What's So Amazing About Grace?

https://www.amazon.com/Whats-So-Amazing-About-Grace/dp/0310245656

I read the subject book by Phillip Yancy for the book club at our church. It opens with a shocking little story about a drug addicted prostitute in Chicago that had been renting out her 2 year old daughter for sex in order to make enough money to cover her drug habit. When asked if she had ever thought of going to church for help, she replied: "Church! Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They'd just make me feel worse!".

The book is on the "scandal of Grace"-how Christ came for what we see as the "really sinful", and that the message is that WE are the "really sinful". Christ came for the prostitute renting her daughter and for the men paying for her. Hitler and even W (if you are a Democrat), and the difference between us and the worst sinner we can imagine isn't significant at all compared with the gulf between all of us and God.

Yancey was raised a fundamentalist in a racist white church. He seems to feel much worse about the racism than gays, prostitutes, adulterers, murderers or most anything else -- somewhat in conflict with his own message. The point that he makes about the fundamentalists is nearly identical to my background. "Spiritual" was how well one followed all the various rules of the church against drinking, smoking, dancing, movies, TV, rock music, evolution, etc. How "spiritual", or "likely to REALLY be saved" depended on how well you did relative to the rules.

In the Baptist Church, the prodigal son was "unsaved" -- his "return" was really "his birth", but in the Lutheran Church, the prodigal is a Christian gone astray--he was already a "real son", but he messed up bigtime. The "ungrace churches"--often called "fundamentalists" for some odd reason, make much more of the "conversion" and a lot less of the "journey" toward heaven. Since they are primarily "once saved, always saved", there isn't a lot of reason for the real presence of Christ in communion. You get forgiven once, and at least for the "big sins", that ought to be it. Yancey seems to be on the journey to figuring out that we need a lot more grace as humans than a one-time conversion.

When we DON'T get that, what we get are "fake conversions". Lots of smiles, handshakes and warmness at church, but in the recesses of the heart and the lives away from church, the "rules" at all levels of detail and spirit are being broken because just like the Scribes and Pharisees, "the rules" or "the law" has become supreme, and Christ came because it wasn't possible for humans to keep the law.

I'm not sure if Yancy ever really figures out where he ends up on a lot of issues though -- maybe just confused. On balance, it is a worthy Christian read, but at times there seems to be more "wondering" than "insight". There are certainly times where reflection vs insight is the best "answer" ... perhaps this is one of them.

Money In Politics?

Powerline has a nice little post here on Democrats working to stack the 527 deck (things like MoveOn.org) so that they ONLY have 527s that agree with them. As always, they are very strong in supporting the right to agree with them-it is only if you have some other view that you find yourself breaking some law.

What I find really interesting though is that this year Republicans are BEHIND in fund raising by a HUGE amount (like 3 to 1 or worse if one counts all the congressional races and the 527s). I'm SURE I'm wrong, but in other years when Republicans were out raising Democrats, I could SWEAR that there were a number of articles on the "scourge of big money in politics", how "big money drowns out the voice of the people", how "all that money corrupts the process and the politicians". Guess not - I'm SURE that the unbiased MSM would have the same view if Democrats were the ones with all the money, right? I mean to not believe that, one would have to believe that the MSM just cares about electing Democrats and they only used the money issue when it was going against Democrats and now that the worm has turned, they are all for it.


Power Line: The Democrats Can Dish It Out...

MSM Confidential: Tony Rezko

Imagine a front-runner for a party nomination for the WH that had a close associate currently in a criminal trial for corruption. Sound like something an "unbiased MSM that wanted to sell papers" would cover? Well, certainly not when that candidate is BO and the buddy is Tony Rezko. The following links and quotes are from the bastion of conservatism, the Chicago Sun-Times

8 things you need to know about Obama, Rezko :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: The Watchdogs

7. A few months after Obama became a U.S. senator, he and Rezko's wife, Rita, bought adjacent pieces of property from a doctor in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood -- a deal that has dogged Obama the last two years. 

