The drama builds on Huckabee running, latest guess is no, but we know Saturday night for sure!!

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John Brummett in his article “Huckabee might run to stay on tv,” May 10, 2011, Arkansas News Bureau, noted:

He does not want to be president. He did not even want to be governor. He wants to gab; he wants to get paid by the word; he wants his own microphone and camera; he wants an adapted Falwell-Robertson kind of appeal; he wants to put out pamphlets and call them books; he wants stuff.

In his article “Huckabee isn’t running,” April 24, 2011, Arkansas News Bureau, Steve Brawner observed:

Huckabee isn’t lying when he says that he won’t decide until this summer. There is still a part of him that hasn’t shut the door. But he’s leaning strongly enough against the idea that he is comfortable with building this big house.

Jason Tolbert reported:

KATV’s Scott Inman sat down for an extended segment with Gov. Huckabee today on which aired tonight in central Arkansas.  In it, he sounds like he is inching closer to a decision to run.

Max Brantley in March noted:

I think Mike Huckabee is going to run for president, but I think he’s going to finesse the decision as long as possible to hang onto the money he makes as a non-candidate with his radio show (now on 560 stations) and his show on Fox News, which recently booted two commentators who’ve made not much more presidential noise than Huckabee.

Today Tolbert noted:

Huckabee plans some sort of “major announcement” on his show on Saturday. What is it? No one will say but Ed Rollins the man who would likely be his campaign manage is sounding like he thinks Huckabee is leaning toward not running.

Fox News just posted this.

Will he or won’t he make a run for the White House? The Gov. gives his answer LIVE on Huckabee, Saturday at 8p ET.

Plus, Ted Nugent on America’s fight against terrorism at home and overseas.

 

Where do I stand on this? I think Huckabee will probably not run. I earlier thought that he would run and I knew that he could always come back to Fox later and get his job back.However, I heard John Fund of the Wall Street Journal speak the other day and he commented that when people like the liberal President Obama are in control, it makes his job so much more easy. The subjects for the articles are handed to him on a platter by Obama everyday. I think the same is true for Huckabee and his show.

May 13, 2011 – 12:44 pm Categories: Mike Huckabee | Post a comment

President Obama to meet Flood victims in Memphis on Monday

President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama

The Associated Press reported this morning:

President Barack Obama will meet with families affected by flooding along the Mississippi River when he travels to Memphis, Tenn., on Monday.

The White House says Obama will also meet with first responders and state and local officials. The Mississippi crested in Memphis earlier this week at a near-record level, flooding low-lying neighborhoods and forcing hundreds of residents into emergency shelters.

Obama has declared Memphis, Shelby County and surrounding counties disaster areas, making them eligible for federal aid.

The president is traveling to Memphis to deliver a commencement address at a high school that won a White House education competition.

Downtown buildings are seen in the distance as the swollen Mississippi River spreads out in the foreground Tuesday, May 10, 2011, in Memphis, Tenn. The Mississippi River crested in Memphis at nearly 48 feet on Tuesday, falling short of its all-time record but still soaking low-lying areas with enough water to require a massive cleanup

Photo by Jeff Roberson, Associated Press

Downtown buildings are seen in the distance as the swollen Mississippi River spreads out in the foreground Tuesday, May 10, 2011, in Memphis, Tenn. The Mississippi River crested in Memphis at nearly 48 feet on Tuesday, falling short of its all-time record but still soaking low-lying areas with enough water to require a massive cleanup.

A car is partially submerged in floodwater at a junk yard Monday, May 9, 2011, in Memphis, Tenn. Memphis residents are waiting for the Mississippi River to reach its peak expected as early as Monday night as the river rises near its highest level ever in Memphis, flooding pockets of low-lying neighborhoods

Photo by Jeff Roberson, Associated Press

A car is partially submerged in floodwater at a junk yard Monday, May 9, 2011, in Memphis, Tenn. Memphis residents are waiting for the Mississippi River to reach its peak expected as early as Monday night as the river rises near its highest level ever in Memphis, flooding pockets of low-lying neighborhoods

Obama to speak at Memphis high school

May 13, 2011 – 11:45 am Categories: President Obama | Post a comment

Ronald Wilson Reagan (Part 83) (1981 Orsini McArthur murder case Part 7)

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From Oct. 28, 1980, here is part 3 of the Carter-Reagan Presidential Debate, which occurred in Cleveland, as taped from WJKW-TV, CBS. Amazing how things have changed…and yet stayed the same…in almost 30 years!!!

President Bill Clinton, left, and former Presidents George Bush, Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford stand with their wives during funeral services for former President Richard Nixon Wednesday, April 27, 1994, in Yorba Linda, Calif. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)President Bill Clinton, left, and former Presidents George Bush, Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford stand with their wives during funeral services for former President Richard Nixon Wednesday, April 27, 1994, in Yorba Linda, Calif. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)

Here is video clip of a cartoon about the Reagan Revolution (Tolbert Report provided video clip):

1984 Presidential Debate between President Reagan v Walter Mondale
NicaraguaMR. KONDRACKE: You’ve been quoted as saying that you might quarantine Nicaragua. I’d like to know what that means. Would you stop Soviet ships, as President Kennedy did in 1962? And wouldn’t that be more dangerous than President Reagan’s covert war?MR. MONDALE: What I’m referring to there is the mutual self-defense provisions that exist in the Inter-American treaty, the so-called Rio Pact, that permits the nations, our friends in that region, to combine to take steps — diplomatic and otherwise — to prevent Nicaragua, when she acts irresponsibly in asserting power in other parts outside of her border, to take those steps, whatever they might be, to stop it.The Nicaraguans must know that it is the policy of our government that that leadership must stay behind the boundaries of their nation, not interfere in other nations. And by working with all of the nations in the region — unlike the policies of this administration and unlike the President said, they have not supported negotiations in that region — we will be much stronger, because we’ll have the moral authority that goes with those efforts.
LebanonMR. KONDRACKE: President Reagan, you introduced U.S. forces into Lebanon as neutral peacekeepers, but then you made them combatants on the side of the Lebanese Government. Eventually you were forced to withdraw them under fire, and now Syria, a Soviet ally, is dominant in the country. Doesn’t Lebanon represent a major failure on the part of your administration and raise serious questions about your capacity as a foreign policy strategist and as Commander in Chief?THE PRESIDENT: No, Morton, I don’t agree to all of those things. First of all, when we and our allies — the Italians, the French, and the United Kingdom — went into Lebanon, we went in there at the request of what was left of the Lebanese Government to be a stabilizing force while they tried to establish a government.But the first — pardon me — the first time we went in, we went in at their request because the war was going on right in Beirut between Israel and the PLO terrorists. Israel could not be blamed for that. Those terrorists had been violating their northern border consistently, and Israel chased them all the way to there.Then we went in with the multinational force to help remove, and did remove, more than 13,000 of those terrorists from Lebanon. We departed. And then the Government of Lebanon asked us back in as a stabilizing force while they established a government and sought to get the foreign forces all the way out of Lebanon and that they could then take care of their own borders.And we were succeeding. We were there for the better part of a year. Our position happened to be at the airport. Oh, there were occasional snipings and sometimes some artillery fire, but we did not engage in conflict that was out of line with our mission. I will never send troops anywhere on a mission of that kind without telling them that if somebody shoots at them, they can darn well shoot back. And this is what we did. We never initiated any kind of action; we defended ourselves there.

