Catching up...

So much has happened in the last week, i need to work on catching up.

Much has been made about the US Senate pushing a vote on the floor to make English the "official language" of the United States of America...a country that has been known as an English speaking nation since it's foundation in 1776.
US Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) co-sponsored an amendment that would make English the "national" language during a debate on immigration on Thursday of last week (5/18). A press release from the US Senate reports that the amendment passed by a vote of 63-34.
Sen. Burns said in the same statement, "I have long supported making English the national language of this country. Montana made English the official language in 1995 and is just one of 27 states to have done so. English is the language of this country and if you want to be a citizen, you should have to pass a test in English. Rhetoric aside, the English language and America are inseparable, and this was the right thing to do."

MY RESPONSE: 34 of these knuckleheads elected by those who think Fidel Castro is just misunderstood do not think English should be the official language of the US...this is RIDICULOUS! "Dirty" Harry Reid went as far as to say, "I really believe this amendment is racist. I think it's directed basically to people who speak Spanish."
Is he for real?????? I hope that the people of NV have been paying attention to their beloved Senate Minority leader over the last couple of years and will make him pay for it at his next campaign.

Next is the New Orleans mayoral election. The Good News: Mitch Landrieu didn't win. The Bad News: Ray Nagin won.
The end result...New Orleans is still a wreck and will continue to be such until they start getting these nitwits out of office!

Thirdly, i want to talk for a moment about the much controversial The DiVinci Code movie that was released to theaters this week. IT IS FICTION PEOPLE! Plain and simple, it is a story. No different than "Green Eggs and Ham" or "The Firm."
Will i see it? No. Will i read the book? No. Is it because i'm afraid of it's challenges to Christianity? No, because it is fiction and i have better things to do than read this book or spend $8.50 to watch it at the theater.

And finally, a bit of bad news for me...the life of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaros in is jeopardy. I lived in and around Louisville, KY for 8 1/2 years while in Seminary and the Derby is a huge part of life there. Like horse racing or not, you can't help but get sucked up into the excitement of horse racing...even if you never go to the track or place a bet. That is where my wife and i stand.
We've been gone from Louisville for 3 Derbies now, but we still make sure to catch it each year...even if no one else around here cares. And to see that colt go down and convulse in pain on Saturday was truly painful to watch.
Thoroughbreds are tremendous athletes, and i hope this one pulls through.

That's about it for now, i should be back later this week...God bless!

New Orleans elections

This morning i saw an paid advertisement for the Mitch Landrieu for Mayor of New Orleans campaign. He mentioned something about cleaning up the city and getting rid of the criminals...my question is, why would he do such a thing to his family?

As bad as the 1992 governor's election between Edwin Edwards (The Crook) and David Duke (The Klucker...as in KKK Klucker) was; this one between Mitch Landrieu and Ray "Willie Wonka" Nagin takes a close second.

Mitch Landrieu is the sitting Lt. Governor in the great state of Louisiana. Personally, i think he is running for mayor of New Orleans because he sees ZERO chances of being elected governor of this state as a result of our sitting Governor, Kathleen "Call Me Babineaux at Election Time" Blanco. They are both democrats (and you can't fix stupid, as that great theologian and philosopher Ron White likes to say), and with the way Hurricane Blanco botched things up after Hurricane Katrina, anyone closely related to her has a snowball's chance of sitting in that office.

He is also the brother of embattled US Sen. Mary "Lil' Hillary" Landrieu, who probably never actually won the first election she was in; as well as being the son of Moon Landrieu who was the last white mayor in the Crescent City. I'll give Moon credit, he did give us the Super Dome...and then gave us Dutch Morial (another father whose son wanted to and then became mayor of NO.)

On the other side of the runoff is our favorite candy man, Ray Nagin. Nagin is a former Cox Communications executive who was supposed to bring a business man's mindset into the future of the Big Easy. Instead, as a result of Katrina, we found that he should go back to selling cable tv converters and leave running a major city to the big boys. To call this guy an idiot is an insult to idiots through out history! At least we all know the ingredients for chocolate now, right?