The doctor sold the mansion to Obama for $1.65 million --$300,000 below the asking price. Rezko's wife paid full price --$625,000 -- for the adjacent vacant lot. The deals closed in June 2005. Six months later, Obama paid Rezko's wife $104,500 for a strip of her land, so he could have a bigger yard. At the time, it had been widely reported that Tony Rezko was under federal investigation. Questioned later about the timing of the Rezko deal, Obama called it "boneheaded" because people might think the Rezkos had done him a favor. 

8. Eight months later -- in October 2006 -- Rezko was indicted on charges he solicited kickbacks from companies seeking state pension business under his friend Gov. Blagojevich. Federal prosecutors maintain that $10,000 from the alleged kickback scheme was donated to Obama's run for the U.S. Senate. Obama has given the money to charity


Link to current info on the Rezko trial.

Uh, "people MIGHT think the Rezkos had done him a favor"? Folks think this guy ought to be PRESIDENT? !! Dan Quayle not knowing how to spell "potato" was an issue for a Republican. For a Democrat, getting a $300K bargain on a house and a couple hundred K on some land might "look like a favor"!

This kind of thing has precedent of course. Hillary Clinton made $100K in cattle futures in one day of trading "legally", and only evil Republicans would pay any attention. OTOH, Cheney having a legitimate job and Bush having a baseball team have been investigated over and over and insinuations have been made right and left that "even though they can't find anything, there MUST be SOMETHING wrong SOMEWHERE".

Just how many times have we heard "Cheney / Halliburton" as if there was something evil about being employed? I'm sure that every lefty reading this finds the Hillary story to be "useless old news" -- but when CBS came out with the 30+ year old info on Bush's National Guard service, they were licking their chops with no concerns of "old news". Being a lefty means you never even consider consistency!

The MSM believes that "doing right", which primarily involves having a "D" next to your name, ought to be rewarded -- money, land, power, sexual favors, trips, star treatment. As long as you are willing to support the agenda of no personal responsibility, no morals and "equality of outcome" (meaning, get "the rich" to pay for everything), you get the goodies. If you believe in individual responsibility, hard work, and allowing people to experience the fruits of their decisions / actions, then you deserve to be destroyed by any means possible -- even if the charges have to be entirely made up.

I'm sure that the MSM will be all over whatever Republicans bring up the Rezko connection, but I bet the Democrats won't even have to bring up the Keating Scandal -- the MSM will do it for them. The only thing that MIGHT save him is that the other 4 Senators were Democrats, and the investigation showed McCain to have the same level of guilt as John Glenn. The power of the inconsistency of the left never ceases to amaze me -- though it is often the innuendo that is stronger than any facts, and they are experts at that.

BO's Gospel of Bitterness

Power Line: Michelle Obama's gospel of bitterness

What one picks up very quickly from BOs book, and here from his wife is that the attachment to Rev Wright and the comments on the "Bitterly Clinging" are part of his basic makeup. The BOs feel that the world is vastly unfair in many ways, and no doubt a lot of it is a "vast conspiracy". This isn't unique to them-Hillary notably felt that there was a "vast RIGHT WING conspiracy" and mentioned it on the today show. Lefties of every stripe have their own favorite whipping boys- corporations, big business, CEOs, the military industrial complex, the religious right, angry white men, the "God, Guns and Gays" idiots--they always have someone to blame, never themselves.

Why is it again that the Democrats set up the rules that they did for their primary's and are having so much trouble? I've actually heard them blame the Republicans, but that seems like REALLY stretching.

To have bias and thoughts of false conspiracy is as human as breathing. Democrats and liberals celebrate humanity and material existence as supreme, so trying to look into their own boogie men seems unreasonable. At least major parts of the Republican party celebrate transcendence, with many celebrating real Christian transcendence with an actual God, not just some "ultimate socialist". That form of Christianity demands that the log in our own eye be dealt with before the mote in the others eye. Is that hard/impossible for humans? Certainly, but to believe in the specific transcendence of Christianity is to believe in the divine help of a holy spirit to assist in that admittedly tough task.