But we were succeeding to the point that the Lebanese Government had been organized — if you will remember, there were the meetings in Geneva in which they began to meet with the hostile factional forces and try to put together some kind of a peace plan. We were succeeding, and that was why the terrorist acts began. There are forces there — and that includes Syria, in my mind — who don’t want us to succeed, who don’t want that kind of a peace with a dominant Lebanon, dominant over its own territory. And so, the terrorist acts began and led to the one great tragedy when they were killed in that suicide bombing of the building. Then the multilateral force withdrew for only one reason: We withdrew because we were no longer able to carry out the mission for which we had been sent in. But we went in in the interest of peace and to keep Israel and Syria from getting into the sixth war between them. And I have no apologies for our going on a peace mission.

MR. KONDRACKE: Mr. President, 4 years ago you criticized President Carter for ignoring ample warnings that our diplomats in Iran might be taken hostage. Haven’t you done exactly the same thing in Lebanon, not once, but three times, with 300 Americans, not hostages, but dead? And you vowed swift retaliation against terrorists, but doesn’t our lack of response suggest that you’re just bluffing?

THE PRESIDENT: Morton, no. I think there’s a great difference between the Government of Iran threatening our diplomatic personnel, and there is a government that you can see and can put your hand on. In the terrorist situation, there are terrorist factions all over. In a recent 30-day period, 37 terrorist acts in 20 countries have been committed. The most recent has been the one in Brighton. In dealing with terrorists, yes, we want to retaliate, but only if we can put our finger on the people responsible and not endanger the lives of innocent civilians there in the various communities and in the city of Beirut where these terrorists are operating.

I have just signed legislation to add to our ability to deal, along with our allies, with this terrorist problem. And it’s going to take all the nations together, just as when we banded together we pretty much resolved the whole problem of skyjackings sometime ago.

Well, the red light went on. I could have gone on forever.

MR. NEWMAN: Mr. Mondale, your rebuttal?

MR. MONDALE: Groucho Marx said, “Who do you believe? — me, or your own eyes?” And what we have in Lebanon is something that the American people have seen. The Joint Chiefs urged the President not to put our troops in that barracks because they were indefensible. They went to him 5 days before they were killed and said, “Please, take them out of there.” The Secretary of State admitted that this morning. He did not do so. The report following the explosion of the barracks disclosed that we had not taken any of the steps that we should have taken. That was the second time.

Then the Embassy was blown up a few weeks ago, and once again none of the steps that should have been taken were taken. And we were warned 5 days before that explosives were on their way, and they weren’t taken. The terrorists have won each time. The President told the terrorists he was going to retaliate. He didn’t. They called their bluff. And the bottom line is that the United States left in humiliation, and our enemies are stronger.

MR. NEWMAN: Mr. President, your rebuttal?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. First of all, Mr. Mondale should know that the President of the United States did not order the marines into that barracks. That was a command decision made by the commanders on the spot and based with what they thought was best for the men there. That is one.

On the other things that you’ve just said about the terrorists, I’m tempted to ask you what you would do. These are unidentified people, and after the bomb goes off, they’re blown to bits because they are suicidal individuals who think they’re going to go to paradise if they perpetrate such an act and lose their life in doing it. We are going to, as I say, we’re busy trying to find the centers where these operations stem from, and retaliation will be taken. But we’re not going to simply kill some people to say, “Oh, look, we got even.” We want to know when we retaliate that we’re retaliating with those who are responsible for the terrorist acts. And terrorist acts are such that our own United States Capitol in Washington has been bombed twice.

MR. NEWMAN: Mr. Trewhitt, your question to President Reagan?
The President’s Age

Mr. Trewhitt. Mr. President, I want to raise an issue that I think has been lurking out there for 2 or 3 weeks and cast it specifically in national security terms. You already are the oldest President in history. And some of your staff say you were tired after your most recent encounter with Mr. Mondale. I recall yet that President Kennedy had to go for days on end with very little sleep during the Cuban missile crisis. Is there any doubt in your mind that you would be able to function in such circumstances?

THE PRESIDENT: Not at all, Mr. Trewhitt, and I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience. [Laughter and applause] If I still have time, I might add, Mr. Trewhitt, I might add that it was Seneca or it was Cicero, I don’t know which, that said, “If it was not for the elders correcting the mistakes of the young, there would be no state.”

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

Old Soldier’s of the Civil War

(Grant Co., WI, Circa 1890’s)

Probably members of the Sam Montieth Post – G.A.R.
and/or of the Wisconsin 7th Volunteer Infantry – The Iron Brigade

Photo includes:

John and Sophronia (McGhan) McLimans
(couple just to the left of the doors)

Thomas and Mary Ann (Thomas) Walker
(Thomas is 2nd to right on the first row – Mary Ann is the last woman on the right in the back row)

______________________________________________

Excerpts from Mary Lee Orsini transcript

The following is a series of excerpts from a July 17 interview between Mary Lee Orsini and Sgt. Jim Dixon and Major Jackie Goodson of the Pulaski County sheriff’s office. The transcript was edited only for basic spelling.

