Monthly Archives: May 2011

Picture of Osama bin Laden’s wife Amal Ahmed Abdul Fatah and what actually happened during attack

May 6, 2011 – 7:12 am

     Amal Ahmed Abdul Fatah, Bin Laden’s wife

Osama bin Laden unarmed when shot dead

Brian Ross of ABC News reported May 4th:

U.S. intelligence officials have been forced to reconsider many of their assumptions about Osama bin Laden and his terror network with the discovery that he was living in relative luxury not far from Pakistan’s capital in a house full of children.

By the time bin Laden moved to his sprawling compound in Abbottabad, he was down to only one of this five wives. He had divorced one and three others had moved to Syria.

“He married very young, first a cousin from Syria,” said Steve Coll. author of the book “The Bin Ladens.” “Then a couple of very well-educated women from Saudi Arabia.”

The youngest and his supposed favorite, Amal Ahmed Abdul Fatah stayed with him. Pakistani says her passpoprt was found in the compound after the raid. She was 29 and had been given to bin Laden as a gift by a Yemeni family when she was only a teenager.

Explained Coll, “She was a very young woman by the account of the bodyguard who brought her to meet bin Laden from the tribal family that had presented her to bin Laden, presented her to bin Laden for marriage.”

Amal and bin Laden and their three young children, a daughter and two sons, lived on the second and third floor of the compound’s main house. Bin Laden apparently felt safe enough in the compound, which was surrounded by high barbed-wire topped walls, to keep his family with him.

“I think it was always a mistake to believe he was in a cave,” said Phil Mudd, a former high-ranking CIA analyst and a former FBI counterterrorism official, “and believe me, nobody on the inside ever thought that.”

On Sunday, when the U.S. Navy SEALs moved in, Amal Ahmed was in the bedroom with bin Laden, where she reacted with apparent fury.

“In the room with bin Laden was bin Laden’s wife,” said White House press secretary Jay Carney. “She rushed one of the U.S. assaulters and was shot in the leg, but not killed. A woman on the first floor was killed in the crossfire.”

Carney confirmed that Amal was unarmed.

People who have studied bin Laden say his wives are devoted to him.

Said Mudd, “He is, in the al Qaeda context, an honorable man and he’s viewed in their context not as a terrorist but as a statesman. I would be surprised if this guy would sacrifice a wife for this operation, but I’m sure she was willing to get in front of a bullet for him.”

Amal’s leg injury is not considered serious but another member of his family, his son Khalid, born of a different wife, was killed in the raid.

Bin Laden is survived by at least 18 other children. None of the sons, however, are considered to be in line to succeed their father.

“Unlike a lot of Arab governments that are dynastic,” said former White House counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke, now an ABC News consultant, “al Qaeda has not been and his sons have never played a real operational role of any significance. They did not appear to be groomed for leadership roles in al Qaeda.”

Who Is Usama Bin Laden’s Youngest Wife and What Might She Know?

Jonathan Hunt reports on Amal Ahmed Abdul Fatah, the youngest wife of Usama bin Laden and the woman in the room when he was shot and killed. What do we authorities know about the woman who may not have left bin Laden’s compound for 5 years?

The Concept of God in Islam and Christianity ( 1 of 2 )

Part 2 below

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in President Obama | Comments (0)

Kate Middleton and Prince William: Marriage made in Heaven? (Part 14)

May 6, 2011 – 12:04 am
Bridesmaid Grace van Cutsem
Happy: William and Kate surrounded by, clockwise bottom right, The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones, Miss Eliza Lopes, Miss Grace van Cutsem, Lady Louise Windsor, Master Tom Pettifer, Master William Lowther-Pinkerton

The noise and crowds were a bit too much for Grace van Cutsem on the balcony, but the photographer said she was adorable and knew how to pose for pictures (pictured right with Eliza Lopes)

An Old Harrovian and seasoned society photographer known for his charm and discretion, as well as his talent for portraits, Mr Burnand represents a more traditional choice than Mr Testino, who is famed for his glossy celebrity and fashion photoshoots.

However, Mr Burnand has photographed his share of A-listers, including Bill Clinton, President Mikhail Gorbachev, Baroness Thatcher, Victoria Beckham and Michael Jackson. He was also responsible for taking the pictures at the 1996 wedding of David and Samantha Cameron.

The Royal Wedding commission was a major coup for the London-based father of four, who has worked at Tatler magazine since 1993.