The end result is this; i'm glad i'm not living in New Orleans and that i don't have to vote in this election. Either way it goes, i'm afraid that this once great city will be more screwed up than it already is!

Christian Beliefs for Dummies

I received this in a Christian Leadership group i'm a part of it, it initially came from a fellow blogger...i'll print his web address ASAP.
Hope you enjoy!

Christianity for idiot secularists:

Jesus
Jesus H. Christ (1-33 C.E.) invented Christianity during a Spring Break road trip to Jerusalem in the company of his friends. Jerusalem, though, had been the site of severe Spring Break disturbances during the previous year, and the local authorities took a dim view of anyone starting a new religion.
Beyond the fact that Christians really, really like him, scholars, historians, and professional athletes can agree on little else. Some maintain that Jesus was a secular revolutionary who never intended to found a religion; others that Jesus was perfectly conscious of his mission, and that the Bible is a reliable guide to his earthly ministry. Others go very far in their rejection of traditional Christian interpretations of Jesus, to the point of suggesting he never existed; still others, confusingly, insist that Jesus did exist, we're just not aware of it yet. And finally others say his name wasn't Jesus at all, but rather Josh.

Here are thumbnail views of what the major Christian denominations believe about Jesus:
THE ORTHODOX believe that Jesus is both God and Son of God, fully God and fully human, coeternal with the other two Persons of the Trinity, and that his death on the cross provides the means by which human beings can attain salvation.
CATHOLICS believe pretty much the same thing as the Orthodox, but add that Jesus has chosen the pope to be team captain.
LUTHERANS believe pretty much the same thing as the Orthodox, but believe that under no circumstances would Jesus ever choose a creep like the pope to be team captain.
UNITARIANS believe Jesus was a dedicated social worker; the first feminist; the first environmentalist; the first advocate of tolerance between all human beings; who nonetheless managed to enrage the Roman government to the point where it killed him by nailing him to a tree.
ANGLICANS believe essentially what Catholics, Orthodox, and Lutherans believe, but argue that if God did choose a team captain, it probably would have been C.S. Lewis.
FUNDAMENTALISTS believe that everything God wanted us to do is spelled out in easy to understand detail in the book he wrote, except the part about the Eucharist, which was obviously a case of God being a bit fanciful.
THE AMISH believe that it's time to stop making fun of them for riding in horse-drawn buggies instead of cars, and point out that the Mennonites are much bigger bunch of tools.
METHODISTS believe that the Wesley Brothers wrote such awesome songs it necessitated secession from the Church of England.
PURITANS believe you're going to hell, and they're kind of happy about it.
THE JUSTICE LEAGE OF AMERICA believes the Joker will stop at nothing to rob Gotham Central Bank, and fears he has enlisted Lex Luthor to help him.

Terminology:

Premillenialism
This is the belief among some Christians that, ever since Jan. 1, 2000, it has no longer been possible, in the words of the Prince song, "to party like it's 1999." Postmillenialists are those Christians who believe that it will always be possible to do so, while Amillenialists believe that in this context, "1999" cannot be understood literally, but must be read as an allegorical term roughly meaning "a time at which it is especially appropriate to party."

Rapture
This was a #1 hit in 1980 for Blondie (#5 in the UK), from the otherwise underwhelming "Autoamerican" album. Many Christians now concede that the then-pioneering use of rap in the song sounds a little lame in retrospect. In their best-selling series of books about the song, "Left Behind (Parallel Lines)," Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye defend the rap verse's hip references to Grandmaster Flash and Fab Five Freddy, and maintain that when Jesus returns, all believers will be united in accepting that Blondie's cover of "The Tide Is High" is better than the original.