Sergeant Dixon: Could we start with uh, when you got up the morning, or the date of the occurrence.
Mary Lee Orsini: Okay, okay. Well the crime was actually committed uh a little bit after one o’clock in the morning on March the twelfth. Uh I had uh, stolen my husband’s gun some weeks before. Uh I had secreted it in the house and uh um that that morning uh, I got up and uh, I went into the bedroom. My daughter had been ill and I had set with my daughter a couple of nights before, which was legitimate. I mean it was a lot made out of that, but it was legitimate. She had a swimmer’s ear, which she frequently had problems with; and I was sleeping with her. And uh I got up and I, and I had taken the gun and I had shot my husband, and I closed the door, locked the door and closed the door and uh I went through a ruse that morning to prevent my daughter from going into the room. Uh I took her to school. I then uh, took the gun and the robe that I had on, and the that shoes I had on, the rubber gloves that I had on. Everything and I took and destroyed those. I don’t know the name of the place, I could probably tell you where they were thrown; probably not there anymore. I don’t know about the gun. But I, and I proceeded to go through uh the ruse of calling my husband at work uh, then uh his partner told me how to get into the door, which I really didn’t know how to get into the door. Uh I knew I had seen him use something to get into the door. I later found out they were allen wrenches but I used a a skewer from the bar-b-que and I went in the door and uh, then I called the police and feigned a hysterical uh call to the North Little Rock Police Department. Really the, the operator switched me but I guess because of the telephone number to the Sherwood and I guess somehow got switched over. I think I was, if I remember correctly I was trying to get a hold of the ambulance. And when I told her my husband had blood all over him then she called the operator and was switching things around and it got real confusing. And uh she called the North Little Rock Police Department, someone did; I think the operator. And they came out and it ensued from that. There was a lot of controversy about a car being out front of my housed that night. And a girl seen across the street. And when that was, when that came up that was news to me. There was no car involved, there was no else involved. It was solely on my own volition.
. . .
Dixon: And you took that and the, and the revolver and you discarded those, those items? Did you do this before taking your daughter to school or?
Orsini: No, I never left the house. I went down to the uh, to the garage. I wrapped everything up. The gun up in the gown, the gown and robe and stuff put it back in a plastic bag back behind my seat. Uh and went back up the bed room where my daughter was and uh, uh, when I got her up, I took, dropped her off at the school and then, I uh, she went to Central which I’m not sure if you’re familiar and then I…
Dixon: Central High in Little Rock.
Orsini: No, no, no the old Central, seventh grade school. That’s where she went. You know what I’m talking about, right? I don’t know what street it’s are over there.
Major Goodson: Central Junior High.
Orsini: Yeah, they were all in the seventh grade. All the seventh grade kids go there. I dropped her off there and gave her a doctors permit to go back to school. And uh, I discarded the uh, discarded the gun and the stuff. After that I left.
Dixon: Can you recall where you discarded these items?
Orsini: I don’t know the name of the street, but I can tell you, with you probably being familiar with North Little Rock, I can tell you the directions. I’m not real good with streets and stuff but uh I went the old back way, I don’t remember that highway uh I think it’s called the Old Jacksonville Highway. You’re back behind McAlmont; that way. Okay. You know how Wildwood and Sherwood; you come back up through to the Old Round Top Filling Station there? Okay you come up that road there, well there’s like swamps on both sides of that road okay…
Dixon: Trammel Road.
Orsini: Trammel Road. Okay, as I’m facing Sherwood there was a culvert or little bridge like thing, I threw the gun and the, and the screwdriver thing I used to break into the back door, I threw it over this way, on the, into that swamp. The gown and stuff I threw back up by a dump that I saw a bunch of stuff discarded.
. . .
Goodson: So what I need you to do is try to go through this. I know you don’t want to get into the reason for it, but I think we need to go into some motive about why you would do this to your husband. If we don’t get into that then so it, it doesn’t all fit. You know what I’m saying.
Orsini: And I know what you’re saying, and I’m not really wanting to cover up. But I just really think that for everybody’s sake that I don’t need to go into a motive. I’m responsible. And I take full responsibility for it.
Goodson: Well what concerns me is that you stole your husband’s gun two weeks prior. Does that mean that you were planning this at least two weeks prior too?
Orsini: Yeah I was, you know uh, course you’ve never done anything like this, and I hadn’t either prior to that point. And uh you know, you talk yourself into it, you talk yourself out of it, you talk yourself into it, you talk yourself out of it. And in essence that’s what I was doing.
Goodson: Can you give me some idea as to why you would do that to your husband and the father of your daughter.
Orsini: He wasn’t, he was my daughter’s stepfather;
Goodson: Oh okay I’m sorry.
Orsini: But none the less Ron did not deserve this. You know uh, I know it sounds contradictory but uh there was just a set of circumstances that lead up to it and uh they’re not really important today.
Goodson: Well uh, it is in order to making sense of when someone says I-I killed someone. You know the first question that you’re going to ask if someone told you that is; why? Is it financial, is it-is it…
Orsini: Yeah in-in part it was financial-in part it was financial. We had uh…
Goodson: Is it abuse? Is it uh…
Orsini: No he’s not abusive, no. He had uh, nor is he sexual, nor did he do anything to my daughter. No, no, no.
Goodson: That’s what I’m saying if you don’t-if you don’t come up with why, then you got this-all this out here that can come into something.
Orsini: Okay, okay. I understand. So you’re saying an omission is as bad as …okay.
Goodson: Cause you’re leaving it out there for anybody to…
Orsini: Okay can I make brief toward this instead of just really putting it out there, cause all the details involved a lot of innocent people that really didn’t do anything wrong it’s involving them. You know I really just don’t want to get into a whole lot of. You know, you know that um, you know that there’s no way I can do this quietly. I can’t go crawl under a table and do this.
Goodson: I understand.
Orsini: You know it’s right, it’s just, and they’re still people that’s suffering behind this.
Goodson: Well I’m telling you I can appreciate your strength over this. Uh but again I think you do an injustice too…
Orsini: Primarily it was financial. We had gotten ourselves into a situation, which uh was primarily was my fault for uh, uh my husband had wanted to move back when were in our original house back when we were uh married and uh, if y’all remember when Carter was in office it was projected interest rates were going sky high and by the end of 1980 I remember it was 23 percent. My husband was in the contracting business, and air conditioning business so he uh, he knew kind of what was going to happen and he said you know we need to move. The house we used to live in doubled itself. But uh, you know and we got our loan quick. The problem that we had was that-that uh, all the other transactions that got involved with estate agent that wasn’t all on the up and up, and twisted some things around and uh which was my fault for letting her do that. And I-and I did it behind my husband’s back. To try and go head and take care of the situation to get into the house; which we both were happy with getting into the house. Uh, you know to make a long story short uh, Ron was killed so he wouldn’t catch me, and all those lies I had told him. You know I-I know that sounds uh really crazy, but you can, uh, but you care enough for somebody that you don’t want them to know really that there’s um, that um you weren’t honest with them.
Goodson: Was there ever any threats…
Orsini: No.
Goodson: Of harm or anything, something to…
Orsini: No, no, I look back now that wisdom comes after understanding. Well when you get wisdom and you get understanding you know uh-uh the wisest thing I would’ve been-would have been was sit down with him and work it out. Because at that time my income was increasing and uh there could have been a solution. But uh uh evidently there were areas I wasn’t mature in, and uh I was scared. And uh I had lied to him enough about the situations, that uh you know most people kill over affairs. Both of us were-neither one of us was having affairs. As you know I think that’s probably why the case was always so crazy. Because there was no clear cut motive for anybody to, I mean yes Sergeant Farley brought out the thing; even he didn’t get an accurate picture of what was uh…
Goodson: He brought out what?
Orsini: You know the financial situation, cause he traced it back and could see that you know-in all essence within a week we would have collapsed you know financially in the present state. That’s what my thinking was then, and uh had I been wise; which I was not um I could sit down with my husband, there could been some renegotiating but I wasn’t wise I was very stupid.
Goodson: So you’re saying that, that’s the reason that this all occurred on that night?
Orsini: Yeah.
Goodson: The night that you walked in there with the gun in your hand, was due to the fact; I don’t want to put word in your mouth but I’m trying to understand…
Orsini: I understand what you’re saying.
Goodson: But you didn’t want to be confronted with the facts of the lies that you had told him that…
Orsini: Exactly.
. . .

