Busted for Gardening!

Do you live in an area that limits what you can grow in your own yard?  I know some folks live in neighborhoods where a neighborhood association controls what you can and cannot grow, but, for the rest of us, by and large, we have creative freedom on how we landscape our gardens.

With the weakness of our current economy and with the rapid rise in food prices, it only makes sense to try to grow some of our own food.   But not in Oak Park, Michigan!  After her front yard was dug up when a sewer line was replaced, Julie Bass decided to put in attractive raised vegetable beds instead of replacing the lawn.  Her new garden is a delight to see.  Very tidy and no weeds.

Unfortunately, Julie is facing 93 days in jail for planting a garden in her front yard!  Read more here.

Here are pictures of Julie Bass' tidy garden and yard. 

The Engine Behind Change

Mike Huckabee is no longer officially running for President (although if McCain were to have some problem with his health or other issues and needed to drop out, the convention would be brokered and all candidates would be back on the table.)

Despite the withdrawal of Huckabee from the presidential race, the energy behind his supporters has not waned - merely been redirected. HucksArmy is still a viable force on the political scene. This time, though, their energy will be turned toward supporting those candidates who share Huckabee's values. A new group has formed as well - the F3 Coalition - an action site based on Huckabee's slogan FAITH, FAMILY, FREEDOM.

These forums are worth looking at, and , if you want to get involved, please sign up. A change needs to be made in the Republican party as it continues to drift away from its base. Conservatives are about ready to say, like Reagan said of the Democrats - "I didn't leave the party, the party left me."

God Bless American and those who protect us!

As we celebrate our independence, may we not forget to lift a prayer for our troops all around the world in harms' way, and all the of our domestic protectors - the Police, Fire Fighters, Border Patrol and so many others. No matter what your religion, have a listen to this amazing song and video "Somebody's Praying Me Through" sung by Allen Asbury.

God bless America! God bless our military! God bless those who protect us on our native soil! We are so blessed and so free because of them.

Fanaticism Trumps Numbers and Wins

I sometimes wonder what the majority of Americans are willing to die for. Particularly when I see so many young people (and I have teenagers as well as very extensive access to the university) sliding through high school and the first few years of college without accepting the challenge of excellence or the rewards of hard work and personal self discipline. Many of these young people act as if they are the center of their own universe, and when things go wrong they blame those around them for their own failings.

Their behavior is only a symptom of what Ralph Peters calls the dream of a happy-face, godless world where nobody quarrels.

Let me put this article, which really is an article about the conflict in "Palestine," in context now.

Peters states in his article that the reason Hamas won was that they are religious fanatics willing to die for what they believe. Here's a quote:

Hamas won because its fighters are religious fanatics ready to die for their cause. Fatah runs an armed employment agency under the banner of Palestinian nationalism. Most of the latter's security men are on the payroll because relatives or ward pols got them jobs. And they want to stay alive to collect their wages.

The result was predictable. Our government pretended otherwise. Now hairs should be standing up on the backs of thousands of necks, from the White House to the Green Zone.

I look at this wide eyed passion to die for allah (lower case on purpose) and compare it to the apathy of Americans, and it does make me worry!

Our children and our current generation has been taught to "Believe in Yourself" since infancy and through television and our school system, rather than to believe in a higher purpose and a more noble calling. One's self esteem and comfort is more important than the unity and defense of the nation that gives us the freedom to live the lifestyles we enjoy. The values of our founding fathers - well - they are old fashioned and we are "more enlightened now". Bah!

As a Choral Director, I see this all the time in new choral music produced for the consumption of music programs from the elementary level through high school students. The texts are so watered down and "feel good" and do not raise the spirit of the young student to higher sights other than their own emotions and very limited experience. (Consider the fourth grade students in Maine who boldly declare that global warming is the worst problem in the whole world - even as we stand on the brink of WWIII) They speak of "putting our differences behind us" as if living in denial is going to make things better. Children sing about "looking inside" as if that will bring "light to the darkness" and solve all our world problems will bring. What are the children of the fanatics singing and chanting? "Kill America! Kill Jews! Kill Infidels!" None of this mamby-pamby "why can't we all get along" crap!

I could get off on a rant about the extreme political correctness of our government schools, but that will have to wait for another blog entry. I will say I am grateful that choral directors may still use sacred music as an educational tool as it is part of the culture of our Western Civilization.

What if a fanatical Hamas like group were to attack here - perhaps on one of our college campuses. I'm afraid we would see our young men and women cowering and screaming like children. Forgive me for this allusion, but they would be as cowardly as many students at Virginia Tech when "Hammer Boy" Cho went postal on them. (I know I'll get some flak for that statement)

We are not encouraged to be strong and brave and to face our adversaries head on, no matter what the cost. Why? Our faith is weak. Many have no faith except in themselves. I'm not trying to be an evangelical preacher, just a humble blogger. So many of us here in America, while we give lip service to words like Liberty, Freedom, Honor, Courage, Country, God, and Family, don't have enough gumption to be willing to lay it all on the line to defend what we do have.