When one starts out with God as creator, then we are forced to admit that we have no idea of the justice of the world. We didn't create it, and it isn't in our hands. While there almost certainly are some conspiracies from time to time, those of us that have worked in larger organizations and groups of people realize that it is tough enough to keep a secret of something that people are legally obligated to keep a secret on due to personnel, medical, or legal restrictions. It simply becomes too easy to tell a wife, a trusted friend, or someone that "you are sure it won't matter to". Before long, the secret is common knowledge. There are no conspiracies that matter. Organized crime may come close, but I think we have all heard about that, so it isn't VERY secret.

So why be bitter? Well, as the article says, America today is a place where "outrage is honored". Approaching issues in a way that once seemed too juvenile for a teenager is now "honored" for ministers, candidates and candidates wives. In fact, the curl of the lip or the wag of the finger is considered perfectly acceptible--you are outraged, that is valid, no reason at all that you should need to produce any further facts.

How different George and Laura Bush are from that style. The level of pounding that they have taken from all sides is amazing, and there is absolutely no evidence that either of them did a single thing for motives other than a belief that it was the right policy to be followed for the country. What a contrast to the Clinton's that grasped at power and targeted everyone that pointed out any of their flaws for any personal accusation that could be found or made up. I don't think I've seen an angry word from either of them, and while the "claim" was made that Valerie Plame was "targeted", it finally came out that Richard Armitage was actually the one that "outed her" inadvertantly.

The Bushes, continue to soldier on doing the best job they can and turning the other cheek. If someone without bias was to look at the accomplishments of the administration -- 1 quarter of negative growth following the worst attack on US soil ever, most consecutive quarters of economic expansion in US history, largest increase in personal income since the 60's, Taliban defeated and elected government in Afghanistan, Saddam defeated and elected government in Iraq ... it might look pretty good compared to the accomplishment of Clinton "first Presidential semen identified on employee clothing".

If GW's approval numbers go any lower, I may have to put him in the slot of my #1 President over Reagan. Anyone the MSM hates as much as they hate him is someone that I have to give a lot of credit to.

House Progress, Rafters Up

We moved out of the old bedroom over the weekend and today the contractors made tracks on the addition. The rafters are all up, some new pictures are in the gallery. It was also a nice day here today, easily breaking 70, so it was fun to walk out in what is still a bit TOO open of a bedroom.

70% Think Things Are Bad

Poll: 70 percent in U.S. say things are going badly - CNN.com

Last night I heard on NPR that "some economists say this may be a mild recession". That is pretty interesting in a week in which we discovered that the economy GREW by .6 in the last quarter and that unemployment DROPPED with a loss of only 20K jobs rather than the predicted 80-100K.

I also watched the movie of "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand last night, where Gail Wynand states that "The masses will believe whatever I tell them". NPR and the polls show that Ayn was right on that front. One of the reasons that "Bush is a bad President" is because this is his SECOND recession! The problem is, that if we used numbers and facts as a measure, CLINTON handed Bush a recession as he took office and Bush presided over a hugely difficult RECOVERY that included 9-11 and ONE QUARTER of drop in GDP - which, if we believed numbers, wouldn't be a recession at all.

We haven't had ANY quarters of decline in GDP yet this time, so by the numbers, this "recession" isn't a recession. BUT, thanks to "the masses believing whatever the MSM tells them", 70% say "things are bad". Most people are drawn to being in agreement with the majority, and the idea that one needs to think critically and use your own mind is a dangerous idea to those that seek collective power. It is also the founding idea of this country and what has historically made us special and great. The individual freedom that makes us special is NEVER "free" however. It requires a significant number of people to stand up for principles that are NOT going to be popular with "the masses".