May 13, 2011 – 8:34 am Categories: Ronald Reagan | Post a comment

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 49)

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.

Yesterday I emailed to this above address and I got this email back from Senator Pryor’s office:

Please note, this is not a monitored email account. Due to the sheer volume of correspondence I receive, I ask that constituents please contact me via my website with any responses or additional concerns. If you would like a specific reply to your message, please visit http://pryor.senate.gov/contact. This system ensures that I will continue to keep Arkansas First by allowing me to better organize the thousands of emails I get from Arkansans each week and ensuring that I have all the information I need to respond to your particular communication in timely manner.  I appreciate you writing. I always welcome your input and suggestions. Please do not hesitate to contact me on any issue of concern to you in the future.

Therefore, I went to the website and sent this email below:

Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself at 8am CST on May 13, 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:

Here are some of his specific suggestions:

Transportation

Agency/Program Funding Level Savings % Decrease
Transportation $43.855 B $4.810 B 49%
The Department of Transportation’s main function is to extract tax dollars from the states and then return those
dollars back to the states to fund highway, transit, airports and other transportation related programs. The department
is notorious for providing Members of Congress an avenue to direct funding and earmarks to their states, which is
frequently highlighted by the press for being wasteful and inefficient. Many states complain of funding that is provided
for projects that are not needed and the associated increase in overall costs. For example, due to the many provisions included in transportation funding, such as the Buy-America clause, it is estimated federally funded projects cost nearly twice as much as the amount a state would pay for the same project.

The proposal includes funding the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration at the level of projected gas tax revenue of $37 billion. The proposal eliminates Amtrak subsidies, and reduces the remainder of
the department back to FY2008 levels, with an additional reduction of 20 percent.

Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration: Funded at Gas Tax Levels
Established in in 1956, the U.S. Highway Trust fund uses excise taxes off the sale of gasoline to fund three major
programs – mostly highways, a much smaller account for mass transit, and an even smaller fund to address leaking underground storage tanks. Currently, the American consumer pays 18.4 cents per gallon in taxes to fund this trust
fund. Because of changes to the laws governing the trust fund, the fund no longer just had to be used for highways,
but could be used for any form of transportation – bike lanes, subway systems, etc., that may not use the amounts of fuel needed to sustain the program.
Because of the constant depletion of the trust fund by departments that are unaffiliated with the highway system,
additional taxpayer funds are forced to be used to accommodate the $52 billion FY2010 budget of the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. The current push to reduce emissions and make vehicles more energy efficient will only leave the American taxpayer more on the hook for mismanagement of funds. Setting a cap on these two programs at the amount of excise tax collected will require the federal government to prioritize road projects more efficiently and places decision making and implementation of road maintenance where it can be done best – the states.

Amtrak Subsidies: Eliminate
Created by an act of Congress in 1970 to provide passenger rail service, Amtrak has yet to turn a yearly profit. During
its first 35 years, federal assistance amounted to approximately $30 billion. Yet from FY2007 to FY2010 that number has increased by $7 billion. Of the 44 routes and 21,000 miles of track the trains travel over, only 625 miles are
actually owned by Amtrak. Congress has forced freight rail companies to allow Amtrak to use the lines the freight rail
companies own and maintain.


We need to allow the states to have a greater say in trail service between their cities. To provide better service,
Amtrak must learn to make the difficult decisions on routes and coverage to develop a sound business model, which
will push them toward becoming profitable.

May 13, 2011 – 8:08 am Categories: Uncategorized | Comments (2)

Pictures and Video of aftermath of May 13, 2011 attack in Pakistan

Soldiers of Pakistan army and police officer ...

Soldiers stand guard

Soldiers of Pakistan army and police officer stand guard after a bombing in Shabqadar near Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, May 13, 2011. A police officer says the death toll in a pair of explosions outside a security force training center in northwest Pakistan has risen to 80. Liaqat Ali Khan says 66 victims in the attack Friday were recruits for the Frontier Corps. The attack is the bloodiest in Pakistan since the U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida chief on May 2. Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, has said the attack was in retaliation for bin Laden’s death.

Soldiers of the Pakistan army at the bombing ...

Soldiers of Pakistan army at bombing site

Soldiers of the Pakistan army at the bombing site in Shabqadar near Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, May 13, 2011. A police officer says the death toll in a pair of explosions outside a security force training center in northwest Pakistan has risen to 80. Liaqat Ali Khan says 66 victims in the attack Friday were recruits for the Frontier Corps. The attack is the bloodiest in Pakistan since the U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida chief on May 2. Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, has said the attack was in retaliation for bin Laden’s death.

Soldiers of Pakistani paramilitary force, check ...

Soldiers of Pakistani paramilitary force

Soldiers of Pakistani paramilitary force, check a damaged vehicle at the site of a bombing outside a paramilitary training center in Shabqadar near Peshawar, Pakistan, Friday, May 13, 2011. A pair of suicide bombers attacked recruits leaving a paramilitary training center in Pakistan on Friday, killing 80 people in the first retaliation for the killing of Osama bin Laden by American commandos last week.

Supporters of Pakistani religious group Jamiat ...