Yesterday, he described it as ‘the gig of the century’, adding: ‘It was amazing, incredible, and there were a couple of moments where I did pinch myself.’

Of the mood in the Throne Room, he said: ‘From where I was, and from their point of view, it was two families coming together and that was the feeling – the sense of family and love going between everyone.’

He described the happy couple as ‘just so nice as individuals and as a pair’, and revealed that Kate, who has worked as a photographer for her parents’ company Party Pieces, had contributed her own ideas for the pictures.

Mr Burnand got to know Prince William when he photographed him on his polo pony and at Windsor Castle as part of the wedding party for his father’s second marriage in 2005.

He shares with the prince a tragedy in his past: he, too, lost his mother in a car accident. Susan Gordon died in 1964, the year after he was born.

His stepmother Ursy Burnand, whom his father Peter married in 1967, is also a photographer – and was one of his assistants on the Royal Wedding shoot.

Born in Cannes, France, Mr Burnand won his first photography competition at the age of seven, at Cheam School, which was also attended by Prince Philip and Prince Charles.

During his time at Harrow, he became the school’s unofficial photographer, taking portraits of school-leavers.

He did not become a professional photographer until 1991, after a string of jobs including stable hand and insurance broker.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND HOW HE PREPARED FOR THE BIG DAY

Hugo Burnand, the official wedding photographer Hugo Burnand, the official wedding photographer

Mr Burnand spent months preparing for the wedding.

He was accompanied by assistants including his stepmother, photographer Ursy Burnand, 71, who he says is an invaluable member of the team.

As well as cameras, spares and spares of spares, the team were carrying extensive lighting and computing equipment.

They were also using stopwatches to ensure perfect timing.

Mr Burnand has photographed everyone from Spike Milligan to Michael Jackson and former prime minister Lady Thatcher.

He was commissioned to photograph the marriage of the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in 2005 and the wedding of David and Samantha Cameron in 1996.

Charles also asked him to take the birthday image which marked his 60th year in 2008.

Mr Burnand, 47, who has four children with wife Louisa, has also taken pictures of William and Prince Harry and the Queen.

He has been a photographer for Tatler magazine since 1993.

He has had an interest in cameras since he was a young boy and learned to develop his films and make prints using a makeshift darkroom in his family’s kitchen.

The old Harrovian, based in Notting Hill, west London, said: ‘I never really got nervous. You almost go into another zone when it’s happening.’

I really do wish Kate and William success in their marriage. I hope they truly are committed to each other, and if they are then the result will be a marriage that lasts their whole lifetime. Nevertheless, I do not think it is best to live together before marriage like they did, and I am writing this series to help couples see how best to prepare for marriage.
Below is the last of a three part series that is taken from the article “Cohabitation as a Means  to Marraige:One of the biggest reasons why marriage is more sucessful than cohabitation is commitment,” by Amy Tracy of Focus on the Family:

The Importance of Commitment

One of the biggest reasons why marriage is more successful than cohabitation is commitment. With marriage you make a pledge before God, your family and friends. Everyone knows you’re married; it’s a public declaration. In marriage, you’re more likely to make sacrifices for your mate and to strive to make the relationship work. Additionally, divorce is costly, both emotionally and financially. By its very nature, cohabitation encourages a lack of commitment and independence, and is an easy out for the partner that wants to pack a suitcase and leave.

According to Dr. Scott Stanley, a professor of Family and Marital Studies at the University of Denver, another reason to avoid cohabitation is what he calls “relationship inertia.”

“People who are cohabiting might end up marrying somebody they might not otherwise have married,” he says. In essence they’re “sliding, not deciding.”

Dr. Wilcox says that young men and women today think about marriage as the “Cadillac of relationships.”

“They want everything established including the perfect relationship, house and income,” he says. “Thirty years ago, someone cohabitated with a future spouse and were married within six months. Now, men and women are having more relationships and becoming habituated to starting intimate relationships, breaking up and starting over. It’s setting up a pattern of failure and not preparing them for a lifelong relationship.”

Cohabitation and habitual cohabitation not only involves fornication (Hebrews 13:4), which violates Scripture, but it also gives your heart away to someone that God has not joined with you. Indeed, we are admonished, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

Alicia and Al now have three young boys and a thriving relationship.

“Marriage would have been a tremendous event in our life had we waited and done things the right way,” said Al. “For me, that’s the biggest loss.”

“Getting married was like coming into this safe place suddenly,” said Alicia. “As a woman, most men look at you as something to be desired. Then I got married, and I had a safe place to be still and process.”