The Pope
The Pope is the President of Christianity. He is elected every four years by the Congress of Cardinals, which is divided into the Senate and the Holy House of Representatives. As president, the pope can veto important pieces of legislation, which he tends to do. The pope is also magical, and cannot be seen with the naked eye except for one hour on Christmas Eve every year.

The Bible
The Bible was written by God as a merchandising tie-in to His blockbuster film "The Ten Commandments." Each book of the Bible is named after a person who features prominently in it, for example, the Book of Numbers, which is named after Herschel Numbers, who invented numerals. The Bible was so successful that God wrote a sequel, "Bible II: On to Rome," now generally called "The New Testament." Protestants believe the Bible is literal and exactly true in every detail except the description of the Eucharist, while Catholics are not allowed to read the Bible.

Catholics
Catholics are the New York Yankees of Christianity. They are the biggest and wealthiest team, and their owner is intensely controversial (this makes St. Francis of Assisi the Derek Jeter of Catholicism: discuss). Catholics all wear matching uniforms, and are divided into "parishes," or "squadrons," to make choosing softball teams easier. Catholics are rigidly controlled by a hidebound hierarchy that starts with priests and ends with priests' housekeepers. Catholics are not allowed to read the Bible, eat meat, or refrain from worshipping statues.

Orthodox
For many years, American scholars believed the Orthodox were, like leprechauns, unicorns, and Eskimos, purely the product of the fanciful imaginations of medieval writers. Recent evidence leads us to tentatively conclude, however, that Eastern Orthodoxy may have somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 million adherents. Protestants tend to see the Orthodox as "Catholics with beards," while Catholics confess to a haunting sense that they are simply "Orthodox without beards."

The Protestant Reformation
This is the name historians give to a major labor dispute that erupted in Germany in 1517 when a group of monks hammered a proposed union contract to the door of the pope's house, requesting a 95 percent pay raise. The pope refused to negotiate with the monks union until it agreed to pay to have the door fixed, and the result was the world's longest-running strike. For nearly 500 years, a huge portion of Christians have been on strike from being Catholic, saying they are "justified" in their work stoppage because the pope won't expand the number of indulgences they get per year. Currently, the matter is in arbitration.

Calvinism
This theory was worked out by the French theologian and fashion designer John Calvin Klein, who argued that some people are predestined to be glamorous while others are doomed to be plain. America was founded by Calvinists, who sought to establish a country where they could pursue their belief that buckled hats were fashionable.

Fundamentalism
The belief that basic elements of play - like passing, ball handling, and defense - are the essential building blocks of a winning basketball team is generally referred to as "fundamentalism." The fundamentalists formulated their doctrine in the 1980s against the showy, heretical play of Magic Johnson's Los Angeles Lakers. Leading fundamentalist institutions include Bob Jones University and Syracuse. Larry Brown's failure to get the Knicks into the playoffs has been seen as a major setback for the cause of fundamentalism.

Baptism
Baptists are Christians who believe God can only be accessed by means of a swimming pool or, in some cases, a shallow outdoor stream. The first Baptist was John the Baptist, who was said to eat locusts and honey, although contemporary Baptists generally prefer barbecue. "Baptism" is also the term used to describe a key Christian ceremony, in which prospective members of the church are either initiated actually (Catholics, Orthodox, confused Protestants) or symbolically (Protestants, confused Catholics, religious studies professors). Catholics believe that anyone can perform a valid baptism, Orthodox believe that any Christian can, while Baptists, paradoxically, believe that only they can.

The Emerging Church
This is a term that refers to churches attended exclusively by white people in their 20s and 30s who have at least one tattoo or body piercing. Their distinguishing characteristics are a refreshing, "up to date" interpretation of Christianity, and a reluctance to directly answer questions.

The Nicene Creed
This statement of faith is the Christian Pledge of Allegiance, recited every Sunday in squadron meetings by Christians all over the globe. Adopted in the 4th century at the behest of Emperor Constantinople, it was designed to counter the influence of the Aryans, who argued that Jesus was German.