Say it Isn't So

More signs the world isn't ending - May. 2, 2008

Wow, available on CNN by just linking off the main page. UNBELEIVEABLY, the econonomy isn't as bad as the MSM and the Democrats have been saying!!! As the title says, the world actually doesn't seem to be ending. Even with what we have been told over and over again is just a horrible President and record high oil prices, we seem to be narrowly avoiding a recession (even though the MSM and the Democrats have told us over and over we are IN one). This is INCREDIBLE? I wonder if that means that there might be other things that the MSM is wrong about? Nah, can't be, those folks are just too intelligent to make more than one mistake every century or so.

Since we are on AMAZING revelations from the MSM, I'm still confused as to how it was obvious that Bush went into Iraq for oil, but the prices have just kept going up? Was it sort of like the WMD, eveyone thought that Iraq had oil but it turned out that they really didn't? I mean, I know he led us in there "all on lies" for SOME reason - and I thought at one time I had it straight that he was "lying about WMD to get oil". Since I always believe the MSM, I've been waiting for all that cheap oil that we were going to be getting out of Iraq since that was the real reason we went in there.

I'm generally a red state kind of guy, so not very bright, I'm sure they will be explaining it to me soon.

Nasty Right Wing Bloggers

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Blogger targets Al Franken in Minnesota Senate race « - Blogs from CNN.com

If Al Franken has some problems following laws and paying taxes, what does the MSM think is the interesting part of the story? Well, how and why in the world would anyone be out there even be looking into Dear Al's life at all? Isn't he a Democrat?

Those nasty Right Wing Bloggers-who are they, and why do they do the evil they do? Of course there is no such phenomenon on the left. Right? On The Daily KOS, todays top blog item is

CNN Raises the Traitor Bar; Rush Limbaugh Longs For Riots; Popular GOP Surrogate Suggests Murder

Oh, but I'm sure those are 100% factual with no left wing bias that would rival anything on the right, that is why the MSM doesn't find bloggers like the KOS, Huffington Post and a host of others to be anything that needs to be "outed"--even though they are well financed by George Soros and other wealthy lefties, that is COMPLETELY different from what happens on the right!

Cynicism aside, isn't it amazing how fast folks on the left are into "sticking to the issues" when it is an Obama, Franken, Clinton, or other Democrat that has a tax, minister, poor wording, woman, or other problem. How different it is when it is Bush National Guard record, Cheney working for Halliburton, something said by someone that contributed to Bush, or a host of other things. In the MSM / Democrat mind of course, when it applies to a Republican it IS a "real issue". The natural assumption is that any Republican MUST either be very foolish or have poor character, since anyone of average intelligence that cared for people at all would CERTAINLY be a Democrat. From the "MSM, University, Hollywood, Music (except maybe Country), Popular Culture" view, that is "just the way it is".

Once one sees the world like the vast majority of folks in media, entertainment and education, it is VERY important to make use of whatever can be used to "educate/help" the "foolish and misguided people" that don't follow the popular culture view of "the way things are".

They are really just doing their best to help a foolish and nasty soul like myself or this other evil blogger. It is really sad that nature just didn't give Mooses a few extra brain cells!

Finally California Pictures

Ok, I'm a bit behind schedule, but I've finally organized a set of shots from our trip to California the first week of April.

Recession ?

The following is a quote from Wikipedia on the 2000-2003 recession:

The U.S. economy shrank in three non-consecutive quarters in the early 2000s (the third quarter of 2000, the first quarter of 2001, and the third quarter of 2001). According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which is the private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization charged with determining economic recessions, the U.S. economy was in recession from March 2001 to November 2001, a period of eight months. However, economic conditions did not satisfy the common shorthand definition of recession, which is "a fall of a country's real gross domestic product in two or more successive quarters," and has led to some confusion about the procedure for determining the starting and ending dates of a recession.