Chick-fil-A

(4/5) Adrian Rogers – No Other Way to Heaven Except Through Jesus

FamilyLife Weekend to Remember – great weekend getaway!!

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers | Comments (0)

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 40)

May 5, 2011 – 11:09 pm

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:

Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself at 11pm CST on May 5, 2011.

Senator Rand Paul on Feb 7, 2011 wrote the article “A Modest $500 Billion Proposal: My spending cuts would keep 85% of government funding and not touch Social Security,” Wall Street Journal and he observed:

Many in Washington think that a one-year, $500 billion spending cut is too bold. But the attendees at the newly formed Senate Tea Party Caucus say, “Bring on the cuts! And then, bring on more!” My Republican colleagues say they want a balanced-budget amendment. But to have any semblance of credibility we must begin to discuss where we will cut once it passes. My proposal is a place to start.

Here are some of his specific suggestions:

Energy

Agency/Program Funding Level Savings % Decrease

Energy $0 $44.186 B 100%

Created in 1977, the purpose and intent of the Department of Energy was to regulate oil prices. The DoE today reflects an agency that encompasses national security activities such as nuclear weapon production, maintenance, and cleanup which are better suited for the Department of Defense, and other activities that are nothing more than corporate handouts.

In addition, the DoE has provided research grants and subsidies to energy companies for the development of newer, cleaner forms of energy. All forms of energy development are subsidized by the federal government, from oil to nuclear, wind, solar, and bio-fuels, however these subsidies and research are often centered on forms of energy that can survive without subsidies. This drives the cost of energy up for all American taxpayers. The market has always provided new forms of energy development without governmental interference; it is time for the free market to start taking the reins.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Mike Huckabee to Osama bin Laden: “Welcome to Hell” (Part 2)

May 5, 2011 – 9:26 pm

Adrian Rogers – [1/3] 5 Minutes After Death

Huckabee on bass

We were convinced that it wasn’t so much the conservative Christian vote that catapulted Mike Huckabee to victory in Iowa as his bass playing. Huckabee played bass guitar with his band, Capitol Offense, at the Iowa Republican Party’s Lincoln Unity Dinner in Des

John Brummett in his article “Huckabee speaks for bad guy below,” Arkansas News Bureau, May 5, 2011 had to say:

Are we supposed to understand and accept that Mike Huckabee is in hell where he has official duties as a greeter, welcoming Osama bin-Laden?

Let us resist the evil urge to say it all makes sense — that the Big Huckster would be in that location and that Lucifer would have tabbed him for special responsibilities on account of his gift of gab.

It would be wrong to say something like that.

I really am uncomfortable with all this kind of lighthearted talk about hell. The traditional Christian view of hell is a very serious doctrine. 

The next few days I will be posting portions of the article “Hell:The Horrible Choice,” by Patrick Zukeran of Probe Ministries. Here is the first installment:

Importance of Understanding the Doctrine of Hell

Why study the doctrine of hell? Very few sermons today are preached on this topic, and most Christians try to avoid the subject. However, this is an important doctrine for Christians to understand especially if we are going to share our faith in the postmodern culture that despises this teaching.

Dr. Peter Kreeft and Ron Tacelli write:

Of all the doctrines in Christianity, hell is probably the most difficult to defend, the most burdensome to believe and the first to be abandoned. The critic’s case against it seems very strong, and the believer’s duty to believe it seems unbearable. . . . Heaven is far more important than hell, we know much more about it, and it is meant to occupy our mind much more centrally. But in a battle an army must rush to defend that part of the line which is most attacked or which seems the weakest. Though other doctrines are more important than this one, this one is not unimportant or dispensable.{1}

Several critics of Christianity grew up in the church but eventually abandoned the faith, and many of them cite the teaching on hell as a key factor. Atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote in his work Why I Am Not a Christian:

I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment. . . . I must say that I think all this doctrine, that hell-fire is a punishment for sin, is a doctrine of cruelty. It is a doctrine that put cruelty into the world and gave the world generations of cruel torture: and the Christ of the Gospels, if you could take Him as His chroniclers represent Him, would certainly have to be considered partly responsible for that.{2}

Charles Darwin grew up and was baptized in the Church of England. Despite his rejection of Christianity, he was buried in Westminster Abbey. Darwin has pointed to the doctrine of hell as one of the significant reasons for his abandonment of the faith. He stated in his autobiography, “I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my father, brother and almost all my friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine.”{3}

I am sure that many of us have friends who find the Bible’s teaching on hell to be offensive and use this doctrine to paint the God of the Bible as a cruel and vindictive being. However, most unbelievers’ attacks of this doctrine are built on a false understanding of hell. Christians also have difficulty defending the justice of hell with the love of God because we lack a proper understanding of what the Bible teaches. In this article, I will present the biblical teaching on hell so that we can present a sound response when challenged.