Touchdown Jesus
When professional athletes thank Jesus for helping them win a game, this is the Jesus they're referring to.

The Trinity
This is the Christian _expression of God, who Christians say is personified by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Not all Christians accept this: Unitarians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and some Pentecostals reject trinitarianism, as do Muslims. Interestingly, while this does not mean Pentecostals are Muslim, it does mean that Muslims are Jehovah's Witnesses. St. Augustine famously summed up the difficulty of comprehending the Trinity when he recounted a dream in which a small boy told him he would need a bigger bucket if he wanted to bail out the ocean.

Sex
Christians are not permitted to have sex. This unpopular doctrine was formulated by Pope Lactose LX at the Council of Disney in 1439. Despite this restriction, Christians have managed to increase their ranks to the point where there are roughly 2 billion of them. Scholars attribute this to the competitive health benefits and generous "flex time" arrangements offered by Christianity.

Heaven
Heaven is a term referring to the ultimate destiny of a certain number of souls. Depending on who you listen to, heaven is either: where all of us will end up (Origen); where many of us will end up (St. Gregory of Nyssa); where some of us will end up (John Calvin); where a small portion of us have, in some sense, already ended up (John of Leyden); where precisely 144,000 of us will end up (Charles Taze Russell); or where Jack Chick will end up (Jack Chick). Theologian Belinda Carlisle once posited that "Ooh, baby, heaven is a place on earth," but explorers combing the globe have yet to confirm this.

The Devil
Although the Devil - also known as Satan, Lucifer, the Father of Lies, and, to his friends, "Hef" - is mentioned numerous times in Bible II, most Christians today are uncomfortable with belief in a literal, personal demonic entity. Instead, they prefer to think of the Devil primarily as the potential for wickedness that exists within all human beings or, in some cases, as an especially unreasonable landlord.

I hope this helps clear up some easily-made misconceptions about Christianity. If there are any questions about other doctrines or concepts, please don't hesitate to ask.

Way to Go Snow-man!

I knew from the very start i would love having Tony Snow as the new Press Secretary for President Bush. Nothing against Scott McClellan, he was a good guy...but he wasn't fiesty enough. But Tony on the other hand...after spending the last few years working in the media, he knows how to deal with these yo-yo's!

Already he is getting after the lies and distortions that have made the drive by media of 2006 the worthless "4th branch" of government that it has become.

*Beginning with USA Today. They claimed "Poor, Often Minority" Medicare Beneficiaries Are Not Enrolling In Medicare Drug Coverage. "While millions of seniors and people with disabilities are signing up and saving money, the program is being used least by those who could benefit most: poor, often minority Medicare beneficiaries." (Richard Wolf, "Those Most In Need May Miss Drug Benefit Sign-up," USA Today, 5/9/06)

The truth, according to a press release from Tony Snow found on the official White House website reports, "By April, More Than 70 Percent Of Eligible African Americans, More Than 70 Percent Of Eligible Hispanics, And More Than 75 Percent Of Eligible Asian Americans Are Enrolled Or Have Retiree Drug Coverage. "

Let me do my math here...70%, 70% and 75%; yep that sounds like the "vast majority" of minorities are not utilizing these services that being made available to them by MY TAX MONEY!

*Next our friends at CBS, former home of truth tellers Dan Rather-be lying and Mary Mapes were corrected for more of their embellishments, distortions and lies. CBS News Misleadingly Reports That Only 8 Million Seniors Have Signed Up For Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage. JIM AXELROD: "Hoping to nail down at least one clear success story for Republicans to run on this fall, Mr. Bush wants to add another million seniors to the 8 million already signed up." (CBS' "Evening News," 5/9/06)

Once again, Mr. Snow is setting the record straight on the official White House website with a news release that reads, "But 37 Million Seniors Have Coverage. Of the more than 42 million people eligible for Medicare, more than 31 million people with Medicare now have Part D-related prescription drug coverage and hundreds of thousands more are enrolling now. Nearly 6 million more eligible beneficiaries have an alternative source of coverage (i.e., they are covered by VA, Indian Health, or they are still working). "

8 Million or 31-37 millions...you know, with that new math they are teaching in places like Sacramento, CA there probably isn't much difference between them; after all they are just numbers, aren't they?

