Saturday, December 29, 2007

Weekly Wraps

Catch "Recognizing Life" and "The Best Tax Relief" at Townhall.

Also: Weekly Reads Posted Weekly (or so) in full on The American Freedom Net Web Log and mirrored at The Amfree Net Blog Annex and the Amfree Townhall Blog
Catch up here: Weekly Reads for 12-30-2007

Don't miss Hope for America



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New Year Needs

What is needed in this new year?

  1. Sound Currency (not fiat money)
  2. Constitutional (signifcantly smaller) Government
  3. Lower Taxes justly levied that don't punish families, hard work, success or legacies
  4. A more free market economy with less government regulation
  5. Secure borders, not anti-immigrant, rather anti ILLEGAL immigrant
  6. Immigration predicated on assimilation as Americans
  7. Strong defense of the United States not the other countries of the world
  8. Free Trade that is reciprocal with mirrored constraints on protectionist partners in trade
  9. Cultural activism at the community level to assure that liberty doesn't equal license
  10. Protection of life by community effort and agreement to the value of all innocent human life
  11. A more interested and active, educated citizenry and electorate

Just the short list. The long list would be based on acheivment of these.



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Thursday, December 27, 2007

Santa Grinches

You have to love the Grinches during the Christmas holidays. Now I understand and empathize with Christians who lament the lack of focus on the real reason for the season. I also can't understand why harmless cultural attributes such as Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) are attacked.

Check out this scroogy, grinchly contribution.

Tell them to get a life. If your focus is on Jesus, hallelujah! That shouldn't inspire you to attack little kids and their beliefs in a harmless cultural icon. Christian or Atheist, leave Santa alone and deal with it in your own family in your own way.


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Ben Stein is Money!

The following is attributed to Ben Stein as a CBS Commentary (CBS?!?)

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a crche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"
In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says . Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards Honestly and respectfully,
Ben SteinAmen



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Religion and Society - Attributed to Paul Harvey

But actually derived from a longer essay by sports writer Nick Gholson. Thanks for the Snopes job by the commenter. u[dated 2-18-08


I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December I don't agree with Darwin, but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his Theory of Evolution.

Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game.

So what' s the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game.

But it's a Christian prayer, some will argue.

Yes, and this is the United States of America, a country founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect -- somebody chanting Hare Krishna?

  • If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer.
  • If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer.
  • If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha.

And I wouldn't be offended.It wouldn't bother me one bit.When in Rome ...


But what about the atheists? Is another argument. What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer!

Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations.

Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating; to pray before we go to sleep.

Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying.

God, help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well ... just sue me.

The silent majority has been silent too long. It's time we let that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard that the vast majority doesn't care what they want. It is time the majority rules! It's time we tell them, you don't have to pray; you don't have to say the pledge of allegiance; you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right . But by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away. We are fighting back.and we WILL WIN!



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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Ron Paul - Hope for American Freedom

So many say "he can't win". All it takes is enough Americans to realize the threat to their freedom posed by unconstitutional Federal Government. Dr. Paul may well not get the Republicrat nomination for President but the movement he is leading and fostering is much more important

Vote For Ron Paul. Be active in support

Ron Paul 2008 - Hope For America!





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Sunday, December 16, 2007

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

'What are you doing?' I asked without fear,
'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!'

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said 'Its really all right,

I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.'

'It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,'
Then he sighed, 'That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.'

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.'
'So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.'

'But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.'

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
'Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'





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Weekly Reads 12-16-2007

Posted Weekly on The American Freedom Net Web Log, The Amfree Net Blog Annex and the Amfree Townhall Blog.

We always recommend these sites to keep up to date on issues: One source, you OWE it to yourself to *not be ignorant* .

Townhall.com (The columnist link is frequently referenced), Breitbart News , RealClearPolitics.com , Salon.com (careful its lefty ;-), Dailykos.com (farther lefty), The Powerline Blog, One Source for Milblogs (Read These!) , WorldNetDaily (for your spin in the black helicopter), Complete Campaign Coverage.

Please feel free to suggest other sites.

Check our links to sites and blogs in both of our locations.


This week's articles of note:
Armed Christians is a good thing
MSNBC Candidate Matrix
Thank Christians for Science in the West
Amfree Network Candidate Scorecard
Global Smarming in Bali

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