The Nature of Hell

Hell is basically a place of eternal separation from God. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 states that those without God “will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power.” To be separated from God is to be separated from all that is good. A person in hell is separated from all the joy, love, and meaning for which we were created. Instead of knowing God as a loving father, one will know God as judge (Romans 2: 5-8). That is the attribute of God an unbeliever will know for eternity.

Many, including Christians, believe that God tortures people in hell. However, a significant thing to note is that in the New Testament, hell is not described as a place of torture but rather a place of torment (Luke 16:23-28, Revelation 14:11). Torture is inflicted against one’s will, while torment is self-inflicted by one’s own will. Torment comes from the mental and physical anguish of knowing we used our freedom for evil and chose wrongly. The anguish results from the sorrow and shame of the judgment of being forever away from God and all that is meaningful and joyful. Everyone in hell will know that the pain he or she is suffering is self-induced. The flames of hell are generated by the individual who has rejected God. It is not a place where people are forced against their will to undergo agonizing pain. Unbelievers often use this image to portray God as a cruel and vindictive being. However, the torment of hell comes from the individual who chooses not to love God and now must live with the sorrow of being aware of all that was lost.

One of the most severe punishments leveled on a criminal is the sentence of solitary confinement. One of the reasons this is a feared sentence is that the guilty are left to sit alone in their cells and live with the regret and sorrow of their crimes with no one to comfort or minister to them. Pain comes from within as they wrestle alone with their thoughts and emotions. It must be a horrible realization to see lost forever what could have been.

Such is the anguish of hell. The pain comes from the regret of all that was lost. A person experiences separation from God, the ultimate good. This is why hell is such a horrible place and a horrible choice.

Notes

1. Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics (Downers Grove, IL.: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 282.
2. Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian (New York: Touchstone Books, 1957), 17 – 18.
3. Charles Darwin, The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, ed. Nora Darwin Barlow, with original omissions restored (N.Y.: W. W. Norton, 1993), 87.
4. C. S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters (New York: Macmillan), 69.
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Mike Huckabee | Comments (0)

Is the Bible historically accurate?(Part 18)

May 5, 2011 – 1:22 pm

The Bible and Archaeology (3/5)

The Bible maintains several characteristics that prove it is from God. One of those is the fact that the Bible is accurate in every one of its details. The field of archaeology brings to light this amazing accuracy

From time to time you will read articles in the Arkansas press by  such writers as  John Brummett, Max Brantley and Gene Lyons that poke fun at those that actually believe the Bible is historically accurate when in fact the Bible is backed up by many archaeological facts. The Book of Mormon is blindly accepted even though archaeology has disproven many of the facts that are claimed by it. For instance, the compass did not exist in North America when they said they did.

The Book of Mormon also states that a “compass” was known by Nephi around 600 BC. The compass is widely recognized to have been invented in China around 1100 AD, nearly 2000 years after Nephi is said to have known about the technology in the Book of Mormon. Remains of a compass or related technology have never been found in America dating to ancient times.

_____________________________________________

El Amarna Letters
El Amarna Letters
Could these tablets contain records of Joshua and the Hebrews conquering the land of Canaan?

Tel el Amarna was in ancient Egypt near the Nile River about halfway between Memphis and Thebes. In 1988 there were about 400 cuneiform tablets discovered at this site which were part of the royal archives of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) who reigned about 1400 BC.

 

Among them were letters written in Babylonian cuneiform script to these Pharaohs of Egypt by various kings dwelling in the land of Canaan and Syria, they were written during the time of Moses. They provide the first evidence of the Hebrew tribes entering into the land of Canaan in ancient times.

Some of the tablets were anxious letters written from Jerusalem (Urusalim), warning the pharaoh an invasion by the ‘Habiru [Khabiru]’, who were approaching from Trans-Jordan.

It is interesting that Akhenaten’s new capital, Akhetaton, which he built with his queen Nefertiti was at the same place as modern Amarna (Tell el Amarna).

