Monthly Archives: January 2016

Ted 3 (The Bear Comes Out)

The stuffed bear of erstwhile movie fame has two credits to his resume.  If bad humor could get votes, I think people would vote for the stuffed zoo escapee for President.  Instead they put their hope on the king of media, Donald Trump.    He is the 2016 version of hope and change.  No depth, no values, no commitment to anything other than winning.  We already elected that guy, BARACK OBAMA.

With Ted Cruz, if you look at his record, you have to conclude he has a moral foundation and is a phenomenal supporter of the constitution.  If you support life, believe in the second amendment and small government, then he is the Ted for you.  This is TED 3.

Unless, Cruz learns to speak plainly and bluntly he won’t succeed.  His message needs to be raw, not erudite.  Unless he masters that he won’t pull the blind mice from following Trump the New York piper.

Liberty University Betrays Christianity

Dear Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr.

As the President of Liberty University, your recent endorsement of Donald Trump is a stab in the womb for all those who wish to see the carnage that is abortion in America stopped.    Trump in on record supporting abortion rights for women and at one point did not even object to partial birth abortions when asked.   I can’t believe you are not completely informed about this.  Your endorsement of Trump in no different than telling every student at Liberty University that abortion is a viable option.

What did he offer you Jerry?  Trump said he would make deals with everyone.  Is he planning on supporting Christians by killing their babies?  Did he give you a ride on his plane?  Did he offer Liberty University more money in financial aid for students?  Is it really about the money?  Did he pay you personally?

Trump has a long history of supporting Democratic causes and views.  He has promised to work with them, to make deals.  Obviously, he has made a deal with you where you are willing to compromise your Christian values for some sort of gain.   What was said in that closed door meeting between you two where you agreed to do this?  Is there some sort of dirt you need to avoid?  I do not know what really happened but given the history of Liberty University, it is very suspicious.

Congratulations on your stance.  It is one that shows no principle, no backbone and nothing but contempt for the cause of life.  I would urge every student at Liberty University to go elsewhere.  I know that for my children I will urge them not to consider every going to a place that has the same values as any secular institution.  Your choice to endorse Trump is a betrayal of life, and a betrayal of every student and alumni of Liberty University.

It is always sad when a “believer” appears to fall.

Sincerely,

Keith Risman

What is Success?

If you can look back on each day and honestly say:  (Casting Crown Lyrics)

Lord,

I want to sign Your name
To the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true.

Or as Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1967:

“Be a bush is you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be the trail, If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.”

Can you look in the mirror and say that you gave all within your ability? Will God sign off on your day? Would you sign off on your own day?  What does that voice inside you say?

Be encouraged that no matter the circumstance each day is new.  Ask God for guidance and follow his lead.  It’s not always going to me financially rewarding or filled with physical blessings, but it will enliven the heart in all circumstances.  Joy in the Lord by far overwhelms joy in riches and gold.  I pray for you that you will find your best each day.

Misleading News Helping The Wealthy

If the Griswold’s  were to leave New York For Disney Land In LA instead of Wally World while driving their gas guzzling station wagon   1976_Pontiac_Grand_Safari2with grandma strapped to the roof  they would travel 2789 miles. Four Years ago they would have spent $976 on gasoline.  Today that same trip would be $418.  That means that Clark Griswold would have over $500 extra to spend on the family vacation.

Yet today’s news is all about how bad the drop in oil prices is impacting the economy.  Are the media really that dumb?  Can they not think for themselves?  If everyone in the country has more money in their pockets because oil prices have dropped, that is more money for every single industry except for oil. The costs of making plastics goes down, the cost to make cars goes down. The cost to ship goods across the country goes down so prices go down and more goods can be bought.  More sales at better margins means more profits.  Manufacturing costs go down so profit margins go up. (unless you sell oil)  So the news media, everyone of them are morons. That may be true, or there is something else driving that?

If I were a 20 year old college student living on a stipend and student loans burdened by an over taxing educational load while using recreational drugs, I could still figure this one out.

Who do you think tells the media that the drop in oil prices is bad?  (Oil companies, green energy companies, environmentalists and Wall Street investors dealing in oil)  Everyone of these entities are seeking to reverse the drop because they stand to benefit either their causes or their bottom lines.   The media is now too lazy, too ineffective and too out and out bought to even question the crap they are fed.    So what if CBS or NBC report on the ‘disaster’ low oil prices are?  So what if their reporting hurts every consumer in the United States.  They do not care.  It is far less expensive to just republish the news releases they get than to investigate how the drop in oil prices impacts most businesses and the consumer.