Supporters of Pakistani religious group Jamiat …

Supporters of Pakistani religious group Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chant slogan during an anti U.S. rally in Abbottabad, Pakistan on Friday, May 13, 2011. Pakistan is facing pressure from inside the country and abroad to explain why Pakistani intelligence didn’t know that bin Laden was hiding in their country and whether some Pakistani officials knew and protected him. The placard in center top reading as ‘Osama your blood will bring revolution’.

______________________________

Members of the paramilitary forces stand at the ...

Clothing and other items from victims are seen ...

Clothing and other items are seen

Clothing and other items from victims are seen collected and put in a pile at the site of a suicide bomb blast in Charsadda, northwest Pakistan May 13, 2011. Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 80 people at a paramilitary force academy in the northwest on Friday, and vowed further bloodshed in retaliation for the death of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid in the country.

A Pakistani security official shows photographs ...

Pakistani security official shows photographs

A Pakistani security official shows photographs he found in the luggage of soldiers after a bombing in Shabqadar near Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, May 13, 2011. A police officer says the death toll in a pair of explosions outside a security force training center in northwest Pakistan has risen to 80. Liaqat Ali Khan says 66 victims in the attack Friday were recruits for the Frontier Corps. The attack is the bloodiest in Pakistan since the U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida chief on May 2. Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, has said the attack was in retaliation for bin Laden’s death.

Pakistani security officials visit the site of ...

Pakistani security officials

Pakistani security officials visit the site of bombing at a gate of training school in Shabqadar near Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, May 13, 2011. A police officer says the death toll in a pair of explosions outside a security force training center in northwest Pakistan has risen to 80. Liaqat Ali Khan says 66 victims in the attack Friday were recruits for the Frontier Corps. The attack is the bloodiest in Pakistan since the U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida chief on May 2. Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, has said the attack was in retaliation for bin Laden’s death.

Pakistani security officials collect caps and ...

Pakistani security officials

Pakistani security officials collect caps and uniforms of their colleagues at the site of bombing in Shabqadar near Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, May 13, 2011. A police officer says the death toll in a pair of explosions outside a security force training center in northwest Pakistan has risen to 80. Liaqat Ali Khan says 66 victims in the attack Friday were recruits for the Frontier Corps. The attack is the bloodiest in Pakistan since the U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida chief on May 2. Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, has said the attack was in retaliation for bin Laden’s death.

A Pakistani security official stands guard at ...

Pakistani officials visit the site of bombing ...

Pakistani officials visit the site of the bombing ...
Men bring coffins to a hospital morgue in Peshawar, ...

Men bring coffins

Men bring coffins to a hospital morgue in Peshawar, for the victims of a suicide bomb blast in Charsadda May 13, 2011. Suicide bombers attacked a Pakistani paramilitary academy on Friday killing 80 people in revenge for the death of Osama bin Laden as Pakistani anger over the U.S. raid to get the al Qaeda leader showed no sign of cooling.

Member of the paramilitary forces stands guard ...

Member of paramilitary forces stands guard

A member of the paramilitary forces stands guard with a rocket launcher at the site of a suicide bomb blast in Charsadda, northwest Pakistan May 13, 2011. Suicide bombers attacked a Pakistani paramilitary academy on Friday killing 80 people in revenge for the death of Osama bin Laden as Pakistani anger over the U.S. raid to get the al Qaeda leader showed no sign of cooling. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz

Site of a suicide bomb blast is reflected in ...

Site of suicide bomb blast is reflected

The site of a suicide bomb blast is reflected in the side mirror of a damaged vehicle in Charsadda, northwest Pakistan May 13, 2011. Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 80 people at a paramilitary force academy in the northwest on Friday, and vowed further bloodshed in retaliation for the death of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid in the country.

Townspeople look on as a member of the paramilitary ...

Townspeople look on

Townspeople look on as a member of the paramilitary forces cordons off the site of a suicide bomb blast in Charsadda, northwest Pakistan May 13, 2011. Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 80 people at a paramilitary force academy in the northwest on Friday, and vowed further bloodshed in retaliation for the death of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid in the country

May 13, 2011 – 7:46 am Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

“We have done this to avenge…”Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban

A soldier of Pakistani para military force collects ...

Soldier of Pakistani para military force

A soldier of Pakistani para military force collects the belongings of his colleagues after a bombing in Shabqadar near Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, May 13, 2011. A police officer says the death toll in a pair of explosions outside a security force training center in northwest Pakistan has risen to 80. Liaqat Ali Khan says 66 victims in the attack Friday were recruits for the Frontier Corps. The attack is the bloodiest in Pakistan since the U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida chief on May 2. Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, has said the attack was in retaliation for bin Laden’s death.

Ishtiaz Mahsud of the the Associated Press reported this morning:

Pakistani intelligence officials say a U.S. missile strike killed three people near the Afghan border.

The four missiles struck a vehicle Friday in the Doga Madakhel village of North Waziristan tribal region. North Waziristan is home to many militant groups dedicated to attacking Western troops in Afghanistan.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. They did not know the identities of the dead.

The strike occurred amid tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan over the May 2 American raid that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil. The U.S. relies heavily on the covert, CIA-run missile program to kill Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

SHABQADAR, Pakistan (AP) — A pair of suicide bombers attacked recruits leaving a paramilitary training center in Pakistan on Friday, killing 80 people in the first retaliation for the killing of Osama bin Laden by American commandos last week.

The blasts in the northwest were a reminder of the savagery of al-Qaida-linked militants in Pakistan. They occurred even as the country faces international suspicion that elements within its security forces may have been harboring bin Laden, who was killed in a raid in Abbottabad, about a three hours’ drive from the scene of the bombing.

“We have done this to avenge the Abbottabad incident,” Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, told The Associated Press in a phone call. He warned that the group was also planning attacks on Americans living inside Pakistan.

The bombers blew themselves up in Shabqadar at the main gate of the facility for the Frontier Constabulary, a poorly equipped but front-line force in the battle against al-Qaida and allied Islamist groups like the Pakistani Taliban close to the Afghan border. Like other branches of Pakistan’s security forces, it has received U.S. funding to try to sharpen its skills.

At least 80 people were killed, including 66 recruits, and around 120 people were wounded, said police officer Liaqat Ali Khan.

Around 900 young men were leaving the center after spending six months of training there. They were in high spirits and looking forward to seeing their families, for which some had brought gifts, a survivor said.

Some people were sitting inside public minivans and others were loading luggage atop the vehicles when the bombers struck, witnesses said.

“We were heading toward a van when the first blast took place and we fell on the ground and then there was another blast,” said 21-year-old Rehmanullah Khan. “We enjoyed our time together, all the good and bad weather and I cannot forget the cries of my friends before they died.”

