The Power of Prayer

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

~ 2 Chronicles 7:14

There are 36 days to Election Day 2012. This election is worth praying about. Quite a few other people think so, too, among them Eric Metaxas, author of the best-selling book Bonhoeffer. He has suggested the idea of 40 days of prayer prior to Election Day, commencing on September 27, 2012.

It's not too late to join in. Each of us is still free to choose his or her own way of praying for our country. But I think that all believers would agree that, if ever there was a time to pray for the United States, it is now.

Conservative Celebrities

No, Clint Eastwood isn't the only one. Here's a link to the identities of 30 conservative Hollywood celebrities. Some of them are quite surprising (50 Cent? Really? Who knew?).

I would add at least two other luminaries: actor Jon Voight and producer Gerald R. Molen (whose latest movie is the unexpected hit, 2016: Obama's America).

Thief in the Night

It looks like we've arrived at the threshold. Tyranny always begins with one knock on the door at midnight. After the door is opened, the knocks grow ever more frequent until suddenly, the jackboots rule.

Read Instapundit's excellent analysis, linked here. While on the subject, ask yourself why the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is calling an obscure pastor in Florida to recommend that he rethink his inclinations to promote the infamous video supposedly causing all the chaos in the Middle East.

By the way, anyone who thinks the meltdown in the Mid-East is due to a trashy video and not to a coordinated effort by our enemies to attack the United States on the anniversary of September 11 is naive in the extreme. Naive, ill-informed, willfully blind, or all three. Check with the president of Libya if you don't believe me. The scapegoat video is serving the purpose of propping up President Obama's disastrous foreign policy. If the widespread death and destruction is all due to bad video, well then Obama's "Kumbaya" foreign policy must still be working.

But back to the unfortunate, not to mention untalented, filmmaker being hauled off for questioning in the dark of night. Ask yourself how a U.S. president sworn to protect the Constitution could so flagrantly violate his oath of office when an individual's actions are causing him inconvenience?

Perhaps a better question: Under a President Obama who never needs to face the voters again, will the exceptions to the First Amendment ever end? An even more chilling question: What evidence do we have that the exceptions would stop at the First Amendment?

Ready, Shoot, Aim

“Governor Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later.” – President Obama, September 12, 2012, reacting to criticism

“I don't think that we would consider them an ally” – President Obama, September 12, 2012, speaking of Egypt--a Major Non-NATO U.S. ally since 1989

President Obama has proven yet again that he is incapable of seeing any fault in himself. He never begins with the “man in the mirror;” there is always someone else to blame.

The battered former president Bush has been forgotten, for the moment. Obama now is bristling at the temerity of his presidential campaign opponent for the high crime and misdemeanor of voicing an opinion on an international crisis. The president is especially annoyed because, well, Romney has the better case.

Here’s the statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo:

"The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others." 

And here’s what Mitt Romney said in response:

“I think it’s a terrible course for America to stand in apology for our values,” Romney said. “The statement was akin to an apology, and I think was a severe miscalculation.”

Romney’s statement was strong, concise, and reflective of perhaps most Americans’ frame of mind. He sounded presidential to me. I find it ironic that Romney is continually criticized in the press for not being “bold” enough, yet when he stands up promptly to defend American rights in the midst of an international crisis involving the United States, he is pounced on for his “gaffe.”

Excuse me, but this man is running for president. I, for one, would like to hear his stance on a matter of such critical importance. I’ll wager most voters would, too. 

The president seems more focused on skewering Romney for daring to voice an opposing opinion than on protecting Americans in increasingly hostile nations. Nor was the president inclined to cancel his campaign fundraising appearances in the wake of the attacks on American lives and sovereign soil in foreign lands on the anniversary of September 11. I find Obama's breezy attitude toward this dangerous and growing crisis appalling.

Can you imagine the media outrage if George W. Bush was jetting off to a Las Vegas fundraiser after a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans had been murdered as foreign protestors swarmed our embassy and consulate in two foreign countries? In such a scenario, I think the NY Times might have run out of both paper and ink.

So to use one of the president’s many tired clichés, “Make no mistake”—American voters will get no help from Obama’s loyal troops in the MSM, who are wholly dedicated to keeping their guy in office, the public’s right to know be damned. Americans need to be clear on where their presidential candidates stand. I’ll take a statement on foreign affairs from Romney any time—especially when what he says makes perfect sense according to our history, identity, and ideals.

We’re only 54 days away from making the second biggest mistake in our nation’s history. I’m hopeful that the majority of American voters, unlike the current president, are smart enough to self-correct.

Eleven Years Later

Grandparents Day

Well, today is my very first Grandparents Day. In honor of the occasion, I couldn't resist looking up these 15 Fun Facts about Grandparents. And thankfully, there's not a rocking chair mention among any of them.

How fitting that my new grandson, who will turn four months old on Tuesday, met my mother--his great grandmother--for the first time this weekend. As life gifts go, it's hard to beat that one.