* And then there is everyone's favorite over priced toilet paper, The New York Slimes...oops, i meant Times. Well, the old grey mare wanting to downplay the much improved US economy (compared to the end of the Clinton era) by reporting, "Fixed Costs, Like Housing, Health Care And Gasoline" Are "Rapidly Outpacing" Paychecks And Benefits. (Editorial, "Barely Staying Afloat," The New York Times, 5/10/06)".

Truth be told, and Tony Snow is doing that, they are wrong...as usual. Once again, a White House presse release reports:
"But Average Hourly Earnings Have Risen 3.8 Percent Over The Past 12 Months, Their Largest Increase In Nearly Five Years. Hourly compensation rose at a 5.7 percent rate in the first quarter. Personal income rose 0.5 percent in March.
Real After-Tax Income Has Risen By 13.8 Percent Since January 2001. Real after-tax income has risen by $2,398 (8.2 percent) per person since January 2001.
Securities Prices Show The Market Believes That Inflation Is Expected To Remain In Check.
More Than 5.2 Million Jobs Have Been Created Since August 2003, And 138,000 Jobs Were Created In April. The unemployment rate is 4.7 percent.
Yesterday, The Dow Jones Industrial Closed Within 83 Points Of An All-Time Record High. The Dow is up 8.6 percent this year and closed yesterday at a six-year high.
GDP Grew At A Strong 4.8 Percent Annual Rate In The First Quarter. This follows our economic growth of 3.5 percent in 2005 - the fastest rate of any major industrialized nation.
At $52 Trillion, Household Total Net Worth (Assets Minus Liabilities) Is At An All-Time High And Has Increased 8 Percent Over The Past Year And 33 Percent Over The Past Three Years. The growth is due to both real estate and other financial investments (i.e. it's not just a result of rising housing prices). Household financial net worth (which excludes housing and other tangible assets) is also at an all-time high.
The Conference Board Index Of Consumer Confidence Increased In April To Its Highest Level In Almost Four Years.
Productivity Increased At A Strong Annual Rate Of 3.2 Percent In The First Quarter.
Real Consumer Spending (Which Adjusts For The Price Of Gasoline) Grew At A 5.5 Percent Annual Rate In The First Quarter And 3.4 Percent Over The Past Four Quarters."

Too make a long story short...the President's tax relief and cuts that i as a middle class American was able to benefit from is helping spur the US economic momentum.

* And finally, the AP had to weigh in on a faulty scale concerning military recruitment. Apparently the AP reported, "Army Guard, Reserve Fall Short Of April Recruiting Goals." (Lolita C. Baldor, "Army Guard, Reserve Fall Short Of April Recruiting Goals," The Associated Press, 5/10/06) "

And once again, by getting the facts from the actual source you find something totally different being reported. The White House provides the following:
"But The Army National Guard, Air Force Reserve, And Marine Corps Reserve All Have Exceeded Or Achieved Their Year-To-Date Recruitment Goals.
The Army National Guard Has Recruited 103 Percent Of Its Year-To-Date Goal.
The Air Force Reserve Has Recruited 105 Percent Of Its Year-To-Date Goal.
The Marine Corps Reserve Has Recruited 100 Percent Of Its Year-To-Date Goal. (Department Of Defense, "DoD Announces Recruiting And Retention Numbers For April," Press Release, 5/10/06)

For Active Duty Recruiting, All Services Exceeded Their Recruiting Goals In April For The 11th Consecutive Month And Remain Ahead Of Their Year-To-Date Goals. All services are also projected to meet their retention goals for the current fiscal year. (Department Of Defense, "DoD Announces Recruiting And Retention Numbers For April," Press Release, 5/10/06)