So what if they hurt the economy?  So what if they want prices to go up so ISIS can have more profits for Jihad, or Iran has more money to create a nuke?  The media and government are so corrupt they will push damaging information in pursuit of profits and agendas to the exclusion of common sense.   There is no allegiance to truth, no allegiance to facts.   Wally

The concept of a moral high ground has thoroughly vanished from the American media.  We can only hope it is they that get stuck with the broken down station wagon hauling grandma at $4.00 a gallon and that at some point they can no longer afford the to take the trip.  They are the Wally World of today and they need to close.

 

The 5 Worst Enablers

All drug use and alcohol abuse is ultimately the responsibility of the drug user or alcohol drinker.   Since no one is forcing them to abuse the substance they are the ones putting the substance into their bodies.ecstacy-04 Ecstacy – FROM DEA IMAGES

1.)  So the first enabler is themselves.   But is is a disease you say!  There is truth to that, particularly after the substance has bonded with their  chemistry and their chemistry thirsts for more and more drug.   Perhaps they need to self medicate to reduce some other life pain, emotional or physical.  These too are real needs    No matter the underlying cause the abuser chooses his poison and the consequent impact of that poison.  Addiction only continues with the consent of the addicted.

2.) The second and most insidious enabler is idleness.  When the Russian proverb said that “Idleness is the mother of all vices”  it is clear that those whose lives are filled with boredom and a lack of interest will find ways to occupy themselves.  One such way is with substance abuse.  If someone has no responsibilities, nothing that requires a sharp brain, then they have no deterrent to continued abuse.    Drug use among the unemployed is 18%.  Not every aspect of this study made sense, but there was a clear link in that those not in the workforce had much higher rates of drug and substance abuse.

3.).  The third enabler is one that rewards idleness.  For those unwilling to work for a living, but able to do so, the government check or unemployment check provides the means for survival without any of the responsibilities associated with providing for oneself or for your family.  The feelings of worthlessness associated with that existence is overwhelming.  This drives many toward alcohol and drug abuse.  Since Obama took office the percent of the US population that no longer works and is no longer looking for work has risen from 31 percent to 35 percent.  This has removed 4 percent of the population from the workforce.  That and number 4 below makes the government directly responsible for much of the drug use in the US.

4.)  The huge expansion of disability payments to able bodied individuals from age 20 to 65 has further exacerbated drug and substance abuse.  Not all of this is abuse of illegal substances, since being disabled has became so easy that a whole industry has grown up around it, including drugs to treat non-existent symptoms.  Understand that if you truly can not work, then you should get benefits, but not being willing to work is not a disability.  In the current government run structure this has become big business.  The statistics bear this out as does the personal experience of most Americans who can’t but help know of individuals collecting disability payments who are obviously not disabled.    It is theft, but a theft that has become common and acceptable.

5.) The last enabler is perhaps the most scary.  It is the victimization of American society.  We have gone from a society that prides itself on independence, on solving problems and moving toward to success, to one which glorifies victims.  If someone is laid off, they are told they can’t get a new job, they are too old, too black, too Hispanic, too something and because of that they are victims. As victims the government will help them.  The idea that they need to pursue a successful future is stolen from them.  Those making minimum wage are told that they deserve more without working for it, because they are victims.   The fact that the vast majority of those that stay in the workforce for any period of time receive promotions and raises it ignored.  These same individuals are encouraged to destroy the very people that employ them.

A robust economy would have a dramatic impact in reducing the abuse of drugs and alcohol.   Given current government policy that does not look likely  in the near future.

 

Understanding Islam

There was an article on the Drudge Report that discussed executions in Saudi Arabia.  Many of which were conducted by beheading.  Just looking at images for that is beyond gruesome.  beheadings

I did not reproduced any of those here.  In 2015 there were 157 executions in the kingdom.  A number of these were for non-lethal crimes such as drug dealing.   There is no standard in sharia law on how to handle these crimes so the judges just decide.  Some drug dealers get death, others 10 years in prison.

In contrast, in the US there were just 28 executions with a population that is 10 times that of Saudi Arabia.    Many here complain that US law is unfair.  Perhaps it is not perfect, but by any reasonable standard it is far less cruel and capricious.   The truth is that in the US, based on our law, (perhaps not always its implementation) that all lives matter.

There is no such assumption in Islam.  There is a clear view that Jewish lives and Christian lives do not matter.  Criminals are not rehabilitated, they are mutilated.  There is no prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

This is not a Saudi thing, it is an Islamic thing.  The death toll in Saudi Arabia, the more “civilized” of the Islamic countries tells the tale.  What of the death toll cause by ISIS?   We need to recognize that these are sides of the same Islamic coin.  In an age where the risk of terrorism and Islamic fueled violence is on the rise we are fools if we do not identify the origins of that violence and the truly barbaric elements that make up its belief system.

We need to say no to every attempt to validate Islamic Law(Sharia) in this country.  It is by far antithetical to the Constitution and our system of law.  If you want a system of law where life is cheap,  just move to an Islamic state.