Here's more from Ralph Peters:

Our problem is that, of those who rise in government, few have witnessed the power of revelation or caught a life-changing glimpse of the divine. They simply can't imagine that others might be willing to die for all that mumbo-jumbo. Our convenience-store approach to faith leaves us numb to the passion of our enemies.

The true believer always beats the feckless attendee. The best you can hope for is that the extremist will eventually defeat himself.

And that does leave us some hope: Fanatics inevitably over-reach, as al Qaeda's Islamo-fascists have done in Iraq, alienating those who once saw them as allies. But the road to self-destruction can be a long one: The people of Iran want change, but the fanatics have the guns. And sorry, folks: Fanatics with guns beat liberals with ideas.

Faith is the nuclear weapon of the fanatic. And there's not going to be a religious "nuclear freeze." It doesn't matter how many hearts and minds you win, if you don't defeat the zealots with the muscles.

The quoted article comes from Ralph Peters' new book, "Wars of Blood and Faith," which comes out on July 25. Yes I'm advertising for him, but he speaks truth to life. Read it and take it in. Our whole nation needs to.

Radiant

UPDATE:

Found a great quote:

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
John F. Kennedy 1.20.61

Separatist Graduations at UCLA??

This article got my hackles up:

John Leo
Let the Segregation Commence
Separatist graduations proliferate at UCLA.

John writes:

"But the core reason for separatist graduations is the obvious one: on campus, assimilation is a hostile force, the domestic version of American imperialism."

Here is our response to his outrageous statements. The whole article made us mad.


Are these your true feelings, John?

Graduation is not about every separatist group, nor about "community", but rather about the celebration of individual achievement and of the diversity of the various colleges attended.

What will the graduates of the separate "community" groups do when they face the real world of work and have to work with people outside of their own "clique" or "group"? Will they face trauma? We need to be able to work with people we disagree with, and, at times, with people we hate to get a job done. Too Bad! Get the job done anyways if you want to keep a paycheck.

The reason people can gather and practice their own community values, which might be diametrically opposed to my religious and cultural world views, is because, in a certain sense, there is American hegemony. These cultural values forced upon us by law such as tolerance, freedom of speech, and non violent protest are all the invention of the very America that you oppose.

Assimilation is not a bad thing. Here in this country, where we are have certain core values and the freedom to retain our cultural identity within that framework, a common language, common currency, open borders, free trade, a strong national defense, the rule of law and endless opportunity, there are many who are dissatisfied with the abundant freedoms we have here and idealistically dream of a socialist utopia - including many students at UCLA.

The attendees of these separatist graduations would be better off under a self-imposed pseudo caste system where "everyone knows their place". This marginalization is already occurring under the censorship of political correctness. Cultural diversity is a shallow disguise for maintaining prideful prejudice and bigotry within your own ethnic group. Americans are all equal under the law and require no caste system. Those who are not happy to be part of the magnanimous greatness of this country should go back home and those who claim American citizenship should just leave and find some country where they can be told what to do with their lives.

A Side Note on Religious Freedom

Religious Freedom is one of the many blessings and benefits of being a citizen of this great country, the United States of America. Even those who come here to visit from countries that do not experience the freedoms we have benefit from those freedoms while in the United States.

Part of religious freedom is the right to choose employment in a field that accommodates your religious persuasion. If a certain day is holy or special to a person, they can choose employment that lets them have that day off. Perhaps a certain food is to be avoided by the adherents of a certain religion - not a problem! There are plenty of jobs where one can avoid the forbidden food item. Is one a teetotaler? There is abundant employment that does not require a person to see, taste or handle alcohol.

Suppose a person's employment is a service to people, and occasionally places them in indirect contact with items that are "forbidden." For example - taxi drivers. These people are paid to transport persons from one location to another for a fee. Sometimes these people have had too much to drink and need a safe ride home. Sometimes a vision impaired person will have a guide dog. If a Taxi Driver's religion prohibits them from even casual contact with booze and dogs, should that person remain in that particular job? They have a choice, don't they?

In the Minneapolis-St Paul area, this issue has again come to the forefront. Many of the predominantly Muslim cab drivers are refusing to take passengers who carry alcohol. Some refuse to assist the blind who need a guide dog to negotiate the roads. This may be a cultural clash issue, but those cab drivers should enjoy and respect the religious freedom we have here and either adapt and assimilate, or maybe find a different job.

Have a look at Little Green Footballs' comments on this article. It gives a more accurate "infidel rejection count" than Reuters did.

Indulge me. I must mention Ron Paul in this blog so his minions will continue to believe he is the most popular Republican presidential candidate when, in fact, they are spamming polls to inflate Paul's popularity and are sorely deceived. The poll that really matters, that one on the primary election day, will be a disappointment for them.