The scene was littered with shards of glass mixed with blood and flesh. The explosions destroyed at least 10 vans.

It was the first major militant attack in Pakistan since bin Laden’s death on May 2, and the deadliest this year.

Militants had pledged to avenge the killing and launch reprisal strikes in Pakistan.

The Taliban spokesman also suggested the attack was aimed as punishment against Pakistani authorities for failing to stop the unilateral U.S. raid that killed bin Laden, something that has sparked popular nationalist and Islamist anger.

“The Pakistani army has failed to protect its land,” Ahsan said.

In its communications, the Taliban often tries to tap into popular sentiments in the country, where anti-Americanism is often stronger than feelings against Islamist militants. This is despite militant attacks over the last four years claiming the lives of many hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians.

Some 350 lawyers sympathetic with Islamists attended special prayers for bin Laden on the premises of the provincial high court in the eastern city of Lahore on Friday. The lawyers cursed the May 2 raid, chanting “Down with America.”

The explosive vests used in Friday’s attacks were packed with ball bearings and nails, police said.

Police official Nisar Khan said a suicide bomber in his late teens or early 20s set off one of the blasts.

“The first blast occurred in the middle of the road, and after that there was a huge blast that was more powerful than the first,” said Abdul Wahid, a 25-year-old recruit whose legs were wounded in the blasts.

He said he was knocked to the ground by the force of the explosions.

“After falling, I just started crawling and dragging myself to a safer place … along the wall of a roadside shop,” he said.

The Sept. 11 mastermind and at least four others were killed by U.S. Navy SEALs who raided bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, a garrison city not far from the capital. Bin Laden is believed to have lived in the large house for up to six years.

Pakistani officials have denied knowing he was there but have criticized the American raid ordered by President Barack Obama as a violation of their country’s sovereignty. To counter allegations that Pakistan had harbored bin Laden, the officials have pointed out that many thousands of Pakistani citizens, and up to 3,000 of its security forces, have died in suicide bombings and other attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, when Islamabad became an ally of the U.S. in taking on Islamist extremists.

Many of the attacks in Pakistan have targeted security forces, but government buildings, religious minorities, public places and Western targets have also been hit.

___

Associated Press writers Ashraf Khan and Deb Riechmann in Islamabad, Babar Dogar in Lahore and Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan contributed to this report.

Family members accompany a man, who was injured ...

Family members accompany man, who was injured

Family members accompany a man, who was injured by a suicide bomb blast in Charsadda, as he is treated at Lady Reading hospital in Peshawar May 13, 2011. Suicide bombers attacked a Pakistani paramilitary academy on Friday killing 80 people in revenge for the death of Osama bin Laden as Pakistani anger over the U.S. raid to get the al Qaeda leader showed no sign of cooling.

May 13, 2011 – 7:19 am Categories: President Obama | Post a comment

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 48)

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. Yesterday I emailed to this above address and I got this email back from Senator Pryor’s office:

Please note, this is not a monitored email account. Due to the sheer volume of correspondence I receive, I ask that constituents please contact me via my website with any responses or additional concerns. If you would like a specific reply to your message, please visit http://pryor.senate.gov/contact. This system ensures that I will continue to keep Arkansas First by allowing me to better organize the thousands of emails I get from Arkansans each week and ensuring that I have all the information I need to respond to your particular communication in timely manner.  I appreciate you writing. I always welcome your input and suggestions. Please do not hesitate to contact me on any issue of concern to you in the future.

Therefore, I went to the website and sent this email below at 7:10 am:

Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself.

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:

Here are some of his specific suggestions:

State
Agency/Program Funding Level Savings % Decrease
State $8.424 B $20.321 B 71%
Despite billions of dollars spent in attempts to prop up economically weak countries, U.S. foreign aid has had almost an opposite effect. In the 1990s, a Clinton administration task force found that despite decades of foreign assistance, most of Africa and parts of Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East are economically worse off today than they were 20 years ago. In 2000, the Meltzer Commission found that the World Bank and organizations like it spent record levels backing projects in developing nations, only to have 55 to 60 percent of them fail because the money went to poorly managed economies where the money was either squandered by corrupt officials or imprudently spent.
Instead of reaching the people who need it, foreign aid has increased the size of the state rather than the welfare of the people. After reviewing aid flowing to 95 countries, researchers at the London School of Economics found that
virtually all the aid went toward consumption. It did not increase investment in growth, nor benefit the poor. But it did increase the size of government. Historical examples tell us the same: From 1961 to 1989, the U.S. sent well over $2 billion in aid to India, almost all of which went to the Indian state. Similarly, in the 1980s and 90s, African economists frequently complained that 90 percent of U.S. aid to sub-Saharan Africa went directly to governments.
Finally, there is no evidence that aiding developing nations produces rapid and widespread economic reforms.
Though many list South Korea and Taiwan as success stories of U.S. economic assistance, those counties began to take off economically only after massive U.S. aid was cut off. Similarly, numerous studies have disputed the link
between aid money and economic reforms. In fact, A 2002 World Bank study admitted that they had been “overly optimistic about the prospects for reform, thereby contributing to the misallocation of aid.”

May 13, 2011 – 6:59 am Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

Kate Middleton and Prince William: Marriage made in Heaven? (Part 22)

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.

Albert Mohler wrote an excellent article, ” ‘The Cohabitation Trap’–Why Marriage Matters,” August 16, 2005 and I  wanted to post a portion of it everyday and here is part 1:  

Does living together before marriage lead to successful marriages? The very fact that Psychology Today takes up this question in its August 2005 cover story is significant. In essence, the article “The Cohabitation Trap: When ‘Just Living Together’ Sabotages Love,” provides a fascinating look into how secular social science evaluates the question. Written by Nancy Wartik, the article is advertised with the following blurb: “Living together before marriage seems like a smart way to road test the relationship. But cohabitation may lead you to wed for all the wrong reasons–or turn into a one-way trip to splitsville.” Wartik’s article deserves attention, and Christians should be interested to overhear this secular consideration of marriage and its meaning.

Wartik begins the article by describing her own situation–currently married to the man she lived with prior to matrimony. Looking back, she explains her situation: “By then, we were 99 percent sure we’d marry someday–just not without living together first. I couldn’t imagine getting hitched to anyone I hadn’t taken on a test-spin as a roommate. Conjoin with someone before sharing a bathroom? Not likely!”