The Amarna Letters discovery is highly important in the study of Biblical Archaeology because they refer to events in the middle east in the 15th and 14th centuries BC. They refer to the Hebrews, they give evidence of the trustworthiness of the book of Judges. They mention a lot about Canaan, the half of Israel to the west of the Jordan. This name “Canaan” has been found in Egyptian inscriptions of the New Kingdom. The king of Babylon used the word Canaan to designate the entire Egyptian province of Canaan when he wrote to Pharaoh: “Canaan is thy land and its kings are thy servants” (El-Amarna 8, 25)

The Tablets are from 3 inches wide and anywhere from 3 to 9 inches in length, and they are inscribed on both sides. The letters were written in Akkadian, which had been the language of international relations for some time. Today the Tell el Amarna Tablets are mainly in the British, Berlin and Cairo museums.

The original name of Jerusalem was Babylonian, Uru-Salim, “the city of Salim,” shortened into Salem in Gen 14:18 and in the inscriptions of the Egyptian kings Ramses II and Ramses III. In the Tell el-Amarna Letters (1400 BC) Jerusalem is still known as Uru-Salim, and its king bears a Hittite name, implying that it was at the time in the possession of the Hittites. His enemies, however, were closing around him, and one of the tablets shows that the city was eventually captured and its king slain. These enemies would seem to have been the Jebusites, since it is after this period that the name “Jebus” makes its appearance for the first time in the Old Testament (Judges 19:10,11).

“But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.”  Judges 19:10-11

British Museum Excerpt

Tell el-Amarna (ancient Akhetaten, Egypt)

In the fifth year of his reign, Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV, 1352-1336 BC) moved the royal residence to a previously uninhabited site in Middle Egypt. He called the new capital Akhetaten, ‘the horizon of the sun-disc’, and marked its limits on both banks of the River Nile with a series of boundary stelae.

The central part of the city was occupied by the main religious and administrative buildings. An archive of diplomatic correspondence between the kings of the Amarna period and rulers of the Levant was found in the records office. The official buildings were linked to the outlying palaces by the Royal Road, a wide processional way. The main royal residence was the fortified North Riverside Palace.

Timeline of Egypt’s New Kingdom Beginnings

18th Dynasty
Ahmose (Nebpehtyre) 1539 – 1514
Amenhotep I (Djeserkare) 1514 – 1493
Thutmose I (Akheperkare) 1493 – 1481
Thutmose II (Akheperenre) 1491 – 1479
Hatshepsut (Maatkare) 1473 – 1458
Thutmose III (Menkheperre) 1504 – 1450
Amenhotep II (Akheperure) 1427 – 1392
Thutmose IV (Menkheperure) 1419 – 1386
Amenhotep III (Nebmaatre) 1382 – 1344
Amenhotep IV / Akhenaten 1350 – 1334
Smenkhkare (Ankhkheperure) 1336-1334
Tutankhamun (Nebkheperure) 1334 – 1325
Ay (Kheperkheperure) 1325 – 1321
Horemheb (Djeserkheperure) 1323 – 1295

19th Dynasty
Ramesses I (Menpehtyre) 1295 – 1294
Seti I (Menmaatre) 1394 – 1279
Ramesses II (Usermaatresetepenre) 1279 – 1213
Merenptah (Baenrehotephirmaat) 1213 – 1203
Amenmesse (Menmire) 1203 – 1200
Seti II (Userkheperuresetepenre) 1200 – 1194
Siptah (Akhenresetepenre) 1194 – 1188
Tausert (Sitremeritamun) 1185-1187

Biblical Timeline

1407 Moses dies; Joshua conquers Canaan
1400 Conquest of Canaan completed
1377 Akhenaten becomes pharaoh; inaugurates monotheistic reforms

Japan tsunami
A tsunami floods Iwaki in the northern prefecture of Fukushima, Japan.
I grew up listening to sermons by Adrian Rogers who was the longtime pastor of Bellevue Church in Memphis. In fact, since 1927 only four pastors have led Bellevue and I have had the opportunity to hear all four speak (Robert G. Lee [1927-1960], Ramsey Pollard [1960-1972], Adrian Rogers [1972-2005], Steve Gaines [2005- present]).
Adrian Rogers sermon “No other way to heaven except through Jesus” based on Romans chapter one (part 1).
After Adrian Rogers passed away a spanish past0r put this tribute to Dr. Rogers on youtube:
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Biblical Archaeology | Comments (0)

Kate and William coming to California in July

May 5, 2011 – 12:43 pm

 

Royal Wedding Coverage 2011: Kate Middleton Arrives at Westminster Abbey

prince-william-kate-middleton-getty-looking.jpgThe

 Carina Adly MacKenzie of Zap2it noted:

St. James Palace has confirmed that Kate Middleton and Prince William – or, more officially, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – will be visiting California from July 8-10 this summer. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to greet the Royals as they touch down.