It is important to point out that this group is NON-PARTISAN, because the historical definition of a recession is a 2 Quarter fall in GDP. We HAD that definition in the 4Q of 2000 and the first quarter of 2001, with Bush taking office during 1Q 2001. It must have been important for SOMEONE (non-partisan though I'm sure they were) to change the historic definition, so the "recession" started AFTER Bush took office and lasted during months of growth and REMAINED a "recession" even though there was only a single quarter of retraction in GDP, and that as after 9-11. Funny how non-partisan some folks are.

Anyone that listens to the MSM KNOWS that we are in a recession now, only the complete fool Bush won't admit the obvious. So, how do they report the fact that they are wrong and Bush right?

Like This: "Sluggish Growth Disappoints White House" There is a little baiting of the WH spokesperson to see if they can get Bush to "gloat" over the fact that the economy is not in recession, and thus point out how proud they are of the power of the MSM as everyone would disagree with him. In this case, most people "believe" that we either are in, or are sliding into a recession.

Nobody should be happy about .6% growth, but it is better than nothing and better than actually being in a recession. When it was the close of the Clinton presidency and we were living though the stock market crash of 2K and slipping to what became a REAL recession at the 4Q of the last year of Billy C's term that continued into 1Q of Bush's term, it was hard tell from looking at the MSM that there was anything wrong. Now it is hard to look at the MSM and tell that there is anything right. Oh, I forgot, just like "NBER", the MSM is UNBIASED!

Pay No Attention to Any Cooling

or that man behind the curtain either (Wizard of Oz)

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide - Ocean Cooling to Briefly Halt Global Warming, Researchers Say

While the MSM is quick to point out at any signs of warm temps -- record highs, warm spells, hurricane's, etc that only complete fool could see those and not realize the planet is warming, this requires slightly more sophistication. Paying attention to what you experience is important when it agrees with the "proper world view", but when your experience and the "proper world view" don't align, then it is obviously your experience that should be ignored.

The Leibniz study, co-written by Noel Keenlyside, a research
scientist at the institute, will be published in the May 1 issue
of the journal Nature.

``If we don't experience warming over the next 10 years, it doesn't mean that greenhouse-gas warming is not with us,'' Keenlyside said in an interview. ``There can be natural fluctuations that may mask climate change in the short term.''

So there you have it. When it is warmer, that is caused by humans, when it is cooler, it is a "natural fluctuation". The bottom line is that no matter how cold it may be, that is no reason to believe that warming isn't a problem! You just have to "run the model longer". Simple.

Democrat New Direction Car

Here is the Presidential Car designed by the Hillary and Obama staffs based on the messages that they have been presenting for a "new direction".

Is Democrat Hypocrisy Possible?

The Yiddish term "chutzpah" comes to mind. This is a guy for whom the terms "hypocrite", "criminal", "butt boy", and "Big Fat Idiot" have seethed off his mouth with regularity in books, speeches, and public appearances. If there was ever a Democrat that was throwing stones constantly, Franken is it. He is pretty close to the left equivalent of Ann Coulter, although not nearly as good looking, and with a lot less wit in his insults.

So here are some quotes from the latest Strib article.

In total Franken said he under paid taxes by just over $4,000.

"Franni and I have paid state and federal taxes on every cent of our income," he said, referring to his wife. "Franni and I believe in paying state and federal taxes on all our income."

Franken said he would not release his income tax returns for those years. He said he has filed for an extension on his 2007 taxes.

Man, it is REALLY nice that they BELIEVE in paying taxes! Oddly, for the rest of us it is a LAW, but for a Democrat it is really much more than that!! Abortion is their main sacrament, but high taxes are something that is a key tenet of their "government as god" religion. It is more than just the tithe of worship at the government altar - while the creator of the universe is willing to sneak by with 10%, the Democrat god demands by law rates of 30, 40, 50% and over when state, federal, FICA, etc taxes are counted. While God has been willing to stick with his number for thousands of years, the Democrat god of government shows no sign of satiation. For the rest of us, not paying taxes is a CRIME, but I suppose since it is their church, Democrats get Grace there!