The logic Wartik describes is shared by millions of Americans. According to her research, nearly five million opposite-sex couples in the United States currently live together without marriage, and millions more have done so at some time in the past. Within just a few years of deciding to live together, most couples either get married or dissolve the relationship.

An amazingly large number of Americans see cohabitation as something of a laboratory for future marriage. Individuals agree to cohabitate, enjoying personal and sexual intimacy, without making the final commitment of marriage. The period of cohabitation amounts to a test-run for marriage. The logic is simple–couples believe that living together will allow them to make an informed and reasonable decision about marriage. 

Nevertheless, the research is now clear. Cohabitation prior to marriage serves to undermine, rather than to strengthen the marital bond. Here’s how Wartik summarizes the research: “Couples who move in together before marriage have up to two times the odds of divorce, as compared with couples who marry before living together. Moreover, married couples who have lived together before exchanging vows tend to have poorer-quality marriages than couples who moved in after the wedding. Those who cohabited first report less satisfaction, more arguing, poorer communication and lower levels of commitment.”

Social scientists are alarmed at these findings. Some now believe that cohabitation before marriage undermines the very notion of commitment. As Wartik explains, “The precautions we take to ensure marriage is right for us may wind up working against us.”

__________________________

Tim Hawkins Things you don’t say to your wife

 

Official royal wedding photos: Prince William, Kate Middleton are all smiles [Poll]

 .

The portraits, taken by their official photographer Hugo Burnand in the Buckingham Palace throne room, include three poses: A romantic image of the couple alone, a cheery ensemble picture of the pair with the children,  

Official royal wedding photo of Prince William, Kate Middleton and one for the family album, featuring the bride and groom with the wedding party, their parents, siblings and of course William’s grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

 Of course the monarchy in England no longer has the power that it used to. Now the power is with the house of commons. Likewise, in the USA President Obama and the Congress have all the power.

Monarchy The Royal Family at Work Part 4 of 7
  

Adrian Rogers – Simplicity of Salvation (1 4)

Weekend to Remember Story – Dennis Rainey

May 13, 2011 – 6:56 am Categories: Adrian Rogers | Post a comment

NYC Terror Plot Arrest May 12, 2011

NYC terror plot arrests

The Associated Press reported today:

Two U.S. residents, including one who complained that the world was treating Muslims “like dogs,” bought guns and a grenade and wanted to carry out a terror plot against a New York synagogue, officials said Thursday.

One of the alleged homegrown terrorists also expressed interest in bombing the Empire State Building, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

But there was no indication that the plot orchestrated as part of a sting operation ever put New Yorkers in danger and no evidence that the men were affiliated with any terrorist organization.

Ahmed Ferhani, a 26-year-old of Algerian descent, and Mohamed Mamdouh, a 20-year-old of Moroccan descent, plotted to bomb a “major synagogue” in Manhattan and bought several weapons and an inert hand grenade from an undercover officer, city officials said in announcing the arrests.

Ferhani and Mamdouh were arraigned in Manhattan court late Thursday afternoon. Ferhani wore a pin-striped suit and carried a Yankees cap, Mamdouh was wearing jeans. They were being held without bail and face life in prison if convicted.

Their attorneys said the two denied the charges

“Mr. Ferhani tells me he hasn’t committed any crime at all,” said lawyer Stephen Pokart.

Mamdouh’s attorney, Steven Fusfeld, noted that even under the prosecutor’s version of the events, which he doesn’t think was true, Mamdouh’s alleged involvement is less than Ferhani’s and it wasn’t right to treat them both the same.

“My client says he is not guilty of these crimes,” he said. “He’s upset because he maintains he committed no crime.”

Officials said investigators had been using an undercover detective wearing a wire to track Ferhani for several months. They said the detective heard Ferhani say he hated Jews and was fed up with the way Muslims — especially Palestinians — were treated around the world.

“They’re treating us like dogs,” Ferhani said once, according to Kelly.

Ferhani is also the one who expressed interest in the Empire State Building attack, Kelly said.

According to a criminal complaint drafted under state terror laws, Ferhani told the detective about “his intent to participate in jihad,” meaning holy war, and that “he would become a martyr.”

Over time, Ferhani “showed a pattern of growing anger, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said.

“His plans became bigger and more violent with every passing week,” Vance said.

The undercover detective had several meetings with the men during which Ferhani discussed the idea of attacking a synagogue, the complaint said. Mamdouh emphasized the need for proper training, the complaint said, so they would not get caught like “the one that put the car in Times Square” — a reference to the failed bombing last year by Faisal Shahzad.

Ferhani suggested disguising himself as a worshipping Jew so he could infiltrate a synagogue and leave a bomb inside, the complaint said. He also discussed using grenades, “and described pulling the pins and throwing them into the synagogue,” it added.

On May 5, the undercover detective introduced the men to another officer pretending to be an illegal gun dealer at a meeting where Ferhani stated he needed the weapons “for the cause,” the complaint said.

“We gonna be victorious,” it quoted Ferhani as saying.

At a roadside meeting Wednesday on Manhattan’s West Side, one of the undercover officers handed Ferhani a bag holding three handguns, three boxes of ammo and the inert grenade. As soon as Ferhani put the bag into the trunk of a car, he was arrested, the complaint said. Mamdouh was picked up nearby.

New York City police have been on high alert for potential threats to the city since the U.S. raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden over a week ago, though Kelly said the men had no apparent link to al-Qaida.

“We are concerned about lone wolves acting against New York city in the wake of the killing of bin Laden,” Bloomberg said. “Those perhaps are the toughest to stop.”

Officials refused to give details on how the first undercover officer met Ferhani, who later introduced the officer to Mamdouh.

Ferhani, who had been arrested for a robbery in Manhattan last October, was known to the department through intelligence before the arrest. Police said they shared the information with the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which declined to pursue the case federally.

New York passed its own anti-terrorism law within six days of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but this case is the first time it has been used to prosecute suspected terrorism.

“New York City is an international symbol of freedom and liberty, and for that reason we will always be a target,” Bloomberg said. “And we will always be on guard to protect the people of this city.”

Authorities said Ferhani, who is unemployed, moved to the U.S. in August 1995 from Algeria with two siblings and his parents, who claimed asylum. He has been living in Queens and had been granted permanent resident status by authorities, but he is facing deportation.

Mamdouh, a tall lanky man who is a native of Casablanca, is a taxi service dispatcher. He came to the United States with his parents in August 1999 and is now a U.S. citizen, officials said. His attorney said he lives in Queens with his brother and sister, and his parents are local business owners.