If it’s anything like when the President visits… traffic in L.A. is going to be brutal.

The visit is an extension of their already-planned trip to Canada. The newlyweds will take part in Canada Day celebrations on July 1 and are even expected to visit the Arctic. A nice sojourn in Hollywood will surely be welcome after that.

It will be William’s first visit to the U.S. in an official capacity, and Princess Catherine’s first visit ever. We’re mostly psyched to see what she’s wearing and whether they hit Katsuya with the Beckhams.

_______________________________________

Maybe they will get a chance to meet President Obama during their trip to the USA. I have really enjoyed doing the series “Kate Middleton and Prince William: Marriage made in Heaven?” So far I have released 13 parts and there will be plenty more to come in the future. I have got a stronger response on this series than any other I have ever done. It might have something to do with the comedy skits of Tim Hawkins who I have put in most of the posts in this series. Take a look at one below.

Tim Hawkins Things you don’t say to your wife

Royal Wedding Pictures

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in President Obama | Comments (0)

Ronald Wilson Reagan (Part 81) (1981 Orsini McAthur murder case Part 5)

May 5, 2011 – 9:50 am
Ronald Reagan with Dog Lucky

President Ronald Reagan hangs unto the leash as pet pooch Lucky pulls in another direction during the president’s departure from the White House en route to the Geneva summit. L-R behind the president are: Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger; Treasury Secretary James Baker and Mrs. Nancy Reagan. (UPI Photo/Vicne Mannino/FILES)

From Oct. 28, 1980, in Cleveland, Ohio, here is part 1 of the Carter-Reagan Presidential Debate, as taped from CBS. Amazing how things have changed…and yet stayed the same…in almost 30 years!!!

 
1984 Presidential Debate between President Reagan and Walter Mondale

Soviet Union

MR. KALB: Mr. Mondale, you have described the Soviet leaders as, and I’m quoting, “. . . cynical, ruthless, and dangerous,” suggesting an almost total lack of trust in them. In that case, what makes you think that the annual summit meetings with them that you have proposed will result in agreements that would satisfy the interests of this country?

MR. MONDALE: Because the only type of agreements to reach with the Soviet Union are the types that are specifically defined, so we know exactly what they must do; subject to full verification, which means we know every day whether they’re living up to it; and followups, wherever we find suggestions that they’re violating it; and the strongest possible terms.

I have no illusions about the Soviet Union leadership or the nature of that state. They are a tough and a ruthless adversary, and we must be prepared to meet that challenge, and I would. Where I part with the President is that despite all of those differences we must, as past Presidents before this one have done, meet on the common ground of survival. And that’s where the President has opposed practically every arms control agreement, by every President, of both political parties, since the bomb went off. And he now completes this term with no progress toward arms control at all, but with a very dangerous arms race underway instead. There are now over 2,000 more warheads pointed at us today than there were when he was sworn in, and that does not strengthen us.

We must be very, very realistic in the nature of that leadership, but we must grind away and talk to find ways of reducing these differences, particularly where arms races are concerned and other dangerous exercises of Soviet power.

There will be no unilateral disarmament under my administration. I will keep this nation strong. I understand exactly what the Soviets are up to, but that, too, is a part of national strength. To do that, a President must know what is essential to command and to leadership and to strength.

And that’s where the President’s failure to master, in my opinion, the essential elements of arms control has cost us dearly. He’s 3 years into this administration. He said he just discovered that most Soviet missiles are on land, and that’s why his proposal didn’t work.

I invite the American people tomorrow — because I will issue the statement quoting President Reagan — he said exactly what I said he said. He said that these missiles were less dangerous than ballistic missiles because you could fire them, and you could recall them if you decided there’d been a miscalculation.

MR. NEWMAN: I’m sorry, sir — —

MR. MONDALE: A President must know those things.

It has been 150 years since the beginning of the Civil War that started in April of 1861 at Ft Sumter.

 ____________________________________________

Ron Orsini, owner of a North Little Rock heating and air-conditioning business, had been dead for three years when Arkansas Business launched in 1984. But it wasn’t until 2002 that his widow, Mary “Lee” Orsini, confessed to his murder, just a couple of weeks before she died in prison of a heart attack.