Oh, BTW, since Al has a "belief" in this area, he doesn't need to release the information on his taxes! Even HILLARY finally released her taxes ... that is how we know that her and Billy made $109 million since they left the White House. I guess Franken has just done such a good job with taxes since 2003, when we KNEW he wanted to run for the Senate that we really should want to trust him.

"I trusted this to a professional," Franken said of his accountant. Franken said he had hired someone to research his record -- typical for statewide candidates -- but that the researchers had not yet gotten to his financial records before the news broke.

Ah yes, the old "mistakes were made-by others". So Al's dodge is he hired an incompetent accountant AND an incompetent political investigator? Wow, good thing that a job as Senator doesn't involve any oversight or competence in hiring. Oops, it DOES involve that. I wonder if Al would consider this revelation to be disqualifying in a Republican? Do we really need to think about that very long?

While he was incorporated in three states -- New York, California and Minnesota -- Franken said that his company, Alan Franken Inc., was structured in such a way that it had no corporate income tax liability.

Instead, Franken said, he paid taxes through the individual income tax.

So let's be clear here - FIRST, he hired an accountant that knew how to INCORPORATE in a bunch of different states in such a way that the CORPORATION didn't owe taxes. He apparently knew that taxes were required from the states you earned the income in, but "mistakenly" thought you would "just pay those to your state of residence"? This doesn't sound fishy? Let's think of this for a second, I wonder if the Star Trib would be quite as credulous if Al was a REPUBLICAN!!

While the media doesn't like to talk about this much, corporations are great for allowing many people in a business to limit LIABILITY for poor personal financial habits of other investors in the group, and allow a business to outlive it's principles, they SUCK for taxes as a basic principle. When they have income (and they pretty much have to eventually if they are going to continue), it gets taxed TWICE! The sleight of hand to be incorporated, not have to pay taxes as a corporation, but somehow end up paying taxes as an individual is interesting twist.

It seems completely clear at this point that a Republican that was an INCUMBENT would never survive this one, and one that had never been elected would be DONE. Will the MSM be able to dig old Stuart Smalley out of this one? I guess we will just wait and see.

Master Bedroom Project

My poor wife has had to live with half of a 3x4' "pseudo walk in" closet since we moved into our current home. While our old house had none at all, the daily clothes decision for a woman in management is a difficult one that takes much more space than that. The "master" bedroom and both bathrooms next to it are still original mid '70s trim doors and fixtures and similarly small to to the closet. The change is under way.

The new plan involves an 18x24' addition that extends out over our deck that will allow a walk-in of 8x14' (much more "decision space"), improvements on both bathrooms including a steam shower for my sinuses, an air tub and a fireplace in the bedroom. Needless to say we are looking forward to completion, but in the process our son will come home from college and the 4 of us will have to live with one bath and a lot more restricted sleeping space. There are usually a few problems involved with improvement of any type.

I'll try to do some picture updates out here "weekly" during the project.

Small Smalley Tax Difficulty?

Al Franken Pays $70K in Back Taxes

Gee, seems like Franken not only doesn't pay workers comp, he also fails to pay taxes. One of the reasons that Democrats are so excited about raising taxes, even the ones that make millions of dollars, is simply because they don't pay them. Usually they have all sorts of complicated foundations and other schemes like the Kennedy's, Kerry's and such, but as good old Al shows us, there is simply "not paying them". That apparently works unless you are running for Senate and the evil Republicans look into it. I'm sure that Al thought good thoughts while not paying his own taxes, and his commitment to OTHERS paying through the nose never wavered!

Note, the media wasn't very curious about this, the Republicans had to dredge up the whole deal. Not much of that old Dan Rather "can do spirit even if we have to forge the documents" when it comes to Stuart Smalley in the MSM!