The case recalled another NYPD investigation that resulted in the conviction of a Pakistani immigrant on charges he plotted to bomb the subway station in Herald Square to avenge the wartime abuses of Iraqis.

The suspect, Shahawar Matin Siraj, had caught the attention of a police informant and an undercover officer — both assigned to track Islamic extremists following the Sept. 11 attacks — with his anti-American rants.

After plotting with the informant, Siraj and another man who later became a cooperator against him were arrested on the eve of the 2004 Republican National Convention carrying crude diagrams of the subway station situated below a dense shopping district that includes Macy’s flagship department store.

Siraj was sentenced in 2007 to 30 years in prison.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Fitzgerald, Chris Hawley and Tom Hays contributed to this report.

Osama bin Laden
 

Broadcast
As the U.S. fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bin Laden periodically released audio and video recordings (like this one, from 2007) calling for the destruction of America and its allies.

May 12, 2011 – 5:55 pm Categories: President Obama | Post a comment

Mike Huckabee to Osama bin Laden: “Welcome to Hell” (Part 8)Woody Allen’s movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” is a perfect example of why hell the only “enforcement factor”

Crimes & Misdemeanors (pictured is Judah and his criminal brother, ultimately his brother hires a hitman to take out Judah’s girlfriend who threatens to turn Judah over to the cops)

Crimes & Misdemeanors

Crimes And Misdemeanors 1989 9/13

Adrian Rogers – Crossing God’s Deadline Part 4

crimes & misdemeanors

Best scene of the movie!!!!

_________________________________

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?

We all suspect strongly, of course, that bin-Laden will spend eternity in hell, whatever his form and whatever hell’s. But we should not embrace a politician’s seeking electoral gain by dictating and announcing after-life dispositions. Those we should defer to a higher power, whose divine authority no mortal man should dare usurp, even for TV ratings or votes, or both.

I really am uncomfortable with all this kind of lighthearted talk about hell. The traditional Christian view of hell is a very serious doctrine. It is a necessary doctrine and today I want to show why.

I recently read a great article  “Hell:The Horrible Choice,” by Patrick Zukeran of Probe Ministries. Here is a portion:

 Why Hell Is Necessary and Just

Is hell necessary? How is this doctrine consistent with a God of love? These are questions I face when I speak on the fate of unbelievers. The necessity and justice of hell can be recognized when we understand the nature of God and the nature of man.

Hell is necessary because God’s justice requires it. Our culture focuses mostly on God’s nature of love, mercy, and grace. However, God is also just and holy, and this must be kept in balance. Justice demands retribution, the distribution of rewards and punishments in a fair way. God’s holiness demands that He separate himself entirely from sin and evil (Habakkuk 1:13). The author of Psalm 73 struggles with the dilemma of the suffering of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked. Joseph Stalin was responsible for the death of millions in the Soviet Union, but he died peacefully in his sleep without being punished for his deeds. Since evil often goes unpunished in this lifetime, it must be dealt with at a future time to fulfill God’s justice and holiness.

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Below you will find a discussion by Anton Scamvougeras on the Movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors.” I think he does a good job of describing everyone’s position in the plot and their worldviews. There are two main problems with his comments. First, in part one he calls Judah a “lazy theist.” Actually he was raised a theist and left his theism behind in college when he became an agnostic or atheist.

Later after having his former girlfriend killed he is convicted by his God-given conscience that he will pay for his sin. His theological views change for a couple of weeks and then when he is not caught his atheism returns for good.

Why did Judah feel guilt? In the Bible Romans chapter one clearly points out that God has revealed Himself through both the created world around us  and also in a God-given conscience that testifies to each person that God exists.
These are the exact two places mentioned by the scripture   Romans 1:18-20 (Amplified version)  

18For God’s [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative.

    19For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [Himself] has shown it to them.

    20For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification].  

What Judah does is reject his conscience and the result was that he embraced his selfish desires. That is also described in this same passage in Romans in the two following verses: 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.  

There is a second problem with the commentary by Anton Scamvougeras. He describes the Godless universe that Allen has pictured as excruciating or exhilarating. The problem I have is the excuse by some people that they do not see the full ramifications of embracing a “Godless universe.” The word “excruciating” is the proper description of that reality. How can the word “exhilarating” be used? Solomon showed us in the first 11 chapters of Ecclesiastes what the world “under the sun” without God in the picture looks like and it forces one to embrace nihilism. (See previous post on this about Solomon’s search.) However, the atheist has to live in the world that God made with the conscience that God gave him. This creates a tension. The agnostic Carl Sagan felt the tension too.

 What does Dr. Sagan have Dr. Arroway say at the end of the movie Contact when she is testifying before Congress about the alien that  communicated with her? See if you can pick out the one illogical word in her statement: “I was given a vision how tiny, insignificant, rare and precious we all are. We belong to something that is greater than ourselves and none of us are alone.”  

Dr Sagan deep down knew that we are special so he could not avoid putting the word “precious” in there. Francis Schaeffer said unbelievers are put in a place of tension when they have to live in the world that God has made because deep down they know they are special because God has put that knowledge in their hearts.We are not the result of survival of the fittest and headed back to the dirt forevermore.

I would love to hear from any atheist that would present a case for lasting meaning in life apart from God. It seems to me that H. J. Blackham was right in his accessment of the predictament that atheists face:

On humanist assumptions [the assumption that there is no God and life has evolved by time and chance alone], life leads to nothing, and every pretense that it does not is a deceit. If there is a bridge over a gorge which spans only half the distance and ends in mid-air, and if the bridge is crowded with human beings pressing on, one after another they fall into the abyss. The bridge leads to nowhere, and those who are pressing forward to cross it are going nowhere. . . It does not matter where they think they are going, what preparations for the journey they may have made, how much they may be enjoying it all . . . such a situation is a model of futility (H. J. Blackham et al., Objections to Humanism (Riverside, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1967).)

Woody Allen’s film does a great job of showing the need for the “enforcement factor.” One reviewer made it sound like the movie was unrealistic and Judah could have smoothtalked his way out of this. However, Woody Allen anticipated this objection and that is why he threw in the illegal financial dealings of Judah that his former girlfriend knew about. Now instead of just losing his marriage he may have to go to jail.

Enjoy the clips below and let me know what you think.

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 1

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 2

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 3

Part 3 of 3: ‘Is Woody Allen A Romantic Or A Realist?’

A discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie, Crimes and Misdemeanors

May 12, 2011 – 9:47 am Categories: Adrian Rogers, Mike Huckabee | Comments (2)