow Said To Be Rebounding In NC

Kind of makes you not mind paying for that fishing/hunting license. I am really glad to see the efforts that have been made to help protect NC's natural resources - especially wildlife. One of the areas that I have already seen producing fruit is in the creel limits and size limits of fish caught at the ocean. I hope to one day see the vast schools of fish that I have heard about from my Grandfather and my Father. It is hard to imagine just how much damage has been done to fish populations in just a generation. Hopefully by the time I have grandkids the damage will be reversed.

I know it is a little Utopian, but it doesn't hurt to dream.