The Cult of Bush Bashing

It becomes more and more obvious as time goes by that the hatred of President Bush is becoming a religious cult, and not based in rational thinking whatsoever. Bush is vilified the world over as the causer of wars, the oppressor of migrants, as the cause of global warming and the root of all that is wrong in the world. Forget the fact that America gives more foreign aid to everybody, even our enemies and even the Palestinians - an open enemy of the United States and freedom everywhere. Forget the fact that most research and development that benefits the poor of this world originated in the United States. Forget, even, that the United States is a country that people swarm to because of the promise of freedom and opportunity. You don't see many people emigrating to Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, or Pakistan, do you, unless they have been radicalized into some state of fascism.

An almost hilarious article appeared in the Washington Post this morning. Mayan Priests are planning to "purify" sacred sites after they become "defiled" by a visit from President Bush this week.

Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.

"That a person like (Bush), with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, said Thursday.

Bush's seven-day tour of Latin America includes a stopover beginning late Sunday in Guatemala. On Monday morning he is scheduled to visit the archaeological site Iximche on the high western plateau in a region of the Central American country populated mostly by Mayans.

Tiney said the "spirit guides of the Mayan community" decided it would be necessary to cleanse the sacred site of "bad spirits" after Bush's visit so that their ancestors could rest in peace.

It has been almost forgotten that the Mayan culture practically destroyed themselves by barbaric practices. It was not bad spirits that destroyed the Mayan culture, but bad leadership.

I wonder if today's Mayan priests are eating food or are clothed or have medicine provided by the technology and generosity of the United States? I wonder if they know the reason they are not part of the communist Cuban regime is because of the Monroe Doctrine? I wonder if they are aware that Bush has been more sympathetic and has built more alliances with Mexico than any president has done in the last century. He speaks almost fluent Spanish, and governed a state that was a border state with Mexico. He influenced NAFTA, which has been a blessing to Mexico and all Latin American countries.

About "persecuting" immigrant brothers and sisters - we don't machine gun down people who cross......they get three hots and a cot when they are caught and get sent back. In one piece. We do everything we can - not perfectly - to promote free trade with Mexico and all of Central and South America, because this is in the common interest of all countries . Even Venezuela which would not last a month if we did not purchase their oil. Stuff that in your pipe, Chavez!

My government engineer friend tells me about highly intelligent co-workers who state that Bush is the "worst President ever". What does that mean? Apparently they have forgotten near history. Here is a list of the 10 Worst Presidents ever by real historians - not the biased pseudo-media. Bush is nowhere near the notoriety of this group!

Bush is so often referred to as "evil," that he is the "devil" and "Hitler." He has been demonized and become the culmination of everything that is evil and wrong in the world with religious and fanatic zeal. Fantastic quotes like "Bush killed my son!" (Cindy Sheehan) , attribute almost godlike powers to a mere man. In the near future, will people use the expletive "Bush!" instead of other common expletives when they whack their thumbs with a hammer?

I am by no means a "Bush or die" person. Bush will probably go down in history as a mediocre president who entangled our nation in an unpopular war against a religiously charged irrational enemy. In the end, we hire a president to keep us safe - not to make us feel good. We need to remember this when we hire the next president.

Who will be the next religious Icon of all that is evil in the world when Bush is gone?

Should This Be Allowed In a Free Country?

Some disturbing news is coming out of Germany. The UPI reports that a woman who chose not to follow the faith of her parents (who happen to be Muslim) and who helps others who have made the same choice is receiving death threats. According to Shaira law, any Muslim who forsakes their faith is to receive a death sentence. This brave woman, Mina Ahadi, is asking for police protection because of the death threats.

My question is simple:

Should the adherents of a religion who believe that it is right to kill those who forsake their particular faith be allowed to remain in a free country?

The countries of Europe and the United States espouse the freedom of religion. What if the followers of a certain religion choose violent consequences for those who step out of line?

The "honor" killings that have taken place in free countries are an example. Fathers who are also the adherents of a certain religion have become dismayed that their daughters and wives don't want to be as religiously conservative as they are. Their reaction? KILL THEM! And some do!

Nowadays, adherents of a certain religion have become numerous and are emboldened to try to force their ways and laws on the countries in which they reside, demanding special favors....demanding more respect.....and becoming extremely offended when anyone speaks against them.

Should a free country accommodate a faith that aggressively and violently tries to muscle their ways on society?

Personal Update:

This article could lead some to think I am painting with a broad brush, and wish to deport all Muslims from free countries. Nothing could be further from the truth. At the same time, if there is a group that chooses the radicalized side of their faith and choose to act violently in the country which has offered them hospitality, let them be tried to the full extent of the law. Let them be stopped in their tracks and deported if necessary. Free nations cannot show weakness in this.

A world without America

This site contains a video to counterattack the rise in anti-Americanism. People forget that our country, which is a true superpower, does so much to benefit the world in the realm of foreign aid, research and development, medical advances, the arts, as well as being a defender of democracy and freedom. America is the best country in the world. In a world where we are judged by our wonders, American has produced so many.

18 Doughty Street

Here is another link to the video:

A World Without America