The Army Reserve, Air National Guard, And Navy Reserve Fell Short Of Their April Goals Partially Because Of High Active-Duty Retention. "Former active servicemembers have long been the biggest source of reserve-component recruits and a valuable resource, [Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen] Krenke said." (Donna Miles, "Active-Duty Recruiting Tops Goals For 11th Straight Month," American Forces Press Service, 5/10/06)

In April, The Marine Corps Reserve Exceeded Its Recruiting Goal By 1 Percent, And The Air Force Reserve Met Its Goal. (Department Of Defense, "DoD Announces Recruiting And Retention Numbers For April," Press Release, 5/10/06)

Reserve Forces Retention Is High. For April, Army National Guard retention was 110 percent of its cumulative goal, and Air National Guard retention was 102 percent of its cumulative goal. (Department Of Defense, "DoD Announces Recruiting And Retention Numbers For April," Press Release, 5/10/06) "

WAIT A MINUTE! Does that mean the AP was wrong? It's not like it's the first time (inluding but not limited to calling USC the 2003 National Champion when LSU rightfully won the BSC Title game!).

Way to go Tony! Keep up the great work and we are looking toward great things from you!

It takes one to know one...

Let me first of all say, i am truly loving this guy over in Iran. As whacko as we thought, and know, that Saddam Hussein was...Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes the cake!

For months now he has been ranting and raving about how evil the US is and how the most powerful military force in the world stands no chance against their backwoods, beaten down, theocratic backsides. (BTW Mahmoud...check with your folks, more probably prefer the US over Iran on any given day). Now, as is usual in the Muslim world, he has chosen to verbally attack Israel.

Today's headlines read that Mr. Ahmadinejad (say that three times fast...heck try to say it once! I'm with Glenn Beck, just call him "Tom") called Israel a "tyrannical regime" that must be destroyed. And if anyone knows what a tyrannical regime looks like, it must be the "duly" elected leader of Iran! We all know that their election results are about as legitimate as Iraq's prior to Saddam's camp out in the spider hole.

Look here, Tom...let me give you a piece of advice. Even your own Qur'an speaks about the special relationship between God (Allah to you and your folks) and the Hebrew people, AKA Israel. True, Muhammad was off base in saying that Israel was condemned by God for leaving the "true" religion of Islam, but you know, what can you expect from a false "prophet"; right?

Israel is a single non-Muslim country surrounded by millions of bitter and angry followers of a former merchant who had the mother of all ego trips and thought he was hearing from God. And since Israel has not been destroyed as of yet...i have to believe that God really does have His hand on these people for a special purpose (for details, put down your Qur'an and read God's TRUE word, the Bible for a change.)

To sum it all up though, i have to agree with what i read in the USA Today (which does, suprisingly, get it right every now and then) concerning Iran's President Tom's 18 page letter to the leader of the free world, President George W Bush (R-TX) of the United States of America. It is as follows:

The letter shows Ahmadinejad, 49, as a naive leader whose beliefs stem from resentment and ignorance of the Western world, according to political psychologists and Iran experts who have read or seen descriptions of the 18-page letter.
The letter is "parochial and reflects deep-seated religious devotion, nationalism and support for the Third World," said Ray Takeyh, an Iran expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank.

So, if Iran's President Tom wants to call Israel a "tyrannical regime", i guess it is because it takes one to know one!

Be on the lookout

OK, i've sat on my hands for WAY to long as of late and allowed life and everything surrounding it to keep me from posting; and i'm tired of it!
Revbeaux: the one who put the "fun" in fundamentalist is making his return! Within the next few days, whenever some nitwit on the state level (which is daily here in Louisiana!) or on the national level (which come to think of it, is also daily) makes him or herself look like the southbound end of a northbound jackass...i will be there to pounce!