Lee Orsini’s conviction for Ron’s murder had been overturned, but she was serving life without parole for hiring two blundering hit men to commit the infinitely more sensational murder of Alice McArthur of Little Rock, wife of her defense attorney, Bill McArthur.

There are still a lot of people who suspect McArthur was involved in his wife’s murder in July 1982, but a grand jury refused to indict him. After all, no evidence beyond the word of a murderess ever connected him to a crime that created a media circus the likes of which Arkansas has not seen since.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Ronald Reagan | Comments (0)

Arkansas Times blogger criticizes Texas and their approach to business

May 5, 2011 – 9:46 am

I posted a portion of an article by John Fund of the Wall Street Journal that pointed out that many businesses are leaving California because of all of their government red tape and moving to Texas. My username is SalineRepublican and this is how “Couldn’tBeBetter” responded this morning:

Saline, if Texas is so great, don’t let the door hit you as you head southwest.

Frankly, I wouldn’t do that to myself or anyone I love. That Texas attitude is what happens when Republicans take over anything. Ray-Gun selfishness all over again but on a state-wide basis and a mouth ten times larger than their brain. BTW, why is Perry asking for fire aid? I thought he didn’t need the rest of us. When those oil wells finally play out, Texas will be a welfare state like Somalia with the same attitude. Let them go and good-bye, Saline.

Responding to Couldn’t be better: You are right about one thing. People are voting with their feet.

In his article “Census: Fast growth in states with no income tax,” Washington Examiner, Dec 21, 2011, Michael Barone noted:
 
For those of us who are demographic buffs, Christmas came four days early when Census Bureau director Robert Groves announced on Tuesday the first results of the 2010 census and the reapportionment of House seats (and therefore electoral votes) among the states.
The resident population of the United States, he told us in a webcast, was 308,745,538. That’s an increase of 9.7 percent from the 281,421,906 in the 2000 census — the smallest proportional increase than in any decade other than the Depression 1930s but a pretty robust increase for an advanced nation. It’s hard to get a grasp on such large numbers. So let me share a few observations on what they mean.

First, the great engine of growth in America is not the Northeast Megalopolis, which was growing faster than average in the mid-20th century, or California, which grew lustily in the succeeding half-century. It is Texas.

Its population grew 21 percent in the past decade, from nearly 21 million to more than 25 million. That was more rapid growth than in any states except for four much smaller ones (Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho).

Texas’ diversified economy, business-friendly regulations and low taxes have attracted not only immigrants but substantial inflow from the other 49 states. As a result, the 2010 reapportionment gives Texas four additional House seats. In contrast, California gets no new House seats, for the first time since it was admitted to the Union in 1850.

There’s a similar lesson in the fact that Florida gains two seats in the reapportionment and New York loses two.

This leads to a second point, which is that growth tends to be stronger where taxes are lower. Seven of the nine states that do not levy an income tax grew faster than the national average. The other two, South Dakota and New Hampshire, had the fastest growth in their regions, the Midwest and New England.

Altogether, 35 percent of the nation’s total population growth occurred in these nine non-taxing states, which accounted for just 19 percent of total population at the beginning of the decade.

Look at how many businesses have moved from California to Texas.

 Hasta La Vista, Arnold!: What California’s Budget Mess Means for America

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Kate Middleton and Prince William: Marriage made in Heaven? (Part 13)

May 5, 2011 – 6:55 am

 

 
 
First day as husband and wife: Newlyweds William and Kate emerged holding hands into the morning sunshine at Buckingham Palace before they left by helicopter for their honeymoon at a mystery locationFirst day as husband and wife: Newlyweds William and Kate emerged holding hands into the morning sunshine at Buckingham Palace before they left by helicopter for a mini honeymoon at a mystery location

 

 
Up, up and away: The couple walked across a gravel path in the palace gardens to a waiting maroon helicopter which whisked them away for their honeymoonUp, up and away: The couple walked across a gravel path in the palace gardens to a waiting maroon helicopter which whisked them away for the weekend.

 

Prince William and Kate moved in together about a year ago. In this clip above the commentator suggested that maybe Prince Charles and Princess Diana would not have divorced if they had lived together before marriage. Actually Diana was a virgin, and it was Charles’ uncle (Louis Mountbatten) that gave him the advice that he should seek to marry a virgin.