To my readers, if applicable--Happy Grandparents Day.

Fantasy, Fans, and the Finish Line

Several months ago, I decided to see what all the water cooler fuss was about and began renting the ten-part HBO series "Game of Thrones,"Season One--"A Song of Ice and Fire." By the end of the first episode, my family and I were addicted to the tale as if to video crack.

The story, based upon George R.R. Martin's series of novels, is an epic fantasy saga set in a medieval world of brutal intrigue, compelling characters, and suspenseful story lines. There are warring factions, deadly conspiracies, lords and ladies, mythical creatures, lots of bloodshed, endless plot twists--in short, everything to keep a viewer glued to the screen for ten hours.

After the first couple of episodes, my family shunned the DVDs and instead downloaded the first novel onto their Kindles. I watched the video adaptation of the rest of the first book in solitude, lecturing myself that I had too many books to read and could just as easily watch instead of read. But upon the kids' rave reviews of the book and their repeated encouragement to read it, I went ahead and downloaded the novel onto my own Kindle. In fact, I downloaded the "4-book bundle." I'm now tearing through the first book, which I've already watched in its entirety on TV, and have several thousand pages of continuing story awaiting me. And I know from various bestseller lists that there's at least a fifth book, if not even more to come. Needless to say, my Kindle now travels everywhere with me--post office lines, dentist's waiting rooms, lunch breaks at work.

In the meanwhile, I pre-ordered the DVDs of Season Two, not yet released. I'll be racing the clock to finish both the first and second novels before watching it. My kids, having got the jump on me, are already well into the second book. Depending upon when Season Two is released, I may be the one hiding from the television while I let them go ahead and watch.

So that's my fair warning on "Game of Thrones." If you love good storytelling, don't begin if you don't have the time to finish.

The Good, The Bad, and The Voters

"We own this country....Politicians are employees of ours....And when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go."
- Clint Eastwood at the 2012 GOP Convention


Clint Eastwood was the surprise guest speaker at the GOP convention on Thursday night. He's 82 years old, and he delivered an address that was unscripted, unrehearsed, and off teleprompter. There are rave reviews and there are brutal pans of his presentation, but one thing is certain: if a speech is still being talked about and dissected several days later, it was effective.

If the screeching protests and scathing critiques of Clint Eastwood from the network media elites and the limousine liberals in Hollywood are any criteria, he scored big. So blunt, direct, and specific was Eastwood's criticism of the president, it could take years for the lefties to recover their equilibrium.

Because it was so extemporaneous, Eastwood's speech had its flaws. There were odd ramblings, pregnant pauses, and sound issues due to Eastwood turning his head to face the "empty chair" of President Obama. But when he hit the mark, he was as deadly as Dirty Harry nailing a villain.

That visual of an empty chair really made a symbolic statement, and it irked the White House enough to prompt a response via Twitter. "This seat's taken," the tweeted message sniffed, showing a photo of the president sitting in his chair. Presidential campaign season is not for the thin of skin.

No intelligent voter is going to change positions because of a Hollywood star's speech. But some who are still weighing their decisions might take what was said into consideration. That's what has the Left so enraged. Eastwood may have actually reached some undecided voters.

If Clint Eastwood was successful in doing that, then he has helped to make my Election Day.

Moon Memories

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin - 7/20/69 - AP/NASA photo

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

~ Neil Armstrong, from the Moon's Sea of Tranquility ~ July 20,1969

I was a teenager when Neil Armstrong set the first human foot on the moon’s surface. It was a thrilling moment in modern American history, a time when everything seemed possible. Right before our eyes, even the moon was within reach

The moon landing was, in the jargon of the time, “a happening.” Just about everyone my age saw the first moonwalk on live television. I vividly remember watching with my father, asking a variety of questions that he patiently answered. As the astronauts bounced like paper dolls, moving in slow motion across the moon’s surface, Dad explained the different gravitational force on the moon. It was like witnessing science fiction made fact.

Neil Armstrong was a unique hero. He shunned the celebrity spotlight and lived quietly. In 1970, just one year after walking on the moon, Armstrong left the astronaut program to teach college engineering. He lived out his retirement on a farm in his native Ohio.

 

With the passing of Neil Armstrong, the Eagle has flown. Will America ever soar to such literal and figurative heights again? It doesn’t seem likely, at least at the moment. There aren’t many true American heroes left to us, and the few remaining become ever more precious.

The Vanishing Present

I received this in an e-mail, and it makes a lot of sense to me (to my regret):

"9 Things Which Will Disappear in Our Lifetime Believe it or not, the following nine things will disappear in our lifetime.  Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come: 

1. The Post Office Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term.  Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.

2. The Cheque  Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with cheque by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process cheques. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the cheque. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.
3. The Newspaper  The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.
4. The Book  You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.
5. The Land Line Telephone Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes
6. Music  This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalogue items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."
7. Television Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.
8. The "Things" That You Own Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.
9. Privacy  If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again."