I really do wish Kate and William success in their marriage. Nevertheless, I do not think it is best to live together before marriage like they did, and I am writing this series to help couples see how best to prepare for marriage.
 
Below is the second of a three part series that is taken from the article “Cohabitation as a Means  to Marraige:One of the biggest reasons why marriage is more sucessful than cohabitation is commitment,” by Amy Tracy of Focus on the Family:

The Effects of Cohabitation

The experience Al and Alicia had is all too common of cohabitating relationships. According to The National Marriage Project, an estimated half of all couples now cohabitate before they marry. The fact that Al and Alicia married at all, and are still together, is a testament to their vibrant faith in Christ.

Unfortunately, many couples don’t fare the same. In fact, study after study shows that cohabitation is linked to poorer marital communication, lower marital satisfaction, higher levels of domestic violence and a greater chance of divorce.

Young people today are cynical concerning the validity and longevity of the marital union. Indeed, with fifty percent of all marriages ending in divorce, men and women believe it’s a good idea to try out different partners.

“Couples say that they need to kick the tires a little before settling down,” says Dr. Brad Wilcox, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, and director of the Marriage Matters Project. “But what they don’t understand is that once you adopt a consumer mentality, you undercut marriage and open yourself up to marital breakup and unhappiness.”

This assertion is backed up by plenty of research, including a 2002 report issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics that states, “The probability of a first marriage ending in separation or divorce within 5 years is 20 percent while the probability of a premarital cohabitation breaking up within 5 years is 49 percent. After 10 years, the probability of a first marriage ending is 33 percent, compared with 62 percent for cohabitation.”

Jason and Aerobics

(3/5) Adrian Rogers – No Other Way to Heaven Except Through Jesus

Getaway

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers | Comments (0)

Brothers Abdullah and Mubarak al-Harad of Al-Qaeda killed by US drone in Yemen today

May 5, 2011 – 6:53 am
US drone kills two in attack on Saudi Qaeda ...

Predator surveillance drone equipped

A Predator surveillance drone equipped with Hellfire missiles. A US drone has killed two local Al-Qaeda members after launching an attack on a Saudi Al-Qaeda leader in southern Yemen, a security source and witnesses told AFP

____________________________________

Sounds like President Obama is really get after Al-Qaeda now.

Yahoo News reported this morning:

 A US drone attacked a Saudi Al-Qaeda leader in southern Yemen on Thursday, but missed and killed two local Al-Qaeda members, a security source and witnesses told AFP.

The drone had targeted the Saudi as he drove to the home of local Al-Qaeda men, the security source said, asking not to be identified.

When the two local Qaeda men rushed out in their own car, they were hit and killed by the drone.

The security source did not specify that the unmanned aircraft was American and there was no official word from the Yemeni authorities on who carried out the strike.

But the witnesses insisted it was a US drone that fired the missile.

The defence ministry confirmed the killing of two brothers, but did not elaborate on the circumstances of their deaths. Security sources identified the two brothers as Abdullah and Mubarak al-Harad.

Witnesses said they saw a missile fired by an aircraft hit the two brothers in the province of Shabwa, where Al-Qaeda is well entrenched. The men died instantly.

A third person was wounded in the attack in the town of Nissab, the witnesses added.

The Washington Post reported in November that President Barack Obama’s administration had deployed unmanned Predator drones in Yemen to hunt for Al-Qaeda operatives.

Yemen has come under intense pressure to crack down on jihadists’ local franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, since a December 2009 attempt to blow up a US airliner that was claimed by AQAP.

Washington has expressed fears that Al-Qaeda could take advantage of a prolonged political crisis in Yemen, where President Ali Abdullah Saleh has faced mass protests since late January calling for him to step down.

Saleh, who is clinging to power, has been a close US ally in Washington’s fight against Al-Qaeda. Political violence has claimed the lives of 150 people since the start of this year.

An AQAP leader on Wednesday vowed revenge for the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a US special forces raid in Pakistan announced by the White House late on Sunday.

“We will take revenge for the death of our Sheikh Osama bin Laden and we will prove this to the enemies of God,” he told AFP, contacted by telephone from Abyan.

“They will see what they haven’t expected… We are preparing a plan to continue jihad in the coming period.”

President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden

President Obama praises those Americans who carried out the operation to kill Osama bin Laden, tells the families of the victims of September 11, 2001 that they have never been forgotten, and calls on Americans to remember the unity of that tragic day.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in President Obama | Comments (0)